Yee-Haw!

I'm kicking up my heels because I can finally spill the beans...;o)
 I've got a little secret sewing to share with you.  A secret that I kept for over a year because I had the honour of being a pattern tester for a lovely, talented friend.  The pattern I tested may not look familiar to you in this setting...



but maybe you will recognize this.

You know you want a copy... click here.
That's right, lucky ole me, got to test  Amanda Jean's
 quilt pattern, Candy Coated,  which is on the cover of
Sunday Morning Quilts, the book she wrote with Cheryl!  My version doesn't look very Candy Coated though... so I'm calling it
 Anything Plaid.


  Funny story about how my version ended up being in plaid...  I had just finished sewing a hexagon plaid quilt for my son and after all the matching of lines it required, I was literally tired of plaid.  I think I actually whined a bit about it to Amanda Jean. ;o)  She patiently listened to my complaints and asked what I had lined up next to work on.  I said, "Anything, but plaid!".  ha ha... Little did I know what would transpire next and that I would be eating those words.

An email or two later, Amanda Jean asked if I could test a pattern for her.  Yes, oh yes! Count me in.  She sent me a gorgeous scrappy quilt pattern to test.  I knew immediately that this design would shine if I used an abundant selection of scraps.  The more the merrier!  That's when it hit me. What scraps did I have enough of to make this quilt?   Um, yes,  that  would be plaid.   Hmmm... so much for sewing something NOT plaid. LOL

 It actually seemed like  it was serendipity because I now had THE perfect pattern for using up not only leftovers from the two previous plaid quilts (click here and here), BUT... more importantly, I would be able to finally use up a bag of varying size scrappy strips I had bought at a garage sale a few years back.  Those scraps ranged in width from 1" to 4" and the lengths started at 3.5" and went up to 20".  It was a real hodge podge of sizes and a potpourri of colours!  I used some of those scraps to make this bag, but I still had a ton of them left to work with.  I knew that these scraps would be magic combined with her pattern.  It was meant to be. lol

Later, when asked what fabrics I had chosen for making her design, Amanda Jean said she had a good laugh when I wrote PLAID.

 It was a the perfect choice for Amanda Jean's design!  I ended up using more than 40 fabrics in some rows - with no repeats.  The amount of cutting needed was greatly reduced, there was little waste and that bag of scraps became a one of a kind quilt.  Can't beat that!
 The quilt went together very quickly, thanks to Amanda's clear instructions (okay, it also helped to have all those pre-cut scraps to work with... ;o).

  The only change I made was to increase the width of the quilt as my son likes quilts that hang further down the sides of the bed and it allowed me to use up more of those scraps.  When it came time to quilt, I knew exactly what I wanted to do - free motion concentric circles.

  I thought mixing up the sizes of the circles would be even more fun, so I got out my mixing bowls to use as templates and chalked around their outlines.  This allowed me to randomly place the different size circles  over the quilt top and gave me good guidelines for the quilting.   I found it a bit tricky to quilt this design initially, but after some stitch ripping, I soon got it worked out.  It was totally worth the initial struggles because I love the texture it added!

Love all scrappy plaids!

Look at the opportunity to use scraps that this clever design provides!  The more you mix up the widths of the strips (or make some wonky for added interest as I did in different rows) the more interesting this design looks.



Many thanks to Amanda Jean for her great design! 

I'm  also going to say how much I appreciate that she didn't reply, "Oh, no.  Not ANOTHER plaid quilt." when I told her what I chose to test her pattern with. LOL    I hope in the year that's transpired since those two plaid quilts in a row, that she recognizes that my quilts aren't limited to plaids. hee hee




Looking at these photos has me thinking, I'm  ready for another scrappy quilt! Time to grab a copy of Sunday Morning Quilts.   I bet I can make one of her other scrappy designs in anything but plaid. ;o)  Yee-Haw!

Comments

  1. 'scuse me - I think you spilled a little something over there ----->
    Beans, beans, the musical fruit ... wait ... what???!?! :)

    That's a GORGEOUS quilt - love the scrappy, of course, but I'm really loving those plaids too! The round quilting is the perfect accompaniment to the straight lines of the plaids and blocks --- definitely a winner, Madame Quilt Whisperer!

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  2. Katherine, this is a great quilt with a feel of comfy cozy and serenity. Funny story how it came to be...plaid.

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  3. What a great guy quilt. I'll bet your son loves it. And how fun that you got to be a pattern tester for the quilt on the cover of Amanda Jean's book. Too cool!

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  4. Love the scrappy plaid quilt. And those circular quilting lines. Perfect!

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  5. Hee hee! Never say never, right? Your quilt is absolutely stunning! The photos are just perfect. And that quilting!!! You did such a great job! Thank you so much for testing the pattern. :) i love this quilt in plaid!!!

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  6. Catherine, it turned a great quilt fabric remnants and used! Stitch is decorated! Photos are great! I wish you success!

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  7. Really beautiful and how exiting to test a new pattern! x Teje

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  8. nice quilt.........great photos.......love the setting you did with it.........

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  9. I love this version...both the plaid and the circular quilting!

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  10. Love your quilt...and the quilted circles are perfect!

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  11. I LOVE your plaid quilt!!! Now I want to make this in scrappy plaids and denims. This will make a great "guy quilt" for the men in the family.

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  12. Simply beautiful quilt! Stunning in plaid, actually. I keep going back to stare at the photos. Your quilting is perfect and gives great texture. Love it!

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  13. I love how different just changing up the fabric is! Great job!

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  14. Beautiful. I love how the variety & similarity of the fabrics works so well together. Awesome photography, too!

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  15. It's gorgeous!! and works so well in plaids! What a great variation!

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  16. This is beautiful! I love the plaids!

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  17. i love it!! what a great version!

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  18. Love her book and love your plaids. I have a pile of plaids I've been collecting to come up with something....hmmm....this might be the pattern.

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  19. Oh my GOODNESS, it is GORGEOUS!! I want one JUST LIKE IT, please ;D

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  20. Oh my gosh! I love this quilt! I ran over to see more from Amanda's blog and boy, I really appreciate all the photos. Your son is one lucky guy!

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  21. FA.BU.LOUS!!!! How much do I love this quilt!? I can picture one made out of men's shirts! My husband wears lots of plaid and stripes! I am going to raid his closet! Shhh!

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  22. Popped over from Amanda Jean's. Beautiful quilt, beautiful pictures, lucky kiddo!

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  23. That quilt is gorgeous, the scraps are just beautiful together. And your pictures also are so lovely.The one with quilt over the fench with the hat is GREAT!

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  24. Hi katherine,,,your shots create a real western feel...and you know i love country... It is one of those quilts that would be great for a pinic....you know the old fashion type...

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  25. Gorgeous!! I love the shot of it on the fence with the cowboy hat. And the quilting? Perfect design for the quilt.

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  26. Beautiful quilt! Funny plaid story! Gorgeous photos!

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  27. Beautiful quilt! Funny plaid story! Gorgeous photos!

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  28. Hello! I just discovered your blog over at Amanda's. Your quilt is beautiful! Love that first photo : )
    Happy stitching today

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  29. Oh, I just Love your Quilt!!!
    So fantastic!!!

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  30. I've been enamored of plaids for a few years.... I adore this quilt. It looks warm, inviting, comfortable and speaks of home and winter.

    I've been working on "High Five" and "Sunday Morning" from Sunday Morning Quilts. I think this will be the next quilt I work on after that.

    Thanks so much for sharing your quilt with us. It is fun to see the various interpretations of patterns.

    joyforgrace.blogspot.com)

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  31. Your quilt is stunning and the quilting is marvelous!
    Gunilla in Sweden

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  32. Wow! Love the scrappy look of this quilt! The quilted circles add such a fun texture over the plaid fabric. I may have to get out my mixing bowls and try this concept:)

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