Day Off = 2 Quilts

Took the day off yesterday--no orders to fill, no quilting for hire, no starting the car, nobody home but me.  With that kind of time--I made 2 new RoseCard models, start to finish--cutting to binding.  They are that easy.

First, a little INTRIGUE with Amy Butler's Cameo.  Love all of her new patterns and color.  It is more than a bit busy, but I like busy.  And I admit, that if I had not wanted to stay true to the pattern to make it a good model, I would have added some white solid lattice. Kits are ready.

Quilt 2 is Tula Pink's The Birds & the Bees in GOLD MEDAL.  There are so many luscious colorways in this collection, it was almost hard to choose.  I went for one that worked with the pattern and allowed me to use 6 different prints for the Fat Quarter strips.  And I thought the optical stripes would make great squares--and it did.  The Lazy Stripes design is solid enough to make a good contrast punch, but it cut up interestingly enough to give a little different taste in each square.
The kit is listed on our website now.
In piecing, I placed the fabrics in the same order as the cover quilt, so I did not have to lay it all out and pick it up.  It was like doing a code puzzle.

Even though it is not gold, I just might have to sub this model on the next printing.

CLOUD NINE Carthage

On our last little detour to Texas, on the way home from Minnesota, I was able to stop at Block by Block in Carthage MO.  We followed Amy's instructions on her highway billboards--"Scream till your husband stops the car!".  Amy has been a fan since my first season, especially with OPENING NIGHT, which she called her 4 hour $40 quilt.  I got to meet some of her sewers getting things done in the cool classroom.  And see more of the RoseCards made up...always a thrill for me. 

I loved this cheery CLOUD NINE. 

LILLIAN Batik

LILLIAN is a must-do in batiks.  In fact, I must re-do the cover in batiks.  I knew my cover quilt, much as I love it, would be too busy to show off LILLIAN's style.  But I was in a hurry to publish, and knew I would replace the cover quilt--someday, if not sooner. 

Idena's quilt top here shows LILLIAN at her best in Hoffman's Bali Pops.

EUREKA Coccon

Valori Wells' Cocoon--had to do something with it quick--it is just too wonderful.  This colorway has enough contrast in the six pieces to work in EUREKA.  So we have a fast little quilt with a cute little kit.

Going to link this one to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday.

Preview 50

Twelve Fat Quarters and Four Patches--two favorite things combined.  Add 1 yard of Contrast and you have an nice and easy throw quilt 54"x 72".

I used Joel Dewberry's Heirloom/Ruby.  It is wonderful in batiks, next on the to-do list.

Preview 49

When you really, really can't cut it.  As with those fabulous prints, like Laura Gunn's here for Michael Miller.  There is so little math involved, you don't waste any of your precious fabric.

Take 2 yards and only slice it once.  Insert a row of 6 simple blocks and you have a quilt top.  Additional yardage is 3/4 each of the Frame, Centers/Binding, and Background.  The Background can be light, so the blocks stand out in the row.  Or it can be a color to blend with the Theme fabric, or even the Theme itself, so the blocks float.

The quilt top finishes 54"x 69", and with only 6 blocks, it finishes fast. 

Preview 48

SEASHELL started as a way to float 5" Charm Squares in a background.  To accomplish that I thought setting the squares at the end of a 5"x 9 1/2" slice would do the trick.  I didn't want the same background with all of those seams, so I chose to make it with 2 different, but similar, background fabrics.  A strong contrast in the backgrounds would create a stripe effect, which, in the right combination of fabrics might work.

The cover model was made with Salt Air squares by Cosmo Cricket for Moda, with two creamy batiks for backgrounds.  The SEASHELL rose name was perfect for it.

Then I am thinking, that this pattern is really a Bricks and Blocks.  Usually that pattern is done in 2 1/2" or 3 1/2" wide Bricks, but why not our big 5"?  We love to show off our pretty, larger prints.  A little pack of 10 Fat Sixths--our Sheet Cakes (12"x 22")--will cut perfectly into 40  5"x10" pieces.  A single light background will work for the squares, though I used a Tonga Creamsicle pack.  A favorite quilt was born from Amy Butler's Lark...