Gypsy Caravan on the Yellow Brick Road

Have you ever made the Yellow Brick Road pattern by Terry Atkinson? I have, several times, actually. It is a fun quilt to make.  The trick is picking the right fabric combination....enough lights, mediums and darks to keep your eye moving around the quilt.  After making several versions, I've found that a key to success with this quilt is to make sure that you include some darks in the mix.  Since you don't know just exactly how the quilt will look until the very end, after you've cut up fat quarters into strips and sewn them together willy nilly, it's sort of a gamble!
 By far, my favorite rendition of this popular pattern is this one that I made five years ago using the, now extinct, Gypsy Caravan line of fabrics by the fabulous Amy Butler. Gypsy Caravan is probably my favorite line that she has designed.

My local quilt shop had just gotten the line in their store on the day that I walked in to choose fabrics for a wedding quilt for my daughter, Megan and her soon- to- be hubby, Reid.
I fell hook, line and sinker for these vintage modern fabrics!

I'm usually not into purple, but that shade is the clincher in this particular fabric combination.  Without it, everything would just blend together. 

This is one of those quilts that you can just stare at all day and never get tired of admiring the beautiful fabrics!  Unless, of course, you aren't a big fan of Amy Butler like I am, you can't get enough!

I asked my friend, Sherri Dolly, to quilt the wedding quilt with swirls and feathers using a variegated thread.  The curvy lines add lots of depth to the rectangle piecing. Sherri's quilting is so fabulous!

I pieced the back using A B fabric as well.  I worried that there might be a little too much pink in the back and border, but loved the fabrics so much that I went for it anyway. (My son-in-law can handle it; he's masculine enough, I decided!)

I've made this pattern using mostly Kaffe fabrics too. That's a quilt for another day, along with a Yellow Brick Road baby quilt using 30's fabric. Do I seem addicted there for awhile, maybe? Be careful if you decide to give this pattern a whirl....you might be making more than one before it's all over!

Shopping in the Mountains

Right on the edge of Estes Park, in a non-descript strip mall, stands a wonderful shop.  

Cottage Bliss is a darling store selling top of the line fabrics along with lovely things for your home, music, inspirational gifts, quilts and more.  It's a small shop, but if you plan a visit, be sure to allow plenty of time to browse.  And, if you must bring along a certain family member who is NOT interested in shopping............well, there's a place for him/her as well.....right outside the door!

He/she can enjoy the mountain air outside while you breath in the aroma of fabric inside! 

Cottage Bliss has a good selection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Some of them came home with me!  I found some fun charm packs too! If you are making a trip to Estes Park, be sure to hike on over to this quilt shop and the two others in town.  You won't be sorry!

(I'm not making this stuff up!)

Road Trip!

It gives me a headache, sometimes, trying to figure out how much fabric I need for a quilt, or how many strips I need to cut, or how many squares I can cut out of those strips!  Perhaps this fabric I found on a recent road trip will help with my math skills.  It couldn't hurt....and isn't it cute!
But here's the real prize....................................

an old wire basket I found at an antique store in St. Joseph, Missouri.  It is filled with the fabric for a new project.  I decided to take a little drive to Stewartsville, just down the road a piece from St. Jo.  I'd heard and read about Country Expressions, the quilt shop owned by the mom of designer, Tula Pink.  What a treat that shop turned out to be. I'll be wanting to return again and again. No wonder it was one of Quilt Sampler magazine's top 10 shops in 2008! Displayed around the shop are many lovely quilts including, not a few, by Tula.  One, draped on a bed as I entered, caught my eye. Tula, herself, happened to be working that day, so I asked a few questions about the Cartwheel Quilt....(like, is it appliqued?). "No", she said. Okay then! I've been admiring several wheel quilts around the Internet, so decided to go for it! I was determined to get all the fabrics for the wheels from Tula's store before I left. After making my choices, I motioned her over for approval. Whew!  She said she liked them! After cutting the fabric for me and telling me to look for her new line coming out in October, Tula went back to her regularly scheduled program of making fabulous stuff!

I'm Singing!

One of my favorite online stores for fabric is QuiltHome.com. They have great prices and fast service. I've never been shorted even a smidge of fabric; in fact, the cuts are always generous.
The fabric selection is lovely and bountiful. A newsletter comes to my virtual mailbox every week or so featuring a designer and fabric selection at a special price, usually a certain percentage off. My fabric appetite is always whetted by the many material selections tantalizingly  displayed. To top it off, they have "give aways" with every newsletter:  a $20 shopping prize for the Blog Link of the Week as well as a $50 shopping spree for one lucky winner who has logged in during the week.

Recently, Lollyquiltz was chosen as the Blog Link of the Week.  I was so excited, as it is the first time I'd ever won anything in the virtual world (and not because I haven't tried!). Not only did I get to pick $20 worth of fabric for free, but I enjoyed lots of new visitors to my blog after the winner posting!

Because I know you are about to faint with anticipation at this point, I will put you out of your misery and show you what I decide to spend my prize money on.  Are you ready?  Here it is!....

Good Folks by Anna Maria Horner




This Designer Sampler contains eighth yard cuts of every fabric in the line. The packaging is so cute that I can't bring myself to take it apart yet, so just keep thumbing through the fabrics dreaming about a project.


Even though I had to spend a little more than my alloted prize, it is so worth it!






I feel a little like Kermit singing about Miss Piggy!

Bargain Hunting

I sure love a bargain, don't you!  Yesterday, I stopped at a little fabric and craft shop in a near by small town. The store had a small inventory, but all of the fabric was marked $4.99 a yard. 
Look what I found among the bolts................

Chocolate Lollipop by Anna Maria Horner


Olive Rose by Valori Wells


and three lovelies by Martha Negley




So, I treated myself to a half yard of each and left feeling like I had found such a bargain!


(I'd have found more, I'm sure, but my hubby was with me!!)


Have a lovely weekend and happy bargain hunting!

A Summer Scarf

Sometimes, when I'm sitting in church or a restaurant and there's an air conditioning vent placed so that it blows right on me, I'm miserable. I just need a little sumpin,sumpin to ward off the draft.  And of course, I want to look chic doing it! Do you feel the same way? You do?
Okay, then. Here's one lovely way to cover your neck and look so very lovely at the same time..............

First, buy yourself a half yard of a beautiful, soft, cotton fabric.  I used Anna Maria Horner's popular Little Folks voile in both Coloring Garden and Little Honey patterns. I'd only seen this fabric on-line as no quilt shops near me seem to carry it. Oh, my!  I am in love with the feel of this summery material. 

I love it so much that I just "had" to order more for a quilt as well.  I'm on the hunt for the perfect pattern, but until then I plan to keep it close so that I can just run my hands over the smooth texture whenever I walk by! (Excuse me, I'll be right back....)


Okay, now back to the scarf..... 




While shopping one day I notice a lovely ruffled scarf worn by a young woman at the quilt shop I was visiting. The clerk asked if she had made it and she replied that indeed she had. I eavesdropped  stepped closer so that I over heard her to say that she used elastic thread to create the ruffle and oh, how easy it was. Then, a few days later, Jennifer (aka That girl...that quilt) showed how she'd used elastic thread to create a darling pillowcase dress for her daughter. 
What's a girl to do?  I gotta try this elastic thread thing.  Here are the instructions that I used to create my ruffly scarf. Dana said that it would take 30 minutes to make.  I didn't time myself, but I will just confirm that it is fast and easy!

I made two, and will let my daughter choose one for herself.  One addition I would make to the directions is to maybe wash and rinse your scarf with a little dab of fabric softener to give it a bit more of a relaxed look. 

   I think I'll go pet my Little Folks voiles. Can't wait to use them in a quilt!! Have you sewn with them yet?

Celebrating!

What did you do to celebrate National Quilting Day?

As a good citizen of the Quilting Community, I spent part of my day celebrating!  Here is a great picture of all the quilters out there rushing to their LQS to do their part--buy fabric!!  Actually, it is picture of the fabric I bought yesterday, but not from my fav quilt shop. Nope.  It's from Target.  And it's Liberty of London fabric.  Yup. In the form of an XL size pair of boxers!  I got the idea from Mrs. Schmenkman. I have my rotary cutter ready to cut into this cute fabric.  I have my eye on another pair with a pretty  blue and white print, but thought I would try one pair first to see how easy it was to cut up.  There were also some men's shirts and children's dresses with nice prints that would look great in quilts. Thanks, Target.  I'll be back. Maybe.

But adding to the stash can't be really counted as quilting so I spent several hours REALLY celebrating in my basement!! Sometimes, it seems kind of creepy down there, but once I get the lights all on and a quilt loaded onto my Grace quilting frame, I'm in heaven.  My TL98E Juki was purchased on ebay about six years ago and I love her. She isn't fancy but adding Juki and Grace to my quilting family really changed how many quilts I can make.  It took a little over two hours from start to finish to quilt this lap size quilt.  I sewed the binding on and got part of the hand stitching done while I watched KU lose and K State win last night... It was an all around day to celebrate!!

Sewing for Little Girls

Oh my, do I love to sew for little girls!  Look at this darling thing created for my little red-headed grand-daughter, Lula. It only took a few hours to make using this clever pattern from Vanilla House. The pattern contains sizes 1 to 6 and includes a dolly dress to match.  I have two other little sweeties who will need a dress also, I'm thinking!
I got a "fabric fix" using Robert Kauffman Dill Blossom in aqua and coral.  There are no pattern pieces to pin and cut around as all the parts can be cut with your rotary cutter and ruler.  The size 2 used less than a yard each of both fabrics, making it an inexpensive project with a classy boutique look!

Here's Lula trying on the dress over her shirt.....it's a little big, but she will grow into it soon!


Love those socks!

This is the quilt behind the dress in the first picture.  It shouts SPRING! don't you think!  I made this scrap quilt using a tutorial from Red Pepper Quilts.  I adore all the white and how it sets off the fruity colors of the fabrics.  The tutorial is easy to follow and very well done.  You will probably want to make one too when you see how easy it is.