Christmas Gifts 2018

I just barely finished all my Christmas gifts on time this year! The first is my One Monthly Goal project for December, encouraged along by Elm Street Quilts. I successfully completed the stocking for my newest niece, Anna, who was born in August. When did I start the stocking? Ummm... December 13th ish? Raise your hand if you procrastinate too!
She's in Wisconsin and I'm in Florida, so I mailed it off on the 19th. It arrived in time! 

The tricky part about stockings is that it's nice for them to be the same/similar. I chose a style/color palette/fabrics for each family unit and planned ahead, so I had enough, but my challenge is that I wasn't great about taking notes about sizes (I didn't follow a pattern--these are something I developed myself.) So each time a new baby was born, I'd have to ask for measurements. Again. Oops!

The following gifts were all for an out-of-town Christmas gathering that started on December 20th, so in reality I shorted myself four days of sewing time! My husband took the kids to Epcot the previous Sunday so I could sew, and sew I did!

Next up are the duffle bags I sewed for a niece and nephew. Six years ago, I'd made duffels for my two nieces using the Quilted Travel Duffle pattern by Studio Cherie. Then my mom made four--two for my boys, and two for my nephews. This year it was time to make bags for my next niece and nephew. Done! 

Picking out the fabric is always a fun challenge. I want the bag to "grow" with them, so even though my nephew is seven and my niece four, I tried to choose some more "grown-up" prints rather than going too cutesy.

I love the lining on my nephew's bag, but didn't want to use a light background print for the outside--too many opportunities to get dirty! The blue print I did use has drawings of boats, planes, stamps, globes, and more on it. I really like the pop of the orangey-red for the handles and zippers, and the way the lining pulls it all together.

Once I chose the outer bag print for my niece, the coordinates were easy to pick out! I can always find tonal prints to go with a big floral. I love the polka dot pockets. 

My two older nieces (who received the first duffles I made) got sleeping bags for their American Girl dolls. These were quick and easy to make using this tutorial. I bought really poofy batting so they feel like actual sleeping bags. The prints are from Tracey Wirth's Jump, Ride, Spin! collection for Paintbrush Studio Fabrics. 

Don't they look cute all rolled up?

My sleeping bag sewing started with this birthday gift back in the fall, made using the Otter Romp collection. My niece liked it so much that I made one for each of her sisters for Christmas.

Whew! Gift sewing is done for a while...but there's still plenty on my to-do list! 

OMG: And then there were 5...

I am the official stocking maker in my family. I've made...let's count...19 stocking so far! (You can see most of them here.)

My sister had her third baby on August 31st. Plenty of time to make the stocking, right? 

Well, it's December 7th and I feel like I should probably get started. :) 

Here are the stocking for the first four family members: 

My December One Monthly Goal is to make the fifth stocking for my new niece, Anna. Time to get sewing! Wish me luck!

Spicy Squares Table Runner with Jacquie's Favorites

Last week I shared the quilt I made using the cool colors from Jacquie's Favorites, a specially curated selection of Painter's Palette Solids from Paintbrush Studio. This week it's time for a project featuring the warm colors! 

I don't naturally gravitate toward warm colors, but after making this runner, that may be changing! I love how these bright colors play off each other, creating a bold, saturated look. I call the runner "Spicy Squares."

Here are the colors I used. (See the entire Jacquie's Favorites palette here.) 

Once I had the design in mind, the first thing I did was pair up the colors to create maximum contrast. These blocks are small--just 5" square finished--and I sewed them all in less than an hour. 

The colors needed a little breathing space, so I alternated surrounding them with white and gray strips. For quilting, I did simple wavy lines to create texture. The design didn't need any competition! I chose a neutral gray thread for the quilting; I'd considered yellow but chickened out. I kind of wish I'd tried it! 

After finishing this runner, I really want to make a larger quilt--I love it that much! Maybe I'll do that using the entire palette? That would be fun. 

Find the Spicy Squares table runner tutorial here.

Paintbrush Studio Fabrics is giving away a fat quarter bundle of Jacquie's Favorites (giveaway open through Sunday, December 2nd). Visit them on IG for details on how to enter.

If you missed the Leafy Cool quilt tutorial, find it here. 

Sew Together Bag...Can't make just one!

I've now completed two Sew Together bags, and I'm hooked! I have plans for a third one already. :) Christmas presents for everyone...

My November One Monthly Goal was to make a second bag. Done! I made both using the Dianthus collection from Paintbrush Studio. I had a lot of fun choosing which prints to use where, and they came out totally different from each other. 

I love the yellow zipper contrasting against the navy binding.

I still think the half circle stripe is my favorite print in the collection. 

Looking inside the pockets...

Aqua or yellow...which one do you like better? One is definitely a gift; the second might be as well, if I'm willing to give it away. :) 

If you want to make one, you can purchase the pattern from Sew Demented on Craftsy. 

Ribbon Weave Pattern Release

I'm really excited to be releasing my Ribbon Weave pattern today: 

This quilt measure 37" square--great for a wall hanging or table topper. It's made of four blocks--square in a square and half-square triangles--and then assembled around the center lime unit.  My favorite part is how the design overlaps the narrow lime border--it's easier to do than you think!

Believe it or not, this quilt started out from a Snail's Trail quilt block idea. I played around with color placement, in the blocks added in a border treatment, and it became an interlocking design. 

Diane Oakes quilted it for me. I love the swirls in the outer border and the pebbles in the center background. They both provide texture that really lets the main design pop. 

I made this quilt using the teal and lime prints from Shelley Cavanna's Gloaming collection from Benartex (yes, I have a thing for teals and greens...). I love these two teal prints!

If you want to make your own Ribbon Weave quilt, you can purchase it on Craftsy here.

See the fabric requirements here:

You can see all of my patterns here.

Leafy Cool Quilt with Jacquie's Favorites

I had some fun recently playing with Jacquie's Favorites, a curated selection of Paintbrush Studio's Painter's Palette Solids by Jacquie Gering. I've raved about the feel of these solids before, and with 168 colors, it can be challenging deciding which to use! I enjoyed working with a more limited palette chosen by such a master quilter! 

I created Leafy Cool, a 30" square wall hanging (or table topper, if you like). 

If you like it too, great news! The tutorial to make it is available on Paintbrush Studio's blog.  

Here's the cool palette from Jacquie's Favorites:

This is definitely "my" palette--I'm a teal and green girl. I didn't end up using all of the colors--I chose a more limited palette for my design. 

One secret about this quilt--it was inspired by a kleenex box! The box was covered in simple leaf shapes, some nested and some not, and I liked the idea enough to play around with it. I arranged the leaves to "burst" from one corner, which created a bloom effect with four blocks put together. 

This is the size quilt (30" square) that I really enjoy quilting on my domestic machine. It's small enough to be both manageable and maneuverable, so I can practice doing some "fun" things. I was inspired by Wendy Sheppard's quilting as I worked on this. 

I'm not usually big on applique, but I really enjoyed this--first, the shapes were easy to cut out, second, the quilt assembled pretty quickly, and third, I didn't need to stitch down each applique (my least favorite part) because I took care of that with the machine quilting. I just might have a future in applique after all...

See the entire Jacquie's Favorites collection here. (I'll be sharing a tutorial with the warm colors soon!)
Find the Leafy Cool tutorial here. 

My first Sew Together bag! + OMG

I just finished my first Sew Together bag (pattern from Sew Demented). I've wanted to make one of these for a couple years now, so when the Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild decided to do it for a sew day, I was in! Except I'm in Florida and not Michigan so I was in virtually.  :)

Here's my first finished bag:

Love all the different fabrics inside. The fabrics are from Paintbrush Studio's Dianthus collection.

This bag is great zipper practice. I really like how it comes together, and even the outside zipper isn't scary. 

My One Monthly Goal for November is to make a second Sew Together bag using the yellow and pink prints from the Dianthus collection. Thanks, Patty at Elm Street Quilts, for keeping me on track each month!