Tag Archives: Anna Maria Horner

AMH Mini Quilt Swap Finish!!

I signed up way back in January for the Anna Maria Horner Mini Quilt Swap….and of course leaving it to the last-minute, I managed to finish and post on the last day (last Saturday). I had so much fun with this quilt.

I do not often use all very loud prints in my quilts and designs, but have admired folks that can pull it together. I knew that I wanted to try something similar with this swap and experiment.

I had created this design that I thought would be perfect for this challenge.

SquarewithinSquares_stripes_Solids

I loved my fabric selections, which I tried to split into warm and cool color palettes (two corners cooler and 2 warm). The inner square is based on a finished 1/2″ lines. I know kind of crazy.
AMH_Inner_Squares
I learned a couple of things that I would definitely recommend when I get around to writing this pattern, just shows the importance of pattern testing:

  • I loved using a log-cabin like approach for the innermost squares
  • The triangles that began the outer points of the center square, in the photo you will see I made those as actual triangles. Next time, I would leave them as squares and piece the larger out most triangles on and then trim to make sure you eliminate stretch or distortion.
    AMH_Inner_Blocks

I pieced the back from left over scraps from the front and used solids that represent the navy and crimson colored stripes. The quilting shows up way better on the back than the front as well as its less busy.
AMH_Back

I am very happy, needless to say with the final swap item, even though one corner of my binding gave me so much trouble.
AMH_Front_Finished

I plan to remake this pattern in solids and a much larger size. Linking up with Amanda-Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday.

 

Sunday Stash #17: Hawthorne Threads

My favorite online fabric store is Hawthorne Threads. I love the discounts per purchase and the loyalty tiered pricing.

This week, I found a few lines that interested me, and you guessed I purchased selected prints. Absolutely, no constraint or fasting here!! 🙂

Anna Maria Horner: Pretty Potent
AMH_PrettyPotent

Jane Farnham: Beyond the BackyardJF_FruitStand

Jane Farnham: Fruit StandJF_FruitStand2

 

That is my haul for this week. I am linking up to Molli’s Sunday Stash that is being hosted this week by the lovely Em @ Sewing by Moonlight.

Sew Down Nashville: Paper piecing and hand appliqué

Sunday, the last day of sew down continued the wonderful classes, lectures, socializing and food. The first class of the day was Carolyn Friedlander’s paper piecing class using her aerial quilt.  We had a chat about layout, as I had chosen my fabrics based on the full quilt and the class was a mini quilt. Carolyn_Michelle_AerialQuilt

This mini version of Carolyn’s aerial is my favorite layout, and it is the one we are making in class. Paper piecing was not new too me, so this class was not challenging but I love the pattern. I was so excited and knew I would be using my Lotta Jansdotter fabric stash, that I had been saving up.CarolynFriedlander_AerialQuilt

I managed to finish 3 of 8 blocks in class, which I was thrilled about. The other 5 blocks will be all grey, black and white. I loved how my first blocks turned out. You can check out some of the other people’s blocks on Carolyn’s blog.AerialQuilt_LottaJansdotter

After lunch, our final class commenced with Anna Maria Horner. Of course, we took advantage of a photo-op. with Anna Maria – who wouldn’t right??Michelle_AMH_Daisy_Antionette
(Photo Left to Right: Me, Anna Maria, Daisy, Antoinette)

Anna Maria’s class was on Modern Corsage where you could choose to use either:

  • Structured design and piecing
  • Or fussy cutting and hand appliqué techniques.

This project definitely took me out of my comfort zone…way beyond my comfort zone. I decided to do the fussy cutting and hand appliqué, as this was all new to me. It took me a while to decide on my background fabric and then from there it came together.

I added the low volume prints with the focus print for the complete background. The flowers were fussy cut from a variety of Anna Maria’s fabrics. Currently, they are pinned but will be basted on, then hand-appliquéd. I was so surprised how this turned out….I am not huge on flowers but I can picture the end result and I am excited. ModernCorsage_AMHClass

To finish off the day, I took a couple of celebrity shots of our wonderful organizers. Elizabeth, Heather and Jen did a fantastic job all round. The classes were so great, the food was wonderful and it all ran so smoothly. ElizabethDackson_Michelle
(Photo: Me, Elizabeth Dackson)

Heather_Jenn_Michelle
(Photo Left to Right: Heather Grant, Me, Jen Carlton Bailey)