Check Plus in Quilty Magazine

Way back in May, the blog went a little quiet because I was working on some secret sewing.  

I am happy to be able to introduce, Check Plus, a lap sized quilt for November/December 2014 issue of Quilty Magazine (The pattern may also be downloaded as a stand alone pattern from Quilty here).  

This is my first quilt published in a magazine so I am very excited!

Check Plus is a fun, beginner friendly plus in a plus quilt using some of the prints from April Showers by Bonnie and Camille for Moda on a background of Kona Snow.  

I quilted Check Plus in a diagonal pattern and finished off the quilt with a diagonal striped binding.

I made a fun pieced backing for the quilt using one plus block and some Kona Fog.  I think that I might actually like the back better than the front :)

I am very happy to link up with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts and Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation.

I am also linking up to Link a Finish Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday, Finish It Up Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday,  Sewjo @ My Go Go Life, and Show Off Saturday @ Sew She Can.

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2014 - Vintage Star

It's that time of the year...twice a year during quilt market, Amy over at Amy Creative Side hosts a Blogger's Quilt Festival.  We are allowed to link up two quilts to the various categories and have the opportunity to visit and be inspired by other blogger's wonderful quilts.

My second entry to the festival is Vintage Star which I originally posted about here and is entered into the Original Design category.  

My other entry Oh the Places You'll Go is entered into the mini category and can be found here.

For this quilt I designed the pattern and used mostly Scrumptious by Bonnie and Camille for Moda (the line really is scrumptious) with some other Bonnie and Camille fabrics mixed in.  I made the lap version of the quilt finishing at about 60" x 60" and my daughter sleeps under it each night.  

One of the nice things about this pattern is that it is actually very layer cake friendly with each block being formed from 2 layer cake pieces.  Writing this design up as a pattern is on my to-do list :)

I quilted the quilt using a really open paisley swirl type pattern, I like how the curls compliment the straight lines and triangles in the blocks.  I bound the quilt using a red and pink bias stripe fabric from the Scrumptious collection.  

For the back of the quilt I found the perfect sheet set at Target having a repeating leaf pattern in teal and green for only $13.  I am a big fan of Target sheets as quilt backings.

Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Cheryl

If you have stopped by my blog for the first time from the quilt festival thank you!  You can find some of my finishes, tutorials, and mystery quilt-a-long on the tabs at the top of the page.  I am also on Instagram as MeadowMistDesigns.

MQG QuiltCon Challenge Quilt - Blogger's Quilt Festival

I am happy to have finished my QuiltCon Challenge quilt I am calling "Oh the Places You'll Go" in time for the Biannual Blogger's Quilt Festival.

I decided to take part in The Modern Quilt Guild's QuiltCon Michael Miller Spring Cotton Couture Challenge.  For the Cotton Couture challenge we were sent 7 fat eighths of the spring cotton couture fabrics and had to make a quilt using only Michel Miller solids for the quilt top (but we could use Michael Miller solids or prints for the binding and backing).

For this challenge, I decided to try two new techniques: curved piecing and quilting in a concentric circle.  I kept the size of the quilt small (the quilt wound finished at about the size of a fat quarter) which made the quilt quick and fun to make.

I cut the fat eighths into strips with varying widths from 1" to 1.5" and sewed the strips into blocks using of two alternating colors.  I thought the blocks looked like a wonderful fabric bouquet before ironing :)

I sewed 3-4 blocks together to get rows of stripes.

Next, I cut I used curved piecing to piece the quilt top.  The curved piecing went pretty well, I went very slowly with no pinning and I only had one small place where I had to bring out the seam ripper.  When I saw the groupings of colored stripes it reminded me of one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, "Oh the Places You'll Go".

With all of the curved piecing I thought that a spiral type of quilting would look good.  As I have already tried spiral quilting, I decided to try concentric circle quilting for the first time.  At first I thought about having one concentric circle across the whole quilt top, but then I decided that I would add multiple concentric circles so I could have the interference patterns between the circles.

I love the texture of the quilting against the curved piecing.

I even made a fun pincushion using some of the quilt top trimmings.

This quilt was a fun learning experience.  Fingers crossed it will get into QuiltCon :)

Quilt Stats:

Fabrics: Spring Cotton Couture by Michael Miller
Pattern: Improv strip piecing and curved piecing
Quilting: Concentric Circles
Batting: Warm & White
Finished Size: 20" x 18"

I am linking up the Amy's Blogger Quilt Festival in the Mini Quilt Division.  My other entry is Vintage Stars and can be found here.

If you have stopped by my blog for the first time from the quilt festival thank you!  You can find some of my finishes, tutorials, and mystery quilt-a-long on the tabs at the top of the page.  I am also on Instagram as MeadowMistDesigns.

I am linking up to Link a Finish Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday, Finish It Up Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday,  Sewjo @ My Go Go Life, and Show Off Saturday @ Sew She Can.

WIP Wednesday - October 15th

I have done a WIP update in a while and I am working on a bunch of quilts so I thought that I would pull together what I am currently working on to help keep them all clear in my head.

1.  Looking Glass - I made the original Looking Glass quilt in the baby size using some charm packs of Into The Woods.  I am now making the lap size using the Deerfield Hill line by Densye Schmidt in the red and pink colorway.  I added some gray fabric and used white as the background.  I have the blocks half made now, here is a picture of a few of the prints as I was initially laying them out.

2.  Wonky Court House Steps - I posted about the blocks in the early form here.  I have now finished the blocks and need to piece them into a quilt top.  The plan is to add a border of white to each block and then square the blocks up so that I can put them together more easily.

3.  Foothills Mystery Quilt - I am working ahead on the Foothills Mystery Quilt so that I can make sure that all of the instructions are correct and clear.  I have all of the blocks done so now I am piecing the quilt top together.  Here is October's progress:

4.  Sea Star - Sea star is a new pattern that I am working on.  Originally, I was going to make the full/queen version to go on my son's bed, but then I got the opportunity to work with Bear Creek Quilting Company and make him this quilt instead.  So instead of a queen sized, I am going to make the lap sized version. I am currently finishing up the quilt blocks and figuring out a new plan for all of the extra HST I made.  Here are 4 of the blocks (laid out but not sewn together),  I really like the secondary pattern formed by the blocks. 

5.  MQG QuiltCon Challenge Quilt - The challenge for the QuiltCon quilt is to make a quilt using 8 fat eighths of the Michael Miller Cotton Couture Spring Collection.  For this challenge I tried to only use fabrics they gave us (I had to buy some fabric for the backing and binding).  The finished at about the size of a fat quarter.  I have just finished this quilt and need to take pictures.  I will be sharing the finish on Friday so here is a sneak peek of the beginning of the quilting.

6.  Diamonds in the Sky - This is the newest quilt on the list but it takes priority as this quilt will be for Modern Quilts Unlimited.  The magazine had a block design competition and I was lucky enough to win Editor's Choice.  I am ordering fabric right now and the quilt and pattern will be in a future Modern Quilts Unlimited issue (I'll let you know more when I find out more).

I am very happy to link up with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, and WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced.

Blogiversary winner and Scrappy tiles pattern testers

Thank you all so much for your kind words and well wishes on my blogiversary.  

For the pincushion giveaway, Random.org selected number 38 which was Ruth. Congrats Ruth!

In addition, two of my pattern testers have posts on their blogs describing a little more about the quilts and their processes (along with more pictures).

Be sure to check out Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts and Lin @ Lin's Quilts.

Just remember, Scrappy Tiles is available on Craftsy and Etsy for $5.50 for only a few more days.

Thanks!

Foothills Mystery Quilt - My October Blocks

The October instructions for the Foothills Mystery Quilt were to make 12 Square in a Square blocks.  

This month's instructions took me far, far less time than the HST of September. I like to oversize my Square in a Square (SiaS) blocks, then trim them down to size to make sure that I have 1/4" between each of the corners of the inner square to the outer square.  

Here is a picture of my 12 finished blocks, I am starting to like the scrappy low volume background and scrappy contrasting prints.

Thanks for quilting along with me :)

I am linking up to MOP Monday @ Tweety Loves Quilting, Anything Goes Mondays @ Stitch by Stitch, Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, and Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, Show and Tuesday @ Freshly Squeezed Fabrics, and Scraptastic Tuesday @ She Can Quilt.

 

Scrappy Tiles Testers Part 2

Yesterday I highlighted 3 of my pattern testers and reviewers, Beth, Lynda, and Wendy.  

Today I wanted to highlight the other three wonderful women that helped me out so much with the pattern testing and reviewing.

First up is Lin from Lin's Quilts. I met Lin through the 2014 New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop. Lin has been sewing since 6th grade and got into quilting about 25 years ago, and have been addicted ever since. She has three kids and three granddaughters. Her quilting is amazing, go check it out!

Lin used scraps to make her version of Scrappy Tiles. Check out her quilt top:

The second quilter and tester I would like to highlight today is Ashley.  Ashley is a newer quilter I met though the blog who was kind enough to offer to pattern test for me.  She used bright scraps (there are coordinating pieces from three different fabric lines, plus two random designs).  

She also gave me the idea to include some basic quilting tutorials on my blog and have links to them within the patterns so that quilters who need a little more instruction on binding or quilting can get additional instruction.  I am working on the tutorials now.

Last, but definitely not least is my super quilty friend Paige who I met through our local modern quilting guild.  Paige does not have a blog (yet), but is one of the most wonderful quilters I have ever met.  She is a source of inspiration for me; her piecing and quilting are second to none, her designs are fabulous, and her advice and knowledge are generously given.

Paige was highlighted by the MQG (here) after she won 2nd place at the AQS show in Grands Rapids in the Modern category.  Paige has been so helpful to review almost every single one of my patterns, be it for a tutorial, for sale, or for a publication.  

Paige is always there to bounce ideas off of and I look forward to getting to know her better and becoming a better quilter through her mentoring.

Thank you so much Lin, Ashley, and Paige!

I want to thank everyone who has already purchased the pattern, Scrappy Tiles was a Top 20 Best Seller at Craftsy on Monday!

If you are looking for my one year blogiversary giveaway, you can find it here.

Scrappy Tiles Testers Part 1

I mentioned in my post yesterday, I have released the Scrappy Tiles pattern and it is available in my Etsy shop and Craftsy shop for $5.50 for 2 weeks (through Monday October 20th) before it goes up to its full price.

I want to thank everyone who has already purchased the pattern, Scrappy Tiles was a Top 20 Best Seller at Craftsy yesterday!

Today I wanted to highlight three of the wonderful women that helped me out so much with the pattern testing and reviewing.

First up is Beth from Cooking up Quilts.  I met Beth through the 2014 New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop and she makes some absolutely beautiful quilts and bags.  Go check out her latest finish, a great take on the classic Churn Dash quilt.  

In addition, she is an amazing pattern tester.  In one day (in fact less than 24 hours) she had the top complete using a layer cake she had!  Less than a week from getting the pattern she had the entire quilt quilted and bound.  She named her version "All Mixed Up" and used her left over layer cake slices for a pieced back.  I love her version with its wonderful swirl quilting!  

The second quilter and tester I would like to highlight today is Lynda.  Lynda does not have a blog, so here is a bit about her:

"I am a 69 y/o widow retired from working in the Insurance Industry for over 40 years now living in the PNW.  I have three children and three years ago I was blessed with three grandchildren, two girls and a boy, a perfect family all at once!  At 3 my daughter calls them her mini mafia and Grandma loves making quilts and other fun stuff for them.

 I believe that being creative keeps you young – you don’t have to be good, just be yourself – if you like it that is all that matters."

Lynda made an excellent Christmas and winter version of the quilt using a layer cake of Winter’s Lane.  She said that one of things she enjoyed about the pattern was that the blocks could be rotated so that the birds and other printed objects in the fabrics could be right side up.  Here are some pictures of her finished quilt:

Last, but definitely not least is Wendy from The Crafter's Apprentice.  Wendy is not only an amazing quilter, but also does wonderful knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross stitch, sewing, jewelry making, felting, spinning, Hardanger, blackwork, candle making and most lately glass work.  Her latest finish is this amazing braided wire bracelet.  Wendy was super kind to lend her proofreading eye for my pattern. She helped make the pattern terminology consistent and fixed my grammar boo-boos.

Thank you so much Beth, Lynda, and Wendy!

If you are looking for my one year blogiversary giveaway, you can find it here.

Scrappy Tiles Pattern Now Available

I am happy to introduce the Scrappy Tiles Pattern today!  The pattern is layer cake and scrap friendly and contains instructions for baby and lap sized quilts.

The pattern for Scrappy Tiles has been in development for a while.  The quilt was actually finished back in May but I had to put the drafting of the pattern off for a few months for some secret sewing (which I get to show off within the next month!).

I had 6 wonderful women test and review the pattern for me and I am so grateful for them. Their versions are posted here and here.

The Scrappy Tiles pattern looks like a random array of squares and rectangles, but is actually made of of a repeating single block design that is rotated within the quilt top to give the top a random look. The Scrappy Tiles pattern has directions to make the quilt top using 10" x 10" squares (commonly referred to a layer cake slices) and scraps in two sizes: a baby quilt measuring 36" x 48" and a lap (or toddler) size measuring 48" x 60".

For my version of Scrappy Tiles, I used a stacker (what Riley Blake calls their layer cakes) of Fly a Kite by October Afternoon for Riley Blake.

To introduce Scrappy Tiles, the pattern will be available in my Etsy shop and Craftsy shop for $5.50 for 2 weeks (through Monday October 20th) before it goes up to its full price.

If you decide to make anything from a Meadow Mist Designs pattern or tutorial, I hope you will consider adding it to the Meadow Mist Designs flickr group and/or use the hashtag #MeadowMistDesigns when sharing on Instagram.

Thanks!

UPDATE: I want to thank everyone who has already purchased the pattern, Scrappy Tiles was a Top 20 Best Seller at Craftsy today!

I am linking up to MOP Monday @ Tweety Loves Quilting, Anything Goes Mondays @ Stitch by Stitch, Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, and Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, Show and Tuesday @ Freshly Squeezed Fabrics, and Crazy Mom Quilts.

1st Blogiversary Celebration

It was one year ago today (plus a just a few days) that I started this little blog of mine.  I am floored by how much fun this has been and how many connections I have made with such wonderful quilters! I hesitated starting this blog for months before I finally took the plunge.  This blog has pushed me outside my comfort zone and has been a great journal to capture my quilts and my quilting progress.

I want to thank you all so much for joining me on my journey!  With that I think a little celebration giveaway is in order don't you?  To celebrate I will giveaway one (1) pincushion from my etsy shop.

As this to celebrate everyone who has been with me on this blogging journey, to enter this giveaway, you much be a follower of my blog.  Followers can be old or brand new and the giveaway is open to followers everywhere in the world.

To enter please leave a comment, any comment (one per person).  If you would like an idea for a comment (totally optional), you could take a look through my etsy shop and let me know your favorite item is to help me figure out what new items to make to fill the shop with.  

The giveaway will go until Sunday, October 12th at 9pm EST.

Thank you for joining me in my quilting journey!

Giveaway now closed, thanks for entering!

Foothills Mystery Quilt - October Instructions

Welcome to the October instructions for the Foothills Mystery Quilt-a-long! The instructions for previous months can be found in the Foothills Mystery Quilt tab above.  The monthly instructions will be posted on the first Thursday of each month.

** In addition to the flicker group Meadow Mist Designs, we now have a hashtag.  When you post pictures on instragram please use #FoothillsMystery so that everyone can see your progress :)

And now onto October's instructions, we will be making 12 square in a square blocks.  This month's piecing should take you much less time than the HST of September (so you also have this month to finish the HST if needed).

Square in a Square Units

Using 12 fabric set B squares (4¾” x 4¾”) and 48 fabric set A triangles (3⅞” x 3⅞”), make 12 Square in a Square (SiaS) units (6½” x 6½”).

a.  Center a fabric set A triangle (3⅞” x 3⅞”) along a first side of a fabric set B square (4¾” x 4¾”).  Sew along the edge with a scant ¼” seam (shown as a dotted line), press outward.

b.  Sew a 2^nd triangle on the side of the square opposite to the first side, press outward. Note: you can sew both of these triangles on then press instead of pressing after each addition.

c.  Continue by sewing a 3^rd and 4^th background triangle onto the square, pressing outwards.

d.  Trim off the tabs formed by the sewn on triangles and square the unit to 6½” x 6½” (if necessary) making sure there is ¼” between the corner of the inner square and the outer side of the unit.  Form a total of 12 SiaS units (6½” x 6½”).

Thanks so much for quilting along with me!