Congratulations goes out to Just Pam, the winner of a brand new issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 14. Pam commented, "I like the gray and scrappy version best."
Thanks, everyone for participating. It was fun to read all the comments about color combos. If you weren't lucky enough to win a copy of Volume 14, you can pick one up at your local quilt shop, or order online here: 100 Blocks, Volume 14.
Hello, and welcome to my little segment of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 14 Blog Tour. I'm so happy you stopped by. It's the last day of the tour. I hope you've been visiting the designers all week long. It's so much fun to see what other people are making and hear about the inspiration behind their blocks.
My block for this issue is "Twirly Dot". It's block #1354. The pattern for my block appears on page 38 in the Mixed Technique section of the magazine. Twirly Dot is such a fun block to sew. The piecing part of the block is quick and easy. The color placement of the dots allows you to utilize your artsy style, plus it's a fabby block for digging into your scrap basket.
Do you have one of these in your sewing room? Likely. Do you have three kittens in your sewing room? Probably not! What do you do with your scraps? Do you immediately cut and sort them for "future projects"? Do you let them accumulate until they completely take over your sewing area? Do you simply ~gasp!~ throw them away? While the Twirly Dot block may not use up all of your scraps, it can make a dent in your basket. Here are a few examples of different color combinations to play with:
The Lighter Side
If you don't care for the black background, consider using gray for the background fabric and white for the strips.
Surf and Sand
For a beachy look, use white for the background, sand for the strips, and various blues for the dots.
Denim Blues
Maybe your stash has a lot of one color in it. I seem to have more blue than anything else. You could sew a Twirly Dot block with a black background and blues (or whatever color you have handy) for the strips and the dots.
Carnival
Another option would be to sew the black and grey pieced blocks, and then randomly cut and place different color dots from your stash for a scrappy look. Fun!
And now...for the giveaway. I know you need a copy of Volume 14 for your collection. Just look at all the colorful eye candy on the cover! It makes me smile like sunshine through the Autumn leaves!
I hope I've inspired you with some fun color possibilities for the Twirly Dot block. What is your favorite color combination? Leave a comment below, and you'll be in the running for your very own copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 14. I'll randomly choose a winner for the issue. To return to Quilmaker's blog, click here: Quilty Pleasures Blog. Good luck and thanks for stopping by.
Today I'm featuring the "Remember Me" quilt. This quilt and pattern appear in the October/November 2016 issue of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine.
Quilt Stats:
Size: 85-5/8" x 99-3/4"
Block Size: 10"
Fabric: Welcome Fall, by Deb Strain, for Moda
Batting: Warm & White, by The Warm Company
Thread: King Tut, by Superior
Just in case you haven't heard, this is sadly the very last issue of Quilter's Newsletter. It is such a bittersweet feeling for me. This is the first and last pattern I've had published in Quilter's Newsletter, I doubt I would have begun quilting without it. This magazine is what inspired me to learn to quilt. My Mother taught me to sew, but Quilter's Newsletter taught me to quilt. Quilter's Newsletter stretched my imagination; showed me there are no limits to what you can create with needle and thread. Thank you, Quilter's Newsletter for launching me on this life's journey, filling my head with dreams of color and texture. I feel blessed to have shared in a small piece of your legacy.
Coming soon! Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 14 and the blog tour, too. Be sure to mark your calendar for the week of November 14th through 18th and visit Quiltmaker's blog, Quilty Pleasures each day of the tour for a list of participating blogs and a chance to win fabulous quilty prizes! If you've never done a blog tour before, you are in for a treat.
Here's a peek at the cover of the upcoming issue. I'll be giving away a copy on my day, Friday, November 18th (also my birthday - how cool is that?). I'll also be revealing my block for this issue, and maybe a surprise or two. See you then!
Today I'm showing the Winterberry Pie quilt. This quilt appears in the Winter 2016 issue of Quilter's World magazine.
I used Moda's Cookie Exchange by Sweetwater fabric line. Aren't these fabrics delicious?
I especially like the snowflake prints.
This quilt is all basic straight piecing. It's easy and fun to sew. The star blocks have a nice sparkly movement to them. They look like they are twinkling and spinning at the same time.
The Star Blocks alternate with Chain Blocks in two different color variations to make the quilt top's pattern.
Quilt Stats:
Size: 95" x 95"
Block Size: 12"
Fabric: The Cookie Exchange, by Sweetwater, for Moda
Batting: Warm & Natural, by The Warm Company
Thread: King Tut, by Superior
The Winterberry Pie quilt graces the cover of the Quilter's World Winter 2016 issue. So lovely. Get a copy in your local quilt shop, today. You can also purchase a copy online here: Quilter's World Winter 2016.
If you sew a quilt from one of my patterns, please share a pic. I would love to see it.
(ad) Surprise! Our friends at Craftsy are having a sale this weekend. ALL of their online classes are under $20 — Friday through Sunday. *This promotion ends Sunday, September 25, at 11:59 pm MT. Select classes are not eligible, including those from our partner The Great Courses®.
WOW!
What a terrific promotion! But you'll have to be quick - this sale is ending tonight, at midnight, Mountain Time. Click here to visit the sale: Craftsy Surprise Class Sale
Heads up! Today starts Craftsy's September Supplies Sale! It's National Sewing Month, and Craftsy has a gorgeous variety of fabrics, kits, and notions on sale - now through September 18th.
Shopping the Craftsy sale couldn't be easier - and if you've never tried Craftsy before, you can sign up for a free profile. They also offer free mini classes, perfect to try and see how much fun it is to learn online at Craftsy.
Here is a pic of the top row of the Home by the Sea quilt, hot off the machine. I used a very thin, cream colored thread for the quilting, and did an allover loopy meander, one of my favorite go-to quilting designs.
Here are a few close-ups of the blocks. This is the Ship block. I used Warm and Natural Batting by the Warm Company for this quilt - it smells so good.
The Lighthouse block.
One of six Little House blocks.
The Pine Tree block.
The Star block.
I should have a pic of the finished quilt soon, and the pattern will be available in the Curlicue Creations shop in September.
Over the last week or two, my family has been playing with a new product from Kits by Carla. It's called Quiltiles. It's both magnetic, and easily portable, so we took it along for our end of the Summer beach trip.
Quiltiles is a magnetic quilt block design tool. As the front of the box states, "It's a tool...It's a game...It's art!"
The first thing you see when you open the box is this colorful instruction sheet. It includes a basic overview of the product, suggestions for two quilty games you can play using Quiltiles, and some info about their growing online community. You can visit and join their Facebook group here: Quiltiles Community.
Under the instruction sheet, you can see the four sheets of magnetic shapes and the design board.
The magnetic shape sheets come in four colors, red, yellow, green, and blue.
The design board has a nice 6 x 6 grid and two diagonal corner to corner guidelines. Of course, you are not limited to the design board either. Because all the pieces are magnetic, you can play with them on refrigerator or other magnetic surface.
Each of the four magnetic shape sheets break up into these pieces. In total, you have 144 pieces to play with! That is a lot of combinations!
Before I had a chance to try it, my 6 year old took over. He loves it.
He used every possible space to create this design. He says it's a block warehouse building.
He made a few other designs, too.
Here are a few of the designs I came up with.
The first design evolved into this one.
Then this...
And finally this! It was fun to play with the shapes, plus it got my creative juices flowing again. Playing with Quiltiles had me thinking in a fresh, new way.
I came up with this modern looking yellow and green arrow design.
I made a little row of cottages by putting the rectangular magnets on top of the square magnets.
Here's a fun, traditional Pinwheel Star block.
The Pinwheel Star block evolved into this Hourglass Star block.
That became this block with the triangular edges. The only thing I didn't like about Quiltiles is the number of small, quarter square triangles. It would have been handy to have a few more of those in each colorway.
I decided to make this fun, half-square triangle design into a real quilt block.
Here's what I ended up with. I changed it from a five color design into a three color design, and sewed half-square triangles from big 5" squares of fabric. The resulting quilt block is 24". I'm not sure if I'm going to sew a few more of these for a quilt top, or just finish it as a small wall hanging. Please leave a comment below with your vote or suggestion.
I used this Moda Bella Solids charm pack for the white squares, and a couple of blues from my stash to sew this. It was so easy with the precuts!
Quiltiles is a terrific way to jump start your creativity! To get yours, visit Kits by Carla here: Quiltiles
