Uppercase fabrics by Windham fabrics, basics quilting fabrics
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26 Aug
Fabric, Quilting Interest

For the Love of Fabric: Uppercase

Some fabrics just grab you. I subscribe to the Uppercase magazine, so I saw early last spring that Janine Vangool had designed a fabric collection for Windham. This news made me very excited! The colors and prints are so fresh and basic, I knew from the pictures that I would want this collection. It does not disappoint! You know I love colorful fabric, but my favorites are basic tone-on-tone prints...so easy to mix and match for scrappy looks and great for piecing because the the pattern doesn't interfere with the patchwork design. When I thought about my stash, I immediately knew...

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Archer Quilt pattern with Hoffman fabrics prints, by Sharon McConnell
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09 Apr
Archer Quilt, Finished Quilts, Quilting Interest

Finished! A pretty Archer Quilt

I am really happy to have the opportunity to do some sewing for Quilt Market this spring. My first project is a quilt for Hoffman fabrics using their upcoming collection, Sweet Tea. The fabrics are so feminine and soft, and I think my Archer Pattern is perfect for showing off the coordinating colors and variety of prints. For this version of Archer, I exchange the white and gray strips for navy and seagreen tonal prints from the Sweet Tea collection. The fabrics come in the china blue color way as well as pink and green, but I mixed them all together. I...

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Quilt pattern by Sharon McConnell using Art Gallery fabrics
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17 Oct
Finished Quilts, Quilting Interest

Finished Quilt! Pretty in Pink

Continuing my quest to use spare time between school work and family time to finish some quilts in progress, and this week I had a small success! I made this quilt using my pattern "Talia" (available to download, Here) and fabrics from my stash. I started this one last winter, and am so happy to mark it off the list of "unfinished". Quilting by Darby Myers (Quilted Squid), batting is Hobbs Heirloom, and I used Aurifil thread. I love everything about the fabrics in this quilt...soft pinks and peach, aqua and gray, plus some deep purple. That gorgeous border floral...

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Eclipse quilt piecing, pattern by Sharon McConnell, colorgirlquilts, using fabrics by Tula Pink, Zen Chic, Cotton and Steel
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04 Oct
Quilting Interest, Work in progress

I love Teaching! the Eclipse Class

Had a fabulous time Saturday teaching my Eclipse quilt pattern to a group at Quilt Beginnings in Dublin, Ohio. For my demonstration sample, above, I decided to mix up the original pattern a bit and make my blocks with the pod shapes all different fabrics, rather than using the same print to make a complete circle. I love how this looks! Pam had never sewn curves and is a relatively new quilter, but she took right to it...sewing her blocks without any problems! She is making her Eclipse with Joel Dewberry prints from the same collection that are found in...

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TipsyByColorGirl modern curved quilting pattern with scrappy fabrics
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09 Aug
Curved PIecing, Tipsy Quilt

New Pattern to Sew! Tipsy Quilt

It's almost the end of summer break, kids are going back to school and we can see more sewing time in our near future! I know many quilters feel intimidated by sewing curved patchwork, but if you are ready to try this fun technique, Tipsy is the quilt pattern for you. Easy curves go together in a breeze and a versatile block that can be Tipped and Turned to create you own unique quilt. Tipsy is the newest pattern now available to download and start sewing today from my pattern shop and on Craftsy. The Tipsy pattern includes full instructions and...

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how to make super simple modern sampler quilt blocks with squares, tutorial
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11 May
Free Quilt Blocks, Free Quilt Patterns, Super Simple Sampler Quilt Blocks

Simple Sampler Block #33

  Welcome to the last week of the Super Simple Sampler series of 6" block tutorials! By the end of this week, we will have 36 blocks to make our sampler quilt. This month I didn't choose a theme, so we will have a variety of blocks, using all the techniques we've done so far: flying geese, triangles, squares and strips. Check out the tutorials for all the blocks, click Here. To start, we have a very simple block using just squares, but it makes a fun pattern and good way to use small scraps. Here is how to make the...

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unidentified quilt by Sharon McConnell, featured in Quilt Now magazine
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07 May
Finished Quilts, Spectrum Quilt

An Unidentified Quilt

    You can't go wrong with polka dots on quilts, right? I would like to introduce you to my "Unidentified" quilt, in all its polka dot, bright colorful splendor! Now, I know it seems like I have had tons of finished quilts to show lately, and before you get too impressed, you have to understand that many of them were made over the course of the past year. I made this quilt last June (almost a year!) and I am so happy to finally share it.   "Unidentified" is featured in this month's issue of Quilt Now, hitting subscribers this week in...

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Aviatrix medallion quilt by Sharon McConnell
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29 Apr
Aviatrix Medallion Quilt, Work in progress

Aviatrix Medallion: X and + Border

It seems my sewing time has been short lately, but I really wanted to squeeze in this quick "finish": the X and + block border on my Aviatrix Medallion quilt. I posted previously about how much fun these blocks are and they are really cute all by themselves (you may have seen whole quilts made of these blocks, they are pretty popular for good reason). I decided for this round of the medallion to focus on pink and green alternating for the X and do all the plus shapes in navy blue. I feel like this is a pretty...

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Jumping Jacks quilt pattern in skopelos fabric for Art Gallery Fabrics
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21 Apr
Quilting Interest, Work in progress

Quilts in Progress: Skopelos Fabrics

I am working on a project that seems like it has been planned for ages! Last fall, when Art Gallery Fabrics was previewing their new fabric collections, I fell in love with Skopelos by Katarina Rocella. I submitted a quilt design idea to one of the magazine editors I work with, then I worked on other quilts for over six months with this quilt always on my to-do list. Waiting for the fabric to arrive.... Finally, happily, that quilt just needs binding and will be shipped off for official photography this week. But, in the process of all this, I...

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Archer Quilt by Sharon McConnell with Etno fabrics by Pat Bravo
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06 Apr
Finished Quilts

Finished Quilt! Featuring New Etno Fabric

Sometimes the best things come from a spontaneous action, by jumping in to try something new, and working quickly. When Pat Bravo invited some sewers to create with her new fabric collection, Etno, from Art Gallery Fabrics, I sketched out a design, started cutting and sewing...and created an instantly favorite quilt (in record time for this slow sewer, too)! I was inspired by the ethnic, tribal feel of the fabric prints to try a new (to me) shape. I felt like this triangle would be just right to show off the beautiful fabrics as well as create a dynamic-looking patchwork...

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