Nacho Mama's Quilt

My vintage sheet stash is slowly growing.  In fact, I made a deal with myself that I wouldn’t buy any more sheets until I made at least one thing.  So, in a day or two, I whipped up this churn dash in a churn dash in a churn dash.  I was just going to do the inner two blocks for a little wall hanging for my studio, but then I figured why not make something giant.  It’s not like I’m going to run out of sheets or anything, even though they are fairly sparse here in Texas.

I didn’t use a pattern because a churn dash is fairly simple.  Look at it as a nine patch grid.  Start in the center with the smallest block, and work your way out.  It was way fun to make, and in the event you’re planning a quick mystery quilt class for your friends, this would be an easy way to go, and everyone would leave with a finished top!  Let me know if you give it a whirl.

Another finish!

This quilt is being shipped to it’s forever home this afternoon.  It was a fun t-shirt quilt to make because it was full of orange!  If you aren’t from Texas, then you may not know (unless you’re a college football fan) that students from Texas A&M (Aggies) aren’t fans of   The University of Texas (Longhorns).  In fact, Aggies have made serious strides to eliminate orange, the school color for The University of Texas, from their lives.  Hence, the maroon carrot.   The distaste for all things orange was even represented in the town’s fabric stores.  Neither quilt shop carried orange fabric.  And this very town was where I spent my first seven years of my quilting life.  Now, any chance I get to sew on orange fabric, just makes me feel a little bit naughty because Aggies, like myself, just aren’t supposed to do things like that.

But if you know me, you know I can’t follow rules.

And truthfully, I love when people love their schools, no matter what school they attend.  And nothing makes me happier to have people love what I created for them.

It’s safe to say that I found the pattern I love most in this world.Yes, you have seen this before.  I made this pattern in Joel Dewberry fabric for my grandma.I love this pattern for many reasons.  1.) It’s well written.  In fact, if you have never quilted before, you can use this pattern and have great success!  If you’re a seasoned quilter, it’s great, too.  2.) It features big print fabric, meaning, I could make this quilt about 100 more times and never run out of fabric.  3.) It takes 10 fat quarters and not much else to make this quilt, so I never have to go shopping to finish it!

This quilt is for some other treasured grandparents.  My husband’s grandparents live across the pond in England, and this is for them.  Grampy is a savvy fashion icon in the family.  He wears loudly colored suits and ties.  When Grandma tells him the colors don’t work well together, he tell her that they do in the garden.  So when I saw these fabrics, Amy Butler’s Soul Blossoms, I knew they had to go in a quilt for Grandma and Grampy in Enlgand, since Grampy loves all the colors of the garden, and because Grandma loves Grampy and all his colorful ways.

Just because I haven’t checked in here for a while doesn’t mean I haven’t been working!  Nope.  I’ve been working steadily and am truly at one of my most inspired moments in life.  I think it’s because I just love what I’ve been working on lately.

When I saw the book Free Form Quilts, I just knew I had to get started on a project.  And here it is.  This quilt was so fun to make.  The minute I finished, I wanted to make another.  And I will.

If you’re interested (and local to San Antonio) in making something like this, I’ll be teaching the class at Las Colchas on Saturday, April 21.  If you have a traditional background, I can’t tell you how liberating it is to make something like this (without a ruler!).  If you are new to sewing, it’s a great project because this project is more about design and letting go of precision.

Another finish, based on the Moda Bake Shop tutorial.  This was a commission for one of my client’s mom’s Christmas present.  By the way, if you are wanting a commission, I only have 3 more slots for 2012. (FYI– Cindy S, I’m working on your borders right now, and your quilt is next to be finished– hopefully in the next week or two.)

I pretty much followed the pattern, except that I elongated the quilt and added some larger squares for visual interest.  The pattern was hard to follow because my brain wanted to cut and piece the quilt differently than the author.  The design, though, I truly love.  This will definitely not be my last quilt of this design.  I have some Tula Pink Nest waiting to have this treatment, I think.  I loved this design from the minute I saw it on Pinterest.  By the way, are you all on Pinterest?  If you aren’t, we need to rectify that.

My friend Sara, from the San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild, is making the cutest pincushions, and you just have to see them.

She opened an Etsy shop, so convo her if you have to have one.

My friend Jessi, also from our quilt guild, also opened an etsy shop.  She’s selling felted wool needle books that come with an embellishing kit so that you can bead it any way you want.  I love that idea!  Jessi thrifts for and felts her own wool.  I love my resourceful friends.

Seeing what my friends are making really makes me want to get in  my studio and make some stuff!