Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013 - A Year in Review

I'd say 2013 was a great year overall and looking back at 2013 from a quilting perspective, I'd say it was pretty awesome.

I ended up finishing up 14 quilts.

I also made another dozen smaller (or not so small sine there was a Weekender thrown in there) projects.

This year I was fortunate to attend QuiltCon.

I also had quilts featured in Fat Quarterly, McCall's Quilting and American Quilter!

Overall, I'd say it was a great year and I can't wait to see what 2014 holds in store. Here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year!!!

Friday, December 20, 2013

Simply Solids Bee Block

Earlier this week I showed the quilt top I made from the blocks I received in the Simply Solid's Bee (on Flickr). I was a bit late on this November block, but last weekend I made this fun and easy block.


The pattern called for sewing the blocks together in tubes and ripping out a seam in different ways. I wasn't crazy about the planned-looking pattern that occurred after I did that, so I ripped a couple of blocks out and rearranged them. There's still a little bit of a planned look to the block, but I think it looks much better and a little less random. 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Simply Solid Quilt

What seems like ages ago, it was my month in the Simply Solids Bee (on Flickr) earlier this spring. I asked my fellow bee members to make improv blocks using mostly whites and creams with a few hints of a specific fusha, lime and navy fabric.

I made this test block to show everyone what I was thinking.

Blocks started to pour in and I was faced with turning all of these blocks into a cohesive quilt. For a while I wasn't sure where to start. Some of the blocks had teeny tiny pieces while others had larger pieces of negative space. After a while, the blocks sat in a pile... out of sight, out of mind.

But last weekend I finally had some time to sew for the first time in months. One of my first orders of business was to finally tackle this quilt. After hearing Victoria Findlay Wolfe talk about taking some bee blocks she received and cutting them up to use in quilts, I thought about dissecting some of these blocks with tiny pieces and inserting those pieces into some of the blocks with more negative space.

The result, I have to say, is pretty awesome! I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I quickly went online to order a backing print that I had in mind and have been thinking of how I want to quilt this one up. I have a few ideas, but until my longarm is fixed, I'm stuck contemplating the best way of quilting it.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Giveaway Winner

I hope everyone had fun this week with the Sew Mama Sew giveaways! It's always fun reading what everyone writes. Many of you seemed to like the Swoon quilt pattern the best. I have to agree with many of you, it's a great pattern!

I used the Random Number generator to pick a winner for the giveaway and it selected:

My favorite pattern is the Swedish Bloom block. Thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDelete

Congratulations Katie! Look for an email from me and I'll get your gift out to you ASAP. 

And because I can't have a post without a picture, I thought I'd post a picture of a penguin pillow I made last year. The pattern for the block is available for free in my Craftsy shop if you want to make a great last minute Christmas present. 

Monday, December 9, 2013

Giveaway Day

Welcome to my blog! For those of your just stopping by, here are a few quilts I made this year. 

For Sew Mama Sew's giveaway day, I'm offering a few things up to a lucky winner!

First up is an Amy Butler Weekender pattern. When we were doing the Weekender sew-along, I accidentally bought a pattern when I already had one. You could benefit from my oops! 

Second, the winner will receive a PDF of one of my quilt patterns of their choosing. 
Finally, the winner will also receive a copy of McCall's quilting, where my Framed Up quilt is featured. 

  

And I'll also throw in a few surprise items for the winner, like some thread or zippers, or maybe even some fabric!

You have four (4) chances to win. I will announce the winner on Friday, December 13th. International entrants are welcome. If you're a no-reply blogger, please leave your email address so that I have a way of reaching you. 

1. Leave a comment on this blog telling me what your favorite quilt pattern is. (one entry).


2. Follow my blog (via Bloglovin, Google Friend Connect, email, RSS, etc.) and let me know in a comment. If you're already a follower, leave me a comment letting me know (one entry).


3. Follow me on Instagram (@aquiltingjewel) and leave me a comment letting me know. If you already follow me on Instagram, leave a comment letting me know (one entry). 


4. Like me on Facebook and leave me a comment letting me know. If you have already liked me on Facebook, let me know in a comment (one entry).




American Quilter - Dream Diamonds

I'm excited to share a quilt with you that I finished earlier this year and is currently featured in the latest issue of American Quilter Magazine.

I designed this paper pieced quilt last year and finished piecing the top earlier this year.


This quilt was also quilted by the talented Angela Walters. She did an amazing job with the quilting.


If you're new to paper piecing, this is a very simple pattern to try. The 12" blocks are made of up four sections, each with only five pieces each. You also don't need to line up any points when assembling each block, although you do need to line up a few when sewing multiple blocks together.


I try and challenge myself at times, trying to go out of my comfort zone when it comes to colors at times. While I love purple and blue, orange is my least favorite color, so this quilt was a personal challenge to use more orange.


I took these pictures at my parent's house, right as they were moving out and into their new home, so this magazine and these photos will always be a reminder of the eight years they spent there.