Lynn Carson Harris

Every Last Piece - featured quilt - Bar Scene

Bar Scene, a quilt in chapter three of Every Last Piece, features a strip of hourglass blocks made from some of my favorite scraps. The column of color is set of by the surrounding solid paprika fabric. 

I had fun with the wavy, loopy quilting.

Finished size 51'' by 68''.

The directions for Bar Scene along with some suggestions for other variations of this design are in chapter 3 of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices,  but if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

Wanderlust Winner

Faye is the winner of Mandy's book, Wanderlust Quilts. She says:

So many places on my list! I really want to go to Vancouver. I also really want to go to China. And India. And Vienna! Oh, and I really want to go to South Africa! I hope I have a lot of life left to live, because all of these trips will take a while to achieve! :)

 

Congratulations Faye! 

Helmet Hat - with extended cables

In my attempt to tidy the sewing room I knit another hat, a variation of my favorite hat pattern. Earlier versions from this pattern can be seen here, and here. 

On this hat the cables go all the way to the top. 

The hat was knit from the top down. When enough stitches had been added between the first cables, I added more. You can see where the second and third sets start near the top of the hat.

This is project 13 in my efforts to knit 100 items from my stash! Go me!!

The yarn is a hand dyed wool by Briar Rose Fibers.

I gave it away to a very special person. I hope it keeps her head warm this winter.

 

Every Last Piece - feature quilt - Beach Balls

On this cold, dark, and rainy day, I'm sharing the colorful and sunny quilt, Beach Balls.

The background is string pieced with sandy colored neutrals. 

The beach balls are string pieced using color coordinating scraps.

I had fun digging through my scraps and building the color wedges.

The binding is pieced from a variety of the background fabrics.

This quilt is the perfect size for a child's play quilt. 

Fun fact - this was the first quilt I quilted on my longarm.

Finished size: 42'' by 48''.

 

The directions for Beach Ball are in Chapter 1 of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices. But if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

Wanderlust Quilts

I love traveling and have always enjoyed taking photographs of interesting things I see along the way. 

My friend, Mandy Leins, has turned some of her travel photos into quilts and also a great new book.  In her book, Wanderlust Quilts, Mandy merges her background in archeaology with her quilting talents. She presents 10 original quilt designs along with the places, photographs, and stories that inspired them.  She shares her love of classical art and architecture and shows us how to translate our own travel photos into beautiful quilts. 

My favorite quilt in the book is Going Places, which was inspired by the cobblestone roads in Europe. (Courtesy of Stash Books.  Photo by Nissa Brehme)

When Mandy asked if I would participate in her blog hop and share one of my own travel photos that I could interpret as a quilt I knew JUST the photo I wanted to share. Years ago, I snapped this photo of a mosaic floor in the Roman Museum in Koln. It has amused me for twenty years. 

I have made up a conversation about the mosaic - where the wife asks the husband if he has seen the neighbor's new courtyard floor. Nag, nag, nag, and then not wanting to hire a professional the husband does it himself. This is what the wife gets.

I have often wondered about the maker of this mosaic. Today it might be called a "modern mosaic", "improv flooring", or a "pinterest fail". Some day I want to make a quilt inspired by this mysterious mosaic.

Be sure to hop over to Mandy's blog and get all the details on the blog tour.The publisher is giving a copy of the book to a lucky winner at each stop on the blog hop!

To enter, let me know where in the world you would most like to visit. Entries will close at midnight on, November 16. 

 

Be sure to visit all of the stops! I have enjoyed seeing the inspiration photos each participant has chosen

November 2: Kickoff with Maddie Kertay at Bad Ass Quilters Society (official link available now!)

My podcast interview with Sandi of Crafty Planner (official link available now!)

November 3: Stephanie Palmer the Late Night Quilter

November 4: Christa Watson of Christa Quilts

November 5: Gen Q

November 6: Casey York Designs

November 7: Bill Volckening

November 8: Angela Walters

November 9: Kitty Wilkin, the Night Quilter

November 10: Lynn Harris of the Little Red Hen - you are here!

November 11: Latifah Saafir Studios

November 12: Rose Hughes

November 13: Rossie Hutchison of Rossie Crafts

November 14: Sam Hunter of Hunter’s Design Studio

November 15: Cristy Fincher of Purple Daisies Quilting

November 16: Mandy Leins

So, you're wondering how you can get your own copy of the book if you are not one of the give away winners. Here are some options:

1. You can get an autographed copy of Mandy's book, Wanderlust Quilts from her at her website. 

2. Ask your local quilt shop to get a copy.

3. Order online here from amazon.

Stash 100 continues

Last winter I was on a knitting roll. I challenged myself to make 100 projects from my yarn stash. I quickly knit four pair of lined mittens, two pair of slippers, two hats, and three pair of socks. The knitting frenzy slowed down towards the end of winter and I switched back to quilting. 

This weekend miss P attended an all day cello workshop in a neighboring town. I packed my bag with a variety of projects to work on while sitting in the back of her classes. Happily, I finished a pair of basic crew socks I started last winter from Knit Picks Stroll.

I also cast on a new pair in this fabulous Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga I had been hoarding.

I'm glad to be knitting my stash again. I hope to add a few more finishes before the end of the year. 

Tiny Pieces - Tiny Quilt

I've been experimenting with the little one inch cut squares I can cut so quickly with my custom Sizzix die.

When piecing the tiny squares together, the seams can end up making the squares look a little lopsided and lumpy so I'm taking the time to twirl the seams for a flatter finish. 

Even with careful piecing and pressing these squares seem to have a life of their own.

I learned a lot in making this 16 inch mini and now have some new ideas and techniques to try in future small scale piecing projects. 

This is the first in a series of tiny pieced mini quilts that I have planned. 

Now, I'm trying to decide how to quilt it. With such small pieces I don't want the quilting to muddy the overall effect. I'm thinking of a variegated for the print squares and white, red, and black in the solid areas to keep the colors there clear and crisp. 

 

Fabulous Fall

We have had some wonderfully warm and sunny  fall days the last couple of weeks and have been doing our best to get out and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts.

I have plans to take some hand stitching out to the back porch this afternoon.

Every Last Piece - featured quilt of the week - Butterfly Effect

Butterfly Effect was a long time in the making.

I enjoyed working on it with miss P. Here she is in May 2010 helping match the scrap pieces with the solids. I had gone through my solid stach and cut squares in groups of four from each color. It took four squares to make each butterfly block. Miss P loved to sit across from me and match the fabrics while I sewed. 

After making all the blocks we tried quite a few different layouts.

The quilt was inspired by a photo of a polyester double knit quilt that my friend Jessica Wilson purchased at a thrift shop. The inspiration quilt is on the left, and my quilt top on the right. 

I love how each print gets to be showcased a little with the surrounding solid fabric. Isn't that toaster print fun?

I am glad to have this one finished, back from the publisher, and finally photographed so that I can put it on our bed. It will be nice to have a colorful quilt on the bed this winter.

Finished size: 95'' by 95''.

Butterfly Effect is shown in the gallery section at the beginnning of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices. But if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.