Exploring Creativity: 70's Geese Wrap Up!

This post is a part of the Exploring Creativity series. You can read all about it HERE. And HERE is the post sharing the pattern for this month, 70's Geese.   

Whoa! Did you see that?! October just fly by... I hope life doesn't keep going at this speed or I'll be 80 by Monday! ;)

I feel like I didn't spend as much time on social media sharing the 70's Geese pattern, but I did spend a LOT of time making 70's Geese blocks! Do you want to see what I made?

First I made this 6 inch rainbow block! I love how this turned out!

I really enjoy blending colors, and although doing so is a lot harder with fabric than it is with paint, I still like rummaging through my stash trying to find the perfect blends. I admit, this is not perfect (especially the bottom center section) if I were wanting the perfect color wheel, but it's the best I could come up with using my stash on hand.


Do you want to know what I made next??? 3 more of the exact same block! Call me crazy.

 From left to right, 12 inch, 9 inch, and 6 inch.

I'm actually going to be sending these all away, so only the 12 inch block will be mine to keep (I wanted one for myself too). I'm trying to catch up on all my past commitments... some of which have been years in the waiting ;) (but in my defense, we have lived in 4 states and had 2 more babies since the very oldest commitment was made... so it's not that I'm a complete slacker. lol.) Anyway, I made them all the same because I liked this design the best, and I wanted to send everyone the best design! so I had to make them all the same. 

Looking at the different sizes together, I do think it would be awesome to make a bunch of different sized blocks and combine them into one quilt! 

I did also make this 70's Geese block, which I already shared but I'll share again.

Another 6 inch block, that I'm also sending away. It is the month of giving! oh wait, that's next month. ;)

I did have a lot of fun with this design! I love how joining just a few sections can really change up the look and feel of a block! Sometimes the possibilities can be overwhelming. ;)

I already announced the winner of the Exploring Creativity event in my newsletter! (It wasn't very hard to pick... but I'm so glad I had someone to share the prize with!!) Anyway, I want to do a shout out to Tanyia and share her gorgeous 6 inch mini too!!

Isn't this gorgeous?!!! With these colors I can't help but think that this would make a pretty tree skirt!

Congrats Tanyia!! And thanks!

If you wanted to pick up the 70's Geese pattern and make your own awesome projects, you can find it below!

As for the rest of the year... I am going to put the Exploring Creativity on hold for a little bit. I have some really fabulous things in store for 2017, and I am going to spend the next two months getting it all ready for you to enjoy right at the beginning of the month! I'd rather have awesomeness for you, instead of spreading myself too thin and just having coolness. ;)

I do have some other fantastic things in the works for you, so stay tuned! You won't want to miss what's coming out next!

And of course, the best way to stay updated with all the changes and upcoming things (patterns and events, and exclusive sales) is to get on my newsletter list! You can sign up HERE.

In the meantime, will you hope over and share your input!! I'm working on my Block of the Month pattern for 2017, but I have too many ideas and need some help narrowing it down! It will only take 2 seconds!! Thank you SOOO much!

You can find the survey HERE.

Exploring Creativity: New Pattern & Sharing My First Project!

This post is a part of the Exploring Creativity series. You can read all about it HERE. And HERE is the post sharing the pattern for this month, 70's Geese. 

 Well... I haven't done very good about keeping up with posting on my blog this month. oops. I will admit, I have PTSD (and I'll add social anxiety while I'm going to be sharing this), and I came across some bad triggers early in the month. If you get bad anxiety, you'll know what I'm talking about. But I'm feeling better and am glad that's past!

If you haven't experienced PTSD or severe anxiety, to say it's overwhelming and debilitating is probably an understatement. At it's worst, I think I would compare it to being engulfed in flames and wanting to run out into the street screaming for anyone to come put the fire out. Not that you feel like you're on fire, but the sense of panic is equivalent. At least that's how I felt at times earlier this month. Is that how it is for anyone else?

I don't share this to be all "woe is me" because even though I go through it and it's about the worst thing in the world, I've come to recognize it for what it is, and when it comes on I can mentally separate myself from it. It's still scary and I constantly ask my husband for blessings and prayers and wake him up in the middle of the night so I know I'm not alone. But even then, I know it'll end and I'll be ok. I have found my strength in Jesus Christ, and He truly has become my rock and my companion that helps me get through it. Despite the overwhelming emotions, I still have peace. Nothing short of a miracle.

The reason why I did want to share this is because I know I'm not the only one that goes through this. And, at least for me, anxiety is 1,000 times worse when I feel like I'm alone! So here I am letting you know, those of you who may be going through this, or have gone through this, or might in the future, that you are not alone!! (I wish I could type that on comforting clouds that would wisp peace into your soul!)

I love this quote I found the other day...

 Obviously you don't have to have anxiety or PTSD to feel like the path you are on is dark, we all experience that at some point or another. But this is one thing that throughout my life has made all of the difference, and really it's the only thing that's made a difference! If it's not for you, that's fine. I hope we can still be friends. But if you're unsure, I want to invite you to pray and ask Him to show you how He can help you. Because that's what He's there for! For each and every one of us! And I'm just so completely grateful for that and overwhelmed by that fact, that I just have to share! (insert heart emoji here)

I also want to share this because I think it's a topic that has been taboo for way too long!! I often feel embarrassed about it, I feel like if people know they'll think less of me - like I'm suddenly below them. or that I'm not normal. I feel ashamed, like it determines my value and self worth. It makes me jealous of people who don't struggle with it - leaving me wishing that I could be normal and high functioning all the time. I often find myself making comments that I never post because I don't know if it's a dumb comment or not, so I never get in on the conversation. Basically it's like I'm on the outside looking in on all the fun. I don't know how you feel about it - whether you struggle with it or not, but I know that the feelings I have about it are all lies! And I think it's about time that we debunk these lies and open and share our struggles and go through this together! Because you're awesome! and I'm awesome! And we should all be awesome together! (It's way more fun that way!!) :D


Anyway, I feel like sometimes I have to put up the facade that I have it all together and that I can be all professional and organized - especially on my blog, but now you all know. I'm really just a pile of crumbling bricks trying to use elmer's glue to hold myself together! lol. And because I really do want to get back into blogging regularly, maybe just putting this out there will make it easier for me to not feel like I have to get it right all the time, right?! Does anyone else feel like that sometimes??? or all the time? (I'll raise my hand to that!) So starting right now you all know that I'm going to fail at the goals that I set for myself, so now I'm free to just do what I can when I can. No more self-imposed expectations! hooray! That feels better. Thanks for letting me share! ;)


So, now that that's out of the way, let's move on to the cool stuff!!

While I was updating the 70's Geese pattern I caught myself playing around with the design and before I new it I came up with this variation of the pattern and a whole bunch of design options for it! I couldn't resist turning it into a pattern!!!

Meet 80's Geese!!!

This really is so much like the 70's Geese pattern, with the exception of the center and the construction of it. You can see how it is broken up in the diagram above. Compare with the 70's Geese below.

The 70's Geese pattern is very versatile in and of itself, as you can see in this post HERE. But as I was playing around with the 80's Geese pattern, a whole new level of possibilities emerged, and that's when I knew I had to make it!!


To make it even more confusing, er, versatile, there are two different sets of pattern templates you can use to create twice as many different designs. Here are just a few that I show you how to make in the pattern!

The pattern includes coloring pages for both options so you can have fun exploring the possibilities!!


I have some REALLY awesome testers helping me out with this pattern, and I'll share their blocks and projects over the next few weeks. I'm REALLY excited about what is going on in the tester group!! (Do you want to be a tester?? You can sign up here and I'll add you to the group.)

You can find the 80's Geese pattern in my shop!!

I also want to share some of my progress with my 70's Geese pattern this month. Exploring this pattern this month has been awesome! And SO much fun! I am really loving all the possibilities and definitely need more time in the day.

How do you like this mini?? I made this with the 6 inch block and will turn it into a mug rug! (Did I mention that my favorite mug rug size is 6 inches square?! It's large enough to hold my drink and snack, but not too big that it takes up too much space on my desk or next to my sewing machine.) ;)

This is one of the designs that I shared in my last post. Can you figure out which one? I love how it turned out! I'll be giving this one away, so I hope the recipient likes it to!

If you haven't picked up the 70's Geese pattern yet, but want to, you can find it by clicking the shop now button below

Thanks for reading!!

and DON'T forget to link up any of your 70's Geese projects! (No one has linked up yet, so if you end up being the only one, you're guaranteed to win! I'd say the odds are pretty good! ;)) If you share your project on Instagram, don't forget to use the hashtags: #fbp70sGeese and #fbpExploreCreativity!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Exploring Creativity: 70's Geese Design Options...

This post is a part of the Exploring Creativity series. You can read all about it HERE. And HERE is the post sharing the pattern for this month, 70's Geese. 

So... before I start my post. I just want to let you know, that if you own the 70's Geese pattern already, I did make some updates to it. Unfortunately Craftsy has been changing their site, and I have been having no luck with updating my patterns there. I did contact them, but have heard nothing back, so I'm not sure what is going on. If you would like to receive the updated pattern, I am going to ask you to fill out THIS FORM, and we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping this will be quicker and easier, for both of us, to get you your pattern update!

Over the weekend I started playing with the coloring pages to try and decide on what design I wanted to make. Well, I kept playing and came up with some really awesome designs that can be made with the 70's Geese pattern!

Here's where it all started from...

I quickly realized that I have much better results if I start with a grey scale image and then add color from there. When I start designing with color, I get too distracted by the colors and it always turns out crazy.

After coloring the sheet above, I decided to see how these different blocks would look on repeat. Can I please have more time to quilt them all?!!! If only quilting was as quick as coloring! ;)

I'll share the base block and then the block on repeat. Which is your favorite???


Option 1:

 

 The same version, except without the grey points on the inside.

I think this would be a beautiful classy quilt!

Option 2:

 

 

  The same version, except without the grey points on the inside.

Option 3:
 I drew this option as 4 block design, so I didn't actually make a single block pattern of it, though each block is the same.
 

 

 I did make a color version of this pattern, to help show off the design a little more.
Another option with this version would be to ONLY piece the pink part, or ONLY piece the blue parts, and leave the rest as background fabric. 

Option 4:

 

Option 5:

 

Option 6:

I think is my favorite repeat design! It doesn't look like much as a single block, but the repeat is is really fun!

 

 Option 7:

 Option 8:
This is very similar to option 7, except for the very center is lightly colored in above, and this option is dark in the corners as well. I think this is a good example of what just a few tweaks can do to change the design. 

Option 9:

Option 10: 

Option 11:
This one is pretty neat on the repeat as well! Definitely has a wow-factor to it!

Option 12:

This one could also be done as a reverse/negative of Option 3!

Option 13:

 The last few options are pretty similar, mostly just a change in the ombre direction. Light to dark starting on the inside or the outside. That and coloring the geese or the background triangles.

Option 14:

Option 15:

Option 16:

Option 17:

What do you think??? Do you have a favorite? Which one surprised you the most with the repeat pattern?

Now I'm off to play with color and pick some fabrics!

Don't forget to link up your projects - you can link up your progress photos too! I can't wait to see what you are working on!! :) (remember, if you're on Instagram, use #fbpExploreCreativity and #fbp70sGeese. You can also share in the Facebook group!


   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Do you still need to pick up the pattern? Click on the button below!

Happy Quilting! and Happy Creating!