Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Day 5

It's day 5 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop and it's Friday!!!  Yippee for Friday!!!

The first quilt up today is Breaking Up from the Twists on Tradition section of the book and Quilt Story is the hop stop!!! Megan Jimenez and her sister created Quilt Story at about the same time I started Happy Quilting.  I loved the idea of a blog that shared the "story" behind others quilts.  I am always finding I forget to "share the story" of my quilts, and I am so grateful to Megan for being a constant reminder to include that in my posts!    Pop on over to see her stop ;)

Breaking Up was actually the first quilt I designed for the book.  It was also the first quilt that was sent off to the publishers for the book, so I guess you could call it the guinea pig of the book.   I love the almost Argyle look it creates by using different size squares and playing with the placement of focal prints and solids.  This is another great layer cake quilt or scrap buster.

The next quilt to be shared today is The Village Square from the Appliqued Chains section of the book and Diary of a Quilter is the hop stop!!!  Amy Smart is an amazing quilt blogger and one of my best friends.  Honestly, sometimes I think we should have been sisters :)   I am constantly inspired by her beautiful projects and love reading her blog for her daily dose of the real life, diary of a quilter.   Pop on over to check it out :)

The Village Squares was such a fun quilt to put together.  I know, lots of people get nervous when the word Applique is mentioned, but this is such a great design to dip your baby toes into the world of Applique.  Since all of the appliqued houses are made of simple squares, triangles, and rectangles, you can still do all of the cutting with your rotary cutter, so fast.  And secure stitching around  straight lines is quick, fast, and fun and a great way to learn the technique.   And in the end, you have a completely adorable finish and you have Appliqued!


And that is today's stop!!!

If you haven't had a chance to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway, be sure to pop back here and leave your comment to be entered.  And it also has a list of all the hop stops with links, just in case you missed a day :)

Thanks for Hopping in today!!  We will be taking a break for the weekend, so  see ya back next Monday for Day 6 of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop ;)

Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Day 4

It's day 4 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop!!  Are you just having so much fun!!!

The first quilt up today is The North Star from the Twists on Tradition section of the book and Amy's Creative Side is the hop stop!!! Amy Ellis was actually the catalyst in me creating this blog.  Want to hear the story??  When I was first figuring out there were quilters online I found Amy's Beginners Quilt-A-Long.  She had us post our blocks each week and after a few weeks my husband said I had to stop taking over the family blog with pictures of quilt blocks and create my own quilting blog.  So I did, and I would have never guessed it would be what it is today, but I am so loving the journey ;)  Thank you Amy, I will always be grateful to you for that Beginner's Quilt-A-Long!    Pop on over to see her stop ;)

The North Star is such a fun quilt to make.  I know, it looks a little complex but really, it is so very easy to put together.  The entire quilt, including the sashing, is made using strip piecing so it really is super fast and super fun!!   And if you are wondering why I call it The North Star, when I was making it up, I kept squinting when piecing the chains to get a quick idea of the overall color layout, one time while squinting, I noticed that the background secondary design created a pixelated 4 pointed star effect and there you have it, The North Star.

The next quilt to be shared today is Unraveled from the Modern Patchwork section of the book and Sew Kind of Wonderful is the hop stop!!!  Jenny Pedigo is one of the creative geniuses behind the Quick Curve Ruler.   I was fortunate enough to get to take a class from her last summer on this awesome ruler and I absolutely loved it!!!  I had been scared to death of curves, but this ruler made then so much easier than I ever thought they were.  Thanks Jenny for teaching me that curves can be fun!!   Pop on over to check it out :)

Unraveled is a super easy and super fun quilt to make ;)   I have to say, this was another one of those that made me push outside of my design comfort zone.  I was an accountant before I was a mom, so I tend to like everything balanced, so the asymmetrical design was hard for me.  But I have to say, I was so loving it the second I saw it all come together.   And this is a design that you can really make your own, playing up the broken chain in any way you like.


And that is today's stop!!!

If you haven't had a chance to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway, be sure to pop back here and leave your comment to be entered.  And it also has a list of all the hop stops with links, just in case you missed a day :)

Thanks for Hopping in today and we will see ya tomorrow for Day 5 of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop ;)

Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Day 3

It's day 3 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop so let's get hopping!!

The first quilt up today is Two Paths Crossed from the Twists on Tradition section of the book and Piece N Quilt is the hop stop!!! Natalia Bonner was one of the first people I met in person in this whole big Online Quilting world and is a wonderful friend!!  She is an amazing quilt designer and also an amazing Long Arm quilter! In fact, my first quilts published in a magazine she quilted for me :)  So fun!!!  Pop on over to see her stop ;)

And a little from me on Two Paths Crossed.   If you have been around here for any time you know that I love stars!!!!  I knew that I wanted to have at least one design that had stars in it, but I still needed a chain ;)  So that is how Two Paths Crossed came out.   And I love that this quilt uses 2 main fabric and then just a little pop of a third.  It makes the cutting go super fast and you are making stars before yo know it.


The next quilt to be shared today is Coins in the Fountain from the Modern Patchwork section of the book and In Color Order is the hop stop!!!  Jeni Baker is an amazing fabric designer for Art Gallery Fabrics.  In fact, the Nordika fabric in this quilt is her fabric line. (probably had something to do with her picking this stop :)  I love Jeni's fabrics for their bold, bright, and happy colors and prints.  And she just happens to love Purple as much as I do,  which she used in her block.     Pop on over to check it out :)

Coins in the Fountain is a twist on a traditional "coin quilt".  I had a lot of fun designing this one and figuring out how I could turn coins into a chain.  I love the end result!!  This quilt is perfect for using up some of those leftover charms or layer cakes you have lying around, and would also be a great stash buster.   And I am sure we all have enough scraps to do some busting with ;)


And that is today's stop!!!

If you haven't had a chance to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway, be sure to pop back here and leave your comment to be entered.  And it also has a list of all the hop stops with links, just in case you missed a day :)

Thanks for Hopping in today and we will see ya tomorrow for Day 4 of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop ;)

Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Day 2

It's day 2 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop and the first day of hopping and I am just so excited!!

The first quilt up today is Pick Up Sticks which is from the Modern Patchwork section of the book and Moda Lissa is the hop stop!!!  Lissa Alexander is the Marketing Director at Moda but I think that just means she does everything!!!  She has been a huge support and inspiration to me from the very start of my Happy Quilting journey and I am so grateful to have her as a friend.   And of course, because she does everything, she didn't stop at making a block, she made a whole Pick Up Sticks quilt top!!!  Pop on over to check it out ;)

And just a little bit from me about Pick Up Sticks.  This quilt design stretched me out of my "design comfort zone" as I  tried to embrace lots of white space.  But I just love the way it turned out.  It really allows you to highlight bold beautiful fabrics and my husband says it is the "man design" in the book, so I figure that is a plus.  This quilt is made entirely of strip piecing, so it will go together in a flash.  So fun!!!


The next quilt to be shared today is Charm Bracelet from the Improvisational Piecing section of the book and Fat Quarter Shop is the hop stop!!!  Jocelyn Ueng is one of the amazing people at the Fat Quarter Shop and an amazing pattern designer.  She does the ever so fantastic It's So Emma Patterns.   The fun thing is, while Jocelyn does all of this amazing design, piecing those designs is still new to her.  So I was so grateful that she agreed to step outside her comfort zone and make up a block for this hop, and an improv block at that!!    Pop on over to check it out :)

I had so much fun making up Charm Bracelet.   It is just so happy making to sew something together and then have a little slash bash to add that fun improv flair to it.  I have actually already made this quilt up again, and I think it has quickly become my "go to" baby quilt when I need a shower gift in a pinch.  It really goes together in an afternoon and is so much fun to make!!!


And that is today's stop!!!

If you haven't had a chance to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway, be sure to pop back here and leave your comment to be entered.

Thanks for Hopping in today and we will see ya tomorrow for Day 3 of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop ;)

Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Intro & Grand Prize Entry

It's Here, It's Here!!!  The Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop is starting today!!!  Can you tell I am a little excited ;)  For the next 2 weeks, we are going to be having some serious Irish Chain fun!!!!

I wanted to start off the Blog Hop with a quick little introduction to Irish Chain Quilts.  The Irish Chain design has a personal draw to me.   For my wedding, my Mother made me a beautiful queen sized Double Irish Chain   This quilt was one of the first quilts my mother made and will always be a treasured heirloom.  So it comes as no surprise that as my initial introduction to quilting involved a beautiful Irish Chain, that this design has always been special to me.  I hope to share that love  through this book and open a whole new world of Irish Chain designs for quilters of today, where the designs share a common theme but are as different and individual as the fabrics they are made from.  

When designing this book, I wanted to make it for everyone!!!   I am a huge proponent of always Trying New Things and if you have been around here for a while, you know that I am always encouraging you all to to break out and try something new.  Of course, I wanted to bring that into my book as well.   So Irish Chain Quilts is divided into four sections: Twists on Tradition, Modern Patchwork, Improvisational Piecing, and Appliquéd Chains.  Each section features quilts in varying sizes that blend the Traditional Irish Chain criss-cross design with the design concepts of today.    It is my hope that each quilter can find designs that fit in their “comfort zone” so they can create what inspires them, but as well that they can find designs that push them a little to stretch and try new things.
  

So for the next 2 weeks, I have asked some of my wonderful friends from all over Blog Land to share the Quilts of Irish Chain Quilts.  Along with the quilts, my bloggie friends will also be showing a Quilt Block that each of them have made with inspiration from their quilt.  At the end of the blog hop, I will be sharing a very special quilt made from all of the blocks, and I will give you a hint, it is going to have a bit of the rainbow in it ;)   That quilt will then be delivered to  Primary Children's Hospital.   I have a very special place in my heart for Primary Children's , and I am so grateful to all of my bloggie friends for helping me to make this special quilt for them ;) 

So, Let's see where we will be hopping for the next 2 weeks!!!  Here is the schedule and each day I will be updating the links with the post links as soon as they go live.  So you can always come back  here to make sure you don't miss out on any of the Irish Chain Quilts fun!!!    And a huge thank you to all of these ladies for being a part of this hop!!!

June 8th -    Happy Quilting - Blog Hop Intro & Grand Prize Entry  (you are here) 

June 9th -    Moda Lissa - Lissa Alexander

                    Fat Quarter Shop - Jocelyn Ueng

June 10th -  Piece N Quilt - Natalia Bonner

                    In Color Order - Jeni Baker

June 11th -  Amy's Creative Side - Amy Ellis

                    Sew Kind of Wonderful - Jenny Pedigo

June 12th -  Quilt Story - Megan Jimenez

                    Diary of a Quilter - Amy Smart

June 15th -  Freshly Pieced - Lee Heinrich

                   Christa Quilts - Christa Watson

June 16th -  Moda Cutting Table - Carrie Nelson

                    Little Miss Shabby - Corey Yoder

June 17th -  Fresh Lemons - Faith Jones

                    V and Co.  - Vanessa Christenson

June 18th -  A Quilting Life - Sherri McConnell

                    Stitch This! - Jenny Wilding Cardon

June 19th -  Happy Quilting - Wrap Up & Grand Prizes

There will be lots of chances to win Irish Chain Quilts along the hop at several of the hop stops.   And along with that, we are also doing some Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop Grand Prizes!!!   I have gathered up some super  fabric fun for this and there will be 2 Grand Prize Winners so you have double the chances to win!!!!

The first winner will receive an Entire Bitty Bits Quilt Kit, comprised of 14 Kona Cotton Charm Packs, a Vanessa Goertzen Gooseberry Charm Pack, 2 Irish Green Fat Quarters from Denyse Schmidt's Moderns Solids collection, an Angela Walters Drawn Fat Quarter, a Bitty Bits Mini made by me, and of course, a signed copy of Irish Chain Quilts!!!  

The second winner will receive a Lizzy House Butterflies Fat Quarter Bundle, and American Jane Lorraine Layer Cake, 2 Irish Green Fat Quarters from Denyse Schmidt's Moderns Solids collection, an Angela Walters Drawn Fat Quarter, a Bitty Bits Mini made by me, and of course, a signed copy of Irish Chain Quilts!!!  

So fun!!!!   You can enter into this Grand Prize Drawing right here at the end of this post anytime throughout the entire blog hop!!!   All Entries are welcome, including International Entries, and please, only one entry per person.    And if you are a no-reply blogger, please be sure to leave an email address ;)  

To Enter the Grand Prize Giveaway . . . 

Simply leave a comment at the end of this post that has the word Irish in it :)

Simple as that ;)  The giveaway will be open until the end of the Blog Hop and the winner will be announce on the final day, June 19th along with the Charity quilt reveal and blog hop wrap-up ;)   

And if you find over the hop that you just love Irish Chain Quilts: Contemporary Twists on a Classic Design and are wondering where to find it . . . It released on May 5th, 2015 and is available in Local Quilt Shops, Online Quilt Shops  (I know several of my sponsors are carrying it, Thank You Ladies!!), at Martingale, and wherever Quilt Books are sold.   If you would like a personalized and signed copy you can order  Irish Chain Quilts from my little Book Shop right here ;)   

I am so excited for the next 2 weeks to share Irish Chain Quilts with you!!!  Let's get this hop a Hoppin!!!