On the design wall

I have been messing around with this.  Still needs sewing together and hopefully that will happen next weekend.  It all started with a Christmas jelly roll from years ago and it has gradually morphed into a good size quilt.  Destined for a gift.  And I think it looks kinda cool.

Christmas Scrubs for Daughter

So she says, it would be nice to have some scrubs in Christmas prints, Mum. Guess what I did this weekend?  Bing, bang, boom.  A few hours later and there were two of them.  Off in the mail tomorrow for a very special wee nurse!

Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap

I was so excited to receive my swap package from the Schnitzel and Boo Mini quilt swap that I only took phone pictures!    Oh man.  I was delighted to have Jessica at Sew Many Creations as my secret partner.  And she sent me a lovely mini made with awesome Anna Maria Horner fabric and a wee bundle of charms along with some gorgeous ribbon, a key fob and a PIN BOWL!  And let me tell ya, the pin bowl is AWESOME!  She makes them.  Just saying.  What a great swap!

A notebook in Sewing Studio

My buddy Cynthia Frenette has a new fabric line out with Robert Kaufman.  It is a called Sewing Studio and Cynthia gave me a bunch of it to play with.  Happy happy!

I got busy last weekend and made a covered notebook just for fun.  I paired the prints with some essex linen in black.  Check out the prints!  So much fun!!!!  I love the scissors!

Kona Club Challenge August Bundle

I put this tutorial together for Sew Sisters for their Kona Club Challenge. last month.  There are some great projects for other Kona solids projects on the Sew Sisters blog and this tutorial is also found there.

And Sew Sisters has an awesome deal of the month for November, Kona Basics, Ash, Black, Charcoal, White and Snow are only $7.69 a metre.  Just saying.


I decided to make something a little different for this project.  It would make a great gift for someone else but it might also be something you might like to make for yourself!


Supplies:

• 4 FQs of Kona Solids ( I used Cornflower, Daffodil, Grapemist, and Windsor)
• 1 FQ of Kona Solids OPTIONAL (this is for the lining and I used Kona Snow)
• Scrap piece of batting measuring 14" by 23" at least
• 1-3 ring binder 1" (I used an inexpensive Hilroy binder measuring 11.75" by 21.5" when open and lying flat.  The spine measured 1.5")

All seams are 1/4"

Cutting Instructions:

Decide which Kona FQ will be your feature colour for the outside binder cover and cut

2-8 x 13.5"main cover

From the 3 remaining FQs cut

2-8 x 13.5" inside flaps
2-8 x 13.5" inside flap lining

2-6.75" x 8" inside flap pockets

10-2" x 8" spine pieces assorted colours

2-2.5" x 8" inside pocket top edge from a colour which contrasts from the pocket

 

 Sewing Instructions:

Arrange the pieces for the binder spine in a pleasing order and stitch together.  Press the seams to one side.  Centre the spine section to the front cover pieces and stitch as shown in the photo.  Trim the top edge of the spine section.  Place the outside binder cover on your batting, baste as desired and quilt as desired. I like straight lines and lots of them!

 Press down 1/4" the long side of the pocket top edge.  Stitch pocket top edge to pocket. Press seam towards pocket top edge.

 Press pocket top edge towards the pocket, covering the seam.  Top stitch close to the edge, encasing the seam. Repeat for second pocket.

Layer your flap pieces in this order.  Inside flap, pocket, inside flap lining and finally batting scrap measuring 8" x 13.5".

Stitch flap to flap lining, making sure you have inside flaps which are mirror images of each other as in the picture below.  Trim batting from seam allowances, press and top stitch edge.  Nice!

Stitch flaps to main binder cover.  Again, trim excess batting from seam allowance and press.  At this point test the fit of your binder in your cover.  You want there to be some looseness as the top stitching at the end will also reduce the amount of wiggle room. Trim your binder cover to measure 12.5".

 With right sides together, stitch top and bottom edge of flaps to outside binder cover.  Trim batting from seam allowance.  Trace the rounded corners of the binder on all 4 corners and stitch a curved corners.  Trim seams and turn to right side.  Press carefully.  At this point, you may wish to place lining on the inside of the binder cover.  Slip stitch to top and bottom inside binder encasing upper and lower bottom edge.  This is completely optional.  Otherwise, press spine of binder top and bottom edge to the inside.  Top stitch carefully around the entire outside of the binder cover.  I added a second row of stitching to secure the seam at spine edges.

 And there it is!  A lovely covered binder to store all your patterns and notes in and some lovely leftover scraps too!

My Hillside Houses

     Name: My Hillside Houses

Design:  Hillside Houses by Pretty Little Quilts

Size:  60" by 75"

Fabric: Solids, mostly Kona

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in Dove grey, organic waves

Binding:   Kona Berry

Backing:  Shantytown by Kaffe Fasset and some other cobblestone like fabric from the stash

 I was inspired to make this fun quilt when I say Carla's version on her blog this past summer.  And I loved the fabric she used on the back as well.  I have to say, I was a total copycat and used the same fabric on the back and I used lots of purple too. Yep.  Confessions are good for the soul.    I have not been to Newfoundland but Husband has and that is what he thought of when he saw Carla's version.  So... here is mine. This was so much fun to put together.  The hardest part was deciding which colours to use!  I made a big mess of my solids.  A design wall was a must as the blocks have parts of several houses so you have to think ahead about your colour choices. The pattern is a free one that you can download from Craftsy.  The link to the pattern can be found here.   And the pattern has 3 sizes.  This is biggie sized.

I quilted it yesterday in wavy curves that vary in both amplitude and frequency as per Husband's advice.. It was free range walking foot action.  It was a bit of a wrist and arm work out. I looked at a bunch of finished Hillside Houses to see how other people had quilted the pattern and Husband and I thought the waves worked. Let's just say it is the wind. I used Aurifil 50 wt in Dove which worked wonderfully with all the solids. I increased the stitch length to 3.2 because of all the curve action.  I am always surprised but the difference quilting makes in the texture of a quilt.  Somehow that never gets old!  I used Kona Berry for the binding.  It worked perfectly!  I am so pleased with this one.