bright and happy color

 I have noticed over the past few years that I have built my stash around bright and happy colors. Sunny yellows, warm reds, rich oranges, vibrant greens, oceany blues, and every sweet shade of pink there is. 

These colors feel like summer and always make me smile when I make with them, which is likely why I make so many quilts with this color palette. 

After I had worked on a ghost quilt and a have been paper-piecing flowers for a quilt I am making for the best human, I feel the need to make something simple and known. Patchwork!

This entire quilt was built around the fabric I used on the back of the quilt. A Ruby Star Society print I aim IN LOVE WITH

I used some of my faves again, from the little gnomes, strawberries, little surfer, and milk carton!

Look at that beautiful backing!!

This quilt is in my shop here!

Prior to the little patchwork was the diamond patchwork quilt I made in a similar color palette.

I had hoped that the design (orange and pink, yellow and blue) had popped more. Bummer. 

Still 100% loved this one because again, it had some of my hoarded Heather Ross fabric and felt so juicy and bright!

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And finally, one of my top 3 quilts I made in 2025!!! This little wonky star quilt that I was obsessed with!

It is so bright and happy. I regret not keeping it!!

I have to remake this but maybe in bed size!!

I cannot stop with the stars. 

Long Breaks and Winnie the Pooh

I came on to my blog to see the last time I had posted and was not surprised to see it had been about 9 months since my last post. I wish I was more consistent with this. I thought a lot today about why it matters to me, updating this space. I think for me at this point, my blog has transformed into a quilting journal, a record keeping into the background pieces of life while I make quilts. And it is also my virtual scrapbook of creativity. Quilts that were made for family, quilts made for my shop, quilts made for friends, quilts made for auctions, etc. The compilation of all the things I make also triggers my love for this hobby and often spurns on creativity. I used to LOVE blogs for connectivity and inspiration, and while it seems blogs are fizzling out, I still enjoy the 'permanent record' of making things.

With that, here's a couple things I created since my last post. 

My friend Sherri's daughter - Loran - was expecting her first baby early this year. Loran and Tyler 9my oldest) are the same age. I changed Loran's diapers, bounced her around during Phase 10 nights when we were all 1st time parents with little babies and our lives were run by our husbands being on the flight schedule. So when I found out Loran was expecting a baby boy, I told Sherri to send me ideas so I could make a quilt. She sent me their registry, I noticed a color theme - and also that they were doing a Winnie The Pooh nursery. So I set out to find fabric and got to making. It took me a bit, because somewhere in this time frame, I received a promotion at work which kept me (and is still keeping me) incredibly busy. But I did it-- mind you, it wasn't completed until this sweet baby was a couple months old, but that's okay, 

I decided to alternate only stars with a 16 patch, because I knew I wanted a variety in blocks and I wanted the ability to do big fussy cuts -- so those ended up being the center of the wonky stars.

I am not particularly a big Winnie the Pooh fan, but after making this quilt, I certainly get the appeal. There were so many sweet quotes I was able to use and it all felt simple and joyful.

I used pieces from my stash and bits of linen and it really added to the texture.

I ended up buying a panel filled with sweet little blocks and I was able to incorporate those into the back of the quilt. If you know me, you know I don't LOVE piecing a back -- by the time I get to the back of the quilt, I am typically deep in thought on what I want to do in my best quilt, that I want the back to come together super quick. But these blocks were too good to not be used.

I really liked how it turned out and was thrilled to see baby Desi snuggled in it!! 

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I also made another quilt for my shop, after a request for a blue and green quilt! I made two - sold one directly, and put the other in my shop!

When the quilt was requested, she referred to the design as the "Shannon design" and it made me laugh that I have replicated this pattern SO MANY TIMES that she named the design after me.

I should have named this post I LOVE WONKY STARS.

new quilts

In my head, I had just recently shared quilts I have been working on a few weeks ago. Turns out, a few weeks ago is actually about 6 months ago.

In that 6 months, we have had SO. MUCH. CHANGE.

My oldest two moved out. First Kaiti, and then Tyler. It has been quite an adjustment. They both moved out within a few weeks of each other, and their absence has left a void. Ugh. I knew this was day would happen, but man does it change the dynamics of a family when it does. I was not prepared. Thankfully, they are still very close, so we see them fairly often -- but there is nothing like having all your babies in your home, under your roof. Sigh. I could write a book on this, but suffice to say, it has been a big adjustment and has me wishing the days had gone a little slower, wishing I had savored more. 

The logistical result of the two big kids moving out is that we suddenly freed up to spaces. So we had some shifting. Declan went to Kaiti's room, which freed up the room we converted to make a sewing space for me a couple years ago. So I am back to having a dedicated space to sew which is glorious (but for the record, I'd trade it in a heart beat if my kids wanted to move back home.)

Once I settled back into my sewing room, I started making. I churned out quite a few quilts, but I will share just a couple today -- my two most favorite quilts I made within the past 6 months!

One of my favorite spring quilts was this yellow wonky star quilt!

I alternated wonky stars with squares framed by low volume patchwork in sunny yellow and warm pinks and it was just a sunny, sweet little delightful quilt.

The pink checkerboard binding was the perfect frame for this!! And check out the warm yellow backing by Ruby Star Society! SO GOOD!!!

10/10 would make again!

Despite the terrible pictures because it was stormy for dats when I took these, this quilt sold fairly quickly. 

I am a sucker for wonky stars and patchwork low volume backgrounds.

But my VERY FAVORITE quilt of the past 6 months was this 16 patch quilt. 

I LOVE A 16 PATCH QUILT. I have made so many and I will make many more. This one, and the ones below, and a few more I cannot seem to find the links to.

But this one I made at the end of spring- MY FAVORITE!!!!

Packed with color. It features my favorite fabric designers -- Ruby Star Society, Heather Ross, Annabel Wrigley-- it is a blend of my favorites!

This quilt single-handedly reminded me of the beauty of GREEN.

I just really loved this one. I gave it a week in my shop to sit, and then it would be mine. But it did not last a week, so I may just have to make another.

16 patches are just soooo good, I think they are a great way to blend color and order, traditional and modern. I could make a hundred of them, because they come together fairly quickly and always give me just what I am looking for!!

Do you have a quilt pattern that you revisit again and again? 

 

 

bright like a diamond

My first quilt of 2025 was this one. I started it on New Year's Eve and finished it a few days later. Just strips cut to create diamonds that radiated color. I love how it turned it out.

My fabric pull.

I cut a piece of card stock so I could lay the strips against it -- to both not waste fabric unnecessarily and also to make sure the angle was right.

I used my 8.5 inch ruler to trim each block 

I kept the white strips in the middle and on the edges to get the layout I was looking for.

Declan holding up my progress, but holding it the wrong way. lol. 

And done!! 4 blocks wide, 5 blocks tall, each block at 8.5 inches.

I love all the rich color. I know it;s not for everybody, but it makes me smile.

All said and done, I will be making this design again. Maybe smaller block sizes next time, but I love the diamonds!