Cherry House Quilts

Something so cool!

Yesterday I went to the Bayou City Arts Festival with my BFF Rich, in Houston at Memorial Park.  It was a beautiful day with lots of incredible art.  My favorite piece of the whole show wasn't even part of the show, it was the back curtain in an artists' booth...check it out (cell phone pic, sorry for the less than stellar quality)

Look at this quilt - isn't it amazing!  The artist Joe DeCamillis created this quilt from actual book covers, and stitched the whole thing together by hand.  I assume he must have soaked the covers off of the books, because the quilt was very pliable.  The top of the quilt is jeans that he bought from the thrift store, and the base of the quilt is a moving van blanket.  Do you know what I love the best?  The stitching...I think if I tried to recreate it the effect it would look fake; but this looks perfect to me.  This was his first quilt, he's made two now. 

I love it...what do you think of it?

Have a great week!!!

Cherri 

Presenting Jungle Jane!

 
  
After a few unavoidable delays, Jungle Jane has arrived!  Isn't this On A Whim 2 fabric by Amy Schimler, and Robert Kaufman terrific?  The quilt measures 61'' x 66'', a great size for a picnic in the park, this quick little quilt is perfect for Spring!  The pattern is now available in our pattern store.

Enjoy,

Cherri

P.S. Don't you love my fingers holding up the quilt?  Through the magic of photoshop, they were removed on the pattern cover...thank you Lizzy!

Something I hardly ever do...plus, winner announcement

First...the contest winners!

Helene from 25 Reasons, and Mama Sparks...ladies, if you will email (cherryhousequilts at gmail dot com) me your addresses, I will get your presents to you! 

Thank you to everyone that left a comment - I was moved by all the wonderful things you have to be grateful for...families, pets, the weather, your countries, freedom, jobs...so much to give thanks for!  Please know that I sincerely, am thankful to each of you, for your kindness, warm wishes, and support. 

Here's a little project that I wanted to share...I am such a sucker for wool at garage sales, and thrift stores.  I love to buy wool, and felt (or full) it, and make little things.  Here's a little quiltlet (is that a word?) that I made for my Mom as a thank you.  I did lots of embroidery, and handwork, something I hardly ever do anymore; but here it is...

 

Check out the button hole from the men's suit...I liked it, so I included it!

Have a great week sweet friends,

Cherri

A Giving Thanks Giveaway - even if it's not Thanksgiving

I've been feeling a little woe is me lately, nothing major, just lots of little things.  After a while though, those little things all start to build up, and can feel overwhelming.  What to do, what to do???  The best thing for me is to remember all that I am grateful for, and to count my blessings.  One of my blessing is all of you...my friends!  Since I'm thinking of you lovelies, I thought it was a time for a goody giveaway - I even bought you a present...don't you love presents?  I do!  When Lizzy and I were raiding the Liberty of London goodness at Target, I picked out some stationary for someone special - I just don't know which someone special yet.  Since this is a quilty kinda blog, I MUST throw in a some fabric, right?  Some lovely bits of fabric left over from some recent projects like this one, and this one, and maybe this one too!

How to enter?  Leave a comment, and share something you are grateful for...your family, your job, your dog or cat, quilting of course, Spring?  Any little thing that brings a smile to your face, and lightens your cares.  Gratitude - best medicine ever!  We will pick a winner on Sunday...maybe even two winners - like one from the US, and one from far far away! 

Cheers,

Cherri

Has anyone seen this magazine?

Has anyone seen this magazine at the stores yet?  Fons and Porter's Easy Quilts 2010?  I have a quilt in there called Bonneville...I am so excited!!!  Will I ever stopped being thrilled like a little kid with a quilt in a magazine?  I don't think so...not ever.

When Robert Kaufman asked me to create a quilt with some beautiful neutral batiks, I took a look at the fabric images, and immediately knew the name of the quilt BONNEVILLE.  My dad, Demar Ray was a high performance mechanic who built race engines for obviously, race cars.  When I was little, he would always tell me stories of racing on the Bonneville Slat Flats in Utah.  He would paint pictures with words of the people, and places, and without ever seeing it in person, I knew exactly how it would look.  So, I made this quilt, and dedicate it to my dad...I hope he would like it!

 

Enjoy!

Cherri  

Look out for Jungle Jane!

61 x 66

Ready for Spring?  This sweet as can be quilt, will surely banish any winter blues!  It is as quick to piece, as it is fun to make featuring Amy Schimler's On A Whim 2 fabric - which is now available.  You and your favorite someone will spend many happy hours spying all the jungle friends marching across this quilt. 

Available to pre-order here, and scheduled to ship by 3/19.

Enjoy!

Cherri
  

To good to throw away

I've been working on a lot of new quilts lately, and this means lots of fabric cutting.  The first thing to go is of course, the selvage edge...right into the trash, those lovely little colored dots with the designer's name, etc.  There is a great website (can't find it off hand), where terrific creations are made using the selvages - whole dresses in fact.  I can tell you right now; for me - it ain't gonna happen.  There are some wonderful and incredible things being made with those scraps, but I just don't have the time or patience to make them.   But in the midst of so much "have to" sewing, I decide to do a little "for me" sewing, and hallelujah, the selvage trimmings were saved!  I went dumpster diving in to my own trash can, and out came all those goodies. 

Take a look at what I made

I took some fusible heavyweight Pellon - the weight for purses, and layered the selvage strips horizontally, then I added strips vertically weaving them in and out of the horizontal strips.  Then I took the whole thing to the iron, to adhere the strips to the fusible.  Next I stitched down all of the strips at the intersections, no lines drawn, just randomly sewn to stabilize the piece.  Next I trimmed the piece to the size I needed it, then backed with some lovely Moda fabric that would become the lining.

 
I pinned both pieces together, then stitched diagonal lines at about 1" intervals.  Next, I added the zipper (which I am no master of), stitched the sides, and turned the whole thing inside out!  Now, I have a new coin purse, also I can stop feeling guilty over the poor selvage ends languishing the trash can, and above everything else, it was just plain fun to sew for fun!
Have a good week!

Cherri

I love it when a plan comes together

Check out this adorable fabric by SEI and Robert Kaufman...so cute!  I had an opportunity to make a quilt for a magazine, but the turnaround time was a matter of days; so a plan was required.  Thank goodness for EQ6...my road map for so many quilts.  I designed the quilt, printed out my fabric requirements, and got to work.  So many times I'll cut out a ton of fabric, and piece blocks, and arrange things on a design wall until I find a pleasing configuration, but there was no time for that kind of play...this was business!

   
 
So I cut out all my fabric, stacked everything by block, and sewed, and sewed, and sewed.  At one point I was ready to throw myself, or my sewing out the window...directional fabrics are the bane of my existence at times.  More times then I like to count my little seam ripper was employed.  In the end, all of the elephants, and friends are all marching right side up! 

 
Keep an eye out for this sweet quilt in the near future!

Cherri