Sunday, June 30, 2013

Fat Quarter Shop ~ Giveaway!

A sponsored giveaway.

The Fat Quarter Shop was founded in 2003 by Kimberly Jolly and carries all of the latest fabrics, exclusive kits, quilt clubs, Block of the Month programs, patterns and more.  Hard work and a commitment to excellent service - every order, every customer - has seen this business has thrive.  
30's Playtime by Chloe's Closet for Moda Fabrics
The Fat Quarter Shop is a long time Red Pepper Quilts favorite place to browse and shop.  I regularly stalk check the What's New and can say the same again for the Coming Soon section.  I love receiving their carefully packaged parcels in the mail.

Today's giveaway is one you don't want to miss!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Kimberly and the team at The Fat Quarter Shop are giving away a Fat Quarter bundle of 30's Playtime by Chloe's Closet to one lucky reader. There are 40 Fat Quarters in this delightful collection - and yes, I have been rather impatiently waiting for these to arrive. 
Imagine what you could do with this bundle!  

To be in the draw to win a bundle of 30's Playtime by Chloe's Closet all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post.  International readers are welcome!  Only one entry per person/email address.  If you are a no-reply blogger please be sure to also leave your email address.  

A winner will be drawn and announced on Tuesday 2 July 2013.  The winner will also be notified by email.

Fat Quarter Shop Links:



Thank you to Kimberly and the Fat Quarter Shop team for such a generous giveaway.

ENTRY HAS NOW CLOSED 
A WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY

Good luck everyone!
Rita

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Friday, June 28, 2013

[workinprogress]

Thank you for stopping by!  I have some pictures to share with you of what I have been working on this week.


Rather than tidy up my sewing space and fold fabric from my last project I have instead cut a whole bunch of squares (4.5 inch squares) and stitched up another quilt top - this is otherwise known as productive procrastinating, although that happy mountain of fabric still needs folding. 


This quilt is much easier than the last, but these simple squares continue to make me rrr-ridiculously happy.  I love the traditional patchwork look and enjoy immersing myself in fabric play; an anyone can do project and  completely stress free.  It was exactly what I needed this week.


It's all about the fabric.   As well as the many Japanese import fabrics I have used floral prints by designers such as Pam Kitty Morning (from the Pam Kitty Love collection), and fabrics from Bake Sale by Lori Holt.  I have also mixed in basic stash prints - like gingham fabric and the occasional dot fabric.  


More soon.
Rita


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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Kaleidoscope Medallion Quilt


I know.  You have probably seen enough of this quilt, but my Kaleidoscope Medallion Quilt is now finished. So that I can move on I am going to post a whole bunch of pictures of the finished quilt and you can rest assured that today is the end of this one ...


I spent some time pondering how best to quilt this quilt and in the end decided that I didn't need to add any more detail to the already busy design. Instead of top stitching I have ditch-stitched almost every single seam line. That involved much quilt wrangling; turning the quilt often, sometimes stitching only a few inches and then turning the quilt again.  Stitch and turn. Both the Flying Geese Units and the Dog Tooth border tested my patience but I am really pleased with the look and drape of the finished quilt.  All up the quilting alone took approximately 6 hours of stitching to complete.  


For the back of the quilt I have used a single fabric - a small black dot on a white background - and have matched it with a black and white stripe binding.  The binding fabric frames the quilt, draws the eye in and complements the medium scale black/white text border.


I have not kept note of how many different fabrics that I have used for this quilt, but I guess it will be close to 200 different prints, including both neutral background fabrics as well as the colored fabrics. An extensive fabric stash is a wonderful resource and I love working from stash. It has taken a number of years (and a lot of hard work) to have on hand such a great collection of fabrics and I intend on using every last scrap.  Eventually.

This quilt is for sale. I have updated my Etsy Store ~
and you can find this quilt listed here: Kaleidoscope Medallion Quilt.
Kaleidoscope Medallion Quilt   550 Patchwork Pieces
ITTY BITTY DETAILS (starting from the center of the quilt):
  • 16 Kaleidoscope Blocks made using Free Paper Piecing Pattern
  • Dotty Border 1 - 1.5 inches wide including seam allowances.
  • 48 Flying Geese Units each measuring 3.5 inches x 2 inches including seam allowances.
  • Dotty Border 2 - 1.75 inches wide including seam allowances.
  • Dog Tooth Border - 3.5 inches wide including seam allowances.  I drew up my own foundation papers using EQ7 for this border.  Four 3.5 inch square Economy Blocks also paper pieced.
  • Text Border - First of Infinity by Kumiko Fujita - 2 inches wide including seam allowances. 
  • Outer Border - 72 Rectangles measuring 2.5 inches x 5.5 inches. Four 5.5 inch square Economy Blocks also paper pieced.


Any questions?  Please don't hesitate to ask.
Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

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Monday, June 24, 2013

The Fat Quarter Shop ~ Blogger's Choice Bundle


I was asked to pick a Blogger's Choice bundle for The Fat Quarter Shop!


It was a little tricky to choose a bundle of fabric weeks in advance - and from computer screen - so have I gone for my "safe" pretties ~ a mix of not quite low volume fabrics together with stash basics: dots, stripes and small scale prints that will happily mix with stash fabrics. 

Available now!

Head on over to The Jolly Jabber (The Fat Quarter Shop Blog) for your chance to win this bundle  (click here)or purchase this bundle from The Fat Quarter Shop (click here).   


In the meantime this is my view - basting and quilting my Kaleidoscope Medallion Quilt.  It's easy on the eyes ...



More soon.
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:

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Friday, June 21, 2013

The Week in Stitches - Kaleidoscope Medallion Quilt

Warning - picture post!

I was all set to make my Kaleidoscope Blocks into a Pillow Cover - including having picked a pretty fabric for the back of the pillow - when the creative urge took over and I decided to add a border of Flying Geese and then some ...  



Now don't get me wrong; I love patchwork pillows - and see more pillows in my future - but I do like projects that simply grow, taking it one step at a time and enjoying the process.  No over-thinking.
Paper Pieced Economy Blocks
The fabrics that I have used are from stash.  I have been collecting small(er) scale floral/fruit prints, in particular the cute Japanese fabrics by Atsuko Matsuyama, for quite some time (2 to 3 years).  I have been known to incorporate snippets of these pretty fabrics in many of my quilts, but this quilt has many!  They are so pretty, and combine well with stash basics like dots, ginghams and even text fabrics.


The outer border pictured  below (as well as the Economy blocks) has been entirely foundation paper pieced.  I drew up the foundation in EQ7 - which is really easy to do! - printed it, taped it together into one continuous foundation and then pieced it.  Paper piecing these triangles is super easy and accurate, but it is slow and required several cups of strong coffee to get it done. 



At this point I am adding just one more pieced border which I hope to get finished by the end of the weekend.  I will then re-assess but I am getting restless and in my mind I am already working on the next project!

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Liberated Star Quilt II - A Custom Order

Déjà vu?
Yes, if you stop by here occasionally then there is every likelihood that you have seen this a very similar quilt before.  This one is a re-make and custom order for a Liberated Star Quilt using Carrie Bloomston's Collage collection which I have previously made and posted here:  Liberated Star Quilt and Collage by Carrie Bloomston.


Repeating a the same quilt is always harder and feels less like being creative. I therefore decided not to look back at images of the original quilt but rather work with the liberated and improvised process, allowing the eye to choose color and fabric placement.  My new quilt (on the left) turned out remarkably similar, perhaps a little brighter and blue/greener.  


I have again quilted the quilt with an overall 1 inch grid; all lines are stitched from edge to edge.  I prefer to stitch all of the horizontal lines first (because they are shorter and it feels like I have more control over the quilt and quilting this way) and then stitch all of the vertical - longer - lines.  I have used the seam lines as a guide for my stitching lines as well as a quilting guide attached to the walking foot when the distance from the seam line could no longer be "eyeballed" with the required accuracy.



For the back of this quilt I have used Geekly Chic - Glasses by Riley Blake.  I love this quirky fabric and have stashed yardage for more quilt backs.  (From these last two images you can also see that I like to match the bobbin thread with my backing fabric when quilting).
This quilt is already crossing the Pacific Ocean - on the way to a new owner, and if you ever stop by at Superbuzzy in Ventura CA (lucky you!) then you may get to see this one for yourself.  Enjoy!  
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Liberated Star Block from the book Liberated Quilt Making II by Gwen Marston 

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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Sunday Stash #189 - Potluck by American Jane

Potluck by American Jane for Moda Fabrics

I love when designers bring back old favorites! Potluck by Sandy Klop brings back fond - fabric hoarding - memories.  I am so glad to see that the colors are vibrant as well as the return of some old, old favorites together with some new designs that I think will be a hit!

Potluck by American Jane - Tape Measures
(I am really excited to see these again!)
Potluck by American Jane - Multi Pez

Potluck - Checks and Dots

Each of the top four fabrics - pictured directly above - are printed with two different basic designs (checks and dots) in two different scales (small and medium) across the width of the fabric with each section divided by a tape measure print.  Four designs in a single fabric, although if you get just a fat quarter you'll miss out on some of the designs.

The following designs are two of my new (to me?) favorites:
Potluck - Daisies in Carrot, Cornbread, Sky and Sweetpea

Potluck - Chicks in Carrot, Sky, Cherry, Cream and Sweetpea

How cute are these little chicks?

According to the Moda website Potluck by American Jane isn't available in stores until October 2013. That does seem like a long time to wait ...  

I stumbled upon my FQ bundle of Potluck on Etsy, and I guess it was a Quilt Market Sample Spree de-stash.  Lucky me.

Enjoy Sunday!
Rita

Potluck by American Jane will be available from the following stores in October 2013:

(I'll continue to update this list as the release date approaches)

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Flying Geese and Bloc-Loc Rulers


Scrap busting ... just using up some of the leftover bits and pieces from my Kaleidoscope project.

Flying Geese are one of my favorite patchwork units but as I am overly fastidious about my patchwork piecing I have in past struggled with piecing these units accurately - or accurately enough for me to be happy with them.

Bloc-Loc Flying Geese Rulers:
1.5 inches x 3 inches
2 inches x 4 inches
3 inches x 6 inches

But struggle no more.  I do love my gadgets, rulers and templates, and when I happened to stumble upon these Bloc-Loc Rulers specifically designed for squaring up flying geese units I knew I needed to try them out. The rulers come with cutting and sewing instructions for an easy piecing flying geese unit with slightly oversized measurements (to allow for trimming back).  I am a keen trimmer and although it is time consuming I like the accuracy that is achieved by this extra step.  For me it is worth the extra time.  


The Flying Geese Bloc-Loc rulers are specifically trimming rulers and have a 1/4 inch channel or groove at the back which firmly hugs the 1/4 inch seam allowance of the pieced unit, allowing you to trim all around for a perfect Flying Geese unit; no measuring is required for placement of the ruler nor does the ruler shift/slide when cutting.  Placement of the ruler is quick and accurate, every time.


I purchased my Bloc-Loc rulers directly from the Bloc-Loc website.  My order arrived promptly and I was so pleased with my initial purchase that I have since ordered several different size Half Square Triangle  Bloc-Loc trimming rulers; and those too will soon be put to good use.

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Bloc-Loc Rulers available from The Fat Quarter Shop
Kaleidoscope Medallion Quilt and Free Pattern
Finished Kaleidoscope Medallion Quilt