Scrappy Quilts and a book giveaway!

Thanks for reading along as I share all the projects in my new book. One of the interesting things about making quilts for a book is that you spend so much time with them - when you're done, you're so ready to ship them off and move on. But then about a year later, they come back and you fall in love all over again. Yes, I'm so happy with every quilt in this book.

Many of you have shared in my excitement and I so appreciate that. I have a couple more quilts to tell you about, but before I do that ~ how about a giveaway announcement?

Next Monday morning I'll randomly pick 2 names from the comments on this post. One international reader will receive an ebook and one US reader will receive a signed hard copy.

Who doesn't love a scrappy quilt? And who doesn't have some scraps to use up? Meet "Check". She's the perfect quilt for using all kinds of fabric. Coordinated or totally scrappy.

Here's an earlier version I did. It has more of a sweet, Springy look to it.

The last quilt in the book is called "Coming Together". It's made from lots of scrappy Flying Geese and  a fun larger scale print. I love this quilt, even though it seems a bit chaotic. Don't you think the holidays can be a bit chaotic in a happy way?

And an alternate version in one of my favorite combos ~ red and aqua.

So there you have it! A close up look at all the quilts in the book.

For a chance to win your own, leave a comment on this post. I'd love to know if you have a favorite quilt from the book; or what kind of sewing you're doing for Christmas; or what's your favorite Christmas fabric?

If you're an international reader, please note that in your comment - {I'd love to know where you're from} there will be 2 separate drawings. And please be sure there's an email address associated with your comment. I'll draw 2 winners Monday, September 30th at 8am. Good luck!!

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WIP Wednesday...

This week everything is in progress - the perfect opportunity for a WIP Wednesday!

I spent this morning folding and putting away quilts. Together {the quilts and I}, we've visited 5 local guilds in the past month. The house has been adorned with a bunch of boxes full of quilts for a while and it felt good to put them back were they belong. Ready for a nap!

 Much of my sewing time has been with my "Bangles" quilt. I'm happy to say I'm 5/6ths done. {I divided it into 6 sections ~ 5 are together}. One of the things that keeps me going on this one is the fact that it has to stay all laid out on the design wall.

And I've got all the blocks back from the Redbird Bee that I'm excited to sew together. Just have to get that "Bangles" done and free up the design wall!

I've also been quilting my "Garden Lattice" quilt with parallel serpentine lines. It's such a graphic quilt, it really just needs a simple quilting design. About halfway here!

Linking up today with Lee at Freshly Pieced!

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My Ohio Star challenge

On Saturday we revealed our Ohio Star challenges at the St Louis Modern Quilt Guild meeting. Every single one was awesome and beautiful! You can see them here and on our flickr page.

We were to use the traditional Ohio Star pattern to make a modern quilt. I knew I wanted to create a quilt of stars in various sizes with a random setting. I remembered one of my favorite quilts by Faith of Fresh Lemons and knew I could substitute lots of Ohio Star blocks in the setting.

My color inspiration came from Rashida Coleman Hale's line Washi that I've been saving for a while. It's a scrappy quilt and I wanted to use as many of my favorite designer's fabrics as possible. The quilt has pieces from many different lines that you probably recognize.

And 17 cute, 6" Ohio Star blocks...

The back is one big 45" Ohio Star!

Be sure to check out all the others. We have one talented group!

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Modern Quilts from Traditional Blocks

I've had some fun over the past couple of weeks lecturing for some of our local guilds about making modern quilts with traditional designs. It's been dubbed "modern traditionalism" and fits my style to a "T". I thought I'd share a few of the quilts from Simply Modern Christmas that are truly designed around a traditional block.

First up is "Peppermint Float". If you're a local you may remember this pattern that I did several years ago for one of our shops. It was back in the day when brown and blue were the go-to colors and my original was called "Root Beer Float".

A few years later I moved to brighter colors and a more modern aesthetic, and it became "Peppermint". The block is a Sawtooth Star - a little one and a big one that looks like it's sitting on top of it's border. Really, pretty easy to piece. The fabric is a beautiful Christmas line by Heather Mulder Peterson that is somehow both traditional and modern at the same time.

That traditional Sawtooth Star block has been a favorite of mine forever and I love combining it with an alternate block. "Funky Christmas" is a good example! I just love the bright aqua in this quilt {then again I have an affinity for aqua}.

And yup! The same Sawtooth Star is found in "Spruced Up". This simple design is another that showcases the gorgeous fabrics we have to work with. I love the modern asymmetry created by the Christmas tree, but you really could leave that off and have a wonderful, simple quilt for any occasion.

Here's my original in an older Christmas line by Basic Grey.

Did you know the Sawtooth Star dates back to 1884? I love how we're using these old blocks in new ways. Our ancestors would be very proud and probably amazed!

Don't forget to add anything you make from Simply Modern Christmas to the flickr group here.

Saturday I'll be at Janie Lou in St Louis from 1-3 for a trunk show and book signing. In fact the trunk show is already up in the shop. Hope you can stop by and chat!

Have you seen the ad in Quilt Sampler magazine? You can get a $10 rebate on any Martingale/That Patchwork Place book purchased from a quilt shop. You need the coupon in the ad and a receipt. What a deal!

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My favorite things...

Have you been listening to the podcasts of Amy and April called Quiltcast? If not hop on over to the itunes store here. I've been listening to it as I take my walks in the mornings. The podcasts are full of great information and I feel like they're walking with me having a casual conversation about life and quilting and how to do both at the same time!

One of the features of the podcast is a top five - sewing supplies and sources of inspiration so far. I'm really enjoying that. Recently Camille listed her favorite supplies and I couldn't agree more with all her featured items. So in addition to all of those, I thought I'd share 5 of my favorites...

Disappearing marking pens ~ my favorite is Dritz because they seem to last longer than any others. I use the purple marker which disappears in a day or so to mark almost all my quilting. Obviously you can't mark the whole quilt unless you're going to quilt it pretty quick, but I just mark as I go and have found the purple lines to be really visible on almost every fabric.

My dry erase board ~ I started using this when I was writing my book as a way to stay organized and on track. I've since kept it up as a way remind me what I have going and what I may want to do next. Seems to be much too much to keep in my head!

Freezer Paper ~ I use it for hand appliqué, making templates that I then rotary cut around, and paper piecing. If you haven't tried it yet - the waxy side sticks to your fabric when you hit it with a dry iron, but the paper then pulls off cleanly. It's sold in most grocery stores {does anyone still use it for freezing?} Used it this weekend for my September Lucky Stars block!

I do a different method of paper piecing than most. The pattern is on freezer paper, but the pieces are not sewn directly to the paper. The paper pulls right off.

Quilt Pattern books ~ I have tons of quilting books, but these are my go-to favorites for finding new blocks, naming blocks and construction. I think between the three I have enough patterns to last a lifetime!

Bias Square ruler ~ My most frequently used specialty ruler! It's great for squaring up units of a block or blocks themselves up to 8". I love the clearly visible diagonal line and the fact that there's a solid line from each 1/8" marking to the diagonal. These 6" blocks came from Judy Hopkins book above and were squared up with my Bias Square!

I'm starting what will be a year-long project reminiscent of the Farmer's Wife quilt along and totally inspired by this gorgeous quilt. Stay tuned!

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Bangles...

Seems like it's been a busy week, but I did manage to get some sewing in. I've become rather obsessed with my "Bangles" quilt. It's from Sarah Fielke's book, Hand Quilted with Love. The quilt popped out at me the first time I flipped through the book. But all those "Y" seams ~ I'll admit I was a little intimidated! Then I saw this one and this one. It's what sharing our quilting projects is all about. Seeing someone else successfully tackle those "Y"s, gave me the courage to give it a go!

All my prints are laid out and sewn into hexagons. I'm to the point of slooowly sewing the print hexagons together with the white ones.

I used this inspiration fabric from a line called "Blythe", added a few more pieces from the line, and finally threw in some stash fabrics. The colors are very rich!

Hopefully I'll have more to show next week, along with some tips that have helped make this project move along smoothly.

This Saturday I'll be at Winston's Sewing Center from 10-12 with a book signing and trunk show. Hope to see some of you there!

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Fat Quarter Friendly Quilts...

What quilter doesn't love a fat quarter pack? Even my husband, who could not tell you the size of a fat quarter, knows that they're collected by quilters everywhere. I have mixed emotions about them. They look so pretty all tied up, but I'm always anxious to pull each fabric out to get a closer look. Someday, if I win the lottery, I'll buy two of each one - one to open and one to look pretty on the shelf!

Scrumptious - photo used with permission by Camille Roskelley at Simplify

Your favorite fat quarter pack would be really useful for three of the quilts in my new book, Simply Modern Christmas.

First up, Garden Lattice...

This pattern looks fantastic in so many color combinations! Here's my original one in grays and yellows...

I recently made a new one using a Nordika fat quarter pack - the line by Jeni Baker from Art Gallery Fabrics. I changed it a little by putting the blocks on point and adding setting triangles in gray. I'll show you more of this one once it's quilted!

"Joy" is also made with fat quarters...

And the first one I did using primarily Meadowsweet by Sandi Henderson (the blocks are set straight here instead of on point)...

And finally "Argyle"...

Here's my "Wild Child Argyle", with it's single rebel block...

You'll also notice I changed the colors and used white and black, creating an "X" effect across the quilt. I love how changing up the fabrics a bit can change the whole look of the quilt!

So grab a fat quarter pack {yes, you have to open it} and get sewing. Don't forget to add anything you make from the book to the flickr group!

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