Miss America Quilt

I was so excited to get to piece and quilt one of April's  quilts for Market this year!!!  April designs fabric for Moda and she debuted her third line, SummerFest at Market last week and it is absolutely fantastic!!!!  This quilt is one of April's new patterns called Miss America and isn't it just incredible!!!

I had so much fun piecing this quilt and it really went together quick thanks to those big blocks!!  Don't you just love big block quilts for that!!!

And there is a really cool way to cut this quilt out that makes for super fast quilting and . . . gives you a bonus block!!!  I turned my block into a coordinating pillow.

Don' t they just look so cute in a matching set!!!!  I just love the colors in SummerFest, they are so incredibly happy making!!!   And the prints are just gorgeous!!!

When it came time to quilt this up, I really wanted to do some custom quilting to make the awesome design of the blocks stand out even more.  So I did some double arches, some pebbling, some areched flowers, and then swirled it up in the background.

I repeated the same motifs in the other block to really tie the two together and make the designs stand out all the more.   I am so incredibly happy with how the quilting all came together on this one!!!  I just love how much it complemented the overall design.

And it has so much yummy texture as well!!!  I just wanted to keep running my hands over it to feel all of that fun quilting!!  And of course, I used my all time favorite 402 So Fine Thread for it as it blended perfectly with all of the prints ;)

And here is a shot of it in April's cute booth at Market!!!   So fun!!!  And I just loved all of those adorable girl clothes on the line.   I hear April used them to dress up her sweet little 6 month old Hazel when she came to visit in the booth.  So cute!!!

And that is Miss America!!!  Doesn't she just take the Crown!!!  All of April's awesome patterns, including Miss America will be available in November and SummerFest will be in quilt shops in April of 2016.  I have to say, I am glad I have some scraps to keep me busy until then.  I just love these fabrics!!!!   

Thanks so much April for letting me make up this quilt and be a little tiny part of your absolutly stunning booth at Market!!!!   I just love everything about this quilt and was so glad I got to make it up!!  

I will be back tomorrow with another fun market quilt finish ;)

Until then, Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Upcoming Compilation Projects

I am excited to share some of my Market Projects.  And I decided to start today off with the ones that I have been keeping a secret the longest!!!!   I have had the wonderful opportunity to participate in three compilation books this last year that were all announced at this Market.   And if you followed along with any of the Market Social Media, I am sure you already know all about the first!!!

The Moda All-Stars All in a Row Book!!!  No, I am not a Moda Designer, but I was so blessed to be asked to sew up one of the Gallery Quilts for the book!!   I can't say how excited I am to be a tiny part of such an amazing and talented group of designers!!  This book is going to be incredible and you only have to wait one month and for it!!  It releases from Martingale Publishing on December 1st!!!!

The next complication book I had the opportunity to work with was this super amazing 75 fun Fat-Quarter Quilts book compiled by Roxanne Cerda for C & T Publishing!!  I actually made 2 quilts and 10 designs for this book.   It really is a fun book that starts with a basic design and then adds lots of fun twists!!  It will release on December 7th :)

And finally, Karen Burns from Martingale Publishing asked me to contribute a Log Cabin quilt for this fun new I Love Log Cabins book!!!  And seriously, don't we all just love Log Cabin quilts!!!  They are so much fun to make and so great at busting scraps!!!  This one is going to be harder to wait to share my project because it doesn't release until February 9th, but I am so excited for it!!!

And those are the 3 books :) I know, I know . . . Here I say I am going to share projects, and I share book covers.  So not a full reveal,  I wish I could share more as I am so excited about each of the quilts that I made for these publications, but I promise to share my quilts as soon as the release dates come.  I just couldn't wait until December to spill some beans ;)

Pop back in tomorrow and I will share an actual quilt from market . . .I promise ;)

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

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day . . . let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!   The winner of the awesome Fat Quarter Shop $75.00 Gift Certificate  is . . . . . .   Number #159. . . Congrats Kathy E.!!   I have emailed you :)     

 

  

   

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Rustic Rooster Quilt Shop!!   Along with hosting the giveaway, Trina is having a super duper sale for all Happy Quilting Readers!!!  25% off your entire cart with the coupon code FALL15!!!!!  That is going to be some fun shopping, hurry and pop on over and check it out!!!!

And for today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Trina has a special treat for you!!!   A Farmhouse Jelly Roll by Fig Tree & Co. for Moda!!!!   I have already made a quilt with line and I will tell you what, it is fantastic!!!!  Someone is going to be super lucky this week!!!

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 telling me your favorite Farm Animal ;)

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Rustic Rooster Quilt Shop love. You can follow them on  Facebook.   You can Sign up for the Rustic Rooster Quilt Shop Newsletter (top right hand corner)  or you can visit the Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Rustic Rooster Quilt Shop Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, November 3rd when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Missing Market

So today is the final day of International Quilt Market, and I have to say, I sure wished I was in Texas this last weekend.  I am so grateful that so many wonderful folks posted all about it on social media so I got to see all of the amazing new fabrics, patterns, and notions . . . but . . . .I realized this weekend how much I love getting to see all of my wonderful industry friends every 6 months and I really missed them!!!!  I missed all of the hugs, the chatting, the laughs, and the general catching up with such amazing good friends.  And I will admit, it got me a little blue and nothing chases away the blues like a bit of sewing . . .

So I told my daughter she could pick anything she wanted to make and we would do it.   She decided on making a quilt for her best friend for Christmas.  Her friend loves Black and White so we grabbed a 10" Stacker of Tuxedo by Doodlebug Designs for Riley Blake that had been languishing in my stash for way to long.   She laid out all of her fabrics and I loved watching her take painstaking care to make sure no same prints or colors were next to each other.  She really put a lot of thought into it.

Then she turned her layout into a quilt top!!!    I have to say, I was blown away with how much she has picked up from sewing with Grandma.  I tend to want to take over, but I kept reminding myself to just let her do it and we could fix anything that needed to be fixed along the way.  So she did all of her own pinning, pressing, and sewing.  Start to finish!!!   I was so incredibly proud of her.  She even did her own seam ripping when she accidentally sewed a row using wrong sides together instead of right sides together.  She did such a great job and I am just so bursting at the seams with joy over it!!!  She decided she wants to add a yellow border for some pop and to make it a little larger, so next up, rotary cutting ;)

In fact, (proud mom gushing here) she did so much on her own, that I was able to work on my own project at the same time she was working on hers!!!  I did some free motion quilting on my good ol trusty Bernina.  I don't quilt much on my domestic machine anymore,  but for small things I still like to give it a go, and I always remember how much fun it is :)  Good Times ;)

 I tell you what, this feels just like when learning to read finally clicked.  We struggle and struggle and struggle and then it clicks and they figure it out.   And now, the sewing thing is clicking and she feels more confident with the machine and it is awesome!!!  We could both just sew and sew and sew.  I see lots more Saturdays like this in the future!!  So ya, it really was the perfect remedy for chasing away the Missing Market Blues.   And I should add, while I was not there in person,  I did have a few projects there ;)  I will share those starting Wednesday after TTGD ;)  Be sure to pop back in because I just love getting to finally share some of that secret sewing ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

The Village Square - Feed Company Edition

It's Friday and I am super excited to share a new finish with you!!!  And, on top of that, it is also Bloggers Quilt Festival!!!!  So let's get right to that finish!!!! This is The Village Square - Feed Company Edition and I am so, so, excited with how it turned out!!!!

The Village Square is one of the patterns from the Appliqued Chains section in my book Irish Chain Quilts ;)  Those little houses are so much fun to applique!! I love that I can raw edge applique them without using any stabilizer.  They are small enough that you can just hold them in place while you stitch them down and it gives them the cutest raw edges!!!

There was a few moments when making this quilt that I was scared it just wasn't going to come together the way I was hoping. I used a Feed Company Layer Cake by Sweetwater for Moda as I wanted it to have a bit of an Americana feel.  So while I was making the blocks and just looking at them individually I started to get a little nervous. (ya know how you always tend to second guess yourself at some point in making a quilt . . .  please tell me we all do that ;)   I can't tell you how excited I got when I put all the blocks together and it was that "oh ya, that was the look I wanted" moment ;)

I quilted this one the same way I did the original only quilting the background and not doing any quilting on the houses or squares.  I was going for a sort of Cobblestone effect, ya know, to add to the whole village square effect.    I just love how it makes the little houses and square pop out and really emphasis the overall chain design!!

Oh, and if you are wondering why I am making this quilt up again and why I whipped it up so fast (I started it last week)  . . . well I am teaching this quilt at the Cedar Chest Quilt Retreat in January and this weekend all of the quilts from the retreat are being hung at the Heritage Festival.  Well it sort of slipped my mind that my original The Village Square is currently traveling in a Shop Hop across the US . . . so I needed a new model to hang and fast.  Hence the new Feed Company Edition ;)   I have to admit, it sure was fun to have an excuse to make up this adorable quilt again.   So loving it and once again, I never cease to be amazed at how changing up the fabrics can so change up the look of a quilt!!!  I love that!!!!

And that is all for The Village Square - Feed Company Edition :)   Be sure to pop on over and check out all of the quilts in the Bloggers Quilt Festival!!! I just love that Amy does this on the same weekend at Quilt Market, it's quilty eye candy galore!!!!  Oh, and speaking of Market . . . be sure to pop back in next week as I will be sharing all of my secret Market sewing, so excited!!!!

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

Linking up this finish to Sarah's and Amanda's and Blogger's Quilt Festival ;)