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Thursday, December 17, 2015

Great Granny with a Twist & a Giveaway!!!


Good Morning! Today I'm celebrating the anniversary of the lovely Lori Holt's book Great Granny Squared along with Lori and some of her quilty friends. For something extra fun we made projects that use the squares from the book but with a twist of some kind.


My Great Granny Squared project uses the "mama" block form Lori's book. I made 9 blocks using Nadra Ridgeway of Ellis & Higgs Bloom and Bliss fabric and an aqua solid I had in my stash. I can't remember the maker, sorry about that.


For the "twist" part I decided to crochet a granny stitch around all of the blocks and then connect them with a granny stitch. I turned it into a pillow because I actually need some new pillows. Mine are tired, haha. I love pom-poms on pillow edges so I decided to finally give that shot. I love how it turned out. The tutorial I used for the pom-poms is HERE. I'm not sure that I did them exactly right but I think they turned out pom-pomish :)


The back of the pillow is envelope style and all I did was press the top and side edges in 1/4 inch to get a finished edge and sew it to the back of the crocheted edge wrong sides together. I stitched it down with a fat 1/8 inch seam. Things get a little squooshy sewing to the yarn but it does sew down very securely. I made a pillow form to fit it. It's about 18 x 18 inches.

I love it! I can't wait to make another!


If you would like to have Lori's book Great Granny Squared and make some of the fun projects in it or put your own twist on them you're in luck! I have a copy of the book to send to one of you lovelies thanks to Fat Quarter Shop! Just leave a comment below. I'll pick a winner next week.


Then be sure to check out the other quilty friends celebrating with Lori and the twist they put on their Great Granny projects!

Monday, December 14, 2015
Fat Quarter Shop (Hey, that's us!)
Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet
Sinta of Pink Pincushion

Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Renee of Sewn with Grace

Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Melissa of Oh How Sweet
Nadra of Ellis & Higgs
Marni of Haberdashery Fun

Thursday, December 17, 2015
Jennie of Clover & Violet
Erin of Why Not Sew
Sherri Falls of This & That Patterns
Rachel of P.S. I Quilt

Friday, December 18, 2015
Jamie of Busy Bee Quilts
Daisy of Ants to Sugar
Gerri Robinson of Planted Seed Designs


Happy Sewing!
xo Erin
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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

2016 Crossroads Quilt Along



I am so happy to be participating in the 2016 Crossroads Quilt Along with Fat Quarter Shop.


This year we will be sewing a vintage inspired quilt using Strawberry Fields Revisited by Fig Tree Quilts!


I am so thrilled that Moda is reprinting some of the originals and some new prints for this line. Now I feel like I don't have to hold on so tightly to the original scraps I still have. It was one of my all time favorites.

(the back of the quilt)
The quilt along starts February 2016. Fat Quarter Shop will post the downloadable pattern on the 15th of each month.  All of the info for the fabric requirements, kits and patterns are on The Jolly Jabber


But the best part about the quilt along is that is supporting the March of Dimes an organization dedicated to preventing premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality. Each pattern is free, but a $5 donation to March of Dimes is requested for each pattern download.



I was asked if I would mind sharing about a transforming time in my life...a crossroads.  Like you, I am sure there are many. But the single most important, life changing thing that happened to me was becoming a mother. It's not a crossroads in the typical sense of the word, but it did change my life forever. There was never any going back to the girl I once was. I had this little new life who was completely dependent upon me. That intense love that filled my heart until it was bursting at the seams. Knowing what it felt like to love someone so much you would lay down your life for them. Staring at that sweet angel face for hours while she slept in my arms. There is nothing like it in this world. That's my crossroads. The most important event in my life and I know that I am blessed and forever changed. 

Here is a list of quilty friends sewing along and sharing their stories ~

                                                 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 (@downgrapvinelane)
Taunja of Carried Away Quilting (@taunjalynn)

Share your progress and creations with us on our Crossroads Facebook group. Post your blocks using #crossroadsquiltalong on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Happy Sewing!
xo Erin
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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Fat Quarter Baby Blog Tour

Good morning! Today is my stop on the Fat Quarter Baby blog tour. Fat Quarter Shop has an awesome new book called Fat Quarter Baby. The book has 20 quilts in it named after girls and boys, 10 girl quilts and 10 boy quilts. They are all adorable.



The quilt I made is a girl quilt named Kristen. The fabric I used is Gooseberry by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique for Moda.

I love the block used for the Kristen quilt. The on-point setting of the blocks looks great too. It's a great way to make a quilt bigger without a large number of blocks.

I finally tried the zig -zag / honeycomb style quilting I had seen long ago on Crazy Mom Quilts. I really like the look and I am so glad I tried it. The stitch was No.4 on my Bernina 220.

I bound it with the navy and aqua scallop print from Gooseberry. These scallop prints just scream binding to me.

The book is excellent. Perfect to have in your library for go to baby quilts. The quilts are unique and I found myself wanting to make larger quilts with some of the patterns (like this block used for the Kristen quilt). There is a guitar pattern that my oldest daughter (who plays guitar) asked me to make for her wall. Perfect patterns for teenage babies too :)

Here are the other bloggers on the blog tour. You won't want to miss these adorable quilts!

November 16, 2015
Anne -  Caroline of Sew Can She
Claire - Melissa of Oh How Sweet
Elizabeth - Pam of Pam Kitty Morning
Laura  - Greg of Grey Dogwood Studios

November 17, 2015
Andrew - Anne of Bunny Hill Designs
Christopher - Christina of Emily Ann's Kloset
Hunter - Nadra of Ellis & Higgs
James  - Corey of Coriander Quilts
Kevin  - Lucy of Charm About You

November 18, 2015
Katharine - Natalia of Piece N Quilt
Kimberly  - Lori of Bee in my Bonnet
Kristen  - Erin of Why Not Sew
Sarah - Angie of Gnome Angel
Emma - Melissa of Happy Quilting

November 19. 2015
Matthew - Jane of Quilt Jane
Paul  - Pat Sloan
Peyton - Megan and Heather of Quilt Story
Ryan  - Sedef of Down Grapevine Lane
William - Lisa of Vintage Modern Quilts
Gerri Robinson of Planted Seed Designs

 Happy Sewing!
xo Erin



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Friday, November 6, 2015

Cozy Cottage Calendar

Good morning! This week we're celebrating Lori Holt's new 2016 Cozy Cottage Calendar with Fat Quarter Shop. Many of you have seen Lori's adorable new calendar. If you haven't I just have to say it is the cutest!

There are pretty pictures from Lori's own cozy cottage. Full of color, quilts and lovely vintage goodies! It's spiral bound and the pages are thick and high quality. No thin paper pages. It really is a collectible. As well as the quality and fun pictures it includes inspiring quotes from Lori each month and some really cute quilty patterns!!! 


When I saw the quilt from the front of the calendar I knew I had to make it. The pattern is included. The quilt is made of scrappy 4" cozy cottages. They are tiny and so adorable. 

I had the best time using scraps to make them. 

Love these little houses. 

The only thing I did different was use a smaller outer border so that it would fit my quilt rack. Oh and add a little piece of red to the binding. Both bonding fabrics are from Lori's line Modern Minis. I love the mint and red together.

Below is a schedule of the other bloggers and their Cozy Cottage projects.
You can order your Cozy Cottage Calendar HERE.

Monday, November 2, 2015
Fat Quarter Shop (Hey that's us!)
Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet
Jessie of Messy Jesse
Donna of Donna's Lavender Nest
Lucy of Charm About You
Jina of Jina Barney Designz
Katie of Good Golly Ginger

Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Tina of Emily Ann's Kloset
Sherri of A Quilting Life
Debbie of Happy Little Cottage
Sedef of Down Grapevine Lane
Jane of Quilt Jane
Kim of Persimon Dreams

Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Vickie of Spun Sugar Quilts
Pam of Pam Kitty Morning
Marni of Habedashery Fun
Renee of Sewn With Grace
Me and My Sister Designs

Thursday, November 5, 2015
Daisy of Ants to Sugar
Sharon of Daisy Cottage Quilting
Tonya of The Crafty Mummy
Jennie of A Pieceful Journey

Friday, November 6, 2015
Erin of Why Not Sew
Melissa of Happy Quilting
Seema of Hooks, Needles and Brushes
Corey of Little Miss Shabby
Sinta of Pink Pincushion

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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Bloom & Bliss Receiving Blanket with Fat Quarter Shop

Good morning! I want to share with you all this adorable receiving blanket I made using a new free pattern and tutorial from Fat Quarter Shop.

The pattern consists of large half square triangles. I used Tiger Lily fabric for my blanket. I thought it would be really sweet with ballerinas, butterflies, flowers and kittens. The pattern is really easy and super quick to sew up. This would make excellent baby shower gift but also I think it would be great for any little in your life. Ask me how I know ;) 

Since there is no batting between the fabric layers it has a wonderful drape and feel. I loved sewing it because it was so nice to move around and sew through. This will easily become a child's "blankie". 

The blanket is finished using Aurifil 12 wt. thread. I have used this before and really like it. It really gives a little something extra and makes the stitches pop. I chose color #MK12-1114 Green Grass. It's the same color I used for the Aurifil thread Challenge years ago so I knew it would match Tiger Lily. 

I definitely recommend making this receiving blanket. It's fast and cute. Give it a try. Below are some important links to get you started.



If you are sharing your project on Instagram, please use #fqsreceivingblanket and #fqsfun.

 Happy Sewing! 
xo Erin 
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Monday, October 19, 2015

Bea and Me


Vintagey Bea
Good morning! Today I am posting about my block for the Farmer's Wife 1930s quilt along that Kerry is hosting. We are in week six of this quilt along and  my block today is Bea. Oh Bea. We've had a few words, her and I. I chose Bea because she was a basket block and I thought she was really pretty. I noticed there were no rotary cutting instructions for her and I think it's because of her handle? Not sure. So I printed the templates and the paper piecing pages. I realized that my 1 inch scale line was looking a little small. I measured and it was just shy of 1/16" too small. I printed it with no scaling so not sure how to fix that for future blocks. So I did the math and set out to just straight rotary cut Miss Bea. It worked good enough ( the third time, haha) Not exactly a perfect 6.5" unfinished square but I could make it work. 
So went to take pictures of Bea yesterday before the sun went down. Before going out I decided to give her a good press since the block was in a baggie with my other blocks. And wouldn't you know it... I scorched the block! I didn't notice until I took a picture and looked at it. 
I used peroxide and got most of the scorch marks out. I decided to give it another press and try to shape the block a bit. Now she's a bit wrinkly and curving in on one side. She looks kind of vintage now. I'll just tell myself that. 

paper piecing, forgot to mirror image when I printed
I started working on a paper pieced version last night when everyone was sleeping. I was using my Featherweight in the dining / school area and my thread kept breaking and skipping stitches. I thought You have to be kidding me.  My other machine is in my bedroom and I couldn't wake everyone up. 


a sprinkling of my attempts to make a pretty Bea block
So I decided to get up early and work on the paper pieced version. Got all my pieces sewn and guess what? I didn't mirror image when I printed. Seriously. This is nuts. So I really don't have a pretty block to show you, yet! Maybe my 5th try will be a success. So my only tips I can offer are to make sure you print mirror image for paper piecing. Don't scorch your block :) and hopefully your printer is printing the templates the right size. 

 I like the letter for Bea. The writer talks about making herself think happy, lovely thoughts. Isn't that the truth!?! Not wanting after what you do no have but enjoying what is already yours. I love that. 

Be sure to see the beautiful blocks that the others are making for the quilt along. You can use the hashtag #fw1930sqal and #beablock you can also use Fat Quarter Shop's hastags #fw11Bea. 

 Check out Kerry's beautiful Bea block.

 Here is a list of the other bloggers in the quilt along.


Jo Avery  My Bear Paw  @mybearpaw
Ayumi  Pink Penguin  @ayumills 
                                          Chase  Quarter Inch Mark  @quarterinchmark
 Happy Sewing!
xo Erin
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Friday, October 16, 2015

Block No.24 Coral - Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Sew Along




Hello there! Today I'm going to show how I made block no. 24, Coral for the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Sew Along with Gnome Angel, Fat Quarter Shop, and Marti Michell. It's a simple block. Basically, it's a saw tooth star with a cute little square added to the bottom of the center block.
I used From Marti Michell templates from set A for mine. I have fallen in love with these templates. If you have read my blog for a while you might know that I started quilting by drawing templates on card board and tracing all my pieces by hand and then cutting them out with scissors. I did not like it very much. I wasn't careful or accurate with what I was doing. But these, these Marti Michell templates are so nice. They are sturdy and trimming the corners makes everything match up so perfectly. And I'm using my rotary cutter and strips with them. It's pretty fast. I'm really happy with them.



 I chose to make flying geese units for the top, bottom and sides instead of half square triangles. One less seam to piece sounds good to me! 

I put the flying geese to the side and then pieced my center. Like this. 

Sew 2 geese units onto the sides of the center block. Sew 2 squares onto each side of the 2 remaining flying geese units. 


 Sew your rows together. 

I pressed my row seams open.
The link to Marti Michell's conversion charts to use the templates for this block is HERE.

I really love the story that goes with the Coral block. The lady writing is a farmer's wife writing from Wisconsin in October 1936. She talks about taking time to enjoy her little ones. How many of us can relate to this? It seems a running theme through out time. Whether it's 1936 or 2015 so many of us are trying to do this. Live in the moment and enjoy the little things in life and those little blessing especially. 

I hope you are enjoying the sew along. The blocks and stories are wonderful.


Fat Quarter Shop has a special code for 10% off your total purchase you can use towards making your Farmer's Wife quilt.

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.


29/09/2015: Angie @ GnomeAngel.com
02/10/2015: Jodi @ Tales of Cloth
14/10/2015: Melissa @ Ms Midge
16/10/2015: Erin @ Why Not Sew

Sunday Link Party

  Sunday Link Party at GnomeAngel.com.

Happy Sewing! 
xo Erin
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Sunday, October 4, 2015

Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew Along - Week 1

Good Morning! Are you sewing Farmer's Wife 1930s blocks? I 'm sharing my blocks from week 1 for the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Sew Along with Gnome Angel.

I chose to use aqua, red and grey for my blocks. Most of the fabrics are from Lakehouse Fabrics Pam Kitty Fog City and Holly Holderman Sunrise Studio with a few others tossed in the mix.

The first block for this sew along was #12 Becky. The blocks for this sew along are going in order of simplicity I think. This block was a breeze to put together. I used the rotary cutter for this block.

The next block was #16 Bonnie. Another simple block that I used the rotary cutter to make. 


I love this block. It's #8 Aunt. For the block I used a rotary cutter for the side and corner squares.

For the center on-point square and it's corner triangles I used Marti Michell's template from set A. The pieces go together so nice. Cutting those little nubs off the ends of the pieces really makes a difference. I have never been fond of templates but I have changed my mind. I learned to quilt using cardboard as a template and tracing around each piece. I never enjoyed it. My accuracy was lacking, to say the least. These are lovely. They combine the speed of rotary cutting with a precise template. I watched this video of Marti Michell and really got a grasp of her templates. I'm going to use them as often as I can. I love the way my points look in the center of this block!

I hope you are sewing along. These blocks have been fun to sew and the stories in the book, as with all of Laurie Aaron Hird's books, are really wonderful and touching. I look forward to seeing all of the blocks being made. 

There is a link up party HERE!

There is also a Facebook group HERE! 

 Happy Sewing!
xo Erin


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