Sewing, APQ Radio, and Modern Bee Book

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Work in Progress by Jeni Baker
Work in Progress, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.
Happy Sunday! It's been a beautiful Spring today here in Wisconsin.  The day started off with the first session of a Introduction to Quilting class at The Sewcial Lounge and will end tonight with the season 6 premiere of Mad Men! Busy quilting and cleaning in between.

I took a break from things I had to do yesterday to stitch up something that's been in the back of my mind for a while.  I have been thinking a lot again about Kaleidoscope quilts lately.  I love the way they look but I really dislike the cutting involved.  So I thought why not paper piece it? I'm still playing around with it, but I think it's going to be much more my speed!

I'm super excited (and honored!) to be a guest on Pat Sloan's radio show, American Patchwork & Quilting Radio, tomorrow afternoon! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tiny bit nervous! I hope you'll listen in if you have the time! It will be live at 4:00pm EST (3:00pm CST), and will be available to listen afterwards as well! Tune in here to listen tomorrow!

It's going to be a great show! The lovely Jacqueline Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt Works and Heather Jones of Olive and Ollie will be on as well! I'll be back with another reminder tomorrow in case you forget! :)

Another exciting thing to announce, I have a quilt pattern included in this book coming in October from Stash Books, Modern Bee: 13 Quilts To Make With Friends.  It was compiled by Lindsay Conner of Lindsay Sews and based around a virtual quilting bee that started last year. Lindsay Conner has set up a website for the book if you're interested in more information! I'll be sharing my quilt later this year!

The book will hit stores October 1st, 2013, but can be pre-ordered now.

Iron Casualty by Jeni Baker
Iron Casualty, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.
In other less exciting news, my hot pink iron bit the dust this week.  I managed to knock it off the ironing board a record three times this week, and the third fall finally killed it.  I tried my best to get it back together but no luck.  I replaced it with the same thing, but unfortunately it doesn't come in pink anymore. Oh well, charcoal gray is nice too!

George by Jeni Baker
George, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.
George! He is a bit cranky in this photo, he doesn't like it when his bed and towels need to be washed!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Spring air
Sound of: Keane
Taste of: Pancheros
Sight of: George
Feel of: Warm sunshine

Good Things about Today:
- Smooth class this morning!
- Finished the laundry today!
- Cookies for breakfast!
- Mad Men tonight!

13 comments :

  1. That pic of George is so funny! He looks like he is just glaring at you, waiting for his bedding :)

    Congrats on the radio show and the book - fun!

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  2. Sounds like a fun day and yay for the APQ interview! I'll have to check it out.
    Love your kaleidoscope block. I just made a mini today and paper pieced mine too. Great minds think alike! :)

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  3. Jeni - is that a pattern (the paper pieced kalaidascope block)something you've written? Or did you get it somewhere? I'm trying to introduce my quilting group to paper piecing and show them it is not as scary as they think, I linked them to here, and many are interested. I love the bright colours you choose. Thanks!

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    1. I drew it up on the computer! I looked for a pattern first but didn't have any luck finding one!

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  4. Oh Jeni I love your color choices on that first block. So fancy. Love it. And. A grumpy bunny? I think he's still okay in my book.

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  5. Love the new block and I totally agree ~ paper piecing is the best!
    George is so cute and looking annoyed ~ get his bedding back to him!

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  6. Hi Jeni! Poor lil bunny! DH gets grumpy when Im washing sheets too! Is that an oversized ironing board??

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  7. Hey Jeni!

    I am in the thick of a paper pieced kaleidoscope... let me tell you it's a big undertaking. I'm making 6" finished blocks, 63 for large baby sized quilt, which means 126 units.

    The good news is there's a pattern. I linked to it in the blog post I wrote about it: http://modernbiasblog.com/2013/03/31/a-fine-line/

    Additionally with the 6 inch size you can start with charm squares - the larger triangles can be made from a diagonally cut charm square, and the smaller ones can come from a quarter square cut of a charm square.

    I haven't written a blog post on my progress in a few days, but this weekend I finished making all the units, laid it out, and sewed the blocks - today I have to remove papers and try to get a couple of rows sewn together for my guild meeting on tuesday. Here's an in-progress shot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaydia/8628803247/

    If you don't have a time crunch, go for the paper piecing. It works, but it is a very long process. If you want 12" blocks without paper piecing, check out the link to Don't Call Me Betsy's Kaleidoscope QAL from a couple of years ago. She has cutting instructions and sewing directions!

    Good luck!
    -Carla

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    1. Very cool, thanks for sharing! That's funny, the pattern I mocked up is for a 6" block too.

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  8. Love that 1,000 Pyramids quilt and the kaleidoscope idea sounds great!! What kind of iron do you use? i am in the market for a new one. (oops--I dropped mine also--crash!!) Thanks, Julierose

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    1. I got this one again! (same as the pink just different color) - http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-3017-000-000-Sunbeam%C2%AE-Classic-Iron/dp/B001AMJ0KS

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  9. I have the same ironing board cover ;) I have teal walls so it matches the color of my room.

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