Welcome! Today I get to show off the quilt I made for the Tool Craze Blog hop! I love it! This quilt was made using the beautiful Let It Snow fabric line designed by Kathy Engle and the Studio 180 Designs Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star ruler (plus more!) I also used Aurifil Thread, Schmetz Needles and Hobbs batting, which were all supplied to me as part of the Island Batik Ambasador program. (Make sure you read all the way to the end of my post for an opportunity to win some of this fabric!)
The fabric I received from Island Batik is Let It Snow - a pretty wintery blue and white mix of fabric with snowflakes, reindeer, holly leaves and swirls! Since I love blue, I was delighted with the selection!
Believe me, it's even prettier in person! I love the variety of blues in this collection, from deep dark blue, to snow white with pale blue dots. And two 2 yard pieces from the collection as well!
The ruler I received is the Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star. I was excited to try it - Lemoyne stars without set in seams sounded like a great thing to me! I've made plenty of them the traditional way, and it is very fussy and a bit tedious as well!
I designed my quilt using the EQ8 design software. They actually have this block included in their standard blocks, so that made it easy! I thought it would be neat to divide my background for the blocks into light and dark sides as an additional design element. I used five 12 inch blocks, then added six inch blocks into a square in a square setting so I could use my large Square Squared ruler as well!
I like that EQ8 allows you to print out your fabric yardage, it's a big help! It was interesting trying to organize all my fabric, but with the printouts I was able to keep things organized.
I started out by making my small square in a square units for the outer border. I just had to fussy cut the reindeer, they were the perfect size to fit into my squares! I used eight of the fabrics for this border - it was perfect for getting a nice shaded effect! I used a pale blue 50 weight Aurifil thread for the pieceing. I love how nicely it works for piecing, it's all I use! I think it helps me to get accurate seams because it's so nice and fine. I put in a new Microtex 80/12 needle from Schmetz. The Microtex needles are great for sewing with Batik fabrics because they have a super sharp point! They hold up really well too - I get a lot of use out of each needle!
Now I was ready to tackle those Lemoyne Stars. I would definitely recommend making a few practice blocks with this ruler - it's a bit tricky, especially if you are using two background fabrics, but with a bit of practice you are ready to create blocks in a jiffy!
I started with the 6 inch blocks - look how the seams all come together! It sure makes sewing these fast and easy!
So pretty! Now on to the 12 inch blocks!
They came together so fast! No wonder they call it a Rapid Fire ruler! Now to finish up with the rest of the borders.
And voila! A finished top, waiting to be quilted! Plus a few bonus practice stars that will become mug rugs sometime soon! (Practice blocks really are a good idea, you know!) I'm calling this quilt Snow Dazed.
I had so much fun with the 6 and 12 inch blocks, I thought I would try out the 3 inch size! So cute! This is one of the things I love about the Studio 180 Designs rulers - they always make it possible to make blocks in a range of sizes - I love mini quilts, so this is an option I love!
And I discovered that trimming these up was easy as pie with the Studio 180 Designs Tucher Trimmer! I had forgotten how handy this ruler is! The diagonal lines are so helpful for making sure your block is properly squared before trimming. I had so much fun, I made three more blocks and decided to make a mini quilt out of them.
Would you believe I managed to use all 20 fabrics in this little quilt? Three are on the back, but I used them all! It finished at 13 x 13 inches.
I used Aurifil thread in a medium blue, and quilted this in straight lines with my walking foot. I think it took me all of 20 minutes to finish the quilting - one good reason to love making mini quilts!
Back to the main quilt! I quilted it on the rental longarm at work. I guess I did a pretty good job, but you really can't see the quilting much. I used a throw size Tuscany Cotton Wool Blend Batting from Hobbs Batting. I received this in a previous Ambassador box, and was happy I finally had a quilt the right size for it! It's a great batting, very soft, and is supposed to resist creasing. That will be nice for a seasonal quit, I think!
The quilting design is Fresh Snow by Urban Elementz. It's nice and swirly - I love swirly quilting!
I used the large pieces for the backing. Isn't the dark blue reindeer print stunning? I even managed to get the reindeer all right side up! Though I did have to reload the back on the longarm to accomplish it, I am really glad I realized my mistake before I started quilting!
It was wonderful to have a sunny day for my photo session, too. That was definitely a win in my book, especially after the last few rainy months! Looks like the only snow we'll be seeing for a while is in this fabric! That's a good thing for sure! Snowdazed finished at 52 x 52 inches.
Where to buy these beautiful fabrics?
Over the next few months, Let It Snow will be shipping to so many shops! Not every shop will carry all the fabrics, but they will all have at least a bolt or two and they will be arriving throughout the summer! It's a long list, but there are some cute shops here if you want to check them out!
B&F Variety SD
Cotton Weeds ME
D & D Sewing NH
Fab Fabrics UT
Gruber's MN
Options TX
Quilt Passions-CA
Quiltex Inc ONTARIO
Sew Inspired CT
Sew Storm SD
Topstitchery WI
Giveaway Time!
I have some scraps, plus some 5 inch squares I cut from the leftover fabric that I would like to give away to a lucky winner!
Make sure you visit Brittany Fisher at Bobbin with Brittany to see what she made with this collection!
30 comments:
I love, love, love your quilt Pamela! It really is beautiful. Any type of Star block is my favorite and I have made this block so many times Only I did it the old fashion way. LOL
Snow? What's that? We didn't get any snow this year. My grandson said he thought he saw a flake, but I didn't. We kept hoping though.
Thank you for the giveaway.
I am so happy for spring to finally be here also. Sunshine and warmth and birds and bunnies, etc. Our winter was more cold than anything. We had days of snow but it really didnt either stick or stay more than a few days. Your quilts are gorgeous. I love them. And your title is perfect. Thanks so much for sharing. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
You will be ready for winter with this beautiful quilt! Lemoyne Stars are one of my favorite blocks, but I have never attempted to make one (of any size) because of their difficulty. You certainly make it look easy! The fussy cut reindeer are so perfect set in the corners. We got our average amount of snow here in Iowa, but more than enough below freezing days with ice. It's still chilly here, but at least the snow is gone!
Gorgeous 😍😍
Such beautiful quilts and batiks! We had about 15 inches of snow I think. Never get much here but we had some very late in season.
Love the 13 inch mini quilt too!!
No snow here this year!
I always love when Spring arrives. Not much snow here in the south, but we did have a very cold winter, colder than usual. I sure am looking forward to warmer weather.
What gorgeous fabrics and a stunning quilt - would be fun to have the scraps to play with.... cmberry@lsu.edu- no snow in LA this year....
I live in NW Indiana (Chicagoland). We had WAY less snow than normal this year...which is great unless it makes us have twice as much next winter! I love both of your quilts, but especially the mini quilt. It's gorgeous!
Your quilt is just lovely, it says winter all over it! We don't normally get snow in No Calif, but we did have our deck full of hail one day and it was so cold it was still there the next day! We had snow in our local hills which again was a very rare occurrence and it was gone by the late afternoon.
We didn't get a ton of snow this winter in our corner of VT; but it was cold so stuck around a while. I love your quilt & the mini quilt! I too like the blue fabrics.
No snow but plenty of cold. Love this fabric. Beautiful job.
No snow this year!! But we were ready for it-snowblower, shovels, & warm clothes. Your quilt looks great, another pretty creation. petuniakr@aol.com
I love your quilts, especially the mini! It's so cute! Have a great day.
Very pretty quilts and fabrics, we didn't any snow here in Tuscaloosa, AL. When we moved here from IL, my husband was very glad to leave the snow shovel behind. When it does snow, it melts in a few hours.
Nancy Angerer: SewingGranda@gmail.com
The blend from dark to light is pretty cool.
Beautiful quilts. We got some snow. Normally ground is covered till Spring but this year was to warm and a lot of rain.
I love them both, Pamela!! That mini is fantastic! I do love how you can make so many size blocks with these tools!
We got quite a bit of Snow. So ready for spring... it got to 80° today. I love your various size stars and the beautiful blues.
Gorgeous quilt. We got average amount of snow this year.
We had a couple of small accumulations, which I enjoyed. Enough for a small snowman!
I didn't get a lot of snow this year, as a matter of fact I don't even think anything stuck on the ground! However, your quilt reminds me of many snow midwest days growing up - beautiful job, very thoughtfully done.
What a great quilt and wonderful use of those fabrics! The ruler is a great asset to have one hand for this quilt. And how fun to make the matching mini quilt - perfect!
Oh my, those blues are wonderful, just like your quilt!
We got about 140" of snow this winter, which broke the old record for most snow in a season. It's mostly gone now, thank goodness.
I love your beautiful, so-precise stars and the way you used this fabric. Just gorgeous! I don't know exactly how much snow we had in Wisconsin this winter, but it was a lot! I'm very happy for spring.
It seemed like we had snow through April--lots, but don't know the total. Ypur quilts are beautiful!
I don't know how much snow we got in inches, but it snowed on my birthday in mid-April, so that was something.
Your work is amazing! Those blues too - Love them! Also amazing is you used each print in that mini quilt! I live in Southeast MI - we always get a lot of snow!! VERY ready for Spring!
Truly beautiful quilt. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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