Creative Bee Studios

Sweet Ideas for Creative Minds - #usebothsides

Tag: quilts (page 1 of 9)

Step Inside the Yellow Door Quilt Store

October 10, 2019 / / 0 Comments
Image of front of shop

In the heart of Indiana is a bright yellow door. Open it to find a cute little quilt shop filled with fun, beautiful fabric!

It’s the Yellow Door Quilt Store!

Located in Nashville, Indiana, south of Indianapolis, the Yellow Door Quilt Store carries unique and mostly bright fabrics – maybe a bit of a modern flare, but something for everyone!

I met the owner, Mary Beth, when I popped in to her booth at the Paducah quilt show – I knew right away her fabrics would work beautifully with my patterns. We hit it off and she now carries many of my designs!

Mary Beth’s fabric lines/books/patterns include: Kaffe Fassett Collective, Marcia Derse, Kathy Doughty, Jane Sasseman, and Alexander Henry and many more.

Here is Flora made with BOTH beautiful sides of a QT Fabrics floral:

It was Mary Beth’s idea that I make a pattern of a sugar skull using both sides of one focus fabric. My first shipment of “Flora” patterns now reside (temporarily) at the Yellow Door Quilt Store! #usebothsides

Image of jSugar Skull Quilt
Flora (flawr-uh)

Visit Mary Beth online HERE or in her quilt store!

Visit my Etsy SHOP to see more BRAND NEW patterns and all the favorites that #usebothsides of beautiful fabric!

Image of Quilt

Kate Goes Modern

September 26, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Do you remember the quilt design of a vase and bouquet using Kaffe Fassett fabric? I mean it was only…(counting)…20 #usebothsides patterns ago!

“Kate” was made using both sides of Japanese Chrysanthemum by Philip Jacobs for Kaffe Fassett Collective. Kate’s Bouquet also uses the same fabric (different colorway) and only two other fabrics for this large, striking look!

Shop “Kate” HERE. Kate is a 36 x 36 inch quilt made using only one focus fabric for the vase (reversed), bouquet (broderie perse) and binding on a scrappy background.

Image of Vase and Bouquet Quilt

Kate’s Bouquet finishes at 64″ x 64″, making her a lovely statement in a home. The negative space gives her a modern appeal. And the best part: you only need three fabrics to make this quilt! Use BOTH beautiful sides of the focus fabric and table fabric and get one fabulous fabric for the background!

Image of Quilt

Here’s a pic of my friend, Linda’s quilt, she calls “Rose”. Her version has a calm feel about it and goes perfectly in her newly decorated living room.

“Rose” made by Linda Gast

Just imagine, you could have a background that mimics wall paper or old plaster walls. So many options!

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I love how Linda quilted her table!

And, of course, there are always fabulous floral fabrics on the market for designing your own bouquet!

Image of Quilt Outside

Remember, it’s all about value. See The Tricky Traits of Value .

Each pattern comes with tips for auditioning BOTH sides of your fabric AND a full-size paper template* PLUS the Bonus: Prairie Point Hanging Method!

Shop “Kate’s Bouquet” HERE, at my Etsy Shop

Image of Quilt and Magazine

Merle’s Bouquet is available NOW in the AQ Magazine, September 2019 Issue! Pick it up on the newsstand, your favorite quilt shop, or my Etsy Shop/CreativeBeeStudios.

Image of Quilt Hanging on Line

It’s a…Dash About!

September 12, 2019 / / 0 Comments
Image of Churn Dash Quilt

Choose three great fabrics and get started today on this fun, fast Churn Dash quilt!

Image of Pattern Cover

Use BOTH sides of THREE fabrics in this NEW nestled Churn Dash quilt! It goes together so quickly, choosing which fabrics to use might take more time!

Image of Quilt Hanging on Line

Here I showcased a super-big Kaffe Fasset print, a darling Anna Marie Horner design, and a sweet little blue print which belonged to my late mother, Pat (I love adding a touch of her to my designs).

Shop this pattern, or a whole lot more, HERE!

Image of Pieced Variable Star Quilt
VariLovable Star also uses BOTH sides of THREE fabrics!
Image of Ohio Star Quilt Pattern
Ohio Starburst – Use BOTH beautiful sides of only THREE fabrics!

#usebothsides

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South Dakota Quilt Shop

August 23, 2019 / / 0 Comments

When our daughter landed her first job out of college, we had no idea that her new adventure would become one for us, too. I especially didn’t expect it to influence the quilt patterns I’d design!

(If you wonder why I said FIRST job…she’s a musical theatre actor – there is always (ideally) a new job in this line of work!)

Because she’d landed the lead role and we’d never been to South Dakota before, we took a road trip last summer. Of course, along the way we stopped at quilt shops. That’s how I met the owner of the Quilt Shop in Chamberlain, SD. It was just on our list and close to the highway! See South Dakota Quilts & More and OKLAHOMA Backroads in South Dakota .

OKLAHOMA! at the Black Hills Playhouse

The owner, Sonya, and I brainstormed pattern ideas for her clientele and soon I was designing bison and other wildlife patterns. She carries LOTS of fun fabric with beautiful reverses!

This summer our daughter landed Sophie in Mamma Mia and off we went again! If you get a chance, stop in Chamberlain, SD – its simply loaded with fabric and has wonderful local art and craft as well.

Sophie and Donna in Mamma Mia at the Black Hills Playhouse, Custer, SD

We were able to visit again and drop off some new designs.

Image of Buffalo Moon Quilt
Aria

Here’s a big shout-out to Sonja in Chamberlain…and many thanks!

Shop Etsy for all my patterns and focus fabric kits!

Image of Quilt and Magazine

Introducing Merle’s Bouquet!

August 6, 2019 / / 0 Comments

My fun, sweet, adventuresome neighbor travels from time to time. When she’s away, I walk over to her house and water her flowers using her vintage watering can.

When the editor at AQ Magazine asked me for a new quilt design using BOTH sides of a floral fabric, I went straight to Merle’s house to sketch out her watering can!

So here she is…Merle’s Bouquet!

Do to the long time between designing a quilt pattern and the publication date, it seemed the day would never arrive. When I got a call from friend Nancy to look in my mailbox, I knew it was time! It was fun for Merle and I to open the issue together.

Image of magazine cover

Here is the original quilt as it appears in the magazine.

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Merle’s Bouquet by Karla Kiefner, Creative Bee Studios

This is a version using another focus fabric, making it look completely different! It’s pictured here with Merle’s can.

Image of Quilt and Watering Can

The RJR fabric has a vivid, painted look with a variety of flowers and birds to add to your quilt. The focus fabric and magazine are available HERE.

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Image of Quilt and Fabric
RJR Digiprint Arcadia “Secret Garden” Focus Fabric for Merle’s Bouquet

Thanks for following my blog! Visit my Etsy Shop for more than 28 patterns plus fabrics and Use BOTH Sides!

Image of Quilt in Window

Tying Up Loose Threads

July 30, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Many months ago I had the honor of presenting my program to a great (and enthusiastic) group of quilters – the Loose Threads Quilt Guild of St. Peters, Missouri. They had a fantastic turnout for the guild meeting and we had a lot of fun!

Image of Quilters
Image of Guild Selfie
Image of Quilters Guild
(selfies are not my forte)

That night was a debut of Lil’ Susie, which 15 people received free with purchase (plus another 12 the next day in class).

Image of Lil' Susie Pattern

Take a peek at just a few of their “Grace” class projects in progress:

Notice how the focus fabric makes all the difference? Each one has it’s own personality.

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In classes, in addition to making a cute little quilt top, the quilters’ play with their fabrics, learning the nuances of value and how it relates to both sides of the focus fabric and what’s surrounding it.

(I had to get her matching machine and bouquet!)

Once their fabrics are chosen, it’s all about building their bouquets!

Now, take a look at this creative gal – who just happens to be the gal who inspired me many, many years ago to join my local quilt guild. Vickie brought an old window pane to build her “Grace” bouquet!

Image of Quilter Working

Isn’t she fabulous?

Image of Quilt in Window
Notice how Vickie added a crocheted doily, a vintage hankie, and lace to her bouquet? She adapted her background fabrics to fit her window and then built her bouquet! So fun! (Sew fun!)

A happy shout-out to the Loose Threads Quilt Guild – Hope to see you lovely quilters again soon!

Image of Grace Quilt Pattern
Grace Quilt Pattern

Meet the Twilight Stitchers Quilt Guild!

July 20, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Their name is intriguing and their guild is a lot of fun! The Twilight Stitchers Quilt Guild of Blue Springs, Missouri hosted me as their program speaker and class teacher last month. One of my many new friends from Blue Springs, Vickie, made the trip extra special for me with her care for details and accommodations – thanks, Vickie!

It’s alway fun to see how other guilds operate – from how they run their meetings to how they interact with one another and their communities. I try to note those things I think would be fun to introduce to my local guild – especially the ideas that don’t cost a dime – like “Quilt Angels” (pssst – someone from my guild ask me about this)! A special thank you to my Quilt Angels for the night!

First, here are some pics from our opening selfies – they appear to be a rowdy group!

Image of Twilight Stitchers Quilt Guild Selfie
Image of Twilight Stitchers Quilt Guild

The “Grace” quilt class the following day was fabulous – I tend to give LOTS of pre-class guidance for choosing fabrics to bring and I was so delighted to see that they were all well prepared! AND sew creative! 😉

As you can see from the pics, they choose varied fabrics and their bouquets were unique, even presenting the quilters’ personalities, I think! One gal used ties and other out-of-the-box fabrics and was going to design her own vase to fit her bouquet!

Image of Quilters with Projects
Image of Three Quilters with Quilts
Image of Quilter's Bouquet
Image of Vickie's Bouquet
Image of Hydrangea Bouquet
Image of Couple's Bouquet
Image of Two Quilters

I wish I’d gotten a pic of my first husband/wife duo – but she slipped off before I could snag her pic – busy lady. Their quilts have “related” but different focus fabrics and will hang together in their home! Hope they’ll share them with us using…wait for it…#usebothsides !!!! Yes, they all learned about hashtags during the program!

Image of Quilt in Progress

I hope to get to see the Twilight Stitchers again soon! You just never know where quilters will cross paths! See Quilts at the Beach to see how I bumped into a quilter, from Warrensburg, Missouri (a hop, skip, and a jump from Blue Springs) at Pensacola Beach!

A hearty THANKS to my new friend in Blue Springs!

Image of Grace Pattern Cover

See “Grace” Quilt Pattern at my Etsy shop: Creative Bee Studios #usebothsides

Image of Book

Summer Books & Quilts

July 12, 2019 / / 0 Comments

My words are inadequate to describe the essence of this book. I can’t even try. All I can say is READ it. You won’t be disappointed:

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

A Reese’s Book Club selection.

Image of Book

This may be my shortest blog post ever, because I am still at a loss for words, more than 24 hours after finishing Kya’s story. I hadn’t planned on sharing the quilt shown below yet, but I need to – I guess it’s my feeble attempt to thank Delia Owens for the insight into a habitat I knew nothing about while enjoying a fantastic and enlightening book.

This guy was hanging around me at sunrise on Pensacola Beach. I found the feather focus fabric later that day at A & E (Pharmacy) Fabrics. The light on his face and throat and the borders are the reverse of the focus fabric – #usebothsides

Image of Crane on Beach
Image of Quilt of Crane

Thanks to my dear friend, Kim, I’m calling him Lord Stanley.

What book are you reading? Let us all know in the comments!

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Shop Creative Bee Studios Etsy Shop HERE for all the #usebothsides patterns!

Sally the Seahorse is right at home on Pensacola Beach.

Quilts at the Beach

June 17, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Location means everything! As you can see in these pics, Sally, Sandy, Fiona, and Bubbles were right at home on the beach!

We’ve lived in Pensacola, Florida – twice! The first time (as newlyweds), my husband was a student pilot and the second time, with two little ones, he was a flight instructor. When he left the full-time USMC life, we moved to Missouri – but we spent many vacations going back “home” to Pensacola (also home of the Blue Angels).

We had a wedding to attend in Baton Rouge, so we decided to grab a couple of beach days on the tail end of that trip. I debated whether I should even bother to take quilts along to photograph…I’m SO glad I DID!

Image of Sandy Quilt on Sand.
It’s Sandy on the beach. 🙂
Image of Sally Quilt at Beach
Sally
Image of Fiona Quilt at Beach
Fiona

It’s hard to spot another quilter at the beach, so when I met a gal on the walkway with a MSQS shirt, I had to speak to her – turns out she’s from Missouri, too and had just bought fabric from the pharmacy (now A & E Fabrics) to make some #usebothsides quilts! See my blog about her guild HERE: Inspired Quilters Inspire

Image of Karla and Cheryl, quilters at the beach.
Cheryl helped me take evening pics. Quilters are so nice!
Image of Bubbles on deck.
Bubbles

You might wonder how those quilts just seemed to hover in the air above the beach…You can see in this blooper: thanks to his quick reaction, my hubby saved Bubbles from a big one! I thought he hid quite well on that little beach chair behind the one-yard square quilts!

Image of blooper photo.

Patterns for each of these quilts (and about 24 more) are available HERE: my Etsy shop: Creative Bee Studios

Home Sweet Home

June 10, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Riding bikes and playing outside all day long, rolling down the terrace wrapped in a quilt (what?), playing “Penelope Pitstop” (only Peppermint Patti would understand), putting on plays and magic shows in our yards…those are some of the memories of my childhood.

I rarely go back “home” without taking a drive down Church Street, around Chloe, and down (which is actually up) Edgemont. Guess I’m a softy for nostalgia. I had a great childhood. Not perfect, but mostly really good.

So when I was invited by the Memory Maker Quilt Guild of Perryville, Missouri, to teach a class last July, I was thrilled. We had a great turn-out of quilters and creativity. I couldn’t have been more happy with their responses.

Image of Quilter at Class
Image of Quilt from Class
Image of Phoebee Quilt

Imagine my delight to learn they were having a Use BOTH Sides category of their class quilts in their next quilt show!

Image of Quilts Being Hung at Show

Setting up a booth as a vendor, I was even more surprised to see them hang their class quilts right across from my booth!

Image of "Sally" Quilt
Image of "Belle" Quilt

Maybe to someone who is perpetually confident, these events wouldn’t be so unusual. But if you are at all like me, you’ll understand the constant tug-of-war between confidence and doubt. Constant self-evaluation is not only exhausting at times, but it makes you quite surprised when other people like what you are doing. Seeing my own category was such on honor to me and to have it be in my home town, whether it means anything to anyone else in the world, meant the world to me.

Image of Quilters at Show

My thanks to the members of Memory Makers Quilt Guild. Hope you enjoy seeing their very creative quilts from class.

Unfortunately I was not able to get all of the quilters together for a picture, so only some of them are shown here.

If you live anywhere nearby or are traveling through, put it on your calendar to attend this show on May 1 & 2.

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!

Use BOTH Sides patterns by Creative Bee Studios have been featured in Hancock’s of Paducah, Nancy’s Notions, and Connecting Threads.

Shop Patterns HERE

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