Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 12 - Winners

I am happy to announce the two winners of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 12 giveaway.  (You can find my block and the different quilts I rendered using it here).

The first winner, who will receive a copy of the 100 Blocks Vol 12 magazine directly from Quiltmaker is Susan:

The second winner, who will receive a copy of the 100 Blocks Vol 12 magazine and two of my newly printed patterns from me is Kathleen:

The optional question was about your favorite quilting notion.  The favorite by far was the rotary cutter followed by the seam ripper.  I totally agree with those choices!

Happy Thanksgiving Sale at Meadow Mist Designs

Happy Thanksgiving!  In honor of the holiday, black friday, and cyber monday, I have having a sale here at Meadow Mist Designs!

The sale will be taking place over at my Etsy shop and will contain 2 specials:

1.  25% off everything :)  Use coupon code HAPPY at checkout for the discount.  I have bunch of new pincushions and sewing accessory sets as well as digital and print patterns.

Note: Due to the Thanksgiving Holidays, all orders (for physical items) placed on or after Wednesday November 25th will be shipped on Monday November 30th. Thank you for your understanding. Instant download quilt patterns will not be affected.

2. The digital version of my Christmas pattern "Poinsettia Pinwheels" is on a super sale for only $3.50!

Handmade Holidays 2015: Gifts for Cooks

Every November, Sew Mama Sew runs a popular series called Handmade Holidays. On each day of the month, a guest curator puts together a coordinated list of DIY gifts (with a focus on quilting and sewing) for (such as gifts for techies, kids, etc)  

Today, I have the pleasure of being the guest curator for a list of Gifts for Cooks.  I had such fun going through the internet to find wonderful tutorials, it was like shopping without spending any money!  In my post you will find some great tutorials for pot holders, aprons, tea cozies, tea towels and more.

I hope you have a chance to hop over to Sew Mama Sew today and check out my list (and there also are a bunch of giveaways going on with the series too!)

If you are hoping over here from Sew Mama Sew for the first time, welcome!  I hope that you will stay a few minutes and check out my recent finishes, newly revamped tutorials page, and mystery quilts.  I am also going to start a new series on my blog on how to write quilt patterns starting in January.  You can follow my blog using the links below so you won't miss any of it :)

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Bright Baby Quilt Finish

I have a fun finish to share with you today, I have named it my Bright Baby Quilt (innovative name right?)

I started this quilt in September  before my little roller skating tumble took me away from the sewing machine for a while.

I was making this baby quilt as a present for some of my sister's friends who are expecting a baby at the beginning of January. The couple had struggled for many years with infertility and so my sister wanted to gift them a bright and bold quilt. They are not finding out the sex of the baby so the quilt had to also be gender neutral. 

I used this jellyroll of FreeSpirit bold solid colors and took out a few of the pinks and purples to make the color palette more gender neutral.

I used the Wishes String Quilt pattern by Karen Vail (of Cascade Quilts) available as a free tutorial on the Moda Bake Shop. The pattern is really cool because you sew the jelly roll strips into a tube and then using a special ironing and cutting trick you wind up with blocks with the white strip centered along the diagonal. 

Here is a picture of my almost 15 year old kitty, Abby, modeling the blocks.

I sewed the blocks together and then added a white border to help control and distortion from quilting (because the blocks have all bias edges).

For the quilting, I kept it simple with some straight line echoing of the diamond shapes and then through the middle of the white stripes.

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

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 12 - Paper Star - Blog Hop and Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 12 Blog Tour!

I am so excited to have a block called Paper Star in Volume 12 of the 100 Blocks magazine.  
(You can see my previous 100 Blocks: Sewing Triangles included in Volume 10 and Outlined Plus in Volume 11.)

Paper Star is a paper pieced block I designed using EQ7 that creates fun primary and secondary star patterns.  I love paper piecing because it allows for such precision and different angles.  

I had a great time playing around with the block design (some might argue a little too much :) and by changing the colorations I was able to shift the focus to different elements within the quilt design.

Here is the quilt design with the single block from above repeated:

Changing the colors of the secondary stars and background yields a different look:

Another idea is to have all of the stars be the same color except for one...

For a more modern quilt top, you can eliminate some blocks to create some negative space (which is also nice in that is decreases the amount of block piecing):

Next, I made the background black so that the stars would pop off of the quilt top and took out the partial stars around the outer edges of the quilt top for another look: 

Switching the colors so that the stars are white and the background has different colors gives the block has a totally different look.  It is hard to tell that this is actually the same block!

I hope that you have enjoyed all of these renderings of Paper Stars being used in different quilt tops to see how versatile the block is. 

Make sure you stop by Quiltmaker's blog, Quilty Pleasures, for some great prizes and a complete list of blog tour participants! 

Now on to the Giveaways (yes plural!):

Prize 1: Quiltmaker is sponsoring the giveaway of a copy of 100 Blocks Magazine Vol. 12.  This magazine drawing is open to everyone-international included.  The magazine will be shipped directly from Quiltmaker's.

Prize 2:  I have an additional 100 Blocks Magazine Vol. 12 plus two of my Meadow Mist Designs printed patterns to giveaway.  This giveaway is open to everyone-international included and will be shipped from me.

To Enter:  

1.  Leave a comment, any comment.  If you would like a topic, you can tell me your favorite quilting notion.

2.  My followers (old or new) get a bonus entry.  Leave a second comment with how you follow.  (You can follow by Bloglovin, Email, Instagram.)

The giveaway will run for 1 week, until 8 pm EST on Monday November 23rd.  I try to respond to each and every comment I get on my blog, but with giveaway posts the numbers are usually too great to do this.  PS - If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave your e-mail address so I have a way of contacting you if you win.

**The giveaway is now closed, thanks for entering **

Midnight Mystery Quilt - My HST and Block Assembly 1

November's assignment for the Midnight Mystery quilt-a-long was to make a few half square triangles (HST) and start on the block assembly.

(It is not too late to join! See the Mystery Quilt Tab above for all of the information.)

Here are my HSTs:

And here are the first parts of my block assembly:

Just remember that it is not too late to join in! (We also have the option of an un-mystery quilt for those that would like a sneak peek of the finished design).

The next set of instructions will be posted on the first Thursday of December (the 3rd), thanks so much for quilting along with me :)

Related Mystery Quilt Posts

Mystery Quilt Intro

June - Fabric Requirements

July - Cutting Instructions
August - Flying Geese
September  - Square in a Square
October - Courthouse Steps
November - HST and Block Assembly 1

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.

Trunk Full of Quilts - An Online Trunk Show

Welcome to my stop on the Trunk Full Of Quilts online quilt trunk show event hosted by Soma @ Whims and Fancies. If you are new to my blog, I hope that you will take a few minutes to look around. In addition to the seven quilts I highlight below, you can find all of my finishes for the last 3 years on the tabs above.

I am so excited for Soma's online truck show, I have never done an actual, in-person trunk show. This link party gave me an excuse to look back through the quilts I have made throughout the years and share some of my favorites. I look forward to visiting all of the other truck shows too!

For each quilt, I am going to give a little information, but you can click on the name of the quilt to be taken to its blog post if you would like to learn more about it.

I figured that I should start my trunk show with My first quilt, made using the Stepping Star pattern by Sweet Jane. Instead of using the jelly roll the quilt was designed for, I used a variety of green, blue, and brown 1/4 yard cuts and fat quarters from JoAnn's. I also resized the quilt and added a row of blocks into the backing. While basically writing the pattern with my changes, I fell in love with writing patterns and quilt math.  A simple meander quilting pattern finished off the quilt.

On a "Jelly" Roll has been one of my favorite quilt designs and is my number best selling pattern.  I used a jelly roll of Oh Deer by Momo combined with a crisp Kona white background.  I really love the bright fun colors in this quilt and Irish chain look.

Another of my favorite finishes in 2013 was this wall hanging Folded Star Mini Quilt.  I used the tutorial Fancy Folded Star Pot Holder by Maria from Not Only Quilts to make a fun mini wall quilt for my sister for Christmas.

In 2014, I made Oh the Places You'll Go, a mini quilt for the Michael Miller QuiltCon challenge quilt.  For this challenge, I decided to try two new techniques: curved piecing and quilting in a concentric circle.  When I finished the quilt top, it reminded me of one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, "Oh the Places You'll Go" and that is how it got its name.

Another favorite quilt of mine is Pike's Peak, which was made for the Make Modern magazine.  I originally had submitted the design as a mini and the quilters at Make Modern asked if I could enlarge it to a lap size quilt.  Making the quilt larger wound up being a wonderful idea as it gave more room to add in quilting which was formed by straight lines using a walking foot and dense back and forth quilting using a free motion foot.

My next quilt I would like to show in the trunk show is my Use Your Illusion quilt.  I designed this quilt for the Modern Quilt Guild's quilt pattern of the month program.  To design the quilt, I started in EQ7 with the entire quilt top being blocks full of alternating black and white stripes.  I then randomly colored some of the black stripes white until I was wound up with this.  The quilt is entirely paper pieced which is great for accuracy.

My final quilt in my trunk show is my version of the Foothills Mystery Quilt.  This was my first mystery quilt I ever wrote and hosted and I had such a great time that I am currently running my second mystery quilt-a-long now (You can see the whole mystery quilt reveal parade and you can find all of my free mystery quilts here.)

Thank you so much for joining in with me on my first trunk show!  Please take some time to go through the other trunk shows over at Whims and Fancies.

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Online Quilt Trunk Show and Equilateral Triangle Quilt Calculator

Good morning!  I just wanted to drop in quickly to highlight two things going on in blog-land that have me very excited...

1. Online Quilt Truck Show @ Whims and Fancies

Soma who blogs over at Whims and Fancies is hosting an online quilt truck show called "Trunk Full of Quilts". The trunk show link party will start on November 10th and end on November 18th.

All you have to do is write a blog post including photos and a little description of each of your favorite quilted projects (they do not have to be from 2015, but they must be finished projects). Then visit Soma's page and link up.

There is no judging, but tons of participation prizes from Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs (that's me!!), Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts and Beth from Cooking Up Quilt, Aurifil Threads, Craftsy and Fat Quarter Shop.

It is no secret that I love link parties and this one is going to be a ton of fun and full of wonderful quilty eye candy!

2. Equilateral Triangle Quilt Calculator

Yvonne who blogs over at Quilting Jetgirl, just posted one of the most awesome tools I have found on the quilting blog world ... a tool that calculates the dimensions of finished triangle quilts for you. No need for you to dust off the geometry books from high school and college because Yvonne has done all of the hard math for you.

Simply enter in the Height of Strip (inches), Number Across (triangles in each row), and Number Down (number of rows) and the tool will calculate the quilt top's dimensions.  

Click here to go check it out.  Thank you so much Yvonne for posting this super useful tool!!

Mini Barn Quilt Finished

Disclaimer - I was provided the Mini Barn Quilt Kit for free by Terri-Ann of Childlike Fascination and Mini Barn Quilts, however all opinions are my own.

I have had the pleasure of getting to know Terri-Ann through being co-hosts of the 2015 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop this summer.  I remember when Terri-Ann first told us about her idea to create mini barn quilt kits with wood and fabric.  I loved the idea and could not wait until until she was ready to launch.

I was super impressed from the minute the kit showed up at my door.  The kit has professional packaging, great instructions and even a YouTube video...really the hardest part was picking out fabrics to use!  

Once I selected my fabrics I used Mod Podge to adhere the fabrics to the little wood shapes and a razor blade to trim the fabric on the shapes.

I then glued the pieces onto the base using Elmer's glue.  You can paint or stain the base, but I really liked the natural bamboo wood color so I left mine as is.

The base has little grooves on it to make attaching the wooden pieces to the base easily and accurately.  And here is my finish, you will notice that the middle fabric is different in the final version than the in-progress pics, I decided at the last minute that the first fabric was too pink and not a true enough red.

This kit was super fun to make and now I have some wonderful new artwork for my sewing room! You can order yours right here  :)  I'll leave you with a little peek at all 6 designs that are currently available.

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

Midnight Mystery - November Instructions - HST and Block Piecing

Welcome to the 6th month of instructions for the Midnight Mystery Quilt!  The previous instructions can be found here:

June - Fabric Selection

July - Cutting

August - Flying Geese
September - Square in a Square
October - Courthouse Steps

(all links and other information can also be found in the Mystery Quilts tab above)

First, a Few Announcements:

1. Is it too late to join? - It is definitely not too late! This quilt-a-long has a nice slow pace with a month between instructions so there is plenty of time to get caught up! 

2.  Want instructions in an easier to print format? - Simply leave a comment below (with e-mail address if you are a no-reply blogger) or send me an e-mail at cheryljbrickey (at) gmail (dot) com to get on the e-mail distribution list.

3.  Share your progress - Don't forget to post pictures of the fabrics you have chosen and your in-progress pics to our very active Facebook group (over 300 members now!!) and on social media using the hashtag #MidnightMysteryQuilt.

And now onto the instructions... this month we are going to make a few half square triangles (HST) and start with some block assembly.

Just as a reminder, in the illustrations for the quilt instructions, Fabric A will be represented by the color pink, Fabric B will be represented by the color yellow, Fabric C will be represented by the color purple, and Fabric D will be represented by the color white.

Combine the following fabric squares to form Half Square Triangle Units (HST units) using the method below.

2 Fabric A squares (4” x 4”) and 2 Fabric B squares (4” x 4”) to form 4 A/B HSTs (3 ½” x 3 ½”).
2 Fabric B squares (4” x 4”) and 2 Fabric C squares (4” x 4”) to form 4 B/C HSTs (3 ½” x 3 ½”).
2 Fabric C squares (4” x 4”) and 2 Fabric D squares (4” x 4”) to form 4 C/D HSTs (3 ½” x 3 ½”).

a. Place the squares (4” x 4”) right sides together.  Draw a diagonal line using a removable marking device on the back of the lighter square (shown as the solid line).

b. Sew ¼” on either side of the solid line (dotted lines).  Cut on the solid line and press seam open or towards the darker fabric.

c. Trim each HST unit to (3½” x 3½”).


d. Repeat to form 4 A/B HST units, 4 B/C HST units, and 4 C/D HST units (3 ½” x 3 ½”).

1.   Unit 1 - Combine 18 Flying Geese Units and 18 Square in a Square Units to form 18 Unit-1 as shown.  Each Unit-1 should measure 9 ½” x 6 ½”.

2.   Unit 2 - Combine 16 Flying Geese Units, 16 Square in a Square Units, and 8 Fabric A squares (6 ½” x 6 ½”) to form 8 Unit-2 as shown. Each Unit-2 should measure 24 ½” x 6 ½”.

3.   Unit 3 - Combine 4 Fabric A/B HST Units, 4 Fabric B/C HST Units, 4 Fabric C/D HST Units, and 2 Fabric A rectangles (6 ½” x 3 ½”) to form 2 Unit-3 as shown.  Each Unit-3 should measure 24 ½” x 3 ½”.

A Few Additional Announcements:

1.  Button - I have made a button for the mystery quilt :)  If you decide to join in on the quilt-a-long and have a blog I would love it if you posted the button.

 

2.  The Un-Mystery Quilt - Want to join in the fun but making a mystery quilt is not your thing?  If you would like to see the final pattern to decide whether to join in, or to help pick colors; simply e-mail me and I will send you a sneak peak (the only rule is that you have to keep the design completely to yourself as to not spoil anyone else's surprise).

3.  Share your progress - Don't forget to post pictures of the fabrics you have chosen and your in-progress pics to our very active Facebook group and on social media using the hashtag #MidnightMysteryQuilt.

Many thanks to our wonderful Midnight Mystery sponsors!