All of the circles are cut from the rayon.  I was a total rebel and didn’t prewash my rayon but if I had used the rayon in a different manner I probably would have pre-washed it.  I say probably because I can be kinda lazy in that department.   I do believe most of my fellow creators on this hop are recommending pre-washing it.

I applied my steam a seam before I cut the circles.  I think that really helped to stabilize the rayon so I didn’t have any trouble cutting.   The circles were then pressed onto some fabulous Art Gallery Fabrics denim, Indigo Shadow.   I can’t even begin to describe how soft and magnificent this denim is.  Go buy some now.

Once the circles were fused onto the denim, I freehand quilted some flower petals around each circle.  I used high contrast thread so it would really stand out on the denim.  I didn’t mark any of these or have much of a solid plan.  I just knew I wanted flowers and I had fun with it.  I had to go over the stitches 3 to 5 times to make sure they really showed up on the denim.  Let’s take a closer look at some of the flowers.  Please ignore the fact that the denim looks black in these pics.  It’s very hard to photograph navy.

And here’s a look at the back which is the beautiful Raspberry Rose Pure Element solid fabric.  You can really see the quilting pop on the back.  I used my favorite Quilter’s Dream wool batting and Superior Threads omni thread on top with Bottom Line in the bobbin.  It just doesn’t get any better than that.

This quilt was a. bit of a challenge for me.  I really wanted to step outside my comfort zone of having a defined plan.  That was very hard and I’m not sure I 100% love my results.  (Don’t start yelling at me.)  As hard as I try, my brain just really struggles with random.  I wanted the circles to be very random clusters of flowers but that quickly turned into four rows of circles.  My brain just couldn’t do it.  LOLOLOLOL

Overall, I loved working with the rayon.  I think it might be little tricky to piece with it but definitely doable.  I’d probably stabilize it first before cutting into it.  I’d love to say I’ll try making clothes with it one day but that would be a lie.  Vicki doesn’t make clothes!  One last tidbit of information…I’ve named this one Gladys.  One special friend knows the underlying meaning.  Can anyone else take guess?  I might have to give you a special prize if you can guess how my brain works.  Bahahahahahaha!!

Be sure to check out all the other wonderful posts on this hop and see all the ways you can use Art Gallery Fabrics Rayon!!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 9 – CRISTY @LOVEYOUSEW_ | Blog here

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10– NICOLE @MODERNHANDCRAFT | Blog here

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11 – SARAH @SARIDITTY | Blog here

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12 – JESY @NEEDLE_INK_AND_THREAD | Blog here

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13 – DANYELLA @MADESEWMODERN | Guest Blog here

MONDAY, OCTOBER 16 – NICHOLE @WILDBOHO | Blog here

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17 – CYNTHIA @CNYTZ51 | Guest blog here

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18 – VICKI @ORCHIDOWLQUILTS | Blog here

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19 – AMANDA @PINKMANDARIN.HANDMADE | Guest Blog here

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20 – JENN @JENNROSSOTTI | Blog here

Hugs!

The post Art Gallery Fabrics Rayon Blog Hop appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.

When I designed my quilt I wanted to do something a bit different so I ended up designing one giant block.  The finished quilt measures 64″ x 64.”

This pattern works great with solids but it would also be a great way to show off your favorite prints!    The best part…it goes together pretty fast.  I love quick projects especially when it comes to piecing.  My friends all know piecing is not my favorite part.  I’d much rather be quilting.

Since quilting is the best part (just pretend like you agree with me) let’s take a closer look at the quilting.

I decided to quilt swirls in the grey background.

Each of the purple sections got some fun, funky feathers.

And one final look at the quilt after it was all quilted but not bound.

I used double batting (cotton plus wool) so my quilting would really pop.  I just love how it turned out.  I hope you all enjoyed seeing a few close ups and in progress quilting pictures.  Now you must go buy a copy of this star-studded book and make all the quilts!!

Hugs!

The post I Love Star Blocks Book Release appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.

Today I have the pleasure of sharing my Argyle Gone Wild quilt that I made using RJR Fabrics Cotton Supreme Solids. I was so excited when Rachael contacted me about joining in on the What Shade Are You Blog Hop.   My brain instantly started racing with ideas of what quilt I should make.

Without further ado…here’s a look at Arglye Gone Wild.

It took me awhile to decide on a color palette. I toyed around with going outside my normal faves but I just couldn’t do it. After all, this hop is all about what shade I am. And anyone who knows me knows I’m all about the aqua.   I think almost everything I make has some form of aqua in it unless I force myself not to use it.

I finally landed on using neon green as the background paired with various shades of pink and aqua. Because every quilt that has aqua really needs a little hot pink!

Here’s a list of the colors I used:

Neon (background)
Hot pink
Lip gloss
Rhododendron
Pink sapphire
Raging ruby
Rio
Sunset Ruby
Jam Jar
Turks and Caicos
Toy boat
Riviera
Proud as a peacock
Horizon
Bora Bora

Seriously, could it get any better? I don’t think so. The next huge obstacle was what pattern I’d use. This was a big decision because I really like doing my own designs but I wanted to make sure I did something really cool. I started browsing my EQ7 files to see what I had and found the perfect drawing. Here’s a look at the original EQ file.

My friends, who know me well, know I don’t really enjoy piecing. I actually kind of hate it. I love quilting. So I wanted to make sure my pattern would showcase the solids and my quilting.   My quilt varied a bit from the original design as far as color placement.

It all started with the piecing. What a chore! It’s always a great idea to make a quilt that has 1 bajllion pieces when you’re on a super tight deadline. There may have been a few choice words along the way. After several days of cutting and piecing I finally had a complete top. I finally got to the part I love. The quilting.

But I was a little stumped because I wanted it to be good. Really good. So the top sat for several days as I pretended the deadline wasn’t looming over my head like a black cloud. I finally loaded it and just started. Sometimes starting is the hardest part. Am I right?

I knew how I wanted to quilt the little aqua and pink squares that formed the chains. And I was pretty sure I needed to use rulers. Hey, why not? Rulers are not my thing. I’m slow, inefficient and usually frustrated by rulers. I generally look like a terrible contortionist as I try to navigate the ruler work. No pressure at all.

Here’s a ruler tip…I marked all my lines to make my ruler work easier. I know I’m not great at getting evenly spaced lines and marking them eliminated the guessing. This added a little time to the process but I feel it was worth it. I used a Dritz Mark B Gone water-soluble pen and removed the lines when the quilt was finished and off the frame. I lightly spritzed with water to erase the marks.

Needless to say the quilting started out slow and continued at a turtle’s pace, for three days. Three long days. After the first day I was certain it would only take 1.2 million hours to quilt it. In reality, it took about 15 hours. That’s practically the same.

This pic shows a close up of the tiny quilting. Those are size 13 stitches. Thank goodness I didn’t have to pick out any stitches. I may have just burned the quilt instead.

I was very deep in the “this is crap” phase of the creative process for most of those 15 hours. It’s very hard to love the quilt during the quilting process. You can’t see the quilt as a whole. You aren’t quite sure if the quilting design is being executed the way you visualized. It’s stressful and makes a person question her abilities.

Naturally I thought this would be a great time to also practice my stitch in the ditch abilities. This was probably not the best idea. I am not a fan of stitch in the ditch. I usually avoid it all costs. But, I forced myself to suck it up and do it. I managed to stay in the ditch most of the time. Ok, some of the time.   Maybe I was practicing my “this is how my stitch in the ditch would look if I were drunk” technique. Sigh. It’s definitely not perfect but it’s not terrible.

I tried another new thing with this quilt. I decided to fuse the label on to the back before the quilting. I hate hand stitching the labels and I figured this would eliminate that step. It was sort of a bust and the label is pretty much a hot mess. The edges lifted and got folded over and quilted down. I’m not sure I’ll do this again unless I piece the label into the backing.   However, that sounds equally as awful as hand stitching a label.

If you look closely you can see I ripped out a few stitches. Of course those stitches were on the label and they left super noticeable holes. Awesome. Maybe I’ll not be lazy and simply hand stitch my labels from now on. Maybe I’ll just use a pen and write directly on the quilt. You never know.

You might be wondering why the quilting looks so defined. I love to double batt my quilts. For this particular quilt I used a layer of Quilter’s Dream orient batting on the bottom with a layer of dream wool batting on top. The wool adds definition and loft to the quilting and really pops it.

Contrary to what most believe, using double batting doesn’t make the quilt as stiff as cardboard. It does add a little weight but I promise it’s still foldable. I normally use cotton batting as the bottom layer of batting but I wanted to experiment with a different combination. I’m hopeful that the dream orient won’t hold a crease when it’s folded. I won’t know for sure until I ship it and see what happens. I’ll let you know. That means you should probably sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss out on the verdict.  Also, my newsletter needs a name so leave a comment with a suggestion if you have one.

I used my favorite thread for the quilting, Superior Threads Omni on top with Bottom Line in the bobbin. I really love this thread combo and I use it 95% of the time.  I get very sad when I can’t. I need Bob, from Superior Threads, to make Bottom Line in all the colors! I matched the thread to the fabrics, neon green, light aqua, dark aqua, hot pink, and light pink. Changing threads isn’t always fun but it’s worth it in the end.

I love the back as much as the front. The quilting really looks amazing if I do say so myself.

In the end, I love this quilt. I actually love it more each time I look at it.   I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share my process with all of you. Rachael and RJR Fabrics have a fan for life. If you haven’t tried the cotton supreme solids, you should! They are amazing.   The rich colors and soft hand make these solids my favorite. I can’t wait to start my next project.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my creation and learning a bit more about my process.

Let’s stay in touch!

Vicki

The post RJR Fabrics: What Shade Are You Blog Hop appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.

I wanted to do something outside my comfort zone for this block so I decided to play around with a little improv piecing {thank you Curley for the idea}.   My friends who know me best know this is way outside my comfort zone.  No, I didn’t fall down and hit my head.  No, I wasn’t drunk.  I was being brave and trying new things.  My bestie, Ida, will be so proud.

Here’s a look at my improv star block.

As you can see, I improv pieced some strips of fabric and then made 4 quarter square triangle (QST) blocks.  I’m pretty happy with my first real attempt at improv piecing.

Now the fun part…how to make one for yourself.

This block finishes at 12″ and all seams are 1/4.”

Cutting directions:

{4} 4.5″ squares of background fabric (grey)

{1} 4.5″ square for center (teal)

{2} 6″ squares of background fabric (grey)

{2} 6″ squares from improv striped fabric (you’ll make this)

Cut multiple strips of different fabrics for the improv section.  You need enough to make a 6.5″ x 12.5″ rectangle.  I cut strips that ranged from 3/4″ to 1.5″ in width.  I also cut my strips at angles and not perfectly straight.  That part is up to you…improv.  Do what makes you happy.

Piecing Instructions:

Piece the strips of fabric and make a 6.5″ x 12.5″ rectangle.  I didn’t even worry about my seams going a little wonky.  I pressed my seams all to the side.  Cut two 6″ squares from this.

You can see my strips aren’t perfectly lined up at the ends.  That’s ok.  Just make sure you have enough length to cut two 6″ squares.

Pair up each improv square with a 6″ square of background fabric to make 4 half square triangles (HST).

Place the squares right sides together and draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the background fabric.  I used a chalk pencil.  You can use anything that you can see.

Sew a line 1/4″ away from the drawn line.  Repeat on the other side.  Then cut the squares apart on the drawn line.

This makes 4 HSTs.  Press toward the background fabric.  Don’t worry about trimming yet.

The 4 HSTs will be paired up to make 4 QSTs.  Pair 2 HSTs and layer them right sides together with the fabrics opposite, background fabric will be touching improv fabric.  Make 2.  In the picture below, I have turned back a corner to show this.

Repeat all of the HST steps to create 4 QSTs, draw the diagonal line, sew on each side, cut apart, and press.  The seams are a bit bulky, starch is your best friend.  It will help the block lay flat.

Square up the QST blocks to 4.5.”  It’s important to line up the ruler so the 2.25″ diagonal mark is on the center of your block (you can see that in my picture below).  In the picture, the 2.25″ is a little black dot that I placed in the very center of my block.  Trim the right side and the top.  Rotate the block and trim the other two sides.

Assembling the block:

Refer to the picture below for the correct layout of your block.    Sew the blocks into rows and then sew the rows together.

All done!

I hope you like this simple improv star and you’ll give it a try.  It was lots of fun to make.

Make sure to check out the other stops on the blog hop to see all the great blocks.

Host: Stephanie @Late Night Quilter

Kathy @Kathys Kwilts and More

Paige @Quilted Blooms

Mary @Strip Quilts Pass it On

Allison @Woodberry Way

Seven @The Concerned Craft

Olusola @Alice Samuel’s Quilt Co.

Ann @Brown Paws Quilting

Jodie @Persimmon + Pear

Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts

Kitty @Night Quilter

Francine @Mochawildchild

Shelley @The Carpenter’s Daughter who Quilts

Jayne @Twiggy and Opal

Geraldine @Living Water Quilter

Shannon @Shannon Fraser Designs

Lisa @Sunlight In Winter Quilts

Jessica @Quilty Habit

Cassandra @The (not so) Dramatic Life

Deanna @Stitches Quilting

Denise @Craft Traditions

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.  Now go get busy and make some blocks!

Vicki

The post Cloud 9 New Block Blog Hop appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.

This is the perfect book if you’re looking for ideas on how to quilt quilts.  The book shows how to use each design in squares, triangles, and borders.  This is very handy for those of us who have trouble visualizing how to change a design to fit a new shape.  The book encourages us to practice quilting designs by first doodling and then quilting.  The doodling helps build muscle memory and makes quilting much easier.   I always encourage quilters to practice quilting by doodling.  It truly helps.

Here’s a peek of one of my favorite designs that I contributed, double 8’s.

The book shows the path used to create this design and how to apply it to squares and triangles.  The possibilities are endless.  Here’s how it looks quilted.

I love to use this super fun design in borders and sashing.  As you can see, I don’t get too worried about making it 100% perfect.  I much prefer keeping my quilting organic and consistently inconsistent.  It adds character and allows me to relax.

This really is a great book to add to your library.  It helps answer that age old question, “How do I quilt this???”

You can read more about the book at over at the Martingale blog and enter for a chance to win a copy.   Do you already have the book?  What do you think?

Now someone slap me and wake me up from this awesome dream so I can get back to work!

Vicki

The post 180 Doodle Quilting Designs appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.

I wanted to play around with a little improv piecing {I stink at it} mixed with some reverse appliqué because, why not?  I made a little quilt using yellow and lots of shades of pinks and aquas.

I’m not exactly sure this turned out how I pictured it in my head but I think I like it.

I started by piecing all my shades of pink and aqua in a random mess.  Looking back I wish I had kept chopping it up and making the pieces smaller.  But, hind sight is 20/20.  Let’s be honest…most of the time I make things two or three times before I’m completely happy.  It’s a sickness.  I’m not generally an improv kind of piecer so I didn’t really know what to expect.  I just knew I wanted to cut away the yellow and be surprised with whatever showed up underneath.

You can see in the picture below that the reverse appliqué leaves a bit of a raw edge.  I really like that look.  It adds texture to the quilt.  I also used a 12 weight aqua thread.  I wanted to add a little more color to the quilting.  

I used a double layer of batting, cotton plus wool, to give more puffiness and definition to the quilting.  I’m pretty much addicted to double batting.  I also used two layers of the yellow fabric because one layer didn’t hide all my seams.  I didn’t want to have any shadowing.  So when it was time to cut away the yellow, I had to cut two layers away instead of one.

I also used four different colors of solids on the back for a little more fun!  This is one colorful little quilt.  

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my efforts but I’m extremely happy with the fabric!  I loved working with the Riley Blake solids and I will definitely use them again in the future.  You should definitely give them a try if you haven’t.

Make sure you check out all the other stops on the blog hop.  You’re sure to find lots of good stuff!

6/27 – A Bright Corner

6/27 – Salty Oat

6/28 – Trillium Design

6/28 – Allison Sews

6/29 – A Quilter’s Table

6/29 – Bonjour Quilts

6/30 – Euphoria Jessica

6/30 – Material Girl Quilts

7/1 – Samelia’s Mum

7/1 – Sassafrass Lane

7/5 – Quilt Matters

7/5 – During Quiet Time

7/6 – Sometimes Crafter

7/6 – Modern Handcraft

7/7 – Orchid Owl Quilts

7/7 – Piece and Quilt

7/8 – Sew Katie Did

7/8 – Tumbling Blocks

7/8 – Leigh Laurel Studios

The post Quilt It Modern Blog Tour appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.

If you know me at all, you know I love all things aqua.  It was a no-brainer for me on which fabrics I would select…all the aqua!!  I also love making mini quilts because they are quick and instant gratification.  Who doesn’t love instant gratification??

I used the white and grey newspaper prints paired with grey hexies.  The aqua hexie print is my pop of color for the mini.  I really love how the aqua stands out against the white and grey prints.  

I decided to quilt swirls and paisleys in the background areas and wavy lines in the aqua and grey hexie fabrics.

I used the awesome stripe-like prints for the binding, adding little pops of aqua for fun.  I decided to utilize the bigger floral print for the backing.  I really love how it turned out.Amanda’s new Desert Bloom fabrics are super fun and amazing.  Make sure you check out all the other stops on the tour to see all the different projects.

June 6th

Riley Blake Designs 

Heidi Staples at Fabric Mutt 

June 7th

Kari Steiger at That’s Sew Kari

Carrie Burnett at Berri Bee Designs

June 8th

Andy Knowlton at A Bright Corner

Allison Dutton at Allison Sews

June 9th

Brenna Turner at Life After Laundry

Vicki Ruebel at Orchid Owl Quilts

June 10th

Jessica Stewart at Snickerdoodle Stew

Carol Swift at Just Let me Quilt

June 13th

Sedef Imer at Down Grapevine Lane

Karen Pratt at Cream Craft Goods

June 14th

Yvonne Fuchs at Quilting Jetgirl

Marissa Fischer at Rae Gun Ramblings

June 15th

Amy Chappell at Ameroonie Designs

Jenny Rodriguez at All Things Belle

June 16th

Sue Daley at Sue Daley Designs

Caroline Press at Trillium Design

June 17th

Melissa Corry at Happy Quilting Melissa

Liz and Elizabeth at Simple Simon

June 18th

Brooke Sellmann at Silly Mama Quilts

Sally Keller at Sally’s Angel Works

A huge thank you to Amanda for inviting me to join in on this fun blog tour celebrating her new line!

Happy quilting!

The post Desert Bloom Blog Tour appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.

On it’s own, my block isn’t the most exciting block ever.  But…the beauty lies in the secondary patterns that are created with multiple blocks.  Plus, it’s a fast block.  And I don’t know about you, but I love fast!It’s also super fun to reverse the navy and white.  In this color variation I also eliminated the peach color and used only 3 colors.  Lot’s of possibilities with this super simple and fast block.  You’re welcome.  Bahahaha

So let’s get to the directions.  {All seams are 1/4″}

Color A {white in my block}:

Cut 6 –  2″ x 2″ squares

Cut 4 – 3.5″ x 3.5″ squares

Cut 4 – 2″ x 5″ rectangles

Color B {navy in my block}:

Cut 4 – 2″ x 2″ squares

Cut 2 – 3.5″ x 3.5″ squares

Color C {pink in my block}:

Cut 2 – 2″ x 3.5″ rectangles

Cut 2 – 3.5″ x 5″ rectangles

Color D {peach in my block}:

Cut 2 – 2″ x 2″ squares

I did a lot of chain piecing so I wasn’t jumping up and down every five seconds to press.  It just makes it go faster.  I also pressed all my seams to the dark side and they nest together perfectly.

First, sew together one 2″ x 2″ color A  and color B. Make two.

Flip one of these units around so the colors are opposite to make a four patch.  Sew together.  Make two four patches.

Sew each four patch to a 3.5″ x 3.5″ color A.  Make two.

Sew together one 3.5″ x 3.5″ color A and color B.  Make two.

Sew these units together per the picture.  Make sure you flip the units so that color B lines up in a diagonal line.  These blocks should measure 6.5″ once sewn together.

Sew together one 2″ x 2″ color A and one 2″ x 3.5″ color C.  Make two.

Sew together one 3.5″ x 5″ color C and one 2″ x 5″ color A.  Make two.  Ok, so I’m human and I totally forgot to take a picture of this one.  But I know you can figure it out.  PS…they are the bottom units in the below picture.

Sew together.

Sew together one 2″ x 2″ color D and one 2″ x 5″ color A.  Make two.

Sew one of these to each unit made in the last step.  Make sure that the color D square is in the opposite corner of the color A square.  Make two.  These should also measure 6.5″ once sewn together.

Now it’s time to assemble the block.  Lay out all four sections like the picture below.

Sew the top blocks together.  Then sew the bottom blocks together.

Join the rows and you are finished!

Now…you should go check out all the other bloggers participating in the hop.  Lots of talented people sharing blocks in this hop.

Host: Stephanie @Late Night Quilter
Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts
Shelly @The Carpenter’s Daughter Who Quilts
Amy @13 Spools
Geraldine @Living Water Quilter
Jan @The Colorful Fabriholic
Sharla @Thistle Thicket Studio
Margo @MY Quilts and Crafts
Jinger @Trials of a Newbie Quilter
Kathryn @Kupitis
Jane @Jolly and Delilah
Josi @Avocado Quilts
Deanna @Stitches Quilting
Lori @SewPsyched!

That’s it from me today…now go sew something!  I’ll be over here trying to work through my big stack of quilts.  :O)

Vicki

The post Chain Mail Block Tutorial appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.

I decided to fill the background space with swirls and added a little petal like detail in the prints.  The swirls are so fun to quilt but they do take quite a bit of time.  I used white thread on the whole quilt.  It blends nicely on the printed fabric.

I think I love the back of this Kismet Quilt just as much, if not more, than the front!  The texture of the quilting really shows up on the back.

I used a double layer of Quilter’s Dream cotton batting.  The batting was doubled because the white linen fabric is fairly thin and we didn’t want the print on the backing to show through.  Double batting did the trick!  I also used Superior Threads Omni thread on top and So Fine in the bobbin.  This is one of my favorite thread combinations.  The thicker Omni thread, 40 weight, looks great on top and the lighter 50 weight So Fine on bottom keeps everything light.  Be sure to try it out sometime.

Happy Quilting

Vicki

The post Kismet Quilt appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.

I used Quilter’s Dream cotton batting and Superior Threads Omni on top and So Fine in the bobbin.

The quilting stands out beautifully on the back of the quilt.

Thanks for looking!

Vicki

The post Octagon Shimmer Quilt appeared first on Orchid Owl Quilts.