Back To Basics Finished!!!

I am so excited to share my newest finish, Back to Basics.  This quilt was made for the Modern Quilt Guild Riley Blake Challenge.  This is the first time I have been able to participate in a MQG fabric challenge as they opened membership up to individual members this year.  And oh, I am so glad I got to participate.  What a fun project this has been to put together :)

When I first heard that we would be using Riley Blake basics for the challenge I set out to design something that used only my favorite basic piecing blocks aka squares, HST's and Flying Geese.  I just love the way this design came alive with the scrappy look.  To what we were sent for the challenge, I added some Riley Blake basics in black.  I had a wonderful little bundle I got at market last spring.  It worked just perfect!

I ended up quilting it with the large spiraling circle.  Ever since I saw this quilt from Kati,  I have wanted to try this quilting design.  That was 2 years ago and I was just waiting for the right quilt to come along and this was it.   I just love how the curves softens all of those lovely points.

And while I love it, I don't need to do it again anytime soon.  Oh man, that is a lot of spinning the quilt and my shoulder is feeling it this morning.  8 bobbins and several hours of quilting.  Good times!!  But oh, totally worth it!!  Don't you just love that crinkly look a quilt gets coming out of the dryer for the first time.  It just says cuddle with me :)

The quilt measures 48" x 48", just perfect to snuggle a wee one in.  And oh the polka-dot biniding.  I just can't get enough of polka-dots!!!  

So that's it.  Back to Basics, my first Modern Quilt Guild challenge quilt.  I look forward to many more to come :)

Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Oh, and be sure to stop in next week, I have 3 new quilt shares that I can finally show, 2 blog hops, and 2 giveaways.  Should be a fun filled week for sure :)

Linking up to Sarah's and Amanda's :)

What Do You Do??

First off, let me say I have debated back and forth a million times whether to ask this question or not??  I like things to stay upbeat and positive around here hence there will be no names and no references to specifics.  I just need a little advice on what is the best course of action.   So please, let's keep it light.

So here is the scenario - The other day I was surfing along and came across a picture of a quilt that looked a like one of my tutorials.  Of course, I was super excited that someone had used my tutorial and tweaked it to make it their own, so I clicked on over to read the blog post about it.  You can imagine my surprise when I found that the picture was actually of a pattern for sale.

Now, I thought, maybe they were just on the same wavelength as me design wise and created something similar.  So I bought the pattern to check it out.  The measurements of the similar part of my tutorial are the exact same, no change whatsoever.  The pattern includes additional borders to make it their own.

Now I don't want to rail on this person, or get into some huge copyright battle or any of the sort.  This person is just trying to create like all the rest of us.   Here is where my dilemma comes in.  I have a huge love and respect for this industry.  We all know this isn't how we "play nice".  So my question is . . . Do I have a responsibility to contact this person and let them know that they need to play nice i.e. list their source of inspiration or something along those lines.   Or . . . Do I just let it go with the assumption that this person was just taking a piece of something they liked and adding to it??

Okay, comment away, but remember, keep it light.

***EDIT - Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments.   Through reading these I have come to the conclusion that I felt from the beginning and didn't want to put off dealing with it.  I am sure that this was most likely an unaware mistake.  So with your helpful advice, I wrote a very nice email to this person, letting them know very kindly that maybe it is just coincidence and maybe not.  If not, it really isn't "playing nice" and while I don't expect this person to take the pattern down, it would be nice if the person credited the tutorial as inspiration.

I am not sure what will happen but I feel that the important thing is that this person is now educated for the future so as not to get themselves into some real trouble.    And honestly, that makes me feel good about the whole situation.  If nothing else comes from this except that we all remember to "play nice" well then that is worth it :)

***EDIT #2 - I heard back from this person and it was all a happy coincidence.  The person had drafter their pattern all on thier own and it was just a coincidence that our sizes happened to be the same.  We both left on a very good note knowing that we are all watching each other's backs in this industry :)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!  I know I will :)

Back To Basics Progress

I have decided to call my Riley Blake Challenge Quilt Back to Basics.  WIth this many Flying Geese and HST's it just seemed to fit :)  That was a lot of trimming, luckily I had my Bloc-Loc rulers to help :)

It didn't take long to turn the basic quilting blocks into blocks and the blocks into a quilt top.  It was one of those projects where you are just so excited to see how it will turn out you can't stop until it is done.   I just love how the secondary designs pop out of it.  So fun!!!  And now I just need to wait for Abby to come back from her annual cleaning so that I can get it quilted.

I am debating between two plans for quilting:
1 - Either a  circle that starts in the slightly off center and keeps moving out.  I love this quilting design everytime I see it and have wanted to give it a try for some time.  I think it might also add some softness to all those points.
2 - Stitching in the ditch around the "windmill" designs to highlight the secondary designs.

Which one do you think I should go with??  It's a toss up for me so your help is greatly appreciated :)

Linking up to Lee's :)

Bernadette is Back

On Friday, I packed up my wonderful Abby (the Artista) to take a little visit to the Sewing Doc's for her annual check-up and cleaning.  Now if you don't recall from when I got Abby, I love this machine.  So it is always hard to go without her for a few days.

So, I have to remind myself to be grateful that I have good old Bernadette to back me up.   I was at a conference over the weekend where the speaker said "A Luxury once enjoyed becomes a Necessity."   And oh, does that apply to Abby and Bernadette.   I am waiting to quilt my finished top because I just can't bring myself to quilting in that tiny harp space again :)  But, I really am glad that I don't have to completely stop sewing altogether while I wait for Abby to return and it will make me appreciate Abby all the more.  

Oh, and there is an extra  silver lining to this annual machine drama.  When I packed up Abby and took the sewing table off the desk, I realized just how dusty the desk was.  So of course, I cleaned it off.  Which lead to cleaning the floors, which led to a general overall cleaning of the studio ;)  I even managed to finish folding and organizing the Fat Quarter shelf.  Doesn't it look pretty :)

So, I'm curious,  Do you miss your machine like crazy when it is in the shop, or am I the only one overly attached to a sewing machine??

Handmade Holidays

It's Sew Mama Sew's 7th Annual Handmade Holiday!!!  Have you followed along with Handmade Holidays before??  It is so much fun :)  Each day of November there will be a post centered around a theme.  The themes so far have been Gifts for tweens, Gifts for gadget lovers, Gifts for cooks, and Holiday party clothes and accessories.  Each theme post will have lots of tutorial links centered around that theme for you to make your holiday's totally handmade.

And Sew Mama Sew added a little twist this year.  They have asked for Guest Curators to line up the theme's and tutorials.  And I was lucky enough to be chosen as a guest curator :)  I can't wait to share the fabulous tutorials I found all centered around a theme that is close to my heart :)  But you will have to follow along with Handmade Holidays to see when I post :)  I will give you a hint, my theme centers around this tutorial :)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!