Shipshewana samples

Last week Mom and I made the trip over to Shipshewana to show off some of the new Christmas fabrics with Moda. 

I know, I know... We just had Christmas and it's still cold with some snow on the ground, but the quilt shops are looking at the future fabrics to come out this Spring, which includes Christmas and some Halloween. 

I made this simple HST quilt with Laundry Basket's (Edyta Sitar) new Snowbird prints. This line also features batiks, but I only had the prints to work with this early. I did add in the darker brown and tan to even out the lights and darks, but this line is gorgeous! It's very elegant and says 'winter', not 'Christmas'. 

I also made this little one out of Solstice by Kate Spain. I wish the green sashing was a bit smaller now that it's done, but I still like it. This is my alter-ego of Christmas. I love the fun and bright prints that are more playful. 

This week we are gearing up for the vendor weekend at the Lake Farmpark show. I will be out there with Mom all weekend so stop by and say hi!

In the meantime I have been working steadily behind the scenes and sadly can't share much of that right now. Once I have more to share I will. Toodles!

New Quilts: Aura & Tiny Bits

So you may have noticed these quilts already in my pictures from my last trip to Shipshewana, but here's better pictures for ya.

 For this version of Aura, I immediately fell in love with Kate Spain's new collection, Honey Honey. I was going back and forth over which background to use. I ended up choosing this navy from the Primitive Muslins by Moda, but the other option was a Charcoal Gray from the Bella Solids. I love how the navy makes the colors pop though.

 I quilted this one very similarly to the original, but both quilts look very different, don't you think?

 And this version of Tiny Bits isn't much different than the original. They both use the same sashing and binding, but the newer version uses Jenn Ski's new line for Moda, Oink A Doodle Moo. Not only is it absolutely adorable, it's super fun to say.

The original version was made with Jenn's last line, Ten Little Things, so that's why the quilts are so similar. I love the quilting in this one, it's great for modern baby quilts that seem to be everywhere these days.

Honey Honey is definitely in stores now and is ready for purchase while Oink A Doodle Moo should be arriving any day now.

I may just be making more new versions of some more book quilts in the future. Check back for those as I'll share pictures on here!

Book Quilts: Tiny Bits & Aura

It's here! It's finally here! So what do you do when your first book is released? In my case, I pack up and head over to Shipshewana for a little time at the MAAFRA Regional Fabric Show. My bags are packed and I think I remembered everything. I'll find out once I get there! But last but not least, I have to show you the last two quilts from the book!

Copyrighted Image provided by Martingale, Brent Kane, photographer

Tiny Bits is really the only quilt in the book that was designed for a baby quilt. Granted, it can be used as a small wall hanging too, but it worked so well with Ten Little Things by Jenn Ski, I just remade this quilt this past weekend out of her new line Oink A Doodle Moo. Not only is it fun to say, but it's super cute too! 

Copyrighted Image provided by Martingale, Brent Kane, photographer

And then there's Aura. What a gem. I have to say, I think this is my favorite quilt from the book (if I have to choose one) and I just remade this quilt too! I can't wait to show it to you. I made it out of Honey Honey by Kate Spain and it looks so different. I'll be working on the binding on my way to Indiana and I'll be posting from Shipshewana with pictures of the reworked quilts. 

Both of the above quilts used charm packs and minimal yardage. How simple is that?! Who doesn't have a charm pack sitting around? I know I do! They're so simple to pick up at the quilt shops and I swear they just jump in your arms and beg to come home with you! 

Now remember, the book is officially released today and should show up in your LQS shortly. (Yippee!!!) I can't believe it's finally the day I've been waiting for. I hope you all enjoy the book and please let me know what you think! I would love to see pictures of any quilts that you've made from patterns in the book. It'll make my day!

Oh, and be sure to hop on over to the Stitch This! blog by Martingale today. They were kind enough to let me guest post over there about Seamingly Scrappy. I'll keep you posted from Indiana!

Book Quilts: Field Day & Small Town Girl

Now when it's this time of year in Northeast Ohio, I find myself making the most colorful quilts of the year. Why you ask? This is why:

 Usually, this time of year there is next to zero color outside. And if you're wondering, yes, this was Lake Erie frozen over a couple years ago. I haven't been up to the lake lately, but last year our winter was so mild it never got close to this.

So that's why I find myself making quilts bursting in color and Field Day is no exception. Now, following in the concept of the book, this relatively large quilt uses precuts, probably just not the one you're thinking of! Any guesses? Well, this quilt actually uses a charm pack and just some additional yardage.

Copyrighted Image provided by Martingale, Brent Kane, photographer 

This quilt was super fun to make and super quick. The fabrics I used were designed by the one and only Kate Spain, this was her Terrain line. I did blend in a fabric from Me & My Sister for the white polka dot, but the fabrics worked so well I couldn't resist.

You really can't see it in this picture, but you'll be able to in the book because the pictures are AMAZING! I had a little fun while quilting Field Day, I decided to use both custom machine quilting AND utility quilting. The results are incredible and I have mixed quilting techniques on other quilts since I first tried it on this one.

Copyrighted Image provided by Martingale, Brent Kane, photographer 

And here we have Small Town Girl. Small Town Girl is not small at all, actually she's one of the larger quilts in the book. When I designed this quilt, it was one of those instances where everything fell into place perfectly, almost. I had this design drawn up eons ago it feels like but it wasn't working. I rediscovered it while I was working on the book and had an idea which developed into the quilt above. The best part was I already had a fat eighth bundle of Ruby by Bonnie & Camille sitting at home that was perfect for this design.

If the background looks a but dark, that's because I had to search and find the perfect print to go with this quilt. I was thinking about using a solid white, but I wanted something different. In the Ruby line, there was this teeny tiny gray dot that I knew I just needed. After a few minutes on the Internet and it was being shipped to my house and it looks so much better in person than in photos. It really makes the bright colors of the rest of the Ruby line pop.

Two more quilts down, a few more to go! I'll be showing quilts from the book through the weekend up until Tuesday when the book is released! Yippee!

So which quilt do you like the best so far? Inquiring minds would like to know :) Toodles!