Kaffe Shot Cottons + Wool Batting = COZY!

I loved this quilt the first time I ran across it on Pinterest. I was lucky enough to find a kit from a online fabric shop so I didn't have to track down the shot cotton striped fabrics. Here it is before it was quilted.

And who doesn't love a log cabin quilt?

This was originally going to be for a newlywed niece when I first made the top, but I so loved the quilt and decided it had my name on it instead of hers. Plus it's not very big -- about 60 inches by 60 inches, so really not big enough for a wedding quilt. (But no worries, I finally gave Emily and Jaren their quilt on Thanksgiving and will share it in another post.)

I finally quilted the Kaffe log cabin quilt a few weeks ago. This quilt was my first one in which I used wool batting. Wow, I love how the quilt drapes with the wool batting. It was also only the fourth quilt I did with HQ Pro-Stitcher without the watchful eye of one of the Handi Quilter educators.

I've learned that it is an art to pick a digital quilting motif that complements the quilt design -- a motif that truly makes the quilt and doesn't detract from it. And I really feel that the design I chose works so well with this quilt. It's also a great example of pairing a curvy quilting motif with an angular, geometric quilt.

Of course, with the solid fabric on the back, you can appreciate the quilting motif much better. The design is one of the 1000 designs included with HQ Pro-Stitcher. It was designed by one of the HQ employees, Cathie Zimmerman. I'm sure I'll use the design again on a future quilt because it has good movement, is simple, yet very effective.

I used a neutral gray color 30-weight cotton thread that worked equally well on the front and back of the quilt.

Not that I needed another quilt for myself, but this is truly one of my all-time favorites.

 

Taking Inventory

So, do you know how many quilts you've finished? What about how many tops are waiting to be quilted? Or even how many projects (UFOs, WIPs, PIGs, etc.) are in progress? Now add in the kits and BOMs that you are hoping to get to one of these days.

Well, over the weekend I updated my inventory and now know why my sewing room is in total disarray! Here are the stats:

Finished quilts: 88 finished quilts, 27 of which were for my book Triple-Play Scrap Quilts, many were gifts to family and friends over the years, but sadly many are in piles throughout my house.

Unquilted tops: 33. This number is actually down by five over the past two weeks as I've quilted five tops since I now have HQ Pro-Stitcher added to my HQ Avante.

Kits and BOMs: 41. Now this was a shocker! My sister just started quilting. Maybe I need to share some with her.

And finally the WIPs (works in progress), UFOs (unfinished objects), and PIGs (projects in grocery bags): 20! In my defense, four of the 20 have all of the blocks done. I need only sew them together.

Now, add to this my fabric stash and I could probably make more than 150 quilts from what's in my sewing room. YIKES!

But the good news is that I am continually making progress --  whether's it's working on the underway projects or getting quilts finished. I even gave away a quilt on Saturday. A very belated baby quilt. The baby is now 2 years old.

The quilt photo above shows a close-up the quilt made with Hello Luscious by Basic Gray for Moda. I quilted it using a digital circles design by Nancy Haacke of Wasatch Quilting. I had a cone of Aurifil veriegated thread that they so generously donated to all of the attendees at Handi Quilter's Academy a couple years ago. The cone itself was kind of ho-hum. But it was fabulous when quilted! And it went so well with the fabric.

Two-year-old Piper didn't quite know what was going on, but her older sister Hadley is always ready to pose for the camera.

Here's another pic of the quilt:

The other finishes are being bound (thanks Mom!). I'll share them as I get them back from her.

I'm on a roll. Hoping to finish several more over the next few weeks.

 

Flash Sale: Triple-Play Scrap Quilting e-Book

Martingale is offering the digital version of my book for only $6 now through noon PST on Monday.

Jump over to the Martingale blog to learn all about it.

Whether you have pre-cuts for a coordinated scrappy quilt, fabrics in a particular style or color scheme for a planned scrappy quilt, or just a bunch of scraps for a make-do scrappy quilt, there are patterns that will work for you. Here are just three of the quilt variations you'll find in the book:

 Enjoy!

My Quilt in Quiltmaker Magazine

I'm so happy to share this quilt with you. It is in the current September/October 2015 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine.

The quilt is named "Which way to go?" However, as I was making it and using that fabulous Tiffany blue background, I thought it should be named "Which way to Tiffany's?". If you don't subscribe to Quiltmaker Magazine, you can download the pattern here.

I even quilted this one myself (that is, with the help of the HQ studio educators and computerized quilting). I used an HQ Infinity machine equipped with HQ Pro-Stitcher. I selected a fabulous edge-to-edge digital motif by Wasatch Quilting.  I think the quilting motif works so well with the quilt. The motif is called Modern E2E 1025.

Here are some additional pictures of the quilt that better feature the quilting:

Quiltmaker magazine also featured a miniature version of the quilt, called "Spook-tacular". The blocks are half of the size of the "Which way to go?" quilt. As you can see, they used Halloween fabrics, and it turned out so cute.

 

And here's my original design. I've sewn the top, but I guess I've never taken a photo of the top since all I can find is my Electric Quilt design. I used the Zen Chic fabric line named Comma.

So, as you can see, the quilt design lends itself to all types of fabrics. And it's a great beginner quilt.

Enjoy!

The Big Book of Scrappy Quilts

I am thrilled that Martingale / That Patchwork Place has included two of my quilts in their upcoming book, The Big Book of Scrappy Quilts.

This truly is a big book! It includes 77 quilt projects, including Civil War, 1930s, modern, traditional, and country designs. And the book retails for $29.95, so that is less than 40¢ a pattern.

I am in such good company. Look at the names of just a few other Martingale authors who are included in the book: Kim Brackett, Lynn Roddy Brown, Kay Connors and Karen Earlywine, Kim Diehl, Amy Ellis, Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene of Country Threads, Joanna Figueroa, and many more.

The Martingale editors included the coordinated version of my Day's of '47 quilt. This quilt features the Salt Lake City block and was made with Cosmo Cricket's fabric line Circa 1934 for Moda. I chose a dark background for the blocks to show off the unique piecing, as well as complement the graphic nature of the prints. By using the same black cornerstone with cream sashing strips, a secondary shoo-fly design was created where the blocks come together. The pieced border also uses a triangular element from the block which helps to unite the quilt. This coordinated version of the quilt finishes 61.5 x 61.5 inches.

The other quilt in the book is the make-do scrappy version of my Bull's Eye quilt. Funny thing (to me anyway) is that this is my least-favorite quilt in my book -- and yet Martingale included it in the book as well as in the 2015 That Patchwork Quilt calendar. I guess they must have liked it. (And it definitely fits the definition of scrappy since I remember being very random when I selected the fabrics and they were all from my scrap pile!)

For what it's worth, this is my favorite version of the Bull's Eye quilt -- made with flannels.

The Big Book of Scrappy Quilts goes on sale on August 4th. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!


 

Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks

I am so happy to be able to share the quilt I did for the latest issue of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks.

As you probably already know, twice a year Quiltmaker magazine assembles 100 original blocks into a special issue. I've been privileged to have a block in three of the special issues.

Well, twice a year Quiltmaker also puts together a special issue comprised of quilts made using some of the blocks from those magazines.

In the Spring 2015 issue (available today!), I was so pleased that I was able to showcase the quilt I made using my Churned Star block. the block combines a traditional churn dash with a variable sawtooth star block.

Here's the block that was featured in the 100 Blocks special issue.

When the great folks at Quiltmaker magazine invited me to make a quilt featuring the block, I already had a quilt design in mind and even had fabric set aside. They made a great suggestion for the quilt and then sent some fabric that wasn't yet available in quilt shops for me to use. It was the perfect fabric -- Feed Company by Sweetwater for Moda -- which, by the way, was from the same designer that I had chosen for my original design.

Here's the finished quilt:

It was quilted -- magnificently I must say -- by my co-worker Marie Eldredge, one of the fabulous educators at Handi Quilter. I knew that she would be able to fill all of that negative space with the perfect motifs. Quilting definitely makes the quilt!

I hope you love the quilt as much as I do.

Be sure to visit the Quiltmaker blog to see many of the other great quilts in this special issue.

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Volume 10 (+ Giveaway)

Congratulations to Quiltmaker magazine for Volume 10 of their 100 Blocks special issues.

I'm happy that I have a block in Volume 10. And I am giving away a copy of this fabulous issue to a random winner from among those who comment on this post. Just leave a comment by midnight on Sunday, November 23rd.

My block is a variable star (my favorite block to stitch), but with a churn dash block embedded in it.

My first go at the block didn't have enough contrast among the fabrics.

I redid the block in traditional fabrics with more contrast. Much better.

An easy block that works with all styles of fabrics. Just make sure there's sufficient contrast to show off the star and the churn dash.

Remember to leave a comment to be part of the drawing for a free issue.  If you are a no -reply blogger, you'll need to leave your e-mail address so I can contact you if you're the winner!

2015 That Patchwork Place Calendar and a Giveaway!

Edited to add:  Entries for the free calendar are now closed. Congratulations to Gayle! Counting chronologically -- from the first comment to the last, Gayle was number 18! Gayle, I've sent you an e-mail message for your mailing address so I can send you your fabulous 2015 calendar!

I'm so happy to announce that one of my quilts is featured in the 2015 That Patchwork Place calendar. That's right -- my Bull's Eye quilt is the calendar girl for February! Doesn't "she" look great? Or should that be "he"? I think the quilt has a nice masculine feel and is great for those guy-quilts we need to make now and then.

 

You can see all of Martingale's 2015 calendars on their StitchThis! blog post. Shops are ordering the 2015 calendars now so be sure to pick one up at your local quilt shop!

What's more is that Martingale/That Patchwork Place has given me an extra copy of the calendar to give away to one of you visitors to my blog. All you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post before midnight on Wednesday, July 23. I'll randomly select the lucky winner on Thursday, July 24.

The version of Bull's Eye that Martingale selected for the calendar is the make-do, totally scrappy version of the quilt. I was definitely cleaning out the scraps for this one!

But I made two other variations of the quilt for my book Triple-Play Scrap Quilting: a planned scrappy version and a coordinated scrappy version.

The planned scrappy version used fabrics in red, black, gray, and white only. 

Bull's Eye is a great quilt to feature the colors of your favorite sports team. (Believe me when I tell you that I've already apologized to my family members, who are huge University of Michigan fans, for making this quilt in Ohio State colors!)

The coordinated scrappy version is probably my favorite variation -- and not only because it uses thick, cozy, warm flannel fabrics (Maywood Studios' Woollies flannels and Moda's Wool and Needle flannels). 

Note that I swapped the blocks' center four-patches with hour-glass blocks and used the same fabrics for the alternate triangle corners of the blocks. I love how the small hourglass is echoed where the blocks come together with a larger hourglass. This is definitely a cozy quilt!

So be sure to pick up your own 2015 That Patchwork Place calendar. I got a sneak peak at the collection of quilts in the calendar -- and they are all fabulous! You can see them too by clicking the calendar image below.

Don't forget to leave a comment on this blog post because you just might be the lucky winner of the calendar I'm giving away. Remember that I'll need a way to let you know if you're the winner -- so if you have a "no reply" account, you'll need to include your e-mail address in your comment.

My First Quilt Show Award

I didn't expect it, but was so pleased to receive a third place ribbon for my Deseret beehive medallion quilt at HMQS (Home Machine Quilting Show). In fact, I wasn't planning on attending the award ceremonies. But  since I arrived at the show while they were going on, I decided to hang around until the two Handi Quilter-sponsored awards were given out.

The awards for the category my quilt was in came up in the meantime. Imagine my surprise -- no, make that SHOCK -- when I saw my quilt up on the projection screen. Yup, a third-place ribbon in the Utah's Own category. I didn't quilt it (only designed and pieced it), but I was glad that Jen Alexander, my quilter for this quilt, was in the audience so she could join me on stage.

 

A ribbon for both Jen and me.

Too bad there wasn't  a ribbon  for my mom who did the embroidery and binding!

My few moments of quilting fame for 2014.

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Stash Reduction

I've been using up my stash -- or rather, using up a little bit of my stash. I've also managed to add to it in a big way. Who would've known that when I don't have the energy to sew, I also don't feel like buying fabric. The opposite also happens. As soon as I start thinking about a new project, I want to see what fun fabric collections are new in stores or will soon be in stores.

So I recently splurged on ten Moda layer cake packs. After all, it was "buy nine and get one free". Who could resist? Certainly not me! I really like the flexibility of the 10-inch square. Cut it into strips, squares, or a combination. So it's ironic that two of the quilt tops I've been working on recently were each made from jelly rolls of 2-1/2-inch strips. Here's the first one -- quilt top is finished:

Fabric used: Hello Luscious by Basic Grey -- a jelly roll and some yardage (the light background and the aqua fabric for the triangles)
Design: Based on Thimble Blossom's Rise and Shine quilt (although I made it a bit smaller)

The EQ7 version

And here's the real version (in need of a good pressing!):

I originally intended to finish this and give it to my almost seven-month-old grand niece Pyper. That was until her mother told me they decided to decorate her nursery (in their new home, having just moved back to Utah from Del Rio, TX) in browns, reds and tans. So, now on to plan B. Maybe it will go to baby Rowan, born Dec. 26th instead?

The next top isn't done yet, but I've done all of the cutting so it will be a quick process to sew it up. (Several co-workers and I are escaping to my brother's ranch, where I have a cabin, and we're having a quilting weekend in mid-June. I'm thinking this is one of the projects I'll work on there -- that is, unless I finish it sooner.)

Fabric used: Hometown by Sweetwater -- a jelly roll and some yardage for backing, background, and borders
Design: Daisy Chains by Fig Tree Quilts

I took a class from Joanna Figueroa a couple years ago and this was the project. I couldn't get into the project at the time, but now I'm eager to finish it. Here's how I put it together in Electric Quilt. I only have the light-blue blocks completed, so not much to share in person yet. I'm thinking this will go to my grand nephew Malcolm. He just turned 6 months old. I figure I have until the first birthday to deliver the baby quilt. so I've got lots of time still. (I know that still leaves Thom and Jack, twin boys born last May 10 to my nephew and his wife. I likely won't have their quilts done by their first birthday -- although I did get them designed and have picked out the fabrics. Just a matter of time.)

The EQ7 version

So many quilts -- so little time.