Playing with Value

I found a wonderful quilting pattern on Ebay from Alice Brooks.  I made this block for my last round of the 4 x 5 bee and have been wanting to try this block with different values. 
Here is Dictionary.com's definition of Value:

	in painting, drawing, etc
	a.a gradation of tone from light to dark or of colour luminosity
	b.the relation of one of these elements to another or to the whole picture

This is the block idea I've had in my head for awhile. I was inspired by this quilt from Kumiko Fujita's book "From the Quilter's Studio" -  the dark ground, white text and pops of color.

The Bee blocks I did, had less change in value.  They more or less had similar values- light to medium - like this one here with the lighter cross almost matching the white ground:

A little trick I learned to help "see" value is to squint your eyes and look at the subject.  In other words make the shapes blurry so you can just see the differnce in value or darkness and lightness.

Hope you are enjoying this Holiday Week!

Happy Sewing! x

Hoping you had A Happy Holiday!

We had a wonderful holiday here at the Randell House : )

My mom loved her wallet!   She is one to save things instead of use them, so I promptly had her help me move the contents from her old wallet to her new one.    I hope she wears it out so I have an excuse to maker her another one.  She told me her mom would tie a scarf under her chin, just like the kerchief girl, when she was a little girl.  She is a wonderful cook, so I added as many cooking themed fabrics as possible.

I added a zipper pocket and found a cute little notebook at my favorite bookstore in Seattle.

I made dad an art bag to hold his watercolor supplies.  It has a pocket for the watercolor wheel and a water bottle and pockets for his brushes and perfectly fits a 6" x 9" sketchbook or watercolor paper.

The boys got matching p.j's again this year.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good pic!  I miscut one of the p.j. bottoms so I didn't have enough fabric to make the matching top!  I'm going back this evening to get more fabric and finish the project.  Luckily, I found the tops in the pic at a store close by  and added some applique patches to match the pants.

I hope you had a lovely Holiday!

Christmas Gifts

I just spoke with my mom and the phone and she said "You will not Buy a gift for me or your dad."

But I'm thinking MAKING isn't buying, He, he!  I actually made this cute little organizer for myself and thought, what a perfect gift for mom!  You can find the tute here.  It is from Leila and I love all her beautiful creations!! 

I added the button and loop and a little ric rac.

I added the zipper pocket so I can put my change in there.

I'll make my moms with kitchen themed fabric instead of sewing theme fabric.  She is a wonderful cook and is creative in the kitchen!

My plan for dad is a bag we designed together to carry his watercolors when he is out and about making art.  We designed it in the Spring and I think it is high time I finally make it!!

It will have a special little pocket for the watercolor wheel and is just the perfect size for a 6" x 9" notebook.  I think the Echino fabric is perfect!  It is "manly" and my dad loves to ride his bike.

Happy Creating and Happy Holidays to you! 

Fresh Sewing Day *** November 2011

I'm so late on this one.  Lynne over at Lily's Quilts invites other bloggers to share what they have been up to the past month.  I've been so crazy busy I am just now sharing my November accomplishments!

All images can be found on my Flickr Here.

I finished my Cocorico Bee block for Krista, made some dumpling pouches (you can find the tute Here), worked on a secret project, and created a tute and pattern for my little apples.

Must go sew : )

Hope you are enjoying this holiday season!

Apple Tutorial and Pattern Here!!

I finally finished the pattern for these little apples.  Link to the Pattern Here!

If you have any questions/ comments, please leave a comment on this post and I will answer here so everyone can see the response. Tks!!

Paper pieced apple tutorial:

1)   First,   I like to print out a copy of the pattern for reference.

Photo copy the Fabric Cutting Template onto freezer paper, dull side.

Carefully cut out your pattern pieces on the black lines.

I like to sort the pieces in groups by fabric.

2) Iron the pieces to your fabric, right side.

Leave at least a 1/4" s.a. around each piece.

3)    Print out your Foundation Paper Piecing Templates onto copy paper

or Vellum. I have also used heavy wt. tracing paper.

Pls note *** these templates are the mirror image of the actual block.

Position piece #1 over the template. If you are using copy paper, you will have to

hold the fabric up to a light or window to see through the paper to postion the piece correctly.

Pin your fabric in place

.

4)   Place piece #2 onto piece one matcing your seam line.

Lift piece #2 to and use your freezer paper edge to help match up the seams and pin into place.

 5)  Flip your template over and stitch on the seam line between piece #1 & #2.

I use a small stitch and back tack at the end of each seam line.

 6)  This is how your pieces will look after sewing.

7)   Fold your template back and trim your seam allowance to 3/16".

8)   Continue around piece #1 until you have your apple sewn together.

9)   ****Note that A7 and A8 are stitched together before stitching to A3****

 10)   When you are finished sewing, you will have two apple halves.  Match and pin at seams.  Stitch down the center for your completed apple. 

I added a border and some seeds with a lazy daisy stitch!

Pls comment with any questions and I'll be sure to answer you : )

Marken House for Leila

I just finished my Patchwork Patterns 318 Bee block for Leila.  She requested house blocks and is from the Netherlands  so I did a little research on Dutch architecture.  I came across some incredible houses in the Netherlands that live on the island of Marken. 

 My little house is very loosely based on actual Marken houses.  They don't have button towers and tend to have white trim.  But they do have red roofs and are dark in color!

Of course, in Leila's house there is lots of sewing going on!

She makes the most amazing quilty items : )

  Image of Marken found here.