Lofty Quilt + Dream Weaver Fabrics

It's so fun for me to re-visit an old favorite pattern!  This is Lofty, and it's seriously one of my all-time favorites. It has so many things going for it:

• It's fat quarter friendly*
• No background or borders
• It's a one-block-quilt...
• And that one block has just ONE seam
• No special rulers or templates needed

How can you beat that?  

*Updated 2023: The Lofty pattern now has more fabric options! You can use fat quarters, fat eighths, Layer Cake squares, or 1/3 yard cuts of yardage. Find the updated full-color, booklet style pattern here.

For this version of Lofty I used a new fabric line called Dream Weaver.  It's designed by my friend Amanda Castor (Material Girl Quilts) for Riley Blake Designs and it's available in stores this month - ask your quilt shop if they've ordered it!

I used as many of the Dream Weaver prints as I could in this quilt - and I fell in love right away with the large floral prints!

You can see the whole line here on the Riley Blake website.

And you can find Lofty quilt patterns here in my shop.

I love the orangey-reds and butter-yellows combined with all of those pretty blues!

I wanted this to be a cozy, snugly quilt so I went with a teal-colored minky for the backing.  Don't you just love how the quilting texture looks on minky?  This longarm design is a computerized one called Fort (see it here).

The Lofty quilt pattern has instructions for four sizes of quilt: crib, throw, twin & queen.  This version is the throw size (54" x 72") and in my opinion it's the perfect size for naps on the couch :)  -- it's been tested multiple times.   

Quilt details:
54"x 72"
Pattern: Lofty (PDF and paper version available here)**
Fabric: Dream Weaver by Amanda Castor for Riley Blake Designs
Quilting: Fort (edge to edge computerized design)
Backing: Teal minky from my local quilt shop

** If you're a quilt shop, Lofty patterns are available wholesale through Checker & Brewer

If you make a Lofty quilt I'd love to see it!  Be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook (@abrightcorner) and use the hashtags: #loftyquiltpattern and #abrightcornerpatterns

Game Night Quilt - The Christmas Version

I'm sharing my latest quilty finish with you today, and yes, yes I know, I know.......it's a CHRISTMAS quilt.  I'm sure we're all tired of seeing reds and greens.  I'm the same way.  But I decided when I started this quilt in November that I'd slow down and allow myself to enjoy the process. 

I let go of the self-imposed deadline of Christmas and as a result I was able to really enjoy every step of making this quilt - from choosing the fabrics from my stash, to picking a perfect backing (which you'll see in later photos.) 

The pattern for this quilt is called Game Night and you can find it in my book, Fresh Fat Quarter Quilts. 

Find Fresh Fat Quarter Quilts here on Amazon, or grab an autographed copy here from my shop, or tell your local quilt shop to order copies!  

The Game Night quilt pattern uses 10 fat quarters (plus background fabric).  But for my version I used red, green, and black prints from my stash and my scrap bins.  I tried to use a different red print and green print for each block, and I love the result!

(You can see the original Game Night quilt in this blog post)

Don't let the circles scare you away from trying this quilt!  In the instructions I give you two options to choose from - a more traditional applique technique, and a fusible applique method - that's what I used here.

 I used Heat n Bond Featherlite for my fusible webbing and then a machine blanket stitch (it's a setting on my machine) to secure the circles.  Easy peasy.  And I step you through it in the book.  If you prefer the more traditional method of applique I provide instructions for that as well. 

One of the really nice things about finishing a Christmas quilt AFTER Christmas is that I was able to find a cute backing fabric in a 50% off sale at my local quilt shop.  These little peppermint circles are from the Sweet Christmas fabric line by Urban Chiks (Moda fabrics). 

Now comes the hard part, folding it up and putting it away for the next 10-ish months.  Or maybe I'll just let it sit here on my ladder for a week so I can enjoy it a little :)

Quilt details:
59"x 73"
Pattern: Game Night (from Fresh Fat Quarter Quilts book)
Fabric: Red, green, and black prints from my stash & scrap bins
Quilting: Soho (edge to edge computerized design)
Backing: Peppermint Polka Dot, Marzipan color (Sweet Christmas by Urban Chiks for Moda)

If you make a Game Night quilt I'd love to see it!  Be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook (@abrightcorner) and use the hashtags: #gamenightquilt and #abrightcornerpatterns

**This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) when purchases are made through links found in this post.

Vinyl Project Bags + Homestead Life Fabrics

Well hello everyone!  I'm sharing a quick little project today - one that I've been meaning to make for over a year now - vinyl project bags.  A friend of mine has a set of these and loves them.

She uses them to store her quilt WIPs and kits, and I've also seen people use them for their cross stitch, crochet, and english paper piecing projects.

The fabrics I used for my bags all come from the new Homestead Life line by Tara Reed (Riley Blake Designs).  You can find Homestead Life in shops now, including here at the Fat Quarter Shop.

I love the sweet florals combined with the chunky gingham prints!

I made two different sized bags - the large bags are 13" x 13", and the smaller bag is 8" x 11".

I made this smaller one to hold pens and markers - perfect!

And I added hanging loops to the two larger bags so they could be stored on a hook or on a hanger in a closet.

There are a lot of different tutorials out there for making vinyl bags.  I mostly followed this one by Center Street Quilts.  After looking around at several other tutorials, I decided I liked her method the best.   She also has great photos, and clear instructions.  She pieced her bag backing but I just used a solid piece of fabric for mine.

Once you get the idea of how they're constructed, it's not hard to adjust the bag sizes to fit your needs.

This set of bags is meant as a gift for someone, but I'll definitely be making more of these for myself!

Want to see other versions of vinyl project bags?  These were some other helpful tutorials that I found:

Easy WIP Project Bag with Vinyl (YouTube video by The Fat Quarter Shop)
Vinyl Project Bag Tutorial by Thimbleanna
Vinyl Project Bag Tutorial by The Quilting Nook
Vinyl Project Pouch Tutorial by Center Street Quilts

And you can see more of the Homestead Life fabrics here on the Riley Blake Designs site, and you can find Tara Reed's blog here.

Happy sewing!

**This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) when purchases are made through links found in this post.