Market Day the pattern...

...is a great confidence builder--yet still very easy quilt to make!!! I have loved basket quilts for as long as I can remember--but have only made one--because I haven't been a fan of putting the basket on point.

So I drew up this stunning straight set friendly basket block. The handle is fusible applique--but could
very easily use a bias strip to make the handle also.

The barn on the farm was built in 1904. How cool is that?!?! It isn't used for animals anymore. Just quilt photos and some storage inside.

When I designed this quilt, I had the thought of the pioneer ladies on the prairie who would carry their baskets into the general store to fill it up with supplies that would need to last them for a while before they could make the long drive into town again. Or the basket could have been used to gather blooming flowers from the praire to add a spot of cheerful to the supper table.
I love this photo because it shows where we store our harvested grain. We store the grain in the bins until the market has a good price. Then we sell and deliver the grain to the buyer.
Market Day.

Pattern includes full size templates for fusible applique, detailed piecing instructions, quilting suggestions and a coloring page to plan your own fabric choices. Quilt size 54" x 72".
Pattern availbe for immediate PDF download HERE. Email me for wholesale pricing or paper printed copy.

The fabrics used in this cover quilt are from the Ditty Collection by Kathy Engle for Island Batik.
You can view them HERE.

Smoke Stacks..the sequel...with Island Batik....

November assignment.....log cabins....one of my least favorite blocks. I am not sure why, as it really is a versatile and quite easy to do block. It just is not on my list of can't wait to make quilts.

But being a good Island Batik Ambassador...let's carry on and get this party started!!! I was making another project and had all these leftover super cute wool circles cut out--with my GO! Circles die from AccuQuilt--and they just matched too perfect not to share!!

In the blog hop this past January for Island Batik, I designed and made Smoke Stack with the fabric line City Culture 2. You can read about that HERE. I promised a pattern...so the log cabin challenge this month seems the perfect time to release it!! But you will have to look at all the pretty pictures first!!

I am just loving these soft yet vibrant colors in the Victoria and Albert fabric collection.

I used them in Peace Seeker...you can find this pattern on my Craftsy site HERE. And I also used it for Star Spin HERE.

Fabrics all cut and sorted look so pretty!!

Chain piecing....and piecing...and piecing....

Auditioning block placement.

This springy green color #2886 by Aurifil was the perfect match. I am trying to brush up my domestic sewing machine free motion skills again!! I know they are somewhere in my muscle memory, but it seems that the long arm muscle memories are much closer on the list of how to's in my brain!! But again--carry on and finish strong!!

In between working and quilting....I bring noon lunch and supper out to the fields where my farmer husband is putting in long hours to get the harvest finished this year!!

During one of my lunch bringing runs I remembered we had this pile of old wooden fence posts in the grove on the farm that would make a great backdrop for a log cabin quilt!!!

And I may have had a bit of fun with it...

So there you have it...Smoke Stack the sequel!! The pattern is available as a PDF download on my Craftsy site HERE.

Thank you again to Island Batik for supplying the fabrics and to Aurifil for supplying the threads fot this project!!

Adventure Dash with London Calling...Great Outdoors Island Batik Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Island Batik Great Outdoors Blog Hop. Coming to you right now as I sit on the shore of Elbow Lake in Northern Minnesota at The Jolly Fisherman Resort. The day is drizzily and cold--seems quite fitting for the London Calling line of batik fabrics!!!

They can be found here on the Island Batik website. Look for them in your local quilt shop!!

London Calling is a collection of blues--from dusty light to deep dark navy including multiple steps of blue inbetween. The collection of 20 half yard cuts along with 2 yards each of a light and dark were supplied to me by Island Batik as part of their Ambassador program.

I have been in need of a new quilt for our little pickup camper--this was the perfect line of fabric to design a new quilt for that purpose. I envisioned a giant churn dash type block using all the fabrics of the collection.

I just love pretty stacks of fabric all cut with the GO! 12" Mix & Match Qube. I have  a written up a small tutorial sheet for cutting instructions with the Accuquilt Qube system along with a coloring page to make your own Adventure Dash quilt. You can find that here on my Craftsy site as a free download.

Chain piecing....and piecing.....and piecing!

Loaded on the longarm...ready to quilt...

...while the butterflys enjoyed the zinnias in front of the studio window.

Adventure Dash...72" sqaure...on the dock outside the cabin!! There was a very small break in clouds yesterday to let sunshine through. Creating the perfect opportunity to catch all the great colors in the London Calling collection from Island Batik. I also used the Hobbs 80/20 batting and Aurifil thread to do the quilting that were provided to me in the Ambassdor box earlier this year.

A couple of cute grandchildren creating a path of leaves for catepillars to eat--so it can make a cacoon in the house they made for it, to eventually become a butterfly. Oh the joy of creating in the Great Outdoors!!!

Enjoy my view as I write this post!!!

I do all of my quilting freehand on an APQS Millie. The design I used for Adventure Dash I call Wind Map. I love the great background texture it gives to an outdoors type quilt. If you have ever seen a topographical map of lakes, it will look kind of like this quilting design. Each line representing different depths of the lakes' water so that fishermen who know what they are doing can find the fish.

Benches on the end of the dock make for a great place to watch and listen to the loons. Such an erie yet beautiful sound!!!

Love me a reversible quilt!! I had planned to use the flying geese rows on top and bottom of Adventure Dash--but it felt too big. And after cutting, sewing and pressing all of the blocks--there was no way that they weren't going to be used!! So perfect on the back with the 2 yard cuts of light and dark!!!

Thanks for coming along with me on The Great Outdoors Blog Hop from Island Batik. The photo above shows all the fabrics I have left of London Calling. Please like my Lizard Creek Quilting Facebook page and leave me a comment there telling me your favorite place to vacation with your family and I will randomly choose a winner!!

Make sure you check out all the other Ambassador posts!! There may be more giveaways on them!!
You can find the list of blogs here on Island Batik's blog. Along with a great giveaway from Island Batik!!

It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever. --Jimmy Carter

Petal Perch....June assignment

Island Batik's Ambassador assignment for June--Modern Style and larger than 36" x 36". It should include open negative space, high contrast fabrics and strong graphic appeal.

Now, those requirements are quite far to the left of what I usually design!! But I do love a challenge!!

I started with inspiration from a traditional pattern of mine--Mixed Bouquet--you can find that pattern here on Craftsy.

Using the Orange Peel die #55455 from AccuQuilt. I cut out several petals from the Plum Delicious line by Island Batik. These are leftover fabrics from the Mixed Bouquet quilt.

I really did not have a plan at all when I started this morning!! I cut out the petals and had some left over backing strips of Heather--Eclectic Garden--then just started sewing.  And then some ripping--until a plan started to present itself!!

After trying 3 different colors for the "perches" I finally came to the perfect choice.

I used a Frixon pen and the 45 degree line on an acrylic ruler to make an X for petal placement.

I also peeled apart some scraps of Steam A Seam Lite 2 and placed them on the X.

Violla!! Perfectly easy placement for the petals!! I choose not to cover the backs of the petals with fusible web to keep the applique shapes soft and flexible as this quilt might end up to be a baby gift.

Loaded up the little quilt on the longarm and went to quilting. Since I am thinking it will be a baby gift for a sweet little girl I decided to go with ribbon meander freehand quilting. And then when I came to the petals I could sneek right in and do a double line of doodle stitching to applique and quilt at the same time!! Win for the time column!!

Strong south winds are never good for taking outdoor photos when living on a hill.....

 ...and trying to take photos by myself---there were several failed attempts!!!

 So lay on the grass it is for this photo shoot!!!

 Petal Perch!! Strong graphic appeal!! Super cute and super fast!!

 Thank you to Island Batik for supplying the fabrics for this project and to Aurifil for the thread!!