I've never been to Kansas City so I was really looking forward to visiting a new city, and being there with my husband and enjoying some BBQ and time away from the daily routine. Market requires numerous weeks of preparation so by the time we get there, I'm ready for a the excitement of the show and seeing lots of quilt people! And did I mention BBQ? Plenty of good eating on the trip! A whole day early (and no missed flights this time!) gave us time to rest, explore the city a little and get some sleep before the big set-up. Yup- barbeque was on the menu and it did not disappoint! braised and bbq'd everything and enjoyed the ambiance of the Power and Light district. ​

We stayed at the Marriot near the convention center, across the street in the older section that was renovated (the former Muehlebach Hotel). The rooms were lovely and renovated and the lobbies were elegant. I loved that we had the top floor so the ceilings were really high and the light was great! I had a great time taking photos of some of the quilts in the room before set up.

So what can you fit in two suitcases? Turns out you can fit: booth fold up boxes, seed packets, 6 quilts, 6 hangers, a quilted tote, promo flyers and clothes and toiletries for two people for 5 days. Not bad.

From a blank canvas to a quilted world! I had my three new quilt patterns, Beanstalk, Kyoto Steps and Picket on display, made up in my new fabric line, Painted Meadow. The three main quilts on the wall and left quilt ladder were longarm quilted by Marion Bott. Don't you love the textures? The Kyoto Steps on the ladder in teal and the pink and green Picket (seen in hotel room) were longarm quilted by Sally Corona at Corona Quiltworks.

For a little giveaway this time I got coneflower seeds (did I mention my new line Painted Meadown is based on coneflowers??) and made up seed packets. I hope the seeds made it all over the globe and into fresh dirt, ready to grow and bloom!

Sarah Huechteman made up a sample of the Beanstalk quilt for Moda and she made me a little gift with some of the leftovers of the Painted Meadow fabrics! How adorable is this little Bitsy Box?! The pattern is from Ticklegrass Designs. Precious!!

What really makes market amazing for me is the time I have with the Moda people and the other designers. I am so grateful to have this experience and company to work with!

I had a great time seeing shop owners and visiting at the Moda party. Another market done and now its time to plan for the next one!

Oh! And if you are wondering, Painted Meadow will be shipping to quilt shops in October 2019.

More holiday sewing with my new Splendid Christmas line for Moda Fabrics. This time its "Cardinal's Christmas Wreath" which is made from a Layer Cake of fabric and background cream fabric. This is a fun one to make with scraps too- just look for the right mix of reds and greens. This quilt pattern is written for two sizes: the larger one is 54 1/2" x 60" (that's the one in the photos and makes a nice lap quilt or larger wall quilt) and the smaller is 45" x 47 3/4".  

This Cardinal reminds me of the dog we had growing up. He would stand, posing for us, in a grand position of attention, looking official and like he was surveying the world. I picture this bird in the same mindset, perched atop this wreath, watching that the Christmas skies are safe for Santa!

The pattern uses simple patchwork piecing and some half square triangles. The main thing to pay attention to is cutting the variety of sizes for the cardinal piecing. I like to label my pieces sometime with a little note I tape or pin on with sizes if I cut them at the same time. I hope you have as much fun seeing the wreath and bird come together as I did! Check this out along with my other new Christmas patterns at your local quilt shop or my online shops! Happy sewing!

Time for COLOR PLAY with the Showering Stars table runner! I was touched to hear that some people were using the Showering Stars twin quilt pattern for making Quilts of Valor. What a beautiful way to give thanks to our Vets!  Since I've just recently released the table runner and pillow cover version of the Showering Stars theme, I thought I'd use those files to mock up some color explorations that might help envision the patriotic or other holiday themes.

The first explorations were these two runners and looking at the pillows in red, white and blue (or perhaps a bluish silver added).
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Of course the next day I woke up early with more thoughts in my head...

I think the second one down in the group above is my favorite from this group because it mimics the blue of the stars area and red of the stripes in the American flag the closest. I intended these to be color studies for the table runners. But I realized that the table runner is 71" across which is also enough to make a twin quilt for width. If you were to stack about 6 of these you would have a 71" x 96" -ish quilt top. Add a little more borders if desired for a nice sized twin bed quilt!

Or for a nicely sized lap quilt, leave off the very end trails and stack three to make a 57" x 51"-ish quilt. This would also be nice with just the center section (take off the far right and left stars) as a 36" wide wall quilt for the 4th of July. The runner pattern is constructed as the center section first with the right and left star ends added so it would be easy to crop it this way.

​But how about some other seasons and holidays??

New Years Eve and the table is set with festive candles...imagine some metallic fabrics in gold and silver sparkling against a deep gray, black or midnight blue. Or springtime greens popping up fresh from the ground. Halloween black, orange and purple stripes for trick or treat fun. And warm and cozy fall colors for a Thanksgiving feast. The stars keep twinkling throughout the year!

The original table runner and pillow covers are made up in Splendid for Christmas and you can see them here. Check your local quilt shop for patterns and the Splendid line from Moda Fabrics. I hope this color play was helpful for some showering stars inspiration!

I wanted to create a smaller version of Showering Stars that could be used in home decor for pillows and table decoration. Scaling the stars and trails down to half size made it possible to design with these elements for my Splendid collection in Christmas pillow covers and a table runner.

I find I do most of my holiday decorating with red and the red textured background in Splendid is rich and vibrant. I love it! The whites are the cream texture which has a subtle sheen when you see the white on cream background. Simple patchwork blocks and a few longer strips make the trails and patchwork and flying geese make the stars. 

I like playing with the mix of scale by having the double stars pillow and the giant star pillow with a much bigger star. The pattern includes directions for making a simple envelope back for covers and its sized for a nice substantial 26" square Eurosham size. 

The table runner is sized 16 1/4" x 71". If you wanted a shorter runner you could crop off the trails on the ends or even just use the center stars with trails (making it 32-36 inches long, depending on if you include the last white blocks on the trails).

One thing that was really touching to find out about my original Showering Stars pattern was that numerous people have made it up in patriotic colors for Quilts of Valor. I love this idea! I've also mocked up these pillow covers and runner into red, white and blues to give some additonal inspiration for those that want to explore a more patriotic theme! I'll share those on the next post!

Check out my three other new patterns that use Splendid on my etsy shop and lets get sewing for Christmas!

Joy and Delight is a new pattern I designed with my Splendid Christmas line for Moda Fabrics. I wanted a quilt that showed off the fun mix of fabrics in a layer cake with decorative frameworks for the blocks. But I also quickly decided it was also a good format for alternating blocks of two fabrics- as shown below- my mistletoe greenery and poinsettias which pop nicely against the saturated red texture in the Splendid fabric line.

For an extra pop of wintery fun I decided to have graphic snowflakes surround the outer border. Afterwards I thought this could even be fun for 4th of July in reference to fireworks! The snowflakes are made with subcutting joined strips so they actually go together rather efficiently. There is something really satisfying about making a big pile of snowflake blocks!

I found the Stripology ruler from Creative Grids was a handy tool for making lots of smaller cuts in an efficient way!

And here are blocks with flying geese and framing in progress.

This is a scrappier looking version of the quilt- the original concept using the mix of a layer cake. On this one the framing around the squares is in two colors- red and green for Christmas- and the snowflakes are in a more olivey green. This is next up on my list to make!

Check out Joy and Delight along with the other three new patterns to go with Splendid in my etsy shop. Lets get some Christmas projects going!!

This group of patterns for Splendid needed a quilt with some larger sections to show off the poinsettias and cardinals without cutting them up to much. I liked the idea of vertical columns that showed a few of the prints with the pointsettias as the main center. 

To balance out the large panels, I liked adding smaller pieced blocks, arranged into elegant and lacy compositions, to form as a decorative top and bottom to the columns. Thin sashing, like window edges, run the length of the quilt. The result is a group of three columns, reminiscent of church windows, with light flooding through the stained glass images. They seem grand and ceremonial and festive for a celebration. 

Many thanks to The Felted Pear (Susan!) for helping me with this and making those flying geese and HST and assembling the ends!

Nature celebrates Christmas with Splendid. I feel like I can hear the jubilant song of either the church choir or the choir of birds out in the trees. This quilt pattern in mocked up into three color versions in the pattern- cream, red, and charcoal. Although this is shown with Christmas fabrics, I think it would be striking with other large scale prints, like the William Morris fabrics that Moda produces with rich jewel tones. 

There are four new patterns I'm sewing for Christmas quilts with Splendid. Check out this and the others: Joy and Delight, Cardinal's Christmas Wreath, and Showering Stars Table Runner and Pillows at my etsy shop.

I am so excited to share my new Christmas line with Moda Fabrics - SPLENDID. I know that if I want a project done for Christmas, it has to start early (plus my longarmer will thank me if I'm not giving her quilts at the last minute!). So even if its summer now, I'm getting my winter spirit on!

​Nature celebrates Christmas with Splendor! The pops of red signal the season is here. Red berries adorn the greenery. Bright Cardinals dance among snowy branches. Poinsettias bloom with deep and rich color. Intricate snowflakes add lace to the scenery. Everywhere nature is decorating with rich color and design.

Splendid started shipping to shops in May 2019 so ask your local quilt shop if they have it! 
​Happy sewing!

There is something so focused and calming about the symmetry of a design that radiates from the center. The Faceted quilt is formed off a central diamond, radiating out in rows of light and dark. But one of the things I love about it is the unexpected play of smaller triangles within the larger rows.

I imagine the way light glints through cut crystal or diamonds. That was my inspiration for this quilt, the way light dances within geometric facets and angles. It scatters out triangular light patterns in pretty lacy patterns. 

Sweet Pea & Lily fabrics fell nicely into two groups to create the light and dark rows. Every so often and accent color adds an additional pop of color or pattern. I liked the play of purples and grays in the overall quilt and decided to use green as my accent within the quilt. 

Moda kitted Faceted so be sure to check with your local quilt shop if you are interested in making it in this fabric combination. The kit gives you some extra fat quarters so you have room to play plus leftovers for other projects.

Enjoy a diamond today and the light facets within! The larger size of half square triangle blocks makes this quilt go together relatively quickly. The Faceted pattern is available in local quilt shops and at my etsy shop. Happy sewing!

Happy to see that Sweet Pea & Lily fabric precuts have been arriving in shops! I thought it was a perfect time to share some more quilts that showed with the line at Quilt Market this past fall.

This is the Dashingly Divided quilt. My reason for designing this quilt was to create panels that could show off other needlework. I sit in the carpool line, waiting for school to let out, wanting a small project that travels well and can be done in small bits. I started becoming more interested in embroidery since it fit the bill of easily transportable and a small fun format. I wanted to create a quilt pattern that could frame up the smaller projects of embroidery into a bigger quilt.

I thought it would be interesting to pull some of the floral motifs from a fabric line to highlight with the embroidery. For the Sweet Pea & Lily line I made a circular design and a corner grouping of lily of the valley buds. I worked with chain stitch, back stitch, stem stitch and french knots but this could look good with satin stitch or others.  

I designed the lap sized quilt to have 9 large squares that could be used for embroidery, or applique, or floating other quilt blocks within. The large focal squares are divided by dashed lines that use prints for pattern play and interest to set off the needlework. These dashes can be made with mini charms, charm packs, or fabric scraps. The quilt could have a more modern, minimalist and clean look with plain color squares and all the color play happening in the dividing lines. 

After finishing this quilt, I realized how much it had a vintage feel. I have my original baby quilt with little embroidered animals made in a combination of embroidery and cross stitch. This reminds me of the marriage of pretty needlework, lap quilts and quilted love.  It feels fresh with the purple solid color background balancing the linear florals.

The printed pattern for Dashingly Divided has a page with the two flower diagrams that can be traced onto fabric for needlework. Check the website or store to see if new diagrams have been released for future fabric lines with new flowers.

Check my website or etsy shop for Dashingly Divided! Happy sewing!!

Harlequin is a quilt pattern I designed that uses Half Rectangle Triangles and I get quite a few questions about which ruler I recommend for it. The pattern does come with a paper template so you can make your own plastic template for cutting out the shapes. However, it is easier with a specialty ruler!

I love this quilt because it symbolizes collaboration and community to me. I had it pieced by Terry Bowman because she is more accurate and more experienced than I am and before Quilt Market we have a LOT of sewing to do in a small amount of time. So luckily for me, Terry was willing to help me out. We met at the Quilt Emporium and Lisa, the owner, also came to the rescue by getting her Bernina out of her car so we could sew up some samples in the back classroom. Lisa saw us figuring out the rectangle size that would make sense and she brought over the solution...the Creative Grids Kaleidoscope Triangle Ruler. It was a great moment of brainstorming and solutions coming together and that is a lot of what is so exciting about sharing the experience of sewing and quilting with others! Quilters are often collaborators in creative ways.

The ruler is the actual height of the pieces you cut for this quilt so it really works with the pattern well. Thank you Penny Haren for designing this lovely tool! Just like other Creative Grids rulers it has some circles of texture on the back to help hold fabric without slipping too.

Any time you are making a block that is new to you or different in trimming, etc, I suggest you make a sample block first. Some of my first samples are with my Blushing Peonies left over scraps and I am hoping to go back and make a nice springy version with pinks and oranges in my "spare time." You know how that goes... I did make this block first and make mistakes on the trimming and had to start a new one. So I'm serious when I recommend making a sample and measuring your block size end result before progressing on a pattern. It can make a big difference! Half Rectangle Triangles need to be trimmed up in a particular way so you have correct seam allowance to maintain your triangle points. 

If you want to buy this ruler, please check with your local quilt shop to see if they have it. Support those local businesses! If they don't have one you can find them online through other sellers and amazon. I'm looking forward to designing some other quilts that use this ruler because I really like the proportions of these diamonds. Hope this info is helpful! Happy sewing!