What Shade Are You & the new Baby Blocks pattern!

Happy Friday friends!! Today I get to share a secret I've been keeping for a while. What a relief- I hate keeping secrets! Introducing "Baby Blocks"- a new pattern I made using RJR's gorgeous solids. It's featured over on their blog Quilt With Love today.

I picked these colors out back in March and I'm still in love with every one! It is so much fun to pick out color palettes, never gets old. I'm not sure if I answered the question "What Shade Are You?" completely thoroughly or honestly, but it does have lots of aqua, so we'll call it good. Honorable mention to Navy and Red, who aren't represented here, ha!

I decided to showcase the colors with basic shapes in a baby quilt. There are 5 different blocks, and the piecing is very simple. You can find PDF copies of the Baby Blocks Pattern in my shop. (Paper copies coming very soon.)

I had it quilted by Sarah at Crinkle Love. Usually I quilt baby sized quilts myself, but by the time I finished this I had a big pregnant belly in my way :) I love these playful loops she did. Thanks Sarah!

The gorgeous photos were taken by Quilt Photography Co., who you've heard me talk about before. This was actually the first quilt she did for me and I nearly cried for joy when I saw them! So perfect. If you need someone else to take over the daunting task of photographing your quilts and doing a spectacular job of it, look no further.

I decided to do white binding on this one, which I'd never done before, and I really love it! The backing is a Cotton and Steel basic called XOXO in Natural. It's hard to see here but it has a pretty texture to it.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with these solids. I was pleased with the color selection, the feel of the fabric, and even the names of the shades were creative. You can read more about their fabrics and this quilt over on the RJR blog hop. Thanks for having me RJR!

Thanks for stopping by today! As per tradition, I have a pattern release coupon code for my blog friends- use the code RJR for 30% off any pattern now through Tuesday, including the brand new "Baby Blocks".

Online Beginner's Quilting Class

Today I want to tell you about a very useful class. Often people ask me- how did you learn to quilt? My answer is library books, YouTube, trial and error, and Instagram friends. Here is one of the very first quilt tops I ever made in 2013. I actually don't remember which quilt I finished first, it was all kind of a mad rush in the beginning, I was quilting like crazy! Haha! This is the"Jelly Filled" pattern by Thimble Blossoms.

I wish that I'd had one solid resource to learn from. In a perfect world it would have been my grandma! But she went to heaven before that could happen sadly. I can't wait to talk to her about quilts one day.

I recently made a new friend on IG- Melodie @melifromscratch. (If you look at her Instagram right now, you'll see lots of pictures of her Alaskan vacation and you're going to feel jealous, just warning you!) She's also moving to Alaska soon, how cool is that? Mel has created an online quilting class for beginners. She takes you through every step of the process, and by the end you'll have your very first quilt!

You can purchase her quilting class here, and even get 30% off with the code "Woodberry". Mel is also giving away 2 free copies of her class over on my Instagram page if you want to head over there to enter! If you know anyone whose been wanting to learn to quilt, please let them know.

I'll be back Friday with with a VERY fun announcement (it involves these colors) and a new pattern! See you then!

Easy Heart Quilt Pattern

Hello friends! I posted about this pattern when I released it, but fresh new pictures deserve a fresh new post, don't you think? Even if it is completely seasonally inappropriate, ha!

This is the second quilt I was able to have photographed by Amy @quiltphotographyco. She is a miracle worker! I had a really hard time photographing this one myself. The texture of the gray crossweave was hard to capture, and I always struggle with reds/pinks. They just come out too saturated, and the colors were off in mine. I was delighted when I had the chance to have this quilt photographed in its true beauty. Check these out!!!

Now THAT is what this quilt actually looks like in real life! Isn't that the goal with quilt photos? Yet it's so tricky to achieve, for me at least. 

These gorgeous loops were quilted by Starlit Quilts. She suggested the gray thread and I'm so glad she did. She always knows just what to do!

You can find this Where Love Is pattern in my shop. It's quite simple to make, and would be great not only as a Valentine season quilt, but for comfort quilts and other meaningful quilt gifts. You can read the original Where Love Is post to find more about fabrics, etc. I would recommend hopping over there just so you can see how cute our sweet puppy was at that time :) (And also to see the remarkable difference in the photos taken by me vs. a professional!)

Be sure to check out the Quilt Photography Co. gallery, and follow them on Insta to see what gorgeous new quilts are being captured!

Primrose Path- a Charm Pack Pattern

Before I get to this pretty quilt, a personal update. We've had quite the week over here! This new little one joined the boy club and we have been snuggling non-stop amidst chaos and summer fun. I am so grateful to have him here safely, and am basking in the sleepy blissful fog that is the first month of life. What an exhausting blessing and joy!

I haven't touched a bit of fabric and it's hard to imagine ever having time again! That time will come. He's 10 days old and this is the first time I've sat down at the computer and faced my emails. Yikes. 

Meanwhile, one of my quilts was on a grand adventure that I'm excited to tell you about! 

I have the exciting opportunity this summer to be an ambassador for a new company called Quilt Photography Co. These wonderful folks photograph your quilts to perfection- perfect lighting, perfect colors, perfect "poses" :) Since photographing quilts can be the most daunting part of the whole process for me, I was delighted to take part. Amy Garro is the wizard behind the camera, giving each quilt the white glove treatment- literally! 

Amy does an amazing job of capturing all the different elements of a quilt- a full straight-on shot, the quilting texture, the drape, the binding and backing, etc. I sent her the sample quilt for my pattern "Primrose Path". I've had this pattern in my shop for months, but hadn't ever given it a proper introduction, so this was the perfect chance. 

It's a twin bed sized quilt that features just one Charm Pack and lots of neutral yardage. I used "Gooseberry" by Lella Boutique for Moda, along with Moda Bella 98 white, and Kona Ivory. I wanted the background to be super subtle so the charm patches could really shine. I just love the simplicity of this pattern, it feels so classic. 

The tiny flower quilting was done by Star Bear of Starlit Quilts. If you haven't heard me talk about Star before, she's THE BEST! She has a great Etsy shop as well as longarm services (both edge to edge and amazing custom work). I love sending her quilts because I can just pick a backing from her shop and not have to worry about shopping for and shipping that separately. She always does perfect work and has such an eye for scale, thread color, etc. Thank you Star!

One of my pattern testers Shelley @dixiecreekquilting made hers with a butter yellow background and 1930s reproduction prints. So darling! I also love the coordinating versions Rachel @littlebitsofeverythinginc made for her twin girls. Go check them out!

I had way too much fun mocking this pattern up in different color schemes. You can change it up by inverting the background colors, or using a super dark background. (Please ignore the fact that I made the mockups one row too short. You get the point.)

It would also be great as a classic 2 color quilt. Pick your color! I could never pick one.

Another fun option would be to use all solids and alternate the background color in the blocks like this. Just split the background yardage. Too fun!

You can find the Primrose Path PDF Pattern in my shop. As usual I like to give a little pattern introduction sale to my blog readers. Use the code BABYBOY to get 30% any one pattern now through Tuesday. 

Whew that's a lot for one day! Be sure to check out Quilt Photography Co.'s beautiful work, and if you use their services tell them I sent you. I'm so happy with the photos they've done for me, and I get to show you two more quilts from them this summer! Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by. 

Pillows Part 2!

I shared on Instagram a while back that in preparation for new baby, we did some bedroom shifting and my oldest and youngest moved to bigger beds. In the spirit of the move, my oldest got excited and asked if he could have a decorative pillow for his new bed. Well don't mind if I do! I LOVE making pillows, and it's very rare that requests like that come my way from these boys.

That turned into everyone getting to design their own pillow, which has been such a delight for me. We started out by looking at my Pinterest board Quilts, and they walked me through what kinds of things they liked.

My middle guy chose simple herringbone in his favorite colors. (Note his outfit below, which has been worn most days so far this summer!) We didn't follow a pattern, but I started with (18) 4" scrap squares in gray and made those into HSTs. That gave us 3" finished HSTs in a 6 by 6 grid for an 18" pillow. He helped me quite a bit along the way, snipping chain pieced units, matching up HSTs, and arranging them. He was very invested!

I tried to include some fun little messages for him in the dark grey Lori Holt text print (though he doesn't read quite yet), and half achieved my goal. I like how the "Yay" is visible, but cut off the "happiness". Oh well!

He was very pleased with it nonetheless and I was happy to have this one done, mostly because he kept changing his mind! After I'd already sewn in half of a green zipper, he decided it had to be blue. Normally I'd try to talk him into changing his mind, but I didn't want him to look at it forever and wish it was blue, so out it came.

Next up was little guy. He can't really articulate a lot of opinions yet, but we know he likes yellow, and he loves to sing. One of his favorite songs it "Mr. Golden Sun". I started researching sun patterns and remembered this adorable pattern by Center Street Quilts.  I love that it's called "You Are My Sunshine". He truly is my little sunshine!

Though I'm not widely experienced in paper piecing or sewing curves, I knew it would be perfect. The pattern was easy to follow and after a quick refresher video tutorial on paper piecing, I was well on my way.

One of my favorite things about these three pillows is that they are all from scraps! I absolutely love putting my scrap bin to good use.

I bordered it in a Bonnie and Camille basics print in grey. I wish I had done something lighter, but what's done is done! I used crosshatch quilting as described in my last post.

Like his big brother, he was absolutely delighted to have his own pillow. What a gratifying moment for a maker mom.

Last but not least, big guy has LOTS OF OPINIONS. We love him for it. We hope to live up to his expectations, haha! While looking at the Center Street Patterns page, he took notice of the cute little flag minis. He felt very strongly about there being the correct number of stripes, however, so I used my trusty EQ7 to figure out how to make that work for the pillow size we wanted.

I won't be writing up a pattern for this one considering we stole the idea from Kristina, and there are just so many flag patterns out there. We used scraps once again, and he chose the Sarah Jane map print for the back. It wasn't a perfect repeat with the print but it still turned out pretty cute.

I did a wavy horizontal quilting stitch on my Husqvarna Opal. He's happy with it, so mission accomplished! It works really well in his new room. It's so fun to see them grow up and develop personalities and preferences.

I told them this was in part their gift from the new baby. I usually like to get them new pajamas or something, but I think they liked this even better! Thanks for indulging me in a personal post of sorts.