November 30, 2017

Tasha Noel Pillow with Crochet Trim

I'm so happy to be back on the wagon and making things again! I actually made this several weeks ago but just now mustered the energy to post about it.


I had the pleasure of working with Tasha Noel's newest line "A Little Sweetness" to make this throw pillow. Tasha Noel was my first fabric love in 2013. I went to a quilt shop in Utah with my mother in law and didn't know anything about anything about fabric. I bought a charm pack of "The Simple Life" and some pom pom trim. Ahhhh, those were simpler times, when I wasn't addicted to fabric. ANYWAY :)


This newest line is very fun and I love the color range. I wouldn't have ever thought to combine light blue, mint, and teal, but I love it. And the navy tops it off for me. So cute! I also love the little scattered hearts that I used on the side panel.


I get asked a lot how I put zippers in pillows. I did a tutorial for putting them in the bottom seam like this here and back placement here


I got the idea for this general design from a placemat in the book Sweet Tweets by Erin Cox. She combined a patchwork panel with crochet scalloped trim. I didn't follow the pattern since I needed different dimensions, and I already knew how to make trim.


For the patchwork panel you can use a 5" square pack. Trim them down to 3" and piece into a 5 x 7 panel (35 squares are needed). If you don't crochet, you can use premade trim or ric rac. Baste the trim to the edge of your panel, then sew an 18" x 5.5" side piece. Quilt as desired, and then assemble the pillow. You can see how I do that in the zipper links above.


If you do crochet, here's the pattern for scallops I always use: ch 80, turn, sc across, turn, (skip 1, dc 5, skip 1, slip stitch) all the way across. You will need to trim to size and stitch back and forth on the sewing machine several times before you cut it. For this trim I used 100% cotton worsted weight, same as Sugar N Cream and all those, with a US G hook.

I hope that all makes sense. I made another one just like it last year in Christmas colors that is on our couch right now and I LOVE IT. Happy December tomorrow everyone!!

November 28, 2017

Folk Stitches- Blocks 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42

Hello! So sorry about the whole not posting blocks last week thing. I'll try to make it up to you by posting the last 3 early. So here they all are, the final 6 blocks!!

Block 37
Color A- 6
Color B- 6
Color C- 3
Color D- 6
Color E- 4
Color F- 2
Color H- 4
Background- 33
Classic

Buttercup

 Pansy
Block 38
Color A- 10
Color B- 6
Color C- 1
Color D- 10
Color E- 2
Color H- 4
Background- 31
Classic

 Buttercup

 Pansy
Block 39
Color A- 2
Color B- 10
Color C- 4
Color D- 2
Color E- 6
Color F- 2
Color H- 6
Background- 32
Classic

Buttercup

 Pansy

Blocks 40, 41, 42 (all exactly the same)

Color B- 8
Color C- 6
Color D- 8
Color E- 8
Background- 34
 Classic

 Buttercup

 Pansy

I really wish, and fully intended, to have a finished quilt top (perhaps even quilted quilt!) to show you today, but.... I don't. I've spent most of the last several weeks just trying to keep food in my stomach. If you missed my announcement over on Instagram, we are expecting a baby in June! We are thrilled to pieces and really happy to be nearing the end of the sick phase. I'm hoping the burst of energy comes soon and I will get this quilt finished up to show you. In the mean time, I've already spotted a finished one over at #folkstitchesquilt! Can you believe that? I can't wait to see it in other colorways.

Thank you for sewing along with me this fall!

November 20, 2017

Folk Stitches- Blocks 34, 35, 36

Sorry I'm late this week! Thanks for your understanding, here are the next few blocks. Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends! I hope you get lots of time to sew this week :)

Block 34
Color A- 7
Color B- 6
Color C- 3
Color D- 1
Color E- 4
Color F- 7
Color H- 1
Background- 35

Classic

Buttercup

Pansy

Block 35
Color A- 7
Color B- 8
Color C- 1
Color D- 2
Color E- 2
Color F- 4
Color H- 1
Background- 39
 Classic

 Buttercup

 Pansy


Block 36
Color A- 6
Color B- 4
Color C- 4
Color D- 1
Color E- 6
Color F- 7
Color H- 1
Background- 35
 Classic

Buttercup

Pansy

November 11, 2017

Folk Stitches- Blocks 31, 32, and 33

It's 11/11 today, make a wish! If you got ahead in the beginning, you have this week off :) If you're like me, you're making deciding whether to sew more blocks or enjoy this beautiful fall day! Outside will probably win for me :)

Block 31
Color A- 9
Color C- 1
Color D- 10
Color E- 4
Color F- 5
Background- 35
Classic

Buttercup

Pansy


Block 32
Color A- 9
Color C- 3
Color D- 10
Color F- 4
Color H- 4
Background- 34

 Classic

Buttercup

Pansy


Block 33
Color A- 10
Color D- 8
Color F- 4
Color G- 7
Background- 35 
 Classic

Buttercup

Pansy

November 4, 2017

Folk Stitches- Blocks 28, 29, 30

Welcome to November! We are almost going to finish entire quilt top this month. These next 3 blocks will officially complete the tulips.
Block 28
Color B- 12
Color D- 18
Color G- 3
Color H- 2
Background- 29
 Classic

Buttercup

Pansy

Block 29
Color B- 8
Color C- 11
Color G- 15
Color H- 10
Background- 20
Classic

Buttercup

Pansy


Block 30
Color B- 4
Color C- 7
Color E
0- 18
Color H- 12
Background- 23
Classic

Buttercup

Pansy

November 2, 2017

Big Stitch Accent Quilting Tutorial

UPDATE! For tips and tricks on hand quilting you can also visit my Instagram highlights where I talk about the accent quilting on my Swoon quilt. Click through past the FAQs and you'll see it.

Hello and happy Friday to you! I am excited to share with you my project for Minki Kim's first line for Riley Blake called Dear Diary.


I made a baby quilt featuring a panel of Minki's adorable drawings in the middle, with rows of squares on point. I do not have a pattern ready for it at this time, but I will show you how I do the big stitch hand quilting in a minute! If you stick around to the end there's a giveaway too.


There are several things I love about this fabric range. The first is the heart and soul evident in its making. Minki's love for life and beautiful artistry are so inspiring to me! In sewing with her fabric, I feel like I was able to get to know her better, and the happy, talented lady that she is. Look at these cute little sketches, with the phrases "Stay True" and "Shine Your Light". So uplifting!


Another thing I love about this line is the shade of pink it uses. It's absolutely perfect- warm and not too pale, and just dreamy. The dark blue is another favorite shade.



I also really enjoyed the text prints, which come in 3 colors. They have little punches of bold lettering in contrasting colors with words like "respect", "trust", and "honesty". What great little messages of love and life lessons to add to a baby quilt.


I'll show you briefly how I like to add hand quilting to my projects. First, I always machine quilt it. I like the layers of interest you get when you mix the two, plus then it's already well basted for you. In this case I did not quilt it myself, it was done on a longarm by Starlit Quilts, my go to gal! The design is called Abacus and I just love it on this quilt. Star is such a sweetheart and even sewed pieces of fabric from her stash on the sides when the backing I sent wasn't quite big enough. What a trooper! Thank you Star!


Now for the tutorial. As with anything, I don't think there is one right way to hand quilt, but I'm sharing how I like to do it.


Materials:
  • quilting ruler 
  • disappearing ink fabric pen to mark 1/4" away from the outer seams. This pen has one end that disappears on its own after time, and one that disappears when you spray with water or dab with a damp cloth. I use both.
  • long, thicker cotton darning needle with larger eye to help your thick thread get through all those layers
  • any thick thread like 6 strand embroidery floss or perle cotton. I got a big rainbow pack and use it all the time.

Tips!
If you're having trouble getting the thick thread into the needle, get it wet (I put it in my mouth!) and cut a clean end, then pinch it between your fingers and push the eye of the needle onto it. Stitch along the marked line, with the actual stitches being larger than the spaces in between. Go through as many times as your needle length will allow. The more you do in one swipe, the straighter they will be. I tried to do 6 stitches per side, though some had 7 and one had 5. It's hand stitching so it won't be perfect, that's the whole point! Don't worry about the needle going straight up and down perpendicularly through the layers. Keep it parallel to the quilt and if it doesn't go all the way through to the backing on every stitch, that's ok! Sometimes you have to tug a little to pull it through.



My ends are knotted twice and sewn into the binding on both sides of the quilt. I know there's a way to hide ends in the middle, but I'm not that tricky yet! Pretty sure it involves magic :) And for the record, the back side of my hand stitching always looks much different, and quite frankly much worse, than the front. I usually try to pick very busy backings when I do this, or stick to pillows where it won't be seen. 


I used Bonnie and Camille Basics in navy scallop for the binding and Riley Blake Cotton Shade in Granite for the backing, which hid my tiny, wonky backside stitches perfectly. Can you spot them?


Now, for the giveaway! One lucky winner who leaves a comment on this post will receive 3 prizes- thread from Aurifil, Minki's book from C&T Publishing, and embroidery scissors from Warm Crochet.


Thank you for stopping by! Big thanks also to Minki and Riley Blake for having me. Be sure to check out the other projects from the showcase that happened all week. There were some amazing things!

Oct 30 Monday        -    Samantha Dorn    @aqua_paisley
Oct 31 Tuesday       -    Saija                      @saija_elina
Nov 1  Wednesday  -    Sue Daley             @suedaleydesigns
Nov 2  Thursday      -    Ayda Algin           @cafenohut
Nov 3  Friday           -    Alli Jensen           @woodberry_way