Inspirational Sunday (5) - via Road to California 2015

Hi everyone!  I've been busy designing and testing paper pieced block patterns for an upcoming class I am teaching to my guild, and I guess it has me in a bit of a paper piecing appreciation mood.  So...here are some lovely paper pieced wonders from the 2015 Road to California show.

This first one is just amazing!  It is called "Outta the Loop" by Karen Machetti and Eyvonne Smith of Port St. Lucie, FL.

It's a shame that the table was in the way!  The bottom of the quilt is equally amazing.

Here's a closer look.

Check out that wonderful quilting too.

Here is gorgeous star quilt called "Going Green" by Patricia C. Robertson of Reedley, CA.  I love the addition of the appliqued leaves.

The stars themselves are Carol Doak's patterns, but Patricia designed the rest.  So lovely.

And then there is this tiny wonder!  Sea Breeze by Pat Kuhns of Lincoln, NE.

Yep! That is some tiny piecing, and as you can see it won 1st place in the miniature category.  The Mariner's Stars and the sashings are both foundation pieced, and then the Mariner's Stars are appliqued onto the background.  I like tiny, but this is really tiny!

And now for something a little less intricate, but equally as lovely.  Floating Jewels by Tanya Heldman of Los Angeles, CA.

I just love the quilting and modern look of this quilt.

What about you?  What kind of paper piecing do you like best?


Thanks for reading today,



Jen

Arrowhead Star - Building Blocks Tuesday

I was playing around in EQ7 last week and came up with this paper piecing block.  I figured it needed a test drive, and so...

Arrowhead Star pattern by Quilter In The Closet

I'm not at all sure what I am going to do with this one.  Perhaps I need a very patriotic pillow??  If anyone wants to give it a go, just let me know.

What blocks have you working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspirational Sunday (4) - via Road to California 2015

Another special exhibit that is usually seen at Road to California is the Hoffman Challenge.

Hoffman Fabrics is located here in Southern California and they have some lovely fabrics.  Each year, they choose one fabric and challenge the community to create with it.  There are several categories for quilts of various construction methods, but there is also a "doll" category and clothing and accessories categories - just in case quilts aren't your thing.  If chosen as part of the travelling exhibit, your item will see the halls of many a quilt show during the year!

What I like about this challenge is that while you have to use a recognizable portion of the fabric, you can mix in other fabrics from other manufacturers.  This really allows you to create what the fabric inspires as your masterpiece as you envision it.  Several of the challenges I've been a participant of in the past have limited which coordinating fabrics you are allowed to use.  This does make it challenging, but sometimes you just have an idea that needs to be realized and requires another fabric.

This is the fabric for the 2014 Hoffman challenge.

2014 Hoffman California Fabric Challenge

Here are some of the quilts from the 2014 challenge.

This one is called" Circles in the Mist" by Sonia Reed, and is of her own design.

And for those of you that still haven't finished your One Block Wonder quilt from the Quilt Along a couple of years ago, perhaps this will inspire you to get it out again and finish it up!

It is called "Here Come the Blooms" by Penelope Harris.

Perhaps one of my favorites of the challenge is this one called "Segovia" by Deana Steel.  She let her love for Spanish guitar music to inspire this lovely quilt.

In case you are interested in trying your hand at the 2015 Challenge, the challenge fabric is:

2015 Hoffman California Challenge Fabric

I'm not sure why, but this one reminds me of flying carpets and the movie, Aladdin.

All the details of the challenge are listed here at the Hoffman Challenge website.  Entries are due in July!

I've heard it said several times that the Hoffman Challenge is a great place to get your feet wet in the quilt show circuit.  I was considering entering last year and planned on making a coral reef scene, but alas, that summer deadline is a tough one for me.  By the time I found the fabric, I just didn't have time to make the actual quilt.  Perhaps one day....If you are worried about sourcing the fabric, Equilter.com seems to usually carry the challenge fabric.  I have ordered from them in the past with good results and they have the 2015 challenge fabric.  So go for it!

Who is going to enter?


Thanks for reading today and Happy Easter if you celebrate!



Jen