Friday, July 29, 2016

repeat Quilt Finishes

What a thrill it has been to see all the repeat quilts in different fabric choices.

You've a week left to enter your quilt top - quilted or not.  Check out the rules on the linky and the giveaway on this post as well as read more about our sponsors!

If you have trouble with the linky, just email a photo to elmstreetquilts at gmail dot com and I'll update the linky for you!  

A big THANK YOU to our awesome sponsors !!!!!!!!




Go visit these great companies and show them some love.

American Made Brand    
(Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram)

Fat Quarter Shop 

Aurifil   
(Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram)

Busy Hands Quilts   
(Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram)




Can't wait to see what you share!!





(Note - I may use your photo of your project (finished or in progress) on a future blog post with credit to you.)



Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

jingle

Christmas in July posts popping up all over the place so I couldn't help but join in!


This was a quick and easy project to put together.  The fabric were all odd shaped scraps from a Kate Spain Christmas line from several years ago.

I drew the holly leaves freehand (can't you tell!) and put a layer of batting under them to make them pop.  My mini finished at 19 x 6 ''.  Ho Ho Ho!

The block patterns for my jingle came from my new Chunky Alphabet pattern.  The letters are all paper-pieced.  See more information here





I'll be linking to the Mini's and More parade at Sherri's @ A Quilting Life and Michelle @ Island Life Quilts.

Also linking up with Finish it Up FridaySew Cute Tuesdays, , Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee Social,  and Midweek Makers.   I'll also be linking up with Red Letter Quilts for Ho, Ho, Ho and on we sew.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Cue the music ... dum dum da dummmmm*






(* dum dum da dummmmmm = hear comes the bride)

The wedding quilt flimsy is done!

Last week was our annual week long vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  I cart along my sewing machine every year and spend time creating during the hottest parts of the day.  I arrived at the beach with all the geese and the rectangle with flipped triangle (still don't know what to call it) sewn and kitted into blocks ready for assembly.

There are 81 blocks, each at 8'' finished.  To assemble, I went with organized randomness.

Let me explain.  The dominant color in the quilt is that dark navy.   Then there was some green that really, really popped.   In order to somewhat control things, I made sorted the blocks into four piles, putting an equal number of navy in each pile as well as distributing the green blocks.   The quilt layout is 9 x 9 blocks so I assembled it in four parts - a 5 x 5 block section, a 4 x 4 block section and two 5 x 4 block sections.

My only rules for placement was that two navy blocks not be directly next to each other and to try to avoid similar patterns touching.  My daughter helped with the layouts - my simple two rules felt like a puzzle to her!

As far as I know, there is only one spot where the rule was broken.  I bet you can't find it!


My husband and son are hiding behind the quilt and did an awesome job keeping it from touching the sand.

I used FQs from this yummy bundle of Blueberry Park goodness.


While I tried to crop out their feet, here's a photo feet and all!



If you are looking for the repeat linky party, check it our here!

Finishing the quilt top was my July goal (goal setting post) for OMG. I'll be linking up with OMG here at Red Letter Quilts. 

Also linking up with Finish it Up FridaySew Cute Tuesdays, , Freemotion by the River,  Fabric Tuesday's,  WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee Social,  and Midweek Makers.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, July 25, 2016

Mid year reflections

Yvonne @Quilting Jet Girl is hosting a linky party to reflect on 2016 now that we've entered the second half of the year.  Love this idea so here goes!  (See more mid-year reflections here.)

I choose the word Discover as my word for the year and set myself three goals -

  • Discover a balance for my day of friends, family, exercise and my writing
  • Discover whether I have what it takes to become a published author
  • Discover how to grow the community around my blog

Still working on overall balance to my day but I am managing to exercise almost every day - swimming is the exercise of choice right now.  I also joined my local Modern Quilt Guild and enjoy the opportunity to make new quilty friends.

My writing goal has stalled in the second draft edit.  I hope to get things moving again once summer ends and the kids are back at school.  But this isn't a race so I'm ok with where I am.

I did publish four patterns on Crafty - the one I'm most excited about is my paper pieced pattern Chunky Alphabet!   I've two additional quilts underway right now with this fun alphabet!




Although I've been blogging since 2010 at A Stitch in Time, I started this Elm Street Quilts blog two years ago to focus more on my original work as well as tutorials and quilt-a-longs.  To support the QALs, I started a Elm Street Quilts Facebook group - what fun we are having over there seeing works in progress!  Come join!

My bargello QAL was great fun with over twenty great finishes shared in the linky.   I offered instructions for two sizes - the queen B and the baby B!  Lots more downloaded the pattern and I keep getting pleasantly surprised when photos of new bargello quilts pop up!


Underway right now is my repeat QAL - still time to join that one!  This one has been fun - people have gotten creative with adding additional words.


And I announced Bag It returning this fall.  I've been busy creating new tutorials for bags that will publish this fall.  There are great sponsors for this event.  To participate, you can make any bag - not just my tutorials.  Last year, there were more than 250 bags - I hope to grow that number considerably this year.  Check it out and sign up for the Bag It notifications or the newsletter (see side bar) to stay informed.


Finally, my needle has been busy participating in many QALs and also some finishes.  The quilt for my daughter's freshman dorm room was the most labor and love intensive.


I also made a baby quilt, a bunch of minis and finished my Snapshots quilt.  Here are some of my finishes.


I intend to stay focused on my three discover goals for the remainder of the year.  It was fun to sit and reflect on the year so far.


Fortune cookie from January 2016  -  perfect isn't it?





Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, July 22, 2016

Fabric pulls

Perhaps I should have titled this too many quilts, so, so little time!  I just am seriously addicted to QALs - hosting my own or participating in other ones.

Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs has a mystery QAL call Meadow Mist.     I'll be sizing this one down as we go.  Love mysteries!  This quilt uses one medium value, two dark value fabrics plus a primary background and a secondary background.   Here is the fabrics I am thinking of using - would add an off-white to the mix as well.  What do you think?  This is from a Moda (Amy Ellis) line.


Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl has a new QAL called Snowflake Shimmer.    This quilt takes 3 fabrics -  bright white, light color and a dark color for the background.   I intend to size down the blocks - haven't decided yet what my target size is.  But, here are my fabrics (fabric link up here) -

Choice 1 is a more snowflake themed combination


Choice 2 is some modern prints is from the same Moda (Amy Ellis) line as above - although the middle one may need to read more tone on tone.


Soma @ Whiims and Fancies is about to start a Harry Potter Lego paper piecing QAL.  Tempted on that one too!  That would be an all solids quilt for me.

Finally, I've signed up to attend QuiltCon in Savannah next February!!   I'm very excited about all there is to see and do.  Savannah is about a five hour drive for me - totally doable!


I signed up to help with blocks for a charity quilt (or two) associated with the event.  I'll need to make time for those blocks!


I've got some other grays I purchased (but haven't yet photographed) from my LQS that I really love.


Think that will keep me busy!  This list will all be blocks or small quilts (I'm going to downsize the quilts) so it isn't quite as much work as it might first appear!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

My very own BB8

While I will always be a Star Trek over Star Wars gal, I absolutely loved the Star Wars - The Force Awakens movie.   I cheered on the appearance of all the old (and sadly, I do mean old) characters and cried when a favorite died.

So when I saw this pattern at Hunter's Design Studio, I just couldn't resist.


Sam titles the pattern This Droid is not for Sale.  She offers a pattern for Rey as well but I selfishly only wanted my very own BB8 for the wall in my quilt studio.

I had a blast quilting this with my walking foot.  Circles, straight lines of varying widths - so much fun texture.


I did leave the eyes unquilted and I like how they pop.


The solids were all from my American Made Brand solids stash.  I'm not the biggest orange fan but love it in this quilt!


I'll be linking up with Fort Worth StudioConfessions of a Fabric Addict Finish Up FridayThank Goodness It is Finished FridayPatchwork Times, Sew Cute Tuesdays, , Freemotion by the River,  Fabric Tuesday's,  WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee Social,  and Midweek Makers.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, July 18, 2016

repeat QAL - let's PARTY

It's time to turn your pile of letters into a quilt!!

paper pieced alphabet

Share your quilt - quilted or not quilted - into this linky for a chance to win a prize in the random giveway.   The linky will be open forever but only quilts submitted by midnight EST Friday, August 5th will be entered into the random giveaway.


Each entry in the linky is worth 10 points in the participant giveaway.  You can enter more than one quilt top.  Progress photos earn extra points - read more here to find out sharing options!

I really like it when people take a quilt and make it their own so I want to support some variations in finishes if you don't want to make this exact quilt.  So if you are doing your own thing, just make sure your entry follows these guidelines:

  • Must use the paper piecing patterns supplied as part of the QAL for the letters OR use the traditional piecing instructions for the word "quilt"

  • Contains at least one of the words - quilt, eat, sleep, repeat

If you have trouble with the linky, just email a photo to elmstreetquilts at gmail dot com and I'll update the linky for you!  

A big THANK YOU to our awesome sponsors !!!!!!!!




Go visit these great companies and show them some love.

American Made Brand    
(Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram)

Fat Quarter Shop 

Aurifil   
(Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram)

Busy Hands Quilts   
(Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram)




Can't wait to see what you share!!






(Note - I may use your photo of your project (finished or in progress) on a future blog post with credit to you.)






Fat Quarter Shop, one of my blog sponsors, offers a tremendous selection of fabric and very beautiful (and tempting!) block of the month offerings.  Fat Quarter Shop offers fabric from many different manufacturers and you can find anything you are looking for there!  A new and exciting product is the Sew Sampler - a monthly subscription box filled with great products.  Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificates for the QAL.  







Aurifil is home to a beautiful rainbow of thread in all weights, perfect for any of your sewing and quilting needs.  My favorite product is the designer collection boxes which coordinate with various fabric lines.  Aurifil is offering a thread set for the QAL





American Made Brand solids, one of my blog sponsors, has a collection of 75 beautiful colors of fabric completely manufactured in the United States - from the cotton to the finished fabric!  The fabric has deep rich color and I love the feel of the fabric (the hand.)  My repeat quilt top was made exclusively of American Made Brand solids.   American Made Brand is offering a fabric bundle for the QAL.





Busy Hands Quilts is offering three quilt patterns from her Etsy store.    You can see more of Myra's beautiful work on her Busy Hands Quilts blog.








Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, July 15, 2016

Happy Cactus - AMB Solids QAL block 3

This month's block in the American Brand Solids QAL called Our Land is called 'In Every Desert There is a Well.'  (You can find information on the QAL on the Clothworks' blog.)

AMB QAL block 3

And my little cactus block looked lonely and went off to make friends with my small collection of succulents.

Cactus paper piece block


I (clearly) added that smile with a photo editor but I'm tempted to make another as a standalone mini quilt and actually put a smile!

With plenty of AMB green in my stash, I choose to do this in two colors - AMB Olive (24) and Lime (18).

The blocks for the QAL are 12 1/2 '' (unfinished) but I want a smaller quilt so I am redrawing them at 6 1/2''.  I drew this one up as a paper pieced block.

Here are blocks 1 & 2.

AMB QAL blocks 1 and 2

This QAL is quite enjoyable and there are prizes to be won each month.  I won in the June draw - a charm pack and a book which lists all the fabric and yarn stores in the US.  Handy for an upcoming roadtrip!


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

SWIM & the Chunky Alphabet

Next to quilting, my favorite summer activity is to swim!


So I made myself a mini quilt using my new chunky alphabet!

Excited to announced that my Chunky Alphabet is now all 26 (lower case) letters strong, all foundation paper piecing!!

Pattern is for individual letter blocks only - you can assemble anyway you want and spell out your favorite words or the name of someone special! All letters finish at 5'' tall; widths vary but most are 4'' wide.  (See table overall block widths.)    

Visit my Craftsy store and get your very own copy of the Chunky Alphabet! 






Foundation paper piece patterns can be found two to a page - click to see sample photo.

I've got lots of plans for these letters - the first of which was my swim mini.  Perfect for summer!  If I'm not at my sewing machine, you can find me at the pool.  (In my dreams anyway!)


I'll be linking up with Finish it Up FridaySew Cute Tuesdays, , Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee Social,  and Midweek Makers.


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, July 11, 2016

repeat QAL - the STAR plus finishing instructions


We are in the home stretch with the repeat QAL - time to make the star block and finish your quilt!



All the letter blocks should be 5 ½  '' unfinished (5'' finished) tall in the quilt top.

However, I know a few have had some issues with their printers.  To help, the finishing instructions also contain directions on adjusting the filler blocks and the sashing to your actual block measurements.  As long as your blocks are a consistent height, you are good!

Next Monday (July 18th), the linky party will open.  Looking forward to seeing your finished quilt tops - finished or unfinished.   The linky party will be open forever but anyone who enters their quilt top through midnight Friday, August 5th will earn an entry into the giveaway.  If you made more than one, you can earn entry for each quilt.  More on that next week.

Now, let's finish the quilt!

  • Download the pattern for the STAR plus finishing instructions.  Note this download has TWO (2) information pages before the actual paper piece pattern sheets so only print the paper piece patterns on your special paper!   The star prints across two sheets of paper.  (This is your personal copy of the pattern.  Please don't share it with others - just send them to my blog and they can get their very own!)

  • The star block will be trimmed to  11 ½  x 8¾ ''.  (Finished size will be 11  x 8 ¼ '').





To finish the quilt mini, add a 2'' (unfinished) border.  I quilted my quilt mini with matchstick quilting.  (tutorial)



  • For overall information on the QAL including any pattern updates, sponsor information and overall schedule, please visit the main repeat QAL page.








Share progress photos in the Elm Street Quilts QAL Facebook group.   Come cheer on others and make new friends.  

Don't use Facebook?  Share your progress on Instagram.  Make sure your tag the photo with@elmstreetquilts and use #ESQrepeatQAL as the social tag.     

Don't use Instagram either?  Send me a progress photo via email to 
elmstreetquilts at gmail dot com. 




Have a wonderful day! Patty

Sunday, July 10, 2016

A View from my World - July

Nature is the theme of my photos for this month's Wandering Camera.


Love the chance to walk outside each day after dinner and see the summer sky.

Summer Sky photo
Summer Sky

The layers of mulch I added this spring is helping all my flowers this year.  I've never had blooms in the middle of the summer.  And different colors - same little bush!
Its a Boy

It's a Girl

I've two lavender plants - they are doing well.

Don't call me purple
And I'm not the only one who thinks so.

A visitor

Roses

Remember Fred and Wilma from March?


They were repotted and continue to thrive on at my kitchen window.   Poor Fred, he continues to grow tall so I've got him propped up on a plastic fork for support.  Brought home a new member of the family - debating whether this is Pebbles or perhaps Barney....... Fred and Wilma were the size of the new guy and have at least doubled in size.



I'll be joining the linky part at Whims and Fancies here.  



Have a wonderful day! Patty