Windy Day

Let's start November with an easy snuggle quilt. I pulled out a coral red peacock feather print from my stash, adding blue fabrics from the print to coordinate.

This simple windmill block is so quick to cut and sew, especially after laying it out in EQ8, then on my design wall. This quilt is alive with motion and color, don't you think?

For backing, I used the peacock feather print with leftover strips of the blues and a center section made up of one Curve in a Square block. Now it's not just a backing, but a reversible quilt.

For quilting, red variegated thread was used with serpentine stitch to make 4” grid along horizontal and vertical seam lines. Windy Day finished out at 49” square.

I'm thankful this one didn't take long, because we're still finishing up brush cutting and clearing around the home place. 

Dies used:

Blue Wren

6554 Windmill 8” block

6602 Curve in a Square 12” finished block

Primavera

I've been thinking about spring since the ground hog predicted an early one.

I finished this pretty quilt late last month after getting the Windmill die from Blue Wren. Such a fun, quick and easy one to sew. The layout takes a bit of thought, much like some of the jigsaw puzzles I work. My design wall came in handy.

Lovely pink, green, and cream print remnants create windmills scattered across the front and framed with natural muslin. For quilting I used a spiral ruler and pale pink thread to stitch in the centers of each windmill, then down to the next one. It's just right to emphasize the breezy movement of the blocks.

Primavera finished up at 48” square. I can't wait to try another version of this one. It will make a cute baby or donation quilt. But that will have to wait until I finish the quilts I've already cut from my other two new dies. 

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6554 Windmill 8” finished
Accuquilt 55017 Strips 2½”

 

Wind Spinners

Shades of blue, coral, and gray prints combine beautifully in today's nice little wall hanging. This charming quilt creates motion with curved shapes that remind me of spinning pinwheels or windmills.

I pulled fabric from my scrap boxes and fat quarters to cut with the Windspinner die from Blue Wren.  I laid all material right side up, no fan folding on this one.  The curves are accurate and easy to sew; I didn't even use pins after the first few. I added a 3” border of gray with thin black lines. Final size of Wind Spinners is 45” square.

With light gray thread and a walking foot, I quilted flowing lines back and forth across the blocks to mimic wind. I love the effect! In the border I added a straight stitch 1” away from the inner seams.

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6289 Windspinner 8” block
Accuquilt 55017 2½” strip and 55032 3½” strip

Sometimes

in the winds of change

we find

our greatest direction 

Farmhouse Kitchen

Farmhouse Kitchen

This fun little quilt features windmill blocks made from 2 1/2” strips. The watermelon red, burnished gold, black and cream colors blend together beautifully. A cream and red vintage print nicely frames the blocks. Backed in a cheerful apple print, the 24” x 30” size is great for a table mat or wall decoration. It's quilted on the diagonal with a swirling leaf stitch.

Speaking of kitchens, I've been doing some reorganizing in ours this winter. Now that the pantry is sorted again (how does all that stuff get pushed to the back?), I can find things more easily. 

I also pared down my unruly collection of plastic food keepers. Out went old stained and cracked ones, odd lids and sizes; replaced with new clear stacking storage containers. These new ones (Brilliance by Rubbermaid) are leak proof and have a lifetime warranty. We'll see. They do take up less space in the cabinet and refrigerator.

A side note on storage: I found the prettiest little storage bins last week at Dollar Tree and could not resist! They are PURPLE to match my sewing room walls. 

I bought several sizes to hold current projects and to replace the shoe boxes I had been using for scrap storage in my rolling cart. Cute, huh?

Life's more fun

when you're organized.