Magpie Quilts

Sometimes, I will just buy charm packs - in quilting lingo these are packs of 5" squares containing a full complete sampling of a fabric line. These quilts were inspired by one little pack. I made a couple of table runners out of the first little charm pack I had picked up - likely at a quilt show somewhere. One of these table runners was sold and that person decided she wanted a queen quilt made from the same fabrics. Now, fabrics can sit in my closet for a while before I make anything, so the likelihood of finding the exact fabrics again get less as time goes on. I was fortunate to find a jelly roll (pack of 2.5" strips) and a fat quarter pack to make the queen sized quilt. All good.  And earlier this year, the bin that I keep my batik fabrics in was no longer closing, so I pulled the baggie that had the left overs from the queen quilt out and went searching for a pattern or two to make some new quilts. I found this pattern in a book called Tabletastic 2 and made a couple

Most of the time, my quilting process is based on my stash of fabrics, a photo or pattern I've seen online or in a magazine or book, and very rarely, a pre-packaged kit that includes fabrics and pattern. I bought this kit a number of years ago - the pattern is "Homecoming" by Shania Sunga Designs - and it's been in my to-do pile ever since. I finally took it out and finished the top and then it hung in the closet where it wouldn't get wrinkled until I figured out how I wanted to quilt it. My free motion quilting skills are improving - still working on them - and I saw a couple of ideas on Pinterest and had a few friends on social media give me suggestions and I had a plan! I quilted it and listed in in the Etsy shop and it sold immediately and then I had a request for another one. The original batik red fabrics were no longer available, so I made the next one with a Northcott Stonehenge Canada fabric and it turned out just fine. And then there was enough fabrics