Pattern Release/Give Away-Star Blossom

Today is the day.  It's finally here!  I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the month of June than by finally releasing my and Dave the Quilt Engineer's first pattern, Star Blossom.  The Star Blossom block is one of David's many block designs and together we were able to bring the pattern to life.  This is the first full length quilt pattern I have written and I have to admit, I feel like I've accomplished something.  Hopefully, this will not be our last collaboration.

Pictured left to right: baby with extra border, lap size, and baby/hall hanging

The Star Blossoms pattern is beginner friendly and includes fabric requirements and cutting instructions for baby, lap, full and queen sized quilts.  It also includes two blank color pages (one block baby and four blocks lap), so that you can print them and test out fabric colors or even audition free motion quilting motifs.  The PDF pattern is listed for sale in my Craftsy Shop for $10.  However, to kick off the pattern release it will be available for download for $8 until Sunday June, 11th. 

I want to take a second to discuss the sizes of the quilts.  The baby quilt measures 38" square, the lap measures 64" square, the full measures 94" square and the queen measures 96" x 122".  After the 38" quilt (the scrappy black, red and grey quilt in the above picture) was pattern tested, I realized it was really too small for a baby quilt (although it would make a great car seat or stroller quilt).  So I've included in the pattern, fabric needed to add a 2" smaller inner border to increase the size of the baby quilt to 42" square.

It's been hard not to share progress of these quilts with you, so today I want to talk about the cover quilt (I will discuss the blue baby quilt on Wednesday and let David tell you about his red and black quilt.).  I chose to work with Cluck Cluck Sew's Dixie for Windham Fabrics.  I just love the pinkish reds with the turquoise fabrics. 

I knew when I first started piecing this quilt how I wanted to quilt it...simple straight lines.  I thought lines would give the quilt wonderful texture and allow those beautiful fabrics to be the star of the show and I have to say they did not disappoint.  The lines are stitch 1/2" apart using Aurifil #2021 50wt and it melted beautifully into all the fabrics.  I quilted them on my Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen and used a ruler to keep my lines straight-ish.  Proving that your lines do not have to be perfectly straight to give the overall effect you desire. 

It's true, everyone in this house loves Aurifil thread.  Caroline always tries to steal it.

I also want to give a HUGE thanks to a few special people who volunteered to pattern test for me; Sandra at mmm!quilts, Beth at Cooking Up Quilts, Jen at A Dream and A Stitch, and Anja at Anja Quilts.  Each of them will be sharing their version of Star Bloom over the next few days and I will link to their posts as they become live.  All of my pattern testers (except Dave) will be hosting a give away for the pattern so make sure you hop over to their blogs and check out what they have to say. (Another huge thank you to Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs for reading the pattern and for all her helpful suggestions)

Sandra at mmm!quilts--baby quilt
Beth at Cooking Up Quilts--queen size (I will love her forever for that)
Jen at A Dream and A Stitch--lap quilt
Anja at Anja Quilts--baby quilt
Dave the Quilt Engineer--baby and lap

Now on to my give away.  To celebrate the launch of this pattern I would like to give away a PDF copy of Star Blossom to three lucky readers.  If you would like to win a copy of the pattern just leave a comment below.  Maybe tell me what colors you would make the quilt in.  I still have so many ideas for making this quilt, it makes my head spin.  If you are a follower of TishNWonderland, feel free to leave a second comment below to tell me how you stalk follow me (Bloglovin, Instagram, Twitter) for a second chance to win.  The give away will be open until midnight Sunday June 11th and I will announce the winner on that Monday.  If you are a no reply blogger make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you.

I'm so glad I can finally share with you what I have been working on.  If you win/purchase the pattern and make Star Blossom I would LOVE to see what you create.  I hope you will tag me if you post to Instagram or please feel free to email me pictures.  Thank you all for stopping by.  Next week I will share more details on the baby quilt and the free motion quilting that went into it.

Even Mr. Gracie, the neighbor's duck, couldn't get enough of the quilt.  He couldn't quack enough about it.

Today I'm linking up with Main Crush Monday, Finish It Up Friday, TGIFF and Can I Get A Whoop! Whoop!

Squirrel Confession--Variable Star Quilt

Welcome to another episode of quilting confessions: Squirrel Addition.  We all have them no matter what you call them, those little distractions that get in your head and eat at you until you make them and set them free.  I think my friend Sandra at mmmquilts says it best when she calls them DrEAMi Moments...Drop Everything And Make it.  You have to.  You cannot move on with your quilting and creative life until you set that beast free.

For me, sometimes a squirrel will live inside my head happily frolicking around, slowly eating away at my attention for weeks before I acknowledge it.  This particular squirrel was born on December 7th when the first episode of Craftsy and Angela Walter's The Midnight Quilt Show was released.  The Variable Star Quilt.


I could not get enough of those beautiful stars and the over the top Angela quilting!!  I wanted one.  Wanted to play around quilting one. But NO!  Too many unquilted UFO's.  Focus on quilting goals.  No new projects.  Period.
I knew I wanted to make use of patterns and pre-cuts I already own and decided to pull out three projects to ring in the new year with.

  The Cotton + Steel FQ's were pulled to make Quilts Actually's Forging Steel, the bandanna FQ's were pulled to become Quilting Jetgirl's Bundle Buster and the random fabrics to the right to become Sew Fresh Quilt's Dog Gone Cute.
So what happened?  Well....those bandanna FQ's where happily busted to become a quilt top New Years Eve.

I will show you more of this one after it's quilted.  However, those C+S fabrics were still calling my name.  I could hear them in my sleep.  
A day or two later, Helen at Midget Gem Quilts invited me through Instagram to join her and @susangodfrey600 in their C+S quilt along.  All of us had the same Craftsy FQ bundle boxes and the idea was to make something, anything and share as we go.  OH HELL YEAH!!!  COUNT ME IN!
I only paused for a second when I grabbed the Dog Gone Cute background fabric and downloaded the free Variable Star Quilt Pattern from Craftsy...the squirrel was scratching harder.  I was officially out of control.
I carefully petted those fabrics, wanting to make sure I chose the correct ones.  I paired them up, repaired them up and finally decided on the ones I wanted to use. 
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:  When unfolding FQ's be prepared for anything.  I knew some of the fabrics where Halloween themed, but didn't think much about it.  I picked a nice tan-ish FQ with the prettiest lacy looking flowers on it.  I was talking to David as I was unfolding and ironing my fabrics.  As I unfolded this particular one, I gasped mid-sentence and jumped backward, fear in my eyes.  David, concerned, asked what was the matter??  I started laughing like a mad woman...well played Craftsy...well played.

Once it was completely unfolded there are little black spiders printed all over it; just so happens none showed up when it was folded in the box.  Guess those aren't flowers but webs.  Be careful...unfold with caution.   

With fabric sliced, stars formed in our living room.  I even dug out the portable design wall so I could view them as they came together.

And so I gave birth to my squirrel.  I can breath a bit.  It's all ready for me to quilt it but it knows it has to wait just a bit longer.  I feel like I can focus on other things now...like my list (which it has been added to).

Do you find yourself influenced by the power of squirrels from time to time (all the time)?  Do you find it hard to concentrate on projects because newer, prettier projects flirt for your attention?  Do you just WANT a distraction? 
 There is a party just for you.  Sandra will be hosting a monthly linky party at the end of every month dedicated to those DrEAMi moments that captivate us.  So if you have found yourself completely engrossed by something that you shouldn't have been working on, or distracted from other things, write a post and link up on January 28th.  It could be fabric, a pattern, or a technique that has you ignoring that list of "should be doing" stuff.  I guarantee you will be in good company.  Heck, you just might find your new squirrel.  Now where did I put that bag of peanuts?

Come join the party!  Today I'm linking up with DrEAMi Linky, Let's Bee Social and Midweek Makers.

Craftsy Stash

So I may have gotten a bit carried away last month when Craftsy had their monthly sale.  Again I said "may have."  I'm hoping there will be several of you that say, nope, all of those purchases were perfectly rational, Tish.  And I will thank you in advance for those words. :)

So what did I pick up?  Well, let me show you.

I actually picked up this wonderful box of C+S Fat Quarters's during a Craftsy sale a few months ago.  I was in love with all those beautiful colors and the price.  During the early Black Friday sale last month the prices on the FQ box was reduced even more, so of course I had to pick up it's little friend.

If one box is good and two boxes are better, then three boxes must be over the moon, right?  The next deal I jumped on was a Free Spirit 1 Yard Cut Fabric Box.

Look at all those pretties!  The box contained 14 1 yard cuts of Free Spirit fabric.  I was a bit nervous because I was at the mercy of the Craftsy Gods when it came to the prints (it's a mystery box), but I think they came through for me.  I have no idea what I will be doing with these, but until then I will stare at their yummy goodness.

The next two items I jumped on were quilt kits.  You know, just in case I ever run out of projects to work on.

First up is Town Square using Boundless Solid Mixers.

 And the second is Arrow Heads using Tonga Treasures in Topez

With Old Man Winter right around the corner, I'm glad I will have all these new friends to keep me company.  So why do I bring up all these fun purchases?  This weekend, Craftsy is having their Farewell to Summer Sale (September 16th through the 18th).

What a great way to prepare for the cozy months of inside play by taking advantage of all the great clearance items they have marked down, and you can never be too prepared for that unexpected gift that you need to whip up.  Also, I will mention that I am a Craftsy affiliate, so most links in this post contain affiliate links.

And on a completely different note, do you remember the small kitten we rescued about 3 weeks ago?

Good news, as much as we enjoyed having him (especially Caroline, who became quite attached) last weekend he found his way to his fur-ever home.  He is now happily playing with a sweet 10 year old girl and proudly sporting the name Turbo.  Which left one feral kitten left at David's work.  His co-worker was finally able to catch the little baby, and as you would guess it, my lover of cats husband brought it home.

Meet nugget #2.  I'm pretty sure it's a girl, but she was a bit jittery by the time we got her home last night, so no bath yet and no lifting of the little tail to check.  She's a bit more feisty and definitely healthier than her brother was, but I have no doubt that after 24 hrs of loving care she will be mush in our hands.  So as always, if anyone knows anyone that would love to give this beauty a good home, please let me know, or if you could send some positive vibes this way that we can find her a home soon that would be great.

Today I'm linking up with Can I Get A Whoop! Whoop!

WIP and a Crafty Sale

Its been one of those weird weeks, where I feel like I have been super productive, but don't actually have a whole lot to show for it.  But I promise I have been busy.  Cleaning has taken up a portion of my week.  I need to make some space for a somewhat large addition that will be coming in the next few weeks.  I'm happy to report I only had one sobbing melt down, in which I exclaimed, "What have I done??"

In between moving things around and purging, I found time to prep my Snowflake Shimmer QAL fabric.  It feels super good to see all those shinny prints all chopped up and ready to sew.  As you can see from the picture, I'm hoping to get the Meadow Mystery fabric under control and start on a super cute Christmas Wall Hanging I am pattern testing this weekend.  Oh yeah, and more cleaning.

This little note book as also held my attention this week.  It is the secret vault of Dave the Quilt Engineer's designs.  This book of graph paper is part of the reason he decided to take up quilting.  Bringing his ideas to life.  We work as a team and my portion of the show is pattern writing.  I'm the math and graphics girl.  Our goal is to have our first for sale pattern ready before the end of the year and I've spent time this week making graphics and working out numbers.   He spent some time while he's been away searching for just the right fabrics.  So for now all I can show you is this closed book of graph paper.

For the rest of this post...I thought I would do my duty as your Craftsy enabler and talk a little bit about the sale they have going on this weekend (today through Sunday at midnight).

For this weekend they are offering some of their class favorites for 50% off.  I love these sales.  It's usually when I try to grab one.  It allows me to invite some of the best quilting instructors into my life and learn from them whenever I want.  In my pajamas in bed, even!  On my schedule!  So I thought I would take an opportunity to talk about some of the classes I've purchased and watched.

When I first discovered the Craftsy platform, I could not watch enough Angela Walters videos.  I have learned so much from this wonderful gal.  She introduced me to the idea of Dot-to-Dot Quilting and from that point I have not looked back.  It appears in most of my quilts.  This type of visual quilting has allowed me to put that marking pen down and just quilt.  It's a great class for beginners wanting to give free motion a go.  In the class you can create a 40" wall hanging and follow along with Angela as she quilts hers.

This isn't the only class of Angela's that has got me out of a tight spot or stopped me from bruising my head banging it on the wall.

Small Changes Big Variety shows you how you don't have to know how to do 20 million fancy smancy quilting motifs.  Even just knowing how to do a few, but make small modifications to them can take your quilting to the next level.  You don't have to be an expert to look like one.

I can't tell you how many times I've let a quilt set because I didn't know what the heck to do with the border.  It's like when you are talking and you don't know what to do with your hands.  But in Borders & Backgrounds, Angela will help you figure out how to fill those spaces and never have that awkward, what do I do feeling again.

Help!  How do I Quilt It?  I think it's safe to say we have all been there and yelled that?  This is another great class that proves you don't have to be able to stitch everything under the sun to produce a quilt with spectacular quilting.  She breaks different types of quilts down (such as paper pieced, small area, medallions) and different types of quilting that work with each.  

Now how about a little chat on feathers.  Ah, the feather.  It's like that dragon one is always chasing.  They are beautiful.  They can be super fancy or over the top whimsical and can live in just about any space on a quilt.  The problem with feathers is you have to learn to stitch them.  They are not born over night.  I have purchased three different classes on feathers and each have so much information.  But between knowledge gained in each class, I know find myself trying to stick them where ever I can put them

Patsy Thompson's Ultimate Free-Motion Feathers, I'm not sure what took me so long to purchase this class.  Patsy breaks feathers down into several different categories.  It wasn't until I watched this class that a light bulb went off.  I like to stitch my feathers without spines.  I guess it had never occurred to me that I could stitch without a clearly marked spine.

Angela's Free Motion Quilting with Feathers, truly shows that every spaces was meant for a feather.  She talks about the feather meander, feathers in borders and even adding a modern twist.  

Beyond Basic Machine Quilting by Ann Peterson.  I' not sure where to start with this one, because it contains A LOT of quilty goodness.  In the class, she walks you through making a whole cloth quilt with pretty flowers, a cute little dragon fly and lots of feathery goodness.  She covers several different methods for marking your quilt, that made me go, duh, why didn't I think of that.  I'll admit I haven't made the whole cloth (though I still want to) because I took the tools I learned from her and worked on quilts I had going.

Ann also has a class, Small Machine, Big Quilts, Better Results, perfect for us domestic machine quilters, trying to tame a large quilt on our machine.  Ann outlines different techniques for getting that queen or king sized quilt finished without causing bodily harm to others or ourselves.

Now on to negative space.  Negative space does not have to be an object to fear like a black hole that you will never climb out of.  It space that can allow your quilt to shine, by breaking it down and filling it with goodness.

Angela Walter's Negative Space, is a great class for dealing with all that emptiness.  She walks you though breaking up the space using techniques like changing design scale, echoing and combining designs to create interest. 

Christina Cameli's Wild Quilting I love this class so much and go back and watch it all the time.  It's that wonderful style of wild quilting that when you see it filling negative space you wonder how in the world did they do that.  The motifs flow together and you can't tell where they started and where they stopped.  Wonder no more, I say.  Christina breaks this style down in a simple format that anyone can understand.  If you started quilting yesterday or have been quilting for years, everyone can take something away from these techniques.  Here is an example of my first attempt at this type of quilting after watching this class.

Read more about my flow quilting piece here

And if you are still with me, how about a few more free motion quilting classes.  The next three are by a wonderful lady name Debby Brown who blogs at Highered Hands.  I first came across Debbie when I participated in Pat Sloan's 2014 BOM and Debbie offered a QAL with the blocks.  She was the first person to introduce me to The HQ Sweet Sixteen.  My dream machine.  She got me up and stitching.  Last year, Debbie release her first Craftsy Classes.

Free-Motion Quilting with lines, curves and loops is a great intro class for beginners breaking down most free motion designs with letters of the alphabet.  It's almost like writing your way into quilting.

You Can Quilt It! was actually a class designed to help those who participated in Craftsy's 2015 BOM trouble shoot quilting (a rather large) quilt on your domestic machine.  I did not participate in the BOM but took away several great strategies for dealing with a large quilt on a machine and ideas for filling blocks. 

Stunning Free-Motion Machine Quilting Using Simple Shapes is Debbie's brand spanking new class.  Like just came out this week I think.  I was so excited to see she had another class, I bought it on Monday, so I actually have't watched this one yet.  But I have no doubt I'm going to love it.

Next, Design it, Quilt It by Cindy Needham.  I would love to take a class from her in real life.  This class is packed full of great information.  She talks about using stencils, designs basics, and creating beautiful intricate whole cloths.  She touches on a little bit of everything.  In was in her class I learned about my favorite dense filler, scribbling.  A FMQ design anyone can do, though you wouldn't want to put it everywhere.

And last but definitely not least, Color Play For Quilters by Joen Wolfrom.  This class also comes with a copy of Joen's book Color Play in PDF form.  Joen gives us a wonderful lesson on the color wheel and how exactly it works.  She talks about color value and depth and how these play into our fabrics.  She covers different color schemes and how to make them work in your quilts.  I am 100% over simplifying this class because there is so much information.  But it is well worth any quilter's time.  It's not a class you can set down and binge watch.  It needs to be watched in sections, but the nice thing about Craftsy is you can take notes and bookmark important sections right within the class itself.    

Okay, if you are still with me, I thank you.  That was an extreme overload of information.  My point, is Craftsy has something for everyone.  And not just quilters.  There are literally classes for everything.  So if you have some time feel free to click on one of the links and head over and check Craftsy out.  I will mention links on my blog are affiliate links, meaning I do get a small percent if you decide to purchase something.  But I say these things about Craftsy because I believe in their platform and have been loving their classes for quite sometime, not because of the small kickback.  I take my job of being a Craftsy dealer enabler guinea pig affiliate seriously.  If you ever have a question about a class please ask me.  I have several more classes than just these.  They just happen to be some of my favorites.  Also, I did notice not all of these classes are on sale, but most are.   

Now I need to get back to cleaning and figuring what I'm going to throw out of the house to make room for my new purchase.  Wish me luck!

 

Today I'm linking up with Snowflake Shimmer AQL and Can I Get A Whoop! Whoop!