Best Christmas Quilts 2013 - Fabric Giveaway

It's a humid 85° with thunderstorms in my neck of the woods today, but it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas.  Need some inspiration?  Check out Quilters Newsletter's latest special issue, Best Christmas Quilts 2013, on sale now at book stores, news stands, quilt shops and online.

And why, you may ask, am I so keen to promote Best Christmas Quilts 2013??

I've got four reasons:




Reason #1:  Found on page 20 of the issue, is the pattern for my gift-wrapped ornaments.  These very simple, but very sweet ornaments are a snap to make using scraps of your favorite Christmas fabrics.

Here's a closeup of my favorite.

Perfect for the Christmas tree or scattered on your Christmas table!!

Reason #2:  Check out page 40 for my Winter Flowers table runner.  This is a simple quilt that gets it visual impact not from complicated piecing, but from the contrast of the red and two shades of green against the white.

Don't have the time to make a whole table runner?  One flower block would make a beautiful pillow!

Reason #3:  Turn to page 44 and you'll see my O Christmas Tree advent calendar.

I made this little quilt with flannel and embroidered felted wool ornaments.  It was so much fun to make and the possibilities are endless.  Start December 1st with an empty tree and snap on an ornament each day.  By the time Christmas rolls around, your tree will be all decked out for Christmas complete with two gifts...

...and a star on top! 

Reason #4:  Finally, the moment you've been waiting for! And thanks for patiently reading on to get here!  Quilters Newsletter is celebrating the release of Best Christmas Quilts 2013 by showcasing projects on their blog and GIVING AWAY FABRIC every day this week!  So check out QN's blog, leave a comment for a chance to win, and maybe you could have a little Christmas in August... just don't look out the window!

Goodbye Tooth Fairy

Yesterday my youngest child lost his last baby tooth.  And last night as I lay in bed, waiting for the house to fall asleep around me, I thought about the Tooth Fairy.  For more than 10 years, the Tooth Fairy has been visiting our dark, quiet, sleeping house, leaving behind her neatly folded bills and little packages of quarters.  And while she hasn't always been perfect, I'm so going to miss her.

There was the time the Tooth Fairy got caught in a storm in the Midwest and wasn't able to reach my daughter's pillow before she woke for school.  Luckily we forgot my daughter's backpack at home that day.  When we returned home to retrieve it, we discovered that the Tooth Fairy had been there in the interim and had left a lovely note explaining the circumstances of her delay.

Another time, the Tooth Fairy made it to our house and left her gift of money, but neglected to take my son's tooth.  We decided that the Tooth Fairy had a helper that night who wasn't used to finding a tiny tooth beneath a pillow.  My son didn't mind because he got an extra dollar when the Tooth Fairy came back for the tooth the next night.

And finally, there was the morning when my son and I were devastated to discover that the Tooth Fairy had completely forgotten to visit our house.  After the initial shock, we reasoned that although she was magic, and despite her best intentions, the Tooth Fairy occasionally made mistakes.  We decided to forgive her (much easier for my son) and try again.  Sure enough, she came the next night and left twice her usual gift, much to my son's delight.

Late last night, I crept into my son's bedroom to check on him and I sat on the floor in the dark listening to him breathe.  I thought I would be overwhelmed with sadness that this chapter of our lives was coming to a close, but mostly I felt grateful.  Grateful for my three beautiful and amazing children.  Grateful for the opportunity to experience motherhood with all its joys, and yes, its sorrows.  And grateful that although childhood may be fleeting, the memories can last a lifetime.

Summertime - Free Pattern

Summertime and the living is easy.  Warm days, sunny skies, picnics, and ice-cold watermelon.  And not an ant in sight... at least not on my "Summertime" table runner, that is.  "Summertime" is a Web Extra for Quilters Newsletter's August/September 2013 issue.  Click here for the free pattern.

I used patchwork in cream and two shades of red to create the gingham picnic cloth center of my quilt. The watermelon border is comprised of a cream print and a red print with little black flowers that mimic watermelon seeds.  To achieve the watermelon slice effect, I first sewed a narrow cream piping to the scalloped edge and then used a green print for the binding and voilà... a watermelon rind.  Here's a close-up of the edge:

This was my first time using a scalloped edge and even with the cream piping, it wasn't too tricky.  But you could always use the cream piping/green binding on a squared off outer edge and still end up with a watermelon-y vibe.

I quilted this table runner by hand using a big stitch and perle cotton.  I love how the big stitch looks - kind of casual and homespun - but let's be honest, I use it because it's fast!

So there you have it.  My ode to summer.  And remember...

Happy quilting!

Vermont Quilt Festival Loot

On Saturday I cashed in a year's worth of change and my credit card reward points and met my mom at the Vermont Quilt Festival.  The contest quilts were beautiful and the antique quilts lovely.  There was a Dear Jane exhibit and we got to see the amazing work of quilt artist Jo Diggs.  But lets be honest, we were there to shop... and shop we did.

In the past, my mom and I lived close enough to each other that we would ride to the festival together and spend the entire 2 hour trip home fondling our fabric; oohing and ahhing over our purchases and discussing the possibilities.  That ride home was almost as much fun as the shopping itself.  But now that my parents have retired to New Hampshire's Great North Woods, my mom and I had to drive in separate cars -- sigh.

Since I couldn't share the fabric shopping afterglow with my mom, I've decided to have a little show and tell.



First of all, the fabric...

Fall colors, yummy.  That's navy blue with the orange in the homespun pack.  Love that combination.  

Is July 2nd too early to start thinking about pumpkin pie?

 I can never walk away from a good red fabric.  I LOVE red.  

And the blue and green fabrics just went so well with the red.

The top two fabrics are from Lynette Anderson's Hollyhock Cottage fabric line.

Her fabrics are so whimsical and the colors so pretty!

Now on to the wool...

There was so much beautiful wool at the festival this year.  I bought the Primitive Gatherings charm pack on top for inspiration because the colors were great.  I must have been channeling Christmas with the rest.  I know, I know, July 2nd is definitely too early to start thinking about Christmas cookies.

And finally, the patterns...

Actually really only one pattern.  I love handwork and miniatures and couldn't resist this little Bareroots pattern.  The other two projects came from Pinwheels and have sayings printed on Daiwabo fabric.  After you stitch them up, you soak the fabric and the blue disappears.  Very cute as a pillow or in a frame.

That's it!  I wish there was more, but as usual, I was like a deer in the headlights for the first couple hours of shopping.  So much loveliness, so little decisiveness.  But all in all, I managed to acquire a pretty good pile of loot AND I came home with enough leftover cash to make a nice start on next year's VQF mad money.  Can't wait!!

The Traditional Quilter's Guide to Making a Modern Quilt

Impressive title, isn't it!

In my last post, I mentioned that I had an opportunity to design for a modern quilt magazine and while I clearly haven't been blogging, I have been sewing.  I managed to make the deadline and submitted 5 modern quilting projects.  Fingers crossed!

Just in case you're thinking of giving modern quilting a try, I've decided to share a few newfound insights.  May I present:


The Traditional Quilter's Guide to Making a Modern Quilt

1.  Play -- relax, experiment, and let your imagination go wild.

2.  Don't be afraid of modern fabric -- it may be bright, it may be bold, but it is, after all, only fabric.

Glimma by Lotta Jansdotter

 3.  Try solids -- cut into pieces and combined, solids can be a revelation!

4.  Edit, edit, edit -- just because it looks modern, doesn't mean it looks good.

More Glimma

5.  When in doubt, ask your daughter -- difficult though it may be to admit, she is younger, cooler, and in touch with her modern side (let me rephrase that  - she actually has a modern side to be in touch with).

6.  Add white -- but remember it's white and if you're not careful everything (rulers, rotary cutter, sewing machine, iron, ironing board, puppy, air, etc.) will make it dirty.

And more Glimma - I like Glimma

7.  KISS -- say it with me, "keep it simple, stupid."

8.  Focus -- don't allow yourself to be distracted by any of the following:  lacrosse games, band concerts, laundry, slumber parties, grocery shopping, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, head colds, dust bunnies, global warming, etc.

Curious Nature by Parson Gray

9.  Don't feel guilty -- you're not actually cheating on your stash.

10.  "Don't think, you can only hurt the ball club." -- please excuse the Bull Durham reference, but so many times in my life, this says it all.


Happy quilting!
                   

Modern Quilting

My head is spinning these days because I have an opportunity to design for a "modern" quilt magazine.

If I had to describe myself as a quilter it would be "traditional with a twist."  I love scrappy quilts with traditional piecing and maybe a bit of wool appliqué thrown into the mix.  My favorite quilt blocks are sawtooth stars and flying geese.  I cut my teeth on Kansas Troubles fabrics and I still favor muted, darker colors - especially red.  I love red.  And I own all of Kim Diehl's books -- even though I become absolutely green with envy every time I open one of them.

So why would I even think of attempting to design a modern quilt?

Because I just can't help myself.

After I got over the initial surge of fear at the thought of attempting modern design, my juices started flowing.  I spent hours on EQ 7 playing with the ideas pouring out of me; countless color and block combinations spinning in my head.  Now this may have been due to the fact that I accidentally drank a pot of full strength coffee rather than the decaf I thought I'd made -- a hypothesis I plan to test when I'm feeling brave enough to withstand the accompanying racing heartbeat and shaking hands.  But I really think I was reinvigorated by the challenge of designing something totally different.

Bright, clear colors.  High contrast.  Simple, graphic patterns.  Negative space.  It's like learning a new language.

Maybe I'll work with solids.  Maybe I'll explore asymmetry -- shudder.  Perhaps, dare I say it, I'll even try some improvisational piecing.  Even the word "improvisational" gives me a thrill!

I don't know if I'll be successful and my designs may be a disaster.  But I do know, that right now, quilting feels like play again.  And that's good enough for me.

My Spring Fling

Ahhh.... spring has finally arrived in New Hampshire.  We've been having the most amazing weather for the past week.  Sunny and 70° every day and still no bugs!

I decided to celebrate with a little on-line fabric shopping and to my delight discovered mini charm packs -- collections of 2½" x 2½" squares of fabric.

Now, I LOVE regular charm packs -- a whole fabric line of color-coordinated perfection in a tidy little bundle for only $10 -- but mini charm packs are a revelation!!!

Look how cute they are in their tiny packaging with their darling pinked edges -- like gorgeous pieces of candy that fit perfectly in the palm of your hand!!  And at less than $5, they are absolutely guilt-free.

Of course, I realize that inch for inch, mini charm packs are much more expensive than full-size charm packs.  And I know that the number of pattern possibilities are more limited for 2½" x 2½" squares.  And, to be honest, I have to admit that I'm deeply hesitant to even remove the paper bands from the mini charm packs to get a closer look at the fabrics, much less sew them into a project.

But I really don't care!  I love them and love knows no reason.  It makes me happy just to look at them sitting on the corner of my cutting table, looking sweet.  Joy for $4.50?  Sold!