Quilts at Shop Hop

Yesterday was the beginning of our Shop Hop. It was fun to go into one of the shops, Cherry Tree Cottage, and see a couple quilts from my books.

First there was this great quilt from Simply Charming Fun. It is actually a bonus pattern, a variation of Charming Stars. I love it made up in this Riley Blake fabric line, All Star Cottons. Blue and brown are great boy colors! Of course, I love them as well.


Then there was this quilt from Simply Charming Circles. I actually made this quilt. I wasn't able to get it quilted because my machine is having trouble right now (Ugh!) This is the Bull's Eye pattern. I can't wait to get it quilted and washed! I am going to call it "Kaffe Fassett meets the 30s" just as an inside joke to make me laugh. The prints are 30s prints, but the solids are Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

While Kaffe Fassett's print fabrics would never be combined with 30s prints, his solids were wonderful. They have a texture to them that gives interest. I loved working with them.

Website Snafu

So I think that the website has been fixed. I thought I had everything updated a month ago, but evidently I did not get them uploaded correctly so no one could see them.

Sorry about that. Here are the two new products that you couldn't see:

If you click on the pictures of the books, Simply Charming Collection and Simply Charming Circles to take you to the webpage with more information.

Thanks!

Charming Bull's Eye Variations

I taught a class on the Charming Bull's Eye quilt from my Simply Charming Circles book last month at a retreat. It was a fun class. I had taught the same class back in January as well at a different retreat. This is just such a fun quilt to make. Ladies are often surprised just how much fun it is. They don't believe me when I tell them that this is an easy quilt to make.

Here are some of the blocks that got finished in our 3 hour class. I love seeing all of the different color combinations!

Wow. Looks like the link is broken to see the new book on the website. Sorry about that. I will have to find out what the problem is and get it fixed.

New Book!!!

I think I have finally recovered from getting this book here. You might think that it gets easier with each one, but it doesn't. Yes, I know the process, but there is no circumventing the process. But no matter -- it's here!

The new book is called Simply Charming Circles. All the quilts are made with 5" charm squares. (Of course, 12 charm squares can be cut from a fat quarter, so all the quilts are fat quarter friendly too!) I have always been a little intimidated by circles, so all of these designs are super simple. I use two easy techniques for the circles, raw edge applique and fusible machine applique. If you really like another technique, you can always substitute your own technique in place of mine.

My current favorite is the Charming Bull's Eye quilt. Ages ago I started a bulls eye quilt. I got all the squares cut and then it got put away. I still know where it is. Like I said, circles intimidated me. I couldn't bear the thought of cutting out all those circles with scissors and then sewing around the entire circle before I could do the fun part of cutting them apart and sewing them back together. So why is my favorite in this book the bull's eye? Because I do it differently!

First, there are rulers so I didn't have to use scissors, I could use my small rotary cutter to cut 4 pieces at a time. Second, I used fat quarters and charm squares to create a quarter of the block. There was no need to sew on the entire circle. You just sew a quarter circle at a time, and that is such a simple curve to sew that pinning is optional. So now I have a bull's eye quilt that I love without sewing one circle. Yeah for me!

Here is the picture of the bull's eye quilt.

Ask for this book at your local quilt shop or order it from my website:

http://www.moosequilts.com

More Progress -- WOW!

I got another quilt quilted today for the new book Simply Charming Circles due out in May. Two days in a row. How did that happen? Only a couple more quilts to go. I have two ladies piecing them and should be done this week. Also, one of the quilts I just quilted (the black and white and bright one), is already bound thanks to a friend who is faster than I am.

This one was made with Moda's Portabello Market fabrics (see below). I quilted it with feathers. I love feathers. The outer border is one of the red fabrics with a small floral design. The quilt is rich and luscious. I can't wait to get it bound and washed!

I love this line! Of course, I can't call it Portabello Market. I always think of it as Portabello Road, from the Disney movie "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" and then I have to start singing: "Portabello Road, Portabello Road, street where the riches of ages are stowed . . . ." That's all I know so it gets a little repetitious, but I still like it. Anyone else singing now?

Progress on New Book

Today I got two quilts quilted that will be in "Simply Charming Circles" that will debut at Spring Market. One is black, white, and bright -- so much fun! It uses fusible machine applique so I quilted it with an overall design. The other uses Moda's Za Za line of fabric, see below, contemporary florals. That quilt had raw edge applique so it was custom quilted. It is fun to start getting these quilts finished.