Striped Star

I stayed up sewing and watching the Olympics way to late last night.

This Striped Star pattern from the Purl Bee has been bookmarked for a while.

And I thought it might be the perfect block for my fat quarters of Summersville.

As much as I love the fabric, I found it a tough group to use with all it's light backgrounds. But I'm pretty happy with how the block turned out adding the gray Quilter's Linen.

The tutorial is spot on, but be aware that you waste a lot of fabric with all the trimming. I have a nice pile of pieced scraps and triangles left.

The block is around 20" square. I think I'll add some borders (maybe using some of those scraps). I'm thinking maybe a little pop of red around the star might be in order. I'm open to suggestions!!

. . . Cindy

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"just doing what i love"...

As I've finished up some big projects, met some deadlines, and completed my current obligations ~ 

I've found myself just doing what I love...

not worrying about when it gets done...

being super spontaneous and working on what feels good at the moment.

I so appreciate the opportunities that have come my way,

but much like Jolene expressed in yup! quilting still does it for me

and Camille vowed in A Plan

I'm enjoying sewing just because I love it.

The result is ~ you may be seeing lots of "starts"...

Modern Alphabet by Tula Pink

String Quilt by Film in the Fridge

"Honey" from Modern Patchwork

and I've got an idea for Summersville

 and  hopefully some finishes...

but I'll be doing what I love and loving what I do

. . . Cindy

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new machine quilting designs

I'm trying out some of the designs in Angela Walter's new book Free Motion Quilting

I'm pretty comfortable with free motion quilting and I'm always excited to try a new design

I want to try every one in this book! It's fabulous!

I'm starting with "Flower Power"

I love that the book has step-by-step diagrams with explanations for each design

I sit with the book next to me and do the steps one at a time

It's not long before I've got it and can put the book away!

There are "Concentric Circles" going on this baby quilt

This book is going to be worn out before I'm done with it!

. . .   Cindy

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Final Sunburst

I've made and blogged about this pattern too many times.

I'm sure you're tired of seeing it ~

one final version (maybe?)

a little bigger...

fabric ~ Verona

. . . Cindy

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Sew Sweet Weekend!

On Friday I drove for almost 3 hours, making 3 turns and landed in the small town of Brunswick, MO. 

And there it was - Sew Sweet Quilt Shop - one of the most adorable quilt shops I've ever visited (and there have been many!)

With 2 floors (and an elevator to get you there!), the fabric, patterns, samples and inspiration blew me away.

With a warm, friendly staff that made me feel at home immediately.

And I love seeing shops venture out into fabrics other than quilting cotton. Home dec and laminates by some of your favorite designers...

The fun part of the trip was hanging out with some talented, fun and eager to learn students. We made modern Dresdens...

And got a start on some Sunburst quilts

 

One of the highlights of my weekend was meeting and getting to know Tula Pink.

We stayed at the same B&B and I so enjoyed basking in her quirkiness and passion for quilting.

As we left the event she told me to email her ~ I think we're friends?!

More happy faces: Dear Sewful Participants

As much as I love teaching, I'm always a little jealous of the opportunity to sit and sew for a whole weekend. It didn't take long for me to fire up the sewing machine and make some progress on my latest Sunburst once I got home. . . . Cindy

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Tree Appliqué

My tree is embroidered, quilted and framed!

The pattern is "Memories" from Don't Look Now

I followed the pattern exactly, free-motion stitching several times around each appliqué piece.

The skinny branches are hand embroidered ~ oh how I enjoyed doing the embroidery

The pattern gives a design for the quilting and I followed that too ~ no need to mess with perfection.

Framed and hanging on the wall ~ why do these little projects make me so happy?

. . . Cindy

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gum drop pillow

My husband looked at me as if I'd finally lost it this weekend when I told him that I was making an ottoman.

But - I wasn't kidding - it's Amy Butler's gum drop pillow in her new Cameo fabric.

I really thought this would be a weekend project, but it was oh so easy! and quick!

 followed the pattern exactly except for adding a lightweight woven interfacing to each piece. The fabric is quilting weight and this gave it more of a decorator fabric weight.

And it does take a lot of stuffing!

I couldn't be happier with it though...

Our St Louis Modern Quilt Guild offered up a little shopping this weekend. The girls from Bob Bon Atelier in Kansas City visited with some beautiful fabrics. This feather piece just caught my eye! It's a perfect piece for pulling together a color scheme and I had fun playing with it when I got home!

I also picked up these two pieces of Simpatico. When I got home I had a nice fabric package in the mail. I had ordered some pieces for a project and out-of-the-blue, threw this florally print in my cart. Wow, it went nicely with my geometrics!

Finally from the garden! Some Sweet 100s!

. . . Cindy

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