Friday, October 31, 2014

Smooth Sailing

I have a new finish to share today that was one of those secret projects that I didn't get to show anything of until now ;)  And I just so happens to align perfectly with Bloggers Quilt Festival so I am adding it to the Large Quilt Category!!!  Yippee!!!   So if you are popping over from BQF and visiting for the first time, Welcome!!!  So glad you stopped by :)

This quilt is called Smooth Sailing and I made it to hang in the United Notions booth at Fall Quilt Market.   The fabric is Daysail by Bonnie and Camille for Moda and the pattern is by Bonnie Olaveson of that amazing duo ;)  Isn't it just so fun!!!


This is a big quilt finishing at 83" x 91" :)   And oh my goodness, was it a fun one to put together!!!  It was like creating 16 little mini's and then putting all of those mini's into boats :)  It was so much fun picking the placement and colors of each boat and then making sure they were all facing the right direction, I had to double check a few times ;)  But really, oh so much fun to make, and it is all just traditionally pieced, no foundation or paper ;)   What an amazing design!!


When it came time to quilt this I really wanted to go all out ;)  For the background I went with a mixture of designs.  I wanted to create a lot of movement that just flowed so I quilted swirls, echoed paisleys, pebbles, and curls all interchangeably.   I used my favorite 402 Pearl So Fine Superior Thread so it blends just beautifully while still showing the quilting ;)  And can I just say I LOVE it!!!


For the boats, I quilted wavy lines in the sails, woodgrain in the boat, scallops in the water, and 1/4" straight outline on the block, flag, and mast ;)  I switched colors to match and blend with the color of the sail.  It took a minute more but was so worth it ;)   I don't consider myself a professional long-arm quilter by any means, but I have to say, I was pretty proud of this one ;)


Back to a little bit of the piecing . . . I just love how each of these little boats turned out ;)  I played with a lot of different color layouts and in the end I just loved the matching color sails look :) All of the water and masts have the same colors in all the boats to tie them all together ;)   And It is probably hard to tell from the big picture but I matched the little flag to each of the block, just a fun little detail that makes me smile ;)   


The backing is one of my favorite prints from the collection :)  These adorable sail boats which I was so happy to use as I stuck to basically the tone on tone prints on the front to give the overall look I was going for ;)  It's fun to see all of the quilting on it as well ;)


This really was such a fun quilt to make, and I am so glad to be able to share it now with all of you ;)  I also got to share it with one other special person . . . Bonnie Olaveson!!!   Wow, what a special moment ;)  She loved it and was super impressed with the quilting, yup, perma-grin all day ;)
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 Thanks so much for stopping in today ;)  I hope you love the quilt as much as I do ;)  Be sure to pop back to the Blogger's Quilt Festival to see all of the other amazing quilting goodness!!  There are over 400 Quilts!!!


Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

Linking this finish to Sarah's and Amanda's ;)
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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Bloggers Quilt Festival - Off Kilter

Hello Sewing Friends!!!  I am so excited for another edition of Bloggers Quilt Festival!!  I so look forward to this event, it is just endless amounts of quilty goodness!!! If you are visiting Happy Quilting for the first time, welcome :)   I hope you browse around and come back often ;)  I love to share my daily quilting adventures here ;)

 This year, I am featuring 2 quilts for the event and today I am sharing the first.   Here is Off Kilter and I will be putting it in the ROYGBIV Category, big surprise there ;)


While at Spring Quilt Market last year I sat in the schoolhouse where Free Spirit Fabrics showed off this beautiful collection of Modern Solids by Denyse Schmidt.  I knew I wanted to do something with that amazing box of goodness and started sketching in the airport on the way home ;)


After a few ideas, I came up with Off Kilter and it just clicked. Don't you just love when that happens ;)  I couldn't wait to get home and sketch it up in EQ ;)  One of the first things I did when I got home was sketch up this quilt and then I got all kinds of excited!!  


 2 months ago, working with the lovely folks at Free Spirit Fabrics, I was able to transform it from a sketch to a quilt.  And I can not tell you how happy I am with the results ;)   I wrote up a free Off Kilter tutorial to go along with the quilt so if you want to make your own Off Kilter Quilt you can ;) The tutorial has instructions for both a large lap and twin size.


I quilted it with just straight-ish lines about 1/2" apart across the entire quilt top ;)  Not only do I love quilting like this because it is fast and fun, it also has the added benefit of giving you lots of exercise walking back and forth across the quilt top so many times ;)


And Off Kilter and I had a pretty awesome experience last week. I was asked by the folks at Free Spirit Fabric to bring Off Kilter to Fall Market to hang in their booth.  I was so excited to see it there and then noticed Denyse Schmidt sitting near by.  Like a total fan girl I asked if she could take a picture with me and my quilt ;)  ,  Yup, total perma grin, what an amazing moment!!


And that's Off Kilter :)  Thank you so much for stopping by today ;)  I hope you are enjoying the Blogger's Quilt Festival, and if you are just finding out about it, or just want a link back, you can click on the image below to take you to the main page of Blogger's Quilt Festival and enjoy an  amazing array of quilty goodness!!!


Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!



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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Cottage Stamp Baby Quilt and Tutorial

Well it's my day again as a Riley Blake Design Team member and I have something super fun to share today ;)  And here she is . . The Cottage Stamp Baby Quilt :)


I fell in love with The Cottage Garden by The Quilted Fish at spring market and knew I had to make a quilt with it.  The colors and prints are just fabulous.  Seriously, I loved reading the text print anytime I was sewing with it, the quotes are awesome!!!


I decided to do a spin on a postage stamp quilt, adding sashing and some applique to make it pop :)  The quilt really is easy and goes together in a snap with very minimal cutting ;)


So let's get right to that tutorial so you can make up your own Cottage Stamp Baby Quilt!!!!

YOU WILL NEED:

One 10" Stacker or (4) 5" Stackers of The Cottage Garden  (or 2 Charm Packs)
1 Yard of a matching solid for the Applique and Binding - I used the color Shell
2 Yards of Cottage Newsprint Grey for the background
4 Yards of your choice of Backing fabric



STEP 1 - CUTTING

If you are using a 10" stacker, subcut (18) 10" squares into (4) 5" squares for a total of (72) 5" squares.  If you are using 5" stackers simply choose out (72) 5" squares.

From your 1 yard of applique and binding fabric cut (6) 2 1/2" x width of fabric strips for binding and (9) 6" x 6" squares for the applique.

From your 2 yards of background fabric cut
     (6) 2" x width of fabric strips
     (30) 2" x 17" rectangles
     (54) 2" x 5" rectangles
      (9) 5 " x 5" rectangles


STEP 2 - MAKING THE BLOCK ROWS

And now you are ready to start sewing.  Place a 2" x 5" background rectangle onto a 5" x 5" print square with right sides together.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.   Repeat to make 54 pieced squares using 5-6 background 5" squares in place of print 5" squares.  Press the seam towards the square.


This is where chain stitching will save you a lot of time.  So once you have sewn one rectangle onto the square, don't stop.  Just keep feeding more sets through the machine until you have stitched all 54 sets.  And you don't have to count them, just keep going until you run out of background rectangles ;)


Now, layout 2 pieced squares and one final square as shown below.  This will be your row.  Place the second pieced square onto the first with right sides together and stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.   Then place the square onto the pieced row with right sides together and sew a 1/4" seam along the edge.   (Once again, chain stitching here will save you a ton a time!!!)  Press the seams outwards to the squares.  Make a total of 27 rows.



STEP 3 - MAKING THE BLOCKS

And now with the rows sewn, you are read to sew the block together.  Place 3 rows and 2 background 2" x 17" rectangles out as shown below.  Take care that you only have one row that includes a blank background square in it.


Place the sashing strips onto the center row with right sides together as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge aligning as you go.


Press the seam allowances outwards to the sashing strips.



Now place the top and bottom row onto the pieced center with right sides together.  Sew a 1/4" seam along each edge aligning as you go.


Press the seam allowances inwards to the sashing strips.  And your block is done.


Now simply repeat this step to make a total of 9 blocks.  I sewed one block at a time, arranging each block so the the background square was in a different placement in each block.


STEP 4 - ADDING THE APPLIQUE

And now you are ready to add a little applique fun to your finished blocks.  This will be just a quick overview of the process, but if you are new to applique and would like more explanation you can see my 2 part video series on applique here ;)   Adhere a 6" x 6" square of fusible webbing to the back of your (9) 6" x 6" using the manufactures directions.  (And yes, if it says use a dry iron, you really want to use a dry iron :)



Save and print the following image to use as a template for your flowers, or if you have a different flower shape you prefer, just print it off at about 3 1/2 to 4" big ;)


Cut out your template and then trace it onto the paper side of your fusible web.   Now simple cut out on the lines and then remove the paper backing from your applique.  Repeat to make 9 applique flowers.


Using the manufactures settings, adhere your applique to the center of your background fabric square.  Then use your favorite stitch to stay stitch the applique in place.  I used a blanket stitch, but other popular stitches would be a straight or zig-zag stitch ;)


Adhere and stitch all 9 appliques on your blocks, one applique per block ;)   And you are ready to move on.


STEP 5 - MAKING THE QUILT TOP

This is where it all starts coming together.  Layout your 9 blocks, playing with the position of your colors and applique until it is pleasing to the eye.   I like to snap a picture at this point so I can refer back to it if I accidently get my rows or blocks mixed up.   Place a 2" x 17" rectangle around the blocks the sides of the blocks as shown below.


Place the sashing rectangles onto the blocks with right sides together.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edges, aligning as you go.  I like to stack these all up and take them to my machine at once, but again, you will want that picture to refer back to when it is time to lay them out again ;)

Press the seams towards the sashing and lay your blocks back out in rows.


Now you are ready to sew the rows.  Place the second sashed block onto the first with right sides together.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the edge aligning as you go.  Then place the third sashed block onto the now pieced first and second sashed block with right sides together.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the edge aligning as you go.   Repeat for all 3 rows.  Press the seam allowances towards the sashing.


Now, you just have to add the horizontal sashing.  Grab your 6 width of fabric background strips.  Sew them together end to end and press the seams to the side.  Cut the long strip into (4) 57ish" strips.  I like to just lay them between my rows and then cut them about 1 1/2" longer.


Place the background sashing row onto the pieced rows with right sides together.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edges, aligning as you go.


When you get to the end of the row, trim the sashing even with the pieced row.


Press the seams towards the sashing strips.  Almost done!!!


Place the second row onto the first with right sides together.  Align and pin each of the rows.  They won't match up along the pinned edge because of the sashing, but just take care they are aligned.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.


Now. place the top row onto the now pieced second and third row with right sides together.  Once again, align and pin each of the sashing rows.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.  Now simply press the seams towards the long sashing rows.


And just like that, your quilt top is done!!!  Isn't it just so cute!!!



STEP 6 - FINISHING THE QUILT TOP

Now all that is left is to Baste It, Quilt It, Embellish It, and Bind It!!!  That is a lot in one little sentence isn't it ;)   No worries, if you are new to quilting and need some extra guidance here you can see my 3 Part Finishing It Up video series that will walk you through each of these parts step by step.  

I wanted to add to the Postage Stamp feel of this quilt, so I quilted a fun scalloped border on each of the print squares and then added a different looking flower to the center of each square.  I used my new favorite 503 Genoa Grey So Fine Thread by Superior Thread.  It blended just perfectly on all of these beautiful colors :)


Then, if you like, you can add a button to the center of each of your flower appliques for that extra little touch of cuteness.  I used Riley Blake's teal 1" Stitched Button.   You can sew these on by hand or use your machine, whichever you prefer ;)


And that is it.  A few short steps and you will have an adorable 55 1/2" x 55 1/2" Cottage Stamp baby quilt ;)  


I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.  If you make your own Cottage Stamp baby quilt I would love to see it.  You can add it to my Flickr group here or you can always email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com or add it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc  ;)


Have a Happy Quilting Day and I can't wait to see your Cottage Stamp Baby Quilts!!!!
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