Hot Off The Presses

Hello Everyone,

I am super excited about the current issue of Quilt Magazine! Back in June, Lisa Ruble, an editor from Quilt contacted me and asked if she could interview me about machine quilting for an upcoming issue. I said yes and now the issue is available in my shop complete with this fabulous article.

I am honored to be amongst two other fabulous long arm quilters in this article.

Here is a peek at the three of us!

Wonderful article too, lots of great information. See the three photos on the right, those are all quilts that I quilted!

See the three quilts here, they are also ones that I quilted!

These are also quilts that I quilted! Stephanie do you see yours? Karen do you see yours?

Here is the issue cover. You can purchase a copy by clicking here. There are tons of great quilt patterns too!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway by clicking here.

Until Next Time...

Hot Off The Presses

Dyed and Gone To Heaven!!

Hello Everyone,

For a while now I have been following Chris's blog Dye Candy. She is such a talented quilter and also dyes and sells her own fabrics on Etsy. Luscious! I have several of her fabrics and love them all.

Anyway, she was doing a giveaway on her blog, normally I don't enter giveaways because as you know I have lots of my own fabric that I sell. But hand dyes are a different story. I don't sell those! So enter the giveaway I did and I won!!

Here is what I chose...

Totally my colors and sort of reminiscent of my most recent project.

Just love the hot pink and the orange.

And OH... the green is just phenomenal!

Thank you, so much Chris!! If you don't know Chris, you must go over and visit her and then take some time to poke around in her shop. You won't be disappointed and I will not be held responsible for any possible fabric addiction as a result.

And speaking of giveaways...

Would you like to win this little bundle of Kona Cotton Solids? If so, hop on over to see Kristin and Jordan at KoJo Designs. I am one of their newest sponsors and they are doing a giveaway for me!!

You will love their site too, so take some time to browse, but make sure you leave a comment there to be in the running for the fabric!

Click Here To Enter The Giveaway

Until Next Time...

Dyed and Gone To Heaven!!

The Lure Of Orange

Hello Everyone,

Don't you just love the color orange? This Sunday my Mod Conn Quilt Guild will be meeting (if you live in CT and would like more info either leave a comment or send me an e-mail) and this time we were challenged to use the color orange in a 12.5 inch block.

I thought about it for a little while and knew exactly what I wanted to make! A Drunkard's Path block, a little bit revamped.

I took a bunch of orange fabric from my stash and cut them with the Drunkard's Path Die on my AccuQuilt Studio Cutter. Love that!

Then I joined them together, but it was not done yet. It is only 9.5 inches at this point. So I dug deeper into my orange stash and then added these...

A scrappy border. Every fabric is different and every fabric is very orange. I think I might just need to make an entire quilt like this! I love this block! My son's favorite color is orange, so this could be on the agenda this year for a wonderful quilty Christmas gift.

I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else created. I will make sure to bring you some photos of all of them!

What do you think of orange? What do you think of this block, would it look good in an entire quilt?

Until Next Time...

The Lure Of Orange

Spikes for My Table

Hello Everyone,

I hope that you are not getting tired of seeing my most recent Judy Niemeyer projects. But this is the last one for a while. The last time I shared this one with you, I had just finished it at my quilting retreat. You can see the post by clicking here.

But I still needed to remove all the paper. That is now complete. Now to quilt it and get it on my table. But for the time being, I took it outside on a hot day photo shoot!

Love all those wonderful spikes. I made it totally from batiks that will go just perfectly in my kitchen.

Had to do the wall and flower shot.

Here is the whole thing. This is Judy Niemeyer's Seasonal Table Runner and the pattern can be found in my shop by clicking here. More patterns are due in this week!

I hope you have enjoyed my little mini paper piecing series!

Until Next Time...

Spikes for My Table

Lollipops And Bubblegum

Hello Everyone,

My Total Eclipse top is complete!! However, I have renamed it "Lollipops and Bubblegum". I think it is quite appropriate, don't you?

So today when the temperatures were topping out at 108 fahrenheit, I took Lollipops and Bubblegum outside for a photo shoot.

Even though it was hot, there was definitely good lighting.

All the bright colors just bring a smile to my face.

I hope the colors do the same for you.

If you were wondering what I decided to do with the bottom circle, take a look at the right side of the photo. I divided it in half. Half orange and half purple, but chose to divide it top to bottom instead of side to side. I thank all of you for your opinions, I read each and every one!

Of course, I had to hang it on the wall. Then I quickly scooped it up and went inside to the coolness of the air conditioning. Who knew that you could work up a sweat with a photo shoot of a quilt?

I have the perfect binding for this quilt... wait until you see!

PS... Don't forget to enter my giveaway at Heather and Megan's blog!

Until Next Time...

Lollipops And Bubblegum

Cutting Corners

Hello Everyone,

A few days ago in this post about my Total Eclipse quilt, I had asked about your opinions on the placement of the quarter circles at the bottom of the quilt. Just click here to see what I mean, if you haven't read it. Anyway, thank you for all your opinions! I did make a decision, but you will have to wait just a wee bit longer to find out.

However, I thought that this would be a great time to show you how to add the "extra" quarter circles to the blocks that did not already have the cut out.

In this block you will see that the first quarter circle is already sewn in. This is because the original paper foundation already had that quarter circle cut out in place. All that I had to do was sew in the quarter circle.

However, this block and some other interior and border blocks require you to cut the quarter circle out.

Judy Niemeyer provides the template in her patterns to do this. You can see you will lay the template on the corner and cut around the curved edge with your rotary cutter. Yes, I use the rotary cutter! This is one of the tips that Judy teaches you in her class. Really easy and quick to do, once you have done it a few times. A time saver for sure!

Here is what the two pieces will look like.

Then take the piece you just cut away and...

You will end up with a stack of quarter circles like this. I am already playing with these. They may end up being another quilt or go on the back of this one.

Then you sew in the quarter circle and end up with a really beautiful block and...

A big pile of papers that you have peeled off of the back!!

Well, if you have stayed with me this long, I have a special surprise...

How would you like to win this bundle of Art Gallery Oval Elements? If the answer is yes, please visit my friends, Heather and Megan at Quilt Story for all the details!

Click Here to Enter the Giveaway!

Next post you will see the decision that I made about the bottom quarter circles!

Until Next Time...

Cutting Corners

The Top Is Complete

Hello Everyone,

First, I wanted to thank everyone for the help in naming this quilt top. Still not quite sure what I will end up naming it, but I have a few favorites. To see some of the suggestions you can read the comments on this post.

Now for the reveal...

The dead center of the quilt. I just love it. The star consists of ALL Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics.

There is only one NON Kaffe in the quilt and that is the green batik surrounding the center of the quilt. It just really sets it off.

Since it was a gorgeous sunny day, I took this quilt top outside for a photo shoot. You always get better shots in optimal light.

Had to get a shot of it draped over the stone wall with some flowers too. If you have a name in your head for this quilt, please go ahead and let me know.

The original name of this pattern is Golden Harvest and is a pattern by Judy Niemeyer. It can be found here.

If you haven't heard, Podcast Episode #26 is up and ready for your listening pleasure. A potpourri of quilty information on this one. Just click here to listen from your computer or go to iTunes and search Jackie's Quilting Chronicles to download for free.

Until Next Time...

The Top Is Complete

Construction Of A Quilt Top

Hello Everyone,

Remember when I posted about my Total Eclipse quilt here and here? I have finally finished the last four units and this weekend was able to put it up on the design wall. So I thought you might like to see the process of constructing this top on the design wall.

First I needed to put the big spiky units up on the wall. This wasn't too challenging at this point. I think I was able to achieve a good layout and mix of the colors.

Now I had to add the border units. This was a little more challenging because I didn't want any of the brightly colored batik strips to be next to the same color in the spike units. Again, I think it was a good mix.

Now to add the quarter circle units. This definitely was more challenging. I wanted to get a good layout of even color throughout, a good flow... no two colors next to one another. That also required some rearranging of the border units as well.

There is only one thing that I may need to change. When I got to the end I had two purple units left and two orange units left to create a whole circle... see them at the bottom. So the dilemma:

1. Do I leave it this way?

2. Do I rearrange to achieve more randomness?

3. Do I make 2 more units of purple or orange to make a complete circle and then just put the two that remain on the quilt back?

What do you think?

Of course this is a Judy Niemeyer pattern and can be found in the shop along with a wonderful variety of batiks.

Also, you need to go and check out my friend, Faith's Blog. I am a new sponsor there and she is just a wealth of information. Lots of fun... just click here.

On my next blog post you will see a quilt top that I finished!!

Until Next Time...

Construction Of A Quilt Top

Handwork

Hello Everyone,

In the summer time we tend to be on the road more than in the winter. This means, I need to bring something to keep my hands busy. So I decided to get back to my GFG Hexies!!But I can only do handwork when we are on the highway, not on windy roads my stomach just can't take it.

It feels good to be doing these again and I just love the results.

Here are 27 of them that were done previously which you can read about in this post.

I keep all my supplies in this little box that I got in the fishing department at Wal-Mart. It is convenient that the hexies fit just right.

Initially I think that I calculated that I needed 96 flowers for the bed that I would like this to cover. With only 27 made and one in progress, I have a little way to go yet.

They will all be bordered with Kona Cotton White Hexagons. You just have to love 1930s reproduction fabric with the white, it is just reminiscent of a different era which I adore.

Before you go, don't forget to enter the giveaway for the Wild Garden Fat Quarter Bundle. Just click here.

Until Next Time...

Handwork

Wild Garden... Giveaway!

Hello Everyone,

Since it is summertime, I thought you might all like a little bit of a garden a Wild Garden that is...

I am giving away this wonderful bundle of Dan Bennett's Wild Garden Collection.

These are all the fabrics that are included in the bundle. But if you would like to win this, you must go visit my friend Amy at Amy's Creative Side, she is hosting the giveaway, to enter for a chance.

Click Here To Enter The Giveaway

If you just can't wait for the giveaway to end and really would like to purchase this lovely little bundle, just visit my shop by clicking here.

Until Next Time...

Wild Garden... Giveaway!