Highlighter Rocks with Sunflowers & Lemons

Happy Friday!

This week really flew by...Quilt Con is just around the corner and I am just about ready to go. A few more bundles to fold this weekend. Today I wanted to share with you my Highlighter Rocks with Sunflowers & Lemons Quilt.

Highlighter is Kona Cottons Color of the Year!

I found photographs a huge inspiration for my Highlighter quilt since the color was so hard for me to grasp. It makes me pucker and smile at the same time. By looking for photographs that used that color it started me thinking about palettes to play with. I came across an abstract painting with yellows and grays, drawings of lemons, sunflowers and yellow doors.

These photos inspired the palette and then I began playing with ideas for design. I carry an embroidered pouch with me full of colorful rocks and it got me started on the “rock” idea for the quilt. Rocks of course, because they are gray and that was a part of the palette. Inspiration can come from so many different things and when all those little bits come together a quilt design emerges. Next came pulling together the gray rocks and the yellow stripped background to give the quilt subtle lines and movement - similar to the color essence in the abstract paintings. The goal was to balance out the intensity of Highlighter but still make it the dominate color of the quilt. The top is just part of the quilt, quilting can stand out or blend in depending on your motif and color of thread. I wanted a little of both because I just had to quilt sunflowers and lemons.

This is a free pattern at Robert Kaufman...soon! Like in the next week they will have it up to download.

Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments about Mystic and all the blogs that I did this last month about Morocco. I loved getting to share all of it with you.

Have a great weekend!!

XOXO

Valori

PS The 3 bundle winners have been emailed.....

The Souks of Marrakesh...

The Souks....

A combination the entire Mystic collection and Kona Cottons.....

The Souks is the open air marketplace in the medina (center)  of Marrakesh.... it is a maze of tiny stalls and vendors with every possible product you could need....I barely touched the surface of the Souks and was a little confused as to where I was but after a couple of visits I was able to find my way around. It is one of the most interesting aspects to the city...people watching...smells.... colors.... textures.... sounds...it hits every sense and then some. The souks may seem confusing but they are very well organized by product.... dyers area, food, leather, etc. The strips in the design of the quilt connect to each other in some places but not quite in others creating a maze sort of feel but yet it is very organized it felt like the Souks.

My quilting is a maze of quilting to showcase the Souks....

Here are a few of my favorite images from the Souks....

This would be one of my favorites!!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of my trip to Morocco....the trip changed my life and I am so very grateful!!! 

Last weeks bundle winner.... Jenny (you have been emailed)!

Ok - I have three fat 1/4 bundles of the entire collection of Mystic.... leave a comment and next week I will announce the winners!!!

Have a great week!!

XOXO

Valori

Mystic Blue

Happy Friday!!!

It is a beautiful blue sky day here in Sisters...perfect day to share with you my Mystic Blue quilt that is made out of the blue palette in the Mystic collection and Kona Cottons.

This quilt is a mixture of design elements seen in the rugs and the variety of blues you experience while visiting Morocco.

I already love blue... and now I am completely enamored by blue....

I really enjoyed quilting this quilt... embracing the solid areas for Moroccan elements of design.

Mystic Blue will be a Sewing Card available late January.

And now for Moroccan blue inspiration....

The Riad Idra in Marrakesh.

The doors...

Amy and I....

Jardins Majorelle - this garden was incredible with the marjorelle blue everywhere.

How could you not fall in love with blue!??

The winner of the last blog post is Ann (you have been emailed)...

A bundle of blue Mystic up for a giveaway... Just leave a comment and the winner will be picked on Tuesday....

XOXO

Valori

Flying Carpet

Happy Saturday....

This is Flying Carpet, one of the four quilts made out of Mystic Fabric, for Robert Kaufman.

Flying Carpet was inspired by the rugs and carpets in Morocco.

The variety of styles and colors were amazing....each style representing a tribe or area in Morocco.

No rug was exactly the same because they were usually made by one woman - their skills passed down from generation to generation and no pattern is used just their knowledge. I loved that you could see two rugs from the same village with similar patterns still be very different.

I had to include this cute little guy. Kitties are well revered in Morocco... they take care of the rodents since most of the markets and homes are open air. You will find them everywhere.... I was in heaven.

In honor of Flying Carpet I am giving away a fat 1/4 bundle of the "extract" palette....just leave a comment below and the winner will be chosen on Monday. My manor of choosing winners is not scientific, I collect the number of comments (say 35) and write them on little pieces of paper and let one of the kids draw. So it really is quite random. Don't worry this isn't your only chance to win....I will be giving away a bundle of fabric with each quilt.

Hope you have a great weekend!

xoxo

Valori

The flying carpet pattern will be available mid January from The Stitchin' Post.

Interrupting the silence...

I am interrupting the recent silence on my blog (haha) to talk about a friend of mine’s new book. I am very lucky to be friends with some amazing people in our industry and Sarah Filke is one of them. Sarah is a resident of Australia. She came and taught at Quilter’s Affair last summer and was given rave reviews from her students.

I am excited to share with you her new book… Old Quilts, New Life

 

In this book Sarah selected 9 quilts from the American Folk Art Museum in New York and used them as the inspiration for her 18 quilts. She asked me if I had a favorite antique quilt that I would like to share…. Why yes I do!

I love this quilt! The contrasting fabric used in the chevrons intrigued me. I loved the varying widths of the rows and how the fabrics were all over the place but the way they are arranged made the quilt work. (I was privileged to see it in person at the Houston International Quilt Show in the Kaffe Fassett showcase.) I was so inspired by this quilt and my recent collection of fabric Mystic, inspired by Morocco, that I had to make something.

My something is this….

The Souks

The souks are the market place in the center of Marrakesh that I enjoyed winding through, finding treasures and seeing the craftsmen at work. The colors are vivid and the smell at times intense but so full of life I found myself sucked into a magical place.

The antique chevron quilt was a maze of color but yet felt organized…. That is the Souks!

Stay tuned for more about the Souks of Marrakesh and the new Mystic fabric!

XO

Valori

Color of the Week... GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Color of the Week started with my collection of fabric, Blueprint Basics, and the desire to share my color inspiration through photography. I mixed in some Kona Cotton Solids to complete the color spectrum. The 52 weeks were split into the four seasons...

Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter....

I designed a quilt for each season ending with a trip around the world quilt, Celebration, that uses all 52 pieces.

All of these quilts are free pattern downloads on Robert Kaufman...(left to right: Winter, Spring, Celebration, Summer, Autumn)

To Celebrate the Color of the Week I have 12 of these babies to give away, 52 fat 1/4's in each bundle....

To be entered in the giveaway just tell me what your favorite Color of the Week was? I will close the giveaway next Sunday night and pick 12 winners next Monday.

Thanks for your support!

XOXO

Valori

Color of the Week... Cactus

Cactus

This yummy green Kona Solid reminds me of spring green. The new sprouts of wild flowers...young grass and moss. I am so looking forward to spring and gardening...

Had to show a bit of one of mom's quilts. As this green is what we call "Jean green" at the shop.

There are only 3 more weeks of Color of the Week. I can't believe it has almost been a year since I started this blog series. Stay tuned as I have some FABULOUS giveaways!

I have loved doing Color of the Week and have decided to continue with a weekly blog of Inspiration! 

Have a great day!

XOXO

Valori

Color of the Week.... Basil

Basil

Kona Cotton Solid

Basil....a dark, rich green.

A great color to use as a dark in quilts rather than black or dark blue. Sometimes it is good to take a look at our common go to colors and push your comfort zone. Of course it makes me hungry for Tomato, Basil and Motzerella on a warm sunny afternoon in August.

Have a great day!

Try something out of your comfort zone today...

XOXO

Valori

Colored Happy....

I am very excited to introduce you to Colored Happy... My quilt for the Kona 30th Anniversay.

I absolutely LOVE this quilt. Several years ago I found this magazine clipping of pillows that I thought would make a great quilt. The images has been tacked to my inspiration board ever since.

With all the 303 Kona Colors this was th perfect design to play with color. I fell in love with the new Kona solids and used them as my starting off point. The block itself is very easy to construct. It was a matter of playing with color. I choose 8 different color stories for the 25 blocks. This meant one of the color stories would have 3 blocks. I felt like this would set the balance of color just perfectly. (and I have a thing for odd numbers)

My biggest challenge Colored Happy was the quilting.....it is one of my favorite parts of the quilting process. There are times I run into a wall on what designs to quilt. I wanted to have the quilting add to the color and design of the quilt but not take over. With the variety of colors in the quilt how could I just pick one color to quilt with....I couldn't, so there are lots of colors in the quilting. The quilting designs are a mixture of "pebbles", curved organic shapes, and funky flowers.

The Kona 30th Anniversary Look Book....

 

Check out all of the beautiful quilts made by fabulous designers for the Kona 30th Anniversary Celebration.

The folks at Robert Kaufman are generously giving away Kona Charm pack with each blog posting over the 30 days. I picked the packet of new colors to give away to some lucky reader. Just leave a comment and you will go into a drawing to win this beauty....A great start to making Colored Happy. Colored Happy is a free pattern that can be downloaded from Robert Kaufman. (the give away is open for 24 hours starting at 10 a.m. pacific time Wednesday, November 19, 2014)

Have a great day!!!

XO

Valori