Purple Power

I recently got another special order, this one a baby quilt for a childhood friend's first granddaughter. She asked for a pink flower quilt like I made for my neighbors down the street when they had their second baby girl. I actually have another Spoonflower panel similar to the first I haven't used yet, but I'm almost out of pink stash for the backing and binding!

When I dug out the second of three pink flower panels, which I designed with flowers from my garden, I wondered why I haven't done a purple flower panel. I don't think I'll ever run out of purple stash!!! I would have plenty of backing fabrics and scraps for a purple flower quilt!

So I made a new collage with my purple flowers. My friend's granddaughter still gets a pink flower quilt. But one day I'll be able to make another garden flower quilt to use up some of my purple stash, and I'm excited at the prospect.

I made a small version, too, because I thought the purple would look awesome in a dress. Then I saw an advertisement with flowers swirling from the bottom of the skirt diagonally up into the bodice. Back when I was in high school, I used to design dresses while I was working the graveyard shift for my parents' answering service. One of my favorite designs would feature my own embroidered butterflies swirling from the bottom of the skirt diagonally up into the bodice and completely covering the sleeve. Somewhere in my basement is one of those envelopes of 100 butterfly embroidery designs from the '70s because I always intended to make that dress one day. Somewhere in my basement is a book of 1,000 embroidery designs, with a whole chapter of butterfly designs.

I got this crazy idea to make yet another purple flower fabric panel with flowers from my garden along the bottom of the skirt and going up to the waist. It took longer to create this new collage with the flowers properly placed on the fabric than it took to do the entire first collage. I still don't know if I lined everything up right. But I ordered two yards so I can see how far off I am. And to make a dress, or a skirt if there's not enough fabric to make the dress. Now I just have to wait for the fabric to arrive. And I guess, the time to sew...

I asked AI to create such a dress (because my photoshopped mockup is so amateur; I could have drawn a better rendering!!!) so I could have an awesome image to help illustrate this blog post, and I accidentally forgot to specify I didn't want a video. The accidental result is so entertaining, I have to share it here!

Tweet

Oops! I Did it Again!

(affiliate links to my designs)

I came up with this adorable floral rainbow collage a few weeks ago.

Actually, I've done a few floral rainbow collages in the past. They are so fun.

Last week I created a blue floral collage for Spoonflower. Last weekend I had the urge to do it again, this time using all the colors in my garden. Green was a challenge. But I got creative in my interpretation. I'm pretty tickled with how this turned out!

Tweet

Blue Me Away

(affiliate links to my designs)

I think it's been a long time since I created any new Spoonflower fabric. Kind of fitting, I guess, since I haven't had time to sew anyway. And I already have so many Spoonflower cheater panels in my stash I haven't even begun to put together as quilts yet.

I did finish a new floral Spoonflower cheater panel AND baby quilt last year for my then newest little neighbor. I incorporated photos of pink flowers in my garden. I've wanted to create a similar quilt top using my blue flowers ever since.

I tried my hand at a blue flower collage back in 2017, and I had a couple of yards printed by Spoonflower. I thought it might look cool as a dress or skirt, though. Not a quilt. Haven't finished that project yet either. Perhaps that yardage now can become the quilt back to go with my newest Blue Heaven cheater panel, once I'm able to get it printed.

I wanted to jump for joy when I finally finished my newest panel. It has many more flower photos than my previous flower fabrics. I think the blue flower collection will make a stunning quilt. I get so excited every single time I look at it. My chicory is in full bloom right now, and I think it's just about the prettiest shade in my garden. Of course, I would say that about my delphiniums, too, if they were blooming right now!

Tweet

Fleeced

I treated myself to some Spoonflower fleece for Christmas, and I've now turned all but one of my 2024 digital temperature quilts into quick and easy coverlets.

I ordered a full yard of each, and once they arrived, all I had to do was trim off the edges, then hem. Then photograph!

Tweet

Four Months Late

Baby Maven's quilt finally is done. I can't believe it has taken this long.

Tweet

Fading Temps

(affiliate links to my designs)

Digital temperature quilt projects have become more of a time hog and less of a fun project the last few months, so I'm thrilled when another one is finished. My batik quilt panel representing the second half of 2024 moved to the finished column this week, and I'm so glad!

I haven't tried putting the two panels together yet to see how they'd look, but the color scheme is growing on me. Initially, I did not like my rainbow temperature scale because I don't really care for the red, orange and yellow, but also because I picked colors I don't like to use as much to reprsent the hot temperatures, which I also don't like. And yet, holy moly! Didn't the premature quadrupled full shortened year panel make the coolest tea towel?!?

Bring on winter snow!!!

I still have five more digital projects to finish, and I really love three of them. Yet all have become drudgery, not only because we had identical highs and lows for long consecutive strings of days this year, which is not typical where I live, but also because life really got in the way this year. We're just a few days away from finishing up the year, and I'm not going to make a decision on creating a 2024 temperature quilt, real fiber or digital, until the end of the month. Or maybe I'll take a week off and start in January and play catch-up. Ha ha ha! I feel like that's what I've been doing most of this year!

Tweet

halfway there

Tweet

Pinktober, the Sequel

(affiliate links to my designs)

I was so excited to receive my newest Spoonflower cheater quilt panels. It was difficult to decide which one I should use for the new baby quilt, and I ultimately chose the original. I used some stash batik and some pink Grunge for the border, and the top was done in just a couple of hours.

The second panel is similar to the first but square instead of horizontal. The second two panels are going to be so fun to work into quilts once I finish the baby quilt. Then I'd have a couple of pink quilts ready if another little baby girl comes along...

In the meantime, I have to finish the quilt back. I began with 36 pink charm squares from the temperature quilt stash I was hoping to make into a real temperature quilt in 2023. I'm not so sure I will make an actual fabric temperature quilt now, so I didn't mind robbing the stash. But then I realized the 6x6 stitched block wasn't near big enough for the already finished quilt top.

So I dug into my pink scraps stash and added one more row of pink charm squares, then cut some 2.5-inch patches for an inner border. I really like the new size and the improved design, but now I'm stuck! I can't decide what to do next, and it needs to be more than ten inches wider and longer. I want to use fabrics in my pink stash, and I have pink charm squares, my own 2.5-inch strips and even a few layer cake squares. Ir, I could dig into some pink stash yardage and make a solid border, which I'm actually considering. I just have come up with something I think will look pretty not too busy.

Tweet

Pinktober

(affiliate links to my designs)

One of my little neighbors has a new baby sister. I knew she was coming; I saw mama walking in the neighborhood a couple of months ago, and it was pretty obvious. But I didn't know it would be this soon. Time to get quilting yet again. Late, as usual, these days!

Big sister got a quilt from one of my digital Spoonflower panels, and her mother absolutely loved it. She always compliments my garden when she walks by. I thought it would be fitting for baby sister to receive a quilt from one of my own floral cheater panel designs.

Except I didn't have any pink or floral cheater panels left in my Spoonflower stash!!! How could that possibly be?!? Especially in October!

I did find some butterfly fabric of my own design, but I'm planning to make a dress for me from that.

I know, I know, last thing I need is yet one more new quilt project. But I couldn't resist. I created a new panel, and I'm hoping to have it in hand one day next week so I can begin sewing. I think this one will be SO much fun!

On my phone, I had created a really fun cosmos collage with flowers in my garden the second (I think) year of the pandemic. I thought I'd created a cheater quilt panel from that image, but I guess not. The original image was too small, and I had not played with the idea to create a proper-size image. I certainly meant to. I guess this is just another case of proving how tangled life got during the last few years.

All it took was the motivation of finding out the new little one has arrived. I have so many other things I need to do, including mending a coat for a very elderly neighbor who will need the coat before the weather cools off, assuming it might one day...

Yes, I made a card, too. How could I not???

I probably could have finished the coat in the time it took me to design a new Spoonflower cheater panel for the new baby quilt, but one more day on the coat won't matter, right?!? I promise, that's my next project!!!

In the meantime, I created a few more pink floral Spoonflower panels, and I ordered a few of them, too. Now I'll be ready next time I need to quilt pink!

Tweet