quilting – Page 15 – the long thread

December 7, 2011December 8, 2011

Moda Designer Blog Hop

Today I’m excited to be part of the Moda Designer Blog Hop! If you read this blog regularly, you’ll know that I have a fabric collection called Quilt Blocks that will be available in stores in April. If you’ve just found The Long Thread through the Moda blog hop, be sure to check out my book, 1, 2, 3 Sew.

For the blog hop, each participating Moda designer is sharing a quilt block and a recipe on their blog. My contribution is the quilt block above and a recipe for Honey Pound Cake. The 12″ block uses some of the fabrics that will be available in the spring, but I just had strike-offs to work with, so the colors may be slightly different. It’s a straightforward block using three different fabrics, and would work well with solids or any pattern.

As a Southerner, I’ve always been a big fan of pound cake and its versatility. You can serve it with fruit, ice cream, whipped cream, or just on its own with coffee. Pound cake freezes well and makes a nice holiday gift. You could make this drawstring gift bag for a loaf of pound cake to make it extra special.

Just click on the image below to print the .pdf file with the recipe and block instructions. Happy Holidays!

Follow along with the other stops on the Moda Designer Blog Hop. Here’s the full tour schedule:

Monday, December 5th:

Tuesday, December 6th:

Wednesday, December 7th:

The Long Thread

Thursday, December 8th:

Camille Roskelley

Kathy Schmitz

Laundry Basket Quilts

Kate Spain

Primitive Gatherings

Friday, December 9th:

December 5, 2011December 6, 2011

Holiday Cheer

I’ve got the tree up and just made a stocking for our new addition to the family. Yes, we have stockings for all of our pets, including the guinea pig. And after I hung it, I realized that our other stockings point to the right. Oh, well.

Here are the triangle templates that I created to make the stocking if you’d like to use them for a quilt block or other project. I love paper piecing for getting precision in smaller triangles like these. If you’re unfamiliar with the technique, you basically place the fabric behind your paper pattern and sew right through the paper. You can check out tutorials on YouTube, because it’s tricky to explain. Here are some other paper pieced blocks I made.

October 10, 2011October 10, 2011

Playing with Blocks

It’s always when I have a million other things to do that I get distracted doing something unproductive but fun. Last night I played with the solid strike-offs from Moda and made these paper-pieced blocks. Yeah, I know I need a new iron. The top two are totally 80s! And I would love to frame them in white and make a quilt. But not today.

These represent the colorways in my Quilt Blocks collection. The top two are from the spectrum colorway and the bottom two from the shade and marine colorways, respectively. Not all of these will be available as solids in the Bella collection, but some will. Speaking of Quilt Blocks, Kim over at True Up did a nice feature, so go check it out!

Anyway, I have included these 8″x8″ blocks in a printable .pdf if you need a distraction too. If you’ve never worked with the paper piecing technique, you can watch some videos on YouTube and experiment until you get the gist of it.

September 20, 2011

100 Quilts for Kids

Katie of Swim, Bike, Quilt e-mailed me a while back about a quilt drive that she began last year in conjunction with the DC Modern Quilt Guild called 100 Quilts for Kids. She’s doing it again and you can help!

All you need to do to participate is make a quilt for a child and donate it to your local women’s shelter or other community organization. The quilt can be any size; baby, toddler or twin. Share a photo of your quilt and you’ll be eligible to win prizes (a copy of 1, 2, 3 Sew for instance). I love this idea and think it’s a fantastic way to bring something handmade and useful into a child’s life.

So check out Katie’s blog for the details, dates and prizes.

I started working on a quilt and just finished the top. Hope to put it together in the next few weeks and donate it locally. Thanks for the inspiration, Katie!

June 4, 2011June 2, 2011

Modern Blocks

I’m thrilled to be a part of this upcoming book from C & T Publishing, Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favorite Designers. Due out in the fall, it features many designers with their interpretations of the modern quilt — from appliqué to embroidery and all kinds of techniques in between. This looks like a book I would totally buy even if I didn’t have a block in it. My block has a pleating technique to add texture to a quilt. Which reminds me, maybe I should make a quilt from that block. One more project for the list.