Blossoming Stars featuring A Touch of Celtic Batiks

Today I am so very excited to share a new Batik Quilt finish with you. Aren't you just loving all of the new fabric collections in Expression Batiks! Each one is just as beautiful as the last. And this new A Touch of Celtic Collection is just so bright and happy, you can't help but smile at it. And with it's Irish Flair, I wanted to make a quilt with an Irish Chain in it. I knew right away that it would make the most gorgeous Blossoming Stars Quilt . . . and indeed it did!!

I just love how bright and rich all of these A Touch of Celtic batiks are! And the inlaid designs of Celtic knots, thistle, sheep, and plaids are just so great!! Doesn't it just make you want to visit the Emerald Isles!! I know it indeed makes me want to visit, (and there might even be some behind the scenes work on a quilting trip that does just that come 2026, more to come :) And the background fabric I used goes just perfect with this line!! It is Candy Coated Powder Pastels and the hits of color just match perfectly with this line, while still giving the feel of a soft white background. A super happy combination!

The Blossoming Stars Quilt is Fat Quarter Friendly, so you can just grab a bundle and get piecing. The pattern also comes with 5 size options, so you can make from a Baby size up to a Queen/King size. The quilt shown here is a queen/king size and is going to make such a lovely wedding gift!! Don't you just love how you see stars at one point and then flowers at the next. It really is my favorite thing about this design.

And while this might look a little complex, the Blossoming Stars Pattern is broken down into some basic quilting techniques.   The block is also large, so it is forgiving, especially as each block is made with mostly one fabric. While making this quilt, you will learn an easy 3 Pin Method for Curves and you can use my Modified Drunkards Path templates to make cutting them a breeze. And I know, curves can be intimidating, (especially with a tighter weave batik) but I promise, if you give them a try, you will be breezing through them by the end of the quilt. You will also learn No Waste Flying Geese, and Strip Piecing techniques. So ya, lots of technique, and wonderful step by step instructions and diagrams to walk you through each.

And this was quilted with a gorgeous all over traveling bloom and leaf design!! My amazing MIL, Barbara did the quilting on this and it is just beautiful. I just love how she can be so free with her quilting and just see what comes as she quilts along, it really makes for some beautiful quilting!

And that is my Blossoming Stars Quilt featuring the A Touch of Celtic Collection!! I hope you have enjoyed this post and make your own Blossoming Stars Quilt!!! And if you do, I would love to see it! You can share your projects with me on social media with the hashtags #happyquiltingmc and #blossomingstarsquilt and tagging @happyquiltingmc or email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com. I can't wait to see your Blossoming Stars Quilts!!

Thank you so much for sharing this finish with me! I am just loving the joy of Batiks and am already working on some more Batik Quilts to share with you soon. Thank you so much to my wonderful friends at Riley Blake for making such amazing collections of beautiful Batiks!

I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Day!

Groove Quilts x 5

 Back in October, I got the wonderful opportunity to make 5 samples for my good friends at Moda using the just now released Groove Fabric by new Moda Design Emily Van Hoff.  These quilts and fabrics are a groovy way to approach a more Whole Cloth Quilting concept.  I had so much fun piecing outside of my "norm" with lots of big squares, strips, and fun borders. 

Emily Van Hoff designed 5 quilts to go with her new Groove Fabric Line and each has some fun piecing techniques to go along with them.  It really made making these samples so enjoyable.  They are all a Lap Size and whip up pretty quickly thanks to the large scaled prints and piecing.   And Moda has made a Project Sheet that includes the Patterns for all 5 quilts!!  You can download it right here ;)  

So let's look at each of the quilts.  Up first is Square Dance and it finishes at 67" x 83" making a large lap size quilt.  This one has some fun strip piecing in all of the sashing, so again, it goes together really quick.   And the wavy border is a print, so no piecing there.   And I love the striped binding!!  In my opinion,  you can never go wrong with a striped binding!!  

I quilted this one with a wavy cross hatch.  This is such a fun way to quilt.  I just load the quilt one direction and do wavy lines across the entire quilt.  Then I reload the quilt in the other direction and again, wavy lines across the quilt making the crosshatch.  I love all of the groovy shapes it creates when the wavy lines meet.   So fun!!

Next up is Knot to be Missed.  This one finishes at 60"x 60" so it is a great lap size quilt.   This is a whole cloth center with two borders sewn together and then some fun cornerstones.  The cornerstones are needle turned applique (which I did by machine because we know I can't handsewn).  And I just love the little addition of those circles in the corners as it just make this design pop!!  

And when it came time to quilt this one, I wanted to use the center print as inspiration so I did a loose feather design.  Then to make it look more like ribbon twisting, I went back and echoed the loose feather.  I think it came together so well, and I love how it mimics the center!

Next is Picture This and it finishes at 52" x 59", again a great lap size!! This one was super fast to put together as it is a center whole cloth that is just bordered 3 times.  And I love how the prints are all so bold and different that it makes each individual border just stand out.   So fun!

And this one I quilted with an Angela Walter's favorite.  You can never go wrong with gentle meanduring, but putting the meanduring in a little box adds so much to the design.  I just love how this one came together, and again, I think the meanduring in the box really mimics that center design. 

Next is Find Your Groove and this one was probably my favorite to make, even though it was the one that took the most time because of all of the curved piecing.   It was just so much fun to figure out how to do that giant inset circle!!!   And it looks so cool!!!  And the little scalloped border, those are also pieced, just like the center.  I just love pieced curves, they look so awesome!!  And making sure the scalloped borders also lined up took a second, but it was all so worth it when it came together.  It just is a really great piecing quilt!!!  And it finishes at  60" x 60".  

And if you are going to have a giant pieced circle in the quilt, you better believe I am going to quilt it with lots of fun swirls.  This really is one of my favorite quilting designs, and this time, I tried to make sure that each swirl has several layers in it to really deepen the swirl effect ;) 

And last but not least, Along These Lines.  This one is the smallest of the group finishing at 46" x 52", so it would work perfect in a lap size.   And while this one looks like a whole lot of piecing, it is actually very little as it uses the two striped prints,  It is just cutting different strip widths and then sewing them together.  How cool is that!!  

And this one I quilted with organic lines across the quilt.   It just fits perfectly with all of the striped piecing.  And for fun, I used several thread colors!!   I just love how they colored threads pop on different pieced colors.   It's not often that I use multiple color threads, but this one was perfect for it!! 

And those are my 5 Groove Quilts!!!  So what do you say . . .Do you want to whip up your own Groove Quilts??   The fabric has just been released so look for it at your favorite quilting shop!  And again,  you can find the 5 patterns here and get your Groovy Quilting On!!!  

Thanks so much for popping in today and sharing these finishes with me ;)

I hope you all have a very Happy (and Groovy)  Quilting Day!! 

Stardust Quilt Along!!

 It's time to finish up our quilt tops for the Stardust Quilt Along!!!    This is Fat Quarter Shop's 12th Charity Quilt Along and I am just loving it :)    This Charity Quilt Along benefits Make a Wish, and there have been so many wonderful Wishes granted from this Quilt Along in the past, and I can't wait to see what Wishes come true this year!!!!

So here is  Round 2-4 of the this beautiful Stardust Quilt!!!!   Isn't it just so pretty!!!   The pattern for this month can be found right here!!   Lots and lots of wonderful HST's for this month!!  And don't you just love those starts in stars :)    The quilt is beginner friendly, so we can all make a Stardust Quilt  ;)  

 Fat Quarter shop is encouraging a donation  for the use of the free quilt pattern.    Please give what you are able, every little bit counts towards granting a child's wish ;)   There has already been over 40,000 raised, and with Fat Quarter Shop and Moda matching those funds, it will go a long way to grant wishes!!  

   If you want your Stardust Quilt to be just like the original there is a  Stardust Quilt Kit and Backing Set featuring Summertime Fabrics by Camille Roskelley for Moda Fabrics.    I am using Sagewood Fabrics by Crystal Manning and one of my new favorites for the background, Grunge Vanilla!!  Don't those bold prints just pop!!  I just love it.      And now, all that is left to do is quilt it and bind it :)   Yippee!!

 

So pop on over and get your Release 2 of the Stardust Quilt Along and come sew for a great cause!!!  

A Dress Update

So it's been a few weeks since Jessi started her linen dress, and we have made some progress!!!  Jessi and I were able to figure out the directions to this point.  We pieced the bodice top and skirt pieces together.  This was a few slight curves in the bodice, and big long straight seams in the skirt.   Then the instructions started talking about gathering and we called Grandma for help ;)  

Grandma is so very helpful and I am so grateful she has the knowledge of dress making that is a little out of my comfort zone.  So Jessi and I learned together and I am already feeling more confident (ya know, just in case she wants to make another dress :)   Grandma taught us how to gather the top and bottom of the sleeves and then add a cuff to the bottom of the sleeve that actually fits!!

Jessi was so excited about having 2 sleeves that looked like sleeves, even when they were inside out.   At this point, it was time to go home so we put the pieces aside for another day of sewing.   And that was such a fun day!!  

Once again, we had Grandma to help but this time we were at the Quilt House ;)  Jessi added the sleeves to the bodice and then sewed the bodice to the skirt!!!!   And how gorgeous is this Botany Linen Print from Alli K for Moda Fabrics.  Did you know that Moda Fabrics makes Linen Prints!!  It has been a dream to work with!!!  It just sews up so nicely :) 

All that is left is a zipper, neckline, and skirt hem!!!   We are so close, maybe next time we will be sharing a finished dress ;) 

Stay tuned, for the finish!!  

GO! Looking Sharp Quilt and Free Pattern!!!

I am so excited to share a new finish today!!! Isn't it just so fun!!!   When my good friends at AccuQuilt asked if I wanted to make a project using their new GO! Cactus Medley Die, I instantly thought of pairing it with  the Bear Paw BOB die, I mean, it just has that perfect southwestern feel to it and what better could go with cacti ;)  And I came up with this Looking Sharp throw Quilt!    And there is a free PDF Pattern that you can download right here :) 

I went straight to my green solid scrap drawer and my white solid scrap drawer.  I love that it is so easy to use up scraps with the AccuQuilt system.   And isn't it so fun having all shades of green, I can't believe how many different shades I had in my scrap drawer ;) And who doesn't love a great scrapbuster!!!   

And yes, I busted scraps in the background as well.  We all have lots and lots of Shades of Solid White hanging around, might as well use them!!  You will use up 2 1/2 yards of scraps in white and green for this project, and I am happy to report that I can now close these two scrap drawers!!      The Looking Sharp Quilt finishes at 46" x 62" so it is a great lap size quilt.   

And if you have been following here for a while now, you know that  I just love my AccuQuilt for cutting scraps!!   And especially for applique.  Can you imagine having to trace and then cut out all this applique by hand.   You also attach the fusible before you cut, so it is super easy to layer and stack your applique to the quilt and then fuse it .   Below is a list of the dies I used, see which ones you already have in your die library and maybe add a few more ;)   

APPLIQUE DIE

 GO! Cactus Medley (55687)            

PIECING DIES

GO! Bear's Paw - 14" finished (55461)      

   GO! Strip Cutter-2-1/2” (2” Finished) (55017) - Binding and Sashing

And when it came time to quilt it, I wanted to do something dense because the applique was over the whole quilt and I did not secure stitch around each applique.   Rather I decided to secure stitch it with the quilting.  And because all of the piecing was in straight lines, I was able to do a L and E line.   It's one of my favorite ways to quilt when I have "straight piecing guides" and it also is dense enough to secure all of the applique.    I love all of the texture it adds to the quilt as well.   

And that is my Looking Sharp Quilt.   I hope you love it as much as I do ;)   Isn't this picture AccuQuilt took of it just so great!!!  I love seeing it styled in a home setting.    And if you want to make your own, you can download the free PDF Looking Sharp Pattern Here.   And when you are done I would love to see it!!!    You can share a picture on social media with #happyquiltingwithmc and tag me at @happyquiltingmc or you can always email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.  I can't wait to see your Looking Sharp Quilts!!

Oh, and fun little side note . . . if you want to see this shared on YouTube, you can visit the Die Launch video.  It is shared towards the end of the show at 44:25 minutes in :)  It is just so fun to see your projects loved so much, just makes me smile.   

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