“Jacks” Quilt is Complete

August 19, 2015August 19, 20159 Comments

Remember the “Jack’s Quilt” Pattern I posted a few weeks back by Bryan House Quilts? I’ve finally quilted and bound it…plus, I have a bonus project using scraps from the paper-piecing!

With the strong fuchsia colors in my quilt, I wanted to balance it out with more black and white. Carolyn Friedlander’s Widescreen in white fit the bill perfectly. The gridlines play well with the graphic piecing and who doesn’t love a wideback?!? I MUCH prefer a single wideback fabric panel than piecing a few together.

Did you know when you purchase this quilt pattern, it comes with a coloring sheet? I LOVE having coloring sheets to help me pick out colors and fabrics. Best of all….it helps with figuring how I am going to quilt everything together! I’m all about straight-lines and I wanted to follow the star spokes. I tested a few designs and settled on this purple one. I wish coloring sheets came standard with ALL quilt patterns 🙂

This simple quilting was exactly what I wanted…something to extenuate the pattern design without being too busy AND with lines that could continue from end to end of the quilt. I am definitely not a fan of burying threads, so I try to avoid it whenever possible!

We had a family trip coming up while I was working on this quilt, so I knew I needed to quilt it quickly and attach the binding so I could hand finish it while we were vacationing. I don’t know about you, but I always like to have some hand-sewing around whenever I’m away from home. You never know when you have some free time…and I was able to sew on the binding right on this hammock watching the sunset! {Heaven}

For the binding, I initially thought I would use Carolyn Friedlander’s Architextures Grid in Black. But since the lines are more “free-hand,” the irregular lines didn’t go together with all the strong shapes of the quilt and backing. I played with stripes and dots, but ended up with Cotton and Steel’s Netorious basic in Black Cat. The lines in this pattern are graphic and matched the overall feel of my quilt. The black binding really made the fuschia pop as well! I really love how it all came out.

If I’m working on a quilt, I like to take that along in case any perfect photo opportunities present itself as well…you just never know. It’s turns out I didn’t have to go far to find some great backgrounds and props. This is the exterior of my in-laws cottage and they had these great bright yellow “vintage” inspired chairs. The sharp color contrasts with my quilt were just stunning!

As mentioned above, I have a BONUS project from the quilt pattern!

The paper-piecing of the spokes produces a good bit of triangular scraps. I used them to improv a pincushion. I just alternated the direction of each triangle of similar sizing and then trimmed the piece to a rectangle. There was plenty of scraps from the backing as well, so I used the Widescreen to back these and filled them up. You could make the improv piecing larger and also make mug rugs and even pot holders!

What fun secondary projects have come out of your quilt scraps?

Happy Quilting,

Cristy

The pattern was provided by Bryan House Quilts as part of testing. All material was purchased and selected by myself. All opinions and comments are my own and have not been influenced by 3rd parties.

Quilted Toddler Sleeping Bag

August 3, 2015August 3, 20152 Comments

This week, I’m doing a little throw-back of toddler sleeping bags I made for my boys last year. I wasn’t a blogger then and figured I’d write a post in honor of our annual trip to the lake. We brought these puppies along for each of our sons and I couldn’t help take some fun new photos along beautiful Lake Leelanau in Northern Michigan.

My boys are at a fun age when we can now have little sleepovers in the family room. This adorable sleeping bag was exactly what I wanted for each of my kids to have their own. I LOVE the idea of having the sides snap so that you can pull them apart and have a great throw blanket! Duel-purpose items are key! The pattern and tutorial can be found on The Sewing Rabbit’s blog.

For the fabric, I used some fun outdoor-inspired designs from the Camp-A-Lot collection by Bo Bunny for Riley Blake Designs. Unfortunately, all of the fabrics are out of print (OOP) but you can still find certain patterns online. I used quilt weight Firewood in chocolate for the border, Tracks in green for the center and then Main in green flannel for the backing.

My boys are still young and I wanted fun patterns for them that weren’t too mature. They are already growing up too fast! Plus, I just loved the flannel backing. It makes for an awesome “I Spy” game…bonus!!! These sleeping bags should last them awhile for indoor fun, but I know we’ll have to get them “real” outdoor ones soon enough.

Luckily, I’m a very loyal fan of KAM Snaps. If there is a reason to use them, I do! I was so happy to see them in this tutorial because I have a ton of colors in my craft stash. They hold well, but are easy enough for little hands to fasten together. There is spacing in between that allows air to come through on the bad, but remember, these are not intended for outdoor use….so I’m perfectly happy to use them!

The only modifications I made to the tutorial were increasing the width between quilted lines to about 4″ apart. As you know, I’m not a fan of actual quilting, so this made for light work! I also added appliqué letters to personalize each bag. As a mom, I know how important it is to avoid any fights and keeping each boy accountable for their own stuff helps! And yes, monograms are also super cute and special 🙂 To attached the appliqué letters, I used a tight zig-zag stitch to cover the edges and to mimic embroidery. This process takes awhile but the results are worth the extra time!

I hope you are all enjoying your summer (northern hemisphere, peeps!) and get to make a special little person one of these sleeping bags! Back to some family fun for me…

Hugs and Stitches,

Cristy

Testing the “Jacks Quilt” Pattern

July 19, 2015August 19, 2015

The “Jacks Quilt” pattern has just been released by Bryan House Quilts and I was fortunate enough to be one of the testers. I’m SO excited to finally reveal my #SecretSewing project! It’s tough not being able to show what I’ve been working on lately…especially since it’s just so darn pretty 🙂

This quilt pattern is gorgeous! You can find the pattern in Becca’s shop currently for 30% off as part of it’s new release (discount code on her blog.) This design is based off of a 16-patch and paper-pieced stars and has so much versatility. You can omit the patches and play with the number of blocks to have completely different looks.

There are five different sizes you can make. I opted for the throw, which is a 4 x 4 block. It’s a generous size and I could (always) use another couch quilt 🙂 Not mentioned is the possibility to make a mini with a 2 x 2 block (approx 34″ x 34″.) This would be a perfect baby quilt or stroller blanket.

When I received this pattern, I knew I was going to use my Black and White Cotton + Steel bundle. The 16-patch made for some good mixing and matching of the fabrics for a checkerboard look. To bring out the stars and add some fun, I chose Tula Pink’s Butterfly Swarm in Jam from her Moonshine collection. This saturated fuchsia was perfect against the Black and White. I paired the Butterfly Swarm with Kona Cotton in Valentine to complement, but not compete against the busy fabric. All of these fabrics were balanced out with Kona Cotton in Snow to make the design of the quilt pop out. I added Architextures Grid in Black as possible binding, but I’m not entirely sold on it just yet…

There is a good amount of paper-piecing involved for the stars, but luckily it involves only three fabrics per Star Spoke and they are a generous size. Becca provides great instruction on the process to help you along. If you are new to this and need some more help, this is a great video tutorial on paper-piecing as well.

I found that prepping all the fabric at once and setting up an assembly line worked the best for me. Then I could have a “modified” chain-piecing line. This is “modified” because you generally do not sew through the seam allowance on paper-piecing templates, so I had to lift the presser foot to pull the templates through vs continually feeding fabric.

When attaching the spokes together, I decided not to nest the seams to keep the look of the triangles clean (since they were white and you could see through to the seam allowance.) So to match up the points, I pinched the ends where they met.

Then I flipped over the pieces to check that the points indeed matched. I pinned the pieces and sewed away 🙂

A great tip from Becca was to grade the seam allowances of the stars as you assemble the blocks. This takes out some of the bulk and allows the blocks to lay better for pressing. The points of the stars get pretty bulky otherwise.

So far, I’ve completed the quilt top and am waiting on the backing fabric to arrive so I can quilt this puppy. I can’t wait to show you more….plus, this will be my first quilt completed on my new sewing machine….eek!!!

***For pictures and the post of the completed “Jacks Quilt,” go here.***

Happy Stitching,

Cristy

Astrodelic Quilt Hack: Resize to a Mini

July 5, 2015July 6, 2015

If you have been following my posts, I shared the re-cap of my Instagram based Alison Glass Mini-Quilt Swap experience last week. This week, I’ll share how I hacked and re-sized the Astrodelic Quilt pattern from a 42″ x 42 ” throw to a 21″ x 21″ mini using the amazing 2015 Sunprints line. Based on the colors selected, I decided to call my mini, “Fireball.”

How did I decide on this size? Honestly, it seemed like the easiest way to resize to a fourth of original by halving many of the fabric cuts. The measurements fit within the parameters of the swap and I could follow all of the instructions without having to deviate too far…Simple enough, right???

I re-drew the design on good old graph paper and I scaled each block to 1.5″. This made it easier for me to visualize the changes to the pattern and where I need to adjust for seam allowances. Plus, counting the blocks is a nice double-check before having to actually cut the fabric 😉 As you can see, my sketch is nothing fancy and not worthy of the refrigerator, but it does give a good picture of my color selection and placement.

To get started on construction, you will need to download the FREE Astrodelic Quilt Pattern designed by Frances Newcombe for Art Gallery Fabrics. This will provide all of the instructions and I will reference her fabrics as A, B, C, etc.

Cutting Directions:

Fabrics A & E: 3.5″ x 2″ [cut 4]
Fabrics B & F: 6.5″ x 2″ [cut 4]
Fabrics C & G: 9.5″ x 2″ [cut 4]
Fabric D: 2″ x 2″ [cut 6]
Fabric H: 2″ x 2″ [cut 6]
Fabric I:
- 6.5″ x 6.5″ [cut 4]
- 5″ x 2″ [cut 8] matches with Fabrics A & E
- 3.5″ x 2″ [cut 8] matches with Fabrics B & F
- 2″ x 2″ [cut 8] matches with Fabrics C & G
Backing fabric – 24″ x 24″
Batting – 22″ x 22 “
Binding – 2 1/3 yd

Follow the instructions exactly as directed, making sure you use a 1/4″ seam allowance. If you don’t quilt much, double-check your seam allowances on scraps. A mini is not as forgiving on measurement inaccuracies as a larger quilt since your eye is focused on ALL of it at once. If it’s not perfect, quilting will always help and some good washing for the awesome crinkle will help diffuse the attention as you can see in the title photo.

I hope you enjoy this hack and use it in your next mini quilt swap!

#AlisonGlassMiniQuiltSwap, #AGTeamSpectrum, #AlisonGlass, #AstrodelicQuilt #LoveYouSew

Happy stitching,

Cristy

IG Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap Re-Cap

June 28, 2015June 30, 20156 Comments

Thinking about joining a quilt or craft-related swap? Do it!!! I just finished up the Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap on Instagram (IG) hosted by @ReapWhatIveSewn. #alisonglassminiquiltswap #agteamspectrum

It was a great experience, not only because I got to play with beautiful fabric by Alison Glass…or the amazing quilt I received…but for making new “friends” with a bunch of quilters I might not have followed if it weren’t for being in this swap.
The main requirement for this swap was to use primarily fabric designed by Alison Glass (AG) (per the swap’s namesake) and to make a miniature quilt that was 13-24″ squared. I was dying to get all of the 2015 Sunprint fabrics, and this swap made it easier to pull the retail trigger 😉 The intense colors in AG’s fabrics are just pure eye candy. I love using them in rainbows and they pop against Andover black chambray (one of my stash staples) so beautifully!

My Quilt

The partner I was paired with unfortunately, was not very active on IG…and by not active, I mean practically non-existent. She posted one picture of when she received her fabric for the swap and that was that. I know life happens and not everyone checks or posts to their accounts daily or weekly. Completely understood! But when you sign up for a swap that’s strictly on the IG platform, you wish your partner did participate a little more. It’s makes the experience a little easier and it’s more fun with the participation 🙂 The only information that I had was the completed registration questionaire. This gave me (1) my partner likes red, yellow, green, orange and (2) she likes modern quilts. That’s it….what was I going to do???

Luckily, I had the Astrodelic Quilt design fresh in my head from checking out free patterns on Art Gallery’s website. The palette my partner named was a challenge. I wanted to make sure I balanced out the red and green so nothing looked “Christmas-y” and that the yellows and oranges would all complement each other. It was nice to have all of Sunprint 2015 on hand to play around with color!

Kona white is always a safe choice as the background. With the bright colors selected, I didn’t want anything else to compete with this “Fireball.” Carolyn Friedlander’s Architextures Crosshatch in Shadow finished as the binding…Again, chosen to not draw away from the design. As for the quilting, I try to leave mine pretty fuss-free…straight-line is my go-to and I followed the 45* angles created from the piecing. This mini finished at 20″x 20″…a bit on the larger side, but easier on the quilt math 😉

Extras

Although not required, it’s always nice to send some extra “love” with your mini. Since I was getting no indication of likes/dislikes or any personal info off IG, I kept my gifts pretty generic. The rainbow mug and scissor pouch are from Michael’s. I included a wooden spool of thread from my vintage collection and a fun little tape measurer. I ordered Ex Libris directly from AG’s shop, so I got a few stickers (!!!) with my order and included one here. The pin cushion was a special little gift I made using scraps of Sunprint with Jeli Quilt’s Goosed Up pattern. Sewing notions are always a good inclusion so I added a few zippers to match the mini as well. Many swappers include food/candy, but it was scorching hot around the US, so I didn’t want anything to spoil or melt…hence no yummy goodness from me.

Mini Received

So off my package went (yes, it was on time!) and the waiting game began. It’s fun to watch the other swappers on IG receive their packages and you can slowly mark off who was not your partner. Luckily, I did not have to wait very long. My parcel arrived just a few days after I sent mine off.

And….it was this gorgeousness!!! Go ahead…take it all in…..yesssssss………mmmhmmm…..

Kitty of the Night Quilter made me this amazing hexagon shaped quilt from Robert Kaufman’s Prismatic Medallion FREE pattern. I know only because I have downloaded it for my personal Quilting Queue. But maybe I don’t have to try to make it anymore?!? The fabric selection was just on-point! I LOVE IT!!!

And there’s more! Remember the Hour Basket from my Sewing Room Organization post? Here it is with the mini stuck inside. There was also some small and large washi tape. I can’t wait to use the measuring tape one on packaging later on down the line! Kitty also included tea and candy that I love…and how did she know? She posted questions out to our swap group asking about what we would like in our packages and I just responded…so glad I did! It’s nice to get a surprise, but also nice to get something you know you will eat or use. Lesson learned – answer questions from your fellow swap-mates!

From sign-up to shipping, the swap was about 5 months. So if you are thinking of joining a swap, this is an ample amount of time for a mini. I got my design and quilt top pieced early on…probably within the first two months. I liked getting it done early just in case something pops up on the personal front (which you know always happens.) I owed it to my partner to be on time, since I wanted the same for myself. Good sewing karma pays off…in gorgeous mini’s!!!

Have you participated in any craft or sewing swaps? I’d love to hear your (positive) experiences.

Hugs and Stitches,

Cristy

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Tag: quilts

“Jacks” Quilt is Complete

Quilted Toddler Sleeping Bag

Testing the “Jacks Quilt” Pattern

Astrodelic Quilt Hack: Resize to a Mini

IG Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap Re-Cap