Virtual Quilting Bee Block #16 Tutorial

Welcome to Live a Colorful Life. I'm so happy to have you here as the next stop on Amy's Virtual Quilting Bee.

 Amy is one of my favorite blogging friends. We have spent minutes together, twice, at spring quilt market, first in Kansas City last year and then again in Portland this past spring. We always have grand plans to spend some quality time together, but if you have ever attended quilt market, you know that is hard to come by. It is a blur of activity. Someday...

Just a little bit about me. I have been quilting for about twenty years. I have been married for lots of years to my husband, whom I met in college. He totally supports this passion of quilting and helped me turn our never-used living room into a great sewing room. I love sewing with solids and selvages. I drink too much coffee and love rainy days, which are few and far between here in the central valley of California.

If you are new to the Virtual Quilting Bee you can see the previous fifteen blocks and get more general info about the Virtual Quilting Bee and how you can participate here.

Today we are going to make a block named Chiral Music. Quickly, here is the back story on how it got such a quirky name. As you can see, it is kind of a mirror image type of block. After I finished making it the other night, I sent a picture over to our son and daughter-in-law, wondering if they could come up with a snappy name, better than in-out, hello-goodbye, etc.

Almost immediately Aaron texted me back with "chiral music." I texted back, "did you mean 'choral'?" Nope. "Chiral" refers to a molecule that appears to be a mirror image but actually is not exactly superimposable. Got that? And "music" is kind of a play on word on the word I thought he meant, choral. I liked the name. So let me show you how easy this block is to construct.

From Fabric A (dark):
One 3" square
One 2 1/2" square
Three 1 1/2" by 2 1/2" rectangles

From Fabric B (medium):
One 3" square
Two 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles
One 1 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangle

From Fabric C (light):
Two 3" squares
One 2 1/2" square
Two 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles
Three 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles
One 1 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangle

 (how did my cutting mat suddenly seem to become neon yellow??)

Cut all the 3" squares in half diagonally to make half square triangles (I like to oversize them just a bit, so I can trim them for accuracy).

Pair the two triangles from Fabric A and Fabric B each with a triangle from Fabric C. Sew. Press open.Trim each to 2 1/2".

Sew the three 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles from Fabric A and Fabric C together along the long side. Press open.

Sew the two 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles from Fabric B and Fabric C together along the short side. Press open.

Lay out your block like this:

The center part of the block is a simple nine-patch. After you have that part sewn together and pressed (I pressed toward the half square triangles in the top and bottom row, and toward the center patch in the middle row, so they nest together nicely), then you are ready to add top and bottom segments, like this:

I pressed away from the nine-patch rows. Then you are ready to add the side segments, and press toward the side segments.

Done!

Be careful with your placement of the half square triangle blocks. I made my practice block out of Briar Rose, and stared at it, knowing it was wrong, but I couldn't figure it out right away:

 Make sure it looks like this:

I hope you enjoyed making this block. It looks so different in solid and print. Do you have a preference?

And the next time you and your friends are talking about molecules (because that happens all the time, right?), you can impress them by mentioning the asymmetrical chiral molecule.

Thanks for stopping by this week. I hope you will come back and stay awhile! Be sure to add your block to the Virtual Quilting Bee Flickr Group.

And because this is the final block tutorial for the Virtual Quilting Bee, I think that qualifies as a Friday Finish, so I'm linking up with crazymomquilts.

Finish It Friday

So what happens when I get a nice assortment of selvages from one of my all-time favorite designers, Laurie Wisbrun?

I organize them.

Then I super organize them in the order they were available for purchase. OCD?

Then I try a new trick I learned from Cristy--glue basting.

Then I turn them into a cute zipper pouch. Side 1:

Side 2:

Robert Kaufman really stepped up and started turning the color registration dots into an art form of their own!

And add a label on the inside:

And then make a lined drawstring bag from one of Laurie's latest lines. Side 1:

Side 2:

 

And then sigh from pure pleasure of having worked on such fun projects.

Getting to link a completed project at Crazy Mom Quilts? Fun!

iFinished!

A few months ago, I started a really fun project for a Lego lover after seeing this pattern on etsy. Instant download, quick trip to JoAnn (with no 's' on the end...).

Sunday night all the weaving in of the ends was completed.

Mission accomplished.

Linking up to Finish It Friday!

The Name Game: Sew Wrong Sew Right

Molly is here this week from Sew Wrong Sew Right.

I'm so glad Molly is here because I have a fun little story to share first. Mark and I were at quilt market in Portland in May. So as we were walking down the aisles, which is pretty intimidating because it is such a huge show, we paused at Angela Walters' booth, and there was Molly, who was helping in her booth. Now we had never met before, but she totally blew me away when she said, "Aren't you Cindy from Live a Colorful Life?" I am not used to anyone recognizing me. I mean, that just never happens to me! And then she said she regularly followed The Name Game and Really Random Thursday! So I'm thrilled to have her playing along this week.

How did you choose the name for your blog?

I decided I wanted to start blogging a few years back after being an avid blog follower for years.  I was jumping full force back into quilting after a 2 year focus on my etsy shop- and I wanted to get to know other quilters and share my experience, both good and bad with the quilting community.  I told my better half Jeff that I wanted to start and blog and the first thing he asked me was "what are you going to name it?"  That sent us on a several day long tangent of coming up with blog names and checking to see if they were already taken... We got some real winners in that brainstorming session... but I settled on sew wrong sew right because I think we all have those moments of pure joy when something goes sew right and also those moments of terror and dread when something goes sew wrong.  I felt at the time that many bloggers weren't sharing much on their process, just showing glamorous photos of perfect looking finished projects- and to me that didn't feel authentic.  I wanted my readers to know that I make mistakes too, and that the lessons learned from them are the most valuable ones.  I hope that my followers laugh with me when I fail and cheer with me when something comes out just right... those highs and lows are what make our journey as quilters so memorable.

 Were there other names you considered, and can you share any of them with us?

Oh boy were there ever some other potential names-  let me just start this by saying that one of the things I love most about Jeff is his uncanny ability to make me laugh- every single day.  He reminds me not to take myself too seriously, and the harder I try, the more funny he gets.  So I spent a few days trying to think of the perfect blog name, and he is constantly interjecting with names like "I'm Sexy and I Sew it"  (yes a really lame riff on the even lamer song "I'm sexy and I know it") - I mean come on.  That one still makes me laugh till this day though, and that is why he is so great- but that name was a no go.  He eventually came up with the one I picked, so he is not all fun and games, sometimes he is a little bit brilliant too! :)

Now that you are recognized by Sew Wrong Sew Right, are you happy with it, or do you wish you could change it to something else?

 I am happy with my blog name, and I don't really think I would change it if I could.  It is weird though, now that I am taking on customer quilts- I wanted to start a name for that business and it made sense to use my blog name or tie it in somehow- but I didn't think including the sew wrong part in my business name was such a great idea, as it wouldn't exactly inspire confidence in potential customers.  So for my business I chose Sew Right Quilting Service- and I think it ties it all in nicely.  Overall, it has been a good name for me, and I think I will stick with it!   

 

Thanks so much Cindy for the chance to share my name story on The Name Game- hope you all laughed a bit!

Thanks for playing this week, Molly. Even though you didn't choose "I'm Sexy and I Sew It," well, at least you know how Jeff views you!

Please stop by and say hello to Molly. As for me, I'm hoping we become really good friends.

The Name Game will be on hiatus until September 9. I'll be posting now and then in the meantime. Hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer.

The Name Game: Rainbow Hare

Today Janine is here from Rainbow Hare, all the way from East Sussex, United Kingdom. Not only does she sew and quilt, she makes the cutest little hares (you can read her "March Hare" blog post here).

How did you choose the name for your blog?

The short answer is that I called this blog ‘Rainbow Hare Quilts’ because I had a different blog called ‘The Rainbow Hare’ and I made this blog to focus on sewing, quilts and textile art. I couldn’t manage to keep up with two blogs, though, and this was the one I’ve kept going with. I originally intended to turn some designs from the first blog into quilts and wall hangings on this one but I’ve only done one so far…

The answer to “Why Rainbow Hare” is a little longer:

Before I started blogging I saw some hares in cages at an agricultural show. At that time I was studying and working long hours and I had no time to do anything creative. I identified with the hares as being confined and prevented from natural expression and creativity so the idea of a hare becoming free of its cage was like a metaphor for starting to blog and sewing again.

 I chose the ‘rainbow’ part because I associate colour with happiness and difference and possibility (for example, you can combine or mix colours in new ways and endless variations), as opposed to monochrome shades which I put on the side of the cage, for example being dull and grey and dreary or having rigid black and white thinking.(Later I discovered I’d actually seen Belgian Hares, which are a type of domesticated rabbit so named because they originated in Belgium and have been bred to resemble hares http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-belgian-hare.htm/).

 

Were there other names you considered, and can you share any of them with us?

I didn’t consider any other names at the time. The other day I thought ‘The Quilter of Foxhunt Green’ might have a nice ring to it but if we ever move house I’d have to change it again!

 

Now that you are recognized by Rainbow Hare, are you happy with it, or do you wish you could change it to something else?

 I’m happy with the ‘Rainbow Hare’ part but I’m not so sure about the word ‘Quilts’. I do love making quilts but I also like making wall hangings, cloth dolls, felt hares…anything in fabric or yarn so I think my blog is really a sewing blog rather than a strictly quilting one.

Thanks so much, Janine, for playing the Name Game today. Please stop by Rainbow Hare and say hi to Janine.

Next week, Molly will be here from Sew Wrong Sew Right. She has a great story about a blog name she might have considered. You won't want to miss it. And then we will take a break until September. Stay cool.

The Name Game: Random Thoughts...do or "di"

I don't know what it is like where you are, but here in the Central Valley of California, it's supposed to hit 113 degrees today! So stay cool by reading about Di, here from Random Thoughts...do or "di".

How did you choose the name for your blog?

I started my blog as a way for our children to follow us on our vacation through Brittany in 2010. It was originally named "On Vacation with Doc and di". 

When we returned from vacation my sister told me I should start writing about my quilts.

 (I want to copy this quilt)

I wanted to write about more than quilts, like family, travel, cooking and canning and gardening, so Random popped into my mind. 

 I changed the name to Random Thoughts do or "di" because I have always wanted to use my nickname in a business venture. My dream business would be a dessert business called "Desserts to di for"

 (are you hungry yet?)

Were there other names you considered, and can you share any of them with us?

No, after the original name change nothing else seems right.

(pattern here)

Now that you are recognized by Random Thoughts...do or "di," are you happy with it, or do you wish you could change it to something else?

I often wish I had a more creative name for my blog but after nearly three years I don't want to change it. I also like that people know my name  is "di" from my blog.

 

Thanks for playing along this week. With such a great blog name, you definitely should also link up to Really Random Thursday as well!