To Market To Market

It has been a busy week of sewing around here and what a relief on Thursday to head to Fedex with 4 finished quilts!!

One in a box to Michael Miller Fabrics 

using a new version of Pretty Bird Fabrics for Christmas!

Bright and cheerful birds surrounded by Christmas gifts!!

And a clever backing - lining 2 fabrics up for a positive negative match!

And then a box to Westminster Fibers

with three quilts!!

First up - Scrappy Hexagon - featuring fabrics from two new

fabric lines for Free Spirit Fabrics.

Made the easy way with half hexagons - a row at a time.

Gotta' love the machine quilting - showing beautifully on the back -

a beaded curtain design!  Love it!

Next is a quilt made with a new Christmas line

 by Tina Givens for Free Spirit Fabrics.

Cut and pieced to look like Christmas Presents - 

fabrics in a true Tina Givens style.

And machine quilted in gold metallic thread using a jingle bells design!

A real hit, indeed!

And last, but not least, a quilt featuring a reprint of Amy Butler's original fabric line - Gypsy Caravan - in a quilt design originally made for another fabric line -

a free downloadable pattern at Amy Butler Designs.

Great color combinations and retro leaf quilting designs.

ENJOY!

Heaven and Helsinki

Patty Young has a bright new line for Michael Miller Fabrics - 

Heaven and Helsinki.

I am sure there is a story behind these designs 

so head over to Mod Kid Designs Blog to read all about it!

There are two color ways and this is the one I received last Friday - 

There are some great prints here for quilting 

but I struggled a little with what direction to take.  

My former quilt shop owner mind came up with this one for a quick project.

Take a close look at the eye candy prints and I have machine quilted - following the fabric design in most of the fabrics.  What a great way to practice machine quilting and end up with a beautiful quilt!!!

I had to figure out a way to use those sweet buildings so.....

here is the village green!  I had fun quilting the orange peel design in the center square.  I just drew it on a piece of press n seal and placed it on the center of the quilt.  It's bright and fun - don't you think??

LA International Textile Show

Westminster Fibers shared some photos taken of their booth at the recent International Textile Show in Los Angeles.

My piece featuring 100+ fabrics from their Essentials Line 

worked out superb to show of the goods!

On to the next project!!

The Dog Days of Spring???

Here is a typical day for our 14 year old pug, LUCY!!!

The biggest decision she has to make is which bed to sleep in!!

OOOPS!  There is someone in one of her beds!

Aha - it's Alison's puggle, WEBSTER!!

Back in a Current Magazine!!

Yes, indeed, I have another quilt in a current magazine.

It is in the Spring 2012 issue of a

 Better Homes and Garden Special Interest Publication

Quilts and More!

And on page 90 you will find my quilt - 

ANIMAL CRACKERS!!

The fabrics are from Michael Miller Fabrics and are also available in a pink/gray combination for the little girls in your lives.

Cross your fingers - as I may have a quilt on the cover of the same publication for the Summer 2012 issue!

Stay tuned!

I am a LUCKY GIRL!!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a call from Free Spirit Fabrics 

to do a special project.

They wanted a pieced hanging - 6.5' x 10' - to hang in their trade show booth

at the LA Textile Show later this month.  This piece was to feature 

100+ of their Essentials fabric lines.

So, I submitted 4 potential designs for their review. 

 They picked one and I went to work!!

I shipped it out yesterday and I am happy to say they are delighted with it!!

This pieced hanging features 103 - 8" blocks - in random designs.

It is so fun to make - once you get creating - because one fabric cut leads to another and another and so on!!

The black and white zebra fabric is a perfect accent to the many colors.

It is so easy to pop in the plastic grommets and they come in so many colors!

Curtain weights were added to the bottom - 

and wa-la - it's a finished masterpiece!!

And the beauty of this is that it can be made in any size!!

A bit of a close up!!

Hopefully this inspires you in some way and makes your day!!

Another Quilt to New York!!

I have been busy over the week-end - sewing a quilt for Michael Miller Fabrics - featuring a new release from Patty Young - Andalucia in Evergreen!

I quilted this one myself

 and want to share just how I did it on my home sewing machine!

First of all I made a design on graph paper for the quilting in the 6" squares.

Then I cut Press 'N Seal into 6" squares.

Lay a square of Press 'N Seal over the design on the graph paper

and walla - trace the design with an ink pen!

Lay the Press 'N Seal over one of the squares on the quilt top

and safety pin the corners down.

Machine sew on the ink pen lines.

And then tear away the Press 'N Seal!

I did some straight line quilting in the rectangular sections.

What fun!

And here is the quilt.......