Fletching Quilt

My latest quilt finish is a quilt named "Fletching". The pattern is found in the book, Scraps, Inc. a book of 15 scrap inspired quilts by various designers. The design is an interpretation of fletchings or feathers, at the end of an arrow and was designed by Amy Friend of During Quiet Time.

I've had this book for a couple of years and this is one of the patterns that's been on my radar, waiting for the right colors and fabrics.

This Anna Maria Horner print was the inspiration for the colors I used in the quilt. It's one of my favorite prints of hers and when I found it on sale, I bought a lot! It made a great backing. I also had some yardage of the solid Free Spirit Jade that complimented it perfectly. To be honest, I wasn't sure how this color would work for a background, but I decided to give it a try and ended up being pretty happy with the results.

I pulled coordinating colors of fuchsia, plum, red, gray and white from my stash and pieced the blocks. They are paper pieced, but such a simple design. They came together fairly quickly and were perfect for using my freezer paper piecing method.

When it came time to quilt the top, I had just attended a lecture by Cheryl Brickey at our Greenville MQG meeting called "Quilt As Desired". Cheryl gave us a logical method of determining how to quilt a top. My first thought had been straight line quilting (I love how it looks and really kind of like doing it :) But I've been feeling like I use it too frequently and it may be taking the easy way out. So I went through all the steps, considered all the possibilities and ended up with straight line quilting! What do you think? I think it really compliments the piecing!

My next dilemma was what to use for binding. I tried tons of options, reds, pink, grays and more. Nothing excited me and seemed to work. As I looked at the unbound quilt, I decided that really liked the way it looked without binding. A facing might have been an option, but I decided to go with the jade I'd used for the background. I've never  bound (and that's a lot of bindings) with the background color, but I love how it looks! Will definitely consider that again!

Be sure to check out the original quilt from the book - you may notice that mine is set a bit differently in the way the blocks are turned. I love when I can change things up a bit!

Modern Plus Sign Quilts Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Modern Plus Sign Quilts Blog Hop. This new book is authored by my friends, Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs and Paige Alexander of Quilted Blooms. I met both of these talented quilters through our Greenville Modern Quilt Guild and feel lucky to know them both in person!

No surprise to me, their book is wonderful - filled with graphic modern patterns using the classic Plus Sign Block.

You would think that all the quilts must look fairly similar using the same simple block in each one. But you would be wrong! I'm so impressed with the variety of designs they created using this block. I love that the book features several different techniques from paper piecing to appliqué to simple patchwork.

My project from the book is "Faceted Rings" and I used my go-to freezer paper piecing technique to make it. Here's the quilt from the book:

Photo courtesy of C&T Publishing

I thought the block would make a cute pillow, so that's what I started with. I decided to use a single fabric for the ring (you'll notice that Cheryl used 2 shades in the ring above).

The pillow is made with all linen fabrics - I wanted to see its it would work or just fray apart...

And good news! It did work and I loved the way it turned out. I fused interfacing on the wrong side of the block after piecing, did no quilting and made a super cute pillow for our daybed.

The pillow was easy to construct, so I decided a wall quilt was in order. I love that the pattern gives rotary cutting instructions for all the pieces and the sizes are very generous. 

I used all straight line quilting on this one, echoing the rings...

And just connecting some dots on the block...

Black and white strips were pieced together for the backing...

I think I'll be making several of the quilts from this book. I love when that happens! In fact, I may have already started this one :)

Photo courtesy of C&T Publishing

Copies of the book are available at your favorite quilt shop, Amazon, or for signed copies, directly from Cheryl or Paige.

Be sure to visit their websites during the hop for some fabulous give-aways:
Meadow Mist Designs
Quilted Blooms

And you definitely want to follow along with the other bloggers on the hop:

Tuesday, March 13th

Signature Plus

Soma @ Whims and Fancies
Ann @ Brown Paws Quilting
Kitty @ Night Quilter

Tribal Plus

Sophie @ Luna Lovequilts
Afton @ Quilting Mod
Shelley @ The Carpenters Daughter Who Quilts

Wednesday, March 14th

Plus Surround
Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal
Jen @ A Dream and a Stitch
Abigail @ Cut & Alter

Kaleidoscope Plus
Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl
Sandra @ mmm! quilts
Karen @ Run Sew Fun

Thursday, March 15th

Postage Plus
Linda @ Flourishing Palms
Bernie @ Needle and Foot
Liz @ Savor Every Stitch
Stacey @ Stacey In Stitches

Rick Rack Runner
Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty
Patty @ Elm Street Quilts
Melanie @ A Bit of Scrap Stuff Blog

Friday, March 16th

Row Addition
Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts
Izzy @ Dizzy Quilts

Transparency Chains
Ruth @ Charly and Ben's Crafty Corner
Christa @ Christa Quilts

Monday, March 19th

Faceted Rings
Jessica @ Quilty Habit
Cindy @ Hyacinth Quilt Designs
Jennifer @ The Inquiring Quilter

Petal Plus
Julie @ The Crafty Quilter

Tuesday, March 20th

Message in a Bottle
Tish @ Tish N Wonderland
Judy @ Sew Some Sunshine
Emily @ The Darling Dogwood

Cute as a Button

Wanda @ Wanda's Life Sampler

Karen @ Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Katherine @ Sew Me Something Good

Wednesday, March 21st

Celestial

Anja @ Anja Quilts

Kate @ Smiles from Kate

Sue @ Sevenoaks Street Quilts

Pinwheel Plus

Carole @ From My Carolina Home

Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts

Thursday, March 22nd

Intertwined

Debbie @ Esch House Quilts

Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts

Bear Claw Plus

Janice @ Color Creating and Quilting

Joanne @ Quilts by Joanne

Tangelo Quilt

I'm happy to have my Tangelo quilt finished! The pattern is from Carolyn Friedlander and is completely paper pieced. I had been putting off making this quilt because of all the paper piecing, but it turned out really fun to make and less time consuming than I anticipated.

I started with Flower Shop, a line from Cotton and Steel and added some additional C+S basics. The background is Moda Crossweave in black. I love the look of the Crossweave, but my sewing room and clothes were covered in black threads the entire time I was working on the quit.

For the quilting I used a simple back and forth design in the background and added straight lines with my free motion ruler foot in the triangles.

The backing is a favorite print from C+S and the binding is a solid aqua. I had trouble choosing a binding and am not totally thrilled with this one. It looks a little soft in color for the quilt. I've never taken off a binding and replaced it, but I'm considering it. Although I'm still not sure what might work better.

FYI - I use a paper piecing method that utilizes freezer paper for the foundation and doesn't require sewing your fabric to the paper. It's a great method especially when it comes time to remove the paper. There are tutorials online if you're interested.

Arabesque

Before I get to Arabesque, here are a couple of smaller projects done...

The Block of the Month for Greenville Modern Quilt Guild is a paper pieced block. Our BOMs this year are designed to build our skills, make modern blocks and use them for our charity projects. I haven't paper pieced in a while and this was so much fun, although I'm happy to make just one! Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs is choosing the monthly blocks and she found this free pattern from Wombat Quilts.

I also made this little quilt from my box of leftover 2 1/2" strips. Also to be donated as a charity quilt, I hope this one will brighten a child's day!

The free tutorial is from Cluck Cluck Sew...

Arabesque! It's so "Springy"! Vanessa from Lella Boutique has a new line coming out soon called Sugar Pie. It is just so sweet and she was kind enough to send me a layer cake of the collection after I provided some minor help with some quilt math.

I've had the quilt "Arabesque" on my to-do list, waiting for the perfect fabric line...

It's a great pattern and free on Moda Bake Shop...

My quilt holder was stretched to the limit as this is a bigger quilt than my go-to 60". But we managed to get a full shot amongst the Spring flowers.

Yay for an early Spring!!

Oh My Lucky Stars!

In January of 2013, I decided to join in on the Lucky Stars BOM hosted by Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy. My experience with paper piecing had not been good. I'd tried it many years ago, pretty much trying to figure it out on my own {which was probably my first mistake}. My first paper pieced project was a very complicated Poinsettia wall quilt and although I finished it, I vowed to never paper piece again.

A couple of years ago, one of our talented local quilters, Marsha Bray, taught a paper piecing class for my guild. It's not your typical method, but one that uses freezer paper with no sewing through the paper and no tearing off the paper. I loved the method and dabbled a little bit.

The Lucky Stars quilt was the perfect opportunity for me to jump in with both feet! A monthly block was just enough to keep me going and I can now say that I can paper piece without reading Marsha's instructions! If any of you are local to St Louis, she teaches it at the Quilted Fox.

This week I put the last binding stitch on my quilt. Pretty proud of this one!

Love all the variations on the star...

Can I have a favorite? It's this one...

Twelve in all...

One of my favorite AMH prints on the back!

A year long quilt is a tough one for me. My color scheme changed as the year progressed. It turned out nothing like I had originally planned! But I think it came together well!

What can I paper piece next???

Looking Ahead to 2014...

Within you is a limitless, unborn potential of creativity and substance, and the present experience can be your great opportunity to give birth to it.      --- Eric Butterworth

I love a new year. Not one to make lofty resolutions, I do like a blank slate and the opportunity to dream about a new year and what it may hold.

2013 ended in a nice spot for me. I wrapped up some WIPs and with few demands or looming deadlines ahead, I'm ready to jump in and play with some new fabric and projects I've been contemplating.

I actually finished up these blocks before Christmas and set them together a few days ago. The pattern is Nutmeg Stars from Fig Tree and much of the fabric is V and Co's upcoming line "Color Me Happy". You won't find the pattern listed on the Fig Tree website, but I think she's going to get it posted again. I'll let you know!

Gypsy Kisses from Material Obsession 2.  After seeing Jessica's quilt on Instagram, I knew I wanted to make this one. I'm using my FQ bundle of April Showers by Bonnie and Camille. I have enough fabric to piece all the arcs, but the finish will have to wait until the yardage comes out in March.

This will be an ongoing project this year. Reminiscent of the Farmer's Wife quilt-along, I'm making 60 - 6.0" blocks. It's going to be a special quilt for me, that I hope to finish for a special birthday in December of 2014.

And my AMH Dowry is calling my name. I have a plan and can't wait to give it a whirl!

In other new fabric lines - I've always been a huge fan of Heather Bailey's work. It's been a while since she released a fabric line so I jumped on Lottie Da. I've been working on a Kaleidoscope block that's going surprisingly quick. Hope to provide some details on how to piece this block soon!

What else can you expect to see here in 2014? Some embroidery and maybe even a bit of simple crochet.

One of the things I'm most excited about is a little sewing room makeover. We're putting in new floors in the next couple of months and you know one thing always leads to another. I'll be painting, reorganizing and maybe even a bit of destashing. I've never had a sale before, but hope to offer some good deals on Instagram.

In terms of non-sewing things for 2014, I'm starting an online photography course next week. I'm super excited about it - you'll have to let me know if you see any improvement in my pics here.

And on a personal note - I hope to continue to improve my diet by "eating clean" {and feeling better for it} and embracing my naturally curly hair {a change I made a few months ago}.

Yes! I think it's going to be a good year! Hope you'll join me!

Block Making...

It's been a week of making blocks for me. Well, actually this one was made a week or so ago. I could't show it until the recipient had it in her little hands. I made this mug rug using scraps from my Marcelle Medallion quilt for a very generous and ridiculously funny quilter. Just a little thank you for Carrie who blogs here: La Vie En Rosie. The block is one of the Lucky Stars paper-pieced blocks.

And speaking of Lucky Stars, I'm caught up and August is complete...

I'm up to nine blocks and it's not looking like I originally envisioned it, but I'm totally lovin' how the blocks look together. So typical of me with long-term projects; they evolve!

I also made a couple of bee blocks this week...

House blocks in Kaffe Fassett fabric for my Girls Group...

And a solids block called Lucky Pieces by Faith from Fresh Lemons Quilts for Carolyn in the Redbird Bee...

And finally, I finished up by blocks for "Fresh" from Simply Retro...

For the first time in a while we have a free weekend, with no plans except for a dinner date. Maybe I'll get these set together.

Have a great weekend!!