Color and Form Converge in Convergence

 As many of you know, Ricky Tims is one of my favorite humans and quilt makers. One of my favorite Ricky quilt designs is Convergence. I made my first Convergence quilt back probably about 8 years ago (I really need to be better about my quilt documentation). It was so fun to see the magic happen when those strips came together. That magic happens every time! 

Last weekend I taught Convergence at Quilting Bits and Pieces in Eudora. The class was really fun and all the students made magic with their fabric choices.

Of course I made another Convergence for class sample. Totally difference fabric vibes. Different magic.

During class, I used a third set of fabrics as a demonstration. These were Kaffe fabrics I found in my stash. Since you only need a FQ of each fabric, it was easy to find 4 Kaffe Collective fabrics that worked well together.

The Convergence Quilt is really simple to make. Without giving away all of Ricky's secrets (You really should get this book!), Convergence is made by slicing, converging,  and resewing. Twice. The process is simple and what gives each one a unique look is: 1. fabric choices, and 2. border creativity.

My first Convergence featured simple stripes in the borders. Number 3 (with the blue, green, and purple) is going to have some of the blue butterfly print cut on the diagonal with a complementing (maybe the blue) fabric. Sort of like this one I found on Pinterest.

I could make a million of these. And I just might!

Curious about Convergence? Check out Ricky's Convergence book. You'll love it.

 

This BOM, the first by Quiltworx, is Candy Coated Snowflakes. And its really KEWWWWELLLL!

I started this lovely BOM in 2019 or maybe the beginning of 2020. I'm a little  confused because I started making it in 2019 for Mea Bernina in bright batiks, and then started it again in my colorway in 2020. In any case, I have finished the seventh snowflake (I think my favorite) so I can see the end in sight - except for about a million flying geese.

This has been a really fun project, filled with fabrics I don't normally use like sparkly metallics, white tone on tone, and light grey geometrics. I guess mine don't have candy - I wanted them to look more like Snowflakes.  I'm using a rich dark blue from Stof Fabrics for the background. And I added some of the blue background into the snowflake so they look more like flakes than inset circles.

Like all (most?) of the Quiltworx patterns, Candy Coated Snowflake is foundation paper pieced.  The snowflakes look like they are inset circles, but Judy and company (her family) cleverly designed the snowflakes with 6 templates that attach to the 6 flake points, so it all goes together so easy. Then a small-ish circle is appliqued to the center. My seventh snowflake doesn't have the center circle yet. What color should I use? Opinions?

So the next time this comes up on my project rotation, in about a month, I'll start the flying geese border. Fun, Fun, Fun!

Curious about Candy Coated Snowflake (with or without the candy)?  Check out the Quiltworx website. I hope they do another BOM this year,

 

Merrily We Quilt A Long

 Ahhhh, The Quilt A Long or QAL as we aficionados like to call it. Lots of teachers and designers lead these QAL (also CAL and KAL for crocheters and knitters), but so far, my favorite is Gudrun Erla of GE Designs.  I've participated in 2 so far and am about to start my third this week.

What is a QAL? The details vary a bit, but basically a group of people work on the same quilt at the same time. Sometimes its on one day, other times it progresses over several weeks. The quilter usually buys the pattern (or already has it) but uses their own fabric (and sometimes buys new fabric for the QAL - any excuse, right?). The last aspect of a QAL is that the designer or leader shares tips and techniques during the process, these days via Facebooks Live or some other virtual platform.

Wait, isn't that kind of like a Block of the Month? When I think about it, it is. But a QAL usually takes place over a much shorter time span, and except for the pattern, there is usually no charge. Somehow they just feel different. Maybe it is the togetherness feeling of participating in an activity together.

My favorite QAL leader is Gudrun Erla, of GE Designs. She is the force behind the Stripology Rulers and Patterns. She is creative, fun, a great mixologist (a special feature of her QAL and Friday live events), and a great pattern designer.

 The Stripology Rulers come in different sizes and have different markings, but their common characteristic are the slots in which your rotary blade sits to cut straight strips. 

The first QAL I participated in was actually a Strip A Long - Strip to Shore. I was really taken with this pattern and I immediately envisioned a sand and water palette. 

The blocks were easy to make and really lent themselves to the contrast between the "sand" and the "water". I only got a few rows worth of blocks done before another interesting QAL piqued my interest. This quilt is on my UFO list and I'm excited to get it done. 

I hadn't finished Strip to Shore when another GE QAL was offered - Hope. My sweet husband Saul was ill and I saw this as a sign to have hope. Unfortunately, no amount of hope could stop the ravages of Parkinson's Disease and he passed away on the 16th of May. The quilting process was and continues to be a solace for me and my healing. 

For Hope I used a couple of Layer Cakes that I already had. I loved the bold colors. They look really cool with this dark charcoal as the center strip.

There are 2 Hope blocks and they go together so that there is a minimal amount of matching needed.  In the FB group - Gundrun's Quilt Crew, other quilters posted all the different layouts possible with these blocks. I'm still not sure which layout I'm going to use, but I'm leaning towards this one. 

Next week on Gundrun's Tipsy Tuesday, we start Wanda, a wonky 9 patch. The feature that attracted me to this quilt is the use of an interesting strip or plaid in the sashing. I don't know yet about my fabric choices. I plan to dig into my stash of Charm packs (5 inch squares) tomorrow. I'm also considering black and white 9 patches with some red thrown in. Who knows? We'll see what the fabric fairies whisper to me.

There's lots to be curious about in Gundrun's world. Check out her Website and FB groups - it'll be well worth it!

50 Quilts from 50 States - Oklahoma

 I didn't finish as many of my 50/50 quilts as I had planned - life really took a turn in 2020. But I did finish OKIE DOKIE my Oklahoma quilt.

In the past, Oklahoma has been a state I drove through to get somewhere else, or the place I met my kids' Dad for a handoff so that they could visit him in Texas. But as I started to explore different parts of the state I learned there's so much more. I really love the red dirt peaking through the rolling hills. 

Route 66 runs right through the state, so that was the inspiration for the quilt. It was established in 1926 and was one of the original highways in the US Highway system.  I like to imagine a young family driving Route 66 in the 1930's on a little adventure from Chicago to Los Angeles. 

The centerpiece of the quilt is a colorful tea towel I got at an Oklahoma rest stop and information center on Interstate 40 on my way to Arizona a couple of years ago. It lent itself perfectly to a quilt with 30s reproduction fabric. OK, an idea was starting to coalesce.

Traditional quilt blocks, a Route 66 sign, and a sillouette of the End of the Trail statute found in the National Cowboy museum, combined with the Oklahoma tea towel  - this is going to be a cute quilt. 

My friend Patti Pearce makes a lot of quilts with vintage linens, so she was the perfect person to quilt this. She did a fantastic job.

I've written a pattern for OKIE DOKIE and its available in my Etsy Shop. I love that my adventure is continuing state by state. 

Curious about Oklahoma? Check it Out!