January Bee Block

Its a new year for the Bees Knees group and what a fun way to start it out!!!  My bee block went in the mail this weekend and it was so much fun to make!!!  I just love piecing big blocks and this one is no exception coming in at 24" square!!!

The block pattern is from the book Simply Retro by Camille Roskelley and you know after seeing this picture of the full quilt from the book, that it was totally added to my list of quilts to make some day.   So fun and so fast!!!!   Gotta love it!!!

What a fun way to start out this bee!!!   And I just love that every month I add another to make quilt to the list.  No wonder it is getting so long ;)   

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

This Way and That Way

It's Road to California this week and I was super excited to get to make this beautiful solids quilt for Moda to hang in their booth!!!  It's called This Way and That Way and how fun is it!!!

The pattern is from Me and my Sister Designs new book 12-Pack Quilts.   What a fun idea for a book, quilts made up using just 12 Fat Quarters.  Sure made the cutting go super fast!!!    This quilt uses the Bella Solids Designer Pack by Vanessa Christensen.   Aren't those colors just so yummy!!!

This was such a fun quilt to make.  It went together fast and I really enjoyed working with the solids.  Every time I make a solid quilt I remember how much fun they are ;)  And I just love the fun secondary designs in the pattern!!

When it came time to quilt, I had some fun with a whole lot of custom quilting   For the chain I quilted some echoed arches.  I love the way it made the center shapes look like jewels, especially with all of the beautiful jewel toned fabrics ;)  In the background I quilted some tiny all over echoed swirls, paisleys, and pebbles in the background to make the chain pop.   This is a favorite filler of mine and can be found in 180 Doodle Quilting Designs ;)

And I have to say, I am pretty excited about the borders!!!!    The inner boader I did some fun ribbon candy, and the outer border, I did a giant Feather!!!!   Eeekkk!!!!   I am still a little nervous about my feather ability, but I reminded myself the only way to get better is to practice . . . .and so I did . . . and I love it!!!   And I really felt like I learned some tidbits along the way that will make me all the more confident to tackle feathers the next times.   So excited!!!!     And yes, I totally changed the thread out from white to navy which helped to hide a few of the oopsies, gotta love blending ;)

And it adds such a beautiful yummy texture to the quilt!!!  I will admit, this one was kind of hard to put in the mail ;)  I am just so happy with how it turned out :)

But I am sure it is looking awesome at Road to California and that makes it all great!!!   I am just so happy I got to make up this awesome quilt for Moda and already have it on my list to make again!!!  And that is my This Way and That Way Quilt!!!

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

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

January Aurifil Designer BOM

I am so excited for the Aurifil Designer Block of the Month and I think the biggest reason is because I just love playing with rainbow blocks!!!   January is all about Blue and I just love Janet Clare's super fun Blue Block!!!  Frame blocks are so great :)

I had so much fun going through my scrap drawer and picking the perfect blues to go together.  It really is a lot of fun to play with the contrast all in one color.   And I used my lovely Aurifil threads for the beautiful blanket stitch around the applique.  I wanted a nice contrast on the applique so I used 50 wt Medium Deft Blue #2783 on the white petals and my go to 50 wt White #2024 on the navy petal.   I love how they just pop!!!

And you might have noticed by now that my center applique is not a cat as in the original pattern.  So ya, I am totally afraid of cats (and dogs for that matter :)   I know, silly right.  I am working on it but the long and the short of it is that they scare me.    So, rather than be reminded of my irrational fear every time I look at this quilt, I decided to change out the center applique.    And wouldn't you know it, I had these awesome Impressions Templates from Fat Quarter Shop's December Sew Sampler box that I have so wanting to try out.    And yup, they were awesome!!!

So that is my Aurifil January Block!!!  You can find the Janet's fantastic pattern for this block right over here and then be sure to pop over here to read Janet's interview.   She is such an amazing designer and it was so fun to get to read all about what inspires her designs!!!  

Looking forward to February where we will be playing with Blue Violet!!!  (I might have already started pulling fabrics I was so excited ;)  

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

MQG Charity Quilt - Graffiti Quilting

I always love to participate in the MQG Charity Quilts.  And as an individual member, I have the opportunity to work with wonderful new quilters each year as we are rounded up in a region.  This year our Mountain West gals decided on wonky stars in alternating scale.  Aren't they just so fun!!!   And guess who got to do the quilting ;)   Yup, little ole me and I figured what would go better with it's wonky improv. goodness than some Graffiti Quilting!!!

This was my first time doing grafatti quilting and so it is fair to say I was a little nervous.  But the only way to learn is just jumping in and doing it right :)  The quilting was a ton of fun, but a challenge as well.   I think the hardest part was changing designs so much.  Each time I would have to stop for a second and decide what I wanted to quilt next.  Thank heavens for some awesome FMQ books in my little library that I could reference when my brain was fried :)

And I quickly realized that grafatti quilting is all about everything touching and "growing" out of the previous design.  This was a bit of a change from  the usual way I quilt all over as I don't tend to cross over of bounce off anything.   But I got the hang of it after a little bit and just love the way the designs transition into each other.

And ya, because of all of that, this thing is quilted like crazy dense ;)   I lost track of how many bobbins I had gone through.  My guess would be somewhere around 20.   So let's just say this quilt will be able to hold up to some serious love :)   

All in all, I am so super happy with the outcome!!!   It was something new, something that forced me out of my comfort zone and stretched me as a quilter.   And I am glad to say that I really feel like I learned a lot and finished up a pretty awesome quilt at the same time.

And once I had all of the background finished, I changed my thread out and quilted up the fun little stars ;)   You can't really see the quilting on the front, so here they are from the back.  Aren't they just so cute!!!

And speaking of the back, how cool is this pieced back!!!  And it really shows off some of the quilting which is pretty fun as well ;)

 And I have to say, my favorite thing about working on these MQG Charity Quilts is seeing how everyone can come together even across long distances.  This was such an awesome collaboration ;)    Everyone in our group, including Theresa, Christi, and Liz made stars and then Alissa pieced the top, Jane pieced the back, I did the quilting, Melanie is adding the binding, and then Naomi is putting on the label and quilt sleeve.  It just warms my heart to see how much love was put into this.

Oh, and just in case you are wondering, this fun quilt was named A Galaxy Far, Far Away  :)   Gotta love me some Star Wars!!!

I hope you are having a very Happy Quilting Day!!!

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  2 yard of  Moda's White on White Snowflake from Kimberly's Fabric Stash is . . . Number #107. . . Congrats Sewgirl!!! I have emailed you :)    

  

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Shabby Fabrics!!   Shabby Fabrics has so many fantastic Kits and Projects and I absolutely love their Laser Cut Kits!!! Shabby Fabrics  also has an amazing  Clearance Section, you are sure to find some amazing deals here :)

And for the Terrific Tuesday Giveaway  Shabby Fabrics is giving one lucky winner  a Kewpie Love Fat Quarter Set!!!!!   How adorable is that, one lucky readers is going to have the perfect collection  to make something adorable for Valentines Day!!!

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 a favorite hobby/leisure activity other than quilting/sewing :)

 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, January 24th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!