Bundles for Sale!

I have the most exciting announcement today- after years of sharing personal fabric pulls with you, the day has come that I will be selling my own custom designed bundles! And here is the very first one! Fresh Fall Day is a mix of 20 fat quarters perfect for your Autumn quilting projects. 

It was so much fun to put this together. These bundles will be a one-time only, one-of-a-kind thing, and then I'll design the next one! I already have plans for a super cute Tasha Noel based bundle in December. 

I'll show you what I've started making with mine- Sweet Marie! It's still the $5 pattern of the month, I never changed it, ha! I am absolutely loving how this is coming together. It's my very first Fall/Thanksgivingish quilt. I'm doing the larger size with 20 blocks, and these are 12" blocks, for reference. 

My bundle is not a quilt kit for Sweet Marie, so it doesn't have fabric for the corners, cornerstones, sashing, or border, but I'll tell you what I'm using for those:

Kitchen Window Woven- Lingerie

Lori Holt Prim- Butterscotch

Kona Solid- Lingerie

I am undecided on the border, but here's an option-

Cross Stitch Sea Glass

Here are some other things you could make with 20 FQs:

Star Kisses (you'd have to use 4 of the FQs twice as F8s)

You could also make a FANTASTIC Swoon, you know I love that pattern. 

High Tide Remix would also be perfect for this bundle!

The bolts will be here Tuesday and I'll start shipping out on Wednesday. We have a limited number, we'll ship those out, take a breath, and then I'll do my next bundle in December after we travel to Bolivia. This is a new thing, so I don't know how long it will take to process it all, or how often I'm going to be willing to do it, but I'm hoping to do several more in the coming months! I have lots of ideas!

Thanks for stopping by, I can't wait to see what everyone makes with these bundles!

Recipe Roundup and Recommendations

Happy Monday! Don't worry- I'm not turning into a food blogger. I am so not qualified for that. Just adding this post to my FAQs so I have somewhere to refer people. 

Sourdough Bread

Did you start sourdoughing during Covid? I definitely hopped on that train, and it's still going full speed at our house. My kids love it! This is the recipe I've made about twice a week for almost 2 years now- Overnight Sourdough by Hostess at Heart. I like that it has a slider and you can adjust the amount depending on how much starter you have at the time. 

If you have questions about starting out with sourdough, I'm happy to answer any if you message me on IG! In the beginning I read this post and found it to be really helpful. I bake mine in the pink Martha Stewart crock with the heart lid :) Not a single regret on that purchase! This one isn't available anymore sadly, I bought it like 4 years ago. But they do have one that's actually shaped like a heart! Heart bread!

I love having colorful dishes. I also have this Le Creuset Tea Pot, and it looks so cute against the new backsplash, which we got from Wayfair. It's on sale right now, and comes in 4 great colors! I actually got samples of all 4 and had a hard time deciding. This is not in any way an ad, I just wanted to share since a few people asked when we put it in recently. The subway tile is from Home Depot and the penny tiles (not shown in this post but you know the ones!) were from Floor and Decor and I bought sheets of white and popped out the design that I wanted. Anyway, the boys love that the teapot actually whistles when it's ready, and I love the pop of color. 

Half and Half Cookies

These are the ones that Luke likes to bake, and they're honestly better when he makes them! He likes to make a batch of peanut butter cookie dough from the Better Homes and Gardens (double it) and rolls half and half dough for each cookie. Those are so good. I found this story photo from the first week we lived in the new house! Chocolate chips on both sides, don't forget.

Double Chocolate Cookies

1 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1 TBS vanilla

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Deliciously Ella

I love this gal. We aren't vegan or even vegetarian half the time, but I'm telling you she makes great recipes, and I love that there are so many nutrients packed into them. I have one of her books- Quick and Easy and surprisingly the kids eat a lot of them. They like the sweet potato laksa, and the fajita recipe. I sometimes add meat to both. I paid for their app for a while, it's only $1/month, and it is more than worth the money. So many great recipes and lots of yoga routines too! I did a lot of yoga in quarantine, I need to get back to it. Anyway, not sponsored in any way, just really love her and what's she's doing for the world. I dream of going to her restaurant in London! Image via DeliciouslyElla.com.

Lastly I just wanted to share that I recently attended the 10 year anniversary party for my friend Karen's business The Food Charlatan. It was SO MUCH FUN, and I've been making her recipes a lot lately. She is such a fun spunky person! Lately we've loved her breakfast casserole, and I've heard her chocolate cake is the best around, I need to try it on our next birthday. 

I always get way into the cooking/baking mood in the fall, it's just so much nicer to cook when it's not hot. We are actually quarantined again since we had a direct exposure at our house, so there will be lots of cooking and baking going on this week! The kids want to make grandma's rolls, and chocolate pudding. I'll have to share those another time. 

Tell me your favorite fall recipes! We are going to need lots of activities this week. Thanks for stopping by, I'll be back with the normal quilty content soon!

Forever and Ever Quilt- a sawtooth star pattern for Layer Cakes

New pattern release days are so exciting. All of the planning and sewing and editing and overthinking come together and I get to say TADA! It used to make me really nervous, but I love it now.

Today's release is called Forever and Ever, with paper and PDF copies in the shop. It's a Layer Cake Pattern, and requires some coordinating solids and background as well. I have tips on coordinating solids later in the post!

The name for this one came about because of the colors. I was finishing it up around our anniversary time, and our wedding colors were red and black, if you can believe that, which are the accent colors of this quilt. The phrase from this Randy Travis song came to mind. I remember my mom listening to that tape when I was little- "I'm gonna love you, forever and ever, forever and ever, amen". 

The addition of green, pink, and aqua make the red and black scheme a lot less dramatic, and just really delightful if you ask me. Here's a wedding pic for color proof, my shoes were even red. Twelve years ago!

I told my family about this quilt and found out that my dad sometimes sings this song to my mom since she has experienced quite a bit of hair loss since moving to Bolivia.  If you haven't heard the song, you'll have to listen to know what I'm talking about, haha! They are the cutest ever.

For the fabric on this one, I combined a Bonnie and Camille Handmade layer cake with a Little Snippets. Handmade is hard to find these days, but their newer line Sunday Stroll (on sale!) is amazing and has a very similar color scheme. The great thing about this pattern is that it would truly look great in any fabric line. It's probably the most versatile pattern I have!

Side note- this is the first time that the digital cover and sample quilt match fabric for fabric EXACTLY. You guys know that computers and I don't always get along, so I was pretty proud of that. 

If you're nervous about choosing coordinating solids for your quilts, there are some great resources out there. A lot of designers, like Bonnie and Camille, Vanessa Goertzen, and others share them on social media. If your fabric line is by Riley Blake, you can always visit their Storyboard site, click on any fabric line, and there will be lots of coordinating basics listed. Many of their basics have the same color names as their Confetti Cottons, so that makes it nice and easy. I also highly recommend having a color swatch card or panel for your favorite solids manufacturer. I have both the Kona Color Card and my aunt also gifted me the Kona panel, which has all the updated new colors on it! I love having both and use them constantly. And don't be afraid to mix manufacturers, for example- Kona solids with Moda prints. I do it all the time!

I quilted this one freehand at home on my trusty (OLD) longarm. You can read about that machine here. I tried some hearts for the first time, mixed in with some loops, and I like it. Hearts seemed appropriate for the theme of this quilt. The binding is Little Snippets, and the backing is a widleback from the same line that I can't find anywhere now. Here's a similar grey check from the same designer. I didn't even realize consciously at the time I chose the binding that polka dots were also a strong theme at our wedding! Cute. 

If you made it this far, you deserve some sort of prize, so let it be a coupon code- FOREVER will get you 20% off anything in the shop. You also deserve this picture of my biggest and littlest forever and ever guys with the new quilt. You're welcome :)

Thank you for stopping by and supporting my pattern shop! I really, truly appreciate you. 

I Spy Quilt with Low Volume Fabrics- free pattern!

I'm so happy to share this free, simple pattern today for a I Spy quilt with low volume fabrics. This is one of my favorite quilts ever!

I wanted to make a low volume quilt, but with a little more zing than just simple squares. Don't get me wrong, I love simple squares, and they work great for this I spy quilt pattern. But for this I wanted an element that brought a bit of order to the craziness of 304 different prints. (I actually do have a few repeats, but you get the point.) I love the touch of the little solid triangles on each corner, and I tried to match them to their low volume squares individually. (By the way, if you're wondering what "low volume" means, there's a definition in this post.) 

(This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Free Printable Version of "I Spy Quilt with Low Volume Fabrics" pattern

Fabric requirements:

(304) 5" low volume squares

(304) 1.75" solid squares

5/8 yd binding fabric

5 yds backing fabric

Start by sewing corner triangles. Mark a diagonal line across a solid 1.75" square and place it in the top right corner of a LV 5" square. Sew along the line, trim away 1/4" from the sewn line, and press out. 

Do this 304 times! I love this kind of repetitive, therapeutic sewing, especially when each square is something fun and new to look at!

Sew the squares into rows of 16 blocks (19 rows total).

Press row seams alternately, sew rows together, and press. Baste, quilt, and bind as you like!

This makes a 72" x 85" finished quilt, a really excellent snuggle size for several people, which is my plan :) 

If you're on the hunt for good low volumes, I found a few places to shop:

Low volume custom charm pack (already cut out!)

Maker Valley has quilt kits that come with 5" strips, perfect to subcut for this project. Holly is the queen of funky, spunky fabrics!

These are sweet and simple low volumes. 

I really like these colorful ones, they've got come cute birdies and boats. 

Not all of these are low volume, but there are some fantastic "I Spy" fabrics in there, already cut!

When I say "I Spy", I just mean anything fun little thing that's fun for kids to spot. Anything from critters and creatures, to foods and places, to cartoon and literary characters. This is a favorite section of mine, with the little Paris scene, the tea party, precious neighborhood, and Peter Pan characters. 

For my quilt, I started with a pack from Maker Valley, added lots of my own fabrics that I've collected over the years, and then my sweet friend @sewsabrina offered to send some when she saw what I was up to. So kind! She said she wanted to help the quilt reach it's full potential, and boy did she ever do that! I died over the fun prints she sent. I sent her some of mine in return, but they weren't nearly as cool to be honest. I do have lots of squares in mine that aren't necessarily "I Spy", they're just a calm low volume print meant to cool down the crazy!

Here's a dog pile of little boys who have loved looking at this quilt since I first started putting blocks on the wall. There are so many fun little details to find! It's a fun kind of memory quilt for me too, as it uses almost every low volume I've ever put in other quilts. 

I had mine quilted by @emileehathaway in this cheerful bubbly design. I don't know the name of it, but I know she got it through intelligentquilting.com. I love the little soft puffy pillows that each circle creates. I knew this would be a heavily used kid quilt, so I had her put minky on the back since they love that. I bound it in Kona Bonsai from my local quilt shop, but they ship too! And they have every Kona, which is awesome. 

"Especially for you" is especially for my boys. It's hard to describe the delight of this quilt in photos and words. It's just so squishy, and interesting to look at up close, and colorful! We all love it so much. 

If you're wondering about QUILT LABELS, I got my personalized woven labels here. The one pictured here is a Tasha Noel label (and looks like those are on sale!), and I also have some of these cute labels. All kept in my Caboodle, which I love so much! I also have this bigger Caboodle, which I keep buttons and other knick knacks in. 

For this post, it was my first time using my new updated version of Electric Quilt 8 to make the mockups. I love it so much! I've used 7 for years, but it wasn't the best when I switched to a Mac. This new version runs like a dream, has amazing color options, and is really easy to use. It makes quilt ideas a reality in such a snap. I'm so happy to have it! Not sponsored in any way. Since I had version 7 before, it only cost $100 to upgrade, and I found the code HELLO2021 which should work for you too. Love this program!

Sew Along Update

Hello! Welcome back to the High Tide Remix quilt along. It has been so fun to see what kinds of colors and prints you guys are putting together in your quilts. So far we have cut out the pieces and made 4 blocks! I'm sure you've found that these blocks are quick and so satisfying to make! 

It's not too late to join, the pattern is still on sale for $5. 

(This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Today's giveaway is for free edge to edge quilting from Barbara at One Sweet Bee Quilts and @lantanalanetx is the winner!! Thank you to all of the sponsors who have donated prizes to make it fun. 

If you're interested, there are a few copycat bundles for sale that have popped up and they are super cute! This "Citrus" one from Simply Love Fabrics:

And "Sherbet" from Stitches n Giggles: 

There are a few other copycat bundles too- a Halloween one, and pink and green!

Also, finally- my book is officially in stores and shipping to you! I have loved getting message from those of you that have received it already. Thank you! You can find it on Etsy, Amazon, Fat Quarter Shop, or quilt shops. The patterns are all fairly simple, but with enough fun for anyone!

This next week we will be adding 8 new blocks to our stack. Have fun and see you next Monday with another prize over on IG (no blog post next week).

Sew Along Announcement- High Tide Remix

It's time you guys. It's time! We are going to sew along together. I am SO excited. We are going to do High Tide Remix, which is just $5 for the rest of the month (PDFs only, my printing situation is still iffy). Go snag the pattern if you don't have it already and take a look. It's super simple, fast, and easy! A perfect way to ease back into sewing. 

Schedule:

Week of-

Aug. 9: Choose fabric! 20 FQs for the standard size is what we'll be doing, but go bigger if you please! Instructions are in the pattern for bigger sizes, you'll need to adjust the schedule accordingly.  

Aug. 16: Cutting and first 4 blocks

Aug. 23: 8 blocks

Aug. 30 8 blocks

Sep. 6: sew top together! 

This is a pretty low time commitment as we're spreading it out over 5 weeks, and it's really such an easy quilt. 

I'm still debating which bundle to use- either this Halloween one, or something with PINK! Pink and orange or pink and green. You can vote on this post if you want to!

I need to make a choice by next week! One thing I learned the first time I made this quilt was that since there's no background, it turns out really dark and saturated if you don't have some low volume prints in there. I started with this bundle:

Once I made all the blocks it was feeling so dark and saturated with yellow, so I made 5 more blocks with lots of white in them, and a couple more cool blues. So this is the 25 FQ 80" square version.

This time I'll just do the 20 FQ version, and I might try a different layout! I've got coloring pages for all the different layouts on this post if you want to go print one and play around.

High Tide Remix Coloring Pages

Now for PRIZES! The prizes are still getting organized, but we already have some really fun ones set up. 

12 Lilliput FQs from April Grace Quilts

Free edge to edge computerized quilting from Barbara at One Sweet Bee Quilts- 

Another free edge to edge computerized quilting from Lori Kinzie!

Don't die of shock- ANOTHER free quilting :) This is the best kind of prize in my opinion. Yay! From Denise Hone at Happy Valley Quilting. 

There will also be some prizes from me. Probably a bundle of all my paper patterns, and some fabric too! 

I'm so excited to be doing this again. Somewhere in the last 18 months of distant learning/quarantine, I got the idea in my head that I don't get to sew until EVERYTHING is done. Dishes, laundry, you name it. So of course, I never get to it. And the house still has messes! Even after the kids started school, I felt like I couldn't catch up. But I decided today to go back to my old train of thought, which is- no matter what the state of the house/world is, I'm going to take a little bit of time each day in my sewing room. It brings me great joy, and that joy spills over into all other areas of my life, and blesses those around me. 

Let me know if you have any questions about this. Make sure to use the hashtag #hightideremixquilt- that is how winners will be chosen, and we want to see what you're making! I think you'll be so happy with how easily this comes together, it's so satisfying! I've had several people tell me how much they enjoyed making this pattern. See you on IG where all the fun happens!