Monkey Wrench, Focus Through the Prism Challenge

     For the remainder of the year the monthly challenge will not be a regular quilt,  but a mini.  Each month we will be given a different block.  From that block we will create a quilt of our own, using the mini as an idea.  Each mini will contain a color from ROYGBIV that will be the primary color of the quilt. 

    To compete in the challenge you have to purchase a fabric pack from Cherrywood fabrics.  The fabrics are hand dyed and go along with the challenge by matching the true hues of ROYGBIV.  I hate challenges where I have to purchase fabric,  but I truly love Project Quilt, so it's a must for me.  And while I was ordering I bought extra fabric and have more hand dyed fabric to match most of the quilts for the remainder of the year.

     The Mini Quilts come January 2016 will be mailed to Kim of Persimon Dreams and will be part of a traveling quilt show.  The goal though of finishing by months end will not change! 

     I started out with a clear idea of what I wanted to do as my challenge.  That idea quickly changed when I realized someone already completed my idea. So to the drawing board I went.  I thought of several ideas but settled on one.  Because it was totally different then my usual quilt.  A block in the corner with an echo of HST. 

     I also decided when I first ordered the fabric that I would try to use only 2 colors in each quilt and to make it out of as much of the primary color as possible.  I decided for this quilt I would start with the first letter of ROYGBIV and then move on.  

     I went to my stash and found 2 more patterned fabrics that blended well with the primary Red.  Both had a bit of off white in them. 

    I sewed up the big block as 12 inches and used only the primary color and the 2 printed fabrics. 

    I then googled a HST triangle size and came up with a neat tutorial on seeing a tube with 2 inch fabric.  Too bad I cut along the wrong line and ended up with 2 1/2 inch squares.  So I just kept on cutting.  

     My thought was to put the HST around 2 sides of the Monkey Wrench block in no set layout or design.  The size did not match exactly,  but I was just going to wing it and it worked!

     To quilt it, I am still following along with the Leah Day Craftsy video.  I am on pebbling.  I decided to do Prbbling in all the red areas of the quilt.  The next step in the video was an in and out swirl that followed the same line.  I love how this turned out.  Still need a little practice,  but I love it!! 

    I backed it in a piece of scrap fabric that had some red in it and bound it in the basic hand dyed red. 

     I am so excited to see the theme of next month and ready to figure out what to do with the Orange!! 

     

Anna's T-shirt Quilt

    Anna and Wade have been together since 4 year old kindergarten.  They changed school in High School and still managed to stay together.    They have even gone to church camp together all these years.  Now they are graduating in less then 2 weeks.  Not only is Anna special, but Lisa, her mom taught my boys.

     A few months ago I was asked by Lisa, Anna's mom to make her a quilt.  Lots of people ask me to make these it I don't always agree.  Tshirt quilts take hours of work and planning and don't alwYs turn out right.  It is very stressful dealing with others memories.  But I always say yes to special people!! I enjoy making things for those that mean something to me. 

     This quilt is made using every piece of printed shirt from 20 different tshirts.   I mark the shirts about an inch to 1 1/2 inches bigger then the print on all sides.  After marking the blocks I cut the area of the tshirt out to be about an inch bigger then the original block.  I then iron on fresh fuse or knit interfacing on the back. I then recut the blocks to the final size. 

   For me I have decided over time that I like the look of an uneven sized block for the Tshirt quilts.  The random size and randomness of them being either square or rectangle assists in the flow.  Most tshirt quilts are made with a varying color of fabric and prints on the shirts.  

     I have also decided over time that I like using multiple colors to sash the blocks and to help them blend. 

     I write down each of the block sizes and divide them into rows using the block height.  I add small amounts of fabric to the top and bottom of each block to even out the row.  Between the blocks I lay another piece of material.  And sometimes small blocks I piece together. 

     I even out the rows by adding additional fabric pieces to the outside.

     Then before sewing the rows together I add a strip between the rows. Then In like to sash the quilt out using the same or cordinating fabric.  This quilt is approx 58 by 66.

     I also like the binding to match.   For this quilt 2 special ladies helped me pick out this wonderful herringbone like fabric from Mary Jo's!!  

     The quilt is quilted in silver thread.  To quilt it I did in and out swirls in all of the sashing.  On the Tshirts I quilted a basic loop all over.  In the borders I quilted a wave all the way around the quilt. 

      I forgot to photograph the backing fabrics.  It is actually one of my favorite backing sever.  It is a huge gray medallion flower on white extra wide fabric. 

     It was emotional to work on this quilt but I decided that the best place to complete it was at my quilt retreat.  I am so glad I did!! I took this photo at an old building around the corner from the retreat center. 

     I am so proud of Anna and excited for her future!!  I hope to see her in the many years to come!

Spring Into Summer Retreat

    

    Yesterday afternoon I returned from the Quilters of South Carolina "Spring Into Summer Retreat."  The retreat is the third week in May every year at The White Oak  Conference Center in Winnsboro, SC. 

     I have attended for two years and enjoyed every minute of it.  For five days and 4 nights we do nothing but socialize and quilt to our hearts delight. We learn from each other, take each other's guidance, solve each other's problems and simply cure each other's hearts. Each person leaves refreshed and enthusiastic to quilt!

    This year I didn't finish all of my goals but I feel like I accomplished a lot!!  I finished 2 quilts, a pillow cover and a Tuffet.   I also started my quilt of the month Challenge. 

     The facility and food are wonderful.  The grounds have plenty of trails to walk on. The buildings are well kept.  The rooms for sewing are large with good lighting.  The sleeping accommodations may not look well from the outside but are very decent on the inside.  The rooms and bathrooms are very clean. 

     If you are a South Carolina Quilter, I encourage you to join in and come see us next year!!

Improvisation Challenge

     Last month the challenge for Project Quilt was Improvisation.   If you follow me you know I use a lot of this in my scrap quilts. I am a hidden cheapskate that likes to use every inch of fabric that I can.  As I am working on a quilt I keep a ziplock bag at my cutting board.  In the bag I put all of the scrap pieces I cut. With this bag I make small quilted pieces. 

     This is where my improvisation comes in.  I am a conservative quilter(as I call myself).  This means I love old fashion looking quilts and I tend to mimick them. I like the symmetrical look of things. I take the scraps of my quilts and dream up some type of design.  Some very traditional and some that teeter on the edge.  Most of my quilts I design as I go. 

     For these 2 pillow covers I sewed the scraps from my Cherry Blossom Box Quilt together into a long row.  

     For the first pillow I cut two 14 inch strips off.  Then I used some leftover strips from the quilt sashing to put a 2 inch border on either side of the strip.  I had a small piece of the base fabric left and used that to connect the  strips together. To finish it off I put 2 strips on the outside. Making the total size 18x18 inches.

     I backed it with batting and then decided to watch part of a Leah Day video to decide how to free motion quilt it.   I decided to practice Square Echo's in the rows and chain of Pearls in the sashing.  In the boarder I practiced rivers Path.  

     On the second pillow cover I sewed the leftover scrap strip together with leftover pieces of fabric.  I then sandwiched it and practiced free motion quilting paisley onto it!   I really loved how it turned out.  

     I squared these up into 18 1/2 inch pieces.  I then cut out  backing fabric by cutting a width of 18 1/2 inches and  adding 2 1/2 inches to the length.  I them made a hem on one side of each.  This allowed the other side to be sewn down to the front.  I flipped the pieces and sewed an additional line around the outside of the pillow to secure.   

     These pillow covers are going to my friend Shelia to match her quilt!  I hope she enjoys! 

May Goals

     I didn't do to well with my April goals. Life and a woman I love stepped in the way.   But this month is different.  I am going to a quilting retreat. So, for 4 days I will have time to do nothing but sew!!!   I have decided that I will finish 4 projects in  those days!!

    The first will be a Tuffet!!  My friend Carolyn Harris will be teaching me at the retreat!!! Now it's just to decide on what fabric to use!! 

     The next one will be Cindy's brothers Quilt.  Over a year overdue, but I am going to finish this crown Royal  Quilt. 

     The third will be a floral Quilt I started about a year and a half ago.  I altered the pattern and I now pray I can remember how I put the blocks I have together!  

     The last will be Anna's quilt.  Another Tshirt quilt, but one I am very excited to make!!

     I hope to work on a few other quilts while I am gone, but that's my completion goal!!

     My other goal for the month is to finish the Project Quilt Challenge!!  Hope you have a wonderful month!

Crockpot Enchilada Casserole

     We are a big family at work and eat together almost nightly(even though it's usually on the go).  Potluck somehow has helped us survive the nights where making it to the Cafeteria is unlikely.  Last night was an unplanned night and rightly chosen.  It happened to be one of those busy nights.  

     A few days ago I found a recipe for Quinoa Enchilada Casserole.  Since yesterday was Cinco De Mayo I decided it was the perfect night to treat my coworkers.   I googled Pinterest again and found several recipes with different ingredients.  I wanted to make mine for work in a crockpot so it would be warm when we had time to eat.  So here is the recipe I came up with:

Ingredients 

1 pound ground beef

1 onion

2 cans Rotel

2 cans corn

1 pack enchiladas seasoning

1 can enchiladas sauce 

1 can pinto beans 

1 can black beans

1 can chopped jalapeños

2 cups uncooked quinoa 

16 oz shredded cheese

1-cook meat and onions in saucepan.  Drain grease.

2- Drain Rotel, beans and corn.

3- Place all ingredients except cheese in the crockpot.

4- Cook on high for 3.5-4 hours.  

5- Place 1/2 of cheese on top.  Save the rest to replenish as casserole is eaten.  

    This can be served as is or with chopped avocados and tomatoes, sour cream or tortilla chips.  

     This was a hit at work.  The entire crockpot was gone!!   I have never cooked with quinoa and was looking for healthier meals.  This casserole turned out better then expected as a health food and will be made again!!

     Some of you may be wondering why I suddenly keep posting recipes.  Well, to be honest, it's the easiest way for me remember what recipes my family liked.  I am always doing something to change the originals and can never remember exactly what I did.  So here's my permanent solution!!

Chicken, Avocado and Mango Salad

     By now you might know I love Publix and their Apron recipes.  Last night I stopped in Publix on my way to work and my favorite cook gave me a bite of a salad that I have fixed up and already made for dinner tonight!!  I love avocado and that bit of sweet together!!

     I made two changes to their recipe.  I added chicken and lime.  I also increased the dressing to cover the chicken.  You can leave out the lime or use lime flavored tortilla chips.  So here it is:

1 Mango cut into small pieces

2 Avocados cut up

1/3 cup avocado cilantro dressing

1/2 lime juice

2 grilled chicken breasts cut into small pieces

Mix all ingredients together tossing gently.   

Eat with tortilla chips, crackers or by itself!!