Sewing Shoes? Haha!

Some quilters want to look really good when they sew! Read yesterday's post (and Victoria's comment) to understand this photo. And leave a comment to enter the book GIVEAWAY!

GIVEAWAY: 15 Minutes Play! Join the Blog Hop

"Makin' Me Crazy" (above) by Victoria Findlay Wolfe.

Do you love improvisational quilts? Liberated quilts? Maverick quilts? String quilts?

Whatever you call them, aren't they the best? They're my favorites!

 Now there's a book full of inspiration for improvisational quilt lovers!

The very best book on improv quilts is: 15 Minutes of Play by my friend Victoria Findlay Wolfe.  

 If you want to be inspired, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of her book. 

Scraps never looked so good! This is improvisational piecing reinvented - learn how to create your own creatively-collaged swatches of fabric in just 15 minutes a day. As you play, you'll sharpen your design skills and learn more about combining colors and prints in new ways. Discover just how distinctive classic blocks like Sawtooth Star or Flying Geese can be, when they're constructed with more spunk and spontaneity! 

You can win one right here by leaving a comment on this post. (US winners receive a hard copy of the book. International winners receive a Electronic copy of the book, direct from C&T.)

Winner announced on Dec. 12!

QUESTIONS: Does Victoria sew with her shoes on? Does she listen to music or does she prefer quiet? I've posed these questions to Victoria and her answers will appear among the comments today.

Tell us your answers too. (Winner will be picked at random.)

For more chances to win, visit the blog hop locations every day and enter there too!

 I made this red and white version (below) a few years ago and I love it. There are 4 of my quilts in Victoria's book (this red and white quilt is not in the book). I'm so thrilled to be part of this project.

This book is going to be a classic.

Happy blog hopping! Here's a "map" for you:

Dec 2nd: Angela Walters

Dec 3rd: Generation Q

Dec 4th: Tonya Ricucci

Dec 5th: Michele Foster

Dec 6th: Scott Hansen

Dec 7th: Amy Ellis

Dec 8th: Rachael daisy

Dec 9th: Jackie Kunkel

Dec. 10th: C & T Publishing

Quilt for Basics

This is my quilt for Victoria's Bumble Beans Inc. Basics Quilt Gather project. She's hoping to get 700 quilts for this transitional housing organization in New York City. That's thinking big! I hope this quilt warms someone's heart.

South Bronx Charity Quilts

My friend Victoria Findlay Wolfe (right) is looking for 700 finished quilts for a South Bronx project which will give quilts to formerly homeless families who are moving into transitional housing. She has 300 quilts already, and is planning to reach her goal by November! Read more  here: BumblebeansBasics. I'm going to make a quilt for this project. I'll show you when it's done.

Signature Block for Victoria

Victoria Findlay Wolfe of Bumblembeans in New York City is making a signature quilt and this is my contribution. I had no idea it would look like this. It's more traditional and reserved than I expected, but I like it. I chose this font (Monotype Corsiva) in Microsoft Word, printed it on paper, then traced it using a fabric pen. She's collecting blocks until the end of this month. Take a look.

Quilt Retreat in New York City!

Meet my friend Victoria of BumbleBeans in New York City. She hosted the most wonderful quilt retreat this weekend. Here she is at Rockefeller Center on Saturday. And here's our group below, from left to right: Jackie of CV Quiltworks, LeAnn of Nifty Quilts, me, Jessica of Life Under Quilts (in the blue coat), Kim of Pokeytown Kim (in the red coat), Victoria, Bonnie of The Scrappy Bee, and Helen from Long Island. (Andrea of The Little Collection wasn't in the photo.) We were in the Garment District and stopped for photos at this statue of a man working at a sewing machine.

This is Victoria's loft below, all set up for the retreat. We had plenty of space to work. She provided seven boxes of scraps for us to help ourselves to. Plus we brought more. And they were very cool scraps too! It was very interesting to see how other quilters used our scraps.

Victoria is a wonderful cook and she pampered us with all kinds of delicious dishes.

Here we are (above) sewing and talking and laughing. That's Jackie (below) working away.

This is Andrea above (The Little Collection) with a quilt that she made for her sister's wedding. See the quilting below. Isn't it beautiful?

LeeAnn brought her gorgeous eyelash quilt. We've seen it on her blog, so it was a real treat to see it in person.

Victoria showed us this stunning yellow star quilt (below) that she'll be exhibiting at the Empire Quilter's Show coming up later this month. She likes her quilts nice and big.

Here is LeeAnn in front of her zig-zag quilt that she made this weekend. Her color and pattern combinations were extraordinary. I love it.

Below are Bonnie's hand applique blocks. She alternated between machine and hand work. The foundation fabric is a pale gray, very nice. Each block has one "tile" that is cut in the shape of an object like a bird or a flower. And her stitches are tiny.

Below you can see my workspace. This quilt top in progress was inspired by a quilt that Bonnie has on her blog. I made blocks by randomly arranging the darker colors, then surrounding them with sawtooth borders. It doesn't look like Bonnie's anymore; but that's what started it all. I'll show you more as it develops.

After making a huge pile of sawtooth triangles, I took a break by starting the quilt top below. I think it needs some applique vines or something more, but I like it. There are some very unique fabrics in this quilt, including some that Victoria used in a Chinese New Year quilt.

It was so energizing and delightful to spend the weekend with talented and friendly quilters. Tomorrow I'll show you some photos from our Saturday afternoon "field trip" to see the quilts at the American Folk Art Museum.

Colorful String Quilt Includes Selvages

This wonderfully colorful scrap quilt was made by Nifty Quilts in the Northwest USA. She's a member of the 15 Minutes Play...Bumblebeans group. I want to make one of these. If you want to see the tutorial for this method at Bumblebeans, click here.

.

Nifty's blog is full of inspiration. You'll be amazed at what she's made with men's shirts from thrift stores too. Take a look!

Victoria's Awesome Selvage Quilt!

Take a look at this wonderful selvage quilt by Victoria of Bumblebeans in New York City!
I love how she put all this together, the stripes, dots, selvages and light touches of navy that make this quilt dance! Bravo Victoria!

Visit her site: http://www.bumblebeansinc.com/.