Color Cubes Bella Solid Cheat Sheet

It was brought to my attention that the pattern in American Patchwork & Quilting for the Color Cubes quilt (August 2015 Issue) doesn't have the list of the exact Bella Solids I used to make this quilt.

                              Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting®. © 2015 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Well, ask and you shall receive! Below you will find the block and the corresponding Bella Solids from Moda that I used to create this block (complete with sku numbers too for easy ordering):

For whatever reason, this picture looks much more dull once I put it into the blog format, so I hope the coloring works out well on your screen, but these are the colors I used! I hope that helps!

Oh, and I've seen some comments online about where to find the kit information on Primitive Gatherings website. If you pause for a moment on their homepage (desktop version, not sure about the mobile site), the link to the kit is featured as one of the rotating displays. Wait patiently and it'll pop up.

Thank you all for the wonderful response to both this quilt and the new book release! I'm probably going to fall asleep with this huge grin still plastered on my face!

American Patchwork & Quilting August 2015 Issue

Let me repeat that again... The American Patchwork & Quilting August 2015 Issue.

Why am I telling you about this? Well, if you haven't gotten your subscriber copy in the mail yet, today is the day copies go on sale. You normally can find this magazine at your LQS, JoAnn's, book stores, grocery stores, etc. And the reason you all need to run out to one of those locations and get your own copy if you don't subscribe is this:

 Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting®. © 2015 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. 

See the quilt on the left? That's my quilt!!! I was toying around with this idea last year and I showed it to Moda Lissa because I needed a bunch of Bella Solids in order to pull the look off correctly. From there I showed it to Elizabeth from APQ and then I made the quilt and sent it off. That was about a year ago. (These pubishing things take time, just like books get worked on for years before they come out)

 Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting®. © 2015 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. 

I knew this quilt would be in a magazine this summer, but that's about all I knew. Little did I truly know until I ran into Elizabeth at Quilt Market that my quilt was on the cover!!! I'm super excited about that fact and I still grin like an idiot from ear to ear just thinking about it. 

This quilt is called Color Cubes and it's a nice lap sized quilt. It's the first quilt I've made in - I don't even remember how long - where each and every block was made exactly the same. 

Now, if you've read my books and you've seen my tutorials, I am the queen of scrappy. It's just a thing I have to do. So, that's when I got a bit creative and used snippets of each fabric to make the sashing pieces. Looking back it was the only logical option. Just saying...

 Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting®. © 2015 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. 

Even better, once you have your copy in your sweet little hands (because I know you'll go out and grab a copy as soon as you finish reading this), you can order a kit to make this exact quilt. Information is in the magazine article! (Or you can click to this link and order it online) How awesome is that?!

I love creating quilts and this particular quilt is very special to me. I used to do all sorts of crazy rainbowy art projects in high school and it carried over into college when I was studying Graphic Design. My one instructor kept telling me that my color choices were too safe - I always immediately picked a rainbow or some version of rainbowy colors. I think about that conversation a lot over the years, but when I look at this quilt, I can't help but smile and wonder what he would say... 

I don't know why and I don't know how, but this quilt is me. It just feels like home and I'm so excited to share it all with you. And it's on the freaking cover of the magazine! :)

Seriously, when I found out this quilt was on the cover, it took every ounce of my being not to scream and jump and giggle like a school girl in the middle of Quilt Market. I just got the quilt back in the mail and I was waiting patiently (or not so much) for the FedEx man to bring it home to me. I think I scared him a bit with my enthusiasm to get that box in my hands, but by the end of the conversation, he was laughing at my excitement. 

If you're heading out to Primitive Gatherings in California, you'll be able to see this quilt hanging there for the next little future. (They're the shop making the kits) I opened the box, loved on the quilt and smiled all day, then packaged it back up and sent it on it's way. 

If you get out to California, give my quilt some love while you're there. If not, run to the nearest place you can get a copy and read up. There are so many inspiring quilts in this issue (as usual) and I am so honored to be a part of it. 

Goodness, it feels so great to finally get this information out in the open. It's so hard to keep a secret like this for such a long time! Please send me pictures of your quilt, I'd love to see them (rubybluequilts at gmail dot com or you can find me on Instagram @rubybluequilts).

Have a wonderful day!!!

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!

Mini Scrappy Plus Quilt Tutorial

I know that as excited as many of you were for the larger Plus Quilt Tutorial, you were super excited for the arrival of the Mini Plus Quilt and here it is!

 This quilt was completely made by accident or by resorting to quiet work during insomnia really... I had a bunch of leftover pieces in varying lengths from another project. There were several solids that I knew coordinated since I used them in another project and all of the strips were 1 1/2" wide. So what's a girl to do at 4 in the morning when everyone else is sleeping (even the dog)? I redid the math for the Plus Quilt and made it square rather than rectangular and within an hour or so I had it all cut out, laid out, and ready to go!

 I quilted this up a few weeks ago with just some straight lines using my walking foot for the first true time and it went so fast. I literally quilted this while my Hubbin was getting ready, that's it! Why did I not try this sooner?! Alas, then I got it bound and then we had no sun for weeks (or we had it when I wasn't home) and without it I just couldn't get good pictures of the colors. But here it is hanging in my sewing room:

Yep, there's another mini I made that I still have to share and the Mustang I stare at every time I sew. If you haven't heard the story, my Hubbin loves Mustangs and wants one something fierce. Well, he got this die cast model for Christmas one year and promptly placed it in my sewing room so while I'm quilting and writing books I know what to strive for with all of my hard work ;) It started out as a joke, but the Mustang model is still there years later and I don't think it's moving any time soon!

Well, as with the larger version of this quilt, I've created a printable pdf file you can get to by clicking here that will tell you all of the details of this quilt. Remember, both quilts were designed to be scrappy so the directions tell you how many pieces to cut, not how much yardage you'll need. Especially with this little mini, you can easily get the pieces you need out of scraps without a lot of fuss.

Which reminds me, I rearranged my stash again (it will always be a work in progress) and I want to show you what I've done. It's working out quite well and I'm thinking I may need to dive into my scrap stash later this week... We shall see.

And as always, if you create one of these Scrappy Plus Quilts using either tutorial, please send me pictures!!! I'd love to see what you've done. And remember you can always find me at my email at rubybluequilts (at) gmail (dot) com or you can find me on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook at rubybluequilts!

Right now I'm finishing up my coffee, gonna eat some breakfast and see if it's warm enough to paint. I need to get a few things painted and I think today is the last chance I'll have to get it done. This weekend they are calling for icky wet snow already. Trick or Treating for Halloween is Friday night and it doesn't sound like the weather is going to be great... Hope you all have a great day and enjoy these tutorials! I have a few more in the works to share in the near future... Talk to you all soon!

Machine Quilting: Modern Baby

p.s. You still have time to enter into my latest giveaway! Just click here to go to the giveaway post!

I've been working on this quilt little by little on the side and it's almost done. All that is left is the binding if I ever get around to it.

 We have a new little member in the family and little Lucas will get this quilt when I get to meet him. His family lives out of town so I'm not in a super rush to finish this one up.

 This quilt was so much fun to make and was all out of my stash which makes it even better. I think it will be perfect for a little guy.

 The prints are an older Malka Dubrawsky line for Moda, a stitch in color was the name of the line, and I mixed them with a dark grey Bella Solid.

I quilted it with a tight-ish geometric design that I hope will hold up well for years of playing and napping and all the things little boys do. This quilt turned out even better than I imagined it could and I can't wait to give it away! I think I need to make another one... soon!

Machine Quilting: Geometric Quilt

As you could probably tell, the most common type of quilt I finish for others would probably be considered "traditional". Granted there are a few quilts of other styles that I have finished through the years, but not like this one:

 Angela found this quilt in a magazine and thought it would be perfect to hang in her office. She made it just like the sample with the same colors and wanted the quilting to match too.

 I had never quilted something so modern before, but it was fun! These little wavy lines went down the entire quilt and amazingly softened the look of the quilt without taking away from the impact of the squares.

Quilts with large pieces like this are very hard to keep square and true, but Angela did a great job! Many rulers aren't that big to fit the entire piece and the more you fold and manipulate the fabric, the more it can be "off". This quilt was nice and flat and should hang beautifully.

Thanks, Angela! I hope you enjoy your quilt!

Cactus Flower Table Runner

Mom and I have been working diligently on making all sorts of samples of the Judy Niemeyer patterns we carry at the shop. I'm still working on my Bali Wedding Star, but it's not my main focus at the moment so progress has been slow, but I did manage to finish up this beauty:

 This is one of the kits we made at Cottonpickers for the Cactus Flower pattern. Mom is working on the other one and as soon as we get it finished I'll show it to you too. When we chose these fabrics, we knew we wanted to make a kit or two and I took one look at the batiks on the shelf and four of these fabrics were sitting right next to each other begging to be used.

There are actually three different fabrics in the spokes of the sunburst, but they are so gradual it doesn't show immediately. I think they show more on Mom's version (it's burgundy and green and tan = awesome). 

 I quilted this with two different colors of green. I used a fine light green thread for the lighter fabrics and a lime green that I love for the spokes and the setting triangles.

 I used the same lime green for the back and it works so well with this cyan Bella Solid. It really shows the quilting and gives it just a bit of flare that it would not have had if I used a matching thread.

 Hardly at all do I mismatch the thread, but this combo works so well together I had to. Plus this design is so playful it can handle it.

Yay! I finished something and it's bound and everything! I hate to say that hasn't been happening much in the past few months, but I'm really trying to focus on reorganizing me and my time. It's not been easy so far, but I'm really trying to put balance into this crazy life I'm in. Hope to show more finished projects here in the future. Come back tomorrow for a recap of the Glacier Star quilts I've shown you, it'll be exciting!