Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 10

It's that time again for another volume of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks.

This time, it's Volume 10!

To commemorate the 10th Volume of the series, Quiltmaker Magazine put together this cute video:

Yes, I'm in there!

The Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 10 Blog Tour starts next week, November 17th. Prizes, prizes, prizes!

Until next time,

Martha

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from today's top designers Volume 9 - Welcome to the Blog Tour!

It was almost 5 years ago at Spring International Quilt Market, that I was given the opportunity to submit a block for the first Volume of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from today's top designers. And here we are celebrating Volume 9!

My block for Volume 9 is titled "Hearts and Stars", and it's #813 in the blue-tabbed applique section of the magazine. I hand appliqued my pieces using fabrics from my Elementary line for Studio e Fabrics. I was so excited to find it on the cover!

Hearts and Stars

Here is a quilt I designed using the block, with the same block fabrics. This would be a good quilt for the more ambitious quilter!

Hearts and Stars Quilt

And here is another idea for using the Hearts and Stars block, this time a table runner. The color combination of black, red, green and gold reminds me of Christmas.

Hearts and Stars Table Runner

Click here for a tutorial on one way I make bias vines, from one of my previous Quiltmaker Blog Tour posts.

I'm giving away one copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 9 here from my blog. For a chance to win, just comment below and tell me whether you like to make bed quilts, lap quilts, wall quilts, or small projects like table runners. OR, all of the above! If you are posting anonymously, just be sure to include your email address in your comment, so that I will have a way to contact you if you are a winner.

I have a second giveaway for my Facebook friends. I will giveaway one copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 9 and all of the fabric needed to make the block from Elementary. Just head over to Facebook and leave a comment under my post featuring my Hearts and Stars Block.

Facebook Giveaway!

To go to my Wagons West Designs Facebook page click here.

Post your comments between now and Saturday, May 3rd. I will announce the winners on Monday, May 5th.

Thank you so much for visiting! After commenting below, click here go back to the Quilty Pleasures blog tour list to continue the tour!

Happy touring!

Martha

Sentimental Stitches! - My new fabric line with Henry Glass Fabrics

 

 

My Sentimental Stitches fabric line has a subtle sewing theme, with shades of red, olive green, gold and tan. I received strike-offs of the line this past Thursday! They need a little adjusting, but are looking good!

 

 

Here is another print from the line, with little sewing strawberries:

To see more of the line Click Here. The delivery to quilt shops is scheduled for October. Can't wait!

Tomorrow (April 28th) is the first day of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour to kick off the release of Volume 9!

My block is on the cover! Woo Hoo! Here is a quick link to begin the blog tour. Be sure to check in with me on Wednesday, which is my day to blog about my block, and to offer a chance to win a free copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Vol. 9!
 
http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/

Until Wednesday,

Martha

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from today's top designers Volume 8

Welcome and thank you for visiting my blog on this fun blog tour sponsored by Quiltmaker Magazine! I love to design quilt blocks and I'm so honored to be included in the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from today's top designers Volume 8!

Pictured below is my block, Martha' s Basket:

Martha's Basket

For a look at how it would appear in a diagonal set I've added the black triangles:

Martha's Basket block on point

My basket is named for my Grandmother, Martha. Grandma was an incredible seamstress and needlewoman, and my fascination for patchwork began with a beautiful Wedding Ring quilt that she made, and under which I slept in grade school. I don't have Grandma's sewing basket, but I do have a wooden cigar box in which she must have kept the paper and chipboard templates and piecing leftovers from working on that quilt:

When I chose fabrics for my block, I was in the middle of working on new patterns, which all had Fall and Halloween themes; hence, the orange and black color scheme But the block is very versatile, and has unlimited possibilities. Here are a few example of Martha's Basket using prints from Elementary, my new fabric line with Studio e Fabrics, which will be appearing in quilt shops this month.

Here is the block with a sweet pink and green color scheme:

And here it is with a more dramatic blue and red on gold:

So many possibilities!

Thank you for visiting today on the Blog Hop!

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 8, please leave a comment below by 11:59 pm PST Sunday, Nov. 17.

AND

For another chance to win a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 8 AND a bundle of Elementary fat quarters, just go to the West Designs Facebook page www.facebook.com/WagonsWestDesigns and leave a comment on my Quiltmaker Vol. 8 block post, again by 11:59 pm PST Sunday, Nov. 17.

Good luck and enjoy the rest of your blog tour! For a quick link back to the blog list on Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures CLICK HERE.


Until next time,


Martha

Basket Quartet

September and October are now history! Wow, that went fast! I was busy doing a number of things. I finished two Halloween/Fall themed punchneedle pieces, but unfortunately not in time for patterns for this year. So, it will have to wait until 2014, but I will have them ready for a big show I will be doing the first of February (Feb. 5-8). I'm going to have a booth at the first ever American Quilter's Society show here in Phoenix. I'm so excited! If you have some time to spare for a nice little quilting related vacation, you might want to think about a trip to Phoenix in February.

I was also fortunate to receive some sample yardage of my new fabric line, Elementary for Studio e Fabrics. The fabric turned out beautifully, the colors are so rich! I designed three different free to use patterns for the line, which are all posted on the website www.studioefabrics.com .

So I began working on Basket Quartet (Light) for an upcoming event I'm doing at Zoe's Trunk, in Chandler, Arizona. It should be fun! As you can see from the flyer, we will be having a hunt for the missing Elementary fat quarters - finders keepers! And Sherlock Holmes will be there leading the hunt!

Here is the quilt, Basket Quartet, that I am currently working on. A lot of applique!

Basket Quartet

As much as I love hand applique, in the interest of time I decided to do this quilt by machine, which is fun do as well. I prepare my applique pieces with starched turned-under edges like so:

I simply pin the pieces in place with tiny applique pins, and then stitch the pieces to the background using a tiny vari-overlock stitch in a color that closely matches my fabric. I use Mettler 60/2 cotton thread, Aurifil Mako 50/2 cotton, or DMC 50/2 cotton machine embroidery thread, whatever matches best! This is the method which I think best mimics the look and feel of hand applique. No glue, no fusing, just pure fabric!

I'll be sure to post a photo of the quilt when it's done. I have one block finished, three to go!

I hope you'll join me next week for the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from today's top designers, Volume 8 Blog Tour which starts Monday, November 11. My day for the tour will be November 13 where I will talk about my block and giveaway one copy of the Vol 8 issue. The block I designed for this issue is one of my favorites, I hope you like it too!

Here is quick link to start the blog on November 11 - www.quiltmaker.com/quiltypleasures . Have fun!


Until next time!

Martha

2013 Spring Quilt Market Portland

I finally have a few minutes to sit down and write a recap of our trip to Portland, Oregon for the Spring 2013 International Quilt Market. I was lucky to have my husband, Thom, along with camera in hand to capture some of the moments of the trip. And, of course, he did so much more than take pictures.

We left Phoenix on Wednesday before Market, and it was fun to run into Nancy Shamy and Cindy Oates, two fellow designers, at Sky Harbor airport. Cindy's company, of course, is Taylor Made Designs, and she has been a pro at the business for over 20 years. This was Nancy's first market for the inauguration of her new pattern business, Kenzie Mac & Co.

The next day I was able to start showing the prints from my new fabric line, Elementary, for Studio e Fabrics, at a morning Schoolhouse for quilt shop owners. What a thrill, after nearly a year of hard work developing the line with Studio e!

 

 Studio e Fabrics Schoolhouse 

Quilt Market 2013

Banner for Elementary in the

Studio e Fabrics booth

The quilt on the banner is one of the quilt patterns I designed for the Elementary line. Here is another version of the quilt -- the instructions for making the quilts will be found on the Studio e Fabrics website soon.

One of my booth neighbors at market was Quiltmaker, and I was so excited to see my block "Simple Life" from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 magazine framed and hanging in their booth.

Quiltmaker booth at International Quilt Market

Portland 2013

On Saturday morning of Market, a group of designers met at the Quiltmaker booth to learn a very unique dance created by Gudrun Erla of GE Designs, titled "Quiltmaker Shuffle". The dance was videotaped and will be edited and posted soon by Quiltmaker. Although I've never been any good at choreographed dance moves, I gave it my best shot. :)

I have more to share, but it will have to wait until another day!

Until next time,

Martha

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 7 winners

Thank you to all of you for your comments. I truly enjoyed reading about the color combinations you would use for your own version of Simple Life!

And the winner is #207 - Jodi. Congratulations, Jodi!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 will start appearing on your newsstands tomorrow!



Until next time,

Martha

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Blog Tour!

Hello, and welcome to day 3 of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Blog Tour! It has been my great pleasure to be a part of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks series since it's inception. Here I am for the fifth time and on the cover too! 

My block is "Simple Life" and it's all applique!

Simple Life

I thought it would be fun to show you some different color options for Simple Life. How about using orange, black and green for Fall?

Simple Life

....Or, blue, black and red.

Simple Life

And finally, how do you like pink, red and green?

Simple Life

I took the last color scheme and drafted this table or wall size quilt using four of the blocks in a diagonal set.

Simple Life quilt

What colors would you pick to make your own Simple Life block?

Just leave a comment here by 5 pm PST Friday May 3rd for a chance to win a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 7, to be sent to you directly from Quiltmaker.  Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 7 will be arriving on newsstands May 7.

Thank you for visiting and now I'll give you a quick link to get back to the Quiltmaker blog for more touring and giveaways!

www.quiltmaker.com/quiltypleasures  

Until next time,

Martha

Blog Tour Winners!!

Thanks to all of you for your comments. I enjoyed reading about the wide variety of projects each of you make for the Fall season!

And the winners are:

Congratulations to hueisei! You have won a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 5 to be mailed to you directly from Quiltmaker magazine!

Congratulations to JoyceLM! You have won a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 5, as well as a copy of my new pattern, "Black Cat Table Rug"!

Winners, please email your addresses to me at info@wagonswestdesigns.com, so that Quiltmaker and I can get your prizes out to you ASAP!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour

Welcome and thank you for visiting with me on the Day 5 tour of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks designers blog tour! And thank you to Quiltmaker for organizing such a fun event that brings all of us together in our shared love of quilting! The block I designed for Volume 5 is Bittersweet Basket #414.

I was thinking of Fall when I designed this block. I had been wanting to design a basket based on antique gathering baskets that are constructed of wooden slats bound with wire. And this block was just perfect for using one of my favorite color combinations - yellow, purple, green and red.

Here are a few quilt layout ideas for Bittersweet Basket:

Blocks set with chain of squares sashing.

Bittersweet Basket blocks combined with pieced star blocks.

Medallion setting

medallion setting

For a very different color scheme, when you get your copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 5, be sure to take a look at the quilt made by Joanna Simpson, "Perennial Posies". Wow! You'll find it on page 87 in the Tester's Gallery. Joanna combines Bittersweet Basket with four other blocks from the issue for a very stunning quilt!

In keeping with the Fall theme, I have a new wool applique pattern to show you that is just out ... "Black Cat Table Rug", pictured below!

Please leave a comment below by Sat., May 5 midnight (MST) for a chance to win a free copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 5 or a free copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 5 and my "Black Cat Table Rug" wool applique pattern. In the comment section, please let me know what kinds of projects you like to make for the Fall Season!

And for another chance to win a free copy of the magazine and pattern, you can comment on my Facebook page as well!
Scroll back up and hit the Facebook button and it will take you to the Wagons West Designs Facebook page.

Thank you for visiting and have fun on the rest of your Blog Tour!

Until next time,

Martha

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 5

I am so excited and honored to have a block featured in the upcoming Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from today's top designers, Volume 5!

And I am so honored and gratified to have another block featured on the cover! Can you guess which block is mine?

Please join me and the other designers April 30th through May 4th for the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour, where each designer will be giving away copies of the new Volume 5 issue. In addition, if you go to the Quiltmaker blog, they will be have loads of giveaways all of that week! If you aren't one of the lucky winners, be sure to pick up a copy when they go on sale beginning May 8th!

My Blog Tour day will be May 4th, so I hope you'll stop by and I'll show you my block - it's one of my favorites!

See you on the 4th!

Martha