Monday, April 10, 2017

2017 New Quilt Blogger's Blog Hop

Welcome!  Today is the first day of the New Quilt Blogger's Blog Hop, 2017 edition.  This year's activities are hosted by Yvonne of Quilting Jet Girl, Leanne of She Can Quilt, and Beth of Cooking Up Quilts. The blog hop is a way for some of us fairly new to blogging to get to know each other and get creative and technical advice.  I participated last year and was thrilled that I still qualified for 2017.

I'm Emily and I live in Charlotte, North Carolina.  I live with Husband, who is super supportive of all things quilting, our son Munchkin, age 3, who loves trucks, pandas, and mac & cheese, and our dog Ivy. 

My blog name comes from my love of dogwoods, which are blooming beautifully in my part of the world right now, and family story from my childhood involving my favorite baseball player as a kid, Ron Darling. 

I started quilting in college and got hooked pretty much right away.  This fall will be my 20th anniversary with quilting!

I do not consider myself a modern quilter, though there are elements of the modern aesthetic that I like.  I am not even close to a perfectionist when it comes to quilting.  I don't do show quilts for that reason.  If everything had to be perfect, I would not enjoy myself. 

I love novelty fabrics and I Spy quilts.  I recently made a fish quilt for a friend's baby using lots of I Spy scraps:



I do like scraps.  I cut my scraps into set sizes so they are easy to use in future projects.  I used a lot of 2 1/2" squares in the butterfly block I chose for last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I ended up using those blocks in two different quilts. The first was Bright Butterflies for Baby June.

Bright Butterflies for Baby June

Just your neighborhood fireman, helping to make sure the quilt doesn't blow away!
The second was Butterflies in the Sky and was donated to my local Project Linus chapter.  I am an active member of the Charlotte chapter of Project Linus and have a personal goal of donating 12 quilts per year.  I have donated 31 quilts to that organization to date.

In the fall of last year I really got into making animal pillows.  It started with a Penguin Pillow I made my son for his birthday.

Then I decided to get rid of the horrible, bulky couch cushions so Penguin was soon joined by Panda and Monkey.  Next on the horizon are Giraffe, Koala, & Elephant.

My current project is last year's Scrap Dance Tango mystery quilt, created by Carole of From My Carolina Home.  (Yes, I do make quilts that aren't animals!)  This quilt has two possible layouts.  Since it was suggested that we ask a question for this blog hop, I am going to take advantage of the increased traffic and ask: which layout do you prefer?  Help me decide!  Do you enjoy scrap quilts, or would you rather start with new fabric for each project?
Scrap Dance Tango: Layout A

Scrap Dance Tango: Layout B

There are 4 other bloggers from my hive, Let's Bee Quilt'n, who are also featured today.  Be sure and visit them today!
Andrea @ Goofin Off Around the Block
Rita @ Posterity Quilt Co
Samantha @ Aqua Paisley Studio
Vivian @ Quilting with Vivian

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy the blog hop and visit again soon!

43 comments:

  1. Emily, all your little animals are so fun! Unfortunately I am no help with your layout question because they both look great to me :)

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  2. Just love your quilts! And I totally relate that not everything has to be perfect for me, lol! A or B that is very hard. I also love both versions as they are...

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  3. Love both your quilts Emily but I do favour A I think but both are gorgeous. Love your scrappy style

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  4. Emily I love those scrappy fish, they are the cutest I Spy Quilt ever!! I am very little help with the layout of the quilt, they both look good!

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  5. Hi Emily! Visiting from the New Quilters hop, and what a surprise to see Tango!! I like layout A, as the secondary design will show when it is sewn together better. Love your blue background!

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  6. Love your colorful butterfly quilt and the fish-simply adorable!!

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  7. The dogwoods are blooming here in Oklahoma, USA as well. I love this time of year! Your quilts are lovely! I like the bright colors. Good luck on the New Quilters Blogger.

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  8. I immediately liked layout B better and then went back to compare to layout A and then I couldn't make up my mind. I read the other comments above. I didn't see the secondary layouts very well in either - probably since I didn't sleep last night. I don't know what and something about layout B caught my attention at first.
    I love the I SPY quilt. I've wanted to make one for a long time and just never have. If I'm going to do it, I certainly need to do it as I think what will probably be my last grandchild will be four in July. I love the collage of animals.
    I don't tend to make quilts from scraps. The quilts I have made thus far have been from kits and there is not much excess fabric from them. I also buy enough yardage so that I hate to cut into it because it because it could be utilized for a large quilt. I need to just bite the bullet and do it.
    Nice job on your blog.
    Susan

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  9. I really like the saying, "Finished is better than perfect!" But I do have perfectionist tendencies that get in my way a lot of the time! Dogwoods are super popular in our area too (SW Missouri). One of the local quilt shops is even called Dogwood Quilting. Great to meet you!

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  10. Lovely to learn more about you in this post and I love the fish quilt. I think that I like the second layout better because there is so much going on in those lovely scrappy blocks that the same orientation gives just a bit of order. But I do love the other one too. Glad to see you in the blog hop!

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  11. I love the monkey pillow! I'm also happy to see that someone else is still working on Scrap Dance Tango - I've had my blocks finished since last summer and I'm hoping to get the top sewn together this month.

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  12. I think I like B better. I definitely love the blue fabric of the scrap dance tango.

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  13. I will vote for layout B. Welcome to the Blog Hop, my day is later on, 1st week of May. My sister lives near Charlotte (Waxhaw) and I was just there over the weekend. It is beautiful. Your quilts are lovely and that is kind of you to donate quilts to Project Linus.

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  14. Great post Emily. I love your new scrap dance tango, I think B is my favourite. Scrap quilts are where you shine I think, the fish quilt is beautiful as is the bright butterflies. You really have a great understanding of colour and shade. Have a great hop.

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  15. Lovely to see so many quilts in your post Emily - your menagerie is certainly growing! It's been fun being part of the NQB again hasn't it? I am enjoying having a bit more time this year and have enjoyed the Blog Hop today.

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  16. I like some symmetry to mine however Layout A is preferred by me.

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  17. So fun to meet you and see your quilts. I don't do I Spy quilts (yet), so it's fun to see them. As to your Scrap Tango, I think I like A better. It will be fun to see the finish! I'm enjoying the blog posts today!

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  18. Hi Emily, I'm visiting from the Better Bloggers Hive--it's great to meet a fellow scrap quilter, I say the more fabric the merrier. I like both of the layouts and have find myself in this quilter's quandary before. I plan then when I'm ready to finish, I change the plan. I can't wait to see what you decide. I sure do love the Butterfly Quilt.

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  19. Well every body loves new fabric. I am one of them.But I also love the suprize and challenges of a scrappy quilt. happyness04431@yahoo.com

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  22. Emily, the fishy eye spy is so cute and so is your superhero helper! Love seeing the butteryflies finished! I think I like layout B! Great post!

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  23. Both quilts layouts look good but I'm also favouring A. I love your butterflies they are so beautiful.

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  24. Emily, It's been a pleasure discovering your Blog during Week1. I'll be stopping back by often.
    Cute fireman from your neighborhood:) Love the Fishy quilt too, fabulous scrap buster indeed. I'd love to see the tutorial>

    bluestarof2(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  25. Love your blog! I have a similar story to yours in that my hubby broke up with me after six weeks of dating (and I was sure he was the one). I was only 19 so I went ahead and started dating other people. He apparently didn't like that, so he started asking me out again...the rest is history. You do make some fantastic quilts. I love all the cute animals.

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  26. I love scrap quilts. It makes me so happy to see fabric from previous quilts popping up in new quilts. Having said that, there are times when it makes me happy to buy pretty new fabric and make a quilt out of it, usually for a friend for whom that fabric seems "just perfect".

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  27. I wish I could let go and not worry about everything being perfect. Some days I can, some days not. LOL I love the butterfly quilts - those blocks are so pretty. And I bet your son loves all those animal pillows!

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  28. I think it's funny that you don't consider yourself a perfectionist, but you still take the time to cut your scraps into uniform sizes! I'm a stickler for perfect corners, but all of my scraps get mixed into one big box. Those butterfly blocks are very pretty! For the Scrap Dance Tango layout, I prefer A. I think the colors of the scraps show better against the blue background!

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  29. The butterfly quilt is my favorite. Just love it.
    I like layout b and I love working with scrap, all the way down to the 1 inch pieces. Fabric is to expensive to waste.

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  30. I had to look a few times, but I think my eyes are really drawn to layout B. I love scrappy quilts, but I've only made a few of them.

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  31. I love working with new fabrics. So many more possibilities with larger pieces BUT scrappy quilts are very therapeutic for me. Soooo, depending on my mood, I do both. B

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  32. Thanks for joining the hop again this year! I personally like layout B. I am not a big scrap quilter (I tend to buy new and just what is needed for each project), but it is satisfying to use all bits of a favorite fabric up. :)

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  33. I like B better but both layouts are very similar. I love scrap quilts! (And have you ever played the game Munchkin? It's a punny, geeky, fun game.)

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  34. Hi Emily,

    It was fun to read about you, your quilting and your family. I am more a traditional quilter. I like the saying "Finished is better then perfect". The more you do, perfection will come. Thanks for sharing.

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  35. Hey, I am not one any more, but I was a librarian for 10 years. Loved it.

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  36. We have so much in common! I am not a perfectionist at all although I do try to match seams and not knock off too many points. I love scrap quilts and both of your layouts are wonderful so I am afraid I can't choose. So looking forward to getting to know you better through the New Quilt Bloggers!

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  37. I like Layout A and I too prefer scraps because I mainly work with thrifted fabric anyway.
    I am not sure if I will ever be able to quilt at the competition level. I engage in a lot of ASR (angry seam ripping) when things don't go as planned.

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  38. Hi Emily! Dogwood trees in bloom are so beautiful! I loved seeing streets lined with them in bloom in Tokyo. I've never seen a fish I Spy quilt before--cool! I am a scrap quilter, mainly because I'm trying to use up stash. Great to meet you!

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  39. Firemen are always pretty darn cute, but this little guy takes the cake! Great quilts! I especially love the fishy quilt. May have to try that for a Project Linus Quilt!

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  40. I think I like layout A better. I love a good scrappy quilt but I never seem to have any scraps! Lol. I really liked seeing some of your quits and I'm super impressed that you've made 31 Project Linus quilts! Wow!

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  41. I love the fish!!! And I prefer A, personally, though both are great.

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  42. Hello Emily, lovely to meet you. I love your fun colourful fish quilt! I couldn’t chose between A or B for your Scrap Dance Tango quilt both look lovely in their own way. I wish our neighbourhood had a helpful fireman in charge of quilts…..cute! :)

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  43. I have to say a love layout A, and your quilts are amazing, hopefully one day i will have lots of quilts under my belt, rather than currently cutting out my fist quilt

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