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.

Meet Mr. Fox {the pillow}

 

A few weeks ago I cut into some fat quarters of fox fabric designed by Andie Hanna to make a quilt.  Plans changed, and I decided not to use the foxes in the quilt, so they went in this pillow instead.

The gray and light blue patchwork were also left over the from the quilt because the vibrancy of the rest of the blocks drowned out the low volume patchwork.

The binding is a brown Stella dot and the backing is some striped fabric left over from another quilt.  It’s called Soul Garden by Carolyn Gavin.

I quilted the front of the pillow on my long arm, swirls for the first time.  Definitely improved with practice!  The finished pillow is 19 x 19 but I was able to stuff a 20 x 20 pillow insert in there (the only size I had on hand).  Makes it nice and puffy I think!

I’ll be linking up to Fort Worth Fabric Studio and Crazy Mom Quilts this Friday.  Have a great week!