Kaleidoscope BOM - Month 3

Can you believe we're already onto month three of the Kaleidoscope BOM? It feels like New Years 2016 was just the other day. I'm so excited about these two blocks because they start to get a little more detailed, which adds a new layer of dimension to these blocks. 

This first one is so cool to me. I love the way the orange in the middle creates a pinwheel, but it also adds a ton of depth to the lemon star. The plum secondary background adds a cool dimension to this block as well. I love the effect of the kaleidoscope pieces extending into the background as an optical illusion. The quilting could really enhance this when we're done. 

The second block for month three is also so fun. This one has a great out of space vibe to it. Maybe it's the fabric selection or the angles of the center of the star and the star itself, but I feel like I'm on Space Mountain going through the galaxy on a space ship. This just goes to show you how the fabric choice and pattern can really make a block pop. 

If you want to download these blocks and join along in our BOM, hop on over to Craftsy. And remember, if you make any, make sure to share them on social media using #KaleidoscopeBOM

Check out the previous months too:
Month 2
Month 1
Fabric Selection

Butterfly Garden

Earlier this year, Northcott put out a call for quilts for their QuiltCon booth. As one that's always designing new patterns and constantly has multiple sketches and ideas running around my head, I answered their call and submitted a fun, whimsical, yet modern quilt design, which they accepted. I used a bunch of Northcott fabrics along with a tone on tone black print to come up with the quilt you see below, Butterfly Garden.

I was designing a few baby quilts for a soon-to-be baby girl in the family and this was one of my sketches. I ran with it and love the outcome. The color palette was inspired by my printer cartridge. It's amazing where you can find inspiration these days.

I quilted this quilt to look like the butterflies were flying in the wind using some simple wavy lines. Whenever I quilt a quilt, I always pick my quilting with intention, whether that quilting is complex or simple. In this case, I thought some complex quilting motifs would distract from the pattern. I thought about quilting some antenna on the butterflies, but decided against it at the last minute.

After giving a talk at a local quilt guild recently and previewing this quilt, I was encouraged to draft up a pattern for this quilt. If you'd like to make your own Butterfly Garden quilt, hop on over to Craftsy and download the pattern. If you make one, send me a picture, I'd love to see it.

QuiltCon opens this morning, so once I get a good shot of the Northcott booth and this hanging, I'll be sure to include a picture in some of my QuiltCon posts.

Kaleidoscope BOM - Month 2

Where did January go? It feels like I just introduced the Kaleidoscope BOM a week or two ago and we're already launching month two.

Month two has some really awesome blocks in it. This first block would be amazing repeated in a quilt. I'd be interested in seeing the movement that the light teal would work that way. As just a single block, I feel like I'm on Space Mountain at Disney World, just zooming into space. 

The second block for this month is a bright and cheery star kaleidoscope block. I really like how the white background intersects the orange star in this block to give it a great effect. I love star blocks that are framed up, and the use of the same color of fabrics in two different tones really has a nice effect here. 

I can't wait to see what you make with these blocks. If you want to participate in the BOM, download the blocks on Craftsy here. Don't forget to hashtag your blocks using #kaleidoscopeBOM. 

Dazzling Diamonds Remix

Three years ago now I taught a class for my Dazzling Diamonds quilt pattern. Instead of making it on solids like my original pattern, I made this one in some prints to go with the colors of my guest bedroom.

I'm really not sure why it took me this long to finish this quilt, because I really do love it. This is still one of my favorite quilt patterns I've designed over the years. I love that there are so many different layout options for this quilt, making it so versatile.

This quilt finishes at 24" square and is now hanging in my guest bedroom. I picked these colors specifically for this bedroom, with it's blue walls and pink and green accents.

I machine quilted this on my longarm and found inspiration from a recent Craftsy class - Angela Walters' Dot to Dot quilting. I had quilted the white and blue already before that class but decided to use one of her quilting techniques to do the green points here. I really love how it came out and will definitely use this design again. I had toyed with pebbling the pink, but it became clear that with the pattern, it would be difficult for any pattern to show up, so I just echoed around the diamonds.

I'm not sure if this new quilt will become a favorite over the original, but they're both pretty awesome in my opinion. I can look back at this original all the time and just smile.

If you ever come stay with me at my house, your guest room will now how two lovely quilts hanging in it. You can see my Twirling Trellis quilt hanging in the mirror here with some great complementary colors to it. 

Twirling Delight

I was recently asked to publish my Twirling Delight pattern, which originally appeared in Quilty a few years ago. Upon receiving that ask, I looked back through my blog and realized I never blogged about this quilt.

This is a super simple paper pieced quilt that has only seven pieces per block with minimal points that need to be matched up, making it ideal for the beginner paper piecer. The colors of this quilt remind me of spring and summer, a much welcome color palette right now given that I spent the morning snowblowing my driveway and shoveling my front walk. I could go for a picnic in the park or on the beach, just sitting on top of this quilt.

This quilt was machine quilted by Angela Walters. Some day I hope to be able to quilt swirls the way she does. She brought so much texture and movement to this wonderful quilt with her magic.

If you want to make this quilt, visit my Craftsy page here for the pattern.