Hexies in the Snow - Crayon Challenge White

 I never can resist a good challenge!  So when it was announced at the guild that there was a crayon challenge again this year, I stepped up and grabbed a baggie.  And got white.  The rules state you only need to use your color 50% of the piece, so everyone told me to just use it as background.  Where is the challenge in that??

 So I quickly put together a pile of white fabrics, various textures and shades of white.

 Laid out a 12"x12" plan.

 And started basting.  Let me tell you, this will be the last thing I glue baste.  The quickness of the beginning is not worth the trouble at the end.

I had originally thought this would be a good hand project before we left for our two week vacation out East.  But, I got the whole top put together before we even packed!

 Quilting and finishing didn't take long either.   A layer of heavy interfacing and a layer of thin batting.  Wiggle quilting along the seam lines.  It is a stitch setting on my machine.

 Et Voila, a finish.  I turned it in last month at our guild meeting.  It will be up for Silent Auction starting in September (I think)

 I took the quilt outside for photos, against my garden.  It is quite over taken by Evening Primrose.

 Shockingly white, here.

 I also spent some time trying to capture a good photo of a native bee visiting the flowers.

 She was much more interested in nectar than posing!

Crayon Challenge: White

 I've got a new Hexie project in the works.  All in white. 

 Or at least various shades and textures of white.  It is for the 2016 Crayon Challenge. I drew a white crayon this time around.  We only have to do 50% of our color, but I'm going all the way.  The hexies are 1.25" per side.  I am on the hunt and collecting various whites.  I'm trying to get it prepped before our family vacation.  Hand work is great for the car, and the beach.

Crayon Challenge: Wisteria: Finish!

 You guys have been watching this little quilt come along for quite a while now.

Seen various stages of the applique, and then the long process of outlining each of the petals with a stem stitch.

Well it is finally all quilted up. 

As you may remember, I was given a crayon, the name of Wisteria, and my quilt had to be mostly that color to match the crayon.  I decdided to go literal with the name and searched for images of wisteria.  I settled on this one, mostly because of its simplicity and balance.

The quilting is relatively straight match stick quilting.  Or maybe even toothpick quilting....

I had originally planned to do an overlay of lavender sparkly tulle and then quilt over it all, but the feed dogs on my walking foot shredded the tulle, so I unpicked about three lines and started over without the tulle.

The top quilting thread is the clear poly from Superior Threads.

Bobbin is Bottom Line, also from Superior. 

 If you look closely, you will see there is a thin line of green next to the binding.  I added that after all the quilting and binding to pull the bright green from the middle out to the edges.

 This is how the quilt looks ready to be turned in.  The crayon has to be attached to the front.

 And a label on the back. 

Happy to have another have to do project, done.
BTW, all these crayon challenge quilts are up for silent auction.  I always watch to see if someone buys mine, otherwise I will.  :)

Crayon Challenge: On Color and Value

 So, I haven't touched my sewing machine in nearly a week. *gasp*  There is, of course, the occasion meeting of needle and thread on the 10 year hexie project, but the sewing machine has been put away in favor of birthday and St Patrick's Day dinners at the big table.  Which is actually OK, I was quite ready to start something new instead of continuing to work on WIPs.  So now, I have a NEW WIP :)

I'm sure I mentioned before that I pulled Wisteria for my guild crayon challenge. After talking to another guild member who got Asparagus and going literal with our color, I thought it was a great idea.

I found this stencil from the never ending internet.  Apparently it is from a Japanese Family Crest.

I've had a stack of purples pulled from the stash for a while.  The background is actually the closest to the crayon color. 

The above picture is what I posted on instagram.  The colors aren't true, but it did make me notice the out of place colored petals.

I took out the "too blue" ones and ended up with this.  At this point, I knew the contrast was too sudden, but they were all fused down, so I decided to continue on and see what happened.

This is what I ended up with.  It's OK, but there are no medium values.  I was really trying to only work from stash, but alas, I had to stop at the LQS yesterday....

So what I find interesting, is that "upside down" also looks better.  I think visually the darker colors need to be moved to the bottom.

I'm also contemplating a brighter vine color.

Here are the new mediums I picked up.

I did also find a few that I had in other places around the house.

So here is my new selection.  I will have to cull it down in number, but at least its a better value range.

Now I'll have to figure out what to do with this one.  Maybe another bag....

Linking with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

'Flutterby' Mini Quilt

Talk about knocking down multiple birds with one stone!  This little quilt is hitting three!

 I first was inspired to make it due to Le Challenge theme of Wings, so it was my (not quite finished) entry over there.

It was made more specifically for our Quilt Guild's Crayon Challenge

My color was melon.  These little quilts are auctioned off to support various areas of our local hospital.

 A close up of the small stippling, stripey body and hand beading.

Here's a shot of the back.  Some appropriate bug and butterfly backing!  I FMQ'd the label this time.  A more permanent way to 'write on' fabric.  My FMQ is about as messy as my real handwriting!

And finally, this is my Mini Quilt entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

The Facts:
12" x 12"
Fusible raw edge applique and home machine quilted.
Beaded by Hand.
Double binding applied.
Warm 'n Natural batting

At Amy's Creative Side
May 17 – 24 – Linky’s Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice
May 24 – 30 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories
May 31 – Winners announced
Make sure you check out all the other beautiful quilts.  This is the last time I'll mention it around these parts.  2 more sleeps until we leave!