Christmas Shimmer

Do you have any patterns you just make repeatedly? I have a few clothing patterns I do this with, but only a couple of quilt patterns I've made more than once. This is one of them. It's Shimmer by Cluck Cluck Sew and it's a really fun sew. I like how it comes together, and it's a style I really enjoy sewing and think looks good. It's not too quick, but it doesn't take a long time and it shows off fabric well. The piece sizes are a good fit for the type of fabrics I usually purchase.

And, if you want, you can fussy cut. This is the first one I've made with fussy cut centers but I picked the pattern for this quilt specifically because the centers were a good size for fussy cutting the fabric I had chosen. 

See, I picked up a cut of a super cute retro style Christmas print at Garden of Quilts in 2022. I just couldn't resist it, even though it's completely NOT my normal style. And then I supplemented it with a few other focal prints...and set out looking for a pattern that would enable me to really show them off. 

Shimmer has centers that are a great size for the scale of these prints. The center is large enough there's a good amount of space so the entire selection can usually fit, but not so large that there's a lot of extra space around it. 

This is decidedly unlike my other Christmas quilts.

But I don't care, I love how it turned out. And I have a bit more of the focal prints so maybe I'll be making another quilt sometime in the future so it has a buddy...hmm...

Starshine Quilt

A few years ago, I picked up a couple of florals by Rifle Paper Co. that I loved. One had a lovely burgundy background, but I didn't know how to use them. They sat in my drawers waiting for a project. Last fall, I worked on a fabric Friday pull using them and settled on this. Even though I didn't have anything to tie in the burgundy, I thought it was still okay. And I really liked the colors together. So I kept it aside and thought about patterns I could use it for.

And then I remembered a quilt pattern I was given for my birthday from my oldest daughter. She had picked it out when we were at a quilt shop after visiting a quilt show at a nearby museum and had my husband buy it for her. It's called Star Shine by Modernly Morgan and I really like it. It looks like a simple pattern, one I would not buy for myself because I would think I could figure it out on my own, but I'm glad she picked it. Unfortunately, my colors look an awful lot like the cover quilt. I don't like remaking quilts someone else made, I really prefer to put my own spin on it, so this is disappointing, but I do really love the colors and how it turned out, so I don't mind too much.

When I was ready to make it, I had to pick out fewer fabrics than I had in my pull. Some were easy to eliminate because I didn't have a big enough piece. But I made sure to use the two Rifle prints that started it all. I'm really happy with it, I think it's a pretty quilt!

I backed it with a Ruby Star Speckled I picked up on sale, and I bound it with a Ruby Star Sprinkle that I got on the same sale. They don't match together super well, so I'm sure not going to brag about how great the back looks, but they both work with the quilt so I'm happy.

Fabric Friday Week 41: November 17

I didn't think I was going to get a post up today. I went on a field trip with some of my girls to the zoo today and I hadn't gotten a post written yet. 

But I had about an hour after I got home before the girls would be home from school, and I decided to work on it. I went into my sewing room, and I just stared at my drawers of fabric. Nothing was sparking. I do have a fat quarter bundle I bought and I'm brainstorming ideas for it right now. I thought it kind of felt beachy, so I thought I'd pull a beach bundle. I saw a piece from a collection by Sheri and Chelsea called Seashore Drive and decided to start there. I think for a quick pull it's pretty decent. I don't know that I would use it necessarily, but it works. Maybe instead of the print, I would use the darker blue as a background color. Hmm...

Have a great weekend, and a great Thanksgiving!

Fabric Friday Week 40: November 10

I have finally recovered (mostly) from our most recent trip. We went to Northern Italy for my 40th birthday celebration! We did a Photo Workshop in the Dolomites for fall colors, and while we had more rain than we would have liked, it was still beautiful and amazing. I've never done group travel before but it was really fun.

This was sunrise at a lake we visited, and this one is from my cell phone, I haven't finished the pictures from my big camera. It was spectacular!

This week's bundle is one I pulled together randomly. It ended up being, oh, what is it called? Triadic complementary? Hmm...I remember reading about a color combination like this, where you have three analogous colors plus the complementary one. But I guess I also added in the pink so it's not exactly the same. *shrug*

In other news, I think I'm nearly there with a group for another hexibore quilt, I pulled one kona to go with mostly Moda bellas, and it might just do the trick. I need to figure out the layout I want, because I love the look of the mini baby quilt, but I'm a throw girl and don't like making quilts smaller than throws. 

Fabric Friday Week 39: Oct 20

I took last week off, but I'm back with another attempt. This is very similar to the last group. I'm not going to give up. I don't think I'm there yet. This time, I tried Moda colors. Years ago, I bought a Moda Match Maker block of fabric swatches. I don't use it often enough, probably because the few times I've tried, I end up turning back to my Kona chips. But the Moda swatches are larger and they're nice to use. I think this group is nice, too. Maybe in the end, I'll end up with some Moda colors and some Konas. We'll see!

Naturally, after I uploaded this picture, I realized that I didn't line up the fabric swatches with the lines on the rug. I was hasty, and I was playing with these on the rug so I just quickly took a picture. Oops!

Fabric Friday Week 38: October 6

I'm still trying to nail down group of colors for a bright, floral Hexibore. This week, I worked on incorporating peach, wondering if I needed peach to work the coral angle. I'm not sure I'm there yet. But I'm not giving up!

Fabric Friday Week 37: September 29

September has been brutal in our house. It's still back to school time, with everyone getting back into rhythm with all the activities, and we have birthday week at our house, with 3 of our kids' birthdays plus mine. I turned 40 this month! Spoiler, it sucked. But it's okay, we will celebrate eventually with a trip to Italy, so I'll survive. 

Amid all the craziness, I got to go to Garden of Quilts at Thanksgiving Point here in Utah with a friend. We went last year and really enjoyed it so we made sure to go again. Truthfully, I'm suffering from tendonitis in my hips right now, so the walking all over the gardens was pretty tiring. But there were loads of beautiful quilts, including a version of All the Good that I liked better than mine. It made me want to try it again! 

We ended our visit with a stop at the vendor marketplace and I didn't buy a lot, but I did buy a fat quarter bundle from a shop I discovered last year, the Cotton Bolt I think. She is so talented with color and creates stunning bundles! I bought one last year I still haven't used...whoops. And I had to buy another one this year. I also picked up some other remnants and fat quarters that she had discounted, and realized when I got home that they work super well with the bundle I picked, and then I pulled some additional prints from my stash, and well, I have a fabric friday bundle! I love it and want to cut into it if I could just figure out what to do. I thought about a clamshell quilt, but a few of the cuts aren't quite wide enough for my clammy ruler. So maybe an orange peel? Hmm...