A Little Panic Sewing / Beauties Pageant 270

Most autumns, I do a certain amount of panic sewing. No, I am not creating Halloween- or fall-themed quilts. I am not getting a leg up on my handmade Christmas gifts. I am joining other QuiltCon hopefuls and finishing up projects to submit to the show before the October 31 deadline.

Here’s the thing: I am not a show quilter. That’s not a judgment on my artisanship—it’s being honest about my approach to quilting. Most of what I sew as a pattern designer is created to be replicated by others and doesn’t reflect the QuiltCon aesthetic. I am solidly JV when it comes to QuiltCon, and that’s fine with me.

Then why submit at all? Because is an absolute thrill to attend QuiltCon and see my work hanging with the others! And I find the challenges especially inspiring—they get me creating things I wouldn’t have made otherwise. (The problem with the challenges is that they tend to be announced over the summer, when my productivity is minimal at best, and I can’t really get going with them until my kids are back in school. Hence the frantic sewing in September and October.)

Some of my project have shown at past QuiltCons (read a recap here). Will this year’s submission? Maybe! In a moment of clarity I abandoned the notion of submitting a quilt to the transparency challenge—I don’t have adequate time—so I will submit just one quilt, to the Windham Ruby and Bee Fabric challenge. I used all six colors in the palette selected by Tara Faughnan. After straight-line quilting the piece on my domestic, I added some chunky hand quilting. There are some sneak peeks of the quilting detail in this post.

Are you also susceptible to QuiltCon panic sewing? If so, I wish you the best of luck! I’d love to see your work—and mine—in Phoenix next February.

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'Tis the Season for Stashing / Beauties Pageant 269

My recent book-writing experience effectively curbed my desire to buy fabric. Back in the fall of 2023, I selected all the fabric for that collection of patterns, and Moda sent me two huge boxes of jelly rolls and yardage for tops, backs, and bindings. Opening and unpacking those boxes was the most fun I had had since being a kid on Christmas morning!

For many months that followed, I couldn’t justify buying new fabric. I simply didn’t need it, and I was busy sewing my book samples. Now that the book is done (to be released in April 2025), some too-good-to-pass-up sales and an upcoming pattern release have had me online and adding selection after selection to my cart. 

First up: the Moda prints at the top of the post. Last weekend, Lamb and Loom Fabrics offered a mystery backing for $10. I love a good mystery purchase, and 4 yards for $10 was an unbelievable price. I bought half-yard cuts of various prints from Fancy That Design House and Ruby Star Society and, when I received the package, was super pleased to find a design from Aneela Hoey as my mystery backing. After admiring these new fabrics, I stashed them for a time when inspiration strikes in the future.

Then I placed an order for Rifle Paper designs at Hawthorne Supply. Rifle Paper has produced three different holiday collections over the years. I bought my favorites and will pair them with four different solids—I’m thinking dark green, light green, red, and pink—for a pattern slated to release next month. To be honest, I already had a layer cake on hand to make this particular pattern, but it’s going to be such a quick sew that I think I can bang out two of them for pattern promoting and holiday giving.

What’s the stashing scene in your sewing room? Are you chipping away at the fabric you already own or have your sights on some new additions?

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Cluck Cluck Sew's Kitty Cats / Beauties Pageant 268

Nothing brings me more satisfaction than getting a low-priority project off the WIP pile and over the finish line, and this week’s post does not disappoint. There’s no gift-giving opportunity on the horizon. I don’t have a recipient in mind. But when I find myself in need of a cat-adorned quilt, I now have this beauty at the ready ...

The design is Kitty Cats from Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew, and it was a delight to piece! I had purchased several half-yards of different Riley Blake prints a year or two ago. Kitty Cats, which calls for fat quarters, put those selections to good use, leaving me with extra fabric to put toward my Pineberry quilt (yet another WIP).

I used more stashed fabric on the back because that’s how I roll ...

My only regret (Future Michelle, please take note!) is that I didn’t have more variety in color and design in my fabrics. The repeated prints and colorways made it difficult to spread the colors evenly throughout the quilt top.

Allison Harris is one of my favorite pattern designers. Her patterns are simple without being simplistic, and they’re a joy to follow. If you’re a Cluck Cluck Sew fan as I am, I’d love to hear which patterns you’ve sewn and to see your finishes (even if they’re old ones!) in the linky below!

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Camille Roskelley's Patchwork Sky Pattern / Beauties Pageant 267

Years ago, my mom got me a fat quarter bundle of Nova, by Basic Grey, for my birthday. I bought some yardage to go along with it and slowly started chipping away at the mountain of prints in teal, rose, and navy. The first project I completed with Nova was Irish Twist, my own take on a traditional Irish chain quilt ...

Then I cut two additional throw-size quilts: Basic Grey’s Stolen Kisses and Camille Roskelley’s Patchwork Sky. The first one is not pieced at all (like, not even a little bit). The second quilt, however, is this week’s finish ...

Patchwork Sky checks so many boxes for me. I love the big, bold stars that seem to fall off the edges of the quilt and the swaths of 2-inch (finished) squares. The pattern instructions call for a jelly roll and a strip-piecing technique to assemble the 16 patches that fall between the stars. Because I had fat quarters, yardage, and scraps, I cut my own 2.5-inch strips and squares. I am a sucker for quilty math, so I was happy to play with my calculator if it meant busting through all that fabric. 

My first Nova project went directly to the longarmer for a swirly pantograph treatment. I thought Patchwork Sky, on the other hand, would benefit from the straight-line quilting I could accomplish on my own. Those straight lines, I think, make the quilt that much more modern.

You know I love a good jelly roll pattern, and Patchwork Sky is one I may revisit in the future. : )

 

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