Blogger's Quilt Festival - Sweet Liberty!

"Sweet Liberty Table Runner",  Small Quilts category of the Fall 2015 Bloggers Quilt Festival!

I wanted to share a bit of Americana for my second entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, the virtual quilt show for blogger's, hosted by Amy Ellis at Amy's Creative Side!

October 23-29, 2015 – Linky’s Open & Nominations through Oct. 29th for Viewer's Choice category.

October 29-Novebmer 5, 2015 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories!

 

Sweet Liberty Table Runner Stats:
Completed April 2015
Original Post HERE
Finished Size: 22" x 40"
Pattern by Julie of Intrepid Thread, free download here, at Quilted Fish
Fabric used:
      Prints found in my stash that screamed Americana; some modern and some vintage!
Batting:
      Quilter's Dream Polyester - two layers:)
Quilting:
      Free Motion squiggle-stitch quilting with Juki TL-98E
Thread:
      Aurifil 50wt, White & Blue

Thank you so much for your consideration!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Winter in Bloom!

"Winter in Bloom",  Original Design category of the Fall 2015 Bloggers Quilt Festival!

It is not too late to participate in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, a bi-annual virtual quilt show for blogger's, hosted by Amy Ellis at Amy's Creative Side!

Nominations are open through October 29th for the Viewer's Choice category.

 

Inspired by the luxurious colors in the Fusion Illusion bundle of fabric sent to me by Blank Quilting to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of Jaftex, I designed "Winter in Bloom" early this summer. As I played with the fabrics, the colors reminded me of Christmas Cactus, and I reached for the silvery holiday text fabric for the background, to help give the quilt a Christmas-in-the-desert-vibe.

This was an exciting challenge, presented to me by Henry Glass Co. following my participation with the Desire to Inspire Challenge last Spring. It is so fun to allow fabric to "speak" to a quilt design, even when you have no idea what type of fabric you may receive for a challenge!

"Stacked Back", pieced with leftovers:)

Winter in Bloom Stats:
Completed Summer 2015
Original Post HERE
Finished Size: 58" Square
Designed by myself using 900 2.5" Squares, 200 of which were HST's:)
Fabric used:
     Fusion Illusion, by Blank Quilting for patchwork.
     Crystal Palace, by Studioe for background.
     Crosshatch Backing, by Robert Kaufman.
     Season's Elegance, by Studioe for machine binding.
Batting:
     Quilter's Dream Wool
Quilting:
     Free Motion Cross-hatch Quilting with Juki TL-98E
Thread:
     Aurifil 50wt, pale silver color

Thank you so much for your consideration!



Winter in Bloom went for a walk in Bryant Park: Two of the photos shared today were courtesy of office staff from Blank Quilting!

Sew STAUNCH Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry

Time again for Amy's brilliant quilt show!

The Blogger's Quilt Festival is the brainchild of Amy Ellis, from Amy's Creative Side. This show is a serious must-see for those who, like me, are interested in inspiration, and a serious must-do for those, like me, who simply like to share their quilty accomplishments!

Today I am pleased to share my entry for the Mini Quilts category:

 

Sew Staunch was named for and inspired by Kathreen Ricketson, the late (and great) author and blogger from Down Under. This is a mini-version from her book, 'Brave New Quilts'. (Amazon link)

A cheery and bright finish, yet making this quilt put me in a very reflective mood. I thought much of the women of our past who've helped pave the way toward equality and expression. Kathreen included her family in her own creative ambitions and endeavor's. I thought of her, and the children she and her husband left behind, and so it was a bit sad in the making at times. Online, we have this whole new group of pioneering women and this is how I think of Kathreen. 

I selected favored scraps to work into each circle.

I was listening to Sue Monk Kidd's, 'The Invention of Wings' while quilting. Fuel to the (reflective)fire, that one...

I chose a bright and windy day to photograph!

I hope you have enjoyed reading about Sew Staunch!

SEW STAUNCH, 20" X 20"

 

Blogger's Quilt Festival - My Applique Entry!

Already, I am having too much fun surfing through the beautiful quilts popping up in the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side. Well, it is time to buckle down without distraction, I have yet to enter my second quilt!
So without further ado,

Followers have seen my version of Hello Moon, however I have never shared PROPER photos due to weather conditions at the finish!

I am still relatively new to the online quilting community, having started my blog just one year ago. I was rather unaware it existed prior to that, and I still feel like I am fumbling a bit trying to better divide my time and keep up with y'all. Just yesterday, I commented on a blog post that I had only ever participated in one QAL. Well, it took about an hour later to realize I have actually done a few! For some reason, I wasn't really thinking of BOM as a QAL. And although I have far too many to-do's (& half-dones!), I really love participating in this type of thing online, especially if there is an active Flickr group sharing all the different variations.

I really enjoy the challenge each month of coming up with fabrics from my stash, without knowing future blocks, or any idea of the quilt to come. For this quilt, I pulled a lot of old vintage fabrics that I like, but would not likely use mixed with more modern cottons.

The Quilt Along was a 2013 Block of the Month led by April Mae Designs. The blocks finish at 6.5". If you are interested in the pattern, she still has the free downloads available at her site!

I purposely designed the yellow stars to fall short a bit so they would not actually connect. Then, I was inspired by an Angela Walters book that I happened to have checked out at the time (umm, renewed three times!) to do the bubbles connecting them. The perfect backing was also found in my stash. It is a poly/cotton blend, and therefore it is yet another fabric that I liked well enough to have kept all these years, even though it seemed unlikely to ever be used.

As each month rolled around, I wondered if this would be the month that would have us all sewing COWS.
You know, jumping over the moon!
Well, December came along, and it just didn't happen. And of course, I just couldn't get over it.
I had to draw my own.

 

A purple cow, of course!

 

Finished Quilt Size: 36" x 48"

Batting: Quilter's Dream Polyester

Fabric: A lot of OLD Stash! Scraps!

Backing: Vintage plaid

Thread: Coat's Dual Duty 40wt  (another stash-buster!)

Recipient: NYC (not yet conceived)

 

I am entering this one in the Applique division for the Quilt Festival!

 

Nominations are going on now, and voting begins May 23rd!

Time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

The 'largest online quilt show' begins today! Hosted by Amy, over at Amy's Creative Side, this show coincides with Quilt Market each Spring and Fall.

I finished this quilt last fall, for my husband, Ty.
It is very personalized, and quickly became one of my favorites while designing it!

I hoarded many different fabrics before beginning this quilt, so many in fact, I was tempted to enter it in the 'scrappy' category.


Things Ty Likes, (plus a few sentimental bits I snuck in!)

A bit hard to see, the quilting is straight-line through the white parts, and fan-line in the colored areas.

I am proud of the original design that Ty and I developed together in EQ6, so even though this is quite scrappy, you will find it entered in the 'Original Design' category! I hope you will visit the link, and take the time to vote for your favorites!
Here is the first sketch, before we added another row, and before we had decided on color placement:

I do love EQ6! I am so late to update to EQ7, I am hoping that EQ8 comes out soon so I can just skip it!  I played with scrappy fabric placements, to better visualize the 'real' result:

If you are interested in the pattern, you have our permission to make one of your own:-) I would consider it quite a compliment, and would appreciate any credits if you do, and I would love to see your work as well! I used 5" squares, so it would be easy to adapt this with charm packs!

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy the show over at Amy's Creative Side!

Voting begins May23rd!!

POST UPDATE, January 2015!
I was thrilled to recently receive an email from Romana Černá, from Prague, Czech Republic. She was inspired by Ty's quilt and shared this photo of her version!
I am so glad she shared this, it is so beautiful!

Flowers for Madeleine - An Heirloom Baby Quilt

My favorite finish this year!

This is the shower invitation that inspired me, shown on the backing fabric I chose:

 

Raw-Edge Applique is a new technique for me, and I really had fun with it. Quilting was the best part though, I just echo-stitched the flowers, cherries, and leaves with matching Aurifil 50wts :

Quilter's Choice cotton batting gives it a perfectly soft drape, and the large bubbles have a great texture for Madeleine to squish between her fingers

I love the lamb print for the backing:

And a cute little label to finish:-)

And Woo-Lah!

I had one final photo shoot before it was off in the post office!

I am entering this one in the Bloggers Quilt Festival Baby Category,

hosted by Amy at AmysCreativeSide