Sunday, November 23, 2014

Heart's Content Pillow on the Moda Bake Shop

Hi fellow quilters!
I'm excited to share a new pillow tutorial with you today at the Moda Bake Shop!  
** Link updated to PDF download -- Original Recipe missing from the Bake Shop **
It's made with the fabulous new fabric line, Heart's Content, by Laundry Basket Quilts for Moda.

 I fell in love with the soft colors and delicate prints of this line created by Edyta Sitar. 
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This cute home deco pillow will add a touch of class to a couch, loveseat or bench.
 What's neat is with a single Jelly Roll and a bit a yardage you can make two of these beautiful pillows -- one for you, one for a Christmas gift ;)

You know me -- no project would be complete without looking though my stash of Aurifil threads dreaming of ways stitch with these sweet threads.
I was thrilled with the outcome!
 To top-stitch I choose Aurifil 12Wt Mako Cotton in two different colors.
It added such interest to the pillow flange.
For the free motion quilting I used Aurifil 28Wt and 50Wt threads.
The 28Wt served to outline the beautiful prints on the First Kiss fabric and the 50Wt thread was perfect to echo stitch the background.

Beautiful threads combined with Quilter's Dream Wool batting equals instant texture!
Love, love, love!
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 I had planned to include wool applique on the center panel of the pillow, but once I started working with the fabric I realized it didn't need applique -- it was beautiful as printed.   

Now what to do with all the beautiful wools I had purchased from Bunny Hill Designs?

Who can turn away from a cute flower accent made from wool?
Such Fun!  

Be sure to stop back and I'll show you how easy they are to whip up. 
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I may even need to share some of my leftover wool ;)

Now be sure to hop on over to the Moda Bake Shop and checkout the tutorial.
I would love to hear what you think.
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As always I would also LOVE to see anything you create from the tutorial.
Wouldn't this pillow be sweet with 
Christmas fabric ? 
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Thanks for stopping by today
and have a blessed day!
Karen

PS - A big shout-out to those of you that have been following and encouraging me on Instagram.
Sharing the sneaky peeks is fun!  Thanks so much for your support.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Thank you, Thank you and a Winner!

You guys are the best!

Your responses to my Recreating Antique Quilts book review and resulting Feathered Garden Lattice quilt blew me away.   

Although I couldn't respond to each and every comment, I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart,
"Thank You".
You have a way of inspiring a girl to keep on stitchin'.
Feathered Garden Lattice - from Recreating Antique Quilts by Wendy Sheppard
I just realized I never showed you an image of the pieced back.  Here it is - don't mind my husbands feet ;)  He's a trooper when it comes to taking quilt pictures - love him!
 I had a blast making Wendy's Garden Lattice pattern and was really happy to use the stash fabric I've been hoarding for years.  That, along with pushing myself to work those feathered borders on my domestic machine, was quite a fun adventure.

I do hope you all take the opportunity to do the same - grab some of your most cherished fabric, buy that book,
and get that quilt made!  

I know for certain that both Wendy and I would love, love, love to see it!
Click the image below for a Recap of the Blog Hop and links to order
your copy of
Recreating Antique Quilts.
 Also, stay tuned over the holidays, I hope to post more about the feather borders and the lessons I learned while making them.
Sew much fun.

A few other fun things before we announce a winner:

I was very honored to be featured by Quilter's Dream batting as one of their November #battgirls for my quilting on Feathered Garden Lattice -- isn't that fun?
battgirls
   I wrote them because I was absolutely thrilled with how the Dream Wool quilted.
It was the first time I'd used Dream wool and I'm hooked! 
I've found a perfect combination -- Dream Wool + Aurifil Mako Cotton.  Love it!
Click the image (above) to read the blog post they shared about me.
 (Can you say honored ?)

WOW!
Click the button (below) to learn how you too can be considered for their monthly #battgirls or #battmen feature.
 Thank you Quilter's Dream Batting.

One more fun thing...
I WON! 
Happy Dance!
Yes, it's my lucky month!
I entered a Giveaway on this post at Kelly's "My Quilt Infatuation" blog and WON a
$25 gift certificate to
Southern Fabric.

Click the button (above) to see the beautiful fabric they carry at Southern Fabric! 
I'm so grateful that I won.
Thank you Kelly and Aubrey for the awesome giveaway!

Now how about we announce a winner of Wendy's book: Recreating Antique Quilts?

As of 8pm EST on November 13th there were 113 comments on the giveaway post. 
I called upon Mr. Random Number Generator and he selected comment #58
And the Winner is:   
Congratulations Cindy!  You've won Wendy Sheppard's new book Recreating Antique Quilts, courtesy of Landauer Publishing.
How exciting - I know you'll enjoy the book Cindy - Have fun with it!

Special thanks again to Wendy Sheppard for inviting me to the hop,
and to Landaeur Publishing for sponsoring the book giveaway.  
We had an awesome time!

Here are a couple of helpful links:

You can order the book from Landauer Publishing by clicking here.

You can order a signed copy of the book from Wendy Sheppard by clicking here:

Thanks for stopping by, it's always fun to share with you.
Blessings,
Karen

Monday, November 3, 2014

Recreating Antique Quilts Giveaway ~ Reveal ~ Review!

Hi everyone and Welcome!!
I'm honored to be participating in a Blog Hop celebrating the release of Wendy Sheppard's new book:  
Recreating Antique Quilts

You're going to Love this book!  

Many thanks to Landauer Publishing for sponsoring this hop and giveaway!
Image Credit Landauer Publishing

I know, I know... I've been feeding you teasers about this book for weeks now - but the time has finally come to share some sweet projects from the book and show you a quilt that I made using
the Garden Lattice pattern.

First let me say that Wendy Sheppard is one of the most talented designers and domestic free motion quilters that I've had the pleasure to know.

If you've not already bookmarked Wendy's free motion quilting tips, Thread Talk, you really should!

Thread Talk

Wendy not only provides a constant source of inspiration to fellow quilters (in 2014 alone her designs were published in 10 different magazines, 3 books (not including her own) and for multiple different fabric companies), she also encourages quilters to step outside of their comfort zone and try something new.  I'm so excited for her!  

You can learn more about Wendy in this blog post by Landauer Press and also in her recent interview with Pat Sloan!  Woot! Woot!

Recreating Antique Quilts Review:


Recreating Antique Quilts is all about re-interpreting antique quilts for the quilters of our time using contemporary fabrics and methods.  It's pretty neat to see antique quilt designs recreated with fun and modern fabrics in sizes that 
won't take forever to complete. 

Here is the book cover,
isn't it just beautiful?
Fresh colors, a beautiful bird, love!
Book Cover ~ Image Credit Landauer Publishing
The 96 page book contains patterns, complete instructions, full-color images, and full-size templates for 5 quilts, 2 table toppers/runners, 1 pillow, and 2 stunning wall hangings.   WOW!! 

In typical Wendy Sheppard style, the designs are fresh and unique and each pattern contains applicable cutting, piecing, applique and quilting tips including an awesome writeup sharing Wendy's machine applique methods.  Sweet!

In all, the book contains more than 27 full-color quilt images!   I love this because you can see full view images of the quilts that inspired Wendy's designs along side her updated design.

There are detail images that show you the beautiful piecing and applique along with the fantastic quilting stitched on Wendy's domestic machine.  
Wendy's Garden Lattice ~ Image Credit Landauer Publishing
You'll also love the detailed and helpful applique templates and quilting diagrams.  

The applique templates are full-size, color coded, reversed where applicable, and easy to follow.

The quilting tips, notes and diagrams are equally impressive.

I was excited to see a page dedicated to quilting an Off-Centered Feather Wreath.
I can see my FMQ skills improving already!


The Reveal - Karen's Garden Lattice (aka Feathered Garden Lattice)


I was thrilled and honored when Wendy invited a few of us to make projects from the book.

Of course I was drawn to this applique,  
Ivory Baltimore Wall Hanging. 
It was first on my list of things to make.  
Isn't it beautiful?  
Ivory Baltimore ~ Image Credit Landauer Publishing
Well it seems I wasn't the only one in love with Ivory Baltimore -- so for this Blog Hop you'll want to jump over to Cathi's blog (Quilt Obsession) and drool over her version of this beautiful wall hanging. 

Sometime after the first of the year I'll be sharing my rendition. 
Do you think I might work it up in wool?  
Just maybe?

My next choice, and one I was sure would place me outside of my comfort zone, was this beautiful quilt Wendy named:  
Garden Lattice.   

I envisioned it done in French General or Blackbird Design fabrics (more traditional than modern) and possibly highlighting some of my large stash of bird prints.  

But the piecing... ouch... You know me - never looking forward to too much piecing ;)
Image Credit Landauer Publishing

Well -- I'm happy to say that I sailed through this beautiful pattern with ease -- enjoying every step of the process;  fabric choice, cutting, piecing, and quilting on my domestic machine.  I decided to call my version "Feathered Garden Lattice". 
 I couldn't resist using one of my most beautiful bird print fabrics from  
Collections for a Cause - Heritage 
 by Howard Marcus for Moda (it's been in my stash forever!) along with another beautiful line by  Blackbird Designs for Moda Antique Fair

Seriously, I've been hoarding these fabrics for years.   
 It felt good to dig them out and use them to create Garden Lattice.  I made one small revision to the pattern as to avoid cutting my Heritage fabric (I just couldn't bring myself to cut those birds) and voila!!
I couldn't be more thrilled with how this pattern lent itself to this traditional fabrics and how easily this quilt went together using Wendy's extremely detailed instructions and tips.  

Even "Karen the non-piecing Quilter" was able to make this pattern -- sew much fun!
A quick shout-out and many thanks to Quilt Essential in Devils Lake, North Dakota for coming to my rescue and sending nearly 3 yards of Antique Fair - Antique Rose fabric.  I had about a 1/2 yard on hand but needed a bit more to make border # 4.  
Thank you Katie and Janet for your fine customer service and awesome stash of fabrics!

I was so excited about the fabrics, colorway, and pattern that I started auditioning Aurifil threads for quilting before the piecing was done.
I always look forward to the quilting on my domestic machine.
It's one of my favorite steps!
One fun thing about Garden Lattice is the 6 different borders around the lattice center - a perfect way to practice a variety of FMQ feathers.
  
Here are a few images of the quilted borders on Feathered Garden Lattice.
This was my first attempt at feathered borders -- they sure aren't perfect but I learned so much and love the way they turned out.
Paired with Quilters Dream 100% Wool batting, I used 5 different colors of Aurifil Mako Cotton 50Wt thread for the feathers and a background filler.

 Don't you just love the look and dimension it adds to the overall pattern?
Here is the background filler I used on the center fabric. I wanted to highlight the birds and flowers.
I could go on all day showing you pictures of my completed project, but I want to be sure you have time to get to all the blogs that are reviewing and giving-away Wendy's book today.

Use the image below to see Wendy's main blog post -- from there you'll see a list of the other wonderful blogging friends that you can hop to!
Image Credit Landauer Publishing

Now how about that Giveaway!


One last thing - the great folks at Landauer Publishing are giving away one copy of
Recreating Antique Quilts
at each blog hop stop today!

The book giveaway is open to United States and Canadian followers -- however, if an International follower is chosen, I would be happy to share a PDF copy of my Spring Basket pattern - so please everyone, join in the fun!

*** Giveaway Closed ***  To enter the giveaway, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought about the book review or the projects in the book -- just let me know whatever you like!

The Giveaway will close at 8pm EST on Thursday, November 13th.
In summary, I couldn't be more pleased with Wendy Sheppard's new book  
Recreating Antique Quilts.

The designs (and variety of designs), patterns, instructions, diagrams, layout, colors - jut everything about the book is beautifully done.

Here are a couple of helpful links:

You can order the book from Landauer Publishing by clicking here.

You can order a signed copy of the book from Wendy Sheppard by clicking here:

Thanks for stopping by today and have a blessed week!
Karen



Sunday, November 2, 2014

Bloggers Quilt Festival - Let the Voting Begin!

Hi everyone - the time has come to vote for your favorite quilts in each category at Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival.   I've entered "Wren in Spring" in the Mini Quilt Category.

Click here to view the beautiful Mini Quilts - you can vote for up to 3!

To learn more about "Wren in Spring" -- just click on the image in the Mini Quilt category and you'll pass through to my original blog post.   To vote for any quilt, click on the heart in the upper right hand category.

While you're there, be sure to vote for quilts in these categories - such eye candy!
AmysCreativeSide.com
    Thanks so much for your support -- voting ends Friday, November 7th!

    Karen