Monday, August 24, 2015

A new quilt with Bright Heart by Amy Butler and a Giveaway!

This Giveaway is Now Closed!


The first time I ever used fabrics by Amy Butler was back in 2005. I wasn't so much into buying fabrics and definitely not aware of designers and manufacturers. I would see fabrics I like, buy in minimum yardage allowed by the fabric shops and mix them with my own stash (which was also minimal) at home. 

Few months after my Houston trip, Amy and I decided to do a little collaboration. I offered to make a quilt with her fabrics. When Bright Heart collection arrived in the mail, I was excited to show how floral prints would work with free-form blocks. I chose ''Lattice'' pattern from my book so the quilt would look like a view outside my windows during summer months. I decided to also add a few shot cottons to create the background for prints to spark.

Amy's Bright Heart Collection inspired by her visit to Mexico and people she connected with. Name of her fabric line pretty much describes her as I know her. Bright at heart and grounded.

Here is the quilt made with Bright Heart Quilting Cotton - Cap One ''grounded''


Outlining the lattice and filling in the background with simple stippling was a way to go for this quilt.


It allowed me to create enough texture and dimensions to the quilt and gave it see through effect.


Most of the fabrics in this colorway were medium tone, I wanted to keep the quilt as soft as possible so instead of adding darker solids I went with light and medium tones of shot cottons. 

First time I ever used Amy Butler's fabrics was for my Wagon Wheel quilt. Although the whole quilt was not exclusively made with her fabrics, they gave me a great start. One of my first ''not so straight'' quilt was made using Denise Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy. It was made with wonky squares and few tiny triangles tossed all over the quilt. I called that pattern Box of Candies. I think that quilt gives a nice contrast to Amy's lush fabrics.

Here is some photo fun!





August is my birthday month. I would like to end this month on a happy note by giving away a copy of my book Cultural Fusion Quilts. If you win it you can not only make the Lattice Quilt but 14 other fun, free-form quilts from the book!

All you have to do is tell a friend about the giveaway and leave a comment after you visit Amy Butler's website.

Answer one of the following questions.
What was one of the designing decisions for this quilt?
Which one is your favorite Cap from Bright Heart Collection?
 
I will ship a signed copy anywhere in the world so everyone is welcome to enter. If you already have my book (I hope you do!) I am sure your sister or a friend would love a copy!

If you haven't heard of my book... WHAT??? Well then, grab a cup of tea and spend some time here, you have a lot to catch up!

I will announce a winner next Monday. Make sure I have your email I can't reach you if you are a no-reply blogger!

Good Luck!
Sujata

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Recap of visit to St. Louis and Lyme Disease

I had a wonderful time in St. Louis presenting and teaching this past weekend. The guild members were generous with their time and turnout was quite flattering. Total of 120 quilt enthusiasts including non members showed up for the lecture. I enjoyed showing my slides from India and sharing the stories behind them.

Thank you Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild for the invite and your hospitality! Mary Ellen did an amazing job taking care of me! Thank you Mary Ellen for spending time with me.

Julie Sefton of Me and My Quilts - Exploring the Possibilities also drove from Tennessee to attend the lecture and workshop. It is always nice to meet my blogger friends when I travel, it makes me feel like I am surrounded by family members. Julie also brought some of her quilts she has been making from my book. It was a pleasure to see them in person! 


In the workshop on Saturday we had some rail fence fun! We explored different possibilities with the rail fence units.

While some blocks were definitely intentional,

Layout shown in the book Explored by Jezalle
zigzagging rail fence by Mary Ellen
Layout shown in the book - Blocks made by participants in the class
There was one that was all about exploring the possibilities. Or as we call it a  happy accident!

This was made by Louis. She described herself as a very much of a straight line quilter, a perfectionist. She decided to take the class after my presentation wanting to try something new!

Fabulous ''mistake'' made by Louis
All of us liked it so much so that some decided to repeat the ''mistake''!


Most of my students ended up making at least four blocks. At the end of the class there were enough blocks to make a queen size quilt!


Photograph by Jaya Parker
Here is me in action! I decided to dress Indian for the presentation. I thought it would fit the theme better ;-) I also met up with couple of Indian quilting friends I know.

 
Here are my two helpers showing the difference between traditional and free-form half square triangles. Julie brought her dazzling hst quilt for comparison. Thank you Julie!

Quilts made by Julie Sefton and Sujata Shah
 Did I say it was a full house?
Five minutes before the lights went off
One of the things I always like to do when I am up in the air is to stare at the clouds. They calm me down, help me focus before and after the events. 

Somewhere over Washington D.C.
How about this shot? I had never seen the Washington Monument from this angle.


It's nice to be home. I definitely need to take it easy for next couple of weeks or as much as I can.

Something I don't believe I had mentioned here earlier. When I was in Maryland for MAQ, I had noticed a rash on my body. After coming home I rushed to the doctor and was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. I have had four weeks of antibiotics in my system and still have plenty of lingering effects. All in all, I work when I can and rest most of the time. That's also the reason I have been slow at responding to your emails, making quilts and starting new projects. Hopefully these symptoms will go away soon. Until then, I am dreaming of quilts and working on few bits of fabrics at a time.

Have a great rest of the week sewing, gardening, traveling and lazying.
Sujata 




Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Birthdays and upcoming classes in St. Loius and Seattle area

and all sorts of randomness...


On Monday night I received a text from an old friend/neighbor which I have to share today.

Unfortunately, I have not gone to many quilt shops and book stores to check if they are carrying my book so it is always nice to see when someone mentions seeing it at a shop.

She was visiting a quilt shop in McMinneville, Oregon and spotted my book!



There it is! Just sitting happily!

Speaking of quilt shops, In addition to Organized Chaos I have added another class while I am in Seattle. For those of you who have asked, here is the link to the website for the class at Quiltworks Northwest in Bellevue, WA. This is the place I worked and taught classes before moving to PA. I can not wait to go back and teach there.

I hope to see you there!

We just got back from visiting Toronto for few days. My sister surprised her husband for his 60th birthday.  All of his close friends were there along with most of the family members. His party happened to be the day before Shail and my birthday. It was nice to be able to see my son on our birthday. We needed to have our selfie to mark his 24th and my 52nd birthday don't you agree?

Kavita joined us from her month long trip on the west coast. She spent volunteering on farms in Oregon and Washington state as her summer experience. I am pretty proud of her.

At the end of the trip she visited her brother Gautam, who sent me this cutest little elephant for a birthday gift.. He printed it on his 3D printer! I am still baffled and impressed by it! This thing came out of a printer!!!


I think he is a yogi!


and a kid at heart!


 A new quilt is in the making!


Last week I made a little quilt for my younger sister. Like me, she loves house plants and gardening. Last time I visited her, she had asked me to bring something small to put under her planter on the fireplace.


All the scraps came out of this quilt. Now bits and pieces of Daffodils and Winter quilts live at my sister's house.


Speaking of Daffodils, I have hired backyard birds to keep an eye on my garden this year.  









 


I am off to St. Louis to speak at Thimbles and Thread quilt guild for the weekend. We are making Rail Fence quilt. Can't wait!

Have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend!
 



Monday, August 3, 2015

This and That

I am working through my stash to pick out the fabrics for the Rail Fence QAL.
Got a bit distracted!

I had a draw just few lines.

This morning I was looking for some old pictures and spotted this image of a very loved antique quilt. Check out the triangles.

Freeform blocks!




They were 3/4 inch small! Amazing, right?

I so admire the patience of quilt-makers of that generation!

Enter to Win Bernina 455 QE Kaffe Edition

Hey everyone! It has been a while! I have to share some great news! I have some great giveaway announcement!     Alex and Ricky at TheQuiltS...