Jun 25, 2013

New Quilts –and Other Updates–from Previous Darra Posts (and a Giveaway)

It’s hard to believe that by early next week, the first half of 2013 will be history. (Wait!? Didn’t we just take down the holiday decorations?) On the plus side: the halfway mark seems a good time to update you on a few of my previous posts with news and new quilt photos. Here goes:

The popular Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts

Update #1: One of the quilts that inspired my recent two-part post (April 9 and April 12) on the zigzag or streak of lightning set (and that encouraged me to finish my own in-progress, zigzag-set Churn Dash quilt top), was a quilt I spotted on Pinterest. It was designed by Edyta Sitar, of Laundry Basket Quilts, and I fell in love with its dainty 3 1/2″ Basket blocks and zigzags in alternating colors. I intended to contact Edyta for permission to include it in my posts, but Last-Minute LuLu that I am, I cut my deadline too close. Still, I couldn’t get that quilt out of my mind.

After playing a bit of email tag, Edyta and I did finally connect, and she’s pleased to share her quilt with our See How We Sew readers. Little Baskets is an outstanding example of my favorite set from one of today’s most popular and talented designers.

Little Baskets by Edyta Sitar/Laundry Basket Quilts

The story doesn’t end there. Little Baskets is available as a pattern, and we’ll be giving one away to a lucky SHWS reader. Leave a comment by noon Thursday, June 27, telling why you’d like to add this pattern to your library and we’ll announce a winner in our Friday, June 28 post.

Update #2: Last September, I posted a “sneak peek” of Rubber Duckies, one of 11 baby-quilt patterns in the book, Cuddle Me Quick, which I co-authored with my friend, Chris Porter. Recently, in need of a quilt to welcome a friend’s newborn daughter, Chris remade Duckies, switching out the blues and blue greens of my original for a sweet pink palette, and introducing gray prints for a very current color scheme. I love it, don’t you?

A pink version of Rubber Duckies, made by Chris Porter from the book, Cuddle Me Quick; photo by Neil Porter

Update #3: I’m really excited about this next one! As I write this, the current (August) issue of The Quilt Life magazine is just hitting mailboxes, quilt shops, and newsstands. The theme of this issue is Playtime, and it features an article (on page 40) about my 30-minutes-of-creative-play pledge. The piece includes over a dozen of my little 3″ x 5″ collages (some not seen before in my SHWS posts), and two larger pieces, including one on the table of contents page.

The new (August 2013) issue

To complement the article, The Quilt Life is running a simple tutorial via its website that shows you how to make and finish the basic 3″ x 5″ background “canvas.” Here’s the link for the download. Of course, in preparing the step-by-step photos, I needed to make a new collage.

Cherries Jubilee (3″ x 5″) by Darra Williamson; tutorial on The Quilt Life website

I hope you’ll check out both the magazine and the website tute. These little collages are great for trying out new designs and techniques, and can lead to bigger things.

Cattails (7 1/2″ x 10″) by Darra Williamson; a slightly larger piece inspired by one of my 3″ x 5″ experiments

Larger still: Sunflowers (7″ x 20″ approx) by Darra Williamson; private collection

Update #4 (sorta): From time to time, my thoughtful husband emails me an image to brighten the start of my day or week, to make me smile, and/or to inspire or simply delight me. This past Sunday, I found the photo below waiting in my morning email. It was taken in my neighbor’s garden, where the artichokes are flowering. Although not an update on one of my posts, I think it’s a perfect complement to that lovely purple door in Laura’s Friday post. (Plus, purple is my favorite color!)