Cheerio!

I love this quilt.  For Thanksgiving we traveled to the Smoky Mountains and I don't often take photos of my quilts on location, but this time I did.  For those who've been there, this was along the Cades Cove loop. 

Every once in a while, a quilt block comes along that is fun to make and I whip through them.  This was one of them.  

I used this gold print from Art Gallery Fabrics, I think it's from April Rhodes, Arizona collection, for the binding.

I quilted it in this cross hatch pattern, which takes forever, but looks very cool when it's done.  My lines are about 1.5 inches apart.  I used the pattern of the snowball blocks as my guide, so I didn't have to mark anything.  (Yay!)

backing came from my stash.  Feathers and woodgrain.  

Details:  

Pattern:  Cheerio by Camille Roskelley

Size:  64in X 75 in (after washing)

batting:  warm and white cotton batting.

fabric:  mostly stash, those feather are from Martha Negley and are pretty old, but a favorite!  

coming

I've been busy finishing up quilts, but haven't taken pictures of them to share here on my blog.  I did make progress today, and collected them all in one place.  They make such a pretty stack.

Today is December 1st!  2015 has been the fasted year of my life.  I'm hoping to slow down a bit and enjoy this season.  It's my favorite time of the year.

Sundance Dresden Pillow

I have been quilting for almost 15 years, and I have never made a dresden plate block, until now.  It's shameful.  I don't know why I waited so long...well, I do know--I've always kind of been afraid of them, a little intimidated.  

But this pattern was NOT scary.  The technique for the dresden plate is a little different from normal piecing, so it was a fun change for me.  The pattern is for a pillow, but this would make a lovely mini quilt.

Pattern can be found here, at the Fat Quarter Shop, and there's even a video if you are a visual person.  I love that we can find a video for almost every task that we need.  I am definitely a visual person.

A couple tools I used to make this block easier:

dresden plate ruler, bigger perfect circles (this was awesome.), appli-glue (wonderful for getting your plate, and circle to stay put until you stitch them down.

If you are interested, Fat Quarter Shop has a kit for the pillow (from the video).

more farmers wife blocks

I'm slowly plugging along, working on my farmers wife blocks.  I go through spurts.  Sometimes I love making them and sometimes I really want to work on something else...So far I haven't used templates (as the book recommends), I've just been using math to figure out pieces, but I'm running out of blocks that I can figure out.  I'm going to have to go to templates or foundation piecing.

All my blocks together.

I haven't decided how big I want it to be.  Probably lap size.

half square triangles (HST)

Tiger Lily, by Heather Ross, and half square triangles will always be a good combination (even on a wrinkled quilt top).  The half square triangle is one of the most basic blocks in quilting making it one of my very favorite blocks.  They are easy to make and versatile.  I appreciate intricate piecing, but I sure love simple.  (I use this method for making my half square triangles.)

I loved this quilt so much (and I need another baby quilt), that I decided to recreate it with prints.  I think I like it just as much, especially with these sweet Heather Ross fabrics.

Color

Several asked for colors from my Sunset Quilt, and here they are.  As you can see, I'm not a solid purist.  I like and purchase all for different reasons.  

• Kona, by Robert Kaufman, has every color under the sun and are the most affordable.  Plus I can find many colors locally without having to order online.
• Moda has a lot of colors too, and it seems that their repertoir is growing.  The feel and drape of the Moda Bella Solids is really nice, and it's getting easier to find.
• Art Gallery Pure Elements have the smallest variety, but the feel is my favorite.  It's so soft.

I used two very similar yellows because I didn't have enough of just one, but you can't really tell, they look pretty much exactly alike.

I have had that Timeless Treasures dark crosshatch print for YEARS.  I've cut off the name of the print, so I only know the manufacturer.  I love how it plays with the black.  Its very subtle.

Sunset Quilt

Another baby quilt for a friend and this one was a little hard to part with.  I really like it, and think I need to duplicate it in a bigger version, and try different colors, particularly one for a boy (quilt meausures 40x48in).

 Inspiration for this quilt found here.

 I almost bound it in a pink polka dot, but then I remembered I had these sweet, tiny hearts, and they were perfect.

I quilted around each square.  I mostly quilted in the white, so my white thread wouldn't stand out on the black

Sweet little Heather Ross Ballerinas on the back.

(fabric colors: here)