My dad loved to fish and took me fishing more than once as a child. He had a sign “gone fishing” that always made me smile. I hope that you can immerse yourself today in the flow of something you love! Me, I’ve gone quilting.
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Wild Oranges has a big-picture story, which you can read when it is laying flat. But, I also wanted to create a design that would be beautiful crumpled up, twisted round and dropped in a heap on the sofa, as I know it will be. For me, this totally hits the spot!
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Do you think that potholders make good gifts? I mean it’s a humble thing, maybe a little on the silly side, but I like them as gifts. I have two free tutorials if you’d like to try and lots of patchwork potholder inspiration.
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To celebrate my 40th birthday, I have a gift for 40 faithful readers. If you subscribe to my blog by email, you are automatically in the running. Want to join us? Subscribe to my blog now through Sunday, September 11th for your chance to win.
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Have you been wanting to sew an orange peel quilt? It is such a charming shape, with its soft curves and pretty points. My Wild Oranges design has a concentration of dark values and orange peel blocks at the quilt center. The quilt softens around the edges with a calmer energy.
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I had to get my hands on the shapes and colors in order to design this quilt in real life. I want to play with both flower and round shapes with my orange peel quilt, as well as an upward-growing leafy vine layout. To keep things flowing and interacting, I also allow broken quartets. Such a pleasure to design!
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Ta da! This is the Ashford Handbag pattern by Svetlana of SOTAK Handmade. It was my first time sewing with one of her PDF patterns and what a success! Everything about the pattern was clear and easy-to-follow. I think it turned out top notch.
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Weaving together my life as a maker and other spheres of life: Best of August, experimenting with new bag-making skills, reading This Life (a book of philosophy) and making plans to celebrate my 40th birthday at the apple orchard.
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This quilt celebrates the rich beauty and brilliant confidence of red, red, Red. The stars sparkle on a scrappy cream and peach background, with splashes of bright white and royal lavender. If you squint your eyes, you may no longer see stars, but rather two grids of sparkling squares.
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Sometimes sewing makes me feel like a magical creature. I’m still amazed that I can transform a pile of cloth into a whole new look for a room. I used Kismet fabrics to make a new set of patchwork curtains in February, and since then I’ve been gradually changing things here and there in the living room to evolve the space.
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When Elora caught sight of this fabric, she asked if I would sew her a skirt. I thought, perfect! The fabric is dark enough to avoid staining, strong enough (it’s a linen blend) for everyday play and exactly right for the fall weather to come. How serendipitous!
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As I gathered images for today’s In the Studio update, I noticed a theme - bright and modern. These quilts use bright colors and/or oversized motifs, in a way that connects to the modern quilting movement. Please enjoy these beautiful quilts sewn by my customers in The Netherlands and Germany.
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My stars are spreading like contagious laughter! The red feels bright and intense, especially over the lavender background. I’m using color-blocking in the background and discussing the pro’s and con’s of Economy Stars vs. Sawtooth Stars.
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Free batting, anyone? Just order all-over or custom quilting, your choice, and you’ll receive free Quilter’s Dream batting sized correctly for your quilt. That’s up to a €76 value, depending upon your quilt!
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I so appreciate your suggestions about possible background colors for my red, red, red economy stars quilt! Here I try out a few and come up with a plan that strikes me as adventurous.
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This is Kale and Carrots because the colors and energy remind me of a late summer garden. The big, leafy greens are bolting in every direction and the earthy orange carrots are ready to be plucked. Everything is a bit topsy turvy, but in a healthy sort of way that indicates life and abundance.
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My next quilt is going to be red, red, red. I don’t reach for my red fabrics often, but I actually find the color incredibly beautiful when used intensely. I have in mind small Economy Stars in a compact layout. I’ll start by cutting scraps - - -
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Stars are my favorite overall patchwork motif. I love their sharp, sparkly personality and the way that they show off fabric. Patchwork stars can be simple or fancy, traditionally pieced or paper pieced, wonky or tidy, scrappy or fussy cut. In every form, I love them! Here are my favorite 8 patchwork star blocks.
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