Shredded Squares Pillow

Created for Project Quilting 9.6 SCRAPtastic challenge.

I had to laugh when this challenge came out.  I have a saying.  "Why would anyone use 5 fabrics when 50 will do."  A challenge for me would by using less than 12 fabrics in a quilt.

However, my week had even more challenges than usual. Big baby shower at my house on Sunday and leaving for a quilt retreat on Wednesday afternoon.

I thought a pillow would fit the bill. I'm still using strings, but wanted them to be skinny, so I decided to use some shreds, which includes selvages and any strip of fabric under about 1 inch. I cut black to use as foundation squares and added shreds, top-stitching them into place and leaving the raw edges. I squared them up and sewed them together for the pillow.

I had made the white one a while back.  Same technique.  I thought it was a little boring when I got done so I appliqued the flower on top.  The raw edges kind of fluff up with use and I occasionally give it a little haircut when it gets too stringy.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI. 16" x 16".

Since I'm here I'm also going to show off the handiwork of my beautiful granddaughters, Cedi, Capri and Pip, ages 11, 10 and 6. They helped host the baby shower for my daughter and made all these amazing cupcakes to match our farm animal theme. Cedi and I baked 5 different kinds of cupcakes and the 3 of them made 5 different fillings, filled them all and did all the decorations. They had to leave for a few hours in the middle of the day Saturday and I was instructed not to touch the cupcakes.  They made a gramma proud...as they always do.

Threads in a Row (Ready to Sew

Created for Project Quilting 9.5 A Stitich in Time challenge.

I'm still working with strings, so my first idea was to make spool blocks with strings for the thread.  As I started, I knew I wanted narrower strings, so I went to my collection of shreds.  Shreds are strips too skinny to be strings, typically less than 3/4" wide. Selvages go in with my shreds.  When I work with them I usually stitch them to a foundation leaving the edges raw. That is the approach I used here, creating spools of different colors and different types.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.

10" x 34".

Sunflansy

Created for Project Quilting 9.4 Mellow Yellow challenge.

When I saw the Mellow Yellow theme for this challenge, I immediately thought of sunflowers.  And I'm still doing string quilts, so I figured some string blocks inspired by sunflowers would fit the ticket.

So I cut 6" x 9" rectangles of foundation fabric and made string blocks using yellows. I cut center squares in brown and added green leaves, then put the squares together to make blocks.

Now I could see my mistake. Sunflowers have petals that come out from the center, but I had oriented my blocks so the petals went around. I could rip them out or I could adjust my concept. If only I'd changed the center squares to purple, I could have said they were pansies. Oh, well.  I'll just call them Sunflansies and we're good to go...

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.

14" x 42".

Home of the Brave

Created for Project Quilting 9.3 Bold and Brave challenge.

For the Bold and Brave challenge, I wanted to honor the service men and women who sacrifice so much for our country.  My husband is a veteran and it's very common for people to thank him for his service. This is much different than when he was coming home from Vietnam and was advised to change into his civilian clothes in Hawaii.

I'm still working with string quilts, so I made red and white string blocks, then added blue triangles to one corner of each to make mini flags.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.

18" x 36"

The Argyle Answer

Created for Project Quilting 9.2 Triangulaton Challenge.  

I'm currently possessed by string quilts. I can't get enough of them. So I knew this needed to be one. This is the first time I have used an equilateral triangle as the basis of a string quilt design. 

I quilted uneven diagonal lines and when I was searching for a name, all I could think is that it looked like argyle, so The Argyle Answer it is. 

Created by Diane Lapacek
near Poynette, WI.
18" x 41"

On Rowan Creek

Created for Project Quilting 9.1 Hometown Proud Challenge.

I knew I was facing a challenging week this week. I would be gone from Monday noon until Thursday afternoon.  So I needed to come up with an idea quickly and it had to be simple enough to complete on time.

I grew up in Belmont, first state capitol of Wisconsin. It is also home of the Belmont mound and Joy Lake where my family held many annual campouts.

I have lived in Poynette for the last 38 years, so it is my current hometown.  It has several really great things going for it. Of course, my favorite is Lapacek's Orchard which is owned by son, Jared and his wife, Kim. There is also Rock n Wool Winery owned by my nephew, Shaun, Creek Bed Country Pharmacy, the MacKenzie Enviromental Center, and the state game farm that raises pheasants to release for hunters. We also have Lake Wisconsin and the Schoenenberg Marsh.

I put all these ideas into my brain and went to bed.  I woke up thinking about Rowan Creek. It is a trout stream that runs right through Poynette.  This was an idea I could work with. I happen to be possessed by string quilts right now. I finished a couple and have no less than 3 in progress. Ideas keep popping into my head and I just have to try them out.  So I decided to do a simple string quilt table topper based on Rowan Creek.

I started with foundation squares of soft n sheer and laid them out on my countertop, then drew a creek winding across them. I marked which areas should be blue to represent the water and strip pieced those areas, then added browns and greens along the banks of the creeks.

I thought I should add some houses. Since Bourn Creative says orange is the color of joy and creativity, I decided all the houses would be orange. Either that or I found some blocks and partial blocks in my orphan block drawer that had orange houses on cul de sacs that I had inadvertently made while attempting to make this quilt.

It is my firm belief that every good orphan block will find a new home and that time ripping these blocks apart just because I used a creative alternate plan to put them together would a waste of time.

So there it is. On Rowan Creek in my home town of Poynette, WI, where I have been creating for the last 38 years.

Created by Diane Lapacek.

18" x 35".

You Are My Sunshine

I was involved in the Sunny Sunflower Block Exchange awhile back.  (Actually, it was 2014!) I finished putting this together last fall, then apple season got in the way and I procrastinated about getting it posted.

This was a super fun block exchange.  I love my quilt!  Thank you to Shannon Linde for hosting and thanks to Kim Lapacek for taking these fabulous pictures.

I gave this quilt to my daughter, Karma, because she told me it belongs with her Sunflowers Make Me Happy quilt.  Works for me.