Hand Dyed Inspiration Vol IV Memorial Day

Hello Everyone,

Happy Memorial Day! Please remember all of those who have fought for our freedoms today.

In that theme of patriotism, I would like to share with you some hand dyed red, white, and blue.

This quilt was also made with Cherrywood hand dyes. I made this top about 7 years ago and really need to quilt this one too. Interestingly enough, there is no white in this top, subtle grays and taupes. But it really does give that illusion of white.

This pattern, I believe, was in a magazine. Don't know which one, so sorry.

But I really do like this one and should have quilted it eons ago. The funny thing is, I know exactly how I am going to quilt this one. So I just need to get going! Maybe by the 4th of July.

Don't forget, today is the last day of the Memorial Day Sale on my website! You will get 20% off your entire order by using the code memorial20 at checkout! Have fun!

Until Next Time...

Hand Dyed Inspiration Vol IV Memorial Day

Hand Dyed Inspiration Vol III

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the third edition of "Hand Dyed Inspiration"!! The following quilt I made with Cherrywood Hand Dyed fabrics. These quilts here were both made about 8 years ago.

This one was made in a tradtional Amish palette. I love the colors and also chose to quilt it traditionally.

I quilted it with feathered wreaths and quarter inch quilting. This one hangs in my upper hall near my studio and love it! The pattern is called Rainbow card trick and can be found by clicking here.

A close up of the quilting.

I then decided to make this little quilt again in a spring palette of hand dyed Cherrywoods. Once I finally get this quilted it will hang in our guest bedroom.

Here is the complete top. The same pattern in two different color ways. I love to see a pattern made up this way, don't you?

Don't forget my Memorial Day sale on my website! 20% off your entire order by using the code memorial20 at checkout. Enjoy!!

Until Next Time...

Hand Dyed Inspiration Vol III

Celebrate and Remember!

Happy Memorial Day!

Canton Village Quilt Works would like to remind us to remember those who fought for our freedoms. To celebrate our veterans and our freedoms, we are having a 4 day sale! But hurry, the sale will conclude at the end of Memorial day May 31, 2010.

Everything* in the online shop is 20% off!! Just use the code memorial20 at checkout.
Enjoy your weekend!

*excludes Kona color cards and books

Until Next Time...

Celebrate and Remember!

Many Thanks and Giveaway Winner!

Hello Everyone,

Last week I had a very pleasant surprise awaiting me in my mailbox. Simone sent me a wonderful gift!! It truly made my day. She made this wonderful pincushion out of the Aunt Grace fabrics that she purchased from my shop.

It was a thank you for replacing the initial order, that she placed in January, that still has not arrived! I sent the second bundle of fabric to her not expecting anything in return. How sweet was this of her to do this for me. Simone, you made my day!! I love it!!

Here is the beautiful card and tea napkins she also included in the package. The pincushion sits proudly by my sewing machine and I show it to everyone who comes over! Thank you, Simone!

Now onto the Marie Bostwick book winner...

I was very happy that I was able to introduce Marie's books to many of you! I know that you will love her books. Thank you to all who entered!

So Mr. Random Number Generator and I generated ONE lucky number from 276 comments and the winner is...

#79 Laurie - A Yankee Quilter! Congratulations, Laurie you will love her book!

Until Next Time...

Many Thanks and Giveaway Winner!

All Together Now

Hello Everyone,

This next quilt I am going to show is one that my friend and customer, Norma, made and I quilted. As soon as she brought it to me, I was in LOVE! There are definitely several reasons to love this quilt:

1. Made from all Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics!

2. Bright wonderful colors.

3. The pattern is simple and easy to make (in a day, or weekend). It is called All Together Now and is available in my shop.

4. Wonderful size to wrap up in.

I quilted it with an all over quilting design, perfect for this quilt. Anyway, Norma made this as a gift for some friends and she loved it so much, she wants to make one for herself.

So we talked about it and I decided to kit this one up for my shop! Since I carry Kaffe fabrics, it was pretty easy to do. I just had to order a few more bolts (didn't have any problem with that either). Ordered a bunch of the pattern, then got started cutting!

I had a ton of fun putting the kit together for this, but I thought that many of you may already have lots of these fabrics and just might need to add a few more here and there. So I cut up a ton of NEW color coordinated fat quarter bundles!

And of course, you will have as much fun putting this together as Norma did, I know it. I also will be making one for myself. I just love the bright and happy colors! Oh, just to let you know I used a variegated rayon thread to quilt the quilt. The name of the quilting pattern escapes my mind, but if any of you are interested, just send me an e-mail and I will look it up!

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway on the post here. Good luck to everyone!

Until Next Time...

All Together Now

Blogger Quilt Festival Spring 2010 Edition

Hello Everyone,

Amy has done it once again! Another terrific Blogger Quilt Festival. Thank you, Amy!! I am also one of her sponsors for the wonderful prizes being given away. I will be giving to one of the lucky prize winners at Fat Quarter Set of 8 Different Essex Cotton/Linen Blends from my shop!! So make sure you get your entry linked up on Amy's Blog for a chance to win!!

So here is my entry. Now before you say anything, I know it is not quilted yet. I have shown this quilt before in this post here and here, but it is one of my absolute all time favorites that I made. If you are new to my blog, enjoy!

Introducing Chocolate Raspberry Truffle...

It is paper pieced and is a Judy Niemeyer pattern called a Touch of Spring.

I began it in a class with Judy and then finished it at home.

Also in the class with me was Marie Bostwick! Don't forget to enter my giveaway on the post about her newest book. Just click here, the giveaway is open through Sunday.

I pieced the borders so that they would be part chocolate and part raspberry.

Mmmm... nothing better than chocolate and raspberry together, right?

So maybe next time I show this quilt, I will have it quilted. I just need to sneak it on my long arm in between customer quilts! Cross your fingers!

Until Next Time...

Blogger Quilt Festival Spring 2010 Edition

Modern Sweets

Hello Everyone,

Don't you just love Sugar, or anything sweet? This quilt is a little of both. It is made from the entire Sugar line of fabric by Art Gallery and is called Modern Sweets.

Bright, summery, and cheerful!

Perfect of that teen girl too!

It can be found here on the cover of the newest Quick Quilts. You can find the magazine in my shop along with the exclusive kit packaged to make that wonderful quilt!! Hurry they are in limited supply. Just click here to start shopping.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway on this post, only a few more days to go!

Until Next Time...

Modern Sweets

Colors of Peru Quilt Top Done!!

Hello Everyone,

Boy am I behind! I am sure many of you will remember me working on this wonderful quilt from this post. Well, I finished the top a while ago and am just getting around to posting it now.

I have to say that I am in love with this top!! Fun, cheerful, bright, and easy to put together.

All the striped fabrics were from my stash. I had gotten them about 5 years ago at a quilt shop that had them on clearance for about $3 per yard... Score! What a great top they made.

The story behind this quilt was that I was looking for a project to make with these striped fabrics. So, of course I went straight to my Kaffe books. It is from his Passionate Patchwork book and is called Shirt Stripe Boxes.

In the book his quilt was a totally different color palette. It was made from old shirtings so they were mainly blue and white. You can see a picture of the quilt from the book in my previous post by clicking here.

But have no fear, he has a similar pattern called Earthy Mitered Boxes in his newest book Simple Shape, Spectacular Quilts. That quilt has a border on it and the stripes may be a little more well matched than mine.

Although it may look like my stripes are pretty well mitered, look closer, they are not even close to being mitered perfect. But I just love the illusion. I didn't fuss with them at all. They were just pieced as is and the result is what I am in love with!!

Now onto to making the backing and then to get it on my long arm and quilt it!! It will be a well used quilt when I am done. The added bonus is that it will always remind me of the vibrant colors that we saw when we visited Peru.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway in my previous post. You have through May 23!

Until Next Time...

Colors of Peru Quilt Top Done!!

You Just Can't Miss This Giveaway....

Hello Everyone,

Just this week I had the pleasure of sitting down with my friend, Marie Bostwick. For those of you who don't know who she is, she is a NY Times Bestselling author of some wonderful books, including the series pictured below.

If you love a good read about friendship, common bonds, quilting, and just plain fun, you will love these books. Any way, I interviewed her for my newest podcast Episode #13. You can listen to our chat by clicking here or by going to iTunes and searching for Jackie's Quilting Chronicles and subscribing. It is FREE! (While you are there, check out my other 12 quilting podcasts!)

Anyway, Marie and I had a wonderful morning together and I think that you will agree she is just a lovely individual with a talent for telling a great story and also a talent for quilting.

So if you have not read any of her books, you may want to check them out on Amazon or your local bookstore. But for one lucky individual, Marie has generously donated an autographed copy of her newest book... A Thread So Thin! It was just released at the end of April and I have finished it already. A terrific read!!

So here is what you need to do to be entered into the giveaway:

1. Leave a comment here and let me know if Marie's books are new to you or not. (1st entry)

2. Go check out Marie's Site by clicking here and register online and download your free quilting pattern. Then come back and tell me in a separate comment. (2nd entry)

3. Let me know if you are a follower of my blog, if not, become one and let me know, either way in a third comment. (3rd entry)

You don't have to do all three, but you have the opportunity to enter 3 times.

Remember there must be a way for me to contact you. Make sure that you e-mail is accessible.

The giveaway will remain open until May 23! On the 24th, I will draw the winner. In the meantime, check out the podcast and get to know Marie a little better.

The Giveaway is now closed. Check back tomorrow for the winner!

Oh, and my monthly newsletter for May is now available online here.

Until Next Time...

You Just Can't Miss This Giveaway....

Bordered Diamonds

Hello Everyone,

Recently I joined a group on Facebook called the SSSQ Quilt Along With Kaffe Fassett. You can read about by clicking here. As a member of the group, you need to make a Kaffe inspired quilt from his newest book Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts. You can find the book here for 15% off!! I digress...

So I really wanted to make a diamond quilt and this one, called Bordered Diamonds, just was calling my name. He has many other diamond quilts in his book that are equally gorgeous.

Here are the diamonds that I have "bordered" already. The borders are mostly smaller scale prints within the Kaffe Fassett Collective. So far I am enjoying the whole process and the outcome.

Here is a picture of some of the diamonds that are not yet bordered. I cut all the diamonds using my AccuQuilt Studio Cutter. Some of these fabrics you see are from my stash and some from my shop inventory. While I had the shop inventory out, I cut extra and there is a Pre-Cut bundle of 106 diamonds in my shop!! It will make a similar quilt to mine, you just have to add your own borders.

This one shows the bordered diamonds, head on. I am really striving to differentiate between dark and light borders and diamonds. But I have a way to go and it will be in a state of constant rearrangement. I also am using mostly large florals for the diamonds.

In doing this, I am trying to center the large flowers in the middle of the diamond. So far the results have been worth it and I love how they look. I am hoping to cut more diamonds over the next few days because I just got 20 NEW bolts of Kaffe, Philip, and Brandon fabric for the shop!! And more are on their way over the next few weeks, Yay!! Go check it out... they are gorgeous!

Until Next Time...

Bordered Diamonds

Sisters Extraordinaire - Allie and Lois

Hello Everyone,

Remember, just a couple of posts back, I introduced you to Roberta. Well this post will focus on two more of my Mom's friends in AZ. Of course they are quilty ladies. Seriously, I think my mom needs to take up quilting!

While visiting my Mom, we went to see Allie and Lois. They are sisters who are truly a treat to see every time I go to AZ. They are creative, witty, exuberant, and just plain lovely.

The first of the projects belongs to Lois...

She is making a yo-yo quilt! It is truly beautiful.

Look at all those yo-yos that she has completed and joined. Amazing! Isn't she a doll?

Allie has been making a TON of quilts to benefit a local charity. She had a whole pile there that she and Lois had been working on. They are string quilts.

Here is a close up! Great pattern and it works up quickly. Allie also teaches classes at the local quilt shop, Quilter's Oasis. Great little shop! If you go there say "Hi" to Kathy, the owner, for me. And sign up for a class with Allie!

Here is another charity quilt, beautiful, the quilt and Allie!

Here is a card trick top that Allie just completed.

Look at this wonderful Navajo Seminole quilt. Amazing!

This quilt is a Judy Niemeyer pattern. Allie pieced and quilted it herself and won a ribbon. I love this one!! She really needs to hang it up!

This quilt is sort of a stack and whack type quilt. Made from one fabric creating many different patches. Really cool!

Here you can see the different blocks from the same fabric.

My visit with Allie and Lois was a lot of fun! You can see that when I go to AZ, I really don't get a chance to miss quilting because I am still surrounded by it and love every single minute.

Speaking of being surrounded by quilting, you ALL need to check out Karen Griska's new website, The Online Quilt Museum! It is officially open for business. Truly a beautiful site. I spoke about it in my last podcast, but now it is time for you all to see this great quilting find.

Oh, I almost forgot, my May Newsletter is up online for you to read!

Until Next Time...

Sisters Extraordinaire - Allie and Lois