Benartex Ambassador Project #3

 Christmas in July is celebrated by 

lots of quilters to get a jump on

their Christmas gift lists, so

I am going to offer 2

Christmas in July patterns

for my Benartex projects!

For project #3 I chose

to work with the new

line, Rhapsody in White,

arriving in shops now.

This line has a lovely

silky feel to it and there

are lots of cute

prints to choose from.

White makes me think of 

snowflakes though and how 

fun are those little

paper cut ones from 

our childhood.

In all honesty, I was never 

much good at getting them 

to look pretty, and I 

have worked very hard

to make the ones

in my Holiday Settings

pattern easy and cute!

The designs can be single

or layered as shown and

explained in the 

pattern instructions

found HERE.

These will become

timeless family gifts,

used every year.

Use them for pillows,

tote bags, candle mats,

mug rugs, Santa's

cookie mat....

The list is endless!

Come see how I used this

line in another project HERE 

to create a matching set!

WHERE LOVE GROWS

Thank you SIMPLY MODERNE for publishing this fun 

combination of paper piecing and applique'.

 Meet WHERE LOVE GROWS!

I did pretty well matching my colors

to make it cheerful.
Paper piecing trick: 
I collect notions and such and one of 
the items are the old heavy metal irons.
They are great weights for pressing
a pile of paper pieced blocks FLAT!!

There is an addition of some bias strips 

to the simple paper pieced blocks 

 to create the larger branches. 

I also stitched in some 

little skinny ones for texture.

Then my favorite part...the APPLIQUE'!!!

This is raw edge applique' where wavy lines

were added to the vines for texture .

Lastly, my label.

Here is my lazy label trick...

Fold a square in half to create a triangle, place the 

raw edges of the triangle within the binding 

seam allowance and stitch in place with 

a 1/8" seam just to hold until the binding is added.

THEN, use a sharpie or micron pen to write on it.

Of course the more I look at this photo, pretty sure

I skipped the triangle and wrote directly on that back.

Take that for lazy:)

 Here is the cover of Issue #20 of 

Simply Moderne (On Stands Now)

where you will find

WHERE LOVE GROWS.

Isn't that cover quilt gorgeous too?!!

'Currant Pinwheels' in Simply Vintage!

Thank you all for sticking through 

some of the boring posts this past week

and here is your reward:)

 Here is the new issue of Simply Vintage, 

one of my Favorite publications!!

Inside you will find a sweet

red and green treat based on

this antique quilt below.

 This is Coxcombs and Currants which I own.

I thought I would try designing a 

smaller piece inspired by the quilt

but in a different colorway.

 These are some of my other 'go-to' 

colors; red, orange, black.

 I really like the small loop design within the leaves.

This one was all done by machine but

felt a bit too small so.....

 I started picking out my red, green, 

and white fabrics for a more traditional 

look to match the original quilt.

 This time I did all the work by 

hand (applique and quilting).

 I really enjoy the look of straight 

lines against curved lines.

Someone commented on the unique 

use of leaves on only one side of the 

vine vs. both sides as we traditionally see.

 I really wanted that FRAME appearance.

Then look how absolutely lovely

they staged it in the magazine!!

Thank you Simply Vintage and the 

whole Quiltmania staff!

I can't wait to see what other

colors people do this in!

Keep stitching~R

Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com 

for more blogs to follow.

Pick one color

Under my 'Creative Living' post (7/31) there is a black, white, and blue piece. Both that piece and the piece seen here resulted from the work-for-trade (7/21) piece that I made. Once I got going, I really enjoyed working in a series and seeing what else I could do with a limited color palette.

The original piece is named "Pine Knoll Blues" after the beach where the photo was taken. The second piece is named "Which Way to the Beach" since it is an abstract of a traditional quilt block named flying geese. The piece directly below is named "Blue Peacock" because it reminds me of a back view of a peacock tail. There are quilted feathers as well.


I started the original project timidly because I worried that a limited color palette would stifle my thought process. The opposite actually happened and now I am looking at my fabrics for the next color to play with.

Help me name this.

A few months ago I started the process of a fiber postcard trade with a fiber artist in South Carolina, Susan Lenz. You can read more about her vision at http://cyberfyberexhibitionpostcards.blogspot.com/ I have completed my postcard to send back to her, and

I would really like to have a name for it since it will be part of a gallery exhibit, but I keep drawing a blank since abstract is not my strength. The colors and the translucency make me think of wispy sunset clouds when the moon is still visible.


Any fabulous ideas?