Air Show with Windham Wednesdays

I received a fat quarter bundle from Windham Fabrics last week and The Theory of Aviation spoke to me! The colors are so traditional and the images are so vintage! What do you think?

Bomber jackets, compasses, biplanes, and even a lovely map of the world (I'll show that in a few minutes)

Theory of Aviation

I have two patterns for paper piecing vintage airplanes. Have had these for years. I upsized them from 4" to 7" and printed them out. One is called Into the Clouds. It is pieced in two parts.

7" Into the Clouds

And here is what it looks like with all the papers removed and sewing that one last seam:

7" Into the Clouds block

And what happens when you get distracted and think you are sewing the parts together correctly? This is what happened to Up, Up and Away. Had to rip out the seam (yes, you can see I had already attached it into the quilt center. Grrrrr!)

7" Up, Up and Away that is sewn together incorrectly!

And can we see the finished quilt top? Of course. It's 33" x 33" and I used one of my favorite settings. I call it "Air Show." Why? Because if you look at the plane on the bottom it appears to be in a nose dive! That can make us nervous, but in an air show there are planes that do this sort of thing ON PURPOSE! Whew!

Air Show: 33" x 33"

And what about that map of the world fabric? It's just a fat quarter but I've decided to put it on the back so I won't chop it up, but use some of the leftover fabrics to make it the full size needed.

Fat quarter of the map of the world

I may decide to make this a pattern. If I do, I'll keep you posted. Hope you enjoyed seeing these new fabrics that were delivered to quilt shops in May.

The Zig and Zag of Hexies

I made a project a few years ago from a set of 2" English Paper Pieced (EPP) hexagons. I called it "The Zig and Zag of Hexies." It was made with Bella fabrics from Windham and I published it with Cut Loose Press (a division of Creative Grids rulers) for quilt shops.

2" EPP hexies from the Bella Collection

And my Hexie string:

A string of 2" hexagons

Makes this fun Zig Zag table runner. Of course, being so "modern" looking, one of my daughter's immediately made a claim on it. This lives in Pittsburgh with her and her family.

The Zig and Zag of Hexies: 29" x 40"

I had a collection of 17 hexies made from another Windham Collection called Briar Rose. They sent me a 5" Charm Pack and I used some of them to make a miniature Dresden Plate runner. It still awaits quilting in my closet.

Briar Rose fabrics

I cut small dresden plate blades from those charms

And with the leftover 5" charms, I was able to get 17 EPP 2" hexagons.

17 hexagons - Can you see Mr. Froggie sitting by the pond reading?

And a close up of Mr. Froggie:

Sitting by the pond, reading

And now for my smaller runner:

The Zig and Zag of Hexies in a smaller size

The larger Zig and Zag of Hexies is at my Craftsy shop. This really is a quick project because once the hexagons are stitched together and the paper is removed, I aligned them to the background fabric and used invisible monofilament thread and used a machine zigzag stitch (of course!) to stitch them down.

I do a lot of EPP in the Summer. It is so portable and only takes up a small ziplock baggie. This new runner will be a class sample when I teach this again in the Fall. But right now it hangs in my hall bathroom where I can admire it for all the happy colors!

Going from Ho-Hum to Bold and Sassy

I foundation pieced these four little units last year using some lovely Benartex fabrics: Burlap blenders and the wonderful Fossil Ferns (the light background). But they lacked a lot of personality, don't you think? They may be sharp, but they weren't sassy!

Dogwood Blossom units from Paper Piecing Perfect Points

I actually found them quietly waiting for me in a little pile in my sewing room, buried under a stack of pattern drafts and other papers. I heard them whisper, "Hey, mom. It's time to do something with us. Give us a real party, won't you?"

As I've been in a sort of bold and sassy fabric mood lately, playing with some of my Kaffe Fassett fabrics, I pulled out some and gave them a real makeover.

Bold and Sassy Dogwood Blossom quilt

Here are a few other quilts I've made in the past using this foundation. What do you think?

This first one was in that suitcase full of 30 quilts that was stolen back in 2005.

The first Dogwood Blossoms quilt I made

This next one was also in that suitcase. Sigh. I like to say that they're hanging on the Giant Quilt Rack in the Sky.

Yes, I like bright and bold colors.

Here is the remake of my quilt for the workshop I had to teach the next day in California, minus my teaching sample!

Remake of the Dogwood Blossom quilt

 And a stylized shot:

And one final quilt, which was published in a magazine:

Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute! Here is my New York Beauty quilt still waiting to be quilted. I had removed the borders because a quilting "friend" told me that I couldn't possibly publish it as it was with the irregular borders. (I've shared about this one before.) Can you see the "imperfections" in the left Dogtooth border? And what do I say? Who cares!?

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed the show.

2016 Calendar Girls: Idaho Beauty is our June Block and Project

Idaho Beauty from the Quilter's Block a Day calendar

Idaho Beauty is a wonderfully large block composed of 4 Ohio Stars. They are 20"! Two Idaho Beauty blocks make this small quilt of 35" x 57-1/2". This block appears on June 17 in the calendar.

And the digital quilts:

Idaho Beauty quilt: 35" x 57-1/2"

 The following coloring is how it appears in the 4 page pattern.

Idaho Beauty quilt: 35" x 57-1/2"

Included in the pdf pattern is a coloring chart for you to audition your own fabric choices and a one page newsletter that shows some tips on cutting those flying geese units for the star points.

You do not have to go to Craftsy for this pattern. It will eventually go there, but for now you can download it from the links above.

Remember, you need to own a copy of my Quilter's Block a Day Calendar in order to get the pattern for the 20" Idaho Beauty block.