Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Day 6

Welcome back to the second week and day 6 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop!!  I am so excited for another fun filled week of Irish Chains!!!

The first quilt up today is String of Pearls from the Modern Patchwork section of the book and Freshly Pieced is the hop stop!!! Lee Heinrich is an amazing Modern quilter who is constantly blowing me away with her stunning designs.  She is the host of the vastly popular WIP Wednesday and I think her new block is quickly going to become a quilt WIP.      Pop on over to see her block ;)

String of Pearls is that classic Black and White quilt that I knew I wanted to include in the book.   And I totally want to make a second one now in the reverse color layout.  I am just in love with the big, bold, design of this quilt!!  And I got a special little surprise in the mail the other day, turns out String of Pearls will be making a second debut in the Martingale 2016 Calendar.  So fun!!!



The next quilt to be shared today is Daisy Chain from the Appliqued Chains section of the book and Christa Quilts is the hop stop!!!  Christa Watson wears lots of hats in this amazing industry.   She is a shop owner, blogger, teacher, and  author.  She is full of energy and passion for quilting and always ready to share that passion with others.   I got to meet Christa in person in her home town of Vegas on my way out to Quilt Market.  Then later that year, she stopped by my house on her way to the Sewing Summit.  It is always fun to get together with kindred quilting spirits.   Pop on over to check out her stop :)

Daisy Chain has a special little place in my heart.  I explained earlier that the original concept of Irish Chain Quilts was inspired by the Double Irish Chain Quilt my mother made me for my wedding.  So I wanted to create a design in the book that was special for her.   My Mother was born in England and always shared wonderful stories of how she would sit out in the daisy fields for hours making Daisy Chain bracelets, necklaces and head garlands.   So this quilt is a tribute to that memory from her childhood. I love that Applique gave me the ability to create a chain that mimicked those daisy chains!!


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!!  Pop back in tomorrow for Day 7 of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop ;)

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 ;)