FREE PATTERN: Nature’s Harmony

Hello Friends, I hope you are doing well.  I am having another “less 24 hours to ship out a project” episode, so I didn’t have time to take pictures of my recently featured magazine quilts to share with you.  But I do have a new free pattern to share with you that uses flying geese units!  SO, if flying geese are your thing to do….

Quilter’s Cache documents here the different ways in making flying geese units.  Which is your method of choice?

My Nature’s Harmony design uses fabrics from RJR’s Silent Harmony Collection.  Click here to view the full range of fabrics.

Click here to download the free pattern instructions for Nature’s Harmony!

Thanks for stopping by.  I shall catch up with you tomorrow!

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Chevron: Final Sneak Peek

Hello Friends!  It’s been totally crazy at my end.  I am not sure what happened, but by the time I got to the quilting part (finally!), there were less than 24 hours before I had to ship my Chevron quilt.  So you can imagine the frenzy at my end.  Anyway, the quilt is now on its way to the editor.  And here is a final sneak peek for you…

You could empathize (couldn’t you?) with my feather withdrawal after quilting my recent quilts without incorporating any feathers…

There is actually a really sweet twist to the design.  I am having a hard time keeping myself from revealing it to you right now… but I shall keep myself in check.  Stay tuned for details.  And I want to wish you a great week!

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Pattern Play in QUILT (June/July 2013)

Happy Tuesday, Friends!  I am excited to share with you today my Pattern Play quilt that is featured in QUILT‘s latest June/July 2013 issue.

This quilt was a most fun quilt to make.

The fabrics used (Mediterranean Dream by Quilting Treasures) invoke the feel of Mediterranean mosaic tile floors, but with a more contemporary interpretation in the colors.

This is one of my favorite shots because the shade of the new tender spring grass in the background matches the greens in the quilt perfectly.

And of course, none of my designs seem complete unless they have tiny pieces, or in this case, narrow sashings, ha!  I am telling you, I have a disease!!  That green sashing is 1/4″ wide.

Quilting was done with Aurifil Mako 50 Cotton threads, over Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting.  The motif is an allover swirly flower motif that is an embellishment of my swirly vine motif.  I have posted about the schematic of the motif here.

Hopefully, you can sort of see how the motif plays out on the quilt in this next photo.

I also made three accompanying pillows for the photo shoot.  The pattern of that front pillow is available for download on QUILT’s website here.

[Image Source:  QUILT magazine]

Before I forget, kits to make this quilt are available for purchase from Quilting Connection (phone: 540-334-5146).  Click here to order the kits online.

You might recall I had also designed another quilt using the same fabrics for Quilting Treasures where the pattern instructions are available for free download.  Click here for details.

Thanks for stopping by.  Here is to a lovely rest of the week!  Hugs to you all.

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My 2013 lineup thus far besides “Pattern Play” – click on project names for more information:

Annie’s Love Those Precuts Book (January 2013):  Apple of My Eye

Annie’s Sweet Layer Cakes Book (April 2013): Sunburst Melody

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Spring 2013): Baubles, Baubles

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Summer 2013): Curious Cats

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Summer 2013): Fabrique Foursome

Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting (March/April 2013):  Now I know my ABC’s

Machine Quilting Unlimited (March/April 2013): Quilting Curvy Feathers

QUILT (June/July 2013): Color Burst

Quilt-it…today (July/August 2013): Yay Day, to be posted

Quilt Trends (Winter 2013, Cover Quilt): Tango

Quilts and More (Spring 2013): 2 Wishes

Quilts and More (Spring 2013):  Watercolor Sketches

Quilter’s World (February 2013): New Life

Quilter’s World (April 2013): Monkey Around

Quilter’s World (Summer 2013): Garden Mist, to be posted

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): In & Out

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): Garden Maze

Simple Quilts & Sewing (Spring 2013):  Stained Glass

The Quilter (December 2012/January 2013): Not Too Square

The Quilter (April/May 2013):  In the Meadow

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Pumpkin Patch/Autumn Fauna

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Flora Linda/Catalina

Lecien Free Pattern, Lynette Anderson (April 2013):  Forest Floor/Wildflower Wood

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (January 2013): Mediterranean Dream

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (February 2013): Butterfly Kisses

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Sunburst Melody in SWEET LAYER CAKES by Annie’s

Quick public announcements before I proceed with today’s post…

#1.  Annie’s is having a 50% sale on online classes.  Just thought I would share that with you in case you are thinking about signing up for my “Learn to Machine Quilt” online class.

#2.  A special note to dear reader Kathy Buicks — my emails to you keep bouncing back!!  Do you have a new email address I can use?

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Hello Friends!  It’s wonderful to have you visit again!  Today I am sharing with you my Sunburst Melody quilt that is featured in Annie’s recently released Sweet Layer Cakes book.  I thought a little bit of sunburst is in order since we have been having rain for the last few days, and we are supposed to have rain the rest of the week.

This is a happy quilt, to be sure!  It was fun making the blocks in different happy colors!  I incorporated a few black/gray blocks as contrast to the other happy colored blocks, and as a reflection of how my life is.  The presence of the occasional dark moments in my life makes me appreciative of the sweeter and happier moments.

More importantly, I know my life is refined by those “sanctioned by God” dark moments mixed in with the happier moments.

This quilt uses Riley Blake’s Shades 10″ Stackers, and Riley Blake yardages from Good Life, and Hello Sunshine collection.  Click on the names to see the full range of fabrics.  Incidentally, Riley Blake’s Shades fabrics are some of my favorite solid/mottled fabrics!

The construction of my sunburst blocks involves paper-piecing (sunburst part) and curve piecing (quarter circle part).  I found that with that many seams on the sunburst part, it was easier to curve piece the quarter circles by hand.  I seem to have more control that way.  Just thought I would throw that in for those who will be attempting the project.

This quilted is pieced and quilted entirely using Aurifil‘s Mako 50 Cotton threads.  The batting I used is Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting.  Quilting was kept to quilting in the ditches because I felt like quilting on the sunbursts would prove to be a little distracting.  I just wanted the sunbursts to pop as they are.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you liked my Sunburst Melody — and here is to sunburst wherever you are!

I will catch up with you later!

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My 2013 lineup thus far besides “Sunburst Melody” – click on project names for more information:

Annie’s Love Those Precuts Book (January 2013):  Apple of My Eye

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Spring 2013): Baubles, Baubles

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Summer 2013): Curious Cats

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Summer 2013): Fabrique Foursome

Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting (March/April 2013):  Now I know my ABC’s

Machine Quilting Unlimited (March/April 2013): Quilting Curvy Feathers

QUILT (June/July 2013): Color Burst

QUILT (June/July 2013): Pattern Play, to be posted

Quilt Trends (Winter 2013, Cover Quilt): Tango

Quilts and More (Spring 2013): 2 Wishes

Quilts and More (Spring 2013):  Watercolor Sketches

Quilter’s World (February 2013): New Life

Quilter’s World (April 2013): Monkey Around

Quilter’s World (Summer 2013): Garden Mist, to be posted

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): In & Out

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): Garden Maze

Simple Quilts & Sewing (Spring 2013):  Stained Glass

The Quilter (December 2012/January 2013): Not Too Square

The Quilter (April/May 2013):  In the Meadow

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Pumpkin Patch/Autumn Fauna

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Flora Linda/Catalina

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (January 2013): Mediterranean Dream

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (February 2013): Butterfly Kisses

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Color Burst in QUILT (June/July 2013)

Happy Friday, Friends!  I hope you have had a good week.  As promised, I am sharing with you my “Color Burst” quilt that is featured in the latest QUILT magazine issue (June/July 2013).

I nicknamed this quilt my “Iron Man” quilt because I felt like the Iron Man after making hundreds and hundreds of half-square-triangle units in order to finish the quilt top.

The little HST units finish at 1.5″ — and I don’t even like piecing!

Here is a little behind-the-scene tidbit… In order for me to make the photo shoot, I completed that quilt from start to finish in about 5 days!  Sometimes I really think I have a screw loose somewhere… ha!

Here you can see the very clever quilt layout better – and see the pinwheel secondary pattern.

All that said, this quilt was made with lots of affection because the design is based on an actual quilt in the DAR collection, shown in the following. Click here for the technical information.  So, can you imagine having to piece all those blocks by hand, as done by the un-named original quilt maker?  What a heroine she was!!

[image source: Quilt Index]

And you know I love re-making historical quilts with our contemporary palettes.  I feel connected to quilters of the past when I work on such quilt projects.  It is my way of paying tribute to the women that have gone before us generations ago for their contribution in the rich American quilting heritage.

I used Thimbleberries’ Block Party fabrics (by RJR) for my interpretation of the design for a sweet vintage flair.  Click here to view the full fabric range.  I love how the fabrics end up giving a spring palette to the overall quilt design.

It was a little nerve wrecking working on a borderless on-point quilt because the pieces of the large HST units at the edge were cut on the bias.  I was scared to death the quilt top was going to turn out wonky.  I press-starched the fabric stiff before cutting to avoid the distortion in the cutting and piecing processes.  That seemed to take care of the stretching on the bias problem, because my quilt top laid flat upon completion.

Quilting was kept very simple to keep the “antique” look – just quilting in the ditches along major straight lines.  As always, I used Aurifil Mako 50 Cotton threads to quilt over Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting.  Now that the quilt is returned to me… my little pea brain has been toying with the idea of going back to quilt the open area with feathers (of course!).

Honestly, as much as I am not crazy about piecing… I told the editor I would make the quilt AGAIN in a heartbeat using just red and white fabrics.  All that to say, those HST units shouldn’t deter you from attempting this quilt.  It is actually quite relaxing because there isn’t much variation to the piecing – just piece maybe a block a day, and don’t complete the entire quilt in 5 days like I did.  Kits to replicate Color Burst are available for purchase here.

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you liked my springy Color Burst quilt!  Have a great weekend.

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Click here, and here for my other contemporary interpretations of antique quilts.

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Click here, here, here, here and here for my posts on DAR quilts.

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My 2013 lineup thus far besides “Color Burst” – click on the links for more information:

Annie’s Love Those Precuts Book (January 2013):  Apple of My Eye

Annie’s Sweet Layer Cakes (April 2013): Sunburst Melody, to be posted

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Spring 2013): Baubles, Baubles

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Summer 2013): Curious Cats

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Summer 2013): Fabrique Foursome

Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting (March/April 2013):  Now I know my ABC’s

Machine Quilting Unlimited (March/April 2013): Quilting Curvy Feathers

QUILT (June/July 2013): Pattern Play, to be posted

Quilt Trends (Winter 2013, Cover Quilt): Tango

Quilts and More (Spring 2013): 2 Wishes

Quilts and More (Spring 2013):  Watercolor Sketches

Quilter’s World (February 2013): New Life

Quilter’s World (April 2013): Monkey Around

Quilter’s World (Summer 2013): Garden Mist, to be posted

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): In & Out

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): Garden Maze

Simple Quilts & Sewing (Spring 2013):  Stained Glass

The Quilter (December 2012/January 2013): Not Too Square

The Quilter (April/May 2013):  In the Meadow

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Pumpkin Patch/Autumn Fauna

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Flora Linda/Catalina

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (January 2013): Mediterranean Dream

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (February 2013): Butterfly Kisses

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Catching Up: Final Sneak Peek

Hello Friends — just so you know I am NOT anti-social.  I just have a lot going on this week trying to meet magazine and Spring Quilt Market deadlines.  Please know that I have really missed socializing with you.  Anyhow, here is a quick final sneak peek on my Catching Up quilt.  It is only called Catching Up temporarily until I can reveal the name of the fabric line in due time, along with information on the pattern.

I tried for the first time using the zig zag stitch in my quilting.  The jury is still out whether I am totally in love with the effect even though in my mind during the planning stage it would look spectacular!  But one thing is for sure, oftentimes I won’t know unless I actually physically stitched the stitches out.

Alrightie, dear Friends, with that I bid you good bye and go back to finishing up the 400 one-inch finished squares that are going into my current quilt.  Until tomorrow… when I will share with you another magazine featured project!

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Fabrique Foursome in Fons & Porter’s EASY QUILTS (Summer 2013)

Welcome back, Friends!  I hope you had a restful and wonderful weekend.  Our little family took a little break from our fast-paced life over the weekend.  I am happy to report to you that I packed in quite a bit of sleep over the weekend.  So now I am all ready to work on all things Spring Quilt Market!

You might recall my Curious Cats quilt was featured in the Summer 2013 issue of Fons & Porter’s Easy Quilts.  Today, I am sharing with you another quilt that is featured in the same issue.  My Fabrique Foursome!

The colors!  That’s my feeling when I look at my Fabrique Foursome quilt.  The fabrics are from Paula Nadelstern’s Fabrique-istan and Extreme Colors collections, by Benartex.  The instructions in the magazine detail how the fabrics are fussy cut to easily achieve the “burst” effects you see in the quilt blocks.

I like to use both black and white to tie the quilt design together when I am using a lot of colors within a design.

Snapping these pictures was not without challenges…. as you can see in the following sequence!

You can probably imagine what ensued… my little lovely assistant, who worried about my Stained Glass quilt falling into the water, had a “more important” pursuit (literally!) during this photo shoot.

Now back to Fabrique Foursome the quilt… A quick thank you to Sherry McConnell from Indiana for piecing the quilt.  The design itself is meant to showcase the fabrics, and so quilting was kept to a minimal using Aurifil‘s Mako 50 cotton threads over Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting.

Fabrique Foursome quilt kits are available for purchase here.  You can also browse here for non-quilting Paula Nadelstern products.

I hope you have enjoyed the colors in Fabrique Foursome.  And I want to wish you a very Happy Monday and week!  God bless you all.

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My 2013 lineup thus far besides “Fabric Foursome” – click on the links for more information:

Annie’s Love Those Precuts Book (January 2013):  Apple of My Eye

Annie’s Sweet Layer Cakes (April 2013): Sunburst Melody, to be posted

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Spring 2013): Baubles, Baubles

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Summer 2013): Curious Cats

Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting (March/April 2013):  Now I know my ABC’s

Machine Quilting Unlimited (March/April 2013): Quilting Curvy Feathers

QUILT (June/July 2013): Pattern Play, to be posted

QUILT (June/July 2013): Color Burst, to be posted

Quilt Trends (Winter 2013, Cover Quilt): Tango

Quilts and More (Spring 2013): 2 Wishes

Quilts and More (Spring 2013):  Watercolor Sketches

Quilter’s World (February 2013): New Life

Quilter’s World (April 2013): Monkey Around

Quilter’s World (Summer 2013): Garden Mist, to be posted

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): In & Out

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): Garden Maze

Simple Quilts & Sewing (Spring 2013):  Stained Glass

The Quilter (December 2012/January 2013): Not Too Square

The Quilter (April/May 2013):  In the Meadow

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Pumpkin Patch/Autumn Fauna

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Flora Linda/Catalina

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (January 2013): Mediterranean Dream

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (February 2013): Butterfly Kisses

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Starry Dance: Final Sneak Peek

Hello Friends, I have missed you!  I do apologize for not posting regularly this week – I have had a very crazy week with all the things to which I have to attend.  I am glad the more pressing things are taken care of, and I have the weekend to catch up on a few things.  Among the things I did get finished is my Starry Dance quilt.  Here is a final sneak peek:

Some of you asked about the gray fabric I used.  It is from Riley Blake’s Basic Line Light Gray fabric (sku#C100-05 Light Gray).  The color is really calm and soothing.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a lovely weekend.  I am announcing next week who won the Aurifil thread kit, along with sharing more recent magazine projects, do come back!  Hugs to you all.

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Stained Glass in SIMPLE QUILTS & SEWING (Spring 2013)

Hello Friends!  I hope your week is shaping up well.  Mine got off with a busy start.  My little family took the day off yesterday and headed to the Federal City to see the cherry blossoms.

Nonetheless, work wasn’t too far off my mind.  Despite the crowds that flocked to the Tidal Basin, I was able to take a few styled shots of my Stained Glass quilt that is featured in the latest Simple Quilts and Sewing issue (Spring 2013).  Stained Glass is another quilt I felt that needs to be photographed outdoors, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival provided the perfect backdrop.

This modifiled 4-patch quilt design is simple, but made to have a more sophisticated look with the use of many fabrics!   One’s eye is drawn to the different sections of the quilt because of the colors incorporated in this quilt.  The fabrics I used for this quilt are from Benartex‘s Triple-dyed Naturescape Bali fabrics.  Thread Bear Fabrics (phone: 770-781-0001) is offering the kits to make this quilt for $49.99.  Click here to purchase the kit, or here to purchase the kit consisting twice the fabrics to make a larger quilt.

I added another design element to the overall design by using quilting motifs that were different from the geometric makeup of the block – and thus creating a secondary design using the quilting, instead of the block layout.

Quilting was done with Aurifil Mako 50 threads over Hobbs Tuscany Silk Batting.  Even though this is a quilt without borders, and normally I would be hesitant to do any sort of fancy quilting on border-less quilts other than straight lines… these Bali fabrics (seem to have a tighter weave) held up really well from being handled in all possible fashions when I was quilting it, and the quilt suffered almost no shape distortion after the quilting part was completed.

I used different colored threads to quilt Stained Glass to match the scrappy look of the quilt top.  So there are some interesting visual effects.

What would I do without my little lovely assistant?!  Miss Baby was most concerned my quilt would fall into the Tidal Basin when draped on the safety rail!!  You might remember me smocking that dress eons ago — it’s finally finished and worn, with help from my dear friend, Annelle!

Thanks for stopping by, Dear Friends.  I hope you liked my Stained Glass quilt.  Do tell me what you think of the quilt, and what you would do differently on a quilt like this.  I am always ready to learn from you.

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My 2013 lineup thus far besides “Stained Glass” – click on the links for more information:

Annie’s Love Those Precuts Book (January 2013):  Apple of My Eye

Annie’s Sweet Layer Cakes (April 2013): Sunburst Melody, to be posted

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Spring 2013): Baubles, Baubles

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Summer 2013): Curious Cats

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts (Summer 2013): Fabrique Foursome, to be posted

Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting (March/April 2013):  Now I know my ABC’s

Machine Quilting Unlimited (March/April 2013): Quilting Curvy Feathers

Quilt Trends (Winter 2013, Cover Quilt): Tango

Quilts and More (Spring 2013):  Watercolor Sketches

Quilts and More (Spring 2013):  2 Wishes, to be posted

Quilter’s World (February 2013): New Life

Quilter’s World (April 2013): Monkey Around

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): In & Out

Quilter’s World QUICK & EASY QUILTS (Spring 2013): Garden Maze

The Quilter (December 2012/January 2013): Not Too Square

The Quilter (April/May 2013):  In the Meadow

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Pumpkin Patch/Autumn Fauna

Benartex Free Pattern (March 2013): Flora Linda/Catalina

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (January 2013): Mediterranean Dream

Quilting Treasures Free Pattern (February 2013): Butterfly Kisses

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Persian Rug: Sneak Peek

Hello Friends, my Persian Rug quilt is finished.  This is also my “quilting small in a big world” project.  The gray sashing pieces you see in the following sneak peek photo are 1/4″ finished in width.  Don’t ask me why, I must have been delirious when designing the 1/4″ sashing into the project.

And here you can see the scale of the circles I quilted compared to the size of a penny.  Again, it’s either I am a glutton for punishment when it comes to quilting small, or I have a disease!

But in any case, I am very happy how the project turned out.  And if you like peacocks, florals, gray, blue or yellow – you simply have to get your hands on Riley Blake’s Seranata fabrics!  They are also the fabrics I used in Persian Rug.  Click here to view the full range of fabrics.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a blessed day.

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