Scenes from a Road Trip

I finally unloaded my camera today. 

I found these from our road trip to Pensacola's A&E Pharmacy.  

Pharmacy?  Really?  People actually go there to attend to medical needs instead of fabric?  Who are they kidding?  Or, maybe they've just never walked to the other side of the store.  Or, maybe, just maybe, they only fill their prescriptions at A&E BECAUSE they know they can find fabric too.      

While we were there, Kelly S recalled we did the same thing last April.  She also suggested, April would have to be our annual A&E road trip month because this makes two years in a row.

Besides shopping, we did manage to conduct a little bit of guild business.  Kelly S brought siggy blocks for everyone to sign.  These were in preparation for Melanie's surprise going-away gift.  Additionally, several new members joined.    

Here is Bobbi attempting to use her siggy block in place of her forgotten name tag.  (I knew there was a good reason I hadn't downloaded these pictures and written about them.)  

Melanie couldn't/didn't join us for our shopping adventure.  She is moving soon - very close to Kelly B so you know they're going to have fun - and is in destash mode.  Sorry Melanie.  We missed you.

Melissa brought baby Gus with her.  Gus did not sign a block. 

Kassie was finally able to join us!  We've missed her.  She selected these goodies as well as Scrap Basket Beauties, the latest book from local quilter and author Kim Brackett. 

I love this photo of Holly looking at fabric.  She is so intensely focused. 

This is Ollie's - yes, Ollie from this post - quiet time project.  It's all hand pieced and is a study in textures.  He's chosen an upholstery weight fabric, an oil batik, a quilting cotton, and dupioni silk.  

While not an ECMQG member, he easily could fit right in with us.   

A shopping cart full of fun!  Shhh.  We won't tell. 

A camera malfunction and unintentional picture.

A group photo.  Insert the smiling faces of Kim, new members Melissa L, Liz, and Rhonda, as well as Melissa & baby Gus who were there, but just not available when we posed.  I think that's everyone who made the trip.  If I forgot someone, please let me know.

Several hours of fabric shopping leaves you hungry and thirsty.  We decided to try the newest downtown eatery, al Fresco - Fresh Air Dining, located on the corner of S Palafox and Main Street.  

Al Fresco is modeled after the airstream diners along that stretch of Hwy 30-A in Seaside. Pensacola has long needed something this cool and this hip.  It compliments the recent improvements to downtown beautifully.

Three weeks after opening, our lunch choices were limited to Z Taco and Jerry's Cajun Cafe where we all found something we just had to try.  During lunch, we began an impromptu Show & Tell session.

Quilt model Holly with Diane's quilt.  It's a Wonky Log Cabin.  Her first "modern quilt".   

Quilt model Holly, again (we love TALL girls), and Marcy showing two completed baby quilts. These are for a long-time friend who always wanted one of Marcy's quilts.  

The fabric for these came from stash - older, "not-so-modern-stash" - that Marcy found during her sewing room remodel and renovation.  Simply by adding a variety of neutrals to the mix and playing around with ideas, she created coordinating modern quilts. 

Spiral free motion quilting for the circles. And possibly pebble quilting everywhere else.  Sorry.  Not-so-good-photos, but the quilting was as gorgeous as always from Marcy.

Sometimes it not so much the fabric that is modern, but the attitude with which you approach a project.

Cindy
ECMQG Secretary

Giveaway Day with Sew, Mama, Sew!

Leslie just reminded me about this fabulous event - Giveaway Day by Sew, Mama, Sew!

Even though it says May 6th, which was Monday, in actuality, it runs through Friday.  May 10th.  5:00 p.m.  PST.

I should know this.  Our own Wendi, of prsd4tim2, is participating.  You'll have to read her blog to find out what she made and is giving away, but I can tell you this - it is won-der-ful!  I don't think any of our other guild members are participating.  If I've missed someone, please let me know.

Sew, Mama, Sew! has organized and coordinated this biannual event for the past 5 years.  Their reason for doing so?  "One of the reasons we coordinate Giveaway Day twice a year is the help you find great new blogs to read and to help bloggers find new fans. New bloggers can sometimes feel like they’re writing in a vacuum until people start showing up to comment. Even if you found their blog via a giveaway, a few kind, encouraging words in the comments can mean a lot." 

Take a peek.  Find a giveaway or two, or three, or a dozen, to enter.  Start following another creative sole.  Make a new online friend.

It's all good.

Cindy
ECMQG Secretary

To Boston With Love

We all know how terrible last week was for many.

As quilters, as creative people, as nurturers, as humans, we feel when others are hurt or hurting.  

We want to find a way to comfort, to say "we are thinking about you" "we are praying for you" or "we care".  We want to find a way to bring peace.

The Vancouver MQG initiated a project to do just that - To Boston With Love. 

"To Boston With Love is a collaborative effort of makers to bring peace and love from far and wide.  What we're planning is a public exhibition of flags strung onto banners that will be displayed in Boston - hopefully by early June 2013.  Details are still being ironed out... In the meantime, we need to get going on flag making!" 

Kelly Spear is coordinating this for us.  We will collect flags during our May 11th Meeting and Sew Day.  Please leave a comment here, or respond to the EMail, if you'd like to participate.  Additionally, please let us know how many flag(s) you'll be contributing.  

Need inspiration?  Take a peek a these tutorials from other generous quilters and creators.  Thank you to all who share so the rest of us can play.

Tutorials for the first two flags can be found here.  They are from Happy Sew Lucky Patterns & Kits.

Strippy Heart from Happy SEW Lucky Patterns & Kits

LOVE Flag Quilt from Happy SEW Lucky Patterns & Kits

Sarah, from house of krom, has a tutorial for this improv pieced heart here.

No tutorial for this appliqued beauty, but it was too pretty to pass up as inspiration.  It's from the blog izzyinspired.blogspot.com.

Jodi, of Pleasant Home, created this improve pieced heart.  Her tutorial can be found here.

Here is another version of an improv pieced heart which CrochetnQuilt posted via 15 Minutes of Play.

And of course, there is the wonky LOVe tutorial from KelbySews via Sew, Mama, Sew!

Plus there's the flickr group that already has tons of BEAUTIFUL flags.

Won't you join us?

Cindy

ECMQG Secretary

April Road Trip

Remember, we do not have a regular meeting and SEW-day planned this month.

Instead, we have this:

This is A&E Pharmacy, home to more than 12,000 bolts of cotton quilting fabric and more.  Glenna, one of those helpful folks behind the cutting counter, says "And that doesn't count what's in the back room."

Besides fabric, they have notions, patterns, pre-cuts, books, crafting supplies, mardi gras beads, templates, cutting tools, etc.

In fact, this little blurb "When I was at the Drug Store the other day, I found these three fabrics...", from this blog, piqued my curiosity.  Although Wendi didn't mention it by name, it could only be A&E!  Hello?  Drug Store?  Fabric?  By any chance do you live in Pensacola?  Yep.  

Small world that it is, Wendi is now an integral member of the ECMQG community of modern quilters.  Thanks to A&E.

These folks are the knowledgeable ones.  I call them the Cutting Counter Goodies.  The advice, encouragement, expertise, laughs, and friendly customer service keep people coming back.  

A&E Cutting Counter Goodies - Martha (front center); Glenna, Tovah, & Veronica (2nd row); Ollie (center back)

Another local quilter, blogger, and author - Kim Brackett - described A&E like this in her 2009 post:  

"There is a wonderful fabric store in Pensacola that you would probably miss if you were to drive right by it. The name of this enchanted place had been A&E Pharmacy. When I looked up the telephone number recently, I noticed several divisions listed: A&E Fabric, Variety & Craft Store; A&E Pharmacy; and A&E Appliance Center. All are located in a small, old-fashioned strip shopping center. (You could save a lot of time if you ever need to pick up some thread, your Zoloft prescription, and a new washing machine!) The fabric department has grown over the years, but has not pushed out the crafts section where, in addition to crafty items, they sell Mardi Gras and other seasonal decorations."

Not much has changed.  Except for the fabric selections.  And maybe a couple of newer faces behind the cutting counter.  And the quilts hanging throughout the store.  Currently, most of them are the quilts featured in Kim's latest book, Scrap-Basket Beauties.

Saturday is going to be fun.  I hope you plan on joining us.  Please wear your  name tag and remember to bring your 2013 ECMQG Membership Card.  Your dues must be up-to-date to receive the special shopping day discount.  If you need to pay dues, we can take care of that Saturday too.

The convoy/carpool from Crestview is meeting at Hardee's at 8:00 a.m.  The plan is to leave Crestview no later than 8:15 a.m.

While we wait patiently for A&E to open their doors, how about visiting another westside gem?  Daylight Donuts, just up the road, makes all of their donuts by hand each and every morning.  I'll be there.

See you Saturday!

Reveal Squeal! Part 2

This is the second post about our Madrona Road Challenge projects.  The first post with pictures and stories can be found here.


Debra's creativity and practicality were expressed by making these strip pieced placemats.  The week following our meeting, Debra and her husband, began what is supposed to be a year's long journey through the US in their RV.  

Obviously, Debra was drawn to the Memoir print too, as she chose it as her focus fabric.  Have Sewing Machine; Will Travel!  I'm looking forward to Debra's updates from the road.  Now to convince her to blog about her adventures.  The pictures of her condensed (and organized!) RV sewing space prove that it is possible for quilting to be portable.

  

Kristy and Kathleen decided to "pay it forward".  Free fabric.  A family at their church expecting a new baby.  Well, how about a quilt and a matching tote bag?  Kristy and Kathleen, once again, as in they've done six or seven times previously, collaborated and shared their love and talents.

It is so nice to have a bestie, a side kick, a partner in crime, to share creativity with, and then, enrich someone's life.  Well done ladies!  

Although a high school reunion kept her away from our meeting, Kelly shared her finish, and her inspiration, with us via Facebook...

and via Marcy at the meeting. 

In Kelly's words "My husband and I would like to have our own farm someday, so I was really drawn to this Farmstead print (with the truck).  I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I wanted to feature that print, and turn the other prints into hexagons."

"But I got a little crazy with the hexagons, and just couldn't finish what I originally planned.  So yesterday, I came up with this idea...it's supposed to be a kitchen window looking out over our farm.  I've always wanted a kitchen window, but I've never had one, and I can't think of a more perfect view from the kitchen than our very own farm!"

"I used some of the hexagons I had already pieced, and made them into a curtain/shade.  Because, what quilter wouldn't want to have a hexagon shade?  And the text print is the window sill.  If that wasn't already cheesy enough, to add in a little more cheesiness, I'm calling this "A Window into the Future."

For those of you that know Kelly, this comes from the heart.  Her dream of having a farm "one day" really is "just a dream" at this time because as a military family, until retirement, dreams are put on hold.

Faye gave us an original design with her Bubbles Baby Quilt.  Her inspiration came from this quilt that she's been constructing off and on for several months, which includes appliqued circles as a final design element.

  

This was not a quilt that came together easily, even though she started  immediately after receiving her fat 8th bundle.  She played,  mulled over her design, asked for input, and played some more.  These colors were "just not me" she said on more than one occasion.

Faye's use of negative space highlights the print "bubbles" which are fused and appliqued circles.  Her templates were traced from everyday household objects - paper plates, cans, glasses, etc.  The binding is scrappy and pieced.  It was quilted with a random meandering stipple.

Marcy was another one who began her project almost as soon as she received that little fabric bundle.  Using white as her background and neutral fabric, she constructed Bow Tie blocks to make this table topper.

As always, Marcy's quilting is exquisite.  This time, she quilted her favorite swirly spiral around the perimeter, while the white centers where the four blocks meet is reminiscent of the petals of a zinnia or a chrysanthemum. 

Marcy chose to back her table topper with additional yardage of the blue Sprout print, and her binding is Sprout in graphite.

Madrona Road has now taken us on ten quilt journeys.  We have four more to go.  

Reveal Squeal!

Our Madrona Road Challenge items were revealed during our March meeting.  All I can say is "Wow!".  

For those of you who may not know, this challenge was presented by The Modern Quilt Guild using Michael Miller Fabrics Madrona Road line designed by Violet Craft.  We were tasked with creating something quilty.  Participating chapters of the MQG received the "boy" or blue colorway, and could then stipulate additional guidelines and dates.  Anyone who completed something quilty could include it in the Flicker pool by January 31st, when Violet would personally pick several winners whose items would be displayed in the Michael Miller booth.

We had so many projects and stories.  I'm going to split this post over several days because there is so much to share.  

I'll say it again, if you're not coming to our meetings, you are missing out.  The majority of these pictures do not do justice to the quilts.  There is nothing like seeing the details up close, or touching the fabric, or hearing someone's enthusiasm or frustrations as they present their quilting journey/story.

In no particular order we have:

Wendi, who actually had yardage in the "girl" colorway because she hadn't joined our guild when we received our fabric bundles, made this beauty.  (Ok, this photo is not so good, but you can find prettier photos on her blog, prsd4tim2.)  She decided to participate anyway.  Her quilt is based on the Heximetry pattern from asquaredw.  

Kim works quick.  In fact, her little baby quilt was finished in time for the national deadline of January 31st and included in the Madrona Road Flickr Pool where Violet complimented Kim saying "I really love the negative space and the quilting - beautiful job!". 

Coincidentally, Kim's design is based on a free pattern and tutorial by Wendi's daughter, Amanda, of acraftyfox.  It's the Pointed In The Right Direction Pillow tutorial.  (I like how Kim coordinated her sweater to her quilt.  That was planned, right?)  

When Kim made this, we had no idea of the connection because...Wendi was an EMail participant only.  She had never come to our meetings.  We, I, found her through a comment on her blog, and the rest is history.  Wendi posted about this interconnectedness, which you can read about here. 

Star light.  Star bright.  The first star I see tonight.  This is the prayer wish my children recite every night as I tuck them into bed, so Kira's quilt holds a special place in my heart.

Kira based her design on an older wonky star tutorial from Silly BooDilly.  The fact that Kira covered the corners of her center block and really ex-ten-ded her star points, makes it all her own.  

When she first posted photos to Flickr, one of the best comments was how this looks like "a big wonky mama star with her baby star nearby".  I totally agree.  Look at those mama's arms reaching out to snuggle and protect her baby.       

This improv pieced back is COMPLETELY out of Kira's comfort zone.  Simply because she ran out of white fabric.  What's a girl to do?  Improvise of course, with leftover scraps.  Love it!  That back is as beautiful as the front.  

My tote bag was completed the morning of our reveal.  Yeah, nothing like  procrastinating, and then sewing, until the last possible moment.  Even though Bobbi and I had purchased additional yardage from our LQS, The Sewing Center Around the Block, during the January Support Your LQS event, I didn't cut any fabric until two days before our meeting. 

No particular pattern was used.  I was inspired to make wonky, improv circles, because of the name of the fabric line  - Madrona Road - and because of my own experience that so many of our choices in life, while seemingly random, end up being connected.  My favorite print, Memoir, was omitted from the improv circles so that I could feature it. 

All of my wonky improv blocks were constructed with a stack-slice-swap method that I've absorbed from reading Jan Mullen's Cut Loose Quilts and Kathryn Schmidt's Rule-Breaking Quilts books so many times.

Gina's LOVe letters WIP.  We learned during this reveal, after she had pulled these from the display table because it wasn't a "completed project", the last time she'd been able to sew was during our February 9th meeting and sew day.  As the tour de force for the 2013 Emerald Coast Quilt Retreat & Show, we totally "get" why sewing didn't happen for her.  Next time Gina.   

Betty's tote bag was designed using her accuquilt GO! kitties die.  She used strip piecing and applique and quilted it with a random meander stipple. 

Early in her "playing with fabric" phase, she was unsure if this was going to be a pillow or a tote bag.  I hope she has enough fabric left for a pillow.  I have it on good authority that several people want one.  

I wonder if Betty knew that Violet is a kitty fan?  

Again, see what you're missing by not coming to the meeting and sew day?