McCalls Design Star

Is anyone else as hooked on McCalls' Design Star as I am? I kept checking and checking on the McCalls Quilting website so that I could see what the designers did for round two. Finally, the quilts were up, and it was my opportunity to vote. Wow, it was really hard to decide! Finally, after scrolling through the twelve quilts at least a gazillion times, I made my choice and clicked on the "vote" button. And guess what?! I can vote again tomorrow, and the next day. This is great because there were a few other quilts that I really liked, too.

If you want to learn about McCalls Design Star and see the quilts, here is the link: http://www.mccallsquilting.com/contests/design-star-contest.html

Have fun!

A Great Day with GREAT Friends

Today was a great day because I got to sew with my quilting group. Lynn made a yummy lunch of homemade Fiesta soup and Eve brought an apple pie down from Kohnen's bakery in Tehachapi,so we were all set in the food department. We had a great day sewing and catching up on what's been going on with everyone. Next time I have to remember to bring my camera so I can snap some pictures of show and tell. Lynn and Nancy M. had each made a table runner from an Eleanor Burns pattern that features a maple leaf. Eve was working on some holiday tea towels from one of Nancy Halvorsen's books. I managed to finish two blocks for my new BOM, Ode to The Blue and Grey, which if all goes as planned, will be ready to go in January 2011.

Here's the first block.


I'm not really sure I like this second block. The large paisley half-square triangles in the four corners seem to get lost. I may go back and re-work this block, but I'll wait until I get a few more blocks done. That way I can see how the blocks work together.

New Patterns Introduced at Fall Quilt Market

I've been busy designing and making some new quilt patterns for Fall Market. Here's a brand new pattern called Playa Del Sol, which measures 73" x 91". We made it up in a new collection called Blue Storm, designed by Laura Berringer for Marcus Fabrics. The pattern calls for ten half yards of coordinating fabrics, 3 yards of background, 1 7/8 yards for the border, and 3/4 yds for the binding. The blocks are easy to piece and there are few seams to match. It's a great beginner quilt project.




Cosmo Girls is a quilt I had a lot of fun making. I used a decorative satin stitch to finish the edges of my fused patches and even did a bit of embellishment with a decorative "reverse" buttonhole stitch. I also played around with the focus print, fussy cutting it for the leaves and the flower centers. The fabric collection is Cosmopolitan by Exclusively Quilters. The pattern includes full sized applique pieces--there's no enlarging to do.

I also reworked a few of our patterns in some new collections. Here's Papillions in Marcus Fabrics' new Mariposa collection, also by Laura Berringer. These two just seemed like like were made for each other!


And what could be better than a holiday fabric collection that can be used all year round? As luck would have it, I was able to work with fabric designer extraordinaire Faye Burgos in developing Cedar Chest Memories for Marcus Fabrics. I can't take too much credit. Faye did all the designing, I just gave my imput and helped select the fabrics to make the "cut" for this stunning collection. I designed a new quilt,a wallhanging called In The Pines and re-worked some of our holiday patterns--Seasons Greetings, Oh Christmas Tree, and Christmas Table Runner in fabrics from the collection. I love how each project really has its own look.



Now here's my favorite: Gift Wrapped. Cedar Chest Memories was designed to fit this quilt, and doesn't it look just perfect? The gift wrapped boxes in this pattern are just what you'll want want for Christmas, or any time of the year for that matter. I'm already planning on draping it here--and there--around my house.


All patterns retail for $8.50 each at Nancy Rink Designs We also sell wholesale to shop owners. Phone us at 661-205-2649 to order.

New "Quickie" BOM Starts September

July 2010 Newsletter

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Here's What I Did with the Pineapple Blocks

By the way, here's what became of my pineapple blocks. I made a small wall hanging/table topper and a table runner. Here they are on my dining room table. Aren't they perfect? Do you see how well they work with the fabric on my dining room chairs? I am very happy with them and with myself for stopping and making two smaller projects.

Feeling Inept

I have been struggling this week with getting a good photo of one of my new quilts. I'm trying to finish up the pattern jacket for Gift Wrapped, a rich pink and brown quilt I designed to feature Marcus Brothers' Olde Cedar Chest fabric collection. Here's one of the photos. The cute little dog is my daughter Diane's maltese, Jack. Isn't he a doll? We've been dogsitting a lot lately and I couldn't help wanting to put him in a shot.Here's another photo.
Now, to me, these don't even look like the same quilt. But the real problem occurs when I paste the photo into the pattern jacket using Adobe Photoshop. The jacket looks good on the screen, but when I print it, it has a distinct green cast to it. I've tried to adjust it in several ways, but the image still comes out with the green cast. Do any of you have any suggestions for how to fix this? I am really feeling inept and frustrated at this point.