Finally getting around to posting the pictures of the quilts that I worked on earlier this year.

I finally finished a quilt that I have been thinking about/working on for a very long time.    It's the 3rd try to get just the right pattern and fabric.  I think this one is the winner!  I love it!    It's for a friend's daughter.    It the fabric line called Summerhouse by Lilly Ashbury.

I wanted to post a link to the Eclectic Quilter's blog.  She featured the quilt that she quilted for me:

http://eclecticquilter.blogspot.com/

One of my favorite websites, Moda Bake Shop has a Love It, Pin It, Win It contest going on.   You pick your favorite pattern and pin it on Pinterest.  How on earth do you choose just One!!  So hard!   I'll give a go, one of my most favorite Moda Bake Shop Pattern is called Sunkissed Summer Squares by Maria Wallin.    I adore the Sunkissed line by Sweetwater.    Isn't the quilt just darling with the appliqued flower!! I love quilts with square blocks.   I am especially excited to try some applique with this pattern.   Applique and I have quite the complicated relationship - I love it, but it hates me!  I am not so good at it, I think I'm too impatient.   Anyway,   I have all the fabric bought, ready and waiting for me to cut into and sew this great pattern.  If only life would slow down and I could take advantage to steal away a few hours. :)

Summer Squares Quilt Pattern

I feel like I have to name some of my other favorite patterns:
Sweet Menagerie Nine Patch, Sunkissed Jewel Box, Ruby Pearl and Opal, Positively Perfect Nap Quilt,  Happy Weekender.... the list just goes on!

So my life got super crazy.   Two weeks ago, my middle girl broke her arm late at night, while my husband was deployed to the desert.   It was scary, but we got through it.    No need to explain the whole story, but my daughter ended up breaking her arm so badly that she needed surgery.   The doctors told me this at 11:00 p.m. in the emergency room.   I was so shocked.  They made us take an ambulance ride at 2:00 a.m. an hour away to a Children's Hospital.   My husband was half away around the world and he freaked out when he finally got my messages around 3:00 a.m. and while she was  being wheeled into a hospital room.   A really great orthopedic surgeon performed surgery the next day.  She has 5 pins in her arm holding it all together.  She later got a cast and that improved things so much, most of the pain went away.   So we are now facing 2 months of recovery for her and no soccer or gymnastics. :(    The Lord is so faithful and He was with us every step of the way.     I am very blessed.    But my quilting has a slowed down a bit.

Hubby got home the day Devaney got her first cast.  So glad that he is home!

Zig Zag Quilt Tutorial

So, thought I would write a tutorial on how to a make a Zig Zag Quilt with 2 layer cakes; using the Half Square Triangle Method.  I used a Moda Bella Solids Brown Layer Cake  (contains 40 squares) and Moda Salt Air Layer cake (contains 42 squares).   If you choose to use 40 squares of both layer cakes your quilt will have 320 half square triangles.  I chose to use only 34 squares of the brown and 34 squares of the Salt Air Layer cake, so I had over 270 blocks.

First take your beautiful layer cake squares and  pair up one solid square and one print square.  Lay the print square and the solid square rights sides together and pin.  Then draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the solid square.  Draw two lines forming an "X".   Using the lines as a guide, sew a quarter inch seam on both sides of the lines forming an "X". 

Now we are going to slice the sewn square up to make 8 half square triangles blocks.  Using your ruler and rotary cutter, cut the square in half horizontally.  Don't move the squares, now cut the square in half vertically.  Without moving the square, use your ruler and cut the square on the drawn diagonally lines.  Now you have 8 half square triangles blocks, open up the squares and press with your iron.  

Now this part gets tedious, but it is super important to square up and trim all your blocks.   The Moda layer cake squares can vary in size, so don't skip this step.  Each block should measure 4 1/2".  Be sure to line up the diagonal line on your ruler with the diagonal on the half square triangle block, that way all the blocks will have nice points.  Trim off the excess, turn the block and trim up the other side.  I had around 270 blocks.  I decided I wanted a large lap quilt, so I went with a 15 blocks by 18 rows lay out.

I divided my blocks into color ways.   My layer cake of Salt Air had five color ways.   I decided that I wanted my zig zig rows to be in rows of the different colors ways:  Red, Yellow, Green, Aqua and Blue. 

Now arrange your blocks into rows according to color.  To get the zig zag pattern I needed 2 rows of each color.    For the first two rows, I chose red for the color, so I needed 30 red blocks.   For the zig zag design, start with 2 blocks and place them on your design wall (or floor) and place them with the red color part of the squares touching making a little "mountain red color triangle".  Then lay out the next two blocks  and make sure that the red colors touch, go down and complete the row.  For the next row, grab two more blocks of the red color family and place them with the solid chocolate part of the square touching, making a little "chocolate mountain".  Repeat for the rest of the row.  The red zig zag design should be clearly seen.   For the next color I chose blue, so I needed 30 blue blocks and arranged them in the zig zag design for rows 3 and 4.

 Once I laid out all my blocks and was happy with the color and design I decided to sew my blocks in sections rather than in rows.    I divided my quilt into 4 sections and sewed each section, then sewed the sections together.  I find it easier to deal with a sewing a section of the quilt at one time rather than sewing all the blocks into rows and adding row by row.  But sew it however you like.

My top finished at 60x72".

Zig Zag Quilt Tutorial
I'm been thinking about posting a tutorial on a Zig Zag quilt that I pieced using 2 layer cakes.   But, the question is, do we really need another tutorial on Zig Zag quilts?  There are many of them out there, and here is a really good one
from Crazy Mom quilts:
http://beesquarefabrics.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-zig-zag-quilt-without.html
I made this quilt last year, and it was pretty easy.  The pattern uses a railroad block on the diagonal instead of half square triangles.

But I have wanted to make a Half Square Triangle Zig Zag quilt for a while.  I had 2 layer cakes, one solid Chocolate and one of Moda Salt Air.   Here is the pieced filmsy.  I'm happy with the results.

Just an update on my Jumping Bunny Penny Rug.  I finished it several weeks ago.  I really enjoy working with wool.

Some pictures of one of the quilts I've finally finished. This fabric is from Amanda Murphy's "Swiss Chocolate" line.   It is also her pattern called "Cafe Mocha".  This is the blue/cream/chocolate way of the line of fabric.    All those sashing pieces drove me crazy!  I am not so good at lining up the sashing perfectly.  I am currently working on another quilt with the pink/red/chocolate color way.   I have really enjoy this fabric line.

I've been absent for a while.  Hubby was deployed for 3 weeks to the desert, came home and is about to go back for another 3 weeks.   But I've been busy.  I'll do some show and tell later.  I pieced 5 tops, waiting on a few of them to get back from the Longarm quilters.    I'm also busy trimming 4 1/2 HST, about 300 of them.  Talk about boring!!

Wanted to post the latest quilts I've completed.   My brother and his wife became foster parents to a little girl and a baby boy.   I made them quilts.  Charming Stars for Jackson and the Lavender Bears for Selah.

Once again my awful skills at taking photos betray me.   In the Lavendar Bear/chain quilt, I think my color choice was a bit too jaring.  Oh well, the little girl won't mind.   I also made "The Yellow Brick Road" pattern by Atkins design as a charity quilt.    I felt like I learned some valuable lessons about color from this quilt.  I definitely messed up and did not get enough contrast in the fabrics I chose.

Hubby has gone TDY to Qatar for 3 weeks, so I've been a little blue.   I've having a little trouble getting motivated to get into the sewing room.  I like handwork and I am still plugging away at my Jumping Bunny Penny Rug.  I really enjoy working with wool. 

I made some blueberry muffins from scratch today which the girls and I really enjoyed.  YUM.   I sent a picture to hubby and he jokingly said he missed the coffee the most and then us second.   Note to self not to post these things on Facebook!

So here is the completed owl wall hanging on Brenna's wall.   I feel like I could have done a little better if I hadn't rushed things a bit.  But I get impatient to finish a project and sometimes get a little sloppy at the end.  sigh.

At quilt market I met the Long girls (Kristie, Apphia, Achaia, Abigail and Abiah) from Marie-Madeline studio.  They handed out a cool brochure that had a quick wearable fabric posie flower on it.  My girls had a fun time making them: 

Here is the link to the project on their website, which has clearer direction and good pictures:
http://mariemadelinestudio.typepad.com/mariemadeline_studio/2009/09/festive-posies.html

Since Robbi and Brenda are so good at Wool Applique, they really got me interested in starting a few projects.  At quilt market I saw some gorgeous wool by Weeks Dye Works and I couldn't resist.   So here are some of the projects I am working on.   I am using the technique with the glue stick and staples to hold the piece in place while I sew it.   It seems to be working OK.

The owl I plan on framing and putting on Brenna's wall.  The bunny pincushion I bought from Primitive Gatherings at Quilt Market.  The jumping bunny is something I saw online and decided to make with bright spring colors.

I pinched my finger closing up a ladder today.  OUCH!  That smarts!  It puts a brake on any sewing I was thinking of catching up on.   So instead I will post a fun picture instead:

So to Swoon or Sparkle Punch?  That is the question!

In case you have been hiding under a rock, it seems that blog world has exploded with the Swoon Quilt, by Thimble Blossoms.  It's basically the carpenter's Block in a big size.  http://thimbleblossoms.bigcartel.com/product/swoon-pattern-142-pdf-pattern

It's gorgeous of course, and it seems that everyone is making one.

But I think I feel more pulled towards Sparkle Punch, by Elizabeth Hartman:
http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2012/02/sparkle-punch-quilt-finished.html

I actually bought Elizabeth's book "Modern Patchwork" (her blog is OhFranson.com), but it just didn't wow me.  I don't like Quilting books where the first 30 pages are quilting basics.  I think Sparkle Punch is a much better quilt than the others quilts in the books, it's too bad that it is not in the book.  However, it is the cover quilt in Fons and Porter's July/August issues.

I came across Mary Johnson's great website, Maryquilts.com.   It's a great resource for free patterns for quilts, especially charity quilts.   Mary heads up the Heart Strings Quilt Project which makes and donates quilts for Charitable Organization like Quilts of Valor.     Go check out her website, and I'll wager that like me you will be stumped to pick a favorite.    So far I'm really digging the Red Rover quilt.  I think it would work great for my next Leader and Enders project.
http://www.maryquilts.com/red-rover/

Look at the Stunning Churn Dash and Stars:

Lots of things have happened since I last posted.   I had gallbladder surgery and after about 2-3 weeks, finally felt like myself.   But I didn't have much to sit around because:

My biggest news was that I got to fly to Kansas City, Mo and attend the Spring International Quilt Market.   Robbi Triplett, my dear friend owns Bittersweet Quilts in Joplin and she extended an invitation  for me to join her, her parents and Brenda Patterson at Quilt Market. What an experience!   Overwhelming, exciting, enthralling, exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time.    I took a few pictures, but I mostly I just walked and walked and looked at the booths!   I scored some fun things from Moda at the Sample Spree and attended a mind blurring amount of school house sessions.

I got to meet lots of great people.  Like Darlene Zimmerman, who was so sweet I even got an autographed fat quarter!  Paula Barnes of Bonnie Blue Quilts, now renamed to Red Crinoline Quilts,  Kelly Lee-Creel of Ever Kelly,   Lisa and Nick Bondean of Primitive Gatherings , Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill,  Amanda Herring of Quilted Fish, Jo Morton,  lots of wonderful people from Andover Fabrics and and most importantly, Pam Lintott and her daughter of the Quilt Room!  I just love her stuff and I have all of her books!  I was so fan girlie that I nearly embarrassed myself.   I saw lots of stuff, but more importantly I got to spend some time with Robbi, make a new friend with Brenda and get away from my family for a few days.

Well, it's been 3 weeks since my surgery and I'm feeling so much better.   Big news for me is that I'm heading to the 2012 International Quilt Market this week!  Yippee!   My very dear friend, Robbi, arranged for me to go.   So, I'm leaving the hubby and kids and flying on Wednesday.   I've been tasked by Sharon (owner of my Local Quilt Shop) to take LOTS of pictures!

I wanted to post a picture of the quilt I made for Catherine and Philip for their wedding.   I ended up having surgery the day before the wedding, so I didn't get to travel to Georgia.   Fortunately my mom and my two oldest went and brought me back a piece of cake.

So my big news is that I'm recovering from surgery.  I had my galbladder removed last week and it has really hit me hard.    I told my DH that it has not been nearly as much fun as I thought it would be.   I had thought that I would be sewing, watching the Bollywood movies that I stocked piled, but NO.   I can barely even stay awake longer than a few hours.   When I get to feeling better, I'll post pictures of the projects I was able to complete before surgery...

I love Marcia Hohn's site The Quilterscache.     I have spent hours searching the block patterns, sometimes hunting for a specific block or just browsing.
One of my favorites is the Depression Block:
 

http://www.quilterscache.com/D/DepressionBlock.html


I have hopes of one day making a gorgeous scrap quilt with this block.

I have such an affinity for Half Square Triangle quilts.    I have a Fat Quarter Bundle of Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks Voile waiting for me to cut up and make a fantastic quilt- inspired by Megan at http://lucyandnorman.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-folks-quilt-love.html
What's not to love?