Parade of Pretties Part One

The weather in Oregon is frightful, so I thought it would be a great time to host a parade of pretties... quilts, that is. These are all in my new book Fantastic Stash Quilts! The book has eight projects, each made two ways -- a scrappy and a controlled version. 

First up is Betsy's Quilt. Truly, this quilt named itself.  My friend Betsy tested this pattern for me before it was even written because she loved the design so much. She had a chart with cutting instructions, some very general sewing instructions, and off she went. Betsy's longarmer loved the quilt so much she posted it on her website with the title, "Betsy's quilt."  Unfortunately for me, the longarmer is local and I had planned to use this pattern as a mystery quilt for my local guild. I ended up waiting nearly three years to use this as the mystery class in case anyone had seen it online!

Here's a link to the original sighting at Murdock Manor:  http://murdockmanor.blogspot.ca/2013/08/betsys-quilt.html

When I made this quilt, I loved it for its simplicity. I didn't think any changes could make me love it more. Boy, was I wrong! The scrappy version is now my favorite. 

  

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The second quilt in the book is Spinning Triangles. I had tons of leftover fabrics from Betsy's Quilt and a couple of other projects and this quilt pattern was born. I originally designed it in buttercream yellow and a snow background. I even made that quilt. Unfortunately, when the longarmer did exactly what I asked, I didn't think the triangles would photograph well. The curves distracted me. So, I called my editor and asked if I could have a couple of days to make a new quilt and get it quilted and shipped off. Thankfully, she said yes and the new quilt even made the cover! 

This alternate colorway uses just two prints. Lucky for me that it did because I made the quilt in a day and a half, sent it to the longarmer and she turned it around immediately for me. I am very blessed to have such good friends. I had it shipped off to C&T in four days from start to finish!

Here's a picture of part of the yellow quilt. The colors show as much more vibrant than they really are. You can see what I mean about the curves. 

I've had students make this quilt in all blues, lots of scraps, and 30s reproduction fabrics. They were all fantastic!

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Quilt #3 in the book is Chain and Bar. This quilt was inspired by a presentation on Pendleton Woolen Mills given by Susan Beal to the Westside Modern Quilt Club. My mother worked at one of their factories as a seamstress when I was young and I've always appreciated their saturated colors and quality products. 

 

The alternate colorway shows what happens when you color your quilts with a diagonal design in mind. My birthday is Christmas Day, so it was a good enough excuse for me to make another holiday inspired quilt!

  

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The fourth, and final, quilt for today is Confetti. This is one of my all-time favorite quilts and sews up surprisingly quickly... at least that's how it feels after hours (okay, maybe days) of cutting! 

This quilt was designed after moving my sewing room and discovering I had all these 30's prints... I woke up with a new design in my head the next morning. I've seen this made in red, orange and purple batiks and it was fabulous. I've also seen it made in Halloween prints and just love it.

The blue version of this quilt was one of my personal challenges. If one print is good, 40 is better, but in this case I limited myself to six blue fabrics. A friend made this quilt in only six prints one time, so I knew it could be done and look good. 

I love this quilt so much that I decided to make a modern version and supersize the quilt. What's not to love about a grey quilt with turquoise and apple green pops of color? The quilt is so heavy (it's 96" square) that I left it folded and put it on the carpet to photograph one quarter! I was really working on using scraps last year and this is a perfect example. I didn't have enough of either the green or turquoise to make the quilt, so I used a combo strategy. Cornerstones and binding in one color, cobblestones and stars in another. Works great!

  

Stay tuned, we'll have another parade tomorrow. If you want to add this book to your Christmas list, just show your loved one this blog post and the Shop Here tab... we'll get a wiggle on it! Of course, you could just buy one for yourself.