Snowman Block of the Month

Here are the first two blocks for our snowman block of the month, or at least the background block. I fully intend to finish them this week but right now I'm busy sewing table toppers for a church party.

Sisters Quilt Retreat

Busy, busy, busy bees!
I helped my grandma and mom organize a sisters' quilt retreat for my sisters, aunt and cousins. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work.

There were nine of us there.

 There was also a lot of diet coke, dr pepper and a few Coke Zeroes.

 Hand applique!

 Two babies joined us. They were too young to leave at home.

 Chain piecing comes in handy when you are doing 9 complete quilts.

 Ironing love.

 Look at those piles, we're almost done!

 Beautiful rows ready to get put together.

 My grandma and cousin did most of the hand appliqued flowers. We machine appliqued the stems.

Basic Grey Open House

 We had a great time at our open house for Basic Grey designer Allison Ashby.

 Treats were served of course.

 Here are some of the great canvases that you can personalize and decorate in a snap using fabric, paper, paint, buttons and any other embellishment you can think of. There are a lot of great ideas at the Basic Grey website and we have a lot of their stuff in our new scrapbook department at Seasons of Home in Midway, UT. Come up and visit!

Cuddly Blanket for Sick Days

I finished this great Kaffe Fasset throw just in time to keep me warm while I was sick. I was so cold! But the fabulous purple minky on the back is so warm. I love it.




Here is a close up of the quilting which was done by Deonn Stott of Quiltscapes. It is absolutely beautiful.

 The Kaffe Fasset fabric is so soft, I haven't even washed it and it's totally soft and cuddly.

 I almost made it king size with another large border but decided I needed a throw so I just added the small pieced border and called it good.

A similar Kaffe quilt kit will be available online and in our store Seasons of Home in Midway, UT in a few weeks.

FREE Chevron Throw Pattern and Tutorial

Here is a quilt I've had on my mind for months and I finally just started cutting one night and it turned out so cute and easy.

Disclaimer: This is my first attempt at a tutorial so if you have questions make sure to comment. Also, I may be giving too much information but I like to tell you what I was doing and sometimes thinking so that you can see my train of thought.

Here's what I did:

Fabric:
2 yards moda red
2 yards moda white

Cutting:
8" X WOF for all yardage, red and white, you will end up with exactly 9 strips of each, although you will only need 8 for this project (it's always safe to have a little too much though)

Next, separate your white into two piles of 4 and your red into 2 piles of four with all fabric right side up.

Tip: If you can't decide which should be up look at the selvage and you should be able to tell which side is smoother, and that is the right side. This is an important point to make because you are going to cut one end of each strip in the pile at a 45*angle and each pile needs to go the opposite way so you end up with angles that go together with all fabric right side up.

Cut one pile of white two strips at a time, cut a 45* angle on the same side of each strip and stack up that pile of four angled strips. Then do the red going the same way with the 45* angle and stack those all together, they will be one side of your chevron quilt.

Take the other 2 piles and lay them out opposite the cut ones with the right side of the fabric up so you can be very sure that you are going to cut the angle going the opposite direction They will meet in that V in the center of the quilt. Cut those 45* angles!

Sew all strips with the same angle together, alternating red and white (I think I started with red but it may not matter). Remember to offset the tip of one strip so that your 1/4 in. seam will start with both fabrics in place.
(I hadn't lined up the fabric for the whole strip yet in the picture but hopefully you can see how I offset the seam)
You will end up with two, 8 strip long pieces like the one on the right.

I then used a tape measure (as in construction tape measure, hehehe) to measure 75 in. down and drew a line across it, as straight as possible (I used a ball point pen and my ruler) and cut off the bottom 20 inches or so. I then transferred that section to the top and sewed it up there to finish the angle.

It worked out remarkably well, with a straight edge and everything but you do have an extra strip if you have to get another small piece in there. I of course checked and double checked that I had the correct angle before I sewed anything. When you cut the second side just make sure you use the same points as the first side.

Then I laid them together and checked that my seams were at approximately the same place on both sides. I think I skimped on one seam on one side a measurable amount so I took it and resewed with a better seam allowance and it met up much better.
Well, duh, then you pin the heck out of it. The bias wasn't too bad to deal with but I did pin a lot and that was probably why I didn't run into the problems. I checked every seam to make sure they matched up and voila!
Yay! I think it's so dramatic and simple. Very modern AND classic, right?

Now I only have to decide if I try my hand at machine quilting this with minky on the back, which is my dream, or just using regular cotton which may end up looking better. Like the quilt, my quilting will be minimalist, with only the V's getting quilted and maybe the middle seam to secure it. Wow, I'm really torn about it because initially I thought it would be a perfect hand quilting project but I don't think I want take that long to do it. If you have an opinion feel free to weigh in on the subject, as you can see I'm in a muddle.

And The Winner Is...

Dawn Hendrix is the winner of the Anna Griffin fat quarters. Congratulations!

I want to thank all of you for the great comments this last week. You guys are amazing! You've given me a dozen great ideas and fanned a few flames I can assure you. The postage stamp quilt numerous people mentioned has always been a dream of mine. Fifteen or more years ago Countryliving had a postage stamp quilt in one of their spreads and to this day I remember and want one exactly like it. I couldn't find the picture on their website or I would show it to you.

One lady asked about my Mexican Star quilt and here is a picture of it. She's doing one herself and I told her mine turned out great and was a lot of fun to do.

Someone else mentioned they're going to do a chevron throw and here's mine just waiting for me to decide if I want to quilt it myself or send it out.


It is actually sewn up the middle now but the most picture is on my phone and my son is quietly playing games so I'm not messing that up. Tomorrow I'll post the pattern I used to make mine if you're interested. It's really fast and easy but I think it makes a huge statement.

I just printed a star quilt pattern of moda bakeshop, I've done a quilt with applique monkeys and I now have an applique duck ready to be blown up and made into a fabulous Kaffe Fassett baby blanket.


I really appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my questions. I've really enjoyed everything you've had to say. I'll be doing another giveaway next week so keep dropping by and telling me what you think!

Day 5 Giveaway

A few of my projects from 2011

Question for Day 5: Tell me one project you're going to do this year for sure. Mine is actually 2 twin size pinwheel quilts for my son and daughter. My younger daughter, being a baby and thus just the right size for baby quilts, has plenty.