Beacon Pattern Blog Hop!

Hey All! Thanks for joining me for my stop on the Beacon blog hop! I was fortunate enough to pattern test this fun quilt pattern from Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl. If you haven't seen her version of Beacon, I suggest checking the intro post out, and there will be more blog hop fun this week!

March 21: Beacon Pattern Release with Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl

March 22: Baby Size Version of Beacon with Audrey of Hot Pink Quilts (me!)

March 23: Lap Size Version of Beacon with Judy of Quilt Paradigm

March 24: Queen Size Version of Beacon with Renee of Quilts of a Feather

March 25: More Beacon Awesomeness at Quilting Jetgirl and Sew Mama Sew!

Beacon offers quilters three different size options (baby, lap, and queen) and I opted to make the baby size version of Beacon because I have a dear friend who recently gave birth to her first baby. She's an eclectic, fun person, and I didn't want to make her something traditional or that screamed "baby!" When I saw this pattern, I knew it would be perfect.

In the pattern, Yvonne takes time to explain her process behind the quilt and its name and suggests that the quilter really spend time thinking about the quilt and its recipient. She provides a worksheet, and I really enjoyed considering what this quilt meant to me and what it could mean for my friend and her son. That was a new experience for me, one that I will use on future projects.

For my fabric, I started by choosing this Kaffe Fassett shot cotton (Viridian). I opted for a white shot cotton because I knew it would stand out against the vivid green (Kaffe Fassett again, this time in Ice). I utilized a large scale floral print that I've had in stash for ages for my beacon fabric. The green in it matched the green of my shot cotton, and I loved the bright touch that the red and pink flowers added to the mix. I had planned to bind the quilt in the green, then changed my mind and opted for the white instead. For the back, I used a gorgeous print from Anna Maria Horner's Fibs and Fables line.

I spent a long time considering the quilting plan. I wasn't sure how I best wanted to highlight the fun angles and bold contrast of the front. I decided on a spiky meander, partly because I love the way it looks, but also because it gives the quilt an amazing drape and feel. Since this is for a baby, I wanted it to be plenty snuggly.

Yvonne has ranked Beacon as an intermediate level project. The simplicity of the design might be deceiving, but lining up those angles to perfection took some careful work. But if that sounds intimidating, never fear! Yvonne provides lots of tips and ideas for how to make seams line up successfully, so don't let that stop you. I will say that if I could go back and do it again, I would use starch, which I use rarely.

I'm a huge fan of Yvonne's work, and there's a reason: her patterns are well written with loads of diagrams, pictures, and instruction. I found everything in this pattern to be extremely clear and easy to follow. Best of all, I had a lot of fun putting this quilt together! The piecing engaged me in a way that few other projects have, and I enjoyed exploring that.


Beacon is available now for a special price of $7 through April 3rd in both Quilting Jetgirl's Craftsy and Etsy stores.

Around the World Blog Hop

Last week, I had two lovely ladies honor me by tagging me in the Around the World Blog Hop. Thank you Alison and Michelle for thinking of me! :)

Now, you might be asking yourself, what is the Around the World Blog Hop? (You probably aren't since this is undoubtedly the fiftieth post you've seen on the subject, but perhaps a few of you don't know.) I answer a set of four questions, nominate a couple of lovely peeps, and then, next Monday, they'll have the honor of answering the same questions and nominating some more lovely peeps. Awesome, right? 

What am I working on? 

Oh, boy. My list is a little out of hand, mostly because I've started thinking about holiday gifts for family and friends, and that always makes the list about a gazillion miles long.

This baby-sized ikat quilt is intended for my friend's bun-in-the-oven. I pieced together a backing with scraps and an awesome animal print, but apparently I deleted the photo after I posted it to instagram. (Gonna have to be careful about not doing that in the future.) I need to get this bad boy quilted and bound, but I have a Turkey Day deadline, so I've got some time.

I've also got a Tula Pink City Sampler quilt in the making (I've made 75 blocks) and a Gypsy Wife quilt too. Everything else on my list is smaller: placemats, which my four-year-old son is helping me piece and quilt, kidlet aprons for birthday gifts, cloth napkins for my sister, and if I can, I have big plans to sneak in another dress for me, this time made with linen. Woo.

How does my work differ from others of its genre? 

Because my quilts are made by a hot pink girl? 

Friends, I dunno. I make what I want to make. I tend to go overboard with bold colors, and I adore large scale patterns, and that's the way I like it. (My more demure quilts are my least favorite.) I embrace a "good enough" philosophy because I quilt as a hobby and don't want to stress out about achieving perfection. That doesn't mean I neglect my seam ripper--we are good friends--but at some point, it needs to be done, right? I don't spend a lot of time comparing/contrasting my work with others, just because if I start going in that direction, I wallow in thoughts like "why am I not as awesome as XYZ person?" So I don't think about it, and that keeps me in the positive. However, it also makes answering this question near impossible.

Why do I write/create what I do?

I write because I have to.

That sounds melodramatic, but the urge to write has been with me since I learned my letters. When I was a kid, this need manifested in the form of mystery plays. (My mom took me to see a mystery murder play when I was young, and it severely colored my writing.) In high school, I wrote a really bad fantasy novel about a martial arts-loving princess with lavender hair. In college, I studied creative writing and wrote a bunch of bad short stories with thinly veiled symbolism and emo-sounding titles. At the end of my four years, I had published a short story and a poem that weren't bad. And when I started my first big girl job and supervised the gifts and stationary department for three bookstores, I would spend my weekends hunched over my keyboard because writing was the only way I could unwind. I started writing a five book YA series, which I'm still working on.

So when I started quilting, it was inevitable that I would document my experience in the written form. I'm glad to have a record of what I've accomplished since I've started sewing, and it has enabled so many fun relationships. I'm thrilled to have met so many lovelies since I started.

How does my writing/creating process work?

I don't have a particular way of doing things. Sometimes I write in huge chunks where I feel like I'm vomiting words on the page. Sometimes I write in an orderly, scheduled manner. The same thing with creating. Sometimes it's planned and happens in perfectly sectioned off blocks of time. Other times, I absolutely have to work on something and finish it, so I keep working frantically until I get it done. Case in point, I just finished a 241 tote for me--woo!--and I was trying so desperately to get it done before the baby woke up. Of course, he woke up demanding food when I had only the last bit of topstitching left. If he had waited another TWO minutes, I would've been done, but that's a different story, right? And it all got done anyway.

---

I get the pleasure of tagging two additional people, woo! I'm tagging Aoife of thREDhead. Besides being super lovely and awesome, Aoife is Irish, but she currently lives in Texas. I can always expect to see a variety of awesome projects from her: sometimes apparel, sometimes EPP, sometimes fun pillows, sometimes yummy rainbow quilt tops.

AND

Anna from The Crooked Banana. Anna is fabulous, and not just because she started the Fierce Quilters Bee. She also hails from the southwest, and since I'm a desert girl, I feel that's a pretty awesome deal. Anna rocks yarn, fabric, pretty much all the things.

sequintastic september.

 
Hi Friends!

(Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop post here.)

I have decided to participate in a most interesting blog hop--a sequin blog hop, in fact. I know that might sound a little silly since I'm a quilter, and we primarily work with textiles, but I thought it would be an interesting way to push myself to learn something new--mainly, bead and sequin embroidery skillz. My amazing friend Sarah is hosting the hop, and I'm really excited to get to work on my project! I'm planning to use my stack of Summerlove FQs to make a mini, then add in some sequins to really spice it up! I even know exactly what kind of blocks I want to piece and where I plan to hang it in my house when I'm done, so really, the only hard thing (besides cutting into my stack of Summerlove) is to pick out what kind of sequins I want to use!

And, if the idea of working with sequins puts a buzz in your bonnet, by all means, sign up! Sarah is taking sign ups until August 20th. Sounds fun, right? I do understand if you've got much too much on your plate. In that case, go ogle Sarah's work because she's really quite good, and sometimes I hate her a little for being too awesome, know what I mean? But since we're friends, of course I would NEVER tell her that. (Hi Sarah!)

C'mon! This will be fun!

let's get acquainted, shall we?

My name is Audrey, and I'm the evil mastermind behind Hot Pink Quilts. I'm so glad you're here! If you're joining me from the Let's Get Acquainted blog hop, you already know the drill. If not, I'm going to tell you a bit about myself, share some pictures, answer some questions, then stun you with my mad quilting skillz.

But before I jump into that, be sure to check out Michèle-Renée's blog, Quilt Matters. Also, mucho thanks to Beth, who organized this shindig. Finally, thank you for stopping by!

I am Mama to two amazing little boys (2 years and 4 months) and the wife of a Ph.D. student. In the sixth grade, my mom taught me how to sew a dress, but no sewing machine and no additional instruction pretty much killed further sewing dreams. Until! My husband's grandmother gifted me her 1953 Singer sewing machine (Agatha), and my pal Karen taught me how to quilt. (Hi Karen!) When I'm not quilting or being a mommy or wife, I'm working on writing a five book YA series.

Now, here are copious pictures (or nine) of things I've made!

How long have you been quilting?
I started quilting in October....maybe November...of 2011. So not quite a year.
Favorite fabric (or wish list fabric):
I seriously heart Tula Pink. I have spent (and will spend) many many hours putting large quantities of her fabric into online shopping carts, only to face reality and my fabric budget.
Favorite craft book:
I apparently have joined the Elizabeth Hartman Practical Guide to Patchwork cult. It was the first modern quilting book I picked up, and I drooled over each and every quilt included in its luscious covers.
Favorite book (or book you are currently reading):
Right now? I adore Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta, and Savvy by Ingrid Law. There are about a kajillion others, but since this is supposed to be about quilting, I'll control myself. I'm currently reading Elantris by Brian Sanderson and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.
Favorite children's book:
Madeleine L'Engle was my favorite author when I was a kid, so I spent a lot of time immersed in her work. I was (and still am!) a huge Nancy Drew fan.
Favorite quilting tool:
My trusty sewing machine, Agatha. But since that's kind of cheating, I guess my rotary cutter with a fresh blade.

Okay, now that we've waded through all sorts of amazing and thrilling information and photos, how 'bout we get to the project? A good friend of mine is having a baby come late September, and of course, I had to make a quilt for her. After deciding on a design, then changing my mind and picking another one and repeating that cycle 3 or 4 times, I finally landed on this:

Baby K's Quilt
Materials Needed:
(36) 5" charms
3/4 yard fabric (2 different kinds) for border A & B fabrics
1 1/4 yard fabric for backing
1/3 yard fabric for binding
batting
coordinating thread

The quilt measures 42" square, and the fabric I used is Reunion by Sweetwater for Moda plus a lovely crimson batik. I have no idea what the backing or binding fabrics are, sorry! [Edit 12/8/12: The binding fabric is Sassy by Sandy Gervais. Thanks, Kelie!]

Cuts:
charm squares: cut all 36 into (4) 2.5" squares for 144 total squares
border fabrics A & B: (12) 3.5" x 12.5"; (18) 4" squares

1. Assemble the 2.5" charm pieces into four individual patchwork grids of 6x6. They should measure 12.5" square when complete. Of course, you're welcome to do as you'd like, but when I cut my charms, I made four separate piles so that each patchwork piece would have 1 of each type of fabric.

2. Using the 4" border fabric squares, create (36) 3.5" HSTs. If you're unfamiliar with HSTs, In Color Order has a great tutorial.

3. Create pinwheel blocks with your HSTs. (They'll measure 6.5" square.) I made five of my pinwheel blocks "spin" in one direction and four "spin" in the other direction. (See the picture below.)

4. Place 1 Border A and 1 Border B fabric pieces right sides together. Sew along one 12.5" end. Repeat this with the other 11 sets.

5. Assemble by row, then sew the rows together. (See the picture below.)

6. Baste, quilt, bind, and then you'll have your finished quilt! I quilted mine with straight diagonal lines through the corners of each patchwork square and 1/4" echoing the inside of the pinwheels and stripes. If you're into FMQ, I like the idea of feathers in the border stripes or Elizabeth Hartman's dogwood quilting in the patchwork sections.

In the past, I've lockstitched my quilting lines or just run them off the quilt, and this was the first quilt that I actually buried my threads. I had thought it would be a complicated and tedious process, but it really wasn't. It did take some time, but I would finish quilting one patchwork section, bury the threads, and move on to the next. The time was worth the effort as the starts and ends of the quilting lines look a lot cleaner.

This is the first time I've attempted to write out a project, so if you have any questions, or if anything is unclear, let me know by email or in the comments area, and I'll do what I can to clear things up. (Thanks!)

Blog Hop--Week One

I'm really excited to be included in the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop hosted by Plum and June. My turn isn't for awhile--thankfully, I have too much moving shenanigans to attend to--but this week, you have the opportunity to check out four awesome tutorials!


Nik from Bold Goods
Alyssa from Pile O' Fabrics
Kelsey from Kelsey Sews
Erin from Billy Button Designs

Go check them out!

As Agatha is in California and I am not, I've gotten no sewing in for two weeks. Not that I would have the time, but it still saddens my heart. I am hoping to visit a sewing lounge this next week, but as I tried very hard this week and was unable to get there, well, my hopes may be dashed. Here's hoping fora visit soon. There was some Alexander Henry fabric featured on their website that I may have to pick up.