Meadow Mystery Quilt - My Reveal

Thank you so much to everyone who has been taking part or following along in the Meadow Mystery Quilt, here is the reveal of my Meadow Mystery Quilt :)

To participants - please make sure to e-mail me MMDmysteryquilts at gmail dot com with a picture of your quilt top or finished quilt, the pictures are due by April 1st to be included in the parade and be eligible for prizes.

To everyone - Please stop by again next Wednesday - Friday (April 5th - 7th), to see the Meadow Mystery Parade showing off everyone's versions of the quilt pattern (I already have over 100 quilts entered!).

Just as a reminder, the Meadow Mystery quilt instructions can be found in the Mystery Quilts tab above for free and they will never be taken down so you can start at any time.  If you would rather have an easy to print version of the Meadow Mystery Quilt it is now available for sale on my Etsy shop.

For my version, I used:

Fabric A - Carkai Pickle Tic Yardage
Fabric B - Suzuko Koseki, Newspaper Print Retro in Blue
Fabric C - Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater - Sewing Guide Black
Fabric D - Architextures Crosshatch in Pickle by Carolyn Friedlander
Fabric E - Kona White

It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to quilt this quilt.  I keep swinging between a more simple overall pattern and some very detailed and complex custom quilting.  I decided to just keep things easy and do a cross-hatch design.  I did not even have to mark the quilt top, I just used the seams and the different pieced shapes to keep the lines (mostly) straight.  

Please come back on April 5th-7th for the full parade, there are some absolutely beautiful versions of the Meadow Mystery Quilt!

I am linking up to Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday, Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts, Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabrics Studio.

March Madness - Mad for Solids 2017

It's March Madness time, quilting style :)  

PB Studio Fabrics is sponsoring a fun game called Mad for Solids.  16 bloggers (including myself) selected a palette of 8 colors from Inspired by Fabric's Painter's Palette Solids and then the bundles complete head to head with other bundles for the most votes (on the Inspired by Fabric's blog) until one of the bundles is named the winner.  

The event started Monday and my bundle is in one of the "games" today.  To see the bundles and vote for your favorite, simply hop over to  Inspired by Fabric's blog.  

I had such fun going through all of their solids and playing with different combinations.  

My launching point for this bundle were the beautiful blush colors in the Painter's Palette color card.  From there I selected two blues to compliment the blush fabrics and pulled in some grays and soft white to ground the collection.  I really like to pick bundles with a good mix of lights and darks.  

The colors from left to right:

Smoke 090

Pewter 172

Marine 110

Aquarius 109

Lipstick 066

Verbena 118

Salmon 117

Rice Paper 099

Here is my color palette, called Blushing Blue

Abby the cat says "Vote for Blushing Blue 

because it is very comfortable!"

Hop over to Inspired by Fabric's blog to vote and for a chance to win some fabric! 

Canvas Lines ++ Pattern Release ++

I am happy to announce the release of the full, multi-sized version of Canvas Lines today.  You can now find the pattern as a digital download in my Etsy and Craftsy shops.

(photo by Kitty Wilkin)

The pattern is on sale for one week (through Tuesday March 28th at midnight) for only $7.00. (You can use coupon code TWOPATTERNS for $2 off two patterns or THREEPATTERNS $4 off 3 patterns in my Etsy shop for even more savings.)

The Canvas Lines was originally published as part of the Quilter's Planner 2017 with instructions for a lap sized quilt.  The full Canvas Lines pattern now contains instructions for baby, lap, and queen sizes.

Canvas Lines is a modern take on a tribal styled quilt design with strong geometric shapes and plenty of negative space.  The pattern also includes a coloring diagram to audition possible color schemes.

The cover quilt was made using prints from the Doe collection by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman.  I quilted the cover quilt with a square meandering pattern using Aurifil 50 wt in white (color 2024). I think that the square meander added great texture to the negative space without taking away from the pieced blocks.

(photo by Kitty Wilkin)

Many, many thanks to Paige of Quilted Blooms and Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl for their awesome tech editing and reviewing!!

Just a reminder, you can find Canvas Lines at Etsy and Craftsy for $7 for the next week :)

(photo by Kitty Wilkin)

I am linking up to Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, 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.

PS - Aren't these some of the most beautiful quilt photographs you have seen? Kitty from Night Quilter took all of these pictures along the coast of Maine. (If you would like Kitty to take some wonderful pictures of your quilts, you can find out more information about her photography offerings right here).

Needle and Foot Blog Hop and Giveaway

I am honored to be kicking off the Grand Opening blog hop for the Needle & Foot Etsy shop.  Bernie has filled her shop with some beautiful fabrics!

In addition to the giveaway at the end of this post, Bernie is offering everyone a coupon code to her new shop.  Use the code NANDFREADERS15 for 15% off any order over $5.00 (the coupon code will be active through Sunday,3/26).

For the hop, Bernie sent us the listing of different collections she had ordered for the shop and I immediately went to Maureen Cracknell's new line, Garden Dreamer.  I love Maureen's collections, she has such a way with combining colors and prints.  That they are on Art Gallery's wonderful cotton substrate is another bonus.

Here is the Garden Dreamer bundle that Bernie sent me:

My goal with this bundle was to make a baby quilt for my son's teacher who was due to have a little girl (I actually gifted the quilt before the hop, his teacher loved it, and had her new baby girl last week).

I wanted to keep the quilt as soft and snugly as possible so I first quilted by echoing the seam lines around the blocks using some Sulky light cream thread in 12 wt.  I used the 12wt as the top thread and a 40wt thread in the bobbin, plus a larger needle to handle the thick thread.  The thick thread quilted wonderfully without any issues and created good impact in the quilt.

I wanted to add a little extra touch so I added some big stitch hand quilting between the machine quilting using a light green pearl cotton.

I backed the quilt with an old Denyse Schmidt print that I think complimented the gold/yellow print in the quilt top.

I usually create a quilt starting from the design and then adding in fabrics so it was fun to design a quilt starting with the fabric this time :)



The Grand Opening Blog Hop Celebration will be going on all week with a chance to win fabric at each stop:

Monday: Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs ← Thanks me :)
Tuesday: Cynthia @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Wednesday: Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal and Kitty @ Night Quilter
Thursday: Mari @ Academic Quilter
Friday: Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl

Now on to the Giveaway!

Prize: 

Your choice of either 6 fat quarters or 3 half-yard cuts selected from any of the available fabrics at the Needle & Foot Etsy shop.

To Enter:  

Please do one of the following options:

1. Hop over to Instagram and follow Needle & Foot.
2. Go over to Facebook and follow Needle & Foot.

Then, leave a comment on this post with which option you completed.  

The giveaway will run for 1 week, until 8 pm EST on March 27th.  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.

Thanks and good luck in the giveaway!

**Giveaway now closed, thanks for entering! **
The winner (selected by Random.org) was comment #61, Kathy E.

Happy Pi Day! March 14th (3.14)

To quilty engineers, scientists, Pi lovers everywhere, 

Happy Pi Day!  

I am an engineer and got my degree at Carnegie Mellon University (known to be a super nerdy engineering school).  We did not have many of your typical college parties, but holidays like Pi day were always huge celebrations. 

Students spent most of the night writing out the thousands of digits of pi on the sidewalks all through the campus.  I always try to celebrate pi day now with a celebration including some pie.  For my kids, I will be sending them to school with cookies having pi symbols on them for their classes.

A number of years ago, I made a pi quilt for my engineer husband containing 49 paper pieced digits of Pi and I thought that I would post it again for the occasion.

Go have a piece of pie today to celebrate Pi Day :) 

Block of the Month ++ January-March

Starting in January, I have chaired the Modern Skill-Builder Block of the Month program for my local modern quilt guild, the Greenville Modern Quilt Guild.

The program includes one modern block pattern every month that focuses on building sewing and modern design skills including improvisational piecing, curves, paper pieces, applique, Y seams, and use of low volume prints.  These blocks are a way of trying out and learning new skills and techniques.  

The block of the month is announced at a meeting and then at the next meeting participants bring in their blocks which will be used to make charity quilts (or they are free to keep the blocks for themselves).

Here are the free block tutorials we used for the first 3 months of the year along with my versions of the blocks.  You can click on the block names for a link to the tutorials.

January: Fractured Curves by Carole Lyles Shaw

Carole created a wonderfully clear and detailed tutorial (12 page pdf) for a block that combines curved and improv piecing.  (Carole now offers workshops teaching this technique.) 

February: Ellen's Snowball by Cath @ Wombat Quilts

Cath makes some fabulous paper pieced designs and I thought that one of her many star designs would be perfect for the guild.  This block using paper piecing and low volume fabrics.  

March: X Marks the Improv Block by Debbie @ A Quilter's Table

Debbie's block is a great introduction to improv piecing and a variation on the slice and insert method.  Plus, she has great tips to make up the inserted lines when sewing the block back together.  

Vintage Star Patchwork Threads T-Shirt

Happy Story...back in the fall when I launched the pattern for the Vintage Star quilt I thought that the star block design might look cool on a t-shirt.  On a whim, I contacted Patchwork Threads to see if they might be interested in creating a Vintage Star t-shirt and surprising, they said yes :)  Lindsay at Patchwork Threads picked the colors which I think are just awesome.

The t-shirt debuted at QuiltCon and I had to pick up one for basically every adult female in my family.  Here is a picture of me being very excited and (sort of) modeling the shirt:

The Vintage Star t-shirt is now available over on Patchwork Threads website right here (the colors are more true in the picture below, the star really is pink and a dark blue in person).

And here is the original Vintage Star quilt...

The t-shirt makes me ridiculously happy and I have been wearing it every chance I get (we have had a strange February/March this year in South Carolina with loads of t-shirt weather days).

If you decide to purchase a Vintage Star t-shirt, as a special thank you, I will e-mail you a digital pdf copy of the Vintage Star quilt pattern for free (or if you already own the Vintage Star pattern, you can choose from any of my other digital patterns.)  Just email me at MeadowMistDesigns at gmail dot com letting me know (no need to send or forward the receipt, it's on your honor).

Thanks!!

Half Circle Mirror ++ Pattern Release ++

I am excited to announce that my pattern, Half Circle Mirror is now available as a quilt pattern! You can now find the pattern in my pattern shop (digital and print versions) and on Etsy.

Half Circle Mirror was originally published in Make Moderns Issue 12 and it was accepted to hang at the recent QuiltCon show in Savannah.

Half Circle Mirror is an advanced beginner / intermediate level pattern that combines paper pieced blocks and negative space for a dramatic, geometric quilt design. 

The pattern assumes general paper piecing knowledge (if you need basic paper piecing instructions, there are some excellent video tutorials on YouTube, just search for "paper piecing"). 

The pattern also includes a coloring diagram to audition possible color schemes.

The cover version of Half Circle Mirror was made using Kona Cotton Solids by Robert Kaufman in Pepper (Fabric A), Charcoal (Fabric B), Titanium (Fabric C), and White (Background Fabric).

Johellen George of Cabin Quilt Studio did the beautiful quilting on this quilt. She is a member of one of my local guilds and does amazing work. I think that the quilting is reminiscent of the surface of a lake which plays well with the reflection theme of the piecing design.

Many, many thanks to Paige of Quilted Blooms and Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl for their awesome tech editing and reviewing!!

 You can now find the pattern in my pattern shop (digital and print versions) and on Etsy.

Here is a Pinterest Friendly Image if you would like to pin the pattern for later...

Meadow Mystery Quilt - March

There are no new instructions for March so I figured that I would use today to post a few reminders about the mystery quilt parade and prizes.

Mystery Quit Tab (main page containing links to all monthly instructions and other information)

Link to Signup for Easy to Print pdf Versions of the Instructions (via e-mail)

Mystery Quilt Facebook Group
FAQ on Quilt Reveal Parade and Prize Eligibility

Important Dates:

• April 1st - Submissions to the quilt parade due (quilt tops and completed quilts)
• April 5th-7th - Meadow Mystery Quilt reveal parade (the parade will be split into multiple days due to the number of quilts)

How to Submit Your Quilt to the Reveal Parade and Be Eligible for Prizes:

• E-mail a picture of the quilt top or finished quilt by Saturday April 1st. 
• Address e-mail to MMDmysteryquilts@gmail.com
• Name your photo with your name as the file name, such as "Cheryl Brickey.jpg". 
• (optional) Include in your e-mail your location (city, state and/or country) and/or a web address for any related blog posts you would like linked to. 

Prize Reminder:

Many, many thanks to the generous sponsors of the Meadow Mystery Quilt!  Here is the list of sponsors and prizes once more...

Four digital quilt patterns (winner's choice)

One each of the following patterns: Rural Squirrel, Raccoon, My Pet Hamster, Cat Treats, and Black Birds.

Three copies each of Pinwheel Vanes and Pinwheel Star digital quilt patterns.

Three digital quilt patterns (winner's choice). 

Four digital quilt patterns (winner's choice).  

$25 gift certificate

$100 gift certificate

$50 gift certificate

Eight fat quarters of the winner's choice (this giveaway is limited to the European Union).

Custom longarm quilting of the mystery quilt (or an equivalent size quilt) (US only).

The Basics Collection (12 large 50 wt spools of thread)

One copy of Crafted Applique (US mailing addresses only). 

Two 2 Mini Barn Quilt Kits, 1 Mod Podge and brush kit, a mini easel and a mini charm bundle.

One 2018 Quilter's Planner

One ironing board cover (US mailing addresses only)

I am looking forward to an awesome parade next month!!