Jay McCarroll's new quilting fabrics by FreeSpirit!

I was browsing through this month's Quilting Arts magazine--my all time favorite quilting magazine--and discovered that Jay McCarroll (check out his cool online store!), the winner of season one from Project Runway (a Bravo TV show that I adore) has officially entered the world of quilting with his own quilting fabrics. I love them!

So far, he is showcasing two lines: 

1. Garden Friends: This cheerful and quirky line of bunnies and birds offers a rainbow of prints that zigzag through our spring garden of goodies.
2. Woodland Wonderland: Another quirky line (that would probably coordinate well with the above line) offers a woody alternative of grays, orange, teal, lime pink and blue, with deer wandering through a forest. The mushroom print is my favorite!

According to the article in Quilting Arts, Jay has more lines in the works--I'm excited to see them. In the meantime, I have my eyes peeled for these fabrics, and am anxious to try them out!

Bargello Christmas Tree Quilt

This is a Christmas quilt I made for a friend of mine, and almost didn't finish in time for Christmas. It was easy, though a bit time-consuming to come up with right fabrics (particularly the large and small scale pine prints), though that might be because I'm picky about my fabric selection. You can download the PDF file for the pattern for free here (it will take time to get it, since it's a full-color PDF file). I should note here: this is an outside link to Timeless Treasures' website, as the free pattern is copyright by Karen Montgomery and Timeless Treasures, complete with fabric recommendations and yardage requirements.

As you can see, I chose slightly different fabrics for a different feel for this quilt. My tree turned out a bit darker than the pattern, and I chose burgundy and lots of metallic prints for a little flair. (I also skipped the nutmeg colored tree shadow at the base of the tree.)

For quilting, I did a free-motion leafy pattern for the tree, and then a stipple pattern for the background. The back of the quilt is a Michael Miller Fairy Frost in dark brown. (I added a personalized label before quilt assembly.)

I also added some iron-on rhinestones for embellishment as a star topper ornament, and also throughout the quilt, after the quilt was complete.

Memory Lane Quilt Shop Specials...

If you're local to the San Diego area, check out Memory Lane in Santee this weekend.  They are having some great specials:

• 25% off all Christmas fabric (fabric on the bolt and panels, also)
• All book are buy one, get one half price (limited to stock on hand, half price item must be lesser value item)
• All patterns are buy one, get one half price (limited to stock on hand, half price item must be lesser value item)

Found a fun quilting blog with great techniques...

Be sure to check out the WackyPac Blog -- They've got some great projects and fun techniques online--so much that I've listed a permanent feed on my blog here.

Rhonda, one of WackyPac's contributors deigned to comment on my last post (thanks for your feedback--I'm so glad you liked it!), so I checked out her profile and found their blog this way.

In particular, there is a terrific Hot Flash quilt in there that is gorgeous red, yellow, orange and pink. Just lovely!

Slime quilt a la Dragonquest

I'm not into video gaming, but my brother-in-law is. He and my sister are expecting their first baby this month, and I asked if I could make a quilt for them as a baby gift. Their nursery has a Dragon Quest theme, and they sent me some pictures of Rocket, the character you see in the five corner blocks of this quilt.

The quilt came out to be about 43" square, so I could avoid piecing the backing fabric. It was also my first attempt at applique. I completed the five slimes first. I traced the slime design on interfacing. Then, I sewed on the traced line, through the interfacing and fabric (wrong sides together). I made a small slit through the center of the interfacing and turned the piece right side out and pressed. This gives you turned under edges, without all the work.

For the eyes, I used my embroidery machine and made three circles--one full white circle, one outline black circle, and one small black center circle. For the mouth, I used a free-motion satin stitch around a traced pattern. Then, I attached the applique to the sky background fabric with a satin stitch and a special foot called the Satinedge™ foot by Creative Feet. It's a great investment, especially if you lack confidence in your ability to sew straight.

I cut the alternating squares (a scenic print by Michael Miller) the same size as the slime squares, and attached some dark brown marbled sashing to make the squares pop. I added a grass green border (Easter grass), and used the same for the backing fabric.

For quilting, I quilted in the ditch of the sashing and border, and then also around each of the slimes. I also did some freemotion quilting in each of the scenic blocks as well. The light blue binding adds just a touch of brightness to finish off the quilt.