Seems Like Scrappy Preview: Splotch

Very similar to my first title, Seamingly Scrappy, this new book, Seems Like Scrappy, will feature several quilts designed to give you a scrappy look by using precuts. There are 14 quilts in this new book and I've shown you several thus far that use your favorite precuts including fat quarters, layer cakes and jelly rolls. One pattern I've introduced you to was designed to use a fairly new precut, the Tonga 6-pack, and today I'm going to show a project that uses another newer precut, the honeycomb.

Photo provided by Martingale, photography by Brent Kane

Here's Splotch! This is a fun, quirky, easy to create small quilt that is packed with personality! I had so much fun creating this little gem and I'm actually working on another version of it now.

Wait, I need to backup a minute. What's a honeycomb you may be asking? A honeycomb is a fairly new precut from the fabulous minds at Moda. It is a hexagon shape that is 6" from point to point. Just like charm packs and layer cakes, you get a variety of fabrics in each pack and a little bonus... A bonus you ask... Because this shape is a bit more complex than your regular ole strips and squares, included in each pack is a plastic template with a small hole 1/4" in from each point. That way if you'd like to piece them just as is, you can mark the intersections to create Y seams (if you're planning on piecing it that way).

There are several projects out and about in the marketplace featuring hexagon shapes (whether the fabrics started that way or not) and it's fun to play with a new shape that isn't a square. These pieces are so much fun to play with and for this particular pattern, I've taken the fear and concern of weird shapes out of the picture. Trust me.

Splotch is super quick and fun to make, like I said before, I'm making another one. I hope to show it to you soon. When I made the original (shown above), I had so much fun playing off of the vibe it gave, so I kept the quilting simple and slightly modern. You can see it fairly well in this picture because I used Dream Puff batting to show off the texture even more.

I thought this quilt reminded me of tumbling blocks and toys for toddlers and I originally imagined this quilt as a nursery decoration. The version I'm making now has a much more elegant feel with the Fig Tree fabrics and I'm adjusting the background slightly (I always have to make a small complex adjustment because I can. It's the artist in me, I can't stop it). I'm hoping this new version will work well as a wall hanging in my living room or kitchen... We shall see where it ends up... And I promise to show it to you once I get the top done. It's looking well so far. I need to lay it out to plan the next step and I just haven't had the opportunity yet. I have too many quilts in the works... Eh, the story of my life!

So, I'm curious. Have you played with honeycombs before? Have you seen them at your LQS and picked it up to study it, but set it back down because you didn't know what to do? Now, you know! Plus, if you can't find them locally, they are available in several online shops. Isn't the internet wonderful?!

I have one more pattern in Seems Like Scrappy that will also use the honeycomb. I will share that quilt in the future, I have so many more quilts to share! Seems Like Scrappy will be released this June, but I will be showing the book and all of my quilts at Spring Market, so if you're planning on heading to Market, come see me! I'll be bringing my alternate versions too to show options, it should be a good time. Who am I kidding? Market is always a good time! It's just more fun when I have quilts and all of this secret sewing I can finally show!

I will be back next Monday with another quilt and more pictures. I actually just got a bunch of the quilts back from Martingale! I was happy to come home from vacation to this big box of awesomeness!

That is a big box of quilts (it's actually only a bit more than half of the quilts in the book)! More to come soon!

Einstein Fluff

So I just wanted to pop in and show you all this Einstein fluff Miss Rosie Roo has:

 Can you see it?! That little fluff patch between her ears?!

 This dog literally has every type of coat you can think of. Her ears are velveteen soft. Her back is coarse wiry curls. Her sides have super fine hair that you can only see when the light shines on it and it sticks straight out.

 But this little Einstein patch is unlike anything I've ever seen! It looks and feels like a cotton ball and I can't get enough!

Rosie is settling in just fine and we've made some huge improvements in the few weeks we've had her! I love this pup and I can't get enough!

Rainbow Mini Swap

I actually remembered to take pictures (and good ones at that) and show them to you before I packaged it up and sent it off. Usually I remember that I needed to take pictures as I'm sitting in the post office parking lot after I sent it.

I joined the Rainbow Mini Swap and instantly I felt on top of my game! I had a plan! I know and love color and I couldn't wait to get started.

 This was my first time playing with Liberty of London fabrics and I AM HOOKED!!! I started with the feathers and once I finished those, the mini needed to grow just a bit and I still wanted to play with more color, so I added these offset borders. It worked out almost perfectly to run "around the rainbow" twice. I had to improvise just a few pieces. It was pure luck because I just cut haphazard widths of strips, there was no rhyme or reason to the pieces besides thicker strips for bigger pieces and smaller prints were cut into thinner strips...

 Then I played with the quilting and did this denser-ish swirl design in the background and these angled lines on either side.

I wanted to mimic the feather into the border and you can see how the quilting added to the quilt as a whole. I had so much fun making this mini and I can't wait to see what shows up at my doorstep!

What what what?!

That's what I was saying to myself during my little giveaway a couple weeks ago. Things have been a bit busy on the blog I hadn't had time to share this tidbit yet!

I woke up early in the morning (when Ben gets up for work) and I usually check some emails and watch some news until I fall back asleep... Well, I was searching through my emails and one of the comments on the giveaway said:

I just learned about your blog in a quilt magazine Fresh Quilts. I am so excited to find your blog! And bonus a giveaway!

Well, Lori... you changed the number one item on my to-do list for that day in an instant! No matter what, I had to get to the store... And when I did I found this:

I was trying to play it cool... But there was this large gentleman blocking all of the quilting magazines. I didn't want to be rude, but I really wanted him to get out of my way! Didn't he know I was a woman on a mission?! And then I spotted it and flipped through feverishly until I saw:

It took every ounce of my being not to scream in the middle of the store! I probably had a ridiculous grin on my face, but I didn't care. The gentleman had moved on so I grabbed some other favorites to read and I practically ran to the counter... But not ran ran... More like that goofy walk that kids do when you tell them not to run at the pool but they still try to get the same speed...

And that's when it happened...

I got busted. But in a good way. There was only one cashier and she was busy, so I stood there with this stupid grin on my face... Another guy working at the store comes up and asks me to come to another register (SCORE)...

He starts ringing me out and then asks if I have their rewards card to save whatever... I reply no...

Then he looks at me with a weird look on his face and asks, "Aren't you in here like every other week buying these magazines?"

I WAS BUSTED. I tried to brush it off and my reply was something less than cool with, "It has to be more like every other month, duh"

But I didn't care, I had my magazines including the magazine with my little mini in it that I had no clue about, so I ran to my car and posted on social media...

To which I got a reply from my Hubby's aunt... "Oh yeah, I saw that a few weeks ago. I was at the store sipping coffee and looking through magazines and saw your name..."

After my jaw hit the floor I demanded in not my nicest tone "And you didn't say anything?!" She thought I knew...

Such is the life of a quilter, I tell you. So there it is, my goofy story about my quilt in a magazine that I didn't know was there. This issue is still on newsstands, so run and pick yourself up a copy and I hope you got a good laugh at my tale!

Seems Like Scrappy Preview: Annabelle

Well folks, best I can tell, Seems Like Scrappy has been delayed until a June release... So you'll just have to wait a bit longer to get your hands on this goodness, but trust me - it'll be worth it!

Today I wanted to show you the largest quilt in the book, Annabelle:

Photo provided by Martingale, photography by Brent Kane

I was inspired by antique two-color quilts for this design. I wanted to "spiff it up" and changed the basic layout keeping one color as a constant (the red) and making the alternative super scrappy. To keep things interesting, I added in these little stars scattered them about the quilt.

When I design quilts like this one, I try to keep that classic feel and honor the heritage of the quilts from years past. In order to accomplish this task I try to only switch out one thing at a time... First I had the idea of adding the stars and that alone would have been great. This book however isn't called two-color quilts, it's meant to be scrappy! So that is where I decided to scrap up one piece of this puzzle.

The trick to keeping a balance when you have so many fabrics in a quilt like this is to keep it subtle. The mixture of prints used in grays and tans and pinks looks much more harmonious in real life (I promise, pinky swear). When you pair all of those warm tones with that deep dark red, the red is so bold it blends together the rest of the fabrics even when normally you'd think they may not work together.

Now with keeping it subtle, you want your scrappy pieces to be individual enough to stand out on their own when mixed in a grouping like this. If your fabrics all look too similar and don't stand out a bit in the mix, you could sabotage yourself and make it look like you only used three fabrics when you used 20... Why go through all of that work to have it mush in the end?

I elaborate more on this topic in the book and much more with several tips and tricks like I had in my first book, Seamingly Scrappy. I could go on forever about color choices and scrappy quilts, but I will share all of that with you little by little.

Annabelle was one of the few quilts that was named quite easily. I have such a hard time coming up with names for all of my quilts and this one made it easy. Well, easy if you can follow my logic:

* I'm a car girl living in NE Ohio... There are several classic car shows in the area almost every night of the week during the summer (you have to show off those cars when you only have three months or so out of the year to do it!)

* Annabelle has a classic look to me but she's got some spunk with that deep cherry red... it reminds me of those classic cars...

* One of my favorite movies had a ton of cars that were named for identities (Gone in 60 Seconds)

* There used to be this diner a few towns over that was THE PLACE for classic car cruise-ins when I was growing up and it was called Annabelle's Diner.

* Annabelle. Consider this quilt named!

Sometimes the quilt name has little actually to do with the piecing or the design rather than the feeling it exudes. I honestly wish I didn't have to name quilts and could just label them Quilt No. 45, but that's pretty boring, so I look at coming up with names as a brain exercise. It pushes my creativity in a completely different way.

Annabelle is the largest quilt in the book, but one of the easiest to make. The pattern calls for fat quarters and some yardage for the red, but this quilt could take on a completely different feel by switching up the color scheme to suit your needs.

I hope you like this quilt! I know I LOVE it!!! Annabelle and 13 other quilt patterns will be in Seems Like Scrappy, my latest book due out in June (at the moment). Check back here every week as I show you a new quilt from the book up to the release date!

Other sights at the Farmpark

Each year for the quilt show, the timing usually coincides with lots and lots of baby animals being born on the park property. Right behind the desk at the entrance they have a list of how many babies they have and when each was born. It's neat to have other sights to see for those people traveling with you that may not be super interested in quilts (yes, they exist, no I don't think there's something wrong with them - we just haven't convinced them how cool quilts are...yet)

 When you walk into the main building (there are several buildings) it's set up like a "U" shape. If you travel to the left and head down the hallway, there is a Dairy Parlor complete with cows. Danny wanted to milk a cow soooo bad and see how they are milked by the machine. First thing we did was head to the parlor and her got his chance to milk a cow!

 They also had two baby cows that are twins about two months old in the Dairy Parlor. I think Danny wanted to take them home. He's been asking for a cow for Christmas for a couple of years now, the differences in wish lists when you live in the country on a farm!

 We took a short walk to take in the sunshine and found a large barn that housed pigs and sheep and goats and horses and and and... This four-horned sheep was interesting...

 I hope you can see this, it didn't photograph as well as I hoped... Ombre lambs! It went from white-ish to brown to black and I thought it was adorable!

 There were lots of little piglets in the one pen (just one litter) and by now there's probably a lot more piggies. The pig in the next pen looked quite large and uncomfortable and seemed like she was nesting...

Our favorite babies to watch were this pair of lambs. They had jumping beans in their legs I swear (hence the blurry mid-air action shot). They never walked... always bounced like little Tiggers. All four legs leaving the ground at once and hopping everywhere. I should have taken video, but it wouldn't have turned out well because I was laughing so much...

They have other barns and buildings we didn't get to see, but this park is amazing! They have a greenhouse, a sugar shack that's making maple syrup this time of year! In the summer they have a tractor/machine building showing kids (and adults) all of the different engines and equipment used on farms. 

Plus they hold exciting events all year round, like the quilt show! They use food coloring to dye the sheep in the spring before they harvest the wool for a Fiberfest, they have working dog weekends, Horse Days, tractor weekends, haunted hayrides in the Fall... And on top of all of that, this park is fun and educational. Everything is designed to be a learning experience and I remember going to this park on field trips when I was in school. I have to say it was tons of fun with kids along this time around! Seeing them smile and giggle when the goat was nibbling on their fingers and seeing how they responded to the different animals was so much fun! 

So think, if you're in the Cleveland area each year between mid February and the end-ish of March... Head on over to the Lake Metroparks Farmpark and you can see the show and check out all of the animals. Bring the family and you can send them all out to the barns to see the animals while you take a look at the quilts by yourself... Oh, did I mention there's a cafe? You could stay all day if you wanted to! If you'd like to learn more, you can see their website here. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour of the Farmpark, quilts and all! I usually never get the chance to experience the whole park and honestly we only saw about half of it this day. I guess we will have to go back! So much to see and do in one place!

Happy Worldwide Quilting Day!

Just wanted to pop in really quick and tell you that today is Worldwide Quilting Day! Many shops and retailers are holding special events, so you just might want to go out for a shopping adventure and see what fun you can get into!

How will you be celebrating? I am celebrating by not sewing... It's not on purpose, I just didn't know about it until recently and I will be traveling all day. So what I plan to do is to read some of my magazines I just picked up and plan my next quilts and see what inspires me within the pages. That's as close to quilting today as I can get!

Have a great day!

Farmpark Quilt Show!!! Part 2

Today I am going to toot my little horn a bit. Not only do I love this show, but I love being able to see my client's quilts hanging at the show! This year I worked on such a mix of styles and it kept my challenged creatively throughout the year. It was so nice to see them all hanging in their glory and reminisce a bit.

I will try to link up to each original post for the quilts if I shared about them in the past. That way if you'd like to explore the quilts further or see more details, you can read more and see more pictures!

 Kathy made this Arizona Cactus and then added this checkerboard border to finish it off. I had so much fun quilting it and showcasing each and every fabric playing off of the way she placed the colors.

 Anne made this at a Jinny Beyer mystery workshop and I played off of the designs within the fabrics (which Jinny is known for) and highlighting the more subtle areas. See more here.

 I did this fun bright Christmas quilt for Angie. It was neat to see some Christmas and holiday quilts hanging in the show this year, but they all had a different style and flair. This was by far the most contemporary of the bunch!

 Kathy entered this quilt that she made for her son. His favorite colors were white, black and orange and it is a vision! For more pictures including the pieced back she made, check it out here. This was Kathy's first time entering a quilt into this show and she scored an Honorable Mention! Congrats, Kathy!

 Karen made this quilt for a niece I believe that is an animal caretaker at Disney's Animal Kingdom! I loved the animal prints and they were still as hard to see the quilting on as when I quilted it.

 Darlene originally wanted to enter this quilt last year, but there was a little mishap with some water spots. Not sure if they would come out or not, Darlene entered another quilt. Well, it washed up beautifully and I love the traditional look of this quilt. To see more details, click here.

 Here is the Rock Island Campfire quilt by Carol (complete with a blue ribbon!). This quilt looks so happy on this sunny day with the bit of sunshine peeking into the room. This is such a happy quilt, but it posed to be challenging at best to quilt... See why here. You won't believe what a difference in lighting does to this quilt!

 And just for laughs. This is the last quilt I did for the show. It was also the largest quilt I did for the show. It's practically hanging from the rafters of this large room!

Sandy made this ginormous quilt from a kit and that's the original size of the quilt. All 125" in length! I actually saw Sandy right after I went to the show and we were joking about how big it looks, but it's HUGE! No denying that! I loved all of the feathers I quilted on this one and I'm happy to have it done just in time for the show!

What a mix! A bit of modern, traditional, bright, subtle and everything in between! Thank you to all of my clients that let me play on your quilts and then show them off at shows like this!

Now I know some people solely make quilts to enter shows and win ribbons. That is entirely NOT why I'm sharing these quilts. These ladies made something creative that they worked hard on and poured their hearts into and then they shared it with the world... Or whoever looks at these pictures and goes to the show. Isn't that the most important thing?! Sharing your creative spark and hoping to inspire someone... To me that's more important than any ribbon will ever be.

Many times I hear people say their quilts aren't good enough to enter into a show. And to that I call bull crap! It's not about being good or better than someone else, it's being a more confident quilter today than you were yesterday. It's about sharing what you're working on and what inspires you. That's what you should strive for in entering a show. If you win a ribbon, great! But please don't compare your work and skills to others and just try for that ribbon. Celebrate your hard work and show the world what you can do! Don't you agree?

Farmpark Quilt Show!!! Part 1

Today I wanted to show you some of my favorite quilts from this year's show. I didn't get to the show as early as I normally do each year, but dang it was cold! I was a hibernating fool this winter. My best friend and I (and her kiddos) took advantage of a nice warm sunny day to check out the show and the rest of the park.

 When you walk into the Farmpark entrance during the show, this is what you'll see... The Best of Show is hanging in the entrance for all to see!

 This quilt is spectacular to say the least! Sorry for the sun spots, but I wasn't going to complain about the sunshine! You can't really see the quilting in this picture, but you can see the detailing in the picture below.

 This is the back of the quilt. It's really more of an off-white color, but I tried to enhance the contrast to show the quilting better. Those little pebbles and swirls are about the size of a pea... And don't even get me started on the outlined applique shapes and the stars!!! Gorgeous!!!

 Now, you've seen a bunch of Quiltworx (Judy Niemeyer) quilts on my blog in the past. I really liked this one for the use of solid fabrics and the simple yet effective quilting. It gives a totally different vibe this way.

 I can't even begin to tell you how many people told me about this quilt before I got to the show. They'd all start the story with - there's this quilt... when you turn down the one hallway it's at the end... By the third or fourth tale, I knew which quilt they were talking about and I hadn't even seen it yet! (I know someone somewhere is shaking a grammatical finger at my last sentence and I'm sorry, but I'm typing how I'd talk and sometimes it's not pretty)

Back to the quilt. This thing had to take FOREVER!!! There's applique and sparkles and rhinestones and the quilting!!! Here take a look:

 Can we say detail? There's even little other details quilted in... You could stare at this quilt for hours and still not see it all! It was gorgeous and I can't even imagine taking on such a task!

 I loved this quilt that blended a complex block with a traditional design and then threw in a wave applique on top of it all! For me, I don't know how to tackle adding the applique and blending it in with the pieces like that... This was very neat to see!

 And the hand quilting! I actually started hand quilting before I switched to long arming... I actually hate to say switch, I still like to hand quilt, but for deadline reasons I usually opt for the machine. Well, this quilt was made by the sweet lady that taught me to hand quilt. Her quilting is so dense in certain blocks, it adds texture rather than another element. She echoed around these flowers about every 1/8th inch!

 Here's another picture of the quilt. There were alternate blocks with a little less quilting, but her work is superb and she works hard to achieve these results! I love hand quilting, but I don't see myself quilting this dense!

 I also loved seeing the quilts with teeny tiny pieces. These aren't the tiniest I saw, but this was a large quilt with strips that finished at probably 3/4" or less... That's a lot of little seams!

We saw some quilts, then we took a break to see the animals and let the kids milk a cow! Literally right down the hallway from one of the rooms for the quilt show is the Dairy Parlor! And just on the other side of the Parlor is a room they use for quilting classes during the show. I took many more pictures and I'll show them over the next few days.

I had a blast checking out the quilt show and the park and it was even more fun to have these guys tagging along! I got to see what Katti thought of the quilts form her perspective. She and I used to quilt a long time ago and then life happened, but she's looking to get back into it. Plus it was fun to see what the kids thought of the quilts too!

Did you see a favorite quilt? This show had 186 quilts entered this year. There was something for everyone and then some! I'll show you more pictures tomorrow!

And the winners are:

Wait, winners? As in plural? Yep, you read right. I picked two different winners for the quilting giveaway and here's why...

The winner of $100 in quilting is:

Congrats, Sarah!!! I will be e-mailing you shortly. Or, if you see this first, please send me an email at rubybluequilts (at) gmail (dot) com so we can discuss quilting options!!!

Now, that would be well enough on it's own, but I'm feeling a bit generous today. I loved all of the suggestions that were made for a name for my long arm! I had so much fun reading the names you chose and the reason why.

Many of you suggested Ruby or Blue or something along those lines. I completely understand why, but I can't. When I started this business I wanted to try and keep a business life and a home life and distinguish between the two. Granted my hobby is my business... But there are times where I just need to unplug and be me. When I'm in super crazy quilter mode, Ruby Blue (or just Ruby for short) has become almost an alter ego. Ben and I discuss her as such sometimes. She is a big part of me and I can't name my machine the same...

However, there was one name from the minute I read it that just pulled at my heart strings and resonated with me (and for completely un-quilty reasons). Do you all have your movies? You know the movies that no matter how many times you've watched them, if you're scrolling through the channels and see it's on, you stop right there and watch it for the gazillionth time? Well, this is one of those movies for me:

I am such a sucker for car movies! Especially muscle car movies. So when I read this comment, I had to give a little extra love:

So Patricia, you have a choice. You can either choose to reserve your very own signed copy of my new book, Seems Like Scrappy, and I will send one to you when it is released... Or you can choose any two patterns from my Shop and I will send those to you right away! I couldn't just choose the name Memphis without showing my appreciation. Send your response over to rubybluequilts (at) gmail (dot) com!

So, it worked out too perfectly. My long arm is now known as Memphis (as in Memphis Raines) and my little domestic is now Kip (as in Kip Raines, Memphis' little brother).

Thank you to everyone that participated and thank you for your input! I read each and every comment and I may just be switching up some things around here in the future. Nothing too crazy, but I think I'll go back and share just how I came up with some of the designs I've chosen for certain quilts, I have some tutorials I need to work up and share as well as some other new and exciting things!

Speaking of exciting things... I have some quilts to share from the local Lake Farmpark Quilt Show! I finally ventured out and got to see the show and it was wonderful (as usual). I'll be sharing photos soon, so check back here for quilty overload!

Seems Like Scrappy Preview: Wayfarer

So far I've shown you quilts that use layer cakes, Tonga 6-packs and fat quarters, so today I'm going to show you a quilt that uses jelly rolls! Meet Wayfarer:

Photo provided by Martingale, photography by Brent Kane

I love Trip Around the World blocks. I just haven't made one yet... And I love Bargello quilts and the movement they give, but I haven't made one of those either. Instead I made Wayfarer which is my interpretation of what I like best in both of those styles in one quilt.

Obviously, this version of this quilt has a prominent secondary design with the brown tones in the center, but the neat thing is you can adjust the layout with your fabrics and whatever bolder tones speak to you when you're laying it out. I had just enough brown pieces in my blocks that this almost argyle criss-cross design emerged and it was too cool so I kept it that way.

I would like to make another version of this quilt and I attempted to start cutting out strips using my stash to make it even scrappier, but once I got elbow deep in my scraps I realized I didn't have as many prints as I thought I'd have and I might switch my plan to batiks, but I've moved onto other projects in the meantime...

Once I bust into my batik scraps, who knows, I may just make this bigger depending on how many different fabrics I pull!

Even though this quilt looks complex and it has lots of pieces, it is so quick to make! I promise! I combined some of the best tips and tricks I had up my sleeve to create this design and I'm sure you'll love it if you decide to make one too.

If you were making this quilt, what fabrics would you choose? I'd love to know what you think. I may even alter my plan a bit if you inspire me with something I hadn't thought of yet!

Also, don't forget, today is the last day you can enter into the drawing for $100 in free quilting! SAY WHAT?! Yeppers, you can win quilting services by me, for all of the details and how to enter, click here to go to the giveaway post. 

I've loved reading all of your comments and ideas. You all are a creative bunch and that's why I like you so much ;)

Alright, I will post a winner tomorrow and I have some amazing quilts to show you later this week!

Machine Quilting: Lemoyne Stars

Kathy brought me this beautiful star quilt she made. It featured gorgeous hand dyed fabrics and the colors were spectacular!

 She paper pieced these lemoyne stars and it was probably a good thing, the dyed fabric was a looser weave and had a bit of give to it. Trying to piece this design with a looser weave could turn wonky quickly.

Kathy asked for the stars to be highlighted with a simple design and then we tried to add texture and combine the block background with the edges of the sashing to highlight the darker purple fabric and blend the pieces together.

 Along the edges of the quilt I added in a bit of ribbon candy to be similar yet different enough to frame the quilt as a whole.

The challenge I had to overcome as a quilter was figuring out how to quilt these stars. Each piece is a little more thin and narrow than most lemoyne stars. It posed a design challenge for me because the diamonds are not equal and a normal diamond pattern may look off or wonky.

Instead I focused on the center of the star and bounced from each outer corner to the opposite inner corner of the star (I hope that makes sense) and then filled each star point with lines to finish the star. To me this almost has a gem-cut feel to it and it worked well to make this design feel more modern to blend with the fabrics.

Thank you, Kathy!!! This quilt is so rich and luscious and I hope you enjoy it for a long time!

Don't forget there is still time to enter my latest giveaway, you could win $100 in quilting services! To read the details and enter for your chance to win, click here.

Have a great weekend! I'm heading out to do a little quilting and I just may start another project or two this weekend! Hope you get some time to sew and create too!

Quilting Giveaway!!!

Thank you to all who entered, but this giveaway is now closed. Check back in the future for more chances to win!

It's about time I showed you all how much I appreciate you with a little giveaway! Doesn't that sound like fun?!

I'm going to keep this one short, sweet and simple...

Up for grabs is the chance to win $100 in long arm quilting!!!

There's three easy ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment below telling me what you enjoy on the blog and what you'd like to see more of.

2. Leave a separate comment suggesting a name for my long-arm machine... It needs a title!

3. For a bonus entry tag me @rubybluequilts on Instagram with a picture of your quilt (or the quilt you'd like to make) to send me!

If you are the lucky winner, there isn't a time limit on when I need to receive the quilt (within reason). You could have it completed and waiting, or it could be an idea in your noggin you're still waiting to figure out!

Leave your comments to enter below and share the word with your friends, $100 in quilting can go a long way!

This giveaway will be open until Monday, March 16th, winner will be announced Tuesday the 17th! Good Luck!

Seems Like Scrappy Preview: Patch Stack

I know I should've written this post over the weekend and scheduled it... I should've and I didn't. And now it's late-ish morning because Daylight Savings Time didn't hit me until this morning when it was still pitch black at 7am and the dogs and I didn't want to get up... Oh well, better late than never!

Today I want to introduce you to Patch Stack:

Photo provided by Martingale, Photography by Brent Kane

There are 14 quilts in Seems Like Scrappy and they are made with an array of your favorite precuts like charm packs, layer cakes, jelly rolls and fat quarters. However there are two new precuts featured in this new book including honeycombs (6" hexagons) and Tonga 6-packs. This pattern features the Tonga 6-pack. 

What is a Tonga 6-pack? Timeless Treasures has released this relatively new precut that contains 20 strips that are each 6" wide x WOF. Some of the packs contain as few as 10 fabrics (two cuts of each fabric) and some packs contain 20 different fabrics. I like this particular precut because you can get a decent amount of fabric and still have a nice variety of colors. I love my jelly rolls, but sometimes that 2 1/2" wide strip just isn't enough fabric that it satisfies my fabric craving...

In Patch Stack, I used the Tonga 6-pack for the creamy and greenish tones. I used yardage for the blue background and I love how this quilt looks masculine yet interesting. I love the colors because I live so close to Lake Erie, it gives off that lake vibe. However, I think this quilt would look amazing in a totally scrappy mix of prints reminiscent of a grown up I Spy.

This quilt was so easy to make and even easier to layout and piece. I thought it would be much harder than it was so I made the pieces and laid it out, then I gathered them up and set it aside for a long time. I don't know what I was afraid of! I started stitching the rows together and was only planning to fill a small amount of sewing time I had open. It was a boring night with nothing much going on and I just wanted to sew for a bit. Not long into my hour or so I set aside to sew, I was almost done with the top, so I kept going!

Patch Stack finishes at a decent size (71" x 86") so it would be a great large throw or a twin size. That's also without borders, so the size can easily grow if you'd prefer it a bit larger if you added borders.

I love this quilt and I hope you do too! Remember that I will be back here each Monday showing off a new quilt from Seems Like Scrappy before it's release in May.

Also, if you missed it over the weekend, I put together a little chart listing the three most popular precut sizes and the names each fabric company uses to identify them. It's a free pdf printable and you can get to it by clicking here. 

And last but definitely not least, tomorrow there will be a super exciting post you'll definitely want to checkout... did someone say giveaway??? Come back tomorrow for the details. Have a great day! I'm going to enjoy my coffee and get in gear... I've got quilts to make!

Clearing Up Precut Confusion

Has anyone else noticed the variety of names given to different precuts? You think that it must be something new and different, yet to find it's the same exact bundle as something else...

Well, I started researching and looking and sorting and I came up with a little chart to share with all of you to ease the confusion:

What I did here was take the three most popular precuts (5" squares, 10" squares and 2 1/2" strips) and listed what each manufacturer names each precut.

Now, there is a reason each manufacturer may have a different name. It basically all comes down to trademarks and licensing and such. Plus it gives each company an identity for their products in this mass sea of precuts available. Not many quilt shops only carry one manufacturer's products, so each fabric brand needs to stand out and make a statement how they can. Just on this chart alone, 2 1/2" strips have 11 different names between 13 different fabric brands!

I started noticing this confusion when I was teaching classes. Some people would come up to me and say, "I don't have a Charm Pack but I have this stack of 5" squares, will this work?" It's one of those situations where when it happened once, no biggie, but after a few times, I felt there had to be an easier way.

Plus, with the release of Seems Like Scrappy coming up in the near future, I didn't want anyone to have the same confusion and feel they couldn't make a quilt because they don't have a jelly roll that the pattern calls for when they have a Bali Pop sitting on their shelf... It's the same thing...

Now, here's the disclaimer part of this post and it's also clearly stated at the top of the printable:

Not every quantity is the same between precuts... Let me say that again:

Not every quantity is the same between precuts

Most precuts are made with either a manufacturer standard of pieces or they are dependent on how many fabrics were in the particular line of fabrics. Each bundle should be marked with the amount of pieces it contains. Double check before you begin that you will have the correct amount of pieces needed for your project.

To get the printable chart, click here.

I've had some questions in the past of how to save or print these files. When you open the pdf, there will be a series of icons at the top of the screen (they may not show until you move the cursor over them).

Please pardon the grainy look, I took an actual picture of my screen.

If you just want to print this chart now, the first icon on the left is to print (the one that looks like a printer).

If you'd like to save this pdf file to print again and again at your leisure, the icon with the downward arrow is to download the file and save it.

I hope you enjoy and can use this chart because I know how confusing it can be at times. Feel free to share this with your quilting pals and keep it handy.

Last disclaimer, this information was collected and compiled all by my little lonesome. This is an ever changing industry and the names and precuts available are subject to change at the will of the manufacturers. This information is current as of this date, but I'm sure it can and will change in time. If needed, I will reissue an update in the future, but be sure to print out this handy little chart and keep it near your precut stash!

Speaking of precuts... come on back to the blog on Monday (and every Monday for a couple months) to see previews of each new quilt in Seems Like Scrappy, my newest book due out in May! I've already posted a couple quilts, you can see them here and here. Just think, with this new chart in hand and inspiration brought to you each Monday, by the time the book is released you'll be all set and ready to create a new quilt or two! There are 14 quilts in this new book and I've already made duplicates of some... Just remember Monday... I'll bring you a little creative colorful moment to make Mondays not so mundane, alright? See you then!