Cherished Moments Fabric Tour:Precious Pillows

Happy Friday...and welcome to the Poppie Cotton Cherished Moments Fabric Tour! I am super excited to be able to share a plethora of pillows I created with the new Cherished Moments fabric collection. It was extremely refreshing to be able to put on my quilt designing hat and work on a project with my own vision. I knew months ago when I first saw this collection and the exquisite tiny details that I would be making an assortment of pillows. Most of my readers know that I love to combine piecing and appliqué, so you will see that technique in several of my pillow designs - I also utilized some paper-piecing and some fun embellishments. Designing and creating each of these pillows brought me so much joy! 

If you missed my post last Friday, it was all about this blog tour - please visit it to read about these special fabrics and see a list of the other designers involved. Now, let me share my precious pillows with you...

Floral Canoe 
This pillow design was created using the traditional Crossed Canoes quilt block and just a touch of appliqué in the center.This fabric collection has lovely floral fabrics with beautiful details - so I thought a floral appliqué would be the perfect touch in the center. This pillow is 18' x 18"...

Floral Cottage
For this pillow design, I used a pieced block with a house on a hill for the base. I appliquéd flowers and stems on the hillside and added strips of Kindly Said Black to the sides. The Kindly Said fabrics in this collection are covered in happy words and sentiments (see a snippet below)! I used teeny tiny buttons for the flower centers and door knob...and quilted a pair of window panes, as a couple finishing touches. This pillow is 16" x 12"...

Floral Kaleidoscope 
This shining star pillow was created using the paper piecing technique. I used the Kaleidoscope Collection in EQ8 for the layout of the design...should you want to create one of your own, here are the details: Strawflower 2, Kaleidoscope Collection (Copyright © Andrea Bishop, 2008) - I made it 12" x 12" square. I also added a 2" finished border using Kindly Said White. EQ8 Software makes it extremely easy to size quilt blocks to your needs and print foundation papers...plus, paper piecing this particular block will give you perfect points! This pillow measures 16" x 16"...

Floral Love

Lots of love went into this final pillow! For this appliqué design - I cut a base from Seeing Dots White and added 2" finished strips of Kindly Said Pink to the top and bottom. I then used various cuts from this collection for the word LOVE and an assortment of flowers, stems and leaves. I thought using a heart for the center of the letter O would make a cute touch! This pillow measures 20" x 12"...

Floral Pin Pillows
Finally, as a little bonus, I whipped up a couple adorable pincushions with a few leftover scraps. The square pin pillow is the Log Cabin Rose quilt block found in the foundation piecing blocks in EQ8. I paper-pieced this block in a 6" size, then hand stitched hand-dyed Ballerina Jumbo Chenille by (my dear friend) Lady Dot Creates around the perimeter. For the second pincushion, I did the "quilt as you go" method using strips and selvages (yes, Poppie Cotton fabrics have the cutest selvages...see below!). I added several flowers cut from wool and used pins as the centers and to hold them in place...and I flag cut a cute piece of selvage that says "joy and sunshine" and pinned it in place, as well. I thought these turned out super cute!

There you have it - my pillow designs using the Cherished Moments Collection by Poppie Cotton. This fabric line is in shops now, so be sure to check your favorite local shop or online shop to find these gorgeous prints. I used a fat quarter stack to create all my pillow tops.

I hope you have enjoyed this stop on the fabric tour - thank you for visiting. Could you feel the happiness and joy I put into each piece?! I am already working on a quilt for the next Poppie Cotton fabric tour in November...it is for the upcoming Woodland Songbirds collection...and it is a BEAUTY. If you make a project from the Cherished Moments collection featured in this post, I would love to hear from you...happy sewing and quilting!

Four Corners of Happy: Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour

Greetings friends, fans, and blog hoppers - I am thrilled to be one of the stops on day four of Quiltmker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour. This quilty blog hop is celebrating the release of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Vol. 10...and if you are doing the math (10 volumes x 100 blocks), then you know this collector's edition marks the milestone of 1,000 original quilt blocks! To say I am excited to be a part of this special issue for the first time would be an understatement - I am such a HUGE fan, collecting the 100 block issues over the years...and I am honored to be in the company of so many quilt designers that I admire.

If you are visiting my blog for the first time - welcome! Let me introduce myself...my name is Belinda Karls-Nace (don't let the little typo in the magazine fool you, as they misspelled my last name) and I am a counted thread needlework designer, teacher, and professional finisher by trade (Blue Ribbon Designs). I picked up my first needle at the young age of six (and made my first quilt around the age of eight) and have been designing professionally in the Cross Stitch industry for over 10 years. I am completely obsessed with just about anything created with a needle and thread - and when I am not working on my original cross stitch designs, I find sheer enjoyment sewing and quilting...and in the very near future, I will be adding my sewing and quilting patterns to my brand (along with patterns that combine my love of handwork and quilting). I am an enormous AccuQuilt fan, proudly owning three of their fabric cutters and a wide assortment of cutting dies...and I am lucky enough to do some freelance designing and sample piecing/quilting for them, as well. My blog follows my creative journey - including needlework, sewing, quilting, and machine embroidery...my handcrafted Etsy items...my original designs and patterns...tips and tricks...pretty much anything that inspires me...I hope you enjoy your stay and visit often!

"4 Corners of Happy"

My original quilt block for this special issue is called "4 Corners of Happy" - it is block #944 and can be found on page 40 (and on the cover!!). My regular readers know I love to combine traditional piecing with machine appliqué, so creating this cheerful block just came naturally. This entire block is AccuQuilt GO! friendly...and for those of you wanting to take advantage of the cutting dies I used, here is a complete list:

• 55000 (Square - 6.5")
• 55022 (Square - 2")  
• 55002 (Triangle 4 7/8")
• 55009 (Half Square - 3" Finished Triangle)
• 55319 (Half Square - 1.5" Finished Triangle)
• 55045 (Rose of Sharon)
• 55382 (Rose of Sharon #2)

I like to audition my original blocks in multiples, with other traditional blocks, and with solid blocks to make sure they can be versatile...I also like to design blocks that will work well in a number of colorways. This particular block just happens to be a great scrap buster block! I had fun playing with this design in EQ7 and creating several pieces to show it off...here is how it would look in a table runner...

Since this is a 12" finished block, I decided it would make a great bright and cozy pillow...I simply added 2 1/2" strips on all four sides and added an envelope back...perfect for a 16" square pillow form...

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and sharing in my enthusiasm...and as a reward, I have a couple giveaway prizes!

• Quiltmaker Magazine is giving away a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Vol. 10 magazine to one of my lucky readers...

• I have put together one "pre-cut block package" with all the pieces needed to make one "4 Corners of Happy" block in the same fabrics as my magazine submission, along with one copy of the magazine. I die cut all the pieces on my AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter and the applique shapes even have paper-backed fusible web attached for quicker piecing...the recipient of this prize can have their block put together in no time!

NOTE: THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED AND WINNERS HAVE BEEN CONTACTED.

For a chance to win one of these prizes, simply leave me a single comment telling me about the hobbies you enjoy - I would love to hear what types of projects you like to work on.... 
To be eligible, you must include your e-mail address or have your e-mail address visible in your profile - international entries are welcome - you must leave a comment, no e-mail entries will be accepted. The giveaway is open until 11:59 PM CST Friday, November 21, 2014 and the two prize recipients will be announced on Saturday, November 22, 2014. No prize substitutions. Good luck...

Make sure you look for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Vol. 10, on newsstands now...it's the issue with the purple blue band across the top of the cover. To find links to all the other blog tour stops, to read all about the other 99 blocks, and to have the opportunity to win a plethora of fabulous prizes, stop by the Quiltmaker Magazine blog:
http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you will return again soon!

Shades of Black

I have been doing my best to make more time for sewing and quilting...and setting aside a little bit of time to try out the newest AccuQuilt dies - specifically, the dies in the fall "stash buster" collection. There were twelve new GO! dies in the last release and one of these dies is the GO! Equilateral Triangle (4.5" sides - 4.25" finished). It seems equilateral triangles are currently 'all the rage', so I was excited to have a little time at my sewing machine to play with this versatile shape. Last night, I decided to grab some black and white fabrics from my stash (Shades of Black by Me & My Sister Designs for Moda) and started cutting triangles...I was cutting without a particular project in mind, but quickly decided on a pillow cover. I cut 42 triangles, but ended up only needing 32 for my pillow cover...the rest I will use for another project. The GO! 4.5" Equilateral Triangle die makes things extremely easy by cutting off the dog ears and placing notches on two sides to quickly line up your pieces for sewing.

I was able to sew the triangles into rows with lightning speed...and in no time, I was quilting my patchwork. I used fusible fleece instead of batting...and using my presser foot as a guide, quilted zig-zag lines about a 1/2" apart, covering the entire piece - giving the quilting a chevron look. I then used a fun floral print (Sun-kissed by Michele D'Amore Designs for Benartex) to make an envelope back with a Velco closure.

....and the results were exactly what I wanted - a beautiful pillow cover in just a couple hours. I used a 14" pillow form, although the cover was slightly larger (I didn't want to cut off the tops and bottoms of my outer rows of triangles). This die is definitely a winner and I can see using it for TONS of future projects! I am just thrilled with the results and plan to send this beauty off to a good friend who LOVES black & white color combinations...

As I have a chance to work with the other AccuQuilt GO! dies in this collection, I will be sure to share the results with you...I have a plethora of fun ideas and hope to do a little more fabric cutting later today...fingers crossed....