Renovations Completed on the Haunted House Quilt

If you are considering a new renovation project, I highly recommend choosing a haunted house. Imagine the satisfaction of taking a sledgehammer to an old wall, and then not even having to rebuild it! So I was able to fling off roof shingles, bar up windows, post dilapidated warning signs, and bring in undesirable neighbors– and the house looks even better, even more haunted.

Here is the new haunted house:

And a detail of my favorite part, the cemetery with an eerie tree:

The quilt is available in the shop here

Want to build your own haunted house? The pattern is available, and it is detailed! 38 pages of instructions and full size pattern pieces, including an extra full page of optional Halloween appliques to customize your house. A beginner or experienced sewist will enjoy this project. Here is the link to the download pattern

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A Christmas Ornament with Every Purchase

Even though it’s Christmas, I’m still dreaming of the ocean. So this year I designed a swimming fish Christmas ornament. It is a Siamese Fighting Fish. I always admire them in the pet shops, with their flowing fins and bright colors. These are limited edition, with 2013 written on each one. They are free with any purchase from Maryland Quilter in the month of November.

Eli’s Super Duper Amazing Animal Quilt

I have a new great nephew named Elijah, (Eli for short).  I just love the babies that are sprouting out in my extended family tree. I now have 3 great nieces and 3 great nephews.  You know I only want more so that I can make more baby quilts for them, right? I’ve decided to name some of these baby quilts after the babies that inspired me and they get the original quilt as a bonus.  So today, it’s Eli’s turn.

Here is Eli’s Super Duper Amazing Animal Quilt:

And here is a detail of the fox block:

The quilt pattern and each of the individual animal block patterns are available in my shop

Eli gets the quilt, of course:)

Linking up to a great blog this week: Stitch by Stitch

Had I not had children of my own, I would have never written books for children, nor would I have been capable of doing so.

Roald Dahl

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/roalddahl562488.html#xPoMBZhs7T0WKkrW.99

Had I not had children of my own, I would have never written books for children, nor would I have been capable of doing so.
Roald Dahl
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/roald_dahl.html#Jt3dFPiLhOGOYbXA.99

Had I not had children of my own, I would have never written books for children, nor would I have been capable of doing so.
Roald Dahl
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/roald_dahl.html#Jt3dFPiLhOGOYbXA.99

Had I not had children of my own, I would have never written books for children, nor would I have been capable of doing so.
Roald Dahl
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/roald_dahl.html#Jt3dFPiLhOGOYbXA.99

In My Best Dreams, I’m Flying

I am afraid of heights. Whenever I look over the edge of a balcony or a cliff I feel an incredible pull, so strong I think it may drag me over the edge. I back up quickly and look away. When I fly in my dreams, there is no downward pull. It is all joy.  I do flips and rolls and soar in the sky.  I like to imagine those dreams are a glimpse of heaven and when these ties are loosened I’ll know for sure.  For today, it is enough to watch the birds, dream and sew.

Here is a new mini quilt and pattern, Sunshine on Little Bird,  available in the shop.

This post is linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday  

What is a Fussy Folk Quilt?

“Fussy” is a quilt term. It is the current vernacular for  “Broderie Perse” which in  french  means  “Persian Embroidery”. All of the different labels are for a way of cutting out fabric that focuses on a motif in the pattern rather than the entire fabric pattern.  So, if you find fabric with cute penguins and seals and you cut out the penguins and sew them on your t-shirt, you are sewing using the fussy cut  technique.  

My newest project, ” Wild Flowers” uses fussy cut flowers and stems to create appliques. Because the background of the quilt has a bold print, I put solid colored background flowers and leaves behind the appliques to help them stand out. The outer petals are rag cut to give texture and life to the flowers. All the appliques are sewn with raw edges to give a relaxed, folk style to the quilt. A red print border with a clipped edge finishes the composition.

The quilt and pattern are available in my shop

Killing Many Birds with One Stone

Have you ever read Cheaper by the Dozen? Not the movie, but the book. I love it because the father, Mr. Gilbreth, was obsessed with efficiency. He had all kinds of crazy schemes to use time better. The kids learned a foreign language from phonograph records played while they were brushing their teeth . He did motion studies on everyday tasks, trying to eliminate unnecessary movements.  Even though the dad was hilariously over the top in his efforts, his way of thinking resonates with me. I am constantly trying to streamline my life, my work, my schedule.

The motto for all my quilt patterns is:
Every step in this quilt was planned to create the most beautiful quilt possible in the most efficient way possible. There are numbered steps and photographs to guide you.

I’m really excited to share my newest pattern with you because it excels in efficiency!  Mr. Gilbreth would have been impressed.

The Radical T-Shirt Quilt is so efficient because the three layers of the quilt, the back, the batting and the top is layered first, then the shirts are placed overtop.

When the shirts are sewn to the quilt, the quilt is also being quilted, saving so much time!  Another efficiency added to the pattern is the binding. The binding is the backing of the quilt folded to the front. This gives a nice finished edge and contrast on the front of the quilt without having to cut and sew binding strips.

As icing on cake, this quilt reuses loved t-shirts and provides a useful way to remember a happy season in your life. This quilt is soooo satisfying!

You can make your own radical T-shirt quilt with the pattern available in my shop, here.

Modern Summer Flowers Quilt

I finished the Summer Flowers Quilt. It seemed like a picture, so I hung it on a wall in Rebecca’s room to take the photo for the pattern. When I designed this quilt, I wanted to make flowers that were  not really flowers but suggested flowers. So the stems don’t quite meet the flower tops. The flower petals are stylized. The stem of one flower extends beyond the central panel and into the border, just to break out from the expected.

Here is the finished quilt:

The pattern and quilt are available in my shop, Maryland Quilter.

How to Grow a Mini Quilt

Last week I spent the entire time designing and sewing mini quilts. It was so much fun because I could explore new ideas without committing to a large project. It also felt very productive because I was able to finish so many quilts in a short time. It was so much fun, I thought I’d do it again this week. But now it feels kinda like that second piece of cake– still good but not as good as I wanted  it to be.

So I couldn’t resist growing my latest  mini quilt.  This one has flowers, because it’s spring and flowers are everywhere. They’ve invaded my subconscious and all my design ideas have flowers in  them. It also has a bee, because all the spring flowers have bees on them.

I’m not finished but here is the bee to tantalize you:

This  is a detail from another mini quilt I made this week, called “Rebecca and Jake”. I named it after my teenage daughter, Rebecca, because she said it looked like her:

And how do you grow a mini quilt? You add borders, which I did, and I’ll show you next post how it turned out. As usual, the quilts and patterns are available in my shop:)

 

Missed the Goal on the Mini Quilts

Every week I set goals for my quilting. Usually life intercepts work and I don’t meet them. This week I wanted to make 10 mini quilts but had to settle for 7 and one of those I gave to my daughter.  Not the 7 year old one, she gets spoiled enough. This week my daughter Elizabeth turned 13 so I gave her a little hummingbird quilt because she chose all the fabrics and it turned out better than the original.

Here is the original:

Here is Elizabeth’s:

And here are the other mini quilts I made this week:

Except for Elizabeth’s hummingbird, the other quilts and their patterns are available in the shop:)

 

Mixing Modern and Cottage Chic– the White Cottage Quilt

After much pointless fretting I finally made the white quilt. I did chicken out a little and scaled it down. It was going to be a twin size, but I was worried that it would take forever to make and I was uncertain about the design, so it is a big throw size, 52 x 51 inches. Even with the smaller size it has over 100 strips of fabric in the triangles. I like the chenille look at the seams.

 

 

The quilt and pattern are available in the Etsy shop. Come by and visit:)