Quilt Border for My Funny Valentine Quilt

I've been obsessed at this minute by borders because I thought my funny valentine quilt needed to be bigger than a 62" square, and I've since learned that borders are a way to increase the size of a quilt and square it up at the same time.  I saw this border below and thought it might be a good option though I am making another February quilt called Valentine that happens to be a string quilt, and so the scrappy border will definitely be a way to go for that one.

However, a scrappy border might be a bit too busy for this completed top and detract from the individual squares.  And so I'm making it simple with just solid borders of maybe tangerine and coral--perhaps a canvas for some free motion quilting.

QuiltCon 2018 Anticipation & Excitement!

I don't want to take too much time off from work, and so I'll be driving down south on the Friday of QuiltCon and then taking in all the jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring quilts at the show as well as browsing all the vendor booths.  Then onward the next day to a lecture, "You Make the Rules:  How I Use Design to Guide Work and Life" by Carolyn Friedlander on Saturday at noon followed by a workshop, "Layered Abstraction with Embroidery" by Nichole Vogelsinger from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.  I'll likely meet up for dinner with folks from a Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild.  I think O N E workshop is plenty, but I may seek out other lectures.  I tend to get overwhelmed at conventions.

Ceramics: Pussy Power Heart

My homage to the Women's March from a few Saturdays ago that's on sale this Saturday for our ceramics studio pop-up.  I actually made this heart during last year's Women's March when I went to the studio rather than the march.  Let's continue to R E S I S T the patriarchy, and I plan to make more hearts to celebrate pussy power.

Work in Progress: Love + Hearts for a Valentine Quilt

I spent a glorious Superbowl Sunday cutting and arranging blocks of my most favorite fabrics by Amy Butler and Alexia Abegg with yummy and fun names like cocoa bloom or dance hall sweetheart, and as you can see below all are in a color palette of rose pink, bright pink, purple, iris, orchid, lilac, red, orange and coral.  I was looking for a quilt pattern to feature Butler's large scale prints and adored a quilt called Modern Rose Garden by Carolina Patchworks.  It's surprisingly fast piecing except I decided that my solid blocks were too plain. 

 And so I embellished with some raw-edge appliqué.  I previously made a sampler quilt with a block of Robert Indiana's typography of LOVE, which I LOVE and had to do again.  Because I'm still trying to master foundation paper piecing, I found a paper pattern of a heart shape I liked and copied it in various sizes.  More crazy hearts to come!

Valentine's Day Pop-Up: Another Wall Heart

I actually completed this heart last year, which is good thing as I made no hearts this year in time for our ceramic studio's pop-up sale on February 10th.  However, I've a few bisque pieces coming out of the kiln next Saturday, and because I love hearts, I make them all-year-round.  I'm hoping a dude will buy this for his valentine.

Problem Solving in Color

Thank goodness on this quilt project, I decided to just focus on color and not incorporate any prints and then have to deal with volume.  And what I also love about Kona cotton solids other than they're eco-friendly?  There is no wrong or right side! I am already confused enough as a beginner of foundation paper piecing.  January/February block challenge for Mighty Lucky 2018 quilt club done!

I played with the "noir" mode of my camera phone to determine whether I had a balance of light, medium and dark values in my blocks.