Giveaway

I'd like to welcome you to my blog if you are hopping over to visit from the Quilting Gallery as part of the Quilter's Blog Hop Party. Give a shout out to Michele for hosting this great event!  There are some awesome posts and giveaways happening and hopefully you'll be one of the lucky winners. 

While you're visiting please do wander around a little and get a feel for my style. I sometimes go modern and sometimes more traditional, but the one thing you can always count on is lots of color and strong design elements. 

2 lucky readers will win their choice of one of my patterns featured below. The pattern will be emailed in a PDF format.

Both patterns include:

• 2 different versions of the quilt as seen on the cover.
• Size options.
• Additional ideas on how to use the pattern to make different variations.
• Coloring page to envision your own color scheme.
• A bonus pillow project made from the scraps.

Great design is first and foremost in all my patterns. In addition to directions for making the cover quilt, I include a Design Lesson and a Design Exploration page so you can envision optional ways to use the pattern. My hope is that these ideas will inspire you to try your own version based on the basic pattern. A coloring page is also included so you can try out your choice of colors and fabrics.


First up is Cascade. This is a great pattern for large scale prints but is equally at home with solids. It works well with fat quarters and layer cakes. Below are some examples of ways  I have used this pattern. As you can see, there are many possibilities.

This is the Design Explorations page included in the Cascade pattern. 

This bold zigzag baby quilt plus the bonus doll quilt were both made from the Cascade pattern. 

Cascade was also used to make a bright summery tablecloth and matching table runner form the Tradewinds fabric line by Moda

Next up is Facets. This quilt also works well with large scale prints and is the perfect quilt for using up scraps, charm squares or your favorite fabric bundle.

This is the Design Explorations page included in the Facets pattern. 

This is the alternative quilt as seen on the Facets pattern cover.

These two pillows were made as part of the bonus project included in the Facets pattern.

To win your choice of one of these patterns (to be emailed to you in PDF format):

• Become a follower or let me know if you already are.
• Tell me which pattern you like best and why. 
• Please be sure that your comment links to your email. No email = no win. 
• Comments are open through March 15th (MST). Winners will be announced shortly thereafter. Good luck !

Thanks for visiting. Enjoy the rest of the hop.

Tradewinds, a quilt and table runner finished!

I posted earlier about buying a layer cake of the fabric collection called Tradewinds made by Moda. Now I rarely buy a whole line of anything. Not so much because I don't want to, more because my budget just doesn't allow for all my wants. Besides, I keep telling myself I need to work with all the glorious fabrics I already own. But this time I splurged. And then, instead of adding it to my stash, I made the top and actually quilted it! Probably no big deal to many of you but quite out of my norm. I tend to be a topper all too often instead of a true quilter. Working on breaking that bad habit.

I used a variation of my own pattern called Cascade (available here) to make the quilt. The fabric with the lattice design said napkins to me and the triangles in the quilt design made me think of folded napkins tucked under a plate. I bought additional yardage of the lattice prints and used the layer cake squares for the main blocks. Didn't plan on a border when I started but once the blocks were pieced they just wanted to be contained and given a little breathing room to set them off. Plus adding a border made the quilt finish at a better size for a tablecloth. I used a 2-color extra wide binding to echo the colors in the corners of the quilt. A little red check for the backing finished off the summery tablecloth/picnic feel.

One of the extra features in the Cascade pattern is the use of leftovers to make a second project. I thought I'd use the bonus blocks to make some coordinating napkins but just wasn't feeling any of the layouts. The thing about the bonus blocks is they are a result of the trimmed corners from the larger quilt blocks. Easy peasy to make as you sew the quilt blocks, but what you get is a result of the fabric combinations used for the quilt. Lots of layout options to consider with these extra blocks but I just didn't like them as napkins. When I abandoned the napkins and tried a zigzag layout I knew a small table runner was the answer. Love how the chevron design fell into place.  I decided to skip the border on the runner once I realized it fit perfectly on my side table as is, plus I had just enough leftover quilt backing to back the runner. Gotta love when that works out.  : )

Then my daughter pointed out how well the fabrics went with my colored vase collection. She's got a good eye for design don't you think?

I also posted earlier about the frustration of trying to quilt the top.  : (   Since I envisioned this as a tablecloth, I thought I'd make it lighter weight and thinner than a normal quilt. Didn't quite turn out as I imagined though. I used a piece of flannel instead of batting. Thinner, yes . . . lighter weight, not so much. As a matter of fact, it's rather heavy which was part of my quilting frustration. That and a kitty who wanted to help by sitting on top while I tried to move it around under the needle. The two just do not work well together. But she sure is cute. Meow!

The frustration level went down when kitty left and I had a day to regroup and relax. I quilted a grid on point in the inner red/pink area and then straight lines around the blue/green outer edge. The border got some free motion loops that echoed the design elements from one of the fabric prints. The eclectic bazaar feeling of the prints seems to call for some hand work as well. Now I'm not one to do hand quilting. As a matter of fact I've never done any hand quilting. But there are so many beautiful things being done by some of you that I feel inspired to give it a try. I might try some pearl cotton hand stitching in the borders. What do you think? Red? Blue? Green? Pink? Small pointed half circles between every two loops?

So this about sums up my Tradewinds experience:
Loved the Tradewinds collection and all it's variety.
Will definitely look for more fabric collections to work with.
Won't use flannel instead of batting again unless it's something small.
May try hand quilting but for now other project deadlines take priority.

All in all, I'm very happy with how both these projects turned out. Now it's time for afternoon tea in the backyard. Ta Ta . . .

WIP Wednesday

This marks the second week for me of WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced. There are so many wonderful projects in the works by the looks of it. Hop on over and check out a few for yourself. You're bound to be inspired. I know I am when I see all the new WIP's each week. Please leave a comment or two when you visit. It really helps turn all these WIP's into finished projects. Gotta love that.   : )

My WIP for the week is my Tradewinds tablecloth and matching tablerunner. I used my Cascade pattern (see pattern here) for the main tablecloth and posted about the trouble I was having with the quilting. It was heavy and I had a lot of drag. Hhmmmm . . . do you suppose it had anything to do with my helper who wouldn't get off the quilt? Oh the things I put up with.

Originally I was going to make matching napkins with the bonus blocks that are created when the top is sewn. But I just didn't like any of the block arrangements. What I did like was this great zigzag layout. So instead of napkins, the extra blocks became this tablerunner. I added a border to the main quilt so might do the same with this. Can't decide. What do you think?

I finished the quilting on the main quilt today and will bind later this week. Hope to finish up this little runner too. Then maybe I'll make some napkins from extra yardage if I find more Tradewinds on sale. Love this line. Here's the main quilt before border. I used a layer cake plus a little extra yardage of the bamboo lattice print. This pic was before the border was added.

I've also been working on my Tetris QAL blocks. Still having lots of fun with it and looking forward to the finished quilt. You can see my blocks here. Stay tuned next week and I'll share the finished Tradewinds quilt. Some weeks are better than others at finishing and there are times when I think everyone but me is getting lots done. Hope you're getting lots done too.

Stay cool and refreshed with a new pattern . . . Cascade

Summer has settled in with temps topping 100- way too often as far as I'm concerned. So what better way to stay cool than to surround myself with some of my favorite cool colored fabrics. They are refreshing and calming amidst all the heat. The fabrics in this quilt remind me of a gentle rain in a lush green garden. I think of hanging gardens and cascading water. 

Thus was born Cascade . . . another SpringLeaf Studios quilt pattern.

I'm excited to share this pattern with all of you because it has so many possibilities.

The pattern features two different versions; 

A Scrappy version and a modern take on the ZigZag.

Plus 7 additional optional looks . . . all from the same design.

This is the Scrappy version and features fabrics from Kaffe Fassett and Michael Miller. It's perfect for layer cakes, fat quarters and of course large scraps. One of my favorites so far because it feels so refreshing.

Here's the ZigZag version featuring Kona Cotton solids. This version also works great with prints. I have to admit this is my first all solids quilt, but it won't be my last. There's a calmness about these solids that is very soothing to me.

I have so much fun designing quilts. Each time I create a new design I'm always exploring what would happen if I tried this or that. What if I arranged the blocks this way? What if the emphasis is changed? What if this? What if that? Sometimes it's very hard to stop experimenting and actually get to work making the quilt. I need little elves to sew for me... that would be so cool.

When I decided to start publishing my quilt designs it seemed like a natural choice to include all these explorations in each pattern. I've never been one to follow patterns exactly as they come. A little change here or there. I'll bet a lot of you feel the same. I really want the Design Explorations page provided in my patterns to inspire you to make a quilt the way you want. Not only with fabrics that you love but also with a flare that makes you feel like it's your very own. Here's what the Explorations page looks like.

Here's a few other versions of Cascade I've made to give you an idea of how it looks in other fabrics and arrangements. Hope they inspire.

Cascade ZigZag made with large scale prints from Kaffe  Fassett and Michael Miller.
A mini quilt was made from the trimmed leftovers.

Cascade made using a checkerboard arrangement of fabrics.

Cascade made using a concentric ring arrangement of fabrics.

A pillow made from the trimmed leftovers. The pattern gives detailed directions for the pillow.

So here's what included:

Cascade gives directions and yardage for 2 different versions; Scrappy and ZigZag.

It includes 3 sizes; baby, lap/twin, and double/queen.

A bonus pillow project is included that's made from the trimmed leftovers of the quilt. Or you can make a mini like I did with the leftovers.

And of course it includes the Design Lesson and Exploration sections to inspire you.

Cascade is available on Craftsy and in my Etsy shop. Hope you'll give it a look. I'd really love to know what you think. Please leave me a comment and tell me which version is your favorite.

Stay cool . . . and quilt on.

Anne