What Shade Are You? Winner Announced!

Today is my turn for the RJR What Shade Are You blog hop! I love participating in blogs hops, it gives me a chance to create something just for me, and have a little fun with all of my wonderful followers (Hint: FABRIC!) This is my second appearance in the blog hop. My first was back in 2015 with my Lanterns quilt Tutorial. It felt like only yesterday, and the ways my life has changed in such a short time, from there to here, is truly amazing. From a new house, to a new baby, to new opportunities within the quilting world, the last 2 years have been busy and scary and WONDERFUL.

RJR makes Cotton Supreme Solids. They are a dream to sew with. The fabric is the perfect weight to mix with anything, and you have 197 rich, delicious hues to choose from.

Now let me introduce my newest creation, Heat Wave!

I LOVE everything about this quilt. The colors, the layout, the quilting, everything. I’m sure somewhere there is a grouchy quilt police officer wagging a finger and chanting “Stacey, you are being prideful. You can’t just TELL PEOPLE you LOVE your own work.” But you know what? The hashtag for RJR is #quiltwithlove . So I just threw this quilt over their head, because I LOVE IT! I want to shout that love from the rooftops!

I picked an analogous gradient of my favorite warm colors and went to town. Each color is a color I love individually, and together they make a perfect sunset inspired palette.

Heat Wave is the perfect example of how a small change can make a huge difference. I had mocked up a different layout for these blocks, something eclectic and busy and kinda neat, but in my near-coma-like sleep deprived state I sewed half the blocks as a mirror image of the first. And I didn’t notice until I started laying the blocks out. After a little head scratching (because I STILL hadn’t noticed what I’d done) I turned the blocks around and VOILA!  Heat Wave was born! I still had to take a picture so I could purposefully do what I just did accidentally (and then FINALLY realized what had happened), but the top came together quickly after that and it couldn’t have turned out better.

The next step was quilting, and I had Heat Wave hanging over the bars of Penny(my Tin Lizzie Apprentice) for almost a week while I pondered. Then I realized it was Wednesday (again, I blame the sleep deprivation). Now I know some blogs are really good at showcasing just a top. Me, not so much. So she needed to be quilted, and quilted now. The funny thing is once I had her loaded on the frame, the quilting just fell into place. I recently returned from a family vacation, where I was able to meet up with a quilting friend. She once told me an anecdote from a famous longarm quilter (don’t ask who, I really can’t remember) and it always stuck with me. The moral of the story is when it comes to thread choice, always take the risk. So I did. I matched the yellow and violet fabrics in my quilt, and then used each color exclusively with the motif. Violet with the straight lines and yellow with the curled meander. The contrasting thread and patterns really worked well to highlight the secondary patterns in the quilt, and reigned in the pre-quilted color chaos.

To top off the perfection of this quilt, I chose to face it instead of binding to keep the colors flowing. Paired with the first really nice sunny day we’ve had in weeks, it felt like magic taking her outside to photograph. Even H wanted his turn with the camera! (We now have a lovely montage of grass growing.)

Now for the fun part (and the reward for reading to the end)! One lucky follower gets to win a bundle of the gorgeous Sunset Palette I curated for my quilt.

To enter, follow me here or on Instagram @staceyinstitches, and leave a single comment telling me 2 things: Where you follow me, and what your favorite color is! Easy peasy! I will draw a winner at 4pm PST Tuesday.

 

Congratulations to number 82, Deborah! I will be in touch soon!

There is also a second giveaway on the RJR Instagram Account. Log on and follow RJR Fabrics instructions to enter.

Happy Stitching!

Night Lights

A few months ago American Quilter Magazine reached out to see if I wanted to create a quilt using the new We Are All Stars collection from Cloud 9. Stars have a special meaning for me, and I really liked the color palette, so of course I immediately said yes. I had a lot of fun trying out different combinations with these fabrics. Ultimately I wanted to make something that looked more complex than it actually was. I’ve been on an on-point layout kick lately, and after trying out a few blocks I settled on a simple HST square block.

In my minds eye, as I was playing with shape and color, I kept seeing a skyline at night. The colors of the lights in the city blending and blurring together. I kept circling back to that, and started adding in some negative space using a deep indigo solid. the warm contrast of the indigo pulled new life out of the colors, and it meshed perfectly with my mental image.

the colors are chameleons. in warm sunlight the quilt pulls a very retro photo vibe. in cool cloudy light the colors are sharp and deep.

I quilted it in a combination of straight lines, chevrons, and swirling loops,because I was on a tight schedule and why not? I am so happy with how it turned out. and of course Cloud 9 is organic so the fabrics are soft and supple, much like sleeping on a cloud.

 

 

Night Lights can be found on newsstands now in the May issue of American Quilter Magazine.

 

Until next time,

 

Happy Stitching!

 

Spring Quilt Market

So, I didn’t make it to quilt market this spring, but a few of my designs did! I have been sitting on these quilt design for months, and its been driving me crazy because I love them SOOO MUCH! When FreeSpirit asked me to design with Tula’s upcoming Slow and Steady line I of course said (in a calm and professional manner) YESSSSS! I submitted a handful of designs, and they were given to Tula herself for approval. She liked them a lot, and made a tweak or two with color placement in the approved designs. She really is a genius of color, and I found the collaboration to be eye opening and inspiring. She is also a genuinely super nice person. I would buy her fabric based on that alone if I didn’t also love it so much. Then the good news came that they wanted one of the designs for a kit. I didn’t clue in until the market photos started popping up that it was one of the amazing pre-cut box kits! HOLY COW!

Seriously, thank goodness for social media, otherwise when would you ever find pictures of stuff! Yay for Instagram and a huge thanks to @swimbikequilt, @angelafmq, and @tulapink for posting photos.

Fandango Kit

Fandango Quilt

Fandango, pieced by Tula Pink, Quilted by Angela Walters

 

Then there is the lovely Wall of Fame Quilt. This quilt is to be a free pattern download from FreeSpirit Fabrics. I will link to it in my patterns section once it goes live.

 

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Pieced by myself, before Angela got her talented magical hands on it…..

 

Wall of Fame Quilting

…and after! Gorgeous quilting!

 

WOF FreeSpirit Booth

Hanging in the FreeSpirit booth. So many gorgeous projects. Check out those Umbrellas!

 

There is one more project that I made for this collection, but it is heading someplace else. I cannot wait to share it with you!

Happy Stitching!

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Going Up- A Free Pattern Download

Its been a long busy summer, with so many things that I just cannot share at the moment. So I thought I would carve some time out and do something that I could share with you!

Meet “Going Up”

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I used some of my favorite fabrics from my stash, and it was lovingly pieced by Holly Broadland @hollybroadland . The quilting is a medium grey thread, and Joan of Maple Leaf Quilters did a great job straight line quilting this on her long arm for me.

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Going Up is one of the patterns from the book that never was. I finally got motivated enough to illustrate it and try to take some pictures (solo outdoor pictures with a white quilt on a sick day? Yeah, that was really smart of me) But they turned out not half bad and I was rewarded with a visit from an actual real live bumble bee. I took more pictures of him than I did the quilt!

 

That bumblebee was exactly what I needed today. I have been sick for a few days, and feeling overwhelmed with responsibilities at home and at work. Watching that little guy, standing in the warm summer sun, I felt a peaceful calm fall over me. I was able to relax and enjoy the moment. It has been a dry, hot summer with severe drought conditions, so its no small miracle that we have these teeny tiny flowers for him to enjoy. Some shots even show the pollen as it bursts from the flower while he works.

I feel busy as the little guy for sure!

Going up is available as a free download from my Craftsy Pattern Shop. I have some other great patterns there too, so have a look around and enjoy!

Happy Stitching

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Featured!

Alrighty! Enough Suspense for everyone =) A few months ago I was asked to make a quilt for a new fabric line, Tidal Lace by Kim Anderson of I Adore Pattern. Kim is a member of the QDAD group, and being asked to make a quilt for her was a thrill! I Had a lot of fun designing and playing with her fabrics. They are so soft, the colors are striking and rich, and the patterns are uniquely Kim. Today Kim and Tidal Lace were featured on Oliver+S blog. There is also a giveaway involved. My quilt, Down By The Sea, was featured in one of the images. It also happens to be the image used to feature the collection on the Windham Fabrics website AND in the email the company send out to retailer. How awesome is that?!

Down by the Sea

Down by the Sea

There is going to be a blog hop in September, where I will share a tutorial for a pillow and release the Down by the Sea pattern as the first for sale pattern for my new pattern company: Stacey Day Quilts. The quilt itself will have yardage and cutting included for multiple sizes, and the pillow will be a free tutorial utilizing the scraps from the quilt.

Tidal Lace will be available in stores in January, so keep your eyes peeled!

As always,
Happy Stitching!

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