Just Blooming Plus Baby Quilt!!

 Today I am excited to share another Charming Baby Quilt with you!!!  This is one I had planned for the Charming Baby Quilt Remix's but it got set aside.   But now, It is all finished and I just love it!!! This is Just Blooming with the center flower added and isn't it just so pretty!!!! 

So the question is, why did I set it aside.   As I said, this was my original idea for the remix but as I started making it, I quickly realized that "remix" was more like "rewrite".   I couldn't figure out an easy way to make the alterations in the directions without basically re-writting the pattern.  And I have to say, sometimes I am a little OCD about things being the same, and it was driving me nuts that all the remixes were big quilts except this baby sized one.   So half way through it, I set it aside and instead made the large queen sized Just Blooming Remix quilt.   

This is the original Just Blooming quilt and I just love it, but always wanted to see what it would look like with a flower in the center as well.  And so even though this Low Volume one was not working for my original plan, I just knew it had to be finished.   

And so with some free time this week, it is now finished.   And I am just thrilled it didn't get set aside in the WIP pile ;)    For this Just Blooming baby quilt,  I used all the low volumes that were left from my Charming Baby Sew Along Sampler Quilt   and added a navy background to it.   And doesn't that just make those low volumes pop!!!  So fun!!! 

And when it came time to quilt it, I decided on all over echoed paisley.   I just love this quilting design and the wonderful texture it adds.   And it is also a design that I have made a free motion quilting video tutorial of, just in case you are interested ;)  

I just love the way this turned out, and it will make such a wonderful baby gift ;)   I think it is pretty gender neutral, which is always great for that baby shower when mom and dad to be are keeping it a surprise ;)    Which doesn't happen so much anymore, but we kept it a surprise with two of our kiddo's and it really was fun!!  

And that is my Just Blooming Plus Baby quilt!!!  I hope you love it just as much as I do.   And if you want to make any of the Just Blooming quilts I would love to see them :)   You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com or post it to social media with the hashtag #happyquiltingwithmc and/or #charmingbabyquilts ;)  I can't wait to see your Just Blooming Quilts!!!

And if you are not sure where to find the original Just Blooming pattern or the Just Blooming Remix Pattern, you can find all the details in this  Charming Baby Quilts, All the Quilts, All the Details post ;)  It's a great place to bookmark to see everything Charming Baby Quilts all in one place!!

Thanks for stopping in today and I hope you have a very Happy Day!!

Winner and Weekend Sewing

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway day!!!  It was so fun to hear all about your Irish Chain experiences ;)   And now . . .  It is time to pick a winner of the irish Chain Quilts Prize Pack!!!

And the lucky winner is #902!!  Congratulations to Michele!!!  I have emailed you :)  

And on the weekend note . . . I did a lot of piecing and even got to some quilting ;)   I started off doing some Free Motion Quilting on my home machine for my "bitty bits mini's"   I always love getting back to quilting on my home machine.  I don't do it as often with the long arm now, but it is always fun every once and a while to do a quick little quilt on my home machine.   I love how quickly the motion comes back each time ;)  I quilted some echoed paisley's in Fantastico Superior Threads.   Doesn't that beautiful variegated thread just look awesome on the back!!!   

Then I switched it up from Free Motion to Straight Line quilting ;)   This was my first time doing matchstick quilting with multiple colors and I am absolutely in love with the outcome ;)  I started by stitching 10-15 lines in each color randomly placed and then, it was time to go back and fill in all of the gaps with a beautiful blending filler.    So fun!!!

I can't wait to share more of both of these projects!!!  And the best news, these projects also mark the completion of my Market Prep!!!!   All I have to do now is pack and I am ready to go!!  So excited!!!

I hope you had a super wonderful weekend as well!!!  Did you get any sewing or quilting in???

Ruby Jubilee Braided Irish Chain!!!!

I am so super excited to have a very special finish to share today ;)  I mentioned on Monday that I had a special quilt to drop off during the Quilt Fest retreat I was teaching at.  And you might recall when I started planning for this clear back in February :)  So ya, I am pretty excited to share my finished Ruby Jubilee Braided Irish Chain!!!!!   And it just so happens to be just in time for Blogger's Quilt Festival as well ;)

I have always wanted to make a 2 color version of my Braided Irish Chain quilt since I first designed the pattern.  And I have to say, it is everything I hoped it would be!!!!  And in classic red and white, perfect!!!  And I love how the light hit this picture just right to really show off the beautiful Grunge fabric ;)  I know I have said it before, but I sure love Grunge Fabrics!!!

The main reason I have always wanted to do this in a two colors is to see how it would really play up and highlight the design.   And I have to say, I just love that it  really allows the wonderful geometric goodness of this pattern shine.  It also really makes the secondary designs pop as well, especially when you look at it from different angles.  So fun!!!

When it came time to quilt this, I really wanted to add some super yummy texture, so I went back to all of my favorites and did them in a pretty small scale.   I used Echoed Paisley's, Swirls, Pebbles, and a few Curls thrown in here and there to quilt up all the background.   I love quilting all of these favorites, and it was super fun (even if it took 9 hours :) to quilt it all in such a small scale.   And totally worth it for all of that quilting goodness ;)

In the white squares, I added little Orange Peel flowers   And I just love the way they help to make all of the chain pop and draw your eyes throughout the chain.   Ya, I might have done a little happy dance when I pulled this off the Long-Arm.  Isn't it nice when it turns out just the way you wanted it to ;)

And as I mentioned, I had to turn this quilt in, because now it will be part of a traveling show that will go across the state of Utah throughout 2017 celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Utah Quilt Guild.  I am so excited to get to be a small part of such an amazing guild that covers our whole state!!!

And I also got to teach my Braided Irish Chain Quilt Pattern at Quilt Fest to 20 amazing ladies and it was super fun to have this hanging in class before I turned it in ;)   I also had the Pattern versions of Braided Irish Chain that I shared back here.  Isn't it so fun to see how many different ways you can make the same quilt and how different each becomes, just by changing out the fabric!!!  That is one of my favorite parts of teaching ;)

And that is my new Ruby Jubilee Braided Irish Chain!!!  Thank you all for your wonderful encouragement on this quilt while I was planning and working on it.  I couldn't be happier with how it all come together and am so happy that I finally got to share the finish with you all!!

Thank you so much for popping in today and each day ;)  And if you are popping in for the first time from Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome!!!   I am so glad you stopped by for a visit and hope you come back often ;)   I always love being able to share my passion for quilting and hope you will love what you see!!

Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking up to Blogger's Quilt Festival, Amanda's, and Sarah's ;)  

Finishing Up the Month

With the month quickly coming to an end I had a few projects that needed to be finished and go in the mail.  So I have been a little crazy in the sewing room this week.  And with school in full swing and only 1 kidlet home in the afternoon who still takes a good 2 1/2 hour nap, it is a whole lot easier to get in my sewing room and get some serious chain stitching going :)

My first finishes are my Bee Blocks, Yippee for getting them done with 2 days to spare :)

Joelle in my Beejeebers group asked for a wonky work block.  She gave us a list of words to choose from and I jumped on happy.  It just made me smile the whole time I was putting it together ;)

And Jodi from the Bees Knees asked for some Scrappy Summer Squares a la Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew.  Didn't she send the cutest fabrics to put these together.  They really do scream summer ;)

My next two finishes are some more of those secret projects so I can't show them yet, but in the near future, I promise :)  I thought it would be fun to show you the quilting though.  I have been on the Long Arm the last 2 days.  Each time I play on it I get a little more comfortable.  The first quilt, I decided to use my all over echoed paisley design.  It is one I am very comfortable with so a great one for practicing on a new machine.

And the second quilt I got a little more out of my comfort zone.  This quilt sort of a incorporates my love for piecing, so I decided I wanted to quilt it with some of my most loved Free Motion designs.  Those would be swirls, pebbles, and paisleys.  So I grabbed some paper and pen and started sketching.  This was a rough draft for the concept I was after.  Pretty fun huh :)

And this is how it came out on the quilt.  Sorry, it is a little hard to see, crazy background fabric :)  But I am pretty excited with how it went from concept to quilt.  It isn't perfect by any means, but it really, really, makes me smile :)

And now, I am off to the post office.  Whoo Hoo, what a weight off!!  Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking up to Amanda's and Sarah's :)

Turning Time and Jack and Jill - Cake Mix Quilts

Considering this week is Quilt Market, I figured it only fitting to share 2 quilts that I made for Spring Market that somehow I missed sharing.   Ya know how things go ;)  Anyhow, I was fortunate enough last spring to be asked by my friends at Moda if I wanted to play with some of the new Moda Cake Mixes.  They had just released Cake Mixes 5, 6, 7, and 8 and I decided to play with 5, and 6.  And goodness did I have fun!!!

So let's start with Cake Mix Recipe 5 or as I like to call it . . .  Turning Time.   I absolutely love the way you can create 2 totally different look for the blocks, using the same units, but just changing the position of them.  Sew fun!!! 

I used a Sherri and Chelsi's  Creekside Layer Cake with a few pieces added in from Desert Bloom for a little more scrappy goodness.   And I just love that you can have the scrappy within each blocks colored layout, it really makes the blocks just pop!!! 

 If you have never used a Cake Mix before, they are papers that you lay on top of your 10" square set and then simply sew on the dotted lines and then cut on the solid lines.  You get all the pieces you need to make your Cake Mix Quilt and because you sewed on the lines you get perfect units every time with no trimming needed ;)

And as you can see from this quilt, the design possibilities are endless!!!  I had so much fun mixing around my HST's and 2 Patches to come up with something super bold and geometric that has so much wonderful movement and secondary designs that pop out non stop ;)  Eeekk, I just love it!!

When it came time to quilt it, I decided on an all over echoed paisley design (Video Free Motion Quilting Tutorial Here ) as I really wanted to the piecing to stand out.   It blends into the background just perfectly creating lots of beautiful texture without distracting from the piecing.  Just perfect for the purpose of this quilt ;) 

And just in case you want to make up your own Turning Time quilt, I have included the Block Layouts that I used from Cake Mix Recipe 5  .  You will use all 45 sheets and need to grab a few 10" print squares from a second layer cake as they come with 42 ;)   Just look on the front of the Cake Mix and you will be using Block 4 Sets, just watch this diagram as the placement of the prints and solids change.   And you will have a few extra 2 patches that you can use to make a cute matching pillow to go with your quilt!!! 

Turning Time finishes at 75" x 75" so it is just perfect to snuggle up in and enjoy a good book ;)  I had so much fun playing with the design of this quilt and making it up and hope you will have just as much fun making your own!!! 

And that leads us onto Cake Mix Recipe 6 or as I have named it . . . Jack and Jill   Which is an absolutely adorably sized baby blanket, perfect for a special little wee one!!!   And mine is done "All Boy", but just change the greens out for pinks, and you can put a bow on it for "All Girl".  (Hence Jack and Jill ;)  

I used Sweetwater's Authentic line for this quilt which really played up all 4 different blocks in the quilt.   The color placement was key to really make this design pop and Authentic was just perfect!!!

I just love tiny patchwork and having the Cake Mix to make that tiny patchwork perfect was so helpful for making this quilt up quick!!!  Each of those blocks finish at 6" square and with lots of happy points, perfect patchwork is super great and makes it so fun :)

When it came time to quilt it I had to laugh because I used my 402 Pearl thinking it would blend well into the whites and pop on the blacks, but nope, it just blended perfectly into everything.   Seriously, I could barely see where I was quilting half the time ;)  Not that you can see them, but there are all over swirls quilted in this, that makes for some wonderfully snugly good texture. 

And just in case you want to make up your own Jack and Jill quilt for a special little one, I have again, included the Block Layouts that I used from Cake Mix Recipe 6.    You will use all 25 sheets as each finished sheet makes 2 blocks ;)   Just look on the front of the Cake Mix and you will be using Block 1, 2, 4, and 5 in the design, and refer below to how I used the colors tor really make the design pop.  

Jack and Jill finishes at 42" x 42" , a perfect baby size quilt for playing on the floor or snuggling up tight in ;)  And again, I had so much fun playing with all of the fun blocks in this quilt and then watching them all come together into one adorable little quilt.   I hope you just love it and enjoy making your own "All Boy" or even "All Girl" version of Jack and Jill!!!   

And those are my two quilts that I made for Spring Market, just sharing in time for Fall ;)   Yippee!!!  I hope you have enjoyed this post and if you make either Turning Time or Jack and Jill I would love to see it!!!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com or add it to social media with #happyquiltingmc ;)    I can't wait to see your  Cake Mix Quilts!!!

Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking up to Amanda's, Sarah's, and Myra's :)  

Braided Irish Chains!!

Done and Done!!!!   And can I just say, I love them!!!!  I bought the fabric back in May, and here they are, (finally) done in October.  I so enjoyed having these as a "go to" project that I could sew a little here and a little there, in between all of my other projects.  I think I am going to have to create a new "go to" project now that theses are done.   And since I already talked about the size and fabrics and tutorial in this post, I will just show some pictures :)

The King Size - Eeek, so exciting!!!  And I love me some scrappy binding!!

Hanging from the deck with the sun just peeking over the house.

I quilted varying size swirls all over.  They were so much fun, but as it is rather dense it took me 6 hours to quilt.  And that was on a rented long arm! I couldn't imagine trying to do this on my home machine.  

The Queen Size - Ahh, so pretty!!!  I love a crisp white background!!

 Isn't it great when you take a shot from a different angle and get a great new secondary pattern!!

I quilted this one in an echoed paisley.  There is a video tutorial here on this pattern if you are interested :)

Now I am just super excited (and a little nervous) to teach the class!!!  I guess I still have a few months to stew over that :)

So, I am curious . . .   Do you have a "go to" project that you squeeze in between all of your other projects??  Do you like it or does it stress you out??   I feel like I just figured this out and am really liking it!

Nine Patch Fun Quilt and Tutorial!!!!

I am so thrilled to be sharing my newest quilt finish today and to also be sharing a new AccuQuilt Tutorial for it as well!!!   It's called Nine Patch Fun and it combines Regular Nine Patches and Glorified Nine Patches for a super fun geometric design.    I love curved piecing, and I have always wanted to make a Glorified Nine Patch quilt, which is probably on a lot of our to make someday lists.  So when I saw that AccuQuilt had made a new GO! Glorified Nine Patch Block on Board Die, it was time to take it from the bucket list to a finished quilt!!! And here it is ;)

The basic nine patch block is done in two color layouts as well as the Glorified Nine Patch Block  which really creates a fun finished design.  And it is the same piecing, just playing with the color placement.  And of course you can use prints, but I just love how the solids make the design really pop  And of course, you know I am all about the  Red, black, and white combo so I can donate it to my Alma Mater . . .  but of course, you can use any of your three favorite colors to make this beauty!

I think a lot of time's we shy away from curved piecing thinking it is to difficult, but it really is so much fun!!!  And I go through a lot of tips and tricks in the tutorial to show you just how fun it is ;)  Of course, having all the cutting done perfectly and easily with the GO! AccuQuilt Cutting System is helpful, and I love that it cuts out the little notches to help you line up your piecing.  So awesome!!!   

When it came time to quilt this Nine Patch goodness, I decided on an all over echoed paisley.  This is such a fun little design to quilt and it goes fast as well.  I did a video tutorial over here on this little quilting design that you can check out ;)  And I love quilting with red on these classic color quilts.   It just pops on the white and black and looks so cool!!! 

  

The Nine Patch Fun quilt is made up of 81 blocks that finish at 9" square, so the quilt finishes at  81" x 81".   And I know that sounds like a lot of blocks, but there are a lot more regular nine patches and they go together fast with strip piecing!!!   And you can even use the GO! 3 1/2" Strip Cutter and GO! 3 1/2" Square to speed up the cutting of that strip piecing.   And the Glorified Nine Patches really are a whole lot of fun to piece.  It's just like piecing a nine patch, but with fun curvy sides :)

So if you want to make your own Nine Patch Fun Quilt  just pop on over for the free step by step tutorial!!!   And if you are new to curved sewing, you can check out the little Sewing with Curves Basics  I did in a previous tutorial.  It shows just how fun and easy curved sewing can be ;)    And when you are done, I would love to see it!!!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com, post it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc  and #AccuQuilt or add it to my flickr group here ;)  I can't wait to see your Nine Patch Fun quilts!!!

Thanks for joining me today and sharing this new tutorial with me ;)  I am so glad to have crossed the Glorified Nine Patch quilt off my To Do list and I think this Nine Patch Fun quilt is really a fun way to shake it up and make it new ;)     I just love that the AccuQuilt Curved Dies are helping me cross off all of these curvy quilts from my bucket list.   Flowering Snowball, Winding Ways and now Glorified Nine Patch down.   Which one to do next . . . maybe the  Double Wedding Ring??  What do you think???? 

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting (and maybe even some curved sewing) Day!!!