Tag Archives: crystal lake camps

Drop and Give Me Twenty

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I’ve joined the “Drop and Give Me Twenty” challenge for February and pledge to quilt for at least 20 minutes every day this month.

I’ll be working mostly on the turtles quilt for camp. I’ve had this community project in my hands for quite some time now and it’s time to finish it up. Thanks to everyone who sent tree blocks I’m adding the final borders now. Soon it’ll be time to sandwich and quilt. Yay! I hope to get it completed this month.

There’s a Facebook group for the challenge here. It’s a fun place to share photos and ideas and encourage each other. Prizes are available too!

fourtreesborders   trimmingtreeblocks turtlesquiltborderstart turtlesquiltcenter

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Day 8: More Tree Blocks Please

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This is another #31dayblogchallenge post.

Edited to add: Blocks due January 20th, 2016. After that I’ll make do with what I have and get this project finished. Thanks!

I’ve got three more #getyourquiltywishesgranted envelopes ready to mail and four that are waiting for me to buy stamps. In light of all the giving going on I thought I’d take this opportunity to ask for more help finishing a quilt.

turtlesdrawer

This quilt is for my childhood summer camp and has been a community project from the very beginning. Many artists have helped make the center turtle blocks as well as the tree blocks already.

treelineborder

What I’d love to have is more tree blocks for the final border of the turtles’ quilt. I still need 75 more to make it all the way. Will you help? There’s a block tutorial here for the easy 8″ x 11.5″ pieced blocks. If you’re sending some my way please email me for the address mrs.megan.null at gmail dot com.

treeblock

Treeline Border for Turtles Quilt

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Help wanted! If you’re making trees please send them my way by January 20th, 2016. Thanks guys.

Here’s a little tutorial for the treeline border blocks my friends and I are making for the turtles quilt. This quilt has been a collaboration from the start so it makes sense for this last bit to be made by many artists as well. If you want to help out and make one, I’d love that! As you can see from the last photograph I’ll need a lot of them to make it all the way around.

You’ll need some medium/dark greens and light blues for this 8 x 11.5″ block. This can be as scrappy or not as you’d like it to be. Use one green and one blue or a bunch of ’em.

 Cut:
  • Four 4″ green squares
  • Four 4″ blue squares
  • One to four strips of blue 1.5″ wide which add up to 40″ in total length
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Time to make some half-square triangles. Mark the diagonal line on each of the blue pieces. Sew them, right sides together, to the blue pieces on either side of the marked line. So, you’re going to get two half-square triangles out of each one. I like to chain-piece these, sewing 1/4 inch to the left of the marked line and then flip ’em to sew 1/4 inch to the right of it.

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Cut right down that marked line. Press ’em to the dark side and now you have 8 half-square triangles. Sew them into sets. You’re making a larger triangle shape with each one now. Press.

DSCN0009 Decide which piece will be the top of your pine tree. Set that one aside. Cut the other three by measuring 2.75″ from the bottom. Chop the tops off at that point and discard.

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Stack the pieces together and sew ’em up. Hello little tree! Border on all sides with the blue strips you cut and then trim the whole block down to 8 x 11.5 inches. This block is my own design. No need to worry about super-precise piecing on this one.

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Sometimes I Need a Bit of Quiet

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Sometimes I need a bit of quiet. Do you ever get that way? Life’s just so go-go-go noisy and it’s good to take a break to breathe. So that’s what I’m doing today on my 31st birthday. Hubby and I went grocery shopping and that’s really the only thing I’ve checked off my to-do list…. which is totally okay. We’ll cook together tonight and watch a RedBox movie. I’ll quilt a bit and fold a load of laundry. Maybe have a nice long soak in the tub. I’ll return those phone calls and emails later.

have to put clothes on

I’m getting real quiet and listening and learning about myself and my business. I’ve noticed that I don’t have a real clear direction and want to remedy that. One thing I have planned is to participate in a group read and discussion of The Power of Unpopular by Erika Napoletano, a business book that many people have recommended to me.

This week’s Project Quilting Challenge is to finish a UFO (unfinished object) so I’ve been working on the Turtles Quilt for my childhood summer camp. I’m up to the final border on the top. I’ll post some updated photos of that in a few days. It almost definitely won’t be finished by Sunday so I may work on a smaller project to submit. There are some great prizes that are randomly drawn this year and it always feels good to have a finish. If I don’t this week, well, I’m not going to stress about it.

turtle sees who can get home first

We’ve been doing some gardening this past week. Living in Southern California does have benefits! We loved the potatoes so much last year that we’re planting three times as many. So far we’ve weeded, pulled up some stumps, laid a brick path, transplanted the bird of paradise plants, painted some pots, and planted seeds that’ll be flowers.

tatobucket

I’ve linked an older post up to the Tuesday Archives link party. This week’s theme is nine-patch quilts. The last nine-patch that I made is in my etsy shop. It’s a disappearing nine-patch baby quilt with kids’ prints on a pink and orange background. pink d9p finished

Attics, Shirts, and Turkeys

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For over a week now, my husband and I have been spending our nights in the attic. I haven’t done much sewing since we sleep during the day, like Mo. (Remember Mo?) We’re installing the heat and air conditioning in our house. It’s much more complicated than just a change-out (replacing equipment) because this place never had air conditioning. Since it never did, we can’t use any of the old spots for duct work because they’re too small. Plus we’re moving the furnace from a closet to the attic. So it has been quite the project.

The good news is that there are four very small things left to do: two fittings, install the thermostat, and prime the compressor. Then we can turn it on! Woooo! Another piece of good news is that even though I’m quite accomplished at duct work now, I won’t have to touch another piece of that devilish fiberglass insulation for a very long time, if ever. Sweet relief. I’ve already showered so here’s the shot you get of the attic from the access hole.

AC Attic

I’ll get to focus more on my quilting now that this job will be finished today. I’m excited to begin the T-shirt quilt for a customer. The box of shirts arrived, complete with a chart of where each shirt was going…. which is super helpful. This customer decided to use both sides of some shirts and just one side of others. We’ll also alternate lights and darks in a grid pattern. Fun!Box O Shirts I’ll also be finishing up the tops for the two twin-sized quilts for the Turkey Clan room at Crystal Lake Camps. I have one done and the other needs a few borders before it’s large enough for the bed. Photos coming soon! Here’s one way I keep projects all together. I have plastic containers with drawers and can keep both blocks and fabrics together for easy access. And, you know, so I don’t use the fabrics for something else in the meantime. It’s happened. Don’t laugh. 🙂

Turkey DrawerExpect a post soon with photos of pretty quilts! Until then, a friendly reminder. Please take care of yourselves. Self-care is something that needs to be practiced and paid attention to. I have a few friends who had some health scares this past week. I’m both grateful that they got immediate help and reminded how important it is for me to pay attention to my thoughts and body.

 

Baby Tortuga, Honu, Schildkrote and More.

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This week’s blog post will be an update of the various things I’ve been working on while recovering from being sick. (Yay antibiotics!)

I’ve been doing a lot of handwork on the couch with my kitty keeping me company. Her name is Loki. We call her Loki Bear because when she’s really excited that you’ve come in the room she stands up on her hind-legs so you can reach her head easier and give her love… which looks like a circus bear trick. The living room, open first room, hallway, and kitchen aren’t completely cat-safe yet. There are lots of hidey-holes and dangerous things to get into. So the cats, in general, spend all of their time in the master suite. Loki Bear is the exception. She’s learned that she can be out here as long as she stays on the couch. Smart girl.
happy loki snuggles

Remember the summer camp quilts for the turtle and turkey clans that I’m working on? Here are some of my previous posts on the topic: Turtles, Turkeys, Wolves and Bears Oh My!, The Turkeys are Here and Like a Herd of Turtles.

This week I’ve been doing some hand-embroidery for the turtle quilt. One thing that I admire about Crystal Lake Camps is the emphasis on diversity. Every summer there are international campers and counselors. During the years that I was a camper I befriended people from Mexico, Russia, and Germany. Since then it’s become even more multi-national. In honor of this, I researched how to write the word “turtle” in many languages. These blocks will become part of the turtles clan quilt for the lodge. Here are the completed ones I have so far. Many more to come!

turtle in many languages

I also sewed the buttons onto these and other card holders that will be added to my etsy shop tonight. Isn’t the baby rattle fabric cute?! They’d be perfect for baby-shower gift cards to help pay for… diapers! Isn’t that what most parents use those gift cards for?

greenstars outsidepinkyellow outside

As always, I do custom orders! If you’d like some gift card holders for a special occasion please let me know. Fabrics can be for every occasion. I can make ’em individually and in bulk as well.

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Like a Herd of Turtles

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The turtles have arrived! And they’re so darned cute I’ve got to share some photos with you all. The first is of the blocks in one layout option. They haven’t been sewn together yet and may not stay in this arrangement, but it’ll give you an idea of what we’ve got. I’ll be adding a few small turtle blocks and a border or two to expand it into the size it needs to be.

turtles blocks

There’s a great variety of artists and methods used to create these turtles. Here’s one that’s appliqued and embroidered.

embroidered edges turtle

This gorgeous scene is painted onto the fabric.

turtles landscape

The last block I’m showing you today is drawn. Look at all the textures the marker lines create!
Zentangle turtle

I’ll post more updates as I go on this quilt as well as the turkeys’ two quilts.

For more on the quilts I’m helping with for my childhood summer camp, check out these posts.

https://quiltartbymegan.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/the-turkeys-are-here/

https://quiltartbymegan.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/turtles-turkeys-wolves-and-bears-oh-my/

 

The Turkeys Are Here!

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Here’s an update on this post I wrote about making quilts for my childhood summer camp. The turkey blocks have arrived! I sent blocks to camp to be decorated and they’ve flown back to me. I photographed them in sets for detail’s sake. I sent two different sizes. ‘Cause I’m cool like that. Here are the smaller, rectangular ones.

Small turkeys 2 Small turkeys 1

Small turkeys 3

As you can see from the last photo, I got some extras back that were not decorated. Which is completely fine! When making a signature quilt or collaborative project I ALWAYS make more blocks than I think are needed. They can always go on the back or be made into something else. I’d much rather have this problem than the uncomfortable one of not having enough for everyone who wanted to participate.

Okay, here are the next set of turkeys. These blocks are larger and (as you can tell if you passed kindergarten) square shaped.

Large turkeys 1 Large turkeys 4 Large turkeys 3 Large turkeys 2Look! I even got some of those hand-turkeys I was talking about in my last post. Also some really intricate Zentangle-like blocks that are so artistic and awesome! Lots of feathers and tracks.

The final photo is of the maker’s block. I sent this one off to camp with the request that all of the artists identify themselves so I can give them credit. Didn’t expect anything this beautiful in return. Preeeeetty.

Maker's block

Also, the Bears’ quilt is completely finished! Pieced by Betsy Huffman and quilted by Nancy Dewire.

bears done

That’s all for now folks! I’ll post another update on the clan quilts as we get further along in this process.