Star Flight: Quick, easy, and BLUE!

Have you seen the dynamic Star Flight quilt in the August/September issue of McCall's Quick Quilts? It combines two of many quilters' favorite things: stars and chevrons! Lisa Ruble designed this quilt using the full range of blues in the Fleur de Bleu collection. We asked Lisa to tell us about her quilt.

"Star Flight" designed by Lisa Swenson Ruble; machine quilted by Diane Oakes;
featured in McCall's Quick Quilts August/September 2018 issue

Q. Why did you choose the Fleur de Bleu collection?
LR: I'm a cool palette person, so blues speak to me. I love the variety of blue prints in the collection and thought it would make a graphic two-color quilt. 

Q. Do you have a favorite print in the collection? 
LR: My favorites are the large flowers. I used the blue on the front (bottom row) and then the white print on the back. It is the perfect backing for this quilt! 

Q. Tell us about your design.
LR: I originally made this design for a friend going through some health issues. I liked the modern feel of the zig zags, but I wanted the design to have something more--something uplifting. I placed around with half-square triangle placement and came up with the star in the corner. I made the first quilt in yellow and pinks, but I love this cool blue and white version. 

Q. How is the quilt quilted? 
LR: Diane stitched separate quilting motifs in each zig zag row, which helps define the design even more. It was the perfect treatment for this quilt! 

Purchase the pattern separately here.

See the entire Fleur de Bleu fabric collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.
In love with these gorgeous blues? Download a Fleur de Bleu free quilt pattern here and find a bargello quilt tutorial here.
Find McCall's Quick Quilts magazine here.

Waddington Road: 2 Ways

Do you lean toward scrappy quilts or more controlled palettes? 
Today we're sharing two Waddington Roadquilts designed by Barbara J. Eikmeier. Many of Barb's quilts we've seen have been scrappy--a cheery collection of reds, blues, greens, golds and tans. These two quilts showcase the Waddington Road fabric collection in a very different way and we asked Barb to talk to us about her designs. We think you'll love them both! 

The "Homeward Winds" quilt uses a warm palette of blues, greens, and golds, with a tan background. This two-block design is easy to sew and creates a secondary design. This lap-size quilt is featured in the March/April 2018 issue of McCall's Quilting magazine.

"Homeward Winds" by Barbara J. Eikemier and quilted by Theresa Ward;
featured in McCall's Quilting March/April 2018

Q. How did you come up with this design?

BE: The magazine editor had requested a two-block design. I had used the pinwheel star block (all blues) in a previous design and liked it, so I searched for a second block that would work well with it. When I found the framed pinwheel block (green), I realized that the corner triangles would match up and create a secondary shape. I didn’t realize both blocks started with center pinwheels until I recolored them!

Q. How do these blocks go together?

BE: Beautifully! If you press the corner units in opposite directions, they lock together when you pin the blocks and create such nice corners!

Q. What’s something we might not notice on a first look at this quilt?

BE: Do you see the spools on an angle? They’re where four blocks come together and they’re made up of blue thread centers with olive green tops and bottoms. I love that this little design element emerges!

Q. Tell us about your color choices for this quilt.

BE: Waddington Road has so many color variations, and it works well in scrappy quilt designs. As I’ve worked with these fabrics, I’ve often pulled smaller groupings that I thought looked pretty together. I really liked this blue, green and gold combination. Using the same yellow in both blocks creates continuity throughout the design.

The inner blue border is subtle, but creates space between the blocks and the outer border. It let’s the natural edges of the block stand out.

Q. Tell us about the quilting.

BE: I asked Theresa Ward to do custom quilting because the quilt has some areas that would really shine. She did swirls on the olive green sections that show up beautifully.

Q. What do you like best?
BE: I like the spool design that emerges when the blocks come together. This is a straight-set quilt, but you get diagonal components that make it look more interesting.

Find the Homeward Winds quilt pattern here.

See the entire Waddington Road collection here.

Find McCall's Quilting magazine here.

Contact the Quilt Corral to purchase a kit for Homeward Winds.

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Barb's "Grandma's Farm" quilt goes in a totally different color direction. Bright red and blue prints stand out from tan, olive green and chocolate brown coordinates. The quilt is made using simple four-patch units--an easy design that creates a visually interesting quilt. "Grandma's Farm" is featured in McCall's Quick Quilts February/March 2018 issue. 

"Grandma's Farm" by Barbara J. Eikmier and quilted by Theresa Ward;
featured in McCall's Quick Quilts February/March 2018

Q. What inspired this quilt design?

BE: It’s named after my Grandma who lived on Waddington Road. The design itself is the idea of a chain link fence going around a farm, and it’s made up primarily of small four-patches. The overall design is a nine-patch variation.

Q. Tell us about the color palette you used.

BE: I started with the background floral print, with small red and brown flowers. Then I added red and chocolate brown prints, plus the lighter tan, and they all coordinate beautifully. I wanted to add another color that would stand out. The blue really made the design come alive. The sashing is an olive green, which stands out as well. I changed up the sashing cornerstones, with adds a secondary design as well.

Q. What do you like best about the quilt?

BE: I like how the secondary blocks show up by the cornerstones—a phantom nine-patch design. When you look at this quilt, it’s a really simple pattern, but the more you look at it, the more interesting it becomes.

Find the Grandma's Farm pattern here.
See the entire Waddington Road collection here.
Find McCall's Quick Quilts February/March 2018 issue here.

Read more about all of Barbara Eikmeier's Waddington Road quilts:
Grandma's Spools
Floating Palette
Waddington Road Sampler
Town Square

A New Kind of Winter Blues

What if "winter blues" was something cozy and comforting you could wrap yourself in,
rather than a dreary mid-February feeling? 

We'd like to introduce you to Kelli Fannin's "Blues Traveler" quilt, featured in the February/March 2018 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts.

"Blues Traveler" was designed by Kelli Fannin and quilted by Pat Roche;
 it's featured in McCall's Quick Quilts Feb/March 2018

This graphic, monochromatic design is perfect for couch snuggles all year long! 

Kelli used five shades of blue from our Painter's Palette Solids collection, paired with white, to create a quilt that ripples with an optical illusion. 

Below, Kelli shares more about her quilt design. 

The quilt is also on the cover:

Q. How did you choose the palette of blues?

KF: I didn’t have a color palette in mind when I drew the design. The program I was using had graduated blues to work with, so I plugged in the different shades just to see if the design had depth. It looked really cool in blue, so I stuck with it.

Q. How did you come up with the design?

KF: This was my first foray into a log cabin type of design. It’s fun to take a simple block and make it look more complicated. I like depth in quilt designs—making things look like they’re three dimensional. I wanted to come up with a design that looked like it tunneled.

Q. Did you design change as you worked on it?

KF: I was originally going to use only one block, but it didn’t look right, so I added the second block. I thought that if I reversed the color order, one block would look like it’s going in and one would look like it’s sticking out.

Photo credit: McCall's Quick Quilts

Q. What’s one thing we might not notice about this quilt at first glance?

KF: The width of the strips isn’t uniform on both blocks, and that helps to enhance the dimensional effect. The white strips are positioned differently in both blocks for the same effect.

Q. The machine quilting really adds to the design.

KF: Pat Roche does amazing work. She always has a good eye for making the design stand out and I usually leave the decision up to her. She’s never disappointed me!

Q. What is your favorite part of the quilt?

KF: I think it’s the graduating colors. I was never a fan of blue, and it was probably the color I used the least. When I saw it in this quilt, it converted me to being a fan of blue! I'd love to see it in a rainbow palette as well.

What color palette would you choose for this quilt? 

If you love the blues Kelli chose, you can make your own! Purchase the kit here.
Purchase the individual Blues Traveler pattern here.
See all 168 Painter's Palette Solids colors here.
Find McCall's Quilt Quilts magazine here.

How to add pop to a panel

1 focal panel + fussy-cut blocks + multiple borders = 

the Deep Sea Pals quilt by Heidi Pridemore!

"Deep Sea Pals" by Heidi Pridemore; featured in McCall's Quick Quilts Feb/March 2014

It's no secret that we love quick and easy kids' quilts, and McCall's Quick Quilts has a great one in the current issue. Heidi's Under the Sea prints shine in this ocean-themed quilt that little ones will love, complete with blocks reminiscent of submarine portholes. 

How do you add pizzazz to a panel? Borders! Heidi mixed simple strip borders with a wide pieced border to make this cheery quilt.

The look of applique without the work: Fussy-cut squares from this Under the Sea print create easy blocks full of favorite ocean-swimming friends.

See the Under the Sea collection here.

Find the kit for this project here.

Find McCall's Quick Quilts here. 

The Neon Trend: Nite Lites

Did the title of this post give you a quick flashback to the 80s? 
Big hair, layers of blue eye shadow, and clothes in day-glo colors?

Image: http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Love-The-80s-Shirt/dp/B0041EOTJO/ref=pd_sbs_a_1

Well, we're here to tell you that neon is making a run again! That's right, we're not just a fabric-loving blog, we're also up on what's new and hot in the world of style. Don't believe us? Take the word of Andrea, the former fashion industry professional turned style blogger over at For the Love of...
She first blogged about Neon Week last spring, followed up with a post called Real Women Wear Neon Too, and has been incorporating neon into her holiday decor (think pumpkins with neon accents on the Thanksgiving table, a white and "brite" nursery for her youngest son, and neon Christmas decor) ever since. 

If you've seen Ro Gregg's Marblehead Global Brights, you know that we are fans of the neon trend as well. If you haven't seen these vibrant fabrics yet, here you go:

Paired with a rich black background, these bright beauties really sparkle in the "Nite Lites" quilt, designed by Terry Albers and featured in the February-March 2013 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts magazine.

"Nite Lites" by Terry Albers

Terry talked about her latest quilt design with us.

Q. How did you come up with the design idea? And why did you choose black as the background?

Terry: This quilt began in a play session. Irene [a quilter friend] and I were laying out blocks on her design wall. She had a project going that we thought might be too busy. When I suggested the alternate blocks, we tried it with black to make the bright colors pop. It wasn't until I added the cornerstones that the sparkle happened.

Q. Where did the name for the quilt come from?

Terry: I had seen footage from a night dive where the sea lights up with bio-luminescence (creatures that create their own light in the deep) and chose ''Nite Lites'' for the name of the new quilt.

Q. How did you choose what brights to use?

Terry: Ro Gregg's line, Marblehead Global Brights, contains all the luminescent colors I was looking for. Each piece has so much depth of color that they really do sparkle against the black.

Q. How did you come up the idea for the machine quilting?

Terry: I planned the quilting into the negative space as I was designing. I knew I wanted a swirly effect using the variegated threads to echo the colors and increase the watery feel. Sandy knew just how to get the look I wanted.

Q. What are your plans for this quilt?

Terry: This quilt doesn't have its forever home yet but I'm dreaming up some new color combinations...all with lots of movement in the negative space. Maybe it will be a springboard into a new design for Ro Gregg's upcoming "Pleasing Pastels!"

Click here to learn more about designer Terry Albers of Hedgehog Quilts.
Click here to purchase a kit for this project.
Click here to download the pattern for a wall size version of Terry's quilt. (The quilt patterned in the magazine is lap size.)
Click here to find the February/March issue of McCall's Quick Quilts.