Crystalized Citrus: A Blogger’s Quilt Festival Entry

Posted on September 26, 2016September 26, 2016 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting Community / Leave a comment

Crystalized Citrus is my second entry into The Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy’s Creative Side. I hope you will all set aside some time this week to look at all of the amazing inspiration provided by the festival entries- there is some amazing work on display!

Crystalized Citrus

I originally created this quilt for this year’s Hoffman Challenge which required the use of this digitally printed butterfly fabric. I enjoy transforming distinctively patterned fabric into something completely unexpected, so I was excited to transform the butterfly wings to the flesh of citrus fruit.

The center of each fruit is improvisationally pieced before being set into the surrounding “skin.” The entire fruit is then hand appliquéd to the background. I used matchstick quilting in a range of coordinating colors to ground the pieces on the white background.

For more about this quilt you can check out the original Crystalized Citrus post.

Columbus Skyline: A Blogger’s Quilt Festival Entry

Posted on September 26, 2016September 26, 2016 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting Community / Leave a comment

Every year The Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy’s Creative Side brings tremendous inspiration to us all- I love seeing so much lovely work collected in one place! I am thrilled to submit “Columbus Skyline” as an entry into the appliqué category of the festival.

This project began when I was asked to create a “Row by Row” pattern for a local quilt shop. The theme for the year was “Home Sweet Home” so we embraced the unique skyline of Columbus, Ohio to develop a design specific to our area. (For more information on the design process, I hope you will take a look at the original Columbus Skyline post.)

Columbus Skyline

Hand stitched needle turn appliqué is used to create the city skyline. I selected bright colors to reflect the vibrant community within the city. This small quilt is finished with borders that provided a space to quilt in both the shop and city names. The quilting is done in thread to match each building so the design is reflected on the back of the quilt.

Cloud 9 New Block Blog Hop

Posted on September 14, 2016September 13, 2016 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Fabric, Quilting Community / 39 Comments

I love designing new blocks and quilt designs, and I am so excited to work with the wonderful palette of solids provided by Cloud 9 Fabrics!

Designing this block took me back to my undergrad years as a painting major when I spent a great deal of time experimenting with pattern, particularly plaid.

The group of Organic Cirrus Solids in a Berry Harvest Color Palette included a dark and light version of two of the colors, so I was inspired to use these to create an illusion of dimension.

Standard machine piecing techniques are used to construct this block, so anyone who is comfortable with accurate cutting and stitching a consistent 1/4″ seam allowance can make this block. The pattern for Berry Patch Plaid is available as a free download on Craftsy.

Multiple blocks would make an awesome complete quilt!

More than 60 new blocks have been shared during this three day hop, so I hope you will take a look at some of the wonderful designs that have been created in this color scheme!

A big thank you to Cloud 9 Fabrics and our wonderful hosts, Yvonne of Quilting Jet Girl, Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs, and Stephanie of Late Night Quilter!

Today you will see new posts from these bloggers:

Host: Stephanie @Late Night Quilter

Kathy @Kathys Kwilts and More
Paige @Quilted Blooms
Mary @Strip Quilts Pass it On
Allison @Woodberry Way
Seven @The Concerned Craft
Olusola @Alice Samuel’s Quilt Co.
Ann @Brown Paws Quilting
Jodie @Persimmon + Pear
Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts
Kitty @Night Quilter
Francine @Mochawildchild
Shelley @The Carpenter’s Daughter who Quilts
Jayne @Twiggy and Opal
Geraldine @Living Water Quilter
Shannon @Shannon Fraser Designs
Lisa @Sunlight In Winter Quilts
Jessica @Quilty Habit
Cassandra @The (not so) Dramatic Life
Deanna @Stitches Quilting
Denise @Craft Traditions

Tuesday’s Bloggers were:

Host: Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Miranda @I Have Purple Hair
Jennifer @The Inquiring Quilter
Sarah @123 Quilt
Leanne @Devoted Quilter
Jen @Patterns By Jen
Jennifer @RV Quilting
Amanda @Quiltologie
Sharon @Yellow Cat Quilt Designs
Jen @A Dream and A Stitch
Jen @Faith and Fabric
Carole @Carole Lyles Shaw
Stephanie @Quilt’n Party
Susan @Sevenoaks Street Quilts
Katrin @Now What Puppilalla
Amista @Hilltop Custom Designs
Nicole @Handwrought Quilts
Marla @Penny Lane Quilts
Silvia @A Stranger View
Sarah @Smiles Too Loudly
Carrie @the zen quilter
Mary @Quilting is in My Blood
Velda @GRANNYcanQUILT

Mondays designers were:

Host: Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

Abigail @Cut & Alter
Janice @Color, Creating, and Quilting!
Lorinda @Laurel, Poppy, and Pine
Melva @Melva Loves Scraps
Renee @Quilts of a Feather
Kathryn @Upitis Quilts
Kim @Leland Ave Studios
Amanda @this mom quilts
Holly @Lighthouse Lane Designs
Irene @Patchwork and Pastry
Jennifer @Dizzy Quilter
Karen @Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Anne @Said With Love
Suzy @Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Sharla @Thistle Thicket Studio
Kathleen @Smiles From Kate
Amanda @Gypsy Moon Quilt Co.
Sarah @Sarah Goer Quilts
Chelsea @Patch the Giraffe
Jinger @Trials of a Newbie Quilter
Anja @Anja Quilts
Daisy @Ants to Sugar

Columbus Skyline for the Row by Row Experience

Posted on July 13, 2016 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilting, Quilting Community / 6 Comments

This year Dabble and Stitch, a fantastic local quilt shop in Columbus, Ohio asked me to design their row for the Row by Row Experience. It was their first time participating in this event, and it was my first time designing for it. I am really excited by the results, and I hope lots of people get to make up this fun block. During the Row by Row Experience the patterns are available for free in their “home” shop, but can only be distributed by picking them up in person. Kits for this row are available for $20. Later this year the pattern will go up for sale and can be sent to you if you can’t make it to the shop.

The theme for this year is “Home Sweet Home,” and we thought it would be great to create a row featuring the Columbus skyline. This view of the city is taken from a bridge in Bicentennial Park.

I was standing right next to this guy as I snapped the photos!

Using the photos I took, I designed and rendered the skyline using AutoCad and Photoshop.

The block is constructed using needle turn appliqué, but you can also do raw edge appliqué using this pattern since I included lines on the templates that show the finished sizes of each piece. This is what the row looks like finished and ready to incorporate with other rows.

For the shop, I made the row into a mini quilt by adding borders. The quilting changes from building to building, and for added fun, I quilted the shop name and city into the borders. I think this looks great as a mini, and I am hoping to make one up as a long pillow for a sofa or bed.

I love mixing up my quilting thread colors to match the fabrics on the front of the quilt. I went with a white fabric on the back to show off all of that quilting.

If you are traveling through Columbus this summer, I hope you stop in to pick up a pattern!

Quilt Stats

Title: Columbus Skyline

Size: Row itself finishes at 9″x36″ With borders the mini finishes at approximately 14.5″x41.5″

Techniques: Needle-turn Appliqué, Pieced borders

Quilting: Free motion longarm machine quilted with an A-1 Elite

Fabric: Assorted 100% Cotton Prints

Batting: Hobbs 80/20

Thread: Appliquéd using Gutermann Mara 100, Quilted with eight colors of 50wt cotton Aurifil

Binding: Straight grain binding assembled to match the borders of the mini, cut 2″ wide, machine stitched to the front, hand stitched to the back.

Third Quarter Finish Along Goals

Posted on July 9, 2016July 13, 2016 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Quilting, Quilting Community, Works In Progress (WIP) / 1 Comment

It is (once again) hard to believe that we are heading into another quarter and that half of 2016 is behind us. The second quarter was filled with theatre work, and now that it is mostly tied up with a delightful bow I will be focussing more on my quilting life. I have just scheduled several class with a local shop, so I hope to see some of my central Ohio readers there! (I will be posting more on this in the next few days)

The 2016 Finish Along is being hosted by several people around the globe.

Debbie – A Quilter’s Table – USA

Jess – Elven Garden Quilts – Australia

Stacey – SLO Studio – Canada

Jennie – Clover & Violet – USA

Helen – Archie the Wonder Dog – UK

Nicky – Mrs. Sew and Sow -UK

Cindy – Fluffy Sheep Quilting – Ireland

Rhonda – Rhonda’s Ramblings – USA

Leanne – She Can Quilt – Canada

This quarter’s list looks way too much like last quarter’s so feel free to skim. I managed to meet my major deadlines for the second quarter, but I don’t consider a project completely finished unless it’s blogged, so I’m breaking down my finish goals by what I need to accomplish.