I like to call this dude the Frito Bandito. Or the ai-yi-yi-yi guy.
I used this fabric previously to make a couple of gifts.
He’s back for an encore.
The pattern is the Companion Carpet Bag by Sewing Patterns by Mrs. H ( http://www.mrs-h.com )
The purse frame is sturdy and make the bag look really professional.
Sometimes it seems like a stack of fabric is burning a hole in your fabric collection. Like you just have to use it, and use it now.
I had this bundle of Fibs & Fables fabric by Anna Maria Horner. Dying to use it, I was in between other quilting projects.
I pulled a book off my shelf, Tula Pink’s Quilts from the House of Tula Pink.
I picked the Dream Weaver pattern.
The solid is Essex yarn-dyed linen. This is one of my new favorite “solids” to use in my quilts.
I love the denim-y look of the Essex. In my world, everything goes with denim.
The quilting was done by Lea Ingram here on Kauai. I love the vertical rope-like look in the sashing.
Tippy the panther has claimed his spot at the foot of the bed. No close-ups of the cat hair today.
Quilted and bound – two of the best words in the quilting world!
It takes some courage, or some liquid courage, to cut into a stash of fabrics from Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs.
When I finally committed to the cut, I was all in. And boy was it worth it.
The pattern is Shine from the October 2015 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. It was designed by Jane Davidson of quiltjane.com
This was quilted by Lea Ingram here on Kauai.
I probably should be more careful about folding Mark. But look at that detail in his hair!
I scanned the signature and stitched it out on my Destiny. What a great sewing machine.
The woodgrain in the fence makes you just want to run out and whitewash it!
This amazing quilting was done by Deonn Stott, a true artisan.
Every detail comes alive with her great vision.
The paddlewheel blocks were quilted to look like, well, paddlewheels on a river boat.
I embroidered a different quote on the quilt, one that felt more like “me.”
Dusting off my keyboard, back with some yummy quilts!
This pattern is Fireworks by Thimble Blossoms.
The fabric is from the Acacia collection by Tula Pink.
The solid is Kona cotton Pepper.
The embroidery design is from Urban Threads, my favorite online source for machine embroidery.
The quilt back is Tula Pink wide back Free Fall.
I embroidered my quilt label in a subtle color – quite a change from my usual outspoken color choices!
My new favorite throw was quilted by Lea Ingram here on Kauai.
I am starting to visualize a completed quilt! Can’t you just see this colorful selection, with crisp white sashings?
Let the celebration begin, the Hawaiian quilt is complete and on the bed!
Picture, if you will, my awkward self dancing an Irish jig. Strike that. An awkward hula.
I am truly and utterly excited to debut my Hawaiian quilt.
So if you are new to my party, each quilt block is made in a different batik fabric. The embroidery designs are by Anita Goodesign, from their Hawaiian Quilt collection. Each block is comprised of four identical machine embroidered sections. Each section took about three hours or so to make. I’m tired thinking about it.
A terrific embroidery design by Urban Threads ( urbanthreads.com ) was the basis for my quilt label. I added text to document all the important information about my quilt. Like the fact that it took me forever.
Did I mention that my bed is a king size? I started the blocks and refused to measure my bed to see how many I needed. When I had finished 20 blocks, I laid them on the bed to see how close I might actually be from a quilt. That was when I decided to use plain white borders. But the borders had to be special, to be quilted so they would match the pizzaz of the quilt itself.
This is when you call in the big guns. Natalia Bonner, author and quilter extraordinaire, did a great job on this quilt. I said I like bubbles, and feathers, and lines…oh my! Check out more of Natalia’s amazing work on her blog Piece N Quilt ( pieceandquilt.com )
One dilemma of a king size quilt is how to wrangle it to sew on the binding. Let’s just say that it took a long time and some arm strength to get the binding on this puppy. I draped it across my cutting table AND a sofa, repositioning it after every few feet.
It was a trial by fire for my new machine, a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2. I chose it mainly for the built-in walking foot. Are you ready, foot? Start walking! (Short break while I dance the pony and sing “These boots are made for walkin!”)
I’m elbow deep into another embroidered quilt, this one for Christmas. Hey, it’s only November 2nd…
My new Pfaff and I won the battle, the Hawaiian quilt is bound and ready! Come back tomorrow for all the delicious pictures!
Our hands will be the first at our house to celebrate Halloween this year.
I happened upon some orange hand towels in a store last week. They had black also, so you know they called out to me. “Come,” they said, “embroider us!” So I did. I embroidered them good.
I think they got ahold of our little fatty precious kitty as a model for this one. Love me some black kitties.
Frankenstein and his lovely Bride got the orange makeover. I think it suits them.
I have so many projects that I am working on, I can’t quite explain how I got sidetracked by Halloween hand towels. Maybe it’s because one of the projects is locating a gift that I made and then lost in my sewing room. Or more likely, because I need to clean up my sewing room.
Nah, I just needed Halloween hand towels. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.
Don’t you just love picking out fabrics for quilt blocks? Once I’ve got that first print, that is.
I just got my hands on this yummy orange colored apple print. The blue jumped right in, and then the yellow.
I wanted black in my Caroline block. The red and green allowed for great contrast, which makes the pinwheels pop!
I am paper piecing my blocks, and have discovered a wonderful hint for the blocks like Caroline that have lots of pieces in lots of colors. Before I start stitching, I write the colors that I am using in the appropriate sections of the foundation papers. This has saved me a lot of grief in the piecing process!
Too lazy to wander out into the blazing sunshine, I decided to photograph the blocks on my new couch. The couch is orange, but seems to show up as a different color in each picture!
Wishing you sunny skies and rainbows!
handmade by Carole Carr 