September 23, 2016

Bloggers Quilt Festival: Original Design

Welcome to my Blogger's Quilt Festival post. If you're brand new to my blog, I do hope you'll look around a little. I'm a graphic designer turned quilter with a love for strong graphics, bold colors and an affinity for large scale prints. Thank you ever so much for stopping by. I also want to give Amy a big round of applause for putting on this virtual quilt show twice a year. Love it every single time.

Now on to my entry . . . I'd like to introduce Interweave, a brand new finish that I haven't even shared on my blog yet. I am entering it in the Original Quilt category.

Interweave quilt pattern, Springleaf Studios, Kaffe Fassett

Interweave is the fourth version of a new quilt design I've been working on and I have to tell you . . . it's my favorite. I love it!

The black and white prints were part of a cherished fat quarter collection I'd been saving and this was the perfect design for them. I only wish I'd had more fabric because I think it would be amazing as a bed sized quilt. It's a small lap size made for my new guest room which is mainly black and white with pops of bright color. Doesn't it look great with the black and white chair I redid last summer?

Interweave quilt pattern, Kaffe Fassett


I thoroughly enjoyed the design process for this quilt. The initial concept started with an exploration of weave patterns. Basket weaves. Fabric weaves. I enlarged the weave pattern and played with the sizing of the different elements. Since I love working with large scale prints, the horizontal rows were sized specifically to show off big prints.  The vertical columns are narrower to contrast with the wide rows and make a good place for either large prints like I used for this one or smaller prints as you can see further down the page.

It was a challenge to figure out the piecing method but it really isn't complicated. Essentially it's a row quilt and is quite easy to piece.

When I first started the pattern idea, I wanted to explore color schemes and a simple use of fabrics. Lush garden blues and greens with purple accents. The pattern is being written with this quilt below as the primary design, but I'd really love to know which one of all these is your favorite.

Interweave quilt pattern, Kaffe Fassett

The one below is a variation featuring a single fabric in all the horizontal rows. It has a real beachy feel to me because of the colors. Now if only there was a beach in Colorado.

Interweave quilt pattern, Springleaf Studios, Amy Butler


As you can see, there are lots of possibilities with the design. That's what I absolutely love about designing . . . exploring all the variations of a single concept. I still have other ideas that I haven't had time to try yet. Right now I'm toying with a green on green idea for my family room and possibly an all solid one with waves of color from both top to bottom and left to right. Solids would provide some amazing areas to show off machine quilting.

The Interweave pattern should be finalized and published soon. Please let me know which one of these three is your favorite. I'm curious since each new one I make becomes my latest favorite.  : )

I love designing my own quilts. Most are for my home and family plus some charity work through my local modern guilds. I turn a few of my designs into PDF quilt patterns that are sold through Craftsy and my Etsy shop in case you're interested.

Thanks again for stopping by. Hope you are enjoying all the beautiful quilts in the festival. You can see my other entry here.

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Blogger's Quilt Festival: Small Quilt Entry

Welcome to my Blogger's Quilt Festival post. If you're brand new to my blog, I do hope you'll look around a little. I'm a graphic designer turned quilter with a love of strong graphics, bold colors and an affinity for large scale prints. Thank you ever so much for stopping by. I want to give a big round of applause to Amy for putting on this virtual quilt show twice a year. It's always so good.

Now I'd like to introduce Tequila Sunrise, my entry in the Small Quilt category. This quilt is 42" x 58",
a nice small lap size made specially for my daughter.

Cascade quilt pattern, Springleaf Studios, Amy Butler


Tequila Sunrise is my latest make using the Cascade quilt pattern. I had this great collection of Amy Butler fabrics in the orange/teal colorway and pulled several other fabrics by Kaffe Fassett and Tula Pink that had similar coloring.

I would really love to get a photo with a great sunrise but getting up that early isn't my strong point. Maybe someday. I took this fun shot last week though and would like to go back when the lighting is better and get a few more shots. The color washed out a bit.

Cascade quilt pattern, Amy Butler, Kaffe Fassett, Tula Pink

This shot was taken shortly after I finished the quilt in the spring. Another location I'd like to revisit.

Cascade quilt pattern, Springleaf Studios, Amy Butler fabrics

If you'd like to read my original post about this quilt it can be found here.
I find it amazing how different fabrics and different fabric placement can change a design. That's the part of pattern designing that I really love to play around with. Just look at the difference between Tequila Sunrise and my original Cascade on the right. Fabric and position make all the difference!

Cascade quilt pattern, Springleaf Studios,


I love designing my own quilts. Most are for my home and family plus some charity work through my local modern guilds. I turn a few of my designs into PDF quilt patterns that are sold through Craftsy and in my Etsy shop in case you're interested.

Thanks again for stopping by. Hope you are enjoying all the beautiful quilts in the festival. You can see my other entry here.

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September 19, 2016

One Lovely Blog Award

I recently received a nice email from Dawn of First Light Designs nominating my blog for the One Lovely Blog Award. And what might you ask is this award all about? Well, it's a clever way to spread a bit of quilty love around and get to know some bloggers just a little better.


Dawn often leaves comments on my blog or IG and every time I see her photo I do a double take because she looks a lot like my sister-in-law. Turns out Dawn is a twin but I think she must have been from a set of triplets. Do hop over to First Light Designs and learn a little more about Dawn and take a look at her lovely quilts. Thanks for the nomination Dawn!

So here's how One Lovely Blog Award works . . .

The rules:
Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.
List the rules.
Display the award image on my post.
List 7 facts about myself.
Nominate up to 15 bloggers for the award and notify them they've been nominated.

My seven facts . . .
  1. I'm a small town girl all the way. Grew up in Indiana farm country, pop. 2000.
  2. I'm an only child and am more than a bit jealous of those of you who have siblings.
  3. Perhaps because of #2, I'm happy spending time alone, quietly in my studio.
  4. I'm a collector of pretty things from flea markets and thrift stores. Colored glass vases. Fruit, flower and leaf dishes. Lacy things. Too much stuff. Trying to pair down and simplify.
  5. I don't like to cook but since my family needs to eat I do my best. 
  6. I'm a huge fan of Les Miserables and love to sing along. 
  7. I can't carry a tune. At all. Not even Happy Birthday. But I'd still wish you a Happy Birthday and maybe sing along.   : ) 
If you'd like to know even more about me, check out my Around the World Blog Hop post where I share more about my process and work. Also take a peek at my Color Inspiration series to get a glimpse of how I see color in my world. And you can see where I work in these various posts about my studio.



Now, on to my nominations. There are so many wonderful blogs out there. Instagram may have made posting quick and easy, but I still love getting to know people more through their blogs. Reading about their process. Seeing more of what they're working on in detail. The following blogs are ones I've always enjoyed. Three of them I've had the pleasure of meeting in real life. The other two I'd love to meet sometime. One way or another we all share something in common. I value their work, their stories, their words of encouragement and their quilty friendships. For these reasons I'm nominating for the One Lovely Blog Award . . . 
  • Cindy of Live A Colorful Life, the first blogger to really reach out to me. So very grateful for the real life connection and friendship we've made.
  • Elizabeth of OPQuilt, another blogger I am so happy to call a friend. She's a great quilty cheerleader and does wonderful causal quilt-alongs.
  • Linda of Flourishing Palms, a fabulous machine quilter and ever so supportive online friend.
  • Kelly of My Quilt Infatuation, a lover of large scale prints and a very talented pattern designer. 
  • Maureen of Mystic Quilter, a fellow Kaffe fan way down in New Zealand. I love connecting with people far and wide that share a love of quilting.


I do hope you've enjoyed learning a tad more about me and hope you'll hop around to meet the others too. I don't know who started this idea but it's a fun way to get to know more bloggers. Thanks for stopping by.

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September 14, 2016

Snowball Block: Making the Octagon

The snowball quilt block has been around for a long time. The basic block is an octagon that gives the illusion of a circle. According to a little online research, it's an Amish block. I make no claims as a quilt historian but one thing I do know is it's a wonderfully versatile block. Check out all these quilt tutorials curated by Quilt Inspiration that use a snowball block. So many variations are possible. This is the version on my design wall right now.



The easiest way to make a snowball block is with small corner squares that are stitched across the diagonal, trimmed, and then flipped open to form corner triangles. While this method uses more fabric than sewing triangles, I find it fast and easy. All you need is one big square and 4 small squares for the corners. No bias edges to contend with.



No need to let those trimmed corners go to waste either.  Once I've gotten a decent start on making the blocks and have a handful of trimmed corner triangles, I use them as leaders and enders when sewing the rest of the blocks. This way I end up with lots of half square triangles sewn and ready for a second project like a mini quilt or pillow. It's like making two projects in one. Gotta love that!

So you might be asking how do you know what size small square to use? Well, the size is often determined by the quilt setting you are using. Because a snowball block is frequently paired with another block in an alternating setting, the size of the corners is usually determined by the breakdown of the alternate block. In other words, If the alternate block is a 9-patch block, then the side of the snowball block is divided by three. If the alternate block is a 16-patch, then the side of the snowball block is divided by four. Here's a great source for determining the size of the corner squares for various sized snowball blocks.


The most common sizing for a snowball block calls for dividing the finished size of the block by three and then adding a half inch seam allowance. This would then align with a 9-patch block as shown above left. Whatever number you are dividing by you will still add 1/2" seam allowance. For my quilt the finished block size is 6" so the squares would be cut 2 1/2" x 2 1/2".  (6 divided by 3 equals 2 plus 1/2" equals 2 1/2")

Since my quilt is made entirely of snowball blocks, the size of the small corner squares didn't matter so much. The triangles didn't need to line up with any points on an alternate block, they simply line up with each other.



I started with the typical directions and made a sample block using the 2 1/2" corner squares. It didn't really seem as much like an octagon as I wanted. All eight sides of the octagon aren't the same length. Of course they'll change a little once the seam allowances are taken into account but it still wasn't going to be a true octagon. Here's what it looked like.


Wanting a more true octagon, I turned to my computer to see if I could figure out a better size for the corners. Since I didn't know the mathematical way to draw an octagon in Illustrator, I estimated using a small grid. For my finished 6" block I found that if my corner squares were cut 2 1/4" the end result was as close to a true octagon as I could get. In other words all eight sides were of equal length. You can see the difference below between the 2 1/2" square (left) and the 2 1/4" square (right). The one on the right is closer to a true equal sided octagon.



I know this is a small thing to some of you, but it was worth the effort to me. Not to mention I could get more small squares from my yardage so I needed less fabric. All together I need 900+ of the small squares so I have a lot of cutting to do.

I'll be back with another post soon showing you my quick method of sewing the corner squares without any marking. It saves a ton of time.

Until then, I'm curious, have you ever made a quilt that included snowball blocks?

I'm linking up this week to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation. It's been far too long since I've played along. Hop over and see Kelly's latest quilt finish.

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September 2, 2016

Kaleidoscope Breeze; Online Charity Drawing Sept 24th

This award winning quilt, Kaleidoscope Breeze, can be yours!

the modern quilt guild, charity quilt, pinwheel quilt, boulder modern quilt guild

On behalf of the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild I'd like to share what our chairperson Josi of AvocadoQuilts wrote up about this quilt.

Occasionally, an amazing group of women come together and create beauty and goodness out of thin air (and a pile of fabric).  This is the case for the award winning 2015 QuiltCon Charity Quilt, named Kaleidoscope Breeze, which may be yours soon!

This quilt has been generously donated to the Anchor Center for Blind Children by the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild which will be holding an online and physical drawing for the quilt on September 24th at their annual Cherrity Pie Festival.  Click here to purchase drawing tickets for the quilt.  Please pass the word to all the quilt lovers out there, friends and family members alike.  All proceeds benefit the blind children at the Anchor Center, which is dedicated to teaching fundamental life skills to children from birth to kindergarten.  I have been involved with fundraising for this amazing cause for three years now, and am continually so moved and impressed by the impact the school has, and more so on the strength of the children and families who attend.
This quilt was created by a group of skilled Modern Quilters from the Boulder Modern Quilt guild as a challenge quilt for their 2015 QuiltCon entry.   Over 71 quilts were created by guilds worldwide as part of the challenge, and all of them benefited charity organizations in their respective local communities after being on display together in 2015. This particular quilt then went on to win 1st place at the Boulder County Fair in 2015 for the group quilt category.
Anne Deister of SpringLeafStudios.com, created the unique design for this quilt in Adobe Illustrator.  Over 12 guild members then paper pieced the 36 blocks together, requiring them to sew the fabric directly on a paper pattern in order to create crisp lines.  The blocks were then arranged on an alternate grid to fulfill one of the challenges.   The quilt is 68″ x 88″ and made entirely of solid Kona Cotton fabrics.  The professional quilting was done by the guild president Cynthia Morgan, which truly put the finishing touches on this work of art.  The Boulder Modern Quilt Guild is very pleased to donate the 2015 QuiltCon Charity quilt to the Anchor Center for Blind Children as a fundraising item to go home to one fortunate supporter during the 2016 Cherrity Pie Festival!
To see the process of the quilt creation,  please visit Anne’s blog post for the quiltcon charity quilt challenge, and for more information on Modern Quilting, feel free to visit the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild on their Facebook page or website 

The more we can spread the word and sell tickets for this amazing quilt, the more it can raise to help the visually disabled children of the Anchor Center.  Please pass on!  
Much thanks to Josi for all your hard work in getting this organized.
As quilters, we have the pleasure of seeing beautiful colors and fabrics. 
The Anchor Center for Blind Children helps children who cannot see. 
Please consider buying a ticket and supporting a very worthy cause.

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