FYI: June 2024

I hope your introduction to summer has been a good one. My kids just wrapped up school, and will be starting up summer sports and programs before long. I'm also going be starting a fun project with Fat Quarter Shop. Lori Holt has designed an adorable scarecrow quilt that I'll be piecing from assorted batik fabrics. The year-long Quilted Scarecrow Sew Along begins June 9 with the first "Scarecrow Sunday". 

Check out the blocks being made and share your progress with the #QuiltedScarecrowQAL hashtag. To participate, you need the pattern (available as a paper copy or a downloadable, but not tangible, pdf) and fabrics of your choice. There's a kit from Lori Holt's Autumn fabrics available for those who want to simplify the selection of fabrics. I also think Quiet Grace fabrics by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass would be very well-suited to this pattern.

For cross stitchers, there is a stitch along you can follow or join  (#TheQuiltedScarecrowSAL) complete with pattern (pdf or paper) and kit.

Angela Walters is starting a new quilt along. She's an excellent resource for all things free-motion.

Fellow US women, don't forget to celebrate 104 years of being allowed to vote by going out and making your choices for primaries. Review your candidates at https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote.

For those who are even more local to me (or fancy yourself a visit to the southwest), the Albuquerque Modern Quilt Guild is hosting the de-accumulation event of the season (or if we're being honest, it typical results in the opposite).

If you have you or your kiddos just scored all A's and have a Boba Tea near you (a rare combination---to be sure), check out the 2B Smart reward program.

My sewing machine case was on its last leg and needed replaced, and even though I'd adore a Tula Tutto, I went for a low-budget option from Harbor Freight. Don't forget to look for quilting supplies in unconventional locations. I also sighted this rotating mat at Tandy Leather.

Scrappiness is Happiness: Weeks 1-3

It's Week 3 of the 32 week Scrappiness is Happiness Quilt Along hosted by Fat Quarter Shop using Lori Holt's book. The free finishing pattern provides fabric allotments and the setting instructions. Check out #ScrappinessIsHappinessQAL on Instagram to see everyone's blocks.

Today I'll be sharing the blocks I've created so far. I'm using an assortment of Alison Glass fabrics. Kimberly of FQS is sewing with Prairie by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Designs, including the Prairie Fat Quarter Bundle, Teal Fiddle for background and borders, Coral Homespun for binding, and Coral Dress Heirloom for backing.

Week 1 was Buzzy Bee. I organized my pieces with Alphabitties and tiny clothespins from the dollar store.

For the Buzz Bee block, check page 14 of Scrappiness is Happiness and viewLori's video below.

Week 2 featured the Large and Small Calico Mushroom Blocks on page 20. Here are my cut pieces.

Week 3 brought forth the Chex Mix block. Not in a mood to cut and reassemble 25 1.5" squares, I constructed the block using strip sets. I cut five 1.5" by 5"+ rectangles of each color (A&B). I made ABABA and BABAB strip sets. Those were crosscut at 1.5". I took the 2 strips of one set and 3 strips of the other, alternated them, and sewed the checkerboard pattern together. 

Fat Quarter Shop is offering prizes at the conclusion of the QAL so remember to follow @fatquartershop and @beelori1on Instagram and tag your blocks with #ScrappinessIsHappinessQAL. Add the button to your social media if you are joining in the fun.

Right-click the image to download and share on social media so everyone knows you’ll be sewing along!

Scrappiness is Happiness: Week 1

The Scrappiness is Happiness Quilt Along has begun, and I'll be quilting along with Lori Holt and the Fat Quarter Shop for the next 32 weeks. 

This week's block is Buzzy Bee. I'm using my collection of Alison Glass fabrics, and even finagled some thematic fussy cutting.

To keep myself sorted, I'm labeling the cut pieces with Alphabitties and tiny clothespins from the dollar store.

If you want to spare yourself some serious FOMO (fear of missing out), I recommend you join along. 

We'll be doing a block each week, from Scrappiness is Happiness by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet Co. so you'll need to secure a copy to get your instructions. 

Also, download the finishing pattern for fabric allotments and the setting instructions. If you want to use the same Lori Holt fabrics as Kimberly or Fat Quarter Shop, you will need:

• Lori Holt’s Scrappy Happy Starter Fat Quarter Bundle
• Lori Holt’s Scrappy Backgrounds Fat Quarter Bundle
• Lori Holt 20″ x 108″ Sew-in Interfacing by Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet
  • This is optional and only needed for one of the blocks.

Kimberly will be sewing with Prairie by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Designs, including the Prairie Fat Quarter Bundle, Teal Fiddle for background and borders, Coral Homespun for binding, and Coral Dress Heirloom for backing.

For the Buzz Bee block, check page 14 of Scrappiness is Happiness and view the following video.

For extra fun, Fat Quarter Shop is offering prizes. Follow @fatquartershop and @beelori1on Instagram and tag your blocks with #ScrappinessIsHappinessQAL. Add the button to your social media.

Right-click the image to download and share on social media so everyone knows you’ll be sewing along!

Let me know in the comments if you'll be joining along.

Layer Cake Tumble

Looking for a quick quilt? My most recent finish, Layer Cake Tumble,  makes use of a layer cake and junior jelly roll. And if you are thinking I'm tempting you with dessert, these are actually precut 10' squares and a half-size set of 2 1/2" strips. 

As for dessert, I recently made a Grapefruit Cake. Except today I dropped it, upside-down onto my kitchen floor, Wilton turntable included. Whomp whomp. I may have used a bread knife to cut the bottom part (newly positioned as the top) off for salvaging. 😬 But you are all sworn to secrecy as to why the remaining cake has been settled into a plastic storage container.

Back to the quilt. My fabrics of choice were a Firefly Layer Cake by Sarah Watts for Ruby Star Society and a black Bella Solids Junior Jelly Roll. I adore the moths, fireflies, and mushrooms. Posing alongside the layer cake are my OLFA Splash rotary cutter and 6" Sweet Snips. Besides being pretty and in my favorite color, they are primo at their function.

   

If you want to make things easy for yourself, Fat Quarter Shop has a quilt kit featuring Picnic Pop by Me & My Sister Designs available. There's even a backing set to help you coordinate your finish. 

If you want to make things harder for yourself, which seems to be my specialty, pick directional fabrics, and then be overly compulsive about them all facing upward. In reality, even though this pattern looks complicated, it's a misnomer. Every block is composed the same way, and constructed of only three pieces. 

After a recent quilting project that I complete with a really dense, small scale free-motion design, I decided to up the scale in an effort to finish in a more gratifying time span for this quilt. I decided on a paisley using Superior So Fine 715 Ezz Rock for the top and solid black to match an Alison Glass black fabric I chose for backing. It would have been advisable to check my tension before getting too carried away, as I have some spots on the back where the top thread has pulled to the back, revealing a loop of brilliant orange and hot pink. My Albuquerque Modern Quilt Guild long-arm group, a group of talented quilters and fine human beings, suggested using a mirror below the back to get a better perspective of how things are going.

Check out the YouTube video and download the free pattern. Share your version using the hashtags #LayerCakeTumbleQuilt and #ShortcutQuilt.

Mini Charm Chiffon

Today I introduce Mini Charm Chiffon to you. It has an organized randomness to it that works well for a scrappy look, but makes use of mini charms.

Pick up your free pattern for this quick and pretty 36.5" square project. It requires four mini charm packs (140 squares), 1 yard of background and 1/2 yard of binding. Fat Quarter Shop has a Quilt Kit available in Love Lily by April Rosenthal for Moda. 

Check out Kimberly's YouTube video.

I used Sunprint 2021 Day Trinket for the background and a charm pack of Sunprint 2021 cut into quarters in place of the mini charm packs. I set aside the white and black prints to edit the selection into a cheery rainbow.

For the quilting, I did diagonal lines 3/4" apart only on the background.

I bound and backed this with Alison Glass Sunprint 2021 Cosmo Tuesday.

What have you been making lately?

Fat Eighth Flapjacks Quilt

Fat Quarter Shop has released a new free Shortcut Quilt pattern and YouTube video. They offer a quilt kit and backing set in Lady Bird by Crystal Manning.

For my rendition, I used Sunprint 2021 Day Trinket by Alison Glass yardage for the background and a Bloom Pure Solids Fat Quarter Bundle. Check out all the beautiful Art Gallery Pure Solids Fat Quarter Bundles Fat Quarter Shop has available. 

Bundles come with a clever card specifying the name of each individual fabric.

The pattern calls for twenty-two 9" x 20" rectangles cut into six 3" x 8" rectangles (132 total). Instead, I cut the fat quarters into two 6"x 18" strips. I cut the background into twenty-two 3" x 18" strips. These were sewn together before cross-cutting into 3" x 10 1/2" strips to be assembled into blocks.

The final quilt size is 60 1/2" x 70 1/2".

This pattern is a wonderful way to highlight scrappy fabrics, fun prints, or a favorite collection.

For the quilting, I stitched organic curves running horizontally.

Aurifil 50 wt were my threads of choice in Plum 4030, Light Jade 1148, Antique Rose 2430, Fuchsia 4020, Emerald 2865, Lemon 2115 and Light Grey Turquoise 2805 for the bobbin.

I backed this with Alison Glass Favorites Remix in Sunshine from my stash.

Along with the other Shortcut Quilts, I recommend this pattern for a fast make that doesn't involve massive background experience, but is still enjoyable for more experienced quilters that want a stress-free project.

It's kid-approved!