Tuesday, February 28, 2017

OMG February: Complete! (plus a quilt at QuiltCon)

Besides the lovely OMG challenge, which keeps me committed to completing some part of at least one project per month, I had extra incentive this month! My goal was to bind a quilt that I'd recently finished, and I needed to do so because it would be hanging in a booth at QuiltCon! Here is the finished quilt, with completed binding. 

"Hashtag"

A little background on the quilt: 
I wanted to design a quilt using hashtags because of how much IG has become a part of the quilting world. After settling on the actual hashtag look, I played around with the two different background colors, which I think really enhance the design. 

The key to making the design work was to have four different shades of each color for the hashtags. Easier said than done. I had six or seven to choose from for each hashtag (red, yellow, green and blue), and even after I'd selected the top four and stitched a sample block, I realized that I'd have to go back to the drawing board on a few. (Incidentally, these mistakes worked out well, because I also gave a demo at QuiltCon about creating quilts with the illusion of 3D and how shading played into that, so I had examples of what not to do!)
My initial attempts;
the only block that didn't have at least one color swapped out after making these was the red.

Once I settled on the colors and completed the top, it was beautifully quilted by my friend Diane Oakes. I love the combination of the patterns she used in it, even down to the detail of the loop-de-loops along the outer edge!


The quilting from the back:

A side view so we can all enjoy the texture provided by the quilting a little more:

Here is the quilt in the Paintbrush Studio booth. The quilt uses their soft and silky smooth Painter's Palette Solids, which I love working with (168 colors!). The pattern for the Hashtag quilt was given away as a prize to attendees; you can download it here

Me with the quilt: 

I didn't submit anything to QuiltCon this year, but after walking the show, I am going to next year! For now, however, having a quilt hanging in a booth at the show was pretty cool! 


And, just for fun, when I originally designed the quilt, I also created a version in a different colorway. Here it is: 

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Everyone's a Star Quilt Along - Week 4

I'm part of the Everyone's a Star Quilt Along @Sewinlovewithfabric. The Quilt Along is in its 4th week--next week it'll be time to assemble the quilt! I'm making the quilt using the Zentastic fabric collection.

Here's my digital rendering for the entire quilt. I used the same white background print and black and gray coordinates in each block, and then chose one bright print as an accent. 
Scrappy, but organized. 

These are my Star #3 blocks--four different colors. 
You can find the tutorial for these blocks here.

I made the blocks just like the tutorial, except when I was cutting the 2-1/2" x 4-1/2" black pieces, I cut half of them from a 4-1/2" wide strip (so I cut 2-1/2" segments) and half from a 2-1/2" strip (where I cut 4-1/2" segments). This allowed me to keep the directional black print all going in the same direction. 

One more week and this quilt top is finished! 


Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Introducing Diamond Drama!

I've spent much of January and February playing with Paintbrush Studio's Painter's Palette Solids. These fabrics are soft and silky, and with 168 colors, there are plenty to choose from! 

I didn't realize until I started doing this how much I enjoyed designing with solids. You'll see over the next few weeks just how much! 

I'm on my way to QuiltCon right now (yippee!), where I'll be giving a few demonstrations using these lovely solids. After I'm done, I'll post about the sample quilts I've made here and tell you more about them, but for now, I'm sharing my newest quilt design.


Introducing....Diamond Drama!



I'm the first to admit that this quilt is quite simple, construction-wise. The key is color choice and placement. I picked four colors to work with--teal, orange, purple and lime, and selected four different shades of each color. Then I paired these brights with white, black, and a variety of grays. The result? Dimension and depth! (Which just might be the theme of one of my demos...)

Of course, fabulous quilting is key as well. Fellow guild member Brianne Moores did a fantastic job quilting it--I'm in love with her stitching!

I will soon be offering this quilt as a pattern for sale (the pattern also includes two additional size options). Stay tuned! 

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Everyone's a Star Quilt Along

I'm part of the Everyone's a Star Quilt Along @Sewinlovewithfabric
Do you know what's great about a quilt along? The peer pressure. Five weeks to make the quilt. It's doable, and if everybody else is doing it, you can too! You won't end up with another half-finished quilt to hide in a drawer. 

Plus the design uses a variety of simple star blocks, and I don't know about you, but I love star blocks! And I love a quilt that doesn't require making the same block over and over again. If you're looking for a fun and easy star sampler quilt to make, give this one a try! 
I'm making the quilt using the Zentastic fabric collection.

Here's my digital rendering. I used the same white background print and black and gray coordinates in each block, and then chose one bright print as an accent. 
Scrappy, but organized. 

These are my Star #2 blocks--four different colors. 
You can find the tutorial for these blocks here.

The only difference in how I made the blocks is that I accounted for the black fabric in my quilt being directional, so when I cut the two black squares diagonally in half for each block, I cut them like this (note how the pattern runs in a different direction in each square): 

You definitely don't have to do this--if you're using a directional print, you can ignore that completely. But remember up above when I described my quilt as "organized scrappy?" Yep. That "organized" bit compelled me to make sure all of my black pieces run in the same direction! 

If you're just catching onto the Quilt Along, here are my Star #1 blocks. 
You can find the tutorial here.

Here's the cutting chart. Click here for a printable pdf. 


Tuesday, February 7, 2017

February OMG: Binding!

February is always a fast month! So I've picked something super easy for my One Monthly Goal, especially because it has to be done by February 22nd (hello, QuiltCon!). I can't show the whole quilt yet, but I need to bind the quilt you see a sneak peek of below. I'll be binding it in the bright green you see below. 


Here's a look at the back, where Diane Oakes' beautiful quilting shows up!