Home from the Lake and working on Lazy Sunday with Bonnie Hunter

 Summer fun at the Lake - Port Clinton - Walleye Capital of the World

Athough the weather was cool, we enjoyed getting away for a few days and having special time with our grand-kids. Cool (freezing) water could not dampen Jana's enthusiasm for the pool. She even managed to make a new friend. 

Summer friends

We took Miller Ferry to the Island, and had a lazy day golf carting around the island. We played putt-putt and saw the sights. The area is preparing to celebrate the Bicentennial of the Battle of Lake Erie.

South Bass Island- Bicentennial of Battle of Lake Erie

Once back on the mainland we made a stop at Nautical Needle and as one would expect we HAD to purchase some fabric. Jana fell in love with these fat quarters. We have no plans for them at this time. The girl is learning to build a stash. Oh my!

Jana's fat quarters. Who can resist kitties?

I was just as bad. I bought a batik collection. The fabric that caught my eye was a batik with fish. Don't ask why or what I like about it. I don't know why I like it, I just do.  I also have no idea what I will do with it.

Love at first sight.

Now it's time to sew. The laundry is done, clothes put away and the grand-kids are back  home till this weekend. Quiltmaker magazine came right before we left. Since I'm still on vacation from work I have been able to put a fair amount of work into the quilt top. The center went together fairly easy. A few of my blocks had some imperfections, but the sashes helped even things out.

 I am happy with the way it is coming together. I am also content with my color choices. I went for a softer look and it worked. I still have enough contrast that the secondary patterns show up well. The greens I chose are much softer than Bonnie's. I also substituted  yellow for the orange.  I  limited the variety in fabrics and tried to keep a similar value within each color. It's raining (another good reason to sew), so the pictures are indoor, basement floor, pictures. I should be able to get some in natural light when it's completed and pressed.

All those green and white half square triangles made border 2

A idea of what it looks like.This is laying on my basement floor. Horrid light.

Those blocks with the green corner are the center of the quilt.

You might notice I have one side of border two done. Tomorrow I hope to finish the rest of border two and get the last border (3) done before the end of the weekend. It will take a little longer because when I made the purple units I forgot to cut the extra fabric, so they have just been sitting in the bin, unfinished..

Units for Border 3

Bonnie has said she will have a linky party in September for Lazy Sunday. I will be ready for sure. The only decision left to make is what color for the quilt back? Lavender, green, yellow? Any suggestions?

A touch of Italy-Italian food, a lovely garden and the lake. Happy memories.

Craftsy BOM 2013 - Old VS New April edition

If you have visited this blog you know that each month my granddaughter Jana and I do the Craftsy 2013 BOM. She is using modern fabrics and making a hip and sassy quilt. Grandmother, that's me, is doing the old fashion, old-school  style quilt and using mostly reproduction fabrics. Reproduction fabrics really aren't my thing.  But we decided to go in different directions to see for ourselves how much difference fabric makes in a quilt. It should not be a surprise that my granddaughter chose the modern fabrics.

April's block taught us how to make curved seams.  During last years BOM we made Dresden Plates. These where not Jana's favorite and when she saw the fan block, she wasn't a fan. But we watched the video and learned that the construction was very different. and we would learned a few new tricks. This was the first time she had heard of using freezer paper. It was the first time for either of us to used heat-n-bond. It was also our first time using our blanket stitch, stitch selection on our machines. Our blanket stitches are slightly different,  so it did give us the opportunity to try another new skill.

Grandma's Old School fan block

Jana learned to make a template from freezer paper, reuse this for each cut by ironing it on the fabric and use her seam to center the template. We had to redo our template after a while as it seemed to get shorter on one side.

Using a freezer paper template.

Trimming the edge of the template.

The block went together in quarters. This is the first quarter. I found it surprising easy to sew the curved seams as demonstrated in the video. I admit that I had to help Jana with this section. I think she could have done it, but she was a little unsure.

Is this colorful enough!

The block went together nicely. Once again her color choices worked. "Grandma you just have to give things a chance. You might not think it works but you might like it, you never know," says the wise old eleven year old Jana.

Jana's new style block.

During the construction of this block Jana discovered something. She is crazy for Kaffe Fassett!
These are some of the fabrics she shopped from my stash. I wasn't surprised by her choices, but as she was putting this block together I realized the fabric was familiar and similar. A closer look and we knew why. They where by the same designer. I went to my old Quilt magazine and showed her Kaffee's picture and article. She started to laugh. "Hey I am a fan of his and I didn't even know who he was", said Jana. "His fabric is fun to use and it's very creative. I love it".

Kaffee Fassett fabrics

I think Jana has something about trying new things. When I bought this fabric I loved it, but I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I am, after all is said and done, a big picture person. Jana could see the details and color and was able to come up with other fabrics that complemented this fabric. The Moda fabric below is more colorful in person and she picked up right from the start that all the colors in the Moda fabric where found in her more colorful fabric.

Here she matched a Moda and Fassett fabric.

She accomplish the same with this combination. The very graphic and colorful Fassett fabric was match with
a totally unexpected fabric that matched the teals.

So April BOM is done. Here are the blocks to compare.

New and sassy versus old school reproduction

Our finished blocks.

Here is Jana and her pride and joy

Oh yes, and lastly..Here is grandma, who hates her picture taken, but had to give in after "Grandma every week you make an excuse. You say you are tired, your hair is a mess, you have no make up, just let me take your picture with your block". Okay Jana today you win, my hair is a mess, I have no makeup on, I have bags under my eyes. But you worked hard, tried new things, so you can take my picture and I will put in on our blog. Oh yeah. One day we have to clean out the non sewing side so we can get some nice pictures.

Economy Blocks-March Craftsy BLock of the Month-

Jana and I are still working together on our Craftsy 2013 Block of the Month quilts. If you have been following our progress you know that grandma (me) is doing the quilt in reproduction fabrics. I am old school. Jana has decided to be thoroughly modern and use bright colors and modern prints. She is new school. So the old school/new school project continues.

March's block is the economy block. It included a drafting lesson, which I am sure will come in handy some day. I'll have to go back and watch it again. I admit that I was not paying attention. This weekend we just wanted to get our blocks done? My January and February blocks where a little on the dull side so I decide to brighten things up with another fabric that I feel compliments the reproduction fabric. Here is my block.

Grandma's old school Economy Block.

Jana has contiued with her cheerful bright selections. She had considered using orange for her setting triangles, but we thought it might overpower the block. She went with blue instead. I think it turned out beautiful. I have no idea what kind of fabric she will end up using for her background. In the project picture the background all appears to be a white/natural fabric. I am not sure if using the blue in this block will throw a wrench into the process or not. She is pretty adventurous and is trusting her instincts. We tried out several fabrics before she pick this blue. I am actually pretty amazed at the  "eye" she is developing at her young age.  Here is her "new school" block.

Jana's Economy Block

This project has been very good for learning how to carry a color theme through the various blocks. Each month the blocks have been very different, and since we are both doing our own fabric thing it is exciting to see how these blocks are coming together. For now Jana has used the dark blue in each block. She also used the red fabric in her February block.

old school-new school

Grandma and granddaughter-side by side.

So we are keeping up with the project and excited for each month to come along so we can do the next block. Stay tuned and keep quilting together!

Craftsy BOM 2013-Old School VS Modern

This weekend my granddaughter Jana and I have been catching up on the Craftsy BOM for 2013. We where not sure if we where going to do it. Jana started with the Sugar Block Club as her project, but the second month was paper piecing. Now neither of us have the patience, so for now that has been put aside.

Jana and Grandma (me) with a cool pincushion grandpa made.

We wanted  our own project, but one we could do it together. We decided that we each will do our own Crafts 2013 BOM quilt. For the last few months I had been picking up reproduction fabrics. This not usually my taste, but I was feeling a little historic, thinking about ancestry, etc and thought I'd pay a little homage to the past and use this fabric.

Jana on the other hand is a thoroughly modern 10 year old. She is into light and bright, wild and funky. As you can image her fabric choices are electric.

Since we got a late start we spent our weekend catching up. We have both done lots of log cabin blocks, so January was an easy assignment. It is actually very interesting to see the difference fabric makes in a quilt.

Modern Jana on left- Reproduction for Grandma on right

February assignment is 3 blocks with partial seams. Neither one of us had made  blocks with partial seams before. The video lesson was very helpful. You will love Jana's philosophy. "Grandma you make yours first, that way if you make a mistake by the time I do mine we will know the right way", she said.

I have to admit I did get a little turned around. But she was right by the time I got mine done we had figured it all out, worked out the kinks and hers came together easily. She was a little nervous at first, but quickly gained confidence.

Jana with  January and February Blocks

You might notice that Jana likes to sew in her pajamas. Are there any of you out there who do the same? Jana is also still wearing the back brace from the spinal fusion she had on December 12th. Hopefully she will be able to stop wearing it after her next appointment the end of March. So for now she is just taking it easy.

Modern  vs Reproduction

If I am being honest I must say I am finding the modern more inviting, but I am sticking with my fabric choices. I am going to sneak a few more colorful pieces in along the way. This quilt is about learning new skills and quilting together so we have room for flexibility.

 All of our blocks plus her new pincushion. It's made from lace wood. 

Jana in her own words.

My name is Jana and I will be 11 in April. I have been sewing with my grandma ever since I was 8. I have been making quilts for a year. My favorite colored fabrics are pink,purple,red,and blue. Look at papa don't peek to see the secret project I am making for my dad.

This is our sewing space.

I like to organize my pins by shape and color.

 

This is me sewing one of the blocks for my dad.

This is me ironing a block for my dad.    I LOVE TO IRON!!

Do you know someone my age who likes to sew?