Star Crossed - Featured in McCalls Quilting!!

Today I am excited to share another secret finish from a few month's ago.   This is called Star Crossed and I just love that it combines my two favorite things to piece . . . Irish Chain Quilts and Star Quilts!!

Star Crossed is featured in McCalls Quilting the July/August issue.     It is the perfect big bed size quilt finishing at 96" x 96".   And the wonderful folks at McCall's even included a free web bonus where you can download the alternate size chart with all the fabric requirements for making this quilt in crib size, throw size, or twin size ;)  How fun is that!!!

And I just love seeing the stylized shots taken of my quilts.  Doesn't this just make this quilt shine!!!  So pretty ;)  This makes me want to take a few photography classes, all I need is a few more hours in each day :)

As I said earlier, Star Crossed is a combination of my love for all things Irish Chain Quilts and Stars.  When I started designing it I really wanted to give it a "floating" feeling.  I love how the chain isn't quite connected, which really let's those stars shine ;)    And the additional of single patch and four patch stars just adds a fun bit of pop!!
 

I used Lella Botique's Sugar Pie fabric line for this quilt.  I just love the soft colors and the beautiful prints.   They were just perfect to make those stars shine.   The quilt is Layer Cake friendly so all you need to add is some background fabric and you are good to go!!!  The hardest part is just choosing which Layer Cake to use . . . so many beautiful fabrics, so little time :) 

And when it came time to quilt I had a lot of fun!!!   For the Stars and the Chain I used lots of echoed arches.  I just love the way it makes the star points just pop and how in the center of the block it creates the fun cathedral window or orange peel pattern.  I could quilt those arches for days!!!

And there is a whole lot of white space to fill in this quilt!!!  The possibilities are endless ;)  So I did a combination of a lot of favorites including, swirls, paisleys, pebbles, and curls.   I just love using this for a background because all of the beautiful curves in the quilting really softens all of the pretty points in the patchwork.   They are a great compliment to each other ;)

I did all of that quilting on a small to medium-ish scale, so there is a whole lot of texture going on in that background.  I might have ran my hand over the quilt top several times before I finally managed to put it in the box to ship to McCalls ;) 

And lastly,  one of my  favorite things about this quilt is that it is fun and fast to piece!!!  What of the things I always find myself saying when I am teaching is Fun and Fast.   I just love it!!!   And with these super large blocks made up of pretty basic piecing, you can put this bed size stunner together in no time.   I totally want to make it again but in a nighttime version with a dark background.   (Well, I also want to make a a two color version, so maybe I'll be making it three times ;) 

And that is my Star Crossed Quilt!!!!   And if you want to see a little more of my Star Crossed Quilt, you an pop on over to McCalls's Quilting blog to read a special guest blog that I have posted over there ;)   Lot's of Happy Quilting Today ;)  

And that's all for today!!!   I hope that you have a very Happy Quilting Day :) 

I Love House Blocks - Two New House Quilts!!!

Can I just say I am so excited for today!!!!  Secret Sewing is so hard to keep a secret ;)   So let's now wait a minute more and get right to sharing the quilts!!!
This is  The Street Where You Live .

and this is Home Is Where The Heart Is.   

 And I just love both of them!!!!  I made these two quilts almost a year ago for the newly released I Love House Blocks book and I have been so excited to share them ever since.  I just love these happy house quilts.  There is something so warm and snuggly about a quilt made of house blocks.  And this book is jam packed with 14 awesome quilts that just give you that happy to be home warm fuzzies.

So let me tell you a bit about my two quilts found in I Love House Blocks.   First up is The Street Where You Live.   And this one has a fun little story behind the design inspiration.  A few days after I received the invitation to submit some designs for an all House Block book, I was watching My Fair Lady.  And as Freddie was singing "I'm on the street where you live." I noticed the beautiful English Row Houses behind him and just thought, Perfect!!!!  I paused the movie, grabbed my sketch pad that I keep in my night stand, and before you know it, I had the cutest little English Row houses all happy and ready to be stitched.

And I just about flipped when I was looking at fabric options and came across Carina Gardner's Apricot and Persimmon Line.   How perfect are these prints and colors.  They just so reminded me of all of the wonderful costumes they dressed Eliza Doolitle in.  Doesn't that black and white just remind you of the beautiful dress Eliza wore to the race track.  It was just the perfect fit!!!

I decided to use 4 different window orientations in the house blocks.  I love the variety it adds to the quilt while still keeping the piecing nice and easy.   And the rows are put together using varying strip width's so you can really arrange your row houses in any order you like.   Again, I just love that it gives each row it's own long and really gives a neighborhood feel to the quilt.

When it came time to quilt it, I decided it needed something fancy, I mean this is a My Fair Lady inspired project right.  Fancy was a must :)    So I quilted an all over feathered swirl.   This is one of my favorite free motion quilting designs to give a beautiful texture and flow to the quilt top.  It's sort of my calligraphy of quilting ;)  

And I have to say, I just love the black and white stripe binding on this quilt!!!  It is such the perfect way to finish it up.   So striking!!!  Especially next to the beautiful peach background ;)

And that is On The Street Where You Live, ya I named it after it's inspiration ;)    It measures 64" x 72" and it oh so much fun to make.   It's just perfect for beginners and experts alike.   I hope you just love it as much as I do ;)

And the second project I am blessed to have featured in I Love House Blocks is Home Is Where The Heart Is.   When I started brainstorming for design ideas I kept having the phrase, home is where the heart is come back to my mind.  It was something my mother said a lot when I was growing up and something I try to keep in mind as I raise my own family.    So I started thinking how an I share a Heart in a home . . . and this is what I came up with.

These little houses are so much fun to make.  And I just love the little heart cornerstones :)   So cute!!!   And I added some two sided sashing to the houses to give the quilt some movement.  I love that it just makes this neighborhood truly a place I would want to visit.

I used Bonnie and Camille's Little Ruby fabric for this quilt.   The colors were the perfect fit for the feel that I was trying to create, and all of the tiny prints really let the houses and the hearts in them shine.   And it was so much fun that there were so many wonderful Red prints in the line so there is lots of variety in all of those hearts ;)

When it came time to quilt it, I again decided I wanted something that really flowed to break up all the sharp points in the houses.   So I quilted it with an all over echoed paisley design, which is always a fun go to for lots of movement and curves.   I did a video tutorial right here on how I free motion quilt this, if your interested ;)

And look at that yummy texture it makes.   Oh so warm and snuggly.   I just love it.   I used my go to 402 Pearl thread for the quilting.  It is just the perfect color on that wonderful white background, blends enough to not take away from the design, but you can still see that it is quilted ;)

And the way you cut out and piece this quilt leaves you with a few extra Flying Geese, so I thought, how cute to make a fun pieced back!!!!  I love that this used up all of the little orphan pieces, I have enough of those already ;)    The directions for how to add up this little feature are included in the book and I just think it is the perfect finish for this quilt ;)

And that is Home Is Where The Heart Is, and again, when it came time to name it, the inspiration just stuck :)  The quilt measures 60" x 76" and would make a perfect give for someone special.  The quilt truly is all about the heart and I again, hope you love it as much as I do ;)

And those are my two House Quilts from the new I Love House Blocks Book!!!  And I am just so excited to finally get to share them ;)  Oh, and I have to add, I was pretty excited when I got my copy of the book and found that both of my quilts made a little cameo on the cover!!  Eeekk, so fun!!!

 There are lots of amazing House Blocks in this book and so many quilts that I have added to my "to make someday" list from it so be sure to Pop on over to  Martingale, the book publisher, to see all of the beautiful quilts ;)   And they just might be celebrating the release with a Giveaway as well!!!  So fun ;)   I Love House Blocks is now available wherever quilting books are sold and  if you would like a signed by me copy, I have a few available in my little book shop here!!

Thanks so much for popping in today and each day!!!  I am just so excited daily to share my quilting adventures here ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!    Let's have some fun!!!

But  before we get to today's giveaways . . . First,  we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!   The winner of the $50.00 Fat Quarter Shop Gift Certificate is . . . Number #289. . . Congrats Anne D!!!!! I have emailed you :)    

 

So on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by  Lou Lou's Fabric Shop .    Did you know that Jamie makes a new Lou Lou Bundle every Tuesday . . . you so want to check these out!!!  Along with hosting the giveaway, Jamie is offering all Happy Quilting readers has a special discount of  20% off your purchase  with the code happyquilting good until June 25th!!! (excludes pre-orders and items already on sale)  Oh, so much fun shopping!!!

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for some shopping goodness!!  Lou Lou's Fabric Shop is offering one lucky reader a $30.00 Gift Certificate perfect to use on anything in the store, including an awesome Lou Lou Bundle!!  Just perfect!!!!

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.   Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment that tells me a color of thread you have used recently that wasn't neutral and what you used it for.  (I had to mend my daughters skirt yesterday and used a Aurifil Blossom Pink, that was some bright mending ;)  

 ENTRY 2 - Lets show Lou Lou's Fabric Shop some Love!!!!   You can follow them on   Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram.  Or you can follow their blog or  visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Lou Lou's Fabric Shop Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, June 27th  when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

June Aurifil Designer BOM

The June Aurifil Designer Block of the Month was released a few days ago and I was so excited when I saw it, because ya know, I just love Star Blocks!!!   May is all about Red-Orange and  Sarah Maxwell created a super awesome star block called  Star Shine block.    What a fun Star!!!

  

And oh, don't I just love all of those points!!  I think that might be what draws me back to Star Blocks again and again, I just love the look of a pretty point :)  I tried to fussy cut the giant astrick in the center, but I only had a charm square and needed a 4 1/2" square from it, so I didn't have a lot of wiggle room.  So it isn't perfect, but it sure is fun, right ;)

I used my Aurifil 2245 Red-Orange thread as a guide for picking fabrics.  And I have to say, I was pretty suprised how little Red-Orange fabrics I have in my scrap drawers.  I assumed I would have plenty, but I acutally had to cut into some Denyse Schmidt yardage I had.  I wish I would have had a few more fabric choices as the block blends a little more than I would like, but it is still super fun!!!

So that is my Aurifil June Block!!!  You can find Sarah's fantastic pattern for this block right over here and then be sure to pop over here to read Sarah's  interview.     And if you make your own Star Shine Block, be sure and enter a picture of it at Pat's blog ;)  Every entry  is eligible to win a Large Aurifil Thread Kit!!!!!  

Half way through the rainbow and so loving it!!!  Can't wait for next month's block ;)  

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

William and Jack

I am so excited to share a finish this morning!!!!  This is one of those secret quilts that I didn't get to share much of the process but I am so happy to get to share it today.   I am calling it William and Jack  and let me just say before I get started with the story behind this quilt that I just Love, Love, Love this quilt!!!!

A little big ago I was asked by my good friends at  Moda if I could make up a quilt for them for Market.   And I always love sewing for Market so of course, I was all in.   And so the box arrived from Moda and I totally squealed when I opened the box to find that the quilt I would be making was a Union Jack quilt!!!!  Eeekkk!!!!

I have always wanted to make a Union Jack.  My Mother was born in England and so it has a special place in my heart and every time I saw one of these quilts I would think to myself that I totally need to move that up the "to make" list :)    So ya, it was just meant to be for me to make up this particular quilt.  I was so excited!!!

And when I realized that I was using the new William Morris Revisited collection that was created in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum, (which comes out in October and is absolutely stunning!!!) well I will admit, I might have cried a little bit.   It was just like everything was coming together as this perfect memory of my mother's homeland. And so ya, I knew off that bat that making this quilt was going to be special :) 

And oh my, did I have some fun putting this quilt together.   It really was just a blast!!!  I used the Jumping Jack pattern by Fig Tree Quilts but designed some trimming templates like I did for this quilt that really make the blocks go together that much quicker and really gave made it easy to get perfectly pieced corners every time.   So love it!!!

And I just loved that Moda had me do it in all the beautiful blues from the William Morris Collection.  I just loved paring up the beautiful lights, mediums, and dark's to really make each flag pop :)   And the white is a tiny silver polka dot that just goes so perfect with the blues.   Each time I made a block I decided that it was my new favorite block, and when I got to the point of sewing them all together, well, let's just say that this quilt shot way up to the top of the list of all time favorite quilts ;)

When it came time to quilt it, I decided to go with an all over wavy horizontal line.  I wanted to give it the motion of flags waving in the breeze.  And I am so happy to say that it fit perfectly for what I had in mind.   I just love the way it adds to the design but also doesn't take away from each block ;)

And I used a beautiful Chambray for the cornerstones, binding, and backing and it just gives it the perfect finish.   I love the little extra weight it gives it in the backing and really lets the quilting stand out ;)

And oh my, talk about some super yummy texture in that quilting.  I tried to keep the quilting about 1/4" to 1/2" apart so there is a lot of lines.  But I can't say how awesome it feels to run your hand down this quilt and feel all of that texture.  So fun!!!  I just love it.

And the biggest, most awesome surprises of all . . . My quilt ended up center stage at the Schoolhouse Opening Seminar!!!!  I totally freaked out when I started seeing pictures pop up on facebook and there was my quilt, Eeekkk!!!!   I knew that the main seminar was Moda and the V& A Museum but I thought I had been making the sample for the booth.  So ya, it was a total treat for it to be part of the opening debut of the line.  A treat indeed :)

 And that is my William and Jack quilt.  Oh, and did you notice where the name came from, Union Jack and William Morris put together.  I thought it was fitting ;)   I have to say a huge thank you to Moda for having me make up this quilt for them.  It was such a wonderful quilt to put together and as I have said, I just Love, Love, Love it!!!

Thanks for popping in today to share this special finish with me ;)  

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!

Linking up this finish to Amanda's, Sarah's, and Myra's :)