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Alethea Ballard

Artist, Teacher, Author of Maverick Quilts

Boyfriend update: Don’t tell my brother…

June 27, 2011 by maverickquilts 4 Comments

Circles!
Circles!

Don’t tell my brother, but, his wife has been hanging out with me and my boyfriend Alexander Henry !

My sister-in-law has been visiting from Georgia and we were able to make a quilt top together.

I have been in love with the circles quilt in my new book Maverick Quilts, Using large-Scale Prints, Novelty Fabrics and Panels with Panache called Lovely Landscape.  The circles are a wonderful way to work with a large-scale print and make an amazing quilt.

Thunder Flower fabric in blue
Thunder Flower fabric in blue

I have been working with this Alexander Henry fabric called Thunder Flower in the blue background (it also comes in pink).  And the determined, powerful girls are just soooo appealing to me.

Alethea G (the other) and I found some of the Thunder Flower in RED at Stone Mountain and Daughter on our trip to Berkeley and, as red and green are an absolute favorite color combo for my niece and me, we had to buy some.  And then we HAD to make a quilt!

We said Kapow a lot during the sewing time, so the quilt just got named as we were going.

We drew out a plan to use large chunks of fabric that were multiples of 6″.  Then we cut out the big chunks of the Thunder Flower fabric and placed them on the design wall.  We cut many 6 1/2″ squares and began placing them all around the girls.

Kapow! the big pieces cut out
Kapow! the big pieces cut out

We worked to place all the squares around the big pieces.

Kapow! with the squares added
Kapow! with the squares added

We used a new fusible product that is called Soft Fuse and, using the directions from Maverick Quilts, we made a circle for each square.

Circles at the ready
Circles at the ready

Then we auditioned all the circles until they looked perfecto.

Kapow! All circles in place - ready to sew
Kapow! All circles in place – ready to sew

Then we split it up into sections so that we could sew them together.

Kapow! Sections ready for assembling
Kapow! Sections ready for assembling

I absolutely LOVE how the circles are all from cool and interesting fabrics.  We used dots and circles, flowers and even purple for a little zing!

This is definitely WHY we all need so much fabric!  You cannot buy all of these different fabrics for just one quilt, but you can definitely take a little corner off of many of them to use in a quilt like this!  Fo sho!

and more Circles!
and more Circles!

My favorite part might be where we added a leg to the quilt after we sewed it all together so that this girl could KICK!

Kapow! Kicking right out of the block!
Kapow! Kicking right out of the block!

We sewed it all together and began working on some funky curvy border (instructions are also in my book!) but Alethea G had to go home and she took the quilt with her.  When it is all done, we will show you more photos!  Happy Sewing!

Kapow! Center sewn and borders begun
Kapow! Center sewn and borders begun

Sorry that the color is so weird on this photo – I just couldn’t get it right!

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Boyfriend(s)? Two-timing my husband now!

Questions and Comments

  1. cyndy rymer says

    June 28, 2011 at 10:43 am

    I am so envious that you have a quilting buddy who is also your sister-in-law! That quilt kicks big butt! Oh, should I not use that word? Then again, I too am a maverick quilter.

    Where’s Mavis these days?

    Reply
    • maverickquilts says

      July 4, 2011 at 1:26 pm

      Mavis reports that she has a new “man-friend,” Marvin. They have been “stepping out” by shopping for new a pocket protector and a fanny pack for their upcoming trip to the the 2011 Zenith Analog Appliance Conference. (He is a transistor radio repair man. (person))

      Reply
  2. Lauchlin Divine says

    July 20, 2011 at 6:08 am

    That’s not just a circles quilt, it’s an ANIME quilt! You could become big in that circle too (get it?)….I have connections, so have your people call mine.

    Reply
  3. Cathe Hedrick says

    August 15, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    I love this Circle Quilt….WOW beautiful… Cathe

    Reply

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maverickquilts

Artist/Teacher✂️Textile Collages💠Unexpected quilts🔅Online quilting classes!
Watch me sew! Sew with me! Aletheaballard.com

Instagram post 2193940972971089201_194116183 Oh Joy!
More exuberant wreath fun!
Seriously, there’s cake, right?!?✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️
#onlinequiltclass #cats #cat #wreath #christmascat #joy #cake #onlinequiltingclasses #onlinequiltingteacher ##exuberantapplique #midcenturychristmas #midcenturymodern #collage #collageartist @harts_fabric
Instagram post 2193240701764722156_194116183 Gack! This fabric!!!
My LQS sent me these pictures. 
If you really need some Today call Woodengate Quilts this afternoon. (925) 837–8458
How absolutely cool is Alexander Henry Fabrics putting my postcards in their fabric deliveries?!? Thank you, Alexander Henry! You guys rock.
This makes my day!
And thank you Katie and Debi  at WGQ for being my biggest cheerleaders!!!
@alexanderhenryfabrics @woodengatequilts @kdkap @dabucc2 #tatoo #tattoofabric #sailorjerrytattoo #tattoo #hulagirl #hulagirltattoo #hulagirls #rhianna #fabric #fabricaddict
Instagram post 2190960646099317836_194116183 The season is kicking off at a cheerful pace! 🍾🍸🍹
How funny is this Tipsy Ladies wreath I made?!?
🤪😋😝🤣😂😆🤓🤪🥳
I found all of this mid-century-style fabric down in Santa Cruz at Hart’s fabrics three years ago!
💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫
I just had to do something super silly with it!
💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋
Did you know that I share all my appliqué secrets in an online class?
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Check out the link in my bio, and you can make exuberant things like this, too!
😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜
Make sure you put the good fusible and special scissors I carry in your shopping cart! They make all the difference in the world! ✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️
#onlinequiltclass #onlinequiltingclasses #onlinequiltingteacher #exuberantapplique #midcenturychristmas #midcenturymodern #tipsy #collage #collageartist @harts_fabric
Instagram post 2189668930876790389_194116183 Cardinals taking shape.

#bird #birds #birdquilt #exuberantapplique #watchmesew #fabric #textile #textileart #textileartist #lonirossifabric
Instagram post 2189066931642583870_194116183 Back home means back to work means back to my birds. 
Tonight it’s a nuthatch. 
Fitting for my current level of sanity. 😝
#bird #birds #birdquilt #exuberantapplique #watchmesew #fabric #textile #textileart #textileartist
Instagram post 2188795262621706576_194116183 So Thankful for lots of family time this past week. 
It was very poignant to see this guy and his beautiful partner in their own new home! 
Lauren brought out this quilt which I made for my nephew John when he was six years old! 
Now he is all grown up and even has his own fur baby!! I made the quilt with pocket sections of Big Uncle Steve’s pants. 
John told me that when he was afraid at night he would stash his pocketknife in one of the pockets - just in case! 😝
He said he slept with the quilt for 15 years and it’s still in good shape!
How sweet is all of that?!?
Back then I was still afraid of triangles, so I made an inner border of prairie points instead of piecing it. 😋
#mifamilia #thanksgiving #givingthanks #familytime #luckyauntie #fourpatchquilt #cowboyquilt @nurse_lauren @parknerd
Load More... Follow on Instagram

maverickquilts

Artist/Teacher✂️Textile Collages💠Unexpected quilts🔅Online quilting classes!
Watch me sew! Sew with me! Aletheaballard.com

Instagram post 2193940972971089201_194116183 Oh Joy!
More exuberant wreath fun!
Seriously, there’s cake, right?!?✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️
#onlinequiltclass #cats #cat #wreath #christmascat #joy #cake #onlinequiltingclasses #onlinequiltingteacher ##exuberantapplique #midcenturychristmas #midcenturymodern #collage #collageartist @harts_fabric
Instagram post 2193240701764722156_194116183 Gack! This fabric!!!
My LQS sent me these pictures. 
If you really need some Today call Woodengate Quilts this afternoon. (925) 837–8458
How absolutely cool is Alexander Henry Fabrics putting my postcards in their fabric deliveries?!? Thank you, Alexander Henry! You guys rock.
This makes my day!
And thank you Katie and Debi  at WGQ for being my biggest cheerleaders!!!
@alexanderhenryfabrics @woodengatequilts @kdkap @dabucc2 #tatoo #tattoofabric #sailorjerrytattoo #tattoo #hulagirl #hulagirltattoo #hulagirls #rhianna #fabric #fabricaddict
Instagram post 2190960646099317836_194116183 The season is kicking off at a cheerful pace! 🍾🍸🍹
How funny is this Tipsy Ladies wreath I made?!?
🤪😋😝🤣😂😆🤓🤪🥳
I found all of this mid-century-style fabric down in Santa Cruz at Hart’s fabrics three years ago!
💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫
I just had to do something super silly with it!
💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋
Did you know that I share all my appliqué secrets in an online class?
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Check out the link in my bio, and you can make exuberant things like this, too!
😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜
Make sure you put the good fusible and special scissors I carry in your shopping cart! They make all the difference in the world! ✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️
#onlinequiltclass #onlinequiltingclasses #onlinequiltingteacher #exuberantapplique #midcenturychristmas #midcenturymodern #tipsy #collage #collageartist @harts_fabric
Instagram post 2189668930876790389_194116183 Cardinals taking shape.

#bird #birds #birdquilt #exuberantapplique #watchmesew #fabric #textile #textileart #textileartist #lonirossifabric
Load More... Follow on Instagram

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