Lots of quilting happening here!

I swore I'd never do this. But I have to explain my limited number of blog posts recently - because honestly - they'll be few and far between for a short while. Yes, I'm working on a big project. I'm excited, challenged and enjoying every minute of it. Unfortunately, I can't share it with you just yet. So hang in there with me; don't delete me from your reader - I love sharing my passion for quilting with each one of you!

In the meantime - I've got some small projects here and there. This week I made Toni's blocks for the Redbird Bee. She chose a Spool block designed by Krista Fleckenstein from the book Modern Blocks. Toni changed it up a bit and had us use 1 1/2" strips for the "thread" portion. I love how they came out!
I did 2 blocks - a yellow and an orange. It was my first time using linen in a block, but it won't be my last. I love the texture and it was as easy as could be to work with.

Piiiink...

I've developed a new appreciation for pink. Elyse, like many girls her age, loves pink. In fact when you ask her what her favorite color is - the answer is a long and drawn out "piiiink..."!So with Valentine's day on the wings, I thought it might be fun to think about a few pink projects. Pink pairs really nicely with gray~
Or the more traditional black and white~
Of course pink and green are perfect together~
Lately I've been seeing and liking pink and orange~
Pink looks great with one of my favorites, aqua~
Hope your Valentine's Day is filled with flowers, chocolate, lots of love and maybe a little piiink...

LOVE mini quilt

I have to admit my sewing got a little side-tracked this past weekend. For some reason I had to try the "LOVE" mini posted at Sew, Mama, Sew. I made a few changes - each letter is made form the same fabric. I also added a 1/2" strip between the letters and a 1" strip as a border.And I really wanted to experiment with the quilting. I did tons of straight{ish} lines, echoing the letters and I think it turned out pretty cute.
Now I'm ready for Valentine's Day!

Weekend Sewing

It's going to be a quiet weekend around here - some laundry, some baking and maybe some knitting while watching the Superbowl commercials.

So last night I played with fabric looking for some weekend sewing projects. I quickly made this block - it's the Honey Bee blocks from my book Flowers All Around. I love this block and have been wanting to redo it in modern fabrics.
I'm making 4 blocks and it will be a nice little mini quilt.
I also pulled this group for a new Starburst quilt - AKA "Welcome". I have to whittle the stack down to seven - mmm...
I'm also getting ready to start my Pyramid quilt. I found a nice gradation of grays in my stash.
And some of these will go in there too!
Sounds like enough to keep a girl busy for a weekend. I'd even like to add in a fun little Valentine project!

The Colorist final reveal

Colorist ~ an artist or designer who uses color in a special or skillful way. I like that definition! Are you a "colorist" too?My color wheel quilt is quilted and bound. It really was fun to piece - much easier than I thought it would be. So glad I tackled it!
I decided to quilt it with 6 lines radiating from the center. Then I did a few quilted circles in the center section and lots of echoed circles around the perimeter. I repeated the radiating lines at each wedge stopping at the small inner quilted circle. I thought 30 lines going through the center would be too heavy.
Here's how it looks hanging in the sewing room!
And there's a quilt-along starting for this pattern. Find out more here: A little announcement

Broken Dishes Pattern

As promised, I've uploaded the pattern for the Broken Dishes block. It really is a cute little block. I wish you could see it in person :)Click on the link below for a pattern that you can print out. It's my first time uploading to Google Docs, so please let me know if it doesn't work for you! Enjoy!!

Broken Dishes Pattern

A mini Broken Dishes quilt

So, here's the finished quilt, using my little Broken Dishes blocks. I'm doing a few mini quilts to create somewhat of a gallery wall of quilts and other fun things. The wall is aqua, which I think will set this off nicely!

There are 4 big blocks, each consisting of 5 Broken Dishes blocks and 4 plain squares.

They're each turned a different way and create a nice design where they meet in the middle.

It's a pattern I did years ago in delft blue and white to match my kitchen. I thought it would be a fun one to resurrect in modern colors and fabrics.It's an easy block and I'll share the cutting and piecing directions with you in the next post!