Ocean Waves Block Challenge - The Final Reveal

It's been a crazy month!  I've been trying to get everything finished on the summer to-do list before fall arrives.  So I didn't get as much sewing done on this project as I would have liked but I do have the final mockup of my Ocean Waves Block Challenge project!  

Without any further adieu ....... 

The wall hanging doesn't have a name yet and there is no pattern and I'm not sure there will be a pattern ....  haven't thought about that too much yet. 

It's full of optical illusions and secondary patterns which I absolutely love!   It has a bit of an Aztec vibe which I didn't anticipate when I started the design.  

Even though the piecing isn't finished, I've already started thinking about how I want to quilt it.  Since it will be a wall hanging, I want to have quite a bit of quilting for structural support and to play up the optical illusions. 

I can't wait to see everyone's sneak peeks today. Be sure to follow each of the designers so you don't miss their posts during this fun challenge. 

@tamarinis

@katecollerandesigns

@swanamity  

@patchworkbreeze

@megschoicepatterns

@sue_duckcreekquilting

@reeze-morningglorydesigns

@southwind_quilts

@masterpiecequilting  

@jennybowker1   

@jenstrauser

An easy way to find the posts is using the following hashtags.  Just type them into the search box and the posts will show up. 

#oceanwaveblockchallenge

#oceanwavequiltblock

#morethanjustablockchallenge

#designerblockchallenge

#augustblockchallenge

#augustdesignerblockchallenge

#quilt

#quilts

#quiltdesigner

#quiltblock

#quiltblocks

If you would like to see more of my patterns, tips and techniques delivered weekly to your inbox, be sure to sign up for my weekly Masterpiece Quilting Studio News email.  It's free of charge and I promise your email is safe with me. 

Ocean Waves Block Challenge - Sneak Peek #2

 It's time for Sneak Peek #2 of the Ocean Waves re-imagined block.  

Last week I was busy with pieces and parts and while I made some progress this week, I didn't get everything sewn together.  So here is what it looks like on my design wall. 

I've stretched the blocks gradually adding a 1/2" of length to each column and then played with the color gradations.  Light gray in the center blending to dark gray on the outer edge.  And then reversing the colors - light pink on the outer edge blending to dark pink in the center. 

And there are actually 2 blocks!  And they are mirror images of each other.   Yes, this is going to be fun when I put them all together into a quilt! Stay tuned next week to see that magic happen in the reveal :) 

I can't wait to see everyone's sneak peeks today. Be sure to follow each of the designers so you don't miss their posts during this fun challenge. 

@tamarinis

@katecollerandesigns

@swanamity  

@patchworkbreeze

@megschoicepatterns

@sue_duckcreekquilting

@reeze-morningglorydesigns

@southwind_quilts

@masterpiecequilting  

@jennybowker1   

@jenstrauser

An easy way to find the posts is using the following hashtags.  Just type them into the search box and the posts will show up. 

#oceanwaveblockchallenge

#oceanwavequiltblock

#morethanjustablockchallenge

#designerblockchallenge

#augustblockchallenge

#augustdesignerblockchallenge

#quilt

#quilts

#quiltdesigner

#quiltblock

#quiltblocks

If you would like to see more of my patterns, tips and techniques delivered weekly to your inbox, be sure to sign up for my weekly Masterpiece Quilting Studio News email.  It's free of charge and I promise your email is safe with me. 

Witches Brew Quilt Pattern

I'm excited to release my Witches Brew quilt pattern.  I have both print and PDF digital download patterns available in my Etsy shop for your shopping convenience. 

Made with Island Batik fabrics for super saturated colors and Warm 80/20 batting from The Warm Company, this quilt is perfect for fall.  Soft, drape able and easy to make - what more could a quilter want? 

Witches Brew is made using the Autumn Wings collection by Kathy Engle for Island Batik.  

Designed for precut 5" squares this pattern has the flexibility to be as planned or scrappy as you.  The secondary patterns that emerged during the design process reminded me of a swirling pot of stew cooked over a campfire.  

Check out this quick video to see more of the quilt!

Get your pattern today and make your own version of Witches Brew.  I can't wait to see it! 

Print Pattern (shipping included) 

PDF Digital Download Pattern

And like all my quilts, this one has Ruby's paw of approval too! :) 

If you would like to see more of my patterns, tips and techniques delivered weekly to your inbox, be sure to sign up for my weekly Masterpiece Quilting Studio News email.  It's free of charge and I promise your email is safe with me. 

Ocean Waves Block Challenge - Sneak Peek #1

It's Monday and you know what that means - it is time for me to share Sneak Peek #1 of my Ocean Waves Block Challenge! 

Here is where I'm at so far - I have pieces and parts of ocean waves blocks! 

If you remember from last week's Fabric Pull post (click here in case you missed it), I shared that I'm making this month's challenge quilt using my gray and pink stash fabrics.  Well the first step (and a big step!) was narrowing down the gray and pink fabrics. 

My stash organizational system is to put all my leftover fabrics from the same color in a tote.  Even though all the fabrics in the tote were technically pink, they didn't all play well together and actually, some really, really clashed with others!    

For this design, I need light, medium and dark fabrics that all play well together.  So I pulled those first. 

This project will be planned scrappy since I don't have a lot of some fabrics, I can easily substitute another similar fabric in it's place.  And yes, I need to go digging for some more light pink fabric. 

Here are the fabrics I chose NOT to use - This photo really shows how incohesive this group is.  From purple pinks to coral pinks and everything in between.  There were a few fabrics that fit my color grouping but because of the size of the print, I'll save them for another project. 

I did the same process with my gray fabric tote.  Who know there were so many shades of gray?  Well, if you have read the book - I think there are 50 shades of grey ... but wait, we are getting off topic :) 

While my pieces and parts don't look like much, I actually have quite a bit done.   There are half-square triangle units in a variety of sizes - small, medium and large.   And they are in a variety of color combinations too!

And if you are looking pretty closely, you have already figured out that the parts and pieces don't look like they size up to each other very well.  

Well, it is a block re-imagined challenge - so everything is fair game :) 

And yes, I'm gonna keep you waiting until next week to see what the blocks look like - so stay tuned for Sneak Peek #2 next Monday August 23rd. (Now might be a great time for you to follow me on Facebook or Instagram if you don't already, so you don't miss next weeks post.) 

I can't wait to see everyone's sneak peeks today. Be sure to follow each of the designers so you don't miss their posts during this fun challenge. 

@tamarinis

@katecollerandesigns

@swanamity  

@patchworkbreeze

@megschoicepatterns

@sue_duckcreekquilting

@reeze-morningglorydesigns

@southwind_quilts

@masterpiecequilting  

@jennybowker1   

@jenstrauser

An easy way to find the posts is using the following hashtags.  Just type them into the search box and the posts will show up. 

#oceanwaveblockchallenge

#oceanwavequiltblock

#morethanjustablockchallenge

#designerblockchallenge

#augustblockchallenge

#augustdesignerblockchallenge

#quilt

#quilts

#quiltdesigner

#quiltblock

#quiltblocks

If you would like to see more of my patterns, tips and techniques delivered weekly to your inbox, be sure to sign up for my weekly Masterpiece Quilting Studio News email.  It's free of charge and I promise your email is safe with me. 

Butter Churn Block - August's Old School Block of the Month

On the 12th of each month, the tutorial for the Old School Block of the Month is released.     

Talk about the perfect block for August - easy to make and simply stunning all at the same time!  

The Butter Churn Block tutorial by May Chappell is available now using this link. 

I was able to stitch my block up in no time.  

Instead of using just 2 fabrics, I added a third fabric so the block would coordinate better with the other blocks I'm making as part of this Block of the Month.  

This block was so easy to make, I may have to make a couple more and play around with different color placement. 

If you are finding this blog post for the first time and want to join the Old School Block of the Month, we would love to have you!   

Here are the links to the blocks so far:

Block 1: https://kimlapacek.com/.../patched-friendship-star-block...

Block 2: https://masterpiecequilting.blogspot.com/.../old-school...

Block 3: https://quiltjane.com/old-school-bom-2021/

Block 4: https://traditionalprimitives.com/.../tra.../old-school-bom/

Block 5: https://sewhungryhippie.com/.../stripey-cartwheels-block

Block 6: https://kidgiddy.blogspot.com/.../the-pocket-economy...

Block 7: https://www.gogokim.com/.../old-school-block-of-month...

If you would like to join it, you can find the Facebook group here. 

If you would like to see more of my patterns, tips and techniques delivered weekly to your inbox, be sure to sign up for my weekly Masterpiece Quilting Studio News email.  It's free of charge and I promise your email is safe with me. 

Autumn Stars Quilt

After months of keeping this under wraps, I am so excited to share my Autumn Stars quilt design with you.  It's the perfect stash-friendly throw for fall and I can't wait to start using it. 

The pattern can be found in Annie's new Quilts for Autumn book that is available now.  It features 11 amazing designs that will make your fall decorating so easy. 

Autumn Stars is a smaller throw-sized quilt that will work perfect on the couch, on the porch, around a bon-fire or even in the bleachers at a ball game.  It is super functional and easy to make using stash fabrics. 

For me fall quilts are the ideal scrappy quilt since you can use the diverse color palette found in fall leaves as a guide.  Any colors work well when paired with a creamy beige background.  

The center medallion is surrounded by flying geese arranged in formation, just like they fly south for winter.  Since the design is multi-directional, you don't have to worry about which side is the right side up.  (Does anyone else worry about this other than me??) 

Don't wait, get the book today and get started making Autumn Stars so you can enjoy it all fall.  Here's a direct link to purchase Quilts for Autumn. 

I'd love to see the version of Autumn Stars that you make.  Be sure to use #masterpiecequilting when sharing on social media.  

If your fabric stash needs a boost to get all the colors needed to make this quilt, check out my stash building fall fat quarter bundle available in my Etsy shop. 

It has a wide range of autumn / fall / primitive colors and prints needed to make this gorgeous quilt. 

If you would like to see more of my patterns, tips and techniques delivered weekly to your inbox, be sure to sign up for my weekly Masterpiece Quilting Studio News email.  It's free of charge and I promise your email is safe with me. 

My favorite color palette - Jewel Tones

Today I'm pulling stash fabrics for a new quilt design and the color palette is jewel tones - which just happens to be my favorite color palette.

As I was sorting through my stash fabric totes, bins and baskets, I needed a reference point as I knew I was starting to finding fabrics that didn't really fit the jewel tone category.  Since not everyone is familiar with jewel tones, I thought a quick blog post might be in order. 

I did a quick google search for jewel tones and here is what came up. These images are perfect as a guide for selecting fabrics.  

I just love these deep, rich fully saturated colors!  They are a classic group of colors that can be found in clothing, home decor as well as weddings. 

The color palette is based on these jewels - and who doesn't love some beautiful gem stones! 

When we transfer these colors to fabric, here is what it looks like. Even though all the colors read medium - dark to dark, there are still lighter shades that can be incorporated to give contrast to the collection. 

For my fabric pull, I'm laying the fabric strips over the edge of a basket so I can see how they all play well with each other.  I I want to have some contrast between them so I'm including medium, medium-dark and dark fabrics.  They will paired with white tonal as the background fabric.  I'm already seeing a few fabrics that need to be culled from the group or used sparingly. 

What is your favorite color palette?  Anyone else a lover of jewel tones?  If so, leave me a note in the comments. 

If you would like to see more of my patterns, tips and techniques delivered weekly to your inbox, be sure to sign up for my weekly Masterpiece Quilting Studio News email.  It's free of charge and I promise your email is safe with me. 

Ocean Waves Block Challenge

For this month's block challenge, the participating designers will be re-imagining the traditional Ocean Waves block.  If you aren't familiar with the block, here is an image of it.  The blocks traditionally are placed in a variety of orientations within a quilt layout to create numerous secondary patterns. 

My plan for this challenge is to make a wall hanging size quilt that I can use as a backdrop for when I am participating in online meetings.  I'm excited to see the secondary patterns that emerge as I re-imagine the block. 

For my fabric pull, I'm using stash fabrics in gray and jewel tone pinks.  I'll probably end up adding some other jewel tone fabrics as well.  

If you have been following along, a group of quilt pattern designers are challenging each other to re-imagine and re-interpret a traditional quilt block.  Here are links if you want to take a look at the quilts I made during the Snowball Block Challenge, the Rail Fence Block Challenge, the Pinwheel Block Challenge, the Log Cabin Block Challenge, the Churn Dash Block Challenge and the Five Patch Chain Block Challenge.  I have free patterns available for the quilts I made in the Rail Fence block challenge and Log Cabin block challenge.  Links are in the respective blog posts.  

Each Monday in July, the participating designers are sharing about the challenge on their Instagram feeds.  Some of us are adding other social media too.   If you don't already follow me on Instagram, I'm @masterpiecequilting 

Here is the list of Instagram handles of the participating designers.  Each of us are sharing our fabric pull and / or color scheme on Monday August 9th.  

@tamarinis

@katecollerandesigns

@swanamity  

@patchworkbreeze

@megschoicepatterns

@sue_duckcreekquilting

@reeze-morningglorydesigns

@southwind_quilts

@masterpiecequilting  

An easy way to find the posts is using the following hashtags.  Just type them into the search box and the posts will show up. 

#oceanwaveblockchallenge

#oceanwavequiltblock

#morethanjustablockchallenge

#designerblockchallenge

#augustblockchallenge

#augustdesignerblockchallenge

#quilt

#quilts

#quiltdesigner

#quiltblock

#quiltblocks

I can't wait to see what everyone is selecting for their fabrics and I hope that you will take a look too! Be sure to follow each of the designers so you don't miss their posts during this fun challenge.

If you would like to see more of my patterns, tips and techniques delivered weekly to your inbox, be sure to sign up for my weekly Masterpiece Quilting Studio News email.  It's free of charge and I promise your email is safe with me.