Another December Finish!

When I was waiting for the minky backing for my daughter's quilt last week, I was able to finish quilting a pile of tops. This was the final one in the pile:

It is a remake of a quilt I made several years ago, using Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow collection, and my Bricklayer pattern.

This is a great pattern for showing off some larger scale prints.

I wasn't sure what to back it with, and then I remembered the backing fabric I rejected for this quilt a week ago. Perfect!

Reminder: my patterns are on sale through New Year's Eve in my Etsy and Craftsy shops!

Pantone Radiant Orchid Challenge 2014

Once upon a time, Pantone announced their 2014 color of the year was Radiant Orchid:

And a quilter got really excited. Because this color appealed to her. And because this was the year she was going to enter the Pantone Quilt Challenge. So she went online and did some fabric shopping:

And she found some grey Moda charm packs in her stash to use as the background (Bella silver?). So she cut up her radiant orchid fabrics and made a bunch of half-square triangles. Because even though she didn't have a plan yet, half-square triangles are always a good place to start, right?

And then suddenly it was March. And March is always a crazy month. And she was besieged by a surge of custom orders on Etsy.

And she missed the entry deadline.

So, then the challenge went from being an online one to a personal one. But that's okay. Because in May, she had a brainstorm about what to do with those half-square triangles:

And she couldn't resist this cute print for the backing:

And she bound it with Chevron in Orchid by Heather Bailey:

And it is now available as a PDF pattern!

(Remember -- my PDF patterns are on sale for the next few days in my Etsy and Craftsy shops!).

 

Big News, and a Pattern Sale

I have some big news. In case you haven't heard, new regulations that take effect January 1st require anyone who sells digital products to customers in the EU to pay VAT on those sales, regardless of what county the seller resides in. I currently sell automatic downloads of my quilt patterns on both Craftsy and Etsy, and like many other small businesses, I am unable to deal with the paperwork that would be involved in cooperating with this regulation. Therefore, as of January 1st, the following changes will take place:

1. My Crafsy pattern store will be closed completely

2. My Etsy store PDF patterns will no longer be available as instant downloads, and will only be available to customers in the US, Australia and Canada.

After December 31st, PDF patterns bought on Etsy will be emailed within 24 hours of purchase (usually much sooner). The reason I am limiting sales to the US, Canada and Australia is because I have found that most of my pattern sales come from these countries, and because of the time it would take to customize shipping profiles on all of my Etsy pattern listings to include every country except those in the EU.

I am really sad about losing the instant download feature -- I loved the idea that someone halfway around the world could purchase my pattern while I was sleeping, download it immediately, and possibly finish making the quilt top before I woke up! Etsy announced recently that it is working on some seller tools to deal with this VAT issue, so I am hopeful that in the not-too-distant future, I will be able to offer automatic downloads to all non-EU countries.

Because of all of these changes, I am offering a sale on all of my PDF patterns in both my Etsy and Craftsy shops (from now thru around 11 PM EST on December 31st!). If you are in the EU, or if you prefer the instant download feature, please take advantage of this sale before everything goes away on January 1st! No coupon code required -- patterns are already marked down!

 

Twenty-Five Quilts, Day 23

This quilt features the Juggling Summer collection by Zen Chic for Moda fabrics. When I first saw the collection online, I didn't think I would like it, but when I saw it in person at a quilt shop, it caught my eye. I purchased a charm pack and 1 1/2 yards of yardage with the intention of making a small patchwork squares quilt.

I pulled the project out on an unexpected snow day last week. As soon as I started laying out the squares, it became clear to me that I needed to go a different route. There are a lot of duplicates in the charm pack, and many of the fabrics read as solids, so I knew I needed to cut them up for better distribution, and add a neutral solid.

I cut all of the charm squares in half, added some strips of Kona Ash, and another coins quilt was born!

I always have trouble choosing a good quilting thread color when my background is light grey -- every time I try a grey thread, it always seems too dark. I ended up with an unexpected choice, a pale golden color called "Antique" by Connecting Threads. I actually used it on my last three quilts, and I think it will also be the perfect choice for my next quilt top, which also has a grey background.

I'm not sure what I'll use for the binding yet -- I don't have quite enough of the backing print leftover, but I might have a green in my stash that will work. I'm stockpiling some binding projects for a trip next week!

 

Twenty-Five Quilts, Day 21

Thanks for following along on my Twenty-Five Quilts blog journey!

This scrappy quilt was made from two of Sandy Gervais' older Moda lines: Grand Finale and Essence. It is very jelly-roll friendly, and I'm in the midst of writing the pattern out for multiple sizes.

When I was working on the blocks, I sort of forgot that they were on the larger size, so the quilt ended up being 60" square -- a nice, generous lap size!

I had some coordinating backing fabric, but not quite enough, so I stretched is with some pieced strips. I have been having lots of fun with pieced backing lately!

This one is definitely a little out of season right now, but I'm glad to have it finished!

 

Twenty-Five Quilts, Day 12

Thanks for joining me on my Twenty-Five Quilts in 25 Days journey. To read all of this month's posts, begin here.

Today's quilt is a custom order I completed back in October. The customer wanted a twin size quilt using mostly organic fabrics in greens and greys. I drafted a few pattern options, and this is the one she chose (a pattern is currently in the works and will be in the shop soon!)

I love the backing she choose -- an adorable organic sheep fabric from Happy Drawing by Ed Emberly.

She also requested Hobbs organic batting, and although I didn't like working with it (very stretchy and fragile) I must admit that once the quilt was washed, it was very soft and cozy.

 

Work in Progress Wednesday

Remember last Wednesday when I blogged about these?

Well, in the space of one week, they have become this:

Ready for trimming and binding!

The blocks are very addictive, and once I got started, I just couldn't stop!

The pattern to make this quilt (in multiple sizes) is available in both my Etsy and Craftsy shops.

Here's my latest WIP:

The fabric is from the Shelburne Falls collection by Denyse Schmidt. Yes, there is more triangle trimming on the horizon!

Linking up to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday, and Work-in-Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

 

 

 

Final New Year's Quilty Resolution

My final New Year's Quilty Resolution is to write four new patterns this year. I'm happy to announce that my first new pattern is ready to share!

This pattern was inspired by an antique pinwheel top that I finished in June for a colleague. I loved the double pinwheel block design and decided to play around with it a bit:

I made some blocks out of Denyse Schmidt's "Blossom Reel" fabric collection (from the DS Quilts fabrics sold at JoAnn's). I really love how Denyse's fabrics have a modern, yet vintage vibe, so I thought they would be perfect for updating this antique design.

One of my favorite parts is they grey dot sashing! Grey is such a great color to pair with modern fabrics.

The pattern is written in a tutorial style, with step-by-step instructions and full color photos throughout. I have included four size options (baby, lap, twin coverlet and full). It is now available for immediate download in both my Etsy shop, and my Craftsy pattern store.

Here's a comparison of my inspiration, and the finished update. I'm looking forward to making the pattern in another fabric collection, as well!

 

Twenty-Five Quilts, Day 9

Here is another quilt that has taken a while to reach completion!

I started working on the blocks last spring, and blogged about them in July. Not much got done for a while after that, but in October, I finally gained some momentum and finished the top.

I used a snuggly red minky fabric for the backing:

And a fun stripe for the binding (I love striped bindings!)

I am loving the color combo in this quilt!

 

Twenty-Five Quilts, Day 7

Do you ever have one of those quilts that gets done faster in your head rather than real life?

I fell in love with this collection of fabrics (Seaside by October Afternoon for Riley Blake) before it was even released, and purchased two layer cakes as soon as they came out (June 2012?). I knew I was going to make a Hip to Be Square quilt, and finishing it was on my list of 2012 summer projects!

Fast forward to sometime in 2013 --layer cakes remained uncut, and I purchased backing and binding fabric on clearance, with every intention of making the quilt!

By the end of Summer 2013, I think I had finally finished the blocks, but not the top!

I'm happy to report that this one is finally quilted and bound -- and I still love it! I recently purchased a fat quarter bundle of October Afternoon's newest line, Sidewalks, so I hope that one doesn't sit for a year and a half!

 

New Pattern in the Shop!

Finally -- a new pattern for the shop is ready!

I really like to gear my patterns toward making the most of precuts. This pattern uses one layer cake, and some background fabric, to make three different 40" square baby quilt designs.

The patterns are based on enlarged quilt blocks (hence the name "Baby Blocks!") so they go together really fast -- perfect for when you need a baby gift in a hurry!

I made my three sample quilts from Kate Spain's "Terrain" collection.

As a bonus, I have included instructions on making three pillows in the same designs, using one charm pack and less than a yard of background fabric.

These were made from Amy Butler's Love fabrics, and one of my favorite background choices -- Kona Ash.

The pattern is now available for purchase in my Etsy shop, as well as my Craftsy shop!

I've got some other patterns in the works, so I hope to have more to share soon!

 

Momentum

It's amazing what you can get done with a little momentum! I was inspired to continue working on my Salt Air Stars quilt after reaching the halfway point on Sunday. On Monday, I made two more blocks...

 

Today, I finished the last four...

...which inspired me to assemble the top!

Obviously, I wasn't inspired to iron it -- please pardon the wrinkles!

I have a piece of minky I'm thinking of using for the backing -- maybe I'll get to the quilting later this week!

Linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, and Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.