Fat Quarter Pop-Up

We know you've seen these pop-up collapsible containers - they're in quilt shops everywhere! 

They were designed by Joanne Hillestad (aka The Fat Quarter Gypsy) who we met at CABS (Creative Arts Business Summit) last year, and again this year.  Well, after much procrastination Sue finally got around to making one yesterday using a snow-dyed/screen printed piece of fabric.

She used 3 screens that are different versions & sizes of a black eyed Susan, and printed with ProChem opaque textile paint in teal.

This is the small size pop-up, which is 6" tall.  It also comes in medium and large sizes.  You can check the Fat Quarter Gypsy website for a link to find shops near you that carry the pattern.  A piece of elastic is stitched into the seam to hold the pop-up flat when you want to collapse it.

Joanne's instructions are very clear and easy to follow, and her method for inserting the spring is very clever.  What a fun way to showcase some of your own unique screen printed fabric!

Fiber Artists @ Loose Ends

This post is a bit of a flashback to Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival in February, but we recently realized we hadn't shared what was our favorite exhibit at the show.  A group of art quilters known as Fiber Artists @ Loose Ends debuted a new installation exhibit they call Wind Chimes: Elements.  It features the 4 elements of fire, earth, water and air and is an immersive experience.  Each of the 10 artists created a panel for each element in their own unique style.  The panels are suspended from bicycle wheels which gently turn with the air currents.  What a delight to walk around and through the 4 segments of the installation and experience this art work rather than viewing it against a flat surface!  This is definitely an exhibit to see!  Below are some still photos, and a brief video to give you a better flavor of the exhibit.

Be sure to visit Fiber Artists @ Loose Ends for more information about these talented artists!

UFO Busting in March

We're a few days behind with the UFO Busting report for March.  Vicki forgot to post last Friday (April Fool?), so did her post Monday.  Which is fine, we were at the Creative Arts Business Summit so would not have had time to post anyway.  Now getting back in the swing of things, so we're really only a day behind.  How did Sue in the month of March? 

She claims 2 finishes (or maybe 1 1/2?) for the month.  The first is the completion of her 3 block lotto blocks that were featured in the recent tutorial.  (counting all 3 as one project)  Since these get turned in as blocks, there is no sewing them together into a finished quilt (unless we win a set of blocks!)  Here's one of the 3.

The second finish Sue claims is the mock mola hand stitching from last month.  All the hand stitching is now finished.  True, it's not been made into a completed project yet, but finishing the stitching is an accomplishment, so she's counting it.  (or maybe its a 1/2 finish) Maybe by the end of April she'll have decided what to do with it.

April is the month for finishing Sue's Celebration challenge quilt, so there will be something to report next month.  Here's the link to Vicki Welsh's blog so you can check out what everyone else is doing.

Starting UFO count: 12
New projects started this month: 1
Projects finished this month: 2
UFO count at end of month:11

From Sue's beginning of the year UFO list: "Two are hand stitching projects, one of which is almost done, and then will need machine quilting."  She has now finished the hand stitching on both of these projects!