Best Quilts for Fat Quarters - Chance to Win!!!

Strap yourself in.  This may be a longer post than usual because today I get to tell you about Quilters Newsletter’s special issue, Best Fat Quarter Quilts.  On newsstands now, (or follow this link to purchase) the issue is chock full of beautiful projects created with everybody’s favorite pre-cut, fat quarters.  Even better, two of my quilts are featured in the magazine!

On page 79, you’ll find my quilt Autumn Leaves.  Autumn Leaves is made with only 5 fat quarters and a few extra scraps from Deb Strain’s “Saltbox Harvest” collection.  I originally ordered the fabric for my mom for her birthday and naturally had to order some extra for myself.  When the fabrics arrived, I thought the colors were stunning, but I wasn’t quite sure how to use them.  I knew I wanted to keep them together in a project and it clearly needed to be fall-related, but sadly the fabrics sat on the shelf for almost 6 months while I hemmed and hawed (yes, that’s right, “hemmed and hawed”) about them.  But when the call came from QN to submit a design for a fat quarter quilt, I knew exactly what to use.

Autumn Leaves



The "sunflower" center.

Autumn Leaves is my ode to fall, but I may have gotten carried away with the whole leaf theme.  The tree of life blocks are made of “leaves” in red and orange, the corners of the quilt feature maple leaf blocks, and the borders are adorned with simple appliqué leaves.  Even the pattern on the fabrics is, you guessed it, leaves.  This quilt wasn’t exactly difficult to name.  My favorite part of the quilt is actually the star block in the center because I think it looks like a sunflower.  Autumn Leaves looks lovely as a wall hanging in the magazine, but I actually have it displayed on my kitchen table – perfect for November.



My table runner Pansies is found on page 92 of the magazine.  I’m always looking for ideas for seasonal quilts and last spring I was inspired to design the block for this quilt by the pansies I planted in one of my flower beds.  I love pansies because of their brilliant color and I thought the petals of the flowers would be easy to translate into geometric shapes. 

Pansies



The original Pansies.

While shopping for the fabrics for Pansies, it occurred to me that I should try making the quilt with batiks.  For years I’ve been resisting using batiks because I was concerned that my fabric budget wouldn’t extend to both traditional and batik fabrics (so much fabric, so little cash).  I decided to make the quilt with traditional quilting fabrics and simply mention to the folks at QN that I thought it would also be beautiful in batiks.  To my surprise they responded “We’d love to see it in batiks!”  So I actually made this quilt twice – should have listened to the little voice in my head.  But having made this quilt twice, I can attest to the fact that it’s fun and pretty simple.  The other great thing about Pansies is that it can be made with as many pansy-colored fat quarters as you like (designer’s tip:  buy more!).  By the way, I LOVED the gorgeous colors of the batiks and yes, my batik stash is growing.

So there you have it, the stories behind Autumn Leaves and Pansies.  And for those of you who have been patient enough to read to the bottom of this post, here is the good news:  you have an opportunity to win a fabulous prize package courtesy of Quilters Newsletter and its partners.  Included in the package:

·         A copy of Best Fat Quarter Quilts

·         Wonder Clips from Clover

·         A selection of appliqué and quilting needles from Clover

·         Simplicity Studio Simpli-EZ 30-degree triangle

·         Simplicity Studio Simpli-EZ Jelly Roll Ruler™

·         Sidewinder Portable Bobbin Winder from Wrights

Wow! What a fantastic prize package! To enter to win, go to the Quilters Newsletter blog and in the “Comments” answer the question related to this blog post. Enter by midnight Mountain time, Sunday, November 20. The winner will be notified by Quilters Newsletter. Good luck!!