Design tools

I'm back from a great trip to CA. The girls are crazy fun and for some of my close friends who want to hear updates on the grandkids ~ here is Elyse at 4 1/2 and Madelyn at 2 1/2.

I've had a quilt in my mind inspired by the colors in my rug from Urban Outfitters.

I tried pulling fabrics and just couldn't get it right. In the past, I've pulled thread spools to get the color combinations I wanted. It makes it easy to find fabrics with the color in hand. Today I remembered this wonderful box of Pantone color postcards I bought a few months ago. I found my colors and then started rummaging through fabric.

You get 100 colors to play with in a box.

 I ended up with a nice selection of fabrics to work with! ...Cindy

Read More

Patchwork Quilt

 I think this is the first time I've ever made a quilt composed entirely of squares. Talk about quick and easy. And I love how it showcases all the pretty fabrics.

I cut way too many squares, so I'll try to use the rest of them in a pieced backing. I've been itching to try this quilting design and it looks perfect for this quilt. I'll let you know how it goes!

I think it wants to be an outdoor quilt ~ to be thrown on the ground for a Summer picnic!

Kathy claimed her prize and asked for beachy colors of aqua, sand and white. Here's what I came up with ~ I get to deliver it today!

Tomorrow I'm off for a week of California hugs and kisses. Hope your week is filled with love, too! ...Cindy

Read More

the pincushion goes to...

Kathy! who commented on April 13th at 9:30 pm (guess Friday, the 13th isn't unlucky for everyone!) Kathy, there's no email associated with your comment, so please email me by Friday or I'll pick another name.

So I made a practice pincushion ~ really I wanted one for myself. I cut 3" circles, ran a gathering stitch around the edge, pulled it up and stuffed it. A little hot glue and it was done!
Many of you have asked for a source for the flower dish. Found it on amazon ~ my go-to for just about everything! Here's a link so you can make your own!

Read More

Dresden Fan blocks

I have projects I should be working on and unfinished projects in the works. But this quilt that I found on flickr has been haunting me. No, I shouldn't be starting a new project. But last week I ordered the ruler and this weekend, I had to try these blocks.

I also ordered some of the rerelease of Andalucia because I loved the bit of navy in it. Have you noticed navy coming back? So I started with this...
And added some pieces from my stash.
With a little trial and error, I made my first 2 blocks. Geta gives some basic instructions on making the block. You can see the finished quilt in this post and scroll down for the links to her instructions.
I used a 15 degree ruler for the wedges and cut them from a strip set that was composed of a 2 1/2" white, a 1 1/4" navy and a 3 3/4" green strip. I'm wondering if there's too much white and I should cut that down a bit?
Anyway, they were pretty easy to make and they look so hard! Love that!!
I'll draw a winner for the give away on Wednesday! And also share my source for the dishes as many of you have asked!

Read More

A little thank-you

It didn't go 100% smoothly, but was able to redirect my domain name to this blog. My original website is now down and you should find everything here!

Some of you have noticed that I changed my blog header a couple of months ago. I've added information about my classes here in addition to a new tab for Free Patterns. I'll be adding to that in the coming weeks with some links to the tutorials I've posted here on the blog. You may also see I've freshened up the side bar and added both a search feature and a labels feature.

Jenna from q.a.designs helped with the design work and the installation. She's the best!

I have a little give-away just to thank you all for reading and commenting! Have you seen these pin cushions? I found the perfect dishes to make them! And no I'm not sending you the dish to make one - I'm making one for you. You can even tell me what color you want. I'll also send you this cute bundle from Fabric Nosherie - mostly Curios Nature by Parson Gray.
So head on over and leave a comment - I'll draw a winner on Wednesday! Thanks for being part of my quilty life!!

Read More

Blog Housekeeping...

I'm making some technical changes around here! I'll be closing down my website since Apple is discontinuing their web hosting in a couple of months. The good news is that everything will be in one place - here on the blog.

I'll be redirecting the URL www.hyacinthquiltdesigns.com

I believe the URL www.hyacinthquiltdesigns.blogspot.com will still work also.

Just to be sure I'm posting a give-away later today after all the technical work is complete - want to make sure you can still find me in your readers!

And a little fireplace mantel Spring cleaning (rearranging)

Read More

Another Dresden Block

I finished up my little Dresden quilt!

This one's machine appliquéd with a little tiny stitch.

The quilting was done with a new-to-me thread called Invisafil.

One of our local shop owners talked me into trying it for machine quilting and I'm pretty pleased with the results. It's super fine - 100 weight polyester - and I like how the stitching line barely shows. I was sewing from light to dark fabrics, which can make it hard to choose thread color. This worked great with no machine problems at all ( although I did lower my upper tension as instructed). Let me know if any of you have tried it!

Read More

Simple Patchwork

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday. The weather couldn't have been more perfect here and we had some good food and family time with big doses of laughter!

I managed to spend some time in the sewing room this weekend. I've been swooning over this lovely bicycle print and decided to make a simple quilt of patchwork squares. I've never made a quilt of just squares!
I pulled a pile of coordinates...
and started cutting. I placed one square of each fabric on the design wall. I wanted to make sure they were all playing together nicely.
As I cut, I refolded and piled by color to see how the balance of colors was developing.
Then I sewed about 36 Four-Patch blocks. I think this will come together pretty quickly!

Read More

tag

I'm participating in a little game of blog tag. Read on if you'd like to hear more about me than you ever wanted to know!

I've been tagged twice! First by Jenny at Sew Kind of Wonderful. You really should check out her work! Her quilting is amazing and she's designed a wonderful set of patterns using her ruler for cutting curves. Here's one that caught my eye and sent me right to the designer!

So here are Jenny's questions for me and my answers:

1.) What is your favorite snack?

Is ice cream a snack? It would be my favorite snack if my waistline allowed it.

2.) Besides quilting what your next favorite hobby?

Decorating - I could paint and redecorate constantly if my budget allowed it!

3.) If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

San Diego, CA. for the year round beautiful weather - I love to garden too!

4.) Where does your inspiration come from?

Everywhere! When I shop, vacation or site-see, I see quilt designs in paper products, tiles, art, walls, etc.

5.) How much fabric are you hoarding right now?

A lot! I really couldn't even guess and don't think I want to. I do a lot of sewing, so I do use it and really I do love just looking at it.

6.) Do you where makeup, and if you do, how often do you put it on?

I wear makeup every day - even on those days when I'm working at home, my husband's traveling and no one will probably see me (except the UPS man bringing fabric:)

7.) What is your favorite part of the quilting process?

Pulling the fabrics for a quilt and making the first block.

8.) Are you a part of any local Quilt Guilds?

Yup! Love my guilds! I belong to Bound Together and the St Louis Modern Quilt Guild.

9.) How many quilting projects are you currently working on?

If you don't count tops needing to be quilted, I'm usually working on 2-3 projects at one. If you do count tops needing quilting - we don't even want to count.

10.) If we went to a movie, what type of movie would you pick out?

Romantic comedy.

11.) If we went out for dinner, what restaurant would you pick?

Big Sky Cafe in Webster Groves, MO.

For a little break from "me", here's my favorite Easter quilt.
Secondly, I was tagged by Carla at Lollyquilz. Carla lives in Kansas City and found me through a friend of hers that I met in San Diego (does that make sense?). Anyway, I'm so glad she did because we have similar styles and I love seeing her wonderful projects. And she often has an inspirational message posted on Sundays. Love them! So here are my answers:

1. Morning person or night person?

Definitely morning. My clarity and energy level are on a downhill spin from 2pm on.
2. Do you save the selvages on fabric? If so, have you ever made anything with them?

Nope, never saved selvages. I really don't save tiny scraps either. They piled up and I never used them.
3. Which color of fabric is most prominent in your stash?

Blue, blue and more blue - more towards the aqua shade of blue. And I have lots of blues with green and blues with red!
4. What is the smallest scrap that you save?

Maybe 2" x 2" if it's something I really love. Otherwise probably more like 3-4" squares.
5. What food do you crave?

Ice cream :P
6. How often do you change your sewing machine needle?

Probably once a week - which is probably about 24 hours of sewing.
7. Pre-wash or right off the bolt?

Pre-wash. I went through a phase where I stopped washing, but didn't like the chemical smell my fabrics were giving off. So last year when I reorganized, I washed every fabric that had not been washed. I actually really enjoy ironing my fabrics after washing - I really get to look closely at them and dream about what I might do.
8. What quilting project are you most proud of?

The "Secret Garden" quilt in my first book Gathered From the Garden.
9. How many hours a day do you spend reading blogs?

I've decided to limit myself! 30-45 minutes in the morning and the same at night.
10. What's your favorite music to sew by?

I used to listen to Coffeehouse on Sirius XM radio, but we've switched to cable so I've made a similar station on Pandora and love it!

It's my turn to tag!! I'm tagging:

Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy

Jenniffier at Jenniffier's Sometimes Creative Life

Dianne at Suburban Stitcher

Nancy at ...with thread in hand...

Here are my questions:

1. If you're not quilting, what are you most likely doing?

2. Do you buy fabric with a specific project in mind or "just because"?

3. How many quilting projects do you have going at once?

4. How many completed quilts do you own?

5. How do you use your quilts, or are they stored away somewhere?

6. What is you favorite food?

7. What is your current favorite color combination?

8. Where do you get your ideas and/or inspiration?

Well, that was fun. Have a glorious Easter!!!

Read More

Honeybees

This Honeybee block is from a quilt in my book Flowers All Around. I've always loved this block and wanted to try it in modern fabrics. The inspiration fabric, used in the border, is Washi.When the blocks go together they create this cute ring of petals.
I used a tiny zig-zag stitch (1 width and 1 length) and matching 50 weight Aurifil thread for the appliqué stitch. I'm liking the organic look and this simple method of appliqué!

Read More

Good to be home...

We've got some catching up to do! I've been home only one out of the past 5 weeks and had the granddaughters here that one week at home. It is good to be home and I hope to have something to show soon!

My husband and I just returned from a great vacation in Charleston, SC and Savannah, Ga. Am I the only one who looks for quilt shops first thing when arriving in a new city? I've been on the lookout for some modern shops especially, since they seem few and far between. My favorite was Fabrika in historic Savannah. Catering to the local students of Savannah College of Art and Design, it was filled with plenty of inspiration. I had to laugh when a student came in the shop to buy fabric for a project that was due at 4:00 that day! College students never change!

Here's a bit of my stash from the trip. I've been collecting washi tape - don't know what to do with it - but I love it. Any ideas?
I got back just in time to attend Saturday's sew-in with our STLMQG. I quilted this baby quilt that my daughter had pieced. We're donating it to our local Crisis Nursery.
I tried a new quilting design which you can see better from the back. It's from a new book, "Modern Quilting Designs", filled with tons of easy, good-looking patterns.

I came home to lots of bloom in the garden!
I had to share with you this perfectly formed bleeding heart. It made me think of Joyce Kilmer's poem, "poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree"... or a bleeding heart.
I'll be back soon! I've been tagged twice!

Read More