Five Friday Favorites: Favorite Fall Project Ideas

Now that Labor Day is behind us, it's time to get to work on those fall projects!  I had my first pumpkin cupcake the other day, and today I used my favorite apple scented lotion.  I know it's not officially fall yet, but for us crafters we have to work a few weeks ahead of the calendar right?  Especially if we want to get our projects done in time to use them!  

So today I'm sharing five of my current favorite fall-ish projects!

#1:  Autumn Stars Quilt Tutorial

The free tutorial is from Missouri Star Quilt Co and obviously you don't HAVE to make it in autumn colors, but isn't it pretty?  I'd love to make a fall quilt this year!  

#2:  Fabric Pumpkins

I know there are a TON of these on Pinterest, but these happen to really be my favorite.  I think they're just so cute and chubby.  You can find the tutorial here on the Creation Corner blog.

#3:  Scrappy Pumpkin Table Runner

This is a great way to use up those fall-colored scraps, and it's a fast little project.  You could even just put one pumkin on a square background and use it for a mug rug.  You know, to put underneath that pumpkin spice latte you've been craving.  Link to tutorial can be found here!

#4:  Scrap Buster Fall Pillow

Another great use for your favorite fall-colored scraps.  This is so cute with the raw edge applique!  The tutorial is from Allison Harris and can be found on her blog, Cluck Cluck Sew.

#5:  Woodland Quilt

This is a free printable pattern (found here) for a quilt that measures 43" x 56" - great throw size.  Back it in some flannel or minky and you've got a quilt you can use all the way through November as you sit on the couch at night watching Netflix.  Find / print the free pattern here.  

Have a great weekend, and happy sewing!

Jolly Bar Quilt Fun

[pssst...are you looking for the giveaway?  Click here ]

A couple of weeks ago I got some fun mail from The Fat Quarter Shop.  They have a new book out called The Jolly Bar Book.  (And look - it says "vol. 1" on it so that must mean they plan on future volumes!)

The book has 20 patterns in it and most of them call for only one Jolly Bar.  See the shapes in the photo below?  Each one goes with one of the patterns in the book.  You can see that there's a fun variety of quilts.

I decided that I needed to make one of the quilts out of a Varsity Jolly Bar (designed by Sweetwater for Moda).  Honestly, I don't think there's a Sweetwater line that I haven't absolutely loved.

And it didn't take me long to decide which pattern from the book to use - the pieced border on the Tree Lined Street quilt is what got me.  

The quilt was a quick one to make!  There is very little cutting, so you're sewing right away.  I had the quilt top done in one evening.

The finished quilt measures 42" x 58" and I quilted it in one of my favorite designs, geometric lines (you can read more about that quilting design in this blog post.)  

You can find copies of the Jolly Bar book here at The Fat Quarter Shop, as well as their current selection of Jolly Bars.  

There's a group of us quilting bloggers who have all made quilts from the Jolly Bar book today  - go and check out which quilt the others made!  

Melissa from Happy Quilting
Tina from Emily Ann's Kloset
Amanda from Jedi Craft Girl
Connie from Free Motion by the River
Afton from Quilting Mod
Pam from Pam Kitty Morning
Heidi from Buttons and Butterflies
Renee from Sewn with Grace
Remona from The Stitching Scientist
Andy from A Bright Corner
Angie from Gnome Angel

A New Project + a Handmade Giveaway!

I'm cutting into a new layer cake this afternoon.  I think for me, this stage of the project is the most exciting.  I love the planning and the math and the anticipation of what the finished quilt will look like.

The lovely fabric I'm using for this quilt is the new line from Bonnie and Camille, called Handmade.

There are some really great prints in this line - I love the hexagon prints, and the oh-so-pretty florals.  And I can't leave out the bias stripes.  Boy do I love a good striped fabric!

You can see more of the whole line here on Moda's site, and here at the Fat Quarter Shop.  

Would you like to win some Handmade?  The Fat Quarter Shop has generously offered to give one of you a full fat eighth bundle of Handmade!  

To enter the giveaway just leave a comment below telling me what your favorite pre-cut is!  And if you're a no-comment blogger, be sure to leave an email address so I can reach you.  

Giveaway will be open until Thursday, September 8th at midnight and I'll announce the winner here on Friday.  Good luck, and have a great Labor Day weekend!