Tomatoes Inspiration

I was at the grocery store the other day when I came upon the heirloom tomatoes.  I love all the colors and shapes and sizes!

And here are two photos I took in Houston.  I love the designs on the side of this trailer.

I also think this railing is fabulous!

I hope you get to quilt today!

Suzy

Black and White Flower #10

It's been a while since I posted about my black and white flower series.  I had a ton of fun making these blocks!  Here is the process for number 10.

Here is the first layer of pieces.  I had a lot of fun fussy cutting the black and white prints.

And here's the blanket stitching on the back.

Layer two.  I like that the stitching on the darker orange pieces is slightly darker.

The back of layer two.

Layer three.  More fun with fuzzy cutting.

The back of layer three.

The final block.

The back of the final block.

So much fun!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Free Motion Friday - Echoed Tears

I usually try to stay a few weeks ahead on my blog.  At least the stitching and pictures are done if the post itself isn't written.  Not so much today!  It's 7:42 on Thursday evening and I just did the stitching.  I am calling this design Echoed Tears because that's what it reminds me of.

You can find the directions for this design here.

Start by stitching in the ditch around your block.  Then make a single tear drop 1 1/2 - 2 inches in length.

Make a tiny teardrop at the base of the larger one.  Then echo that tiny teardrop back and forth all the way to the top.

When you're done echoing it should look like this.  Backtrack along the side back to the base of the teardrop.

Echo the outside of the tear drop twice about 1/4" or so away from the original.  If you echo it three times you will end up on the other side if that makes stitching your next teardrop easier.

Sometimes you simply don't have enough space.  Here you can see a 1/2 teardrop next to the edge of the block.  I followed the same process as a full teardrop, I simply did 1/2 the shape.

Keep adding teardrops starting between two existing ones.  You can see to the left and behind the needle that there isn't a whole lot of space left.  You can simply do a partial teardrop with the space you have or you can make a smaller teardrop.

Here you can see that I chose to make a much smaller teardrop to fill the space.

Sometimes you'll end up with a little extra space between tear drops.  If you look to the left and slightly behind the needle you can see that I added a few extra echo lines to fill the space.

And once the whole rectangle is full it's a very flowy design.  I like it and I know I'll use it!

I've been posting pictures I took at International Quilt Festival Houston in my Machine Applique Adventures Facebook group!  Come check it out.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Island Batik Winter Wonderland Post #1 - Blue Bargello

I have definitely been in the mood to create Winter Wonderland quilts of late!  I've made three that I'll be posting this month as part of Island Batik Ambassador's Winter Wonderland!

This first project was made from a set of blue Island Batik strips.  I love blue and started thinking about what I could do with a fabulous gradation.  I though about doing a log cabin, but settled on a bargello quilt.  I haven't made a bargello since I was in high school.  Wow.  I've been quilting a long time!

So I started by sewing two strip sets in a gradation.  The first set had 8 gorgeous Island Batiks.

The second set had 6 strips.

I then sewed each set into a tube and cut them to different widths.

Then I cut the second set tube into strips the same width.  The next step was to rip out one seam in the right place to make the bargello work.

Here are the tubes all turned back into strips and ready to sew together.  Using different fabrics on teh top than on the bottom presented a challenge of how to connect them in the middle, but I'm really happy with the results.

Here is the table runner all sewn together before trimming.

And the final runner!  I decided this runner didn't need fancy quilted since it was so busy already.  So I quilted every other band of color in a simple up and down wiggle as shown in the photo below.

Here's the back!

Island Batik Ambassadors are all doing Winter Wonderland projects this month.  If you look at the Island Batik Ambassador Blog Roll on the side of my blog you can check them all out!

I hope you get to quilt today!

Suzy

Inspired by Houston!

WOW.  That's all I have to say.  International Quilt Festival Houston is the largest quilt show in the country and each year I go thinking the quilts can't get any better and each year I am wrong!  The quilts were absolutely stunning as always.  I also got to meet some online friends in person for the first time.  BUT, the best moment was when we realized that we'd won first place for Midnight Dreams in the group quilt category.  We currently live in 3 different states and were all there for awards as we promised each other we would be when we started this quilt!

We started this quilt five years ago.  Three of us, my mom, my friend Janell, and I worked on the design, applique, and piecing.  Then the fabulous Lorilynn King quilted the quilt to it's amazing gorgeousness.

We knew we'd won something as they told us that in September.  We were sitting there patiently waiting for our category (it was second to last!).  They announced third place.  We all looked at each other.  They announced second place.  At this point we realized we'd won and started getting really jumpy.  I couldn't have told you what the second place quilt looked like as we were too busy being excited!  Then they called our name and that moment we'd been waiting for was realized!  What an adventure it was.

Here are a few stunning quilts I loved.  Be sure to join my Machine Applique Adventures Facebook group to see more of my pictures from Houston over the next few weeks!

The amazing talent of Janet Stone!

And last, but not least, a modern quilt I REALLY like!

I love going to Houston.  I can't wait until next year!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Houston Day 3

A blast as always.  I had an amazing class with Sarah Ann Smith.  We spent the evening seeing with our amazing bags my friend Lori made.

Here us my stenciled piece I made in class.  I can't wait to finish it and share with you all.

Here are some of Sarah's amazing quilts.

And last but bit least four views of the convention center whi check explain why I have been going to Houston for 8 years!

I hope you get to quilt today!

Suzy

Houston Day 2

Today I had a second day of class with Phillipa Naylor.  What fun.

I was talking to a lovely lady behind me in class named Gilda.  She had my book and had just bought background fabric for the quilt.  The first lady I've run into who was already thinking about my book!  We were equally excited to meet each other.

I also stood in front of my quilt Kaboom and talked to people which was also a blast.

I also really like the design on this quilt shop trailer.

More fun and a new class tomorrow.  

I hope you get to quilt today!

Suzy