Is it horrid or fun and funky?

I have a friend who has made over a dozen Yellow Brick Road quilts. She loves that pattern. I can't even imagine doing the same pattern over and over.  I like to try new things. However, sometimes I will redo a pattern. With that said,  I surprised myself when I finished my fourth version of Happy Trails by Connie Feller.

I believe I ordered this pattern many years ago from Keepsake Quilting. I liked that it had a finished block of 12 x 12, and that you could feature a large print fabric. The first quilt I made, was a Christmas quilt.  I had this interesting fabric of Santa in his sled, and wanted a quilt with him flying through the sky. Most of the blocks feature a snow village, but three featured Santa in his sled.

Santa flying through a snow filled sky.

Christmas Trails

 I think this quilt worked because of feature fabric, which was the neutral snow village. Nothing really shouts out and even the Santa and his sled compliment the base fabric.

The second quilt I made with Happy Trails was an autumn quilt from batiks.  The surrounding blocks picked up the colors from the sunflower fabric. This seems to be the trick to making the best quilts with this pattern. The pattern it's self does not dominate the quilt. The fabrics are the star.

Autumn Trails.

I recently finished two new quilts using this pattern. The first will be a Christmas gift from my youngest (an adult). He is interested in space, the cosmos and planets, etc. I wanted a quilt that looked like the night sky. I found several fabrics on E-Quilter that fit the theme. I think that I achieved my goal and can't wait to quilt it.

Space Trails

Quilt detail.

In this quilt the fabric is the star, but one fabric does not necessarily overwhelm the others. They blend together to create the overall look of an evening sky.

That takes us to the final quilt. Is it horrid? Is it funky and fun?  This quilt featured a piece of fabric I've had for many year. It features a farm and barn and that resembles my mother's home and barn on SR 138 in Highland County, Ohio.  I've considered this fabric for several quilts, but could never find the pattern that showed off the fabric. I didn't want to cut up the house or the barn.

I finally took the plunge and cut the fabric. I was able to fancy cut the houses and barn. However I was not really satisfied with the way this quilt came together. Once cut, there was not much else that could be done, so I put the quilt together. The jury is still out on this one. I did not add the last border, so it is a lap size. This is probably the least favorite quilt I have made.

The trail to grandma's house.

It remains to be seen if the quilting can save this quilt. It's a lot too busy for me. I will quilt it and keep it, only because the house and barn so closely resembles my mother's home. There are many good memories evoked by that fabric. Part of me thinks this is the most horrid quilt I have ever made. Another part thinks it kind of fun.

You know the saying about not crying over spilled milk. I think it's the same for cut fabric. I'll let this quilt sit for a while. I may go back and add the outside border. Who knows, it may become a favorite. One of the kids may adopt it, because they also have some great memories of the farm, barn and apple trees. Perhaps it's not so horrid after all.

Is there another Happy Trails in my future? It's hard to predict. I think it's time to put this pattern aside and move on. I still have to finish Cathedral Stars and have not even started last fall's Mystery with Bonnie Hunter. And my oh my, the 2016 Row by Row Experience has started. Time to try something new.

Coming events: Will the stars aline with Cathedral Stars or will the 2016 Row by Row Experience win out?

Road trips and buying fabric on-line.

I love shopping for fabric on line. I know that this does not make sense to some, who like to touch (or pet as one friend calls it) their fabric. I understand the concern about quality when you  shop on line. I have discovered that once you know your manufacturers you can be assured that quality standards are maintained. If I am shopping and see something  by an unfamiliar manufacture I might purchase smaller quantities, say 1/2 yard, and test it to see how I like it. That being said, I am always up for a road trip to a fabric store.

After months and months of my co-worker, Linda Sansone, telling me you have to go to Fabric Shack, I agreed. Fabric Shack is located in historic Waynesville, Ohio. I am familiar with them because they also have an on-line store. Still I must admit fabric stores are delightful places to visit. Fabric Shack is a wonderland of fabric and other quilting supplies. They have a great selection and wonderful people. There are fabrics floor to ceiling, and books, books, books, (my weakness). I had only intended to purchase some complimentary fabric for a quilt I want to start. I was a yard short and did find something that worked well.  Did I stop there? Of course not! I lost control in the Christmas Fabric section. I purchased a sweet little snowman fabric, a few complimentary fabrics, and this pattern.

The inspiration

 I am making a Christmas quilt using the pattern Square Dance by Gigi's Thimble. I plan to use the snow men for the 5" squares. I have a off white Moda Grunge to frame the squares. As you can see, the center blocks are framed by smaller blocks (sort of like a square dance). So I have some green grunge and a print from the Aspen Spirit to go along. I may add a border or make the quilt 3 sections wide. I am not sure. I only know I want it larger, so I will change it in some way. I'm sure I have more fabric in my stash if I decide to make the pattern larger....and of course I can order on-line.

Aspen Spirit by Moda

Speaking of on-line shopping. Here are the highlights of my favorite places to order fabric on line.

Fabric Shack:
Since I just returned from there today,  I will start with  Fabric Shack. There are lots of things to like about this site. One thing is they seem to have the entire collection of a fabric. For example this summer I did Tula Pink's quilt Tranquil Waters. This was the only site that had the entire collection. I was able to order everything I needed at one time. It seemed to be the same for the Aspen Spirit line. And if it's Moda, I bet they have it. There is a quick turn around and their shipping is very reasonable. Finally they have something called a sell-abration on their site. This is name brand fabric at under $5 a yard. This week I discovered I needed two more yards of fabric (there is a pattern developing here) for a project. I checked all my usual sites and it was half off here. This sale is only for on-line purchases.


E-Quilter.com:

I admit I am hooked to this site. It has the best selection I've seen. There are many fun features to help you design that special project, or build your stash. There is a "find this color" feature, related fabrics tabs and patterns where you can paste selections from your wish list in the pattern to try out different looks. There is a design page to display your wish list or chart so you may check out how your selections work together. They have a clearance tab, and sometimes will have 40% off on blenders or other categories of fabric. At times they have free shipping offers. I also like the description for each fabric selection. It is very detailed and tells you the names of the colors used in each selection. This helps when trying to create your own collection.

The fabrics are full price, which may seem pricey at times. But, everything I purchased from this site has been excellent in quality. They have fabric I have not found on other sites. Lastly a portion of all sales goes to charity and you can designated which of the groups to support with your purchase.

Fabric.com
The last site I frequently used is Fabric.com. What attracted me to this initially was that any shipping is free on orders over $35.00. They have a huge selection and their prices are reasonable. The clearance tabs are a great way to build a stash. They have good quality fabric.

Since I don't know what I am doing, I can't figure out how to insert the links for these sites.. Sometimes I do it right, sometimes I don't. Today is not my day I guess.These are easy to locate on-line so I am sure there will be no problems giving them a once over if you are so inclined.

Well my shopping is done. I am waiting for a few orders to arrive and will begin a baby quilt for a co-worker. The next month for Craftsy BOM is around the corner. And rumor has it Bonnie Hunter will post the fabric requirements for her next Mystery Quilt in October. Oh, happy, happy, happy days.