Tutorial Throwback Thursday - Take it all Tote!!

Well it's Thursday and that means time for another Tutorial Throwback feature and today's tutorial spotlight is the Take it all Tote!!!  I know, I know, something other than a quilt!!!    I really had to stretch myself for this project as we all know I do a lot more 2D sewing than 3D but I am so glad I did!!  I love this tote and it is still going strong after 7 years of using it!! 

In fact, we took a little trip to LA over the 4th of July to catch a Dodgers Game and go to the beach, and yup, that's the Take it all Tote there in the corner of the picture.  And I love that when it comes home from the beach and is full of sand and what not, I can just throw it in the wash right along with the suits and towels!!!   (And ya, the kids always love to bury dad on the beach ;) 

And when I say it Takes it all Tote, It really does fit everything you need.  This bag is big!!!  It finishes at 25" wide, 17" deep, and has an 8" base.   And it has a hidden pocket inside, perfect for wallets and phones that you don't want to just leave out.   It also has an outside pocket that we use for easy access to the sunblock and a key ring, that I absolutely love because I don't have to go digging through the bottom of the bag with all the wet towels when it is finally time to go back home ;)  

And I loved doing a herringbone pattern on the bag construction.  In fact, last week we were camping with family and went to the lake and of course, the Take it all Tote went along and my niece saw it from the back and asked where I found such a pretty bag with such a cool design.   Two seconds later she said "wait, you probably made it, right!!"  That made me smile ;)   And adding the personalized applique was the perfect finishing touch ;)  

So ya, basically the Take it all Tote is the perfect tote for summer time!!!  Hence why it is today's Tutorial Throwback ;)  It's been going to the beach, lake, and just about any trip with our family for the last 7 years and hope it will go for many more!!!  

I hope you have enjoyed today's Tutorial Throwback Thrusday!!!    To make your own Take it all Tote,  just click on any of the quilt name links for the free step by step tutorial.   And when you are done, I would love to see your tote!!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com, post it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc  or or add it to my flickr group here ;)  I can't wait to see your Take it all Totes!!!

Thanks for popping in today and have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day so let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway :)

The winner of the Yellow Sew Colorful Bundle from  Fat Quarter Shop is . . .  Number #178 . . .   Congrats rosemaryschild!!!   I have emailed you :)   

 

        

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Shabby Fabrics!!   Shabby Fabrics has an amazing selection of Fabrics and  so many cute BOM's and Clubs!!!  And don't forget, Shabby Fabrics  also has an amazing  Clearance Section, you are sure to find some amazing deals, and have also just added a whole bunch of Quilt Kits on sale as well!!  Super fun!!!   

  

And for the Terrific Tuesday Giveaway  Shabby Fabrics is giving one lucky winner a $30.00 Gift Certificate!!!!!   Now the winner can get just what they have been wishing for, and maybe a little something to help welcome Spring ;)

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment that tells me when you were small, what did you want to be when you grew up?

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Shabby Fabrics love. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest, or Instagram.  You can Sign up for the Shabby Fabrics Newsletter (top right hand corner) or Follow their Blog,  or you can Visit the Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Shabby Fabric Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, July 23rd when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Precut Parade - Dovetail Quilt

Today I am excited to share my Dovetail quilt as part of the Fat Quarter Shop  Pre-cut Parade!!    Each month a blogger shares a project using a different pre-cut and a Free Fat Quarter Shop Pattern and July is all about the Jolly Bar!!!  A Jolly Bar is a 5" x 10" Pre-cut that is exclusive to the Fat Quarter Shop.  They are so fun and fast and make spectacular finishes!!!    And here is my Jolly Bar project, the Dovetail Quilt ;)

The Dovetail Pattern uses 3 Jolly Bars and I added sashing so I used 2 yards background fabric, instead of the original 1 yard.  I used 3 Lollipop Garden Jolly Bars by Lella Botique for Moda Fabrics and the black and white text print for the background.  And I love the way it adds interest while still making all of those wonderful rainbow of  happy brights just pop!!! 

The angles of this quilt make it so great!!    And those angles also give you some bonus HST's that I am planning on turning into a matching pillow.  So fun!!!  Like I said, I added 2" finished sashing to my quilt, so it now finishes at 65" x 82" which will make it just perfect for a twin size bed, and that matching pillow will just be so great to go right along with it ;)

When it came time to quilt it, I decided on an all over loose feather.  This has truly become a favorite design to quilt.   It is super fast, super pretty, and oh so much fun to quilt.  It really is my new Go To ;)   And I just love all of the beautiful texture it creates with all of those soft curves :)

 And that is my Dovetail quilt!!!  If you would like to make your own Dovetail quilt you can find the free pattern here.  And be sure to pop on over to the Jolly Jabber for lots more on the Pre-cut Jolly Bar quilting inspiration!!!  I just love using pre-cuts and had so much fun playing with these Jolly Bars!!!

Thanks for popping in today :)  I just love having this wonderful little corner of the internet to share my love of quilting with each of you and am so grateful for your visits each and every day!!!

I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Day!!

Tutorial Throwback Thursday - Snuggly Squares and II

Okay, so just in case you missed it last week, Tutorial Throwback Thursday is a new feature on the blog this year, leading up to my 10 year Blogiversary.  Each Thursday I will highlight a past tutorial and bring it back to the spotlight and along the way, share some fun insights about that project.   And today's Tutorial Thowback was my first Moda Bake Shop tutorial and it's called Snuggly Squares. 

I remember being so nervous to write this tutorial.  I really had no idea what I was doing ;)   So I just started snapping a whole lot of pictures and sharing everything I could think of.  So this tutorial is super in-depth descriptions of how to make this quilt.  As in, down to explaining which fabrics to cut which pieces out of!!  Which of course, I didn't realize at the time, isn't a huge help now as you can't find this fabric adorable Lily and Will fabric anymore, but it still works if you just shift around colors from your own layer cake :)   

And speaking of Layer Cakes, Snuggly Squares fabric requirements are just 1 Layer Cake.  No background fabric needed, so that makes it super easy to just grab your pre-cut and get going :)    And on a side note,  I just have to smile at this picture, because my sweet friend let me take a picture of her wee one, and that wee one is now 9 years old!!!  I saw a picture of her the other day and she is growing into a beautiful young lady.   Time sure flies :)

Another side note about this quilt, it measures 42" x 42" when finished.   And remember, this was in my starting out days and I figured, why not just use the width of the fabric for backing as it has 44" right!!  Well basting on the carpet didn't quite keep the back perfectly smooth, and let me tell you, it doesn't cut it any closer than having the selvage strip showing ;)  I just say that was a designer choice so you will always remember the fabric line, tee hee hee.  

But the thing I love most about this quilt is that it was gifted to my twin-sister when she had her first baby a year later.  And that quilt is still hanging on the wall of my sweet nieces room!!   It makes me smile every time I visit and has truly become a treasure  ;)

And that's Snuggly Squares, but Surprise, Surprise, today's Tutorial Throwback is actually a double header, because I can't talk about Snuggly Squares without talking about it's twin brother, Sunggly Squares II.  

When a second line of Lily and Will was released, but this time in little boy blue colors, I knew I had to make another tutorial :)    This one is very similar to the first, but changes up some of the basic patchwork in the square frames and borders.     And yes, this was me trying to do more of a "photo shoot" by clipping bunnies to a fence.  It seemed cute at the time, now it's just a little scary with them dangling there, tee hee hee.  

And going through all my pics, this is the only picture I have that doesn't have those bunnies on the quilt ;)   But it's perfect, because it really shows the fun patchwork that is super simple and perfect for a beginner, but still so cute!!!  And this tutorial is just as detailed as the first, so you really could make this as your first quilt ;)  

And Sunggly Squares II  finishes at 42" x 42" and once again, I figured it might as well match the first and did the backing out of 1 1/4 yard.  But today I would have added a strip onto the side of that so there would be room to actually load it on the long arm ;)    And why not leave off with a few more hanging bunnies ;)  

I hope you have enjoyed today's Tutorial Throwback Thrusday!!!     So to make your own Snuggly Squares or Sunggly Squares II  quilt just click on any of the quilt name links for the free step by step tutorials.   And when you are done, I would love to see them!!!  !!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com, post it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc  or or add it to my flickr group here ;)  I can't wait to see your Snuggly Squares and Snuggly Squares II baby quilts!!!

Thanks for popping in today and have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!

Wednesday Works in Progress

I have so many works in progress at the moment. I counted this morning and I am "actively" working on 7 quilts at the moment.  Which means I will have lots of finishes to share in the next little bit.  But for today, I thought it would be fun to share just a few of those Works in Progress ;)

So first up, I had some leftovers from my Goldenrod fabrics I used in this Goldenrod Pyramids Quilt and I thought it would be so great paired with my favorite Gris Grunge.  Isn't it just awesome!!!   This is going to be a baby size version of a new pattern I am working on.   And yup, It's got curves!!!

Next, I am working on another new pattern but this time, it's the Queen size as I already made a Baby Size test version, which of course, is in the to be quilted pile ;)   But hey, that baby size is a quilt top finish, so that's great!!!   So this Queen size uses Poppie Cotton's second fabric line called Wanderings.  I posted more about it here  which shows this has been sitting on my to make pile for over a month now.  I am happy to say, I have been doing some serious chain stitching on this and have made a lot of progress in the last two days.   And this happy pile is just about ready to be turned into stars, my favorite!!! 

And I am thrilled, that this last weekend, I finally came up with a new design for Jocelyn's new Bedspread that I talked about needing to do over here (in April, tee hee hee)   Better late than never.  For this quilt, I am using a Bungalow Fat Eighth Bundle by Kate Spain and I am super excited to be using Pink for the background!!!   And my plan is to make this a tutorial so you can be watching for that to come ;)   I got it all cut out yesterday, and am excited to get going on this!!

And finally, while I was working on cutting out quilts yesterday, I added one more to the pile.  I was invited to make another Fat Quarter Shop Shortcut quilt and you all know how much I love those!!!  This one won't be out until September, so I have some time, but it's nice to have it all cut and ready to go when I have a few seconds of spare stitching ;)    And the fabric is The Print Shop by Sweetwater which will also be available in September, so good timing there!!   And ya, this will also be another Alma Mater quilt, could you tell by the Red, White, and Black ;)   

So that is just a few of my Works in Progress :)  It's always nice to have everything ready to go so that when I have a few minutes that is the craziness of summer I can run down to my sewing room and squeeze in a little chain stitching.   So great!!!   

Oh, and you might have noticed the background of my pics is a little different.   Trying to take better pictures is a constant Work in Progress for me.   And the struggle is real :)   So when Fat Quarter Shop had their Anniversary Sale I decided to order a few things to try and help with that WIP.    I got a Christopher Thompson White Cutting Mat and a Floor Lamp Ott Light.  I love the idea of having a white background in all my tutorial pics vs that old green color.   And I am hoping the Ott Light will help to brighten up those pics vs my overhead poor basement lighting.  I am excited to see if these can help my Picture Taking Works in Progress, cause honestly, I can use all the help I can get on that front ;)    

So what are you working on??  I would love to hear what works in progress you have, and for that matter, if you have any picture taking secrets you want to share, that's great too ;)  

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!