Falling Charms Quilt Pattern

The guild has an accuquilt machine you can rent for the month.  Add some gorgeous floral pattern fabric from the free table and you have the Falling Charms Quilt Pattern by Missouri Star Quilting.  Five inch charm squares and jelly strips make this a super easy and fast quilt to put together.

Hoffman Fabric Tour

The guild took a trip to the Hoffman Fabric Factory in Mission Viejo.  We learned all about how the batiks are made.  I grabbed this sweet rose pattern at the pop up store.

Tote Bags

I love to make tote bags.  They are a perfect way to use up panels. 

This is our dog Teddy in a pop art style using batiks.  I take cardboard and put it in the bottom of the bag to give some hold.

This is a swan made from a pattern by Andrea Tsang Jackson of 3rd Story Quilting.  To protect the bottom I added two large buttons.  Now if the bag is ever on the floor the pretty pink fabric will stay clean.

Mandalas

Mandalas are usually circular geometric patterns. Some people find the drawing and coloring of a mandala as a form of meditation. As they focus on coloring in the patterns of the form, they relax, their mind grows quiet, and they may enter into a spiritual space. I copy the patterns from coloring books and stitch them.  They are great projects to take on the go.  Here are a few I have made and turned into bags.

Leah Day Friendship Sample Block

Like sewing with 100 tiny pieces then this is the quilt for you.  This is Leah Day's Friendship Sampler.  Each block was quilted separately and sewed together.  This made for easy quilting because you didn't have to wrestle a large quilt under the needle.  I also liked breaking out of my normal white or cream background to this gun metal grey. Another great scrap buster quilt.

Riley Blake Challenge

Modern quilting can be so freeing and abstract.  I participated in the Riley Blake Challenge this past year.  I was sent fat quarters and I had to use them plus any other Riley Blake fabric I wanted to incorporate.  I used a cut and slash method that I read about in a magazine.  Cutting really nice fabric into slashes can be a bit anxiety provoking but I decided to give into the method.  The result was this abstract piece I titled Regatta.

Stitch Happens

Stitch Happens by Kelli Fannin is a great scrap buster and a fun wall hanging.  Lots of small pieces add dimension to this piece which makes a nice wall hanging or lap quilt