Wooly Totebag Challenge....

...if you know me at all....you know that I can't resist any challenge related to or using design and fabric of any sort!!!

So last Fall when I the Moda Wooly Tote Bag Challenge was issued...I jumped on the wagon....ordered the kit from Fox Cities Quilt Co.....put the kit on the shelf....

...and didn't think about it again until very early one morning after loading hogs. The thought popped into my head---"what if"--a very dangerous thought!!! What if I turn a quilt block design into what I put on the front of the tote bag!! Finally I had a plan---three days before the deadline!!

I pulled a selection of upcycled wools from my stash plus a charm pack of hand dyed wools from Primative Gatherings. Plan starting to come together.

The block pieces were cut out using the line drawing of the block printed from Electric Quilt.

...and stitched down with matching Aurifil threads.

I was a little concerned about stitching through the thick tote bag wool from the kit...but not to fear!!! My Bernina stitched a triple straight stitch perfectly through the layers. I decided to live on the edge and not back the block pieces with any fusible--just placed them down and went for it!! Worked great.

The more I looked at the quilt block design--the more the heart didn't feel right to me. The block was seeming to tell me that it wanted some flowers in it's corners!!
AccuQuilt Circle die #55484 to the rescue!!! Using two layers of wool, I had many adorable 1" circles cut in not time!!

Aurifil thread again....and seven 1" tiny perfectly cut circles....

...fold and pinch wool circle in half....push onto a threaded needle with knot at end of thread...

....keep adding wool circles to needle...

...pull circles to end of thread....

...gather circles....arrange into flower shape...push needle and thread through the back a few times to secure!! There you have it...an adorable little seven petaled flower. Keeping the thread attached to the flower, I simply handstitched the flower in place on the totebag in groups of three on each corner of the block.

What a great afternoon of creating I had doing this challenge!! Finished just in time to enter!!

Imagine my delight upon receiving an email it was selected as one of the finalists that needed to be sent to Moda for another judging!!! Super cool!!! Like I always say...some one has to win!!

Well today this box came in the mail....

...so it isn't one of the final 5 that will be showcased at Quilt Con next week....

....but it did come home with some great consolation prizes!!!!!

Thank you to Moda and Wooly Felted Wonders for such a fun contest. Can't wait to use the tote bag when the weather gets warmer and maybe some spring flowers are up!!

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
--George S. Patton

What interests me in life is curiosity, challenges, the good fight with its victories and defeats. 
--Paulo Coelho

Adventure Seeker...Road Rally Block Tour

Welcome to my little place along the Road Rally tour!! For Quiltmaker's 100 Block Volume 15!! Check their blog for more rally stops and more awesome prizes!!

I live on a family farm in Iowa, where the winding path of Lizard Creek flows through the farmland on which we grow corn and soybeans. I have been a farm girl my whole life--growing up on a similar farm 30 miles to the north.
I have been blessed to always have a job working from home. When my children were young, I stayed busy with country wood crafts. Selling at local vendor shows. The creative adventure turned into quilting  on a road trip with friends to Country Threads in Garner, Iowa.
I now operate my long arm quilting business from home and  have just started the adventure of turning my designs into purchasable patterns. When not quilting, I am a full-time farm wife helping my husband with all the activities associated with raising quality pork.

I couldn't resist this vintage photo of  4 year old me--helping my Dad raise quality pork!!

Now on to Adventure Seeker....

The inspiration for this block came while on the airplane going to Florida for a small winter get-away with my husband. As you can see--sometimes it takes a while to get to the finished design. Planning family or quilty1 and quilty 2 adventures has been a passion of mine, so it only seemed fitting that this design was drawn while on an adventure!!

Such great spaces in this block to use your favorite fabrics. I played with a striped fabric in the original block--which I did not get a picture of--you will have to find it in the magazine--on page 58!!

Did you know that some fabric companies provide jpegs of their fabric lines? These can then be used in Electric Quilt software. How cool is that?! Being able to see how the fabrics work together, makes the project go together so nicely.

I thought it would be fun to see how Adventure Seeker looks as a quilt. I used Moda's Creekside by Sherri and Chelsi for the following quilts--Creekside for a quilt made by Lizard Creek Quilting. Too much? LOL

...and then I realized that adventures are the best way to learn. 

So I looked for a fabric line with stripes. Moda's The Good Life by Bonnie and Camille was just right. There was a stripe in it. And I wanted to learn how to rotate the stripe in EQ7. Lucky you, watch how it works!!

If you have a quilt with straight stripes, look for the rotate button in EQ.

A screen will pop up. I used 60 as the starting angle in the box.

Click all the right side patches of the striped blocks and watch what happens.

Then double the angle to 120....

...and click on the left side patches of the striped blocks...

Ta Da!! I now have my stripes at 60 degree angles!! Oh the possibilities!!! 

Now what if you don't have EQ software and still want to have fun with stripes...

Make your own template from cardstock...

.....use the size given in the instructions for the rectangle and cut your template.

Figure out which way the template needs to be for the right and left side!! Then lay your template on the fabric in a pleasing angle. Draw distinguishing marks--so when you flip it over to cut the other one--you can line up the template perfectly!!

Make some swiss cheese out of your fabric!!

Layout the pieces to make sure it is right!!

Then I marked the 1/4" seam allowance on the light background fabric--it makes for an easy line up!!

Stitch on the marked line and press open--then look at those funky dog ears to cut off!!

How cute is that???

What kind of adventure can I plan next--some giveaways?? 

How about this--if you could live in a teepe and have a working sewing machine for a week--where would you want that place to be?? I would park it somewhere in the Madison Valley of Montana.

Answer the question in the comments--and I will randomly draw a winner--on May 7--for four adventure fat quarters and Quiltmaker 100 blocks Volume 15.

One other person also randomly drawn from the comments will receive a copy of Volume 15 directly from Quiltmaker.

Thank you ever so much for stopping by my place. I hope you learned something new and enjoyed your time here today!!!

Blessed are the curious for they shall find adventures!!!