More pictures of Quilts for Sale

Marny here...the time is finally near! Lucky Star Market is this Friday, December 2nd in the evening and all day Saturday, December 3rd here in Ames, Iowa! 

Lots of our quilts will be for sale...at wonderful prices...we want them to find new homes that will love them! Jill shared some crib/child size quilts and more information here last week. 

Bonus, every quilt sold comes with its own pattern! We'll have quilts and patterns and more for sale. Come say hi!

Clockwise from upper left, all throws.
Bowtie Pasta with a Twist
Pie, Sweet or Savory
Cheddar, No Crackers
based on Pie, Sweet or Savory

Clockwise from upper left, all throws.
Market Values
Supper ClubA unique, one of a kind quilt
Flatbread

Clockwise from upper left, all throws.
Leftovers
NibblesTorte
Lunchboxes

Clockwise from upper left, all throws.
Pie, Sweet or Savory
TV DinnersBrioche & Baguette
Bowtie Pasta with a Twist 

Clockwise from upper left, all throws.
Salad Bar
Flatbread
Recipe Cards
Nibbles

Clockwise from upper left
Leftovers, throw
Market Values, throw
Nibbles, throwLunch Boxes, child

We'll share our booth location as soon as we can! We're excited to see old friends and make new ones! See you soon!

Quilt Sale!

Just one of the quilt stacks!

jill here... Want the perfect quilt gift and don't have time to make it?  Our  Modern Quilt Relish quilt samples have gotten out of hand and they need to be loved.  We're selling these beautiful babies at the Lucky Star Market on December 2nd and 3rd. 

Have we got a deal for you! We're setting the prices to be totally affordable.  The variety is incredible...babies, runners, throws! Lots of different colors of all our pattern designs.

 Purchase the quilt, we'll give you a copy of the printed pattern (just in case you want to make another)!

Here's a preview of just a few of the crib/kid's quilts.

Cute as a bug in our Leftovers pattern.

Bow Tie Pasta in gender neutral  novelty prints.

The perfect Market Values for
baby's play.

Taffy Twists in analogous colors.

Sweet oranges and pink florals pop
on this crisp white Brioche and Baguette background.

What little girl wouldn't want to
snuggle under this sophisticated modern 
Recipe Cards design?

Stay tuned for more market previews: quilts, patterns and more! 'Till next Tuesday...

My new favorite binding technique!

Marny here...I recently made a baby quilt using a blue, aqua, and gray collection of Lagom Art Gallery fabrics. I tested scrappy binding, solid binding and a print binding. None of them supported the layout of color within the quilt. I really wanted one color for two opposite sides and another color for the remaining opposite sides. In steps serendipity!

I'd asked Penny at a recent Des Moines Modern Group meeting who some of the best teachers in our area were. She named Linda Hungerford (although Linda now resides in Florida), mentioning that many beginners she had taught were now accomplished quilters. She then specifically reminded me of Linda's binding technique using machine sewn mitered corners. It is well detailed on her blog here. Lightbulb moment...if I used Linda's tutorial I can change fabrics at the corners without guess work.  Using the new (to me) techniques allowed me to place a mostly blue print on two sides and a mostly gray with aqua print on the remaining two sides. 

I used 2 1/2" strips, pieced diagonally as I usually do,
to bring them up to the recommended length. 

I just matched my process to Linda's photos
and worked my way through the tutorial!

Checking how the mitered corners are going to look

I stitched right next to the seam from the right side of the quilt the way I usually do. 

Gotta say this looks pretty good from the back

Mitered corner from the back. All sewn up and no hand stitching required!

This method worked smoothly for me. Thank you, Linda, for the thorough tutorial. I am excited about this method because it will allow me to place fabrics/color in very specific spots anywhere along the edge of my quilts without guesswork.  

We hope those of you within shopping distance plan on attending Lucky Star Market December 2nd and 3rd. It is great fun choosing which quilts we'll be selling. More pictures of vendors etc on their Facebook posts. We can't wait to do some shopping ourselves!

Till Tuesday.... 

AQS Show in DesMoines 2016

jill here...  The DesMoines AQS show in October delivered some wonderful quilts to view.  Unfortunately, my camera battery ran out before I documented all the quilters.  Here are just a few of the more modern quilts.

The map view is alway intriguing.

The background is small log cabin blocks that
are stitched centrally to create the visually
interesting negative space.

The various sizes of blocks and differences in saturation make this quilt very interesting.

Beautiful line quilting.

Partners in quilting have created a stunning "Ad Libbing".
Linda Hungerford (Flourishing Palms)  and Lora Douglas.

Stunning use of color and movement.

From the Lion King Challenge...

Unique valued pieces to create the image.

Voluta #3: Release,  quilted by Sandra Palmer Ciolino.

Close up view of the abstract quilting.

Salsa blocks from Quilts du Jour, pieced  by Lisa Zbylicki
(from the DesMoines Quilt Guild.) What a pleasant surprise!

'till next Tuesday...

Stripe Studies

Marny here...
Do you every find yourself buying the same article of clothing over and over, or choosing the same paint color for every room, or being attracted to the same textiles for your home?
I totally do.
My fascination is with small scale plaids, checkerboards, and stripes they form or use!

Duvet cover, from Crate and Barrel years ago

Dining room chair upholstery, also from years ago, that I never tire of.

Current eyeglass case. I love the colors and values playing off one another!

I've collected lots of Kaffe Fasset's incredible stripes and a whole variety of shot cottons through the years. A quilt in a booth at the recent Des Moines AQS show really caught my eye. Its label indicated it was based on "Take Five" by Kent Williams. Seeing it made me want to come home and educate myself on stripes, solids and their endless interplay. 

A single stripe with a single shot cotton, analogous hues throughout.
Equal proportions of each. The result is pretty but lacks visual interest. 

A new stripe created from two stripes and one shot cotton. Here your eye is challenged a bit seeing and sorting the values and the range of hues.

Again, two stripes and one shot cotton.

Two stripes in one set of horizontals interrupted by a single stripe of somewhat analogous hues, rather than the previous shot cottons. It is fun to see the interplay of dull and bright, and to see how the various scales of the stripes butt up against one another.

Again, two stripes in one set of horizontals interrupted by a single stripe, but this one is in a large range of hues and values.

The four most successful studies playing nicely with one another!
I'm not sure where I am going with this but my eye loves the surprising outcomes once the stitching takes place. Working with these stripes and shot cottons provides a valuable lesson in seeing value, color, tints, and tones.
I highly recommend it!

Jill and I will have a booth at Lucky Star Holiday Market here in Ames, Friday evening December 2nd and Saturday December 3rd. We are very excited! For the first time ever, we will be selling our quilts in addition to our patterns. Lucky Star on Facebook here. More info to follow! 

Till Tuesday...