Unraveled - The Cottage Garden Edition

And it's finished, and just in the nick of time ;)   First, some back story . . .   When I first heard that the Modern Quilt Guild Challenge sponsored by Riley Blake was using Amanda Herring aka the Quilted Fish's The Cottage Garden line I was so excited!!!  I used this line once before for this quilt tutorial and loved it, and I was so excited to return to it once again.  I just love the colors and the beautiful designs!!!   And then, as I explained in this post, inspiration hit and I knew that this fabric line would be just perfect for my Unraveled quilt design from my new book,  Irish Chain Quilts.  And here it is!!!!  Unraveled . . . The Cottage Garden Edition :)

This quilt was so much fun to make once again.  And I just love the way the chain just comes "unraveled" and disappears into the negative space of the quilt.  Such a fun way to add that Modern Twist to a beautiful traditional chain.   And don't you just love those colors of fabric, they just pop off of that beautiful white background so nicely ;)

I really wanted to do something fun and detailed in the quilting as I had so much negative space to work with.   So I decided to incorporate some of my favorite designs and mix them all up to create a beautiful flow or lines.   So there are Swirls, Echoed Paisley's, Pebbles, and Curly Q's.

And then I played with the scale of those designs.   In the bottom left corner they start out small, and then midway through the quilt they move to more large, and where the chain starts to unravel the design gets large and fills in all that beautiful space.   It is kind of hard to see, but I also quilted in the missing chains with the same double arches as the chains.  I love how they blend in so you don't notice it right off, but then you see it and it's like, Yes, the Chain does finish ;)

And look at all of that super yummy quilt texture ;)   Oh that just makes me smile ;)

Unraveled measures 63" x 75" making it perfect to snuggle up with on the couch with a good book.  And since I just started a new book, I just might do that this afternoon ;)

And that is Unraveled - The Cottage Garden Edition.   I hope you love it as much as I do.   And if you make this or any of the quilts from my Irish Chain Quilts book I would love to see them!!!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com or use the #irishchainquilts in social media and I will find it ;)

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

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

Playing with Scale in Quilting

Yesterday was an all out long arm quilting kind of day.  And, oh I had so much fun!!!   Majority of it was spent on my Unraveled Quilt Top for the Modern Quilt Guild Challenge, yup, due tomorrow :)   Like the original quilt in Irish Chain Quilts, I decided to once again play with the scale of the design.  Only this time, I added a few more designs.  Some of my favorites, Swirls, Echoed Paisleys, Curly Qs, and Pebbling all combined to just flow beautifully over the quilt top.

Playing with scale in your quilting is such a fun way to add a lot of interest.  All three of these next pictures cover the same amount of space in the quilt and you can really see how much the scale changes from

Large

to Medium

  

And down to Small

Love it!!!   And it really is a fun way to quilt as you can keep changing things up.  I just used my spray and disappear blue pen to mark the guidelines of where I wanted each size.  My favorite places to quilt is where it transitions from one size to another ;)   I just have to get the binding on now and I will share the finished quilt tomorrow.   So excited!!!!!

And I was on such a roll when I finished my MQG quilt, I decided to throw on this little secret Christmas project as well.   I know, not much of a sneak peek, but I can't wait to share it next week!!!  Don't you just love the way tiny pebbling looks like lots of little snowballs.  So fun!!!

   

Wishing you a Happy Quilting Day!!!!   I am off to finish some binding ;)

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 That Patchwork Place 2016 Quilt Calendar is . . .   Number #133 . . . Congrats Amanda Best !!!   I have emailed you :) 

    

     

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by The Intrepid Thread!!  Julie is currently hosting her Christmas In July Sale!!!!   You won't want to miss out on these amazing good deals!!!  You can find all of the details and links for the sale here!!    (Can we say super sale on Free Spirit, Art Gallery, and Holiday Fabric!!!!)   Sale will last until Midnight 7/29 so don't be late ;)  

   

Today's  Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for this stunning Custom Apple Pie and Soda Pop Fat Quarter Bundle  that Julie crated just for this occasion!!!  Isn't it just so happy, makes me totally want to go to the park for a picnic!!!  And oh,  I just love those apples!!!  Oh, and it also comes in a Half Yard Bundle :)  

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 what kind of apple is your favorite.   We love Granny Smith Apples around our house ;)  

 ENTRY 2 - Show your The Intrepid Thread love. You can follow them on Facebook, Bloglovin,  or Instagram.  You can Sign up for The Intrepid Thread Newsletter (right side bar) ,  Follow Their Blog, or you can Visit the Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your The Intrepid Thread love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, August 4th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

A Boatload of Bee Blocks!!

Well, it was a productive weekend and I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to start Monday Morning all caught up on my Bee Blocks!!!!  Just in time for the new August ones ;)   So here is what I was sewing this weekend.

First, the catch up blocks.   The June block for the Bees Knees group was for Amy of Diary of a Quilter and she asked us to make a 20" Swoon Block, and oh my, I just love the way it turned out!!!  I absolutely loved making this with all of those wonderful points to match up!!  So fun!!!  And the fabrics Amy sent, fabulous!!!!  Every time I make one of these blocks for a bee, I tell myself I am going to make the full quilt . . . someday ;)

The June block for the Beejeebers Bee group were these fun X blocks for Cathy ;)  We used the ever popular Badskirt Tutorial to make these ;)  I love the colors Cathy choose and had a lot of fun putting these together.   I had made them before, so they went together super fast, and yes, once again, I loved all of those points to line up :)

And on to July's blocks!!!   For the Bees Knees group,  Calli from Make it Do asked us to make some traditional T blocks.  This was my first time making the T blocks and they were fun and fast.   I think I might have to make some more of these in the future ;)

And finally, the July Beejeebers block was for Celeste, and she asked us to make a Quasar Star in wonderful Red White and Blue.   I still had all of my scraps out from the Log Cabin Block Swap so this was super easy to pick fabrics for ;)   Here is the tutorial we used for the block, and Celeste whipped up these measurements to upsize it to 12".
White (4) 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" squares (8) 2" x 2" squares  (8) 2" x 3 1/2" rectangles
Blue  (4) 2" x 2" squares  (4) 2" x 6 1/2" rectangles
Red (4) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares  (4) 2" x 3 1/2" rectangles  (4) 2" x 5" rectangles 

 And of course, I totally want to make an entire quilt of these.  So pretty!!!!

I am starting to notice a trend that with each new month's bee block, I add another quilt to my ever growing list of quilts I want to make.  Please tell me I am not the only one that does this ;)

But all is well, because I am all caught up ;)  For the next week at least ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!!

Weekend Sewing Plans

So this is the first weekend in July and a good part of June that I am actually home for the entire weekend.  Ya, things have been a little crazy busy around here, but in that good Summer Time Fun kind of way.   So I have some big plans for my first weekend home . . . and you better believe they include lots and lots of patchwork.

First up, I am staring a new little Christmas in July project :)   I love Kate Spain's new Jingle line, so fun!!!!   And I have something so adorable planned for this that I will be sharing soon.  Can't wait to start piecing it together!!

Next, I have my Unraveled Quilt from Irish Chain Quilts all pieced together into row, now I just need to get the rows sewn together and then I can move onto the quilting ;)  I have until July 31st to finish this for the MQG Challenge, so I would love to really get a lot done on it this weekend!

And finally, which I should have probably mentioned first, I have to catch up on some bee blocks.  I am normally never late on my bee blocks and these are just itching to be sewn up.   And they are such cute blocks too, I am looking forward to sharing them.    I have June's to get caught up on and July's to get done.   So 4 bee blocks, it is going to be so fun!!

So here is hoping everything plays along so I can spend some serious time in my sewing room this weekend ;)  

So, so you have some Happy Quilting Weekend plans too??  What are you going to work on???