Monday, July 6, 2015

Strawberry Field Pattern Errata

Howdy folks!

From time to time,it is necessary to update a pattern.  If you purchased it and are confused, please feel free to email me and I will attach the updated version as a reply to your email.  You can find my email address on the  cover of the pattern.

Depending on which revision of my Strawberry Fields Quilt Pattern you downloaded, there was a need for clarification in part the cutting directions for the sashing for the quilt top measuring 72 inches square:

It said to cut 15 ten inch strips and then cut them into rectangles 3 inches wide to yield 60 rectangles.  This confused some readers.

To clarify:

Cut 15 three inch strips from the width of fabric, and then cut these into a length of 10 inches (4 rectangles will be yielded per strip for a total of 60 rectangles).

Hope this helps!

Have a nice day,

-Shannon


Monday, June 15, 2015

Announcing A Kit With Connecting Threads

Hello Readers!

I am so excited to announce that Connecting Threadss chose my Strawberry Fields pattern as a kit for their new fabric line, Jolly St. Nick.  The new catalog goes live online tomorrow morning and should be shipping for you to view soon.

I am so flattered, the quilt they made using my pattern made the cover of the catalog!  Pretty exciting!

I'm going to go purchase myself a kit so I can make it using their fabrics too.  Here is a link to their Notions blog and a post about the current catalog photo shoot.

A garden photo of my original Strawberry Fields quilt pattern.

A black and white photo of my original pattern, receiving a red, second place ribbon at the Taylorsville City art show.
It is remarkable for me to reflect and think that I first debut this pattern three years ago on this blog -- clear back in 2012.  I am so grateful for all the support and opportunities I have had.  A special thank you goes out to Connecting Threads for being a blog sponsor and supporting me and my fabric habit!

Until next time, Happy Quilting!!!

Friday, May 29, 2015

The Last Block in the Charm Square QAL

Hello everyone!  I'm back.  Thank you for all of your patience.  Nope, our life's trials are not over yet, but at least I have sewed a quilt block so we can finish all our blocks in our QAL.



This is block number 9!

It is a spinning Pinwheel Star and is very similar to block #7.  In fact, all of the tricks we used on that block will be used here.









STEP ONE:  As usual, lay out all of your pieces according to the layout diagram.  I wanted the diamond shapes to "pop"--to create a visual difference from block number 7 where the outer corners face a different direction -- so I chose coordinating HST colors to match the diamonds (e.g. green with green, brown with brown...etc.)




STEP TWO: Sew into columns.  (These steps have been shown in previous posts.)

STEP THREE: Press columns in opposite directions

STEP FOUR: Nest seams and sew rows together.

STEP FIVE: Trim a little nick in the center of the pinwheel, then place your thumb on it and spin the block.  This way your block center will splay out like a fan and lie flat.




STEP SIX:  Enjoy!  Use these blocks in your favorite setting.

I'll be back soon with the sashing instructions for the setting I used.

Until next time, Happy Sewing!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Spring Sale!

It's time for a spring sale in my Etsy shop.

Use the coupon code "FACEBOOK25" to get 25% off your purchase of $5.00 or more.

Enjoy those spring quilting projects!  Here are some pictures of some older patterns I have written that may have been forgotten in the passage of time...Many are pre-cut fat quarter or layer cake friendly.








Monday, April 13, 2015

KISMIF 44

Welcome to Keep It Simple, Make It Fun!

For any of you visiting the Paducah, Kentucky quilt show this month, stop by the Moda Bake Shop booth and see my "Sweet Sixteen" quilt in person!  Pretty exciting, eh?  No, I will not be in attendance--just my quilt.  Silly quilts!  They travel more than I do.  LOL


Also, the Charm Square QAL was uploaded earlier today.  I apologize for how late it has become...but when you read the post, you will know why.

Have a great day!



Charm Square QAL Part 9


Welcome back to the Charm Square Quilt Along!  In this installment, we will work on block #8.

Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along

If you are new to this QAL, visit the old posts.  To get fabric requirements and ideas, click HERE.

Hello everyone!  I apologize for the delay on these postings. Please be patient with me and we will complete this project together.  In short, my family's life is being guided by the wisdom of a "Fortune Cookie" that my spouse got last weekend at dinner.  It said, "Anything worth having is worth a firm negotiation."  In short, our family is experiencing a major trial and I unexpectedly, do not have as much time to quilt as I would like.  However, with your patience, we will get this project done together.  Thanks!



I'm sure you don't want to hear my drama so on to block #8.  All of the blocks in the sampler are versions of what has been called a "Tippiecanoe" block.  I call this the square in a star block.

STEP ONE: Lay out all of your HSTs according to block #8 shown above.

STEP TWO: Sew the columns together.
STEP THREE: Press columns in opposite directions.  This block is not as tricky as the others.
STEP FOUR: Sew rows together pin-matching seams and looking for "X marks the spot".



STEP FIVE: Press rows open and enjoy!

Monday, March 23, 2015

KISMIF 43

Welcome to Keep It Simple, Make It Fun link party.  Thank you for sharing your projects.  I don't have any new projects to share this week.  The only sewing I did was on our Charm Square Sampler--but that is okay.  Sometimes we get busy in our personal life.  :)

Also, did you check out the funny comments to my fill in the blank giveaway?  Although it has ended, your responses were priceless!  Thanks for the humor.  I'm going to have to do that again.

My favorite link last week was from Lynette at What A Hoot Quilts.  I love how she categorizes her quilts as "flimsy" and "done".  I have too many "flimsy" ones to finish as well.  Great post and I love the colors she uses--all the colors of the rainbow.  Check it out.




Now it is your turn to share your projects.  Thanks for visiting!







Friday, March 20, 2015

Winner of the Charm Square Give Away!

Hi folks!

You are so too funny!  You comments to answer the question "Machine quilting is like..." are hilarious!

Some of my favorite quotes from you are:

Shauna Trueblood said, "hummm....machine quilting is like....driving a remote controlled car through a maze."
Lori Konarske said, "It's like eating potato chips, you can't stop at just one."
 
Eileen Emerson said, "Machine quilting is like a thump in the night.  Dreaded and worrisome until you check it out (aka: Do it) and then you realize there's nothing to it.  Now why did I ever put it off?" 
 
Brenda Hulsey said, "Humm...machine quilting is like trying to catch a greased pig!"
 
Carie Space said, "Like wrangling a small child into a sweater that they're on the verge of growing out of!"

Lori M said, "Am just learning to FMQ...lol   But I will fill in the blank with  learning to parallel park a big car!!!   I know I am a big chicken! lol"
 
Nakeytoes Living said, "...wrestling an octopus. :) Since I'm just learning, that's how I feel some days. :)"

And there were many, many more entertaining answers.  I'm going to have to find another funny quilting related fill in the blank giveaway again.  Thanks for the laughs, folks!

I used a random number generator to find our winner.

And...the lucky number is....

43!  TheGranChris who said, "machine quilting is like doodling in school. You just need to go to another place in your head."

Charm Square Quilt Along Part 8

Welcome back to the Charm Square Quilt Along!  In this installment, we will work on block #7.

Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along

If you are new to this QAL, visit the old posts.  To get fabric requirements and ideas, click HERE.

STEP ONE: Select 16 of your previously sewn HSTs and lay them out according to block #7 in the layout diagram above.
STEP TWO: Sew pairs together in columns.  Refer to previous posts if you are still unfamiliar with the technique.

STEP THREE: Press your seams looking at rows to "nest" and show the "X marks the spot".  Refer to previous posts for a review of this technique.



STEP FOUR: Making the center pinwheel of the block both spin and lie flat.

Next to the seams in the center of the block, make a small nick with the scissors in the seam allowance.  Be careful and do not cut the threads.  This allows the center units to be pressed in opposite directions.

An old friend of mine taught me this trick.  Once it is nicked, place your thumb on the center point of the pinwheel.  Rotate the block a full turn with your thumb pressing down.  This fans out all of those seam allowances in the center of the block, helping seams to align and splays out the bulk.  The center of the block will not be quite as bumpy.  This will reduce the risk of a broken needle when quilting.

Close-up of the center splayed out.  It looks like a rose!

Here we go, perfect points in the center, the bulk is moved around and the center lies flat.

Ta Da!  The block is all done.

I would love to see your progress.  Here is a link party and a flickr pool for your convenience.  Please understand, as I host KISMIF on Mondays, this link party is open only to block progress.  If you would like to share your posts that are not related to the Charm Square Sampler QAL, please share them on Monday on the KISMIF party.

Thanks!

flickrPool


Monday, March 16, 2015

KISMIF 42

Welcome to Keep It Simple, Make It Fun (KISMIF) Link Party.

Thank you for sharing your projects!

Here are two of my latest:

"Under the Nordic Sky" on Make Modern Issue 4

Sweet Sixteen Quilt on Moda Bake Shop--a FREE pattern download.

My favorite project from our last link party was a cute oven mitt made from fabric selvages by Stephanie at Late Night Quilter blog.  Great tutorial!










Now it's your turn to share your work.  Keep It Simple, Make It fun (KISMIF) and share those comments!  Thanks for your participation.





Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Sweet Sixteen Quilt On Moda Bake Shop

Surprise!   I have another feature on Moda Bake Shop today (they told me it would be featured on Thursday--but I guess they wanted it now).    I think that is the fastest publishing time ever--I uploaded it an hour ago.  Yikes!

Well, since they are running it today, I'll show you my project.



Even my quilting machine got into the piecing action this time!  LOL

The fabrics in the "True Luck" line are awesome!  They are set to be released for sale to stores in April 2015.  Watch for it.  Isn't this backing BEAUTIFUL?  I really enjoyed these prints.

I used my "Mix 'N Match" quilting technique on this project.  I did loop the loops in the frames and back-ground and continuous curve in the 16 patch blocks.

Here is an alternate colorway for the blocks.



CLICK HERE to get your FREE download of the pattern and Enjoy!  I'll be back Saturday with another block for our Charm Square Sampler Quilt.  Until then, Happy Quilting!

Monday, March 2, 2015

KISMIF #41

Welcome to Keep It Simple Make It Fun (KISMIF).  I sure enjoy your projects.

It is a great week!   I have a brand-new quilt pattern to announce this week.  It is called "Under the Nordic Sky" and was published and chosen to be the cover-feature quilt in Make Modern Magazine Issue #4.
This is the cover photo, shot at the J. Ruben Clarke Historic Farm in Grantsville, Utah USA--which is really far away from Make Modern's publishing in Sydney, Australia!

My husband and I had a great time with the photo shoot.  Here are some other pictures (some of which did not make the magazine).
The combination of black and white filter and the antique farm in the background makes this new and modern styled quilt look antique.

The same photo without the black and white filter.

Here is the quilt on an antique cow milking stand.  I love the weathered old wood--gratefully it was clean.

All of this old antique farm machinery gave so many photography options.  It was fun.  We'll have to take some pictures here again.

We then went into the Grantsville City Rodeo Grounds and took photos on their livestock chutes.  Very different photo shoot, but I like it a lot.
I went all-out quilting this project.  I pre-marked all of the straight lines and curved cross-hatching lines for spacing.  I also pre-marked a scalloped border and then back-filled with feathers.
The back-ground areas have micro-swirls while in between the Nordic Blocks I did pearls.  Also, all of the stars have white-thread feathers in them.

Close-up of the quilting.

Another close-up.

I really like the way the quilting turned out.  The extra effort really transformed this quilt into something I feel proud about.  I'm amazed that it turned out so well.

The curved cross-hatching created spectacular results.  It really sets off the Peerie border (X-O).



Well, that's enough about me, now it's all about you. 

My favorite project from last week was this beautiful flying geese pillow.  Great fabric choices.




Now it's your turn to share your projects.  What have you done to "Keep It Simple, Make It Fun" (KISMIF).