The Best of McCall's Quilting Feature!!!

I got some absolutely spectacular news the other day!!!  My very first published quilts that I posted about back in Jan of 2012 are making a special featured appearance!!!!    Hugs to Enjoy, are being featured in McCall's special publication, The Best of McCall's Quilting, Summer 2016 :)   Eeekk, so exciting!!!

I absolutely loved designing and making these 2 little baby quilts ;)  It remember it being such a leap to submit the designs to a magazine.   It was so very scary and exhilarating, all at the same time ;)  I was over the moon when they were accepted and I got to start making them up!!    Natalia Bonner did an amazing job on the quilting on both of these quilts.  I think it is funny that I was living in Indiana at the time and she was up in Utah County.   Two moves later and now we are both in Southern Utah and only 35 minutes away from each other, so fun!!  Oh, and as you can see, I have always loved applique from the very start of my quilting journey ;)

 Hugs to Enjoy are now hanging on the wall behind the long arm in the quilting studio.  I smile each time I see them there, and realize what a big step they were in the journey that has brought me here today ;)  So I can not even begin to express how amazing it is to have them featured in this wonderful collection of McCall's Best.  Such an honor!!

You can see all of the quilts in this special The Best of McCalls Quilting Issue right here  and I have to say, I am in some amazing company, so honored :)    There is also a cute little video on facebook  that shows all of the quilts in detail!!  This issue is now available on newstands, stores, and also at McCalls Quilting ;)   And I just want to say a huge Thank You to McCall's for including me in this wonderful publication.  Once again, I find myself on Cloud 99 :)

Thank you for popping in today and each day ;)  I am grateful each and every day that I get to share my quilting journey with each of you ;)   Happy Quilting!!

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 SummerFest Charm Packs and 1 yard of  Moda Grunge from  Kimberly's Fabric Stash  is . . .   Number #5 . . . Congrats scottylover !!!   I have emailed you :)    

 

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Shabby Fabrics!!   Along with hosting the giveaway, Shabby Fabrics always has amazing Sale and Clearance fabrics!!!!!!!   They just added a whole ton of fabric to make room for new stuff, so be sure to check it out!!  So fun!!!  

And the Terrific Tuesday Giveaway , one lucky winner will get to pick their favorite Fat Quarter Bundle Set of  Welcome Home Collection 1,  a new fabric line designed by Jennifer Boswell and Shabby Fabrics for Maywood Studios ;)   So fun!!!    I just love how beautiful and soft the colors and prints are. Just lovely!!!  

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 that tells me you favorite place to be "Welcome Home"  ie. . .  somewhere you grew up, where you lived at some point,  where you live now, a favorite place to visit that is home away from home, just anywhere you like to say "Welcome Home" about.   

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Shabby Fabrics love. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest, or Instagram.  You can Sign up for the Shabby Fabrics Newsletter (top right hand corner) or 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 Shabby Fabric Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, June 28th, when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

The Quilters Paper-Piecing Workbook

Today I am excited to share with you a wonderful book by a good friend that has really helped me to grasp paper piecing :)  It is called The Quilter's Paper-Piecing Workbook and is by Elizabeth Dackson.  And if you know Elizabeth at all,  you know that she is an amazing paper-piecer!!!

I have not done a whole lot of paper-piecing in my quilting journey, just a little project here and there that have honestly, all been basic enough that I probably could have traditional pieced it as well and it most likely would have looked better ;)  In fact, if you remember this semi truck "paper-piecing" project I planned for my father's quilt (p.s. Happy Father's Day dad!!!)  that is about my only real truly paper piecing experience and even half of that I ended of sort of just piecing along the way ;)  

Anyhow, since starting the Splendid Sampler this year, I have been doing a little more paper piecing, and it has been a little trickier, to say the least ;)  So I can not begin to explain how grateful I was when Fons and Porter sent me a copy of Elizabeth's The Quilter's Paper-Piecing Workbook!!! 

The thing that jumped out to me right away, is how the book is really broken down into a learner's guide ;)  Elizabeth stars you out with the Low Down, and then moves into some wonderful Basic Getting Started projects, and then gradually moves you up to More Challenging.   And finally, she includes a whole chapter of super adventuresome designs for you to tackle when you feel confident in the skill!!!  So it really does "take you by the hand" to start out your paper piecing journey and lead you in to an endless world of possibilities ;)  

And I was super excited to see yet another fantastic Selvage Quilt!!!!!   I keep finding more and more amazing selvage quilt designs and I want to make them all!!!  Good thing I have enough selvages that I could probably very easily make them all ;)

And while going through Elizabeth's book, I was super excited to see all of the wonderful little tidbits she shares that go right along with the stage of the book that you are in.   Starting from basic understanding tidbits on how to help you get things all figured out, to advanced troubleshooting tidbits on how to line up those tricky triangle pieces just right every time ;)  It is like having Elizabeth sitting right next to you teaching you with all of her paper piecing experience and wisdom.  So great!!!

So if you are like me, and have maybe just dabbled in Paper Piecing and really want to learn the technique, I highly recommend Elizabeth's The Quilter's Paper-Piecing Workbook.  It (along with practice, of course) has helped me a ton in feeling more confident in my paper piecing ability :)

I hope you are having a very Happy Quilting Summer!!!!   And just 3 more days until the release of the Summer Solstice Quilt Along Cutting Requirements ;)  I am so excited!!!  Are you quilting along??

Splendid Sampler Saturday!!

It's Saturday and today's Splendid Sampler post is doing a little catch up.  Does anyone else feel like summer is rushing by and you can't quite keep up.  Gotta love the summer chaos and fun!!  So let's get to the blocks ;)

First up, the Constant Needle block designed by Laurie Simpson.  I just loved this adorable applique flower ;)  It has been one of my favorites so far, and I am just so happy with how the fabrics came together.  The pinks really add to the pop of the red.  So fun!!

Second is the Selvage Saver block designed by Pat Sloan.  This is another one that I just loved!!!  I have been saving selvages for some time and was so excited to get to use a bunch of them.  And yes, now I totally want to make an entire quilt of these, in monochromatic colors.  Wouldn't that just be awesome!! 

And Third is the Lemonade block designed by Amy Gibson.  I will admit on this one, I struggled a bit with those tiny tiny curves.  I was trying to do it with just the three pins I use on curves, and I should have used more.   I am hoping some of that puckering will come out in the quilting, or I just might need to give this one a second go.   But hey, 1 1/2" curved blocks, not to shabby!!!

And Finally, The Wishful Garden block designed by Kristyne Czepuryk.   And since we all know that I am not much of a hand stitcher, I decided to try out some of the fancy flower stitching on my Bernina for this block ;)  I just love all of those cute little embroidered flowers, and I love that I had an excuse to use some of those fun stitches that I never get a chance to play with ;)   

And with that, we are all caught up again.   Looking forward to next Saturday and some more fun Splendid Sampler Sewing :)

Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Desert Rose!!

It's always a fun day when I get to share a new quilt, and I have been waiting to reveal this one for a bit now.  So exciting!!! This is Desert Rose and it's my stop on the Desert Bloom Blog Tour!!!   EEEkkk, I just love it ;)

This all started way back in January, when Amanda Herring, designer of this beautiful Desert Bloom fabric, was teaching at our local Cedar Retreat.  Amanda and I have been long time friends in this amazing industry :)  I was absolutely delighted when she asked if  I could design a quilt for her upcoming line to hang in her booth at Market!!!   In fact, I was so excited, I went home that evening and drafted up Desert Rose.  It was one of those amazing designs that just wants to come together, and I could hardly wait for the fabric to arrive so I could make it up ;)

But of course, there was some waiting involved ;)  But the fabric came, and my design became a reality.   And here is Desert Rose hanging in Amanda's booth at Spring Market in Salt Lake ;)   Ahh, i just smiled every time I walked past and saw how pretty it looked hanging there.  Ya, and Amanda and I were having a little fun hiding behind the cool canyons :)

And because it is always great to share that we all still need to use our seam ripper sometimes . .  . I have a little story for you today.   So this was Market sewing.  Meaning, you are working with a short deadline.  And sometimes when I get going really fast, I tend to "miss" something.  Sadly, I didn't realize my "miss" until I had gotten to this point (with all 9 blocks, because of course, I am chain stitching) that somehow I had managed to turn all of my Half Square Triangles in instead of out.    Horror!!!

Grab the seam ripper, laugh and cry at the same time while your turn your rows into swiss cheese.   I am happy to report that it didn't take as long as I thought it would to fix these :)  Sometimes its a good reminder, that no many how many quilts you make, it's always good to take the extra two seconds and double check your design by laying it back out again.   And yes, with that said,  I am sure I will do this again in the future.   I think it just goes along with the Market sewing experience ;) 

But it was totally worth all of the unpicking (and a few of those tears)  because I just love this finish!!!  I am over the moon for all of those wonderful points matching up to make perfect little rose blossoms. And I have to say, the pink background was a bit of a stretch for me as white is my "comfort zone" of backgrounds, but it was Amanda's favorite print in the line and I am so glad we decided to use it as the background because I just love it!!!  Always good to try something new and stretch ourselves ;)  

When it came time to quilt Desert Rose I really had some fun and stretched myself again with some super custom quilting!!!  In the center of the blooms I quilted tiny swirls and then in the petal part of the bloom I quilted tiny echoed paisleys.  In the sashing and background of all of the blocks, I quilted tiny swirls, paisleys, curls, and pebbles. (lots of tiny :)    I really wanted the piecing to stand out, so I decided not to quilt on the prints at all, but just to stitch in the ditch :)  And combined with that tiny element going on in the background, it really makes the prints just pop.  So fun!!!

And oh, so much lovely texture.  I will admit, I might have run my hand across the top a time or two to feel all of that amazing texture ;)  This is one of those quilting finishes that I am just so loving and also, a little blown away that I did it ;)   You know how you just keep getting gradually better at something with more practice, but you don't really realize it because it is that gradual change.  Well, when I finished this one I looked up and saw a quilt on the wall I did a while back.  Ya, practice makes a difference ;)  Gotta love a little perspective!

And I love that you can see the design popping out in the backing as well ;)   It is just a double quilting bonus!!!  And don't you just love this super fun grey swiss dot for the backing and that awesome strip print from Desert Bloom as the binding.   It is those little fun parts of finishing that just make me smile every time ;)

And that is Desert Rose!!!    I hope you love it just as much as I do :)    And if you do, I am happy to announce that there is a Pattern in the works and it is Coming Soon!!!!   And of course, like all of my patterns, there will be lots of size options :)   I can't wait to release it!!   Here's hoping the excitement will carry me through the actual finish writting it part :)

I want to say a huge thank you to Amanda for having me as part of this super fun Desert Bloom Blog Tour as well as part of her booth at Market!!!!  Desert Bloom is now available in stores and trust me, you are going to want to sew with this :)    It is absolutely beautiful fabric!!! 

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

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