busy bee quilts: intrepid thread

Showing posts with label intrepid thread. Show all posts

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Dreamcatcher {a finished quilt}

This quilt was made with Kate Spain’s new Daydreams line from The Intrepid Thread. The colors are deep purple and pinkish corals with a hint of orange thrown in for good measure.

I modified the Criss-Crossed Quilt from February to make this quilt appear to have wonky 4-patch blocks, like this:

Or wonky crosses like this:

I don’t know which one my eye sees better when I look at the quilt. But either way I like it!

What do you think of the texture of the quilting? This double loop pattern came straight out of Angela Walters’s first free motion quilting book. I never was able to do loops on my domestic machine, but I practiced on a drawing pad and then drew a diagram on an index card which I taped right on the front of my longarm machine. After a few minutes I was able to take the index card off. My brain knew what it was doing (for the most part). Of course my quilting is nowhere near as good as Angela’s, but not too shabby for a first try!

The back is pieced with leftover gray fabric and pink striped fabric long forgotten but re-discovered to finally fulfill its destiny as the back of a quilt, along with a big section of Arcadia in Scarlet.

Arcadia features hummingbirds, rabbits, butterflies, and roosters and has such a fanciful feeling. One thing is for sure, pieced backs always take longer. I put this one together with four girls running amuck through the house this past Saturday and, for the hour or two it took, questioned my sanity several times, but the effect is worth the effort in the end…right?

I framed the cloth label in leftover purple and coral. This quilt is for Veronica so I will write her name on there with an indelible fabric marker and date it.

She loves the quilt and even volunteered for a photo using it.

It finishes at 70” square. The binding is Kona Punch. The lattice is Kona Silver and the background is mostly Kona Shadow, but I ran out and had to improvise with some other grays from my stash. I owe one to Bea for coming up with the idea of ombre. How did she even know that word???!!! I tried to cluster the darks in the bottom corner and have the color attenuate into light gray.

What do you think? Would you classify this as a modern quilt? Wonky with an edge? I loved every part of making this quilt and hope it shows.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Fort Worth Fabric Studio on Friday.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Letting the Light In

The new light in my sewing room was installed last week. I just love, love, love it!!!! Have you seen the show American Pickers? Sometimes Mike, Frank, and Danielle find industrial fixtures on their adventures in old abandoned buildings. Since I don’ t have $500 to spend on a rescued light from their shop, I found a pretty decent substitute at Lowes. It’s industrial and modern looking and was just the right price!

It also helped that a reviewer said “you can perform open heart surgery under this light.” That sounds about right for a sewing room!

The only drawback is the Edison bulbs emit a yellowish instead of white light. It’s a small price to pay though and a drawback I’m totally willing to live with. I took this photo of the light illuminated at light so you can see the yellow glow.

Speaking of light, my friend Sara sent this heart wall hanging to me recently which brought a lot of much-needed light into my life. I’ve been having a bad couple of months on a personal level, so this was just the ticket to brighten my spirits. You hear it so many times, but it’s true, the people in the quilting community are so generous and warm-spirited.

I love the fabrics she chose for the squares and polka dot binding since purple is my favorite color ever! And the handstitching around makes it even more special. I don’t know how she found time to make this heart plus all the other beautiful quilts and stitched projects she shares on her blog Growing Stitches. Did I mention she’s also 39 weeks pregnant!!!??? She’s one busy mama! Thank you, Sara, it looks fantastic hanging in my sewing room!

She was worried the coral color looked a little orange, but I think it’s the perfect compliment to the purple, so much that I used these colors for the inspiration for my next quilt. The fabrics are all from The Intrepid Thread.

Have a super Wednesday and hope everyone is staying warm!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Luck of the Irish {A Giveaway}

Have you heard about the annual Pantone color contest hosted on Flickr? This year, the color is emerald.

I am giving away 11 fat quarters of “emerald” hued fabrics bought mostly from The Intrepid Thread. They were half yards cut into fat quarters, half for me and half for one lucky reader!

Do you have the luck of the Irish in you???

Fabrics included are Oval Elements, Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, and Joel Dewberry. The giveaway will close on March 17th and I will announce the winner on the 18th. Open to US and international entries.

To enter, just leave a comment with your favorite color…mine’s purple!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Dots on Dots Blog Hop and Giveaway

Hourglass Star Block, finished size 11 x 11 inches. I made my block from fat quarters picked by Maureen Cracknell for The Intrepid Thread that came in this bundle (photo from Maureen Cracknell Handmade). The dots are called oval elements.

I started by separating the 10 fat quarters into 5 sets of dots/solid combos.

From the dots I cut two 5 x 5 squares and from the solids I cut five 4 x4 squares and two 5x5 squares.

Mark 1/4 lines on either side of the diagonal.

Pair up the dot/solid 5 x 5 squares and pin. Sew along each line.

Cut right down the middle into two halves.

Then subcut the triangles into two by making a right angle.

You will end up with a little pile of triangles. Press them all before opening up to set the seams.

Now, this is the most important part. Finger press the seam open before pressing flat. Finger pressing will keep your seams from getting wonky or distorted. Pressing the seams open also makes the finished block flatter.

After pressing flat, I like to give it a little spray of starch and set everything one more time with a hot iron. I don’t use steam.

Now, match up two triangles to make a square.

I pin the triangles together since the seams don’t nest.

Chain sew all your pieces.

Finger press again and flip over.

Voila! A pretty hourglass block.

Line up the diagonal on a square ruler with the seam line. Trim to 4 inches square.

Very pretty!

Now lay out all your hourglass blocks with the solid 4 x 4 squares.

Press the seams toward the solid squares and you will end up with this hourglass star block.

Now, onto the important part! I am giving away a $25 gift certificate to Quilt Taffy. I’ve ordered from Corrie’s shop tons of times and she has sweet fabric and great customer service! To enter, you must be a follower and leave a comment telling me your favorite fabric. If you are a no-reply blogger please leave your email address in the comment. Open to international entries and the winner will be announced next Monday, September 17th. Have a great week and don’t forget to check out the other stops on the blog hop today: