Coloring Contest!

Fierce Feathered Star, on-point layout.

***CONTEST CLOSED***

How about a good ol' coloring contest?!

I'm so jazzed about this Recolor app that I want to share the love and excitement with you!

Rules:

1. You must be a follower of @threadedquilting and @mashemodern on Instagram to win.

2. Color one of my quilt patterns and post the finished photo to Instagram with the hashtag #recolorquilts. Please tag me in your post @threadedquilting. Your Instagram profile must be public for it to count. You may color and post as many colorations of my blocks or layouts as you like, just make sure they are separate postings and not a collage. 

You will find a blank coloring file to save to your smart phone or tablet at the end of any listing from my patterns page. If you need help saving the file or knowing which app to download, check out this tutorial for help (there's a video, too).

3. On Tuesday, November 15th at 7 pm CST, Kristen and I will choose a winner! The winner will receive a $30 gift certificate to Mashe Modern online fabric shop (she carries Tuuuuuuuula!) and a PDF download of 3 of my patterns: Fierce Feathered Star, Brighten the Corners, and Star Sighting.

(No purchase necessary. Giveaways sponsored by Threaded Quilting Studio and Mashe Modern, not Instagram or Recolor.)

International submissions welcome and eligible! Good luck to all!!

email me @ threadedquilting @ gmail (dot) com or via Instagram with any questions

Brighten the Corners quilt

Modern Heart, a FREE pattern and video tutorial.

Fierce Feathered Star/No Y Seam Feathered star, more info here.

When quilting really is therapy

Today marks a new chapter of my life. This is the first time in my eleven years of momming that all of my kids are in school. I looked forward to this day so much when they were little and when we were trudging through the day in, day out of real and sometimes messy life. 

Like with everything else it seems, we came to this day unconventionally. The last one to leave the "nest" this time was my oldest son. I homeschooled him for the last two school years, this year (today) he returned to public school by his choice, and very excitedly I might add! Because he's on the autism spectrum, there are many ways in which he processes the world differently. A normal school environment can sometimes lead to big, unexpected problems. To say I've been anxious about this transition back to school is an understatement! I'm fine today, but last week I was a stress ball and found myself stress-quilting (okay, and maybe some stress-eating, too. Why can't it be stress-exercise?!?!) 

Which brings me to this project:

Range quilt patten by Modern Handcraft

I will 100% of the time rather make a baby quilt than go shopping for any other gift! I pulled out my Range quilt pattern from Nicole Daksiewicz of Modern Handcraft because I just couldn't handle emotionally and mentally coming up with a new quilt design, which is what I often like to do. 

I just want to say for the record: This pattern is fantastic! It is fun. It is easy. It is expertly written. It is intended as a throw size (64" x 78") but I had no problems whatsoever adjusting it slightly to whip out this baby quilt (40" x 46", which is a PERFECT baby quilt size, in my opinion). I made ONE change in the direction of a wedge in the top right corner because I felt like it kept more true to the original design and sloping of the ranges. :)

So, even between emailing principals, having meetings, going to school Open Houses, taking my kid to appointments, I was still able to make this quilt in 24 hours! I'm talking from fabric selection using only the fabrics I already had to finishing the binding! It was refreshing and a little of my own therapy in the midst of a stressful week.

Another thing about this pattern as a baby quilt (but applicable for any size): It's so easy to customize the palette for either a boy or girl. I'm not into assigning pink to girls and blue to boys, but what I'm saying is that this is highly customizable for ANY palette or room decor.

For the quilting, I decided to use a variation of Angela Walter's Flower Power quilting motif (from her Free-Motion Quilting book) to make a texture-rich impact on the quilt top. As a solids (fabric) lover, but having my yardage tied up in another project, I think it would be so much fun to use all solids like Nicole has done. As a quilter, I absolutely love using solids because they show off quilting so well. And also as a quilter, I LOVE having wide open negative space to explore really fun quilting options. Next time...

I used a great black & white IKEA print on the back.

One more brag I have about this pattern is that Nicole has a wonderful video you'll have access to when you buy the pattern that shows how really easy it is to cut the fabrics using the provided template. Easy, clever, slick... all the praises! :)

Let's have a great school year, shall we? Back-to-school time can be a great time to refresh and refocus goals. It might even mean more sewing and quilting time and I'm counting that as a huge plus for my next chapter! 

Brighten the Corners pattern release!

The Brighten the Corners quilt pattern is here! And it's only $7 USD! 🎉

Named for the construction methods used (starting in the center and adding one corner of the block at a time), the name Brighten the Corners is a nod to one of my favorite albums. I couldn't help it—it's what kept running through my head even when making the very first block.

I love the simple elegance of the same star block repeated throughout this quilt with ample sashing set in-between, making each star stand proud.

This is a paper piecing pattern made with no y-seams or partial seams. The 18-page PDF pattern includes the templates you'll need and really great instructions (with pictures) throughout.

There are also great opportunities to make quilting designs stand out!

Read more details here.

EDIT: CONTEST NOW CLOSED.

Remember, I currently have a custom quilting giveaway for one special purchaser (to be drawn randomly), so buy before Wednesday, July 20th 2016 at 11:59 pm CST to get in on that action! Some restrictions do apply, so make sure you read up on the details here.