Heritage and Arizona After Fabrics :: Portside Duffle

June 29, 2017June 21, 201814 Comments

April Rhodes has done it again. She has just dropped not one, but TWO new fabric collections with Art Gallery Fabrics. Arizona After is a gorgeous extension of April’s inaugural Arizona line with some new prints and some recolored with soft dusty pink and blues along with some deep rust and mustard. The color combos she puts together are always so striking. Heritage fabrics consists of garment focused substrates…including the new RAYON. With April’s clothing patterns, she has always been a designer who knows scale for the quilters and the garment sewist alike. It’s the perfect collection for the me-made makers!

Beyond the fabrics, April’s inspiration for the collections is just so touching. The way she talks about her family and memories of her father and grandmother is just pure love. Truly awesome. I love how a lot of the designs were just a part of April’s everyday life and over time, have been permanently imprinted in her head. To bring these images to life brings so much light to her eyes and it’s been amazing to witness it all. These fabrics are just gorgeous and I’m happy she’s shared them with all of us….because whoa, right?!?

When I was asked to make a bag for April’s Spring Quilt Market Booth, I (of course) agreed. She has become a dear friend and I will always help her, as she has helped me in so many ways. April asked me to make a larger duffle and suggested a quilt-as-you-go method for easy patchwork because with Market…comes some tight deadlines. I got to immediate work, but quickly realized I had to Turn. It. Up.

All 14 quilt cottons in the Arizona After collection was used to make the Portside Duffle Bag by Grainline Studios. It’s the perfect bag to showcase these fabrics with all that surface area. I loved playing with all the color combos while mixing and even deconstructing, some of the prints.

Once I started to quilt with my walking-foot on the Soft and Stable, that texture just got me. I knew I had to add more and more quilting…and change up the designs with each print. Then it dawned on me….ooooh, metallic thread would be A-mazing with this palette. The gold really brings out the colors and I’m so happy with how it turned out. TIP: Cut a larger piece of soft and stable than the pattern requires. Quilt and then cut to size. Don’t forget to baste those edges!

Art Gallery’s textured denim in Canyon Sunset was the perfect complement to Arizona After and is a nice durable fabric for the bottom accent of the duffle bag. On the inside, I used the Scattered Wood print and added an additional zip pocket…because we can always use some extra pockets. I love the look of brass zippers and with the gold thread, this combo obviously had to happen.

For more texture and to turn this bag up another notch, I used hardware from ARmercantile combined with some leather from my sacred stash. Guitar-inspired bag straps are popping up all-over the place and I just had to add that look to this duffle. The added rivets bring out more of the brass and help round out the look. Who says a quilted bag can’t be modern and on-trend? I love being able to combine my love of quilting with my love of bag-making….and the gorgeous fabric definitely helps. Thank you Arizona After for the inspo!

Make sure to check back on April’s blog and Instagram all throughout July for the up-to-date info on the Blog Tour. Next up will be an Instagram loop on July 5th and I heard there maybe prizes involved 😉

Last, but not least, don’t forget to tag #heritagefabrics and #arizonaafterfabrics with all of your makes. I can’t wait to see all of them!

Project Summary:

Pattern: Portside Duffle by Grainline Studio
Fabric: Arizona After by April Rhodes; Canyon Sunset Solid Textured Denim by Art Gallery Fabrics
Hardware: Swivel Clasps and D-rings by ARmercantile; Rivets by Emmaline Bags
Thread: Aurifil 2021 50wt (quilting); Sulky Gold 40wt Rayon (quilting); Gutermann Poly (bag construction, twill strap and leather top-stitching)
Interfacing: Soft and Stable by Annie’s; Shape-Flex SF101 by Pellon
Machine: Juki 2010Q

Fabric and pattern for the Arizona After + Heritage Blog Tour was provided. There are affiliate links in the Project Summary.

Mountain View – 2016 Paintbrush Studio New Block Blog Hop

March 28, 2016December 11, 201726 Comments

Welcome to the 2016 Paintbrush Studio New Block Blog Hop! During the next three days, you will see a flurry of uniquely designed 12″ x 12″ (finished) quilt blocks. The best part? These are all FREE patterns! For a full list of participants, please visit the host of each day’s hop:

Monday, March 28th – Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

Tuesday, March 29th – Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Wednesday, March 30th – Stephanie @Late Night Quilter

The challenge with this blog hop, was to use at least 3 colors of Painter’s Palette Solids in the Ocean Sunrise bundle. You can find all the details of the chosen colors here. Do you use your quilts on the beach or by the water?

Mountain view Block

This call to design a new block was indeed a challenge for me. I usually always have a design idea that’s been brewing in my head. However, this time I was drawing up blanks. I played with many ideas until I saw a sun catcher with this similar design. It really inspired me with it’s simple lines like ones in Log Cabin style quilts. But this block is set apart by it’s angles and the negative space produces a great chain design.

As with all sewing projects, please read through full instructions before beginning.

Cutting instructions:

Below are illustrations of every piece of the block. The dotted line represents where you cut. A large quilting rule with 45 degree angles is required. Please see block illustration above for reference. TIP: Check and double-check your angle placement on printed fabric before cutting.

piecing Instructions

Please note a 1/4″ seam allowance

Layout the block with your intended fabric placement
Line up the short edge of piece B to piece A right-sides together (RST) and sew down the long side. Repeat for piece C but on the opposite side.
Line up the short edge of piece D to ABC. You should have a 1/4″ overhang off the block. Repeat for piece E of the opposite side and then add piece F.
Line up the long-side of piece G to ABCDEF. You will have 1/4″ overhangs on both sides of the trapezoid.
Line up the long-sides of H to each corner. You will have 1/4″ overhangs on both sides of the triangle.
Make sure to press all seams out as you go and you will have a nice flat back as shown.

Trim the block to 12 1/2″ square.

Additional Quilt variations:

With the play of colors and negative space, there are quite a few different ways you can lay this quilt block. Here a just a few other ideas.

This placement puts the “chain” in the center of the quilt and you can play with the smaller triangle (H) to get solid squares in between.

This variation plays with the chevron you can create. Leave the smaller triangles (H) colored, and you get an arrowhead look or leave them the same color as your background to let the chevron stand on it’s own.

Visit Painter’s Studio’s blog, Inspired by Fabric and/or Quilting Jetgirl (two separate giveaways) to get your chance to win a whole HALF-YARD bundle of Ocean Sunrise!!! {Edit – Giveaway closed}

Don’t forget to get additional FREE quilt block designs and tutorial by visiting the following:

Host: Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

Jess @Quilty Habit

Silvia @A Stranger View

Cristy @Love You Sew

Kelly @Quilting It Out

Renee @Quilts of a Feather

Bernie @Needle and Foot

Terri Ann @Childlike Fascination

Chelsea @Patch the Giraffe

Mary @Quilting is in my Blood

Diana @Red Delicious Life

Sarah @123 Quilt

Thank you for visiting and I hope you get to try out this block along with all of the others on the 2016 Painter’s Studio New Block Blog Hop!

Happy Stitching,

Cristy

This blog hop was sponsored by Painter’s Studio. The quilt design, tutorial and all opinions are original and my own.

2015 New Quilt Bloggers – Blog Hop

June 22, 2015July 27, 201546 Comments

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m a part of a special group of new bloggers who have a passion for quilting! Today marks the 2nd week of our Blog Hop hosted by:

Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

Stephanie @Late Night Quilter

Terri Ann @Childlike Fascination

All of the New Quilt Bloggers have been divided into “Hives” and my group is called the “New Bees” led by Cheryl. Below are my fellow hive members on the block this week. Stop by their blogs and you also get the chance to win some awesome sewing prizes! (Check out the hosts blogs above for more information.)

*Edited to include all weeks of the Blog Hop

Week 1 – Monday June 15^th

Ashley @ www.craftyashleyb.com

Gayle @ pedalsewlightly.blogspot.com

Sarah @ http://123quilt.blogspot.com/

Hayley @ Www.moobird.blogspot.com.au

Week 2 – Monday June 22^nd

Cristy @ www.iloveyousew.com

Patty @ www.walnutstreetquilts.com

Sarah @ www.goer.org/sarah

Eileen @ eileeninstitches.blogspot.com/

Week 3 – Monday July 13^th

Abby @ https://hashtagquilt.wordpress.com/

Shelley @ http://thecarpentersdaughterwhoquilts.com/

Mary @ http://quiltingisinmyblood.com

Week 4 – Monday July 22^nd

Kim @ lelandavestudios.com

Cassandra @ http://thenotsodramaticlife.com

Kathryn @ Ourplacequilts.wordpress.com

Colleen @ https://colleenscustomquilting.com/

Deb @ newcreativestate.wordpress.com

Megan @ www.sewstitchingcutequilts.com

>>>

A little about me….I used to work in Finance and Accounting so I love numbers and Excel. I’m a complete geek when it comes to understanding my sewing costs, margins and of course, profit! This information helps me tremendously with my shop, craft shows and pricing custom orders for clients. I have plans for a few templates (you know I will share) to help you understand your costs. Is there anything you would like to see or understand when it comes to pricing your sewing projects?

Fun Fact – I was named after Cristy Lane, the country singer. My parents are Chinese-Vietnamese immigrants to the United States. A sweet woman who helped my family with the assimilation process, thought the song “One Day at a Time” spoke to their journey. My parents wanted to give me a “Western” name to honor their first American baby, and thus, I received Cristy (without the “H.”)

Below is the first quilt I made for my first-born with my husband’s old T-Shirts. Can you tell it has the most minimal quilting I could do?!? It’s just about all “stitch-in-the-ditch.” As you can see, we’re an Irish loving family and it was fun to pull this all together. This quilt by no means is elaborate, but it was for my son…so I can’t help but love it and be reminded of where I started…

Admittedly, I love more of my recent work as I’ve improved some skills and increased my fabric stash 😉 Quilted Sunset has the rich deep orange-red-mustard tones I just adore. The Quilted Hoops have been my newest obsession and I can’t get enough of their compact cuteness. Spectrum of Gingham is a rainbow of love and helped my dear friend raise money to fight Cancer.

With all of this quilting and sewing, I’ve found the best advice it to go slow and steady. It’s so easy to take short-cuts…thinking you don’t need pins or you can just sew at the fastest speed allowed. But it will pay-off when you don’t have to rip out stitches when your fabrics don’t align or your stitches become noticeably uneven…TRUST ME…

I’ve been sewing heavily for about 5 years, have had my Etsy shop for about 2 years and have participated in about half a dozen craft shows, but am juuust starting with blogging. Without formal teaching (beside junior high Home Ec) I’ve learned a lot of my sewing techniques through other bloggers and wanted to give back to the community through my own experience and spin.

So far, I’ve learned to use my WordPress app as my on-the-go tool to help me capture ideas, make edits and upload pictures. Since I’m a stay-at-home mom, my family always takes precedence. I don’t always have time to sit in front of my laptop between life and sewing items from my shop. The app allows me to work on posts whenever I do have a few minutes…any free time I have is precious!

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me 🙂 Don’t forget to visit my fellow 2015 New Quilt Bloggers to get to know them as well!

Happy Stitching,

Cristy