Playing with a Design and Sewing Blocks for Friends

Well, I didn't get much sewing accomplished this week, but I did make some blocks for Yvonne's two young friends.  Yvonne - aka Quilting Jetgirl - put out the call on her blog for people to make blocks for two children who tragically lost their Dad.  She is really involving the kids in the process and they are enthusiastic and showing great promise.  Her goal is for them to get a sense of the power of community.  Quite a  few of you are already involved!  Today, on Thankful Thursday, Yvonne showed some of what has come in so far and it looks really great.  If you would like to take part, there is still time to whip up a block or two.  She needs specific sizes and themes.    

For the little girl, Yvonne asked for ocean themed, or boat, or dance blocks.  I did curvy, ocean themed blocks.  This process of cutting and piecing naturally turns out three blocks.

So of course then I had to make three for the little boy too. Yvonne said he is excited about taking piano, so asked for music themed blocks.  I happened to have some really cool jazz fabric and it called out for improv blocks.  Kaja & Ann!  I did my first simple but successful Improv!  It was fun too.  

In other news, I designed another quilt, which I need to make soon.  I found a fabric I adored and decided to use it as a backing and design the whole quilt around it.   The fabric is Rocket Ads from the Rocket Age collection by October Afternoon for Riley Blake.  If you were a kid in the 50's through the 70's and read comic books, this fabric will definitely feel nostalgic to you.  I matched Kona Cottons to the fabric to develop a color palette for the quilt.  

Rocket Ads by October Afternoon for Riley Blake / paired with Kona Cottons

Once again, I found the inspiration for starting a design on Pinterest.  Are you all as cuckoo about Pinterest as I am?  It makes me laugh that someone referred to it "hoarding without the clutter."  

I was looking for computer themed quilts and found the work of Elizabeth Elliott.  She makes incredible quilts with code, using a programming language called Processing.  She uses coding to generate random designs, with simple and traditional quilt blocks.  Then she basically plays with the design until she likes it.  Her quilts are both fun and amazing!  Elizabeth (Libs) has a free pattern: Out of Step available on the Robert Kaufman website.

So. I know nothing about computer programming, but I can be pretty random, LOL, so I took a whack at it.  I love to take simple blocks and play with them.  I chose 5 block designs just like Elizabeth did and used EQ7 to work.  By version seven, I started feeling pretty happy with the design.

Okay, brace yourself!

"Batman Returns" EQ7 mockup

I named the quilt "Batman Returns"... Can you see that one repeated block design that looks like Batman lurking around every corner?  Somehow the front of the quilt feels like it belongs with the comic book themed backing.    

Guidance and suggestions are welcome!  This quilt and Sam's Serenity Now! quilt are real departures for me.  I'm usually more traditional.  It's fun, but also a wee bit daunting to depart from your norm!

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