Blogger's Quilt Festival: Mini Scattered Wheat

Hello and welcome if you're coming from the Blogger's Quilt Festival! My name is Kelsey. Crafting quilts and designing fabrics are two of my joys. The other joy is nerdy stuff like getting my PhD, so that's why I crafted this modern take on the Buckwheat block to hang in my office at school. I love taking projects across the street for a break from lab work to photograph in the gorgeous library there, so forgive the overwhelming number of photos.

The quilt is completely machine pieced and was constructed while watching the season 3 of Downton Abbey. If you've watched it, you'll understand that any wobbles in the quilting may have been caused by a car accident or an unexpected illness on screen. Forgive me.

I encourage you to check out the other lovely quilts in the Mini category as well as everything else! And of course, to take a moment to vote your favorites. Thanks for stopping by, and know that you're always welcome to stay awhile.

All the Best,

Kelsey

Scattered Wheat

Tis the season of projects we can't share on our blogs. The afghan is out of the bag, but there are two more endeavors in the making. I'm really excited about them and how they are coming together, but enough of hints! I still remember my best friend Haley looking me in the eye my senior year during jewelry class and saying, "There's something I can't tell you." Gah! Well then don't. Because now I REALLY REALLY want to know!!

This project is not a secret, though! It began a couple summers ago as I forayed into modern twists on traditional blocks. I even quilted it back then. The binding just took another year and a half coming. Ha! Can anyone relate?

Now that it's done, it's hanging right in front of my desk at school. It is the first piece of artwork up, and the zen feel helps me keep going when my literature searches feel fruitless. That and calls to my PhD mom. (Thanks, Mom.)

I've been drooling over a couple new quilters lately. Tara's gorgeous style, hipster beanies, and classic quilts over at Rad and Happy have got me dreaming up new projects. And Lindsay Stead's impeccable taste and reserve in modern and heirloom quilt design make me want to throw out all my prints and work purely with solid duos. With them in mind, I've returned to some of my more minimalist projects, and that's where I'm heading next.

Do you have any secret holiday projects? I promise if you tell me, I can keep a secret. The lucky person receiving your gift isn't likely to read the comments on my blog either! This is a safe place. Get it off your chest.

If you're looking for finished project inspiration to keep you sewing as Christmas rapidly approaches, you can find more with Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Variations on a Bouquet of Hydrangeas

Do you ever fall back in love with a project? It can be a work-in-progress that you pull out again or a finished project that resurfaces several months later. It happens to me a lot. Nostalgia and sentimentality come easily to me, the little rising feeling in your chest when you see a picture of a lovely vacation moment or a finished quilt in its new home or a small adorable grey kitten. (Yeah, I've been kind of wanting one of those lately. It could tiptoe across my keyboard while I blogged and curl up its soft little body in my lap. I'm getting that feeling now just thinking about it. I digress.)

I realized, as I finish up quilts and prep to open my shop, that I never shared a finished quilt from this summer. And then when I was looking at the photos, I got all nostalgic over it. It is the third incarnation of my Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips quilt. Seeing the progression of colors and quilting from one to the next is so fun, so I am going to share it with you!

First came the six-inch buckwheat block for my Farmer's Wife Quilt. Next my senior show quilt, Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips. Third, the duplicate senior show sale but with light grey on the side triangles instead of low volume white, Variations on Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips. (Yeah, if you read my post about naming quilts last weekend, that one's a bit of a mouthful.) And lastly, all new colors and some new quilting, Variations on a Bouquet of Hydrangeas.

I have received many bouquets of hydrangeas in the past year, each one with its own special giver and expression of love. Hydrangeas encompass the network of people spread across the country that come together to love and support me; my sister and Mom, my friend Susie, my boyfriend Brent. From designing fabrics to my farmer's wife quilt and blog beginnings to opening my shop in the coming weeks, I couldn't do it without you. Thank you all dearly. This post and quilt go out to you!

Linking up to Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Learning and Lulls

Gosh, sometimes things just don't go quite as you planned, y'know? I've been struggling a bit with selecting the perfect palette for my summer collection and on the fabric designing front as well. This lull in bubbly creative energy has lead me to do other previously undesirable tasks, such as filing for Michigan business status and whipping up some knitting I'd been putting off for months. Despite this dip, I finished two tops today and quilted one. I already know what I will change if I make similar quilts, but hey, progress is progress, right? And mistakes mean you're learning.

I think I need to tell myself that again. Mistakes mean you're learning.

Linked up to my WIP Wednesday support group over at Freshly Pieced.

Variations on Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips

Neck deep in grow-your-handmade-business books with numbers and notebooks and workbooks spread across the work table in front of me, I decided to adjourn for some sewing. With two quilts left to send out from the ones I sold at my show, I whipped up Buckwheat 2.0 also known as Variations on Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips. It's slated to be sent out to my dear friend Susie in PA tomorrow morning, and it is nearly identical to its brother Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips. Based off of the Farmer's Wife Quilt block Buckwheat, I modified my original color choices with some light grey Michael Miller solids on the top and bottom. I like it. And I spent the afternoon catching up on the last episodes of Elementary while quilting and binding it. Lovely.

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Double Feature

Yesterday was a double feature day. Two movies. Two quilt blocks. Josh Duhamel and his precious children swept in to steal my and Julianne Hough's heart in Safe Haven, while I rotary cut the morning away. Then a matured Zac Efron gave a touching performance in The Lucky One, reminding me of my love for piano music and old homes, as I pieced late into the afternoon. I'm really hitting my groove with the navy and coral, and I decided to redo some of my favorite simple Farmer's Wife Quilt blocks in the new colors. Best choice. I love them. Ribbons is one of my new favorites of all of the senior show blocks. (My favorite is still the cut-glass block.)

School starts today, so it will be interesting to see where I can squeeze in my quilting and begin over-printing the blocks. However, I'm really enthusiastic about the next three Farmer's Wife Quilt blocks that I have picked to remake in coral and navy, and I can't wait! Maybe tomorrow morning...

If you haven't seen the other senior show blocks, you can check them out here (Corn and Beans), here (Flying Geese and Cut-Glass), here (Locked Star), and here (Lone Star).

Modern Buckwheat: Progress

I am so thankful for this lovely week. Finished Safe Haven and started Nights in Rodanthe. (Does anyone know how to pronounce that?) DIYed my own jeans shorts from an old pair of pants. Ate ice-cream at least four times if not more. Made stone fruit jam. Drank a beer with friends. The list just doesn't end.

Today was an exciting re-entering into the world of Gossip Girl Season 4. I am not as inspired by Blaire's wardrobe as I have been in the past, (a pink clutch with a red dress??) but I am appreciative as ever of the handsome Chace Crawford. He made for a quick afternoon, despite seam ripping several sections of wavy quilting. Of course, he may have been the reason I was distracted and quilted uneven lines in the first place. Oh well! On to binding!

Modern Buckwheat

I had the pleasure this morning of stumbling upon a new blog with which to fall in love. CanoeRidge Creations. Her simple modern quilts based on traditional blocks are exactly up my alley. In fact, I suddenly knew I had found a kindred spirit when I read,

"I just can't get the idea of GIANT quilt blocks out of my head. There's something so simple & stunning about a one block quilt, where traditional piecing meets modern quilting."

That is me! That is what I think! All. The. Time. Which is when it struck me, "Why haven't I done this yet if I think about it so much?" So, that was that. I sat down, scrapped the Single Girl quilt square plan and sketched out modern versions of some of my favorite traditional blocks. Buckwheat won, and I spent the afternoon cutting, sewing, and experiencing the weddings, births, and deaths of Downtown Abbey season three. May I take a moment to say how very displeased I am with the amount of deaths in this most recent season? Rather unnecessary. Nevertheless, I am pleased with how the quilt is turning out, and I want to immediately jump into five more large modern quilt blocks when it is finished.

Update: Check out the progress (here)!