My Bottled Rainbows Quilt is FINALLY finished!!!

Just under 2 year!  

That's all it took to whip this bad boy out.  I just looked back through my blog to see when I started the Bottled Rainbows Quilt Along and it was 2/28/2011.  

Woopsie daisies!

Now it is off to trim all the stray threads and take some good pics to post!

I'm so glad to cross this off the to-do list!

I'm linking up with Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts {Finish it up Friday}.

xoxo

~Val

She's done! SHE'S DONE!!!

 

What started out as one quilt block made from scraps and a plea to have some friends help make a few more, has turned into one incredible quilt, full of stories, that is ready to be auctioned off at The Night Under the Stars Gala benefiting the Heroes Foundation on Feb. 25th.

I dragged my Dad (and his camera) over to the railroad tracks by his house to take some fun shots.

(Thanks, Big John!)

Ok, the quilting on this is just amazing!!!!  Tammy Lawson, of Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the Super Bowl, what what, offered to donate her time (4 hours!), her batting, her thread, her long arm quilting machine, and her skills to put this quilt together. Watching her free motion quilt this was mesmerizing!  I can not comprehend how she quilts this without drawing the pattern on the fabric.  If anyone in the Indy area needs long arm quilting services, contact me to get Tammy's info. You will not be disappointed!  She even let me sew on her machine while I waited.  We called it a Sewing Play Date!

Check out this video I took of Tammy in action....

I LOVE the little ribbon block that Charlotte of Lawson and Lotti made. 

It makes a statement without saying a word!

If you made a block(s) on this quilt will head over to Flickr and tag it here?  It should be fun to see everyone on there.

My friends in charge of the auction thought a throw pillow would be a nice addition to the quilt.  I chose 4  blocks that were extras sent in that I thought went nicely together and made this pillow.  I put pink pom poms around the edges and now I don't think I'll ever be able to make another pillow without them.

The silent auction committee thought it would be nice if I would write up a little somethin' somethin' about this quilt to put in the brochure that everyone will receive the night of the Gala.  Here is what is submitted:

When I first became involved with the Heroes Foundation Silent Auction Committee, I knew I wanted to make something special to donate to such a wonderful cause.  Modern Quilting is a passion of mine and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to use my art to raise money for others.  I posted a request on my blog asking my sewing bloggie friends if anyone would be interested in helping me make this quilt. Each person could make one quilt block using their scrap fabric and send it to me with a note telling who their block was in honor of.  I was very nervous that no one would want to help me.  To my surprise, within 48 hours, 45 women had responded that they would like to contribute.  Not only did these women send one block each, but many sent two!  Coming from as far as Australia, the stories behind each block will tug at your heart strings!  Some blocks are in honor of lost parents and spouses, some are in honor of those currently fighting, and one is even in honor of herself, a woman currently going through chemo and radiation.  This quilt has helped me see that cancer does not discriminate.  Everyone all over the world is fighting this ugly disease and the 46 of us hope that we can use this disease as an opportunity to make something beautiful, that will hopefully raise money for those who need it.

~Val Campbell

Blocks have come from: England, Australia, and The United States (Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Kansas, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.)

***Thank you all that contributed.  I am honored to have put this together. I will report back w/ pictures from the Gala and hopefully a large dollar figure that this quilt has raised.  Fingers crossed!!!***

xoxoxo

~Val~

I've shared this quilt over at String Thing Along.  For other great string quilt ideas, head on over there!  I'm also linking up over at Made By You Mondays @ Skip to my Lou and was featured on Quilt Story!

A Trip To The Barnyard

I was recently commissioned by my husband's co-worker, Tracy, to make a quilt for her new nephew.  Almost 2 years ago, Tracy's 3 day old niece, Carissa, passed away from a heart defect.  It was a horrible time her entire family.  Tracy's brother-in-law & girlfriend have since had another baby that is happy and healthy named Allen. 

Baby Allen lives near his Grandparent's farm so Tracy asked that include bright colors and possibly barn yard animals, tractors, and a barn.  After a little googling, I found the perfect fabric; Farm Friends by Jamie Wood. 

Bright colors, check. 

Barn yard animals, check. 

Tractors, check. 

Barn, check. 

Adorable, double check!

Tracy wanted Allen's name & birthdate on the back of the quilt. 

She liked this font, so I printed out the letters and appliqued them on.  There were no numbers when I downloaded this font, so I had to just wing it.  I hope they look ok.

Would you look at this cow!  Seriously.  So cute!

She liked this quilt by Ruth Sloan, so we decided to use it as inspiration when making this.

Here is the tractor that Tracy requested.

The quilt is approx. 55" x 55". 

Seriously?  Can't get much cuter.

  

I was honored to make this and hope Baby Allen has as much fun playing on this quilt as my son Jack has had rolling around on it while I was in the process of making it!

~Val

Wedding Quilt for Kara & Matt

I have friends from High School that dated for over 15 years and FINALLY got married!  I wanted to make them something special for their wedding and offered to make them a quilt.  I had them choose their fabric and pattern and then I took creative license with the back.



(this is the back)



Now, those of you who are perceptive will look at the date and say, "Dang Val, it has almost been a year!  You.better get this gift to them before the 1 year deadline."  That is exactly what I was thinking as well.  I started free motion quilting it about 6 months ago and totally messed it all up.  The thread kept breaking and everytime I re-threaded the needle and started over, I never brought the bobbin thread up, so there were all kind of nesting knots on the back of the quilt, which I didn't realize until I was about 1/4 of the way done. I really wish I could figure out how to FMQ!  So, what did I do?  I stuck the quilt in a bag in the corner, (aka: time out) and ignored it for a long long time.

Fortunately, my friend's Mom has a free motion quilting machine in her home and offered to share it with me!!!  Let me just say, it was amazing!  I can not wait to go back and use it again.    Now that I've (or should I say, Sally's machine) quilted this quilt, it should be finished in no time.  Hooray!!!

Oh...and now Kara is pregnant so I need to start on a baby quilt!  Ahhh!

Have a great Monday!

~Val

I'm linking up over at Freshly Pieced.

The Road Less Traveled

A college friend of mine commissioned me to make a quilt for her favorite babysitter that is going off to my Alma Mater, Miami (of Ohio).  She wanted it to be primarily pieced in blue & yellow, with a Vera Bradley feel to it.  I sent her a link to my favorites on Flickr to help get her creative juices flowing.  She chose this quilt by Juliann for me to use as inspiration.

I first made my quilt sandwich spray basting the bottom, batting, and top all together.  I basted the heck out of it!  I then layed all the strips out in the design I wanted along the top of the quilt.  I sewed all the strips together and then used a washable glue stick (like you would a ticker tape quilt) and attached the three long strips onto the quilt.

I sewed the strips straight onto the top of the quilt sandwich leaving about 1/4" on each side.  I then quilted it using a circle pattern.  I drew the pattern straight onto the top of the quilt using the Pilot Frixion pen that I talk about here.  I sewed straight over the lines I had drawn and then ironed them away when I was done quilting.  I LOVE that pen!!!

This is the first quilt that I have ever machine sewn the binding onto.  OMG!  I may just never hand sew a binding on again.  Seriously, I think this just saved about 3-4 hours of my life!  Plus, since this is going to a college girl, she will need it to be a durable, right?  

I typed this label on my parent's olive green typewriter.  I then pressed it using dry heat on my iron to set the ink. 

She wanted the entire back to be Henna Garden.  No problem here!  This is definitely one of my favorite fab lines, ever!

Here we are, all wrapped up with love.  I really hope they all like the final product!!!!

Now, what should I name it???? 

I asked my blogger friends to help me name this quilt.  Marcia of RuntoMomma hit the nail on the head.  She said, "I think that the two lines on the right look quite similar.. the same thing that everyone else is doing.. but the "road" on the left.. or the "path" on the left.. that is your own.  Do your own thing.  Here is a link to the Robert Frost poem "The Road Less Traveled"  http://www.amandashome.com/road.html  To me it means.. be an individual, and don't be afraid to do your own thing."

I think this is a perfect poem to send with this quilt to a young girl heading off for her first time into the world of College.  I hope she chooses the road less traveled!

Thanks so much everyone for your creative naming ideas.  I will definitely use your assistance in the future!!!

~Val

I'm linking up over at Skip To My Lou!  Head on over there for more great crafty inspiration!

Flock in the Box!

                      

                       

The Indianapolis Modern Quilt Guild was lucky enough to participate in the Robert Kaufman Kona Solids Charm Pack Challenge.  Anyone in the Guild who wanted to participate was given a Kona charm pack in the BRIGHT colorway (my all time favorite of the Kona solid charm packs) and was asked to create a quilt using all of the 5"x5" charms. 

I was unclear about the exact rules of the challenge, but this is what I decided my rules would be:

1.  Use all the fabric from the charm pack.

2.  Add one additional solid color.

3.  Finish by the end of April.
4.  Stick with only solids prints, no patterns.

Here is how I did in the challenge, on a pass/fail grading scale:

1.  I used all the fabric except I lost two tiny little corners that I can't find anywhere. (I'm going to count that as a Pass.)

2.  I added Kona Snow as the background and Kona Bone for the binding.  (2 extra colors...Fail!)

3.  I just finished yesterday.  Only a month late.  (Dang...failed again!)

4.  I so so so wanted to add one printed fabric into this quilt to jazz it up, but I fought my temptation.  (Pass!)

So, that's 50%.  What is that...an F?  Oh well, I still am happy with the results and had fun creating this quilt. 



Here is how it all went down:

First I scoured Flickr & Pinterest for inspiration.

I found this picture and asked the artist if she would mind if I created a quilt using her piece as inspiration.

I ironed Steam 'n Bond onto the back of all the charms.

I cut out 5 - 5" x 5" squares from a manilla folder to make sure they were the same size as the charms and then sketched the birds the squares as a template.

I then set each charm on top of the bird template and traced them onto the fabric charms using the magical Pilot Frixion pens. 

Have you guys used these yet?  They are amazing.  You can write on your fabric and then iron right over it and the ink instantly disappears.  (Beware:  it sometimes discolors dark solid fabrics.)  It works wonderfully on white fabric, though.  You can buy these at any drugstore. 

To trace the dark fabric birds, I just held the fabric/stencil up to the light so I could see through the fabric to trace the birds.

I have been sewing with a friend named Babs who in a High School Fiber Design teacher.  She said something the other day that has really stuck with me.  She said that there are a lot of students in her class that just want to copy an idea and not create one of their own.  I took this to heart and instead of copying the idea from the picture above, I created something new. 

So, I scratched the bird on a wire idea.  I layed all the excess square scraps I had left over after cutting out the birds out and ironed them onto the Kona snow fabric.  I then quilted them to the batting sewing around each bird and the perimeter of the square.

I made the exact negative on the other side of the quilt.  I framed the birds in zigzag squares to mimic the pinked edges of the charms on the other side.

The side with the colored birds and zig zag squares was then spray basted to the other side of the quilt. 

Quilting with straight lines went super fast. 

I have really enjoyed this challenge.  It was just that, a challenge!!!  I hope you like it.

I'm linking up over at Skip to my Lou and Quilt Story.  Go check out some wonderful original creations.

~Val



Blogger's Quilt Festival

Instead of sitting here pouting because I am not at Quilt Market right now (which I am secretly doing), I thought I'd join Amy's online Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  Amy is asking that people create a new blog post about a quilt they've made and link up on her website.

I wanted to blog about a quilt that I snuggle under every single day.  The pattern is called Urban Amish and was designed by a woman who works at the adorable Quilt shop in Chicago, Quiltology.  I call this one, Val's Girlie Urban Amish Quilt.  Original name, I know!  :)

This quilt is one of the only things in my house that is pink.  Three boys and a husband calls for a lot of blue.  I decided that I needed something just for me and it was going to be super girlie.  This quilt was part of the inspiration behind the name of my blog.  I love, love, love those boys, but I just need a place to escape and share my girlie pink side and this is where I can do it! 

I can't wait to go check out the other quilts featured at the Quilt Festival.

~Val

Put the Needle on the Record.

This quilt was born when a good high school friend of mine, Liz, became pregnant with her first child, Vivian. Liz recently lost her father, who was an exceptional man, and I wanted to make her an extra special gift from the heart.  For her baby shower, I decided to make Baby Viv a little quilt.  Well, it started out as a quilt, and ended up more as a playmat. 

I've been trying to get more creative with naming my quilts. The name, "Put the Needle on the Record," was born because I had quilted it in a pattern that looks just like lines on a record.  I couldn't resist the "needle" pun either.

Baby Viv on her new playmat.

I was inspired to make this quilt by this picture.  I searched for a pattern on how to make it, but couldn't find one...so I made one up.  I was lucky enough to have my tutorial featured on Moda Bake Shop.  Head on over there if you have a special baby that needs a quilt just like this.  I've also included how to make a matching changing pad from the scraps of the playmat.  If you'd rather not cut into your stash, you can make both the playmat and changing pad with just one Jelly Roll of fabric!

I hope it brightens your day.

A little more to the story: 

Jenny of Sew Kind of Wonderful and I have been emailing back and forth about the name of this quilt. 

Jenny: "Isn't the name of your quilt in a song?  cause I'm singing something in my head!"

Val: "Yep!  I can't thik of who sings it...is it the Beastie Boys?

Jenny:  "Maybe...it was a fun rap in the early 90's."

Val:  (after googling it)  "PUMP UP THE VOLUME!!!  That's it!"

I. heart. google.  What did we do in critical situations like this before it existed?

 

~Val

Thanks to Quilt Story for featuring this blog post!

Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along *Red Block*

I have finally finished my first block for the Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along.  I had aspirations of making each block into a letter, which would spell out a 4 letter word across each row.  Love, Hugs, Live, etc.  I couldn't come up with the perfect words, so I scrapped the entire idea and went with just filling in the entire white center rectangle with scraps. 

I put a small white border around each block to make the quilt a few inches bigger without having to add an outside border around the entire quilt.  I cut each white strip 1 1/2" wide x width of fabric so that the final white sashing will be 1".  I am hoping this will make each block pop a bit more. 

I decided to use a straight stitch around each of my scraps.  I know some people doing the quilt along are doing a zig zag stitch around each block, but I really like the scrappy feel after the quilt has been washed and freyed.  The texture gives it an entire new dimension.

I was able to talk a few girls into doing the quilt along with me which I am thrilled about.  Each Thursday evening, we plan to do one block.  They have never quilted before, so it will be a huge accomplishment when we are finished. 

~Val

You can call me Owl.



Fabric Scraps!!!  
If you sew, you'll create scraps.  If you've ever seen crazymomquilt's Ticker Tape Quilt, hopefully you've started hording these said scraps in order to make your very own.


This quilt began for me at the Old Red Barn Co. Quilt Along #9 on Flickr.  How this Quilt Along works is that Dana, of Old Red Barn Co., chooses a different quilt theme for each round of her Quilt Along. If you choose to participate, you post pictures into the Flickr Group as your quilt progresses.  Dee, of deeroo designs, graciously typed up a tutorial of how to create a Ticker Tape Quilt.

I love Owls and I knew I wanted to incorporate one into this quilt somehow.  I scoured Flickr for inspiration and came across this cute little picture.  I asked the artist if he would mind if I used his image as inspiration for a quilt and he was thrilled. 

I divided this quilt into four quadrants and sewed them all together at the end. The scraps were sewn directly onto a pre-sandwiched (is that a word?) quilt, which allows you to "quilt-as-you-go."  I had never used this technique before, but can I just say that I LOVED IT!!!  It is so refreshing to turn your quilt over, after sewing your little scraps onto the front, to find that you have just quilted it at the same time!!!  The four smaller sections made manuvering around the tiny scraps so much more manageable!  However, not all Ticker Tape Quilts are made this way.  You can also make them the more traditional way by sewing all your scraps onto the quilt top first, then quilting it with the batting and binding. 

 

I was nervous about washing it because I had sewn so close to the edge of each piece (approx. 1/8"), but it came out softer than ever and the pieces all frayed perfectly! However, it did take about 2 hours of mindless trimming to remove all the excess strings that had accumulated on the front from the washing.

For the back, I used Valori Wells' Del Hi line.

What I love best about this quilt is that it is like a snapshot in time for me.  Each teeny tiny scrap represents a project that I have made.  Just like a photo album that brings back memories when you look at each pictures, this quilt brings back memories of all the love that I have put into every single project that I have created.  

I encourage everyone who has scraps that they don't want to throw away to use them on a Ticker Tape Quilt.  My next Ticker Tape Quilt will be the Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along with Rachel of StitchedInColor.  It is never to late to join us!  

Lessons learned (if you are using the "pre-sandwiched" quilt method:

If I make  When I make another ticker tape quilt, there is one thing I would do differently.  On the front of each piece, I had left about an inch of white space along the edges of each quadrant so that I could sew them together when they were all finished.  The problem is, once you sew them all together, it looks exactly like you've sewn 4 quadrants together.  I didn't want there to be a distinct line running vertically and horizontally across the quilt drawing attention to these 4 quadrants.  So, I spent a lot of time removing pieces that were close to the middle and putting new pieces on that did not all run in a straight line.  Next time, I will leave 2 inches along the edges to avoid all the seam ripping. 

I also did something a little differently than Dee had in her tutorial which she wanted me to share.  When the time comes to sew the back panel together, Dee has folded one side over the other and hand stitched it down.  I decided to just sew the folded side down as close to the edge as possible (I'm not the biggest hand stitching fan).  If you leave the 2 inch space along the edges like I mentioned above, you won't even see this seam on the front side because you will cover it up with the pieces that you come back and add.  It worked like a charm and went very quickly!

I never realized this would turn into an "I Spy" quilt until I laid it on the floor and let Baby Jack climb on it.  "D'er's Buzz," he said.

I just linked this post up with the Linky Party over at Quilt Story.  Go check them out!

And thank you to the Modern Quilt Guild for featuring this quilt in their 100 Days of Modern Quilting.