Happy December- DAY ONE!

DAY ONE: Welcome to the #31daysofblogging challenge from Cheryl Sleboda of muppin.com

Today we will do a brief intro since this may be your first time here.  My name is Robin:) 
I am a professional quilter:  Quilt Designer by day and Heritage Architect by night.  What does that mean you might ask??  Well, I started in this industry as a quilt designer of fun whimsical quilt designs.  This has grown to teaching, lecturing, and the fulfillment of quilt heritage projects through custom hand quilting.  These commissions usually come to me in the form of a quilt top that was started but never finished because they decided quilting wasn't for them (or health issues) or someone found blocks/quilt top that their mother or grandmother made and they would love to have it finished to keep.
I have the honor of finishing these and completing the quilting heritage for future generations. 
Please feel free to take a peek at my lovely designs:
www.nestlingsbyrobin.com
See you tomorrow!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 7, BLOG HOP

Welcome back for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks,

Volume 7, Blog Hop!

You are so smart to get sneak peeks at what the designers are offering this time, as well as get yourself entered for fun prizes!

If this is your first time here, Welcome.  I'm Robin Koehler, a designer of fun, new quilts that range from whimsical applique to paper piecing.  I have been very busy preparing for Spring Quilt Market where I will unveil brand new Autumn designs.  So if Autumn is your season, check back in June so you will have plenty of time to get one done for snuggling.

Of course, I am again thrilled to be a part of this amazing ride!

VOLUME 7

For those of you that have been along for my ride since Vol. 2, you may remember that I am always in the 'foundation pieced' section.  This time you will find me in the 'mixed technique' section, block #635.  There is still paper piecing involved but I also mixed in some regular piecing.

Clown Go Round #635 by Robin Koehler of NESTLINGS by Robin

I went through a few color variations before deciding on this particular one.  Since 2008 I have been playing with this block while attempting art quilts.  Even when trying to make art, I could feel the pull of traditional quiltmaking on my work.  Here is what the very first one looked like....

I really love the contrast of the gold and the black, and that it is on point, but I will be disassembling this soon to remove it from the canvas and probably frame it instead.  If you notice, the 9 patch from above has been reversed, using the paper pieced blocks in the 4 directions layout vs. the corners.  Hopefully you can also see that I used the block template for my quilting lines in the corners.

Look at how much color can fool the eye...Same layout as above but because the center fabric matches the bottom corner of the

paper piece segment, you get a completely different feel.

Same fabrics from the layout in the magazine with different placements.  I truly love them all but chose the one that got into the magazine for being most photogenic and graphic in a thumbnail view.  As fun as the bottom one is, you lose the block detail with all the red.

 

Lastly, what about leaving out the 9 patch squares completely and just placing the paper piece blocks together.....

What a fun star block this makes.  This is how we see most paper piece designs but the next time you look at one, think about breaking it apart and adding in some solid squares instead:)

 

Thank you for stopping by and reading about the journey of one little block!

 

Now for the giveaways-

Giveaway #1

1. Visit my website.

2. Come back here and mention which of my patterns is your favorite in your blog comment for a chance to win it.

3.  On Friday, 8pm EST, I will draw a random number from the comments left on the blog so make sure I have a way of contacting you.

Giveaway #2

A lucky commentor will have a chance to win a copy of 100 Blocks Volume 7 by random number from all the blog comments.

Plus you will want to visit Quiltmaker's blog for a chance to win more fun prizes from them. You will also find a complete list of all the participating designers.



Simple shapes lead to design wealth

Wow, where did the time go since my last post? Well, I know some of it was spent with the lovely group at the Durham Orange Quilt Guild. I was their June program and had so much fun sharing my design ideas with them.

One of my lectures is about using simple shapes that we all know and can draw (I promise) to design with. The above picture is of a gum tree. Once you learn to break it down into simple shapes, you can design your own art quilts. I think in the beginning we are all a bit intimidated about where to start and my lecture, "All Around Us: An Interactive Design Lecture", gives a full hour of 'jumping off' ideas.

What can you do with circles, rectangles, and triangles?