A Very Small Finish

My kitchen pot holders are looking pretty sad. I usually have four of them. Last month I dropped one onto the heating element in the oven, and it got burned. I'm lucky it didn't start a fire, but I was able to grab it quickly. Then last week DH used one when he was smoking brisket, and got a lot of heavy black grease from the smoker on it.

Two down, and the remaining two look like this. Still usable, but not pretty. I should be ashamed to even post this picture, but hey, just keeping it real here.

Time for some new ones. Voila, my very small finish for this week.

I need to make a couple more and get rid of those old ones, but in the meantime I have four I can use.

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict

DrEAMi - in Black and WHite

When I heard about the two-color challenge over at Color Girl Quilts, I just had to Drop Everything And Make it.  Sharon is hosting a sew along / challenge to use just two colors. If you use black and white, the project could be eligible for a future issue of Curated Quilts.

So naturally my colors are black and white. I started with a big fabric pull from stash: 

Lots of possibilities there! I added some solid black and white, too, and I came up with a pattern. It's a flowering snowball variation. 

It's a very challenging block, with lots of cutting with templates. The block will finish at 9" so those corner curves are 3" radius. The layout will be off-set with lots of partial seams and Y-seams. 

This design allows for a little bit of a transparency effect where fabrics appear to cross each other. Choosing just the right values is critical to making it work in black and white.

I created this design in 2001 for a Piecing Group project. My friends made blocks for me using my hand-dyed background fabric and commercial batiks. I'm machine piecing the new black and white version; no time for hand piecing and my hands can't handle it anyway. 

Linking up with DrEAMi at MMM Quilts 
and with Monday Link Ups: 
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Em's Scrapbag
Love Laugh Quilt

Mineral Plus Flimsy

A finished flimsy, about 58" x 77". 

The palette reminds me of the colors of minerals and metals.

Although it looks mostly grey, there are subtle shades of

bronze and copper, iron, aluminum, amber, marble, 

granite, alabaster, obsidian, onyx, and pewter.  

Nice and masculine. 

This will eventually get quilted and finished for a donation quilt, 

although it won't make the deadline for Hands2Help

over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

Black and White

Have you heard about the two-color challenge over at Color Girl Quilts? Sharon is hosting a sew along / challenge to use just two colors. If you use black and white, the project could be eligible for a future issue of Curated Quilts.

Since I'm not happy with the stark black and white bits in my Yellow-Green BOM project (scroll down), maybe I can repurpose them. And add a few fabrics from stash. I seem to have a few black and white prints. Here's the palette I've pulled for the black and white challenge.

Of course I'll add solid black and white or white-on-white as well. I may not use all of these prints, but at least I have plenty to choose from.

I have no idea yet what I'll make, but the pattern link up is next week so I 'd better figure out something pretty quickly. The top is due end of June and the finished quilt (image) is due August 1st for Curated Quilts. Minimum size is not less than 150" around the perimeter. If I make a 40 x 40" top that's 160" so that should qualify.

Since I finished Pickle Dish and the Red Project is stalled, I've been wanting a new project to work on. The Yellow-Green BOM has to wait for the monthly block assignments, so I can work on this black and white challenge in the meantime.

It's kind of ironic that someone who calls herself the Colorful Fabriholic wants to work exclusively in black and white, and has the stash to do so, don't you think??? Wish me luck that I can pull something off!

What's on my Design Wall: Yellow-Green Blocks

As I've mentioned before, STLMQG has an ongoing BOM in which we each use only one spoke of the color wheel, and make blocks according to the theme or skill announced each month. My color is Yellow-Green.

You know how sometimes leader-enders take on a life of their own and become a full-blown project? Yeah, my color BOM project is starting to do that, too. Each month in addition to the featured block(s) I've been making some filler units. The whole thing will end up like a puzzle quilt, a la Jen Kingwell.

Here are all the blocks and parts I have so far, just stuck on the wall, definitely not the actual placement.

A total eyesore so far, but there's at least 5 more months to go of monthly block assignments so we'll see how this ends up.

I have a half-yard of a bold black and white stripe that I'm thinking of using for some filler strips. Or maybe I should save it for the binding? I'll also add filler strips of some of the prints used in the blocks.

Since the beginning, I've planned on having some black and white parts for fillers, so I've made some four patches for checkerboard strips and some flying geese. But as I look at this, I wonder if the contrast is too stark? Some of Jen Kingwell's quilts seem to feature less contrast. Or maybe I just need more B+W parts, and need to space out the other stuff more so it's not all crowded together. What do you think? Comments and input welcome.


Link ups:
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Em's Scrapbag
Love Laugh Quilt

Hands2Help - Mercyful Plus

My second quilt for Hands2Help this year is Mercyful Plus.

This quilt was inspired by a blogger bundle from Bernie at Needle and Foot, the sponsor of Mercyful Quilts. It's fitting that this quilt should go back to them.  Story here.

Linking up with Hands2Help at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Hands2Help - Bricks and Mortar

Today is the final link-up day at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Hands2Help. 

This quilt is going to Mercyful Quilts.

I'm calling this one Bricks and Mortar. 

It was a UFO for the longest time, but now it's finished.
Story here - scroll down. 

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict