My Bed Runner is in American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine!

I'm so excited to share that my "Attention Getter" quilted bed runner design is in the current issue of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine!  I've been hearing of magazine sightings ~ subscribers have been receiving it, and it's hitting the news stands now :)  

(Photo used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting, 2014 Meredith Corp. All Rights Reserved.)

This is the first time I've had a design in this publication...And my bonus surprise was that it made the inset on the cover of the magazine :)  How cool is that!

I wanted to make a bed runner for something a little different.  I plan to make several in different fabrics for a spare bedroom I have, so I can have one simple bed cover and change out the runners for different pops of color.  The design is pretty simple to put together and shows off the exceptionally cool focal print and coordinates from Fabri-Quilt's Cosmopolitan Fabric collection. 

Along with the fabrics, I have kits available Here while supplies last.  If you're local, stop in the shop and see the quilt in person :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Star Sampler Blocks are now a Quilt Top!

Remember back in March when I made This Block to participate in the Star Sampler Blog Hop for Fabri-Quilt?  We'll now they've put all the Star Blocks together in a quilt!

Isn't it neat how all the blocks work together!  You can click This Link to check out the Fabri-Quilt Tutorial on how they set all the blocks together and made this cool quilt top.  And Bonus: From their blog you can also visit all the block designers tutorials as well :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

My Star Block is Today!

I'm excited to be participating in the Star Sampler Blog Hop being hosted over on Fabri-Quilt's Inspired by Fabric blog.  We were asked to make a 12-1/2" star block using the Marblehead Venitian Glass fabrics designed by Ro Gregg.  

This is my star block version.  You can hop on over to the Fabri-Quilt blog and get the instructions to make this block, along with the other designer's blocks.  The hop started on Monday, and will run into next week for a total of nine blocks.  Then the Fabri-Quilt Blog team will be putting all the blocks we sent in together in a project for you ~ I can't wait to see what they come up with :)

Oh, and there is a give away going on too ~ Hop on over to the Fabri-Quilt blog post and follow the directions on the post for a chance to win one of three fat quarter bundles of the Marblehead Venitian Glass fabrics :) 

And make sure you check out the blocks from all of the designers so you can make your own Star Block Sampler quilt:

The line-up - all posts will be on the Inspired By Fabric blog:
March 4: Connie from Free Motion by the River
March 5: Joanne
March 6: Fabri-Quilt blog team
March 7: Dawn Stewart from Spring Water Designs
March 10: Heidi from The Whimsical Workshop
March 11: Monica from Diary of a Quilt Maven
March 12: Shanna from Fiber of All Sorts
March 13: Tammy from Tamarinis
March 14: Fabri-Quilt blog team  

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn 

Thinking Spring...

So I'm officially letting go of this Winter, and moving forward to Spring.  After all, today is the start of Lent and that gives me hope that Spring is coming! 

With that in mind, I've decided to Think Spring, and have started with the Springtime displays in the shop. We have several little kits put together that are quick little Spring time things to make up for fun.  A few of the kits are for these little fabric Easter Baskets that I made.  

Here they are as they appear in the current issue of Sew-it Today magazine. They're made with VIP fabrics from Cranston.  I love the polka dots, and I think the girls will have fun with them at this year's Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's house :)

Here is the issue of the magazine where you can find the instructions to make them.  I have a few copies in my shop, and I know it's been spotted on the news stand at JoAnn's.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Another Quilt Publication Siting

So a few months back I was working on this one.  It's made with the "Delicate" fabric line from Fabric Editions.  I just love this fabric line ~ the combination of yellow and gray, and throwing in the turquoise is perfect :)

 I wanted to do something with diamonds because I've never worked with them, so...

 ...This is what I came up with ~ It's called Jewel box.  ~ Sorry I really didn't take any good photos this time before I shipped it off to the magazine, but they did...

 ...Here it is in the current issue of Quilt-it Today magazine :) 

It's in the March/April issue, and there has been at least one siting at JoAnn's newsstand.  (And look at that pillow project that incorporates Cathedral Window blocks ~ is that stinkin' cute or what!) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

My Quilted Kite Made the Sew-It Today Cover!

There was a Joann's newsstand sighting of the February/March issue of Sew-it Today magazine...and what's on the cover?  My quilted Kite!  (Doesn't it look stinkin' cute with that quilt and sweet hexi pillow on the bed?) 

Here is a photo of the kite without the Magazine title words on it :)  It has appliqued stars, and stars are quilted into it too. 

They're fun to make, and we may just have to have a class on making them in the new shop ~ How about February, so we have them finished for March decorating? 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Some Bloggy Hoppin Fun!

My exciting news for the week is that I have a block appearing in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol. 8 that's hitting news stands this month!

This is my little block called Citrus Rainbow.  It's Block #753 and can be found on page 50 of volume 8 (Right in the middle of the issue conveniently located by the pattern pull-out page).

It's pretty easy to make ~ wedges are cut from strip sets either by using a wedge ruler, or the wedge templates are included in the pull-out pattern section of the magazine.

I thought I'd share one of the things I like to do to play with layout design choices using a single block.  This can be done easily by anyone, even if you don't have design software on your computer...or like me, you don't want to take way more time to learn how to load this block in the software than it would to actually play with designs...or like me you once knew how to do that, but would need to take an entire day to figure out how to do it again...

...So anyway, first you just copy about 16 copies of the little block shown in the magazine.  (You can either copy it multiple times, or scan it once and plop 16 of them on one page and print that page out).  Then you cut them out so you have 16 little paper quilt blocks to play with like the ones shown above.   

Now you have what my grand daughter calls quilt puzzle pieces, and it's time to play...

By just laying them out in different orientations you can easily experiment with different looks...

...and combinations of row and column settings.  These are just a few ideas.  Try laying them out on colored paper and leave gaps between blocks to get an idea of how sashings and/or borders would look with the block. 

**Don't forget to snap a photo of any combinations that you like, especially if you're changing them around to a lot ~ it's easy to forget that really cute design that you liked, but now can't remember what you did (ask me how I know that). 

Then when you're done with them, the kiddos will spend hours "designing" with their quilt puzzle, allowing you time to actually start cutting out your fabrics...Win - Win!

Now for some Bloggy-Hoppin fun!  Head over to the Spring Water Designs website and peruse the   patterns.  Then come back and leave a comment on this blog post letting us know which is your favorite Spring Water Designs pattern (Hint: you can view some pattern designs on the home page, or the patterns, or kits pages on the website).  On Sunday the 17th, one name will be drawn from the comments to receive a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol. 8 magazine, and Two more winners will be drawn to receive a copy of their favorite Spring Water Designs pattern :)

Don't forget to follow along on the 100 Blocks Blog Tour daily November 11th - 15th at The Quiltmaker Blog to see other great blocks, ideas, and even more give aways!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

My Cool Blue Quilt is in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting!

I finally have something to Show & Tell :)  This is my "Cool Blue" quilt, and it's in the current issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine!

It's a nice wall hanging/table cover size made with the Indigo Blues fabric collection from Fabri-Quilt .

Just to show how far ahead we have to work on projects for publication, I actually finished piecing and quilting this quilt back in the end of January, as you can see from the snow on the ground in the photos I took here before I shipped it off for magazine photography :)

So look for your copy of Love of Quilting magazine on the news stands, or you can click Here for the current issue info on the Fons & Porter's website and see all the beautiful projects in this issue :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Robots!

This is my Robot quilt made with the Robotics fabric line from Birch Organic Fabrics  as it appears in...

The current issue of Quilt-It Today!  

Here is a quick snapshot that I took of it full out a while back (yes, it was snapped at night time in winter ~ sorry about that).  I won't get the quilt back to take better photos for a while, because after it's visit to the magazine, it's traveling to Portland OR to display in Birch Organic Fabrics booth at Quilt Market :)

 I "pieced" the back using some of the "cheater" print in the line... 

...Then, just for fun, and Pro-Stitcher/Art & Stitch practice, I quilted little space ships, planets and stars in the white border :)

...And the instructions for making the coordinating cushions are in the current issue of Sew-It Today!

Both these magazines (only cost $3.99 each ~ that's cheaper than one pattern!) have an assortment of really cute projects to make up ~ what a bargain!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

I'm Featured...Aaaand on the Cover!

I'm so excited, I have a quilt featured in Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Magazine! ...Aaaand, it made it on the front cover!  (The quilt at the top of the three pictured on the cover is my Sicilian Sunrise quilt!) 

Remember when I made my little Sunrise Block, and it was in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Magazine vol. 6?

 

 And then I made it again in another colorway.

Well here it is again, set into my Sicilian Sunrise quilt :)  The fabrics for this one are called Bella designed by Amanda Murphy for Blend Fabrics.

The the nine blocks are set with a pieced sashing to make the ribbon-look that ties all the blocks together.  My good friend Starlyn sacrificed her own sewing projects to help me piece these blocks at a Sew-In one day so I could make my deadlines that month ~ How's that for a good friend!

Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine is on sale on the news stands starting Today!  To kick this off, I'm giving away one free copy to a lucky winner :)  Leave a comment on this post, and I'll draw a random name on Friday to win the magazine.  

...Aaaand, hop on over to Quiltmaker's Blog today, to see some sneak peeks, and for another chance to win a free issue there too!  

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

Shades of Blue

This is my Shades of Blue quilt as it appears in the current issue of Quilt-it Today!  It's a fun, and easy to piece "Broken Log Cabin" style that can be made from scraps.  In this one I used a variety of styles of blue/white fabrics ~ some have a modern feel, and some are very traditional.  I think it's interesting to mix fabric styles in a quilt, especially when going for a scrappy look.  The quilt is made up of just two variations of the same block, so it's a super fast way to complete a larger quilt.  

Quilt-it Today March/April 2013 should be on news stands near you now.

Here's another look at it in totally different lighting in my studio right after I finished it.  You can see the fun dotty outer border that didn't get shown in the magazine shot...of course if dots aren't your thing, you could use anything to border your quilt ~ If you make one, send me a photo :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

January Quilty Progress

Wow, January is almost gone!  How did that happen?  I have been able to get some projects done this month though. 
 

These first two are sneak peeks at a couple of quilts that I've made that are scheduled to be in some upcoming publications ~ I've been getting some practice in on my HandiQuilters :) 

[Note: The first quilt is made with a fabric line called Indigo Blues by Fabri-Quilt, and the second one is made with a fabric collection called Robotics from Birch Organic Fabrics ~ both lines should be in quilt shops by March]

This one is a customer quilt that I finished today (can you tell that I'm enjoying the loop-d-loops?)

Here's more of the customer quilt...I love the Kansas Troubles fabrics in this one ~ so warm and rich :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn