Mr. August for #NGAQB — Shaun (and some prints from Valori Well’s prolific year)

Mr. August for #NGAQB — Shaun (and some prints from Valori Well’s prolific year)

NoGirlsAllowed

Now here in the Pacific Northwest, we are in the beginning of the dull months of late fall and winter.  But this post is all about the August blocks for Shaun Abels in the #NGAQB or No Girls Allowed Quilt Bee I have been participating in all year.

Shaun basically wanted improv blocks in bright colors with grey backrgrounds.  I had been playing with a block idea that I wanted to submit to a magazine using Valori‘s Quill, Ashton Road, and Blueprint Basics lines with some solid white. But what I was playing with was NOT going where I wanted it to.  But I thought chopped up, well, maybe it would work for these blocks.

Shaun blocks 4

I like how these two blocks came out much better than the path my other idea was taking!

shaun 4

I really like how the block below is kind of a star….but not really …..

shaun 5

And some of the guys included a little “bio” about themselves. Here is Shaun’s:

I am 27 and have been sewing/quilting for about 3 years. My aunts, uncle and cousin all quilt. I asked my aunt to teach me how to make a quilt and loved the whole process. My first quilt was a disappearing nine patch, with simple straight line quilting.

I’m originally from Omaha, Nebraska, right in the heartland of America. I’ve been in the navy for the better part of a decade now, and have had some great opportunities to see different parts of the world that I normally wouldn’t have seen. However, it does make for precious little time to sew. I do my best quilting with Beyoncé or Jenny Lewis playing in the background.

I have really developed an interested in modern quilting after discovering the incredible modern quilting community on Instagram. My friend Carey, who I’ve know for years and years, came to quilting about the same time I did and she has opened my eyes to the glory of Tula Pink and Angela Walters, Joel Dewberry and Jaybird Quilts. I’ve also discovered a smaller, but fantastic group of creative men in the modern quilting community.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the NGAQB over the past year and have loved getting to know this awesome group of creative (and funny!) guys.

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I have been really enjoying getting to know the other men in this little online Bee….I am not as active in the group as I started out being, but it has been really interesting hearing about their lives this year. And I have been blown away by some of their creations! There is a lot of talent in the group. And each month the requested blocks have been unique enough to really explore different concepts and a couple new blocks designed by other people that I have wanted to do but never gotten around too. The improv choices like this month have been fun moments of play too..they are Easy, stress-free, and really add to inspiration on a daily level.

As I said above, I was playing with Valori’s new lines from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. Val’s had a very prolific year with them. Three lines and one of them, her Blueprint Basics line keeps adding new colors and sku’s. Here’s a sampling of what I was choosing from for these blocks.

ashton road 877

I am so very in love with the bright green print in the bottom of the photo above!

ashton road 7

The oranges and pink and blue prints are SOOO vibrant….Love the intensity!!

ashton ROAD 28

Love the keys in the print off to the left and the flourishes in the multi-colored print below.

ashton road 78

2 Comments

  • Beautiful blocks! I think your log cabin-y one is fabulous!

    November 13, 2014 at 5:19 am
  • What beautiful fabrics! I think your log cabin-y block is fabulous!

    November 13, 2014 at 5:23 am

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