monogrammed newlywed pillow

Couples spend quite a bit of time on their wedding registries. I did when I got married. It makes perfect sense. "We'll make a list of all the things we like, and then people will go buy them, and we won't get any weird gifts!"

Enter Tara.

I am notorious for shopping off-registry. Don't get me wrong, I look at the registry, but then I tend to make something that (I hope) will compliment it. Anyone who dislikes this practice might want to mention it to me in the future before their big day.

B-T-dubs, Interior Designers are notorious for shopping off registry. We think we know better than you what you need. Right, wrong, or indifferent, it's just who we are.

Such is the case for Kyle and Summer. Kyle is my boss' son and Summer happens to like handmade things. Or so her Pinterest boards would have me believe. So for their nuptuals, I decided to make them a little something something.

Their registry had lots of classic items. Blues, navys, and whites. And the one thing that all couples' registries have in common - MONOGRAMS.

It makes sense. If the gal is going traditional and taking the guy's last name, she naturally wants it emblazoned on everything they own. This happy couple will now be sporting an equally cheerful monogrammed pillow.

I actually started with this side, which is basically a simple square mini-quilt. These are 3.5" squares, 5 high by 5 wide. It's a simple checkerboard pattern with whites and navys. It came out to roughly 15.5" square when it was done.

I bought a 16" pillow form. The rules are that I probably should have made the pillow top finish at 17" (because you lose 1" when you sew the front and back of the pillow case together with a 1/2" seam allowance), but I tend to like my pillows either - A) a little overstuffed or B) insanely squishy with a feather pillow form that feels like it's vintage. I went with Option A on this one.

At any rate, I made the top and quilted it with navy thread, 1/4" off of each seam to make a grid. Nearly all of these fabrics are from JoAnn's.

Then, the back. Drumroll please....

This turned out even cuter than it was in my brain. My plan had been to do a blue monogram on a plain white background. But then I realized I had enough of this preppy polka dot fabric left over from the front to make the back. It's so darn cheerful!

I love it when things work out.

quilt club: reverse inset circiles

First, let's talk about that title. Reverse inset circles. It sounds extremely daunting, and let me tell ya, it felt extremely daunting when I opened the study guide. I've seen quilts with circles or curves in them before and just could not wrap my mind around how you can sew two pieces of fabric together, fold them over, and get a curve. It defies the laws of nature. 

But it's actually possible. And it's not so hard. You just need a little patience and a little Elmer's glue. Seeeee?!

It's so gloriously 1980's that I can barely contain myself. Remember Todd and Margo's house in Christmas Vacation? Yeah, this would totally have been at home there.

"Then why is the carpet all wet, Todd?"
"I don't know Margo!"

We had a smaller group this month because of graduations and end of school stuff and spring and life. And not everyone brought inset circles, because we're relaxed at modern quilt club and that's how we roll. But the quilts that everyone brought were amazing.

This post could alternatively be called "quilt club: awkward talking faces." I have no hopes of a career as a photo journalist. I do not have that gift that the paparazzi have of catching celebrities talking and NOT capturing weird faces. Sorry guys.

Shannon made this super cute West Park tote bag. You can read about it on her blog to get info on the pattern and her process.

quilt club is back, y'all

Quilt club has been on hiatus since last fall when our patron store closed its doors (insert sad face). But, happy day, we are up and running again at a new location. Which means more pretty pictures of quilts up in here (up in here).

The group got together in April to catch up on life and show off what we've been working on since we last met. The group's consensus was that without the monthly group meeting, we weren't quilting as much as we would like. Hello, accountability.

Even still, there were lots of great quilts to see. My apologies, I left my nice camera at home, so these were just snapped with my iPhone. I'll do better next time.

quilt as you go pillow top

I love my boys. They are delightful. Spirited. Squishy.

They also systematically destroy all of the things that I love.

Case in point, this poor, pitiful Crate and Barrel pillow on my sofa. So. Sad.

So, yeah, this is why I'm posting about pillows all of the time now. Yeesh. We've been long overdue for new pillows around here. Enter this beauty.

This little ditty is a project from the book Quilt-As-You-Go Made Modern. I've used this technique once before when I made this toddler pillow sham awhile back, but that was before my sweet brother bought me the book with real, actual instructions in it. Always a plus.

Hazel Hedgehog quilt-a-long

Happy Friday! Greetings to all of the new folks following the HazelQAL blog hop, and a warm welcome to all the regulars as well.

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of woodland creatures (I made a hedgehog out of cheese last fall, after all), so when the opportunity popped up to join Gnome Angel for the Hazel Hedgehog Quilt-A-Long blog hop, I was all over it. I had no idea what a quilt-a-long actually was, nor had I ever participated in a blog hop before, but I wasn't going to let a little thing like complete-and-utter-lack-of-knowledge stop me.

If you're interested in making one for yourself, the pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman. Angie over at Gnome Angel has a discount code available. I love a good discount. I used the Hazel II pattern to whip up this child sized quilt.

Colonial American Flag Quilt (with free pattern)

Christmas has come and gone, which means I can (finally) share with you guys some of the quilty projects I completed last year but had to keep under wraps.

This one is probably my favorite. After the one bojillion hours I spent on it, it better be.

I have a very unique relationship with my mother in law, in that we actually like each other. Quite a bit, actually. She's amazing. She came and stayed with us for weeks after both boys were born. And not the kind of "help" like "I'll hold the baby while you clean the house and cook me dinner" kind of help, but the "let me clean the house and cook you dinner while you hold the baby" or "let me hold the baby while you take a long shower and nap" kind of help.

You know, the helpful kind.

The inspiration from this quilt came to me at the 4th of July (imagine that) while we were at my in law's house. Tammy loves red white and blue everything and has a soft spot for colonial American era stuff. Thus, this quilt was born.

It was a labor of love to say the least. It's a simple enough pattern, but it has lots and lots and LOTS of half square triangles. I worked on it from July to November. There's just only so many HSTs I can make before I had to put it away for awhile for my own sanity.

Also, what can't you do with half square triangles? So versatile.

If you're interested in making one for yourself or a gift, here is a link to my FREE pattern guide here. It's fairly basic. Make your HSTs in whatever method you choose, assemble the rows, connect the rows, and applique the stars using a zigzag stitch. I used fusible web to adhere the stars first, which I highly recommend. Then I straight line quilted the whole thing.

The amount of fabric you'll use will vary a bit because it really depends on how scrappy you want the finished product to be. A good guide would be:

• white fabric - 1/2 yd from 4 fabrics
• red fabric - 1/2 yd from 4 fabrics
• blue fabric - fat quarters from 4-6 fabrics
• 1/2 yd binding
• 1-1/2 yd backing

I used gold thread to applique the stars. I like to think that if Betsy Ross had access to gold thread in her day, she would have too. She's cool like that.

Here's Old Glory in all of its, well, glory. The little blue birds on the white fabric are probably my favorite part. They only made it in there because I totally miscounted and cut too few white ones. Whoops.

And yes, there are 13 stars and 13 stripes. It's at least that accurate.

I chose more traditional fabrics than what I typically go for since that's what Tammy gravitates towards. I was able to incorporate some vintage scraps, which I always love to do.

See that yummy crinkly effect? You get that by NOT prewashing your fabrics, but instead washing the quilt after it is complete. Always on cold water. I threw in a few Shout Color Catchers to help prevent the red fabric bleeding. Thankfully I didn't have any issue.

Hope you like it, Tammy! If not, I'm taking it back because it took freaking forever. Love you!

MAY I INTEREST YOU IN…

quilt club: half square triangles

monogrammed quickie quilted blanket

paper pieced fox pillow

sittin' on top of the world quilt

paper pieced fox pillow

Oh Lawd, she's making more Christmas pillows.

This is the last one. Promise. Probably. I just love Christmas so much, you guys.

This little flannel fox was my first (and, well, only...so far) attempt at paper piecing. I talked more about how to make it in this post. The plan had been to incorporate it into a sampler quilt with all of my quilt club blocks, but I just couldn't stand to let it sit in my WIP basket any longer. My quilty friends can relate, right?

This impulse hit me first thing yesterday morning and for the life of me I could think of nothing else until it was done. Creative urges are real, y'all.

I got it out, grabbed fabric for the back of the pillow and a zipper, and was about to throw them together to make a pillow when I realized, duh, I need to quilt it first. Blerg.

I seriously considered for some time skipping the quilting part but just knew I'd be mad at myself later. Then I thought, here's my chance to try out free motion quilting. I'd never done it before and it's been on my list of things to try. If you aren't familiar with the term, you basically use your machine to draw a pattern for your thread instead of doing something more rigid like straight line quilting (which is my personal go-to). You can do it totally off the cuff or use a disappearing ink marker to pre-draw the design.

I did a quick little practice number to try out the technique before I ruined committed to my fox. I was shocked at how well it went. It's like doodling with thread! How have I never done this before?!

I quickly realized that spray basting would be my best friend on this because sewing around pins would be nearly impossible. Something else I've never tried before. A project of firsts, I tell ya.

I can't tell you how fun this was. I went with a faux bois pattern - which is just a fancy Interior Designer way of saying looks like wood grain. My fellow Interior Designer friend Lindsey on Instagram suggested it as well, so I knew the idea was gold. DONE.

I mean look at that! How stinking cute. Toots own horn.

Oh, the possibilities.

I used this invisible zipper pillow tutorial that I posted awhile back to whip that baby into a pillow in no time. Well, no time except for the fact that I was rushing and nearly attached the zipper on the side of the pillow instead of the bottom and had to rip it out and start again. When will I learn?

I finished it late afternoon yesterday so the lighting was all crummy. It killed me not to post it immediately because I'm so over the moon with how it turned out.

And, obviously, it coordinates with my Christmas quilt and Christmas dollhouse pillow since I used the flannel and red fabrics in all three. This is about as close to matchy-matchy that you'll ever see me get. But each have their own personality, which is what I love about them.

Max thinks that pillows are the greatest gift on God's green earth. Other than food. He has claimed this as his own. After I snagged this photo I got 42 other blurry ones of him playing "throw the pillow at mommy before her camera shutter closes."

Also, Christmas Jammies. 

Faux bois/wood grain was a great first pattern to go with, I think. It's something familiar, but forgiving. If you were trying to draw something completely recognizable, like stars or hearts for instance, your eye would pick up on it if something went horribly wrong. But wood grain is in nature, and it is totally acceptable if it isn't perfect. In fact, I think it's better that way.

I like to call this photo "OMG I LOVE THESE PILLOWS SOOOOO MUUUUUUCH!" 

Yes, it's blurry, but it shows his overall enthusiasm about the process and Christmas in general. And, again, babies in Christmas Jammies.

I reserve the right to post one or two more Christmas crafts before the fat man comes down the chimney next week. Hope you're enjoying seeing them half as much as I'm enjoying making them.

MAY I INTEREST YOU IN…

Christmas doll house pillow

paper piecing: I now know what the fox says

O Christmas quilt, O Christmas quilt

invisible zipper pillows

O Christmas quilt, O Christmas quilt

If this picture doesn't make you want to curl up with a quilt, then I'm pretty sure nothing will.

I've had this flannel in my stash for quite some time. I impulse buy plaid things. We all have our vices.

Aaaaaanyway, I finished all of my Christmas gift sewing last week and decided to make a little sumthin' sumthin' for the Lenneys. Something wintery, but not so Christmas specific that it would have to be packed up when the Wise Men hit the road in January.

The construction is simple. 7.5" squares in 4 colors, 12 in each color (I think). White always went with red and grey always went with yellow. It only took me a couple of sessions to make the top, and I was able to quilt the whole thing during a single naptime. It was a Christmas miracle.

The back is super-soft and perfect for snuggling up with a White Russian at the end of a long day. The drink, not the man. My husband isn't Russian.

He did, on an unrelated note, admit to me that he thought the quilt looked like a circus tent. In his defense I had just said "I keep going back and forth between really liking this quilt and thinking it looks like a circus tent." 

I sort of set myself up for that one.

I think it's grown on him, though, because I keep catching him bundled up with it on the couch.

And yes, in case you caught my last post, the tree is back up and vertical, although with FAR fewer ornaments this time around. There's like 19 ornaments on this 9' tree. Most of them plastic. I haven't been able to bring myself to go through the box of what's left and assess the damage. For now, this is just fine with me.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

MAY I INTEREST YOU IN…

hallelujah! holy sh*t, where's the tylenol

let's get campy! birch feather river quilt tutorial

monogrammed quickie quilted blanket tutorial

quilt club: half square triangles

paper piecing: I now know what the fox says

I've been seeing the most adorable fox, cat, and owl quilt blocks gracing my Instagram feed lately. And I wanted one. BAD. Only I didn't know how to do it. But then our quilt club assignment this last month was to try paper piecing, which I did not in any way understand.

Turns out, that's how you make those intricate blocks. Who knew.

Oh wait, everyone but me knew.

At any rate, paper piecing basically means that you print your pattern on paper, arrange your fabric on it very strategically, and then sew right on top of the paper along the lines. No math skills or intricate fabric cutting required. 

Check out the image below. This is the back of that fox block.

You absolutely have to watch several You Tube videos to figure this technique out. You're basically sewing a mirror image of what you want your block to look like, which kind of hurts my brain. I found this video tutorial to be helpful. There are many different methods; you just have to find the one that makes sense for you.

Using a plaid fabric was not my most brilliant choice. Trying to match the plaid pattern when you're mirroring objects is challenging to say the least. But it mostly worked out.

I made this pattern myself because I'm cheap a designer who has to figure out everything for myself. The good news though is that you can buy this pattern along with instructions on how to assemble it into a quilt here. These are the gorgeous blocks that inspired me to take the plunge. The fox with the glasses, it slays me.

And paper piecing isn't just for furry creatures. There's lots of modern and traditional geometric patterns that this technique is great for.

Quilt Club met last night to look at everyone's work, buuuuuut I had to leave early to go tuck in babies, so I don't have photos. So sorry! But I'm sure they were awesome.

6 quilt club blocks down for my ROYGBIV sampler quilt. It's going to be a hot mess, but I love it. 

MAY I INTEREST YOU IN…

monogrammed quickie quilted blanket

TEXT

quilt as you go pillow sham

I joined a quilt club

sunday stitch vol. 15 - sittin' on top of the world

It's finished! It's finally finished!

Talk about a labor of love. This, my friends, is Max's baby quilt.

Baby quilt? But doesn't he turn 1 in a few weeks?

Yes. Thanks for pointing that out. 

My sweet baby Max turns 1 in November, and I managed to squeak this baby quilt in while he is still technically a baby. I saw this quilt pattern in the book Let's Sew Together, and fell madly in love. It was the entire reason I bought the book. Thus far I've used the patterns in the book to make this robot and this rag doll, but the world map quilt is my masterpiece.

A few helpful notes on this pattern if you are wanting to undertake this project:

quilt club: strip quilting

Quilt club at City Craft did not disappoint again this month. Our homework assignment was "strip quilting" which is to say taking strips of fabric and sewing them together. A simple technique dating back to pioneer days. It's fantastic place for a beginner to start. 

We have to talk about Kristi from Initial K Studio's quilt. It uses all 32 Kona solids from their latest release. You can read more about how she created it here. She named it "cascade" which is basically perfect.

Angela created a throw pillow using a log cabin technique. Learn how to do this in last month's study guide (see month #5).

I'm totally going to rat her out on the back of the pillow (right photo). She cut the fabric too small - been there - so she added a strip of fabric. It was still to small. So she cut it and added another strip. And another one. All of us agreed that the back was now cooler than the front and passed a motion to change the back to the front and front to the back. The motion carried.

Belinda is continuing with a monochromatic block each month. That quilt is going to be amazing when all 12 are complete. I wish I had the self control to do monochromatic quilt. But I don't. Color forever!

Charlotte brought a yummy fall paletted quilt top.

Cynthia did the log cabin homework plus a low volume (quilter slang for really light colors with tone on tone patterns) table runner.

I love everything about these blocks that Elizabeth created. She used metallic fabrics like Cotton + Steel to create these epic blocks. Oh my gosh, I want the quilt she makes with these in my life. Callie and Charlotte did a particularly nice job of showing off the blocks. Well done, ladies.

Jeana comes from the world of apparel sewing and quilting is a new hobby for her. She is taking scraps leftover from outfits to put together a throw quilt as a gift. I won't say for who, lest I ruin the surprise. Watch out, with all of that satin fabric, this quilt is going to be sexy.

Shannon is a brave soul. This quilt top used to be a completely different pattern; it was based off of a bobbin or spool of thread or something....At any rate, she hated it, so she got out her rotary cutter and hacked it to pieces and reassembled it into this beauty. She is woman, hear her ROAR. I asked if she burned her bra after that. She did.

Susan used 2 fat quarter bundles cut into strips to create this diamond quilt. A lot of bold, bright colors become more controlled when put together in this pattern. She says it's a bit too much pink for her usual taste. Pfft. Like there can ever be too much pink.

Another strip quilt from Susan using a 1930's color palette.

Hey, it's me! I used the study guide log cabin tutorial and modified it just a bit for my block on the left. I have TONS of vintage yellow fabrics from my Grandmommy's stash, but I sort of kind of hate yellow. Mustard is great, but everything else makes me nauseous. Until now. I freaking LOVE this quilt block. So much that I might just hack up all of my yellow and make more blocks and see if I can make an entire yellow quilt. It's like a little ray of sunshine.

The strip quilt on the right is another modified log cabin quilt that I shared more about in this post. It will be done in approximately 7 years.

The following are not strip quilts, but awesome all the same and completely necessary to share.

Angela shared this quilt top with us at our half square triangles quilt club meeting (and I nearly passed out because I loved it so much). She decided it wasn't large enough as-is for her 6' tall gift recipient (again, no spoilers here), so she added the blue and white triangles around the perimeter. That extra contrast totes makes this quilt. 

Yes, I said totes.

And this is the back. Check out that blue ombre. Purrrrrrr.

Martha must have spent a bazillion hours making this. I thinks she said it was more than 1,000 individual pieces of fabric. I admire her patience. You will never (NE-VER) see me make something this complicated. Go Martha!

This is about 1/3 of a quilt top that Martha is working on. All of the pieces are needle turn pieced. I literally had no idea what that was until 4 seconds ago when I googled it. Again, so much patience.

Charlotte's Michael Miller award winning quilt.

Oh, Belinda. After she saw my Birch Feather River quilt, she was inspired to make one of her own using the same fabric bundle, plus some solids. WELL DONE. Also, way to totally show me up. I guess I forgive you.

Great stuff this month. Next month we're working on Paper Piecing, which I've never done before. And I had to leave early last night so I missed Michael's demo. Not that I'm nervous. I got this.....

Here's the study guide (month #6) if you want to figure this out as you go along with me.

A reminder - anyone in the Dallas area is welcome to attend, even if you don't have a quilt to show. It's a fun time and you should check it out. The next meeting is Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at 6:30 PM. Would love to see you there. (pssst...there's wine and a 10% discount).

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY:

let's get campy! birch feather river quilt tutorial

quilt club: half square triangles

my dining room is now a sweat shop

quilt club: modern quilting