Hoop Sisters Embroidered Mystery Quilt

So I haven't really alluded to it in a while - but I also dabble (OK more than dabble) in machine embroidery. I've got several projects working, although only one is on my active rotation.

One of my favorite embroidery companies is Hoop Sisters. Every year they offer an embroider-block-of the month. These quilts are quite fantastic. I should write a post about these quilts later.

This post is about their Mystery Embroidery Quilt. It's a 6 week weekly download. You can sign up here between now and the end of June. Mea Bernina and Babylock is offering a sweet deal - if you bring in your Mystery Quilt Receipt, they will treat it like a Mea class and will give you 20% off your fabrics and threads for the quilt. Call the shop at 785-842-1595 for exact details (effective dates, excluded products, etc).

So I have completed one set of blocks - it was fun, and a bit of a challenge to assemble.  You'll get plenty of practice on inset seams (grin). You know I love EPP and Grandmother's Flower Garden, so you'll bet I love this quilt with its embroidered hexagons. I'm using a really cool pastel variegated thread for the background of the white block. You cant see it in this photo, but the variegated thread gives it a nice look. 

I can't wait to work on the other blocks. I wonder what they'll be! I'll just have to wait and see. It is a mystery after all.

Curious about Embroidered quilts? Check out Hoop Sisters for the Mystery Quilt and Mea Bernina for the next Embroidered BOM - Sisterhood, which starts soon.

My Favorite Designers - Chapter 1 Tula Pink

Tula Pink rocks her name! She rocks fabric, quilts and color too!

I have lots of favorite designers, but I decided to start with Tula since she was just here visiting the Kaw Valley Quilters Guild. We were lucky to have her here, but unlucky in that the Tuesday morning group missed out due to an ice storm. 

Tula described her process of designing fabric. I am in awe of her creative talent. She draws all her precious creatures by hand on paper and then translates them into fabric with colors. I loved her statement that God used an aweful lot of brown in His designs, so she decided not to use brown, but rather to color the precious creatures of her fabrics in pinks, oranges, teals, purples, and greens. 

I also appreciate her design thoughtfulness and purposefulness in that she ensures her previous designs work well with current designs, which will play well with future designs. I am really looking forward to getting my hands on her 25th collection which should be in shops any day now. Tula's All Star line includes the special creatures from previous lines (recolored), dots, and stripes.

I imagine Tula must not sleep much. In addition to working on 5 lines simultaneously (in-head, drawing, production, selling to shops, selling in shops), she makes 40 or so quilts a year, designs books and patterns, speaks and teaches internationally, designs hardware (scissors, rotary cutters, and seam rippers), and quilting software. I was exhausted just thinking about everything she does and does expertly!


OK, so Tula is a gifted and prolific fabric and quilt designer, but what is she like? Funny, imaginative, colorful, and personable. I had the good fortune of taking a class with Tula a few years ago at the Sisters Oregon Quilters' Affair. The class project was Moxie. I used Tula's fabric line Elizabeth. It was fun laying the fabrics out and working on curved piecing. I just need to add some borders and get her quilted. 

At about the same time, I facilitated a group within the KVQG of members wanting to work on Tula's City Sampler - 100 Modern Quilt Blocks. Several members got theirs done and as a group we made one in black and white with turquoise sashing for the guild's opportunity quilt. I thought it was absolutely stunning. I'm sorry to say that I am still working on my 100 blocks. I'm using PB&J line in a blue/red/mustard color palate, with some other fabrics thrown in.










My next Tula adventure is going to be some fussy cutting for English Paper Piecing. I'm either going to make Tula Nova or Lucy Kingwell's (Jen Kingwell's daughter) Smitten using Tula's new All Stars. So look for an update!

You just have to be curious about Tula Pink! Check her out, you'll love her.

 

Kansas Goes Modern - A Technique Quilt

Last year I had the privilege of designing the BOM for the Kaw Valley Quilters Guild. Our guild offers a BOM every year and I had always wanted to write a pattern  . . . so I volunteered. Occasionally I like to challenge myself, and man oh man, this was a challenge.

I don't remember when and how the idea came to me, but I wanted to do a quilt with Kansas named blocks.  These blocks usually have a  traditional feel, which is not really my style. So, I decided to give them a bit of a twist by using modern fabric - Grunge by Moda -  and a non-traditional layout. Hence the name - Kansas Goes Modern (KGM).


I also wanted to learn a little more about the quilting history of my adopted state of Kansas. I am not a quilt historian, but it was fun to learn about the history of each of the blocks. Much of the information came from Barbara Brackman, a member of our guild and a nationally known quilt historian.

Since I get really enjoyment from learning and teaching, I decided to throw some interesting and varied techniques into KGM. So I included pieced blocks, English Paper Pieced blocks, foundation paper pieced blocks, and applique blocks. 


So, the blocks - all with Kansas in the name:
     Kansas Star
     Kansas Troubles
     Kansas Dugout
     Kansas Beauty
     Kansas Twister
     Kansas Dust Storm
     Rocky Road to Kansas
     Kansas Sunflower
     Hearth and Home's Kansas 

After getting it all assembled, I asked the wonderfully talented Sandra Morgan-Cockrum to quilt KGM. She did a terrific job with lots of custom designs, ruler work, and swirls.

Now, after releasing one block a month and three months of assembly instructions, I am putting everything together in a pattern that will be available for purchase in the next few months (one of my goals for 2018). I am so excited about this. I have to get some good pictures taken and put the finishing touches on the pattern - but I'm almost there!

My next steps are to take KGM on the road as a workshop or series of classes. So, if you are interested in making KGM in class, please let me know. Hopefully it will be coming to a shop or guild near you!

Curious about Kansas quilt blocks? Check out Kansas Goes Modern!

A Different Kind of Paper Pieiceing - English Paper Pieceing

I'm deep into several paper piecing projects - not foundation paper piecing (see Foundation Paper Piecing ) but rather English Paper Piecing (EPP). 

Paper Piecing / Foundation Piecing? What's the difference? Foundation piecing uses a foundation (usually paper) to sew and flip the pieces, enabling you to get really good points where it would be difficult to piece. English paper piecing uses forms (usually paper or card stock) in different shapes (hexagon, diamonds, squares, or triangles).

So, as is usual, I sort of over did it. One project led to another, then another. Before I knew it I had so many I had to organize them and make sense of what I have. 

It started innocently enough - Grandmother's Flower Garden. My Quilting Bucket List includes making a traditional quilt by hand, so what better choice than a Grandmother's Flower Garden? I even used reproduction 30s fabrics for it. To date, I have 40 out of 54 "flowers" completed. I'm going to put them together with green diamonds - so it will look something like this one. 

The Grandmother's Flower Garden got me hooked and now its a full blown addiction. Enter Katja Marek of Katja's Quilt Shoppe in Kamloops British Columbia. She has this wonderful book - The New Hexagon. In 2015 she facilitated an online Quilt Along to make a gorgeous and challenging quilt called Millefiore. It is constructed of about 14 Rosettes using the hexagons from Katja's book. This was one of the most challenging projects I've ever done. The construction is fairly straight forward, but choosing fabrics so that each round flows smoothly is quite a challenge.  I got two Rosettes done and decided to put it away for a while. Even now when I look at it, I think I might want to redo some of it.

Katja teased me again the next year with Quilts on the Go. For this Quilt Along, I decided to use Asian fabrics from my stash. This lasted through the first hexie and then I figured I'd better buy some more. Now I have 3 good sized totes filled with focus Asian fabrics to fussy cut and a bunch of fillers. This project is mush easier than Millie because each hexie stands alone. Once made, the hexies were appliqued to a backing and they were quilted. So, each one could stand alone as a mug rug; put a few together and you have a table topper; put them all together and you have a quilt.  I progressed a little further on this one, but I still have a few to make and then I'll whip-stitch them together into a quilt.

The next couple of Quilt Alongs that Katja has done are in the "collect and do later" category. We have Hex-Plosion and Perpetually Hexie. Cool projects and I couldn't stand not adding them to my EPP collection.

Katja is not the only designer doing cool EPP stuff. Tonya Owens from HillBilly Quilt Shop designed a mystery EPP with cool fabric from Paula Nadelstern (see my previous post).  Although I didn't keep current with the Quilt Along, the out-of- this-world table runner is ready to be quilted!

Another forerunner in EPP is Australian Sue Daley. I met Sue at the first Missouri Star Academy in Hamilton in May 2017. During her class, she showed (teased) us her new EPP BOM (don't ya just love the acronyms) called Round We Go. They are circles! I love them. Quilting Bits and Pieces in Eudora is hosting the BOM - starting August 2017. Again, these are in the "collect and do later" category. 

In addition to all being EPP, most of these projects have something else in common - they use lazer cut paper pieces available from PaperPieces.com. If EPP is an addiction, PaperPieces is an enabler. They carry all sorts of shapes in multiple sizes. They also have packages with all the pieces for projects. If its EPP you want, look no further.


Join me in my addiction! 

 

Space Journey EPP Mystery Quilt - Hillbilly Quilt Shop

So what's better than an fussy cut EPP project combined with a mystery? Not much! Tonya Owens of Hillbilly Quilt Shop designed this project using Paula Nadelstern's Chromazone medallions.  

We were directed to choose 3 fabrics that complement the Paula Nadelstern medallion fabric. I choose a bright lemon-lime, a teal and a fuscia. Love, Love, Love those colors.  

At this point we have hexagons, diamonds, large and small triangles and no clue how they go together.  I prepared all my paper pieces to take on a cruise (that never happened). Oh they were beautiful - little baggies of color.




Piece by piece the sections took shape. Tonya gave them wonderful space-type names like Stars, Meteoroids, Super Novas, Space Stations, Tie Fighters, and Space Rovers. 

I now have it half completed and I am liking the look. I'm sort of toying with adding another section. Luckily I had a premonition that I might want it longer, so I bought some extra medallion focus fabric. 




Another great EPP project!

2017 - New BOMs! Oh Boy!

OK, so we all know I am a BOM addict. And here it is a new year, with a bunch of new BOMs starting. How could I resist?

So, here is the new 2017 BOM rundown:

Overbrook Quilt Connection is hosting a BOM in which you pay for your first month's block and if you get it done and bring it back next month, you get that month's fabric free. Free is good! 

I love the pattern as well as their fabric choices - and that doesn't happen very often. The unique layout of the blocks is really what drew me in. The fabrics are solid/tone on tone dark purple, magenta, gold, dark turquoise and dark grey with a white background. I haven't made the first block yet, but I'm definitely on schedule to have it finished in time to get my free second block.

Even though I haven't completely finished last two year's Hexagon Quilt Along with Katja Marek, I am getting ready to start the new one called Perpetually Hexie.  Katja's projects are all done with English Paper Piecing technique. I've ordered the paper pieces for the first two months. I'm not sure, but I am probably going to do this one in batiks, although grey batiks, true grey, are difficult to find. 

Next up is the 2017 Murder Mystery BOM by Whipstitch Modern Sewing.  I generally don't particularly like mystery quilts because they are a challenge to chose the colors since you don't know how its going to turn out. The interesting thing about this mystery BOM is that a chapter of the murder mystery story comes with the pattern.  The setting for the story is Cumberland Island, off the coast of the Georgia/Florida border. The main character is archaeobotanist Kitty Campbell. Should be interesting!  The first pattern (clue) arrived a few days ago, and I still am needing to locate (buy?) the main background fabric. She recommends, and I think I agree, that a bright green might just be the right color for the background.

The forth BOM on the list is Down the Rabbit Hole by Sarah Fielke. Our first block is expected at the end of January - so I'm not behind yet! I bought a champagne-colored linen-like fabric called "Quilters Linen" by Robert Kaufman. First time I've ever tried it, so I'll let you all know how I like it. I am thinking about using wild, wonderful Kaffe fabrics for the appliques.

Now, last (maybe until another one entices me) but not least is The Quilt Show's Halo Medallion, designed by the late, great Sue Garman.  My quilt is going to have a much different look - I chose a paisley on black for my focus fabric and will use blue, green, red and gold from the focus fabric for the accents. 

So that's 5 (1 in a shop and 4 on-line) new BOMs on top of the ones I'm still working on and the new ones I may start later . . .  Like I said, I'm a BOM addict!

Zen Garden Quilt Update

Here's a finished one for you! 

I finally finished Step-Daughter Lynne's Zen Garden Quilt. If you missed the first posting about this quilt, you can check it out here. 
Yahooooo!  I really liked how it turned out. Lori Kukuk did a great job with the quilting. 
It hung in the KVQG annual quilt show last April. 




I was going to use a BL Sashiko machine to stitch the water lines, but decided to use perl cotton and add the stitches by hand.



Lori's quilting added little flowers into the cherry blossom hexies. 




This was fun in so many ways - using Daiwabo Japanese taupe fabrics, EPP, working from a picture instead of a pattern, adding in my own touches like the clamshell river rocks at the lower edge of the quilt.

I love moving a quilt from "a work in progress" quilt to a finished quilt. It hasn't made its way to Lynne in Portland yet, but it will soon.

Here's to a finish!

Quilt As You Go Hexies

This year, I've done a couple of sew/quilt alongs. Fun, Fun Fun!

One of my favorites is Katja Marek's Blocks on the Go for Quilts of the Grow. There are 52 different EPP (English Paper Piecing) hexies based on Katja's book The New Hexagon.  The year is almost over, but I'm still working on August's hexies. Not too far behind I'd say.

I decided this project would be a perfect use for some of the Asian fabrics I've been collecting - of course I had to purchase some additional fabrics to go with what I had. Since the blocks are hexagons, if I want to fussy cut (which of course I do), I'll need 6 repeats of the fabric.

My friend Kim is doing this project too, so we combined orders for the papers from Paper Pieces. The papers are sized to make a 4 inch block.

As the title of the quilt along implies, the hexagon blocks are quilted as they're made. So after doing the fussy cutting, glue basting, whip stitching the pieces together, and finally removing the papers, I appliqued the blocks onto a batting-filled background. A little stitch in the ditch quilting and the blocks are ready for some big stitch quilting around the edges with perl cotton.

I love doing these blocks. Picking the fabric, paper piecing, and working to get my big stitch quilting stitches nice and even. I haven't started putting them together yet - I want to get them all done and then lay them out to see how they look together. So far, I am stoked!

Here is a little sample of some of my hexies.
I'm ready to go cut some more fabric so I can baste and whip stitch the hexies during TV time.

Thanks to Katja. Can't wait to see next year's quilt along!



 

Zen Garden Quilt

I am in the process of making quilts for each of the kids. Amy got her "Chocolate" quilt a few years ago. I have custody of Jim's "Tumbling Out of the Jungle" quilt. AJ, who said "no thankyou", got a simple flannel quilt made of 5 inch squares. I am hoping to do a Star Wars quilt for him in the future. Dan is patiently waiting for his lime green spiral quilt - he may even change his mind before I get started. And I am closing in on finishing Lynne's quilt - Zen Garden. ZG is the second quilt in my rotation. Check this out if you want more info on my rotation system.  

I saw a Garden Path wall hanging in Quilter's Haven in Olathe and fell in love with it. A little research led me to Kitty Pippen's book, Quilting with Japanese Fabrics. 

I asked Lynne what kind of quilt she wanted and recommended she look through my books. One of the quilts she liked was Kitty's Japanese Garden Path quilt. That was a no-brainer for me - I knew which quilt to make for Lynne!


And I knew which fabrics I had to use. Quilter's Haven has a wide variety of Daiwabo Japanese Taupes, so I started stocking up.  Lynne said she likes green and reds, so I decided to do the path in dusty greens, ranging from light to dark. The cherry blossoms in dusty pink. Kitty's quilt had 2 antique kimono panels, so I added in a pair of appliqued storks.

Zen Garden enabled me to do a lot of firsts - using Daiwabo Taupes, designing a quilt from a picture, using Sashiko stitching, and most exciting for me was using paper pieced hexagons. I've posted some about English Paper Piecing. I love it - and the 1/2 inch hexies in Zen Garden was the first time I got to make them. And an obsession was born!






Kitty very effectively used Sashiko stitches to suggest a brook running through her Japanese Garden.  What the heck is Sashiko? Sashiko is a traditional Japanese stitching - usually white on indigo.




 However, I will be doing it the easy way - using the Babylock Sashiko machine. 




I started searching for some motif to replace the kimono panels. I considered Japanese family crest motifs, stylized flowers, and kimono motifs. I finally found the stork applique and amazingly it looked just like the storks in a gorgeous painting we have and that hung in the living room in the home that Lynne grew up in. I hope she will recognize and appreciate the likeness. 

   

So, at this point, I am finishing up the remaining cherry blossoms, marking and stitching the Sashiko stitches, and thinking about an appropriate quilting design. 

Hopefully Lynne's Zen Garden quilt will be done by Christmas. I think it should given my rotation system. It should be done after a couple more rotations.



Curious about Daiwabo Taupe Fabrics and Sashiko? Try it, you'll like it!