Tifton Tiles Quilt Tutorial

Hi there!  Happy last day of 2011!  A week ago I was finishing up this quilt for a Christmas gift.  My mother-in-law requested something handmade by me for Christmas and so I had my mister help select some fabrics from the shop.  We decided to go with Etchings (even though it wasn't blue and mauve). Here's the stack I started with ...

I used this stack but exchanged the solid gray for more of the red tonal for the binding.  I think it was the right choice. Anyway, some details about the quilt ...

Quilt Name:  "Tifton Tiles" - my mother-in-law is from a town called Tifton and the blocks reminded me of tiles.  And I like alliteration. :-)

Finished size:  approx. 49 x 59 inches

Materials Needed: 

• 9 FQ for the top.  I used Etchings by 3 Sisters for Moda.  (* I used 7 prints - 5 FQ and 2 half yards.  I would recommend 9 prints as it will be easier to spread out your prints in the quilt.)
• 3.5 yards for the backing  (you may feel more comfortable with 4 yards if you need more extra around the top for longarm machines, etc.)
• 0.5 yards for the binding  (Note - I used the bias binding tutorial linked below.)
• Batting
• General sewing supplies - thread, rotary cutter, ruler, pins, etc.

Ready to start sewing?!

Step 1:  Cut Your Blocks.

Press your fat quarters and lay them on your cutting mat. I cut two prints at a time.  From each FQ, cut three long strips 6 inches wide x 21 inches long.

Subcut one strip into two pieces - Block A - 6 x 6 and Block B - 6 x 15.

Subcut another strip into two pieces - Block C - 6 x 9 and Block D - 6 x 12.

Leave the third strip alone as Block E - 6 x 21.

Continue cutting until you have 9 of each size piece. 

Step 2:  Arrange Your Blocks.
Lay out all the blocks and move them around until you are happy with the layout and distribution of fabrics.  (This is where I wished I had 9 different prints instead of 7.)

(Click to enlarge.)

You should have 9 columns, each with one of each block A, B, C, D, and E.  (See diagram above.)

** Note - I have two extra A blocks since I had a cutting *incident* and ended up cutting two of my E (6 x 21) blocks and adding an A block to get the length. Whoops!

Step 3: Join Your Blocks.
Start by joining all the blocks together in each column. 

Then join the columns together.  I joined them in pairs and then joined the pairs together.  I also lined up all the bottom edges of each column together as I went along.

Step 4: Sandwich, Quilt & Bind
Prepare your backing by cutting your fabric in half.  I sliced mine at 55" and then joined the two pieces along the selvage so there was one horizontal seam running the width of the quilt on the back.  (Sorry I didn't take any photos of this part.)

Layer your quilt on a flat surface, backing face down, batting on top, then the quilt top face up on top of the batting. Pin the layers together.  (Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson, has an awesome basting tutorial and this illustrates the method that I use.)

I have a basic tutorial here for quilting and binding from another project. 

For this project, I did a free motion meandering design.  It was pretty fast to zip around the quilt and I think it complemented the fabrics well.  If I was using more modern or geometric prints, I may do a straight line or "edgier" design for my quilting.

To make my bias binding, I used this tutorial here from Tracey. 

I also handstitched my binding to the back.  I briefly thought about trying machining it on since it was only about 36 hours until Christmas, but was concerned about trying something new in a time crunch and then possibly wishing I had handstitched it.  :-)

Step 5:  Wash, Take "Zombie Photos" and Enjoy :-)
I held my breath when I threw this into the wash.  I also threw in FIVE Shout Color Catcher sheets just. in. case.  And it came out beautifully with no bleeding.  Thank goodness.  :-)

I took some "Zombie Photos" ... you know where you stand behind your quilt with your arms in the air.  The front ...

The back (so glad I changed my mind and went with the red binding) ...

And one more shot...

Hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial.  I know I don't have as many pictures as I normally do, but hopefully its clear as mud.  If you have any questions, please email me or leave a comment below.  This pattern is great for a quick turnaround project or one with fabrics that are just too pretty to cut up in super small pieces.  I'd love to see your version if you make one. :-)

Happy Sewing! :-)

Sharing ...

Happy Friday!  :-)

I can't believe tomorrow is New Year's Eve!  Partly because my break from school is nearly over and partly because the pages on the calendar seem to fly off.  The older I get the faster time seems to pass.  I have big plans in a lot of areas of my life for 2012, including the areas that involve fabric! 

In 2012, we'll be making a few changes to the format of our Stitch & Share Challenge, which I hope will help more of you participate.  I'll introduce more about that early next week.  But until then, you have until the end of 2011 to link up your handmade gifty projects for this month's challenge.  Even if you don't, you should check out the links for those who already have ... there are some awesome projects! :-)

We'll also be adding in a few other challenges, features, and series to keep it fun and hopefully inspire you to keep creating.  Our first series, Get Organized, will kick off in mid-January.  (If you have a project/tutorial/process you'd like to share in the series, please email me as I am still putting together the schedule for the contributors.)

I also wanted to share Quilter in The Gap's 2012 Finish-A-Long project.  We're excited to partner with Rhonda in this project and I personally will also be participating!  I have a lot of WIPs/UFOs.  It is truly embarassing.  ;-) 

Also, tomorrow is the last day for the HOLIDAY15 coupon code savings and for Keyka Lou's retiring pattern sale.

Speaking of tomorrow, look for a quick quilt tutorial in the morning! 

Happy Sewing! :-)

Customer Spotlight: Jane

Hi there!  I just wanted to stop in and share a Customer Spotlight project with you.  Jane, who happens to be the talented mama of Lindsay (The Cottage Mama), made some adorable holiday dresses and onesies for her grandchildren from the Flurry by Kate Spain line.  I think anyone with children would love to get a package full of these fine frocks ...

The detail on these Janey Jumpers is wonderful!  I love that you can customize the pattern with one of the many options that are included in the pattern instructions. 

You can read more about these dresses and onesies here on Lindsay's blog.

Thanks so much for sharing these projects (and images) with us Jane and Lindsay! 

If you have a project you'd like to share with us in a Customer Spotlight post, please send us an email.

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Enabling ...

Hey there!  Just wanted to do a little enabling ...

First, we're continuing our storewide savings an extra 15% off your order - any size order, including everything (except gift certificates).  Just enter "holiday15" in the coupon section at checkout in both our http://sewlux.etsy.com/ store and our sewluxfabric.com store.  We have several collections already at $5/yard, now is a great time to pick up yardage or a backing or larger project!

Second, you know I love some Keyka Lou patterns and in case you hadn't heard, several of her patterns (16 in fact!) will be retiring on 12/31/11.  So until then, the retiring patterns are on sale for $3.00 each, including the fabulous Envelope Clutch.

Pick up your favorites before they're gone!

Happy Shopping & Sewing! :-)

Merry Christmas!

Finished!

Hi there!  So I did finish my quilt about 11:30 PM last night ... glad I didn't have to work on it today.  :-)  Here I am ... almost finished ...

I did take some photos this morning of the quilt fresh from the dryer... 

I will share more pictures and the tutorial next week.  :-)

Happy Sewing! :-)

Progress

Hi there ...

Is anyone else still stitching for Christmas!?  I realize I am completely nuts ....

Today about 10 AM ...

Later today about 6 PM (after a hair cut, several errands, a little procrastination, and a trip to get different binding fabric than my original plan) ...

I continue to be amazed at the sizes of quilts I am able to quilt on my little Bernina with only slight irritation/frustration.  (I love my machine.  But I would love the 820 more when it comes to actually quilting my projects.  One day ...)  It helps to bring my machine down to the dining room where the table can support the weight of more quilt than my sewing desk upstairs in my disaster area sewing room.

About 7:30 PM ...

Better start hand stitching that binding!  ;-)

Later I will be praying that the Shout Color Catcher does its job. :-)

I will show you the finished quilt and share a tutorial for the easy peasy pattern next week. 

Happy Sewing! :)

Catching up ...

Hey y'all!  I just finished the last school day for 2011 .... almost 2 weeks off is a teacher's best gift for Christmas!  :-)

I realize I didn't get this week's sale posted .... well, you pick the sale this week with 15% off your order with the coupon code "holiday15" ... so go ahead and pick up some fab prints for your next project.

Speaking of next projects ... I am getting ready to start on a lap quilt (yes, for Christmas!).   I have my prints from the Etchings collection already picked out and hopefully I will get this stack sliced up this evening.

I will keep you posted on my progress ... anyone else crazy enough to be starting a project for Christmas now?!

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Flurry of Activity

Hi there!  A few days ago, I shared that there was about to be a Flurry of activity in my sewing room.  Well, I managed to finish one big project this weekend ... this is headed to a friend/customer tomorrow.  My friend commissioned a tree skirt and selected the Flurry collection and the Fruitcake Under My Tree pattern from the Moda Bake Shop shared by Tracey.  Here it is ...

I decided to use only the red and green prints from the layer cake and I also added two sets of ties instead of just one in the original pattern. 

I really love how it turned out.  I hope that my friend will too.  :-)

I almost hate to send it off to someone else as it matches my new monogrammed ornament that my secret santa at work gave me last week ... super fun, right?!  (And obviously, I love a LOT of ornaments on a tree!  LOL)

Now let's see how many more projects I am complete before Saturday ... I will keep you posted!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Flurry Winner

Hi there!

Just a quick post to announce the winner of the Christmas Crosswords book and Flurry scraps!  Congrats to Linda (sunnybec) ...

Linda, please email me (sewlux (at) gmail (dot) com) and I will get your prize out to you!

Thanks to all of you who shared your list of projects with us!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Domestic Bliss + More

Happy Friday!

We've really been enjoying hearing about all the projects you are all working on and trying to finish before Christmas!  My mom was saying that she's so glad to know she won't be the only one sewing until the last minute! :-)  I hope you'll photograph and share your projects with us for this month's Stitch and Share Challenge.

We got a delivery of new cotton about everyday this week....

We've restocked some Essential Dots and added new charm packs for some Spring collections.

We also got Half Moon Modern in ... say hello to some bold, fun prints!  My favorites are the zig zags. :-)

And .... the entire collection of Domestic Bliss arrived today.  The colors are so fabulous - I love the eggplant and aqua and pinks. 

Off to get stitchy with it ... 8 more sleeps until Christmas Eve! :-)

Happy Sewing!

There's about to be a flurry ...

Hi there ... I'd love to do a WIP Wednesday post today, but goodness I might just scare myself ... especially since I read in an email newsletter today that there are "10 more sleeps until Christmas!"  Yowsers!  And so ...

... there's about to be a Flurry in my sewing room!

Flurry (n)
1. a sudden commotion or burst of activity (source)

Can y'all relate?

Speaking of Flurry ... the collection by Kate Spain is beautiful.  We're down to the bottom of the barrel on many of the prints, including the Joy Evergreen.  But, when I saw this fun crossword book covered in Kate's design I bought TWO!  One for my mom (who loves the daily crossword in the paper) and one to share with YOU! :)

To enter to win, just leave a comment below telling me about the project(s) you're hoping to finish by Christmas. Comments must be made by Saturday, 12/17/11 at 11:59 EST.  I will post a winner on Sunday and ship out the puzzle book and some Flurry fabric scraps just in time for Christmas.  :-)

Happy Sewing :-)

Sale Alert: 12/11 - 12/17

Hope y'all had a wonderful Monday!  :-)

Just stopping in to share this week's sale with you.  :-)  All of our preselected custom bundles are 10% off - no coupon code needed.  AND you can save 15% on all patterns with the coupon code "pattern15" on our website.

We have new precuts and yardage arriving this week .... Domestic Bliss charms on Tuesday (yardage late this week/early next week), Half Moon Modern yardage on Wednesday and even more precuts from various collections arriving on Thursday!

Happy Sewing :-)

Janey Jumper

Hi there!  Not too long ago, we added some sweet dress and jumper patterns by Lindsay from The Cottage Home.  Recently, she sent us some photos from her pattern blog tour and I just had to share these super cute holiday dresses that Stef of Girl.Inspired shared on the tour.  They are simply Adorable with a capital A.

You can read Stef's full post about her dressmaking experience with the Janey Jumper patten here.

Save 15% on all patterns in the shop now through Sunday, December 18th. Just enter "pattern15" in the coupon code section at checkout.

Happy Sewing!  :-)

New David Walker Prints

Happy Friday!  :-)

We got a shipment of some new bolts today!  This Get Together collection by David Walker is adorable.  The bears are so cute and the birds and squirrels are so sweet. We have yardage of several prints as well as fat quarters. I love the bears on this Chartreuse color ....

And these Squirrels and Nuts are so fun...

We also have more fabric en route ... we received shipping notices for Half Moon Modern and Domestic Bliss precuts today.  Woot woot!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Ruby

Hey there!

So, I have been working on a little bitty quilt for a baby gift. And finally for a little girl!  :)  Most of my friends have boys and since I have a pink problem I am thrilled to stitch for a girl! hehe

I made some raggedy bullseye blocks for a recent swap round and thought it would be fun in a smaller scale.  I used Ruby and Bella White Bleached for this and I think it is just the sweetest thing. 

And even better is the flannel on the back.  This stuff is so soft.  It really is lovely.

I might just need to make a bigger version for myself!  :-)

And now through Sunday 12/11/11, we have all the Swoon prints from the Ruby Collection just $7.50/yd!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Sale Alert & Updates

Happy Monday!  :-)

This week, we have several collections at 20% off ($7.20/yard) - Little Apples by Aneela Hoey, Summer House by Lily Ashbury, and Late Bloomers by Sandy Gervais.

We also have a new "Color Me Happy Bundle in Grey!"  And we're happy to introduce another bundle at 25% off this week!

We're looking forward to some fabrics shipping later this week (hopefully!) .... precuts as well as a new collection from David Walker called "Get Together."  See everything that is coming soon here.

Of course, I will let you know here as soon as they arrive!

And ... did I tell you?!  We ordered the whole line of Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy reprints ... all 21 prints!  Arriving in March 2012.  :-)

Happy Sewing! :-)

December Stitch & Share Challenge

Hey there!  Today I'm putting up the linky post for our December Stitch & Share Challenge.  This month's challenge is pretty flexible, so I can't wait to see what y'all share!

The Sew Lux Stitch & Share Challenge

• During the first week of every month, we will post a challenge theme.  This may be a technique that should be used or a concept to base your project around.
• If a technique is to be used in your project, we'll share a step-by-step tutorial within the 10 days of the month to show you what to do just in case the technique is new to you.
• On the challenge announcement post, we'll put up a a linky for you to add your projects to.  When you have a project ready, share on your blog about what you made and add your post to the linky.  If you don't have a blog, you can link to a Flickr photo.  This will make it easy for us to check out everyone's projects!  (A Few Rules: Make sure your project and your post is specific to this challenge and is not a giveaway/promotional post.  Please link back to the challenge post as well and visit the other participants' project posts.)
• Each month, we'll select a random winner from participants who link up their project to win a $20 gift certificate to sewluxfabric.com.  You must link your project by the last day of the month to be entered for the random winner drawing.

For this month's challenge, we're giving you another theme ... HANDMADE HOLIDAY!  Share your favorite (fabric-based) handmade gift that you're making and giving this year. Edited to add:  You can enter up to two projects in this round! :-)

We'll be sharing several tutorials throughout the month to get you sewing, so stay tuned!

Remember to post a link to your project by 11:59 PM EST on December 31st to be eligible for the gift certificate drawing!  :-)  Please email us if you have any questions - sewlux (at) gmail (dot) com.

We'll post a winner by January 5th!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Winner Day!

Hey there everyone!  I'm here to annouce the winner of the November Stitch & Share Challenge as well as our monthly Free FQ Drawing.  Ready?

Drumroll please ....

Our November Stitch & Share Challenge winner is Deb at Trio Stitch Studio!  She made a fun set of stockings for some kiddos and they are absolutely adorable!  Congrats, Deb!  Please email us at sewlux (at) gmail (dot) com to claim your $20 gift certificate to Sew Lux Fabric! :-)

And our Free FQ Promotion winner for November is Barbara O from Utah!

Congrats ladies!  :-)

Get ready for December's Stitch & Share Challenge ... I will be posting it tomorrow!

Happy Sewing! :-)