Kimberly's Sac Sew Along

Hello quilty friends! Today I want to share this really cute bag I made using a new pattern from Kimberly Jolly of Fat Quarter Shop and Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts. The bag is called Kimberly's Sac. 

I was in need of a new bag /purse so I was happy to be making this one. I used Vintage Picnic by Bonnie & Camille and Essex Linen for my bag. I intended to use the navy, red and aqua prints with the polka dot Mochi linen by Moda but... I started pairing up the corally pinks and greens from the line and went in that direction. I'm a sucker for pink and green! There's a little splash of aqua too. I used a cute button I made years ago from a little scrap of the much loved blue eyelet/seed from Flea Market Fancy. I stipple quilted the body and used a wide zig zag stitch for the bottom quilting. I love how it turned out. My oldest girl loved it too so I decided to give it to her. I'm making a bag for myself now with the navy, reds and aquas. I'll share it with you when I finish.

The instructions in the pattern were great. It didn't take too long to make either. A step-by-step video on making the bag with Kimberly and Joanna can be found HERE.

The pattern can be found HERE.

I used 2 of these swivel D-rings for my bag.

I can't wait to see some other versions of Kimberly's Sac. The fabric choices are so fun for this cute bag.

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

Crossroads Quilt Along ~ Diamond Block

Good morning! I finished second set of blocks for the Crossroads Quilt Along with Fat Quarter Shop and Joanna Figueroa. I really like the colors for these diamond blocks. I think Fig Tree has the best browns. They're always very soft and pretty. 

Here are all of my blocks so far! I'm really enjoying this quilt along. Strawberry Fields Revisited is so pretty. I'm looking forward to seeing this beauty come together. 

It's been fun to see blocks from people not using the same fabric too. I love the different choices others are making. You can check out blocks by others in the Crossroads Facebook group and also by using the hashtag #crossroadsquiltalong on social media like Instagram. 

Joanna of Fig Tree Quilts (@figtreequilts)

Pat Sloan (@quilterpatsloan)

April of Prairie Grass Patterns (@amrosenthal)

Tina of Emily Ann's Kloset (@emilyannskloset)

Melissa of Oh How Sweet (@ohhowsweet)

Angie of Gnome Angel (@gnomeangel)

Vanessa of Lella Boutique (@lellaboutique)

Melissa of Happy Quilting (@happyquiltingmc)

Erin of Why Not Sew (@whynotsewquilts)

Greg of Grey Dogwood Studio (@greydogwoodstudio)

Sondra of Out of the Blue Quilts (@sondradavison)

Sedef of Down Grapevine Lane (@downgrapevinelane)
Taunja of Carried Away Quilting (@taunjalynn)

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

Paperie Blog Tour and Giveaway

Hello! I am so happy today is my stop on the Paperie Blog Tour!!! It's been fun to see the projects that are being created with Amy Sinibaldi's first fabric line with Art Gallery Fabrics. I am beyond honored to be a part of such a talented group and just a little intimidated too! So many gorgeous projects on this blog tour. Amy is so very special. I am just in awe of her really. She inspires me to create. I think a lot of us could say that about her, right!?! Everything she makes is detailed and in my opinion, flawless. I knew her fabric line would be the same. It's soft and beautiful. 

I had so many ideas for what to make for the blog tour. I thought I was settled on a clamshell pouch / sewing kit for myself. Then, one weekend all of my girls and I were watching Miss Potter. My oldest daughter mentioned how much she liked the portfolio she ( Beatrix Potter) had to hold her artwork. I instantly knew I had to make her one and with Paperie 1.) because she mentioned over and over how much she loved this fabric line 2.) the girl likes to read. I mean A LOT. Books are her thing. So, of course, Paperie was perfect. 3.) she loves drawing and painting. So I thought her own portfolio would encourage her to do what she loves.

For the portfolio I basically made an oversize folder with a pocket on the inside to hold her pictures. I gave the folder body and made it sturdy by using foam poster board inside of it. The cover is a take on Ayumi's book pattern from Patchwork Please. I used half-square triangles for mine and increased it in size. I added a little cross-stitch patch initial to the inside along with my daughter's favorite fabrics from the line. 

I ended up making the clamshell piece into a pencil case for her paint brushes. I used Kristyne's (Pretty by Hand) pattern.

I love the pattern. I hesitated to show the case because it's not perfect. It's a bit gathered up on the sides but I still love how it turned out. It actually reminds me of the sleeves of the dresses I used to make my daughter when she was little. It's funny that's the first thing I thought of when I turned the case right side out and saw the gathers.
The lighting has been so dim the last few days so no good shot of the pencil case. We'll just call these moody picture, okay?

Here is one last one of one of my favorite pictures my daughter has painted. From Tangled.

I am thrilled to be able to offer one of you a half-yard bundle of Paperie courtesy of Fat Quarter Shop!
Thank you so much Fat Quarter Shop!!!
Just leave a comment below and I'll pick a winner next week.

 January 25 ~ Heidi Staples of fabricmutt.blogspot.com

January 26 ~ Kerry Goulder of kidgiddy.com

January 27 ~ Cheri Lehnow of tinkerwiththis.blogspot.com

January 28 ~ Sharon Holland of SharonHollandDesigns.com

January 29 ~ Jemima Flendt of tiedwitharibbon.com

January 30 ~ Michelle Curtis of chellesquilts.com

February 1 ~ Christina Egner of onelittlepooh.net

February 2 ~ Ali Brorsen of BecauseofBrennaClothing.com

February 3 ~ Kristine Lempriere of townmouse.typepad.com

February 4 ~ Nicole Young of lillyella.com

February 5 ~ Lori Landenburger of sewpsyched.blogspot.com

February 6 ~ Jennifer Chon of sunnyincal.com

February 8 ~ Melissa LeRay of ohhowsweet.com

February 9 ~ Megan Jimanez of quiltstory.blogspot.com

February 10 ~ Faith Essenburg of saranaave.wordpress.com

February 11 ~ Renee Lange of sewnwithgrace.com

February 12 ~ Sedef Imer of downgrapevinelane.com

February 13 ~ Kristyne Czepuryk of prettybyhand.com

February 15 ~ Heather Andrus of quiltstory.blogspot.com

February 16 ~ Stacy Olson of stacyolsondesign.com

February 17 ~ Erin Cox of whynotsew.blogspot.com

February 18 ~ Amy Sinibaldi of nanaCompany.typepad.com

Congratulations again, Amy, on your beautiful fabric line!

Happy Sewing!

xo Erin

**** Comments now closed! The winner has been notified and will be announced as soon as I hear from her! Thanks so much!!!

Crossroads Quilt Along ~ House Blocks

Crossroads Quilt Along House Blocks

Welcome to the Crossroads Quilt Along benefiting March of Dimes with Fat Quarter Shop and Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts! If you haven't heard about the Crossroads Quilt Along, let Kimberly and Joanna tell you more about it in their new video here. 

Today the first block for the quilt along is being introduced. The block is the house block. The Crossroads quilt blocks are FREE to download on the 15th of every month starting in February 2016. They only ask a suggested donation of $5 to their March of Dimes campaign for each time you download our patterns.

love this selvage on Strawberry Fields Revisited

Love these blocks. The are simple and sew up quickly.I am using the quilt kit made for the quilt along. Although you don't have too. The fabric requirements are HERE. 

I spent the weekend cutting and organizing. Honestly, it's not how I usually work when I make a quilt. But I really should! It's so efficient. I organized mine into ziploc bags and then put those into a small plastic storage container.

fun and organized weekend sewing

This is a shot I shared on Instagram. See how organized I am?! :) What a great way to work. One of my goals is to work more efficiently.

 

Joanna of Fig Tree Quilts (@figtreequilts)

Pat Sloan (@quilterpatsloan)

April of Prairie Grass Patterns (@amrosenthal)

Tina of Emily Ann's Kloset (@emilyannskloset)

Melissa of Oh How Sweet (@ohhowsweet)

Angie of Gnome Angel (@gnomeangel)

Vanessa of Lella Boutique (@lellaboutique)

Melissa of Happy Quilting (@happyquiltingmc)

Erin of Why Not Sew (@whynotsewquilts)

Greg of Grey Dogwood Studio (@greydogwoodstudio)

Sondra of Out of the Blue Quilts (@sondradavison)

Sedef of Down Grapevine Lane (@downgrapevinelane)
Taunja of Carried Away Quilting (@taunjalynn)

Check out the other house blocks being made by these lovely bloggers and also share your progress and creations on the Crossroads Facebook group. Post your blocks using #crossroadsquiltalong on Insatgram, Facebook and Twitter.

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

Aurifil Thread Challenge Review

****This post is from 2011 and was originally part of Fat Quarterly's Auriful Thread Challenge. I'm posting it here because it appears to no longer be on the Fat Quarterly website. I think it's a fun review and reference to some of the Aurifil threads and what I did with them. Enjoy!**** 

I was thrilled to be chosen to participate in Fat Quarterly's Aurifil Thread Challenge. When I received my package of the threads I went straight to my sewing room to get started. We were allowed to use one, some or all of the thread. For me I knew I had to use them all. That was what the challenge meant for me.

 I decided on a Modern Crazy Quilt design. I've always loved all of the different stitches that traditional crazy quilts have and thought it was a perfect design to showcase all of these fabulous threads.

The two threads that instantly caught my eye were the thicker 12 weight threads. In my pack I had a green colored 12wt. thread and a white wool 12 wt. thread. I really wanted to showcase these.

I used the green for the feather stitch on the quilt blocks

and also for the machine stitched binding.

I used the wool thread to raw edge applique each block to the linen background fabric using a blanket stitch. The wool was incredible. I loved everything about it. It was thick, showed up well and sewed like a dream.

With the bit of wool thread that i had left I hand quilted some big stitches between the blocks. The thread was great for hand quilting too! All of the threads were excellent to work with.

 I used the 28wt. variegated thread for the herring bone stitch. It showed up well and sewed wonderfully. I used the 40 wt. thread for the honeycomb or smocking stitch. It was a lighter weight but it showed up really well. I also used this weight for some of the piecing to see what that would be like. No problems at all. It's definitely  a good thread for piecing. Lastly I used the 50 wt. thread for a decorative swirl stitch. It showed up well and has a nice delicate look. I also used this weight thread for some of the piecing and it was great. I could see this thread also being of good use for subtle quilting stitches.

All of the Aurifil threads that I used had different characteristics making them extremely versatile. I am so happy that I had the chance to work with them. Thanks Aurifil, Fat Quarterly and Lynn for organizing this exciting challenge.

Farmer's Wife 1930's Sew-Along Block No. 28 ~ Dolly

This week we're sewing the Dolly block for the Farmer's Wife Sew-Along with Gnome Angel, Fat Quarter Shop and Marti Michell.
Dolly can be a bit challenging because she has many small pieces. 57 pieces! I was originally going to epp (English Paper Piece) this block. I prepped all my pieces and began sewing them together. Well, I was a bit liberal with my glue while basting and it made for a hard, stiff fabric that was not very fun to sew through. Not to mention I had to take a deeper stitch than I typically would for epp. My stitches were showing on the front of the block so I decided to hand piece the block. If you have read my blog for a while you know I love hand piecing. I have tutorials for 12, 6 in. blocks under my header, click on the hand piecing / hand quilting tab! 

First I printed the paper piecing templates for the block from the cd onto freezer paper. Then I colored the pieces according to the fabric I was going to use for each piece. Color in the small quilt block on the page as your placement guide.

I then cut out all the paper pieces with no seam allowance. I ironed the pieces onto the wrong side of the fabric I was using.

I trimmed the pieces using my ruler and leaving 1/4 in. Around all sides.

It takes some time to prep all of the pieces. I used the freezer paper instead of tracing each template onto the fabric to save a little time. Please trace the template on the fabric if you feel more comfortable doing that.

After all of my pieces were prepped I sat down for a nice evening of hand stitching. I sewed the center top square together first and then added the side squares. Then I pieced the mid section squares and put them together. I like to put the rows together as I go especially with so many pieces like this. I feel like it breaks up the piecing monotony and keeps the pieces organized for me. Finger press as you go. Press the seams of each row in opposite directions so they nest together.

 

Here is the last row needing attached and this is how I did it.

Pin the rows together at the center seams. They should be finger pressed in opposite directions as mentioned above so they nest together.

 

Thread a needle. I like straw needles and using hand quilting thread. Knot the end of your thread and start sewing at one end of your row with a running stitch. Keep your needle in in line with the edge of the template.

 

  

Back Stitch at the center seams. Since this block has quite a few seams you can certainly back stitch quite often as I did here. As you can see paper pieces can fall off. Just keep needle in line      with the edge of the squares as they are least likely to come off. You'll be fine. 

Now that all the rows are sewn together you can press with a hot iron. And your done! I hope you give hand piecing a try. It's a nice way to handle these small pieces and blocks.

  

The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird for Fons & Porter/F+W; RRP $28.99 – Click here to purchase.

Have a great day!

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin