Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks - Volume 10!!!!! That's 1000 Blocks - a lot of blocks!

Welcome to my blog!

Hope you'll have the time to visit and comment so I have a chance to give away some copies of the magazine. The magazine is chock full of amazing blocks - they get better with each issue!

Here's my block, Tulip Flurry(page 19, #904), inspired by my love of tulips and a trip to The Netherlands in 2013, took a while to percolate. I used raw edge applique with a collection of batiks and Misty Fuse for the fusible. Such a great product... love that it doesn't change the hand of the fabric yet holds all those little bits nice and secure while they're stitched down.


I design exclusively in EQ7, (even teach EQ7 all over the place and design for Quilting Treasures) such a great and powerful program.
So, besides the quilt on page 14 of the magazine (notice the little tulips in the corners), here's a glimpse of some other quilt designs I popped Tulip Flurry into. As there was a time crunch getting the quilt to QM, the applique vine went by the wayside but I do like the way it repeats the tulips and greenery out to the border.



This one is sans applique, but still very pretty. I would be fun to choose the strata fabrics for the corners - now, that could use up some scraps.And who doesn't love a scrap quilt - so much to explore and such vibrancy and movement!



And lastly, I create a label for the quilt using the quilt design in EQ, how much more custom can you get? - yes, I am a bit obsessive.
I did get so inspired seeing all the varieties of tulips at Keukenhof in The Netherlands, here are some pictures for you to enjoy!




Hope you've enjoyed visiting my blog, I'm always posting pictures of my customer quilts as well as what I'm up to in my own designs, so check back in again.
 Enjoy the Blog Tour!




Sunday, November 16, 2014

Blog Tour - This Tuesday!

Hope to see you all on the Blog Tour this week. My blog will be featured in Tuesday so have to get that post ready tomorrow to go live at 12:01 am Tuesday. Haven't managed to get it right on time yet - so maybe this time is the charm!

I'll be posting about my block, Tulip Flurry, which was inspired by a trip we took to The Netherlands in 2012. A beautiful trip topped off by a visit to the amazing gardens at Keukenhof - never seen so many varieties of tulips and orchids as well - mid boggling!

Keukenhof is only open a short time every year, they even rent their swans for the river. Could have spent a number of days here - just beautiful!


Previous to going to Keukenhof we had visited a tulip farm where they grow tulips  - but only sell the bulbs. So the tulip flower is chopped off and discarded. We kept insisting there must be some use, but no, they're compost. The tulips we buy in this country are raised in greenhouses, never in a field. The tulips in this next pix were being forced under plastic just for the tourists as the cooler weather had made the blooms about 2 weeks behind their usual schedule. It was incredibly windy that day and very cold - poor tulips!


So, in my block, which I'll be able to share with you on Tuesday on the tour, the tulips have lots of movement, just like these.

Hope to see you there! Just use the link at the bottom of the this poster and you'll be at the tour - Enjoy!



Sunday, November 2, 2014

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks - Volume 10 has arrived

Just home from a quick trip to upstate New York and found that a nice little pile of Quiltmaker 100 Blocks, Vol 10, had arrived for me. My block "Tulip Flurry" and my small quilt by the same name is also featured in this issue.



There's a Blog Tour coming up in a couple of weeks, hope you'll join the tour. I'll be giving away copies of the magazine as well as talking about my design process in both the block and the quilt.