2015 Pantone Quilt Challenge- Marsala Edition

Well, you all know how I felt about Marsala when it was first announced.

BUT I love a good challenge, and I have always wanted to participate in the Pantone Quilt Challenge hosted by Anne @Play-Crafts and Adrianne @On the Windy Side. I missed out on Radiant Orchid last year ( I had all the fabric and forget why it never got done), so Marsala it was.

Marsala button

I wanted to try and use colors that maybe weren’t the easiest to match to Marsala. I wanted to try and bring out some of the other undertones you find with it, while keeping it warm and friendly. I bought a bundle from Hawthorne Threads, and then added colors to my shopping cart until they looked good on screen. Of course thats always a gamble, the screen won’t show how bright or vibrant a fabric is, but I lucked out and got exactly what I thought I was getting. Woo hoo!!

And then it sat. and sat and sat and sat and sat. AAAAAAAAAND SAT. I had too many ideas to try and time kept on slipping away. I started to panic.

When I finally realized I was overthinking things, I took a step back and started looking through some of my books. I came across the pattern “In the Throne Room” from the book Modern Rainbow by Rebecca Bryant and experienced a true blue AH-HA! moment. I didn’t make it exactly, but you can see the influence in the layout.

 

Presenting Trade Winds.

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Trade Winds is 42″x55″. For the background I cut into my huge stash of Cotton and Steel Dotties Cousin in Linen. I think it is the perfect neutral and gives a really natural warm glow to the quilt. I picked eight of the Marsala fat quarters based on their value from darkest to lightest and paired them with the jade and tangerine. Those two hues are very very different, but work so well to pull out the earthy tones in the marsala. I also arranged them by value, so the bars fluctuate from dark to light to dark a pair of times across the strip. In the spirit of doing things that are a challenge for me, I left a TON of negative space. I also decided, after laying the strips out, that alternating the direction of the prints really made the quilt interesting, like a back and forth between the two groups of Marsala at either end. IMG_4457

For the quilting, I took a chance on a variation of a design I saw on 13 Spools. Amy Garro has some great tutorials for quilting, and my favorite is her Matchstick feathers.  I am not quite at feather level on the long arm, so I thought I would do some freemotion large swirls, in part to contrast with the pieced bars, and in part to start getting used to the control it takes to really reign the curves in. As I went, I decided to add some horizontal spaced lines to compliment my spaced bars and add the contrast to the swirls. It isn’t matchstick, but the effect is what I wanted,and the result looks like a cloudy sky with the wind blowing between them. The almost Oriental color theme, the back and forth of the colors,  and the quilting stuck the name Trade Winds in my head. I think it really suits. I used Aurifil 40wt in Sand for the quilting, and the darker thread did wonders for the quilting!

Of course I Marsala bombed the binding with my favorite arrowhead print, which I also alternated the direction of as a nod to the bars.

This quilt is very different for me, with a lot of super bold elements, and I really love it. I am also happy that I was able to use a unique color pairing to bring out the best in the Marsala. I actually kind of like it!

Linking up with the 2015 Pantone Quilt Challenge.

Happy Stitching,

StaceyDay_Logo

Cirrus Solids BOM Challenge

I am super excited to share with you all my Cirrus Solids Block of the Month Challenge! 

 

Lattice Block

Image Credit: Cloud 9 Fabrics

 

Introducing the Lattice Block!

Back in July, Amy@Badskirt posted in the QDAD Facebook group about the Cirrus Solids BOM Challenge hosted by Cloud 9 Fabrics, to introduce their new line of solid fabrics.  Cirrus solids are a soft, supple and vibrant line of chambray weight cross woven yarn-dyed solids. There are 21 hues in the collection, and hopefully they will be adding more! The fabrics are 100% certified organic and the dyes are low impact, so not only are they gorgeous, they are ecologically responsible. So naturally the more you have the better it is for the environment, right? I am always up for a challenge, so I started playing with color combinations and shapes. Then life happened, and I had to step away for a while.

About a month later I had a brainstorm, and sketched out some block ideas on a sketch pad I keep on my nightstand (you never know when inspiration will hit). I drafted out a few blocks and plugged in some fabrics.

There are so many variations and options with this block. It creates unique shapes when placed on point or horizontally. You can mirror the blocks, play with the color, whatever you want! Super versatile, and you know how I love versatile!

You can download the pattern and instructions HERE on Cloud 9’s blog. The instructions include yardage to make a 16 block quilt. Below are some of the variations I came up with. You will need a few more than 16 block

Shorelines in Horizontal Deep Sea in On Point

I can wait to make something with my bundle of Cirrus Solids! I hope you all take the time to enter the challenge! The entries are rolling, which means your block could be picked any time, you don’t have to enter every month. You can also check out the past challenge winners here and here!

A big thank you to Cloud 9 for making this a great challenge!

 

Happy Stitching!

StaceyDay_Logo

Hoffman Challenge 2014

My fingers went a little numb writing this.

 

Today the Hoffman Challenge released it travel lists and winners. I am over the moon to announce that my entry, Fossilized Gemstones, won 3rd place in the Pieced Category! woo-hoo!!

Fossilized Amethyst

Fossilized Gemstones

The design was my QDAD design from May 9th, and it fit the challenge fabric perfectly. I fussy cut the printed fabric to get squares of teh background, which looks like fancy spiderweb-flower motif, andthen fussy cut a pair of the butterflies from the print. The finished quilt reminded me of a piece of amber with an insect embedded in it. Thus Fossilized Gemstones was named.

Butterfly

Butterfly centers

The quilting was done once again by the esteemed Joan Nicholson of Maple Leaf Quilters. She got exactly what I wanted! I wanted some ghost blocks on the corners and then lines radiating outwards from the edges, with some complimentary quilting in the gemstones.

Ghost Block

Ghost Block

I used a nice tight 2″ double fold bias binding for the finished edge. I played with the idea of a facing, but in the end the binding gave the look I wanted.

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I used mostly solids with the challenge fabric. I scoured the internet for that purple. I has a tiny amount in my stash and nothing else would do. It is a discontinued color from Freespirit called Mulberry Wine. Its the right amount of purple and grey with a warm base. I also used some Kona in Snow, Silver, Ash, and Smoke.

 

You can see the entire line up of award quilts, jewelry, dolls, and accessories here. Its well worth a look, a lot of beautiful items all travelling around the country in 2014. I am looking forward to the next Challenge Newsletter, it is rumored to have a sneak peek at the next challenge fabric!

Happy Stitching!

StaceyDay_Logo

Petal Pinwheel Challenge and Upcoming Workshop

Monday night was the annual outdoor meeting of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. I have missed it every year from being out of town, but this year I finally got to go. It was so much fun sitting at Trout Lake with my fellow VMQGers. We had a great turnout considering its summertime, and we are now officially over 100 members! Way to go VMQG! This was the meeting where we showed off our MQG Petal Pinwheel challenge quilts. I got mine back from Joan that afternoon and quickly sewed the binding on before I left the house, then hand stitched it to the back during the meeting. I love a hand turned binding!

It took forever to get a good picture of it though, since it was super windy that afternoon. My patient husband stood there battling cats and kids and peeking neighbors so I could finally get a good shot to enter in the challenge. I drafted a template and then played with the orientation until I got the movement I wanted, without slapping you in the face with a pinwheel =)

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The best catless, kidless, peeking neighborless picture I could get when the wind was down. Yes, I know there is still a kid in it =)

I fussy cut the prints and added Cotton Couture Solids in Sun, Kryptonite, Watermelon, Coral, Aqua and Orange. The background is CC in natural. I ordered Khaki but it was a little too green tinged to work. I have other plans for it, probably a QDAD =)

Spinners

Spinners

I paper pieced the tiny pinwheels. They are 3″ square and I offset them around the outside, again to mimic movement. Joan quilted it perfectly again, with spinning straight lines that I just love! The little details in the center of my spinners are perfect! I chose the Peg a Plenty print for my binding and cut it on the bias. I love a bias stripe binding! (Have I mentioned I love bias binding??)

I also announced a paper piecing workshop that I will be teaching in September. I am very excited to be teaching. Paper piecing is my favorite technique. You can do so much with it! Its a beginner class so I will be showing my students how to pre-cut strips for full coverage, how to do the piecing, how to adjust a block when needed, and all the tips and trick to good piecing skills and well made blocks. The pattern is really easy and from Amanda Hines Kattner of What The Bobbin? Her July 21 QDAD was a perfect foundation ready block and it also has the bonus technique of a Y-seam, and she happily sent me the image file. Woo hoo!

For those of you interested, block details, quilt ideas, and  sign up for the workshop will be available soon on the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild website. There is no pattern fee for this one. Hope to see you there!

StaceyDay_Logo

 

 

 

WIP Wednesday

Stacey is going to Quiltcon!! Woot woot!!

I am super excited to be able to attend Quiltcon 2015. I don’t know how I am going to wait until Feb! Resgistration opened this morning, and man, that was a crazy nightmare of stress, but I got into all the workshops I wanted. It was hard to narrow it down, there are so many great speakers and teachers. I ended up with 3 full days of workshops. I don’t know when I am going to see the show. I might have to try and modify my schedule a bit.  I am doing the Paperless Paper Piecing and Curved Seams Piece-lique taught by Cristy Fincher. For those of you who don’t know, Cristy Fincher is the daughter of the esteemed Sharon Schambers, multi-award winning quilter, and one of my personal quilting inspirations.  Cristy runs the online business Purple Daisies, where you can find Sharon’s lessons and tutorials and patterns. You can also view her award winning quilt up close, Mystique. This quilt is amazing and all my favorite shades of fuchsia. Really, look at her gallery. It’s amazing!

 

I also got into two of Krista Withers half day quilting workshops. I am especially looking forward to these. I have had the pleasure of hearing her speak at a Vancouver Modern QUilt Guild meeting and seeing her work up close. The two workshops are about composite drawing and and ghost shapes. Exactly what I need!

I still have to go back and see if there are any lectures I might want to go to. Maybe free up some time, we will see what is left. A lot is sold out, but that’s okay, I might learn something new! I am mostly looking forward to meeting my quilting friends in person! So excited!!

On to the WIP portion of the evening!

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My petal pinwheel quilt top is done and off to Joan for its VIP quilting treatment. Joan seems to be able to read my mind and interpret my psychobabble and give me exactly what I didn’t realize I wanted. So now I am on to my Hoffman Challenge quilt. I went a completely different direction with it this year. Normally I do these paper pieced masterpieces of color and stitchery, but this year I wanted to really bring it in and do something modern. Modern quilts are underrepresented in the Hoffman Challenge (read:none) I wonder if it’s not known enough in the modern quilting world, or it’s the fabric. Either way, its a load of fun and it is a CHALLENGE. You don’t always like the fabric, so creating something you love can be hard, but definitely worthwhile.  I make sure I get the show book each year so I can look at all the lovely quilts that travel the country. The closest mine has ever been was Yakima, WA. Alas, I was unable to make the event but there will be others =)

Pile of pressing...

Pile of pressing…

This evening has been filled with lots of pressing. There is going to be some stitch ripping after this post. A tip for ripping paper piecing stitches- place the blade between the paper and the fabric, the stitches come out cleaner.

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I have a big mess of precut fabric shapes for such a small quilt ( the max perimeter is 160″, any shape). I also fussy cut the challenge fabric, the background between the print shapes is gorgeous and quite modern. That navy is delish! I also have some triangles cut from a Freespirit Designer Solid in Mulberry. I love that dusty shade of plum purple, and it fits the gray scale perfectly.

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I thought about including a pair of butterflies in the blocks. What do you think?

 

I would love to see more modern quilts in the Hoffman show. Maybe I will write to the curator, and I certainly hope you pick up some of the challenge fabric and give it a try! You can find the details here, and the deadline is July 18. Quilts must arrive in Colorado by the end of that day.

Would you consider the Hoffman Challenge with me next year?

 

Happy Stitching,

Stacey

 

Linking up to Lee@ Freshly Pieced.

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Quilt Design A Day

Just when I thought I couldn’t do much more, BAM! I decided that joining the Quilt Design A Day group with Anne from Play-Crafts would be the best thing ever. And it TOTALLY is!

The idea is to use one of the two daily palettes from Design Seeds to make a quilt design inspired by the photo and use the palette for the colors. The designs should take no more than 30 min or so, and the whole point is to challenge yourself and have fun.

Win on both points!

Since I am not a big user of solids, this is quite a challenge for me, but its getting easier every day. My favorite design so far is from yesterday.

Yesterdays palette: Floating Tones

FloatingTones_1

Yesterdays Quilt:

Floating Tones 2

I initially made the lily block as the quilt, but it seemed to much like a block trying to be a quilt! I played with the block, offset the appliques, and added an Irish Chain variation for the background. The quilt layout is an on point with 9″ blocks. This one might actually get made as a small wall hanging.  I really like how the background gives the impression of rippling water.

So far my favorite design is the one Anne showed on her blog inspired by the Artichokes. I want to see a full pattern from that!

Everyone involved have been super supportive and encouraging to each other. I am having the best time, and every day it gets a little easier.

Happy Stitching!

Stacey

Flying Finish

 

This weekend two of my favorite quilts went winging their way down to the AQS Paducha show! Sapphire Star and Sherbert at the Beach, hands down two of my favorite quilts, were accepted. I was thrilled to find those emails in my inbox, let me tell you! I wish I could be flying away to the show to see them, and the quilts from my favorite quilters! I think there is another Myers-Badger quilt making the rounds and they are always STUNNING.  Sherbert at the Beach was accepted into the new Modern Quilt category, while Sapphire Star is in the Traditional Wall hanging from a Pattern Category.

I managed to finish up my Riley Blake project for the MQG Riley Blake Basics Challenge. I even finished it in time to enter the contest! Woot woot!

Quilts 002This is only the second pillow I have ever made. The zipper is a vertical zipper. The pillow form was the same size as the finished dimensions of the case, but I don’t think it is puffy enough. I might scrounge around for a 22″ insert. The pillow is 20″ finished, and the scallops are finished edge applique. I used Free Spirit Designer Solid in Chamois for the negative spaces, which I thought would be more off white, but is definitely a yellow hue. The pillow is a sample as well as the challenge entry. Gotta love the whole dual aviary demise with a single hard round object.

I also finished my Trend Tex Challenge quilt for the Canadian Quilters Association Quilt Canada. The show is in Ontario this year, which is much too far for me to travel, and it sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to see all the different quilts, especially because this year they have also introduced Modern Quilt Category. I would love to see what makes it in! Not to mention the stellar merchant mall. There are a plethora of modern online quilt shops in Ontario.

Quilts 005I free pieced this puppy, and matchstick quilted it. I don’t think I will be repeating that anytime soon. The quilt is 18″x20″ approx, and it took me 5 bobbins and way more time that it ever should have. But it looks great!!

Quilts 010This quilt will be auctioned off with all the other Trend Tex Challenge quilts. I hope whoever get it loves it as much as I do!

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild should make a great showing in the Modern categories. I think a dozen members entered multiple projects. I entered three myself.  I will keep you posted =) Until then…

Happy Stitching!

Stacey

Blogathon Canada Day!

Welcome Everyone from the Blogathon Canada Blog Hop!!
SewSistersQuiltShop

My name is Stacey, and I live in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada. I have been blogging here for just over a year now. I love to quilt, and Paper piecing stars and compasses are my favorite. I am a founding member of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild, and I love it! I am a self-described Hybrid Quilter, not fully traditional, not fully modern, but fully a quilter! I love to write patterns, and I work as an X-Ray Technologist to support my quilting addiction.

I hope you enjoy your visit.

I am so excited to share my newest quilt with everyone- Sherbert At The Beach!

Sherbert at the Beach

Sherbert at the Beach

Sherbert at the Beach is my Michael Miller Cotton Couture Challenge quilt. I gets its name from a memory of the summer, when I took my little guy to the beach on a hot day. We had ice cream and it dripped all over the sand, too fast for us to catch it. It was a great day that I will always remember. When the challenge was announced at the August guild meeting the bright, citrus palette immediately brought the idea of bright fruity sherbert to mind and the memory of that day. Having only worked with Kona solids at that point, the Michael Miller Cotton Couture was a pleasant change for me. I like the texture and the weight of the fabric. It is almost a voile weight. Very light, easy to sew.  I chose a  Free Spirit Designer Solid in Sandstone as by background color to keep the colors popping without looking like a neon sign. I also used it for the backing and binding, and threw my extra blocks onto the back. WHAT?! A Pieced back you say! That’s right, I finally did it!

The quilt consists of 16 Disappearing Nine Patch blocks. Those were a lot of fun to make once I got over the fact that I was technically making each block twice. I chose random color placements and some I even cut off-center for some variety. Overall it worked out great and this quilt is probably the most truly modern thing I have ever made.

Quitling Detail

Quilting Detail

I chose an overall meandering square design for the quilting. I saw the design used by Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting some weeks ago, and I immediately thought if it when I was preparing to quilt.  I free motion quilted mine however, and getting those points perfect takes some practice! Not all the lines are perfectly straight, which I think gives it a great organic feel. I used a YLI Coated Cotton Quilting thread in Rose  for the top and Mettler Metrosene for the bobbin. The balance between the two threads was amazing and you cannot see the colored thread on the back.

YLI Rose

YLI Coated Cotton Thread in Rose

I was very impressed with the thread. I was afraid that the weight combined with the coating would not go over well, but it is specially made for machine quilting, which definitely shows when you are quilting. I highly recommend trying some out!

Quilting Detail

Quilting Detail

Thank you everyone for for coming over for a visit! There will be lots of exciting things happening here at Stacey in Stitches over the next few months, so feel free to follow along!

As promised, here is the free pattern I promised you all! Some of you may recall the Quilted Clock I made for my FLiRTS swap partner. There was enough interest to turn that clock into a pattern. Enjoy!

Quilted CLock Pattern

Quilt CLock Templates

Happy Stitching,

Stacey

Looks What’s Back!

My Hoffman quilts from 2012 is finally home! Yay!! I have been itching to take better photos of this one and bring it in to a guild meeting. I haven’t had much to show lately, so I can’t wait.

Hoffman Quilt 2013

My Secret Garden 2013

This quilt was a mini tribute to one of my favorite quilts from my favorite quilting duo- Greensleeves by Claudia C Myers and Marilyn Badger. They are the super stars behind Super Star and Sparkle Plenty as well.

I quilted it in invisible thread because I was trying out some free-motion stipples and feathering for the first time. It was the most heavily quilted thing I had done in a very long time at the time, and it snowballed into some of the quilting you see on my new pieces.

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I am so happy My Secret Garden is home and hanging in my hallway.

 

Lots of exciting things coming in the next few months! In the meantime, check out the Hoffman Challenge 2014 Fabric. I am stumped. Any suggestions?

 

Happy Stitching,

 

Stacey