Almost Amish Granny

Do you have any of Lori Holt’s amazing books? I have them all! The diagrams are so clear, the directions always accurate (how many books can say that?!), and the photographs are taken in Lori’s house, so they are just as pretty as can be.

The Fat Quarter Shop is revisiting Lori’s second book, Great Granny Squared, which I already made a project from last year. This time I wanted to add a “twist” to my project, so I opted to the make the full-size great granny block, which finishes at 12”, but in bright monochromatic colors that take on a different look than Lori’s normal scrappy-happy style.

Most of the fabrics are from the Basic Mixologie collection. The colors are so vibrant and gorgeous! But then my Tucker Prairie fat quarter bundle arrived (from the big after Thanksgiving Sale at FQS!) and the two collections looked like they were meant to be together. Keen-eyed fabric aficionados will also notice that the light pink block has a Hoffman Me + You modern batik print too.

I quilted an overall swirl pattern in light beige thread which was a little nerve-wracking since the thread shows so much on the black background fabric, but it turned out awesome! I haven’t attached the binding yet, but this green Tucker Prairie stripe is ready to be sewn on with this pretty Aurifil #1231.

Overall this twist is something I’d love to try again! The black background fabric and monochromatic blocks make the quilt look almost like an actual crocheted granny square blanket or maybe an Amish-inspired quilt. Thanks, Fat Quarter Shop, for letting me play along with your Great Granny Square Twist Blog Hop!

The Fat Quarter Shop has generously let me give away a copy of Lori’s book, Great Granny Squared, to one lucky visitor today. Just leave a comment to be entered and a winner will be picked Monday.

Make It Modern March Sponsor

The Fat Quarter Shop is sponsoring an amazing prize for members of the Make It Modern quilting bee on Flickr.  The winner for March is getting a fat quarter bundle of Bonnie and Camille’s newest line for Moda, Happy Go Lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How sweet is this fabric?  And how sweet is the Fat Quarter Shop for being such a generous sponsor?!!?

The Fat Quarter Shop has a seemingly endless array of fabrics, thread, patterns, and a huge sale section that I frequent every chance I get.  I love to stock up on great deals on everyday fabric basics like this one--only $6.30 a yard for Annie’s Farmstand dots on red…

and get a few yards of fabrics that might make perfect backing fabric for a project I’ve got in the works.  Like this…

At $5.38 a yard, these Cabana Blooms Tiles would make an bright and bold statement on the back of a quilt.

What I am waiting with bated breath for is Sarah Watson’s newest line that should be available in stores in early April.  It’s called Indian Summer.

Yes, I am totally psyched about this newest line of fabric and have already very conveniently signed up to be notified when the fabric is available for sale.  The Fat Quarter Shop lets you sign up your email address to be notified as soon as it’s available.  How convenient is that?!!?

The Fat Quarter Shop was the very first online shop I purchased fabric from back when I was in a sock monkey phase and needed lots of Erin Michael’s Funky Monkeys and Monkeyin’ Around fabrics.  I’ll tell you, the Fat Quarter Shop had them all!  I’ve been shopping with them for about 7 years now, and every experience has exceeded my expectations---through the roof! 

The Jolly’s run a very professional, yet fun, fabric store.  And their generosity to bloggers and quilters everywhere is unparalleled.  Thanks, Fat Quarter Shop, for making March a month to remember for one lucky winner!!!

Fat Quarter Shop Challenge

Our Christmas was fun!  The kids and I woke up on Christmas Eve with pinkeye.  We were on top of it and got the first four appointments at Urgent Care…12, 12:10, 12:20, and 12:30 on Christmas Eve!  Four tubes of eye ointment later, we are all clear eyed finally.

Ronnie has been sick, so while holding a sleeping/coughing baby, I was able to complete the Fat Quarter Shop Challenge this morning.  Purple is by far my favorite color, but I have relatively few purple fabrics in my stash, actually none really!  So, it was fun to go shopping!  I am really loving the green dot fabric on the right in the second row and the stripe underneath it. 

I’ll be linking this mosaic back up to Quokka Quilts.