Post 400 AND My 2nd Blog Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that it's been 2 years since I started this blog.   And today coincidentally happens to be the 400th post as well!  I remember making those first rambling posts having absolutely no idea what I was doing.  Little did I know how much it would change me.

It all started because I was planning to submit a book proposal to the American Quilter's Society (it's available!  Folk Art Quilted Traditions) and they suggested you have a web presence.  There were a few blogs I read regularly and I started thinking about why I liked them.  I really enjoyed the ones where the authors were writing about what they'd learned.  So off I started. 

Blog Quilt #1 was Spring Gems.  It's still a favorite of mine.  It's not done well at show, but I love it and sometimes that's all that counts.  I learned a lot about doing double blanket-stitch applique in this quilt and the kinds of threads I like and didn't.

A friend of mine also suggested that I apply to be an ambassador for Island Batik.  That sounded fun and it sure has been!  I've  made new friends and played with their lovely fabrics.  Here are a few of my favorite quilts I've made for them.

I adore blogging.  It's given me creative freedom to try out new things and ideas without having to be perfect for a show quilt.  It's been really freeing and it's something I will continue into the future.

I hope you've enjoyed the retrospective and that you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Clam Flower #6 - Part 2

The piece added in the first picture below is the large curl at the bottom.  It has some great strip to the fabric.  I fussy cut it from a flower that had a dot in the middle and then radiating lines going out.  I love the effect.  I was trying to decide whether to stitch it in light green or dark green. I decided on light green to let those dark green lines stand out.

The back.

 

And the final block!  I love the bit of yellow just below the flowers and the green at the very bottom is one of my favorite clam shell prints from Island Batik.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Free Motion Friday - Finishing Peacock

Today I'm sharing with you the finish of my quilt Peacock.  The large center circle in the middle needed some quilting.  I simply followed the print of the batik.

For the outer edges I chose to do some collage quilting.  I used a crying clamshell, a swirl, and a twirly circle over and over again to create texture.

The top is done!  Time to bind...

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Island Batik Ambassador's June Challenge - Curvalicious Quilts

Curves.  I find piecing them scary.  There.  I admitted it.  When Island Batik asked the Ambassadors to do a curved quilt project this month my first though was...can't I just applique them?  But, I decided to follow the rules and do some curved piecing.  It's not that I've never done any before, it's that it hasn't always worked out well.

Here's what I came up with.

I started by smiling really big at my mother and asking her if she'd get the Drunkard's Path Accuquilt set for her Go cutter.  She said sure (thanks mom!).  Off she went to the store and picked it up for me.  I love how many Just Sew Studio in Woodbury, MN carries!

Then we got busy cutting pieces.  I used two lovely prints from the Island Batik's Dazzle collection.  I adore this circular print with all the different colors.  Before becoming and Ambassador I would never have bought a print this busy.  But now, I see the fun you can have with them and buy them all the time.  Who knew?

I decided to add a few squares with triangles in the corners just to add a bit of variety and then I had a blast quilting with threads from Aurifil!

I chose to quilt the dark purple batik in a more medium purple color so you could see  all the feathers.  I like the result.  The fabric still shines, but so do the feathers.  The busy print was quilted with large scale pebbles.  It already had circles so it made sense and it was so busy no patterns were going to show.

And the final quilt!  it is 2 feet square and will make a great table topper (but not at my house....6 and 8 year old boys and table toppers don't mix....).

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Clam Flower #6 - Part 1

I had a blast speaking at the Lakeshore Quilters in Shoreview, MN last night!  What a fun group.  Here's the start of Clam Flower #6.  The orange pieces have a star shape in them.

If you look closely at the flowers below you an see that the purple teardrops have a much smaller stitch size than the orange flowers underneath.  Small pieces make for small stitching.  Unless the fabric is very plain and then I might use a larger stitch size.

Layer two.  Isn't the purple tulip shape fabric fun?  I wanted the purpleness of it to stand out so I outlined it in purple thread instead or orange.

And the back.

For those of you who would like to follow my blog via Facebook be sure to join my Machine Applique Adventures Facebook group.  I post links to my blog and other fun quilt related things.  And people share their applique projects.

I hope you get to quilt today!  
Suzy

Bag Inspriation

Here are two pictures I've taken recently.  The first is a bag.  I love the different half circle pattern on them.  It would be a great border!

This is a decorate lamp I saw in the window at Wall Drug in South Dakota while on vacation.

 I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Clam Flower #5 - Part 2

So you thought this flower was all blue...not quite!  The last piece is a gorgeous orange and blue print.  Below you can see I added some more pieces to the flower and the central leaf on the bottom which echoes the outer leaves.

The back.

And the final block.  I LOVE this print!  I started picking fabrics for this flower with the blue and orange print and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I chose to outline the orange piece with orange thread.  I could've used blue and it would have a very different effect.

The back.

 

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy