Flower box quilt, almost done.

Here is the latest--another baby quilt. I've begun the quilting and hope to be done by the end of this week. I just doodled the sashing, and am following the designs in the blocks. It's kind of a small quilt--but it is for a baby--so that should be OK.

Flower Box Quilt

Well, here is the latest one. Since I did the tutorial in the previous post, I thought I'd go ahead and show you how I plan on paper as well. Sometimes, If I am planning a quilt I am going to make immediately, I use paper. The problem with planning on paper--at least for me, is that I lose it. I have to admit I'm not the most organized of quilters.

Since I planned to do this quilt the day I did the planning I used paper. I could have done this all using Excel (I use that a lot, too) but it can take more time and I wasn't going to save this and use it at a later date.

I changed the dimensions from that of the tutorial block. Instead of each square equaling 2", on my plan each square is 1 1/2". I lucked out, too, because I only had enough fabric for the smaller blocks. I have used this wild 60's fabric before for a similar project (that is an unfinished quilt--another story). I also had to plan pretty carefully for the light yellow--I had a very limited amount of that--and I forgot in the planning stage to add the 2" squares (2 for each block) and then I stupidly cut them first--because they are so small I should have cut them last from the leftovers of the other strips. After I cut them I realized it was a mistake so I actually used Excel and a combination matrix to see which method of cutting the rest of the pieces would leave me the largest chunks of leftover yellow for the border. Because of my poor cutting choices the bottom light yellow border is going to have to be pieced quite a bit, but I think once it is quilted no on will notice. In the tutorial I put a dark border around the quilt--I don't know if I will or not. Maybe I'll leave it this size. I'll see later.

I posted a picture of the fabric I used for the flower blocks. I think it's fun to see what the base fabric is for these types of quilts. I enjoy making stack-n-whack quilts, but I need this one in a hurry--the baby shower is the 26th, so simplified the block so I only have four and all the pieces have right angles--much easier to piece. I like the shadow effect, I think it is a simple way to emphasize the colored blocks, and I think it looks cool, too!

We'll see if I actually get this one done.

A Tutorial -- how to design using Paint

Here's the quilt I design in the tutorial--though the periwinkle squares aren't as dark in that version.

I found this cool tool called "Jing". It allows me to make flash movies of what I am doing on screen.

I just did a tutorial of one way I use Microsoft Paint to design quilts. There is a link to the flash movie at the bottom of this post if you'd like to see it. I don't have a microphone--so I just typed the instructions while I was making the movie. I used MS Paint to design the quilts that are in the previous post--using a similar method.

Oh, did I mention Jing is free?? You can read about it and download it here.

Here is the link to the tutorial. If you have a slow connection it might take a while to download.

I hope you enjoy!

A Little Creative Work

The prints are from pictures I took of the actual fabrics--10 inch squares of each. I then put them all in Microsoft picture editor and reduced them to 100x100 pixels. I used Paint to make the mock-ups. It's fun and helps me to visualize before I actually work, especially when I don't know what I am going to do.

This one has all the same framing fabrics--I haven't decided on exactly what color yet, but all the same.

This one has colors pulled from each fabric. At the moment I'm leaning toward this one. Of course, I'd have to find fabrics that matched each print I have--that could be fun, or it could be a nightmare.

No bones about it, I'm done!

Well....... here is the finished top. Actually, I think it's kind of fun, and knowing that it will be appreciated makes it even more fun. I have to come up with some kind of skull, or bones for the free motion quilting I am going to do on it. I am going to quilt the red, white and blue Irish chain first, then this one. If I get in gear, I may start quilting this one next weekend. And making this quilt gave me an idea for using the fabric I bought, oh so long ago, in Hawai'i. I will have a mock-up soon to see if I like it enough to actually make it.

While we were vacationing, we found a brass turtle we really like, and the bedroom is already lime green (only not so bright--actually I think it's celery, and water sprout, and marsh something or other) and a wonderful pool blue for the ceiling--so we're making it an island paradise here in the middle of the mountains with pines outside! I have to come up with some more decorating ideas that won't turn the whole thing into a tiki bar--wish me luck...anyway, I digress. I am going to make a quilt with these Hawaiian fabrics and the pattern above. The black will be white, and the red will be blues and greens and the skull fabrics will instead be Hawaiian fabrics...ots of hibiscus and turtles.

A different sort of quilt!

How are these fabrics for a departure. I've had another specific request for a Quilt of Valor. This warrior dealt with his pain by getting tattoos--lots and lots of tattoos, and most of them skulls or skeletons. I don't think this will take long and it's actually kind of a kick to do something like this.The fabrics will go in the white boxes of the quilt design on top. I was pretty surprised when I looked that there are so many fabrics with skulls on them. See what you learn when you look.

I am going to work on finishing this top this weekend, and quilting the red, white and blue top as well.

Just put the third picture up with half of the blocks completed. This has actually given me an idea of using fabrics I bought in Hawai'i about 7 years ago. It's an easy pattern ( got the idea from the BQ quilt but drafted the pattern myself) and I like the way it is turning out.

Aloha!

We're back

Well, we've been to Hawaii and now we're back. It was a wonderful time--I snorkeled, I swam, I walked, I luau'ed, I shopped, but no quilting. I wasn't able to transfer shots I took of the Aloha shirts I made before we left, so here they are now. I did work a little on some quilting yesterday--but no picture yet...and just because I can, a picture from our trip.

Aloha!