My ruby beauty is published

Some of you might remember Ruby Shadow, the quilt I designed for the Year of the Red and White Quilt Challenges hosted by QuiltShopGal last year (she was SewCalGal then).It was a series of design and sewing challenges that went on throughout the year.

There are a lot of things to consider when entering a challenge like this. Time is the biggest issue for me, as well as considering the challenge itself. Red and White? I don't use red as much as other colors and I'm not sure why. It's not because I don't like it...I do. Once I decided to enter, I had to figure out how I wanted to use the two colors to best advantage. I actually designed several quilts, but chose Ruby Shadow to make. 

Ruby Facets, McCalls Quick Quilts Aug/Sept 2015 issue

I'm excited to announce that my ruby beauty, renamed Ruby Facets, is in the new issue of  McCalls Quick Quilts. Not only can you make it, you can make it using any two colors you want! Or use more colors...wouldn't this be pretty in red, white and blue?

To help me celebrate, McCalls has sent me two extra issues of the magazine to give to two lucky readers. All you have to do is comment below and tell me what colors you would use to make this quilt. I will choose a winner on Thurs. evening, July 2.

Yep, your very own copy...chock full of gorgeous quilt ideas!

You can see a preview of the quilts in this issue here, plus info on the designers if you click on the quilts pictured. McCalls has a great online site, with many free projects as well.

I'm really glad that I decided to participate in this challenge. It was fun to design a quilt within the parameters of the challenge rules. I loved visiting the other quilters' blogs as the challenge progressed to see what they were making. I don't have a lot of time to participate in many online challenges, swaps or other group activities with my job and class schedule, but I think a challenge like this stretches us as designers and quilters.

If you are joining the Red, White and True Quilt Along, join my linky party on Friday and post about your progress. If you don't blog, you can add your pictures to the Flickr group page so we can enjoy your progress. There will be a surprise giveaway that day for all who participate.

So....what colors would you use if you made Ruby Facets? 

Ruby Shadow class

It's been a busy week, starting with the Ruby Shadow class last Saturday. (Now I know the week doesn't technically start on Sat. but some weeks just run together....ok? )

The class went well...it was small but very dedicated quilters who were working hard to get as much done as possible in class. We went through allt he steps and marked each set of block "parts" as they made them so that they could go home with fabric patterns of everything they needed to complete the rest of the blocks.

June decided to use one red batik for her color and was excited to see her blocks come to life! Barb chose four different blues from the same grouping...she making this quilt for a grandson. I loved both of their color choices and can't wait to see them finished!

This pattern is now available in my Craftsy Store if you want to make your own version of this versatile quilt!

I have a Bookfair coming up next week at school, so I had lots to do this past week to get ready for it. The books came yesterday and I spent some time after school with  a PTO friend setting it up. I had to leave before I was finished to teach a class so I am going back this morning to finish the set up.

The Co. Bluffs quilt show, Innovative Piecing: A Look at Quilting Through Today's Eyes is tomorrow so I need to get my entries fluffed and ready to hang....we are setting up for the show later today. I'm doing a demo on making free pieced letters throughout the day, so will get to meet lots of friendly quilters! I'm excited to hear our speakers as well. We have lots of quilty fun going on, so if you live in the area, plan on stopping by!

There is no school today so after I get back from setting up the bookfair I need to get serious with my house....it needs a good cleaning. Happy Friday!

Ruby Shadow...the Red and White Challenge Show It!

SewCalGal has been hosting the Red and White Challenge all year. It started out with a virtual Quilt Show. It then moved on to a design phase. I don't use red as much as other colors so I thought it would be fun to join in and design a quilt for the  Design It Challenge.  It was interesting to focus on a two color quilt and I came up with a few variations using EQ, so I had to choose which version I would make for the Make It phase of the challenge. I decided on my third variation, Ruby Shadow.

Should I use red fabric on a white background or white on a red background? I liked the idea of the red on a stark white background, so I chose four different reds. I wrote about the process in my Make It Challenge post last month.

It's now time for the Show IT phase of the challenge. Go to SewCalGal's Show IT post and linky party to see the virtual Quilt Show of quilts that were designed and made in 2014 by each quilter. It's interesting to visit each one and see their red and white beauties. This phase of the challenge lasts until Oct. 13 then the Quilt Show starts for the Red and White quilts made from purchased or free patterns. 

While you are there, vote for YOUR favorite red and white quilt in the show! (Update, voting will begin Oct. 14. I will post about it again next week.)

I'm glad I participated in this challenge. It was fun to design a quilt within the parameters of the challenge rules. I loved visiting the other quilters as the challenge progressed to see what they had done. I don't have a lot of time to participate in many online challenges, swaps or other fun activities with my job and class schedule, but I think a challenge like this stretches us as designers and quilters. This challenge worked for me because of it's realistic deadlines. Plus I liked that it was a design challenge. The pattern for this quilt is now available for purchase in my Craftsy store!

Thanks, SewCalGal for inspiring me to go Red and White! 

The Red and White Make It Challenge

Ruby Shadow, Make It Challenge

 At the beginning of the year, I noticed that SewCalGal was hosting a Year of Red and White Quilt Challenges. This intrigued me, as I like red but feel like I don't use it as much as other colors when making quilts. She has several parts to this challenge and I accepted the challenge to Design It! You were to design a quilt using reds and whites. You had to add the fabric requirements as there was a fabric prize from Island Batik. I played around with one basic design with a few variations for Ruby Red 1, Ruby Red 2 and Ruby Shadow.

The next phase of the challenge was to Make It! 

Click on this link to go to the linky party for the Make It Challenge

The Make It! Challenge is all about making your own red and white quilt!  You can use your own design, a purchased design, or a free pattern of your choice.  And, of course, make your quilt in any size, using fabrics from any fabric manufacturer. You may even have enough red/white fabrics (includes reds of any shades and whites/tans/creams commonly thought of as neutrals).  And you have until September 30th to enter.

 You are also entered in a drawing for great prizes every time you participate in the challenge. You have until Sept. 30, 2014 to enter the Make It Challenge. You still have time to make your own gorgeous red and white quilt.

I decided to make Ruby Shadow, though I really like the others and might make them at some point as well. I went to my favorite quilt shop, Cut Up and Quilt in Council Bluffs, IA to find just the right selection of reds. I needed four different shades/prints that would look good together, but still be red and not orange. I think that is harder to do with red than other colors. You can always find lighter and darker shades of blues, greens, purples...but what is a light shade of red? orange? pink? Is there a lighter shade of red? This might be partly why I don't find myself using red as much!

 There is a lot of white background, so I decided on a white solid instead of a tone on tone...I wanted it to be really white! So I started making it back in April on a retreat sewing day with friends. Then life caught up with me and I didn't work on it again until almost summer. I had to figure out what I had done and what still needed to be done. When I begin making a new design, I figure out what pieces I need to cut,  write down everything as I make a quilt, then write the pattern from those notes. So they are important. Skipping a few months in the process means going back and figuring out what I had already cut, sewed...you get the idea. I don't like to make new designs like this, but I guess I was so excited to see it coming to life, that I started it even though I knew I wouldn't be able to work on it much because of my work and teaching schedule.

I quilted it in June on my APQS EZQ...it's an industrial machine with a smaller throat (no stitch regulator either) than many of the newest models but it gets the job done.  I like to take lots of pictures as it comes off of the quilting machine. Since many of mine get hung on display for the classes I teach, it's easy to forget to take pictures of the finished quilt. I used the Drift panto by Keryn Emmerson. Here's the red print I used on the back.

The next phase of the challenge is Show It! in October. There will be a week to show off red and white quilts you designed and made this year and a week to show off the red and white quilts you made from a free or purchased pattern this year.

I will be teaching Ruby Shadow on Sat. Oct. 4 at Cut Up and Quilt. I'm glad I took this challenge as it's been fun and hopefully I will be encouraged to use red more often in future quilts. Thanks SewCalGal for the inspiration!

A quilting finish and a start!

 We won't talk about how long this queen size quilt was on the machine, but Cobblestone Path is now quilted! I finished it the other day.

 These pictures don't really do it justice, the colors are so vibrant!

 I made this a few years ago, just had never quilted it.

 I used a variegated gold thread on the top and gold on the back and the Leafage panto. The backing is more green than this, but it's the best picture I have right now. I made the multicolored binding when I made the top using lots of the leftovers from the quilt, so it's ready to go! I hope to get it bound today.

 I got the Ruby Shadow quilt backing prepped and loaded it yesterday. It's twin size and is going a little faster than Cobblestone Path did...it's almost finished. It makes a difference when I'm actually able to spend most of a day quilting.

 The backing is a red floral so I think the white quilting will look awesome.

I'm off to sew with friends today and then start a new Sampler class tonight, so it will be a very quilty day! Happy Tuesday!

Against the Tide Mystery Revealed!

Against the Tide Mystery quilt 2014

Yesterday was the finale for the second group doing the mystery quilt so I can finally  reveal the Against the Tide Mystery quilt! TaDa!

I started them off making blocks, so they worked on those for awhile before I showed them the quilt. I love how their colors are coming together!

Dianne's mystery blocks

Lora's mystery blocks

Kelli started a new job this week and had to work today, so wasn't able to come to class. She stopped in to go over the pattern and see the finished quilt.

The first group received their final clues about 10 days ago, so they probably have their quilts put together by now, right?

Marilyn's mystery blocks

The colors are more washed out in this photo than in person. Marilyn chose a muted group as she is making this for her son and wanted a masculine look.

Cathy's mystery blocks

I saw Kathy the other night. She let her husband choose the fabrics for this quilt and he has arranged them in a different manner. I can't wait to see the finished quilt!

Kathy's mystery blocks

Both groups are meeting at Cut Up and Quilt on April 15 to show off their quilts. The first group set that date to give themselves a deadline and the second group is going to try to bring what they have completed too. I think it will be fun to see them all together!

Kerstin, at Cookies Treasures, is posting about her finished quilt today too. She was kind enough to test the pattern for me. I can't wait to see it! She sent me a picture of the blocks on her design wall, but I haven't seen the final quilt yet either! She is good at keeping secrets, isn't she? I'm not sure when she will post, so keep checking back if she hasn't posted yet. 

One of the students and I decided to stay and sew yesterday after class, so she made some good progress on her blocks while I started working on the red and white challenge quilt...I couldn't wait to get started once I had finished the design. The SewCalGal Make It Challenge is from March 24 - Sept. 30. Even if you didn't design a quilt, you can make a red and white quilt from a purchased pattern. There are two separate categories for the Make It challenge. Check out the rules here and scroll down to Make It Challenge...just note that these quilts have to be made in 2014. Click here to see all of the designs entered in the Design It Challenge. 

As I was binding this quilt, I had it draped over a chair and onto a table to help hold the weight....guess it looked like a good resting spot!

Conrad approved Against the Tide Mystery Quilt

Red and White Challenge

SewCalGal is hosting a Year of Red and White Quilt Challenges throughout 2014. There are several different phases of the challenge. She began with a virtual quilt show of red and white quilts. The next phase is a design challenge which I decided to enter because I rarely use red and I like the idea of a two color quilt. I'm not sure why I don't use red as much as other colors, but maybe making this quilt will encourage me to use it more! 

I started out playing around with several blocks I drew in EQ6. I purposely drew an odd block, one that didn't look that exciting as one, but would become more interesting when putting 2 - 4 of them together. That's the great thing about having a design program like EQ...you can draw it, redraw it, color it, turn it and play with it until you like it. I won't post all the layouts I came up with for different versions of this block, but this was the first one I really liked. I liked the way there was beauty in the randomness of the finished squares as well as a lightness to the design as a whole. For the first design, I used three different red fabrics.

Ruby Red 1 (68" x 80")
White: 4.25 yd. Red 1: .75 yd, Red 2: .75 yd,  Red 3: 1.5 yd.

 I used a slightly different version of the same block, and different 

color placement for the second version below. I also used four different fabrics. By turning the blocks, I made a more organized  design, with a full block in each row, with partial blocks framing them. I really loved this design, but thought maybe it needed a cleaner, more definite line.....

Ruby Red 2 (68" x 80")
White: 4.25 yd, Red 1: .75 yd, Red 2: .625 yd, Red 3: .25 yd. Red 4: 1.5 yd.

So I redrew the block and used the same setting to come up with this design. I'm still torn between the last two, as I like them both. I like that the 3rd version has a more definite line, but still like the 2nd one too. This design uses 4 different reds as well.

Ruby Shadow (68" x 80")
White: 4 yd, Red 1: 2.25 yd, Red 2: .25 yd, Red 3: .25 yd, Red 4: .75 yd.

Now I'm excited about making this quilt for the Make It Challenge, which begins next week, and have been choosing fabrics! There are a lot of pretty reds out there, as well as a lot of different red tones, so I'm not sure I will be able to limit myself to three or four reds!

You can participate in the Make It Challenge even if you didn't design your own quilt...there are two categories to this portion of the challenge. You can make your own design, or you can make a quilt using a purchased or free pattern. There will be virtual quilt shows of each category of "made" quilts. There are also prizes to win along the way. All quilts have to be made in 2014 to qualify for the challenge.

Which one do you like best? I'd love to hear your opinion and why!