My second pattern is now for sale on Craftsy! Thank you to everyone who has already purchased my first pattern, the Patriotic Star Runner! The success of that pattern gave me the much needed *umph* to prepare this pattern for sale.
First, yes, you read that correctly, I’m blogging about a quilt I gave at Christmas in February. It’s been that kind of year!
I’ve been planning quilts for my in-laws for quite some time no (I think 2 or 3 years actually…) I gave my Mother-in-law, Donna her quilt back in April (& I really need to find that photo…. I think it’s on J’s phone….) and gave my Father-in-law, Nick his quilt this past Christmas.
Both quilts were carefully planned in that I wanted the fabric choices & design to be reflective of who they are.
Now Nick is quite possibly the most down to earth man you’ve ever met! He can talk to and make friends with anyone regardless of what they do or where they come from. He may have had a white collar job in factories for the past 30 years, but he’ll be the first to tell you he’s more comfortable down in the manufacturing plant than in any conference room.
He’s also the most frugal man you’ve ever met. Making due and fixing whatever’s around him.
So I knew the fabric for his quilt needed to be from men’s shirts I bought at various thrift stores around town. J & I both agreed the colors needed to be green- partly because he went to Michigan State & partly because he loves to be outside hunting & gardening.
The longarm design I chose was the leafy panto from Judy Allen called “Lynn’s Ferns” which I think added a nice movement to the masculine fabrics and square/rectangle shapes.
And the backing had to be Michigan State fabric! (& Rizzo couldn’t resist “helping” with the binding!)
Nick was truly surprised Christmas morning to get his quilt & loved the fabrics- it was a wonderful joy to give him this quilt.
It’s time for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival!!
For this one I’m submitting my Simplicity & Complexity in Quilting in the Two-Color Quilt Category.
This began from an idea I had when planning my Fall 2013 classes. I wanted a wallhanging that could be seasonal, but not just “Christmasy” or something that would work year round in your house. I didn’t want it large (no larger than 40″x40″) so just one piece would be needed for the backing. I also wanted it to look striking while not using too many techniques.
Carpenter’s Star
Inspired by the beautiful red & white quilts in this show, I found my color palette & after searching through some old quilting books, I chose the traditional Carpenter’s Star pattern. To add dimension to what could be a “flat” quilt, I chose four different red fabrics that had the same hue (red), but with slightly different shades (degree of blackness) to give the quilt depth. After it was pieced, I liked it, but I still didn’t love it.
Then I put it on the quilting frame.
Carpenter’s Star
Sometimes it takes a while for the quilt to tell me what design it wants, but this quilt screamed feathers from the very beginning.
I chose a traditional, formal feather in a curvy spine to be quilted in the red to emphasis the depth of the colors. The white took a bit longer to decide on a pattern, but I knew I didn’t want more feathers (I thought that would take away from the other feathers). I kept coming back to the fact that every time I looked at this quilt I saw the star exploding & I wanted something that would emphasis the radiance of the star. I opted for straight lines to balance the curves of the feathers & in the ended decided to go with a triple stitch to really give the quilt a striking look.
Feathered Star
I truly could not be happier with this quilt. It is everything I imagined it would be, yet didn’t think I could do. Because friends, this was the first time I quilted the formal, longarm feather on a quilt. After years of practice & never being quite happy with them, I think I’ve finally got it!
And guess who can’t stop using that feather design?
Linking up with the Blogger’s Quilt Festival on Amy’s Creative Side: (And go check out the rest of the quilts! They’re amazing!)
This is a dump cake that was originally posted by Kim of This Little Life of Mine. Aside from looking delightful & chocolaty- she mentioned this was the first dessert to go at one of her church potlucks & the kids couldn’t stop raving about it’s yummyness!
I made it mostly like she said, but here’s my variation:
– 1 box of Devil’s Food cake mix (Duncan Hines is my favorite)
– 1 3/4 cup milk
– 1 small box of chocolate instant pudding
– 1 bag of Toll House semi sweet chocolate chunks
Mix the cake mix & milk together. Then add in pudding. Pour into greased 9×13 pan. It will be thick! Sprinkle chocolate on top & gently press in. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
It comes out more like a brownie than a cake. Next time I will use milk chocolate chips for a smoother taste.
Enjoy!
So while it’s not really my style, it required accuracy & with the few pattern errors-a bit more thinking!
I already have some quilting ideas in mind- but it will have to wait a bit for that!
Hey! It’s been wonderfully busy over here- my days are full of quilting, knitting & cooking- I can honestly say I can’t remember being this peaceful.
I’ve also started challenging myself. A mini project completed every week. This happened by accident- I had some leftover log cabin blocks that I had sewed incorrectly for another project decided to pull them out & make something. Laid them out on the floor, tried some different arrangements & came about with this:
And instead of letting is sit on the shelf to be quilted in, oh, let’s say, about 5 years from now, I popped that sucker on the quilting machine right then! Used some of the music note fabric for the backing. (This is fabric from my mom’s stash. It’s been used on who knows how many projects, but I can tell you it’s magical- because EVERY SINGLE TIME I dig that fabric out of the bins, there’s always more. ALWAYS!) I used a favorite quilting pattern from Munnich Quilt Recipes, dug out some matching fabric for a binding & voila! A very nice little runner.
Granted it’s for Christmas & this is April, but hey- it’s done, I used stash, & I didn’t spend one added dime on this!
It’s been another busy week but I have some updates on the quilting business for everyone!
First of all, I have created my first quilting designs!
This Christmas Tree will be available soon for purchase:
And I will be teaching 2 classes this fall at Seams to Be in Plattsmouth, NE!
– Beginning Paper Piecing will be on Thursday, October 22 from 6-9pm. Our project will be a simple table runner that utilizes the familiar log cabin pattern with some simple piecing:
This pattern will also be available for purchase soon,
– Beginning Tatting will be Monday October 19, 26 & November 2 from 6-8pm. There is the option to make either a bookmark or an ornament. I also plan on doing a tatting demonstration at the shop one Saturday & I will keep everyone updated on that.
It’s very exciting the way things are moving. I’m in a design mode & am thinking of all sorts of possible patterns!
I always swore I would never make a wall hanging. Then Quilt Tree offered a Stained Glass Workshop. I’ve always thought the technique was cool & wanted to learn it since I was 11 or 12. Well they offered this class in between the Never Ending Double Wedding Ring. I knew I’d never be able to make a full sized stained glass quilt, so it was either a table runner or a wall hanging. Brenda Henning, the queen of stained glass instruction, has some wonderful books out. While perusing them in the quilt shop, I found her “The Exquisite Table” book. I used Hoffman’s Christmas line for the fabrics, hoping that the batiks would make it less “cutesy.” The letters are green while the borders are a green & red & gold holly. Clover gold quick tape bias was used for the fancy stained glass effect. I’m happy with the results. It didn’t take long at all- had the class not been spread out over 2 weeks, I could have easily done this in a weekend.
