Tasting Table Tuesday - Elephant Quilt

Last week I received a special request for an Elephant Quilt for a baby boy's bedroom wall.  Together, we picked this pattern.  Cirque d'Elephant by Sew Much Ado.  The pattern was an instant download after purchase from her Etsy shop.  So easy and quick!

The nursery colors are aqua, celery green and gray.  I found a great selection of fabrics at Shores Quilt Stop in Towanda PA and was able to buy everything I needed in one place.  It's about an hours drive from here along scenic Route 6 - a good excuse to go for a drive.

I used Sharon Schamber's Raw Edge Applique technique to make all the elephant blocks, using spray starch, freezer paper, Liquid Stitch glue, and blanket stitch.  I've used this method before, find it works really well for me, and it has become my preferred method of applique.

I hope to have more pictures to share soon.

Cheers!

In The Mood

I've got my mojo back.  I admit, this was an emotional holiday season.  It was the first Christmas without my Mom, and one of my closest friends passed away 10 days before Christmas.  But now it's a new year, and I'm forging ahead with lots of new ideas.

I was busy pin basting a quilt today...

...when it occurred to me - I know what I've been missing...

My MUSIC!

The battery in my bluetooth speaker died in December and I had misplaced my charging cord.  (Well, not really misplaced, I just hadn't taken the time to go look for it.)  My dear husband found it (in my sewing room, no less... ) and brought it upstairs for me.

Once I turned my music on, my quilting MOJO returned. 

 Now I'm In The Mood...

Do you listen to music when you sew?

Cheers!

Last Post of 2015

I finished assembling all six quilt tops this week.  Guess I know how I'll be starting out 2016 - quilting!

Cheers!  And Happy New Year!

Tasting Table Tuesday - New Quilts for a New Year

I am spending a quiet afternoon at my sewing machine today, as we prepare for a bought of winter weather - finally!  Our family was here for a late Christmas celebration over the weekend and they left this morning.  Now the house seems strangely quiet.  A good day to get some sewing done while I remember how wonderful the last few days have been.  There is something magical about having young children here for the holidays - or anytime, for that matter!

As I look forward to 2016, I plan to make some changes to my Etsy Shop, and focus on making more of what I love - small quilts.  So this is my start at making some new, fresh, quilts.  I started these blocks at a quilting retreat this fall, and just finished the last of them now.

Enough to make six baby quilts.

Each quilt pairs White Kona Cotton with a Color in a checkerboard fashion.

There's a Coral & Gray one...

and a Green one... 

a Purple one... 

and an Aqua one... 

a Blue one... 

and the last is a mix of them all. 

All will be listed in my Etsy Shop, Cotton Cellar as soon as they're done.

Here's hoping that you all have a Joyous New Year!

Cheers!

A Kaffe Fassett Quilt for Dad

I am pretty confident that my dad doesn't read my blog, so I hope I'm safe in sharing this with you, because it's his Christmas gift.  Shhhh!  Don't tell!

I don't often use patterns for my quilts, but when I saw this one, I knew it was just what I was looking for.  I wanted to make a quilt for dad that was colorful, yet masculine.  This is it.

Split Decision by Modern Quilt Studio.

I really liked the modern simplicity of the design, and that blue Kaffe Fasset Roman Glass fabric was just perfect.  It is getting hard to find, but I tracked some down at Hancocks of Paducah and promptly ordered it.

I didn't want to pair it with white, so I found this gorgeous silvery gray fabric at my LQS.  It is from the Moodshadow collection from Andover.

I was already planning on quilting this with gentle wavy lines from side to side across the width of the quilt, and the lines in the gray print gave me something to follow.  So easy!

I stitched-in-the-ditch at each seam, and quilted straight lines across the blue bands.

The backing fabric is a simple cream and tan mottled wide-back, and I used more of the gray for the binding.

Now it's time to start preparing for Thanksgiving and a Grandkids Play Day here on Friday!  Woo Hoo!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - Two Finished Quilts and a Challenge

The two memorial quilts are finished.

Labeled and bound and ready for delivery.

It was an honor to work on these special quilts, and I'm sure the recipients will find great comfort when they snuggle up in them.

Coming up next is a quilt I made for a challenge at my LQS.

Tracy, at Needles, challenged her customers to make a project featuring this fabric from the Luna Lounge collection from Andover.

Here is a portion of my quilt.

The challenge fabric appeared to be all neutrals, but when I paired it with a soft green and lavender, it seemed to take on those green and lavender hues - almost a chameleon effect.

My design consists of Ohio Star blocks, curved piecing in the sashing, and hourglass-in-a-square cornerstones.

I quilted it with soft, flowing curved lines from side to side, like waves.

This quilt, along with the other entries, are on display at Needles Quilt Shop in Wellsboro PA.

Cheers!

A New Modern Quilt

I finished a quilt this weekend.

This is an idea that has been rattling around in my head for months.  What would happen if I stacked four fabrics, then rough cut them into a free-form churn dash block?

No pattern - no measuring - just cut them by eye.

Mix them up and sew them back together.

What would it look like?

I squared up each block, adding a little more "wonkiness" to each block, then sewed the four blocks together to make this nice little wall hanging.

I just love the freestyle look it gives to this traditional block.

I quilted each block with a slight curved line to start, then echoed it all the way to the edge.  Then went back and added matchstick quilting to just the first arc in each block, emphasizing the pinwheel effect in the center.

I also deviated from my normal binding on this quilt, and decided to try a facing instead.  I followed this tutorial from Terry Aske Quilts and found it very easy to follow.

I am very happy with how it turned out, and actually prefer this type of edge for a wall quilt.  Now I have lots of ideas for more quilts like this!

Edit:  I'm having a hard time photographing this quilt.  The colors just aren't true and I'm not having much luck with edits.  I just tried another angle in another location and it's a little closer to the actual colors, which are softer and more muted than the first three pictures.  I wish I was a better photographer...

Cheers!