Taos Time

Taos New Mexico has been inspiring to me since the first time I visited back in 2003. I love the colors, shapes, and smells of this part of the world (though I have to take the tastes just a little at a time). One of my favorite places is the old adobe church in Ranchos de Taos, dedicated to St. Francis.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous...a dusting of snow on the ground Thursday, crystal blue skies every day, a nip in the air. Today I did a lot of textile shopping; here's one of the finds I had to bring home with me:

It's a fat quarter pack of 11 fabrics from the Simply Southwest collection by J. Michelle Watts, who is a local artist in Roswell, NM. Moda does it again! I have no idea what I'll do with these, but they sure make a pretty souvenir. Thank you, Taos Adobe Quilting...I enjoyed my visit!

Ocean Dreams

Today I got to write a pattern for an Ocean Waves quilt designed by Lissa Alexander of Moda. The fabric collection featured in the quilt is Hearty Good Wishes by Janet Clare, and it gave me beach longings so badly. My favorite print in the group comes in 4 colors, all absolutely wonderful. Here's a sneak peek!

Sky

Ocean

Sand

Pearl

This fabric doesn't deliver to quilt shops until February 2014 (though some may have it sooner), but we have to write the pattern super-early so we can order fabric for McCall's Quilting kits. It made my morning a little bit like a beach vacation! I love my job.

Low Volume Love

I fell in love today with these low volume floral shirtings. Low volume fabrics are prints that "read" as quiet backgrounds when used in a quilt, and they are really trending right now with modern quilters. Of course, "quiet" is a relative thing, but these would definitely work as backgrounds to many other fabrics.

Here's the entire fat quarter pack...isn't it pretty?

And here's the collection name and designer. This collection is just starting to hit quilt shops, so there's still time to save your quilting allowance and get ready to treat yourself!

If you'd like to see the fabrics individually, check out the Moda web page for the collection. Great job, Primitive Gatherings and Moda! I hope I get a chance to work with these prints soon!

Lone Star Samples

Today's project was making samples for photos for the January/February 2014 issue of McCall's Quilting. The project is a star quilt designed by Lissa Alexander using fabrics from the Vin du Jour collection by 3 Sisters for Moda. I got to do a bunch of strip piecing and segment cutting,

and then to make pieced diamonds and stars.

I'm a lucky quilter...best homework ever!

Precise Piecing ROCKS!

Scheduled for McCall's Quilting January/February 2014 Block Builders Workshop; fabrics from the Prayer Flag collection by April Cornell, courtesy of Moda

What you're looking at there is a block that has 160 patches in it, that measures 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" WITHOUT ANY TRIMMING! Precision techniques take a long time, I'm not going to kid you, but the result was amazing. Look at those points, folks!

I need a break, and then I have to get step by step samples ready for video taping on Tuesday. Miles to go, miles to go...

Mini Madness

Honestly, it's worse than potato chips. I can't stop working on this miniature quilt! It's a tiny remake of an antique quilt from York County, PA, and the hand applique is absolutely addicting, in the nicest possible way. Do you see how itty bitty those ovals are? Like, 1/2" or so, that's how itty bitty. The blocks finish at 5", and the quilt will be about 23" square. The original is 91" square, so this is a quarter-size version. The print fabrics are by American Jane for Moda and I'm really liking them for this design. But I digress...the point is, I can't stop working on it, and it's after midnight. Tomorrow morning my eyes will feel like sandtraps. But tonight...we sew!