First Snow Quilt Along

The most requested Woodberry Way quilt along is here! We will be sewing First Snow quilt tops in plenty of time for quilting before the holidays. Even those of us who don't get snow where we live can enjoy beautiful snowflakes come Christmas!

You can sign up for the First Snow Quilt Along here, that way you'll get the email updates. There's also a link to the pattern if you still need it. 

As you probably know by now, this pattern has two versions, plus a mini! At the pattern release in 2016, I sewed variation A, shown above. I did mine in solids with a stripey binding and it lives on the end of my bed in winter. I love it so much! I think this one would be so cute in prints too, with a dark background, or as a 4th of July quilt! You can find paper patterns for First Snow A here.

Julia of Red Rainboots Handmade (maker of the darling barn quilts) sewed and photographed Variation B for me. Isn't it so gorgeous! She used a mix of fat quarters from my stash and Moda Bella Ruby Ice background. Most people love to sew this variation, and I'm going to make it this time around too. You can get a paper pattern for First Snow Variation B here. 

Here's my fabric pull this time around, with fat quarters from my stash and Peaches and Cream background from Riley Blake Confetti Cottons. I am excited to start cutting!!

If you want, you can also buy a PDF copy of First Snow A and B together! Both variations have 20" blocks and finish with a 66" x 88" quilt, perfect for a Twin bed or large throw. The blocks are all traditionally pieced with corner triangles and half square triangles. There are lots of pieces, but they go together smoothly in quadrants. I would not consider it tricky!

There's also a First Snow Mini Pattern if you don't have time to commit to a large quilt right now. It comes with both block variations and finishes at 12". I've seen some pretty cute pillows and table runners made from this one!

Timeline:

Sept 2- cutting

Sept 9- 2 blocks

Sept 16- 2 blocks

Sept 23- 2 blocks

Sept 30- 2 blocks

Oct 7- 2 blocks

Oct 14- 2 blocks

Oct 21- sashing and borders

Oct 28- catch up week

Nov 4- wrap up

Kaitlyn of Knot and Thread Design will be our designated longarmer for this one, she will be offering 20% off all edge to edge quilting for First Snow tops! Woo hoo! You have until Jan. 31st to get them to her for the discount. 

We will have some great prizes this time around from Starlit Quilts, Riley Blake, One Sweet Bee Designs, Five on Sunny, and myself. Longarm gift cards, notions, fabric bundles...it's going to be fun!

You are entered to win weekly prizes by posting your progress with the hashtag #firstsnowquilt. 

Some fun news is that Jewel's Fabric Stash in Bountiful, Utah will be carrying kits! When I visited their shop this summer and told them about the sew along, they asked if I would choose a kit from their shop and I had such a fun time meeting with them and looking through their fabric selection. I can't wait to see their shop sample!

Lastly I just want to show you some of my favorites from the last few years. This will help you get thinking what kind you want to make! You can see even more at #firstsnowquilt on Instagram.

I'm crazy about this ombre version by @corinna_maycreations!

A pink and navy cutie from Hello Melly Designs. 

I love this gorgeous custom quilting by Natalia Bonner on @thelmacupcake's sweet quilt. 

Carola's (@idaroellchen) aqua version is so beautiful on this bed!

This magical pink version by @shashalaruequilts and quilted by @ladybellefabric is what convinced me on the pink background for mine this time.

 I think it would also look great with a navy or dark green background like this one by @pinsandpens. 

I hope you can join us! I am really excited to make this one again, and can't wait to see all of yours!

Here's a Pinterest pin to lead you back to this post, and make sure to check in on my Instagram for updates!

My California Home Quilt

This week I finished this California quilt with a heart where my city is located (Sacramento). Every quilt finish is so satisfying but this one really brings me a lot of joy! The colors, the amazing rainbow heart quilting by Emilee Hathaway, and the design are just HAPPY!

I have lived in California for 28 of my 33 years on earth, but I went to college in Utah and have a lot of family there, so people often think I live there. Nope! We just visit a lot!

I loosely followed My California Home quilt pattern, which was designed by Beth Bryant and sold by Diary of a Quilter in her shop, with all proceeds going to help victims of the fires last fall. I bought the pattern back then, but then decided to change it up a bit as follows.

My squares were 4" cut, I moved the heart up to where I live and made it smaller, making 2 half square triangles the same size as the squares, and using 1" corner triangles on the outside and 1.25" cut on the inside of the heart. I think I also changed the coastline a bit, though that was out of laziness, not planning!

The fabrics I used for the top started as leftover 4" strips from my Mod Diamond quilt by Pen and Paper patterns, I just omitted the Christmas print and added like colors from my stash. They are from so many different lines and designers, I could never name them all. If you see one you're just dying to know try to describe it to me in the comments and I'll do my best to get you the info! I still have 2 more rows to go on this quilt by the way. Very typical of me to leapfrog the main project with a side scrap project!!

Backing fabrics were 2 prints by Corey Yoder for Moda (Strawberry Jam and Sunnyside Up) and a pink and red diagonal plaid from Bonnie and Camille Smitten. I was so happy to use up these gorgeous florals on white, that I'm not otherwise quite sure what to do with!

For the binding I decided to do scrappy strips in the same fabrics I used for the top, and (mostly) lined them up accordingly. I love how it turned out! I've never done a binding that was essentially an extension of the piecing, I usually opt for a high contrast border. I love this though!

 My three year old took the following picture. I told him to press the white circle at least 10 times (hoping one of them would be focused and straight) and this was the only one he snapped. I love how off-center it is but he barely got it all in the frame, and featured the flowers! Artistic, right? Haha he's really a sweet helper.

Here are a few more shots for good measure. I'm super bummed that Blogger is making my photos blurry, I guess you get what you pay for! It's on my list to switch to a new interface so you can see how gorgeous these close ups really are.

As always thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate you being in this space and supporting my quilting!

Fabric Dog Collar Tutorial

Today I am sharing how I like to make dog collars! It is such a fun, fast project. You can sew one in 10 minutes or less.

Last month we visited family in Utah and I spent time with my in-laws' dog for whom I made a collar this time last year. I made a cute little scarf as well, I'll share that too!

After a year the collar was much dirtier, of course, but I was pleased with how it had held up overall. Since it has passed a quality test, I thought I was ok to share with you my process.

First you need hardware! I have ordered from a few different shops on Etsy but my favorite is Kraft Haus Supply Co. They have lots of options for sizes and finishes, and the packaging is beautiful! These are really sturdy metal pieces, the large one weighs almost 7 oz. so make sure you don't use that one on a tiny dog.

I used the 5/8" width in Antique Brass, the 1" in Gunmetal, and the 1.5" Rose Gold.

Or you can check out all the dog collar hardware sets together here.



Fabric shown is Riley Blake Basic 1/8" stripe in Navy, Tilda Apple Butter, and Cotton and Steel Freshly Picked by Melody Miller. The 3 under the collars are all Bonnie and Camille Wovens by Moda.



If you do better with videos, you can watch this entire process in my Instagram highlights, just click the Dog Collar circle on my profile page to watch!

Next, figure out the dimensions of the fabric strip you need.

The width of you fabric strip should be 4 times the final desired width, so here's a handy chart for you-

Hardware width:       Fabric strip width:

The 5/8" would be a great one any sized dog in my opinion, plus then you can use Jelly Roll strips! The 1.5" is BIG, save that for large dogs, and when you really want to make a statement. My favorite size is probably the 1". That gives you enough space to show off the fabric, but not too heavy.

Note: The wider your strip, the less body it will have on its own. You may want to add a strip of interfacing or stabilizer of some sort to give it better shape and hold up to the heavy hardware. It will need to be the same length as your strip, and the width of the hardware you are using. 

Now for the length. The length of your strip needs to be about 8" longer than your final circumference. Neck sizes of different dog breeds can range from 9 inches up to about 22, so if you're making a gift and can't measure, that should give you a good idea. If you're making a small collar you can fit your strip from a fat quarter. For larger ones you will need yardage, or you can just join 2 strips to get the length you need. I did that for my big one!

Now that you have your correct strip size take it to the ironing board. Press the strip in half lengthwise, then press the edges to the center, the press in half. You made a double fold!

Stitch down both sides of your folded strip very close to the edge. I'd recommend a thicker polyester thread for more long-lasting durability, but cotton wouldn't be the end of the world. If you have zig zag stitch on your machine, stitch across the ends of the strips a few times to finish them off. (I had the wrong machine set up for that today!)



Feed one end of your strip through the "D ring" and the clip as shown, leaving a 2.5" or so tail.



Slide the ring to the right out of your way, and sew the tail down, going back and forth across the same spot several times to reinforce.



Now slide the ring over to your stitches and sew along the other side, as close as you can, reinforcing again.



One side is done! Now for the other end. Feed it through the slider, up and over the middle bar. Make sure your strip isn't twisted!



Now feed the end through the other side of the clip, and back up under the other side of the slider.



Tug that through a little more and fiddle around with it until you have space to fold over that tail and sew it down to itself.

 

You've done it my friend! Now for the dashing little scarf.

Start with a square of fabric, anywhere from 10" to 20" will work, depending on the size of your dog. I like to use a woven fabric for this part so that I can create a little fringe on the edges.

 Cut the square in half diagonally.

Stitch along the 2 short ends of the triangle a 1/4" away from the edge. Use a pretty small stitch length, this is going to prevent fraying.

Now fold over the long side a 1/4" and press, then fold and press again. Stitch right down the center of that fold, backstitching at both ends to secure.

Now go back and fluff out your short edges, pulling out any long threads from the grain to create a little fringe. Throwing it in the wash will help this part along. Here's the scarf I made for my in-laws' dog, you can see the cute little fringe there.

If you don't want to do it that way you can just fold, press and stitch all 3 edges.

I am working on my Pinterest skills. The pins turned out cute right? I'd be so pleased if you'd pin one for me. Thank you!!

Rise Quilt Along- Cutting and First Blocks

Hello Rise quilters, welcome! This post will bring you up to date with the upcoming WEEK 1 and WEEK 2 for the quilt along. By now you should have your fabric picked out and and ready to cut! I'm using this happy purpley/teal rainbow, which is a copycat of a bundle that Fabric Bubb carries. Too cute!

For this pattern, a lot of the fabric will be cut out as we do the blocks. To cut all of it in one go would be madness, and very confusing to keep it all in order. For now we can cut background pieces, and the fabric we need for the baskets and rope. Skip ahead to the sashing and border instructions and cut that too if you want to be super prepared. You will cut the prairie points from each print as we go along with the blocks, as indicated in the pattern. You need 62 of them so depending on how many prints you are using, plan accordingly.

Things are still very crazy around here (trying to find a non-moldy house to buy, making terrifying life decisions whilst trying to wrangle 4 boys who are now out of school!) so I'm not going to bug you with a ton of emails for this casual summer sew along, you can always check in on IG for every day happenings. Week 2 will not have an official email, so please proceed to the first 3 balloons! Here are my first 5 since I obviously have to work ahead. I love how it's turning out!!

Here is the Rise Quilt Along Announcement post if you missed it or need more info, and here's the remaining schedule:

June 10- background cutting
June 17- Block 1 Block 2 Block 3
June 24- Block 4 Block 5 Block 6
July 1-Block 7 Block 8 Block 9
July 8- Prairie Points/Borders
July 15- wrap up and final prizes (3 winners!)

The prizes from myself, Riley Blake, and Starlit Quilts will be sent to 3 random winners at the very end of the sew along in July. There will be some cute notions, a custom 12 FQ bundle, and some surprises :) You can enter by sharing progress photos on IG with the hashtag #riseqal. Good luck and happy cutting and first 3 blocks!

Rise Quilt Along 2019- a hot air balloon quilt pattern

It's time to begin! Who's excited!!? This is such a fun little quilt and I'm thrilled to be making another with all of you. Here are the details of the sew along-

First, you can sign up for the Rise Quilt Along HERE!

Second, if you still need to get a PDF or paper copy of the Rise pattern in condensed, organized form, you can find it in my Pattern Shop. I worked so hard on these and I'm super proud of them. They are discounted $1 until the start of the quilt along! The individual balloon patterns are still available for free here on the blog from the original quilt along in 2016.

Because I will be out of town for almost all of it (coming for you Utah quilt shops!) and I don't operate from a laptop, the quilt along will be fairly simple and mostly based and announced on Instagram. I will check in here on the blog a couple of times but not every week. A new phase will start every Monday and there won't be any prizes until the end, when there will be 3. Here is the schedule:

June 3- fabric planning
June 10- background cutting
June 17- Block 1 Block 2 Block 3
June 24- Block 4 Block 5 Block 6
July 1-Block 7 Block 8 Block 9
July 8- Prairie Points/Borders
July 15- wrap up and final prizes (3 winners!)

Materials Needed: 

Balloons: I used 16 fat eights of Backyard Roses by Ellis and Higgs for Riley Blake, which covered the balloons and prairie points with a good amount left over. You could also use scraps, jelly strips, or layer cake squares. Not all precuts will work for all blocks, however, so you can't just use one jelly roll, for example, unless you make some adaptations. You will need about 8 fat quarters' worth of fabric, though a little more variety than 8 prints would be optimal. 

1 1/2 yd background fabric 
1/2 yd border fabric
1/2 yd binding fabric
2 yds backing

I love the backing on this quilt. The Seed Catalog print combined with the hot air balloons and summery prints remind of me of an old timey state fair, and I just love it!

The final quilt measures 42" by 54", a generous baby size. It would be the most perfect new baby quilt, in my humble opinion :)

There will be no designated longarm quilter since it has prairie points and can't be done edge to edge. We can all quilt our own baby size, right? I will be sharing tips on how to quilt around the points. 

If you are quilting along and are on Instagram, don't forget to tag with #risequilt so I can see. I'm @woodberry_way, and you know I love to share there!

I made this quilt a second time in softer colors, and that one was donated to a charity auction for refugees. I wonder where it lives now, and I'm grateful to the person who bought it and donated that money. 

This will be my third time making it and I'm going to use pinks, purples and teals from my stash that were inspired by a Fabric Bubb bundle. Not sure how that's going to go but I'm excited to find out!