More Watermelon Summer Charity Quilts!

Back in early September, we hosted the Watermelon Summer New Block Blog Hop featuring our Prairie Cloth Solids in conjunction with Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl, Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs, Terri Ann @Childlike Fascination, and Stephanie @Late Night Quilter. 

After the hop ended, these four ladies collected all of the blocks with plans to assemble them into quilts for charity. 

Today we have two more to show you, assembled by Cheryl. She chose to make the 24 blocks she received into two quilts, one sashed and one not. 

Q. How did you decide on the layouts?

CB: I had initially planned to add sashing to each quilt, but when I was arranging the blocks, I really liked all of the blocks right next to each other.  Since I was making two quilts, I decided to make one with sashing and one without. 

Q. Tell us about the quilting.

CB: I used my favorite go-to Aurifil color 2600 Dove for the quilting to blend well with all of the different colors. I quilted the unsashed version with a simple meander and the sashed version using a few different quilting motifs (see a few of my favorites here).  

Q. Where are these quilts being donated?

CB: I will donate the two quilts through my local guild, the Foothills Piecemakers Quilt Guild.  Both quilts will go to the Serenity House which is a organization that provides women who are struggling with addiction and their children housing, food, and support.  Most of the women and children show up with little to nothing and truly appreciate the quilts.

See Cheryl's post about her two quilts here.

See Yvonne's two finished charity quilts here.

Thank you Cheryl and everyone who participated in the hop! (Cheryl's post includes a list of who did each block in the two quilts.)

If you'd like to see (or bookmark) the tutorials for any of the blocks from the Watermelon Summer hop, follow these links:
Find the links from Day 1 here.
Find the links from Day 2 here.
Find the links from Day 3 here.

Find the links from Day 4 here.

And if you're inspired by the color palette these ladies used, here are the closest corresponding colors in the Painter's Palette Solids collection:

White: 121-000

Lapis: 121-019

Coral: 121-049

Apple: 121-076

Pale Aqua: 121-062

Turquoise: 121-031

Watermelon Summer Charity Quilts

Back in early September, we hosted the Watermelon Summer New Block Blog Hop featuring our Prairie Cloth Solids in conjunction with Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl, Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs, Terri Ann @Childlike Fascination, and Stephanie @Late Night Quilter. 

After the hop ended, these four ladies collected all of the blocks with plans to assemble them into quilts for charity. 

Today we have two quilts made from those blocks to show you, both assembled and quilted by Yvonne. After seeing these beauties, we asked Yvonne a few questions to learn more about her process (like, how do you decide in what order to lay all these blocks out?!?!)

Wow!!!!!!

Q. How difficult (or easy) was it to decide on block placement? How did you decide which to use in the baby quilt versus the lap quilt?

YF: To decide on block placement, I had a friend over to "play". We laid all the blocks out on my floor, and the blocks that ended up becoming the baby quilt felt like they naturally grouped together as they were slightly more bold and graphic in their pattern design. In terms of block placement within the quilts, we tried to arrange the blocks to have good color flow across the quilt.

Q. The quilting you did on these is phenomenal—so much detail, so much personalization! We have to ask—how long did the quilting of each quilt take you? 

YF: The baby quilt took about 4 hours to quilt and the lap quilt took about 7 hours to quilt. I quilted both on my long arm. I probably could have done both a bit quicker, but I paused to consider each block and quilted them individually.

Q. Do you have any particular favorite blocks, either the blocks themselves or how they turned out when quilted?

YF: In the baby quilt, I had fun turning Martha's sailboat inspired block into a scene, and so I am really pleased with how that block came together. And the seahorse in the lap quilt is just so fun and I love how it reads on the back of the quilt, too.

Q. What do you like best about either of these quilts?

YF: I love that both of these quilts are made up of completely different blocks, but with the same color palette and especially due to the use of solids, the quilts feel cohesive, fresh, and fun!

Q. Where did these quilts end up?

YF: The quilts were donated to Project Linus and given to children in need in Bakersfield, CA.

Thank you, Yvonne and everyone who participated in the hop! We'll show you additional completed quilts from the hop as they are finished. 

Yvonne has additional photos and details on her blog concerning these quilts and the specific blocks featured in them; find her post on the lap quilt here and the baby quilt here.

If you'd like to see (or bookmark) the tutorials for any of the blocks from the Watermelon Summer hop, follow these links:
Find the links from Day 1 here.
Find the links from Day 2 here.
Find the links from Day 3 here.

Find the links from Day 4 here.

And if you're inspired by the color palette these ladies used, here are the closest corresponding colors in the Painter's Palette Solids collection:

White: 121-000

Lapis: 121-019

Coral: 121-049

Apple: 121-076

Pale Aqua: 121-062

Turquoise: 121-031

Stay tuned for more solids fun next week--we'll be sharing inspiration for quilts to make using our new and super touch-able Painter's Palette Solids! 

The Quilter's Planner

Remember the Watermelon Summer New Block Blog Hop we hosted this summer? Guess what? 52 of those beauties have made it into print. That's right--they're featured in the new The Quilter's Planner, which was created by Stephanie Palmer, one of the hosts of the blog hop.

Here's what Stephanie has to say about her planner:
The Quilter's Planner has everything you need to organize your life, plan and track your sewing projects and be inspired to create something beautiful every day!

It is approximately 8 x 10, made in the USA, and will be shipped in time for the holidays.

What's Inside:

• Monthly calendars
• Weekly calendars
• Project planning pages
• Swatch saver
• Graph paper
• Free motion quilting practice pages
• Goal-setting prompts
• 8 full quilt patterns from amazing designers (Cheryl Brickey (Meadowmist Designs), Yvonne Fuchs (Quilting Jetgirl), Amy Garro (13 Spools), Lee Heinrich (Freshly Pieced), Mandy Leins (Mandalei Quilts), Pat Sloan (Pat Sloan), Kitty Wilkin (Night Quilter) and me).
• 52 original quilt block designs from awesome quilt bloggers
• Gorgeous artwork pull-outs by the talented Kelsey Boes from Lovely and Enough
• Reference section for quilting calculations and common construction techniques

Monthly Calendar:

I love that the monthly calendar has prompts on the left to write your goals for the month, and the personal, work and quilting projects you need to tackle. I also love the space on the bottom to write notes... phone numbers, addresses, reminders, ideas.

Weekly Calendars:

Check out the awesome, original block design in the left hand margin (this example is the Whirling Plus design  by Josi Heron of Avocado Quilts.)  Each weekly spread will show a fabulous block design by a blogger in our quilting community - that's 52 block designs to inspire you throughout the year!

See the block featured on the left?

I also love that at the top of each day of the week, there is space to include your daily top three. These are the top three things you have to do during the day in order to feel that you've accomplished the big stuff (I promise - crossing these things off your list at the end of every day will make you sleep better!)

And one of my favorite parts of this whole book is the separate to-do lists for your work, personal and quilting aspects of life.

Individual Project Planning Pages:

You can track all the steps you need to take to complete the project, and list out the supplies you have, and those you need. You can even attach an inspirational picture or sketch a block design, and attach swatches of fabric with included sticky dots!

Find out more about The Quilter's Planner and pre-order yours here.

To see the Watermelon Summer block tutorials:

Find the links from Day 1 here.

Find the links from Day 2 here.
Find the links from Day 3 here.
Find the links from Day 4 here.

Watermelon Summer Winners!

We hope you enjoyed the block tutorials featured last week during our Watermelon Summer New Block Blog Hop! We sure did! If you missed any of the tutorials, you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

With all this block inspiration, we decided to give away 1/2 yard bundles of the Prairie Cloth Solids used in this hop so that eight lucky people can stitch their favorites! 

Here are the winners from the giveaways:

Connie C.

Janna S.

Nicole S.

Jennifer M.

Tu-Na Quilts

Lalaluu

Amanda B.

MomC

Congrats, ladies! If you've already passed along your mailing address, we're set, but otherwise we'll be emailing you. Once we have all the winners' addresses, we'll send out the bundles.

Thank you again to our lovely organizers--Yvonne, Cheryl, Stephanie, and Terri Ann, and thank you to all of the bloggers who created blocks and tutorials for this hop!

Missed any of the tutorials? 
Find the links from Day 1 here.
Find the links from Day 2 here.
Find the links from Day 3 here.
Find the links from Day 4 here.

Watermelon Summer New Block Blog Hop: Day 2

Welcome back! 

We're excited to be sponsoring a blog hop this week featuring our Prairie Cloth Solids, featuring more than 60 bloggers. Each blogger will be sharing a block they've created using a six-fabric bundle of solids. 

And of course, no blog hop is complete without giveaways--over the course of the hop, you'll have eight chances to win a 1/2 yard bundle of the blog hop's color palette (the only hard part will be deciding which blocks to make!). 

This block hop was organized by four lovely hosts: Yvonne, Cheryl, Stephanie, and Terri Ann, who also selected this refreshing color palette, aptly named "Watermelon Summer." Thanks, ladies! 

The hop runs for four days--Monday through Thursday--and each day you'll have a chance to enter to win a six-fabric bundle (the colors shown above plus white) both here at Inspired by Fabric and on the blog of the day's host.

Here's today's line-up--visit them all for block inspiration!

Host – Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Josi @Avocado Quilts

Stephanie @Quilt’n Party

Cristy @Love You Sew

Sarah @Sarah Goer Quilts

Shelly @The Carpenter’s Daughter Who Quilts

Jayne @Twiggy & Opal

Sharla @Thistle Thicket Studio

Adrian @Making It – Family Food Quilts Crafts

Julie @Pink Doxies

Sarah @123 Quilt

Jane @Jolly and Delilah Quilts

Carrie @The Zen Quilter

Find the links from Day 1 here.
Find the links from Day 3 here.
Find the links from Day 4 here.

For a chance to win a 1/2 yard bundle of the Watermelon Summer Palette of our Prairie Cloth Solids, make sure you're signed up to follow Inspired by Fabric (either through a blog reader or via email; see options on the right-hand sidebar). Leave a comment letting us know that you follow and letting us know which of today's featured blocks you like best. This giveaway is open through Saturday, September 5th at 11:59 pm EST. We will announce winners for all of the hop's giveaways after Labor Day. 

You'll have another chance to win a bundle today over at Cheryl's blog.

Watermelon Summer New Block Blog Hop: Day 1

Are you ready for a great week? 

We are!

We're excited to be sponsoring a blog hop this week featuring our Prairie Cloth Solids, featuring more than 60 bloggers. Each blogger will be sharing a block they've created using a six-fabric bundle of solids. 

And of course, no blog hop is complete without giveaways--over the course of the hop, you'll have eight chances to win a 1/2 yard bundle of the blog hop's color palette (the only hard part will be deciding which blocks to make!). 

This block hop was organized by four lovely hosts: Yvonne, Cheryl, Stephanie, and Terri, who also selected this refreshing color palette, aptly named "Watermelon Summer." Thanks, ladies! 

The hop runs for four days--Monday through Thursday--and each day you'll have a chance to enter to win a six-fabric bundle (the colors shown above plus white) both here at Inspired by Fabric and on the blog of the day's host.

Here's today's line-up--visit them all for block inspiration!

Host – Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

Kelly @Quilting it Out

Martha @Once a Wingnut

Irene @Patchwork and Pastry

Cassandra @The (not so) Dramatic Life

Andrea @The Sewing Fools

Bernie @Needle and Foot

Silvia @A Stranger View

Wanda @Wanda’s Life Sampler

Sandra @Musings of a Menopausal Melon

Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts

Jess @Quilty Habit

Diana @Red Delicious Life

Chelsea @Patch the Giraffe

Margo @Shadow Lane Quilts

Renee @Quilts of a Feather

Find the links from Day 2 here.
Find the links from Day 3 here.
Find the links from Day 4 here.

For a chance to win a 1/2 yard bundle of the Watermelon Summer Palette of our Prairie Cloth Solids, make sure you're signed up to follow Inspired by Fabric (either through a blog reader or via email; see options on the right-hand sidebar). Leave a comment letting us know that you follow and letting us know which of today's featured blocks you like best. This giveaway is open through Friday, September 4th at 11:59 pm EST. We will announce winners for all of the hop's giveaways after Labor Day. 

You'll have another chance to win a bundle today over at Yvonne's blog.