Mini Quilt | Kaffe Fassett Pickle Dish

Do you ever get an idea in your head, and even though you have a million other things you should/need to be doing instead, you just can't seem to shake it? THAT was totally me for the last couple weeks! I have been wanting to make a pickle dish quilt ever since I saw one in my local quilt shop {Sew to Speak} by the amazing Mary Dugan of Molly Flanders. 

My photos are courtesy of my phone and instagram... sorry they aren't the greatest! 

 Then my friend Rachel started making one. She would bring it to work on when we would get together and I fell in love with the idea of making one myself! Obviously I couldn't add another WIP {work in progress} to my growing pile, so I decided to make one block and turn it into a mini. I had package to send Rach that I had been putting together for her and figured that a pickle dish mini was the perfect thing to finish off the package. 

 There are 3 patterns for a pickle dish quilt that I am aware of. There is a fabulous {and free} tutorial with step by step pictures and templates by Aneela Hoey. Then there is one called Gypsy Kisses by Sarah Fielke in the Material Obsession 2 book. And the last one is by Kaffe Fassett in the Quilt Romance book.  

The Sarah Fielke and Kaffe Fassett pickle dish look very similar to my eye. I am sure if you had one of each quilt side by side, you would see that there are definitely differences in them, as they are assembled using different techniques, but at a glance they look the similar.

The one that I have seen by Mary, and that my friend Rachel is making is the Sarah Fielke Gypsy Kisses version. I haven't read the pattern, but I am pretty sure it involves hand applique and machine piecing. I have never done applique before so that kinda scared me! So I did a little research and found that the Kaffe Fassett one is all machine pieced. That seemed a little safer for me to try, but I have to admit- the curved piecing was kinda freaking me out! I have never sewed with curves when it comes to patchwork! So I tried to muster up the confidence needed and ordered the Kaffe Fassett book.

 I started working as soon as the book arrived. The pattern is great and very straight forward. The only changes that I made to it was I didn't add the final piece to the outside of the block to make it "square". I liked it curved around the edges since it is just a mini quilt. I also made my own center template by taping 4 of the "template B" pieces together to create one center piece of fabric instead of 4 separate pieces. 

(I cut the seam allowance off of the 2 straight edges, but left the seam allowance on the curved edge and then taped them to create one template.)

I was super excited to cut into my Liberty Bloomsbury Gardens stash and I knew they would pair perfectly with some of my Cotton + Steel and Anna Maria Horner stash. I used Kona Charcoal as the background, backing, and binding of the quilt. Then I hand quilted it with Valdani pearl cotton. I pin basted the layers together for quilting but I didn't use a hoop to stretch it out as I quilted it. I just wanted it to have a loose, soft, puckery feel to it and I really loved the result! 

(I definitely wouldn't use this method for a whole quilt, but since it's a mini and is just hanging on the wall, I figured it was ok.)

Now that I have made one block, I feel like I can go on with my other WIP's and I don't have a pickle dish quilt in the back of my mind....ok... ok... who am I kidding?! Now I want to make another pickle dish more than ever! 

I definitely need to make a mini for myself to hang on my mini wall and I'm totally adding a full pickle dish to my bucket list for sure!! I'm afraid I've awakened a pickle dish monster inside me! ha ha ;)

I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

2014 in a glance

2014 was a good year... We made a lot of changes as a family- hubby graduating school (from THE Ohio State University), leaving best friends and moving from the Midwest to the South, bootcamp for the hubby + a new job, oldest starting kindergarten, plus just getting adjusted to the South and settled in our home! Somehow through it all I managed to squeeze in quite a bit of sewing! ;) 

Here are a few of the projects that I worked on over the year!

Buckeye Quilt | Mini Quilt Top | Sheriff Callie Costume | WIP Mini Quilt | Jane Market Tote | Dolly Suitcase | Carseat Canopy | Colored Pencil Roll | QAYG Weekender Bag | Little Red Riding Hood Costume | DIY Sofia the First Amulet | Little House Sewing Pouch | Quilted Suitcase Tutorial | La Passacaglia | Fort Firefly Quilt | Retro Skirt | Little Folks Voile Quilt | Chardon Anchor Skirt | Quilted Ukulele Case Tutorial | 14 Days of valentines Printables | Quilted Messenger Bag | Hexagon Quilt | Heather Bailey Messenger Bag

 I just want to say thank you for following my sewing journey and for taking the time to leave comments, tagging me in your posts of projects you are making with my tutorials (I love to see what YOU are making!), and for just being so supportive! I can't tell you what it means to me! You are all so sweet and I am grateful for each and every one of you! You inspire me to keep creating!

I can already tell that 2015 is going to be a great year! I am looking forward to lots of sewing and hanging out with y'all on the blog and Instagram along the way! 

Happy Sewing!! 

xoxo, Ashley

Teacher Gifts | The Jane Market Bag

 With my daughter being in kindergarten, this was my first official year to come up with teacher gifts for Christmas. She has a kindergarten teacher and an assistant teacher who are simply amazing! They have made her start to school a very positive experience and I love them both so much!

 I thought it would be fun to sew something for them. Handmade gifts are the best- in my book, at least. I love them because they are personalized and heartfelt, so the recipient of the gift can tell that you cared enough to put time and effort into making something just for them.

I've been collecting "school" themed fabric over the past few years- just for the sole purpose of projects like this for teachers. It was fun to finally cut into my stash for the first time. 

I decided to make a Jane Market Bag for each teacher. It was my first time using the pattern and I really liked it. I would definitely recommend it! The tote is roughly the size of a reusable shopping bag, so it is not too big- but not too small. The thing I love most about this tote are the pin tucks along the sides that give the bag shape. 

After reading some feedback on the pattern, I followed one persons advise and used a light to mid weight fusible interfacing for my exterior fabric. I'm so glad that I did that because my fabric is quilting cotton weight so it would have been pretty flimsy without it. The only other modification that I did was added pin tucks along all 4 bottom edges. With the way the pattern works, the pocket panels goes all the way to the bottom seam (which is positioned in the middle of the bottom of the bag) so I wanted it to cut off at where the bottom of the bag "should be"- that way the odds and ends put into the pocket don't end up slipping too far down to create a lumpy base- (this will probably make more sense if you have made or own the pattern). I also love the stability and shape that pin tucking the base of the bag created. The bag can totally stand on it's own. 

I opted to not add the optional cardboard base it was a gift to someone- I didn't want them to wonder why I put the cardboard in there and knew my kindergartener likely couldn't explain it's purpose when giving it to them. If I were making this pattern for myself, I would probably add cardboard to the bottom- possibly even make a fabric sleeve to put the cardboard in to make it look more finished. Then I could take the cardboard/fabric sleeve out for washing. 

I really love the way they turned out, but more importantly, my daughter was really proud to give the bags to her teachers this morning. I let her choose which bag to give each teacher and then we put them into gift bags with my daughters favorite Christmas candy and a handmade Christmas card. 

Well, can you believe that Christmas is less than a week away?!? December has flown by for me! This will probably be my last post here on my blog in 2014 as I plan to spend every last minute with my family over the Winter Break- 16 days of no school for my oldest means it's party time for little sis. I can't wait to just sit and watch them play with new Christmas toys while relaxing on the couch with some EPP! I hope to make a lot of progress on my La Passacaglia over the break! :) So... If you wanna see what I'm up to for the rest of 2014, be sure to follow over on Instagram for the behind the scenes and progress on my sewing pictures- @crafterbynight. 

I wish you all the Merriest of Christmases, and a wonderful New Year! 

xoxo, Ashley

AMH Little Folks Voile Quilt

 Remember when I went fabric crazy 2 years ago and bought a half yard of every AMH print in voile that I could get my hands on?  It was a brief, break of insanity... But- in my defense- they were on a $6 sale! I couldn't help myself!!  They are the softest, yummiest, amazing fabrics ever! I am obsessed! 

Shortly afterwards, I joined a Fabric-aholics Anonymous program.

"Hi- My name is Ashley and it has been 1 day since I made a fabric purchase."

JUST KIDDING! 

That's only for people that can't control their fabric purchases.  I don't have a problem... Do I? ;) Mwahahahahaha!!

 Ok... In all reality- it was one of the best fabric purchases I've ever made! No regrets here! Just come snuggle this quilt, and you'll see why!

I decided to make a square patchwork quilt first. I didn't dare slice and dice those gorgeous fabrics too much! I went with a 6 inch squares to create my quilt top- 14 squares across, 14 squares down- which makes it roughly 6.5' squared. Perfect for two to snuggle on the couch with! 

Once I pieced the quilt, I decided to hand quilt it to make it extra soft and give it a good drape. I used Valdani pearl cotton in varying colors and opted for orange peel quilting. (I seriously cut a piece of cardboard and used it as my template and traced the design with a washable fabric marker- MacGuyver moment people!) 

Its backed with voile and I used Soft and Warm batting, which is pretty thin, so this quilt is super lightweight and thin. I can use it year round!

 I worked at a tortoise pace while hand quilting it, so it took forever (over a year start to finish on this quilt- which is so unlike me! ha ha) I would just pick it up every month or so and work on it while sitting on the couch in the evenings, but it was always there in the back of my mind- that looming UFO (un-finished object) project begging me to finish it. So when our family recently moved, I unpacked this beauty and worked on it for a couple weeks straight until it was complete! 

It's been in use for a few months now, and everyone in our family fights over getting to use it! If all four of us squeeze onto the love seat, we can just fit underneath it (if nobody moves! ha ha)

I love that they all love it as much as I do! :)

 Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! Mine is full of stuffing and addressing our family Christmas cards, the ward Christmas party, and a day trip to one of my new favorite cities- Charlotte! Hope I can squeeze in some sewing time too! ;)

xoxo, Ashley

P.S.- The winner of the Cotton + Steel Splash Bundle is: 

Amy Harvard

Amy HarwardDecember 8, 2014 at 1:11 AM

Love your mini! Thanks for the chance to win :). 

Congrats Amy! I will be contacting you soon!

Dragonfly Fabric Promo Code

You guys know I love a good sale and am always in search of a promo code to use when I buy fabric... So I thought I would spread the wealth and let you know that Dragonfly Fabric is offering all of my readers 15% off your entire order right now! 

Just swing by Amy's darling shop and use the code: mommybyday15 at checkout!

She has a bunch of amazing collections and fabrics in right now! I am seriously crushing over this darling Riding Hood collection that she has right now!  

How darling are these grannies, riding hoods, and wolfies?!

And this granny square cheater print is seriously tooo cute!!!

Happy Shopping!!

La Passacaglia Quilt Pattern

A couple months ago, while I was looking at my instagram feed, I came across the most amazing/crazy/insane quilt pattern I have ever seen. I was so intrigued by it and put it onto my to-do list right away! I love how all of the "cogs" intersect and connect. Amazing!!

After looking into it a bit, I found out that the pattern was the La Passacaglia from the Millefiori Quilts book by Willyne Hammerstein. 

(featured on the cover of the book)

The book is written in both French and English and it is insanely amazing! I can not believe the 19 quilts in this book. Simply incredible!

The book is super hard to find here in the U.S.- but last month PaperPieces.com remedied that and had 200 copies shipped from France. YAY! They also did all of the hard work for us and they sell pre-cut card stock paper pieces and acrylic templates to cut your fabric... and believe me- with a quilt that has approx 2900 pieces, they are a must! There is no way I could accurately cut out my own pattern pieces, so I am so happy to let them do the job! 

I am not quite done with my first cog yet, but I am loving making this quilt every step of the way... well maybe except for those tiny stars!! It is a lot of work, and a huge time commitment, but I just plan to work at my own pace and enjoy the process! As for my color scheme... I am not sure... I am thinking I may have a bit of every color of the rainbow. I gotta embrace the craziness of the quilt! 

If you are thinking about jumping on the 

"La Passacaglia crazy train", 

be sure to check out the gorgeous quilts and happenings on Instagram!

Just look up these hastags:

#lapassacaglia & #passacagliaquilt

And if you really want to be amazed- check out @alexouq... her Cotton + Steel La Pass is beyond amazing!! And I am pretty much obsessed with everything else she makes too! ;)

Happy Sewing!!

xoxo, Ashley

P.S. Thanks to everyone who entered thePolar Notion Board giveaway on my blog over the weekend.. One winner was chosen at random and the lucky lady is Dixie.

DixieNovember 14, 2014 at 1:34 PM

Wow - I have wanted to try out those babies on my stash!!! 

Polar Notion Fabric Board Giveaway

When it comes to fabric storage, I love organization and neatness. Nothing worse than shoving your beautiful fabrics in a bin or closet where you have to dig through them every time you need something! Last year, after getting sick of doing just that- digging through bins, I decided to make a sewing shelf dedicated to storing my notions and patterns. 

 I knew that I wanted to have mini "fabric bolts" to store my fabric on and at the time, the only thing I could find that would work were cardboard comic book boards. They worked alright, but since they are made of cardboard, you can imagine that they aren't very sturdy and bend easily- especially if I have more than a yard of fabric on the board/bolt. 

A couple weeks ago, I was contacted by one of my favorite shops- PaperPieces.com and they wondered if I wanted to try out Polar Notion Boards. 

I was intrigued so I said "yes" and they sent me one 10 pack of the plastic boards to try out. I was skeptical at first because my boards were working fine, but once they arrived I was sold. They are made of a stiff plastic and the fabric wraps around them so nicely! Not only that, but they are acid free... so they aren't going to damage your fabrics over time. I got the original size and they are just the right size- about the same height as my favorite quilting magazine, so they fit perfectly on a book shelf. They do have smaller sizes though if you are looking for fat quarter size bolts. How cute is that!?! I just love them! I can't wait to order more to replace my bent up cardboard bolts. 

I love how you can go from a pile of unruly fabric to your own personal "fabric shop" of neatly organized fabric bolts. It really is the perfect answer to fabric organization! 

So if you are ready to get organized, right now is the perfect time- all Polar Notions are 20% off until Sunday Nov. 16th. So run over and take advantage of that! You won't be disappointed! :)

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

And SUPER BONUS- They are giving one lucky Mommy by day... Crafter by night reader a 10 pack of either size Polar Notion boards try out!! All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment with your email and I will choose a winner Tuesday November 18.