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Astrid by Erin McMorris

May 23, 2013 by 5 Comments

Continuing with the Quilt Market sewing, here’s a small quilt in Astrid by Erin McMorris. If you liked Erin’s Irving Street, you will love Astrid.Astrid by Erin McMorris quiltThe colors in this collection have a very retro feel to them. If your stash needs bits of unexpected color, Astrid could be just the thing you need.230I modified this quilt pattern (which will be a free pattern available through Free Spirit in the near future) to make it a bit smaller than the pattern specifies. It goes together quickly, which was important for the up to the last minute deadline I was working with.

This collection will be in stores in July. Just enough time for you to plan a project and decide on which pieces will enhance your stash.

Filed Under: color, Disclosure, fabric, Market, quilting, quilts

Progress Is Slow But Certain

April 13, 2013 by 7 Comments

Nothing is quite as satisfying as a cat approved quilt. Here, Petey gives us his stamp of approval for the picnic quilt in Jenean’s Beechwood Park.

Fireworks quilt with PeteyYou may recall the dress done in the purple colorway which I posted here. The red/white/blue colorway is just as amazing and perfect for a summer picnic quilt. It feels a bit patriotic but without any specificity. Americans, Aussie, Brits, Kiwis….the list is lengthy. (Check wikipedia for a list of all countries with red, white and blue in their flags.)

The free pattern will be available for download through Free Spirit at some point in the near future, but definitely after Spring Quilt Market next month. It’s easy to put this dramatic piece together. The drama comes from letting the fabric do the heavy lifting. A little fussy cutting gives it structure without having to put a lot of effort into piecing. For example, see the corner square in the dark blue to the right of Petey’s front paw in the above photo? The directionality of the fussy cut piece makes up for a pieced square.

photog helpersIt’s a full weekend of sewing assignments for me. Threads litter the floor and coffee is in constant supply.

What’s up for your weekend?

Filed Under: animals, cats, fabric, Market, pattern, quilting, quilts

Safari Garden – A Free Quilt Pattern

March 17, 2013 by 6 Comments

The year started off with some talk about pre cuts, if you recall. (And if you don’t, or if you hadn’t joined me yet, here’s the introductory post.) So far, I’ve given you free patterns for a couple wall hangings (Garden Geometry and Fruit Smoothie) and a table topper (Fresh & Easy) and a picnic cloth (Country Picnic). Now it’s time for something a little bigger.Zebras in the Garden

High drama carries the day with a mix of zebra and colorful prints in the blue and green range. The piecing itself is quite simple. There is no matching of seams on these tumblers. With the tumblers stacked top to bottom, the row arrangement creates a visual pattern of secondary interest without any extra work on your part.

Here are the details on the quilt:

  • Measures 43″ x 55″
  • Uses 12 fat quarters and one yard of zebra or other high contrast print for patchwork
  • Fabrics in this quilt are from Jennifer Paganelli’s Happy Land collection for Free Spirit (zebra is from her Flower Power collection)

When deciding on fabric to use for this pattern, keep two things in mind. First, use one high contrast print. I’ve used zebra but you could substitute black and white dots or checks–anything that really stands out by itself.  Second, the broader your range of prints for the non-zebra tumblers, the better. It creates all-over interest and keeps your eye moving. Pull out your scrap pile. Scraps would work beautifully in this quilt.

You can get the pdf of this free pattern by clicking here. And you’ll be able to find it easily in the future by heading to the Freebie section. If you’re not acquainted with Jennifer Paganelli yet, be sure to visit her website and blog. Jennifer lives color and beauty with every breath. And she would love to have you join her in celebrating them.

Enjoy this one!

Filed Under: color, fabrics, freebie, freebies, pattern, quilting, quilts, scraps, sis boom

Perfect Imperfections

March 7, 2013 by 13 Comments

Getting into the habit of letting go can be difficult. We hold on to so many little rules and ideas about how things must be done. In every area of our lives from the way we keep house to the way we prioritize our time, we follow these unwritten, sometimes buried rules. It can take a lot of work to become aware of them, let alone begin to decipher the Why and How before sorting through what to keep and what to let go.Perfectly Imperfect Table runnerNothing feeds our inner control freak quite like quilting. The simple geometry seems to beg for precision and nitpicking–perfect seams, perfect stitches, perfect cuts. But even with quilting, and I would like to suggest that sometimes especially with quilting, you need to let go of perfection. There are many different reasons I believe this is necessary. If you allow yourself to piece imperfectly, you won’t be afraid to tackle a new technique. Or you might begin to experience the freedom necessary to find your own voice. (Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t always do our best, but I am saying that our best and perfection are not always the same thing.) Perfectly Imperfect Table Runner2Sometimes, we need to let go and play without any rules or expectations. I had some leftover skinny scraps of differing widths. I couldn’t waste them. I wanted to play. The result is a table runner filled with color and charm. Some of the seams and points don’t match. That’s what happens when you use different sizes of scraps out of the pile. 112But I’m not hung up on the imperfections. I’m thrilled some of my smallest scraps found a home. I’m ridiculously happy with the mix of scraps and colorful big stitching. I smile every time I look at it. This is my reward for letting go.

When was the last time you gave yourself permission to be imperfect? Don’t be afraid. Just let go and play.

Filed Under: Amy Butler, color, fabric, Parson Gray, quilting, quilts, Rowan, scraps

Country Picnic Cloth — Another Little Freebie

February 27, 2013 by 8 Comments

Time to reveal what happened to those little Charleston Farmhouse pieces from two posts ago. Ready? Here it is!Country Picnic ClothThe center patchwork section is pieced, then attached to a muslin square, turn inside out and topstitched to the canvas. The process adds a bit of stability to the patchwork. After securing the patchwork, I tied it with Anchor pearl cotton. Easy, quick and fits with the comfy feel of the project. You could certainly spend time quilting it. A quick addition of scattered squares at the corners also add to the relaxed feel.Country Picnic cloth closeup

The fabric is Felicity Miller’s Charleston Farmhouse which is in stores now. The solids are Free Spirit’s Designer Solids in Cream and Slate Gray. You can find the free pattern in the Freebies section. And by clicking here.

Have fun with this one!

Filed Under: blog buddies, Coats & Clark, fabric, freebie, freebies, house and home, quilts, sewing

Grandpa’s Toolbox Makes The Cover

February 22, 2013 by 7 Comments

Generation Q’s February/March issue is out! And that quilt on the cover…it’s a Melissa P. original called Grandpa’s Toolbox.GenQ cover issue 4The pattern to make the quilt is found in the magazine, which you can purchase directly from Generation Q if it is unavailable at your local quilt shop.Grandpa's Toolbox on trailer1I thought you might be interested in the story behind this little quilt–where the idea came from, how I chose fabrics, and that sort of thing. It started with a simple thought–using hexagons to do something masculine, something as different from Grandma’s Flower Garden as I could get. I knew I wanted Parson Gray prints to solidify that masculine edge. While I was cutting out the hexies, I realized the gray hexies reminded me of nuts and bolts. That thought led me to memories of my father’s toolboxes. 

I was always intrigued by the things my father had in the garage, in his truck and anywhere else he might find a place to stash them. I liked the way toolboxes had trays for the small stuff. It seemed pretty cool that he had little cubbie holes and compartments for different parts. You could open the lid, remove the tray and find all sorts of odd little bits, some of them brightly colored and some not. Naturally, the uses for all these things were not nearly as interesting as the colors and shapes. 

And those colors made their way into this quilt. The blue and red of a Craftsman screwdriver set, the yellow of a Stanley tool handle, the bright colors of wire nuts (yellow, red, green, gray and blue)–it’s all there in simple geometry. The addition of some of Amy’s Cameo prints was almost a no-brainer. (Search Google Images for all of those and you’ll see what I mean.) The black strips running through the darker hexies are representative of the handles on the toolbox trays. For me, the quilt is a top down view into a place filled with memories.

By the time I sat down to sew the pieces together by hand, I knew I’d accomplished my goal. There’s nothing Grandmother’s Flower Garden about this piece. (Not that I don’t appreciate the Grandmother’s Flower Garden pattern. I do. My second attempt at quilting was a failed GFG. But that’s a long story from a long time ago.) The best thing though, it makes me think of my father and grandfather and all the happy memories I have of each of them. 

Filed Under: Amy Butler, color, fabrics, family, magazine, Parson Gray, pattern, quilting, quilts, Rowan, sewing

Fruit Smoothie — A Free Pattern & Another Giveaway

February 8, 2013 by 52 Comments

Time for the February freebie and giveaway! Are you ready? It’s a jolt of color that will brighten any winter day and refresh all of you in the Southern Hemisphere.Fruit Smoothie quiltThis small quilt is Fruit Smoothie and uses two types of pre cuts. The center patchwork section is a mix of mini charm stacks and 5 inch charms. My Kaffe stash had just the perfect prints for the border, but at 2 1/2″ they’re the same size as designer roll strips.Fruit Smoothie KaffeIt’s a great project for beginners because the mixture of all those prints blends small mistakes and mismatched seams. Letting the fabric do the heavy lifting makes it look more complex than it really is. All other levels of experience will find it a fun and easy way to put some of their Kaffe stash out on display.Fruit Smoothie closeupI used several colors of Anchor pearl cotton thread to hand quilt this piece. You can see a photo of the quilted backside in the last post. And I’ve written a free pattern for you which you can access by clicking here. Or by visiting the Freebies section at any time.

Kaffe minisWestminster Fibers has given me a couple of these Kaffe and Friends mini stacks to share. Excited?! Me too. Each of these stacks comes with 250 of the 2 1/2″ squares. That’s right…250!!! Here are the details for this sweepstakes:

  1. Leave a comment on this post before the deadline to enter. Tell me anything you’d like, but I’d love to know your favorite Kaffe print.
  2. One comment per reader. Duplicate entries will be deleted.
  3. You have until 12:00 midnight Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, February 13 to enter. 
  4. International entrants are welcome.
  5. Two winners will be selected by Random Number Generator. One winner for the US and one international winner.
  6. Winners will be announced sometime before Monday, February 18th.
  7. Winners will be notified by email and will have one week to respond. If winners do not respond, a new winner will be selected by Random Number Generator and notified by email.

Good luck!

Filed Under: Coats & Clark, color, embellishments, embroidery, fabric, freebie, giveaway, Kaffe Fassett, pattern, quilting, quilts, Rowan, sewing, tutorials

Garden Geometry — A New Free Quilt Pattern & A Chance To Win

January 8, 2013 by 116 Comments

Garden Geometry tabletopReady to kick off the new year in a big way? There’s nothing like a punch of pattern, color and design to get your creative energy flowing. We’re going to start the pre-cut series of projects with a very special piece. It utilizes 2 1/2″ squares, aka mini charms, in an unusual way. It’s name is Garden Geometry.Garden Geometry QuiltYou may remember this post. It happened in a deliciously serendipitous way. Several Parson Gray’s Seven Wonders fat quarters sat on my table waiting for attention. It wasn’t until that particular morning, and those numerous cups of coffee, that everything clicked. And you know me, when it clicks, it clicks dramatically. I knew immediately that my Amy Butler scrap stash had to come out to join in the fun. 

My favorite thing about this piece is how it represents these two incredible artists and their very different design aesthetics. Whenever I get to work with fabrics designed by my friends and people who inspire me, an additional bit of magic happens. In this case, doubly so. Can’t you just see Amy’s flower beds soaking up Dave’s wind and rain? I’m quite smitten with the way these prints all work together. Dave’s fabrics make for an interesting play of movement–the dark and light colors, the wavy lines in the design, the alternating placement. And Amy’s prints get a chance to play with each other across numerous collections while providing the perfect balance to all the gray and blue.351The details on the project are simple:

  • Measures 35 inches square
  • Blocks are foundation pieced and finish at 8 inches
  • Patchwork strips are pieced first and then treated as one unit for block assembly
  • Hand quilted with big stitches using Anchor threads 

I’m so excited about this project. And I want you to share my excitement! I’ve written a pattern so you can make one of your very own Garden Geometry wall hangings. It requires a basic understanding of foundation piecing, although I do provide a quick run through if you need a refresher. There are many videos and guides available online if you want to learn. The block is an easy beginner block, so don’t fret. You can find the free pdf pattern here as well as the “Freebies” section. Garden Geometry SwagTo take that excitement level up a notch or two, I’m giving away some fabric! One lucky commenter will receive a stack of 128 mini charms (2 1/2″ squares) of Amy Butler prints along with one yard each of the two Parson Gray prints pictured above. It’s all the fabric required for the quilt blocks! I pulled from my Amy Butler scrap stash to cut the squares so it contains prints from at least five of her past collections of quilting cottons. Free Spirit is generously providing the Parson Gray yardage. Sound like fun?! I thought so too.

Here are the details of the Sweepstakes:

  1. Leave a comment on this post before the deadline to enter. Tell me anything you’d like, there’s no magic comment.
  2. One comment per reader. Duplicate entries will be deleted.
  3. You have until 12:00 midnight Pacific Standard Time on Friday, January 18 to enter. 
  4. International entrants are welcome.
  5. Winner will be selected by Random Number Generator the weekend of January 19-20.
  6. Winner will be notified by email and will have one week to respond. If winner does not respond, a new winner will be selected by Random Number Generator and notified by email.

Good luck!

Filed Under: Amy Butler, color, creativity, Disclosure, fabrics, giveaway, Parson Gray, pattern, quilting, quilts, Rowan, scraps

Progress!

December 11, 2012 by 4 Comments

WIP AB with PG neutralsLots of project finishes going on around here lately. I was hard at work on this one all day today. The quilt top is done and it now needs some hand quilting.Happy Land with zebra print and coordinating afghanOver the weekend I finished up a small Happy Land quilt. The zebra looking afghan was finished last week. I’ll be sharing more of these two soon. Hopefully with some directions, if I can manage to find some time to sit and jot them down.

What projects are you working on? Any finishes? I feel like it’s a mad dash to finish some things before the end of the year–a totally self imposed deadline. 

Filed Under: Amy Butler, fabric, fabrics, house and home, quilting, quilts, Rowan, sis boom, wips, yarn

Caffeine and Color

December 3, 2012 by 5 Comments

Amy Butler scrapsWhen I woke up this morning, I had no idea how I was going to spend my day. Besides a couple cups of coffee, I was without a plan. I worried that I might waste the day away. Turns out, worrying was the waste of time. Worry never accomplishes a thing. You’d think I would know that by now.

In any event, I got past those initial cups of coffee and started getting fabric out. A couple of fat quarters of Parson Gray’s Seven Wonders and my Amy Butler Scrap Bin were all I needed for hours of enjoyment.  Amy Butler small squaresThe benefits of all that caffeine are long gone but I have plenty to show for my play time. Just not today. You’ll have to wait to see what is happening to these colorful scraps. I’m willing to bet it won’t be what you’re expecting.

Filed Under: Amy Butler, color, fabric, quilting, quilts, scraps, sewing
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