My Tumbler Quilt

My Tumbler quilt is quilted, bound and ready for snuggling. I couldn't be happier with this fun quilt!

You may remember I used Carrie's "Crumbler" ruler to cut out the shape. The cutting and the piecing were super easy.

I also did easy quilting... straight line stitching on either side of each seam.

The colors came from this large funky floral print, which also ended up on the back. It's from Lori Holt's newest line Gracie Girl.

I added lots of fabrics from the stash and I love just looking at the mix. 

I think the granddaughters will want to snuggle under this one when they're here... that is if they can get it away from me!

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100 Blocks winner!

The winner of the latest issue of 100 Blocks is Michele who commented on November 13th at 8:59. Congrats, Michele.

I've been sewing this week and posting some of my progress on Instagram!

Here are some of this week's photos:

Weekender progress...

My Round and Round...

And the quilting has started for On A Whim...

Enjoy your weekend!

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour

Today is the day I get to share my block in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 8! It's always such a great resource for beautiful and unusual quilt blocks, from traditional to modern. My block is called Watermark.

I wanted to create a layered look - where one shape appeared to be sitting on top of another. I think the effect is truly visible when the blocks are set block to block. The corners inter-mingle creating Four-patches and you really lose sight of exactly where the block is. I love when that happens!

And I had to find out how the block would look in a completely different fabric line, so I made a four-block quilt using a layer cake of Scrumptious.

Now it's on my list of quilts to make! How about yours?

Now for the fun news! Quiltmaker is offering a giveaway of this latest issue to one of you! Leave a comment here and I'll choose a winner Friday afternoon, November 15th. Be sure I have a way to reach you!

And for more blog tour stops and more giveaways, hop on over to Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures blog. Hope you win!

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Bangles...

When I flipped through Sarah Fielke's book,  Hand Quilted With Love, the first time, the gorgeous "Bangles" quilt caught my eye immediately. Oh no, Y-seams. Yes, every seam is a Y-seam. I decided I'd just enjoy the picture in her book. No curling up with this quilt on the sofa. But then I saw this one and this one. Armed with some encouragement and inspiration, I set out to make my own Bangles quilt!

I started with the beautiful prints from Blythe, some coordinating stash fabrics, and the pattern. The quilt uses templates and I decided it could be rotary cut with my hexagon ruler {I added painter's tape to mark the exact lines I needed} and a freezer paper template.

And to my surprise, I found that I rather enjoyed all those Y-seams. It was a slow process, but not a difficult one. Actually a rather relaxing one.

And I so love the result. The colors, the intricate-looking design, the play of pattern...

Love it all...

I'm always a bit afraid to start quilting on a quilt that I love so much. I ended up doing a back and forth wave on the print fabrics using a yellow Aurifil thread which seemed to blend nicely with all of the colors. I was able to stitch from edge to edge across the quilt by quilting half a "bangle" and moving on to the next one. Starting again on the edge, the second halves were quilted.

In the white hexagons, I quilted a flower motif. I drew this freehand with a disappearing marker. You could easily do this without marking, but I like having a line to follow.

The back is several pieces from the inspiration line. I hadn't planned on using the darker floral piece, but found it on my recent trip to Virginia and couldn't resist adding a bit. It's so beautiful...

We're enjoying an amazingly colorful Fall this year. I couldn't resist sharing how nicely the berries on my Beautyberry bush compliment my quilt. Every Fall I'm in awe of them. Living proof that we can make beautiful quilts, but only God can make the beauty found in nature.

Enjoy the season!

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WIP Wednesday...

It's been over a week since my last blog post! Doesn't mean I haven't been busy! It's Wednesday - the perfect day for catching up and linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced!

The Weekender Travel Bag... I've had the pattern and fabric for over 6 months. My plan was to find a chunk of time and power through it. Obviously that's not working, so I've come up with a new plan. Do a few steps each week with the goal of completing it by Christmas. Hold me to it - please! So this week, I'm cutting it out and making the piping.

Camille started a quilt along on Instagram of her Round and Round pattern. It's one I've had on my list, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get started. I'm doing something a little different from my typical white background ~ Moda Bella solid in Breeze. It's kind of a minty, green/blue, aqua-y color. One block down...

I'm on a Thimble Blossoms roll and also started Starlight. I thought it would be a nice stash quilt...

and I'm enjoying the scrappiness of it!

And I finally finished my Bangles quilt. This one deserves it's own post and I'll share more when our weather improves so I can get some better shots. I'm so happy with how it turned out ~ the fabrics, the Y-seam piecing, the backing and the quilting. More details to come!

Be sure to check out all the other WIPs over at Freshly Pieced!

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Flying Geese... the Redbird Bee... Bloggers Quilt Festival...

I'm so excited to share my Redbird Bee quilt for 2013 in this Fall's Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Not only do I love this quilt, but it was made by one of the nicest group of quilters and ladies I've ever met. Our Bee started 2 years ago within the St Louis Modern Quilt Guild. I'd never participated in a Bee before and joined pretty much to make friends within the larger group. You see, I'm introverted by nature and always feel more comfortable in a smaller group. And did I hit the jackpot. Couldn't love hanging out with these girls more!

Our theme for this year was different techniques. My assignment was to incorporate triangles into my design. And did I ever. Eleven Flying Geese in each block.

The quilt was inspired by this one made by Lotje. It was a challenge to break the design down into a block for each Bee member. I shared my tutorial here.

The color inspiration came from Madrona Road by Violet Craft. The backing is a composition of most of the leftovers.

As I usually do ~ lots of fabrics added from the stash...

The perfect binding turned out to be this dot from Florence.

I'm entering my quilt in the Group/Bee quilts. Be sure to hop on over to all the different categories and vote for your favorites!

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Tumbler, Crumbler ...

Whatever you call it - it's done - well the top is anyway. I had so much fun making this quilt ~ playing with stash fabrics in colors of navy, aqua, gray, green and pink. You may remember I was using the "Crumbler", a ruler by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. for the cutting. There are lots of variations for setting the tumblers together, but I went with the classic. Couldn't have been easier or quicker.

And every point matched up with it's neighboring point ~ no pinning involved. By pressing the adjoining seams in opposite directions, they were super easy to lock together when sewing.

Couldn't be happier ~ in fact I'm ready to make another one. The possibilities are endless!

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