Tag Archives: Amy Butler Fabric

Avenues

November 19, 2018UncategorizedAmy Butler Fabric, Cotton + Steel Fabric, Cotton and Steel Fabric, Denyse Schmidt Fabric, Lotta Jansdotter FabricBrooklyn Quilting Co.

A while back I was doing some home décor shopping online and I saw a pillow on The Citizenry that caught my attention. I liked the pillow, but I liked the pattern on the pillow even more. So much so that I thought it would make an interesting quilt block. I decided to give it a try and this is what I came up with.

I’m not sure how well the pattern translates into a quilt, but I’m a sucker for anything pink so I kind of like it. Or at least I really like the fabrics I used.

This is a combination of some of my favorites. There is quite a bit of Lotta Jansdotter fabric; a little bit of Denyse Schmidt; some Cotton + Steel; a few pieces from Amy Butler; and then some random fabrics I had in my stash.

When I chose the colors, I knew I wanted to do something with pink, black and white, but I added in some purplish/pink colors, some grays and taupes, and some creamy whites.

I wasn’t sure if mixing that many different shades of the same colors would work, but I think it does. Truthfully, though, the main reason I mixed them in was because I was short on fabric and needed to expand my color options.

I think it would look good if I had stuck only to pink, black and white, but this might make it look a bit more interesting.

For the quilt back, I’m sticking with the same color scheme and already have the back worked out.

I’m already on to quilting this one so you may see the finished version sooner rather than later.

Keep your eye out for the finished version.

Thunder Bridge – Finished

February 5, 2018UncategorizedAmy Butler FabricBrooklyn Quilting Co.

Today I have my finished Thunder Bridge quilt to share with you. This quilt has been tucked away for months just waiting to be photographed, and I finally got around to it over Christmas break.

This quilt is named Thunder Bridge for the bridge where I took pictures of the quilt top a little over a year ago. You can read the original blog post about the quilt top here.

I went for a very blue/green color scheme, but this pattern could work with so many different colors. I think a black and white look would be so great, too.

All of the fabric in this quilt is from Amy Butler and a lot of it, if not most of it, is from some of her older collections.

I’m a huge Amy Butler fan and those collections from years ago are some of my favorites.

I didn’t have a plan for the back of this quilt so the top sat tucked away for a while before I put the whole thing together. Then it dawned on me I had the perfect backing fabric! In my stash was yardage of Amy Butler Belle fabric that just happens to go perfectly with the front of the quilt.

I actually originally purchased the yardage for a different quilt top but it goes so much better with this one. I’m glad I hadn’t used it yet.

That’s another finished quilt in the books! I took this one home with me to my parents’ house over Christmas to photograph and I had to leave it behind. My suitcase was so full I couldn’t fit it back in. Guess it’s going to stay there now!

Note: This quilt pattern is available in my Etsy store. It is only the second pattern I’ve ever written so I’m only charging $5. That said, the pattern includes fabric requirements, assembly instructions, and photos. I have listed it in my Etsy shop and you can DOWNLOAD THE PATTERN HERE.

Thunder Bridge

January 2, 2017UncategorizedAmy Butler FabricBrooklyn Quilting Co.

Happy 2017! It’s a new year so that means it’s time for new quilts. I have a couple of finished projects to share in the next few weeks, and first up is my Thunder Bridge quilt top.

The name comes from the rickety old bridge in this photo, which looked pretty magical on the foggy winter morning before Christmas when I took this picture.

I had the idea for this quilt block brewing this fall and finally sketched it out in November. I wanted to get one last quilt finished for 2016 and this one was it. It took me a few trial blocks before I got it right, but once I did I was pretty pleased with the final version.

The fabric for this quilt is all Amy Butler fabric. I had a stack of some older green and blue prints of hers and I thought it might look good to mix them together, along with some of the yellow prints I had.

Side note: A few weeks ago (after I had already made this quilt) Pantone announced its 2017 color of the year as Greenery – pretty much the colors of this quilt – and I feel so on-trend!

You’ll notice there are a few hints of pink in the quilt. I was going to keep the fabrics all in the green/blue color family but I had some of the lighter pink fabrics and thought I would try throwing those in, too. I’m not sure if I like the pink mixed in or not, but I’m all for experimenting.

One other thing I should mention. After I started working on this block, I realized it has a lot of similarities to my Inman Park quilt, which also happens to use Amy Butler fabric. I’m now thinking maybe I should have called this quilt Inman Park 2.0!

Cheers to the first quilt share of 2017! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year. I’m looking forward to the next 12 months and I can’t wait to see what quilt projects the new year has in store!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

April 25, 2016UncategorizedAmy Butler Fabric, Joann's FabricBrooklyn Quilting Co.

You can’t like every quilt you make, right? I had high hopes for this one, but to be honest, it didn’t quite work out the way I wanted it to. So in the interest of not only sharing quilt winners, today I’m sharing one that failed.

One of the things about quilt making that I like so much, is how you can mix colors and patterns and come up with something wonderful and unexpected. Usually it works out, but for the first time ever, I think I made a quilt that is too “busy,” as one would say.

Individually I love all of the fabrics, but they didn’t come together like I wanted. Instead of this quilt being a good mix of fabrics, it become a jumbled mess.

I think the quilt pattern still has potential, but where I went wrong was in using too many different colors and fabrics. I never thought that was possible in quilting, but I think it is!

If I had to re-do it, I think the quilt pattern would look really striking with a handful of solid fabrics. I may give it another shot one day and do that, but for now I’m moving on to something else. I’m sure eventually I will finish this quilt, but until then it’s getting packed away!

Lemonade Stand

August 9, 2015UncategorizedAmy Butler Fabric, Lotta Jansdotter FabricBrooklyn Quilting Co.

Hello from my summer vacation! I’m spending some time out of New York and taking a four-stop vacation tour. I’m now heading into the last couple weeks of the trip and so far it’s been a nice break from hot and humid New York. Hurray for a little R&R!

But….even though I’m on vacation, I still have quilty things going on. Number one, of course, is to hit up as many fabric stores as I can. I’m happy to report I’m going strong on my fabric shopping spree. It’s been so fun to visit local fabric stores on my vacation route. When it’s all said and done, I’ll be sure to share all of my fabric finds; I’ve got some good ones.

I have also been busy snapping quilt pictures. I was scrambling to finish a few projects before I went out of town but I didn’t have a chance to take pictures of the finished quilts and quilt tops, so they came with me!

First up is my new Lemonade Stand quilt top.

This quilt almost turned out how I imagined, except waaaay pinker. In my head this was a different shade of pink – something bold but not quite so bright. I’ve really been second-guessing my choice of pink fabric, but I’ve decided to embrace the bright pink and just go with it.

The good news is that I love the pattern. That part of the quilt turned out exactly how I imagined.

I’ve been thinking I might like using this pattern, or something similar, with all low volume prints. This might be a winter project I plan for.

Most of the fabric in this quilt top is Lotta Jansdotter or Amy Butler. I really like the combination of pinks, oranges and yellows and think it gives it the perfect summer feel, which is what I was going for.

That’s it for now. I have more quilt pics that I’ve taken on vacation coming up, so stay tuned!

P.S. This picture was taken at Lake Okoboji in Iowa while I was on the second leg of my trip. My parents live in Iowa and I spent my summers at the lake as a kid. I managed a couple of boat rides at Okoboji during my visit!

Garden Party – Finished

November 2, 2014UncategorizedAmy Butler FabricBrooklyn Quilting Co.

I can’t tell you how unfitting that title is for today. There are no garden parties happening in New York right now. It is cold and windy! It’s also marathon day and I’m planning to bundle up and go cheer on the runners soon. The New York City Marathon goes by my neighborhood and it is so fun to watch. Good luck to everyone running!

Moving on to quilting…I finished the Garden Party quilt and managed to snap a few pictures of it earlier this week.

This quilt has a lot going on. There’s a lot of color and a lot of pattern, and I realize it might not be for everyone’s taste, but I really like the mix of patterns. It’s bold and bright and has a lot of personality.

The overall color also leans toward a yellowy/green color, which is something I don’t work with much. Always good to try something new, I say!

What I really want to talk about is the back. I don’t have a set design in the way I do my quilt backs. Sometimes I do one solid color, sometimes I do large pieces blocked together, recently I did more of a color blocking look – it’s always different. But in the case of this quilt, I would almost describe it as double-sided. I think the back is about as interesting as the front.

The back was determined by what fabric I had available and, without really planning it, the back became a design of its own. I love that it turned out that way.

Sometimes the best quilt designs happen when you least expect them.

Garden Party

September 29, 2014UncategorizedAmy Butler FabricBrooklyn Quilting Co.

That’s the vibe I’m getting from this quilt – a summer garden party. I also think I’m hanging on to the very last bits of summer, as it’s quickly slipping away and the first few signs of fall keep popping up here in New York.

I’ve slowly been collecting some Amy Butler pieces and I finally had what I wanted to make the quilt pattern I had in mind. The inspiration for this pattern comes from a vintage tablecloth I picked up earlier this year at the Brooklyn Flea. Since I got it in April, this tablecloth has had a permanent place on my dining room table. I love it and pretty much think it is the most perfect tablecloth ever.

After months of looking at it, one day it occurred to me that it could make for a really great quilt pattern. I immediately thought Amy Butler fabric would make it extra special, and so my quilt idea began to take shape.

I started by putting the tablecloth on the floor and laying pieces of fabric on it to plan which pieces of fabric I wanted where. This part took a long time because I kept moving fabric around and changing my mind. I also had different sizes of fabric – some a lot smaller than others – and had to keep that in mind in order to make it all fit together.

I went back and forth between having a uniform look with each side mirroring the other, and making it different with nothing being the same. In the end it’s a little bit of both. The final decisions came down to what fabric I had available and what I thought looked best.

The quilt isn’t exactly like the tablecloth but it is pretty close. I love how all of the different patterns mix together and I also like how the overall color of the quilt leans towards that yellowy green color. It’s not a color I use much of and I always like to step outside of my color comfort zone.

I’m now planning the back of this quilt. It turns out I have a large solid piece of that yellow green color in my stash that matches perfectly. For a minute I thought about doing something a little more subtle for the back, since the front is so loud, but I don’t think I’m going to go in that directly. I think I’m going to go with the yellow green. Go big or go home, right?!?!

Color Experimentation

August 6, 2014UncategorizedAmy Butler Fabric, Denyse Schmidt FabricBrooklyn Quilting Co.

I’m experimenting with a new color combination that I have not tried before: purple and teal.

Scratch that. Now that I think about it, I have combined purple and teal before but I think it was sometime back in the late 80s/early 90s when I wanted to redo my room with both these colors. My tween self thought they were the most beautiful colors ever and a perfect color choice for a bedroom makeover. So I guess I do have experience combining purple and teal, just not when it comes to quilt making.

I came to this color epiphany when I was putting together fabric piles for my next quilts and noticed that I had some prints that included both colors. I started pulling some other fabrics in those colors and realized I had enough to make a quilt. Now, although I have enough to make a quilt, that does not mean it’s the right thing to do.

I have to confess that I’ve been looking at this pile of fabric and really questioning myself. Am I crazy to make a purple and teal quilt? Will it be obnoxious looking? Am I trying to relive my youth?

Right now, I’m thinking I’m going to go with it and see what happens. If it turns out bad, I’ll chalk it up to a good learning experience.

I’m now off to listen to some New Kids on the Block and start this purple/teal experiment.

Wyoming Wild West Vacation

July 9, 2014UncategorizedAmy Butler Fabric, Anna Maria Horner Fabric, Art Gallery, Free Spirit, Moda, Riley Blake, WestminsterBrooklyn Quilting Co.

If you follow me on Instagram, you would have noticed that I spent last week on vacation out West. I have family in Wyoming’s Star Valley and a lot of us come together over the Fourth of July for a little family get together. This is the second time we’ve done this and our annual Fourth of July vacation in Wyoming is becoming one of my favorites. The weather is perfect and the scenery is stunning. Of all the places I’ve ever been, I think Wyoming might be the most beautiful.

The view from my cousin’s home, Yellowstone National Park, and Jackson Lake.

This year, I took the opportunity to visit Yellowstone, which I had never been to before, and it is an experience like no other. If you’ve never visited, I highly recommend adding it to your life’s to-do list. Mother Nature is quite impressive.

I couldn’t go on vacation without visiting some of the local quilt shops in the area. My fellow quilters out there will know what I’m talking about. You never know what you might find.

My first stop was in Cody, Wyoming at Friends & Co. Quilt Shop. I saw an advertisement for the quilt shop in a local travel guide where they said they had 8,000 bolts of fabric. Whoa! I couldn’t pass up that opportunity.

I left Friends & Co. with four new pieces of fabric, including a couple of Anna Maria Horner pieces.

My next visit was to Stitch n Time in Jackson, Wyoming.

I did a little damage here, and by a little I mean a lot. I left with some Riley Blake designs, Amy Butler, and lots more.

My last stop was at the True Value hardware store in Thayne, Wyoming. Yes, you read that correctly; a hardware store. My cousin told me to be sure to check it out. I thought it would probably be a waste of time but I was game to give it a look.

Hello! The True Value has got it going on. They have a pretty decent fabric selection for a hardware store and even carry quite a bit of Amy Butler fabric. I ended up buying more fabric from a hardware store than I ever thought possible. Actually, I never really thought it was possible to get fabric at a hardware store.

And this is why you should visit the local quilt shops when you are on vacation. So that’s my vacation fabric haul. Not bad, huh? Now I need to go on a fabric hiatus for a bit.

New Fabric (with lots of !!!!!!!!!!)

February 16, 2014UncategorizedAmy Butler Fabric, Anna Maria Horner Fabric, Dear Stella, Denyse Schmidt Fabric, Gina Martin Fabric, ModaBrooklyn Quilting Co.

What makes me happier than new fabric? Not much. And with all of the snow and dreary weather I needed something to put me in a good mood. Fabric can do that for me.

I’ve managed to catch some good sales lately and had to add to my fabric collection. I have no plans for any of these pieces yet, but now I’m starting to dream up some ways to use them.

First up is a little Amy Butler. She is, and will always be, one of my favorites. I love the bright colors in this fabric.

Next is some dreamy Anna Maria Horner. I think the fabric on the far left is my favorite out of everything I got.

Of course some Denyse Schmidt had to happen.

And then I have a few random pieces that I really liked. The one of the far left has a vintage feel to me, which I always love, and I haven’t bought much pink lately so I had to pick up a few pieces. That fabric on the far right is part of the Dear Stella Piper collection. You may remember that I did a quilt last year using Piper, but I did not use/have this design from the collection and I really like it.

By the way, I got the Cream Star Bloom fabric for the back of my Spring Fling quilt and I am working on that now. I love seeing this quilt come together.

Have a great Sunday!