Thursday, December 18, 2014

Angels We Have Heard On High



I hope you enjoy this beautiful performance as much as I did! 
Merry Christmas everyone!



Splendor in the Scraps

I am excited to finally be able to reveal one of my very favorite quilts! Splendor in the Scraps! It is featured in McCalls America Loves Scrap Quilts, due out December 23. I'm giving you a heads up so you can keep an eye out for it. Here is the cover:


Look for this magazine where you normally pick up your magazines, or you can follow this LINK if you want to order online. This is a news stand issue, so it won't come with your subscription.
This is a quilt I kept coming back to because as it grew I loved it more and more and every time I worked on it I wanted it to be bigger. Finally McCall's asked if I would please finish it so they could publish it, so it got finished at 76.5" x 84.5". With a design like this you can make it as big or as little as you choose. If you are a scrapper like I am, you love working with as many fabrics as you can. There is just something about all your fabrics playing together that gives such a great look. To further enhance the beauty of the scraps I used one tan fabric with scrappy corners for the square in a square block that is consistent throughout the quilt. I also used the same light fabric for the corners of the colored square in a square block. For me, this brings a calming influence.


Thanks so much to the folks at McCall's Quilting for publishing another of my quilts. They always do such a great job! 


Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Photo Flood

Since this is such a busy time of year I am going to flood you with photos rather than lots of chatter. These are the little wool ornaments that I made for my grandchildren this year. Little penguins. If you read my post from a few weeks ago you will notice that they go with the penguin gift theme. I am pleased to say that my grandkids look forward to their ornaments each year and love looking back through their collections from over the years. That is what makes it worth it to me!


Below is a photo from Thanksgiving of me with three of the little darlings. August and Katie on top and Grey on the bottom getting a little tickle of encouragement to smile.

 And the tree! We all love our own tree, filled with love and memories from years gone by and usually something new as well. My Williamsburg Medallion Quilt is the backdrop.
 I found the perfect spot for my little red hexagon table topper. My little rocking horses and reindeer are playing merry-go-round on the pedestal plate. That is my Wintergreen pattern in the background--still available on my website!

 If you have been reading my blog for a long while you may remember this little cute tree quilt. I designed the pattern and have the instructions for FREE on my website. This version is smaller than the directions specify. I made so many of these for gifts! And so did many of you! If this design is new to you be sure and see the gallery.

Lastly, I want to share my Tone it Down quilt from last winter's American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. If you are on Instagram, go to #apqquiltalong and you can see lots of variations, including the original by Lissa Alexander, commonly know as the very talented ModaLissa. Right-she designs for Moda Fabrics!  Anyway, I love mine! The pattern is actually called Burgoyne Surrounded, a very old pattern after a Revolutionary War general. Lissa updated the pattern in a beautiful way! (I know--if you follow all these links you will be here all night!)





 I hope you are enjoying this wonderful season of hope and love!