Sew Karen-ly Created...

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Thursday 15 July 2010

Fruit Smoothie: Balis In The Blender

Ever wonder what would happen if you took lush berry-coloured balis and tossed them in the blender? You'd get this fabulous fabric fruit smoothie!This stunning piece of art is surprisingly simple to sew. It uses only one block and the gentle curve requires no special machine foot. Fruit Smoothie is one of the quilts I designed for the the Benartex booth at Quilt Market in Minneapolis, and the pattern is now available. You can purchase it online here, or stop in to Timeless Stitches in River John.

9 comments:

  1. Karen--that is absolutely beautiful! For your patterns, do they come with something that has to be traced onto freezer paper, or do they come as tissue paper pieces or foundation pieces that can be sewed on directly? I don't think I could find the fabrics that you used, and I'm afraid I'd be disappointed in my own choices. Are they all from a Benartex line?

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  2. One more thing--the white quilt underneath the Fruit Smoothie one, is that a wholecloth quilt with the design quilted into it, or is it pieced? It's beautiful, too, and I'm assuming you made that one, also.

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  3. OMG Karen, this is stunning!! The balis are absolutely gorgeous. What an awesome pattern.
    Love the name.

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  4. Karen - you have outdone yourself once again! I not only love the Bernatex fabrics, but the name you chose - Fruit Smoothie. I don't believe it could be simple! Curves? Do you know something I don't? Love it - great work my friend. Lucy

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  5. That is a such a fun pattern. It does look just like a Smoothie!!!! Love it!

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  6. Hi, all: Thanks for the nice comments! To answer Laura's questions, all patterns come with a traceable paper master pattern. When the master is for a foundation, it may be transferred to freezer paper if one works paper piecing that way, or photocopied onto newsprint(my favourite method). Template shapes may be traced onto mylar or simply pinned directly to the fabric and cut out. The Fruit Smoothie pattern does not use foundations, it uses templates for the block. You will notice the same block is used throughout the quilt, and in most instances that block is only two seams. With the addition of the background section, it is three seams. This really is a quick project to sew, and the curves are gentle. The fabric used is Benartex's In The Garden Balis, and the sku's are listed on the pattern back to help with fabric selection. Seven contrasting prints make the colours pop.
    Laura, as to your question concerning the background quilt...that is actually the back of a red and white Drunkard's Path quilt I made some time ago. It has a plain white-on-white back, but you can see faint outlines of some of the red patches shadowing through and I like how that adds a subtle colouring to the background without making it distracting. Can you see the patches? :)

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  7. Thanks so much for answering my questions, Karen, I do see the red patches now that you've pointed them out!
    One more thing -- your website shows totals in Canadian Dollars once items are put into the shopping cart, how do Americans convert totals to US Dollars?

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  8. The conversion will be done automatically when charged to your credit card. You will end up paying less than the stated price, as your American $ is currently worth a bit more than ours. But you don't have to do any calculations, that's taken care of for you!

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