Category: Quilting and Sewing

I miss working on my Resolute Quilt Pattern series, so today is a good day to share another version of the Serve Quilt .  The first Serve Quilt featured a simple color scheme in solids, which I love.  But this one makes me smile in a different way.  Here she is, the Serve Quilt, Rainbow Edition.

When I was working with my selection of Art Gallery solids on my Candy Shop Listen quilt , I enjoyed the saturated colors and didn’t want to put them away.  It occurred to me to infuse the Serve Quilt with the same colors.  I pulled a favorite Sally Kelly print out and ta-da!  It was the perfect combination.  And so I began.

The center star provides opportunity to showcase all eight colors, and they simply rotate around the star through it’s points, and through the smaller stars.  I chose a low volume Ruby Star print with tiny stars in different colors as my background fabric.

I love seeing quilt patterns made and re-made in different fabrics and colors.  This Serve quilt, rainbow edition shines in a different way compared to the original.  I love it just as much.  (It also makes me hungry to circle back to my smaller, Show Up version , to see what I can add to it.)

Melissa Kelley quilted this one, also.  She’s my favorite local longarm quilter and always does amazing work.  This edge to edge design is hers, and is a nice compliment to the quilt.  It adds movement but doesn’t compete with the design.

Rather than using the dark print for binding, or just one color, I decided to use all 8 colors in the binding.  Each color lines the quilt along the edge where it’s displayed in the stars.

For the backing I selected another Sally Kelly print from her Paradiso collection.  It’s a vivid, fantastical design that I’ve saved.  I’m so happy to have it on the back of this big quilt!

So there we are:  Serve quilt, rainbow edition.  A reminder to show up with purpose in our spheres of influence.  Serving brings happiness and color to our lives, especially when we’re in trying circumstances and low valleys.  I know of nothing that brings perspective and a lighter heart faster than service does.  I guess this version reminds me of the effects of wholehearted service:  so much beauty and happiness.

Wherever you are, and whatever you’re doing, I hope you find a way to contribute.  It’s good for the soul! Happy sewing!

For years I have admired English paper pieced (EPP) Lucy Boston quilts and quilt blocks.  I especially love the fussy cutting that usually accompanies them.  The symmetry, secondary patterns, and creativity in these blocks also appeal to me.  So, of course I bought papers!  And now I’ve finally made my first ever Lucy Boston 1″ block.  It’s a start on what I’m sure will be a very long term project.

I first learned about these Lucy Boston quilt blocks from the ladies at Alewives Fabrics .  Their weekly kits caught my attention, and this block is one of them.  I bought all the fabrics and never made it.  When July 4th rolled around and I felt sad I’d had no time to sew, I remembered this block.  This block became my tiny holiday stitching project.

Last year I started a larger size with 2″ elongated hexagons, or honeycombs.  I love it, but still wanted to make the smaller size.  This block only measures 8.5″ square, so I’ll need many more to make a quilt!  I purchased the paper pieces for both sizes at Paper Pieces .

Have you made a Lucy Boston quilt?  Do you English paper piece?  I didn’t think I’d enjoy it so much.  For me, it’s definitely been a stage in life thing – when my lap was always full of children I certainly didn’t have a needle nearby.  But now, it’s nice to have stitching I can carry everywhere I go.  I might enjoy applique a tiny bit more, but as my skills improve I enjoy EPP more.  Now, the real challenge is to find time to actually turn on my sewing machine!  This summer is busy!

Today’s quilt is a second, more colorful version of my Listen Quilt .  If my first Listen quilt was all about silencing other things to focus, then this one is like listening to all the ideas bouncing around in my head.  Lots going on!  I’m calling this my Candy Shop Listen quilt because it also reminds me of looking in the window of a candy shop.

The construction of this quilt is almost the same as the original design.  However, I included some special instructions for the colorful version in the pattern anyway.  Mine features Anna Maria Horner’s vivacious lawns as the centers of the stars.  Art Gallery solids comprise all the background colors behind the stars.

The whole design was inspired by one of my favorite fabrics right now:  the regimental ties print, part of the Kaffe Collective.  I love the variety that came from cutting a busy print and using it as the trellis design, though I did pay careful attention to stripe direction as I sewed.

I departed from Art Gallery solids with the royal blue in the border.  It was just the right color, and I had it on hand.  It’s the same Amelia Blue that I used in my Lucky Lone Star quilt.  That color is a long-time favorite.

I backed my Candy Shop Listen quilt in a gorgeous Heather Bailey print.  It’s from an old collection, True Kisses, and I love the bubble gum pink in this print.  It plays beautifully with all the bright colors in the quilt top.

Melissa Kelley quilted this in one of her edge to edge designs.  I bound it in the same aqua I used in the outer border.

So there you have it:  my Candy Shop Listen quilt.  I always strive to reimagine quilt patterns in new ways.  Changing the fabric colors or prints is a simple, but effective way to do it.

Of all my patterns, Listen might be one of the most fun to make, since it comes together in a surprising way.