Trunk Full of Quilts

When I heard about the Trunk Full Of Quilts online quilt trunk show event hosted by Soma over at Whims and Fancies I thought I would take the opportunity to refold all the quilts in my personal collection and share one of my favorites.

I have quilts that were published in magazines and books, quilts that were made using my patterns and quilts that have been gifted to me.  There are traditional, modern and even an art quilt or two.

But my favorite by far is still the Star Surround quilt I made in 2013 as part of Happy Quilting Quilt Along that year.

 I still really love the colors and the quilting on this one. 

 I rarely take the time to custom quilt my own quilts but I had lots of fun deciding on quilt patterns for this one.  (I often just use white school chalk to sketch right on the block.  A damp cloth wipes it easily away.)

I even took the time to change out the thread colors.  I use Signature thread for my quilting.  It is very affordable and I rarely have quality issues.

 A combination of dense, organic and geometric quilting covers the quilt.

Each star is 28" across if I remember correctly.

On the back, I used a wonderful black and gray Moroccan print I picked up somewhere.  One of those prints I sure wish I would have bought the whole bolt at the time of purchase

 I even entered the quilt in a local quilt show in our county's museum. I loved seeing it hung among the more traditional quilts.

I so enjoyed making this quilt and working with these colors, I ended up making another quilt with a lot of the same fabrics.

 

I used Amy Smart's Double Crossed pattern for this one.  It is another quilt that is up there among the top rankings!

I hope you head over to Whims and Fancies and take at peek at all of the wonderful eye candy.  It is a quilt show you can enjoy from the comfort of your home!

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you I may make a small commission, which I appreciate so much!

Hello 2014!

I have to admit, 2013 was just a blur.  Every day seemed to fly by...

Balancing maintaining a home, running a very successful at home business (I am a longarm quilter) and starting new endeavors like blogging and quilt design left me quite busy and very overwhelmed at times.





I spent this morning preparing for the new year by updating business spreadsheets, taking a physical inventory for my accountant and reviewing my business plan.  This will be my 8th year quilting for others.  It is hard to believe it has been that long!





Looking back at my records, I have quilted well over 1000 quilts for others.  That is miles and miles of thread! 

I have a wonderfully loyal customer base and consider many of them close friends.





One of the great things about quilting for others is I get to be a part of so many wonderful quilts.  Many I would never piece myself but from each I am always inspired.

Many of my customers are such talented piecers. 

Thanks to some of them, I always get to see the newest lines of fabric.






The fabric and color combinations in some of these quilts make it difficult to not want to make one for myself.




(This hopefully explains why I start so many quilts!)






I usually only share customer quilts on my Facebook page but I felt they were just as important to my success in 2013 as the quilts I made myself.

...and speaking of my own quilts.  There were lots of those too!

I started 2013 with a list of 42 projects in the works.  This sounds like a lot but some are long term quilts like hand quilting, EPP and applique.

I'm starting out 2014 with 47...sigh.  Guess what I will be focusing on this year!

I did finish 60 quilts in 2013.  And 6 of them were projects I started many years ago so that was good.  Most of these victories were due to joining in some Finish-A-Longs, so I will be doing that again in 2014. 

Do you think I can finish out 2014 with less than 35 WIPs?

 

Of the 60 quilts, 21 were made from scraps and 27 were made from my existing stash.  Those numbers make me happy as I really didn't spend a lot of money on fabric.  You would think I would have run out of fabric, but I am always amazed at how little fabric you need to make a quilt with.

I think this quilt was my favorite scrap quilt made in 2013.  It seemed to have a life of its own and I really enjoyed watching it evolve.

I only made about half a dozen quilts that I actually purchased at least some fabric for.


My favorite quilt of the year was the Star Surround quilt.  I rarely get attached to quilts but this one is a keeper.








I plan on joining in to this year's Quilt-A-Long with Melissa.  I haven't firmed up the colors yet but I know navy will be among them.

2013 was also the year I had my first publication of an original design.  Over the year, there were a total of three quilts published.

You will be seeing more publications in 2014 and if I can find the time, maybe some patterns available for purchase.

What I am most excited about for 2014 is the scrap series I am putting together. As I make my scrap quilts, I will be sharing my process on what inspires me, how I choose patterns and layouts, tutorials on the blocks and even ideas for quilting.  The posts will be written in such a way as to guide readers who want to work through their own scraps to sew along and make their own quilt based on their personal style of quilting.  I am hoping with each new quilt, more quilters decide to join in.

<a href="http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjl-ZgzJ55jRKwQPawzgdAmpsJ7szfSNzI2RRMocZd_hYYVeUyBf9pv8KpH-i7Rfezc9zAERDgfS-XUlDwJnTx4vVOF_o0fhCUZdgyj-fIhnKoEgze75WPi3It9BO4n3hZXF4dnkctu7U/s1600/Publication2.jpg" alt="Quilting is more fun than Houseowrk" width="125" height="125" /></a>

The best part of 2013 was getting to know so many of you.  I am so inspired by what I see in so many of your blogs and encouraged by my readers support and comments. I truly do appreciate all of you and look forward to seeing what 2014 brings.  Cheers!

Linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day, Confessions of a Fabric Addict for 2014 Goals and Sarah Quilts for the Year in Review.  Be sure and check out what others are planning for the new year!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Professionally Quilted Entry

If you follow along, you know my first entry into this fall's Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side was my first modern quilt.  For my second entry, I had to share (again because I love it so much) the most recent modern quilt I finished.  I think entering both kind of shows my evolution.

I really wasn't sure I wanted to commit to a Quilt A-Long but Melissa over at Happy Quilting did such a fabulous job at designing this Star Surround pattern, I knew it could be made to fit my style perfectly.








I rarely find time anymore to make quilts for myself so it was great fun to pull out some fabrics I have been collecting for quite some time.

With a small goal being due every week, I was able to keep focussed.  I confess I loved having the blocks for this quilt around to look at as it was coming together.




I veered slightly from the pattern and used more prints to get a scrappier look.  I had so many georgeous fabrics I wanted to get into this top I just couldn't pare them down to just a few.

There are rich wovens and shot cottons, lots of geometric prints and even some text fabrics.









I still prefer not to use white as my backgrounds so I went with an ash gray.

I really think it set the blocks off beautifully!








I did quilt this one myself on my longarm so I am entering it in the professionally quilted category.  Not having a whole lot of time to get it done, I knew I needed to quilt for texture and keep the patterns simple.  I went with tight curls in all the gray backgrounds.  In the cornerstones, I did some simple echo stitching to add some geometry to that center square.







The center star was quilted with some simple straight lines.  I also quilted  the outer surround star in a random line quilting to compliment the center.

It was hard to capture in a photo but I quilted some organic meandering in the space between the line work.  Visually, the different shapes and textures really look great!  I wish you could all see this quilt in person.

When it was finished, I was so glad I decided to join in on the fun.  I think this quilt really helped me to zero in on my own modern style and feel proud of the results.

For so many reasons, I think this quilt is my absolute favorite to date.  I hope you don't mind if you have had to see it again!

I really hope you are able to find time to take a peak at all the great quilts being linked to this season's festival.  There are so many gorgeous quilts out there, it is pretty hard to choose some favorites.  I do know I have seen some pretty inspiring quilts and I am sure there will be many more added before the festival is finished!

Thanks for stopping by!  If you are new to my blog, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you have been following along, I hope to have my Double Crossed quilt top done which uses some of the same fabrics as this quilt.  It's looking great and I hope to share more pictures soon!!

Ta Da! Finished Star Surround QAL

Who needs sleep!  Not only did I squeeze in my own Star Surround quilt into my longarm customer rotation but I decided to stitch the heck out of it!  So once it was on my frame, it was a bit of a quilting marathon to get it finished so I could get back to those paying customers.

I really love how it turned out.  Melissa at Happy Quilting designed a beautiful pattern and I was really pleased with the fabrics and colors I chose for the top. This was my first Quilt A-Long and I will definitely be doing more in the future.  (Thanks Melissa!)

For the quilting, I did a combination of straight lines and curves.

In the ash gray negative space I quilted really tight curls.  This gave dimension to some of the areas where I did minimal quilting.

On the back, I simply put a single gray and black fabric I already had in my stash.  As I had enough yardage, there was no need to spend the time doing any extra piecing.

(Just one quick long seam....Yes!!)

This much quilting is not something I usually do on my own quilts but I so love this quilt I am thinking of hanging it on the wall in my bedroom.  I truly love everything about it.  

I think the center star is my favorite.

To see all the other lovely quilt tops from this same gorgeous pattern, you can go here or catch Melissa's post on September 16th where she will be including all the finished quilts in a big quilt parade!  I know I am looking forward to seeing them.

This week I will be sharing this finish with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?! at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF and Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Star Surround Quilt Top - QAL

So many thanks to Melissa at Happy Quilting for hosting this Quilt A-Long and designing this gorgeous pattern.  I have finished my quilt top and I have to say, I truly adore this quilt!

The colors and fabrics in this top are so darn yummy!  Many, I have collected over quite a few years and I think this was the perfect quilt to use them on. 

And the Kona Ash in the background really frames everything so nicely.







Because I had so many fabrics I wanted to use, I decided to make my top a bit more scrappier than the pattern called for.











I love these big bold blocks and how they let the fabrics shine.

I have even carved out a big block of time so I can get it on my longarm and get it quilted.  (yep...sorry quilting customers.)

I have been hoarding a great gray and black Moroccan tile looking fabric that I plan on using for the back.

my....it is even pretty in the shade....

 ...and another little pic of it folded up on the gate.

Okay...I'm through.  But I really can't get enough of this quilt.  Thanks again Melissa!

You can check out all the other finished tops here.

Sharing this lovely top with Sew Cute Tuesday at Better Off Thread, Show and Tell Tuesday at I have to Say and WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  And as it is the first day of the month, I will also be linking to Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts.