Stacks

Where do you store your finished quilts that aren't gifts???  I find my stacks are growing lately, and having them sit on the shelf in my sewing room isn't the greatest "display" of them and it makes me sad because they don't get "used" either.  

In the past, I have pretty much given away most of my quilts. (and even sold a few, wish I could take that back but we were in school and every bit helped :)    Then I got this teaching gig in January and realized that I no longer had the quilt (one of those school sold ones) that I would be teaching.  So I had to make up new ones.  Not horrible, but it has made me realize that it is kind of nice to have a sample on hand.    (Although, I still have given away some of my pattern quilts, they just were given with the disclaimer that if I ever teach a class on them that I get to "borrow" the quilt for the weekend :)  P.S. These are my samples for my class in January, I am so excited!!

 And in general, I find that it is just getting harder to part with some of my quilts.  Like for instance, the ones that have been published.  They just seem special and hard to give away.  Probably crazy sentimental to get attached to a quilt, but there you have it.  And let's be honest, it's not like I don't need a lot of excuse to make a new quilt when ever there is a special occasion on the horizon.  I always have another idea in my head to try :)     And all of this leads to big stacks.  So what do I do with the stacks???

Turnovers - A New Pattern

Introducing Turnovers, my newest pattern  now available in my Pattern Shop :)    Turnovers is a wonderful geometric design that allows for lots of color.

 This pattern  is suitable for beginners and up.  The pattern includes 2 coloring pages as the color layout options are endless.

And it comes with size options!!!!  Turnovers has options for a Baby, Twin, Queen, and King size quilt.

This cover quilt is the Twin size and the fabrics are Marmalade by Bonnie & Camille for Moda.   I love this line, it has such a wonderful mixture of color in it along with great designs.

A little detail.  I used an all over free motion quilting design of daisies connected by loops and heart shaped leaves.  I made a video tutorial of this design that you can see here if you are interested :)

So, do you want to make one for yourself??  well then pop on over to Burgundy Buttons, where Leah has made up a Turnovers Quilt Kit featuring the same Marmalade prints that I used!!!!  The kit is for the Twin size.  The kit also includes the pattern for free and the fabric itself is at a major discount.  What a deal!!!  So pop on over and grab a kit for yourself so you can get going on your Turnovers quilt.

Wow, I can't believe this is my 5th pattern!!  Thank you to all of you great readers, there is no way I could be doing this without you!!!  Your the greatest and I am so happy I get to spend a bit of each day with you :)  Have a Happy Quilting weekend!!!

Everything In Between Quilt Show

Last Saturday I was able to attend the Everything In Between quilt show that was hosted at my Alma Mater, SUU.  I almost missed the show, attending the last day it was open.  Boy am I glad I made it!!  Here are some of my favorites!!

 This is a stunning about of applique!!  And I just loved the way the colors were used.  Doesn't it look like splashed paint :)

I absolutely loved this butterfly quilt.  (As did my daughter who visited earlier with her school class.)  The colors are so incredibly vibrant and the applique is just phenomenal.  I wonder how many pieces needed to be added to create this masterpiece.

Another stunning quilt.  The girl is made using turned edge applique.  Can you image creating all those curves with turned edge applique??    And I so love the vibrant colors.

And the quilting . . . blown away !!  I mean seriously, look at these feathers.  Amazing!!  I wish I would have taken a close up of the face.  It looked so realistic because of the lines created by quilting.

And lastly,  this was my favorite.  Doesn't it look more like a painting than a quilt!!  This quilt spoke to me on a personal note which is probably why it is my favorite ;)

All in all, a very inspiring and wonderful visit!!  I loved that I could get right up close to these amazing works of art to see how the quilters made each quilt.   It is just so fascinating and thrilling to me to be able to understand the process of their creation.  I mean, I could stare at a painting all day and still have no idea how it was done, but this, this I could really appreciate because I felt like I understood the process of creation and therefor appreciated all the more the beauty and talent they show.  I don't know if that makes any sense, does it??  Have you ever felt like you can appreciate something more because you know what it took to create it??

Edit -  I am sorry that I can't add the names of the quilters.  I was so enthralled with the quilts that I totally forgot to even look at the artist.  I didn't realize this until I went to write the blog posts and the show was closed then so I couldn't go back.   I know this is super insensitive and I feel horrible about it.  If anybody happens to know the quilters of each piece please let me know, I would love to add their names to their work.

The Short List

So it has been a little while since I have posted a WIP list and the list is getting much shorter!!  Yippee Skippee.  So why is the list so short??  Well for one, the holidays are coming so if it doesn't get done now, it won't get done soon.  Second,  I also recently decided to have surgery early next month that will have me out of action for a little while so I have tried to narrow down what I could take on.   So, if I am being honest, the list got short because I am putting things off to the new year.  Yup, come January the list will get long again, including a Starburst Quilt-A-Long :)

So what did I work on this week??  Well, I finished my Turnover quilt.  This will be a new pattern that I will be releasing on Friday :)  I am so excited.  And I tried something new with the binding.  I used a blanket stitch to attach it.  I really like the way it turned out ;)

I got my blocks for my Modern Blocks quilt all done.  Now I just need to sash them up and finish the quilt top.  I just love Simply Color!!  What a great debut line for Vanessa!!

And I meant to get to this stack all week.  But never fear, there is a good chuck of nap time set aside for this pile to get cut up :)

I also finished up my rewrite of my Summer Breeze pattern to include size options.  This was a huge accomplishment because it has been on my mind for some time!!!  I can't tell you how good it felt to finish ;)

So  . . . onto the super short list.  (Yes, it is sad that I consider this short ;)

Designing Stage

• Circle Meets Square Quilt
• Scrunchy Stripes

Piecing Stage

• Jessi and Me Quilt 
• Super Shabby Spin
• Modern Blocks Quilt

Quilting Stage

• Solids Quilt for Free Motion

Completed Stage

• Turnovers Quilt
• Braided Irish Chain - Queen and King 

Summer Breeze Remake

Summer Breeze was my very first pattern and will always be special to me because of that!!  And as expected, I have certainly learned a lot since writing it.  It has been in the back of my mind for some time to go back and remake this pattern to include size options as well as some trimming options to speed up the sewing process. 

And I finally did it yesterday!!!  So now, my Summer Breeze pattern is offered in 4 sizes :)  Yippee Skippee!!!  Here are the sizes you can make it in.  (I really want to make a baby one soon :)

I just love this quilt!!  I totally wish I would have originally written it with size and trimming options to begin with.  With that said . . .  If you have purchased a Summer Breeze Pattern from me, either in my etsy shop or  at Burgundy Buttons and would like a copy of the new PDF Summer Breeze pattern with the size and trimming options, please send me an email at happyquiltingmelissa (at) gmail (dot) com with the old pattern attached (just so I know you purchased it) and I would be happy to send you a copy of the new pattern for free.

Oh . . .  and I have been working on a new pattern as well :)   I am about half way done with the writing so hopefully it will be coming soon :)  It's nice that pattern writing is getting a little easier to do with each one.  I guess with everything in life, practice makes perfect.  (Well maybe not perfect, but at least easier :)