Woodland Sunset Part Two

In eager anticipation of Seems Like Scrappy coming out next May... I thought it would be fun to revisit some of the quilts from my first book, Seamingly Scrappy. This summer (or fall, I honestly can't remember) I quilted up a new version of Woodland Sunset.

 When I was picking out the fabric for the original quilt, I picked out Fat Quarters knowing that I only needed Fat Eighths... This way I could have two quilts! Score! I didn't get around to making this quilt as soon as I had expected (obviously) so the border fabrics weren't available for a duplicate quilt. No problem, I improvised and played in an alternate color story...

 I quilted this shortly after I finally tried ruler work on the long arm... I was hooked, I think it looks awesome!

 I continued the lines into the side setting pieces and then quilted the border to mimic the fabric.

 I really love how the quilting looks in the smaller blocks in the border.

 Hard to believe the same fabrics were used for both quilts, here's the original quilt below:

And just to prove it, I did this to show how much changing the border fabric can alter the look of a quilt. Pretty cool, huh? 

Once again, these quilts are from the pattern Woodland Sunset out of my first book, Seamingly Scrappy. Who knows, this quilt is so fun and simple to make, I may make another some day. Right now I keep thinking about Christmas quilts to make... This would be a fun winter quilt... In all of my spare time, right?

Change of plans

I had this great idea yesterday to download all of my pictures off of my camera and write some witty blog post... Well, that all got derailed when I got a frantic text from my BFF that her dog was missing. They had gone door to door and were planning to put up flyers so I went to the park behind her house and walked the paths looking for Bridgette, the dog. 

I turned up nothing and her hubby went looking out back in the woods again, but luckily it was all effort well wasted. They now live on a super busy road and Bridgette somehow ended up by the road. A nice dog lady picked her up and took care of her before returning her home yesterday morning. 

 And here she is reunited with her kids. Phew, that could have turned out so differently, but we are very glad she's home. 

With her home safe, I got back to quilting and started on this long overdue project:

This is another version of Woodland a Sunset from Seamingly Scrappy, my first book with Martingale. I was able to quilt everything but the backgrounds. I'm completely stumped. I normally don't unload a quilt half finished, but this one can wait a bit until I figure out the best plan for it. Any ideas? All I can think of right now is pebbling , but my arm wasn't feeling up to tons of pebbles yesterday. 

I also need to piece the back for my plus quilt, I got some other fabrics for another tutorial, oh , I did finish my mini plus too and I need to share that... Lately it seems like there's everything and nothing going on all at once. I've been busy, but I can't share most of it :(

Alas, more good stuff is to come and I'm hoping for a nice boring day today. Have a great day and we will chat again soon!

Say it isn't so!

I regret to inform you that if you were planning to go to your nearest bookstore tomorrow to find the latest issue of Australian Quilters Companion, it won't be there. There seems to have been an issue with the printing and it has been delayed until December. However, if you are lucky enough to subscribe to the magazine you'll still get the new issue this month. It's only the news stand copies that are delayed :(

So what's a girl to do? I've been piecing some blocks for a new version of Woodland Sunset that I can't wait to show you! 

If I have any updates on the magazine's new release date, I will let you know as soon as possible!

It came!!!

Well, a couple things really. First off, the 2014 That Patchwork Place Calendar is here!

And my quilt, Woodland Sunset, is the quilt featured during the month of October!

It's such an honor to be part of this amazing group and this made my day, seriously...

Because otherwise the other thing that came was the weekend for my high school reunion. The whole weekend is full of events that started last night with an epic ratball game. After which many of us realize we are no longer 12, are out of shape, and we are hurting greatly today, but it was so worth it! 

We ended up with one sprained ankle, one cut above an eye from a tremendous slide into a base and many other yet to be determined injuries. 

I thought about it this morning as my hip is absolutely killing me and I realized something. When we were fit and younger, we only played this game for half an hour-ish... Now ten years later we played for two plus hours pretty hardcore and within that time we started to feel our age. 

We had a great time and plan on doing it again, but for tonight we're getting ready to go nurse our wounds over some vino at a local winery. It is much needed and you'll be able to tell who played last night, just look for the people hobbling and limping about!  I'll post more soon when pictures and videos get shared! 

Have a great weekend!

I'm officially a Calendar Girl!

I never thought I would have the opportunity to say that phrase!

Along with several other authors including Kim Diehl, Julie Herman, Amy Ellis, Kim Brackett, Jill Finley and many many more, I will have a pattern from my book, Seamingly Scrappy, featured in the 2014 Quilt Calendar by That Patchwork Place!!!

My Woodland Sunset quilt will be gracing the pages for the month of October! I cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to be a part of this. But it gets better for you too, here's how:

Each month a quilt will be featured in this amazing calendar. Along with being able to see different quilty goodness each month, there is also a pullout booklet with instructions for each quilt featured!!! Crazy, right?!

So how do you acquire one of these beauties? They'll be available later this month (I have to admit when writing this I almost said next month and then realized it's already August - when did that happen?!), you can purchase them directly through That Patchwork Place, you will be seeing them in your local quilt shops, or your favorite places online will have them too I'm sure!

My hubby doesn't know it yet, but this calendar may be the main calendar for our house next year... Much better than the work safety calendars he brings home every December with the super cheesy phrases...

Book Quilt: Woodland Sunset

This quilt is another one of those lost and rediscovered patterns that I had stashed away in my sketchbook for years. Once again, the design just wasn't working and then I had a little epiphany and it all came together.

Copyrighted Image provided by Martingale, Brent Kane, photographer

When I was ready to choose fabrics for this quilt, I had this crazy idea, but it worked out sooooo well. I was staring at the fabric wall in the quilt shop and I love this in the batiks, but that in the Civil War - so I combined them! There are shirtings mixed with batik basics and prints, with some awesome Jo Morton prints and that batik stripe for the outer border! Yummo! I'm so happy they are making more and more batik stripes.

Now, the hardest part for me with any quilt is naming it. I can tell you what fabrics to make it out of, how to quilt it, but the name always seems to escape my mind. So what do you do when you're stumped? I turned to my friends and asked but it was so hard because I couldn't show a picture of the quilt. I didn't want to give too much away (seeing as how these were all made about a year ago) so I asked something like, "Well, it's kinda rustic and colorful at the same time. Just think woodland sunset." So in my conquest to ask for help, I answered my own question and named this quilt. I'm still blaming the lack of naming creativity on long hours of working and quilting and hardly any sleep for those few months, but it's been worth it!

Woodland Sunset is a small sized wall hanging type quilt made with fat eighths. This quilt is made with a more complex bear paw quilt (remember, more complex does NOT mean harder, just a few more seams is all) and the layout creates something special that I just love about this quilt. But then again, I love all the quilts in the book! This quilt would be great to build piecing skills as well as transition from precut bundles into using up stash fabrics or choosing your own. You can be scrappy, I know it!