Back Home!!

Sorry things have been so quiet this last week.  I was away teaching at the Canyonland Quilts retreat in beautiful Moab Utah.  I normally try and schedule a few posts when I am out of town, but life was busy, so here I am after the fact :)

The Canyonland Quilts Retreat was oh so much fun!!!  Mom and I taught 5 classes and did a trunk show in 3 days and enjoyed meeting so many amazing quilters.   And the gals that put this retreat on are just amazing!!!  They had the sweetest gifts, yummiest food, and happiest faces to welcome all the quilters each and every day.   And guess what . . . we even had 2 finishes from the A Star is Born class!!!   

Mom and I loved teaching newbies and sage quilters alike.   We learned curves in the Nordic Nights and Blossoming Stars classes, tackled angled seams in the Summer Breeze class, and had fun playing with scraps in the Scraptastic Stars class ;)

   

   

And a real treat this retreat . . .we got our sweethearts to come along.  They spent the days playing in Arches National Park and then we got to spend the evenings with them.  It was just great ;)

Wan't to take a quilting class from me??  Check out my Teaching Tab for everywhere I will be this year teaching, you could even cruise and quilt with me!!!  

Upcoming Teaching Times!!

I know I say it every time, but I just love getting to teach quilting classes!!!  It truly is a favorite :)  I just got back from teaching at The Stitching Room in Richfield Utah and we had such a wonderful time.  And I made me realize, I needed to announce a few other places I will be teaching in the next few months, because it would b oh so much fun to quilt together ;)      First up . . . 

Garden of Quilts

Date - Sept 14-18, 2022

Place - Lehi, Utah 

I have to say, I can't wait for this next month!!!!  Garden of Quilts is an experience unlike anywhere else I have taught :)   Something about combining the love of quilts with the beauty of the gardens is just refreshing to the soul!!!    There is still room in all my classes, although some are getting close to full.   I will be teaching my new Blossoming Stars pattern on Wednesday morning and my Wishes pattern on Wednesday afternoon.  Then on Thursday morning it's Flower Child  followed by my new Swirling Leaves pattern on Thursday afternoon.  Friday morning I will teach my Stamp Collecting pattern, and then Petal Pop on Friday afternoon.   Finally, on Saturday morning I will teach Aurora (a sneak peek from my upcoming book!!!) and on Saturday Afternoon I will teach Scraptastic Stars.   It's going to be so much fun!!!  I hope you can come and join in, it is so worth the trip ;) 

  

  

 

And then it's off to teach on the Aloha Quilt Cruise, which sold out pretty much as soon as it opened.  But I have some other exciting news to go along with that . . . I am teaching on a Scrappy and Happy Alaskan Quilting Cruise next year!!!!  It's going to be so fun, and this one is not full, so you can sign up and come quilt and cruise along with me ;)  

And when I get back from Hawaii, it's a few days turnaround to head North to  . . . 

Quilt Fest

Date - Oct 19-22, 2022

Place - Ogden, Utah 

Although I have taught at this retreat before, this year it is at a new time and a new venue.   So at the moment, registration has been a little slow, which means there is still plenty of room to sign up for class ;)  I will be teaching 4 classes at Quilt Fest held by the Utah Quilt Guild.   I will be teaching my Scraptastic Stars pattern on Thursday morning, followed by my Moroccan Lullaby 2 class on Thursday afternoon.   Then on Friday morning I am teaching my new Swirling Leaves class followed by my new Blossoming Stars pattern on Friday afternoon.       

 

 

And then the next month, I get to venture South to teach at the . . . 

Lake Powell Quilt Retreat

Date - Nov 9 - 12, 2022

Place - Paige, Arizona

And I am so excited to get away from the cold in Cedar and go to sunny Paige Arizona to teach at the Lake Powell Quilt Retreat!!!  This is my second time teaching at this particular retreat and I am so happy to return again!!!  I will be teaching 2 classes and I will also be sharing a Trunk Show of my new Book!!!    I am so super excited for that!!!!  Friday morning I am teaching my new Swirling Leaves class and then on Saturday morning I will be teaching my new Blossoming Stars pattern.  Those two new ones are super popular right now, so fun!!!   

  

And that concludes teaching in 2022, but I am excited that 2023 is starting to open up as well.  And the first place I am teaching in 2023 is my good ol Home Town of Cedar City at the . . .

Cedar Chest Quilt Retreat

Date - Feb 1 - 4, 2023, 2021

Place - Cedar City, Utah 

And registration just opened yesterday!!!  I will be teaching 4 classes at the Cedar Chest Quilt Retreat.   I will be teaching my  Blossoming Stars  pattern on Wednesday afternoon.  The next day, I will be teaching Aurora (another sneak peek from my upcoming book!!!) in the morning followed by my Scraptastic Stars class Thursday afternoon.   Then on Friday morning I am teaching my new A Star is Born class from my Charing Baby Quilts Book.       It's going to be so fun!!!

 

   

  

So ya, it's going to be a super fun few months of quilting!!!  Just check back on my Teaching Page to see where I will be next!!!  And if you are interested in having me come to teach at a retreat in your area or at your guild, just send me an email at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.  I would love to come and visit and share my love of quilting!!!  

I hope I get to see some of you in class!!!!   Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!!

2 New Patterns and Black Friday - Cyber Monday Sale!!!

 I am super excited this morning to share two brand new Quilt Pattern's in the Happy Quilting pattern lineup as well as having them ready just in time for this Annual Weekend Sale!!  (More on that further down ;)   

The first quilt is called Wishes and I just love how these stars twinkle!!!!    The quilt is made with  big blocks so you can make a queen size with just 16 blocks and it is super fun piecing, making it perfect for beginners and experts alike!!!

Wishes uses some basic piecing units along with a fun technique for making the lattice blocks, that has very little waste with a quick trim ensuring perfect piecing every time.  And there are very few points to worry about lining up as everything just floats in this quilt, and I just love that!!!

This version of Wishes is made using Balboa by Sherri and Chelsi for Moda Fabrics.    I love the prints and colors of this line, especially the purple!!!     But of course, Wishes would look amazing in any fabrics!!  The design is  Fat Quarter Friendly, so you can just grab a bundle and get cutting!!!!

And when it came time to quilt it I went all out.   I really wanted to make that center star just pop, so I did a Star of pebbles behind it and left the star un-quilted.  Isn't it just so fun!!!  I did ribbon curls and wishbones on the beams of light and then a lovely loose feather in the background.   It was just so fun to quilt and I was so happy that my favorite Pearl 402 So Fine thread blended perfectly in all the prints and background !!!  This one really was so super fun to quilt!!!! 

And I had so much fun making the first quilt, I just couldn't stop and decided to make up a lap size version as well :)    And isn't it just to cute for words!!!!

  

I thought it would be super fun to do a dark background and then low volumes for the prints!!!  I used Low Volume prints from Cookie Exchange by Sweetwater that I had saved and paired them with a lovely Charcoal background.   And don't they just pop!!!!  I love that this is Christmas too, because I think this design just works great for Christmas stars :)  

And I quilted it with all over swirls and just love how it almost adds a snow flurry to go with these Christmas Stars ;)    And I even used a scrappy Low Volume binding, so fun!!!!

  

Like all my patterns, Wishes has size options so you can make the quilt size that fits you ;)  You will find 5 size options, a Baby, Lap, Picnic, Twin, and a Queen size.  All the sizes are Fat Quarter Friendly., and all use a great big 21" block so the piecing goes nice and fast ;) 

So now onto Pattern Release 2 . . . Here is Scraptastic Stars!!!!  And I am just thrilled to be releasing this pattern because I love, love, love me some scrappy quilting!!!

Scraptastic Stars was originally I block I did a free pattern for way back here :)   For this new Happy Quilting pattern, I have increased the block size to 16" and added a wonderful Irish Chain setting to finish off the chain in the block. And isn't it just the perfect way to surround these blocks!!!   And I had such a great time doing all of the math for that Sashing Chain :)  I know it is weird, but I really like quilt math!!!   And the design even includes strip piecing in the chain to save you time piecing all of those little squares together.  

And I just love that Scraptastic Stars is all about busting scraps!!!  I increased the block size so that it is 2 1/2" square friendly as I know a lot of us like to cut our scraps to that size and it also makes it great for those little mini charm pre-cuts!!!   And you can even use scraps in the chain . . . I used a whole bunch of shades of white for the stars and chain and I love that it busted those scraps as well ;)

And when it came time to quilt it I went all out with the colors.  I picked out a rainbow of threads and changed colors for each block to really emphasis the rainbow of this quilt!!!  I quilted pebbles in the black, Arches in the white, and swirls in the colors :)  And I just love it!!!  And look at the beautiful quilty texture it made, so fun!!! 

And Scraptastic Stars also has size options so you can make the quilt size that fits you ;)  You will find 5 size options, a Baby, Lap, Picnic, Twin, and a Queen/King size.  Just start breaking your scraps into similar colors and see how many blocks you can come up with ;) 

 So now that you have seen the new quilts . . . Let's talk Patterns and Sales!!!

The Hard Copy and the PDF patterns of both Wishes and Scraptastic Stars can be found in my Etsy Shop, and like all my new Pattern Releases, It is on Special for 1 week!!!!  Until Friday, the 4th,  Scraptastic Stars and Wishes will be marked down!!! The PDF Patterns are just $5.50 and the Hard Copy Patterns are $7.00!!!!

And since it is Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and  Cyber Monday . . . All of my Happy Quilting Patterns have been marked down to $5.50 for PDF's and $7.00 for Hard Copy's until Monday!!!     And you can even get my books on Sale as well!!!  Charming Baby is marked down to $16.00 and Irish Chain Quilts is $10.00 :)  It's a great time to bundle and save on shipping :)   You can find it all in my Etsy Shop!!!

  

 

So that's all of it!!!  Two New Patterns and a  Black Friday to Cyber Monday sale on all things Happy Quilting in my Etsy Shop. 

Thanks for popping in today and sharing these new finishes with me.  I am so very excited to be releasing this new pattern and hope you like it as much as I do.

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

Work in Progress Wednesday!!!

Wow, Two in a Row!!!  I am on a streak now ;)   So here is what I have been working on since last week ;)

If you remember, I got to take the the Vintage Charm Class from  Sherri McConnell at the end of January.   I finished 3 blocks in class, and it was oh so much fun!!!    I am using Harvest Road by Lella Boutique  and I just love seeing how these blocks came together ;)

Since then, I have been squeezing in some chain piecing here and there.   I have finished all of the Units for the 25 blocks and so now I just need to sew the three rows in the Ohio Stars together, and then just assemble the blocks ;)   This project is going great and I can't wait to put it all together!!!

And then the other day I did some serious cutting!!!  I cut up all of my  Sugarhouse Park  Fat Quarters from Amy Smart and then moved on to squares from the bold Navy background.   Talk about a whole lot of squares!!!!    This is going to be a  Quadruple Ring Around The Rosies Quilt from my (so very) soon to be released Charming Baby Quilts Book.   I am hoping to start some chain stitching on this one today ;)  Can  I just say, I am super glad I have my Clearly Perfect Angles Cling so I don't have to draw lines on all 896 of those small squares!!!!!

And finally, You might recall from last year that I planned to make a Halloween Sparkly Stars quilt . . .  Well the blocks are ready to be sewn together ;)   These stitch and flip corners have been my Leader and Enders project ever since I finished up my Scraptastic Star blocks.   And I just finished the last one yesterday and was so excited to layout all the blocks!!!   Now I just need to make some Star Filled 9 Patches!!!    So fun ;)

Here's hoping by next week, I have a whole pile of blocks finished ;)

Hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!

P.S.   Speaking of Works in Progress . . . There is still the Semi-Finals of the Pillow Fight in progress!!!!   Today is you last day to vote and tomorrow we will find which pillow moves on and which pillows are knocked out ;)