Peach Mango Mist

I bought a new Accuquilt die during this month's sale and started cutting pieces immediately. Bow tie blocks are so pretty, especially this one with the tiny center triangles. I paired warm colors of peach, orange, coral and mango prints with cool shades of gray.

I added two borders: one narrow medium gray solid and an outer border of alternating peach and gray rectangles. Peach Mango Mist finished out at 44” square, great for display, table topper, or baby's room.

I quilted with light gray thread on top and white in the bobbin, using a meandering stitch. Quilting went quickly using the Flynn frame. I'm getting better at free motion stitching with practice. The backing is a white and gray circle print with a side border strip of coral.

Dies used: 

55768 and 55769 4 ½” finished bow tie

55107 2 ¼” x 4 ½” finished rectangle

By the way, today's post is late because I went out for a leisurely breakfast with my favorite guy. A date with my husband is first priority, even after all our years together.

Be happier!

Spend more time

with the people you love,

doing the things you love.

I Shall Wear Purple

The fabric that inspired my latest quilt is bright, cluttered, and loud. I bought eight yards of it at a closeout sale in 1995...yeah, I know, but it was only 25 cents a yard! I've used it for backings and in scrap quilts.

I chose a granny square design to showcase individual prints used in the material. I cut 2 ½” squares with Accuquilt, then sorted them by pattern. I added red, blue and purple blenders as the four center squares, with light beige prints for the triangles.  Layout was done in Electric Quilt 8.  

original fabric

The sashing is a grape Quilters Candy chambray from Connecting Threads. Binding and backing is the original wild and crazy fabric. Quilting in a medium purple, I used a straight stitch horizontally and vertically across each square. Then I added the wide zigzag stitch on the sashing.

I Shall Wear Purple

I am so pleased with the result; it finished out even prettier than I expected. The 44” x 54” size is handy for naps or display.

Jenny Joseph's poem, Warning, has encouraged many of us to keep our playful nature alive. I Shall Wear Purple seemed like the perfect name for a granny square quilt made by an old lady whose favorite colors are purple and red.

So, go out and do something unexpected today and don't forget to wear purple.

Bear Hunt

Here's an old fashioned block arranged in a modern way. I sewed 6” traditional bear paw blocks and added triangles on each side to set them on point. Then I laid out vertical rows, alternating the direction each time. These bears don't know which way to turn!

My background fabric is a pretty arrow design from Wilmington Prints, also used for the narrow outer border. I chose navy, turquoise, aqua, green, and gray fabric remnants for the paws. Everything was cut with Accuquilt, using the value die and triangle die 55002.

Backing is a cream and white tone on tone circular design. I quilted using a walking foot, with off white thread in a random wavy pattern. Bear Hunt finished out at 45” square. It would also look great in a single row as a table runner. I really enjoyed working on this, and used up more remnants too.

Bear Hunt

Useful Notion: Sometimes long borders can stretch as you sew them, causing uneven sides. For this quilt I cut short border pieces and added them to the outer blocks before I sewed each row together. That kept my rows square and even.

It's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Well, honey, I think it's both!

Summertime Girl

Summertime Girl

It's officially summer here in Tennessee: 99% humidity, triple digit heat index, daily thunderstorms, and no way to control my unruly naturally curly hair. 

Call me crazy, but I'm staying in my air conditioned sewing space stitching quilts.

Fun summer prints -- cats, owls, popsicles, and straw hats -- share space with bright colorful stripes, checks, and dots, all pulled from my overflowing scrap collection. This is a definitely girly quilt for a summer baby.

This time I combined three Accuquilt dies to make a rectangular block that I saw last year in a quilting book. I don't remember which publication, but I sketched it in my inspiration journal. I attached 4 ½” triangles on a center square, and completed the rectangle with two 6 ½” triangles.

I sewed six of them together horizontally and stacked them into three rows, then added the dotty border and backing. Summertime Girl is 40” square. Quilting is a scallop stitch done diagonally in white thread.

You know I'd do anything for you...

except leave the comfort

of my air conditioned home

Spirit of Liberty

I'm celebrating the USA with this week's design, in honor of Independence Day. Made with Accuquilt Parallelogram (55004), it features red and navy prints with white 3 ½” half square triangles on each end to make a rectangle.

I grouped six of each color to form blocks and alternated them to make a strip. Sashing between rows is 3 ½” wide red and navy diamond print on white background. I quilted with white thread in a free motion looping pattern. 

Spirit of Liberty

Binding is a red and white stripe. For backing I used the diamond print but didn't have quite enough left for the length, so I added a row of red and blue 6½” AQ tumbler blocks about a third of the way down.  

Spirit of Liberty is 42” x 48”, but you could make it any size you like by changing the number of blocks or rows. I used EQ8 to play with other layouts before finalizing this version. A table runner using only one strip of blocks or cheerful place mats might be nice.

Celebrate the holiday and be safe!