Almost

(10/23/12: Edited to add - I now have the pdf pattern available in my etsy shop.  For a limited time I also have kits available for this table runner.)



It’s (almost) the most wonderful time of the year! 
 


I’m one of those people who refrains from breaking out the Christmas music until black Friday.  You? 

I have no corresponding rule when it comes to sewing for Christmas.  Honestly, if I waited until after Thanksgiving to start any Christmas project, then nothing would get done in time.

Last night I sifted through a stack of Christmas fabrics and found a few coordinating fat quarters.  I brainstormed for a few minutes and decided to make a table runner using some raw edge applique.  I’ve never tried it before.  Ever.  Guess what?  It’s easy. 

I spent about an hour last night tracing stars onto the Heat n’ Bond lite, ironing those stars onto the fabric and then cutting the stars out.  This afternoon during my son’s two hour nap time, I ironed the stars onto the background fabric, stitched each of them down, basted the layers (backing, batting and top), machine quilted the layers, made the binding and sewed it on.  Add one more hour in there to hand stitch the binding and It’s all done! 








I like the end result of the raw edge applique, and I love that this was a quick and easy project.  It’s a nice change from doing large quilts over several weeks! 

I have about a 1/4 yard of Heat n’ Bond left.  I feel another Christmas project coming on….

Oh, and the table runner is in the shop :)  Sorry, the table runner is sold!

edited to add:  I now have the pdf pattern for this Star Table Runner available in my etsy shop.  For a limited time I also have kits available for this table runner.

linking up:

Stars Abound

I recently had the chance to make the most adorable little quilt.  The mom sent me this photo and wanted a toddler-sized quilt just like it:

Photo from here  (I love this little bed – especially the sock monkey!)

And here’s my version:

The finished quilt measured 44 x 58 (before washing)

It’s machine quilted in navy – a basic meandering pattern with a few little loopies mixed in – one of my favorites.





The backing is this sweet little flower print from Henry Glass (Cottage Shirtings designed by Little Quilts for Henry Glass & Co.).  It’s SO wonderfully soft! 





The binding is the same light blue that’s used on the quilt front.  I love how it turned out! 





Soon after completing this quilt, I spotted this photo on Pinterest:




Isn't it just sweet?  I think now I’m going to have to use my same pattern and create a ‘Stars Abound’ quilt with some fun brights and a white background!  [Photo from here]

A Decade in the Making

Remember this post?  Well, I’m pleased to say that my ten-year-quilt is FINISHED!  Almost exactly ten years after it was begun.  How do I know?  Well, because I remember exactly where and when I saw the quilt that inspired me to attempt this beast.

 


We had only been married for 6 months, and we went to the Springville Museum of Art on a date.  Lo and behold, there was a fabulous quilt show going on that day.  (Every Autumn they hold an amazing quilt show – this year was the 38th annual!)  Right there in the lobby, behind the front desk, hung a star quilt.  It was gorgeous – reds, blues, stars… oh my.  I was quite smitten by it.  So much so that I went home, grabbed some graph paper (yeah, I ‘m a nerd – I keep it laying around like that) and sketched up what I wanted mine to look like.  The next day I headed to JoAnns (I didn’t know any better) and bought the fabric I needed. 

Ten years later, it’s finished.  It’s not perfect – I didn’t know anything about half square triangles – and it’s not necessarily my FIRST quilt that I’ve made, but it is the first one that has any complexity to it.  The quilts I did before this were simple squares.

For the backing I used what was leftover and pieced it as strips – nice and quick.  There was no way I was going to let the backing take me another decade.  Sheesh!





I quilted it in a meandering pattern with some loops thrown in here and there.  The binding was also part of the leftover fabric – so glad I had enough! 






The finished quilt is a twin size and I am so, so, so very happy that it is done! 

I'm linking up!

Unlinked

My latest pattern has finally made it’s appearance in the shop.  It’s called Unlinked and it includes instructions to make three different sizes:  Baby (45” x 45), Throw (45” x 60”) and Twin (75” x 90”).

 

The quilt pictured here is the throw size, made from Kona cotton (Snow, I think)  and six fat quarters that I had on hand.  I love the bright, fun colors and how they pop against the crisp white.





I also created one using a Kona Ash as the background – this one is the twin size (and is also for sale in the shop.  Edited to add:  quilt has sold - thanks!)





The other prints are from these lines: 

Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda
Happier by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake
Penny Lane by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake
and
Ready, Set, Snow by Me & My Sister Designs for Moda






…and of course I’m a sucker for a stripey binding.  This one is from the Happier line (Riley Blake) as well.


 




The pattern is a beginner level and is a fairly quick quilt to assemble.  If you’re interested in a different size, or perhaps a quilt done in other colors, I do take custom orders through my etsy shop.

Right Turn Only, part 2

Remember this post?  I could not wait for the yardage to arrive in stores, so I found a jelly roll for sale in one of my new favorite online shops: The Sproutz Store.  I spent the next few days trying to decide what to do with the jelly roll, and then a friend provided an answer for me.  She emailed me this link and then dropped off the ruler I needed.   I loved it.  I immediately began sewing.  Once the blocks were made I had fun arranging and re-arranging (and re-arranging, and re-arranging…) them on the design wall.  This was what I eventually decided on:




It’s a version of the flying geese block.  I suppose you could call them stuffed geese?  Or maybe there’s already a name for this block.  If you know, please enlighten me.


Once the quilt top was completed I had some of the stuffed geese leftover.  They became a strip for the back.  This is where the quilt gets it’s name:  Right Turn Only.  It just reminds me of the signs that are all over these round-a-bouts that we have here. 







I really, really love this color combo.  I love this almost-pinkish-red and the lighter blue.  And oh the yellow and the gray together! 





I machine quilted it in just a gentle meandering pattern and then bound it in my favorite red print from this line of fabric.  The finished quilt measures 54” x 65” which in my opinion is a great throw-size quilt – big enough to cover you and keep you warm, but not so large that you can lose the remote control in it.  You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?




I wrote a tutorial showing how I made this quilt.  It is a LOT easier than it looks!  If you make one, let me know - I'd love to see it!


This one is listed in the shop!  (Edited to add:  quilt is now sold, but if you would like one I do take custom orders)

I'm linking up to Sew & Tell over at amylouwho.com!

Zoo Dwellers quilt for Charlie

This quilt has been done for a couple of months now, but I’ve been waiting to write a post about it until I finished the tutorial for the Zoo Dwellers pattern.


This is a twin-size version of that pattern, made for my little nephew Charlie.  It uses the same fabrics as his brother’s quilt (Jack’s Blocks).

 


I enjoyed taking one stack of fabrics and creating two separate quilts – a little bit the same and a little bit different.  Just like these boys!





This quilt finished at around 62” x 72” (if I remember correctly!)

Sweet Baby Boy (version 1 and 2)

Back in December-ish I created this quilt which I called “sweet baby boy.”  (The finished quilt measured about 45” x 45”)  I listed it in my shop but apparently failed to blog about it – which is no big deal until I want to write a blog post that refers BACK to this quilt… which didn’t exist on my blog.  Y’all with me still?

Fast forward to August 2011.  I was digging through my closet and found some leftover blocks from the Sweet Baby Boy quilt.  There were maybe 10 or so blocks, and then a stack of scraps as well.  I was able to piece the scraps together to get a few more blocks, add some Kona snow as sashing and came up with this:

I know it doesn’t photograph well – it really looks SO much better in person.  This second quilt measures about 45” x 60” – yes…. bigger than the original quilt.  A yard or so of solid fabric can do amazing things when you combine it with a pile of scraps.  (side note:  Please don’t throw out your scraps.  If you don’t care to hang on to them, send them to me and I’ll put them to good use!)








This second quilt is going to find a new home at the Center for Women and Children in Crisis. 

Ribbons v.2

This is another quilt made from my Ribbons pattern.  This time it’s done in greens, blues and browns and it is the baby-size:  45” x 45”





I used fabrics from the Hooty Hoot line by Riley Blake and a Kona solid for the back. 

Can I just say that I think this is one of my all-time favorite color combos?  I have my flash-in-the-pan favorites (pink & light blue in the ‘90s, magenta & navy blue in 2000, and green, orange and aqua in 2011—to name just a few) but there’s just something about blue and green together that makes it timeless.  Or is it just me?





This quilt is listed in the shop as is the pattern!

Ribbons

What was I just saying in my last post?  Something about not having a lot of pink around our house?  Well this stack of fabrics didn’t stay long.  When I spotted the Sunkissed line by Sweetwater (Moda) I fell in love with the pinks and grays. 





I used them to create the throw-size quilt using my Ribbons pattern.  It measures 58” x 70” 





…and it is on it’s way to a new owner.  See, I told you it didn’t stay long.  I think that pink fabric just gets the vibe that it’s not welcome around here or something.

 

A Lotta Bit of Purple

In our family the opposite of “a little bit” is “a lotta bit.”  This newest quilt has more purple in it than exists in my entire home.  We’re not really purple people.  Or pink.

 

The whirlygig block was one that I had always wanted to try.  I made one block for a swap once and I was surprised at how easy it was.  So out came all of the lovely purple fabrics from my stash.   I really don’t ever work with purple but I have to say that I genuinely enjoyed it.  It just a pretty color.  I love it against the white background. 


I found the perfect spot to photograph this quilt- with some help from my son (such a good sport!)  Can you believe this little house?  How cute is that?  It has a little porch, a little front door and a little walk leading up to it.  It’s all just oozing with charm.  What an appropriate place to photograph a little quilt. 


 


The quilt measures 40” x 40”  The backing is not a pieced backing like I usually do, but instead I used a single print fabric.  You can see it peeking out in the photo below. 





This quilt is listed in my shop.

The Treasure in a Ziplock Bag

A couple of years ago I was the recipient of my mother-in-law’s fabric stash.  Some of it I used immediately and some of it sat patiently in my closet. 

Last week I pulled out a ziplock bag full of fabric and sorted through it.  It turned out to be the leftover bits from a project my MIL finished years ago.  I wasn’t sure it would be enough to make an entire quilt but once I got started I was pleasantly surprised-  There were enough blocks and strips to make a twin sized quilt!  Quite a treasure.

 


I had to visit the quilt shop to find a matching binding and backing – and even that went well.  You know how sometimes you have an idea of what you’re looking for and it’s just not there?  This binding that I found was just what I imagined for this quilt.  And I found it within minutes.  And it was on the clearance rack. 





This was a nice, quick, weekend project.  It is on it’s way to the LDS Humanitarian Center.  (They are still in need of full and twin sized quilts.)

I'm linking up to Sew and Tell Friday:

Thank you Harry Potter

The pattern for this quilt can be found here (Jack's Blocks pattern)


This quilt was designed and created for one of my little nephews.  His sister received her quilt over a month ago and I hear he has been patiently waiting for his.  (which reminds me… I never photographed his sister’s quilt.) 

My sis-in-law chose the fabrics (love them!) and found an inspiration quilt for me to use.  I really love how this quilt turned out.  I hope Jack does!





And why did I title this post “Thank you Harry Potter” you ask?  Because this quilt has been waiting for it’s binding for a few weeks.  I had the binding machine stitched to the front of the quilt but I didn’t have the time to sit and do the hand stitching to the back…  that is until my son decided to re-watch all of the Harry Potter movies.  We are eagerly awaiting the final movie and I thought his Harry Potter movie festival idea was a good one.  So I sat and finished this binding while watching The Sorcerer’s Stone. 

Thank you Harry Potter.  I have a feeling you will be helping me finish several quilt bindings in the next week.

 



The quilt’s finished size is 62” x 72”  It is all washed and ready for delivery!

The pattern for this quilt (called Jack's Blocks) is now in the shop!