Barn Star Sampler Quilt Along - Month One - Ribbon and Mosaic Star Blocks

 

Shelley Cavanna's Barn Star Sampler Quilt

Several months ago, I saw the Barn Star Sampler book by Shelley Cavanna online and I couldn't resist buying it.  The quilt is absolutely stunning. Shortly thereafter, I was thrilled to find out that Shelley is hosting a Quilt Along for the Barn Star Sampler.  I signed up for it right away. 

Shelley Cavanna's Barn Star Sampler Quilt Book

What I really, really love about this book and this quilt along is that both are designed to make piecing of the many triangle components easy to make without the use of foundation paper piecing.  (There are others hosting quilt-alongs for this quilt who are stressing the use of paper piecing but IT ISN'T NECESSARY.  The book was written in such a manner that if you follow the instructions as they are written, perfect triangles can be achieved. Shelley's YouTube videos are also very helpful as she walks you through each and every process using her tried and true techniques.)

I wanted to stay true to the color scheme Shelley used throughout her quilt. These are the fabrics I decided to use:

My fabrics for the Barn Star Sampler Quilt

 And my swatch sheet to keep everything on track:

My swatch sheet for the Barn Star Sampler Quilt

This particular Quilt Along is a 12 month program.  Month one consists of Blocks 10 and 11 from the book, the Ribbon Star and the Mosaic Star, respectively.  I'm pretty pleased with how my blocks turned out. 

Here's my completed Ribbon Star block (Block #10):

Ribbon Star block (Block #10)

And the Mosaic Star block (Block #11):

Mosaic Star block (Block #11)

I have signed up for several quilt-alongs and will share my progress here as I complete new blocks.

Ribbon Star and Mosaic Star blocks.

 

Until next time,

Guitar Collage Quilt - It's Completed!

 

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic

Recently, I told you about my experience taking a Guitar Collage quilt workshop with Laura Heine in Branson. Missouri at the AQS Quilt Week.  Well, the quilt is completed and I absolutely love it.  I'm seriously hooked on this type of quilting.

Here's the completed quilt:

My Completed Guitar Collage Quilt 

I found there was a small learning curve in making this type of quilt.  I've made several landscape/art/pictorial quilts in the past, however, this one was different because it is very, very stiff. (Think cardboard.)  I channel-quilted the quilt, which is something Laura suggested.  This is to ensure that the little bits and pieces of fabric used in the collage are securely attached.  I used my smaller machine to quilt this, and it was a bit of a struggle forcing it to stay straight during the final quilting.  (You can see the curved lines in the detail pictures.  Oh, well...Finished is better than perfect, right?)  The next time I make one of these quilts, I will use my quilting machine with the larger throat.  In any case, I love the final outcome.

I used variegated thread during quilting to add extra interest to the design.

Some detail pictures:

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic

 I selected a colorful batik for the back of my quilt and a dark pink batik for the binding.

The back of my guitar collage quilt  

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic of the Back

My Guitar Collage Quilt - Detail Pic of the Back

 And, last. but certainly not least, the quilt tag.  The guitar was drawn and colored with crayons and heat set with a hot iron.  I appliqued my name and the little flowers onto the tag.  I think it's a lovely complement to the boho vibe of the quilt, don't you think?

The quilt tag. Appliqued name and flowers. Hand-drawn and colored guitar.

My friend, Elizabeth and I showed our quilts at our quilt guild meeting last night.

Showing off our Guitar quilts at last night's guild meeting.

This was great fun and I'm looking forward to making more collage quilts in the near future.

Until next time,

AQS Quilt Week Branson - Wrap Up

Aerial View of Vendors at AQS Branson 2023

There is no shortage of sensory overload one experiences when attending quilt shows.  Between the workshops, things to buy and/or experience and the people, it's an exhilarating adventure.   The AQS Quilt Week Branson, 2023 was no exception.

One of the workshops my friend, Elizabeth and I took was "Free Motion Machine Quilting" with Author/Designer/Instructor Cindy Needham.  Cindy was pretty funny.  She referred to me as "Glamour Girl" throughout the day.  In all of the things I've been called during my lifetime, I can honestly say "glamorous" is certainly not one of them. 🤣.  In any case, it kept the class interesting. The workshop was not only fun, it was quite helpful.  Cindy brought along floral fabric for us to practice on using decorative, colorful threads.

My friend, Elizabeth and I before our workshop with Cindy Needham.

Classroom sample of a free-motion embroidered quilt.

Classroom sample of a free-motion embroidered quilt. Detail pic.

Classroom sample of a free-motion embroidered quilt. Detail pic.

My practice piece of fabric. I used variegated thread for an extra pop of color.

Me with Cindy Needham.

I met some wonderfully engaging and fun people during this show.  A couple of people really stood out to me this time around.  The first was Bernie Collier of WonderFil Specialty Threads, all the way from Canada.  Bernie was an absolute riot.  We had a few good belly laughs while I shopped in their booth.  He was a real character.  WonderFil has the most beautiful selections of threads for sewing, quilting and embroidery.  I purchased several spools of thread in addition to merino wool for some needle book and pincushion designs I am working on.  

The Exuberant Bernie Collier. 

Me with Bernie Collier of WonderFil.

Me shopping at the WonderFil vendor booth.

Another person I met when shopping at the show was the bubbly Rebecca Lidstrom of Studio R Quilts.  Rebecca is a modern quilt pattern designer and instructor.  I enjoyed visiting with her most days of the show.  Be sure to check out her patterns here.  She has some wonderfully unique and fun designs.

Rebecca Lidstrom of Studio R Quilts

One shop of note that I enjoyed spending a ton of money with visiting was the Midway Wool Company.  I have been on a wool buying kick these days as I work on developing new patterns and designs for the sewist.  What I liked about this vendor - besides the wonderful, friendly service I received - is that they offer smaller cuts of wool and loaded scrap bags for little projects. I think it's nice - especially for beginners in this craft - to have the ability to try working with the medium before making a large financial commitment for supplies and the like.  Midway Wool has a YouTube channel where they share several techniques. 

The Midway Wool Company Christmas project display.

The Midway Wool Company Christmas project display.

The Midway Wool Company pincushions display.

 Legit Kits offers their colorful foundation paper-pieced quilt kits for sale.  Some of the quilts are reversible.  (Be sure to check out Michelangelo's David.  Very clever, indeed!)

My friend, Elizabeth and Michelangelo's David. 🤣🤣🤣

 And that's a wrap.  I hope you've enjoyed this series on the AQS Quilt Week Branson 2023.  

If you haven't done so already,  please be sure to follow me here on my blog so you don't miss anything new.  I'm also on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Until next time,

AQS Branson Quilt Week - Part V - Quilts

"The Happy Flower" by Michele Rouse, House Springs, Missouri - Detail Pic

 

As promised, this post highlights just several of the quilts on display at the AQS Branson Quilt Week, 2023.   Enjoy!

 

"The Happy Flower" by Michele Rouse, House Springs, Missouri 

 

"Selvage Pie" by Mayleen Vinson, Haysville, Kansas  (Yes, the quilt is made from fabric selvages.)

"Selvage Pie" by Mayleen Vinson, Haysville, Kansas - Detail Pic

"Renew, Anew" by Elizabeth K. Ray, Bentonville, Arkansas (A local Arkansan and a co-member of my local quilt guilds here in NWA. :) )

"A Peak Through a Kaleidoscope" by Penny Boese, Chandler, Arizona 

"A Peak Through a Kaleidoscope" by Penny Boese, Chandler, Arizona - Detail Pic

"Granny Squares Reimagined" by Eileen Diercks, Plainfield, Illinois

"Granny Squares Reimagined" by Eileen Diercks, Plainfield, Illinois - Detail Pic

"Strange Attractor #8" by Niraja Lorenz

"My Lucky Stars" by Jill Isakson & Linda Neal, McKinney, Texas

"My Lucky Stars" by Jill Isakson & Linda Neal, McKinney, Texas - Detail Pic

"I Like it Hot" by Brenda Miller, Athens, Alabama

"Emergence" by Cassandra Ireland Beaver, Urbana, Ohio

"Correspondence with Hope" by Judith Quinn Garnett

"Correspondence with Hope" by Judith Quinn Garnett - Detail Pic

"Heat Index" by Sue Reno

"Heat Index" by Sue Reno - Detail Pic

"Vertige/Vertigo" by Anne Bellas

"Vertige/Vertigo" by Anne Bellas - Detail Pic

"Lucy Comes to Texas" by Melinda Stanton, Silsbee, Texas

"Harvest Moon" by Shin-hee Chin

"Harvest Moon" by Shin-hee Chin - Detail Pic

"Titanic, Year of the Children, Quilt"

"Titanic, Year of the Children, Quilt" - Passenger Master Edmond Navratil - Detail Pic

"Titanic, Year of the Children, Quilt" - Names of Children on Board - Detail Pic

There were so many amazing quilts on display at the show that it is not feasible to share all of them here.  I hope you enjoyed the ones I have shared over the past few posts.  

My next post in this series will wrap up the AQS Branson Quilt Week 2023.  I hope you will join me here.

Until next time,