LMS

Photo Courtesy of Grace Jones Photography

I had the privilege of sharing some of my quilts with Grace, of Grace Jones Photography for a recent photo workshop she hosted.  This girl has some mad skills with the camera.  We met through a lecture she gave at a Mom’s group I go to at my church(which she also attends).  I was impressed not only with her photography but also her demeanor–she is the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet. =)

This was the little stack of quilts that I ended up sending her way.

She said the girls were going to be wearing pastels and these were the quilts she thought would work.  And here they are!:

Photo Courtesy of Grace Jones Photography

I am such a fan of quilts on a line(I really need to get cracking on my quilts on a line Ringo Pie quilt!)–and I think they are a beautiful backdrop.  This last picture is my favorite…

Photo Courtesy of Grace Jones Photography

Thanks Grace for inviting my quilts to participate! =)

If any of you are in Ohio and are looking for a great photographer–definitely check out Grace’s website or facebook page.

Hey All!–Thanks everyone for visiting my blog on the Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks tour.  I got to see a lot of familiar faces/names as well as many new faces/names.

The winner of the Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Magazine is comment #116:

Congrats Jill!–I’ve sent you an email.  For those of you who would also like to get this great magazine in your hands, it will be hitting stores by tommorrow.

In other news, I am finishing up the binding on a fun Quilt Market quilt I made over the weekend.  It’s totally unlike any other quilt I’ve made and it’s pretty cool.  This is a quilt for P&B Textiles using an upcoming fabric line Classical Elements.  Both the quilt and the fabric collection will be shared at Quilt Market and the quilt pattern will be offered as a free pattern on P&B’s website.  I’ll be sure to share more about the quilt when the pattern is available.

This fabric line ties in very well with the whole “Low Volume” thing you’ve been seeing popping up everywhere.

And lastly, in techy news–I’ve joined twitter(insert trumpet fanfare ha!).  As my husband can attest to, I am sooo not a tech lover but I do enjoy getting sneak peeks and seeing what’s going on in the fabric world via twitter–I’ve watched from afar for awhile & now I’ve joined up.

If any of you care to follow along you can find me @lmshabby.  And it would certainly help my morale to have more than 6 followers! =p

Happy Quilting!

It’s that time of year again!–Time for the  Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks blog tour. =)  This magazine is such a wealth of great block designs and I am excited to have a block featured.  It even made the cover–can you guess which one it is?

As many of you know the whole quilt/block design process is my favorite part of making a quilt–it ranks right up there with my love of fabric.  This block came to be after a fun time playing in EQ7–it combines traditional patchwork with a slightly modern spin.  The solids contribute to a modern feel–they are a mix of Moda Bella Solids and Cross Weaves, Robert Kaufman Kona Solids, and maybe a Free Spirit Solid or two).

The instructions for my block, Block #700, can be found on page 71 in the Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Volume 7  which hits stores next week.

This block is pretty cool used just by itself in a quilt–here it is in Marmalade by Bonnie and Camille for Moda:

But, it’s even niftier when used with a 2nd block–Here I’ve used a 2nd block and Folk Tale Fabric by Natalie Lymer for Lecien Fabrics.

Or this one using Avalon by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda Fabrics:

The possibilities are endless!  You can see another take on my block in the sampler, block tester, Sheryl Patton made.  It’s pictured in the Block Tester’s Gallery on page 90.  She used Lovely by Debbie Beaves for RJR fabrics and combined my block with two others to create this lovely sampler.

You can see more peeks of the blocks in the issue, visit other blogs participating in the blog hop, and enter great giveaways over on the Quiltmaker’s Blog.

Giveaway Details:

Would you like to win a copy of  the soon to hit Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks?  Just leave me a comment here & tell me about your fave type of quilt–do you prefer modern, traditional, applique?  I’ll draw a winner on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Giveaway has now ended.

I apologize in advance if you have received several notifcations from me today!–I was having some email glitches but I think all is well now!

I really enjoy working with the folks over at P&B Textiles.  I have worked with a number of their collections of fabric over the past year–while I enjoy working with all of them sometimes one comes along that really catches my eye.

Village Green by Carolyn Gavin is one such line:

Photo Courtesy of pbtex.com

I have purchased Carolyn’s fabrics in the past–I’ve used her seed pod fabrics from Wild Thyme in a number of different projects.

Seed Pods from Wild Thyme

Probably my fave project made using these little seed pods is my cathedral window pillow I made for my partner during a round of the Pillow Talk Swap over on flickr:

So, when the opportunity arose to work with Carolyn’s latest line of fabric, I was pumped.  And the fabrics are so cute–trees, birdies, houses…really cute.

I really like the trees print as well as the little ditsy floral print:

I knew right away I wanted to play off the fabric theme…and Urban Village was born.

This  quilt combines piecing and applique & the free pattern is available here.

I played around with the pattern a bit this morning in EQ7 to check it out in another fabric line.  And I think it’s very cute in Bonnie & Camille’s Happy Go Lucky line.

Hope you are having a fun productive Friday!  If you make an Urban Village quilt I’d love to see it!

Today I am doing an exemplary job of procrastinating.  I have managed to take some photos of some new fabric that has rolled in.  I have been on a bit of a fabric buying diet so new fabric in the house is exciting.

These are a mix of Lecien’s “New” Old New 30s collection(not to be confused with the out of print collection) & a couple other Japanese prints mostly purchased from Sew Deerly Loved.

Such fun, fruity, feminine florals!

It’s a rainy day here in Ohio–usually these sorts of days make me feel like diving into something…but, not today.  Might be due to a not so great night of sleep…or just being lazy.  Rainy days are also great photo taking days…and my blooming trees are looking so pretty right now.  This is my little weeping red bud tree:

And my weeping peach:

Have you guys ever seen the water drops guy over on flicker?…amazing water drops photos(they aren’t photoshopped folks–they are just that amazing).  I had to try a couple myself–not nearly as cool but fun to do!–especially on a procrastination day. =p

Are you up to anything amazing today?–I need a kick into a much higher gear!

A few arrows have joined the feathers I was working on last week and a quilt top has been pieced and quilted.

Both the feathers and arrows were paper pieced patterns that came together somewhat quickly.  Although paper piecing does take me a bit longer than traditional piecing.  I think it’s all the up/down, trim, press, snip, cut that goes on.  At least this time around none of my fabrics were cut too small.  There is nothing more annoying than when you get that piece sewn on only to realize that it doesn’t cover your seam allowance and then the paper falls off when you are fixing it cause its way too perforated…ha, you can tell I’ve been there done that a time or two!

For this quilt I decided to do some wavy straight line quilting.  This is such a fun take on traditional straight line quilting.  With all of the white space on this quilt I wanted something fun.  I marked off the lines in 1 inch increments.  After quilting all of them(the blue lines) I went back thru and quilted in between many of them.  I’ve found if I mark in 1 inch increments my walking foot fits perfectly in the middle so I can do 1/2″ increments if I want to without having to mark all of them.

I much prefer marking my quilt tops ahead of time for straight line quilting.  I know many people don’t mark or just mark a bit and then line up their foot for the remaining lines but I think I’m a little too picky about the “straightness” of my lines and I’m always happier when they are marked beforehand.  I love that my walking foot is almost exactly 1 inch wide as it does allow me to get away with less marking and still maintain perfect straight lines.

Today it’s a binding sort of day–and maybe a bit more marking on a different quilt top that my four year old is just itching to have completed. =)

And for those wondering, the wavy stitch is a #4 stitch on my Bernina set to a pretty wide width/length to make it curvy.

Linked up with WIP Wednesday.

Hey Folks!–Today we are enjoying day #2 of Spring Break–we kicked it off with a fun bit of snow yesterday–lots of snow & Spring Break, both events are equally as much fun for me now as they were when I was a kid.

Anyhoo, today I’m sharing my Petals Runner.

It’s in the current issue of Fons & Porters Easy Quilts.  This was another fun collaboration with RJR fabrics using fabrics from their line of Cotton Supreme Solids.

Love these colors!–And I think the back of the runner is just as cool as the front!

This is a great project if you are interested in trying out machine applique.  Gentle curves & a symmetrical template make this a breeze for a beginner.  I finished it off with a bit of straight line quilting–and voila!–a great spring project.

Happy Quilting!

I get asked quite frequently for a tutorial on this little pillow which I made for a class I taught awhile back.  It’s gotten pinned and repinned quite a bit over on pinterest–especially after Joann Fabrics pinned it(how fun!).

Can’t take credit for the Daisy pillow–I received it in a round of the Pillow Talk Swap.

I’ve decided to offer the tutorial here on my blog for anyone interested in making one of their own!  It’s a super easy tutorial with tons of pictures–including all of the finishing details(binding/pillow back).  The quilting is easy to do & a perfect project for a beginning quilter.

Patchwork Pillow Tutorial

The tutorial itself doesn’t have the supplies listed so here they are:

Pillow Supplies:

25–3″ squares of assorted fabrics

1/2 yard fabric for pillow top backing and pillow backing or a 15″ square piece of muslin for pillow top back and 1/3 yard print fabric for pillow backing)

1/4 yd. fabric for binding

14″ square piece of batting

505 Spray & Fix temporary adhesive

Perle Cotton

embroidery needle (size 5)

water erasable marker

thimble (optional if preferred for quilting)–quilting can also be done without a thimble for this project

12″ pillow form

Enjoy!

It’s not very often that I choose to work (or get to work with such a non-girly palette).  These are solids from my stash–I’m not sure what they all are–I’ve got Art Gallery solids, Amy Butler Solids, Kona & Bella all mixed in there.  I can tell you that the 2nd from the bottom solid is a Moda Bella solid–I think it might be my favorite aqua ever!–It’s a soft eggshell aqua that I dearly love.

Feathers are all the rage right now & I’ve had this quilt on the back burner for awhile now.  The pattern is one I drafted–an easy little paper pieced number.

I have another fun little paper pieced block that I’ll be adding to my cute little feathers.  These little blocks are the perfect rainy Monday project!

What’s on your agenda for today?

Yay!–I finally get to share my Garden District pillow with you all!  I designed and made this pillow almost two years ago!  Yikes, I can’t believe it’s really been that long.

I designed Garden District for Heather Bostic’s book Pillow Pop–a book featuring fun pillow designs from over 20 different designers/bloggers.

The fabrics I used are from Anna Maria Horner’s Little Folks voile collection and a tan linen.  The combo of the two weights of fabric was a little bit tricky to work with but the end product is so striking.

One of my fave parts of the pillow is the colorful hand quilting using perle cotton.  I’ve been asked often what type of needle I prefer for quilting with perle.  I use an embroidery needle–the larger eye and longer needle are perfect for working with the heavier weight thread (I usually use 8 wt. perle).

I finished off the pillow with a simple envelope enclosure but I added a fun little strip of pieced fabric to spice the back up a bit.

I’m happy to have my pillow back home after it’s long absence!–It’s happily living on my couch. =)

BTW, in case you missed the scrap basket update in my last post, they were spoken for in just a couple minutes after my post.  They’ve been mailed off and received into their new home where they will hopefully be made into something fabulous.

I do still have scraps that I will need to unload again sometime and judging by all you scrap lovers (myself included!) a scrappy giveaway may be in order at some point in time.

Happy Sewing!