I have some really fun and exciting news to share today...

This quilt is featured in the Sept/Oct 2015 issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited!

That noise you hear, don't mind it - that is just me squealing in delight. Here's the scoop - the vintage Curved Nine Patch quilt top was purchased on eBay, and I quilted it with my HQ Pro-Stitcher for the Vintage Turned Modern column. 

Pick up a magazine for more details. 

Consider yourself warned - picture galore ahead.

Marcelle Medallion Cotton + Steel Quilt Top

In my desperate and most likely futile attempt to clean up and lean out my quilt room, I have been trying to finish up old projects. This of course is in lieu of starting new projects. And buying more fabric. Keep me in your prayers folks. 

So far, plan is going well. I busted out my Marcelle Medallion quilt. I started it a year or so ago and stopped with only the center block and the triangle border done:

I worked on this one every night during a week and was able to finish it up by the end of Sunday...with a bit of light left to spare to sneak in a few less-than-perfect pictures. It kept growing...

and growing...

Until it was all grown up - poor evening lighting photos...

This quilt may very well the be the beginning of a beautiful obsession with medallion quilts. 

Some Good Info
Pattern: Marcelle Medallion from Alexia Marcelle Abegg's Liberty Love book
Fabrics: Mostly Cotton and Steel prints with a large variety of low-volume prints from my stash

Footnote: Medallion quilts are not ideal for the indecisive Libra quilters like myself - too many options. I'm fairly certain I spent more time picking out and choosing fabrics than actual sewing and pressing time.

Mother's Day 2015 Mini

I made this little mini quilt for my mom - a mother's day gift. I know everyone is legally required to say their mom is the best, but for reelz...my mom really is the best! I am one lucky gal to call her my mom and friend.

All of these half square triangles are left over pieces from my Swoon quilt (top done, not quilted, not blogged about yet). Fabrics are from Anna Maria Horner, Moda Linens, Alison Glass, and some random tan colored fabric. I'm pretty sure I squared them up to 2.5 inches, which would make this little guy 16" square.

You know I love you when I bust out my old Alison Glass prints...

A few in progress shots....I used a Sulky Blendable thread.

My Brother 1500s made quick and easy work of the straight line quilting. Seriously l.o.v.e. that machine.

Last look at the finished mini...

Hug your mom!

Packers T-Shirt Quilt

Holy cow ladies and gents...T-shirt quilts are the bomb to make! I loved every second of the process. I can't wait to make more! Plus, I think it turned out pretty rad, so that makes it even better.

Here's where I began (apologies for the blurry photo) - a big stack of T-shirts and other various Green Bay Packers' paraphernalia. 

One of the first questions I get asked is where I got all the T-shirts. Let me answer that now. Some were from the quilt recipient, but the vast majority are from a friend's mom and mother-in-law who live in Wisconsin. These two kind ladies went to second-hand stores and purchased used shirts and jerseys for me to use. Could not have done this without them!

Here's a picture of the quilt almost done...

And the top done...

Quilted and bound...

A bit of a closeup...

And the back...shows the quilting quite well. I quilted a bunch of chevron lines on my HQ Pro-Stitcher at various widths apart in chunks. I thought it fit the sporty feel and was not girly in any way.

Here's my very happy nephew...one could safely say he's a Packers fan. (This was a gift for his high school graduation.)

Seriously...I had a blast making this. I have bins of my kids old clothing and I can't wait to dig in and make some memory quilts.

Stitch on!

I Spelled it with Cotton & Steel.....or The Continuing Saga of the Quilting Rebel

First, I didn't Tone it Down, now I'm not spelling it with Moda. This quilting rebel thing is really sticking as of late.

The pattern is called Spell it with Moda - it is a pattern that was originally part of a blog hop leading up to Schoolhouse at Market a couple of years ago. You can find a free pattern of each letter on a variety of Moda designers blogs, but I just went ahead and bought the printed pattern from Fat Quarter Shop.

My 4-year-old daughter is learning the alphabet, so I figured now was as good as any time to make an ABC quilt. I busted out my bin of Cotton and Steel fabrics and went to town.

Above is a close-up of the quilting. This is a digital pattern called Retro Tile #2 from the talented Karlee Porter (check her out at www.karleeporter.com - she's amazing). This quilted out quickly and perfectly on my Handi Quilter Fusion Pro-Stitcher.

I know this isn't a big deal to most quilters, but this quilt is bound! I have a bit of binding backup going on - I have 17 quilts that have been quilted and are just awaiting binding sitting around my house. Even bigger confession - I just go ahead and use some of them without binding. I know, I know. Sad state of affairs. Luckily for me, my mom was in town and did the binding for me! Moms are the best. Of course, at the current rate, if left alone this might have been finished by the time my daughter hit college, let along Kindergarten.

I just love Cotton and Steel's selvages...don't you? I leave them in whenever I can - quilt tops and backings.

Here is the quilt in my daughter's room. I just finished painting her walls in the last couple of months - now on to decorating her walls.

My Pink Patchwork Whale Quilt

I finished up My Pink Patchwork Whale Quilt just in time for its forever home delivery. One of my besties is expecting a little girl early next month and we had her shower on Saturday. I wanted to make a quilt they could either hang on a wall or use as she got bigger.

The pattern is an adaptation from Imagine Quilts by Dana Bolyard from Old Red Barn Co. I made mine a bit smaller and added sashing strips. Oh, and I made mine pink ;)

I wanted to try something fun for the binding and this mustard yellow was just the trick to really make this quilt pop. 

I quilted this one with my Handi Quilter Pro Stitcher. The digital pattern is called Harbour (sic) Wave by Patricia Ritter. Seriously love this quilting pattern. I've used it several times now and it looks fabulous on everything without taking away from the piecing. 

I love a good pieced backing.

Sweet Stitching!

My Not-So-Toned-Down Quilt

It seems I'm always at least a year late to every great party! This quilt pattern is called Tone It Down and is found in the February 2014 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting and was also featured as the 2014 APQalong. When the pattern/magazine came out, I was enamored with the Perfect Union quilt a few pages away (click here). The Tone It Down quilt seemed like a lot of work, so it just never hit my let's do it pile.

It wasn't until I got some bundles of Cotton and Steel's new lines and began contemplating what I would do with them when I decided to tackle this pattern. I just had to make this completely scrappy - which I absolutely love but boy was it a lot of work! I never wanted to strip more in my entire life.

Now contemplating quilting.

x plus + anna maria horner + cotton and steel

My first finish of 2015 (hopefully one of many)! The pattern for this quilt is called Perfect Union by Pat Bravo from American Patchwork and Quilting February 2014 (click here for more info).

  How cute are those quilt buddy feet and fingers?!

I used a fat quarter bundle of Anna Maria Horner's Dowry line and peppered in a variety of solids from my stash. 

The back is a linen Cotton and Steel print - perfection! It calmed down the busy front, yet the arrows have all the colors spotted throughout.

Finished this one off with a "quilted label." I'm terrible at making labels, so I figured this was better than nothing!

I love this shot before washing - it shows off the quilting nicely. This was a digital pattern called Harbour Wave (found here) by Patricia Ritter/Urban Elementz. I let my Handi Quilter Fusion ProStitcher do the work....and I think it turned out beautifully.

Happy Stitching!