Scrappy Leaves Class is in Session

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday I taught the first installment of Scrappy Leaves, from the Maple Leaf Quilts book by Ilene Bartos.  I made this quilt a couple of years ago and it is my all time favorite quilt for Autumn.  Just imagine the sun streaming through a thick canopy of leaves in the forest....the premise behind this quilt.

It is a simple block that you have to make 68 times! 

The magic begins with the selection of the background fabric.  Then you add your leaf fabric on top.

The design walls in the classroom were decorated with fabulous batiks!  Look closely and you can see the gradual gradation of light to dark in the green backgrounds. 

It was a great deal of fun in the classroom at the shop.  There was beauty everywhere you looked.

We had ourselves an explosion of batiks!

The transition begins with green backgrounds and moves on to yellow/gold/red backgrounds.

Beautiful blocks!

Another row begins, yellow to reddish-brown.

Polka dot batiks!  Love it!

We meet again in a month.  The ladies have their homework assignment and they are going to transform their fabric selections into gorgeous, fabulous Autumn quilts that will decorate their homes and souls for many years to come.

Do something that you love today.  Be creative and enjoy every minute.

As always,

Lynn

More Party in the Garden

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a pleasant weekend.  It was a very productive week for me working on Party in the Garden at the cabin. Except for watching the antics of the acrobatic squirrels, I have hours of uninterrupted time to quilt.  All I have to do is add a touch of embroidery to the mailbox and the birdhouse, then I can sew the sections together.  This section will be months one, two and three for the new BOM. 

My quilts would not be complete without adding a flange.  This cute little red and white check is just the perfect match for the red a white stripe fabric that acts as a frame to the little hexy flowers.  Don't be afraid to add checks and stripes to your quilts. Try it....you'll light it!

The small 6-1/2" basket will give you fits unless you take it nice and slow.  You can see that the half-square triangles are smaller than a dime once they are sewn together.  I sew two blocks together, lightly press, add one more, lightly press......you get the picture.  I find that if I press after each addition, the rows stay nice and straight.  I selected a background with just a slight hint of a tone on tone design so I can machine quilt flowers in the triangle above the yellow basket section.

I'm off to work this morning at the quilt store.  Tomorrow I'll be teaching Scrappy Leaves at the shop with a very nice group of quilters.  We will have a fun day and I'll be taking lots of pictures.

As always,

Lynn

Home Tweet Home

Hello Everyone,

Here's a bouquet of flowers for you to look at while sipping your morning coffee.  I had a very productive day yesterday constructing a cute little birdhouse decorated with flowers and ribbon.  I used a wonderful, green batik fabric for the leaves.  Do you ever throw batiks in the mix?  I do occasionally when I find just the right fit.  It's all part of the ongoing search for just the perfect combination.  Speaking of combinations, just look at the five different check fabrics that work beautifully together.  Checks, plaids, stripes and polka dots are my favorites  Checks on the bias.....oh life is good!

This little bird will be happy as a clam perched here for as long as this quilt is in existence.  Who knows, maybe one day this quilt will be hanging in the home of one of my grandchildren....or great-great-grandchildren.   I actually think about that when I design and construct my quilts.  I want them to last for more than one lifetime and will take extra steps to make them with care and great attention to detail.  This is my legacy to my family.  (There won't be any money to hand down since I spent it all on fabric!) 

That isn't a flange on the side, it is an accent strip that I added to accentuate the scallops.  That was actually Mr. Joe's idea when I made the quilt the first time around.  He had a flash of brilliance with that suggestion!

Today I'll be working on the swatch sheets for the shop that is going to offer this as a block of the month.  I'll let everyone know soon which shop.  I also have to prepare two more blocks for the Minglewood Monday program.  More details to follow on that also.  My 'to-do' list is going to turn into my 'to-done' list over the next couple of days.  If there is such a thing as a quilting grindstone, my nose is happily pressed to it!!

Have a great weekend being creative.

As always,

Lynn