Low Volume Strip Quilt

I've always loved the look of low volume quilts, but have just never gotten around to making one until this summer. I think the queen of low volume is Rita of Red Pepper Quilts. She is so talented and has such an eye for putting fabrics together- I love everything she makes! A few years ago she made a low volume strip quilt and it's been on "my list" of things to make ever since.

I wanted my quilt to read as low volume, but girly from afar, so I selected fabrics that had a white background but used a lot of florals and pinks. I cut 2x10 inch strips and pieced them all together randomly. If I were to make this quilt again, I would probably just cut 2xWOF strips and then piece them in long rows, then after they were pieced, trim the rows to 10 inch width. It would have been a lot quicker!

I made this quilt for my niece as a birthday/early graduation  present. I've been trying to do better about adding quilt labels to my quilts lately, so I stitched up this simple label and used leftover strips of fabric to create a log cabin-ish little block.

I backed the quilt in some white/cream flannel that I had in my stash (can't remember the brand, but it is the good stuff- not the thin, cheap kind), and then used my very favorite batting IN THE WORLD- Warm and Plush.  Julie Hirt did the quilting for me. She used the "daisies" pattern and I love how it turned out!  She has quilted 5 or so quilts for me and she does an amazing job!

The flannel backing, batting, and quilting combined to make one snuggly quilt! My daughter had a hard time letting me hand this one over! She begged me to make another quilt and let her keep it! haha

Meet Betsy the Kitty

Last year, my kids and I were walking though a high-end boutique in the city with home goods and also the cutest little kids/baby section full of cute little clothes, toys, and decor. My middle kitty-loving gal found a little knit cat that was both adorable and very expensive. She begged and begged to let me let her use her hard earned money to buy it, but I just couldn't justify the price for what it was. She quietly put the kitty away and we moved on to another store. 

Fast forward several months... Her birthday was approaching and I was trying to come up with ideas of what to get her and I remembered the cat. I found a link online of where I could purchase the cat, but again- the price tag was too high for me to justify buying it for her. I was talking to my mom about it and showed her the cat and she said "That's cute, but I bet you could make one even cuter." I wasn't so sure I could pull it off, but I decided to try. (She plays the role of a mom well and always has faith in my abilities- even if I don't have faith in myself ;)

Like I said, the original cat was knit, so it was all one piece. I wanted mine to be similar but with my flair- and obviously made with fabric instead of yarn since I don't know how to knit! ;)

I used freezer paper to draft my pattern. I like using it because it's large paper on a roll, but also because once I draw a pattern on it, I can iron it to the fabric and cut the pattern out effortlessly. All in all, the pattern I drafted worked out pretty nicely- only a few moments in the construction that I was scratching my head with the design. ;)

(If I were to make the cat again, I wouldn't make her head so wide, or her neck so long. The peter pan collar was an afterthought to cover up the long necked awkwardness! Is this a giraffe or a cat?!? haha)

I used linen fabric (found at Joanns) for the body of the cat and embroidered the face with DMC floss. For the bow and collar, I used Liberty of London Betsy floral in gray. Robert Kaufmann Chambray for the dress, and some scraps for the placket and dress detail. 

I didn't calculate exactly what the project cost since I had a lot of the supplies on hand, but I can tell you it cost roughly less than 1/4 of the price of the cat in the boutique- plus it was made by momma so it's extra special. ;) 

I named her Betsy because of the Liberty of London Betsy floral  that I used to accent her outfit, but my daughter named her Buttons- which I think is very fitting as well. She's already a very loved little kitty!

Hope you're having a wonderful day!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo, Ashley 

Vintage Inspired Baby Quilt

This week is an exciting week for our family... It's finally time for our baby to arrive!! I am due this Friday and scheduled to be induced that morning I haven't already gone into labor. Hallelujah! I am beyond ready to have this little guy. My pregnancy has been fairly easy, but I've definitely reached the "get this baby outta me" stage!! If you've ever been pregnant, I am sure you know the feeling well! We pretty much have the house in order and everything set for him to arrive, so it's just time to hurry up and wait for Friday to get here. 

I started sewing about 5 1/2 years ago, which was means that I've never sewn anything for any of my babies since my current youngest is 6. I thought when I found out that I was pregnant that I would want to be sewing up a storm and making all kinds of things for this little guy... but.... are y'all ready for a shocker? I haven't made a single thing for my baby yet. Can you believe that?? I don't know if it's just that he's a boy and I've never made boy things, or if it's because I just haven't had the desire to sew as much since I've been pregnant, but my time before baby comes is officially running out and there is not a single handmade item (from me) in the nursery yet. It seriously shocks me when I think about it, but to be honest, my "nesting phase" seems to be lost and I'm simply in survival mode and have been for the entire summer. I've done a bit of hand stitching here and there since coming home from Quilt Market, but most of my time has just been spent enjoying my family and simply in "survival mode". ha ha Maybe with these last couple of days, I will have a burst of energy and make him a quilt... or I might just lay on the couch and watch Netflix. ;)

I did manage to sew a little baby quilt for my best friend Rach (of Family Ever After), who is due exactly a week after me. She's having a girl and I think I've decided that we should probably begin the proceedings for our babies arranged marriage since they are going to be so close in age. Then we can really be family! ;)

She and her family recently moved back "home" to South Dakota and bought the coolest property in the Black Hills with a darling log cabin home. She calls it their "little house on the prairie". I always love seeing pictures of the fun adventures that their family has in on their land and their new slower more relaxed way of life seems so appealing. It totally suits their family so well. 

I knew that I wanted to make something for her sweet baby, and I decided to go a little out of my normal design esthetic and make something with a vintage/old fashioned feel to go along with their new home and way of living. 

I started digging through my stash and found a Chloe's Closet 30's Playtime mini charm pack. It was exactly the feel I was going for, but since it was a mini charm pack, it definitely wasn't enough fabric to make a quilt with. I decided to make little four square patches and alternate with solid white blocks in a checker pattern. Once I got that put together, I realized that the quilt was still feeling a bit small- even for a baby quilt, so I added the yellow and white square border. The yellow and white remind me of a vintage quilt I used to snuggle up with as a young girl at my grandma's house. 

I did really simple quilting but added a bit of detail by quilting a sweet scallop on the yellow and white border. I really love how it came out. I feel like it is definitely a quilt that could be found on a "little house on the prairie"- which is what I was going for. 

Well friends, wish me luck!! The next time I blog, I will have a little bundle of blue in my home! 

I hope that you all have a wonderful week!

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

P.S.- Today is the last day of the Christmas in July sale going on over at Lady Belle Fabrics... RUN, do not walk, and snatch up some of the amazing deals going on over there!

Anna Maria Horner QAYG Herringbone Quilt

Do y'all follow Maureen Cracknell on IG or read her blog? She is a "Herringbone Quilt As You Go" PRO!! When I saw her tutorial for this amazing quilt a couple years ago, I had it "pinned" before you can say Anna Maria Horner and knew I had to make one too! Her tutorial is great, y'all should definitely check it out.

When my little sis got married last year, I knew that this would be the perfect time to try my hand at making a huge QAYG (quilt as you go) quilt and I am sold on this type of quilting! The thing I hate about making a large quilt, is that it is a beast to quilt once you've pieced it. (and I usually don't have extra $ floating around to send it to a longarm quilter) So this technique was perfect for solving that problem! 

(If this isn't making sense, head over and check out Maureen's tutorial and it will explain what I am talking about.)

I used a bunch of fabrics from my stash, mostly AMH, and went for a Boho feel and love the way it turned out. I used AMH Spotted in a Crowd leopard print for the binding (one of my favorite prints) and Tula Pink Free Fall in Navy Wideback for the backing. It was my first time using 108" fabric for quilt backing and I am a fan! I loved not having to piece the back. I was also super impressed with the hand of the Tula Pink wide backing... It was ultra soft and buttery, I would definitely use it again.

I am in the process of making a voile version of this quilt for my bed... It's king size, so I don't know if I will finish it before baby comes, but that is the plan. Here is a sneak peak... You can follow my progress on IG.

Well, I hope you are all having a wonderful summer! Our family just got back from our summer trip to visit family out in Utah, which was so fun and relaxing! I'm just about 35 weeks pregnant now, so I am sticking close to home now for the duration of my pregnancy and officially entering the uncomfortable stages of the pregnancy. The humidity in the Midwest is torturing me! ;) Definitely missing that dry summer heat in Utah! 

I've been so busy with other projects that I haven't sewn a single thing for my baby! Can you believe that?! I have got to get moving... these last few weeks are going to fly by. 

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

P.S. I't s the Fat Quarter Shop's 13th Birthday and they are celebrating by offering 13% off of your order! Yay! They are also giving away 13 amazing prizes, so head over to their blog and enter the giveaway! 

Handmade Teacher Thanks You Gifts

With all of the sewing I was working on for Quilt Market, the last week of school really crept up on me this year and I was scrambling for what to give my kids teachers. Both of my kids teachers were phenomenal and I wish I would have had the foresight to make quilts ahead of time for them, but as a perpetual procrastinator, that wasn't really realistic, right?!

I knew that I want to do something with apples. I love apples and rarely get the chance to sew with an apple theme, so you better believe that my kids teachers get something "apple" every year. (I have heard teachers get sick of apples, but how could you not love a fabric apple?!)

I loved this pillow that Heather of Vintage Grey Handmade made a few years ago, so I used her pillow as my inspiration. I got searching and realized that the pattern she used to make her pillow was a free pattern offered by Bustle and Sew- perfect!! It's called the Appley Dappley Cushion Cover.

I used the apple templates that were available in the pattern from Bustle and Sew and raw edge appliquéd them onto a 16x16 inch background fabric for the pillow front. I tacked the apples down with just a bit of elmers glue (yep- the white washable kind) and then stitched them with black thread to give it a bit of a pop. Super easy.

I just kinda winged the rest of the pillow and added jumbo rick rack to the edges and created an envelope closure on the back side. I ran to Joann and used a coupon that they have going this week for 60% off of a pack of two- 16x16 inch pillow forms, so with the coupon, they only ended up being a couple dollars a piece for the inserts. Score!

 I made two pillows, one for each of their main teachers and then wanted to make something smaller for their "specials" teachers- gym, librarian, music, technology, art, etc. I saw @mommy2lu on IG made some darling little patchwork apples for Lunden's teachers so I knew that would be the perfect thing. I used the Scrappy Apple Pincushion & Ornament pattern by Retro Mama and I was so impressed with the pattern. The apples turned out darling and the pattern was very clear and easy to follow. Which is always a a plus when I fork out $ for a pattern. :)

I wrapped the pillows up with a thank you for their  teachers and then for the teachers that they rotate to throughout the week, I wrapped up the little patchwork apples with a cute soap from Bath and Body Works and added a tag that said "We could not have 'PICKED' a better (gym, art, library, etc) teacher this year!" to the ribbon. They looked really cute all wrapped up and the teachers loved them when we ran them around the school. 

Whew! Glad that I finished everything up in time! I fly out for Quilt Market in a few hours so I better run and pack! (Procrastinator as always- remember?!?) 

If you are at market, I would love to meet you!!

Have a great week!!

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

Backyard Roses Blog Tour // Maker's Tote

I am so happy to be a part of the Backyard Roses Blog Tour! The minute saw the Backyard Roses fabric by Nadra of Ellis and Higgs for Riley Blake, I fell in love. Y'all know I am a sucker for a good floral and these florals are perfect! 

I have been wanting to make a Maker's Tote for a while so I figured this was the perfect time. 

The Maker's Tote is a great pattern. Anna of Noodlehead is a genius when it comes to pattern writing so I expected no less. 

I made the smaller version of the bag and plan to send it to my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. It's a darling little bag that is perfect for keeping sewing notions or whatever you want in it. It totally reminds me of the old school doctor bags- which I think was the inspiration for Anna when she came up with the pattern. So cute!

I love the gusseted pockets on the inside and the gusset on the side of the bag. Little details like that are what I love seeing in a pattern and make the pattern exciting to me.

I didn't make any modifications to the bag- it was perfect as is in my opinion. :)

Be sure to check out the other projects that have been made as part of the tour- they are amazing!

4/18 - Riley Blake Designs

4/19 - Emily Ann's Kloset

4/20 - La La La Patchwork

4/21 - Simple Simon & Co.

4/22 - Down Grapevine Lane

4/23 - Veni Vidi Vicky

4/25 - Why Not Sew

4/26 - Jedi Craft Girl

4/27 - Allie & Me

4/28 - She Quilts a Lot

4/29 - Lilabelle Lane

4/30 - Das mach ich Nachts

5/2 - Tied with a Ribbon

5/3 - Mommy by Day Crafter by Night

5/4 - Carried Away Quilting

5/5 - September's Quilt Delight

5/6 - Oh How Sweet

5/7 - Schnig Schnag Quilts & More

5/9 - A Spoonful of Sugar

5/10 - Greenfietsen

5/11 - A Bright Corner

5/12 - Ellis & Higgs

Hope you have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo, Ashley

P.S.- These last few week have been so busy! I am getting ready to go to Quilt Market for the first time ever and I am beyond excited! (Let me know if you'll be there too- I'd love to meet you!)

I'm making several things for some of the fabric designers to display in their booths, which is super fun, but has kept me busy! I'll share those projects soon! :)

First Finish of 2016 + Some Exciting News

For our family, 2016 is going to be an exciting year. We found out shortly after Thanksgiving last year that I was expecting, and just this week we went in for an ultrasound and found out that our baby is a BOY! Due in early August. After 2 girls close together, followed by a 6 year gap, it's going to be fun to have a baby in our home again and we are thrilled to find out that it's a boy. So that means I finally get the excuse to use up all of the darling blue, nautical fabric I've been hoarding for years! :)
My first trimester was filled with lots of nausea and not much desire to sew, so I haven't had too much to show over here on the ole blog, but I just finished my first make of 2016. It's just a small mini quilt for a swap that I was a part of, but it felt good to turn on my sewing machine and put the petal to the metal after weeks spent lying on the couch feeling blah. ;) My second trimesters are always much easier for me, so I am doing my best to take advantage of the surge of energy I've been having... And because it would be just too simple to sew one large quilt at time, I've jumped in and am in the middle of sewing 2 queen sized and 1 king sized quilt at once. My sewing room is kinda a disaster with three projects going on at once, but its fun. :)

Back to my mini quilt... This was such a fun little project to make. I love foundation paper piecing. I feel like it is the only way that I will take on intricate quit blocks because I can be so precise doing it that way. This cute little envelope block can be found in darling book Patchwork Please by Ayumi Takahashi. It may be the only book that I have that I actually like every single pattern included in the book, so I always feel totally justified in recommending it to a friend. Ayumi is just one of the most kind, and talented people that I know. Everything that she comes up with, from fabric to pattern to pretty much anything she touches is seriously GOLD in my eyes. (ok... I'll quit gushing now. ha ha)

This pattern is perfect for fussy cutting small pieces of fabric into the insides of the envelopes. I used cute bits of fabric by Tasha Noel from her Vintage Market and The Simple Life lines, and then bits of Bonnie + Camille and a handful of other fabrics I had in my stash for the envelopes. Firefly in Whisper from Bonnie Christine's Hello Bear line was the perfect low volume background. 

Well I hope that y'all are having a great day. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read my exciting news. :)
Happy Sewing!
xoxo, Ashley

Happy Mail Mini Quilt Swap

One of my very favorite things to make and receive are mini quilts. I love them because they are the perfect way to try out a block or two of a quilt you've been wanting to make, or the perfect size to design something intricate that you may not want or have the time to do in a full size quilt.

I joined a couple mini quilt swaps this year and have had such a fun time with them that I decided to host my own. I wanted it to be small, just a handful of friends. I named it the Happy Mail Mini Quilt Swap, because who doesn’t love a bit of happy mail?!

It has been so much fun! Big swaps are fun too of course, but this one was extra fun because I knew everyone involved. 

Once the partners were divvied up, I found out that the friend I would be creating a mini for was Ayumi of Pink Penguin. Talk about intimidating! She is incredible! She just came out with her very own fabric line! (Lighthearted Fabric) Ayumi is one of the very first "sewing bloggers" that I started following when I started blogging/sewing. She is sooo talented, so to say I was nervous to create something for her, is an understatement! 

As I was planning the mini I wanted to create, I remembered a picture that I came across 2 years ago on Pinterest. At the time, the picture that I had pinned didn't have a link. So with the help of friends on IG, I discovered that it was a picture from the Japanese magazine Couturier. I don't speak Japanese, so I am not sure what is said about the quilt, but I decided to make something that was inspired by this image. 

Image Source 

I started by making 5 inch quilt blocks. (I made roughly 16 but only 12 made the cut.)  After each block was made, I took the block, batting, and 5 inch square of backing fabric and put them right sides together and then stitched around the entire block leaving a 3 inch opening to turn the block right side out. Then I whip stitched the opening closed (I know I should have done a ladder stitch, but for some reason I just can't get the hang of it.) Then I hand quilted each block with 12 wt white aurifil thread. 

Essentially I had 12 coasters when I was all done. 

I arranged them in the order I wanted and then it was time to stitch them together. I took my blocks, starting with 2, and put them right sides together and whip stitched the edge. If you have done EPP, you will probably know what I am talking about. (the trick was just catching the front quilt block fabric- I'll explain later.) Once the two were connected, I opened up the blocks and added the next one on. I created 3 rows of 4. Once the rows were assembled, I put the rows right sides together and did the same thing all along the edges to connect them- again, just catching the front fabric with my needle and taking small, tight whip stitches. Once the rows were all sewn together, I laid the quilt face down on a table and carefully whip stitched the back of the blocks together.  

This probably doesn't make a lot of sense as you are reading it, but the reason I did it this way was because just like in EPP, you don't want your stitches to be visible from the front when you are looking at it. So with piecing the blocks together just like EPP, the stitches aren't visible- the only difference is the back wouldn't be "hidden" with a quilt back, so that is why the whip stitches were necessary on the back, they kinda "closed up" the seams and hid my first whip stitches in between the blocks. 

In the end, this quilt is pretty much all hand pieced, with the exception of using my machine to sew around the edges of the blocks as mentioned before. 

I had so much fun creating the blocks. Most of them were hand appliqued, but all of them were of my own design. If I wanted to create something- like this pink penguin (a nod to Ayumi's blog), I just found a picture online to eyeball and drew out my pieces by hand to create my tiny patchwork. The blocks aren't perfect by any means, but overall I love the effect of the quilt. 

I hope my directions make sense! Be sure to let me know if you have any questions and I will be sure to answer them! 

Hope y'all have a wonderful week! 

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

Quilting for Twins

Last month I started a fun project- quilting for TWINS! (But not my own! ;)

My sweet cousin is pregnant with twins... A boy and a girl. As soon as I heard the news, I started day dreaming about a fun color palette for coordinating quilts to make for her and the babies.

I wanted something that would coordinate, but not be matchy-matchy. I started pulling fabrics from my stash and the fabric that kept jumping out to me was Wild and Free Folk Plaid by Maureen Cracknell. I felt like it would be the perfect fabric to tie both quilts together. 

So first I pulled fabric for the baby girl quilt. I started with the plaid, and then added some peachy fabrics as well as some mustard. Some of my favorites were the Wild and Free Arrows, Arizona Desert Blanket by April Rhodes, Winged Plumage by Bonnie Christine, & Domino Dot in Geranium by Violet Craft.

I really love the way the colors came together. I think this combo is so dreamy- plus since most of them are Art Gallery fabrics, they have the softest hand and it is just an incredibly snuggly quilt!

After I finished the baby girl quit, I pulled fabrics for the baby boy quilt. Again, I used the Wild and Free Folk Plaid as the fabric to tie both quilts together. Then I added some Cotton + Steel Basics from the blue and mint color ways, Essex Dyed Linen in Black, Hello Bear Buck Forrest by Bonnie Christine, and some black and white fabrics pulled from my stash. (I used the folk plaid for backing on this one and I am going to have to do it again! It was the perfect quilt back.) I tried to do a new and fresh color combo that I hadn't really seen before, and I think its perfect for a little boy. 

The quilts have made it to their destination and are anxiously awaiting for the babies to arrive and snuggle with them! Can't wait!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Hope y'all have a happy week!
xoxo, Ashley