Snips and Bits from Shelley's Studio

Hearts and Flowers

Shelley Swanland — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:58:06 +0000

Black strips of complimentary black fabrics frame the three Cathedral Window Flowers of “Hearts and Flowers”, this weeks Twilt. These flowers can be found in the border of Lotus Lullaby and Easy Cathedral Window Flowers, two of my patterns. Just a touch of a verigated fancy machine stitch adds a little color to the black strips. I used glass buttons for the flower centers. Three hearts hang on rayon ribbon from a big bead with a painted dragonfly. Winter is hardly here and I’m thinking of Spring.

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts : Flickr Twilts Page.

Christmas Tree Twilt

Shelley Swanland — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:47:10 +0000

My Christmas decorations are complete. My tree is up and trimmed.

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Holidays!!!

Holiday Ornament

Shelley Swanland — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:19:07 +0000

The holidays are upon us so I wanted to be a little festive this week. Tuesday’s Twilt, “Holiday Ornament” is a single block from my pattern Cathedral Window Ornament Table Runner. Enjoy!

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts : Flickr Twilts Page.

Shelley’s Design Works on Etsy

Shelley Swanland — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:34:53 +0000

I have been thinking about a shop on Etsy for over a year and I can’t believe it but my shop, Shelley’s Design Works, is now OPEN!

If you’re interested in owning one of my designs I encourage you to visit.

Over the next month and on into the next year and maybe beyond I will be posting quilts, table runners, samples from my books and patterns and small items like needlecases, ornaments and my zip bags. So, please take a peak.

All of the pictures you see here are items that are available. Above and on the right are two mini quilts that would make wonderful wall or table pieces.

The pink piece above and the lavender flower below are needle cases. On the right is one of my ornaments.

I am really excited to get this up and going so head on over and check it out. Feedback is welcome! Enjoy!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/sswanland

Winter Sparkle

Shelley Swanland — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:41:54 +0000

A simple Ohio Star block with a Cathedral Window center is this weeks Twilt. “Winter Sparkle” welcomes in the season.

I hope for the very best Holidays for everyone!

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts : Flickr Twilts Page.

Garden in the Window

Shelley Swanland — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:11:01 +0000

I took a really simple approach to this weeks Twilt, “Garden in the Window”. A fused 9″ square of Asian Print was cut into nine 3″ squares and fused in place with even spaces between the squares. I used verigated quilting thread to machine buttonhole stitch the squares in place. I added another decorative stitch around the edge. After binding I sewed little flowers in the corners.

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts : Flickr Twilts Page.

In the Pink

Shelley Swanland — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:13:06 +0000

Quilting threads and built in decorative stitches were the focus of my experimentation that ended up as this Tuesday’s Twilt, “In the Pink”. I chose an interesting batik that was mostly black but had some cool striations going on. I also liked the square spirals in the print. The piece was first grid quilted with a black and gray verigated thread in 1 1/2″ intervals. I played with some scrap fabrics at first and then started stitching rows of square spirals, hearts and stipple using several colors of verigated quilting thread, King Tut from Superior Thread. A couple of rows have torn silk-metallic organdy fabric underneath the stitching and I frayed the sides outside the stitches. I also used organdy ribbon under a couple of rows. I chose stitches I thought would compliment the batik. I just tried to have fun. A Dragonfly button and square spiral and heart paper clips embellish and compliment the stitches and background design. I could see this technique used for Table Runners and Christmas gifts. It has a lot of possibilities.

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts : Flickr Twilts Page.

Ode to Fall

Shelley Swanland — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:10:17 +0000

I’m busy prepping for a quilt show in Lake Havasu Arizona but I found the time to look through the unfinished box again this week and found this block that was left over from my second book, “Machine Stitched Cathedral Stars”. Floating Windows is the first block in the book and the fall colors just called out to me in this “Ode to Fall”. It’s wonderful that pieces that could sit in the cupboard forever get to shine as Twilts. I particularly liked the batiks I used in this block. I did need to quilt it out and to do that I used a freezer paper circle and moved it along as I stitched along the edge of it which means marking isn’t necessary.

For info on the book check out the page on my website or on Amazon.

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts : Flickr Twilts Page.

Midnight Blossom

Shelley Swanland — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:27:14 +0000

October has been a busy month and I’ve saved up a whole lot of things I want to share but for today, it’s Twilt Tuesday and since I was running out of time, I checked my UFO box and found this little piece. I just trimmed it up and put a binding on. Midnight Blossom is a Cathedral Window Flower set inside more Cathedral Windows that are black on black . I did find out how difficult it is to photograph a piece with so much contrast. Do click on the picture and you’ll see the high resolution version on Flickr.

My pattern that this Twilt is based on is called Sweet Strawberries. Check it out on the Pattern Page on my website.

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts : Flickr Twilts Page.

October Sky

Shelley Swanland — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:36:04 +0000

I am welcoming October this first Twilt Tuesday with “October Sky”. This Twilt features nine miniature Star Puzzle blocks in blue and purple batiks complimented by an Asian print border. Each block is a three-dimensional square like the knot of a 3D Bow Tie block. The edges of the square are bias so after stitching diagonally through all the squares I rolled and stitched the folds into curves.

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts : Flickr Twilts Page.