Amarillo Skies Revised and the Long Distance Runner

I participated in an online fabric swap last year hosted by redrainbootshandmade. I loved the wonderful variety of all the 5" blue squares that I received but struggled a bit with how I was going to use them. Julia, the swap host, offered a pattern to go along with the swap, her pattern was called "Amarillo Skies". It is a great pattern but revised my version a bit to include a blue/gray sashing (stashed fabric that's at least 35 years old!) and stars at the block intersections.  I'm happy with the results, now to find that perfect backing fabric. "Amarillo Skies Revised" measures 62" X 74". While I was stitching ASR I was also piecing a runner, L-E style. 

This is the result, a long distance runner for sure! Made up from long ago pieced 4-patches (1.5" squares) set into a square-in-a-square setting, this runner will serve those sitting at the kitchen island. It measures 113" X 17" and has 1,222 pieces (but who's counting?!?) that all came directly from the stash, nothing was purchased special for this project.

I even managed to piece a backing (and batting) from what I had on hand. Waste not, want not! 

And, just like that, quilting has begun! It's too hot to do much outdoors right now.

How are you staying cool this summer?

Life is Good!

 

It's Coming...

I am posting this today as a reminder of what is just around the corner; especially for my family and friends in New England who are currently finding themselves under a think blanket of snow. For some reason, every time I look at this a certain song (click) runs through my head, over and over. 😉

Don't despair, it's coming... 

Life is Good!

Pattern from Kim Shaefer's Calendar Quilts

"...With My Little Eye..."

"...With My Little Eye..."  ~  47" X 54"

I  put this I Spy quilt together yesterday, it was quick and easy; I followed the directions in the pattern book to the letter. I was eager to try this pattern and the cutting template, both of which I purchased at MidAtlantic Quilt Festival last month. Created by Karen Montgomery, the book Crazy For More and the set of non-slip Creative Grids templates "Scrap Crazy" combine for some effortless and precise piecing. I am already planning my next project using these tools. The pattern book has many other appealing patterns and the templates are an absolute joy to use.

This quilt will be for Lynnleigh, her favorite color is orange.  She chose all the cute little novelty prints that she wanted in her quilt over the weekend. She dug deep into Nana's bins and placed everything that she wanted in one pile. You might think this would put a big dent in my fabric scrap bins. Think again! This bin, below, with its bulging cover is one of five.

I plan to back this quilt with a white Minkee-type blanket and quilt it on the longarm without any batting. It should be the perfect drag-along quilt for my favorite three-year-old!

Life is Good!

Quick Trim

I mentioned the Quick Trim Ruler by Creative Grids yesterday, I have already given mine a workout since returning home from MidAtlantic Quilt Festival. I used mine yesterday morning to join binding strips... flawlessly. I am grateful that I happened by The Quilt Company's booth when Karen Montgomery was expertly demonstrating this tool that she designed. Along with the ability to align corners for strip joins (as shown here) at a perfect quarter inch.
This tool is also great for precisely constructing flying geese and half square triangle units. You can also use this ruler as a compass and draw perfect circles with it!  Before the demo ended I had this ruler and a pattern (Old Dog, New Tricks) in my hand ready to check out! I will be experimenting with the ruler in the coming weeks and blogging about my results, stay tuned. Take a few minutes and watch the video found at the Quick Trim Ruler link above. Believe me, you will be as amazed at the versatility of this ruler as I was and I know you're going to want your own.

You can see the binding join, above, as the binding strip was applied to this scrappy tumbler quilt; perfect alignment after stitching with no dog ears to trim. Nice. This ruler also has a special highlighted line at 2.25", exactly the width I cut my binding; it's like this tool has ESP! This was the view across my sewing table after lunch yesterday... it was a bright and cheerful sight!

"TMX2 Again" with its binding in place, seam line marked for stitching; and "DeRailed", in the background, ready to be loaded onto Snowbird.

I did get the binding stitched and basted in place for hand sewing later. All in all it was a good day, made even easier by a great new tool.

Life is Good!

DeRailed, With A Bonus

DeRailed  ~ 64" X 80"

All the blocks are ready and on the design wall, I've renamed this one DeRailed. Originally begun to jump-start my piecing, and called "Rustic Rails", this was a fun and productive diversion that has aided in breaking through my piecer's block and clearing the deck for other projects. Those of you who know me will understand that I love precision and rules; I like plannning and control of the project. This quilt isn't about any of those things, it's all about letting go! The pattern comes from Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion Quilts book, the contents of which include patterns and inspiration for 15 free-form block projects.  DeRailed has actually put me back on track. The freedom found in piecing large blocks combined with an unrestricted cutting approach has been liberating; just what I needed! I hope to get back to a few UFO's here shortly, in more of my typical style. In the meantime, DeRailed has yielded yet another  side benefit: a bonus quilt top! Sewn L-E style while assembling the rails this charm tumbler, TMX2~#2 , will most likely be loaded and quilted next. It joins its sister quilt, TMX2 (The More The Merrier), completed last summer. They are both destined to become car quilts.

 TMX2~#2  56" X 68" 

Take a lesson from me. Are you on track? Does your piecing seem stale and uninspired all of a sudden? If so, you might want to try something completely new and unpredictable. Shake it up!  I did; and, for me, it's made all the difference!

Life is Good!

                                                             

Swiss Baskets, The Reveal!

Swiss Baskets ~ 53" X 53"

This quilt, begun in 1999 and finished this week is, at long last, completely complete (see previous  post)! I based the design of this one on a pattern  "Aunt Boppy's Baskets" from the book The Joy Of Quilting (© 1995) by Joan Hanson and Mary Hickey. I was inspired by that pattern which incorporated antique lace doilies into the baskets and wanted to create a similar effect using handkerchiefs collected while living in Switzerland.  Using a method known as "channel (reverse) applique" I added the lettering to spell out Switzerland in the three languages I heard on a daily basis while calling that country home for three years.  I have recently acquired a box full of handmade, antique doilies and may make another, similar, wallhanging... hopefully in less than fifteen years! The two photos below depict the quilting in more detail, show the dimension of the baskets and represent the quilt's colors much more accurately. 

Life is Good!

Quilts, Quilts Everywhere!

The last couple of days, when I've had the television on, I couldn't help but notice that I kept seeing quilts... everywhere! Those of us who are quilters more than likely have quilt "radar" anyway; noticing quilt patterns in our exterior surroundings everyday, such as floor tiles or even in nature. I'm talking here though about the blatant, quilt-related, TV-spot saturation. Wednesday, while watching an episode of Hallmark's Home and Family, who was the featured guest? None other than Alex Anderson! She did a quick segment on assembling a Bowtie block and showed off some of her spectacular quilts. These are all featured in her newest book: Scrap Quilting with Alex Anderson.

 I couldn't help but drool over this one, can't you just imagine combining all of your low volume
 prints with some brights for your own Bowtie quilt using this striking zig-zag setting?

The next item I heard on the news. These are the uniforms that our U.S. athletes
 will wear during the opening ceremonies at the upcoming Sochi Olympics.
Designed by Ralph Lauren and influenced by, yes, American patchwork!

And, lastly, in this Turbo Tax commercial.  Okay, honestly, this one may take a keener sense of quilt awareness as the scenes scan by very quickly; but, this ad entitled: "The Year Of  The You" highlights a new quilter proudly showing off her first quilt top (10 seconds in), her smile says it all. Have a look, you'll smile too!

Seek them out today, in those unexpected places; you most likely won't have to search far. You never know where quilts may be lurking; waiting to be discovered! According the Chinese zodiac this is the year of the horse; however, I'm declaring it the year of the quilt, they're everywhere!

Life is Good!

Calling All Sleuths

This beautiful quilt photo appeared on an Italian blog with a reference to Primitive Gatherings; however, this pattern does not orignate there. If anyone reading knows of this quilt and can point me in the direction of where I might purchase, or find, the pattern or designer I would appreciate that information! Thanks so much.

Life is Good!