Monday, October 1, 2012

Happy October!

Happy October, y'all!  We have some fun things planned this month ... more details on that later on ...
but here's a hint ... it's our two-year anniversary this month.  :-) 

This weekend I did some cute sewing ... 


... tutorial will be posted here on the blog tomorrow evening.  Who's excited?  
It's a quick and easy project that you can whip up in a hurry.


We've got some fabric treats for you on sale this week ... 





and the 2012 Boo Bundle (a Halloween-inspired bundle)!

See you tomorrow!

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Grannies

Don't you just love granny blocks?!  Good heavens they are fun, scrappy, and so easy to make.  I made a few last weekend ... after I dusted my machine off.

Leanne over at She Can Quilt was the first to be the queen bee in our Modern Stitching Bee last month.  Regretfully, I got a little behind with the start of the school year ... but I am getting back on track and catching up on the stitchy things in life.


I made two granny blocks for Leanne.  One is scrappy with blue and orange and the other made from a few aqua and red charm squares leftover from a charm swap with Kelsey.


Which got me thinking about my Millie's Closet panel ... which ended up looking like this ...


With some pretty scraps, too.


More grannies are in my future for sure!

Hope you're having a wonderful week.

Happy Sewing! :-)

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

A few things ...

Happy Tuesday, y'all!  :-)

Just wanted to pop in and share about a giveaway we're sponsoring over at Jenelle's blog, Echinops & Aster.  We're her newest sponsor and proud of it.  :-)  She was sweet to share a little some nice compliments about our store.
Echinops and Aster

You can enter to win a gift certificate to our store on this post over at her blog. (But there's only a few hours left to do so ... you have to enter by 10 PM PST tonight.)

And if you missed her most recent project - the September Design Challenge - with us, check it out here.


Also, we have some Marmalade precuts back in stock ... charms and jelly rolls.  Get 'em while we got 'em. ;-)

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Monday, September 24, 2012

Tutorial: Mini Charm Mini Quilt



Hi everyone!  I have a quick and easy tutorial to share with you today.  This project tutorial was made especially for a kit that our Moda FQ Club customers got for free this month.  (You can learn more about our Moda FQ Club program here - why we're different and the perks our customers receive.)  I don't always share their exclusive kits & patterns here, but thought I'd share this one with you all.  :-)

For this project, you'll need a mini charm pack, a FQ of a solid, and a 1/4 yard cut of a coordinating print.  I am using a Marmalade mini charm, Bella Porcelain, and Vintage Modern dots.


The first step is to choose 24 prints from the mini charm pack and sew together four 2x3 patch rectangles. Press seams open.


I used a method to the madness, including one square each of pink, red, orange, yellow, green, and aqua prints and kept the placement of the colors the same in all four blocks.

Next, let's cut up your solid.  Use the diagram below for the basic cuts (note - diagram not exactly to scale).


Now, let's start assembling!  Add a 1.5 x 4.5 strip to both ends of two blocks.  Arrange your blocks as shown, alternating the direction. (I chose to keep all my pink blocks in the center.)


Then add a 1.5 x 4.5 strip one side of the remaining two blocks as shown.


Then, add a 1.5 x 8.5 piece to each vertically-oriented block as shown in the photo below.


We'll keep adding strips ... moving on to the 2.5" wide strips.  Start with the 2.5 x 8.5 strips and add to the opposite sides of the vertically-oriented blocks as shown below.


Next, we'll add the 2.5 x 7.5 strips to the horizontally-oriented blocks as shown.


Then join the horizontal blocks to the vertical blocks to make two large rectangles.


Then join to make one large 14.5" square block.


From here, you can either finish as directed or make it into a pillow.  :-)

From the 1/4 yard piece of the dot print, cut two 2.5" x WOF strips.  You'll stitch these together end-to-end to make one long strip for the binding.  Press in half and set aside.


Next from the remaining piece of dot fabric (4" x WOF), cut in half at the fold to get two 4" x 22" pieces.  Take one of the pieces and add the larger pieces of the remaining Bella on either side to create a backing piece with a strip up the middle. Press toward the center strip.


Of course, you could use the leftover mini charm squares to piece the backing strip, but I chose to save them for something else (shown here).

Now, its time to baste.  Place the backing right side down, then batting, then the pieced top right side up.  Baste as desired - I used pins this time.


Then quilt as desired.  I used some straight stitching with a walking foot and a lengthened stitch length.


After you've quilted the piece, remove pins, press and trim.  Mine measured 14.5" square.

Time for the binding.  (I have a binding tutorial here, if you need help.)


I machined it to the front and handstitched it down to the back.


What do you think?!  If you haven't had a chance to play with Marmalade yet, you should.  The colors and prints are so lovely.  :-)  I am looking forward to getting the yardage for the collection next month.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you enjoyed this quick little mini quilt tutorial.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Happy Sewing!  :-) 

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Weekend Sewing: My Leftovers

Hi everyone!  I was so excited to actually get to stitch somethings together this weekend.  I did have to blow the dust off my machine first, though.  LOL!

In about 24 hours I managed to finish 2 bee blocks, a mini quilt (with photos for a tutorial - coming tomorrow!), cut squares for a granny square quilt, and make this fun pouch with leftovers from the tutorial project ...

I love this pattern from Michelle Patterns (formerly Keyka Lou).  It is really easy to follow and I love how nicely it finishes without those bumpy zipper corners.


I modified the pattern slightly ... it is a wee bit shorter and narrower to accommodate for using 8 Marmalade mini charm squares for each side.  The red dot is from Vintage Modern ... love that you can mix Bonnie & Camille's prints from the different collections.  Marmalade arrives in October ... oh, the agony of waiting!  (Side note: we have more Marmalade precuts arriving on Tuesday. :-)

Everything in the pouch except the lining, zipper, and interfacing was left over from my mini quilt project kit.  (I will share the tutorial for the mini quilt tomorrow - stay tuned!)


I think it turned out really cute.  The quilting is faux ... I just stitched through the fabric and interfacing to add a little somethin-somethin. :-)  I made one other version of this pouch in FMF a few months ago - you can see it here.

Looking forward to sharing my tutorial with you tomorrow ... for now I am off to bed.

Happy Sewing! :-)

Friday, September 21, 2012

Stash Builders

Happy Friday!

My new favorite stash builders arrived today ... love this honeycomb print from the Good Morning line from Me & My Sister Designs.

Definitely great to mix-and-match with other prints you have on your shelves.  Bundles, single FQ and yardage can be found here.

I am so glad its Friday ... I haven't sewn anything in 2 weeks and I am going crazy .... but tonight and most of tomorrow I will be stitching away.  Off to blow the dust off my machine!

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Mama Said Sew

Just a quick post to share that Mama Said Sew is here!  
Who doesn't love a fun sewing-themed collection with great, stash-building prints?


I love the Sewing Guide text print in this collection.  I definitely need some yardage for my own stash. 


I also love this Hoops print in the cream multi. 



And the Bias in Apple Red, which I think would make an awesome binding.

See all the prints we've chosen for the shop here

Happy Sewing!  :-)