Seems Like Scrappy Preview: Baskets

I'm home from Market and I have to tell you - have you heard about the #quiltmarkethangover? It's real. We got home late Sunday night and by the time we got in the door and collected our puppies and they settled down, it was super late (for me at least).

Then yesterday unpacking bags and doing laundry and getting into the swing of "normal life" again was just crazy. It doesn't help that Spring Market always falls in the middle of allergy season, but I did what I could yesterday and today I'm attempting to hit the ground running. After sleeping in a bit of course ;)

Today I want to introduce you to Baskets. I know it's not a super original name, but after coming up with the quilts and making them and quilting and binding and writing the patterns and doing the illustrations - my creativity was spent... But I think I spent my creativity on the right areas.

I actually have a second version of this quilt that I will be sharing later this week when I can get photos. Right now the yard is awful with high grass and we really need to get at that first. Poor Paco looks like he's out on a jungle safari each time he goes out. We cut it right before we let for Market, but it's been the perfect combination of warm and wet here and it grew like mad. So, look for the alternate version of this quilt later this week.

Baskets is made with a combination of fat eighths and fat quarters. It doesn't take much fabric at all and it's pretty fast to cut out and piece. You may already have the fabrics needed for this sitting and waiting for you to get started. Otherwise, this would be a great class and really fun to kit (for you quilt shops out there).

Even though this pattern looks quite traditional in this colorway, I originally thought about making an alternative in a super modern scheme with a mixture of low volume prints for the background and crazy bold fabrics for the baskets. Think about it with a Jen Kingwell inspiration if you would... My alternate version turned out fairly traditional as well. I stumbled upon the perfect fabrics I had stashed for another quilt that I forgot about and I wanted to try this pattern again, so I did.

This quilt was well received (as well as the alternate) at my Schoolhouse at Market and I can't wait to see your version of it too.

Baskets is a decent lap size quilt, or it could be a large wall hanging depending on your space, but it can always grow to the size you're looking for with borders too. Just keep that in mind. I think these quilts might be the perfect back-of-the-couch size for that little added quilty decoration without putting holes in your walls or climbing on ladders.

Once again, this quilt and several others are found in my new book, Seems Like Scrappy, that will be released in just a couple weeks - June 2nd! Look for this book shortly afterwards at your LQS or you can preorder your own signed copy from my online shop. Enjoy your preorder from my shop at a 25% discount, good until the books show up on my doorstep!

Look for more quilt previews from the book here each Monday and I will be doing a special post for the alternate Baskets quilt later this week. Also, check back here often over the next month or so, it's a super exciting time here at the studio and I have so much to tell you!!! Have a great day!

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?

Book Quilt: Cavanaugh

Sometimes when I have an idea for a quilt, it comes out on sketch paper in pieces parts. I may have an idea, but it's not fully figured out yet, so the drawings really don't make sense to anyone else but me for awhile. And that's just fine with me :)

Copyrighted Image provided by Martingale, Brent Kane, photographer

I originally had the idea of diagonal stars, but then I reworked the block and it worked so well to make this quilt. Actually, the first layout I had was for all of the "stripes" to run vertically. Then as it was laying on the floor my Hubbin had this idea and I liked it too. This design would work well either way, but this quilt is yet another one from my stash. I love stash quilts, they're the best! Who knows, maybe one day I'll remake it with the stripes vertically and change up the colors.

I named this quilt Cavanaugh for one main reason. My Great Grandmother had a sister named Winnie and the two of them were inseparable for most of their lives.

Plus, both girls shared the same birthday, seven years apart (I think). On the left is a picture of Edith, Winnie and one of their brothers (there was 11 kids) and on the right is the two girls again about 80 years later. Sooooo sweet.

Well any who, Winnie married into the Cavanaugh family. For as long as I can remember, if I could have picked any last name in the world, it would be Cavanaugh. It's just one of those weird things I've always thought of. It's a good strong name and it fit well with the mix of fabrics that I used.

This quilt is one of my favorites from the book, not only due to the design and the fabrics, but somehow in the midst of deadlines and the craziness, I utility quilted this entire quilt. I really didn't have time to do it, but it needed to be done. Machine quilting on this pattern just wasn't what I had in mind and I'm sure if I long-armed it, I wouldn't have been happy with the end result.

So do you think the name fits the quilt? And I have to ask, am I the only person who thinks about a different last name if they could pick one? Just wondering. Gotta go pack my bags to head to Shipshewana!!! ROAD TRIP!!!

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!