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

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

Hannah - Sherri of A Quilting Life

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

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

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.

Video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F4okv_hxq0

Free Pattern: http://static.fatquartershop.com/media/wysiwyg/pdf/BloomBlissReceivingBlanket-Pattern.pdf

Quilt Kit: http://www.fatquartershop.com/bloom-and-bliss-receiving-blanket-kit

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

 Happy Sewing! 

xo Erin 

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.

Wynn  Zakka Art   @zakkaart 

Charise   Charise Creates  @charisecreates 

Jo Greene  A Life in Lists  @lifeinlists 

Justine  Sew Justine Sew  @sewjustinesew

Erin  Why Not Sew  @whynotsewquilts

Fiona  Poppy Makes  @fionapoppymakes

Tiffany  East Dakota Quilter  @tiffanytravels 

Jo Avery  My Bear Paw  @mybearpaw

Jessie  Messy Jesse Crafts  @messyjesse1

Sarah  A Little Happy Place  @sarahedgarprettyfabrics

Ayumi  Pink Penguin  @ayumills 

Hannah  Quirky Hannah  @quirkyhannah 

Melinda  Quirky Granola Girl  @quirkygranolagirl 

Erica  Crafty Blossom  @cbhandmade 

                                          Chase  Quarter Inch Mark  @quarterinchmark
Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

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

30/09/2015:Lucy @ Charm About You & Melissa @ Oh How Sweet

01/10/2015: Angie @ GnomeAngel.com

02/10/2015: Jodi @ Tales of Cloth

06/10/2015: Angie @ GnomeAngel.com

07/10/2015: Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts

08/10/2015: Angie @ GnomeAngel.com

09/10/2015: Jess @ Elven Garden Quilts & Sedef @ Down Grapevine Lane

13/10/2015: Angie @ GnomeAngel.com

14/10/2015: Melissa @ Ms Midge

15/10/2015: Angie @ GnomeAngel.com

16/10/2015: Erin @ Why Not Sew

20/10/2015: Angie @ GnomeAngel.com

21/10/2015: Nathalie @ Les Ouvrages de Nat

22/10/2015: Angie @ GnomeAngel.com

23/10/2015: Tina @ Emily Ann's Closet

27/10/2015: Angie @ GnomeAngel.com

28/10/2015: Rachel @ Wooden Spoon Quilts

Sunday Link Party   Sunday Link Party at GnomeAngel.com.

Happy Sewing! 

xo Erin

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