Hello friends!

You haven’t heard from me in a while (on this blog anyway), but I’m going to be changing that.  Some much I want to share with you, and a blog is still a great way to do that.  I plan on writing about 1-2 times a month, so I hope you’ll stay with me and even share a comment or two.  

For today, I just wanted to give you a quick peek at what I've been working on.  I finally gave in and made a Stars and Stripes quilt, and I'm so glad I did!
 

The flags go together so quick and easy. If you're looking for a fun summer project, this is a great one.  Going to get the backing sewn together tomorrow, and then get it basted.

Talk to you soon!

Stacy 

Pattern: Stars and Stripes by Thimble Blossoms
Fabric: Sweet Harmony by American Jane for Moda

Quick & Easy Christmas Table Runner Tutorial

Now that the leftovers have been eaten and the dishes put away, it's time to get sewing for Christmas. 🎄  And since some of that sewing will be for gifts, I've come up with a quick and easy table runner that would make a great gift (think neighbor, teacher, gift exchange, hostess gift).  It uses 16-patch blocks and can be made in just about any color scheme (I made this one using Little Joys).  I quilted mine with a simple serpentine stitch using my walking foot, but you could quilt it even faster using a free-motion foot.  Great for scraps or leftover 10" squares.  Let's get started: 

Materials needed:

• Total of (32) 5" squares (2 each of 16 different prints - you can repeat if necessary)
• 1/4 yard fabric for binding
• 1/2 yard fabric for backing
• 18" x 34" piece of thin batting 

Block size: 8" finished
Finished size: 16.5" x 32"

For each of the eight blocks - take a set of two matching squares and team up with a different set of two matching squares.  You will now have 8 sets of 4 squares.  Keep sets together.

Take each set and cut squares in half: 

Each set will now have eight 2.5" x 5" strips (4 of each color).  For each set, take a strip, and lay an opposite color strip on top (right sides together) and sew on the long side to make a strip unit: 

Repeat for remaining strips in each set (you should have 4 strip units for each set). Press the seams to the darker side, or open.  Now take each strip unit and cut in half:

Make a 4-patch by taking one cut half, flipping it around, pinning and sewing to other half.  Repeat for all strip units.

Lay out each set of 4-patches, and sew together to make eight 16-patch blocks.  Wait to press.

Arrange your blocks 2 down and 4 across.  To make sewing easier, press each block the opposite way of its neighbor.   Sew blocks together.  Do a final press.

Layer your top (right side up), batting, and backing (right side down).  Quilt as desired.  (I quilted mine going diagonally in one direction with a large serpentine stitch.)  Trim sides even, making sure corners are nice and square.

Prepare binding and attach using your favorite method.  I like to finish my binding by machine - here is a good tutorial if you need one. 

This table runner can be made larger, or quilt-size just by making more blocks.  Forty-eight (arranged 6x8) would make a nice throw size quilt - 48"x64"). 

Fabrics used:  Little Joys by Elea Lutz/Riley Blake

My 3 Favorite Tips from The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting

Is is hot where you are?  We've had temps around 110 for days.  Ugh.  The heat does provide a great excuse for staying inside and sewing though - and maybe doing some machine quilting (and a little book-reading).  Today I'm going to give my favorite tips from Angela Walters' and Christa Watson's awesome book The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting.   

Favorite Tip #1:  When you're quilting across a border and get to the corner, it's perfectly OK to fill in with a different design.  Your border design may not work rounding the corner, so why not switch to a complimentary design and then continue the first design in the next border.  Genius. 

Favorite Tip #2:  Use a highly patterned fabric to practice your machine quilting.  Why go to the trouble of drawing a design onto a practice quilt sandwich (fabric/batting/fabric) if you don't have to?  You can use up those "What was I thinking" fabrics for this one.  Perfect.

Favorite Tip #3:  Close is good enough.  When you first look at Angela's and Christa's quilts, they look perfect.  But if you look closely, you'll see they're not; each design element isn't exactly like the one next to it, and it doesn't need to be. With enough practice, which both Angela and Christa strongly suggest, you'll get your quilting to a place where it's pleasing to you. 

This book is packed with tips and techniques to take your machine quilting up a notch, no matter whether you're a beginner or advanced quilter.  It's available here.

 

Scrappy Quilt Finish!

Hello!  Today I'm here to show my latest quilt finish.

I started this quilt around 10 years ago and am so happy to have it done.  Most of the scraps (the small squares) I used were left over from 2" strips from two log cabin quilts I made.   The middle squares are 3 1/2" (unfin.).  This quilt was a fun, low-stress project.

The backgrounds are from my stash too, except maybe for one or two.  The alternating block squares are 9 1/2" (unfin.).  I quilted straight lines 1 1/2" apart with my walking foot.  I like the slightly modern look they give it.

 To really bust some stash, I used a bunch of fat quarters on the back.  Kind of reminds me of a picnic quilt. 

The binding is finished by machine, using my favorite "nearly invisible" method. 

Finished size - 63" sq., block size - 9"           

Linking to:  Sew Many Ways Sew Darn Crafty
                  Crazy Mom Quilt Finish It Up Friday
                  Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday

Machine Quilting With Style Blog Hop & Giveaway

Hello there!  Welcome to day #7 of the Machine Quilting With Style blog hop.

It's my turn to show you my version of a quilt from Christa Watson's great new book. But first, the original from the book:

Modern with a nod to traditional.  Love it!  OK, here's mine:

As you can see, my little twist on this quilt is a subtle Halloween theme.  I am loving the trendy combo of aqua and orange right now, and it fits right in.  The style of quilting I chose is called "Gentle Wavy Lines" in the book and it's one of my favorites.  It's quick, easy and gives a nice texture.  I quilted the lines vertically from top to bottom, approx. 1" apart.  I just marked a few straight lines to guide my quilting.  In the book, the name of the quilt is "Square in a Square". 

In her book, Christa shows you that YOU CAN quilt your own quilt on your domestic machine.  This book shows lots of designs, from easy (like gentle waves) to the more complex (swirls, pebbles, etc.).  And she gives instructions for 12 modern quilts to use those designs on.  Machine Quilting with Style is a great resource for every quilter who has even thought about quilting her own quilt.

For as long as I've known Christa (since our 15-year-old sons were babies!), she's been a cheerleader of quilting your own quilt.  She's devoted much time to sharing and teaching her awesome skills, and loves to see you succeed with your quilt.  She'll be leading a quilt-along in January and is encouraging everyone to vote for their favorite (here).  The winner will be the object of the quilt along.  How fun!

 

More good news -- I've been given permission to give an e-copy to one lucky reader.  Leave me a comment saying whether or not you've ever quilted your own quilt (with your domestic machine).  I'll choose a winner on Sept. 28. 

If you don't win (or just can't wait), get yours here 0r a signed copy from Christa.    Right now it's the #1 new release in patchwork on Amazon.  Woohoo!

Hop on over to these blogs to check out their versions:

• 9/14 Start at ChristaQuilts
• 9/14 Color Crystals – Vicki Reubel from Orchid Owl Quilts
• 9/14 Technicolor Backing – Ida Ewing from Ida Rather Be Quilting
• 9/15 Pearl Gray – Alyce Blyth from  Blossom Heart Quilts
• 9/16 Broken V – Sharon McConnell from  Color Girl Quilts
• 9/17 Candy Pop – Linda Hungerford from Flourishing Palms
• 9/18 Ripples – Melissa Corry from Happy Quilting
• 9/19 Little Man’s Fancy – Tina Guthmann from Mod Geometry
• 9/22 Static – Lee Heinrich from Freshly Pieced
• 9/23 Rain – Cheryl Brickey from Meadow Mist Designs
• 9/24 Lightning – Leanne Chahley from She Can Quilt
• 9/25 Facets – Kristy Daum from  St. Louis Folk Victorian
• 9/26 Focal Point – Amy Garro from 13 Spools

Plus, there will be additional stops on the hop from the awesome people listed below. They will be sharing their insights including book reviews, interviews, sample blocks, and other interesting content you won’t want to miss.

• 9/15 Andover Fabrics
• 9/16 Amy’s Free Motion Quilting Adventures and Leah Day’s Free Motion Quilting Project
• 9/17 Do You EQ? from Electric Quilt and Darlene from Quilt Shop Gal
• 9/18 Jacquelynne Steves’ The Art of Home and Scott Hansen from Blue Nickel Studios
• 9/19 Moda Fabrics – The Cutting Table
• 9/21 Katy Cameron from The Littlest Thistle
  
• 9/22 Debbie Grifka of Esch House Quilts and Generation Q Magazine
• 9/23 Rebecca Bryan of Bryan House Quilts
• 9/24 Stitch This – The Martingale Blog and Riley Blake Fabrics
• 9/25 Michele Foster of The Quilting Gallery and Teri Lucas from TerifiCreations
• 9/26 Pellon Projects and Amy Ellis from Amy’s Creative Side

Linking to:  Crazy Mom Quilts' Finish It Up Friday

   

Posie Patch Quilt Finish!

So happy to have this one finished! 

I started the top a few years ago when co-teaching a retreat class with my friend Christa.  I used some loved & hoarded Susan Branch/RJR fabrics from a few years prior.  It is still one of my favorite collections! 

The flowers are fused with Heat-n-Bond and machine-appliqued down. I quilted the 9-patches with curvy lines, and echo-quilted around the flowers.  I did a free-motion leaf design (which I often use) around the border. 

 I used one of my favorite text prints from Polka Dot Stitches by Lori Holt and Riley Blake on the back.  So cute, it has lots of stitch-y words and illustrations.  The binding is another Susan Branch/RJR print and is applied entirely by machine.  LoVe machine-finished binding.

Next up -- finishing my grandson's baby quilt (he's almost 3 months), a blouse and zipper pouch for my local MQG's swap.    

Pattern from the book Patches and Posies by Teri Christopherson 

Linking to:  Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday

Autumn Table Topper Finish & Giveaway

Yesterday I finished up a new table topper for fall.  Yay!   

It measures 31" square.  I used one charm pack and a solid creamy white for the background.  I love the modern color palette and prints of this collection (Autumn Woods by Kate & Birdie/Moda).  I backed it with a soft yellow print and bound it with a medium yellow, so I could use it for other seasons (like spring).  I machine quilted it in a crosshatch design and finished the binding by machine too.

It was so easy to put together.  I used the Moda Love pattern; it's available as a free download at the Moda website.  It comes in sizes for mini charms (2.5" squares), charms (5" squares), and 10" squares.  I really want to make one up in the 10" square size; a red and white one would be fun for Christmas.

Would you like to win your own Autumn Woods charm pack?  Just leave me a comment telling me what you'd make with it.  Winner will be chosen on Monday the 24th (yes, this Monday!) at 9pm PST.     (Sorry, due to higher int'l shipping costs, giveaway open only to those in the US.)

My "helper" - Snickers

Come see me on Instagram!

Linking to:  Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday
                     Sunny Simple Life Simple Saturdays Blog Hop 
                     Sew Many Ways Sew Darn Crafty 

Happy Go Lucky Quilt Top Done & Another in the Works

It's been a little while since I finished this quilt top, but haven't shared it before now (I don't think?).  It's made up of simple strip-pieced pinwheel blocks (8" finished) using 18 Happy Go Lucky prints  (by Bonnie & Camille/Moda).  I really love the happy colors of the collection and how they look in the top.  Just one problem though; I used two different whites for the background - Bella White Bleached and Bella Bleached White.  Oops.  I couldn't remember which one I started with, and well, they look so similar in my sewing room, I didn't think it would matter much.  When I went to take a photo of the top outside - WOW - different story. 

Oh well, I still love it.  Not sure how I'm going to quilt it yet.  Maybe with straight or curvy lines, or a curvy design in the white areas. Have to give that some thought.

I strip-pieced the blocks using 2.5" strips, which left me with some pieced scraps, which I decided to turn into 4-patch units.

So, I went looking on Pinterest for ideas on how to use them, and found a few I liked.

Link to Pin

Link to Pin

Link to Pin

Link to Pin

The layout right above is my favorite and the one I think I'll go with.  I'm thinking of making all of the star points solid red or navy to give it a modern touch.

Come see me on Instagram to see what else I'm working on.

Linking to:  Sew Many Ways Sew Darn Crafty
                  Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday
                  My Quilt Infatuation Needle and Thread Thursday
                  Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday

Great Pumpkin Quilt Finish

(Warning - lots of orange in this post)  Happy October!  Well, what's left of it.  I have a quilt finish to share today - yay!  It's a small lap size - 40" x 50" - perfect for my grandkiddos. 

(Sorry about the shady pic)

It's made with a Peanuts Halloween print which was too cute to cut up.  You can read more about the fabric and pattern here.  I backed it with a Riley Blake medium chevron in black and white, and machine-bound it in a solid black. 

 
I free-motion quilted the large open areas with my favorite wavy lines in orange thread, and echo-quilted in the black squares with black. 

Snickers approves.  

I also made this little potholder (or maybe snack mat?), while at our guild retreat last month.  I just took an orphan block, sandwiched it, quilted it with an elongated zigzag stitch, and bound it.  Fun little project.

Speaking of our annual guild retreat, I won this table topper a couple of years ago when the theme was Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

I love pumpkins.

Linking to:  Sew Many Ways Sew Darn Crafty
                  Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday
                  Pretty Bobbins I Quilt 
                  My Quilt Infatuation Needle and Thread Thursday