Thursday, August 23, 2018

Third Star to the Right?

 Last week I sold the Second Star to the Right quilt that I had listed in my Etsy shop.  I had mixed feelings.  It's a little sad to see a quilt exit my studio permanently, but "hooray!", someone else appreciates my quilt and is going to provide a loving home for it.

 I decided to make another similar quilt for the shop.  Possibly a "Third Star to the Right" quilt?  Where do you go when you follow the third star to the right and straight on till morning?  Are there other fantasy worlds out there like Neverland?  Maybe you enter a fabulous land of quilting creativity with mountains of fabric and rivers of thread.  

 I spent a day cutting fabrics for the star blocks.  I'm going to make the same style and size of blocks, but use a different color palette, and make more blocks, hence a little larger quilt.

 I'm using purples, pinks, greens, and blacks.  It's a bit of a Halloween color palette, but no orange.

I like this large scale floral print. This fabric is part of the Floribunda collection by Melanie Testa. I used this as the basis of my colors and selected coordinating fabrics from my stash.  The Floribunda fabrics were part of the June Quilty Box.  I cut out my blocks in sets.  Next I'll be sewing the blocks together.  I can't wait to see how they turn out.

For inspiration featuring Island Batik fabrics, check out today's stop on the Great Outdoors Blog Hop:

Thursday, August 23 – Dragonfly Dreams
Inchworm Fabrics, BeaQuilter

Come back and visit my blog on Monday, August 27th to see what I've sewn with a new collection of Island Batik fabrics and a giveaway.

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.

Jennifer Thomas








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Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Winds of Autumn Giveaway Winners!

 Congratulations to my two lucky readers, Judy and Linda!

When asked about favorite Autumn activities, Judy responded:  "My favorite thing to do in autumn is to walk through the leaves on a clear, cold, windy day. I have always loved the fall and those are my favorite kinds of days."

Linda's response was:  "Autumn means Caramel Apples at our house!"

That sounds delightful.  I would love a yummy caramel apple after a crisp fall stroll through the leaves!

Both of these lucky readers are going to receive a new copy of the September/October 2018 issue of Love of Quilting, which includes the pattern for my Winds of Autumn quilt.

Congratulations quilty friends!

If you are following the Great Outdoors Blog Hop featuring the Island Batik Ambassadors, here is the link to today's bloggers:


Come back on August 27th (next Monday) to see my segment of the hop.  I'll be showing you a fabulous new fabric line from Island Batik, a sparkly star quilt, and a giveaway.

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today,

Jennifer Thomas
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If you didn't win, but wish to purchase a copy of the new Love of Quilting magazine, click above!
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Sunday, August 19, 2018

Quilty Box August 2018 ~ What's Inside?

Disclaimer:  The contents of this box were given to my by Quilty Box.
 It's Quilty Box Time!  It's always an exciting day when a Quilty Box arrives in my mailbox.  I bubble over with excitement, run into the house, and open it right away!

 This month's box includes, as always, the exclusive Bundles of Inspiration magazine.  August's featured designer is Sarah Watson.  Inside, you'll find an interview with Sarah, one of her patterns to sew, a Tie Dye lesson (I've always wanted to try that!), and a Subscriber Spotlight.

 Sarah Watson's new fabric line, Terrestrial, by Cloud 9 Fabrics.  

 One spool of Aurifil thread, color 2312.  This is a nice neutral.  I know I'll be using this thread up!

 Oooh!  This is so cool!  This is the Fold-A-Way Ruler by the Quilters Mercantile.  This is the perfect ruler to pack for class, travel, or retreats!  It folds to a travel friendly 6" x 12" size.

 When you are ready to cut, simply unfold to have a full size, 6" x 24" ruler.  Awesome!
Too bad I don't have any travel plans coming up.  But when I do.....

I managed to get a few minutes time away from my busy schedule to work on this Nova table topper project by Jaybird Quilts from a previous month's Quilty Box.  I made it all the way to the quilting stage.  I'm having an issue with my leg, so I've been unable to use my stand-up quilting frame.  This is the perfect size to practice my free motion quilting on my sit down domestic sewing machine.  I'm following Angela Walters quilting design from the sample. I love her designs.  I'll write a more in-depth post about this project soon.

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If you are interested in trying a Quilty Box for yourself, click on the above ad to visit their website.  Each month's Quilty Box is packed with more than $60.00 total in retail value fabric, patterns, and notions.  It's a wonderful way to increase your stash, try out new notions, and stay inspired with new projects.

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.

Jennifer Thomas

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Saturday, August 18, 2018

The Rock the Boat PDF Pattern is Now Available on Craftsy!

Just a quick note ~ My newest pattern, Rock the Boat is now available on Craftsy as a PDF download.  You can purchase your copy here:  Rock the Boat PDF Pattern.

If you prefer a hard copy, head on over to my Etsy shop, here:  Rock the Boat Paper Pattern.

Learn more about the Rock the Boat quilt and pattern in my previous post, here:  New Pattern ~ Rock the Boat

And, as always, if you sew a quilt from one of my patterns, please share a photo.  I would love to see it.

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today,

Jennifer Thomas




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Friday, August 17, 2018

Winds of Autumn Quilt and a Giveaway!

 Today I'm showing the Winds of Autumn quilt.  This quilt features Missouri Star blocks and Windy Day Blocks set on point in a warm color palette.  The pattern for Winds of Autumn is in the new September/October 2018 issue of Love of Quilting.  This quilt is paired with a lesson on "quick-pieced split point units" to sew the two tone star points.

The fabrics for the Winds of Autumn quilt are from the Grace's Garden collection.  They were generously provided by Moda Fabrics.  

Here's a look at the Missouri Star block.  This block features bright berry red star points and a large center block that would be fun to showcase large quilting designs.  

The Windy Day Stars block has a nice layered look to it.  The brown cross looks like it is floating over the rest of the block.  This block was a lot of fun to piece, and it has a lovely finished look to it.

I was in a time crunch for the quilting, so I did my standard loopy meander allover design.  I used Warm and Natural cotton batting by The Warm Company and a light beige King Tut thread by Superior Threads.

Here is another close-up look at the quilt top.

Winds of Autumn is a nice size for any bed.  My bed is a King Size, so if you were making it for a Queen, or Double, it will look just as nice with a little more drape over the sides.

Quilt Stats:
Quilt Size:  82" x 99"
Block Size:  12" x 12"
Fabric:  Grace's Garden by Moda
Batting:  The Warm Company
Thread:  King Tut by Superior

I'm giving away two copies of the issue Winds of Autumn appears in.  Do you see the circled cameo of the Missouri Star block on the cover?  This is the new Love of Quilting, September/October 2018 issue.  To win a copy leave a comment below.  Let's make it fun ~ tell me about your favorite traditional Autumn activity.  I'll draw two winners at random.

Fun!  My fellow Island Batik Ambassador and North Carolina neighbor, Bea has a quilt in this issue, too!  Visit her blog here:  Beaquilter to see her quilt and another chance to win a copy of the magazine!

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.

Jennifer Thomas




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Sunday, August 12, 2018

Island Batik Ambassadors Great Outdoors Blog Hop

The Island Batik Ambassadors are taking part in a blog hop to showcase Island Batiks newest fabric lines.  Have you been following along?  Here's the list.  Visit each blog to see new fabrics, new quilts, and enter giveaways, too.  Come back here to visit my blog on August 27th to see gorgeous new fabrics, the quilt I'm making, and a giveaway.  The next blog hop day is tomorrow, August 13th, but you can still visit the blogs from last week and catch up.

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

WEEK 3

Monday, August 20 – Ocean Odyssey
Toby Lischko, Karen Overton
Thursday, August 23 – Dragonfly Dreams
Inchworm Fabrics, BeaQuilter

WEEK 4

Wednesday, August 29 – Lavendula
Carole Lyles Shaw, Masterpiece Quilting

WEEK 5

Tuesday, September 4 – Whatnot
heARTS Creations, Slice of Pi Quilts
You can also visit the Island Batik Blog for more info about the Great Outdoors blog tour and a giveaway.
Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today,
Jennifer Thomas


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Friday, August 10, 2018

The Wishing Star ~ August Challenge Part One

Disclaimer: These fabrics were given to me by Island Batik.
 This is part one of my August Challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors.  This month we get to reveal our "Surprise" fabrics from box one!  I received the Globetrotter collection.  This is the rep sample I made earlier in the year that will eventually be serving as a kennel quilt in an animal shelter.  It shows all of the fabrics in the new Globetrotter collection.

 These are such vibrant fabrics that I felt they needed to be paired with a bright white fabric to really show them off.  I'm sewing sparkly star blocks with the Globetrotter collection.  I decided to cut and piece the fabrics randomly to give the stars a fun playful look.  I think the points made from the lighter fabrics make the stars look like they are twinkling.  I sewed thirteen of these large star blocks.  Shine on!

 I made my star points using the cut and flip method.  I marked my random squares with a diagonal line across the back.

 I paired them with white strips of the background fabric and sewed right on the line.

 I clipped away the corners, leaving myself with a pile of small triangles to make into something else.  Maybe a mini quilt.....hmmmmm......

 Here are some of my points at the halfway mark.

 As I piece a quilt, I like to put the parts up on my design wall and take photos for future inspiration.  I like the way these diamonds look in the middle ~ cool!

The quilt I am making features three different star blocks.  This is the second block.  Isn't it cute?  What a cute little star!  I'm sewing the block threes now.  I'll reveal the entire quilt on my blog hop day, August 27th.

The Great Outdoors Blog hop is going on now!  Here's today's blog tour stops:


Be sure to come back and visit my blog on August 27th to see my completed star quilt, plus a giveaway!

Be Creative ~ Sew Something Beautiful Today.

Jennifer Thomas






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