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Saturday, April 29, 2017

play improv - time is almost up!


Have you finished your improv quilts yet?

There is still time to enter them into the parade on May 3 - I've received some wonderful entries so far and can't wait to share them.  Send me those photos by Monday, May 1 at 8 pm EST - see the  instructions on how to enter for the parade! 

While the parade will feature finished quilts, you can (and should!) link up your quilt or quilt tops as well in the link-up.  Link-up will close on Sunday, April 30.







Thanks to the amazing sponsors for the QAL.  Read more about the QAL and the prizes on the play QAL event page.

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.)  

American Made Brand    
              (Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram)

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   
(Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram)

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, April 28, 2017

Contagious


Contagious.


Creativity is contagious.



I truly believe this.  If you have a friend who is bubbling over her quilting project, you get excited too.  If you see a photo of a beautiful quilt, you are ready to tackle that pattern yourself.  Spend just a little time looking at photos on Instagram and you'll be pulled in to a great project and awesome fabric.

So I made a mini to celebrate.  (Mini finishes at 11 x 10'')

Here's the backstory.  The Modern Quilt Guild Spring 2017 challenge was to use prints from the Riley Blake Creative Rockstar fabric line.  They sent me a F8 bundle of really awesome fabric for the challenge.


While the rules allowed you to add other Riley Blake solids or Creative Rockstar prints to the challenge, I decided to only use the fabric in this F8 pack.

And I wanted something that would clearly highlight the text fabric - I just loved the messages.


I paper pieced each of the stars being very fussy about where different words ended up.  I then highlighted four of them by stitching over with DMC floss.


(Catch that awesome french knot!)

Creativity is contagious from you to i.



I had a blast with the quilting.  I like the back too - I used another of the prints there.  I also like how my piece binding turned out.


Did you enter a quilt into the challenge?  Fingers crossed that I win or you do!

Contagious will be linked up with  Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Spring Table Runner

                             Click here for the One Monthly Goal April Finish Link-up



The pattern challenge for April Mini & More was a quilt called Vintage, an mini quilt adaptation of a quilt from Simply Retro, a book I own.  I further adapted mine into a table runner.

I used scraps from an old Kate Spain line for the blocks.  Straight line quilting made for a fun, quick finish.


Check Sherri's and Michele's blogs early next month for the parade of other finishes.


Sherri is one of the designers who made blocks for the Splendid Sampler (my quilt top).  I won a prize on her blog celebrating the release of the 100th block.  Look at this beautiful fabric she sent me. These are gorgeous fat quarters from her Desert Bloom fabric line.  I used two prints from another of her lines - Valley - for my En Provedence quilt.

Thanks Sheri - can't wait to create something with these lovelies.  For now, I've got them sitting on my desk where they can be petted daily.




My table runner will be linked up with Main Crush Monday's,   Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.  This table runner is my finish #22 for 2017.






Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, April 24, 2017

One Monthly Goal - April Finish

Time to link-up those finishes!


There were 107 projects shared in the April Goal Setting Link-Up!  I very much enjoy visiting everyone and seeing your projects and now it is time to see those finished goals.

New to One Monthly Goal?  Welcome!  You can read about the event and the rules on the main event page.
Sign up to receive email notifications when the One Monthly Goal linkup is open.  Think of it as a helpful reminder!

The May One Monthly Goal link up will open on May 1.   (And as you start to think about your goals for next month, remember a goal could be to finish a quilt but it could also be to attach a binding or make three blocks.  Whatever it takes to help you move forward and make progress on your projects!  And as long as the project involves a needle and/or fabric, you can link up!)

My project for April was to finish my Churn Dash quilt.  Meet Goldilocks!  You can read about the quilt here.



Now it is your turn to link up - share your goal finish for April.  

Please only link up if you finished your goal and if you also participated in the April Goal Setting Link-up.  



There will be three winners this month - Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate, Green Fairy Quilts is offering a $15 gift certificate.   Jeni Baker of In Color Order is offering three (3) pdf patterns.

Congratulations to Barbara, Suzette, and Sabrina - the lucky April winners!





Visit the One Monthly Goal event page for the specific requirements for links and social tags. 

And remember, to be eligible for the prize(s) by random drawing you must linkup at both the goal setting and the accomplishment linkup in a given month. (April Goal Setting Link-up)


Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can follow where you are linking.   Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post:  







Thanks for linking up!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, April 21, 2017

Goldilocks

Remember the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears?  Everything came in threes and she explored their house trying each chair for softness and food for the right temperature.

I decided to call my latest finish Goldilocks because I used three different size blocks for the quilt.


I am just in love with this quilt!

I made it from odd sized leftover bits of fabric. The FMQ is a loop design and I'm so proud and happy of the job I did.  FMQ is a journey and this was the first time that I got the tension right.  The stitch length isn't consistent but the texture is amazing.

The middle border is pieces and I love the way it looks.


I pieced a bit of the back.  Pieced backs are not my usual thing but I'm happy with this one!

This quilt finishes at 60 x 66'' and is perfect for napping!


I'm busy working on a pattern for Goldilocks and can't wait to share!


Goldilocks will be linked up with Main Crush Monday's,   Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Slow Stitch Orange Peels

I am really enjoying have a bit of applique at the ready when I'm watching tv or just want to sit and enjoy the spring sunshine.


Since I enjoyed the orange peels I used for the leaves on my tulip quilt top, I decided to go for orange peels again.   I played around with some different ideas for color placement and settled on a few so I basted those down first.

Time to add more!


The fabric I'm using is from Michael Miller.  There were offering fabric samples at their booth at QuiltCon with a request to make blocks for a friendship quilt for QuiltCon 2018. (I'll share my block for the friendship quilt soon.)   I choose Painter's Canvas in colors Lime, Lagoon, Indigo and Mermaid.  (Get name for a fabric color!)

Orange Peels will be linked up with Main Crush Monday's,   Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, April 17, 2017

Love American Made Brand Solids

I love making quilts with American Made Brand solids   75 colors to choose from - many of my recent finishes are made from these solids.

Numbers uses three shades of blue and a splash of red for a bold Fibonacci quilt.


Autumn Equinox  was my very first attempt at improv and used my favorite AMB colors.


For Tulips, I combined shades of the same colors to make a fun squared off flower!


Besides the fabric being wonderful to work with, one of my favorite parts is that the entire process for making this fabric is done in the US, starting with the cotton.

American Made Brand has put together a really wonderful video that explains the process and introduces you to the farmers who grow the cotton.  You can watch from their Facebook page or directly on Youtube.

I'm actually in this video - well sort of .....  at 3:55 there is a close-up of a quilt block with lighthouses.  That is MY quilt block!


Quilt and photo credit to the Works.  Read more about the quilt here.

Well the real star of the video might just be the dog who peaks between the quilts around minute 4.  Her name is Cali and she is a Catahoula Leopard Dog.  Cali was adopted at the Houston Quilt Market 4 years ago when the AMB team bumped into an adoption event while looking for a place to eat dinner.  They just couldn't resist that cute dog and brought her back to the hotel room!

You can buy American Made Brand solids at quilt stores everywhere.  I buy mine at here and here.  I'm excited by the new pre-cuts and can't wait to give some a try!



Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, April 14, 2017

En Provence is done!!


I just love this quilt!  You likely recognize the design from Bonnie Hunter as part of her mystery QAL for 2016.   My quilt is 53 x 71''.  

Cathy Kirk, my LAQ, did a wonderful job with an edge to edge swirly design.


I just absolutely love the fabric I choose to use.  The teal and navy prints are part of the Moda Valley line by Sheri.  The yellow/gold was from Moda Welcome Fall.  The red was Modern Textures (brick color). The blue was an interesting (for me) choice because it came from the 110'' wide backing fabric.  I used some in the quilt and then as the backing.

My DH did a great job as quilt holder.  I love the photos with the feet showing!


My quilt will be linked up with Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Trimming Geese - Testing driving a new OLFA rotary cutter

This post is sponsored by OLFA but all opinions are my own.

Next to my sewing machine, the tool I use the most in my studio is my rotary cutter.  When OLFA contacted me and asked if I wanted to test drive some newer products, I quickly said yes and was excited to receive this pretty box in the mail.


What fun!  The box contained the Splash 45mm Rotary Cutter , a 12 x 17 folding cutting mat, and the new 45MM Endurance™ Rotary Blade.  

I had plenty of fabric to cut and it was great fun to take the Splash Rotary Cutter and folding cutting mat out for a test drive.

First up, strips and more strips!


The Splash Rotary Cutter made quick work of those strips so I moved on to prep some fabric for some flying geese.  The folding cutting mat was a delight to cut on.


Once those geese were sewn, I moved to our screen porch - my favorite room of the house (next to my sewing studio of course!)  The screen porch sits in the back of the house and is just a wonderful place to hang out on a spring afternoon.  Sun filters through the leaves and beckons you to sit for awhile.

It is good I had a lot of geese to cut - doesn't this pile of 48 geese look yummy?


My guild has a sew-in coming up and I'm looking forward to packing the folding cutting mat into my bag.  The mat laid nice and flat when in use and there was no problem cutting across the spot where it is folded.  The fold area is curvy and nests together nicely when in use.


I've had my yellow OLFA rotary cutter for as long as I can remember.  It has been (and still will be!) a wonderful partner in my quilting journey.  There are a couple of differences between my older OLFA and the Splash.  The Splash  feels just a little bit lighter to hold and the method to changing the rotary blades is new and improved.

The new 45MM Endurance™ Rotary Blade is designed to cut twice as long as a standard blade.  I haven't owned it long enough to validate that claim but I look forward to putting it to the full test!


Now I'm off to make more geese and then back to the porch for some trimming!



If you are lucky enough to be visiting Paducah, Kentucky during  AQS QuiltWeek®, make sure you look for OLFA's pop-up trial tent outside of the National Quilt Museum.  You'll have the chance to try out the new blade by cutting squares to be made into quilts to benefit Quilts for Kids.

Later this month, OLFA is inviting quilters to partake in their Quilt Cruise Sweepstakes*– a one-of-a-kind quilting adventure for two.   The sweepstakes starts on April 17, for more information and to enter online, please visit www.OLFA.com/QuiltCruise


*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning. Sweepstakes starts April 17, 2017 12 p.m. CST and ends at 7/15/17 11:59:59 PM CT. Must be a legal resident of 50 US/DC and at least 18 years of age. For Official Rules, including how to enter, prize details and restrictions, visit www.olfa.com/quiltcruise. Prize includes transportation to cruise departure port. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: OLFA, NA distributed by World Kitchen, LLC, 9525 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Suite 300 Rosemont, IL 60018


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

play - finish your improv quilts and the link-up

I really hope that you've enjoyed participating in this QAL as much as I've enjoyed hosting it!

If you haven't already done so, now is the time to think about how to finish your improv quilts.


There are as many different ways to put together improv blocks as there are quilters.  

Some ideas and resources -

Medallion style - wrap improv blocks around a center block  (Maker - Me)
Surround them with lots of negative space  (this became a quilt back)

Amy Ellis has embarked on a 100 day of improv journey.  Look how fun her improv blocks look in a traditional grid setting!  (photo used with permission from Amy.)  I can't wait to see what this looks like once Amy does her FMQ magic.

Quilt and photo credit - Amy Ellis (photo included with permission)
Quilt and photo credit - Amy Ellis (photo included with permission)

Want some more ideas? The Modern Quilt Guild gallery page has about 60 improv quilts with lots of different settings to inspire.

Once your project is finished, link up below from your blog or Instagram.  For this link-up, projects are considered finished where or not they are final quilts. You can link up as many as you want but only the first one will count towards the final link-up giveaway.

And if you've turned your improv piece into a bag, a bib or something else, please link up and share. That counts as a finish!

If you've got yourself a finished quilt, - quilted, bound and beautiful - please join the parade!  Learn how on this post - photos due by May 1!

I can't wait to see what you've made!







Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, April 10, 2017

Petit Four Sew-Along

I'm excited to share the latest project brought to you by Fat Quarter Shop.  These Petit Four boxes get their shape from By Annie's Soft and Stable product.  You can find the tutorial on the Jolly Jabber!


Aren't these cute?

I made one for my daughter, the UNC freshman (go Tarheels!) and intend to fill it will some Easter candy.


I've had this novelty fabric in stash for awhile.  I fussy cut and raw edge appliqued the NC patch to the center of the basket so when her candy is all gone, there will be something fun to look at!


These finish at the perfect sizes to sit on your sewing table and keep important things right where you need them.


Yes, jelly beans are important.  

And so is a nice place to keep mini charms, thread and my scissors.  I used Sweetwater Mama Said Sew layer cake squares for this one!


See the awesome video by Kimberly and Annie on the Jolly Jabber.  You can make these petit four just with layer cake squares and some Soft and Stable.


My petit fours will be linked up with Main Crush Monday's,   Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, April 7, 2017

improv progress

In support of the play improv QAL and in addition to all the mini quilts I made in support of each week's prompt, I've been making a wall hanging improv quilt.

It is almost but not quite done.  I though I'd share a couple of progress photos to give you a sneak peak!

First, can you spot the difference between these two photos?


I'm just glad I realized I was missing the letter n before my piecing of the quilt top progressed any further!

In the photo below, I am auditioning different blocks and strips for placement in my quilt - you'll have to wait until the parade on May 3 to see the final quilt.  (Read more about the parade.)


I took my extra blocks and used them on the back - here is a view of part of the back.  I really like the way it looks.


I can't wait to share my final project.  I used American Made Brand fabrics for my quilt and Aurifil thread for my quilting.

The overall link up opens on April 11 and submission of parade photos is due by May 1.

Read more about play, an improv QAL here - it isn't too late to join the fun!


Have a wonderful day! Patty