The Social Butterfly....Looking Back, Vintage quilts inspiring new creations.....

Sit back and enjoy the ride of how I arrived here with The Social Butterfly....

I have always admired the Grandmother's Garden quilts. So much so that I have a couple vintage flimsys in my "to be quilted" stack!! When pondering how to interpret the Island Batik Ambassador challenge for April of using a vintage quilt to inspire a new creation--I decided to pursue using a hexagon.

During some of my forced down time this past month, I was mindlessly watching quilting You-tubes and stumbled upon The Arrow quilt by Missouri Star Company. The video was showcasing a Half Hexagon die from Sixxix.  I have the Half Hexagon die #55165 from AccuQuilt--so I was ready to go!

I was intrigued by Jennie's method of cutting the background half hexagon shape in half to use as the side pieces for each unit. That was it--I am going to make a modern Grandmother's Garden type quilt using these shapes!!

All the half hexi pieces ready to go!! Love the pretty stacks of Island Batik fabrics!!

Doing some chain piecing. Love the dog eared corners for lining up the pieces!!

Ahhhh--a finished whole hexi---now what to do with it?!? So I pondered it for a bit--not very long mind you as I only started this project at 1:30 in the afternoon--and had a deadline of bedtime!!

The creative chaos that I work in!!

As I was ironing all those chain pieced half hexis, I recalled a video from Sizzix I had watched earlier in the month. They have a die called Geese Crossing that uses a similar shape as this half hexi unit with the backgrounds attached.

So there you have it--my mind switched to that!!

Instead of hexagons--they became short stack flying geese!! Yeah I don't know what to call that unit--so I made it up--LOL. But I love the finished block.

We interrupt this sewing session to bring my husband supper in the field!!

Nine blocks later--a cheerful happy quilt.
I was in need of something spring like--and have just the right place in mind for it.

During the quilting I thought that these big open white spaces needed something yet.

Butterflies--just the right touch to add some vintage feel that was missing.

So I used the Butterfly by Edyta Sitar #55467 from AccuQuilt to cut out the shapes. You can use the affiliate link in the side bar to purchase your own dies! And since the quilt was still on the long arm frame, I just changed thread colors and stitched them right onto the quilt top.

Oh they make me smile!! Add the binding and finished by 9:30 pm!!!

The Social Butterfly, hanging by the front door into the studio. It will make me smile all spring and summer!!

"Happiness is like a butterfly, which when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."   --Nathaniel Hawthorne

And that is how I started with vintage Grandmother's Garden and ended up with The Social Butterfly!!

Thank you once again to Island Batik for supplying the gorgeous fabrics and to Aurifil for the threads!! These products combined make beautiful things!!

Block 3....and 4...The Quilter's Planner SAL....

Back at it here in April!! Besides the fact that Block 3 was probably just as easy to cut with rotary than the AccuQuilt system...my husband and I went through a quite a few health issues in March...so there was no Block 3 SAL post.

But we are both on the mend and getting back into life as normal. That can not be said about the weather here in NW Iowa though. This morning was clean up after a major spring blizzard dropping at least 14" of snow in our area!! More is predicted this week again!! Oh will spring ever show up??

Let's start with Block 3--just because the colors make me happy!!
The fabrics are all from Island Batik. Some were supplied to me in the Ambassador program and some I purchased myself from Hancock's of Paducah.
Look and ask for them in your local quilt shop!!

I chose to rotary cut the pieces for this block. Not affiliated with Quilter's Select--but do really love the mat and rotary cutter. The rotary is said to be completely usable by both right and left hand people. I can say this is true. Yesterday in the blizzard I had my ever so helpful left handed husband do some cutting for me and he really liked it. This was only his second time using a rotary cutter and there was no learning curve or frustration. It worked great for him!!

This block went together fast and easy following the instruction in the magazine. I followed everything except for the final pressing--I spun all the intersections instead of pressing the long seams open.

My little spot of spring until it decides to appear here!!

I really liked the dark background I used in Block 2...so I am thinking I might do 6 blocks with dark background and 6 with a light background and see what happens with that!!

Block 4 will use the GO! Mix & Match 8" Qube.

Die #1-- will need a 5" dark square
Die #3--will need 2 @ 5 3/8" dark squares and 2 @ 5 3/8" light squares
Die #8--will need a 5 1/2" dark square and a 5 1/2" light square

Eleanor Burns talks about "Smart Stacking" the fabrics on the die board before cutting. I have never tried it so this was the perfect opportunity.

The idea is to place the pieces for the HST right sides together before placing them on the the die board. Then when the cut pieces come out they are already stacked together ready to be sewn together.

It was a slick trick and one I will be using again in the future!!

The other thing to pay attention to when die cutting this block--is the orientation of the fabrics when placing them on the die board. I wanted the stripes in the light blue to go around the center square. So pay attention to the fabric choice and how it can be placed on the die board.

Can't wait to have the finished quilt to use in my house!!

I am so enjoying sharing my journey of The Quilter's Planner sew along with you. It has given me just the right boost to keep at it and press on!! Thank you for following along!!

Starting tomorrow--April 16--I will be part of the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers blog hop. This will run for 4 weeks with several different participants, great sponsors and amazing prizes. 

Click on the button in the side bar to find the homepage with all the participants!! 

Hope to see you there!!

Spring Promise....

Welcome to my month at Quilter Chic. At the end of 2017, Cheryl graciously extended an invitation to new pattern designers for a month feature on her blog!! Thank you for the privilege!!

Be sure and stop over to her blog to find her patterns and lots of lovely quilty things to look at!!

I have slowly been designing seasonal table runners for my dining room harvest table. The kids are all coming home for Easter dinner--so Spring made it to the top of the list!!

How about this gorgeous selection of batiks--provided to me by Island Batik and the Ambassador program. Such deep saturation of color!!!

The pattern--Spring Promise--also includes a chart for AccuQuilt die cutting!! I have become a total convert to die cutting. The pieces are cut precise, with the dog ears trimmed off already!! How cool is that?!?!
The GO! Mix & Match 8" Qube will be used to make the 14" Violet blocks. You can use the affiliate link in the side bar to purchase your own Qube--I love my 8" Qube!!!

Ready......Set......Sew!!!!

....with yet another end of March snow storm here in Northwest Iowa!!!

I noticed after cutting out my pieces that I had switched the light and dark placement of the flower petals in my pink block. At first I was going to remake them--but decided to first place them on the design wall and take a look. After viewing the flowers from a distance--I decided to keep them.

Long rows of freehand wishbones makes for speedy quilting!! Plus I just love the way they look!!

There you have it--Spring Promise!! The pattern will be free for the month of April. It can be found on my Craftsy page.

Thanks again so much to Cheryl at Quilter Chic. Make sure to check her each month for a new designer!! You might find yourself a new favorite!!!

Receive this Easter Blessing from Sarah Ban Breathnach---

"Expect to have hope rekindled.
 Expect your prayers to answered in wondrous ways.
 The dry seasons in life do not last.
 The Spring rains will come again."