Introducing Loved to Pieces' first pattern ... Sangria

Happy new year! I am excited to announce my first quilt pattern, Sangria, and to introduce my official business name, Loved to Pieces. I chose this name because for me, the heart and soul of quilt making is a quilt that literally is loved to pieces. Despite all the beautiful, inspiring art and competition quilts, I believe the very best quilts are those made for the people we love. And those quilts should be used daily so they become a cherished part of someone’s life. I believe there is no higher calling for a quilt; truly, it is an honor to be the maker.

 

Sangria

I designed Sangria for our intermediate quilt making class at the Pine Needle to introduce log cabin blocks, half square triangles (shoo fly and hourglass blocks), mitered borders and foundation piecing (crossed canoe blocks).

Come see these quilts at the Pine Needle open house January 18-19!

It was immensely gratifying to see my fabulous students interpret Sangria in this past fall's class. Here is Susan's quilt as she is sewing the rows together. Susan used a neutral palette of white, creams and beiges; her quilt brings to mind treasured antique linens.

 

 Susan's Sangria Quilt

 

Next is Suzanne's quilt, done in batiks and Marcia Derse prints. I love the red and canteloupe with those rich neutrals.

Suzanne's Sangria Quilt

My students receive tons of encouragement and praise when they change up a pattern. My philosophy is that a pattern, much like a recipe, is a place to start ... a suggestion. The quilt you make is your very own statement so I am thrilled when students continue to look and experiment with color and layout as they work.

Kathy chose a palette of Stonehenge fabrics and oriented the log cabin blocks with the darks in the center. Doesn't her quilt have a beautiful circular feeling? And that subtle accent of soft aqua perfectly complements the warm rich red browns.

Kathy's Sangria Quilt

Karlee worked with a neutral palette of cream, beige, sage green and charcoal. I love the texture and movement of the Stonehenge stripe in the log cabin blocks.

Closeup of Log Cabins (Karlee's Sangria Quilt)

Karlee chose a bold, modern print for the inner and outer borders that gives the quilt great energy and excitement! Wow!

Karlee's Sangria Quilt

Liz's soothing palette of blues, beige and creams has a country French mood. The red accent fabric perfectly sets off the quilt and I love that she laid out her log cabin blocks in diagonal rows. The inner border is a tone on tone stripe that looks awesome with the mitered corner seams.

Liz's Sangria Quilt

Elizabeth worked with a palette of teal, cream and burgundy. Here, she auditions border fabrics.

Elizabeth Auditions Borders

After considering several border options, Elizabeth decided against the light-medium-dark teal frame and instead chose the dramatic burgundy from her log cabin blocks which frames her quilt beautifully and allows the white and teal blocks to sparkle.

Elizabeth's Sangria Quilt

Kathy A's palette brings to mind the desert colors of the southwest with burgundy, rust, gold and that beautiful sky blue. Here she is auditioning border fabrics:

Kathy A Auditions Borders

Ultimately, Kathy A rejected the busy print originally intended for the outer border as it pulls the eye away from the beautiful center of her quilt. The burgundy she chose is a rich, dramatic frame that allows that gorgeous blue to sparkle. Kathy A also decided to widen the outer border; I can't wait to see it when it's quilted!

Kathy A's Sangria Quilt

An element of quilting that thrills Lana's heart is selecting fabric and she does a fabulous job. Here she works with batiks in a palette of soothing creams and soft aquas. Drama is not to be denied, however, with the addition of those stunning dark blue/black batiks.

Center of Lana's Quilt

Doesn't her piecing look perfect? (It is!) Stunning!

Lana's Sangria Quilt

Heather's quilt is intended for her daughter, if memory serves. She chose a modern palette of white, gray, chartreuse and orange and combines solids with polka dots and a large scale floral print. Isn't the floral stunning? I love love love the airy feeling of that floral ... a complete surprise! And I think the orange centers of the shoo fly blocks echo just enough of the orange from the floral.

Heather's Sangria Quilt

I am so very proud of my students!

So far, I have made three color stories of Sangria. Here is the inspiration for one of them:

Color Inspiration for Sangria #2

Sandy and Mallory (hiding behind the quilt) are holding up a "work in progress" version of Sangria. Aren't the colors yummy?

Sangria #2 Work in Progress

Best wishes throughout 2013!

New Quiltmaking 2 Class at the Pine Needle

I have been sewing madly this summer preparing for exciting events at the Pine Needle this fall. The fall catalog is in the mail so I can now share with you a new design of my own that I'll be teaching in my Quiltmaking 2 class:

Quiltmaking 2 by Pam Raby

  

I wanted to create a quilt and class that builds on beginner-level piecing skills as well as introduce foundation paper piecing and mitered borders. Because of the symmetry in this quilt and especially the pieced outer border, it would be lovely as a table cloth. After this, an advanced class will be needed for those who wish to continue on. I have a few ideas I'm kicking around ... curves, LeMoyne stars and who knows what else!

For attendees of the summer escape to Hood Canal, Geri hosts a reunion in the store each fall where we gather with our completed or "work in progress" quilts to celebrate. Here is my version of the retreat quilt:

Chopsticks by Pam Raby

The pattern is "Chopsticks" by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts. Her patterns are very well written with clear illustrations. This was my first triangle quilt! Because I used the Creative Grids 12.5" triangle ruler, it went together beautifully.

Here is a detail of the quilting. Parallel lines are stitched in the triangle "frames", a stylized "baptist fan" in the large triangle centers and a "trident" design in the small triangles. As soon as I finish stitching on the binding, I will post another detail shot of the quilting as well as a picture of the back.

Detail of quilting

And last but not least, I made the Counterpoint pattern by Kari Nichols of Mountainpeek Creations.  The Pine Needle is offering this quilt as a kit in the fall catalog as well as a  "refresh yourself" retreat at the store.

The long, rectangular block is very clever ... I love the architectural style of this quilt; its structure is ideal for showcasing medium to large scale prints. All of the fabrics in this quilt are by Marcia Derse whose fabrics I absolutely adore! Carol Parks quilted it for me and I'll post a picture of her quilting soon I promise.

Counterpoint pieced by Pam Raby

I used all the left over triangles on the back and will post a picture soon! I hope to see you this weekend at the Pine Needle's Open House. Happy sewing!