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As a Certified Instructor for Studio 180 Design I was asked if I would like to participate in the Island Batik Twilight Chic Blog Hop hosted by Studio 180 Design. Twilight Chic is Deb Tucker’s signature collection for Island Batik designed by Kathy Engle.  The schedule for the entire blog hop is: Monday, February 4 Tuesday, February 5 Wednesday, February 6 Thursday, February 7 Friday, February 8 Saturday, February 9 Since today is Thursday it is my turn so here goes. Since I started quilting in 2012 I have spent a lot of time designing patterns that use five 1-yard cuts. In 2017 I became a Certified Instructor for Studio 180 Design. Since then my design focus has changed to incorporate the Studio 180 Design tools. Today I want to share how I designed the block for my Tumbling Stars quilt. Loving the Split Rects tool, I set out to design a block that used that unit. For a square block, I came up with this preliminary sketch.  I decided to put Split Rects in the side rectangles and Flying Geese in the top and bottom positions.  To me this looked like a star that had gotten a little squished – like it had rolled and had its’ star points pushed in. Hmmm, …. Tumbling Stars. I had a name but how could I make it look like it was rolling? Maybe if I put something in the middle on an angle it would have that impact when I rotated the block. I liked where this was going. Maybe I needed a center that didn’t move.  Excellent! Just what I was looking for but how was I going to piece the middle? I needed to draw in a few more seam lines.  I did it! I had a block that would appear to roll as I rotated it plus I could make all of the units using my Studio 180 Design tools – Split Rect, Wing Clipper I and Tucker Trimmer I. Each block had 2 Type #1 Split Rects, 2 Type #2 Split Rects, and 2 Flying Geese of the same size, plus 2 smaller Flying Geese, a Shaded 4 Patch and a square.  Next up was fabric selection. The fabrics in the Twilight Chic collection supplemented by some of the Island Batiks basics made that part easy. Island Batik and Studio 180 Design provided the fabric and I got busy.   It took very little time to make all of the components and piece the blocks. My fabric calculation used less than a yard for 4 of the fabrics and about 1-1/8 yard of the background. My goal of creating a pattern that utilize five 1-yard cuts was realized. So here it is – Tumbling Stars.  Finally, there is a giveaway:  I wanted to share with you the outcome of my galaxy class on Saturday. It was so much fun to work with a great group of quilters. As I said, there are 2 different sizes for this pattern. I was fortunate enough to have some working on each size. There were 2 working on the small 2" units, 4 working on the medium 3" units and 3 working on the large 4" units. Everyone was able to finish at least 1 of each block. Check them out.  Do you see what I mean about the various combinations of fabric? Each one is awesome but also so different. I'm not sure which combination I like best. The large blocks made with 4" units looks so huge compared with the small blocks made with 2" units, don't they? Looking at the fabric combinations give me feelings of the beach, Christmas, 4th of July, elegance, coziness, cheer, and more. For me, this is the best part. I can't make every combination of fabrics so this is the next best thing - drooling over the selections other have made.  Here is the wonderful quilters with whom I spent the day. There were a couple of shy ones in the back but a tremendous group of women.
I love teaching because it allows me to share my love of quilting with such great folks! I can hardly wait for my next workshop. Next up is my post for the Island Batik Twilight Chic Blog Hop hosted by Studio 180 Design. Twilight Chic is Deb Tucker's signature collection. Be sure to catch all of the blog posts. My post is on Thursday. Here is the complete listing: Monday, February 4 Tuesday, February 5 Wednesday, February 6 Thursday, February 7 Friday, February 8 Saturday, February 9 Today I am busy getting everything packed up to take to a class. I am teaching the Studio 180 Design pattern Galaxy at a workshop for my guild, Cheshire Quilters' Guild, in Keene, New Hampshire. I am particularly looking forward to seeing the various combinations of fabric. I've gotten sneak peeks at a couple of them and they are awesome! I'll post some pictures afterwards so you can enjoy the variety too!  Here is a picture of my Christmas version of the medium size. The medium size is made using 3" finished units. The small uses 2" finished and the large uses 4" finished units. This is an awesome way to create multiple sizes for a pattern because the design is exactly the same. Below is the small version I made.  The fabulous thing about this design is the illusion of circles. There is only straight piecing in this quilt but our minds round things out. The key to getting the circular illusion is to have good contrast. The green and the blue contrast nicely with the red to create the design.
In other news, I am taking part in a blog hop this week. I will be sharing how I designed my quilt Tumbling Stars. Stay tuned! It was a busy year but 2019 looks to be busier. I am hoping to keep you better informed of all that is going on. To begin with, I want you to be aware of what occurred in 2018. In this post I'm going to share my publications. I had five patterns published in The Quilt Pattern Magazine (TQPM). In January was my pattern Practice Makes Perfect. The first 2 pictures below are of that pattern. The next shot is of Union Stars which was published in March. This was a collaborative effort with my online quilting BFF, Joanne Maner. The second version of Union Stars is still waiting for the quilting to be finished. (It is on my list but the list never seems to get any shorter.) Also in the March issue was my article Binding With Accent Flange Tutorial. The May through August issues included the installments of my Intersections mystery. Spoiler alert - the tropical and Christmas versions of Intersections are shown below. I pieced the Christmas version along with other quilters on Pattern Pastiche which is the private online community for subscribers to TQPM. The July issue included m pattern Star Shine. I couldn't decide on a color palette so I made both a Spring and an Autumn version. For some reason I don't have a picture of the Autumn version. I will try to remedy that before my next post. That bring me to my last pattern for 2018, Over Easy. I have a 2nd top for Over Easy waiting it's turn to be quilted. No picture of the top so I'll try to get that before next time too. In October I joined the staff of TQPM as a pattern formatter. Starting with Star Shine, I have been formatting my own patterns for publication in TQPM using CorelDraw. Now I am also formatting patterns form other designers for publication. I have learned some things through this process that I wouldn't have otherwise so I am finding this arrangement to be very educational. Well, that's it for my publications in 2018. I'll be back soon with more about my 2018 activities..        I know I'm repeating myself when I say that this year is flying by! Here it is March already. I'm off to one of at least 4 retreats this year. This first one is with other Certified Instructors (CIs) for Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design tools. I am looking forward to catching up with members of my class plus other CIs from around the world. It is also time for me to announce my one goal for the month. This month I will be concentrating on the Wing Clipper tool. I am making Love Links. This is a fabulous design and provides for loads of practice using the Wing Clipper.  I forgot to take a picture of the fabrics I'm using but I am hoping to have my tops done in a week or so.
So to reiterate, my One Monthly Goal is 3 Love Links top. Each is made with either 1/2" x 1", 1" x 2" or 1-1/2" x 3" finished flying geese. The 'links' will be made using Crackle. I can hardly wait to get busy on them. I'll give you an update when I've got some progress done. Back on the 5th I shared my goal for the month. It was to finish my version of Tumbling Triangles. I haven't finished the quilt but I did finish the top and I absolutely love it! Check it out -  I really loved the instructions for making the mitered borders. This is an awesome pattern and is easy to piece with the use of the V Block tool form Studio 180 Design. I am currently working on 3 versions of Love Links which is another modern design from Studio 180 Design. One of these will go to a local cancer center for display. The second will be the size for a wheelchair quilt. The third will be my sample for my March class on the Wing Clipper.  Isn't this another marvelous design. It is all flying geese units so using the Wing Clipper will make it come out perfect every time. There are 160 flying geese in the design so I'll be giving my Wing Clipper quite a work out.
Well, I'm gong back to work. Those geese aren't going to make themselves. I had planned to blog about a particular project that I am working on but I keep forgetting to take a picture. So that will be next week's installment instead. I don't think you will be disappointed with this week's offering though. I love The Quilt Pattern Magazine. (http://www.quiltpatternmagazine.com) I have published over a dozen patterns in this digital magazine. I love that each month I received an emailed newsletter that tells me the new issue is ready to download. Downloading involves 2 files. The larger file is the issue. The smaller file is any templates needed for piecing, applique or quilting designs. I have a folder ready fro these files so I always no where to find my issues. Each issue contains a number of stand alone patterns. The March issue has 3 - Union Stars, Squares Chasing Squares and By the Seashore Table Runner. I'll share more about Union Stars below. There are also usually 3 block-of-the-month programs going on. One is usually patchwork, a second is applique and the third could be a mystery or other project. In the March issue they will be Month 8 of 11 for Scrap It Up Row a Month (a great stash buster), Month 11 of 12 for Botanicals (fabulous workshop on using #8 Perle cotton to embellish), and Month 2 of 12 for My Colorado Backyard (Baltimore album style applique that is stunning). Each issue of TQPM also includes book reviews and articles of interest. The March issue also has a tutorial on binding that was written to accompany Union Stars. So maybe I should tell you why I keep mentioning Union Stars. Well, of course, it is because it is my pattern. Well, actually, not totally my pattern. I have an online friend, Joanne Maner, who drew up the original design for this pattern. I have a fondness for five 1-yard cut quilts. So I took Joanne's original designa nd tweaked it to use five 1-yard cuts. There was some extra fabric in a couple fabrics so I also designed it with 3 different options for binding, one of which became the binding tutorial in the issue.  I always try to finish 2 version of my patterns to show the impact fabric choices make. So here is the top for my 2nd version.  Now you might have noticed that on first picture it looks like the binding is two colors - dark blue and gold. That is the reason for the tutorial. I call this a binding with an accent flange. Here is a close-up so you can see what I'm talking about.  The blue stitching is #12 thread to give another decorative feature to the binding.
I hope you like the pattern and binding technique. If you subscribe to TQPM (www.quiltpatternmagazine.com), then this is part of what you'll get in the March issue. If not, I have a deal for you. I am able to offer you a special subscription price. Go to http://www.quiltpatternmagazine.com/program/S/?D=CDMQ and use the secret code CDMQ to take advantage of this special offer. Now I need to dig out my camera and get serious about taking a picture of that other project for next week's post. Until then, take care. My plan is to blog every Monday but I missed yesterday because I realized that I had not taken a picture of the quilt I wanted to share. Back on December 23rd, I shared a picture of the top of this quilt. I will be teaching the pattern at New England Fabrics in Keene, NH on September 8th. The pattern is from Studio 180 Design and is called Hunter's Lodge.  I had it quilted by Silverlining Quilt Finishing in Ludlow VT. Dona has a wonderful eye for the perfect design to highlight a pattern. I think she hit is out of the park with this one.
Well, that's it for this week. See you next week when I hope to share my finish of Tumbling Triangles. I dubbed today as Super Sew Monday since yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday. I have two things to share with you today. We only watching the last quarter of the game. My congratulations go out to the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a great game and I hear the half-time show was awesome - sorry to have missed that part. The first thing I have to share to day is my One Monthly Goal as sponsored by Elm Street Quilts. My goal for this month is to complete, from start to finish, my version of Tumbling Triangles. This is a pattern from Studio 180 Design that uses the fabulous V-Block tool. I am teaching the Tucker University class on the V-Block tool at Four Pines Quilting in Claremont, NH on February 17th. I want to have this quilt as an example of how it can be used. Usually this modern quilt is made with a solid background and a bright vibrant print like a Kaffe Fassett print. Mine with be a little different. Check out the fabrics that I plan to use.  The other item I have to share is the release of Month 2 of Cheshire Quilters' Guild 2018 Block of the Month. This month's installment includes two blocks: Block 2 - Crystal Star and Block 3 - Shooting Star. The pdf of instructions is available here and the videos are up on YouTube. You can also watch them here. There are 2 separate videos - 1 for each block. Well that's it for this week. Happy sewing, see you next time!
It seems like only yesterday that it was the beginning of the new year. The month simply flew by. I have been busy and I know that always makes time pass more quickly. I started a master to-do list at the beginning of the year and I have crossed quite a few things off my list. Among those are the goals I shared at the beginning of the month.
I'll share my goals for February next time. For today I want to share some more videos for the mountain. First up is a montage of a coyote in the woods and an ermine and a grouse along the road just up the hill from our house. I like to think that Cat Den Mountain is named for bobcats although it could have been due to cougars/mountain lions. Some folks might say it is named for fisher cats but since fisher cats aren't actually cats, I doubt that is the source of the name. So bobcats are especially nice to see in our woods. Well, that's it from the mountain today. Take care and see you next week.
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