HIDDEN STITCHES challenge and TO MARKET:)

After long months of crazy creativity, frustration, excitement, and pure joy at finishing in time; the Hidden Stitches 2013 Paint Chip Challenge is revealed. OH, and I am going to Spring Market:)

 

Funny how the feelings are the same. I have been working feverishly to get my Market samples completed, written, tested, photographed, printed, folded and packaged.  The time is now as I fly out on Wednesday for Portland, Oregon where I will meet new shop owners and see old friends!  When I get home, you will get your own private show here so check back after June 1st.

 

In the meantime I leave you with the amazing creativity of my sweet guild friends!

 

As to our challenge, I believe we had 6 months to decide what to do with the paint chips we were blindly given.  The size was no more than 100" (all four sides added together) and you had to use the chip colors as your primary focus.

I brought my racks and drapes so we could hang them all for voting.  They are all so different!

 

Laura Raczek

Mary Lou Wechter, Winner of Best Design.

There was a lot of discussion about Mary Lou's because the left side is all 3D woven and the flowers are 3D as well.

Marva Gurley, winner of Most Whimsical

This is my Mango Mambo.  Not only do I love the color of Mangoes but since moving to FL. I actually like the flavor too.  The little orange ones are delicious!! The pic below is it hanging in my home and you can see the quilting a bit better too.

Brenda Grampass

Lynn Tinley

Mary Ann Braithwaite, winner of Best Use of Color

We were all very impressed with how she used colors that all of us would have cried over!

Diane Dormer

Carol Flomp

Liz Mann

                                                

Lynn Woods

Pat Osinga

Bernice Frederick

Karen Barrie

Barbara Leonard

I am so impressed with how creative they all were with what colors they had.  There were some color selections that would have driven me over the edge:) but they were able to make something wonderful!
Until June....

CONGRATULATIONS!

The winner of the magazine is Mary who wrote about spending more time in mixed techniques thanks to the blog tour:)  That is the fun of this- Inspiring quilters to try something new!

The winner of a free pattern is Dana who chose Coastal Christmas.  I love pictures of finished quilts-HINT, HINT, HINT:)

Now for a sneak peek to see how many of you come back to visit me:)



Pumpkin Star

This is one of my new patterns going to Market in less than 2 weeks.  I am pretty excited about this little cutie.

Have a great weekend.


Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 7, BLOG HOP

Welcome back for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks,

Volume 7, Blog Hop!

You are so smart to get sneak peeks at what the designers are offering this time, as well as get yourself entered for fun prizes!

If this is your first time here, Welcome.  I'm Robin Koehler, a designer of fun, new quilts that range from whimsical applique to paper piecing.  I have been very busy preparing for Spring Quilt Market where I will unveil brand new Autumn designs.  So if Autumn is your season, check back in June so you will have plenty of time to get one done for snuggling.

Of course, I am again thrilled to be a part of this amazing ride!

VOLUME 7

For those of you that have been along for my ride since Vol. 2, you may remember that I am always in the 'foundation pieced' section.  This time you will find me in the 'mixed technique' section, block #635.  There is still paper piecing involved but I also mixed in some regular piecing.

Clown Go Round #635 by Robin Koehler of NESTLINGS by Robin

I went through a few color variations before deciding on this particular one.  Since 2008 I have been playing with this block while attempting art quilts.  Even when trying to make art, I could feel the pull of traditional quiltmaking on my work.  Here is what the very first one looked like....

I really love the contrast of the gold and the black, and that it is on point, but I will be disassembling this soon to remove it from the canvas and probably frame it instead.  If you notice, the 9 patch from above has been reversed, using the paper pieced blocks in the 4 directions layout vs. the corners.  Hopefully you can also see that I used the block template for my quilting lines in the corners.

Look at how much color can fool the eye...Same layout as above but because the center fabric matches the bottom corner of the

paper piece segment, you get a completely different feel.

Same fabrics from the layout in the magazine with different placements.  I truly love them all but chose the one that got into the magazine for being most photogenic and graphic in a thumbnail view.  As fun as the bottom one is, you lose the block detail with all the red.

 

Lastly, what about leaving out the 9 patch squares completely and just placing the paper piece blocks together.....

What a fun star block this makes.  This is how we see most paper piece designs but the next time you look at one, think about breaking it apart and adding in some solid squares instead:)

 

Thank you for stopping by and reading about the journey of one little block!

 

Now for the giveaways-

Giveaway #1

1. Visit my website.

2. Come back here and mention which of my patterns is your favorite in your blog comment for a chance to win it.

3.  On Friday, 8pm EST, I will draw a random number from the comments left on the blog so make sure I have a way of contacting you.

Giveaway #2

A lucky commentor will have a chance to win a copy of 100 Blocks Volume 7 by random number from all the blog comments.

Plus you will want to visit Quiltmaker's blog for a chance to win more fun prizes from them. You will also find a complete list of all the participating designers.



Quiltmaker: Quilts From... is still on stands.

Remember this block from Volume 5 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks?

 

It was picked up for their, Quilts From 100 Blocks magazine and was released this Spring-March to be exact.  I saw that it is still on stands with a really fun way to change it up for the summer.  It isn't too late.
When you click on the link above, you will get a peek at what is inside.  Look for Watermelon Days.
Enjoy and see you at the next HOP!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 is coming-

Next week is Quiltmaker's blog hop for the release of Volume 7 of 100 Blocks.  What a success this magazine has been and I, again, am very honored to be a part of it!

Join me here on Thursday, May 2nd as I introduce my block and what fun things you can do with it.

In the meantime, check out what they have going this week.

Colorful Song Titles:

Every year at the Mancuso Mid-Atlantic show there are a multitude of Special Exhibitions.  The 2013 challenge from the Cabin Branch and Stone House Quilt Guilds was to come up with a song that has a color in the title and use that as inspiration. 

There were too many to photograph, so below are a few of my favorites .

 



 

Leslie Harris, Woodbridge VA

I love the color pallette and the quilting in this one. 

The quilting gives it such a delicate feel.  Good job, Leslie!



Jane Miller, Woodbridge VA

Again the quilting caught my eye but I also really appreciate the 'random' placing of gold in the background.  Very successful movement, Jane.

Carlene Halsing, Woodbridge VA

This was purely for technique!  This flower is so textural and fun to look at.  It got a lot of attention, Carlene.

Amazing what a little imagination can do!  This is why attending quilt shows is so important to our industry.  It only takes one little idea to become the next masterpiece.
Keep quilting!

BUSY BUSY BUSY

If you have wondered where I was, I have been very busy!  January brought that pesky 2 week flu that was really hard to shake. Then my husband had it too so in that one week overlap, we were pretty pathetic together!
That put me 2 weeks behind on my work deadlines with a February trip looming. February is when I usually make the trek up to Virginia to attend the Mid-Atlantic quilt show with my mom and spend some time hanging out with her.  It is fun and I usually run into some NC friends along the way.  This year's entry into the show was none other than my Butterfly Cabin design. 

Available at Nestlings by Robin website

I also talked mom into taking a beading class with me.  As a reasonably intelligent person, I am sure I could have figured out the Peyote stitch myself but it is always easier to learn something hands-on.  So we indulged ourselves with an all day class with Mary Stori and I highly recommend her.  The class went smoothly, at a good pace, with her telling us stories while we beaded.  Her samples were beautiful and it was like a class and a lecture all rolled into one.

While at mom's, I was able to finish quilting 3 new red work pattern samples so I could sit and write once home again. Plus I fused some things and traced a couple of red work pieces for her. 

Once home, I got busy writing my patterns...coming soon...and preparing to demo at my guild.  Mom came home with me and patiently sat knitting while I worked the first 3 days she was here.  Got to love a mom, right?!

Now I am finishing a design that I started before VA. that needs to be sent in for photography...more about that exciting news coming soon.
This is the down side of publishing- I have such fun things to show you but I can't, YET:)