Vote : Big and Small

I don't have a finished quilt to share with you this week but I did finish another of my "Vote" blocks.  This one uses the Spell It With Fabric letters from Moda.

(You can get the free pdf pattern here.)

The blocks finish at 10" tall.  I haven't attached them together yet because I am not sure exactly how I will use them in the quilt.  It might be fun to add some stars in between the letters.  But I have lots of time to think about that - I have many more blocks to do!

You can see the comparison to the smaller 4" blocks I wrote about earlier.

As I was working on the blocks, I thought a lot about the importance of voting in both the big and the small elections.  Sure, it is important to vote for our President, Senators and Representatives but I think the smaller elections are just as important.

Here are some positions you might see in your smaller elections along with some of their responsibilities...

A Mayor not only runs the day to day administration of a city, but they are also responsible for setting the tone of the culture of the city.  They help to recruit businesses and take a lead role in city legislation. They also usually appoints the chief of police to manage law enforcement. 

A Sheriff is typically an elected position that oversees a county and is responsible for seeing that the laws are enforced fairly.

District Attorneys decide when an arrest leads to a charge.  They are also the ones who negotiate plea bargains.  This position can either be elected or appointed depending on your area.

State Legislators are responsible for policies that set the tone of the culture of your state.  They define what constitutes the procedures for responding to crime, sentencing structures and funding government agencies that are responsible for dealing with offenders and victims.  

Your state legislator represents your area within the state.

There is great importance in these positions - they directly influence our day to day lives and the lives of our neighbors.  If you are not happy with how these positions are being run, use your vote and influence to try and make a positive change. 

Please vote in ALL of  elections!

A further step I am taking to ensure a positive change is to join my Neighborhood Association.  This group represents 26K people of my city's population.  Attending these meetings gives me access to my local officials and to hear their views and policies.  I want the place I live to be a welcoming, healthy and safe environment for all.

Making changes takes some effort - I am dedicated to seeing a better tomorrow!

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Oh Scrap! : Something New

As I am sitting at home with little distractions, I find myself doing a lot of thinking.

One subject I have been doing a lot of thinking on is voting.

The right to vote is the foundation to any democracy.

The 19th Amendment guarantees American women the right to vote.  Early in America's history, women were denied some of the basic rights enjoyed by male citizens.  Married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money they might earn.  No female had the right to vote.

After decades of struggle and agitation, on June 4th 1919 the amendment was passed through Congress and it took over a year for states to ratify.  Thanks to a 23 year old representative in Tennessee (who listened to his mother), the amendment was adopted on August 18, 1920.  

I thought I would spend now until November appreciating my freedoms and the right I have to vote by making a quilt.  With each block I hope to educate myself and think about how my vote should be molding the future I want to see. 

Things need to change - America is not getting greater.

I hope that women celebrate 100 years of having the right to vote and start demanding a change.

If you want to make your own vote block, I used the Little Letters tutorial at Temecula Quilt Company. I just added a skinny frame around them.

And please, start planning now by ensuring your voters registration or by completing the process to vote absentee now so nothing will prevent you from your right.

Now I will step off my soapbox and dive into my pink scraps.

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It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

• This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
• You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
• If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
• If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
• This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
• Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Little Letters #3

I have learned over the years that I advance the most when I challenge myself.  So as I was planning my three little letters quilts, on one set of letters, I tried really hard to set myself up for a test that I wasn't sure I would be able to work myself out of.

To review...

This fun letters quilt turned out beautifully.  It was straight forward piecing, nothing challenging about the colors or the layout.  I ended up doing a lot of the piecing as a leaders and enders project because I was kinda bored with it.

This second quilt was a bit more challenging.  It helped to remind me to not make quick decisions just based on a single block and because I was using scraps of solids, I was limited on my color choices so getting the blocks of colors to flow somewhat was a bit of a puzzle.  I enjoyed making it.

Then, there were these blocks...

Even though no one was watching me if I cheated, I had a rule that I must pull a fabric from the dark pile and a fabric from the low volume pile and sew them up together in a block- no matter how bad they looked.  I wanted to see if I could take the resulting blocks and make a decent looking quilt from them  (Truthfully, with each block I finished, I felt like I was just setting myself up to fail!)

Having completed the first two quilts in straight froward layouts, I wanted to try and use the letters around the border of this last quilt. Which left me the center...

 As I looked around my sewing room, I saw my overflowing bin of leftover bindings and inspiration struck!  Not much cutting....works for me!!

I did start by figuring out the outer border first so I knew what size I needed to make the center.  I was able to get the letters to flow perfectly around the entire quilt.  I used some Kona Ash gray to border the letters.  This helped to unify the look.

Then it was just a matter of sewing the strips together.  (Jasmine, if only you had posted your race quilt formula a few days earlier!)  Some of the strips I joined at a 45 degree angle and some I used a small Kona Ash square.  No reason for the square, there were just some already cut sitting on my cutting mat.

I even used a big piece of unloved fabric on the back and spruced it up by adding a fun pink print to the sides.

 With the exception of a bit of gray, the entire quilt came from the scrap bin.  While she might not win any prizes in a quilt show, I have to say I adore this quilt.  I challenged myself and I think I came away a winner!

And this quilt achieves my January goal with A Lovely Year of Finishes over at Sew Bittersweet Designs!  Oh Happy Day - starting the year out right!

If you are interested in more ways to follow me, you can find me on Craftsy, Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin', Feedly, Instagram, Google +, or get my blog sent right to your email inbox by entering your email address on the right sidebar! 

Linking up:

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Richard and Tanya Quilts
TGIFF

Crazy Mom Quilts

Sew Bittersweet Designs

ALYoF January Goal

The year has barely started and the madness has already begun!

I think I sang the praises of my productive 2014 a little too loudly!  I was so proud to say I had only 26 projects hanging around in my sewing...well, guess how I celebrated?!  That is correct, by starting projects!  In the last three days, I have started no less than 4 projects!

So to make sure I also focus on the finishes, I will be continuing to join in on some Finish Alongs.  And as I did last year, each need their separate projects (no double dipping allowed for me!)

For the month of January, I am going to set the goal of finishing up the last of my little letters quilts.  I have a few more blocks to make and then I need to figure out how to set the blocks.  But by the end of the month, I want to have this quilt finished!




So how about you?  Are you ready to join me over at BitterSweet Designs and commit to what you hope to achieve this month?  I hope to see you there!







If you are interested in more ways to follow me, you can find me on Craftsy, Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin', Feedly, Instagram, Google +, or get my blog sent right to your email inbox by entering your email address on the right sidebar! 

 

Linking up:

Sew BitterSweet Designs

ALYoF 2014 Performance

In my year in review post, I shared that in 2014 , I went from a ridiculous 47 works in progress at the beginning of the year to a workable 26 by the end of the year. One of the ways I worked through so many of these projects was to set goals each month as part of Sew BitterSweet Designs' A Lovely Year of Finishes. Each month I made a single goal of finishing a really old project. And with some determination and discipline, I met my goals 11 months out of the year. Here they are again!

 January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

Thanks Sew BitterSweet Designs for hosting such a great event. I look forward to linking up in 2015 and to continue to get things finished and out of the cupboards so I have more room for fabric!

If you are interested in more ways to follow me, you can find me on Craftsy, Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin', Feedly, Instagram, Google +, or get my blog sent right to your email inbox by entering your email address on the right sidebar!

Little Letters - Quilt #2 Finish

With all of my clients' Christmas quilts finished and delivered, I am finally finding some time to spend in my sewing room.  In an effort to finish up as many projects as I can before the end of the year, I am trying to focus on a single quilt and finish it to completion.

My regular readers know I have been working on three separate quilts of Little Letters (found at Temecula Quilts).  The first one I completed a few weeks ago.  I am happy to say the second one is now finished and ready for a home.

This one was also made from the scrap bin.  I restricted the scrap colors to soft blues and greens and the background is various white or white on white prints.

I initially had plans to just use a white for the outside border but I found myself with still a number of small scraps in these colors so I decided to just go ahead and frame up the quilt with a scrappy piano key border.   This choice also helped to make my decision on what color to use in the cornerstones.

You gotta admit this one turned out pretty cute!

 

My final set of Little Letters to get sewn up into a quilt I knew would be my most challenging.  There was really no rhyme or reason as to the fabrics I chose.  I simply wanted to use scraps and needed a light and a dark for each blocks.  I am really going to have to put my thinking cap on to come up with a fun plan.  It will be my Christmas holiday project!



I am looking forward to a nice quiet holiday with lots of much needed rest.  I hope all of you are able to spend your holidays doing what you love! 

If you do find yourself with a bit of free time, consider downlaoding a Craftsy class.  Classes are all on sale right now at a great price!

If you are interested in more ways to follow me, you can find me on Craftsy, Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin', Feedly, Instagram, Google +, or get my blog sent right to your email inbox by entering your email address on the right sidebar! 

Linking up:

Patchwork Times

Freemotion by the River

Sew Fresh Quilts

Little Letters - Quilt #1 Finish

I have finally found a bit of time to get into my sewing room and focus on some of the projects layered on my design walls.  And rather than work on a number of them at the same time, I have been making a concerted effort to only work on one quilt at a time.

So, I have a finish to share!

(Funny how that happens...)

 Here is the first of the three Little Letters quilt I am working on.  (The patterns for the letters can be found at Temecula Quilts).  This one was made entirely from the scrap bin - each letter is black with a light gray background.  The solids and cross weaves are all the last bits of various colors in my stash - many I am not even sure who the manufacturer is.  Most of these blocks used up the last bit of fabric I had so it was nice to clean all those solids out.

Because I had limited colors available, it was challenging to get the color effect I was going after.  I am glad I resisted cutting from pieces of yardage - then I just create more scraps!  And the quilt turned out just fine using what I had.

 If you recall in a previous post, I was not happy that I did not outline each letter with a bit of gray before I added the background.

So to give each letter an outline, I added some fun detail in the quilting.  With a light gray thread, I just surrounded each letter with some loopy quilting.

 Not too bad for a silly little scrap quilt!

And this quilt was my finish goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes with Sew Bittersweet Designs.  So I can strike it off my list!

I am now working on quilt #2 and hope to share it soon.  Each one of these little letter quilts is laid out quite uniquely!  Hope you come back to check it out.

If you are interested in more ways to follow me, you can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin', Feedly, Instagram, Google +, or get my blog sent right to your email inbox by entering your email address on the right sidebar!

  

                                   

Linking up:  

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Richard and Tanya Quilts

Crazy Mom Quilts

Sew Can She
Sew Bittersweet Designs