2014 Recap Part 3: The Quilter

Hello Friends, thank you for stopping by again.  It’s always lovely to have you visit!  2014 was certainly an exciting and happening year at the Ivory Spring household.  Yet, it also meant a rather sad one for me… because a publication that frequently featured my designs was longer as of August 2014.  You see, the reason The Quilter was so special to me is that it was the magazine that featured many of my early designs.  You can see the exhaustive list here.  A very special issue for me was their May 2009 issue where it made mention of the birth of Miss Baby.  Miss Baby is turning 6 this year — how time has flown by!

I was happy that I was able to contribute to The Quilter right up till the very end of the publication in 2014.

1.  Farm Crossing (December 2013/January 2014)

2.  Boxing Day (December 2013/January 2014)

3.  Tulip Trail (April/May 2014)

4.  All Squared Up (April/May 2014)

5.  Garden View (June/July 2014)

6.  Song of Praise (August/September 2014)

So, might you have a favorite among my featured projects in The Quilter?  Also, if you are a former subscriber of The Quilter — are you experiencing withdrawal?

I cannot leave today without mentioning the former editor of The Quilter, Laurette Koserowski. I credit Laurette for mentoring me on the design aspect of quilting, from the best use of fabrics to writing pattern instructions.  Over the years, she grew to be more than just an editor to me.  She became a mentor, a dear and sweet friend who always had a minute to chat about things that are not about the magazine quilts. She always had time to share snippets of her life experiences with me, and asked how my little family was doing etc.  Laurette and I remain in touch even though we no long work with each other, and I count her a sweet blessing in my life.

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Click here for 2014 Recap Part 1

Click here for 2014 Recap Part 2

2013 Recap Series: All American Crafts

Happy Saturday, Friends!  I hope you are doing well.  It’s been a sweet Christmas for my little family, just enjoying each other.  We didn’t travel far this year, and I was able to rest up a little bit for the upcoming work year.

For our 2013 recap today, I am sharing with you my projects featured in two of All American Crafts’ sister magazines: The Quilter & Quilt Trends.  The people at The Quilter and Quilt Trends are extra special because they very sweetly took me on and featured my designs when I was a naively inexperienced designer.

1.  Not Too Square (The Quilter, December 2012/January 2013)

2.  In the Meadow (The Quilter, April/May 2013)

3.  Rising Stars (The Quilter, August/September 2013, Cover Quilt)

4.  Midnight Flurry (The Quilter, Holiday 2013)

5.  Winter Wonderland (The Quilter, Holiday 2013)

6.  Boxing Day (The Quilter, December 2013/January 2014)

7.  Farm Crossing (The Quilter, December 2013/January 2014)

8.  Tango (Quilt Trends, Winter 2013, Cover Quilt)

9.  Manhattan (Quilt Trends, Fall 2013)

I hope you have enjoyed dropping by today.  As always, I love having you visit, and reading your comments.  I wish you a lovely rest of the weekend.  I shall catch up with you again on Monday.  Hugs to you all.

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My 2013 Recap series so far…

Annie’s

Benartex

Riley Blake

RJR Fabrics

Quilting Treasures

First Time Apperances

Fons & Porter

Americana Florals: Final Sneak Peeks

Happy Monday, my Friends! I hope you are doing well. I finished quilting my Americana Florals, and shipped it by Express Mail to the editor. The applique blocks are very “Kansas” – they are the Topeka Rose blocks.

Instead of the regular fabric flower centers, I opted to use asymmetrical heart buttons for the flower centers. I thought the buttons give the blocks a slightly different look, with a hint of primitive Americana!

If you look closely, you can see that I have quilted heart floral motifs in between the floral sprigs to match my heart buttons:

If all goes well, this quilt will be featured in the January 2011 issue of The Quilter magazine. That’s all the sneak peeks I can afford to let you see at this point until the quilt is officially published.

Thanks for stopping by. I wish you a lovely week.

Christmas Whirligigs: Final Sneak Peeks

This week has gone by so fast for me.  I think it’s because I have been staying up way late finishing up my Christmas Whirligigs quilt… and FINISHED it is!

The fabrics I used for the quilt are from Benartex‘s Noel Christmas collection.

I did an allover design on this quilt in “longarm” style.  This holly/berry motif is the hardest allover design I have ever done.  It was challenging at times because with a home machine, I just couldn’t see very far ahead to know where to go next with my quilting.

I am sorry I am not able to offer more peeks as I don’t want to give the design away until it is officially featured in The Quilter’s Holiday issue later in the year.  The magazines should be hitting the newsstands sometime in October.  This quilt is my LAST magazine feature quilt for the year.

I will be working on another Thread Talk post over the weekend.  Those posts generally take a little longer… so stay tuned!  Thanks for popping by – have a fantastic weekend!

Poinsettia Parade: Final Sneak Peeks

Happy Monday, my Friends. I hope you have had a good weekend. I squeezed in some extra rest over the weekend because I wasn’t quite feeling 100%. But other than that, I had an enjoyable time catching up with some stitching. I will show you pictures later, but for now…. I am happy my Poinsettia Parade quilt is DONE!

This has been a really really fun project. I have loved the colors:

I seldom quilt with straight lines besides the regular stitching-in-the-ditches to secure the quilt sandwich, but I decided to do so for the blocks because I wanted the quilting to be a contrast against the swirly busy background:

I came across Patsy Thompson‘s website. Her innovative feather quilting really inspired me. So, I decided to try some of her hyperquilting, after reading one of her latest book (Feather Adventures) I have borrowed from my quilting teacher. You can see that my feathers are quilted with two colors: green and cream. I thought the effect was just what this quilt needed:

Here is a peek at the back:

These are all the sneak peeks I can show you for now until the quilt is officially featured in the Holiday Issue of The Quilter magazine. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a lovely week ahead of you.

Marabella Sneak Peek #1

Happy Monday, Everyone.  I hope you had a good weekend.  Ours was wet – but at least it was not freezing!  I had told you that Wawa is following the progress of my Marabella quilt with great interest:

I have been working under the watchful eyes of Wawa, and here is the quilt top partially put together:

These were happy blocks to put together, especially the applique blocks:

These fabrics are from Henry Glass‘ Marabella collection.  The quilt is scheduled for feature in The Quilter‘s July 2010 issue.  Come back later for more sneak peeks.

Meanwhile, I wish you a happy start to a new week.

Can’t beat that with a stick!

I received a notice from Heirlooms Forever advertising a 60% off their back issues for The Quilter magazines. They are normally $6.99, and now you can get them for $2.80 each!! Three of the issues offered for 60% off happen to feature my quilt(s). There are other very lovely projects in the magazines as well. Now, you are getting 10 or more quilt patterns for a mere $2.80 — how can anyone beat that with a stick!? Here are my quilts in the respective back issues…

Roslynn in March 2009:

Cozy Patch, Bluebird Ballad, and Simple Pleasures in May 2009:

Bloom Wherever Your Are in January 2010:

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope your day goes well for you!  I have been sewing at my sewing machine feverishly since Monday — I should have some pictures to show you soon.

Poll: Viewer’s Choice for 2009 Quilts in THE QUILTER

Yesterday, I showed you the first issue of “The Quilter” in 2010. Looking back all the 2009 issues of The Quilter, I realized I have had an excellent year working with the editorial staff at The Quilter:

Roslynn in the March 2009 Issue:

Bluebird Ballad in the May 2009 Issue:

Cozy Patch in the May 2009 Issue:

Simple Pleasures in the May 2009 Issue:

Cottage Garden in the November 2009 Issue:

Sentimentally Yours in the November 2009 Issue:

Forever Christmas in the Holiday 2009 Issue:

My quilts will continue to appear in The Quilter at least through the July issue next year. Stay tuned for announcements and pictures!

Now before you conclude your visit, I would like you to vote for your viewer’s choice among my quilts featured in “The Quilter” in 2009 — just for fun. I am going to alert the editor which one of those quilts wins the Viewer’s Choice.

p.s. Back issues of The Quilter Magazine are available by clicking here.

The blooming Log Cabin

The following pictures were taken before the quilt was shipped out.   The log cabin after my own heart is one that has sweet flowers blooming all around it:

Of course, I would want cobblestone walkways in the midst of the blooms to welcome my guests:

And cute fanciful fences around my log cabin:

This quilt takes on a more whimsical look compared to my usual traditional ones.  Even though I am a “straight lines means straight lines” person, I free-handed all the straight lines.  So, my “straight” lines aren’t exactly 100% straight as seen in the green sashing.  The fabrics are from RJR’s Sweet Pea Collection.  They will be available in quilt shops in January 2010.

Thank you for stopping by to see my dream log cabin.   I hope you have enjoyed a more girlish version of the usually more manly rendition of this classic block.  Have a sweet day!

Herein lies the TWIST to my…

… log cabin quilt!  The applique is finally completed (click here for previous post):

The swirl-iness seems to break up the “block-iness” of the log cabin blocks, giving it a swirly twist.  I like it!!  This quilt is scheduled to appear in the March 2010 issue of “The Quilter“:

And now, onto quilting it I go!  This week is going to be CRAZY for me, but any more craziness is what keeps my little world going round and round!  Have a great week, everyone.

The Quilter Magazine – HOLIDAY ISSUE – Forever Christmas!

Good day, everyone! A special welcome to those who have stumbled on “Ivory Spring” through the Blogger Quilt Festival! I hope you enjoy your little visit here. Please leave me a comment so that I can visit you back.

The Special Holiday Issue of “The Quilter” is out! I have enjoyed browsing through it.

I love love love Christmas! My “Forever Christmas” quilt (fabrics courtesy of Red Rooster Fabrics), featured in the issue, expresses my sentiment perfectly. I always leave my Christmas decorations up as long as my family can possibly tolerate it. And when I am taking them down (finally!), I am always wishing Christmas would be forever!

Shown with my quilt here is one of my all-time favorite Christmas pieces – a Christmas pyramid from a German antique shop.

Even though I can’t leave my Christmas stuff up forever during the year, I do celebrate Christmas everyday in my heart… for the meaning of Christmas is forever remembered within me everyday! So with that, I bid you a MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

Thank you again for popping by!

Cottage Garden in THE QUILTER (November 2009)

Hello Everyone, I hope all is well with you. I want to thank you for your kind words on my Apple Quilt.

Besides my Apple Quilt, I also have my other quilts sent back to me from the editor of “The Quilter”. I am showing you the “Cottage Garden” that is in the current issue (November 2009) of The Quilter:

I remember really enjoying making this quilt because it was designed to be a rather quick project. I was under a gruesome deadline in that I had to finish the quilt in less than a week. Now that the deadline is behind me, and the quilt is published, I can think back on the time I was making it with much satisfaction!

I remember vividly that I was having to stay up late many a night, and corresponding with Cathi by email helped me stayed up late at night. We became not only quilting buddies, but also stitching buddies. I can’t help but smile now because that was the time we just discovered the treasure trove of free stitching patterns on the internet. We would shoot each other emails with links to find those wonderful charts! Cathi is a hand quilter — her hand work is amazing. You have got to look at the blocks she pieces by hand! The back of her blocks are as pretty as the front of her blocks. Thanks, Cathi – for keeping me awake while I was working on Cottage Garden! :)

As always, my quilting is rarely marked. With the number of deadlines I have, it’s just easier to quilt my magazine quilts free-hand:

I also quilted on the applique pieces:

Thank you for stopping by! You have encouraged me with your kind words. I dedicate this blog post to all of my bloggy friends!

Have a blessed day, and if you happen to spend the day in your garden, I wish you a cottage-y garden day!

p.s. You may visit Heartbeat Quilts for the quilt kit.