I finished my outside inspiration project yesterday.  (You can see a photo that isn't cut off here).  This little quilt is 9" wide by 8"high.  The fabrics were all tea dyed  - I used different teas for different colors.  I used wonder under to applique the tea cup and then stitched it on using free motion quilting.  I also wrote the words free motion style and added some loops for good measure.  The binding is sewn by hand on the back.

It took me a good long while to figure out exactly how to interpret this word.  I thought about tea leaves, all the tea in China, tea houses, tea bags, tea pots, tea cozies, high tea, afternoon tea, Boston Tea Party and more.  Tea, tee and T.  But, really, the quilting thing, especially free motion (which I was so scared of just a few months ago) is just my cup of tea.  Plus, I am a fan of idioms.  And I would be kidding myself if I thought the word I gave Tracy (piece) didn't play into this either.  When I gave it to her, I was thinking of the verb, not the noun.  Quilts on the brain, I guess.  I can't wait to see her interpretation of piece.  There are so many possibilities!

This was fun and a good exercise for me also.  I liked having an assignment.  Tracy and I are planning on doing it again, but the format is going to change some and we have a new partner joining us!  Stay tuned for more Wordplay.

I always look forward to my local craft swap.  We met last night to exchange our crafts.  This time there were 9 of us so each made 8 items.  And we had a theme: recycled.  The majority of our craft had to be recycled (or re-purposed).  Yes, I grumbled.  Then I realized I over-reacted and just started thinking outside my comfort zone of fabric and yarn.

The internet is an amazing thing.  A few weeks after the theme was decided, I saw this post of Ali's.  Oh me, oh my!  I loved this idea.  And I shamelessly copied it.  Kind of.  I couldn't find frames to be reused so I had to come up with a second option.  Lacking the necessary supplies, I bummed some lumber off of a friend whose basement was just finished.  I asked another friend to cut the boards for me.   I went through the paint cans in the basement and found a quart of eggshell white.  Then I hit the recycling bin.

One old issue of Domino, an Anthropologie catalog, a MiniBoden catalog and a PBTeen catalog made these 8 pieces of Recycling Bin Art with the leftovers being tossed right back from where they came.  All I bought was some small foam dots to mount the paper petals and the sawtooth hangers for the backs.  It cost about $5.

I got some great, creative crafts, too.  I am stilling missing two so when I get them, I will take some photos and share.  This is one creative group!  We swap about 4 times a year, the next one being in May.  I already know what I am making.  And I think I can do it with supplies I already have. 

Wow - thanks for all the quilt love!  I am super excited about how it came out.  Now I just need to work up the courage to actually quilt it!  All in good time, I am sure.

One of the things that was so satisfying about making that quilt top was being inspired to just do it.  I think I am most creative when my brain is working over-time, analyzing color and pattern, thinking about scale, wondering what I can make out of a particular material.  Sarah's gocco swap is a perfect example of that.  I had to think outside of my comfort zone to come up with something mid-winter.  But you know what?  I love how it all came together.  Finding the inspiration to go with the theme, pondering the possibilities, planning, mixing ink and printing those note cards was actually fun.  I was inspired and in the end, I think it showed.

So to keep myself creating outside of my comfort zone, I asked Tracy if she would give me a word or phrase or image to use as a jump start for a new gocco project.  She readily agreed and asked me to do the same.  We gave ourselves a month to complete this project.  The month is almost up.

This is what she gave me:  tea.

I am not doing a gocco print because pushing down to print hurts my wrist (which is slowly getting better).   Instead I am working with fabric.  I am excited about this collaboration and about what I am making.  Thinking it through has been fun - I have come up with all sorts of scenarios, but finally settled on one.  I am inspired again.

In the end, I just hope it shows.

And I am dying to see what Tracy has done with the word I gave her: piece.

2000 meters of white thread later, I finished the top.

It definitely needs to be pressed, but there it is.  Phew.

My quilt is moving along.  I wish I had a finished top to show you, but I changed my plan and am adding a different border that is taking much more time (of course).  It is going to be so much better than plan a, that I am not complaining (much) about plan b.

So you all want to make x's, don't you?  I have to say, first and foremost, that I had no idea where to start when I first saw the inspiration for this quilt.  I am not really a quilter.  I'm just working on earning that title.  Of course, since Sarah led me to said inspiration and is making her very own string x quilt, I asked her where I should start.  She graciously sent me a big flickr mail with loads of info, lots of tips and then another one after that.  Big thanks to you, Sarah.  Really.

I think it all clicked for me when Sarah pointed me to Heather Bailey's Freshcut quilt.  Of course I had seen it before - I do read her blog and a huge chunk of this quilt is made out of her fabric.  Well, wouldn't you know, it's an string x quilt, too?  Well, kind of, at least.  The fabrics that make up her x's aren't the same so they don't look like x's per se, but the idea is the same.  While reading the supply list, I noticed the 12.5" square quilting ruler.  That was my "A-ha!" moment.  I had thought I would have to piece rectangles and then trim them to make squares, but a ruler?  Genius!  And of course, a real quilter would know they actually existed.  See, I told you I am a fake-o quilter.  You should believe me.  OK, now I am sure you can still do this without a square ruler. I just justified my purchase because the squares for the Virtual Quilting Bee need to be 12.5" too....and look, that is just 12 more squares for me to use it on!

So I started where Heather has you start.  I cut 4" x 18" strips out of my white fabric.  Lots of them.  My quilt takes 36. At this point, I stopped following Heather's directions and just started adding fabrics in my studied random way - you know....so it looks random, but in all actuality is very studied.  I think I managed not over thinking it about, um, 50% of the time (I am being generous with myself here, too).  Anyhow, at this point, I took my rotary cutter and cut various widths of various fabrics and started piecing.

I used 1/4" seam allowances throughout and pressed the seams away from the white strip.  I placed my ruler over the white strip to see how long each additional strip needed to be.  Sometimes I used 4 fabrics, sometimes up to 6.  I didn't worry about straight lines and matching the colored strips.  I like it all wonky.  Once I had 4 blocks pieced, I used my ruler and squared them up.

To do this, I lined up the white strip with the lines on my cutting mat and then centered the ruler on the middle line. 

Then using the rotary cutter, I trimmed the excess away.

Next, I sewed them together in to an x.  Match up those seams (where the white meets the colors) and use lots of pins.  Don't skimp here - trust me.  It is no fun to rip out uneven seams.

I was afraid if I waited until all 36 were sewn to make the actual x's, I would never finish it.  You know - the random factor - it would be overwhelming.  It was a good plan.

I stopped after 9 x's - now all I need to do is add borders to make it the size I want.  Of course, in a perfect world, I would make 3 more x's for Euro shams...one thing at a time, Erin.

Confused yet?  Please say no.  If you are really befuddled, ask away.  I will try my best to explain better.  And if you have lasted this long, you might want to know I have updated my blog links in the sidebar.  Check them out, people.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a border to finish piecing.

Just when I thought spring might actually be here, it started snowing.  No matter - there is plenty of green inside to inspire me.

Time for me to get sewing.  I have a quilt to finish.  Happy weekend everyone!

Bits of green found on Hill Road over the past couple of days.  I had to look hard, but it is there.  Hello spring greens!

Sometimes I feel like a leprechaun.

I think it has something to do with being a redhead.