Sparkler Quilt for the Hello Sunshine Challenge

Hey there! I have a finish to show & tell today. It's made from...gasp!...batiks. Can I confess to you? My quilting lifespan experienced a hard-core, batik-loving stage that my stash hasn't quite gotten over. This all started even before Alison Glass and Latifah Saafir made them modern. I love the super-saturated, hand-waxed goodness still. I just have to save up some shelf space for my other material obsessions. Let's face it; I have no shortage of fabric lusting.

Okay, I'll snap out of it long enough to show you my quilt. (For now...)

This summery confection is the sample for my Piecing Basics course at Ryan's Sewing and Vacuum in Albuquerque. The class covers the major need-to-know time-savers of quilting: flying geese, half square triangles, strip piecing, and stitch & flip triangles.

I tried out a bunch of free motion designs from my Angela Walters Craftsy classes. The swirl chain in the green section is from Borders & Backgrounds. The overlapping pebbles (taupe background), irregular spaced swirls (pink), ribbon candy (center square), and off-set squares (blue border) are from Small Changes, Big Variety. The diamond design (blue squares) is from Dot to Dot Quilting. Help, How Do I Quilt It? is where I found the serpentine line and continuous curves (smaller pink sections). To save money when buying in bulk, you can purchase five of Angela's courses in one discounted package.

I used matching Aurifil 50 wt threads on top, and the same colors in the bobbin. Because of this, the quilting showed up well on the taupe backing.

I bound this one in the same taupe as the backing.

And because this sweet little wall-hanging is blue, green, and pink, I'm entering it in the quilting category of the Hello Sunshine Challenge at Quilts My Way.

Check out the other cheery, astoundingly beautiful quilts in the contest, or enter you own before the end of August.
I'm linking up at:

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Quilt Market: An Eclectic Assortment of Favorites

Today's Market coverage is bit of this and a bit of that---a collection of random items that I want to share because they're pretty. Hang on for a bit of a spastic ride.

Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl asked me to catch a photo of her Beacon quilt. Seeing the quilting in person was a real treat.

I also got to see Sarah Elizabeth's Folksy Fish. I just love it!  Except my warped childhood is causing that dumb and catchy "Fish Heads" song to play in my mind. I'll spare you an embedded YouTube video in case you didn't have the same bizarre upbringing.

The Eye Candy Quilts booth was chock-full of beautiful quilts. Then again, I'm a sucker for Alison Glass prints and a navy background.

The Tonga Gypsy  Block of the Month is flat-out pretty.

Erin Wentzel could be found promoting her Doll Days book.

And check out this wall of dresses from the book!

I loved this display. I'm pretty sure my husband's unfulfilled wish is for me to organize his engineering books by color. Yeeeaaaaah! That's it.

This stellar quilt by with Victoria Findlay Wolf fabrics caught my eye.

Mmmmm....Donuts are my one weakness!

Latifah Saafir brings a heavy does of awesome to Hoffman fabrics. I love these quilts using her modern batiks, Me + You.

If that wasn't cool enough, how about some clamshells with her new Grafic fabric line? The astute observer may notice a new form of pre-cut in the photo too.

I also ran into the delightful Amber of Gigi's Thimble.

Thanks for joining me on my jaunt into the Land of Random today.

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Quilt Market: Free Spirit/Westminster

Some of my favorite artists design for Free Spirit. Brilliant minds like Tula Pink make sure my fabric shelves stay well-stocked with a rainbow of lovelies. The Fandango quilt, quilted by Angela Walters, really drew me in.

I could just stare at Tula's booth featuring her new Slow & Steady line all day!

You might remember this quilt from my post about Angela Walter's visit to the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild.

These over-sized blooms were just spectacular!

Amy Butler did not disappoint with an exotic and vibrant booth.

Anna Maria Horner fans will be pleased to see her upcoming fabric line, Mod Corsage, and two stunning quilts, Folk Flower and one that combines her Mod Corsage techniques with a border that uses her Flight Map quilt.

Anna Maria's daughter, Juliana Horner, has joined Free Spirit, and introduced the world to rainbows, technicolor faces, and arms in her Fast Friends collection.

Denise Schmidt has Stonington coming out in August.

Tim Holtz was a pleasure to meet in person, and his booth was a wonder. The more you looked, the more there was to see. Objects of fascination abounded. Tim's latest collection, Correspondence, coordinates with his Wallflower and Eclectic Elements lines. Amy Friend made the Transatlantic Quilt in the first picture.

Free Spirit and Westminster have such a varied assortment of fabrics, but they are quite fantastic. Do you have any favorites?

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