Shop News : Road 15 & More

Hi again!  Just a few quick shop updates for you...

Road 15 by Sweetwater is now in the shop!  Love these texty prints with maps and cute little houses. Lots of great low volume prints in this collection too. :-)

Joy Batiks are also here.  Very pretty tonals for your holiday sewing in rich, traditional colors.

Lush Uptown has been flying off the shelf, especially the Palette and Day in the Life prints.  But we were able to put together a limited number of bundles before those prints are gone!

Did you know we have a stash builder club?  It's called Color Me Happy and each month we send club members 8 FQs in a different color.  This month's bundle is full of these pretty yellows!  Learn more about this bundle series available to club members only.

Happy Sewing!  :-)

In Progress : 16 Patch

What's stitchin' y'all?

I managed spend quite a bit of time stitching this past weekend and I must say it was pretty glorious to spend several hours stitching away at my leisure.

I got to hang out Saturday morning with my friend Sarah of Stitching & Bacon and we nerded out about fabric and quilts over coffee.  Super fun to talk fabric with her as many of my "real life friends" aren't quilters. She was telling me about her 16-patches and how fun and fast they were, so the decision was made!  Of course, I had to make one too.

Then when the mail came that afternoon and I saw the new HGTV magazine, I was inspired by the color combo on the front.

I had intended to go with pink, aqua, red and B&W low volume, but ended up nixing the red.

What do you think?  I whipped out 12 blocks in an evening and pieced the 30 x 40 baby quilt together rather quickly.

I did start quilting this on Sunday, but due to a tension issue, have since picked the quilting out.  Ugh.  I really think a different backing would be better too, so I have a feeling I will be unbasting and rebasting at some point this week.  I'll keep you posted!

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Season by Hand Wrap Up

Just a quick note to let you know that there are still a few days left to post a project on the Season By Hand Series Linky hosted by Jennie and Clara at Clover and Violet.  We loved seeing all the projects and are thrilled to be a sponsor.  You can see our project here.

Head on over to link up by August 9th.

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Design Challenge Tutorial: "Wear & Wash" travel bag

Hello Sew Lux readers! I'm Nati and I blog over at Nati's Little Things about my sewing and crating adventures! Today I am very exited to show you my new little creation... the "Wear & Wash" travelling underwear bag. And I am delighted to be doing it as part of the Sew Lux Design Challenge series!

Although the picture is showing some bikinis (sorry was to shy to show undies in the picture!), I have tested the bag on a week away and it was great to fit my underwear and moving it from the "Wear" to the "Wash" pocket as I wore it.

So what do you need? First of all head over to the Sew Lux Fabric shop and order the gorgeous fabric bundle that I curated, including lovely flowers in oranges, red and pink! Then get some batting, two 12 inch (30cm) zips and some lining fabric, a little light weight interfacing and embroidery thread.

Start by making a simple patchwork with 5 of the 6 fabrics in the bundle. I used 4.5 inches squares to make a 3 by 5 patchwork to finish with a 20.5 by 12.5 piece. Then I sandwiched it with the batting and lining and pinned it ready for quilting.

Next quilt it. I did straight line quilting with my walking foot at 1/4 inch from the seams. Once all done, trim the excess of batting and lining fabric and square up. Then you can move up to working on the inside.

The picture above shows how the pieces will be placed. I cut two 4 x 12.5 pieces of white lining (but you could also use any of the prints from the bundle) and one 12 x 12.5 piece of the extra fabric that wasn't used in the patchwork piece.

To attach the zips, place one facing down on top of the bigger piece of fabric along one of  the 12.5 inch sides. Pin it in place (you can help setting it in place by using some glue as well) and sew along using a zip foot.

Turn and iron the seam well. Be careful not to use too much heat near the zip teeth. Then sew the lining fabric by placing it right side down on top of the zip and sewing along with your walking foot.

Then sew the other zip following the same steps. You should end up with something like this:

Trim the inside piece to the same size of the outer piece.

With both sides together, sew along all sides of the rectangle leaving just a small opening for turning. Turn inside out and sew along the sides of the piece with a 1/4 inch seam. Finally to create the two pockets sew a line of stitches along the centre of the rectangle. 

Then we are going to label the pockets (this step could also be done with the inside piece before sewing the bag).  But you need to feel comfortable that you can place it in the right position!

Using the template (free download here) transfer the image to the each pocket. I used a water erasable fabric marker. With little scraps from the fabrics used prepare the thick letter parts for appliqué (I have a handy tutorial here). This step is optional and you could just embroider all around the letters.

I then finished the appliqué with back stitch all around! And voilà, you are ready to go on a trip taking your undies in style!

And because I still have a little fabric left... watch out for a few other travelling accessories that I am planning on making soon!

Design Challenge : August's Feature Designer

We're really excited to bring you a new Design Challenge project this week.  Let's get started by meeting our designer - Nati from Nati's Little Things!

My name is Nati, I am Argentinian but have been living in Europe for 6 years now. I live with my husband who is English and our little French born Yorkie in Luxembourg (that tiny little country squeezed in between France, Belgium and Germany). I have started quilting over a year now but have been sewing and knitting since I was a little girl and spent all afternoons with my lovely grandmother who taught me how to make clothes for my dolls. I love to make quick and useful projects for me and my loved ones and quite a few for charity.

What is on your quilt bucket list?

I have a general craft bucket list where I have lots of projects I haven't yet made, some even because they wont even fir in my current flat and are waiting for us to some day move to a bigger house to materialise... But currently there is a quilt I had to pick all the quilting as it wasn't nice and I need to find the courage to try quilting it again. And I would love to make a huge quilt with half square triangles some time.

Where do you find your inspiration for your sewing/quilting projects?

Everywhere and in the most unexpected places. I made a counted cross  stitch for a friend inspired in the plates from a museum coffee shop... So really anything can be of inspiration.

What was your first quilting project?

My first quilting project is the quilt in the picture that was sent to the charity I help in Argentina. It is now with a girl that had major surgery to be able to walk. It was a very emotional quilt to make and knowing that she has it and loves it makes it all more special. 

Stop by tomorrow to see what Nati made with this fun bundle. 

Happy Sewing!  :-) 

Hop Skip & Jump BOM - Block #3

Happy August!

A new month brings a new block pattern for our Hop, Skip & Jump BOM.

This month's block is less complicated than Block 2 and comes together pretty quickly with the help of some simple paper piecing.

If you're a subscriber, patterns and block kits are on their way!

Not a subscriber, but want to join the fun? Sign up for the PDF pattern subscription here.

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Holiday Hustle QAL : Piecing the Blocks

It's August 1st and that means its time to get this quilt under way!  I pieced the blocks in about an hour and I probably could have hustled to get it done faster.  Ready?

If you missed the first post detailing the fabric required for this quilt, check it out here.  For today, all you need is a charm pack and your machine.  That's it!



Step 1: Grab a charm pack!

I am using an Aspen Frost kit for my quilt.  We'll use all 42 5-inch squares.

Step 2:  Sort your charms by color. 

It's likely that your charm pack is already sorted by color.  So this is easy ... just lay them out so you can see them all.

Step 3:  Sort your charms into three sets of 14. 

To do this, you'll want to work by color.  Sort of like dealing playing cards.  Start with one color and divide into three stacks.  Repeat with each color so that you won't have all the reds on one side and the greens on the other.

Step 4: Arrange each set group of 14 into smaller sections. 

From each group of 14, you will need two sets of 2, one set of 4 and one set of 6.  You can see that I just shift-sorted them on my ironing board.  (This quilt is all about the hustle and I didn't feel like laying them out downstairs and then hauling them back up to sew!  But if you prefer to lay them all out on the floor or a design wall, go for it!)

Note that I am trying to mix up the colors and prints some across the whole quilt top.

This diagram might help you plan your placement.

TIP:  Once you have your placement figured out, its a great idea to snap a photo with your phone or camera. If you get confused while sewing later, you can then just check the photo to make sure you are sewing the right prints in the right order.

Steps 5 & 6:  Sew and label your blocks

Cut some scraps of paper and label as A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, C-1, C-2, C-3, and C-4. Lay them with each corresponding group (refer to diagram above).  This way you'll be able to get them all in the right place later!  I just pinned my labels to the top left corner of each block set as I was sewing them together.

Start sewing your blocks together using a 1/4" seam.  Be careful of any directional prints that they all go in the same direction.  (You don't want Frosty or some trees upside down later!)

For sets of 2 squares, press in either direction.

For the 4 patch, you'll sew two pairs and then join the two rows.  Before joining, press rows in opposite directions so you can nest your seams.

Just butt the seams together, pin the intersection, and then sew.

Look how nice that turned out!  You can press the completed 4 patch in either direction.

For the 2x3 block, repeat the process.  Make 3 rows of pairs. Press in opposite directions, nest the seams, and sew the rows together.

Since we're hustling through this quilt, I chain pieced a lot of my blocks and then also double pinned my 2x6 to save a trip back to the ironing board.  (Refer to photo above.)

Step 7:  Check your layout and admire your work!

Now that you've sewn all your blocks together, take them where you can lay them out.  Using the diagram shown earlier in this post, lay them out in columns (A, B, & C) and make sure you like the arrangement.

Shuffle them around a little if you feel like you need to balance colors or prints.  Or just leave and love it!

That's all you need to do for this week!  Next week, we'll add sashing and borders.  The week after that we'll quilt and bind.  A few Christmas kits are still available - so join the fun why don't you?!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me at sewlux (at) gmail (dot) com.

Happy Sewing!  :-)