Star Crossed Quilt from Don't Call Me Betsy

Elizabeth from Don't Call Me Betsy is no stranger to us...and probably not to you either...her work is fabulous! We're constantly checking out her cute stuff for inspiration! :)  One of my favorite things Elizabeth has done is her Kaleidoscope QAL...so cute!!!  Make sure to stop by Don't Call Me Betsy and her pattern shop, love this one!!

I am so excited to share the finished quilt with you!  This is definitely one of my favorite finishes in a while, thanks to the fun I had quilting this one and the great texture the quilting created.  I love densely quilted quilts like this one, so I'm quite sure it's going to be one of my favorites for a while to come.

before washing

after washing

A while back, I fell in love with a block I saw in a copy of Jinny Beyer's The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns, on loan from the library, and sketched it out in my sketchbook.  Many months later, back in January, when the fabulously talented Betz White sent me some of her fantastic organic line of fabric for Robert Kaufman, I revisited the sketch and decided to finally make the block.  I called it a Star Crossed block, as it felt like a fab combination of a star and cross block, and I slowly started working on this quilt bit by bit, in between what feels like a zillion other obligations that I can't share yet.

I was super excited to finish this quilt...until I realized that I didn't have a clue how I wanted to quilt it.  Usually, I don't make that decision until after I see the finished quilt top.  When I looked at this quilt top, I just couldn't seem to decide.  I wanted to do something other than my usual smooth stipple, and I thought a pointy stipple would be fun, but rather than mocking it up to see how it would look, I just went for it.  Whoops.  I hated it.  Intensely.  So much so that I ripped it all out.  Note to self: always mock up the quilting.  Always.  (ETA: All I do to mock up my quilts is print out a photo and draw out my FMQ design on it with a highlighter.  It's uber-low-tech and fast.)

before washing

Somehow or another, I got baptist fans on the brain, and just couldn't let go.  So I did them.  And they were really fun to do!  The way I stitched these fans is indeed in a continuous line, with one start at the beginning of each row of fans and one stop at the end.  I'm putting the finishing touches on a tutorial of how I did this quilting to share with you all tomorrow, so stay tuned for that. 

before washing

I'm so happy I went with my gut and ripped out the pointy stipple quilting stitches I started with.  I'm also really glad I tried a new style of quilting, even though I really thought it was going to be either too difficult or too tedious.  Trying something new can be so much fun!

after washing

Thanks again, Betz, for sharing some of your lovely fabrics for this project!

Quilt Stats
Name: Star Crossed Stitch quilt
Block Pattern: Star Crossed block
Size: 34" x 44"
Fabrics: Betz White's Stitch Organic collection for Robert Kaufman along with some coordinating fabrics from Just Dandy, Katie Jump Rope, and So Sophie
Backing: Remants from Betz White's Stitch Organic collection
Quilting: All-over baptist fan free motion quilting (tutorial coming tomrrow!) by yours truly
Binding: Scrappy binding, using remants from Betz White's Stitch Organic collection, hand finished

A Quilt for Baby Belle

Warning: Picture Overload

I've got another quilt finish (Megan), so I had to sneak in my own feature :)  My sister-in-law just had her first baby, a sweet baby girl Annabelle.  I called my SIL a few months into her pregnancy and asked her what colors she liked.  She said she was really into yellow, pink and brown.  Well just prior to that Heather and I got the whole line of Just Dandy.  Perfect right?  Except that I had the blue/green colorway and Heather took the pink/yellow colorway.  AND I had already used mine on these messenger bags.  Sigh.  After a lot of pouting and bribery (and more pouting) Heather gave me some.  I don't think there could have been a more perfect line!

I went through several designs with this, all of them were HST though :)  At one point it was a zig-zag quilt.  Ultimately I settled on this design and I liked having the pink/cream double hourglass to offset the yellow.

I used some leftover Peacock Lane for binding. I need more of those fabrics, amazing for the stash, seriously.

I also gave baby Belle Lola's Quilt :)  I figure if I ever have a girl I will want to do all pink/red/purple for her.  Already having two boys I literally have blue and green in every room.

I used Joel Dewberry's Heirloom for backing.  I straight stitched about 1/4" on the sides of the seams.  It made a neat pattern and I love the six-pointed stars in the middle.

Next I had to make her one of my Carseat Canopy's from Oh Baby!.  I used felt for the flowers and added a pearl in the middle.  I loved working with so much pink!  Here's the supplies you need for the flowers:

Two colors of felt, scissors (these teflon Havel's are my fave...they're really really good!), glue gun and disappearing ink pen.  I used the cup opening for the lighter pink and large circles, cut 4.  From the bottom of the cup cut the darker pink, cut 4.  Fold in half twice using the glue gun to keep in place. Arrange like below and add a pearl or two to the top!  Ta-da! How's that for a mini tutorial??

I also made her a nursing cover with Midnight Garden from Michael Miller.  Those come together fast...some boning and D-rigs and you're good to go!  Got to have one of those right?

I made an extra flower with a hair clip on the back.

Seriously it was so much fun to make girl stuff!  And it felt nice to go "overboard" since it was for a niece...now to get to meet that sweet baby girl!  They're in Florida and we're in Arizona, so it may take some time but it'll happen. Until then Skype will suffice.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Quilt for Kelly

One of my best friend's mom, Kelly, was recently diagnosed with cancer.  At the end of July she was diagnosed with duodenal cancer which is very rare and serious.  Chemotherapy didn't offer her very optimistic chances, after doing research and help from family and friends she's decided to pursue a promising alternative treatment.  However, this treatment requires $25,000 upfront.  Her loving family has thrown her a fundraiser where she lives and they're throwing another this weekend  in North Salt Lake City, Utah.  (You can see more about her story HERE.)

I have felt so bad for my friend Ashlie.  She is one of my favorite people ever, and it's really hard to see your friend go through something like this.  Ashlie is the oldest in her family and she's only 27!!!!  She needs her mommy for many years to come.

I was really excited when I found out there would be a silent auction at her mom's fundraisers, and a real way I could help.  This quilt is in honor of Kelly:

I settled pretty quickly on the design.  Simple but more interest than just squares.  Bigger than I originally planned, it's a good size at 51" x 78".  I went back and forth about colors. I wanted to appeal to the broadest crowd.  I ultimately went for a bright and cheery fall palette.  I started with my Robert Kaufman Metro Market prints and began pulling from there.  There's a lot of different collections in this quilt, Going Coastal, Peacock Lane, Sanctuary, Veranda and Michael Miller Solids.

Simple quilting, about 2-3 inches in on each block. Straight-line.

Although I love the back, I hope I didn't make a mistake!  I hope it isn't too modern for some.  I really just love to piece my backs and have a lot of fun tying all the prints together in a non-traditional way.  Looking back I probably should have kept it more simple.  Oh well :/

I threw in a couple more things that could be auctioned off.  One of our Oh Baby! patterns, that is great for beginner sewers.  I included all the necessary fabric as well, again Metro Market and coordinating Groovy fat quarters.

Then a little set of fabric flowers.  You can never go wrong with these right? :)

Here's the whole lot.  Hopefully these can help bring Kelly closer to the treatment she needs.

For those of you who live in Utah you can attend the fundraiser!  

It's Friday October 28th in North Salt Lake.  

There will be dancing, food, costumes and an auction  

If you want more information see HERE.

Pick a Bunch Quilt from JuneBug's World

June from JuneBug's World has a really cute finish to share with us from the Pick a Bunch line (which I love!). The rainbow colors are just too cute!!  Make sure to see June's Etsy where she sells ridiculously cute (and affordable) clutches.  This is my favorite.  Also see her blog for some fun projects and a good read...I love her post on her daughter's secret lunch money pocket and her darling kite boy pillow finish!  Okay, another yummy quilt to see!


You know I'm true to my word. I'm nothing if not good with follow through - I finished the Pick A Bunch quilt!

I peiced the front with alternating strips of the jelly roll of fabric and strips of white fabric. The back is a peiced sheet with a few half square triangle pinwheels randomly placed, and the binding is some kind of dark brown Kona cotton (espresso?). I did the same as with my Pips quilt and stitched on the binding with one of my sewing machine's decorative stitches.

I love this quilt - I made it just for me. Just because I loved the fabric line. And there are things I would do differently (namely, not really ever interested in stitch in the ditch anymore) but overall I really like the way the quilt looks.

1. livingrm, 2. selvedge, 3. front, 4. back

Oh and what's a good quilt until it's put to good use?

Fabric Tuesday and Sewing for Boys!!

I got a super cute book to review for you all today...and maybe you've seen it already on the blog book tour.  Sewing for Boys from Patterns by Figgy.  I was lucky to snag a copy...after all I do have two little boys!!  This book is darling.  A wide range of boys clothing (and some other fun projects too).  Those of us who have boys and sew know how rare it is to find projects for our little guys!

Here are a couple of the projects that I plan on delving into asap!  I love jackets for little guys...especially living in AZ that's all I need for the winter.  I didn't get a great close-up on the jacket (boo to me).  My 2 year old is going to love it.

pattern Luke Hoodie from Sewing for Boys; fabric Urban Zoologie from Robert Kaufman

And these belts...I think I need 20 right?  Getting on those tomorrow.  For sure.

pattern hold 'em up belt from Sewing for Boys; fabric Pooches n Pickups and Robot Factory from Robert Kaufman

Our friend Sara from Sew Sara has an extra copy to give away!!  So hop on over to win yourself a copy and get sewing!!

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Fabric Tuesday #52

ready to link-up your latest fabric projects?

If you're new see here for our easy rules :)

Fun fun fun!

Messenger Bags done!

I mentioned earlier this week that my husband was gone for EIGHT WEEKS!!!!  It was so long and I missed him lots.  I spent a good amount of time in Utah with my family.  Then I convinced two of my nieces to come home with me for two weeks, Hannah (17) and Cheyenne (14). And although they definitely would have passed on the hottest August in Arizona since the 60's, we had soooo much fun.  I felt like I was 15 again, giggling, making late night treat runs, watching tons of movies and punching each other in the boob.  Seriously.

Well I convinced the girls we should have a project to do while they were here, and they looked through all my fabrics and patterns and we decided on this:

Fabric: Just Dandy for Robert Kaufman   Pattern: Messenger Bag by Izzy and Ivy Designs

We would spend an hour on some days, twenty minutes on others, just slowly working on finishing these bags for school.  I have my own started too, but about halfway through realized I better help them otherwise we wouldn't get them done in time!!  And only one sewing machine didn't help.

Below is a shot of the back with a nice big pocket.

This is the front with the flap.

These bags are great, I am excited to finish mine, it will be my official church bag.  It's the perfect size for a few books or notebooks.  There are also up to 4 pockets on here too, love me some pockets.  And the pattern was written fabulously, even the girls were following along!  Great diagrams, love that.

Hannah and Cheyenne did most the work themselves too!  I did help Hannah cut hers out (she's a leftie and we just couldn't figure out the best way for her to cut!!) But they did their own sewing, ironing and even a little hand stitching.  Good work girls!!

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Oh and my sweet friend Gentri is having a giveaway on her blog Little Lulu's Nest, would you want to win this??

She does darling yarn wreaths, headbands, custom art, just adorable stuff.  Make sure to go and enter...there are three different prizes!!!  

Giveaway is through Labor Day Weekend.

See you tomorrow for a really sweet baby girl quilt feature :)

Projects to share...

I realize I am not very good at sharing my projects along the way...in fact I almost always wait until I have a completed quilt (or project) to post it on the blog.  I want to change that...so today I'm sharing some of my WIPs!  Now that I look at them, only half are actually in progress, a couple are just waiting to be started!! Ha!  Oh, and if you're wondering we'll have a great feature on Wednesday :)

1. Modern Strip Quilt

 Monaco by Monaluna

This bad boy is all pieced, just needs to be bound and quilted.  I am hoping to finish it in a few weeks!!  It is cute, modern and will become a pattern.

2. Robot Factory Quilt

Robot Factory by Caleb Gray for Robert Kaufman-look for this collection late September

This quilt is further along than pictured, some of the blocks are done already.  This is my top priority and I am really excited about this one.  Such adorable boy fabric!!  My boys and I spent 10 minutes looking at the fabric together the other day :)

3. Yet to be named...

Circa 60 Beach Mod by Birch Fabrics

I am in LOVE with the colors in this line, that is my new favorite blue/green (what would you call it? They call it "mineral")  Paired with the oranges and yellows, yummy.  This is another upcoming pattern, all the blocks are done I just need to put the top together, bind and quilt :)  Not too hard, right?

4.ADORABLE Rain Jacket! 

Storyboek by Birch Fabrics

Schoold Days Jacket and Coat by Oliver and S

I am madly in love with this collection, madly.  I am really excited to make this up!! I volunteered a local friend who is much better at sewing clothing than I to help me for a few hours to do this, I'm a tiny scared :)  The blue whales will be on the outside and the yellow school fish for the lining.  I also got the iron on vinyl stuff for the outside (I don't want this getting dirty!!)  Have you ever used it before?  Does it work well?

Heather is using the girls version of Storyboek for a couple of darling projects...oh my goodness they are cute.  And she made her Weston darling pants and hats with the same boy line too.

That's what I've been working on, can't wait to show you the finishes now :)  At least now I can say in the post "remember this pile of fabric..." :)

PS OH AND A PERSONAL NOTE...my husband has been gone for 8 weeks and comes home this afternoon!!!!! I am so unbelievably excited!!!!!!!