Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Day 8

And here we are, at day 8 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop!!  So fun!!!

The first quilt up today is End of the Rainbow from the Improvisational Piecing section of the book and Fresh Lemons is the hop stop!!! Faith Jones is an awesome blogger, pattern designer and author.  She has an amazing sense of design and always is shaking up her layouts!!  I always love seeing what she is working on!!!    And oh my, you are going to love her block!!!   Pop on over to see her stop ;)

End of the Rainbow obviously is the cover quilt of the book, and I can't tell you how happy I was when I saw that.  If someone were to twist my arm and make me choose a favorite quilt in the book it would be this one.   And I think that is because this quilt has so many wonderful memories tied up in it.   This quilt actually has a scrap from every quilt I have ever made, so when I see it, I think of all those quilts and the stories behind them and the friends and family they were given to.   And that just makes me smile ;)



The next quilt to be shared today is Bitty Bits from the Improvisational Pieced section of the book as well and V and Co.  is the hop stop!!!  Vanessa Christenson is a doll and I just love her to bits!!!   I absolutely love, love, love her use of color in her fabrics and projects!!!  And she is just the nicest and sweetest person, I always look forward to seeing her at Market and getting to chat!   Pop on over to see her stop ;)

Bitty Bits is so much fun to make.  It is completely charm pack friendly, so there is no need for cutting, you can just right into the piecing!!!  I have had so much fun playing with the colors in this quilt with my 3 mini's and already have plans to make this large quilt in the reverse color layout and I can't wait!!!!


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 9 of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop ;)

Irish Chain Quilt Blog Hop - Day 7

Today is day 7 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop!!  Let's get to it!!!

The first quilt up today is Fractured from the Improvisational Piecing section of the book and Moda Cutting Table is the stop hop!!! Carrie Nelson's, of Miss Rosie's Quilts fame, recently joined the land of Moda and it has been so fun to watch her over there.  She is giving everyone a wonderful taste of life at Moda!!  She does just about anything and everything as I think her official job title includes something about Wearer of Many Hats :)  And if you haven't read her blog posts before you are in for a real treat!!  I absolutely love her writting!!!     Pop on over to see her stop ;)

Fractured was such a fun quilt to make.   If you are new to improvisational design this is such a great place to get started.  You have all the fun of wonky angles and corners, but still the classic X structure, making it a little easier for those of us, like me, that need a lot of balance in their wonky ;)  And all you need is a layer cake to start, making this quilt go together super fast.  So fun!!!



The next quilt to be shared today is Connect the Dots from the Appliqued Chains section of the book and Little Miss Shabby is the hop stop!!!  Corey Yoder was in the very first online quilting bee I ever joined almost 5 years ago.  We have been good friends ever since.  Corey is a wonderful blogger, designer, and recently became a new Moda fabric designer.  Her first line, Prarie, is oh so fabulous, I absolutely fell in love with it at Market!!  And her block is equally fabulous!!!  Pop on over to see her block ;)

Connect the Dots is a simple applique quilt using basic circles.  The fun thing about this is almost any die cutting machine has dots, so that can really speed up the process of making this quilt ;)  I loved the combination of the solid colors.  It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I used the scraps to bind it and was going for a sunset concept.  Green on the bottom for grass, into the oranges and yellows, and then the brilliant reds and raspberry at the top.   Just those little fun extras that make it special ;)


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 8 of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop ;)

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 ;)