Santa Calendar - January

I have decided i need just one more project.....hahahaha   so i am creating the Piecemakers Calendar for 2012...it is Santa.  who doesn't love Santa.

This is January's block. i am still awaiting bird buttons....but they are on their way....for his hand and the tree stump. and i haven't done his face yet .... that part is a bit scary. They are 14" blocks. i added a few things that were not on the pattern....snowflakes in the sky...an owl in the tree...a rabbit on the ground behind Santa...and a fox by the tree stump.

His beard is a cord that i unravelled...cute little tassel on his cap.

He has a leather cane. LOL   that fur is a bitch to stitch...just sayin'

Took 3 nights to make 7 trees. labor intensive

Tree stump is corduroy. snow is batting.




I think these are gonna be fun. next i am doing October. ... it only has a few pieces so i think it will be quicker. i am learning as i go. i gotta figure out how to do the moon.

Will show final pic when birds get attached....

Later

Piecemakers 2002 calendar quilt - January

I don't even need to speak here....just enjoy.

The January Section

By the end of the year i will have a couple more quilts....thanks to online projects that i have joined. i am in the CQJP...crazy quilt journal project....the idea is to make a CQ block each month and add it to their blog for all to see. there are hundreds of entrants from around the world.

I decided that just 12 blocks would not make a very large quilt. so i am making a 9 patch...centering my CQ block in the middle. then by the end of the year i will have 12 sections to put together to make a bed size quilt. pretty good idea, i think....sometimes i scare myself. hahahaha

Here is the January section.

I am trying to use mainly cottons on the outside blocks with a few of the CQ fabrics thrown in so they sort of match.

And they won't have any embroidered seams or embellishment.

This block (above) has an appliqued leaf...it was a practice piece from class last week. it's a bit of bright color in the darker fabrics. and that block under it .... see that gold and black piece of trim. it is really cool although it may not hold up to the washing machine. but i sewed it down a lot.

I hope it turns out as i envision it. it will be a busy mishmash of things. LOL

I'm thinking of putting some lace or something either around the middle encrusted block or on the corners so it stands out a bit.

What do you think....should i put something in the corners or around the middle block so it stands out more....or should i just let it blend in. maybe buttons in the corners. 

Come on people....i need ideas. LOL

Later

January Color Pallette Challenge

What do you get when you combine Judy Laquidara (www.patchworktimes.com) and Vicki Welsh (www.vickiwelsh.typepad.com)

Why, you get the 2012 Color Pallette Challenge. every month Vicki will give us a color pallette from a picture that inspired her and Judy is hosting our progress pictures on her site. We are to make something with those colors....we can make anything....a quilt,  a wallhanging, a table runner, a garment, anything.

Our pallette for January was this. I used my Kona cotton solids. the colors i chose were navy, windsor, turquoise, grass green, raisin and (?)..i lost the name tag from the last piece. LOL oops

Vicki's colors came from this tile. i thought i would do a tile piece, too. i found a block in EQ that i liked and made 6 blocks. i actually cut 6 base pieces and sewed them together but decided after the fact that i could have just cut it as one whole piece. ..next time.

I cut out all the pieces and fused them onto the base with Steam A Seam 2.  i like that you can just trace your piece on the SAS2, press it onto the fabric and then cut it out. easy.

Although in the pattern all the tiny pieces were cut out individually.... i learned from the base and i consolidated and cut them out together to make whole and half flowers. and the long green sections in the middle were done as one piece also.

This was rather fun to do. it wasn't colors i would have pulled together to make something on my own. and it didn't take a lot of time. one evening to trace parts and another evening to cut and fuse.

This turned out to be about 17 x 23 inches. although i am not going to quilt it yet, i consider this challenge finished for this month. my plan is to make each month's challenge the same size and combine them all together into a quilt at the end of the year. it will be the 2012 Color Pallette Quilt. LOL

I like that idea. OK, Vicki....what's next. 

Later