Chatterbox Quilts Chitchat

Friday, June 7, 2013

Book Review - Fresh from the Prairies

Hi everyone:

I'm really excited about Fresh from the Prairies 12 Quilts That Capture the Spirit of the West as I've been waiting for its release since I met the authors, Devon Lavigne and Sharon Smith at a quilt show a year ago. I finally managed to get a copy of their first book from Sharon and Devon at the Heritage Park Festival of Quilts. It was definitely worth the wait!

Fresh from the Prairies by Devon Lavigne and Sharon Smith
Photo courtesy of www.pickledish.com

Inspired by the Alberta prairies (yup, these are Alberta gals), Devon and Sharon have created 12 quilts using traditional blocks with fresh colours. While the samples might use reproduction prints and florals - fairly traditional fabrics - Devon and Sharon throw in unexpected bursts of colour to give their designs a fresh, modern look.

Wagons West from Fresh from the Prairies
Photo courtesy of www.pickledish.com

The patterns in the book are mostly pieced, with a few foundation pieced designs and range from beginner to intermediate in difficulty. They are scrappy in nature, but a controlled scrappy so that the block designs are evident. What makes these designs "work" is the use of variety, value and rest that Devon and Sharon use in each project and that they explain at the beginning of the book. Each project also has helpful tips and information pertinent to constructing that particular quilt.

Detail from Fresh from the Prairies
Photo courtesy of www.pickledish.com

I appreciated the diagrams and detailed instructions included in the book and enjoyed the quilt names, such as "Cowboy Up" and "Showdown". I also liked that the table of contents included the quilt photos with the names, along with the difficulty level, so I could see all the projects at a glance. Detailed photos of each of the quilts are included in the pattern instructions, which allowed me to see the fabrics as well as the quilting details. Of course the wonderful prairie photographs added the final touch to the book.

If you enjoy scrappy quilts with a modern twist, you'll enjoy Fresh from the Prairies. For more of Devon and Sharon's work, "like" their Facebook page.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Add Some Heat with Sweet Dreams

Hi everyone:

My last post was about the Heritage Park Festival of Quilts. I was helping out at the Quilter's Connection magazine booth and did a demo of my latest pattern, Sweet Dreams. I'm pleased to let you know that this design is available as a FREE pattern on my website for the next 2 months.

Sweet Dreams by Chatterbox Quilts

It's my first pattern using my HEAT process: Hand Embroidery Appliqué Technique. This fusion of two techniques (hand embroidery and fusible web appliqué) has been a natural evolution of the work that I've been doing over the past year or so.

My first love is appliqué, specifically fusible web appliqué, since it's fast and easy - my two favourite words when I'm referring to quilting, but I've been drawn more and more to hand embroidery recently. I also find this fast and easy, although I don't think it would be as quick if I were doing an entire embroidery project. So, how am I using hand embroidery in an appliqué project, you ask? Well, let me tell you...

Detail of Sweet Dreams

I use hand embroidery as an enhancement to my appliqué project. Some appliqué details are too small to be made from fabric, so I add hand embroidery stitches for these finer details.

Detail of Sweet Dreams

I typically use perle cotton in various weights, but embroidery floss works as well. I guess I'm just a perle cotton snob! I also find that I can add so much more texture and interest to a project with just a few simple embroidery stitches and they really don't take much time to complete.

Moon and star details of Sweet Dreams

I hope you'll download Sweet Dreams and try my HEAT process. If you've never tried hand embroidery before, this is a great project to introduce you to this technique. Don't forget to download it before the end of July 2013, since it will no longer be available as a free pattern after that date.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Quilts - Rain or Shine

Hi everyone:

Not even the deluge of rain that Calgary recently experienced could dampen the enthusiasm of quilters for a quilt show. The Heritage Park Festival of Quilts was a little wetter than usual, but the sun did eventually come out for a beautiful Sunday so that quilts could be hung outside for all to enjoy.

Some of the quilts on the Wainwright Hotel balcony

Heritage Park is a 1910 prairie railway town in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When you enter Heritage Park, you take a step back in time and can imagine what life would've been like in the early 1900's. I can't imagine a more appropriate venue for the Festival of Quilts, which is held annually on the last week-end in May. This year there were over 800 quilts on display.

I was helping out at the Quilter's Connection magazine booth for the week-end, but did manage to sneak in some quilt viewing and shopping (just a bit).

Heather McArthur of Quilter's Connection magazine

On Saturday I was able to chat with the Prairie Quilt Mercantile gals, Devon and Sharon. They've just released their first book, Fresh from the Prairies, and I was fortunate enough to snag a copy. I love the quilts in this book - so traditional, yet fresh. I'll have a review of their book in a future blogpost.

Sharon Smith and Devon Lavigne from Prairie Quilt Mercantile

As the weather wasn't very cooperative on Saturday and very few quilts were hung outside, I saved most of my quilt viewing until Sunday. My buddy, Lee of Lala's Lovelys accompanied me as we enjoyed the quilts and the sun. Here are a few of my favourite quilts.