Rain Chains

Hello quilt friends - so glad you're here today! Let's jump right into it with some new table decorations I've designed called Rain Chains.

This colorful and modern table runner and placemat set was created for the Falling for You blog hop, this month's event hosted by Joan of Moosestash Quilting. 

This is the last day of the hop, with the full schedule available at Moosestash Quilting for playing catchup, though I encourage you to visit these fellow quilters sharing their Falling for You creations today.

                                         Friday September 24

QuiltFabrication

Ms P Designs USA

Lianne Makes Stuff

Quilted Delights

MooseStashQuilting

As with most hops I participate in, I don't really start thinking about them until about 6 weeks before the actual dates, unless some idea really jumps out at me in regards to the theme.

For this hop, I knew it should be a fall theme, and with the colors and the small leaf print, I've got that covered. Design though, was a different story.

Not feeling a leaves or pumpkins idea, I turned to the Crafters Edge Tumbler dies for inspiration, ultimately selecting one die from among the 5 offered. I just love that there a 5 sizes to choose from in this set! 

Then I thought about what I could design with that shape, and that's when the rain chain idea hit. If you don't know what a rain chain is, it's an chain of decorative cups to use in place of a downspout on your house. 

Rain chains have been used in Japan for years, and are becoming increasingly popular here. There are several houses in my neighborhood that have them. For me, I just wish they'd bring the chance of rain to parched CA. 

So, with the fabric choices, and the rain chain idea, I'm keeping with the Falling for You blog hop theme with tumbler blocks, and falling water. See how this was meant to be?

Okay! Back to the quilt! So I've got the colors and fabrics chosen, and the rain chain idea, now it was time to do some designing. Playing with different variations of the chain idea, I finally settled on opposing directions, as design-wise, it's very pleasing.

After I pieced the Rain Chains runner, I thought how great it would be to also have some placemats, cause really, with a runner this nice, it deserves a whole set. And who doesn't like something new to see and use in their house?

Another run to JoAnn for a bit more leafy background fabric was all that was needed to make 4 Rain Chains placemats - yeah! And while I was there, I picked up a yard of this pretty leaf print, just because. Who knew it would be the perfect binding!

In that picture, the quilting is also visible, which is an approximate 1/4" to 3/8" stipple in Glide Military Gold. The quilting in the tumblers was kept simple, just enough to hold them down and not detract from the strong, modern piecing design. I think those lines add to the movement though the chains - a win-win!

Now that you know the story behind the Rain Chains table runner and placemat set creation, there is a pattern available in my QuiltFabrication Etsy shop. Enter the code 'RAINCHAINS25' at checkout to receive 25 percent off. Coupon is valid through midnight, Sunday, September 26.

Happy Quilting!

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Monster Truck Jam Quilt Pattern Release

Today's the day - the Monster Truck Jam quilt pattern is now out!

Who can resist this quilt for any truck lover, young or old?? It's full of trucks zooming around, ready to launch themselves off of dirt mounds!

Personally, I absolutely fell in love these monster trucks - they're just too fun! There's Piper, named for the three exhaust pipes,

Crusher, cause I just couldn't get Orange Crush out of my head,

and Hatch, because this one is a hatchback.

Want to make just one truck? All three Monster Truck blocks are available as single blocks, prefect for a small project. They finish at 15" x 11", which is a great size to sew, and to place in a special project such as a pillow. Visit my Etsy shop for Piper, Crusher, and Hatch. 

Joining the three individual monster truck blocks is the complete pattern for the intermediate level Monster Truck Jam, available in three sizes, crib, lap, and twin.

The 45" x 58" crib size uses a modified layout with the same trucks and dirt mounds, 

while the 56" x75" lap size has the same layout as the 66" x85" twin size but without the borders.

I chose to make the Monster Truck Jam twin size quilt cause it looks great on a bed. It's soooo about the trucks!

To celebrate the release of Monster Truck Jam, the full 3-size pattern is available at 25 percent off for the next week! No coupon necessary for Monster Truck Jam - sale ends Friday, August 13th.

Happy Quilting!

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Monster Truck Jam

No more sneak peeks - time for the big reveal of my newest quilt. Introducing Monster Truck Jam!

Inspired and made for Just Let Me Quilt's It's a Guy Thing Blog Hop, 

Monster Truck Jam features three different monster trucks racing over dirt hills -  I think I've designed a quilt to please a lot of guys!

Of course, I'm not the only one stitching with men in mind. Please visit these other creatives showing off their guy-themed projects today.

 July 30

Just Let Me Quilt

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Patchouli Moon Studio

Food for Thought

Though I love all of my trucks, this truck, called Piper, is my favorite! It really made me say 'Oh! This is just too cute' after both designing it and stitching it up.

I seriously had a ton of fun designing these monster trucks, and have decided to make them available in my QuiltFabrication Etsy shop as a individual stand-alone block patterns. Along with Piper, 

there's also Crusher,

and Hatch.

Instructions include all diagrams, sewing techniques, and cutting charts for fat quarter friendly 15" x 11" finished blocks, suitable for a confident beginner quilter. They would be great as a pillow or set with even more trucks for a totally different quilt.

These trucks and hills complete my twin size quilt for a 66" x 85" finish, making it a perfect addition to any truck lover's bed. Seriously, it's all about the trucks!

Not only does it looks great on a twin bed, I love this draped photo which amplifies the angles of the trucks.

Using the same blocks, I've also designed a 56" x 75" lap size, and a 45" x 58" crib size for the little ones. The full Monster Truck Jam pattern for all three sizes is now available. Stitch up some trucks for that guy in your life!

Happy Quilting!

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Cats, Rats, and Quilts

Thank you to everyone who sent a ton of love on Friday for my cat quilt, Sheba. After what happened later that afternoon, I'm almost inclined to love her more than my own cat, Winston! 

Just look at the picture below - got a guess as to what happened?

Yes, that was totally me. I was the epitome of the frantic woman chasing a rat with a broom! 

Granted, Winston was doing what cats do - hunt. He caught a little rat, then played with it for a bit.

In the picture, the rat looks like a goner. I went inside to get a bag to put it in, only to come back to see it escaping to nearby bushes. Then Winston was on the hunt again!

Not thinking he'd find it, I busied myself sweeping up the bird seed that was the initial rat attraction. And lo and behold - he caught it a second time!

And here's my mistake - I had left the screen door slightly open. Winston promptly headed into the house to proudly show me what he had - NOOOO!!!!

Why, oh why do cats do this? 

Then started the frantic broom chasing which only succeeded in scaring that little vermin behind the TV console.  

Now what? Winston was no help, because for him, it was 'out of sight, out of mind'. 

I texted hubby. 

"Coming home soon? I need help getting a mouse out of the house!!" 

His reply - 

" Oh geez, the cats are worthless, eh?" 

I briefly told him the story. 

His reply, 

"Wonderful... tell him to carry it back out" 

I wish it was that easy!!!

My plan was to steer the little critter out from behind the console, but I needed to direct him to the outside. A few pillows, bed trays, plus a few quilts (what a way to use them!) would hopefully send him on his way. Risky, cause he could have climbed over everything!

The picture above was actually taken after the flush. He came out from behind the console like I wanted, but climbed into an unbeknownst-to-me hole in the back of the speaker box, the part circled in the photo below. Geez!

Now I'm stuck, waiting on him and hubby, all the while trying to calm down from a very high adrenaline rush. 

Thankfully, hubby was home within 20 minutes, and thought it great that the pest was trapped in the speaker box. After unplugging and carrying the heavy thing outside, he unscrewed the back panel. We finally found the little offender curled up in batting, way up inside the box. With a few shakes, he was out, scampering away into the bushes again.

But this time, Winston was inside. I told him I'd had enough of his antics for awhile! I know he's proud, but for the rest of the weekend I had more fond thoughts for my cats that don't cause such trouble.

Yes, I still love him, giving him his tummy rubs and such, but I'm keeping a tighter reign on that screen door!

Happy Quilting!

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Halloween Candy Tablerunner

It's almost Halloween, and stores are overflowing with candy right now in preparation for trick o' treat season. Not quite sure how that's going to work this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, but whether or not kids go door to door, everyone still wants their sweet tooth satisfied!

Whether folks venture out or party at home, a very fun way to add to the festivities is to take some those sweet treats and turn them into this adorable Halloween Candy table runner!

Though chocolate confections are my favorite, Halloween just wouldn't be complete without candy corn. Add to that some penny candy, that wrapped hard candy that seems to be in every bank, restaurant, or store candy dish, to make one very hard-to-resist bit of sweetness!

Remember my Candy Corn block? Well, I had no plans to use it as is, so I took it apart, back to the individual candy corn pieces. 

With the help of EQ and graph paper, I designed the Penny Candy block (pattern coming next week), 

and manipulated it to create the Halloween Candy runner.

With the addition of 2" borders in a fun Halloween print, plus the pantograph "Snack Attack" in Glide Cool Grey, I've got a very fun Halloween (and food) themed runner. Let the party begin!

A few more details about the Halloween Candy table runner: 

• it measures approximately 13 1/2" x 44" 
• fabric requirements use both fat quarters and yardage
• blocks are pieced NOT paper pieced
• the pattern is listed for the intermediate quilter, though a highly confident beginner would have success following to the very detailed diagrams
• the Halloween Candy table runner pattern is at special pricing, now thru Oct 31, 2020. Get it before time runs out!

Next week, the Penny Candy block will be available. It's a modified version, featuring a standard block size. The pattern will also include directions for making Penny Candy without the stripes, plus block layout ideas. Hmm, I'm visualizing another quilt - Christmas is just around the corner.

Until then, Happy Quilting everyone!

My Favorite Patterns

Gone Camping Quilt Update

My son's birthday has passed, and his camping quilt is at least a top, but remains unquilted. It's really ok that he didn't get to unwrap it on Sunday, mainly because he was off in the hills with his girlfriend. He's knows he'll get it eventually :)

You can see the blocks are made, and all that's left to do is the to put the spacers between them.

Zoom forward a week, and the blocks with spacers are now a top.

Don't you just love that tent? It's in my son's favorite color - orange. And if you look at the full tree on the very right, the olive green fabric is one of two fat quarters he brought back for me from a recent backpacking trip in the Grand Tetons. No, there's no quilt store there, but he found one on the drive home, and was sweet enough to stop, even calling me to ask what color I wanted.

Note: check out my video tutorial on paper piecing the tent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwPB0L4z6vs

So what's held this quilt up from getting finished as a birthday present? 

Part of it is the water feature he requested, because one always tries to camp near a water source. 

First, I made a lot of beach going one direction. Then decided I didn't like that, so I went back to my original drawing with a smaller beach slanted in the other direction. Better. (Sorry, no pics!)

Then I decided I didn't like the fabric choice for water. Though it was a pretty water-like batik, complete with waves, the value was too dark. Sure, I'll put water in as he requested, but it drew attention away from the tent. Because...

This quilt is all about the tent, being out in the wild, alone with nature, and finding peace. It represents a time and place to escape from all the craziness around us.

Enough said.

So with that in mind, the water is now a quieter blue, to represent a still lake, not some rushing river. I'm off to finish up this quilt, and writing the pattern so others can have a wilderness escape.

Happy Quilting!

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My Favorite Patterns

Celilo

Introducing Celilo, 

a super easy scrap quilt pattern. In this baby version, the sunshiny yellow is just perfect for the Stitching Sunshine Blog Hop, hosted by Carla of Creatin in the Sticks.

                                                           

I'm usually one to shy away from yellow, but paired with these pretty medium to dark blues, this quilt  just says sunshine! 

There's certainly a happy vibe from this quilt, but with those diagonally cascading blues, I'm also reminded of a powerful waterfall, which leads me to tell you how Celilo got it's name.

Recently, hubby and I were out for a walk in a different part of our neighborhood. We came upon a street named 'Celilo', and I thought what a great word - it would make a really great name for this quilt. 

But what does it mean? Is it the name of a person? A tree? Some location? It's good to know what the word means to make sure it fits in with the quilt design. With a bit of Google research, Celilo just happens to be the perfect name for this quilt. What are the chances of that happening???

Turns out, there used to be a waterfall called Celilo Falls on the Columbia River, until it was submerged by The Dalles Dam in 1957. (Side note: two parallel streets over from Celilo is The Dalles Ave - someone on the street naming division for my city had a fondness for northern Oregon).

The cascading diagonal design on Celilo is just so reminiscent of a waterfall - who knew that a chance street name sighting would turn into the perfect name for this quilt! Serendipity indeed!

Of course, the Celilo quilt pattern can be made in any two colors. The trick is to keep the values of each color in the same range. Putting a limit on the variation of value within the blues or the yellows (or whatever chosen colors), keeps the design on track. Here's a pretty purple and aqua version.

And with a bit of planning, this could even be made in a rainbow of colors, with a pale gray background - oh so modern!

The rainbow shown is the lap size (56" x 72") and looks awesome - I'll have to make one!

Not only is the Celilo pattern a great scrap busting pattern, it also comes in four sizes: baby, crib, lap, and twin. Fabric quantities, instructions, charts and diagrams are all included for the two block sizes that make up baby/crib and lap/twin quilts. And as a Stitching Sunshine blog hop special, from now till June 27, 9pm PST, the Celilo pattern is half price in my Etsy shop.

Be sure to visit the other Monday creators for the Stitching Sunshine hop. And over at Creatin in the Sticks, there's the full list for the rest of the week - lots to see over the next few days!

Monday, June 22nd

Just Let Me Quilt

VroomansQuilts

Quilt Schmilt

QuiltFabrication
Life in the Scrapatch
Karrin's Crazy World
Just Because Quilts
Quilting Gail

Happy Quilting!

My Favorite Patterns