Granny's Medallion Quilt

A few years back, I came across a quilt that my friend Amy of Diary of a Quilter had taken a photo of at a quilting retreat and posted it on her blog. The moment I saw it, I was obsessed. It was one of the most beautiful quilts I had ever seen. I reached out to Amy to get more info on who the maker of the quilt was.

Once I had the makers information, I reached out and asked about a pattern for the quilt. It wasn't until I took at look at her Instagram that I realized that it was actually someone that I knew and had met a couple years prior at the Spring Quilt Market in 2016. I had been sitting in a room waiting for the Tula Pink schoolhouse to begin when the woman sitting next to me struck up a conversation. She was very friendly and we got to know each other a little in the 15 minutes we chatted before the class began.  Little did I realize at the time, just how talented the woman I was sitting next to was! Her name is Paula McKinlay and she teaches classes to make her quilt designs at quilting retreats.

When I contacted Paula, she graciously offered to send me the pattern so that I could make the quilt since I live out of state and wouldn't be able to attend one of her classes. I was so excited!

Then, I found out I was going to have a baby girl, and this quilt couldn't have been more perfect! 

It took me some time to pick out my fabrics. I knew that I wanted to make mine in colors very similar to Paula's original quilt, but I wanted to put my flair into it with fussy cutting the center of the star. All while making the quilt I had this idea of doing a hand appliquéd scallop border for the final border. The original pattern calls for plus blocks- which are just as cute as can be, but I took a leap and started making half circles to hand appliqué. It took a while to complete that final border, but when I finished that last stitch I was so happy that I had done it. I love the way it turned out. 

I used various fabrics from my stash to make the quilt, Paint Brush Studios Shell Pink solid for the sashing and backing, and hand quilted it with Aurifil 12wt thread. 

I finished just in the nick of time before our sweet baby girl arrived this summer. She is just as cute as can be and we are so in love with her. I've been taking time away from sewing to soak in all of the snuggles, and I have been moving every moment of it, so I'll be back sometime...

as you know, "Babies don't keep."

xoxo, Ashley

P.S. For those interested in making the Granny Medallion quilt, you can email Paula at pauladmckinlay@gmail.com and she can sell you the pattern.

Quilted Scripture Case

 We have a tradition in our family of giving a set of scriptures to our children when they are baptized. This August my daughter turned 8, so it was time to get a set of scriptures for her. Which meant she needed a scripture case....

(We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Click here if you want to learn more about what I believe) 

I don't have a ton of time to sew these days, so if I can find something pre-made that's cute and does the job, I'll usually go that route.

(I usually like to save my sewing time for English Paper Piecing on the couch in the evenings) 

I looked around at the scripture cases that were available and none of them were really jumping out to me, so I went to my stash and pulled some fabrics.

The main floral is Rifle Paper Co Birch Floral in Periwinkle from the Les Fleurs line, and the other prints are just random ones I had in my stash. 

I drafted my own pattern for this little case and it turned out darling. There are a few things I would tweak next time I make one, but overall it turned out just as I envisioned it. 

I have one more case to make for my almost 10 year old, because after seeing little sis's case, she pulled some fabrics of her own and has deemed her store bought case not quite what she wants. ;) And... I love that they still think it's cool that mom makes things for them, so I will happily make her a case as well. 

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

How to Attach a Quilt Label to a Quilt

Quilt labels are the perfect touch to personalize a quilt.... But....

I'm usually so excited to just finish the quilt that I am working on, that I normally skip this step. I've come to realize that a label is important for many reasons though. 

#1- if you are giving the quilt as a gift, it really adds personalization because you can add a name, or a date, or an occasion for the quilt being gifted

#2- if you are keeping the quilt for yourself, you can add any details that you (or posterity) would like to remember for years to come. (for instance, back in 2012, I made Scrappy Trip Along quilt as part of a quilt along on instagram, so for that quilt I made a label that said "Scrappy Trip Along 2012". Original- I know! haha)

I personally love to make quilt labels that are embroidered. I usually stitch my words and then add fabric scraps from the quilt around the edges in some way- just to tie everything in.

I recently discovered Sulky printable sticky fabric-solve stabilizer for embroidery. It's pretty cool stuff. You can print right onto it, so you don't have to trace any patterns, you peel the back off, and stick it to the fabric. Then after you stitch, you soak it in water for a minute and the stabilizer disintegrates. Initially I was kinda skeptical about soaking my newly stitched label in water, but it totally worked. A word of cation though- The first time I tried it, I used a calligraphy sort of font that printed a lot of thick dark ink to for the letters, and then didn't follow directions to use the "draft" setting on the printer so that the ink would print lighter. BIG MISTAKE! Unfortunately some of the ink from the paper stained my fabric while I was soaking and resulted in the label looking slightly blotchy in spots. So make sure that you don't do that. The second time I tried it, I used a font that was thin and printed in the "draft" setting and had no issues.

So once my label is stitched, I trim the fabric down to the size I want and sew strips of fabric around the edges- in this case, a log cabin sort of design.

*side note: I did add a little fabric appliqué detail to the label- for the "8". I printed an 8 on reynolds freezer paper, ironed it to my fabric, cut out the 8 and then applied Pellon 805 Wonder-Under Fusible Web to iron/stick the appliqué to the fabric.

After the label block is finished, I iron the top and left side edge under 1/4" inch to give it a finished edge for stitching. The right and bottom raw edge will be covered by the quilt binding so you don't need to do those sides. 

Next, I pin the label on the back side of the quilt on the bottom right corner. I used a basting stitch and 1/8" seam allowance and baste the right and bottom edge of the label to the quilts edge. 

Then I used straight pins to hold the top and left side edge  in place and used a whip stitch by hand to attach the remaining two edges to the back of the quilt. I do this because I don't like to see where the quilt label is attached when looking at the front side, but if you don't mind you can totally use your machine and sew around all of the edges and be finished. The hand stitching those two edges doesn't take long, and I like the look of it better, so I don't mind the extra step.

 After the label is attached to your quilt, just attach your binding and bind as you normally would.

Voilà! You are done! A finished quilt with a cute little quilt label.

Hope this helps! 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! 

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

La Passacaglia Progress + Black Friday Fabric Sales

I share most of my step by step progress of my La Passacaglia Quilt on IG, but I still like to post updates here too every once in a while... So here are some pictures of my progress so far. 

(I could tell you about the fabrics, process, etc... but I think this time I'll just let the pictures do the talking. ;)

Well... Black Friday is upon us...

And I can't help but share some great fabric sales.

The Fat Quarter Shop: 25% off all orders from Friday Nov. 27 until Saturday Nov. 28 at Midnight CST. (excludes purchases of gift cards. No code necessary.)

Fort Worth Fabric Studio: Friday Nov. 27- Sat. Nov 28, all Riley Blake & Michael Miller is 15-25% off (no code necessary, prices reflected in the cart)

FabricCadabra: 20% off all orders Fri Nov. 27- Mon. Nov. 29. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

xoxo, Ashley

Cotton + Steel Mini Quilt Swap

 Quilt swaps are all the rage on Instagram right now! It seems like every week, there is a signup for a new swap. One of the things that is so fun about the swaps is that most of them are open to anyone who wants to join. It is a great way to make new sewing friends and participate- whether you are a blogger, or just love to sew. 

If you have never done a swap before, you should try it. It is a lot of fun! Once you sign up, you are given a partner to create a mini quilt for (someone different will be making one for you). In each swap I have been in, the partners have been kept secret so that you don't know who will be creating your mini and your partner won't know that you are creating the mini for them. In larger quilt swaps, you are put into a smaller group and each group has a "swap mama" who is in charge of making sure that things run smoothly. The group usually has a separate hashtag, so when you search that hashtag you know that one of the quilts in that hashtag will be sent your way. 

This was my third swap and I definitely plan to do more in the future! :) The best way to stay in the loop and hear about upcoming swaps is to follow all of your favorite quilters/sewing friends on IG. Word usually gets around pretty quick once a new swap is announced. (You could also search hashtags for mini swaps too.) Each swap is different and has different rules, so just make sure you read the rules before you sign up to make sure it is going to be a good fit for you. :) 

A few months back, there was a signup for the Cotton + Steel Mini Quilt Swap (#cottonandsteelminiquiltswap), hosted by Modern Stitchin Mama. I love Cotton + Steel, so I knew it would be a fun swap. I have been wanting to create a mini sampler quilt, so it was the perfect time. It was definitely a labor of love and took a while to make, but I loved making each block. 

A lot of people have asked on IG if there is a pattern to make this quilt and the answer is yes... and no.  I used a pattern for several of the blocks, but I also improved and made some without patterns too.

So I thought I would link y'all to the blocks that DO have patterns for them. 

(Most of them are foundation paper piecing patterns.) 

Gemology Block by Sarah Rose Quilts

Glitter Block from Jen Kingwell's Quilt Lovely Book

 January Quilt block by Lady Harvatine (I printed mine at 50% so it's 6" square)

Feather by Sometimes Crafter

For my rainbow, I used 2 striped pattern pieces from the Pickle Dish pattern from Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Romance book and then pieced them together like a rainbow and then appliquéd the rainbow to the quilt block.

For the crazy patch quilt label, I used this pattern. 

When the quilt was all finished, I wasn't sure that I would be able to part with it! ha ha But alas, the mailing date came and it was time for my mini to go to a new home. 

Even though it was so hard to part with my mini quilt, I was sent the most gorgeous mini in return from Crystal @keystonecharmquilts. I am so head over heels for this mini! It's absolutely perfect in every way! I love the way that she switched the fabric placement and did a different take on a traditional kaleidoscope quilt block! I can't wait to hang it on my wall!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Sewing! 

xoxo, Ashley

P.S. Happy 4th of July to my friends that live in the USA! I hope that y'all have a wonderful weekend celebrating our great country!

And because I love helping a fellow fabric addict like myself- 

Lady Belle Fabrics is having a great sale! Head over to shop their deep discounts and sale section! Use code july4 to receive free shipping on orders over $50. Sale and code ends Monday July 6, 2015 end of day.

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