HMQS 2013 Sew Batik Quilt Challenge

I've always thought Batik fabric is beautiful, but when I worked in the Handi Quilter education department we often had ladies call in with nightmarish experiences trying to quilt their batik quilts.  Getting good tension seemed to be a problem. With that in mind, I put off using batik fabric in quilts.

However, this past winter I decided to try out batik fabric. I signed up for the HMQS 2013 Sew Batik Quilt Challenge.

A few weeks after delivering Miss Mia and the April 8th deadline only weeks away, I decided I needed to get down to business.  Thanks to a wonderful mother-in-law and friend who came to watch and hold Miss Mia while I quilted, I was able to finish this challenge quilt and the Riley Blake Challenge Quilt.

  I was given the blue, brown, and two multi-colored cream/bluish batik fabrics.I added the center cream fabric and dark border fabric, which were both Sew Batik gradient fabrics I had purchased a couple of years ago at a show.

 I had very little problems with tension while quilting, but strangely I did have some issues while piecing the quilt.

All in all, I enjoyed creating this quilt and trying out batiks.

I don't expect to win anything, but I can't wait to get the quilt back and showcase it in my own home.  I think it turned out great!

And I fell in love with the rich colors of the backing/binding fabric I ordered from Sew Batik!

Snowflake Quilt

When it comes to quilting, I'm usually drawn to cute, flowery, pastel fabrics, but last fall I was done with pink and green and decided it was time for a cold-weather quilt. I found this Nordic lap quilt pattern by Blue Meadow Designs at my favorite local quilt shop (Quilter's Haven in Bountiful, UT), and thought it was a perfect match!

Fall Tablerunner...a year later

A year ago, I was given some cute Moda fabric mini square packs. These cute 2-1/2 inch bundles come with 42 squares, but they're so small it's hard to know what to do with them.  I had two packs of a fall fabric line and decided a fall table runner would be their destiny.  At the time, I was just learning how to use the new Art & Stitch program that Handi Quilter adopted for their Pro-Stitcher (computerized quilting). I wanted to design a continuous line pumpkin design to go on the table runner.  The piecing was fun. The quilting designing was fun. Unfortunately, I didn't finish quilting it until snow fell, so I tucked it away-binding undone-until next year.

Riley Blake Quilt Challenge for HMQS 2012

 I entered the HMQS Riley Blake challenge in 2011 and almost gave up quilt shows altogether.  For some reason, I missed the fact that it was a judged challenge.  I knew they were auctioning off the quilts for charity, so I figured I was being a good citizen by donating my time to make a quilt.  However, I about cried when I unexpectedly received my judges comments in the mail.  As positive as they tried to be, they were honest about the fact that my quilting, in their opinion, did not compliment the quilt.  Honestly, I loved the quilt and the quilting, so I was devastated by their remarks.  I remember saying to myself, "I can either give up quilting right now, or I can take their comments into consideration and let it make me a better quilter." I decided I didn't want to give up quilting.  So when I heard about the 2012 HMQS Riley Blake challenge, I was eager to redeem myself.  However, I didn't realize what I was getting myself into.