Central park flipside quilt from Stitching by starlight...

Darling quilt submission from "Stitching by starlight." Angie is a cute crafting quilting mommy. Here are a her 2011 finished projects, and a few fun tutorials.  I love this quilt and fabrics. I have a few of these prints, I want to break them out! Hope you find this quilt as cute as we do!

central park flipside

Earlier this spring - just shortly after my return to my quilting hobby - pictures of Kate Spain's Central Park started popping up. Like many, I immediately fell in love. Of course, I was also having a hard time justifying the price. With two boys, it's hard for me to allow myself to buy things that will be just for me. You know..."giiiiirly" things. (Said with a nasal tone only a 7 year-old boy could produce.)

So, I put it off.  I thought to myself, "I can wait 'till it goes on sale".  Then Rachel did me in.  When I saw Flipside, I knew I couldn't wait.  I had my jelly rolls and pattern with the week.   The strips were cut within two weeks, and then they sat.

And sat. 

Fast forward through the summer of WIP busting - in which I finished five other projects, woo! - and I finally get going on it.  In the meantime, though, the invitation to our favorite babysitter's bridal shower came.  I knew in my heart what I needed to do, but I didn't want to.  It was *my* quilt.  MINE.  [Insert stubborn little two year-old foot stomp.]

But I couldn't.  It's just her.  The colors, the design, the appreciation.  She truly was the best babysitter ever.  She started sitting for us when she was about 14 and our oldest was about two.  He's 11 now.

She's gone on our beach trips, jumping up to change diapers before I would even realize the baby was crying.  She's took on the additional responsibility of sitting for other kids on the trip so the parents could have an adult night out.  She made sandwiches, sat in the sand, and endured the endless teasing from the men in the house - including ice-water bucket tosses and dunking in the ocean.  She fixed breakfast so we could sleep in.  She loved my kids like they were her own.  In short, she's made it practically most assuredly impossible for anyone to take her place.

She deserved this quilt.

I finished it the morning of the shower - nothing like the last minute to get something done. We were at my BFF's lake house, so I had an awesome backdrop for pictures.

The piecing, as expected, went by in a snap.  The sashing and large blocks made it easy to put together.  I used leftovers from the strips to piece the back, too.  

I bought a generous helping of that backing fabric - I think it's my favorite in the entire collection.  I think I even have enough for a tote bag.  :)  A friend of mine suggested quilting with the back facing up - going around the flowers and leaves.  If I would have had time, I would have done just that - how gorgeous would that have been???  (Will be keeping that in mind for the tote bag.... ).

So anyway - I was a nervous wreck at the shower and, wouldn't you know it, my package got put at the end of the gift table.  Yup...last gift opened.  I was practically pacing.  See, she's an interior designer now.  Full of all kinds of knowledge about creativity, color combination, print selections, and all that designer-y stuff.  What if she hated it????

When it was finally my turn, I walked up to the front with my camera and jokingly told her, "they don't carry these in Target."  Her response was, "I've seen what you do and I was hoping this didn't come from a store!"  (Boy, that made my heart sing!)

Well, she loved it.  In fact, she told me the other day that she's been using it quite a bit.  Probably because I had given her the, "this quilt was made to be used" speech.  In fact - I told her if I found out she wasn't using it, I was taking it back.  And I wasn't kidding.  ;o)

So, now my Flipside is gone.  The quilt I just had to have is no longer for me.  It's in good hands, deserving hands, loving hands, but not my hands.  Wouldn't change it for the world, but it's funny how things sometimes turn out.  Bittersweet, I guess.

Good thing I got a Terrain bundle this week.... bwahahahaaa!

The Undercover Crafter shares wonky stars!

Hollie from The Undercover Crafter is very talented! She's been creating practically her whole life.  Check out her Quatreflowers Quilt, so pretty!  If you'd like more eye candy see her flickr.  Make sure to say hi and see her blog...but check out these wonky stars first!

Look what I just pulled out of the wash...

My first commission is complete. Isn't it delicious? I really had such a fun time making this quilt for Nancy. Her brother recently welcomed a beautiful little boy into the world and this is her gift to her new little nephew. And I'm warning you now, I went a little overboard on the pictures.

The original plan for the back was plain Robin's Egg Kona but I was just a tad shy on the yardage so I decided to add large squares of each of the fabrics from the stars on the front to help extend the width of the Kona solid. And I'm really glad I did. I think it added a lot to the back and showcases all the fabrics really well.

I want to thank everyone who gave their input on both the layout and the quilting of this quilt. I loved all of the feedback. In the end Nancy won the Great Layout Debate (the quilt is for her after all) so the Central Park Zoo squares run diagonal through the middle and the subsequent rows are more orderly. As for the quilting, which sparked a little debate, I went with Natalie full force on this one. I favored Option #3 and then not only echo quilted around each star but I also echoed each long seam on either side.

I really love the patterns the quilting created. And I think on the next wonky star quilt (because I am sure there is another in my future) I may play more with echoing the stars both on the inside and out.

I think the binding may be my favorite part of the quilt, though. I think the orange dots provide the perfect amount of contrast and color to the quilt. I really am dying to run back to my LQS to pick up some more yardage for my stash. I think it makes a terrific binding.

Alas, I think completing this quilt brings my Wonky Star Madness to an (temporary) end. I hope Nancy is pleased with the final outcome and this quilt provides her nephew with years of warmth and comfort.

3, 2, 1...

Raise your hand if you knew Heather and I design quilt patterns?

We are so awful at marketing ourselves!!  Over the last couple of years our hobby/business priorities have changed more times than we can count.  We're now trying to be really good and focus on our blogs and quilt patterns!

I give you, the relaunch of Quilt Story on Etsy!

We recently changed our business name from Fresh Poppy Design to Quilt Story for a couple of reasons.  And I finally got around to changing our Etsy shop over to our new name.

Anyone remember this luscious collage Heather put together a few months ago?

Almost all of these patterns are in our shop and available for purchase now!  

The few that aren't in there quite yet will be by tonight.

We have been, and will be, sharing each quilt with you individually.  

Today I'm sharing Pennant Parade.

So simple, but so dynamic.  There was no way you were going to get me to cut up Central Park into tiny pieces!  And there are so many fabric lines like that!  This is a great way to showcase your favorite fabrics, and still do something fun with a ruffle banner.

And yes...that beautiful picture taken by Heather is at our parents home in Draper Utah, it's overlooking Utah Valley.

And of course, the great quilt is done by Aunt Wendy.  I knew she would go crazy on this quilt, and she never disappoints.

And to celebrate, we have a coupon code for our readers!

Enter: PENNANTPARADE

upon check-out to receive 20% off your entire purchase!

Don't be shy :)  

Go on, check out all our new patterns!