Boxes and Bows - Free Charm Pack Pattern

It's another gorgeous summer weekend here in New Hampshire—sunny and warm—and wouldn't you know it, I'm thinking about Christmas!

That's because today, my new quilt Boxes and Bows is a featured recipe at the Moda Bake Shop.

Boxes and Bows is a fast and fun 15" x 42" holiday table runner that's made with only one charm pack, a bit of background fabric, and 1⅓ yard of backing/binding fabric.  

And speaking of fabric, I made my quilt with Kate Spain's colorful North Woods collection and it really is beautiful!  (the fabric, that is, although my quilt's not bad either!)

North Woods features cranberry reds, warm linen, and three shades of green that range from citron to turquoise—yum!  In fact, I loved Kate's fabric so much that I couldn't bear to discard even the 1½" scraps from the project.  Here's a sweet mini quilt that I made with the leftovers:

The center of this little quilt is comprised of 25—1½" squares, surrounded by a ½" (finished) white border.  The outer border is made of 8—1½" x 3½" rectangles and another 4—1½" squares.  I stitched down the middle of the white border with perle cotton for fun, but at 8" square, this quilt really doesn't require any quilting.  And check out the heart in the center of the quilt...

Looks like fussy cutting, right?  Nope, the heart ending up smack dab in the center of this little square was a coincidence, a happy accident as it turns out, because I built the little quilt around it!

If you'd like to make your own version of Boxes and Bows, my free tutorial is available at the Moda Bake Shop.  You'll find complete instructions for the project and lots of photos to help you along the way.  Have fun!

Tiles - Free Pattern

The June/July 2016 issue of Quilters Newsletter is now out and available both on-line and wherever quilt magazines are sold, and my quilt Tiles is a "Web Extra" for the issue.

First of all, I apologize for the somewhat obvious name, but when I finished the quilt, it so strongly resembled a tile floor, that I had no other choice but to name it "Tiles."

I made Tiles with shot cottons by Marcus Brothers and the fabrics were amazing to work with.  They're woven fabrics with a lovely texture and the drape of the finished project is beautiful.  I found the striped border first and then chose the solids to go with it.  I was pleasantly surprised by how contemporary and almost masculine the finished quilt feels.  Definitely a different look for me and a reminder that you never really know how a quilt is going to turn out!

I realize that contemporary and masculine might not work for everyone, so here's a link to a blank coloring page for this quilt.  I thought it might be fun to give you a way to experiment with some different color palettes!

If you'd like to make your own version of Tiles, the free pattern is available for download on QN's website.  Enjoy!

Winging It

This past weekend I took a quilting class taught by Lynne Tyler at Quilted Threads, an amazing quilt shop in Henniker, NH.  The class was called "Birds, Birds, Birds" and in it we learned to use improvisational piecing to make bird blocks.  I sometimes use improvisational embroidery or wool appliqué in my work, but this was my first time trying improvisational piecing and I LOVED IT!

It was absolute play -- no pins, no rules, only minimal measuring, and the brighter the colors the better!

My first bird -- love his wing and chartreuse beak.

Lynne's method is such a fun and liberating way to quilt and it makes you look at your fabric in a totally different way -- you start to look for patterns and prints that would provide interest and motion on a wing and you seek out body and beak colors that both complement and contrast.

Second bird - love the blue, but his beak seems a bit small for his body.

I quickly realized that the fabric I brought with me wasn't nearly bright enough for the splashy birds I wanted to make, so during lunch I treated myself to a few new fat quarters to try out.

Post-lunch and fabric run bird.  Getting there!

The best part of making the birds is watching each of their unique personalities emerge as you make fabric, color, and cutting choices.  Lynne challenged us to make a bird that represented someone we love.  I chose my daughter Grayson because I find her brilliant, confident, colorful, and beautiful.  Here's my Grayson bird:

I made five birds during the class and when I got home, I had to force myself to pay attention to my family instead of running to my work room to make more.  Apparently improvisational piecing can be slightly addictive -- the class description should have included a warning!

If you'd like more info about Lynne's birds, methods or quilts, check our her blog:  The Patchery Menagerie.  She's got a few tutorials on her site, including a brief bird how-to.  And as for me, I can't wait to find the time to add to my flock!!  Happy quilting indeed!

In the Meadow and Giveaway

Primitive Quilts and Projects is celebrating their 5th Anniversary with yet another beautiful installment of their one-of-a-kind magazine!  It's the Summer 2016 issue and it's now available both in stores and online through the PQP website.

And on page 46 of the magazine you'll find my In the Meadow table runner... 

When we first built our home in New Hampshire, we had a sunny patch of ground on the edge of our yard that I thought needed a bit of color.  So I bought a big container of wild flower seeds, roughed up the soil in the sunny patch, and shook out the seeds.  I'm not exactly a strong gardener, so I didn't hold out much hope for my $10 investment.  But to my surprise, the next year and every year since, that patch of land has yielded the most beautiful, colorful "wild" flowers!  We get daisies and black eyed Susans and lupine and some other yellow flower that I can't name because again, not a strong gardener, and of course, coneflowers.  And with the flowers come the dragonflies -- my inspiration for In the Meadow!

In the Meadow is the perfect quilt for a beginner and a fast project for a more advanced quilter.  The scrappy patchwork couldn't be simpler -- just raid your stash of greens and neutrals and start cutting.  The whipstitched wool appliqué is fast and easy and the stems are made by couching wool yarn.  To finish this quilt, I hand-quilted a cross hatch pattern on the background and I think it definitely adds to its timeworn appeal.

And now, as promised, to celebrate Primitive Quilts and Projects 5th anniversary, I'm hosting a giveaway!  If you'd like a chance to win a copy of PQP's gorgeous Summer 2016 issue, please leave a comment on this post by clicking the word "comments" below.  You'll be redirected to a "Post a Comment" window.  Once there, either scroll to the bottom of the window or click "Jump to Comment Form" and follow the directions to leave your comment.  This contest will remain open for a week and next Friday, May 6th, I'll draw one name at random, so please make sure I have your email address!

This contest is now closed.  Congratulations to Linda -- I hope you enjoy your Summer 2016 issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects!  And thanks to you all for your comments.  Remember, you can still purchase a copy of this beautiful magazine at PQP's website.

Happy quilting!

Beyond the Bottleneck

It's been a long winter and I've been churning through the quilts.  I LOVE machine piecing – so fast and so fun!  But now I'm in that tricky place where I've got a stack of quilt tops all awaiting finishing and the guilt is becoming more than I can bear.  

You know the drill – layer and baste, quilt as desired, bind.  Three simple steps.  No problem, right?  After all, you've already made all the big decisions about pattern and colors and fabrics.  You've already slogged through the cutting and pinning and piecing and you're looking at a finished quilt top.  Nearly there.  So close but yet soooooo far.  Because those three simple steps aren't simple at all.  Those three steps can be your undoing.  You've reached the bottleneck.

The problem is that finishing a quilt top gives you a pretty good sense of accomplishment midway through the process.  Your questions about whether or not you'll like the pattern or whether your chosen colors will play nicely together or whether you should have included that chartreuse green have now been answered.  The mystery, for the most part, has been solved.

To muster the energy to press on instead of starting the next project can be rough – all those new fabrics to play with, new blocks to try.  And this winter (ok, this year) I haven't been able to resist the siren's call of the next project and now my stack of finished quilt tops is 12 deep, not including the two basted quilts awaiting quilting and the two quilted quilts awaiting binding.  Hence the guilt.

It's a daunting pile of work, especially when I plan to finish a lot of it by hand, and it would be all too easy to reach for my rotary cutter instead of the batting.

But I remember what it feels like to FULLY finish a project.  To stitch down those last few inches of binding, bury the last knot, and set aside my needle.  To get up, shake out the quilt, and lay it out flat on the floor, finished.  To admire the clean, crisp edges of the binding and realize that, in fact, the quilting really does make the quilt.

And even though it's just another Wednesday night, you feel like trumpets should sound and fireworks should explode because you've finished!  You've used your imagination and your will to create something that did not exist before and it is gorgeous!  You stand there, hands on hips, gazing at your finished quilt and in that moment you feel like an artist, a rock star, maybe even a hero.

Joy, pride, triumph, and yes, relief, are all waiting beyond the bottleneck.  Press on.

Nor'easter Schmor'easter mini quilt - free pattern

It may say that it's now Spring on the calendar and it may be gloriously sunny for the moment, but baby, it's cold outside!  And with a nor'easter headed for New England (although maybe not quite as far inland as central New Hampshire), the colorful flowers that I'm longing to see still seem a long way off.  Once again, quilting comes to the rescue...

Here's a fast and fun little mini quilt that's charming hanging from a door knob or any place you'd like to see a bit of color.

I'm calling it my "Nor'easter Schmor'easter mini quilt" and here's the pattern:

You'll need:

Pink batik:  4 -- 2¼" x 2¼" squares

Yellow batik:  2 -- 2½" x 2½" squares, further cut once diagonally to form 4 triangles

Green batik:  2 -- 1½" x 2" rectangles

     1 -- 1½" x 3½" rectangle

     2 -- 2½" x 2½" squares

     1 strip 2¼" x 40" for binding

Ivory batik:  6 -- 1½" x 1½" squares

     2 -- 1½" x 2½" rectangle

     5 -- 2½" x 2½" squares, further cut once diagonally to form 10 triangles

First we'll tackle the stem and leaf portion of the quilt:

1.  On the back of 4 of the ivory batik 1½" x 1½" squares use a pencil to lightly draw a line diagonally from one corner to the other.

2.  Layer the 4 ivory batik 1½" x 1½" squares atop the 2 green batik 2½" x 2½" squares with right sides together as follows and stitch on the drawn lines.

3.  Press seams open towards the ivory batik and trim seam allowances to ¼".

4.  Stitch 1 ivory batik 1½" x 2½" to each of the units created in step 1-3 above.  Press seams open towards the ivory batik.

5.  Stitch together the units created in step 4 above and the green batik 1½" x 3½" rectangle as follows.  Press seams open towards the green batik "stem".

Now onto the flower portion of the quilt:

1.  Paper piece 4 petal units as follows using the remaining pink, yellow, green, and ivory patches.  Here's the link for petal unit 1 (bottom left); and the link for petal unit 2 (bottom right); and finally the link for petal unit 3 (top -- you'll make two of these units).  It might help to color the sections with colored pencils before starting to stay organized.  And if you're new to paper piecing, here's a link to a basic paper piecing tutorial on Craftsy.

2.  Stitch the 4 petal units together as follows:

3.  Finally stitch the flower unit to the stem/leaf unit, quilt as desired and bind.  I machine quilted just outside the edge of the flower, stem, and leaves using ivory thread.  I also quilted a diamond about ½" inside the yellow flower center to help it lie flat.

And that's it!  Make one flower or a garden of them!  No need to wait for Mother Nature!

Happy Spring!

You Can Take the Girl Away from her Quilts...

During my kids' winter break, we somehow managed to string together a couple of days without hockey practices or robotics or orthodontist appointments and we jumped at the chance to visit Boston.  Our goal was to leave everything behind -- including quilting -- but walking around Boston on a gorgeously warm day, I still manged to see quilts everywhere.

I saw this design painted on a stall in Downtown Crossing and thought of Amish quilts...

I saw this brick pattern on the sidewalk near the Boston Public Library and thought of square-in-a-square blocks...

I found this mosaic outside The Cheesecake Factory and thought of orange peel blocks (and of course cheesecake, but I kept on walking)...

And I saw this garland hanging in 10,000 Villages and thought of appliquéd flowers...

And then there were the colors.

This is the back of a rug I saw and the picture's not much to look at, but something about the colors grabbed my interest.

Back at home, I uploaded it into Play Craft's Palette Builder and after playing around for a bit, here's what I got...

Three gorgeous color palettes and all because the coral flower caught my eye.

Here's a necklace I found and although it's not exactly my style, the colorful tropical palette called to me.

I uploaded the necklace picture into the Palette Builder and discovered the lighter side of tropical...

And the darker side, hmmm almost jewel tones...

And finally, my favorite...

Shades of scarlet and green with an orangey-yellow thrown in for contrast.  Yum!

Finally I saw these darling little birds.  I love them both for their shapes (think an abstract appliqué pattern) and their soft, springy colors.

Here are two different versions of this quiet, restful palette -- I really love the butter yellow in both...

And here's a monochromatic green palette taken from the bird on the left...

So much color!  Can you tell I'm longing for Spring?!

And by the way, keep your phones handy -- you never know where the inspiration for your next project might come from!