My "Cover Quilt" on Spincushion

So yesterday I asked what you think I have in common with Taylor Swift. You guys are hilarious (and I'm particularly lookin' at you, Jackie!) Some of my favorite responses:

• You're both strongly influenced by Shania Twain?
• You can really rock a minidress?
• You're secretly a singer/songwriter in Nashville?
• You've been interrupted by Kanye West while accepting an award?
• You both have long legs?
• Who's Taylor Swift??!
  

Well, it's not really me that has anything in common with Ms. Swift -- except maybe the long legs? -- but one of the quilts I recently featured here on the blog shares her sense of style.

Let me introduce you to Leigh Ann, the creative mind behind my favorite new blog, Spincushion. Leigh Ann recently contacted me to see if I would mind if one of my quilts was featured on her blog as part of her Cover Quilts series. I replied "of course" (because I am always flattered when others want to feature my photos on their blog), but I must admit that I wasn't very familiar with the Spincushion blog.

Well, one peek and I was hooked. The Cover Quilts series is only one of Leigh Ann's ingenious creations. Color Cues, If a Quilt Lived Here, and Swatchtower are just a few of her other series of posts. High on style and beautiful imagery and low on a lot of unnecessary words -- I can probably take a few tips from Leigh Ann on this one -- her blog is pure eye candy for the fabric lover. I hope you'll check it out.

Here's my Cover Quilt. First, the cover ...



... and then the quilt photo that so magically complements the magazine cover. Isn't it cool how the colors and style can be presented in two totally different -- yet surprisingly similar -- ways?

What a fun game. Do you have any Cover Quilts in your collection?

Fabric Winner & a Free Tutorial

Hi, everyone! Hope you're having a great week. There's been a LOT happening here in the Quilt Dad household -- the types of things that might cause much upheaval for us over the next couple of months. All good things, though! I'll share more as it all unravels ...

In the meantime, I wanted to announce the winner of my Mother's Day fabric giveaway. The leftover blocks will be going to Bailey, who said:

"I just ordered the bundle - I love the fabrics! As comment #4 says - "hey, it's Mother's day right?" Thanks for the chance to win some extra fabrics to go along with it!"

Congrats, Bailey! I can't wait to see what you make. I'll email you shortly for your mailing information.

Also, I wanted to point you to a new tutorial that I wrote up as part the Fat Quarterly team's guest series on the Sew Mama Sew blog. I made two cute little mug rugs for some swaps recently and decided to share the pattern with you all. Click over to the post on the SMS blog to access the tutorial. Enjoy, and please let me know if you make one!

Ziggity Mug Rug tutorial

Until my next post, I will leave you with a riddle: what do I have in common with Taylor Swift??

April Quilting Bee Blocks

I hope you enjoyed the Bella Solids parade! Now, back to regularly scheduled programming. It's time for my monthly round-up of my quilting bee blocks...

First up is my block for the do. Good Stitches { Charity Bee }. April was actually my month in that bee, which means I determined the blocks I wanted the other bee members to make. I am also responsible for assembling and finishing the quilt top and making sure it gets donated for charity.

I decided to ask each member to make 4 shoo-fly blocks using Malka Dubrawsky's pattern (free pattern here), because I was so inspired by the gorgeous quilt she made that is featured in her book, Color Your Cloth. I asked everyone to stick to shades of green, blue, and purple. It's been great fun seeing everyone's fabric selection as the blocks roll in.

Here's my contribution to the quilt:

Can't wait to see this one come together.

In my other bee, Buzz Cuts, Sudi-Laura asked for large (15.5") square-in-square blocks. It's my absolute favorite block, so I had no trouble whipping up this one for her:

With this month, sadly, Buzz Cuts is coming to a close. The group has been a rarity -- two years going strong with little to no flaking or major issues. The Buzz Cuts gang included some of the most reliable and highly inspirational quilters that I've met on my quilting journey so far. Thanks to everyone in the group for all of my wonderful blocks and for letting me stitch with you. Special thanks goes out to our fearless leader, QuiltinKimmie. Love ya', Kim!

But you know what they say: when one door closes, another one opens. And as Buzz Cuts draws to an end, Bee Tweet will be getting started in May. I'm excited to join some old friends and get to know some new ones as this bee gets up off the ground.

Bella Solids Parade | Expert's Picks Day 7

Today's the last day of my Expert's Picks over on Fat Quarter Shop Bella Parade. What did you think? Did you have as much fun playing along as I did making all of the picks?

Today's inspiration color is Yellow and, really, who couldn't use a little more yellow in their life? : )

Moda Bella Solid in Yellow (9900-24)

For this bundle, I started with the partridges in green from Sarah Fielke's From Little Things line, and built the collection from there. You can see that I had a hard time limiting myself to 3 solids and 3 prints, so I gave myself some leeway to make today's bundle a bit bigger:

Top row: Bella Solids in Purple, Lime, Etchings Slate, and Summer House Lime
Bottom row: Lime Partridges and Grey Dots (sold out) from From Little Things, Modern Workshop Citron Yellow Textile Wave, From Little Things Purple Bell Flowers

What do you think? Does my (admittedly eclectic) combination of yellow, purple, grey, and lime green work?

So I have a crazy idea. I love all of the little fabric collections that I've created this week, and since I know I will never have the time to make quilts from each one of them, I'm thinking of something a bit more manageable. Mini quilts, maybe? Do you also have little bundles of fat quarters just waiting to be made into something beautiful? I'm sure I'm not the only one. Is anyone interested in a Mini Quilt Parade quilt-along?

Let me know, and if there's enough interest I'll pull something together ...

Bella Solids Parade | Expert's Picks Day 6

The parade is almost coming to an end! Today's inspiration color, Rust, posed another tough challenge.

Moda Bella Solid in Rust (9900-105)

The rust led me to the Max & Whiskers print on the bottom left, which helped me to introduce the golden wheat and turquoise. The golden wheat allowed me to pull in the ukeleles which, by default, opened the door for the dark brown. Ty Pennington's spicy stripe helped pull the solid rust back in and -- voila! -- another fun bundle.

Top row: Bella Solid in Golden Wheat, Bella Solid in Brown, Max & Whiskers Blithe Grunge
Bottom row: Max & Whiskers Fur Abbott, Impressions Spice Wave, Beach Mod Circa 60 Ukeleles

Play along with me! What would you add to this collection?

Visit Shruti and see more over at 13 Woodhouse Road for the Fat Quarter Shop Bella Parade!

Bella Solids Parade | Expert's Picks Day 5

I really loved working with today's inspiration shade, Earth:

Moda Bella Solid in Earth (9900-106)

Here are the 6 fabrics that I selected:

Top row: Max & Whiskers Fandango Grunge, Bella Solid in Washed Black, Bella Solid in Blue Raspberry
Bottom row: Max & Whiskers Blithe Patches, Beach Mod Circa 60 Mineral Mod Gulls, Max & Whiskers Elafin Maybley

Visit Shruti and see more over at 13 Woodhouse Road for the Fat Quarter Shop Bella Parade!

Bella Solids Parade | Expert's Picks Day 4

Ooooh ... I can really take a bite out of today's color (no pun intended!) The inspiration color is this deep shade of Orange:

Moda Bella Solid in Orange (9900-124)

The Art Gallery Fabrics botanical print on the bottom left was my jumping off point, and I love where I landed with this little fabric bundle. It has a bit of Japanese flair, don't you think?

Top row: Bella Solid in Terrain Cactus, Bella Solid in Baby Yellow, Bella Solid in Paper Bag
Bottom row: Bohemian Soul Mellow Ditsy, Sherbert Zen Garden, Aviary 2 Aqua Sparrows

Here's where you get to play along: what would you add to this fabric pack?

Visit Shruti and see more over at 13 Woodhouse Road for the Fat Quarter Shop Bella Parade!