Abundantly Blessed

During the holiday break, I've been able to complete my Abundantly Blessed quilt!

I'm so happy with this one!

Both Sherri and I were really excited about using this pattern by Bonnie Olaveson of Cotton Way as one of the featured patterns for Minis and More this month.

There were two other fun patterns to choose from that I was tempted to make, but this one has been on my list for so long.

It's a quilt as you go pattern and with no binding at all, so it was finished in no time!

  In fact, mine has the label on it and everything.

That has got to be some kind of a record for me!

There was a Layer Cake of Charlevoix by Minick and Simpson that I've had for awhile that has been languishing in my stash waiting for just the right project. 

After much consideration, I broke down and cut it into charm squares to use for this project and hopefully a for a few more too.

It was a hard decision to cut it down, but I'm glad I did. 

Am I the only one who has trouble doing that?

The solid I used was Moda Bella Solid Off White.  I put it on in two layers to make the frayed edges more full.  I'm happy with how that worked.

Oh, and I shortened my stitch length a little too, since I knew it was going to get washed right away.

The Abundantly Blessed pattern calls for a 1/4 inch seam allowance and I made mine a bit smaller to keep the fraying on the edges down.

I found that decision to be both good and bad.

Good, in that it did keep the fraying down a bit, but bad, in that I did cut it a bit too close in a few areas and had to do a little resewing.

But that wasn't the end of the world, and I think I'd do it again if I was going for less fraying.

And I definitely plan on making one of these again!

I see this quilt being used this Spring and Summer and maybe being hung on my new quilt ladder when its not in use.

I love the cathedral window look to it.

I've always loved cathedral window quilts!

Be sure to join us on Monday for the Minis and More Parade.

You can find half on the blog of my friend Sherri and the other half right here at the beginning of the New Year.

I can't wait to see what the New Year brings!

See you then!

It's the December Minis and More Parade!

This was a fun month!

I always love free choice of a pattern for the Parade.

It's fun to see the same pattern made so many different ways, but I also enjoy seeing what everyone chooses when the pattern is up to them!  You can find half of the parade here, and the other half is on Sherri's blog A Quilting Life.

Patty D. from A Stitch In Time is starting the parade today with her Twelve Days of Christmas mini quilt.  She fussy cut the fabric to put the Twelve Days Of Christmas front and center.  A very fun and modern Christmas mini!  The paper piecing pattern Patty used was from the blog Piece By Number.

Mindy send her Mini Nordic Sampler made with Holly Tree Farm fabric for the Parade.  The pattern is by Sherri Falls.  The Christmas theme is perfect for December!  I especially love the ornament and the wreath blocks!

This Joy To The World table runner was made by Mary from the blog Needledmom.  She added the words with machine embroidery and she used fun red music fabric, perfect for this runner! Mary played off of an idea she had when making a large Silent Night Quilt from Seams and Dreams.

Here's the mini I made this month!  It's the Vintage Tulip Mini by Thimbleblossoms that we did a few months back, but I ran out of time to get mine done, so this was the perfect motivation for me to get that pattern out and get it completed! The fabric is mostly by V and Co.  

And moving on to next month, you have three patterns to choose from this time!

You can choose between two free Christmas themed patterns found in the Moda Bakeshop or a quilt pattern appropriate for anytime of the year,  Abundantly Blessed by Bonnie Olaveson of Cotton Way. 

Abundantly Blessed is a small Cathedral Window-like quilt that uses a raw edge quilt-as-you-go method.  So if this is the quilt you choose, you'll be finished with the whole thing, quilting and all, once you are finished with the top! I do love a Cathedral Window quilt and I've been interested in trying this pattern for awhile!

The first of the two Christmas themed choices is the Oh, Christmas Tree Quilt by Amy Rivera.  Its a quilt pattern with a more modern look to it, but I can see it looking amazing with any kind of fabric.  It uses half square triangles and Amy says it goes together quickly and easily.  I'm sure you can have it finished in time for Christmas!

The other Christmas themed option is another Moda Bakeshop pattern called Christmas Baubles by Jen Daly.  This pattern uses mini charms, a bit of gray fabric, and some background fabric to make an ornament tree all ready for the holiday!

Enjoy picking your pattern and sewing your mini quilt for the January parade.

I thought I knew which one I wanted to make, but now I'm not so sure.......

Don't forget to run over to Sherri's blog A Quilting Life to see the rest of the parade.  I'm excited to see what everyone has made over there!

If you have any questions about how the Parade works or what to do to join in, email me here or email Sherri at A Quilting Life and we'll fill you in.  Everyone is welcome!   

Vintage Tulips...The mini one!

Bright and happy!

That's how I would describe my Mini Vintage Tulips quilt!

I used mostly V and Co. Color Me Happy fabric with a bit of Daysail and a few other lines thrown in to make the tulips and the stems consistent in color.

This was so enjoyable to make that now the big tulip quilt is on my ever-growing list of projects that I want to do.

 I'm pretty sure I'll never get to the end of that list.......

But that's a good thing, right??

I did make one 'small' error in this mini.

It seemed pretty obvious to me once I found it, but it must not be that bad because I didn't see it until I had it almost all finished!

My family couldn't find it either until I directed them to the spot, then they said they would have never noticed.

Do you see where it is??

I decided not to fix it, which pretty odd for me.  Normally I match every seam exactly and I'm pretty particular about my quilts.

I'm not usually in the, "If you can't see the mistake while you're sitting on the back of a horse that's galloping past the quilt, then don't worry about it" camp.  Not even close.

But this time, I think I can live with it!

I've got to spend my time getting to the next quilt on that list, right?

My Christmas decorations are up and the pumpkin pie leftovers are in the fridge, so it's time to get on to December!

That means the Minis and More parade will be here soon.

In fact, it will be here and on Sherri's blog this Tuesday.

Come back and visit then and see the minis that the group has made and find out what we'll be up to next!

It's tulip time!

Well, it's not tulip time outside I guess.

 In my sewing area, that's another matter!

In fact, we are putting the decorations on our Christmas tree today.

Yes, it is a little early and I'm not looking at it as skipping Thanksgiving at all.  It's just that my kids are home for the week of Thanksgiving and they enjoy decorating the tree and getting the Christmas decorations out.  If I wait until after Thanksgiving, they are back to school and getting ready for exams, so there's no time for trimming the tree.  So before Thanksgiving it is! 

Now about the tulips!

For my Minis and More project this month, I decided to make a Vintage Tulips Mini by Thimble Blossoms since this month is free choice and I didn't make the Tulip Mini when it was the chosen pattern of the month.

The fabrics I'm using are mostly Color Me Happy with a few others thrown in to make the color combos work.  I just needed to add a few pinks and a light green from my stash to get the look I wanted.

Now I'm off  to finish it up!

Have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving for those of you in the United States!

Exciting new patterns!

Hello and happy weekend! 

I'm so excited about what I get to share with you today!

I've been happily sewing away over here and now its time to show you what I've been working on.

My friend and Minis and More cohost Sherri McConnell invited me to try out a few of her new patterns and I couldn't say yes fast enough!

Let me introduce you to her new pattern Hope Chest.

Using fat quarters from Sweetwater's Elementary fabric line and some Moda Bella Solids in Ivory for the background, I didn't want to stop making the blocks for this quilt!

It went together so smoothly that I'm already making plans for another!

It's my favorite large quilt that I've made in a long time, I'm not kidding.

Being able to trim up all the half square triangles makes the whole thing so precise and easy to put together.

When I can square up the half square triangles in a pattern I'm always happy about it.

It makes it so easy for all the points to match up.

And for maybe the first time ever, I think mine did, thanks to the trimming!

The half square triangles quickly turned into twelve big blocks and it was done!

If this pattern looks familiar to you, you must have seen Sherri's Hope Chest quilt made with her 'not even out yet' fabric line called Valley that she designed with her daughter Chelsi.

If not, you can see it in her post before Quilt Market.

She used a lighter sashing and it looks so different from the version I made with the black sashing from Elementary.

It's always interesting to me to see the same quilt pattern made with different fabric choices.

Hope Chest would look great in any kind of fabric!

And now on to Oceanside!

My favorite part of making this one was laying out the finished blocks!

I was surprised at how different the quilt pattern looked at different angles.

Until I was finished with the blocks and deciding on what block to put where, I hadn't noticed that!

Are you looking at it as diagonal rows of circles and squares? 

Or do you see each block as a single circle framed in the corners with a single fabric?

To me it depends on which direction I'm viewing it from at the time.

I wonder if the quilting I use on this one will determine what you're focused on?

This quilt uses fat eighths for the main fabrics and I used a Collection For A Cause - Faith fat eighth bundle and I still have lots left over for another project.

The background I used here was another Moda Bella Solids color, Snow.

I'm not sure that my photography here does this quilt pattern justice.

There is a giant live oak tree in our from yard dropping tons of acorns, and when they get wet its a big mess and not the best time to take quilt pictures.

Between that and the wind we had to work fast! My only option was when the sun was out which makes shadows on the beautiful quilt!

Since everyone is new to Sherri's Oceanside pattern she is offering 30% off on Oceanside this weekend in her Etsy shop with the code "happyfall".

Visit Sherri's blog A Quilting Life today and learn more about her new patterns!

Starting out November with a Parade

Well, here we are in November!

I'm not really sure how that happened so fast.  It seems like the school year just started yesterday and now I'm pondering Christmas decorations.  I'm determined to get mine out a little early this year so I can get the decorating out of the way and enjoy the holiday season. 

That being said, the high is going to be 91 degrees here today so I will have to channel my inner holiday spirit as I take down the Halloween decorations and put out a few Thanksgiving decorations, all the while thinking about where the Christmas lights will go in a few short weeks

.

As for the Minis and More Parade, the pattern was the Strawberry Fields Mini Pattern Trio by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts.

You could make one, or all three if you were so inclined!  The choice was yours!

First up we have Patty from her blog A Stitch In Time.  She made the Mini Star Crossed Quilt from JoAnna's pattern using fabrics Patty had in her stash. What a sweet fall quilt!  Check out Patty's blog soon for her new series on bag making tips. Having just finished making a bag, this is definitely a series of blog posts I'm going to look into! 

Next we have Karen with her version of a This 'N That pattern by Sherri Falls.  I think its her November pattern from a mini quilt series that she was working on. The leaves are perfect for fall!  I love that she used batiks here!  My very favorite fall quilt I've ever made is a fall leaf quilt with batiks.  The variation in batiks is so similar to the variation is real fall leaves, and you can definitely see that in Karen's beautiful mini.

And remember, this isn't the whole parade!  The rest can be viewed on Sherri's blog A Quilting Life.

Speaking of Sherri, have you had a chance to see her new line of fabric that she and her daughter Chelsi introduced at the recent Quilt Market in Houston?  It's called Valley and it gorgeous!

Now the answer to the big question, what's the next project for Minis and More? 

Sherri and I have decided to have a free choice month! 

The pattern choice is totally up to you!

This would be a great time to work on that gift you need to make or maybe on a pattern we have done in the past, but you didn't quite get around to.

Have you been meaning to make one of Thimbleblossom's cute minis?  Or that Schnibble's pattern you have had your eye on for years?  Maybe a pattern of Sherri's has caught your eye recently?  Well now is the time to make it.

I'm excited about the number of choices!

 I think I'm going to make another mini from the Sweetness Pattern Trio we did a few months back, but I do have a few Thimbleblossoms Minis around here that are waiting to be opened.  Looks like I have some decisions to make.

We can't wait to see what you come up with!

If you are new to the Parade and you'd like to participate, we'd love to have you!!  Just send me and email if you have questions and I'll explain what its all about!

Happy Halloween!

Hello!  I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend, eating some candy, and squeezing in some sewing time!

Over here our pumpkin is carved, the candy is in the bowl, and next on the list is making hot dog mummies for dinner!

 Before I do that I wanted to wish you a safe and happy Halloween.

And of course I'll see you back here on Monday for the Minis and More Parade.

Since the first falls on the weekend,  Sherri and I will be having the Parade on Monday.

Can you believe it will be November already?  I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving!

See you back here soon.