Donna's Quilt of Fall Colors

I love fall colors.  I love the rich tones, and fall quilts are my favorite.  Donna's Spinout uses all the rich fall colors and has a really cool twist on the back!

Here is a small excerpt from the Quilty Pleasures blog:

Did you notice how Donna arranged the background fabrics? This adds another spark to the quilt.

Not only is Donna’s quilt lovely from the front, it has a special surprise on the back! In Donna’s words, here’s what happened:

When I…was thinking about a backing, I really didn’t have a matching piece of fabric large enough. But I had so many leftover Spinout blocks, I thought there must be something I could do…for a pieced back. To tell the truth, I was driving down the road and the idea of a Spinout Tic-Tac-Toe game just popped into my head. So instead of a one-fabric backing, I decided to piece mine.

Check out the blog post to read more and see some really great pictures.

Cheers,

Dionne

Carol's Baby Spinout!

Carol went on a tear of baby quilts.  Her Spinout quilt was just one of the many baby quilts she made recently. 

To see all of Carol's baby quilts check out the Quilty Pleasure's blog.  She sure did make some cute baby quilts!

Cheers,

Dionne

Linda's Lovely Spinout!

Linda's quilt really looks great.  I absolutely love it.  Not only that, she had a great method of making her quilt.  Here is a picture and an excerpt from the blog post:

Linda made me laugh when she sent me an email:

I debated if I should admit this new method I have tried. Seems to be working just fine! Should I just keep quiet about my method and pretend I am using the method in the magazine? Is it okay to admit to you I am not using the method you have sent me?
I told Linda it was absolutely fine to use a different method, and that in fact we’d share it with readers who might also find it useful.

I have to admit, I used Linda's method as well.  I CAN do paper piecing, but I don't actively CHOOSE to do it if I can help it.  I was SO happy when Linda came up with an alternative!

Read more about Linda's alternative method at Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures Blog.

Cheers,

Dionne

Organization is the key to Scrap Quilts

It's the key I seem to have lost somewhere along the way!  But Ruthie has it in spades.

Here is a beautiful picture of her Spinout quilt:

But check out the Quilty Pleasures Blog to see how she organized the making of this fabulous quilt!

Cheers,

Dionne

Pat's Christmas Spinout

My friend Pat made a christmas quilt.  First I wanted to share with you this beautiful picture of Pat.

Pat made a wonderful Christmas quilt. I love how the golds and greens and reds work so well in this scrappy quilt!

This is how the Quilty Pleasures blog begins:

I was so excited when I got the first glimpse of Pat’s Spinout because I knew you would love it. We all have Christmas fabrics and excess reds and greens we bought when the Spirit of the Season moved us. Pat has given us the perfect way to use them up, even the littlest bits. Pat shares her thoughts:

“I was really excited about this particular project, because I just love paper piecing! My only problem was deciding which scrappy theme I would choose. I decided I needed to use scraps that stood out as a definite color such as ‘’predominantly red’’ or ‘’predominantly blue,’’ as I knew there had to be contrast between each pinwheel. I almost went with black/white/red/yellow.

To read more go to Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures Blog, and check out Pat's Blog as well.

Cheers,

Dionne

Jane's Batik Spinout Quilt

My fellow Scrap Squad-er -- does that sound right?  Maybe it should be Squad-ist?  Nope that doesn't sound good either.

Okay, so the very talented Jane made her Spinout quilt using all Batiks.  Take a look:

Here is a bit about her quilt:

Jane chose to use batiks in a variety of colors and values for her Spinout. She started sending progress pics right away and had these thoughts to share:

“It really helped me when I was cutting out the spinners that I was using batik because there was no right or wrong side of the fabric. I could cut a stack of six paper piecing hunks by folding the fabric, without worrying that the middle layer was wrong side up.

“If I do a pattern like this again, with batiks, I’ll be more careful watching what color the fabric edges near the seam are. If you look at the spinners made with the outer border fabric, that tie-dye blotchy stuff, you can see that sometimes a yellow blotch piece was sewn to a fuchsia blotch piece, so the spinner doesn’t blend at the seam.

To read more check out Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures Blog!

Cheers,

Dionne

Kim Brandt's Beautiful Spinout!

Kim Brandt is on the Scrap Squad with me and she does some really beautiful work.  I wanted to show you all the work she did on the Spinout pattern.

Kim got right down to brass tacks when she shared her thoughts about Spinout. I loved what she had to say and maybe you will, too:

“While making Barbara Cline’s Spinout I got to thinking about how my quiltmaking has changed over the years. In the old days, if everything was not perfect I would redo it, or unsew it and start again.

“Then I got to thinking about being a perfectionist. Was it helping me enjoy my favorite pastime? No, it was robbing me of the joy I had while creating at my sewing machine. So now I enjoy the process a lot more by letting my errors be a part of my creation.

To read more about Kim's work on this quilt read Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures Blog.
Also, check out Kim's Blog.

Cheers,

Dionne

Quiltmaker Reveal and a GIVEAWAY!

This month I had the great honor of working on a Jaybird Quilts pattern for Quiltmaker Magazine. 

The pattern, Raspberry Dessert, designed of course by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts, can be found in the latest Quiltmaker Magazine which will be on stands in about two weeks.  I didn't alter the pattern at all, and the size shown here is a LARGE throw that measures 76.5" x 76.5"

I used all my primary bright fabrics against a black background to make this striking quilt. 

My neighbor saw me photographing the quilt top and asked me if I would make a twin size quilt for her daughter.  So I am currently making another Rainbow version of this quilt in a twin size.  I only needed to alter the pattern slightly for that version.

To make this pattern in the rainbow pattern I pieced it in sections by color.

Then I trimmed each section. 

Then I set my machine on it’s longest stitch length and did a stay-stitch a scant 1/4” from the edge of each section, to reduce stretch and keep any seams from popping open until I could get the sections sewn together and the whole thing quilted and bound!

I also made a large runner in spring colors using Julie's same pattern. 

Doesn't it look nice on my mantel top?  I think I like it better there than on the table, as I had it in the picture above.

But on to more exciting news!  Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts, has generously donated one of her patterns to offer as a giveaway!  I'm so excited, because not only will you get her Raspberry Dessert pattern in the latest Quiltmaker magazine, you also have the opportunity to win another pattern here.

But wait, that's not all!  Check out all my fellow Scrap Squad members' blogs to see their versions of Julie's pattern.  Each of them will also be hosting a giveaway as well.  And the final giveaway will be on Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures Blog.

For my giveaway, you have several chances to enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me which Jaybird Quilt pattern you like the best.
2. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know (or just let me know you already follow).
3. Tweet about the giveaway (@iQuilty) and leave the tweet link in a comment
4. Blog about the giveaway and leave a link in a comment

Enter this contest up to four times before midnight (PDT, because that's where I am) on April 4th and I will be posting a winner on April 5th!

Also don't forget to check out the other giveaways and quilts:

• Linda at Linda's Quilting Blog
• Pat at Crazy Quilter Mama
• Donna at Donna's Quilts
• Kim at Pokeytown Kim
• Jane at Forest Jane
• Ruth at Threads of Mine
• Carol at her Connecting Threads Member Page
• Quilty Pleasures - Quiltmaker Magazine is hosting a fabric giveaway!

Cheers,

Dionne

New Jaybird Quilts Pattern coming in Quiltmaker!

I'm so excited about the new Jaybird Quilts pattern coming out in the next Quiltmaker magazine.

This pattern is fabulous.  It's everything you expect from a Jaybird Quilts pattern.  It's clean, simple and modern.  And even more, it's super easy!

Who could ask for more!

I can't show you too much yet, but here is a sneak peek of my quilt:

For another sneak peek by my fellow Scrap Squad member Kim check out her blog Pokeytown Kim .

Cheers,

Dionne