Hi friends! How is everyone this week?

If you’re new to Color Play Friday, welcome! This is my fun way of taking a little time each week to expand my color knowledge and fabric-selection skills. Often, a picture will take me completely out of my comfort zone and force me to combine fabrics in a new way.

We have a change to Color Play Friday for the summer, which I will explain after my fabric links.

 You can head over to my Color Play Friday page to see the rules and my palettes and bundles from previous weeks. You can also search #colorplayfriday on Instagram to see lots of palettes and bundles from the past! If you’d like to know more about participating in Color Play Friday, please feel free send me an email and I’ll let you in on all the details of how to join.

This photo is from Sarah at 123Quilt. What a fun picture to work with!

I loved the bright colors here and wanted to showcase a fun spectrum of what jumped out at me.

Here are the fabrics I chose:

Tula Pink, Tabby Road, Tent Stripe in Blue Bird

Me + You, Indah Batiks, Stitches in Dark Orchid

Me + You, Indah Batiks, Speckles in Gemstone

Cotton + Steel Basics, XOXO in Clementine

Alison Glass, Chroma, Scatter in Carrot

Alison Glass, Sun Prints, Ink in Yellow

 

I used the Stash Fabrics design wall feature to create this bundle… it really helps to collect a group of fabrics quickly! These are not affiliate links, I just really love the feature!

A note about scale:

• While I believe scale is a very important part of fabric selection, the fabrics shown in my Color Play images are not always perfectly to scale. I do my best, by you should always double check scale before ordering!

And now for the changes to CPF!

Each week, I’ve shared a picture with you and asked participants to select colors from it and create a bundle. For the next few months,  instead of using a picture as a prompt, I will be posting a prompt word or phrase to use for the following week. You can create a real bundle from your stash (this is what I will be doing) or a virtual one online like we’ve always done.

For example, when working the prompt “Harry Potter”, you could choose colors based on your choice of Hogwarts House, or draw inspiration from a particularly favorite scene or character.

I’m hoping this will give the participants and myself a little more freedom when choosing bundles and create a fun twist for summer.

And who knows, if it’s working well and everyone is enjoying it, we might just keep it!

So then, the prompt for next week is 50’s Diner!

Happy Sewing, ~L

Hi friends!

If I’m super honest, the answer to “What’s up?” this week is “Not much sewing!”

It’s a lot of this:

and this:

 

My house goes on the market in a couple of weeks, so in preparation, I’ve been doing a LOT of repairing, painting, and cleaning.

It’s tedious and I’m sick of it, but at the same time, I get to pick cabinets and paint colors for the new place, and watch it progress through the stages of becoming our home…. so it’s worth having to do some work on our current house!

Speaking of the new place, take a look at the view out the window of my new studio! I love seeing those trees, and am curious how the new view might effect my work. My guess is you’ll see a lot more green in future projects!

I did manage to get a little weaving done this week. I’m excited about this triaxial weave… can’t wait to see the third color going in.

That’s about it- my pressing board is still in a nasty state. I’ll get it done eventually… maybe! Lol

I hope you all are getting more sewing done than I am. I’d love to live vicariously through you- let me know in the comments what you’ve been working on!

Happy Sewing, ~L

 

Finally!

 The day has finally come when I get to tell you all about the By Your Side quilt.

This one holds a special place in my heart.

When designing this quilt, the Quilt Theory tagline “Where can your quilt take you?” kept ringing in my ears. But instead of thinking about a physical location, I started pondering how the quilts we make for people draw us deeper into their lives.

I am very fortunate to have a group of four ladies in my life who are forever friends… they are really more like family. The five of us have celebrated together as well as weathered the toughest of storms. Birthdays, adoptions, parents being sick and passing away, raising kids, vacations, holidays, family drama, trips to the ER, job promotions, calls to say, “I think I might be going crazy… I need to talk to someone”, and texts just to say “Good morning”…. we’ve been through it all together.  We walk through life together.

Ironically, between the five of us, we couldn’t find one picture with all of us in it…. too busy chasing children when we get together!  (We have 20 children altogether ranging in age from 16 to newborn!)

Those of you who are very observant may have noticed by now that the the By Your Side quilt consists of five Cotton + Steel prints…. one to represent each of us. And of course, there are the solid links that keep us bonded together… shared history, common ground, but most importantly love for each other.

So, five of us, all linked together…

But as I continued on with this design, it didn’t feel complete. Although it started with those relationships, I didn’t want this quilt to be about just the five of us. I have many other amazing ladies in my life who have supported and encouraged me.

And through this awesome adventure that is Quilt Theory, I’ve made six more friends that I cherish dearly. Through our shared love of quilting and design, we’ve gotten to know each other, encouraged each other, learned to work together, and grown as artists and people.

Beyond all that, there are the friendships I’ve developed with many of you. Through social media, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know so many new friends from all areas and walks of life, all bonded together through our love of making beautiful things. It was this online community that taught me to sew and who has encouraged my efforts along the way.

So, in order to honor those friendships, I added in one more element to the quilt- the second row of squares and links to represent all those relationships in my life.

For all those wonderful friends in our lives who support, inspire, or encourage us to grow- the By Your Side quilt was made to celebrate the people that walk beside us in life.

I’m so glad to finally share where I was coming from when creating this quilt. I hope my words will encourage you to honor those relationships in your life and let those friends know how much they mean to you!

If you are currently at Quilt Market, you can see By Your Side in person at the Checkers booth!

Now, a little more about Quilt Theory and how you can get your hands on this collection of super cool patterns:

Our goal at Quilt Theory is to create simple and modern quilt patterns, and we design collections of patterns printed on small cards and one-page PDFs. As a group, we have become a strong team as we worked through writing, testing, editing, and quilting the patterns in our collection.

For our second collection, we challenged ourselves to write patterns that utilize precut bundles of fabric. We hope you find a lot of inspiration in our collection to make quilts from your favorite bundles in your stash.

PDF patterns are available now through our website QuiltTheory.com.

Pattern cards coming soon to a local quilt shop near you! Let your local quilt shop know you want them to carry Quilt Theory patterns.

If you are a quilt shop and want to carry our patterns, set up a wholesale account here, or order through Checker Distributors, EE Schenck Company, or Erie Quilt Art for Canadian shops.

Giveaway Time!!

To celebrate the launch of Quilt Theory, I am giving away a PDF copy of my pattern, By Your Side. To sweeten the deal, I’m including a Fat Quarter bundle as well. I’m obviously a big fan of the C+S Basics, so I’ve gathered five of them in a bundle for you!  

To enter, simply leave me a comment here! Anything will do, but if you want a suggestion, tell me a favorite memory you have with one of your friends. 

For extra entries, leave a comment for each way you follow me (e.g. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Bloglovin’, WordPress, etc)

The giveaway ends Monday, May 22 at midnight eastern time and a random number generator will select the winner. Giveaway open to participants 18 years or older and international participants are welcome. 

*If you buy my pattern and then you win it, I’ll refund you or let you pick out another free Quilt Theory pattern!

Be sure to visit Yvonne tomorrow and the rest of the Quilt Theory designers if you missed their posts this week.

Quilt Theory Release Blog Hop Schedule

Friday 5/12 – Quilt Theory

Saturday 5/13 – Kitty @Night Quilter

Monday 5/15 – Michelle @Michelle Bartholomew

Tuesday 5/16 – Daisy @WarmFolk

Wednesday 5/17- Stephanie @Late Night Quilter

Thursday 5/18 – Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Friday 5/19 – Lorinda @Laurel Poppy and Pine  (<= <= YOU ARE HERE!)

Saturday 5/20 – Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

Monday 5/22 – Quilt Theory

 

If you make the By Your Side quilt, be sure the tag me on Instagram and add the hashtag #ByYourSideQuilt so I’m sure to see it!

Happy Sewing! ~L

Happy Color Play Friday! I’ve had a fun time this week sharing several versions of my By Your Side quilt. Later today, I’ll be posting more about the inspiration of the quilt and a giveaway to celebrate the release.

If you’re new to Color Play Friday, welcome! This is my fun way of taking a little time each week to expand my color knowledge and fabric-selection skills. Often, a picture will take me completely out of my comfort zone and force me to combine fabrics in a new way.

 You can head over to my Color Play Friday page to see the rules and my palettes and bundles from previous weeks. You can also search #colorplayfriday on Instagram to see lots of palettes and bundles from the past! If you’d like to know more about participating in Color Play Friday, please feel free send me an email and I’ll let you in on all the details of how to join.

This photo was taken on what was honestly one of the best mornings of my life.

Growing up, I lived in a house that was on a hill near a beautiful valley. There was a hot air balloon company who would go over our house pretty regularly on their way to that valley. I remember in the spring and summer being in the house with all the windows open, hearing the tell tale sound of the flame of the balloon, and running out the the back porch to wave at the passengers.

I always wanted to be one of those passengers someday. In fact, it was the #1 item on my bucket list. My mom and sister felt the same, so a couple of years ago, my husband bought us tickets at an auction as a Mother’s Day gift. What a wonderful experience!

Before getting to the palette and bundle, here are a few more photos of the day.

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And here is my bundle:

I wanted to really focus on those blues this week, while adding in a pop of the yellow and red. Also, I thought it was fun that half of my fabrics are sky-related!

I created my bundle this week using the Stash Fabrics Design Wall feature.

Here are the fabrics I chose:

Me + You, Indah Batiks, Prints in Navy

Amy Sinibaldi, Charleston, Magnolia in Nightfall ( I love this new collection!)

Elizabeth Hartman, Reef, Bubbles in Sky

Simple Simon and Company, When Skies are Grey, Skies Words in Gold

Janine Vangool, Uppercase Vol. 2, Centered Dots in Yellow

Elizabeth Hartman, Pacific, Raindrops in Brick

 

A note about scale:

• While I believe scale is a very important part of fabric selection, the fabrics shown in my Color Play images are not always perfectly to scale. I do my best, by you should always double check scale before ordering!

Sarah at 123 Quilt did a bundle this week as well; check it out here.  

Next week’s photo from Sarah at 123Quilt is one of the most unique we’ve had here on Color Play Friday! It should be fun!

I hope you can join us next week!

Happy Sewing, ~L

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope your week is going well…. halfway through already!

It’s a fun week for all the Quilt Theory designers. The Spring Collection Release Blog Hop is in full swing. In case you missed any of it, here is the schedule:

 

Quilt Theory Release Blog Hop Schedule

Friday 5/12 – Quilt Theory

Saturday 5/13 – Kitty @Night Quilter

Monday 5/15 – Michelle @Michelle Bartholomew

Tuesday 5/16 – Daisy @WarmFolk

Wednesday 5/17- Stephanie @Late Night Quilter

Thursday 5/18 – Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Friday 5/19 – Lorinda @Laurel Poppy and Pine

Saturday 5/20 – Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

Monday 5/22 – Quilt Theory

Be sure to visit all the blogs, as we all have our own giveaways going on.

This week I’ve been hashing out details of a future pattern, but I did take some time last night to start a new fabric weave. I’ve been wanting to try a tumbling block design that I’ve seen from my friend Tara, but because I can’t leave well enough alone, I decided I want to do  mini version of the design. This is 1/4 inch bias tape, and I’ll be using the weave panel to (hopefully) make a pin cushion.

I did a little fabric purchasing this week- most of it for my upcoming giveaway this Friday, but I did also get this adorable polka dot from Rifle Paper Co. My daughter likes to make bow ties for herself and her friends, and she thought this fabric would be perfect for a new bow tie. I agree with her!

Lastly, a not-as fun project. This is the current state of my pressing board….. ewww.  I have GOT to recover this ASAP. It’s getting embarrassing.  I just put in new curtains under the counter top in my studio, so I’ll be recovering this in matching fabric.

So what’s up in your world this Wednesday?

Happy Sewing, ~L

 

Today is an exciting day! As of this morning, Quilt Theory has launched our second collection! I’ll be sharing more about my quilt next week, but in the meantime, head over to the Quilt Theory website to see the collection.

Ok, on to the business at hand!

If you’re new to Color Play Friday, welcome! This is my fun way of taking a little time each week to expand my color knowledge and fabric-selection skills. Often, a picture will take me completely out of my comfort zone and force me to combine fabrics in a new way.

 You can head over to my Color Play Friday page to see the rules and my palettes and bundles from previous weeks. You can also search #colorplayfriday on Instagram to see lots of palettes and bundles from the past! If you’d like to know more about participating in Color Play Friday, please feel free send me an email and I’ll let you in on all the details of how to join.

This photo is one from Trina and is the first time fabric is actually featured in the inspiration image! Because it’s all Cotton and Steel fabric and because my new Quilt Theory pattern used Cotton and Steel Basics, I decided to go all Cotton and Steel again today.

(If you visit Sarah at 123Quilt, you’ll see that she did the exact opposite!)

 My only rule was that I couldn’t use any of the fabrics from the original photo.

As you can imagine, finding fabrics to coordinate with the photo was fairly easy, but I wanted my bundle to have a northwest feel. I mean, there is a ferry boat in the background of the picture, after all!  All the blue tones, trees, and flowers remind me of summer camping here in the PNW.

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Here are the fabrics I chose:

Cotton and Steel Basics, XOXO in Night Owl

Rashida Coleman-Hale, Kujira and Star, Sea Urchin in Marine

Rashida Coleman-Hale, Lil Monsters, Shattered in Aqua

Kimberley Kight, Rotary Club, Facets in Blue Green

Sarah Watts, Cozy, Neighbor in Mint

Alexia Marcelle Abegg, Printshop, Meadow in Citrus

 

A note about scale:

• While I believe scale is a very important part of fabric selection, the fabrics shown in my Color Play images are not always perfectly to scale. I do my best, by you should always double check scale before ordering!

Oh, I just love this next photo! This was the day I got to cross the #1 item off my bucket list with my mom and sister by my side. More on that next week!

I hope you can join us next week!

Happy Sewing, ~L

Hi friends!

I realized this week that so much of what I share on other social media platforms (*cough* Instagram *cough*) never shows up here on my blog.

In an effort to keep ALL my followers updated on what I’m up to, I’ve decided to add a weekly “What’s Up Wednesday” post. You may have noticed it’s Thursday… but I’m going to post anyway because I feel like it! Better late than never.

It might be updates on current projects, things I’m excited about that week, or just pretty quilty pictures, but the goal is to start sharing all my day-to-day quilty fun here on the blog so that you don’t miss out on anything!

Last Wednesday, I attended my monthly Snohomish Modern Quilt Guild meeting. It was a fun one because we had our bi-annual auction AND got to show our entries for an ugly fabric challenge.

The auction runs for about an hour. Items are numbered and you put raffle tickets in a corresponding-numbered bag. I usually am the chairperson for the auction, but stepped down for this round because of all the house repairs I’m doing right now. I did still participate in the committee, though and got to help hand out prizes as numbers were called, which is always exciting and fun!

Here are my winnings from the auction. I think i did pretty well!

  

All the money raised goes into the guild. We are a newer guild, so every dollar counts!

At the same meeting, we got to show our entries for our Ugly Fabric Challenge.  At the start of the Challenge, we each brought a fat quarter of fabric that we deemed ‘ugly’. In my opinion, many of the fabrics were beautiful… but beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder, especially where fabric is concerned!

My fabric was burnt orange trees on a cream background with gold metallic leaves… certainly out of my comfort zone.  When I first started, I kept getting caught up on how to incorporate trees into my design until I finally decided to scrap the trees altogether and cut the fabric into cream and burnt orange strips. If you cut any fabric small enough, you can lose the pattern altogether!

Since had just taken a weaving class with Mister Domestic and was cutting one-inch strips from my fabric, AND my weaving just so happens to use one inch strips…. well, it seemed like a perfect fit.

I opted for an off-center, improved X design. It ended up looking like a couch that I had when I was a kid, and I’m not even mad! It was so fun to make this, probably because it’s SO FAR out of my norm.  I sort of love it and sort of hate it at the same time.

As for other sewing, this week I’m working on testing out some ideas for a future project, which requires a lot of thinking, cutting, sewing, re-thinking, and more sewing.  It’s tedious, but I know it’ll be worth it!

So, that’s what I’m up to- what’s going on in your sewing studios this week?

Happy Sewing, ~L

How did Friday come so quickly?!

If you’re new to Color Play Friday, welcome! This is my fun way of taking a little time each week to expand my color knowledge and fabric-selection skills. Often, a picture will take me completely out of my comfort zone and force me to combine fabrics in a new way.

 You can head over to my Color Play Friday page to see the rules and my palettes and bundles from previous weeks. You can also search #colorplayfriday on Instagram to see lots of palettes and bundles from the past! If you’d like to know more about participating in Color Play Friday, please feel free send me an email and I’ll let you in on all the details of how to join.

This photo had a lot of my favorite colors- all those aqua tones really make me happy! But in order to stretch myself a bit, I also used some of the yellow and peach that I found in this picture.  I think it balances the bundle well and adds interest.

 

Here are the fabrics I chose:

Bari J, Sage, Primrose Field in Light

Hawthorne Threads, Mariner, Sailing Stripe in Shell

AGF Capsules, Lower the Volume, Crisscross in Crisp

Hawthorne Threads, Odette, Petit Jardin in Pebble

Pat Bravo, Oval Elements in Sage Meadow

Cotton + Steel Basics, XOXO in Sea Monster

A note about scale:

• While I believe scale is a very important part of fabric selection, the fabrics shown in my Color Play images are not always perfectly to scale. I do my best, by you should always double check scale before ordering!

 

Don’t forget to head over to 123Quilt to see what Sarah came up with!

I’ll be taking next week off to plan my husband’s birthday celebration (it’s a big one: 40!), but Color Play Friday will be back in two weeks!

 

Happy Sewing, ~L

Spring is coming! Spring is coming!

Finally, flowers are starting to bloom and we are having some warm days. Of course, this is Western Washington… still plenty of clouds and rain, but I’ll take what I can get!

If you’re new to Color Play Friday, welcome! This is my fun way of taking a little time each week to expand my color knowledge and fabric-selection skills. Often, a picture will take me completely out of my comfort zone and force me to combine fabrics in a new way.

 You can head over to my Color Play Friday page to see the rules and my palettes and bundles from previous weeks. You can also search #colorplayfriday on Instagram to see lots of palettes and bundles from the past! If you’d like to know more about participating in Color Play Friday, please feel free send me an email and I’ll let you in on all the details of how to join.

This week’s photo is from my daughter’s birthday last summer. We decided that instead of a cake, a variety of cupcakes would be fun.

At first glace, I thought I’d be pulling all sorts of bright colors out of this picture. But as I got started, I quickly realized that everything was much more muted.  I started to worry that I would hate this bundle, until I remembered the gorgeous muted colors in many of the Cotton + Steel collections. So, I went all Cotton + Steel this week!

So what I thought would be a difficult week turned out to be one of my all-time favorite Color Play Friday bundles.

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Here are the fabrics I chose:

Alexia Abegg, Flower Shop, Bow Ties in Peach

Rifle Paper Company, Les Fleurs, Rosa in Peach

Melody Miller, Fruit Dots, Fruit Blossoms in Blue

Cotton + Steel Basics, Netorious in Jam Jar

Sarah Watts, Honeymoon, Porch Tile in Mustard

Cotton + Steel Basics, Dottie in Goldilocks

 

I found all my fabrics on the Stash Fabrics website this week.

A note about scale:

• While I believe scale is a very important part of fabric selection, the fabrics shown in my Color Play images are not always perfectly to scale. I do my best, by you should always double check scale before ordering!

 Next week, we’ll do a photo of my sweet dog Max swimming on one of our hikes.

I hope you can join us next time!

Happy Sewing, ~L

This week I had the honor of joining Leanne from Devoted Quilter in making blocks for some senior citizens in her community who lost their home to a fire. She will need 882 of these simple box blocks to complete the quilts.

Leanne has people committed for all the blocks she will need, but is still accepting donations of backing fabric and batting.

I encourage you to go to her post for more info.

You can also search the hashtag #882boxblocks on Instagram to see all the blocks being made.

Here are the blocks I’ll be sending: 
Happy Sewing! -L