Sugar Shack

So excited to have this beautiful book to share with you and thrilled to have my project "Sugar Shack" included in such a fun group of designs. If you love house blocks as much as I do, I'll think you'll love Blockbuster Quilts: I Love House Blocks now available from Martingale/That Patchwork Place and on the shelf at your favorite local quilt shop.

What is a sugar shack you may be wondering?

A sugar shack is also known as sap house, sugar house, or sugar shanty and is primarily found in Eastern Canada and the Northeast in the US. Like the name suggests, sugar shacks are small cabins where sap collected from sugar maple trees is boiled into maple syrup. 

common sugar shack - image courtesy of Wikipedia

My mom has fond memories of her uncle's sugar shack in western Pennsylvania growing up and making maple syrup "candy" or taffy by pouring hot syrup on snowballs. Yum! So the cabins and colors of my house blocks are a nod to those memories.

"Sugar Shack" by Tonya Alexander

The fabrics are a selection of Moda Grunge mixed with a variety of white/gray prints. Over sized 16" x 20" blocks with a simple graphic house design give this project a modern edge. Piecing is a breeze by featuring half square triangles for all of the roof lines.

Along with "Sugar Shack", you'll find 13 other fun and colorful designs from some of my fellow Martingale designers. It's hard to pick a favorite but here's just a sneak peek at a few that I love....all images courtesy of Martingale/That Patchwork Place.

"Log Cabin Houses" by Natalie Barnes

"My Hometown" by Christa Watson

"Suburbia" by Dana Bolyard

So how about a giveaway to celebrate this fun new release?! Leave a comment - do you have sugar shack memories of your own? Have you made a house block quilt before or is there one in your future? Be sure to include your contact email if you are a no-reply blogger! I'll draw a winner for a free eBook version of I Love House Blocks on Friday, June 30th!

Happy Stash Quilting,

Tonya 

Sew much under construction...

Yeah May , I mean June! Wow, time flies! Only so many hours in a day! After a pretty wet and soggy past few months, we're looking forward to some sunshine and beautiful spring/summer blooms around here. What's under construction these days in my sewing room? Well, lots actually!

On the cutting mat:

Blue Dahlia (take 2!) - this time it's actually a gift for someone else. It's very rare that I make any of my quilts more than once, but I love this pattern. And so does the person I'm making it for, even though it's a surprise!

Blue Dahlia ( the mini RED version) - this one I'm planning to keep for myself! I'm scaling it down in size to use low volume 5" charm squares and I've changed out the color to red to match my kitchen. Also, I'm going for speed and ease this time and using fusible appliqué. The original pattern for the 60"x60" version can be found in Quiltmania's Simply Moderne issue no. 8 and a new individual pattern with size options is in the works!

Last month I had a fun visit with Kitsap Quilters in Poulsbo, WA. Such a warm, vibrant quilting community. I shared my Stash Lab trunk show at their meeting and we had a string workshop the following day which was fun. Later in May, I got a chance to be the student and treated myself to a workshop with the amazing Ann Shaw. Her patterns and techniques are so different than my usual that it was great to step outside my box, challenge myself, and learn something new. A real treat. Here's a glimpse of my work-in-progress from that class, her Boxer pattern.

On the publishing front:

...soon to be released from Martingale, Block Buster Quilts: I Love House Blocks and features my project, "Sugar Shack". It's due out later this month and I promise to share more about my project. Here's a shot of the cover, a close up of Sugar Shack is pictured in the lower right-hand corner.

Upcoming guild visits:

Next up as we head into summer I have guild visits to Vashon Island Quilters in the Seattle area, Westsound Quilters in Issaquah, WA and then an August trip out to Lincoln Quilters Guild in Lincoln, Nebraska! Summer in the Pacific Northwest is pretty hard to beat and I'm looking forward to these trips and meeting and sharing with my fellow quilters.

Happy Stash Quilting,

Tonya