Our Northern Neighbors

July 1 is Canada Day. Best wishes to all our Canadian readers!  Here are two beautiful quilts featuring intricate maple leaves and flying geese from a pattern called Northern Neighbours.by Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Designs.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and new & vintage jewelry. For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter !  

Northern Neighbors by Joyce Holley, quilted by Nancy Goans

Red and white quilts are instant classics.  The contrasts are perfect for these maple leaves! Joyce Holley says, "[With its] intricate maple leaves and flying geese, this quilt celebrates our Canadian Neighbors to the North. Made for Canada's 150th Anniversary."

Lake Superior, made and quilted by Jean Firestine

We love the wintry feel of this gorgeous blue and white quilt by Jean Firestine.  The quilt was "based on the maple leaf & flying geese blocks from the Northern Neighbors pattern, which was developed for an event between quilters in Minnesota and Canada." Beautiful batiks and creative quilting (by Jean herself) can be seen in the closeup photo below.

Jean explains, "I grew up on Lotus Lake in Minnesota and spent my freshman year of college in Duluth, which is on Lake Superior.  The quilt design contains snowflakes and waves to remind me of winter on the north shore."

Note: The Northern Neighbors pattern uses Deb Tucker’s Corner Beam, Split Rects, and Wing Clipper 1 tools for ease of construction.

For more quilt inspiration, check out this FREE Snow Geese pattern by Deb Tucker (CLICK for PDF download):

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2024 Tucson (Arizona) quilters guild show.

Batik Beauties (2)

We love batiks! Their striking beauty is enhanced by incorporating strong light/dark contrasts. These quilts provide numerous opportunities for the eyes to enjoy the intense colors of the fabrics.We hope you enjoy these photos.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and new & vintage jewelry. For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter !

Margarita by Melanie Harris, quilted by John Harris

Gorgeous colors, contrasts, and piecing make this quilt really stand out! Melanie Harris says, "This swirling beauty looks like a blender, full of tropical flavors.  It's paper piecing from a Quiltworx pattern called "Pineapple"."  Check out the fabrics and quilting designs in the closeup photos, below.

 

Mod Box Blues by JoAnn Hinchliffe

This quilt design highlights a range of gorgeous blue batiks.  JoAnn Hinchliffe says, "This is another quilt I started during the pandemic. All the fabrics on the front are from my stash.  The pattern source is "Mod Box" by Colourwerx."  The quilting was beautifully done by JoAnn herself.

New York Beauty goes Hawaiian by Sara Quigley, quilted by Nancy Stovall

Batiks of all colors combine to make this dynamic, spiky quilt ! Sara Quigley says, "I had a blast making this quilt. I pulled out all of my batiks and sorted the light and darks.  It was fun putting contrasting colors together."  Pattern source: Karen K. Stone Quilts [book].

On Fleek by Valerie Greenwell

This sampler quilt is beautifully pieced and the quilting is out of this world!  Valerie Greenwell says, " 'On Fleek' is the smallest of three layouts in my newest book On Point: A Multi Sized Diamond in Square Sampler Quilt [2023].  I used a simple palette of batiks and densely quilted with a zentangle-like design.  There are over half a million quilted stitches and it took over 22 hours to quilt."

 

Image credits: Photos were taken at the 2024 Tucson Quilters Guild show.

Batik Beauties (1)

We love batiks! Their striking beauty is enhanced by designs that incorporate star blocks. The spiky points of the stars provide numerous opportunities for the eye to perceive the color contrasts in the fabrics.We hope you enjoy these photos.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and new & vintage jewelry. For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter !

Crown of Thorns by Carol W. Carpenter, quilted by Kris Neifeld

Gorgeous colors and contrasts can be seen in this quilt. Carol Carpenter says, "This Judy Niemeyer pattern was challenging, even though I chose the smaller version of the pattern.  It is beautiful in design and especially meaningful to me as my Easter season quilt."  Spiky New York Beauty blocks, and strong contrasts, add to the visual appeal.

 There's a Bear There, made and quilted by Rhonda Borders.

This is an original design by Rhonda Borders, showcasing some very special batiks.  Rhonda says,  "We had to visit a couple of quilt stores on a trip to Alaska.  These bear batiks were available in Anchorate.  I designed a placemat/quilt to maximize their presence." The tree blocks add to the Alaska ambience, while sawtooth stars conjure the night sky.

Wishing Star by Meg Silvern, quilted by Linda Powell.

Stars within stars, done in wintery blues and whites! Meg Silvern says, "I made this quilt on a quilt cruise with Stitchin' Heaven in 2023.  Sandra Coffey was the teacher." Pattern source: Judy Niemeyer Quilting. An allover quilting design was used, resembling swirls in the snow.

Starburst in Color by Yvonne M. Flores, quilted by Quality Quilterz. 

This classic lone star design positively glows, lending the appearance of a stained glass quilt. Yvonne Flores says, "Seeing this quilt in a quilt show was the inspiration to learn how to paper piece.  It's Judy Niemeyer's Prismatic Star. It's a favorite because this was my 'impossible dream' completed 2 years later."

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2024 Tucson Quilters Guild show.

Inspired by a Summer Vacation

Let's celebrate the tradition of a summer vacation! For those lucky enough to have some time off, there are great places to visit in North America, including our outstanding national parks.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and new & vintage jewelry. For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter ! 

Weeping Wall via the Red Bus, by Carole Schumacher

This photo-inspired quilt was an original 2019 design by Carole Schumacher. She says, "[This is] my first attempt at applique technique, landscape art, and free motion quilting on my domestic machine. All fabrics were from my stash. [This was] inspired by my visit to Glacier National Park in Summer, 2018."

As shown below, trees were stitched onto the steep hillside.  Waterfalls are also shown cascading down the cliff, highlighting the beauty of this incredible national park.

Carole achieved incredible detail on a miniature scale! To get an idea of the size of the quilt, this photo shows a white glove volunteer holding her hand in front of (never touching!) the quilt.  👍

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2019 Quilt Arizona show.