Spring is Here with Chirp, Chirp, Chirp!

With warm weather, I’ve been in the yard daily getting fresh air and sunshine. The noise can be quite chirpy with all the birds flying around! And I’ve watched all the baby birds, from blue birds, cardinals to sparrows, hopping and flying about as they learn to test their wings. As I sit or stand still, they get a little closer allowing me to watch a little better. With birds on my mind, I thought I would show you the quilts I’ve designed that focus on birds. With these, you can bring birds inside to enjoy. These patterns are all available in my Etsy Whimsycolor shop.

This first quilt pattern, Bird on a Limb, uses pieced quilt blocks. This quilt can use your scraps for a scrap quilt. This quilt is made with 20 blocks and is 64″ wide x 76″ high. It is easy to adjust the size if you want a larger or smaller quilt. You can also use the blocks to make a table runner or pillows.

This pattern, Spring Arrival, uses applique blocks and is made with 2 different blocks. One block has 2 baby birds in a nest and the other block is the mama bird holding a worm for her babies. You can also use your scraps for the applique pieces. The size is 58″ x 70 1/2″. You can also easily adjust the size to make it smaller or larger as well as creating other items with the blocks.

I also have a hummingbird block pattern for applique. I’m showing this block in 2 color combinations. The finished size of this block is 9″ x 9″. Use it alone to create your quilt or other project, or combine it with other blocks.

I would love to see your quilt project if you use one of these patterns!

I hope you take the time to listen to all the chirps!

Phyllis

Making a “Crazy” Mask with Scraps

I save all my fabric scraps! Don’t you? There is so much you can use them for. They are beautiful pieces of fabric I just can’t throw away unless they’re really tiny.

My friend, Kim Green, has been making masks for over a month for those who are working with the public during this shutdown. She showed a beautiful heart that she made with her scraps. That gave me the idea to use some of my scraps to make a mask in a “crazy quilt” style.

The first step is to gather scraps and sew them together with random fabrics such as above. I chose fabrics in a turquoise and purplish color range. I made 2, one each for each mask side so I could position each side of the pattern when cutting.

Then I cut the pieces out using this pattern. I sewed the pieces and lining to make my mask. You may want to make your “crazy quilt” mask for yourself or a gift. If you are bulk mask making, I don’t recommend this “crazy quilt” method as it’s much more time consuming and cuts down on production. I also didn’t add embroidery stitches as I figured that the added texture may hold any virus, plus they will be washed a lot. I turned the ends of the ribbon under and stitched back and forth so they would not ravel when washed.

And while in the stitching-scraps-together mode, I decided to make another one in a different color combination. I chose pink, orange and green for this one.

I have always loved crazy quilting and love applying it to more modern type products. It works great for masks. I have many other crazy quilt projects that I have been working on the past several months – I just need to add the finishing touches.

I hope you are finding ways to stay productive and creative during the shut down. At first, it was hard to focus and saw that this was the case for just about everybody. Then, my need to stay busy with my hands and mind kicked in. So the result has been sewing masks, embroidery, creating new art, creating content for ArtBizJam Abundance (with Lori Siebert) and taking some creative online classes, mostly with Procreate. But I really, really miss being with family and friends.

I hope you are all staying safe and well. It has been a struggle with all of us as life goes on and we feel that aren’t fully participating like we have always done. Maybe we will be getting back to that soon.

Phyllis

Love a Nurse!

Everyone has a favorite nurse! I have several – family and friends – who are nurses, from one who is nursing school, some who are currently practicing to some who have retired from nursing. They contribute so much to our health and well being!

To celebrate nurses, I designed a fabric pattern “Love a Nurse” that is available in several colors as shown plus charcoal gray. National Nurse Day for 2020 is May 6. Something sewn or quilted for a nurse will be a good way to thank that special nurse.

This fabric, along with the cheater quilt below is in my Spoonflower shop. Spoonflower is a great place to find beautiful and niche fabrics. You can choose from several types of fabrics: cotton, jersey, poplin, velvet, chiffon, canvas and more as well as wallpaper.

Love a Nurse Quilt

I have also created a line of Love a Nurse cheater quilt tops in several colors for my Spoonflower shop. They are a generous size of 36″ wide x 42″ high. All you need to do is make your quilt sandwich, quilt it and add the binding and you have a quick and beautiful gift for a special nurse. You can increase the size by adding multiple borders as was done by one special customer – I really love the borders she added to create such a thoughtful gift.

Other sewn projects created by customers include the beautiful bags below. The red really pops!

Red nurse tote bag

Another customer made this Love a Nurse Travel mug! There is no shortage of talent and I love see photos of items that talented artisans made with my fabrics!

A great gift for a nurse to carry her things to work or other places is a Love a Nurse tote bag personalized with her (or his) name! This tote bag is available from my shop on Zazzle and can be personalized very easily with a name or other words. This tote is available in other colors!

The Love a Nurse art is also available on assorted products as well in my Zazzle store that make great gifts for nurses. Many can be personalized with the nurse’s name or other words. Nurses can always use a Love a Nurse notebook!

Be sure to always have a compliment and kind word to all the nurses you know or meet! Let them know how special they are!

Phyllis

Seasons of Fall – Falling Leaves Quilt Pattern

I love the colors of fall leaves and it’s that time of year again. I can’t believe leaves are already falling heavily as everything, including the trees, is still so green. But a daily sweep of leaves from my deck is required to keep them from accumulating. Watching the gradual color change inspired me to create this quilt pattern “Seasons of Fall”.

Seasons of Fall Falling Leaves

The quilt is created with both piecing and appliquéing.  The size is 56″ x 68″ but you can easily adjust it to make it larger or smaller so that you can use it as a lap quilt, wall hanging or bed quilt.  With the appliqué, you can use your scraps or precut fabrics.  The pattern is available in my Etsy online shop for easy immediate download.

I’m headed to the International Quilt Market in Houston next week.  While the leaves are still green, I know they will change drastically while I’m gone. When I leave for a few days in both the spring and fall, I always return to a different landscape.

I hope you are enjoying a colorful change and spend cooler days inside quilting!

Phyllis

Embroidery Design with my Cat’s Help!

I have been giving embroidery needles a workout and have been creating some embroidery for new designs to combine with quilting. As you can see, I have help – my cat Bandit has to inspect what I am doing. He quickly lost interest and settled down for a nap, which is a good thing with needles flying back and forth.

Embroidery for quilt

Embroidery has been my first love for needlework. I started needlework at a very young elementary school age by my aunt as an excellent teacher. All the women in my family, my mother, aunts and grandmother, all spent a lot of time with needles with various mediums – quilting, crochet, knitting, sewing and needlework. I’ve continued with each medium except for knitting (I love knitting but keep forgetting how to knit between projects).

I am delighted to see young and fresh embroidery designs being created and love that embroidery continues with its “nine lives”!

Check back as I will be showing the finished design!

I hope you pick up your needles, no matter the medium!

Phyllis

Fabric Love for New Sewing and Quilting Projects!

I look at fabric as mini pieces of art!  I’m enthralled with the colors and patterns and cannot resist touching and feeling fabrics. I love designing fabrics as well as buying fabrics I find in the marketplace. I have attended the Modern Quilt Guild convention, QuiltCon, a couple of times and am headed there again next February. In addition to enjoying the classes and lectures, I do a lot of shopping!  Its irresistible and so fun!

Fabrics for new projects

I bought a lot of the above fabrics at Quiltcon’s (plus one is my design). I’m currently working on projects with these fabrics and think I will add some embroidery, another love! I can’t tell you what the finished projects will be at this time, but will post as soon as I can.

Enjoy thinking about your little pieces of art as you make something wonderful with them. Sometimes, I really hate to cut the fabrics, but then remind myself of the beautiful creation that will result.

Are you one of “those” people like me who can’t resist touching any kind of fabric, to feel the softness, weight and textures?

Phyllis

Stars and Stripes Waving Flag Quilt to Show Patriotism

Cuddle in this Stars and Stripes Waving Flag  quilt to celebrate your patriotism. This quilt pattern in red, white and blue fabrics is easy to sew to give you a quilt to display all year, for patriotic holidays, or give as a gift to a veteran or someone in the military.

Stars and Stripes Waving Flag Quilt pattern

This quilt is a good size for a lap quilt, wall hanging, or for cuddling. The size of 56″ W x 44″ H  can easily be adjusted for a larger or smaller quilt. The chevron zig zag stripes in an assortment of red and white fabrics give this quilt a fresh modern look. Using both piecing and appliqué methods to construct, this quilt pattern has a wide blue band on one side with appliqué white stars. The pattern has full step-by-step instructions, charts, color diagrams and a full size star pattern.

This Stars and Stripes Waving Flag pattern is available online from  Etsy as a downloable pdf.

May our flag forever wave!

Phyllis

Bird on Limb For a Scrap Quilt

I love how the bird population increases with the warmer weather of spring. The birds chirping outside inspired this new pieced scrap quilt pattern “Bird on a Limb”.

Bird on a Limb Quilt Pattern

The pattern is designed to use your scraps or precut fabrics and fat quarters for the blocks to give it a scrappy look. You can customize to make it all one color if you prefer. The birds have just landed on a limb with these pieced blocks. The size as shown is 64″ w x 76″ h. It’s easy to adjust your quilt to make a larger or smaller by adding or decreasing the blocks or rows. It’s also easy to customize for a table runner, placemat, table topper or wallhanging to give you lots of uses.

Embellish by adding buttons or beads for eyes, or a mix of both for additional scrappiness.

This pattern is available from Etsy WhimsiColor for instant download.

I hope this spring finds you outside listening to the bird chirping with a beautiful day and with plenty of time to quilt.

Phyllis

Enjoy Spring Showers May Flowers With a New Quilt Pattern

Spring is almost here!  Days are getting longer and the weather much warmer. But the spring showers are necessary to have the beautiful May flowers!  This new quilt pattern, Spring Showers May Flowers will have you ready to enjoy both.

Spring Showers May flowers Quilt Pattern

This quilt pattern includes both patchwork piecing and appliqué and is 52″ wide by 63″ high. The size can be easily adjusted to make it larger or smaller. Spring Showers May Flowers makes a great scrap quilt by using your scraps for the flowers and umbrella appliqué pieces. This pattern uses 2 color combinations for the quilt blocks and alternates the blocks. You can use different colors for all the blocks to give it a scrappy look. Its great also for adding embellishments with buttons or beads for the flower centers, or using rick rack for the umbrella handles instead of appliqué.

This pattern is available from  Etsy I would love to see your quilt that you make with this pattern!

Have a fun day of quilting!

Phyllis

Quiltcon, The Modern Quilt Guild Amazing Conference

I was delighted to attend Quiltcon, presented by the Modern Quilt Guild  in February. Quiltcon is a beautiful and amazing quilt show, with wonderful classes and lectures. Not only was the location in Pasadena, CA beautiful, the weather was also (well, except for the day I arrived when it poured rain). I want to share a few of the gorgeous quilts exhibited at the show.

Modern Quilt Guilds throughout the US and several countries submitted entries for the “Member Charity Challenge”. These quilts were displayed through the hall of the convention center and in rooms for viewing. This quilt is “My Baltimore” by the Baltimore MQG.  I showed many of these quilts in my Instagram and Facebook posts while atending Quiltcon.

My Baltimore BMQG

“David Bowie” was designed by Holly Hickman and was in the Moda fabric booth. I think this quilt was shown on social media more than any other quilt there! You can find more information about the making of this quilt on Moda’s Blog.

David Bowie

“Falling” is by Kathy York of Austin, Texas. The batik cirlces reminded her of strands of beads so she hand stitched some dashed lines to represent the cording. This quilt was entered in the “Use of Negative Space” category.

Falling Quilt

“Cat Face” was by Megan Callahan of Bakersfield, CA. and was entered under the “Piecing” category.

Cat Face Quilt

“Handcrafted Triangles” is by Jennifer Johnston of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada and was entered in the “Improvisation” category. I love all the colors.

Handcrafted Triangles Quilt

“My Brother’s Jeans” by Melissa Averinos won “Best in the Show”.  She found the jeans in the trash after her brother’s death.

My brothers Jeans Quilt

“Picnic Petals” is by Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill of Woodbridge, CT and was entered in the “Modern Traditionalism” category.

Picnic Petals Quilt

“Puttin’ on the Glitz” is by Gina Boyd of Davis, CA and was entered in the Glitz Fabric Challenge by Michael Miller Fabrics.

Puttin on the Glitz Quilt
“Square Dance” is by Carol Dennis of Garland, TX and was entered in the “Piecing” category.

Square Dance Quilt

“The Big Swirl” by Betsy Vinegrad of Short Hills, NJ, was entered in the Glitz Fabric Challenge by Michael Miller Fabrics.

The Big Swirl Quilt

“Whimsical Logs” by Letitia Chung of San Francisco, CA, was entered in the “Modern Traditionalism” category and won 1st place.

Whimsical Logs Quilt

“Red Hot” by Shawna Doering of Denver, CO, was entered in the “Use of Negative Space” category and won the Judge’s Choice Award.

Red Hot Quilt

“Making Triangles” was made by Dawn Golstab of Leander, TX.  This quilt was entered in the Triangle Quilt Challenge.

Making Triangles Quilt

In addition to lectures and classes, there were also demonstrations in the exhibit hall. I really enjoyed this block printing demonstration by Valori Wells. You can see some of the gorgeous fabrics she created with her block prints on the table in front of her. I learned a little about block printing in college and was so inspired watching Valorie that I bought her book “My Life in Fabric”afterwards

Valorie Wells Demonstrating Block Print

An exhibit of quilts by Gwen Marston created a display of beautiful colors. She also gave a lecture that I thoroughly enjoyed. She is so colorful in all that she does!

Gwen Marston Quilt

In addition to all the color and quilts, I enjoyed spending time with a very good friend, Robin Pickens. We definitely inspired each other shopping in the vendor area!  One can’t have too many quilt supplies!  Robin had lived in the Pasadena area several years ago and gave me a tour of parts of it and I enjoyed meeting her lovely family. Spending time with a friend and lots of talking was icing on the cake for Quiltcon!

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the quilts! I tried to get all the information correct, but if I have any mistakes, I apologize and hope that someone will let me know so that I can correct it.  There were so many more absolutely breathtaking quilts and I wish I could show them all.

Keep quilting!

Phyllis