I am really happy with the center of this quilt. I free handed circles which worked really well. I did a feather in the border that I'm not terribly happy with. Oh well, we learn something from each project - right??
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
I quilted wavy lines thru the middle of each strip and a curly design in the red star. What a fun pattern this is and so quick. I must admit when I first looked at Twinkle, I couldn't see past the graphic colors. Now I'm thinking all kinds of color combinations. In fact, recently my DD told me she "needs" an new quilt - LOL!!! She wants aqua, white and red. I thought of Bliss - can't you just see it?? The background in aqua/white with red stars. How cute would that be??
I hope many of you are enjoying Kim's great patterns in Scrap-Basket Sensations.
Drumroll please..... the lucky winner of a signed copy of Scrap-Basket Sensations is Pokey who wrote "Oh, it's nice to see these beautiful quilts on display in your home. I'm also glad to hear of your friendship with Kim personally! Thanks for the opportunity". 
As we were finishing up the quilts last Spring, Kim had finished Twinkle and I brought it home to sew the binding on (which is something I love to do by the way). Now mind you, all 4 of my book quilts were already finished and my DH had been seeing them in progress for months - with basically no comment. When I walked in with Twinkle he said, "Now I like that quilt!" Go figure!! It has a very graphic, modern feel to it when done in the black, white and red. And you can see how different it looks done in the green and red.
That really is the beauty of Kim's books. These quilts are so versatile and fun to make.You still have a chance to leave a comment on yesterday's post. I'll pick the winner Sat. night.Go cut some strips and get ready to sew!
Until next time,
-Karen
This is a picture I took last spring before the quilts got shipped off. I was finishing the binding on "Twinkle" and thought how pretty the quilts looked all spread out in my living room.
It's been fun to see the response to "Flowers for Nana Girl". This is such a sentimental quilt for me. Kim really surprised my when she told me what she had named the quilt. I had been using the working title of "Pretty in Pink". But telling my story of how I came to be called Nana Girl by my granddaughter and then naming the quilt after me (and my blog), has been such an honor! This quilt has not come home yet - after going to Houston last fall, it's still out at Martingale's offices.
These pictures will kind of show you some of the fabrics in the blocks. I started with the border fabric, and then picked scraps to make the flowers.
I mixed all types of fabric, prints, stripes and batiks.
Here's a picture of some of the left over scraps. It's a happy quilt!!
Next is Flower Boxes. I've already said that it was love at first sight when I saw this quilt. Watching this pattern emerge as each block goes up on the design wall is the most amazing thing. This quilt has a charm all its own.
Here is Flower Boxes in my living room in my favorite chair.
It looks pretty good on the couch too!!
I've decided this is going to go on the quilt hanger soon, as my spring quilt!!
Blues crossing is a sweet quilt.
It looks so good folded over a little rocker in the guest room.
It also looks good on the wicker settee. Darlene, see my bunny??
Northern Comfort is a cuddle quilt.
Here it is still hanging in the living room.
Please leave a comment for your chance to win a signed copy of Scrap-Basket Sensations. Tell me which quilt in the book you think you'll make first. Here's the rest of the schedule. You still have a few more days and chances to win your own copy. Be sure to check out yesterday's post about my latest quilt from Scrap-Basket Sensations - a variation of Tipsy Baskets.
I wanted to give you an update on Winding Baskets. It's pieced, basted and being quilted as we speak. It won't be done by tomorrow, but here it is at this point. It's hard to see the quilting with it laying on the table.
But you can kind of see it from the back. I used some scraps to help piece the backing. I do love back art on a quilt, even a little bit like this!
Here's the rest of the schedule. Some have already drawn winners, but you still have lots of chances.
I'm also working on the burning question...... what do you do with all those little triangles??? LOL!! Here I am trimming them up.
I press open the seam and trim them to 1 3/4". Stay tuned, there's more to come on this too.
Not sure if I'll have the whole quilt finished by next week or not- I'm still busy sewing. I hope you all are enjoying the blog book tour so far and are getting to know the author, Kim Brackett, a little better. Here's the schedule:
Hope you're all having a great day!
Over the last few years, these quilts have brought me much joy as I change them out when the seasons change. Here's the one that started it all - the winter quilt. It is machine pieced and machine quilted.
Here is spring - nothing says spring like a basket of flowers :). This quilt is hand appliqued and hand quilted.
Next is summer. This quilt was picked by Madame Samm to be a part of her very first banner when she took over Stash Manicure. I was very excited and honored!! This quilt is machine appliqued and machine quilted.
Next is the fall quilt. I still cannot quite capture the colors in this. In person, this quilt is gorgeous (at least to me). It is paper pieced and machine quilted.
Here's a close-up of one of the blocks - love those New York Beauty blocks!!
Last is my Christmas Quilt. This quilt actually doesn't hang on my fireplace during Christmas as that's where I put my wreath. But it hangs in my hallway and can be seen from the living room.
Here's a close-up of the blocks. They finished at 4", were machine pieced and machine quilted.
Hope you enjoyed the tour. Framing quilts is a wonderful way to showcase them.
"Christmas or Not" by Gerry Kimmel. This book was published in 1991 and has been one of my "go-to" books for many years. So many of the angels in my angel quilt (and others) came from this book.
One of my other "go-to" books is this one (published in 1989), by Gerry Kimmel, Linda Brannock and Jan Patek. (I was pretty much in love with anything Red Wagon back then). This book really changed my quilting life. I'll post about Snowbound soon. But back to the angels.....
If you look closely, you can see many of my angels here.
Here are some pictures of my actual layout. I graph these quilts out completely once I decide on the blocks I want to include. And I do keep these. If I ever wanted to do something similar, I wouldn't have to completely re-invent it all.
My final quilt was very true this this layout. Sometimes I cut out mock blocks the exact size I need and then move them around until I get the layout I want.
This shows one of the flying geese segments I used. What I have learned since I made this quilt in 1997 is that each block should be a multiple of 2". That makes the filler sections so much easier to add. I also date these, you can see the 1997 date in the bottom righthand corner.
Here are some of the stars I used.
Here is my precious Angel Kitty. Love him!!! These are both from "Christmas or Not". I also would love to do this kitty block someday :). Goodness, looking thru these books gives me way too many ideas!! But honestly, how cute are these?? Wouldn't you love a little quilt like this hanging in your studio? Okay, maybe it's just me...
I hope this answers the questions asked regarding my pattern. Patty, I couldn't respond to your email. Several of the angels I actually did draw but my skills are very limited and I relied mostly on the talent of others :).
Here is the whole quilt draped over the couch (except for the top which I cut off).
The most fun thing about doing a quilt like this is personalizing the blocks. Notice below is a heart angel and a kitty angel (of course). Remember you saw the kitty angel here.
This block represents me and my sister. Remember you saw these angels here.
These are the joy angels. Doing a Christmas banner of these angels is on my to-do list, maybe this year!
These flying angels Kim and I affectionately named the "Secretary Angels" as they were wearing dresses. We would hand applique these blocks during our lunch hour at the big conference table. The attorneys were quite amused (and I'm sure impressed) by our many talents LOL!
I love the variety of angels and the little filler blocks of friendship stars and flying geese.
Thanks for joining me on a trip down memory lane. I love these old quilts! Neither Kim nor I will ever forget the journey we had making our angel quilts.
Until next time, make something beautiful.
