Fruit Bowl Bullseye

"And the first shall be the last"....at least when it comes to quilt magazine publications! I'm happy to finally share this quilt with you - especially since this was the first quilt I ever submitted to a magazine. I've learned a few things during the past two years about publishing. One thing I know for sure: nothing is for sure, until you actually see it in print!

This is Fruit Bowl Bullseye and it is currently featured in Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting March/April 2014 issue. The lovely quilting on this one was done by my good friend, Tracey Fisher. (It should also be noted that Tracey graciously listened to my hysterical squealing on the phone when I got my first magazine acceptance - and she even told me she was happy for me :)

Fruit Bowl Bullseye

Adding the binding

F&P's Love of Quilting March/April 2014

This pattern was a jumping off point for me because it was the first quilt that was inspired by something completely non-quilty and I just dove in without a pattern or a plan. It started with a string of beads....

I was working on a lanyard with these beads and was really taken with the design and the colors. Starting to see it as a quilt design, I found this fabric line called "Fruit Slices" by Anthology Fabrics (good luck finding it now, two years later - sorry!) and then it slowly came together. How do I turn that bead into a block? What about the seed beads in between? I originally had a different layout in mind but once I got the blocks up on the design wall other ideas won out.

Follow your quilt inspirations, wherever they may lead you!

Happy Spring stitching,

Tonya

On the Dot

My modern baby quilt goes retro! I call it "On the Dot" (because all babies arrive as expected, of course!)

"On the Dot"

The inspiration for this quilt design was actually from a silver tinsel Christmas tree my aunt had back in the 70's. It had a color light circle that rotated and reflected off the tinsel to turn your tree four different colors. Very groovy and fun! Did you have one of these? You never know where your going to get and idea for your next quilt.

The quilt and pattern is currently featured in Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting September/October 2013 issue that is available now. Believe it or not, there is no curved piecing in this quilt! I used a window-pane fusible applique technique and then sliced and diced my way to these mixed up circles of color. I love black and white checkerboards just about anywhere but I thought they would be a little too strong for a baby quilt so I opted for grey and whites instead. This was a quick and easy project and I had fun making it.

Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting September/October 2013
 

 Happy stitching,
Tonya

Great news from my little old sewing room!

Super excited to share some great news with you today - I have my first two quilts being featured in the Spring 2013 edition of Fons and Porter Scrap Quilts hitting the newsstands at the end of this month! Well, not my first two quilts, but my first two in print. One is called "Carrie Nation Baby" and looks a little like this:

The quilt is made of a single traditional block named "Carrie Nation" which was actually a symbol of the women's temperance movement in the 1800's. For an interesting history on the block, check out Grandmother's Choice. Pretty heavy history for a sweet little baby quilt!


Carrie Nation Baby work in progress

 the second one is called "Kaffe's Garden at Night" (named for my favorite fabric designer/artist/quilt guru)and here's it's glamour shot:



Kaffe's Garden at Night work in progress

I absolutely can't wait to see the full spread. I have not considered a tattoo before now but I may reconsider...(just kidding honey!) If anyone's looking for me in the next few weeks, you can scrape me off the ceiling!

Happy, happy stitching,

Tonya