Lowell Quilt Festival Mini Quilt Challenge

For the mini quilt challenge this year, members had to make a mini quilt using an inspired color palette of gray, soft blue and a brick red-ish color.

This was the quilt I made.

Here are some of the other great quilts.

This was Karen's mini.

I *think* this one was Julie's. I had all of the names written down, but I can't find it anywhere, so I'm writing this post by memory. If I mislabel one of your quilts, please correct me.

Steph made this fun mini. I love this paper pieced pattern that she used.

Hema made this one, which I am guessing was inspired by Elizabeth Hartman's quilt.

Janis made this quilt and even included some of her own hand dyed fabrics.

Sam made this fun, improv quilt.

Zuzka hand pieced this mini quilt.

Alice found inspiration from bottle of Grey Goose (get it, flying geese) for her mini.

Check out those tiny triangles in Trish's awesome mini.

I love the random dresden petals in Natalie's mini.

I really like the way Alexis quilted her mini quilt featuring some great nine patches.

I don't know if I can pick a favorite, they're all awesome in their own right. Do you have a favorite?

Lowell Quilt Festival - BMQG Exhibit

Last weekend was the Lowell Quilt Festival where the Boston MQG had a fantastic exhibit once again this year.

The space is absolutely beautiful. It's an old, refurbished shoe mill in downtown Lowell.

This year I felt like we had quite a few more visitors than last year. (The two pictures above were taken when the exhibit was closed, so don't judge by that.)

I was born in Lowell and still have some family there, which meant I had quite a few visitors during my shift staffing.

The quilts in the show were, as expected, awesome!

This is Hema's Madrona Road challenge quilt.

My hexagon quilt is on the left and Karen's is on the right.

These mini quilts were by Sam, Hema and Janis

This is Andrea's beautiful quit with some amazing quilting by the talented Margaret.

Hema made this square quilt and did a great job quilting it.

Stephanie made this awesome quilt using Castle Peeps!

This HST quilt is Karen's precious fabric quilt.

Jane made this great quilt using Tula Pink's Salt Water.

Laurie finally finished this quilt in time to show it at the festival.

Hema's quilt is on the left and Alexis' quilt is on the right. I love how Alexis made the background scrappy in her quilt.

Sarah made this quilt using Architecture and some solids.

Julie made this quilt using a Denyse Schmidt pattern.

This quilt was made by Janis.

I love the colors in Rebecca's quilt.

Laurie made this quilt, which my dad kept saying reminded him of lady bugs.

Gretchen made this HST quilt using ombre fabric.

Natalie finally finished her single girl quilt, hand quilting the entire quilt. I've always wanted to make this pattern and Natalie's quilt certainly increases that desire. Someday...

Tina made this hexagon quilt. I loved seeing it progress from our time at QuiltCon where she first started it.

Zuzka made this awesom quilt in a bunch of Flea Market Fancy fabrics.

Natalie made this fun quilt for her mom, an avid reader.

Stephanie also made this fun quilt for her girls featuring their favorite book characters.

Sam also made this fun quilt.

Jane used comma to make this fun cross quilt.

Hema made this fun quilt and quilted it using a great wood grain pattern.

Lia made this quilt at retreat this year. I love the colors she used here.

It wouldn't be a BMQG show within a Ghastly quilt by Alice!

On the left is my Madrona Road challenge quilt - Wonky Road. The right is Alice's Madron Road challenge quilt.

Also on display was a selection of our Quilts for Boston quilts. A HUGE thank you to Alice for attaching hanging sleeves to these.

I'll post a separate blog post on the 12 fabulous challenge quilts soon. 

Sticks and Stones

Before I left for Costa Rica, I put the finishing touches on my Lowell Quilt Festival Challenge Quilt - Sticks and stones.

This quilt was inspired by Jackie Gering's Craftsy class. I've enjoyed making more improvisational quilts these days, although I'll never shy away from designing my own paper pieced patterns.

I don't know what it is about this quilt, but it was very difficult to photograph. I tried a whole bunch of locations, but so many of the photos turned out blue, even when I used my really nice SLR. It's a reminder that I really need to invest in some editing software. I just always prefer to spend my money on fabric.

This block was made as four different blocks. I started with a bunch of strips of fabrics based on the inspirational color palette.

I quilted this, offsetting a handful of straight lines, horizontal and vertical. Once I had a handful of straight lines, I quilted out from the intersection.

Here you can really see what I did for the quilting. I think it gave the quilt a really cool effect.

Quilt Stats:
Sticks & Stones
20" x 20"
Fabric: STASH!!!
Thread: Aurifil #50 #2610

A Lovely Year of Finishes - August

So lat month I completely forgot all about A Lovely Year of Finishes. I was so crazy with work and life that I never set a goal. This month, I am. This month, I want to finish the dreaded Amy Butler Weekender bag.

The Boston MQG is hosting a Weekender Sew Along, and I've decided to participate. I have had the pattern for a while and really wanted to make it before I jet off to the SewDown in Philly next month.

I've cut out everything except the lining. Pretty soon I'll be ready to assemble. Wish me luck on this one! I have a feeling I might need it.

Hola Friends

I've been silent for a week and a half, and for a very good reason.

I managed to escape work and life for a little bit and take a little trip to Costa Rica with my sister.

I had no access to the internet, which means no access to email or anything else going on in the world. It was weird yet liberating.

It's so hard to pick a few pictures to share with you from my trip, so I'm just going to pick a few at random until I have time to go through the 1000+ pictures I have and really pick my favorites.

No, that sunset picture is not edited in any way. This is directly from my camera. It was absolutely stunning, breathtaking and unbelievably moving.

Okay, now that I'm nice and refreshed, I'm ready to start sewing again.