Quilt-achusetts

It's been a while, my quilt productivity has definitely been hurt during the stay at home order, which is finally lifting, but I finished a quilt.  My Tulip Chain quilt is a for fun project with a bit of a secret, nope I can share the secret quite yet.  I love the bright color palette and the versatile shape. Tulip Chain quilt by Heather Black When I started designing this quilt I was thinking of tulip fields and the rainbow of colors that tulips come in but discovered, fairly quickly, that the shape takes can be representative of many things.  I've had people tell me that they look like tulips, cats, mixing bowls, fruit and Star Wars Storm Troopers.  I love that with a little tweaking of the color palette this quilt can change into the makers own vision. Tulip Blocks When it came time to quilt the top I knew I wanted to make the background look like rain, given the spring theme and layout.  I also wanted to keep the quilting on the tulips very...

I did it, I finished a quilt!  I haven't finished a throw size quilt since December and since I forgot to do a blog post about that quilt I have two quilts to share today.  My most recent finish is my Mishmash quilt. Mishmash Quilt by Heather Black - Quiltachusetts This quilt is a combination of several different techniques, designs and quilting, a mishmash.  When I shared this quilt with a friend of mine she said that it looked like 3 different quilts all together and I couldn't agree more.  I wanted the design to look like three designs layered on top of each other. Mishmash Quilt - quilting Believe it or not what took me the longest on this quilt was the quilting.  I started this quilt back in January and finished the top fairly quickly but was stumped when it came to how to quilt this one.  This think what hung me up was the idea of mixing different styles and looks together.  When teaching about design I like to talk about ...

In March Aurifil asked their Aurifil Artisans to complete a project using a Kantha stitch.  I was excited to try out some hand sewing but I wasn't sure what type of project I wanted to do.  When I looked up Kantha stitching I found out that women in India would use the stitch to sew together multiple layers of old saris to make cushions and garments from.  I wasn't about to make a garment but I was drawn to the idea of sewing layers together and settled on a fabric collage. Fabric Collage by Heather Black I started by pulling fabrics from my scrap drawers and tried to pick fabrics that had texture and a natural feel.  I also knew I wanted to use an Anna Marie Horner print and fussy cut this bird for the feature print.  I even found a bit of stripe fabric with the selvage left on it that I fell in love with. Fabric Collage by Heather Black It took me over an hour to get all the fabrics selected and another chunk of time getting them arranged....

When I was at Fall Quilt Market I got a chance to preview my friend's new book New Patchwork & Quilting Basics: A Handbook for Beginners by Jo Avery and was completely taken by the concept and beautiful projects in the book.  When Jo asked me if I'd review the book I jumped at the opportunity to take a closer look at her inspiring book. Pinball Wizard Mini Quilt As I went through the book I knew as soon as I saw Jo's Pinball Wizard quilt that I'd have to try making a block from that design to share. Pinball Wizard by Jo Avery It is such a great design and my block came together so fast.  I started by selecting the fabrics I wanted and tracing the templates for paper piecing.  I wanted my Pinball Wizard block to have a fresh spring color palette with a mix of solids and prints. This is the perfect project for a beginner paper piecer or a more advanced quilter looking for a fast make with plenty of impact.  It came together quickly and gave...

Now that I'm back from QuiltCon I thought it would be a good time to share my Festoons quilt from Daisy and my book, Quilt Modern Curves & Bold Stripes. Festoons Quilt Along with the quilt I'm also excited to share that my quilty friend Alyce Blyth, Blossom Heart Quilts , wrote up a review of the book and posted it on her blog.  I really appreciate the time Alyce took to go over the book and share her impressions.  Alyce also has a book out, Mini Masterpieces !  I love how cheerful all the projects are.  I hope everyone take a moment to check out the review on Alyce's site and her book . Festoons Quilt When I designed this quilt I was thinking of a late 19th century church picnic, think Polyanna or Anne of Green Gables, and I wanted to use bright colors and vertical lines in both the design and the quilting.  I even improv pieced the festoon block inner half circles too give the design more motion and playfulness. Festoons Quilt ...

Next design I'd like to share from the book is my Retro Spin quilt.  This quilt is a modern version of a quilt sampler and features a great retro color palette. Retro Spin Quilt This week Pat Sloan has some behind the scene details about Daisy and my book, Quilt Modern Curves & Bold Stripes !  Her post shares some of the books origin and the unique efforts Daisy and I put into the book. Pat did an amazing job to take time a learn more about Daisy and I and reviewing the book and I hope everyone will take the time to head over to her blog and check it out with all the other wonderful quilty goodness on Pat's website . Retro Spin Quilting Retro Spin is one of two quilts I didn't make a printed stripe version but there are instructions in the book for the pieced and printed striped versions. Retro Spin Quilt This is one of my favorite designs from the book.  I love the color palette and the movement created by "spinning" some of th...