Tag Archives: Tish Stemple

Fireburst Flimsy

I have a quilt top to share with you!  It is my first time participating in a mystery quilt project.  For those of you who aren’t familiar, a mystery quilt is an event where the quilter who designed the pattern releases bits of information on a regular schedule.  The participating quilters follow along, making something but not knowing what the final result will look like.  This event is the Fireburst Mystery Quilt designed and hosted by Tish of Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland.

A little bit of background – I haven’t ever participated in one of these because, honestly, the idea of making a quilt when I couldn’t see the pattern freaked me out a bit.  I have such a difficult time with spatial relationships, what goes where and in what direction does it point, etc.  When I make something, I constantly look at the pattern to double check myself and even then I make mistakes and spend a lot of time with my trusty seam ripper.  But this time was different because I cheated a bit.  🙂

Tish was planning her event and, early on, she asked if I would put together some kits to sell in my shop that worked for the pattern.  There are quilters who like the idea of a mystery quilt along but feel challenged pulling fabric for it without being able to see the pattern (the host of the QAL will usually explain that the pattern needs so many light, medium and dark value fabrics so people can pull from their stash or shop accordingly.). Anyway, Tish and I worked together to pick fabric in my shop and create kits (which was actually a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing the finished quilts of people who purchased the kits.). To do this, Tish showed me the pattern, thus taking the ‘mystery’ out of it for me!  I decided to sew along with the group, sort of pretending I had not seen the pattern and give it a try.  For the most part, I didn’t look at the finished pattern – in fact I didn’t look at it until the end when I discovered a mistake.  More on that it a minute.  😉

Another reason I wanted to participate was the very slow and relaxed schedule Tish. planned for the event.  She gave instructions at the beginning of each month and it was very easy to accomplish what she planned within the month.  This has been such a hectic time lately with my son’s wedding, trips to Vermont, summer time etc.  I appreciated a project that I could just work  on a little bit each month and ‘keep up’.  (I have not kept up with any of my RSC2018 projects at all, which is a little disappointing.  But what’s a person going to do?  Life gets in the way.)  At this point, participants are finishing up the quilt tops and then will be quilting and binding them. There is a fun link up in January to celebrate the new year and these pretty Fireburst quilts.

OK – so how was my experience with a mystery quilt along when it wasn’t actually a mystery?  It was interesting because I still spent a lot of time with my seam ripper!!  I have leftover pieces that I cut and/or stitched incorrectly.  Half square triangles that were not used because they were made with the wrong fabrics.  Maybe I will make a few blocks with these oddball pieces and put them on the backing.  With all of that, I still have a mistake on the quilt top.  Take a look and you will easily spot it! By the time I noticed it, the blocks were stitched together and I was no longer on good terms with my seam ripper.  This is the way it will stay! My fireworks are going to flare a bit different than everyone else’s!!

It is such a sweet quilt and will be a fun baby quilt to gift or donate.  I love the two print fabrics from Priory Square by Katy Jones.  The solids are bold and make a great fireburst coming off the center! Isn’t the center block pretty?  It would be a fun block on its own.

The project was fun and should have been quite easy.  Actually it was easy. Even with my errors, it came together nicely. If you like the pattern, I encourage you to make one.  All of the steps are listed with clear directions on Tish’s site.  There is time enough to begin now and finish with us in January if you like!

Time to make the backing now! I hope you are all having a lovely week.

Linking up with lots of fun places.  Check them out at the top of this page, under Link Ups.

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Fabric Kits for Fire Burst Mystery QAL

Remember last week when I mentioned I had never done a mystery quilt along?  It was in the post about the April blogger bundle curated by Cheryl Brickey.  I said that mystery quilts made me nervous since I didn’t get to see the overall pattern for the quilt. Well I am making progress! I am involved in the new Fire Burst Mystery Quiltalong hosted by Tish Stemple.

However I should explain.  Tish took the mystery out of it for me when she asked me to curate two different kits of fabric for the event.  She had a few readers mentioning to her how picking the fabrics was a challenge for them, not knowing what the quilt was to look like.  She thought offering a few kits might appease the nerves of some of the participants. This sounded like a lot of fun for me so I got to work.

With lots of emailing back and forth between Tish and I (or is it me??) there are now two different kits available in the shop for the event!  I really like them both.  I created each one to be quite different from the other so the color choices would appeal to a wide variety of taste.

The first one! This kit appeals to me with the jewel tones standing out most. The dark blue and fuschia fabrics are from the 76 line by Alison Glass.  Along with those, are two fabrics from Amy Gibon’s Meriwether line made by Windham Fabrics. 

I set up the kit so that the background fabric is the creamy off-white print with the little stars. The floral is also from that line and it looks great with the Alison Glass fabrics. So this kit is as follows:

Background Fabric: Twinkle Farmhouse by Amy Gibson (the creamy off-white stars)
Fabric 1: Stitched in Violet by Alison Glass (the dark fuchsia)
Fabric 2: Frolic in Farmhouse by Amy Gibson (the lovely floral on creamy off-white)
Fabric 3: Numbered in Peacock by Alison Glass (the dark blue)

 

Kit number two is quite different. For this one, I selected a subtle print for the background.  Called Dancing Daisies, it is from the Camping collection  by Art Gallery Fabric.  I really like the pale green, soft little daisies and the pop of orange in the center of each flower.

Because I used a print as the background, I stayed with solids for the other three fabrics.  Drawing from the colors of the print, I chose three pieces from Art Gallery’s Pure Elements solid fabrics. I love both shades of orange and how the daisy centers are enhanced by them. I think this is a really pleasing but bold combination.

Here are the details for Kit 2:
Background Fabric: Dancing Daisies, made by Art Gallery Fabrics.
Fabric 1: Tiger Lily (the dark orange)
Fabric 2: Mandarin (the light orange)
Fabric 3: Emerald (the dark green

I have to say, this was such a fun project.  I am trying to decide which kit I will use when I sew along with this, my first, mystery QAL!  I know, it is like I cheated because I got to see the pattern.  But baby steps, right? Baby steps.  🙂

I hope you will go check out Tish’s post today.  Whether you are participating or not in the Fire Burst Mystery QAL, her post is full of great ideas about color selection.  I really like how she explained it and found it quite helpful.

What do you think of these two choices?  Which is your favorite? I would love to know because it is helpful to me for these kinds of projects as they come up in the future.  Also, are you participating in the QAL?  Hope so, it is going to be a lot of fun. The schedule is very relaxed and the quilt pattern is doable for quilters of all skill levels.

If you have ay questions about the kits, leave a comment and I will get back to you.  Both are available in the shop in two sizes, baby quilt (32″ square) and lap quilt (64″ square).