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.
