Category Archives: Alabama Beauty

The Product of Showing Up!

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crossesd

I’ve been waiting for some good picture making time to share progress on my Kaffe crosses quilt but it’s not happening. I lowered my expectations and added the sashing for photographic interest which is fine but the photo is a drag. Sorry.  Anyway, I need 25 blocks. 13 finished – maybe a little less since a couple I’m probably going to exclude. This is from his Quilts in Sweden book.

stuffWhat you see here is the product of “showing up” every day. Not really forcing it but definitely going thru the motions. Fake it ’till you make it? I dunno know. I think I’m just generating my own vibe. The colorful Kaffe fabrics lift the mood (joy) and this is wall, this wall is gifty.

Thanks for the visit.

****

At No Charge

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At no charge?  Really.  At no charge as in a give-away.   You betcha.  Read on.

~~~

Did you see this?

Chintz Circles by Cathi at Quilt Obsession

or do you remember this?

Alabama Beauty by me.

I always thought there should be a pattern for this quilt and now there is.  Cathi, author of a blog that can be found here  is now a pattern company and that pattern company — Quilt-Obsession — is up and open and ready for creativity!!!

I could have used this pattern – Alabama Beauty – when I was making my quilt.  It gives instructions on how to construct the block, clearly labels each piece throughout the pattern not to mention a great diagram for the stitching sequence.  The pattern is written in a way that you can really learn something.  I think seeing how the block is put together and stitched is invaluable.  Practically a skill to take away with you.

For the record  - this block was mostly hand-pieced but if you’re really good with curves you can do it on the machine.  I did one block on the machine.  It’s definitely do-able depending upon your skill level there.


Some work from Quilt Obsession with Inklingo!

This is Cathi’s first pattern in what is going to be a great group of patterns to come.  And yes this is all done with the neat shapes offered by Inklingo.

→New to Inklingo? Order and download free shapes and start sewing in the next few minutes. Quick Start (Always FREE.) There are triangles, diamonds, and squares  in the free collection—great for dozens of different blocks.

Apprehensive about printing with freezer paper?  Using the Quick Start Free Collection start out playing with the Combo page printing first thing.  Need help?  Join the Inklingo group for all the help you need at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Inklingo/

So leave a comment if you’re ready to try something new with this pattern.  It can be viewed here and please note that you’ll need to have the Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe collection in order to make the Alabama Beauty so be sure to look that over here but you don’t have the own that in order to win the pattern.  One step at a time, eh?  Sign up, join the giveaway, give it a shot, learn something new.  It’s fun!

Happy Monday and congratulations to Cathi for stepping out and making a dream come true!  *karendianne.

Alabama Beauty Quilted, Bound & Finished

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Welcome to LeeHaven!  Today I’m sharing my most recent finish.  I hope you enjoy viewing as much as I enjoy sharing.  Do let me know you stopped by & feel free to share any thoughts.


Detail block


with Backing fabric


  • Size:  54.5 x 65
  • Fabrics:  Civil War Reproductions
  • Pattern:  Evolved naturally
  • Block:  Alabama Beauty with Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe collection.
  • Secondary Pattern:  Butterfly, Circles, Tip of Trumpet
  • Piecing:  Hand pieced blocks.  Machined rows together.
  • Quilting:  Custom by Deb Geyer.
  • Binding:  Scrappy
  • Start to finish:  10-12 months


*****
Kay, a friend of mine, has this way of sharing reflective thoughts on the creative process when a piece is complete.  I’d like to attempt to do a little of that (with her in mind) and see what you think.
The learning curve for hand piecing this particular block w/ a new tool – Inklingo – wasn’t really hard (not easy) but it took some determination and it took Cathi.  

What surprised me the most wasn’t that I tried something new although, at the time, that was a big deal.  No, the attempt wasn’t the big deal.  What surprised me the most was that I had a tool that allowed me to create this amazing block.  All of a sudden I could make that?!  Hand piecing/inklingo is a whole new world for me.

Now, color placement was the most difficult thing I came up against.  I’m glad I chose the off-white backgrounds but I think this could have been so much more dramatic had I chosen just a handful of colors.   I think I might have gone with red and apple green!  ;)

Yet, oddly enough, what I found the most difficult is somehow what I like.  The variety.  Creativity isn’t always so clear cut.  It’s “I love it, I like it and yet…”  At least for me.  I guess I like the variety and the effort.  I can see where I truly made the effort to balance out the blocks.  You may not see it but I can tell.  

And Green.  This was the first quilt where I became aware Green needed to be in my quilts.  I have a good stash of green but I don’t use it a lot.   Lynn did that for me.  Brought the green blocks into the quilt.  



Finally I’d have to say one of the most treasured things I experienced from this long term quiltmaking is how much you make a difference.  I’ve had so much fun sharing each new block and you’ve been so wonderful supporting me.  I feel like we did this together.  Gosh, and I realized we made this quilt together in the middle of the AB quilt.  How did we do that?  Well, hand piecing is one of those after 6pm activities.


So there we have it, final thoughts.  With much gratitude for all your on-going support and kindness, *karendianne.

(ps:  if you would like to see what Inklingo looks like w/ HST’s you can click here )