Bordered, Basted and Ready to Quilt

In the end, Purple Pickles got a border.  I really struggled with whether to leave it or whether to add a border.  After a trip to my LQS, I found this fabric and my decision was made.

It's got a black background and the exact two shades of warm and cool purple swirls. I added a small black border and a piping of lime green that has tiny black swirls.

Here you can see the quilt without the border.  I just felt that it needed a little extra "weight" to it as I was using some pretty dark colors.  Seeing it with the border added, this now looks totally unfinished to me.

Here is the final version.  I took it ouside to get a better picture and the center still looks washed out to me.  I will start with an allover stitch in the ditch and then hope for some inspiration.

It's a gorgeous day in Northwest Florida today, hope it is where you are too.

Karen

Atlanta Quilt Live Recap

This past week has been so busy, but I wanted to share a little of my trip to Atlanta last weekend.  It started Thursday night when I took a class with Victoria Findlay Wolfe.  What a fun evening.  Victoria and I have been blogger friends for a couple of years, so it was a blast to finally meet in person. The class was called "Playing with Miniatures" and we learned how to make these little blocks.  I was kind of busy chatting so I didn't finish my block :).  But I did get the center done - the ones on the left were extras.

To put it in perspective, these little darlings finish at 1"!!  

We got a little class kit with 2 pieces of fabric and some scraps.  My pieces were red and purple which I think will be cute.

I have promised myself to finish this and not let it sit in a drawer.  

Victoria had several samples for us to see.

I like this single row set in a square.

One of the students actually finished her center block, the red looked really good with the drab olive color.

The next day it was time to see the quilts and enjoy the exhibit.  My sister and I had so much fun.

Victoria did a quilt walk and spent time discussing the quilts in the DWR exhibit. Here she is with her tractor DWR quilt.  

Here we are in front of Organic Pink Pickles.  It looked so pretty hanging and Victoria let me talk about it to the group.

Here I am in front of my QN 45 challenge quilt "Dahlia Revisited".  This exhibit was really something.  I had not seen pictures of the quilts so I didn't really know what the other quilts looked like.  They were gorgeous and I felt very humbled to have placed in the top 5.  This quilt will be back home soon, I don't think they are travelling anywhere else.

Some of you may recognize this red quilt.  If you looked closely at the work, you could probably guess.  It's made by Sharon Schamber.

Sharon had an exhibit there also and her daughter Cristy Fincher led the quilt walk.  She told stories about growing up as Sharon's daughter and shared about Sharon's evolution as a quilter.  I have seen some of Sharon's quilts in person before.  They are so incredible, she has set the bar very high.

Driving over 750 miles is not something I would want to do often, but it was so worth it to see not only my quilts but all the other quilts in the many different exhibits.  There was so much inspiration.

Happy stitching,

Karen

Headed to Atlanta

I'm headed to Atlanta in the morning to Quilt Live!  My sister and I will be travelling together.  Tomorrow night I'll be taking a class with Victoria Findlay Wolfe - I am so excited.  And I get to see this old friend. 

I had to send Pink Pickles off in January so it's been a while.

And I'll get to see Dahlia Revisited hanging in the Quilters Newsletter 45 year exhibit.

I'll be at the Expo all day Friday. I'd love to meet  any blogger friends in person if you're going on Friday - just email me tomorrow night (I don't have a smart phone).

Being a quilter is just too much fun sometimes :).

Karen

Mini Pickle Dish

My 16 blocks are done and are now waiting for me to find a border.  I really like how this turned out.

It's always hard when I'm just getting started making units to imagine what it will look like.

Even when all the arcs were done, it was hard to picture it.

And then at this stage, when it seems finished, I know how different it will look with a border and binding and how much it will change with the quilting.

I'll try and get some outdoor pictures soon, the colors really sing in this one.

Happy stitching,

Karen

A New Pickle Dish Project

I shared this picture last week in a blog post.  It's my new Pickle Dish project using green, purple and black & white.  I'm trying to use all stash fabric but I may need to supplement a few new pieces (darn LOL).

For those of you who follow me on IG  - you  may have seen this picture last week - the start of my new quilt.  I have made some serious progress since then.  All the paper piecing is done.

This is going to be a small project, it's actually a class sample for a class I'm teaching next February based on my quilt "Organic Pink Pickles".

This quilt only has 16 blocks, so there are only 32 arcs.  It seems easy after working on Pink Pickles last year which was so much bigger.

I designed this project in EQ7 and I've already changed the colors slightly.  I started in the center and am working my way out to check the colors and balance.  I like the warm purple center and the green outer corners.  The B&W dotty Kauffman fabric is a little bit of a stretch for me but I'm pretty sure it's going to work.  I'm trying to stretch those "modern" muscles with a traditional pattern.

I don't have a huge collection of cool purple fabric, so I'm auditioning the pieces I have.  I think they will work. 

It's fun to make small projects where every decision doesn't require two days of studying the design wall, leaving the room, coming back, checking again, etc., etc. LOL.  I know you all know what I'm talking about :).  

Having fun this afternoon - hope you're stitching something fun too.

Karen