Sunday Something

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

Philippians: 4:13

More Modern Cross Quilts

Here are two more awesome Modern Cross Quilts to show you today. Both are made by Jenny at Cut, Sew, Iron, Repeat. Jenny tells me she loves making the cross blocks and sees more in her future. I think you will agree that she is one talented lady with an eye for color!

Jenny is hosting a give away on her blog this week so hop on over and take a look around at her cute quilts and maybe win a yard of pretty fabric too! 

Jenny made both of these lovelies for charity using this tutorial. Can't wait to see her next one! It makes me want to make another one myself!

Modern Cross Quilts

Remember this quilt that I made for my daughter and her husband last summer?

 Anniversary Crosses uses all solid fabrics in a cool color combination. I wrote up a tutorial on how to make liberated crosses if you are interested in making a similar quilt.

This modern cross quilt has become the most popular item on my flickr site. It is one of my favorites also...the colors, the liberated blocks and the quilting all came together so well. I love seeing it folded over a chair at my daughter's house when I'm there!


Last week I was tickled to find out about an equally fun quilt made like mine but using a warm color pallet. It is such an outstanding quilt, with a great story behind it, that I wanted to share it today. Visit Side Stitches for more pictures and find out Caylan's reason for making the quilt.

If you have made a similar quilt, I'd love to see your pictures, as well! It's a fun project and I hope that you'll give it a try! The tutorial is in my sidebar.

Sunday Something

"Consider the birds: They do not sow or reap,

 they have no storeroom or barn;

yet God feeds them.

And how much more valuable you are than birds!"

Luke 12:24

Lula's I Spy Block Tutorial

Here's the tutorial, as promised, for Lula's I Spy Quilt. My directions are for a quilt 45"X45" before borders. You can add those, or not, as desired. I am using 4 inch charms to create 9 inch (finished) blocks. (Note that you will need to trim your standard 5 inch charms to make this version.) This picture is of the quilt in progress......

Let's begin with the fabric requirements and cutting. 

FABRIC:

100 - I Spy charms

1.25 yards solid for sashing

********

CUTTING:

Cut sashing into 1.5 inch width of fabric (WOF) strips. 

You will need a total of 23 strips.

Subcut 10 strips into 4 inch pieces. You will need 100 rectangles.

Subcut 13 strips into 5 inch pieces. You will need 100 rectangles. 

Trim charms to 4 inches square.

The drawing below is my doodle for planning Lula's quilt and the placement of the sashing strips. As I was sewing the blocks, I found it helpful to keep the drawing beside my machine to refer to as I constructed each block.  I highly recommend that you make a sketch also, unless you enjoy frog sewing..rippit, rippit! This block can get mixed up easily!

Working with 4 charms at a time,

 lay them out in a pleasing pattern. With 1/4" seams, sew  a four inch strip to the TOP of each of the two squares on the left.

Sew a four inch strip to the BOTTOM of each of the two squares on the right.

I pressed my seams open.

Again, lay out the four charms with the short strips attached.  Using the five inch strips, lay one on the LEFT side of each of the two top charms. Lay one on the RIGHT side of each of the two bottom charms as shown below. Stitch.

After pressing, again lay out the squares.

 Check your diagram to make sure it's correct! Trust me.

Sew together the top two squares and the bottom two, as shown.

After pressing, complete the block by sewing the two sections together 

to make a 9 inch (finished) block.

Repeat to make 25 blocks. Arrange the finished blocks 5 across and 5 down.

Sew the blocks into rows and then join the rows.

Add borders (or not) as desired. Quilt and bind.

Now, go find a young'in  and have fun playing "I Spy with my Little Eye!"

As another option, if you would like to use 5 inch squares to make the quilt, you will need a total of 64 charms to make a quilt top 44" X 44". 

Using 1 yard of sashing fabric, cut 18 strips 1.5 in. wide. Sub cut into 64 five inch strips and 64 six inch strips. Assemble as above to make 16 blocks.

Arrange the blocks four across and four down.
#If you hurry, you can still join in the I Spy charm swap here.

Three Sewy Things

I've been a busy girl this week, with not as much time for sewing as I would like. The rain is going to keep me out of the garden for a while it seems, so next week there should be more finishes, I'm hoping. I did manage to get three "sewy" things done to show you:

 I've had the pattern for this darling sleep sack cut out and ready to go for a couple of weeks now. Since I was going to see the mommy on Wednesday, the approaching deadline for making my gift for a sweet baby boy kicked me into action and in just a few hours it was completed. I love the Kate Spain Central Park zoo fabric so much, don't you! This is my second try at using this well made pattern and I like the way it turned out as much as the first! You can read my pattern review here. For summer, I did not add a fleece lining this time, but did interface the tab closures.

 Last night was the monthly KC Modern Quilt Guild meeting (Shea Henderson, the genius behind Empty Bobbin patterns, was our great speaker!) and I was once again on the wire to get my block finished for a swap I'm in. This time Parthena asked for wonky houses in bright colors. It was a fun little project using my stash fabrics.

 Wednesday afternoon, as promised, the resident random generator (my husband) selected a winner in the Cover Up give away. Number 22 is Val who said," I love Shea's patterns - so great and always so detailed (and usually lots of color pictures). I use the hard plastic cover that came with my machine, but I'd love to dress things up a bit! " 
Congratulations, your pattern is on it's way, Val!

I wish that I had a lot more patterns to give away because it would seem from the entries and comments that most sewing machines are standing around naked. Oh, my!

A Cover Up and a Giveaway!

Bernie Bernina was already needing a cover up when Shea, from Empty Bobbin, asked me to test her new pattern "Cover Up" a few weeks ago. The truth is that Bernie had been standing around naked most of the time, so this cover up idea came none too soon!

 Isn't it cute? The best thing about this great new pattern is that it can be made to fit any sewing machine out there. Shea gives specific directions for measuring your machine before you begin to insure a perfect fit. Now, you may notice something added to Bernie's cover that is not shown in the pattern....a ruffle! That's because, in testing we discovered a change that needed to be made, so my cover turned out a tad too short. (Isn't it wonderful to know that a designer wants to make sure that her pattern is perfect before she publishes it!) I simply added a little ruffle to the bottom and now it's just the right length...and feminine, too. (Bernie likes everyone to know that she's a girl.)

My mailman has been really busy making deliveries to my house over the last few days! There are around 40 participating in the I Spy Swap and the charm squares are coming in....so fun! If you haven't entered the swap yet and would like to, there is still time. You can find the specifics here. 

Mr. Mailman also delivered an extra Cover Up pattern from Shea. She was so nice to want to include you in her latest creative endeavor. If you would like to win this pattern for yourself, just leave me a comment telling me if your sewing machine usually stands naked like mine  or what she wears to keep warm and dust free. One comment with an email address  = one valid entry!  I'll draw a winner on Wednesday afternoon.

Either way, I'm sure she would love a new outfit!
#A winner has been chosen and the give away is now closed. The Cover Up pattern is available on line from the Fat Quarterly Shop here.

Blogger's Quilt Festival-Beaded Curtain

Welcome to the Blogger's Spring Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy's Creative Side. 

I'm excited to show you my quilt entry, Beaded Curtain.

Beaded Curtain is pretty special to me because it is actually the prototype

for my first (and only!) Moda Bake Shop quilt, called Love Beads.

It's the perfect size to use as a table runner for summer cookouts!

 It features three of my favorite quilty things....

fabulous Amy Butler fabrics, Kona grey background, and straight line quilting!

 The free tutorial for making the larger version of this quilt can be found here.

This smaller version uses just one charm pack and about one yard of background.

If you would like to try your hand at making a table runner size,

 follow the directions on 

the Moda site for making the beads and use 1.5 in. sashing 

between the rows of beads.

The backing features leftover bead and chain pieces combined 

with lovely Bird Song fabric that I'd been saving for just the right thing.

I'll have fun using the reverse side as much as the front! 

 I always enjoy the challenge of creating quilt backs that are a bit whimsical

from bits and pieces left from the front plus fabric from my stash.

 I hope that I've tempted you to give my

Moda Bakeshop quilt a whirl. 

 It's guaranteed to bring a smile to your face!

Thanks for stopping by!

Be sure and check out all the other Festival entries here.

P.S. You might want to makes sure that the coffee pot is full before you begin!

It's Magic

While many bloggers are making their way to Salt Lake City this week to experience the quilt market, here in Kansas City, the buzz is all about the IMQA Machine Quilters Showcase.

The Showcase has been coming here for quite a few years and I always enjoy seeing the beautiful quilts and shopping the vendor floor. This year I decided to volunteer some time helping with the show. Tuesday, I was assigned to the photography room where all the quilts are professionally photographed after they are judged and before hanging for viewing.
It was an exciting day of seeing many of the quilts up close and personal not to mention observing the behind the scene work it takes to produce such a big show. Then, yesterday I helped sell tickets for about 4 hours before attending the show and vendors. I came a way with a few goodies and lots of machine envy!

Seeing the expert and professional quality quilting on so many quilts was sometimes just incredulous! I thought that I would share some of the quilting that wowed me as well as a few of my favorite quilts. This......

 And this....

are close-up views of this original design by Cindy Seitz-Krug of Bakersfield, CA using Cherrywood hand dyed fabrics. The quilting motifs are her design as well.

Look at this quilting by Clem Buzick of Fargo, NC on Hobbs wool batting!

This Hawaiian design is by Jan Hutchinson of Sedgwick, KS.

Me and my shadow was beautifully quilted by Rhonda Beyer of Tualatin, OR.

This miniature whole cloth quilt called Itty Bitty Boutis was quilted by Jan Hutchinson using original quilting motifs.... jaw dropping, tiny quilting!

While viewing the show, I accidentally was introduced to Lisa Sipes who created 

this eye popping embroidered quilt. Not only is it her very first show quilt entry, 

but it is also her first machine embroidery project!

 Lisa commented that each butterfly took 6 hours to create!

Magic in Times Square by Janet Fogg of Milwaukie, OR is like

 a grown up I Spy quilt!

 There is so much to look at in Hide and Seek by Ann Holton of Redwood Valley, CA.

 This beauty by Corliss Allendes of St. George Utah took 400 hours to piece!

 Here's a close up of the detail involved in making the flowers.

I managed to get out of the shopping area without buying any fabric,

but it was sure tempting!

I hope you have enjoyed this taste of the Showcase! If you live anywhere near KC, you won't want to miss this opportunity to see some lovely quilts. 

The show runs through Saturday.