Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Day After

Looking back on the Cathedral Windows quilt I just finished, what did I learn from the experience?

First of all, joining The Indian Modern Quilt Guild on Facebook (thanks to my sister, Sahana) was probably the best thing that's happened to me in a long time.  The members of this guild are creative, motivated, and so encouraging.  What amazes me is that practically all of them are self-taught and so willing to share their ideas and talents with the rest of us.  The January challenge which motivated me to give Cathedral Windows a try, kept me on track and produced a finished product within the month!  So glad this didn't end up among my numerous UFOs!

Secondly, it's true that one's own spit removes blood spots!  An ice cube works too.  I had pins sticking out all over the quilt and ended up with pin pricks and scratches all over my hands.  The next time, I'll be sure to use safety pins.

Towards the end, I was tempted to call it a day and admit defeat.  There was no way the quilt could be finished on time.  DH was irritated as heck, but what else is new!  He just couldn't understand what I meant by 'this has to get done by tomorrow'!  But I worked at it doggedly and pretended to be deaf to shut out his grumbling.  Little does he know there's another deadline next month with many more to follow :)  It was a wonderful experience to do this just for myself!

With these challenges, I plan to work on techniques I've longed to try.  This guild has provided the focus I need to accomplish my goals.

Thank you, IMQG!



IMQG January 2012 Challenge

Cathedral Windows Quilt

IMQG stands for India Modern Quilt Guild on Facebook.
January's Quilt Challenge rules were as follows:

Shruti's post on IndiaMQG:
Here's your January Challenge :
Make something using ONLY warm colored solids! The item could be anything you want...
Rule # 1 : WARM COLOR SOLIDS ONLY
Rule #2 : Item should be ready on 26th January 2012
Rule # 3 : Photos of the item should be posted here before the deadline.  You can include more than 1 photo and link up to your blog if you have written a post about it.
I'll try to rope in a judge for every month from the other modern quilt guilds...
good luck girls!
Cheers!!!

I can't believe this was done on time!  Here it is, 2 projects for January integrated into one quilt.  The center medallion (Asterisk) is my Craftsy Block of the Month for January which I made out of warm colors to satisfy the IMQG January Challenge which requires only warm, solid colors be used in a quilt.
This provides a close-up of the warm colors I used in the quilt.
The very dark (almost black) colors are a deep brown and burgundy.

I've wanted to make a cathedral windows quilt for some time now.  Making the foundation blocks was a pretty tedious process, but once I started applying the windows, it was like popcorn!  I couldn't stop at just one.  I became totally obsessed with the construction until it was all done.  And yes, I will make a bed-size quilt using more cheerful colors in the windows.

This was very satisfying to construct because the sewing and quilting are accomplished in the same step!  And there's no need to bind the quilt.

Thank heavens for the internet because I found the instructions for cathedral windows at

 

I followed the instructions for A Modern Approach on this website.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) Course

My third quilting New Year resolution is to master simple (and possibly complex) free motion quilting.  To achieve this goal, I have signed up for Craftsy's Machine Quilting: Free-Motion and More.  This course is currently offered at a discount of 50%.  It's going to be quite different from the straight lines and 'stitch in the ditch' quilting I have undertaken thus far!  A course description can be found at:
http://www.craftsy.com/class/Machine-Quilting-Free-Motion-More/37

There is also a free FMQ workshop that is available online.
 http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/p/start-here.html
Free Motion Quilting Project


Craftsy Block of the Month

Asterisk & Slashed Blocks

I've just completed Craftsy's BOM for January. 

Two of my quilting New Year resolutions were to ferret out fabrics for new projects from my stash and to try making non-traditional quilts for a change.  Both of these have now been satisfied, by joining the Craftsy' BOM course.

I had fun working on the two blocks for January. 
January's Block 1 is the Asterisk block.
This one looks too much like the Swiss flag.

I like this one better.

January's Block 2 is the Slashed block.

Give it a try!  It's free!



Sunday, January 1, 2012

Craftsy - My Online Video Resource For A Number of Crafts

Happy New Year, everyone!

I love Craftsy online video courses.  Their online courses cover a wide range of topics related to my favorite hobbies and the courses are taught by amazing instructors. 
Craftsy Block of the Month

This course is free, but you need to register to become a member of Craftsy.
http://www.craftsy.com/class/The-Craftsy-Block-of-the-Month/50