Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Hop

It's always fun to see the blocks included in each issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks! I think the biannual magazine has become a must-have resource in many quilters' libraries. I'm excited to have a block included in Volume 9!

This block is one I designed about 12 years ago for a block-of-the-month program at Patches, Etc, a local shop in St Louis. The quilt was called "Patches of Main" and each block depicted one of the stores in our historic district of St. Charles. We had a cute little book store at the time and so a shelf of books seemed perfect!

I'd been thinking about this block recently with all the wonderful text fabric we have available today and just had to try it updated, bright and happy. My block is called "Read" and is #880.

Wouldn't it look cute on the front of a book bag? Think Summer trips to the library!

My second thought was how adorable it would be in a kid's room - with a very important reminder!

 I decided to mount the piece on a 16" x 20"canvas board I picked up at my local craft store. To make it fit I added 1/2" to each of the side pieces. That meant I had to add 1" to my top and bottom pieces to make it a 12" x 13" block.

The letters are pieced from a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman - Refrigerator Magnets. They're 3" tall and I added another 2" finished background piece to the top. The borders were cut 4" wide and are wrapped around to the back of the canvas board and stapled in place.

So here's your chance to win a copy of the latest Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. Leave me a comment and I'll choose a winner on Monday. Have you read a good book lately? I'm always looking for an interesting read!!

For more chances to win, be sure to pop over to the Quilty Pleasures Blog.

Read More

Big Blocks

I love big blocks {little blocks, too!}. 12" has always seemed the standard for a traditional block. But go bigger and that traditional block takes on a modern look. And with the bigger pieces, our contemporary graphic fabrics get a chance to shine.

My "quilting" machine is still in rehab, so I've been spending my sewing time piecing some big blocks...
They've kind of filled up my design wall!

I'm sure you're familiar with Swoon. It's a 24" block and a favorite. I'll be teaching a Swoon class this Summer at Janie Lou. Details to come!

Next up is a new pattern from Thimbleblossoms, Red Letter Day. This has always been one of my favorite traditional blocks and I love it in a big block size!

And this 18" block is from a pattern called Gathering Flowers Quilt by Anna Maria Horner. The curves are pieced, but pretty easy, since they're gentle curves. I'm having fun pulling lots of scraps for this one!

Do you like making big blocks too?

Read More

WIP Wednesday

After a fun week of hanging out with the grandkids, I was back in the sewing room on Monday taking inventory of what's up!

Here's what I'm working on...

Geezzz... my list of unquilted tops has grown to six! I've been really good at keeping up with them in the past year, but definitely fell off the wagon so far this year. My Bernina is being serviced, and I'm getting a couple of tops basted so I'm ready to go when it returns. Starting with this one...

This has been such a fun, but slow project. I'm down to finishing up the appliqué on a few more background pieces, then just have to fill in the edges. It's getting close and I still love this Gypsy Kisses so much!

I only needed to add some borders to this one this week...

Those are done and it's ready for quilting!

And I'm thinking about doing a little "Swooning" again....

What are you up to? Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced today!

Read More

Starlit Evening

Sorry for the picture overload today, but I'm so excited to have this quilt finished. I love Anna Maria Horner's vibrant fabrics and this seemed the perfect pattern to show them off - Starlit Evening from Living Large 2 by Heather Mulder Peterson.

I started with the latest collections - Dowry and True Colors and added more AMH from earlier collections that I had stashed.

The quilting is a Paisley design and I avoided quilting over the cream strips.

The blocks and "sashing" are a bit smaller than the original pattern. At first I decided that I didn't want a really big quilt. But as it progressed, I was so loving it that I changed my mind and made a pretty big quilt - which gave me the opportunity to add more beautiful fabrics. It's about 64" x 80".

One of my favorite Dowry prints is on the back...

Here's the full quilt...

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Read More

Layer Cake Sampler QAL update and a winner!

First, I've picked a winner {well, really Random Number Generator picked a winner}! Suze ~ congrats! I've sent you an email.

Don't forget you can find Star Crossed over on Craftsy here!

Thought today might be a good day to catch you up on my Layer Cake Sampler QAL that I'm doing with Amanda over at Material Girl Quilts.

Here are blocks 9-12...

And what we've done so far...

I'd say it's a pretty happy looking quilt! Wouldn't you?

And you might have caught a glimpse of this in my sewing room pics. I've been wanting to make this cutie from Patchwork Please for a while. And those pins were the perfect excuse. They just needed a fitting home!

Read More

A Glimpse into my Sewing Space

You may remember that earlier this year I made some cosmetic changes to my sewing room. New floors {dark wood laminate} and paint {SW Reserved White} gave it a fresh new look. And since everything had to be removed, I've slowly been reorganizing, changing what wasn't working and making the space "cute".

Thought you might like a glimpse!

All those mini quilts I've been making? Now hanging on the wall...

Including the latest, mini Round and Round...

This is my new favorite storage piece! Martha Stewart thread rack to hold all my Aurifil. And yes, I have quite a collection. I started buying it years ago when it was super hard to find. Every annual trip to the AQS show in Paducah, I'd splurge on 6-10 spools to get me through the year. I'm happy to have it displayed, readily reachable and the bonus is that it has freed up 2 large drawers.

I crocheted these flowers this Winter and then had to find a spot for them! 

I have a terrible aim trying to hit the trash can, so I've taken the "garbage bowl" idea from Rachel Ray and created a tabletop container for all my trash. One for the cutting table...

And a pretty bowl for threads at the machine...

My Ikea cart is holding all my WIPs...

And I got this idea from Lisa at Vintage Modern Quilts. She calls it "Table Top Sewing". I have an easy to pick up project in a basket on the sewing table. The current project is my Economy block quilt...

I got a new desk and revamped this side of the room adding a few more mini quilts...

A major need was to organize my notions! Buttons...

And the two drawers that held the thread, nicely organized using drawer dividers from Target...

So there you have it! Always an evolving space, but I'm super happy to be here!

Read More