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 color sheet 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 in my shop.

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. 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.

The Easter Rug

Last weekend Miss P and I decorated the house for Easter. It didn't take us long because we don't have very many decorations. Well, really we don't have that many clean horizontal surfaces places to put them.When we had finished putting things out Miss P was disapointed that we had finished so quickly. She also wanted the house to be more transformed like it is when we decorate for Christmas. We have loads of Christmas decorations but most of those go on the tree.  Yes, we all miss the glow of the lit up tree.

To help make things more festive, she has decided to make Easter decorations for her doll house. First up, an Easter rug. She looked through some of my books on making doll house things and my old copy of Pearl McGown's You Can Hook Rugs. She then drew out this rug design to make for her doll house.

Today, I'll teach her how to do punch needle embroidery.

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.

Grand Right and Left

Did any of you get to see the Infinite Variety show in New York in March 2011? As soon as I saw all the photos from the Infinite Variety quilt show, I knew I had to make a red and white quilt.

Two years on the "to do" list isn't bad.

I had a bit of a time getting photos of it. It has been dark and windy this winter. Here's the top before it was quilted.

Oooh, the wind stopped for just a second.

I love the electric energy this quilt has. It seems to be dancing.

The pattern for this quilt is in my shop.

The quilt block is called Grand Right and Left.

I used Kona Rich Red and Kona PFD fabrics. Finshed size - 42 by 55 inches

Butterfly Basting

I made enough progress on some other projects that I decided to pull out an old WIP. It is pressed and ready for pin basting.

I am eager to have this quilt on my bed! It is so bright and colorful, AND it will actually be big enough to cover the sides of our super thick mattress.

I plan to quilt in in a pretty brown/tan thread with something that looks breezy. I'm not sure what that is yet, though.

Do you have any thoughts on breezy looking quilting designs?

Previous posts on this project:
Spring Butterflies - Miss P paired the fabrics for the blocks
Color Play - arranging the blocks
More Color Play - a different look
Butterfly Migration - the quilt that inspired this one.

Tooth Fairy

Miss P lost her first tooth this week. She could hardly believe that she actually lost her tooth and was SOOOO excited for the tooth fairy to come.edit to add. She didn't lose her tooth after it came out of her mouth. She did put it under her pillow. The tooth fairy DID come. Sorry for any confusion in my excited posting above.

Design Wall

This is the next long standing work in progress that I want to finish. B's aunt made these applique and embroidery blocks while her husband was overseas during World War II. I sashed them together ten to fifteen years ago but they've been sitting in a pile since then. There was some yellow fabric with the blocks that I was originally going to use for the backing but I am afraid that it might be too fragile. I have ordered some Kona curry for the back. I plan to hand quilt it.I also have some basket blocks that B's aunt made. When she gave me the blocks so many years ago, I didn't know it would take me this long to finish the quilts.

I love that there is a window right next to the design wall. Just look at that light!

We still have a bit of rearranging and organizing to do in the sewing/craft room but I am making progress!

Miss P is working on a "habitat diorama" for her research project on penguins. I'll try to share a photo of that when she's finished. She's made some pretty cute paper penguins. 

Medallion - quilted and bound

I finally quilted the Medallion quilt that I made at Gwen's retreat in September.

The center section was quilted before Christmas. I started in the center and outlined the applique, then I stitched in the ditch around the saw teeth and stars. Then, I was paralized with indecision for quite a while on how to quilt the corners. I knew I wanted something curvy in there. I tried drawing branching feathers, I searched the web for ideas, I spent a lot of time agonizing over it.

Finally, this week I decided to go ahead and quilt some largish feathers to fill the corner. I think they turned out OK. I'm not sure sure that the large scale feather goes with the smaller scale of the rest of the quilt. Maybe I should have done a branching feather with smaller lobes. Hmmm.I'm happy to have it finished and move on to the next thing. Do you do that? Do you go ahead with something knowing that it may not be the best choice for the quilt just to keep things going. I don't like to be stuck. This quilt really had me in a pickle. I didn't want to move on to another project and have this quilt sitting around unfinished for who knows how long. Yep. I'm glad to have it off my mind. I think this design, although not perfect for the quilt, is good enough.

I still may add a little more quilting around the applique, but then again, maybe not.

The finished quilt measures 40 by 40 inches.

Instagram Photos

I finished the Dala Sweater and couldn’t be happier with it! The pattern is #dalasweater by @elenormortensen. More details on my ravelry page. #knitter #strandedknitting #operationsweaterchest #handknitsweater #makersvillage #makersgonnamake
I started this sweater on our car trip last week. I had chosen a different yarn for the horses but it was thinner and didn’t work well with the blue. I frogged the few rows I had knit and subbed in some yarn from my stash when I got home. The y
Narrow hand appliquéd bias strips. 1/16” quilting lines not going over the appliqué. I’m about a month in on the quilting and ALMOST finished. Whoop! Quilted with Invisalign on top and Decobob in the bobbin. Threads by @wo
This summer we watched my two oldest grand kids one day a week. Towards the end of the summer they started making projects on their own in the sewing room. They made lots of little projects from my scrap basket including pillow cases and tiny quilts