Spring has arrived in my neck of the woods and signs of new life are everywhere! I just love this time of year and before we know it it will be picnic season. The Wash Day quilt is the ideal size picnic quilt to make. So why not get a head start on things and get sewing!

For this quilt I used mainly thrifted fabrics and a few fabrics from my stash. I picked men’s shirts for the squares, a flat sheet for the backing and binding and solid colors to tie everything together.

Used clothes and linens make this quilt sustainable and will keep it out of the landfill. A loved one’s clothing and/or linens could also be used which would surely become a cherished and well loved memory quilt. 

I used 10 different button down shirts - plaids, stripes, flowers, dots - with more or less all of them in shades of blue. In addition I added four solid colors - pops of Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton in Mango, Riley Blake’s Confetti Cottons in Hot Pink, a solid blue from one of the shirts and Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton in White. I used white as the alternating color in between the prints/colors.

For the backing fabric I used a twin size bed sheet with navy, light blue and white stripes. This ties in nicely with the quilt top’s mostly blue shades.

I quilted a cross hatch pattern which works well with the squares.

I rounded the corners to give it a “picnic blanket” look.

I used the same fabric I used for the backing for the binding, as well as some of the orange and pink fabric.

The finished quilt feels like a fresh breeze on a warm summer day!

*** The Wash Day pattern is now available in my Etsy shop. Take a look here.

Finished size: approx 62 inches x 65 inches

When life gets busy it is hard to find extra time for sewing and quilting projects. I tend to focus then on smaller projects so I can still get my “sewing fix”.
 
Here are a few projects that I’ve been working on over the last few months.
 
Velvet Ribbon Pillow
I got the inspiration for this pillow from a basket weave suede pillow I saw at Pottery Barn. I chose velvet ribbon to keep the cost down and since this was around Christmas I picked a rich red color.

Finished size: 16 x 13 inches
 
Quilt-As-You-Go Mini Tote Bags
I made a few more of these adorable little tote bags I made a couple years ago. All of them sold on Etsy, so I decided to make another round. It is a scrap buster project and I am always amazed at the end product. It is a fun little bag to make.
 
For the original blog post, click here.

Finished size: sizes vary slightly, but approx 6.5 x 10 inches
 
Buntings & Banners
I’ve been working on a few patterns for a Scalloped Bunting, a Mini Scalloped Bunting and a Pendant Banner. It’s easy to make your own bunting and show off your sewing skills at the same time. Make it for your next birthday party, holiday celebration or use it to decorate your craft space, nursery or child’s room. The sky's the limit!
 
These are now available as PDF patterns in my Etsy shop.

Last but not least, I am working on a Picnic Quilt pattern, but I will leave that for my next blog post. Happy sewing!

The last few months I’ve been working hard on piecing blocks together for a new sampler quilt I designed. Today I’m finally able to share the assembled (and finished) quilt with you - the Joy Sampler Quilt! This colorful quilt makes my heart so happy to look at it since it reminds me of spring and the joy and wonder of color.
 
I used the design software EQ 8 to plan and design the quilt which made the whole planning phase so much easier. If you haven’t seen my previous three posts where I shared the making of the individual blocks, go here, here and here.
 
For the top of the quilt I used Riley Blake Confetti Cottons in solid white, hot pink, grass, teal and yellow. I added a white border around the assembled quilt.

The backing fabric is a simple white with yellow polka dots fabric from Wilmington Prints called On the Dot.

I chose to quilt a simple straight line design spaced 1 inch apart.

The binding fabric brings everything together in playful pink and green diagonal stripes from Lindsay Wilkes for Riley Blake Designs called Sugar & Spice.

Finished size: approximately 64 inches (162 cm) x 52 inches (132 cm) - lap size
 
 
PS. I started working on these Orange Peel quilt blocks. I’m not sure if this will be my next finished project, but I’ll keep you posted.

The last few months I’ve been working on different blocks for a sampler quilt I’ve designed using the program EQ 8. I finally finished all the blocks! If you missed part 1 and 2 of the process, take a look here and here.

Here are the last few blocks*:
Finished size 12 x 12 inches (30.5 x 30.5 cm), unless otherwise noted:
 
Dove at the window
(I forgot to take a before picture, so I only have the after.)

Flying geese - 6 x 6 inches (15 x 15 cm)

Kaleidoscope - 6 x 6 inches (15 x 15 cm)

I combined two of the flying geese blocks and two of the kaleidoscope blocks to form one 12 x 12 block.

Circle flowers
Another applique block.

And here’s a sneak peek at the assembled top! I’m planning on adding a white border around the top. I still need to decide on fabric for the backing, as well as a design for the quilting.

Next time I hope to have the quilt finished and show a few pictures, as well as my next project.
 
Fabrics used:
Riley Blake Confetti Cottons in solid white, hot pink, grass, teal and yellow.
 
* Keep in mind that the block names mentioned here are as they appear in the EQ8 program. It is possible that they have different or additional names elsewhere.

In my previous post I shared the first few blocks of a new sampler quilt I’m working on. Once I complete all the blocks for the top, I’ll piece them together to reveal the finished top. I’m using four colors only - solid pink, teal, yellow and green, with white as background. 
 
Here are a few more blocks I finished recently:
 
Finished size 12 x 12 inches (30.5 x 30.5 cm), unless otherwise noted:

Plus - 6 x 6 inches (15 x 15 cm)

Fabrics used:
 
Riley Blake Confetti Cottons in solid white, hot pink, grass, teal and yellow.
 
* Keep in mind that the block names mentioned here are as they appear in the EQ8 program. It is possible that they have different or additional names elsewhere.

Over the next few months I plan on sharing the process of making a sampler quilt I’ve designed using the quilt design software EQ 8. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a sampler quilt is simply a quilt made up out of various blocks where different techniques have been used.
 
In each post I’ll show roughly five or so blocks that I’ve made. Once I’ve completed all blocks I’ll piece them together to reveal the quilt top!
 
For this post I made the following blocks - finished size 12 x 12 inches (30,5 x 30,5 cm):

Fabrics used:
Riley Blake Confetti Cottons solid white, hot pink, grass, teal and yellow.

In the mood to try out a simple floor quilt? The blocks are easy to assemble plus you can use your favorite prints combined with a couple solid colors. Finish it off with minky fabric on the back and you are all set. Head over to the tutorials page for instructions on how to make this mini-size quilt.

I have been assured that every quilter has UFO’s (Un-Finished Objects). Usually I try to finish a project, but sometimes you just get stuck. Sometimes, over time inspiration will hit and I’ll be able to finish the project. That is how this cute zipper pouch came to be.

A few years ago, I wanted to try the herringbone block*, more for the fun of it than anything else. The look of this specific block fascinated me since it looked so complicated. Once I learned how to do it though, it wasn’t too hard at all. I used little scraps of fabrics - mainly in red, blue and cream. Unfortunately I didn’t use the same size fabric pieces everywhere, which in hindsight might have looked better. I added the blue and red mini polka dot fabric on both sides.

To make the zipper pouch I had to cut the block in two. I used fusible batting instead of regular batting since I didn’t want a traditional quilted look, just a softer look. I used a cream zipper because that is what I had on hand. I added a short piece of brown waxed twine to the zipper pull. On the side I added a fabric tag with a mini chevron design that mimicked the herringbone pattern.

For the lining I chose this red fabric with darker red writing.

In the end this little pouch turned out so cute. Who would have thought that the long forgotten UFO would end up as a cute zipper pouch!

* Herringbone quilt block: there are different variations of the herringbone quilt block. The one I made is called the zigzag variation. Other variations are the chevron and friendship braid designs.
 
Approximate size: 6 inches (15cm) wide x 5 ½ inches (14cm) high

Since I’m still on a quest to clear my sewing room of fabric scraps, I’ve been making a lot of tiny half-square triangles* these past couple months.
 
Over the years I’ve saved a lot of triangles, mainly cut-offs from binding, assembling certain quilt blocks and other projects. I might have been mad at myself a few times for starting this specific project since these little triangles took forever to stitch together! My goal is to always save as much fabric from ending up in the landfill when working with fabric and I would say that I accomplished that with this project.
 
For each square I used a darker and lighter color fabric.

I pieced four of these squares together, to form a small triangle quilt block, the darker triangles pointing to the middle and the lighter ones towards the outside. This layout reminded me of a kaleidoscope!

Initially my hope was to have enough blocks for a crib size quilt at least. I soon realized, for a number of reasons, that it wasn’t going to happen.
 
One, since the blocks were so small, there were a lot of seams close to each other which resulted in a stiffer than usual quilt. That would not have worked for a baby quilt.
 
Two, it took me quite a long time to stitch these 2 ¼ inch square blocks together. In the end I did not quite have enough blocks for a crib quilt, but as I mentioned earlier it wouldn’t have worked anyway. In the end I decided on making this quilt into a cover for my sewing machine.
 
I decided on an on point* layout for the blocks and added white triangles on the sides of each row and at the corners to form a rectangle.

I quilted a cross hatch design using white thread all over the quilt.

I used a neutral striped white and gray fabric for the binding and ties since the rest of the cover is so colorful.

Fabrics used:
Blocks - different types of quilting cottons
White triangles on sides and corners - Robert Kaufman Kona cotton
Backing - Kimberbell Tiny Dots in gray from Maywood Studio, a light gray with tiny white polka dots.
Binding & ties - On the Go by Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda Fabrics in the color steel

Just for fun, I counted the amount of triangles:
 
Amount of triangles used - 840 (for blocks) + 32 (for white border)
Amount of four-patch squares - 105

Finished size: approximately 20 x 33 inches (51 x 84cm)

* Half-square triangles: two right-angled triangles sewn together to form a square
* On point quilt layout: quilt blocks are positioned on the diagonal
 
Another example where I used half-square triangles in solid colors to make this mini quilt.

Most of us have been introduced to the color wheel at a young age, probably in an elementary school art class. Mixing specific colors to get new colors has always fascinated me. In fact, the ability to see in color is such a blessing which I often take for granted. In the design world, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination, according to Wikipedia. For quilters, picking the right color combinations is very important too, in fact it can make or break a quilt.
 
One of my goals for this year is using up my fabric scraps instead of buying more fabric. Since I literally used the color wheel as my guide for this quilt, it was a pretty challenging process picking the exact colors from my existing stash.
 
I started out by cutting a bunch of 2.5” x 3.5” rectangles from yellows, oranges, reds, pinks, purples, blues and greens, as well as light colored fabrics.
 
Once I had a good amount of rectangles in each color, I decided to start with yellow and work my way all around the color wheel (don’t ask me why I chose to go counter-clock wise…).
I alternated each color rectangle with a lighter one.

As I landed on exotic sounding colors like Magenta, Fuschia, Violet, Cerulean Blue, Turquoise and Chartreuse, I sometimes had to go back to my stash and pick colors as close as possible to match the specific color. I wasn’t always able to match everything perfectly, but I think it turned out pretty good.

For the backing, which I had to purchase, I wanted to get a neutral color. I decided on Kimberbell Tiny Dots in gray from Maywood Studio, a very convenient 108” wide 100% cotton backing fabric with tiny white polka dots scattered against the gray background.

Once I layered the quilt, I quilted straight lines one inch apart down the length of the quilt. For the binding I used Timeless Treasures’ Black & White stripes from my stash - more neutral colors.

Dimensions: approximately 57” x 68” (145 cm x 172 cm), Throw size