The Little Red Hen

Tealorange! - for the love of orange

Here she is, Tealorange! She's finished!  
You may remember that this quilt grew from two years worth of bee blocks. I asked my bee members to make 6 inch finished blocks that were teal, orange, and cream.

I could never have made this quilt by myself. I love that the blocks are a mix of measured and liberated piecing. I love the mix of fabrics. I love everything about it.
I quilted it with parallel straight lines about 3/8 of an inch apart. It took a while to get it quilted but I think it was well worth the effort.

The binding is made of scraps of fabrics that I used in the star blocks that I made.

And the back uses some fabrics that have been in my stash for quite a long time, along with some Thomas Knauer jelly beans.

The finished quilt measures 60 by 73 inches.

This quilt is headed to someone who is a HUGE fan of orange.


 

Tealorange - quilting progress

I decided that the Tealorange quilt needed simple quilting.  I started with stitching in the ditch between all the blocks and then added some parallel lines close to the ditch like I did on this quilt (but only in one direction).

Then, I decided that I needed to fill the whole space with lines.

I have to say, I think the result is well worth the hours it took. I am thrilled with the results on the whole quilt. 

I'm going to put a scrappy binding of orange and teals around it and will share a full view photo when it's really finished. 

It has finally gotten warm enough to be outside without sweaters so we've also been working on some outdoor chores. Yesterday we went out in the fields hunting for morels and asparagus - we didn't find any of those but we did come back with a big load of garlic mustard. Today we'll plant some more things in the garden any maybe even have a field fire. I tell you, the fun never ends around here!

What projects have you been working on?

Tealorange!

This is what I've been working on the last few days. TEALORANGE! You may remember me posting some of the blocks over the last two years. These blocks were made by my quilt bee members two years in a row. Aren't they cheery?

This quilt has been a real "pick me up" this week. I needed that.

It is too rainy and gloomy to get a good full view photo so, you'll have to wait for the final reveal because I now have it basted and ready for quilting. I hope I don't agonize too long over how to quilt it. 

(However, my facebook followers have seen a not so great full view photo. If you want ALL the news from the hen house, you should follow me on facebook too.)

Blue Garden Dress

Miss P has a new dress and she calls it her "Blue Garden Dress".

The fabric, from Jennifer's  Happy Land line, was leftover from the backing of one of the quilts I made for her. Miss P loves the fabric so we zipped out a dress this week. She chose the pattern from my vintage collection.

She likes that it is pretty enough for "fancy" wear but also looks great with jeans. Since it was SNOWING yesterday and warm weather seems to be taking its time this year we need some dresses that look good paired with pants. Miss P doesn't like to have "freezy legs" on the playground at recess and I don't blame her. I love her practical style. 

It is also a great dress for playhouse time.

I used an old Simplicity 6764 pattern but instead of using a facing, I lined the bodice for a more "finished" inside.

I love that these old patterns never seem to go out of style. 

Super Hero: Behind the Scenes Look at a Quilt Blogger's Son

He is my super hero.

His special skills involve being tall enough to hold

and help display quilts for photo sessions.

And being patient with the elements (strong winds, rain, snow etc.) 

while I try to squeeze in multiple photo shoots

on brief and sometimes rare visits home.

It can be exhausting

and sometimes he thinks he's my butler. What a ham.

He often has great artistic suggestions on how to show the quilts.

However, I think those ideas are just an excuse to use his super hero skills to go climbing in the rickety loft of the barn.

Here's a big thank you to M,  my supermodel super hero. 

These photos are outtakes from the photo shoot for my Atomic Pinwheels pattern. 

It's Atomic!

As much as I like the Atomic Pinwheels quilt that I made from the atomic fabric, I think I like this version of the Atomic Pinwheels pattern in solids more.

I had fun with the quilting on this one too.

 

This quilt is the "throw" size of Atomic Pinwheels and measures 58 by 70 inches.

Listed below are the Robert Kaufman Kona solid colors and the matching Aurifil 50 wt threads that were used in this quilt.

Eggplant      1240
Peapod        1231
lagoon         2810
papaya        2140 

The Atomic Pinwheels pattern includes directions for five different sizes crib through queen and is available on Crafty as an instant download pdf.

Next, I want to try a scrappy version.

 

 

 

Atomic Pinwheels

I am thrilled to announce my new quilt pattern, Atomic Pinwheels.

I think this print was perfect for the atomic design of the quilt that features pinwheels spinning in opposite directions. The pattern includes directions for five sizes from crib to queen. This, the smallest version, is 46 by 58 inches.

This eye popping design is made possible by the use of curved piecing and partial seams construction. The pattern includes detailed instructions on how to sew curved seams and how to sew the blocks together using partial seams. This is a project for an experienced quilter.

My friend Ann did all of the wonderful computer graphics in the pattern including a full page colorsheet for each of the five quilt sizes. I have to say that this pattern would NOT have happened without Ann's computer graphics wizardry. She even came up with this snappy cover design.

The pattern is available as an instant download pdf on craftsy.

Stay tuned for another interpretation of the pattern in solid fabrics.

 

 

Mini Stars!

I mentioned earlier that I've been having fun making tiny two inch stars. 

So much fun that I whipped out a mini stars mini quilt.

Mini stars should be quilted with mini bubbles, right?

I like it. I made it for my friend Lynn, I hope she likes it too.

The finished size is 14 inches square.

The queen size version will be set with alternating plain blocks and star blocks set in a ninepatch as seen in the last photo here. I don't think I'll be quilting the queen size quilt with mini bubbles, though. I'll probably get stuck in the quilting decision stage for months on that one.

Working Small

I've been working on the tiny stars again. This involves lots of cutting of tiny pieces. 

I like that I am including scraps from some of my recent projects.

I see some Frippery, Circa, and New Leaf, and even a bit of Miss P's first day of school dress in these stars. 

I'm getting close to having enough... 

Circa, Curry, and Cerise

This latest quilt I made for Jennifer Paganelli features her new Circa line.  

I added a touch of Kona Curry and Kona Cerise for a little continuity in the design. 

I do love the old fashioned feel to these fabrics. 

I actually finished this quilt a while ago but had to wait for some photo help. The chickens just weren't tall enough to do it justice. Neither was miss P. I thought you might want to see a better image than this, although I DO like this photo.

Finished size 60 by 84 inches.

The squares finish to 6 inches.