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Farmyard Stars is my favorite quilt to date! It brings back  fond memories of growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin.

Because all the animals are stars to me, I have named them after celebrities. This is Demi Moo the cow.

And this is Pig-Casso the pig!

Also meet Kitty Purry, the cat!

And here’s Pony Danza, the horse! The fun goes on and on… You will have to purchase the entire pattern to meet all 12 funky farm friends.  This quilt would be an excellent Block of The Month project. Available on my Etsy site and on Craftsy.

 

Friends have been asking for suggestions for free motion quilting on my blocks. I quilt every area unless it is very tiny, like the triangular nose on this Schnauzer. I try to use a variety of different sized patterns. Notice how the background around the dog (the dark gray area) has a loose stipple with a few swirls interspersed to create some focal point areas. Compare that to the very loose wiggle stipple in the blue border. In the dog’s beard, I tried to somewhat follow the random pattern in the fabric.

Notice the very tight stipple on the dog’s face and ears. Stitching this tight creates a surface that is rather stiff, but it makes the quilt lay beautifully. This is especially nice for a wall hanging.

Words of wisdom: 1) Use a variety of lines in different sections of your quilt. 2) Quilt across your quilt equally, don’t leave large unquilted areas or they will “puff” out. 3) Keep a notebook (as a resource) of lines and doodles that could be used for free motion patterns.

Happy Quilting!

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Remember to join me on Tuesday, May 3 for my blog tour! Win prizes! Learn how I designed my block…HOPE TO SEE YOU THEN!

http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/

 

I saw the fattest robin ever in my backyard this morning. She must be needing a nest desperately! LUV to see that spring is here.

This is my salute to all dairy farmers. I grew up on a farm where we raised cows and chickens. This reminds me of my father loading the milk cans into our trusty old blue truck in the early morning.

This was before the days of using a bulk tank to hold the milk. It meant a trip to the milk plant every morning in our old truck. As a kid, I loved to ride along on that bumpy early morning trip.

I am thrilled that I my paper pieced block made it on the cover of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Vol. 13. This is my first time on a magazine cover!

 

 

I am soooo excited to announce that I will have a paper pieced block featured in the Vol. 13 issue of Quiltmaker’s 100 BLOCKS magazine.  This magazine features 100 lovely 12″x 12″ blocks in all varieties…paper pieced, appliqued, pieced, and mixed media (buttons, embroidery, etc.). The magazine only comes out twice a year, so don’t miss it! It hits the stands in early May, and I will send more information your way towards the end of April. The magazine in the photo is volume 12 from December 2015.

 

Gray and pink are such a lovely combination, especially in a child’s room. This adorable paper pieced elephant has a child like quality and is perfect for “Enough Elephants”.

Finding 6 soft shades of pink was so much fun. The quilt went together in no time!

 

This is a great quilt to snuggle.

 

It all started with this crazy gator. OK, it actually all started with the Moda Charm Pack “For You”, which I fell in love with. All those gorgeous cool colors! And the textures reminded me so much of gator skin.

Of course, 1 crazy gator was not enough. The greatest fun came from making the outer border using the charm pack squares. After a little math, I figured out how to use almost the entire pack for the border. Don’t you hate wasting any squares in those charm packs?

 

I saw some nice long skinny pillow forms when out shopping, so I had to make Later Alligator into a pillow! This pillow measures 14″x 28″. My good friend, Jan, likes a shorter pillow, so she made her Later Alligator to fit a 12″x 22″ pillow. Isn’t it adorable? I LUV the colors she chose! The pattern for the Later Alligator Paper Pieced Quilt and Pillow is in my Etsy store now!