Fall Sunflower Quilts

If you've followed along for awhile, you probably know I have a collection of dishes in the shape of flowers, fruits and veggies that I've mostly picked up here and there at thrift stores. Each season I like to switch it up and now that fall is officially here it's time to bring out the tomatoes, corn, pumpkins and sunflowers.

I always struggle a little with making this change because I really really love the summery flower, fruit and veggies dishes. They are all so colorful, bright and cheery. I just hate to put them away. You can see some of them here (veggies) here and here (fruits). Plus it's a reminder that summer has past for another year. But once the fall stuff is up I love it too.

Along with the dishes come a couple of fall quilts to complete the decor. I posted last week about the sunflower quilt that I've hung for years even though it was un-quilted. Probably no one but me ever really knew because it's at the end of the room and seen from a distance so most people probably wouldn't have noticed or were certainly to polite to say anything. Now it's finally done. Wahoo!!!  It looks so much better finished. More real if you know what I mean. Definitely a sight I've got to keep in mind to help me stay motivated to finish all the other UFO's.

Anyway here's the finished sunflower quilt I'm calling "Sunflowers for Vincent". It turned out relatively well if I do say so myself. I just have to spend more time practicing the free part of free motion.

The other quilt is a bit smaller and was also done years ago based on a pattern called "21st Century Bull's Eye" in a book called Quilts from Aunt Amy. The book's been around for awhile but has lots of great patterns many of which would look terrific done up in more modern fabrics. The bull's eye pattern uses a raw edge applique technique and is very easy to do. I fussy cut large sunflowers from several different fabrics for the centers and then used smaller scale sunflower prints to surround them. The backgrounds for each block are made from an assortment of green leafy prints. Every so often I threw in black, white and a touch of red. The black gave it contrast. The white added a little sparkle. And the red helped expand the color palette and add more depth. Without these extra colors everything would have been just a little too flat.

I did minimal quilting with a single free motion flower in the center of each block. Hard to see in the picture but easy to do.

So, do you switch up your quilts with the season? What do you do with them? I'd love to hear how you use all your beautiful quilty creations. Keep on stitching.

Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop

Hello all you bloggers hopping in to visit. Today is my day on Beth's Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop. I'm so very glad she put this together for newbie bloggers like myself. I've found many inspiring blogs through participating in the hop. Hope you have too.

So welcome to my little corner of blogland. Please take a few minutes to explore some other posts and get to know my style. And be sure to hop over to Kristy's blog at Cotton Addiction today for more quilty goodness. Don't you just love her blog's name? Then on Thursday, stop by and visit Julie at That's Sew Julie and Chelsea at Pins and Bobbins.

Now for a little about me. My name is Anne and I live in sunny Colorado. I'm a graphic designer turned stay-at-home mom who has now become an empty nester turned quilt blogger/pattern designer. I've quilted for at least 15 years, but it's been an on/off affair in the midst of raising kids that resulted in lots of UFO's. Last fall our youngest left for college and it became the perfect time to fully commit to my quilting. So this year I started my blog, decided to finish some of those UFO's and ventured into the world of pattern design.

I love color and pattern so when the two are combined into gorgeous fabrics I'm definitely addicted.  : )  I'm a huge Kaffe Fassettt fan, love the new modern prints, and have become a true convert to solids. I like working with traditional blocks in a new way and I like going totally modern with more abstract designs. I've got more sketches than I can manage to sew into finished quilts but that's ok because I love the design process.

When it comes to designing a new quilt, my design background takes over and I find myself exploring all kinds of possibilities. With all the exploration and variations I was dreaming up, I decided to start publishing patterns that included those extra options. Patterns are available in my Etsy shop. Each one includes 2 basic quilts plus several optional ideas. You can make several quilts and no two would be the same.

As for a blogging tip, I feel like I'm still figuring it all out but the one thing I'd say is find a QAL or something to participate in. You'll meet lots of nice people and learn/try something new at the same time. And please leave comments. Something I've come to truly appreciate. I love to respond to other quilters and find those little connections we might share. I wish I had known about blogging years ago. The work being done out there is always inspiring, and it definitely motivates me to get more done. But be careful about comparing yourself. Lots of people seem like super sewers who get loads done every week and have a bazillion followers. Another bit of advice . . . be yourself and sew what you love instead of simply copying other quilter's work. Or if you're inspired by their work give them credit. I've realized I just need to be me and do what I love. I need to stick to my own style and continue to develop my own vision. So be yourself.

If you've visited my blog before, you know I have a collection of fruit/veggie dishes along with a fabric collection to match. Each month during the spring/summer/fall I put up one of several quilts I've made with these fruit/veggie fabrics. A couple of years ago I made a series of tablerunners from a simple design I came up with and thought I'd share that with you today. Of course those original tablerunners are still technically UFO's, but this one for fall is finished. Wahoo!!! Thank you Beth for motivating me. One less UFO.

The design works perfectly with whatever fabrics you want to use. It requires just 2 fat quarters and a few strips. Easy peasy. So here goes . . .

Fat Quarter Table Runner
finished size: 15" x 48" (shorter if you prefer)

Fabrics required:
Focus fabrics:  2 fat quarters - 1 each of 2 different fabrics.
Works best if fat quarter is 18" wide but you can adjust later to accommodate a slightly narrower fat.
Narrow accent strip:  3 strips 1 1/2" x 18+"
Wide accent strip: 3 strips 2 /12" x 18+"
NOTE: I've listed the length with a + because it's best to cut your strips a little longer and then cut to size after they are sewn.

Step 1.
Layer the 2 fat quarters face up on your cutting board.
Cut 3 strips 6 1/2" wide across the 18" side for a finished size of 6 1/2" x 18+".
NOTE: if the fat quarters aren't a full 18" wide it's ok as long as you have 17" to work with. You can adjust later.

layer both fat quarters right side up.

18" side of fat quarter runs top to bottom in picture.

Step 2.
Arrange 1 strip of each fabric into a strip set as shown below. Place the focus fabrics on the outside and keep the accent strips in the center. Arrange 3 of these sets using one strip of each fabric for each set. Be sure to keep the same order for all 3 sets. Before sewing read the following if you have directional fabric.

If either of your focus fabrics is a directional print and you want them all to read the same direction, then cut each strip of one set in half so you have 2 strips 9+" long per fabric. Flip the directional fabric around keeping the same order for the strips. Make one full 18+" set and one 9+" half-set per arrangement. This will make more sense when you see the pictures below.

Strip set with pumpkins facing to the left.

Notice that the pumpkin fabric is flipped around in the bottom photo
but the other fabrics remain in the same position.

Step 3.
Sew strip sets together and press all seams to one side.

Step 4.
Cut sets into 4 segments 4 1/2" wide per segment.
NOTE: If your fat quarters were under 18" then just cut your strip sets into 4 equal width segments across the width of your strip set. It just means your finished runner will be somewhat shorter than 48".

Step 5.
Rearrange by flipping every other segment around so that the focus fabrics alternate along the sides. This is the point where the directional issues come into play. If you made the alternate sets all your directional fabric should be facing the same way. If not they will look like this. Absolutely nothing wrong with this but I just want you to be aware of what happens.

This photo shows what happens when you arrange the segments
without flipping your directional fabric.
Note the pumpkins go in 2 different directions.

Step 6.
Sew segments together into pairs and pairs together until runner is finished. Using a pin at the far side of each seam intersection helps to match the points. Otherwise pins aren't really needed unless you're a pinning kind of quilter. Press these seams open to reduce bulk.

TaDah!  Your runner is finished. Quilt it, grab a cup of tea and enjoy your newest creation.

Here's a look at two earlier runners I made. The proportions are slightly different but it's the same concept. This design works nicely with focus fabrics that come in both a dark and a light background. The lemon one is one of my favs.

Here's another one using just 3 fabrics instead of 4. Same basic construction. Just make one of the focus fabrics shorter so that when the accent strip is added on this combined measurement is the same width as the other focus fabric.  This way when segments are flipped the accent strip is staggered down the middle.

Well, that's it for my stop on the hop. Hope you've been inspired by some of what you've seen here today and I really do hope you'll come back again. It's been fun getting to know all of you.

Keep on quilting . . . Anne   : )

WIP Wednesday

Wow! These WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced sure do come up fast. I've been wrapping up a couple of projects plus starting another small one. And I'm trying to set time aside to start working on a quilt to enter in the QuiltCon show. Hopefully more than one.

I finished up and shipped off my off my project for Stitch magazine. First time I've had a project published and it's pretty exciting. The spring issue seems so far off though. I'll be anxious to share it with you as soon as I can. It's made from these fabrics. Love the Amy Butler print!

This week has mostly been spent wrapping up the Tetris QAL quilt. Just about done with the quilting and then all that's left is binding. I'm pleased with how this one turned out and could be tempted to make another in a warm colorway. Stay tuned for the final quilted reveal in a few days. Hop over to Melissa's blog and see how everyone's quilts turned out. Some nice work happening.

Last thing this week will be a small project that I'll write up as a tutorial for my turn on the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop next week. I think it will feature these fabrics since there's a bit of fall in the air.  But then I've changed my mind several times already so don't count on it. Check back next Tuesday for the tutorial.

"Fresh Baked"

July means berry pie around here. Not the mouthwatering taste of fresh baked pies even though my husband LOVES cherry pie.  Instead it's the eye catching pie combo of all things fabric fruity. Unfortunately for my family, I'm just not a baker or even much of a cook. I cook because we have to eat. But when it comes to fabric recipes I love to whip up a tasty treat to go with my fruit and veggie dish collection. (You can see my citrus collection here).

Guess you could say I'm a baker with fabric just like I'm a gardener with fabric. I think it's easier and it definitely lasts longer. When July rolls around it's the month of quilted berries. This is as close as it gets to red, white and blue in my house.

A few of the apple collection

The berry collection

I call this quilt "Fresh Baked"  I used lots of apple and berry prints set with some creamy pie crust colored prints to evoke the image of a table full of pies. I think the little red check and a basketweave print for the binding give the feel of a picnic. Now if only it weren't 100 degrees outside and we could actually have a picnic. I also used some buttons in the center of each pie just because I wanted a little hand sewn touch.

Doesn't it make your mouth water?

Fresh Squeezed, a Juicy Quilt

Last month I mentioned my collection of flower dishes. Well . . . I have an even bigger collection of fruit and veggie dishes. It all started innocently enough with 3 fruit plates. Then another and another and another. Once again, they are mostly flea market finds just like the floral dishes. Before I knew it I had amassed quite a collection so when we remodeled our kitchen, one of my objectives was to incorporate some type of display area. Now I have space for all (well most) of my dishes.

The juicy dishes.

At about the same time this obsession started with the dishes along came all the delicious fruit and veggie fabrics. Of course it didn't take long before an equally large stash of fabrics developed. What can I say? They make me happy  : )  and I'm obsessed with more than fabric. As I collected the fabrics, the initial idea was to make one single quilt but somehow I could never imagine the right quilt. Then it hit me . . . make several quilts, each with their own fruity/veggie theme.

Think I have enough citrus fabrics?

I had the best time cooking up these delicious quilts. Fresh Squeezed, Fresh Baked, Fresh Picked, Vine Ripe to name a few. This summer I will rotate them into my kitchen/dining area starting off the summer with Fresh Squeezed.

"Fresh Squeezed" my juicy summer quilt.

See the great display in the background? Love it!

What better what to enjoy a hot summer day than with an ice cold glass of lemonade? So here's to summer and relaxing with a cold drink.