More Market Sewing...

This is Aneela Hoey's booth at International Quilt Market (thank you Kimberly from FatQuarterShop for the photo)! I was anxiously waiting to see a picture of this booth...

and this is why...just a couple of weeks ago I got a chance to make a fun quilt with Walk in the Woods which debuted this weekend at market.

I love these fabrics! And the pattern was lots of fun (I believe it will be available shortly on the Moda/United Notions website).

Sorry if this is photo overload...but I couldn't stop taking pictures of this one!

I love the reds, the grays, and the aquas!  Little Red Riding Hood is adorable!

And the little birds, bows, and mushrooms are cute as can be!

This quilt doesn't even use all of the cute prints in this collection...you can see them all here!

Thanks again for stopping by!  Oh, and you might have noticed my new blog header...it turned out exactly as I'd hoped.  Lauren over at Designer Blogs was amazing to work with!  Have a great day!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

 It's International Quilt Market time, and that means it's also Blogger's Quilt Festival time.  If this is your first time visiting my blog, thanks so much for stopping by!  I know I've shared this quilt recently; however,  "Gumdrops" is a favorite for a lot of reasons, so I chose to share a little more about the "story" of this quilt. "Gumdrops" started out as a scrap project.  Every so often I made a few blocks and then would put it away, sometimes for months.  I wanted a good range of colors in this quilt and waited patiently for scraps. After more than a year I decided it was time to get this quilt put together, and I started the  process of deciding how to put the 9-patch blocks together.  After discarding quite a few sketches I decided I would first put my 9-patches together in groups of four and then figure out a setting.

I finished it off with a scrappy binding and was happy with the result, so I then decided to send it in to American Patchwork & Quilting for possible publication. I'm always very nervous when I send something in--afraid, I guess, that maybe it won't be accepted. It was fun to find out it was going to be published, and it was even more fun for me to see the magazine layout and photo! I'm already working on my next scrappy quilt...and it will be fun to see the journey that will come along with this new project!

Thanks so much to Amy for hosting this Blogger's Quilt Festival during each International Quilt Market!

Star Blooms

                                             Photo courtesy of Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Company

I can finally share some of my "secret sewing" of recent weeks.  Today, Joanna revealed one of her new designs, "Star Blooms." I was lucky to be able to make two versions of this quilt (made with two different block sizes). Pictured here is the 20'' block version made with California Girl by Joanna Figueroa for Moda.

                                                          Photo courtesy of Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Company

I loved making this quilt--such a bold, design that would be stunning in any combination of fabrics, modern or classic; of course, it's perfect in California Girl! Joanna will have the pattern available in November. You can see some more pictures of the California Girl collection on Joanna's latest blog post here!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Pretty

Just finished a quilt today for a friend's daughter. I love this quilt! It's got such a fun combination of fabrics, each one from a different collection I believe.

The pattern is called "Pretty in Pink," and it's from Heather Mulder Peterson's book Livin' Large. This quilt went together quickly and easily; it's one of those patterns where every seam "nests" if you follow the pressing instructions.  I can't wait to see this one quilted...I'll be sure to share photos again when it's finished.

Last week I taught my "Charming and Cheerful" bag class at Quilted Works. Here are two of my great students with their finishes! I've taught this as a class twice now, and I'm finding most  people can finish in just about 4 hours if their hexagons are cut and marked.  it's fun to finish a project in an afternoon!

I also taught this class a few weeks ago at Christmas Goose.  I love this Curio version one of the students made in that class! A few others are supposed to e-mail pictures of their finished bags, and I'll post them as they come in; it really is a lot of fun for me to see all the different versions.  I will definitely be publishing this as a pattern next year and will be sure to announce when it's ready.

In other news...today is the 25th...which means it's Blogger's Block of the Month Day! Drop by Vicki's blog to see the next block!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Rhythm

Things have slowly but surely slowed down, and with the welcome (calmer) change of pace the familiar fall rhythm has taken over.  I'm loving the cooler temperatures (especially in the evenings), and it feels good to have a plan to accomplish everything on my lists.  This weekend I finally had a chance to play with Carrie's new "Full House" Schnibbles pattern. Of course I had to use her fabric, Nine Dots after seeing her version of this quilt.

House blocks have always appealed to me, and these little houses are no exception.  They are cute as can be and go together very, very quickly.  I think I'm going to need to make a Christmas version of this quilt, too!

I have the other 15 houses ready to sew...as soon as I finish a project for a friend I'll get back to these!

I just received the Dreamer colorway of Amy Butler's new collection, Lark. The colors are gorgeous and beautiful. For some reason I wasn't really on the lookout for this collection, but it's absolutely stunning in true Amy Butler style. I love these blues and can't wait to see how they blend with the rest of my Amy Butler "stash."

Oh, and congrats to Michelle who won the giveaway from my last post!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Farmer's Wife Blocks and a Giveaway

This weeks Fig Tree version Farmer's Wife blocks were made from market sewing scraps.  In fact, all of the half-square triangles were cut-offs from bigger blocks, and even the flying geese were made from scraps that were pretty small!

This is the block I shared the other day--Block 26, Cut Glass Dish.

Here is Block 89, Steps to the Altar. 

And here is one of my favorites, Block 105, Wild Goose Chase!

Wild Goose Chase is the only block I finished this week in my Flurry version, and it turned out to be a favorite! Did you know the author of The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, Laurie Aaron Hird also wrote another book, The Farmer's Wife Pony Club Sampler Quilt?   For a chance to win this book from one of my sponsors, Rachel from Dewberry Lane,

                    GO HERE To Enter The Giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pretty Pictures

It's been a crazy weekend, crazy in a good way as I had a lot of fun making three market quilt tops in less than a week.  I heart them all and will share them as soon as I can.  So this afternoon I was blessed with that wonderful way of feeling "caught up."  Just for a minute, anyway! To make my afternoon even better, my friend Korindi dropped off some amazing photos she took for me!

I'd been wanting to get a fun picture of my Swoon quilt for awhile, and there are some wonderful places to take pictures close to where I live!

I really, really heart this picture above...it sort of sums up all that's good about where I live--open fields, blue skies, and green grass (and I especially love living here now that we are having some amazing weather)!

Normally I do whatever it takes to stay out of pictures, and I don't normally share photos of me on this blog; however, it sure is fun to have picture of me with a beautiful quilt and a basket of fabric...thanks Korindi!

PS...my next post will have a sponsor giveaway...see you soon!

Multi-Tasking

Yes, there's definitely a lot of multi-tasking going on here this weekend.  I just finished market quilt number two using the yummy stack of brand new Fig Tree fabrics above (finished market quilt number one on Thursday evening and have one yet to make)!

I had some little scraps from market sewing that I quickly sewed into these 1" finished half-square triangles.  I knew the hst's would be perfect for a Farmer's Wife block, so while sewing my market quilt I snuck in one little block for me (this is the Farmer's Wife block #26)!

As soon as market sewing is finished I'm going to open up this amazing bundle  (Nine Dots by Carrie Nelson for Henry Glass & Company)!  Hope you're getting some sewing in this weekend.  I'll be back soon with a fun giveaway from one of my sponsors!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

On the Bookshelf

Quilt market is just a couple of weeks away, and that means I've been working on some market sewing this week! With not much quilty goodness I can share just yet, I thought I'd share a new to me quilting book.  Quilting those Flirty '30s is one of those books that has both amazing photos and quilts that you'll want to make right away. I always consider a book worth buying if there are at least 3 projects I want to make...and this one has 8 that I love!

There is just something about the 30's reproduction fabrics featured in this book...they just say "happy." I also can't help thinking how fun these designs would be made up in some modern fabrics...

I absolutely love the vintage applique' potholders (these are already on the list for a few Christmas gifts to give), the table runner and apron is this grouping.  There are also four quilts and wallhangings that I really love and want to make.  If you love applique' and reproduction fabrics, you'll want this book on the shelf too!

Okay, well...it's back to sewing for me.  I do have a fun project I need to get finished up this weekend that I'll be able to share very soon...thanks so much for stopping by!

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along--More Progress!

This week I made three Farmer's Wife blocks...one for my Christmas (Flurry) set and two for my Fig Tree version. This is Block 92, Streak of Lightning.  I had fun trying to get the zig zag effect with this!

For the first time in over a month I got all the blocks out and had a look...

It's just so much fun seeing this quilt coming to life!

I don't know if I'll be able to stop at just a lap quilt on this one...a little voice keeps saying...wow...wouldn't this be an awesome larger quilt?

But on the other hand, if I make this a lap quilt, I'll be finished soon--I have 41 blocks and just need 10 more for the lap-sized quilt. Oh, and having 41 blocks presents a small problem--I thought I only had 40, and I've been marking them off on a little chart...looks like I'll have to go through them all and figure out which one I forgot to record.

 Here is my Fig Tree Streak of Lightning.

And this is block 50, Honey's Choice.  I'm definitely going to make a Flurry version of this too, just didn't have time this week.  I used the Marti Michell templates for this one, and it went together like a dream.

I have 45 Fig Tree blocks...

And I do love how they look together.  I'm really happy I decided to use scraps from so many lines.  This is going to be a favorite, I'm sure.

It really is hard to get a good photo of all of them together...I'm pretty sure I'll have to take these outside for the next photo shoot!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

P.S.  Congrats to Nancy, Sinta, aksherry, and karenfae...you are the winners in my Veranda giveaway! (I'll be sending you all e-mails shortly)!