Bird of Paradise Convergence Quilt - Part 7

I finally finished sewing the binding on my Bird of Paradise wall hanging quilt.  I'm not sure yet if I'm going to sew any embellishments (like beads) on it or just leave it as is.  I think I will likely just hang it up for the time being and enjoy it and if something strikes me I can always add it later.

An update on the Hawaiian fabric quilt, I have most of the quilting done in the main blocks of the quilt.  That will be finished before the weekend.  Then I just have the borders left to do but that will have to wait until after the weekend since I will be away this coming weekend.

Hawaiian Fabric Quilt - Part 1

I finished all the stitch in the ditch on my Hawaiian fabric quilt and have just started on the quilting in the blocks.  I've got a leaf wreath design that is going in the large floral Hawaiian fabric blocks. I've done this in a verigated thread in shades of yellow, orange, red and teal which goes well with the colours in the fabric.  In the border which is the same print I plan on quilting palm trees but I won't be starting those until all the blocks are finished, hopefully next weekend.

In the small yellow / orange square I'm quilting a starfish.

In the green rectangles I'm quilting two turtles but I have to show you what they look like from the back since the green thread I selected matches that fabric very closely and in the picture you really can't see them. (You can click on the picture for more details)

Then in the teal rectangles I'm quilting a pair of dolphins.  Again the thread I selected matches the fabric and you can't really see the quilting in the photo I took  so I'm showing a picture from the back.  There are also two teal borders across the top and bottom of the quilt and I plan on doing a row of dolphins in each of those borders.

Here is a picture of the quilt top that I posted earlier in case you were wondering what the whole top looks like.  This was posted as part of my Hawaiian Vacation posts.

Global Quilt Project

I received a very interesting e-mail today from Amy Allen of Global Change. Global Change, Inc. is a non profit organization that provides safe, clean water and basic sanitation to people living in extreme poverty throughout our world. They are currently raising funds for a village in the Central African Republic (CAR). A few ladies have been taught quilting and they are really enjoying it. These ladies have sent the organization 2 beautiful squares and they are hoping to put theses squares together with other squares from around the world to make a beautiful quilt that will be auctioned off and 100% of the proceeds will go to a new well for a village in Central African Republic and 2 latrines for a school in CAR.

This is one of the squares from the African ladies and it is exactly 12 x12 inches.

This is the second one and it is exactly 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches.

By your participation in this project these ladies will have a real sense of ownership in this project and for the positive impact it will have in the village where they live.

They are seeking quilters from around the world to donate a square or squares to this project. The colors or patterns need not follow the same design as the 2 squares the ladies sent from CAR but they should be either 12 x12 inches or 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. The finished quilt(s) will be auctioned in conjunction with World Toilet Day...Yes, "World Toilet Day" which is held on November 19th. They would like to have the donated pieces by August 31st in order to have the quilt(s) pieced together and to allow time for showing and promoting this fund-raising project. For more information about the organization and the projects they fund check out http://www.globalchange.me/Global_Quilt.html. Your donation will help stop the spread of disease due to lack of clean water and basic sanitation. People live more productive lives when they do not have to fight disease.

Here are the blocks that I'm sending to Amy.  They are from my Friday Block Party block stash and I'm glad to see that they will be part of a worthy cause. The first three are 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches and the last 4 are 12 x12 inches.

Hawaiian Vacation 2010 - Part 5

I've been back from Hawaii for a few days and still recovering from jet lag.  Yesterday I did manage to get the stitch in the ditch quilting done on my Hawaiian quilt so now I have to decide what I'm going to do in the rest of the quilt.  I have some ideas and will be sorting through them over the next few days. As you can see I decided today to do a face lift to my blog.  I've now installed the new editor since it now has spell check and it now comes with new features including some new page designs that you can customize. I think I'm going to have to either find or capture a new header picture for my blog.

So below are some more interesting plants from Kauai.

This is a Heliconia Rostrata.

This one is a Heliconia Psittacorum.

Banana tree.

Papaya tree in bloom with young papaya fruit.

Soursop.

Lychees, they were just coming into season and boy did they taste great.

Cacao tree, where chocolate comes from.

Jade Vine Flower.

Another Jade Vine Flower.

Coffee bush (or small tree).

Passion Fruit Flower & Vine.

Hawaiian Vacation 2010 - Part 4

Well I've only got a couple more days left of the Hawaiian vacation since we leave on Thursday afternoon so I'm trying to make the most of it.  I've been taking a bunch of pictures of the wonderful plants and flowers.  I still have a bunch more to take.  Below is a picture of a breadfruit.  It apparently is a starchy type vegetable that is used like potatoes or rice in the tropics.  I haven't had the opportunity to try some since the ones on Joe's tree aren't quite ripe yet.

Joe and Kent also have an amazing collection of orchids.  Unfortunately quite a few have finished blooming or have yet to start blooming.  The one below is called Lady of the Evening and apparently it gives of a lovely perfume at night.

Here is my Hawaiian quilt project.  It is a disappearing 9 patch pattern with a Hawaiian print as a focal fabric.  From that focal fabric I selected a green, yellow and turquoise that matched the leaves and hibiscus flowers to round out what I needed to create this pattern.  So I now have to piece together a back.  I'm thinking I may use some of the Hawaiian print with the yellow and turquoise.  I should be able to get the back put together today and then can at least start the quilting tomorrow.

Hawaiian Vacation 2010 - Part 3

This is  view from the second place we are staying at in Kauai in the town of Kapaa.  The time share is right on the ocean and we can hear it from our lanai.

These are a couple of pictures of the actual beach area.

I also have finished sewing the back for the sarong fabric that I'm planning on doing the whole cloth quilting on.

The sarong fabric will be placed width wise for final display.

Tranquil Moments - Part 2

I got the top finished on the tranquil moments quilt top.  I did make some changes from the original pattern.  As I was sewing I realized that the finished size was going to be a bit larger than what I could handle quilting on my sewing machine.  So the last to sections, the outer brown row on the left hand side and on the top and the aqua row next to it I have left off the quilt top.  I will use these on the back since it will have to be partially pieced any way since the brown espresso fabric won't be wide enough just to use as it comes off the bolt.  I'm very pleased with how this turned out and the way the colour combination works.  I'm going to have to wait until I get home before I can work on the back because I'm going to need to order some more of the brown fabric.

Here is a picture of the quilt top outside where I figured the lighting would be better but today it's been a bit windy with the trade winds so it's had to see the full top.

This is a picture of the top indoors. The colours are definitely more true to life in the outdoor version.

Needle Turn Applique Class with Nancy Chong

Yesterday was the needle turn applique class with Nancy Chong from Pacific Rim Quilts. http://www.prqc.com/index.htm 

The class was an instructional one on the techniques for doing needle turn applique.  This is the technique that is typically done on Hawaiian quilts as well as Baltimore applique quilts of which Nancy does both.  She is a wonderful teacher, very patient and I learned a lot in her class.  If anyone is interested in either Hawaiian quilting or hand applique I highly recommend that if Nancy Chong is in your area that you take a class from her.  Below is my practice piece from class.  It was a full day class but still we didn't get all of our shapes completed in terms of sewing them, but we did learn the 5 basic shapes, straight line, outer curve, inner curve, point (mountain) and reverse point (valley).

If Nancy isn't in your area any time soon, she also has 2 videos out, one on Hawaiian Quilting and the other on 2 Fabric Applique quilts and in both of these videos she covers her methods for doing needle turn applique.  I did buy both videos so that I would have something to review when I got home form vacation.  I will have a look at them later on and will do a post to let you know what I think of them.