Blog
Scraps Inc., Vol 2
Happy Valentine’s Day! I am so excited to share the quilt I made for Lucky Spool’s newest book, Scraps Inc., Vol 2. It was such a thrill to be asked to contribute to this book, which is a compilation of quilts from some seriously amazing designers. As a way to celebrate the book’s release, Lucky Spool is offering a 30% off code if you want to buy it now AND I get to give a copy away of the book for free! Whoop whoop! Leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner on February 19, 2016.
Here is the link to purchase the book!
And here is my contribution to the book! I love this scrap buster. It can be easily modified to any size.
Happy sewing and good luck with the give away!
xoxo,
Melissa
A By Sea or By Land baby quilt
Here are some pictures of a recent quilt I made for friend expecting her first baby. I used a mix of Cotton + Steel prints and paired them with my By Sea or By Land quilt pattern. I goofed when I was cutting the fabric so the waves look a little different, but I love the way it turned out, so yay for happy accidents.
For Keeps
A couple of years ago I happened to be in Denver and checking out the local fabric shops when I was introduced to one of the loveliest people ever. Seriously. It turns out, the gorgeous, charming and genuinely kind person was a crafting and quilting dynamo; the one and only Amy Gibson of Stichery Dickory Dock. I am laying this all out up front because this post is super biased and I want everyone to know. Amy has written a book that completely matches her awesome personality, reflects her sick sewing talent, and completely captures the spirit of why I sew and quilt. For Keeps is all about why we sew – making things to share and enrich our loved ones’ lives.
As soon as I got a copy, I devoured the gorgeous pictures and loved reading all of the great tips that she works into the book. I love that quilters can sew for years and there is still so much to learn. She suggests glue blasting, which sounds super scary to me, but I am going to go for it. I already have some projects on my to do list. The hand sewn hexagons for the cover quilt, Popped, will be my road trip project next month, and I can already picture Stargazer on my bed this winter.
Amy, because she is awesome, also has a pledge that ties in with her book. It isn’t as much of a pledge to do something new, but a reminder to us all to really focus on the most important reason to sew and create – to bring our families together with our projects. You can read all about it here. It is a nice reminder, a really nice reminder.
Happy sewing!
xoxo
QuiltCon Magazine 2015
I totally freaked out today when my friend texted me and said: “You know your book is in QuiltCon Magazine, right?” Um, no! I made her prove it with a picture until I could race home and buy a digital copy of the lovely magazine. It was so nice being included in the magazine and to read the very sweet review. The magazine is full of gorgeous quilts and sewing tips. It is definitely worth picking up a copy, and not just to see my book : )
You can pick up a copy here.
I’m Giving Away A Hard Copy of ‘Sew A Modern Home’
Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be giving away a HARD COPY of my book ‘Sew A Modern Home’. My publisher, Martingale, was so sweet to send me a few hard copies of my book, and I thought “Well, heck, let’s give one away!”.
It’s been so fun seeing your projects pop up on Instagram and Facebook, keep ’em coming! If you haven’t had a chance to check out my book, now is the perfect time to enter for a chance to win your own copy. My book is full of projects for beginning to intermediate quilters. All of my projects are focused on clean lines, and a modern use of sashing or “negative space”.
Use the widget below to enter.
Cheers,
Melissa
Birch’s Circa 52 and By Sea or By Land PLUS an amazing giveaway!
When Birch announced that they were re-releasing Circa 52 by Monaluna, my heart skipped a beat. Circa 52 was one of the first collections I worked with when I first started sewing for Birch years ago. Woodland Party is one of my all time favorite prints, and to have it back in stores is pretty exciting stuff. I decided to make a By Sea or By Land quilt with some of the prints from the collection paired with some Mod Basics prints because the pattern is so great at showing off designs. And these designs need to be shown off! Also, I wanted to pair one of my first patterns with this collection. I designed By Sea or By Land right after Circa 52 came out so it seemed like a fun idea to put the two together.
To celebrate its arrival, Birch is having a huge giveaway. Be sure swing over to Birch’s blog and enter to win a yard of each of the entire collection – in poplin or knit!!! And if you want to make your own version of the quilt, you can pick up a copy of By Sea or By Land here.
And here are some more fun pictures of the quilt. It is going off to a friend who just had a sweet little baby girl. I hope she loves it.
And here is one more shot of the full quilt. I can’t wait to see some pictures of the quilt with a cute baby modeling on it.
Thanks for stopping by and happy sewing!
xo,
Melissa
Free Shipping for ALL!
Hi Everyone!
I’m really excited to offer FREE SHIPPING to both U.S. and International customers in my Etsy Shop! {yay!} I just love the online shopping during the holidays, so of course I had to throw out my own little sale. Take advantage of this sale from now until that end of the month!
Happy Holidays!
Melissa
Join Me At The Fabric Depot
Come on out and say hi this Saturday at The Fabric Depot! I’ll be signing copies of my book “Sew A Modern Home”. If you are local to the Portland area, it would fabulous to meet you! I absolutely love chatting with other quilters/crafters/sewers. Find more details about the book signing on The Fabric Depot’s Blog.
Above photo by @fabricdepot on Instagram.
Cheers! Melissa
An Acorn Trail quilt for Generation Q Magazine
The fabulous Christina McKnney took some pictures of a quilt I made for the November/December 2014 issue of Generation Q Magazine and I just had to share.
Fabricworm.com is offering kits so you can make this yourself or if you don’t feel like doing all that sewing, I will be putting it up for sale over on my Etsy shop in the next couple of days.
Thank you, Christina! You are so awesome.
Happy Sewing!
Scraps, Inc., a new book by Lucky Spool
I am so excited to share in more detail the project I did for Lucky Spool’s new book, Scraps, Inc. It was such a great day when I was asked to be part of this book. The other contributors are so talented and I was incredibly flattered to be included in the group. The project mission was pretty simple – design a quilt project that was scrap based. As an avid quilter, I am pretty used to having lots and lots of scraps, so book designed to help use them up was all right by me.
My designer inspiration came from sorting through my scrap bags and boxes and pulling prints from my favorite color palette. Rather than trying to work with itty-bitty pieces, I used my scraps that were at least 7″ x 2″, which is still pretty small, and strip pieced the prints together with a solid white. I then created a template to use to make the components of the blocks. This quilt is something that I am incredibly proud of and love that it is part of a book with so many other gorgeous quilts.
The book debuted at Quilt Market this October in Houston and it was a huge bonus for me to get to be there to support its release. Getting to see all of the quilt projects in person was really something special. Here is a picture of my quilt, Diamonds In The Sky, on display at the Lucky Spool booth.
Working with Lucky Spool was such an amazing experience. The project came together very quickly and Suzanne was incredible and always accessible to answer questions. The shorter publishing time frame was also so exciting. It is so hard to work on projects and then have to keep them a secret for so long. It is nice to be able to share this quilt so quickly. 
If you are as excited about this book as I am, you can jump on over and pick up a copy at TauntonStore.com. As an extra bonus, use the code “SCRAPS30” to get 30% off the original price of Scraps, lnc. (Vol.1) at TauntonStore.com. Offer expires 12/1/2014 at 11:59 EST.
Happy Sewing!
xo,
Melissa
Get 25% Off All Patterns in my Etsy Shop!
Hi everyone! In celebration of the oncoming holidays I wanted to offer you all a really great deal.
Get 25% off ALL patterns in my Etsy shop from now until the end of the month with coupon code “happyholidays25”. That includes even the newest patterns Koa Avenue and Love Ladder!
I also wanted to show off my latest quilt from my Koa Avenue Pattern! This time around I really stepped outside my comfort zone and used a dark mahogany sashing from Birch Fabrics Mod Basics line, and I LOVE the result! The prints are from Birch Fabrics upcoming Serengeti line, and I just adore how the colors pop off the mahogany sashing! Thanks to Christina McKinney for the beautiful photos!
Cheers!
Melissa
Post Quilt Market
So I know it’s a been a couple weeks since Fall Quilt Market, but I just wanted to share with you some of the activities I was able to partake in. This last Quilt Market I had a LOT going on. It was so much fun! I did my very first Schoolhouse, which is a half hour presentation about my book and did a video tutorial on two of my Sew A Modern Home projects, the Starburst pillow and the dining room napkin, for Brewer, which will be up on YouTube in the next month or so. I also did two book signs, one at Martingale’s booth and one at Birch Fabric’s booth. It was really amazing to meet so many amazing people and to get to show off my book. I also had a chance to walk the show and to meet some super inspirational people, including Weeks Ringle, whose book, The Modern Quilt Workshop, was one of the first quilting books I ever bought. {squeal!}
Another exciting development was when Lucky Spool debuted a new book, Scraps, Inc., that is being released this month. I am so proud to be a contributor to this awesome collection of quilts. Here is a picture of my quilt (on the left) on display at the Lucky Spool booth.
It was so fun meeting new people at my book signings! Thank you to all who came out!
See you soon!
Melissa
Quilt Market Here I Come!
Hey everyone!
I’m terribly excited to attend Quilt Market in Houston this week. I’ve attended a handful of times in the past, but I’ve never attended as an author! Eeek! So along with my fancy new author status comes a few fancy events that I’m so excited about! I’ll be hosting my very own Schoolhouse classroom event, along with a few scheduled book signings!
Check out my schedule below for the details.
As you can see, my book signing will be hosted by a few of my dear friends at Brewer, Martingale, and Birch Fabrics! Come on by and say hi, I’d love to meet you and chat!
See you there!
Melissa
An Amazing Tatami Mat Quilt With Charley Harper Fabrics!
I received the best email today from a lovely lady who made a Tatami Mat quilt with Birch’s Charley Harper fabrics. Lynn was kind enough to send me pictures of her finished quilt and I am just totally blown away with what she made. She also tweaked the pattern and skipped the narrow white sashing. But why am I even writing about the quilt. Just see for yourself!
The quilt was quilted by the super talented Nancy Stovall in Portland, OR. That lady is so talented!
Thank you, Lynn! You made my day by sharing your gorgeous work.
Two New Patterns! | Koa Avenue and Love Ladder
I am so excited to announce two brand new quilt patterns from Lunden Designs!
I am excited to announce not one but TWO new quilt patterns: Koa Avenue and Love Ladder. Love Ladder is beginner friendly and full of design options. The pattern includes four quilt sizes! This is the perfect pattern for fabulous minimalist design. Use lots of colors or prints, or go super chic with just two colors. The options are endless!
Koa Avenue is a new twist on the classic flying geese design. Show off your gorgeous prints with this high impact pattern. The pattern includes two quilt sizes!
If you have any questions, please contact Melissa at melissa@lundendesigns.com.
Visit my Etsy Shop, to purchase these patterns! Have a great day! Melissa
My Interview with Sewciety
Hey friends!
I recently had a great opportunity to talk to Stephanie of Sewciety on her popular pod cast! She asked me lots of great questions, and I got to tell a little bit about my background, and I started my creative business. I know I enjoy listening to all of the Sewciety Podcasts while I’m sewing, and I hope you will too.
I hope you’ll enjoy listening to the podcast here.
Cheers!
Melissa
Day 1 of the Sew A Modern Home Book Tour (+ Giveaway!)
Hey friends!
I’ve been over the moon since my book was released. You have all been so kind with your comments and sweet words, and I can’t tell you how much it all means to me. Thank you so much! Well now I’m really pumped up to share the book with some lovely blogger friends of mine in the upcoming blog book tour!
And what is even more exciting is that Martingale, my amazing publisher, has set up a giveaway for a chance to win an e-copy of Sew A Modern Home! Be sure to check out the details in each of the blog posts.
Here’s a complete list of the amazingly wonderful group of bloggers on this book tour. This list is full of amazingly talented, wonderful, fabulous people. I am excited to introduce them to you all and hope you get a chance to check out the awesome blogs on this tour if you don’t know of them already.
8/13 – Lunden Designs
8/14 – Very Shannon
8/15 – West Coast Crafty
8/16 – Boston Sewer
8/17 – One Shabby Chick
8/18 – Cactus Needle
8/19 – Fabricworm
8/20 – Generation Q Magazine
8/21 – Martingale
8/22 – Prudent Baby
8/23 – Stitchery Dickory Dock
8/24 – Fave Quilts – Seams and Scissors
Share the blog tour with your friends by pinning the image below:
Join in for a fun giveaway, using the Rafflecopter widget below! Giveaway ends Tuesday August 19th @ 8am PST.
Cheers!
Melissa
Win A Beautiful Hard Copy of My Book ‘Sew A Modern Home’
Today Is The Big Day! My book Sew A Modern Home officially releases! The wait has been a long engagement for me, and today I officially get to debut as a first time author! [squeal!]
To celebrate, I’m giving away a hardcopy of Sew A Modern Home to one lucky winner! Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter. Giveaway ends Tuesday 8/12 @ 10am PST. Good luck!
And don’t forget, Sew A Modern Home is available from your local book shop or you can order online from anywhere in the world! Available online through these amazing retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Martingale, Fishpond, and Gardian Book Shop.
Come See Me At Quilt! Knit! Stitch! in Portland.
Hey Everyone! I’m just shaken’ in my boots over excitement over the Quilt! Knit! Stitch! Event coming up in Portland, Oregon; my home town. I will be there, and I will be signing copies of my upcoming book Sew A Modern Home. My book officially releases on August 5th, which is just around the corner, and can’t come soon enough. That’s only 7 more days until Sew A Modern Home is finally released! I can’t tell you how wonderful it feels to finally be this close to sharing my book with you. It’s been quite a journey, and I hope you will enjoy the book, just as much as I enjoyed creating each and every project
If you’re interested in preordering the book, please visit Amazon here.
If you’re attending this event, please come by and see me at the Fabric Depot booth #2302 from 10am-1pm on Saturday August 16th, I’d love to meet you!
Quilt! Knit! Stitch! is so unique because it features exhibitors, classes, and art displays that spotlight not only quilting, but related needle arts like knitting, sewing, crocheting, mixed-media, and more! I’m just thrilled to be part of it. 🙂
Cheers,
Melissa
Giveaway | Lunden Designs & Fabricworm Team Up!
The winner will receive the following prizes:
• $30 Gift Certificate to Lunden Design’s Etsy Shop
– Main Teal
– Main Orange
– Bossa Ukes Orange
– Rio Geo Pool
– Samba Geo
– Birds & Clouds Multi
– Flora Stripe Grass
– Astrid Floral
Sail Away Action Shots
Back in 2013, I designed a quilt for the Spring 2013 issue of Quilt Trends using Birch’s Set Sail collection. It is a perfect twin quilt for a grandmother’s guest room or beach house. Cynthia, the owner of Birch, showed the quilt to her mother, who immediately wanted a second version for her guest room and I was happy to oblige. She also had the brilliant idea of using the Set Sail fabrics to make an American flag wall hanging. I loved the idea too and even wrote a tutorial for it.
I was ecstatic yesterday to receive some pictures of the quilts and the flag in action and just had to share them over here. I love how the room turned it – it is absolutely stunning.
Thank you for sharing these, Cynthia!
Tatani Mat featuring Monaluna’s Under The Sea collection
I was lucky enough to get to make a version of Tatami Mat for Monaluna’s Quilt Market booth this past spring. The fabric wasn’t shipping yet so I had to keep the quilt under wraps until after Quilt Market. Now that the gorgeous collection is finally shipping, I am excited to share a picture of this lovely, lovely quilt. The blues and greens just pop off the white background.
Thanks for stopping by and happy sewing!
A Giveaway & A Star Gazer Worth All Your Gazes
I was really excited to receive pictures from Mrs. Mary Halverson in my inbox with lovely finished photos of her Star Gazer Quilt. Mary had contacted me last year about using Star Gazer to make her daughter and future son-in-law an incredibly special wedding present. I was beyond thrilled when she sent me an update on the project and pictures of one of the most lovely quilts ever.
The colors are full of joy and what was even more touching perhaps, was the unique part that this Star Gazer Quilt played in a great family tradition. As each of the fifteen grandkids tie the knot, it is part of Mary’s family tradition to create a king or queen size quilt for the happy couple. It gets better too, the work of sewing/quilting/binding this quilt is a shared responsibility amongst thirty five (yes you read 35!) aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings. The finished blocks are then joined together usually by hand, and then the names of the couple are embroidered on the blocks. Then to make it even more special, gracious family members come by to help quilt by hand. How special is that?! I am thrilled that Mary chose a Star Gazer pattern worthy of this lovely tradition.
In honor of Mary’s Lovely tradition, we are giving away a Star Gazer Pattern! Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter.
Giveaway ends Friday 6/27 @ 10am PST.
Photos by Mary Halverson.
Thank you for sharing Mary.
A sneak peak of my two new patterns, Love Ladder and Koa Avenue
My girl, Christina McKinney, just sent me some sneak peaks from the photoshoot she did for my two new patterns, Love Ladder and Koa Avenue. This lady is amazing. She is a photographer out of Houston and does some amazing projects for Birch Fabrics. Here are some teasers as I finish up the patterns.
You can find more of Christina’s work here https://www.facebook.com/
A fun table runner
I just received pictures and my copy of the June/July 2014 issue of Sew-it Today with a flying geese table runner I designed using Birch’s canvas Flight print. The napkins are Birch’s Rio Geo Sun print from the Ipanema collection. I love the way they turned out and already have it on my dining room table. The magazine goes on sale next week so be sure to pick up a copy. It is full of super cute projects.
Check out the March-April 2014 issue of Quilty Magazine
I am beyond excited to have one of my designs in the most recent issue of Quilty magazine. It is a gorgeous publication so it is thrilling to have something of mine included. Here is a picture of the quilt and a link to the magazine’s website in case you need to pick up a copy ; )
Some new quilts
A great new store in San Francisco, Pincushion Sew & Craft, commissioned me to make some samples for the store. Talk about a fun project! Here is Tatami Mat, Northern Exposure and By Sea or By land looking pretty dang cute.
A new version of Grand Junction
I whipped up this new version of Grand Junction as a class sample for Modern Domestic. I love the combination of fabrics and colors. 
Area Code featuring Monaluna’s Meadow collection
I have had my eye on Monaluna’s Meadow collection for a while and really wanted to pair with my Area Code quilt pattern. Here are some pictures of the finished version. Pretty stinkin’ cute, if I say so myself.
Straight As An Arrow Quilt Tutorial
I have to confess that up until trying Triangles On A Roll, I had never paper pieced before. It had always seemed a little fussy and time consuming to me, but when I saw the 8″ Triangles On A Roll braid template, I couldn’t resist giving it a try. I was absolutely amazed at how quick and easy the whole process was, but more importantly, my piecing was sheer perfection. I have never had my seams look so good and now consider myself a paper piecing convert. My head is spinning with new ideas for making quilts and other sewing projects with braids and quilts.
Straight As An Arrow Quilt Tutorial
This simple and striking quilt is an easy weekend project. Pick your favorite colors to personalize it for any room or season. The finished quilt measures 60” x 60”.
Materials
65” of 8” Flying Geese and Braids Triangles On A Roll
Eight ¼ yards or fat quarters of different coordinating solids
4 yards of solid white or off white
½ yard of contrasting solid for binding
4 yards of quilting weight cotton for backing
Cutting
- Following the measurements provided in the Triangles On A Roll directions, cut twelve rectangles of each solid.
- Following the measurements provided in the Triangles On A Roll directions, cut one starter triangle from one of the solid colors.
- Cut two rectangles from the solid white measuring 31” x 65” and 22” x 65”.
- Cut seven 2 ¼” width of fabric strips from your binding fabric.
Sewing
- Following the Triangles On A Roll directions, sew the braid so it measures 65” in length.
- Sew the two white rectangles to either side of the braid.
- Square up the quilt top so it measures 60” x 65”.
- Piece your quilt back so it measures at least 65” x 65”.
- Sew your binding strips together to make at least 250” of binding.
- Quilt and bind your gorgeous quilt with your preferred quilting and binding method. *
Congratulations! You are all finished.
Star Gazer Eye Candy
Here is a picture of a gorgeous version of Star Gazer made by Lisa, an amazingly talented quilter. She was kind enough to send me a picture of her finished work. Talk about stunning. Fabulous work, Lisa!
Patchwork Butterfly Pillow
It is hard for my daughter to see me make so many things but not get to keep them all so I wanted to make her something of her very own. Her quilt is in the works but she reallllllllly wanted a butterfly pillow so I finally made the time to make her one today. I used my free tutorial on Quilt Trends magazine’s website and made it into a removable sham to use on one of her bed pillows. I know it is going to need washing so why not make my life a little easier to start with? I quilted the front and am excited to wash it have have it get softer over time. 
Tatami Mat quilt pattern featuring Birch’s Ipanema collection
I just finished up another version of my Tatami Mat quilt pattern using Birch’s Ipanema collection and I am absolutely in love. It is going to be on display at the Birch booth at the Road To California fabric show so sadly, this one is already on its way to the show. No keeping it for me. Sniff. It sure is a beauty. It just makes me think of warm beaches and vacation. 
Northern Exposure crib quilt
I finally finished this Fly Guy version of my Northern Exposure quilt pattern. My friend is a pilot so it seemed only fitting to use some cute airplanes and coordinating fabrics for his son. I had a blast free motion quilting stars all across the quilt top. The quilt will get mailed off tomorrow. I can’t wait for some action shots with the baby.
Area Code quilt pattern – without the borders
I whipped up this gorgeous quilt for a friend using the Area Code quilt pattern’s borderless option. It makes for a super clean, modern quilt top and it doesn’t take that much time to sew, which is all the better these days. The quilt features Birch’s Eiko collection.
Here is a close up.
And here is a full body shot.
Charley Haper canvas tote bag in Sew-it Today’s latest issue
I am so excited to show of my latest project for Sew-it Today, a tote bag using Birch’s Charley Harper canvas. It is such a great bag, pretty beginner friendly and has a matching wristlet to go with it.
And here is the cover so you can look for it next time you go shopping ; )
Area Code has arrived!
I am super excited to announce that Area Code, my last pattern of 2013, is in stock and ready to ship.
Christmas Stocking Tutorial
If you are looking for a fun sewing project this weekend, check out my Christmas Stocking tutorial over on fabricworm.com’s blog.
http://fabricworm.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-stocking-tutorial.html
Holiday Pillows using Star System quilt pattern
I have had it on my to-do list to make holiday pillows and a holiday quilt using my Star System quilt pattern. I finally got around to it and am totally enamored. I used the pattern pieces to create a block and then added a border to make the pillows 16″ square.
Happy Veteran’s Day Weekend
Happy Veteran’s Day weekend to all of my US friends. In honor of this holiday, I have a free pattern for a gorgeous, vintage inspired quilted American flag. Click here to get the pdf instructions and have a great weekend.
Window View Is Here!
I am so excited to release my latest pattern, Window View. Inspired by Charley Harper’s designs, it is my favorite pattern yet.
Another version of Big Top
I just finished up another version of Big Top featuring Birch’s Everyday Party. So cute!
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Since Google Reader is shutting down, I am switching over to Bloglovin. Hopefully this will be a smooth transition. Fingers crossed.
A Grown Up Version of Elephant March
Here are some pictures of my latest version of Elephant March using Birch’s Mod Basics 2 collection. I love how the elks work just as well as elephants. It also takes the quilt out of the nursery and can really go in any room in the house. 
And here is a close up of the quilting. Boy, do I love the wood grain quilting.
And here is the back. I really could just quilt Birch’s Cream all day long and be happy. It is so so so soft. Can’t recommend it enough.
Thanks for stopping by!
Star Gazer QAL – Week Four Sewing the Quilt Top and Quilting
Hello and happy day light savings to everyone in the U.S. This Monday is always tough but the longer days are so worth it.
So, hopefully everyone is making good progress on their blocks and the tips from two weeks ago were helpful.
Here is a picture of my quilt top in its final layout.You can see the funky side pieces where I didn’t totally cut off the “arm” entirely.
And here is a picture of the quilt top sewn together.After I sewed the top together, I trimmed off the sides. You can also see the stay stitching that I added to the sides of the quilt. I sewed regular stitches about 1/8″ from the edge to help keep the pieces from stretching when I was quilting. I find it really helps and would totally recommend it.
And here is the grand reveal! This is also a good shot to show my quilting. I chose to create a V design to mirror the quilting in the top and bottom. I used a fabric safe marker and drew in matching curves to create this look. I had to go with the petals in the curved pieces and then quilted diamonds in the center of the blocks by drawing them with a fabric marker. If you are looking for quilting inspiration, be sure to check out Petra’s version as well. She went with all over quilting and it really changes the effect of the top and bottom pieces.
And here is a close up of the front.
And here is a shot of the quilting on the back.
Thank you all for joining this QAL with me. I really hope it helped and I look forward to seeing pictures of your finished quilt.
xo,
mel
Star System and Elephant March quilt patterns have arrived!
Star System and Elephant March just arrived! They will be ready to ship out tomorrow so if you are interested, hop on over to my Etsy shop and pick up one of each. If you are interested in wholesale orders, please email me at melissa@lundendesigns.com.
Star Gazer QAL – Week 3 Checking In
Hello! I hope everyone had a great weekend and got a lot of good sewing done. I decided to have this week be a “check in” week, where you can let me know how things are going and to have some more time to work on your blocks. They take a while but the finished product is so worth it.
I also wanted to share with you my friend Petra’s* blog post and finished Star Gazer quilt with you as a little inspiration. Petra is an amazingly talented quilter and pretty much blew my mind when she showed me her version of Star Gazer. She made this quilt to raise money for her daughter’s school. How generous is that???
Here is a link to Petra’s blog www.sewpaintcreate.com. Definitely check out her post to read about her experience and tips sewing curves.
And here is a picture of her finished quilt! And please note how she used the tiny star print instead of solid white. Brilliant move, lady. Just brilliant.
Nancy, of Just Quilting PDX, did the quilting for this baby. Such a perfect combination. Here is a link to Nancy’s website
Next week, we will finish up with sewing the quilt top and quilting.
* Petra’s name has an accent but I have no idea how to insert one on WordPress. I apologize.
Star Gazer QAL – Week Two Sewing Curves
Hello! I hope everyone had a fun week cutting out fabric and figuring out your layout because now we are on to the fun stuff: sewing curves.
Sewing curves doesn’t have to be scary, especially when you know some tricks. Here is a list of things that will help me when I sew curves:
1. Shorten the stitch length.
2. Pin, pin, pin, and pin.
3. Use a spray starch when ironing your fabric.
4. Sew slowly.
5. Be gentle with the fabric as your sew the curves.
6. Press the wrong side of the block first.
But, regardless of the tricks, sometimes the fabric you are using can make a difference. Last week, I got an email from a friend who was starting her Star Gazer quilt ahead of the QAL. She was having a really tough time getting her pieces to lay flat. After trouble shooting with some of the suggestions above, I pulled some scrap some Windham fabric and some Kona sold from my stash and sewed part of a block. I started to sewing the curve from the center, sewing one half then the second half. Using this method, I didn’t even bother to pin my pieces. My piecing turned out perfect, nary a pucker in sight.
Then, it was time for me to start sewing my Star Gazer with Birch’s fabric. Using the same, no pin, sew from the center method, this is what my block looked like. Not good. Not good at all.
Since all of the fabrics I used are high quality and I didn’t do anything differently, my theory is that maybe the thickness of the fabric threads might have something to do with how it handles the curves. I have no scientific basis for this theory, but that is my hunch. My suggestion is to try making a block. Hopefully you won’t have any problems, but if you do, this is what worked for me.
First, I tried using spray starch on my pieces and that helped, but not significantly. My next step was to pin, a lot. Pinning made all the difference and my blocks finally started looking really good. The only problem is pinning each side of the block really takes a lot of time. It slowed me down but the results were worth it. Below is a picture of one of my block sides and a lot of pins.
I also found that pressing the wrong side of the block first helped set the curves in place.
After sewing and pressing my blocks, I squared them up to 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″. Here is my block before squaring up.
And here is a picture of the block after it is squared up.
Now, all of my blocks are finished and I need to get to work on finalizing the layout and sewing up the quilt top, which we will talk more about next week. I really hope this post helps. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me if you are having any issues. And for all of you QuiltCon folk, I hope you had an awesome weekend.
Star Gazer QAL – Week One: Fabrics, Cutting and Layout
Hello and welcome to Week One of the Star Gazer QAL. I hope you are excited and ready to get sewing.
I know it seems ambitious to combine picking fabrics, cutting and layout in one week but as I was working on my quilt, I couldn’t figure out a way to separate them.
Picking Fabrics
The original Star Gazer was designed around the nine prints in Birch’s Scamper collection. I just really wanted to show off all of the really cute little details in the fabrics. I found that the color prints really popped off the cream petals. The prints with cream backgrounds worked just as well, particularly because they are balanced by the color pints. This pattern is so versatile that any cohesive set of fabrics will look great. Lighter prints might get washed out a bit if you use a white or cream for the petals, but lighter prints for the diamonds and a darker solid for the petals would look stunning. If you used a dark blue for the petals, it would look like the night sky.
I can’t wait to see pictures of what everyone is using. Please feel free to post pictures in the Star Gazer QAL flickr group.
Cutting
My first recommendation if you aren’t using the Scamper prints like I did is to assign your prints to the Scamper prints I used in the pattern before you start cutting. That way, it will be easy to keep track of how many pieces of each print you need and what print goes where in the layout. The diamond pieces (Template A) take up a lot of fabric because of their long “arms” so planning ahead is really important. Definitely consider tracing the pieces with a fabric safe marker before cutting to make sure you have enough fabric, particularly if you are fussy cutting your prints.
If your paper pattern piece is wrinkly and tough to use, turn off the steam on your iron and quickly iron it flat. Just be sure to turn of the steam or you will end up with a soggy piece of paper.
Another thing I found helpful is to use a small square ruler placed on top of Template A. It helped keep the paper piece in place as I used my rotary cutter. I just shifted it to the sides that I wasn’t cutting. And don’t forget to mark the center notch on each side of the diamond. You need this mark to line up the center of the pieces cut with Template B. A small 1/8″ notch or mark with a fabric safe pen works the best. If you have the time, transfer your pattern piece to a plastic template. It is really easy to shave little bits off the pattern as you cut with a rotary cutter.
The same advice applies to cutting Template B. Be sure to mark the center notch and consider transferring the pattern piece to a plastic template.
Layout
If you are using nine prints, you can just follow the layout I used or you can try something new. I have found that I prefer balance and symmetry for this quilt pattern, but don’t let that stop you from trying out different arrangements.
This time around, I am making a quilt with Birch’s new line coming out this spring called Yay Day! It is super cute and feminine. Since the first time I saw this collection, I have wanted to do a Star Gazer version. The pattern calls for nine prints, but the Yay Day! collection only has seven prints. This means that I can’t follow the layout of the original Star Gazer and I needed to increase my yardage to 1/2 yard of each print.
*I apologize for the picture quality. I don’t have a design board (long story involving an A-frame house) so I lay out my pieces on my bed.
If anyone wants to use 7 prints, please let me know and I can give you more information on how many pieces of each print I ended up needing.
I hope this post helps and look forward to seeing pictures of your fabrics and layouts.
Next Week: Sewing Curves!!
Creative Retailer
I am so excited to receive a copy of this month’s Creative Retailer. The magazine featured Monaluna’s new line, Havana, on the cover. I was lucky enough to get a chance to work with Monaluna designing a quilt for their Quilt Market booth this fall. There is a really nice article about Monaluna in the issue and they were kind enough to give me a shout out about the quilt.
Here is a picture of the cover.
And here is a picture of the article and quilt.
Welcome to the Star Gazer Quilt Along
Welcome to the Star Gazer QAL. I am so excited to get this party started.
First, to introduce myself, I am Melissa of Lunden Designs. I have been sewing all my life and fell in love with quilting 5 years ago. I moved from NYC to California 3 1/2 years ago, where I began sewing for Birch Fabrics. After getting requests for patterns for the quilts that I was making for Birch, starting a pattern company was the next natural step. Lunden Designs was born this past summer.
I am so excited to be doing this QAL and to get to know everyone who is participating. If you feel so inclined, please leave a comment introducing yourself.
I also set up a Flickr group so it would be easy for us to share pictures of our fabrics and quilts. Here is a link to the group. http://www.flickr.com/groups/stargazerquiltalong/
So, my plan for the QAL is to do a weekly post on Mondays, that way we can have time to work on the quilts over the weekend. This Monday I am going to talk about picking fabrics, cutting and layout. The week after that, we can talk about sewing curves. The following week we can talk about piecing the quilt top and the week after that, we can discuss quilting. If you think this is going too fast, let me know and I can slow things down.
And please feel free to email me along the way if you have any questions. I would love to hear from you and to help in anyway I can. My email is melissa@lundendesigns.com
Thank you so much for joining along!
Happy Trails
Here is a sneak peak my latest quilt for Sew It…Today magazine. The magazine goes on sale on February 26 and can be found in most major stores. As soon as I get a couple of copies, I will do a giveaway. The quilt uses Birch’s Camp Sur line.
Star Gazer Quilt Along
I am about to get to work on a version of Star Gazer using Birch’s new line, Yay Day! and thought it would be fun to do a quilt a long. I put a post up on Facebook to see if anyone would be interested in joining in and got a good response. So if anyone is interested, let me know. I will put posts up here on my blog and will link to them on my Facebook page too. The first post will go up on February 15th, that way everyone will have time to get their materials. I have a 10% off coupon on my Etsy shop so you can get a copy of Star Gazer. The code is good for all of my patterns so feel free to pick up all of your favorites. Just enter SGQAL when you check out.
A very helpful friend just told me that the RSS feed button is giving her an error message. If you are having that problem, there is a feedburner link at the very bottom of this page that should be working.
Happy Sewing!
Flag Day in Tula Pink’s Salt Water
I just posted a bunch of pictures to my Facebook page and to the Lunden Designs Flickr group of the two Flag Day quilts I made with Tula Pink’s Salt Water lines. They turned out so beautiful, if I do say so myself ; )
An Anniversary Quilt
My sweet husband is so supportive of my quilting business. His feedback and help has been crucial to any success I have had. The hardest part for him is that we rarely keep the quilts I make. He really loved the Northern Exposure quilt, and even named it for me, so I knew that I would make him one for our anniversary. I used the full/queen size option and the second layout with the narrow columns. It looks like it has always been on my bed – it fits so nicely in our room and is perfect for the winter. I used prints from Birch’s Camp Sur and then added Shroom and Mahogany, along with Dandi Flight from the Commute line and a Denyse Schmidt’s Eyelet in Grey. 
And here is the back.
Here is a close up of the wood grain quilting and the blocks.
And here is a close up of the mitered corner.
Flag Day and Big Top are here!
Flag Day and Big Top are finally here. I have updated my Etsy shop and the patterns have been shipped to lots of stores. So excited to see what people make with the patterns.
Flag Day and Big Top will be here on Wednesday!
Just wanted to let you know that Flag Day and Big Top will be ready to ship on Wednesday!
Here is Flag Day, which includes 3 size options.
And here is Big Top, perfect for any nursery.
International Quilt Market Recap – Fall 2012
I cannot believe that I get to write a Quilt Market recap. Going to Quilt Market has always been a dream of mine. All of the amazing creativity that goes into preparing and displaying these booths just blows my mind. I used to love reading the recaps and looking over all of the pictures online so when Cynthia of Birch Fabrics asked me if I wanted to go this fall, there was no question what my answer would be. It was seriously a fabric nerd’s dream come true. And this time, I would get to go, not only to help out Birch, but to sell my own patterns. The trip was amazing and I couldn’t be happier with how things went. I need to update my website with a Stockist page because my patterns are now available in over 25 shops around the world!
Tula Pink was my first celebrity spotting on Friday. It was so cool and totally surreal to see so many faces that I recognized from reading about them online. I totally dorked out trying to chat with Heather Bailey but luckily I kept my cool when I finally had the chance to meet Angela Waters, my quilting idol on Saturday. She was amazing and as nice as I could have hoped.
Here are some pictures of the Birch booth. Seeing all of my quilts and projects on display was a really amazing moment.
Here is the view of the booth with the order table.
Here is a shot of By Sea or By Land, Star Gazer and Grand Junction, along with all of the other amazing Birch goodies.
Here is a shot of Northern Exposure, Big Top and Flag Day.
And here is a picture of me, Cynthia and Arlene right before Quilt Market opened on Saturday.
There is so much more to say but I have to save it for another post. Leave me a comment if you have any specific questions you want answered.
Grand Junction and Northern Exposure Are Here!
I am so excited to show off my new patterns, Grand Junction and Northern Exposure. You can read more about them on My Patterns page. 
Quilt Trends Fall 2012 issue goes on sale 9/25
I am so excited about this because Quilt Trends included one of my quilt patterns in their awesome issue. I can’t wait to go to Barnes and Noble and pick up an extra copy.
A sneak peak from a top secret photo shoot
I went to my friend’s farm yesterday for a top secret photo shoot. It is only top secret because I took pictures of samples of my next two quilt patterns but since they aren’t ready, I can’t share the pics yet. And it is killing me because I am so excited about them. I better get cracking on finishing the patterns. But, I can show this great shot. I brought along the Bella version of By Sea or By Land and it stole the show, or at least it stole the shoot when it came to the air stream. The blues in the quilt and awning are just amazing together. 
Thanks again Hilary and Tony!
A new version of By Sea or By Land with Lotta Jansdotter’s Bella fabrics
I am over the moon over how cute this version of By Sea or By Land turned out. I have wanted to try a version of the quilt pattern with borders and then Lotta Jansdotter released Bella and magic happened.
I have typed up some additional instructions for the pattern so it is easy to add the borders. Just click on the link below for the instructions.
Another Giveaway at Luvinthemommyhood
Shannon of Luvinthemommyhood, is doing a fantastic giveaway on her blog with my patterns and Birch fabrics. Be sure to get over there soon to enter to win copies of both my patterns and a huge stack of Birch Fabrics.
Thank you Shannon!
The Most Amazing Trip to Colorado
I just got back from a super fun vacation to Colorado. I spent a lot of time in Denver and had the chance to meet some really amazing ladies.
My first stop was to Fabric Bliss to meet the lovely Aurora and her mom Jude. Fabric Bliss was one of the first stores to buy my patterns and it was beyond awesome to see them in the store. Aurora and Jude were so nice and made me want to just hang out in their store all day. The store is gorgeous and I am so excited to be a part of it.
Here I am in front of the shop. So exciting!
My next visit with was with the fabulous Sadie Fox Metter. She is the best. It was so fun to meet her in person, talk about Craftsy and see her in action teaching at Fancy Tiger. Of course, I was too busy chatting and dorking out about fabric and sewing to actually take a picture with her. I guess that means I just need to go back to Denver soon.
My last stop was to Fancy Tiger Crafts, another amazing store in Denver. I was lucky enough to meet Jaime, one of the owners and Amy Gibson, a teacher and blogger extraordinaire. Fancy Tiger also carries my patterns. So freakin’ cool!
And here are my patterns!
Denver was so much fun and getting a chance to meet so many talented and amazing women was awesome. I really appreciate how nice everyone was and how they made time for me. And I also have to give David a big shout out for being a super guy and hanging with Lila so I could gallivant around town.
A Birthday Quilt
My wonderful brother-in-law just had a birthday and was long overdue for a new quilt. He was my great behind-the-quilt model for the Star Gazer and By Sea or By Land beach photo shoot and mentioned how much he loved some of the Storyboek 2 prints. He loves to dive and always shares the tasty fish and scallops he gets so it only seemed fair to make him a special quilt.
I used Birch’s Urchin Shells Shroom, Kelp Play, Bubble Play and Bubble Life sashed with Kona Snow. I love how versatile this collection is and how mature and sophisticated this quilt turned out.
Here is a close up of the quilting. I received a copy of Angela Water’s quilting book for my birthday and used this quilt as a sampler. It is a fantastic book and I can’t wait to show off my new skills on some upcoming quilts.
And of course, I had to include a shot of my little lady, who couldn’t resist being part of the photo shoot.
Happy birthday Uncle Dan, you are the best.
The Giveaway Winner
Thank you all for leaving comments for Amber’s giveaway. I loved hearing about where everyone wants to go. I wish everyone could win but unfortunately, Amber is only giving one pattern away. Since people posted comments in two different posts (my fault for making them have almost the same title), I am counting the adding them together. The five from the other comment will now officially be 23-27.
According to mathgoodies.com, Mindy T, number 1, is the winner! Congratulations Mindy. I will send you an email as well.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Another Awesome Giveaway
One of my favorite bloggers is releasing a new sewing pattern today. I was lucky enough to be asked to test it AND now I get to give away a free copy of the pattern to a lucky reader. Amber of One Shabby Chick has designed an adorable and super practical Family Passport Wallet. The pattern is easy to follow, full of helpful tips and is illustrated with a lot of great photographs. The wallet holds up to 6 passports and has an exterior pocket to hold your travel papers and plane tickets. As a bonus, she even includes a 4 passport version.
Now for the giveaway details – leave a comment telling me where you would go using this wallet between now and Thursday and I will pick a winner on Friday, August 27. Since there can be only one winner, Amber has them for sale in her shop so you can jump over there and pick one up. Amber is also celebrating the release of the pattern by offering 10% off of everything in her shop with the coupon code newpattern. Seeing that I want one of everything she makes, that is a real sweat deal.
Thanks for stopping by and happy sewing!
Amazing Giveaway
My longtime blog and sewing buddy, Amber of One Shabby Chick, is having an amazing giveaway on her blog. She is giving away copies of my patterns along with Birch’s fabric to make them. So hop on over there and leave a comment if you want free patterns and free fabric.
Lunden Designs Sewing Patterns Are Here
I have been so busy with my new patterns that I forgot to post about them here. My first two quilt patterns. By Sea or By Land and Star Gazer are finally available for sale. I have them for sale at my etsy shop and they are also available at a bunch of different stores, which is perfect for one stop fabric and pattern shopping. You can read more about them over here. 
Thanks for stopping by!
Best Spam Comment Ever!
I don’t get as much traffic over here on my new blog but I get an inordinate amount of spam comments. I usually delete them right away but this one is almost worth publishing. Here is the comment, in all of its glory:
Which i visit your blog site along with recover all you could submit right here but I not ever commented nowadays as soon as i viewed that submit, I couldn’t eliminate myself personally right from placing comments here. Great guide lover!
Great guide lover indeed!
Birch Fabric’s Quilt Market Booth
Here are a few pictures of some of the things I made for Birch Fabrics. Getting to design quilts around the new fabric lines is one of my favorite things to do. I am even going to make the big jump and start selling these patterns. They will be available next month. Don’t worry, I will keep you posted.
Below are two versions of By Sea or By Land, a quilt pattern inspired by the new Storyboek 2 line.
Here is a wide angle shot of the booth. I made the quilt on the far left, the table runner and the bags on the left hand side.
And here is the Scamper Diamond Quilt. I am so in love with this baby and how it blends classic and modern. I will also be releasing a pattern for this in July.
You can check out all the pictures over at Birch’s blog.
Thanks for stopping by.
A Wedding Picnic Quilt
I went to a super fun wedding last month and wanted to give the happy couple something special that they could use as a family. I made them this picnic quilt, which is made from vintage sheets from my stash. I love how bright and cheery it turned out. 
Congratulations again Bridgette and Mike!
A Pillow in Modern Patchwork
One of the pillows I designed using Birch’s Circa 52 line is in the new Modern Patchwork magazine. I still can’t believe that things I make end up in magazines but it sure makes me happy. The issue is awesome and full of great inspiration. 
And here is the pillow. I appliqued triangles and a bird to look like bunting. It is such a perfect pillow for a nursery.
A Cover Girl
I am so excited that one of my quilts is on the cover of the spring issue of Quilt Trends magazine. I don’t really have the words to describe how giddy it makes me. The magazine includes a tutorial on how to make the quilt. Fabricworm is selling kits for the quilt as well.
The Big Girl Bed
I had big plans for building my girl a toddler bed but when it came down to it, there was no way I would get it done anytime soon, and the escaping from the crib was not getting any better. A friend recommended this bed and it was inexpensive and delivered quickly which is really all I needed.
It is getting chilly here so I wanted to make a flannel duvet cover for an old, inherited crib comforter. Some of Anna Maria Horner’s folksy flannels were on sale at Birch and the prints were perfect for a little girl’s room. I used 2 yards of each print to make the duvet and to make two matching little pillowcases. So far, it has been a huge hit.
As for the actual sewing, I edged stitched the duvet to help it keep its shape and used velcro for the closure rather than buttons or snaps. I would like to think my girl wouldn’t put a button in her mouth but she ate a piece of paper towel and a sticker the other day, soooooo velcro it is.
I would be more than happy to prepare a tutorial if anyone is interested. Just let me know.
A quick action shot
I have been so busy sewing top secret stuff for Quilt Market that I haven’t had a minute to spare to make any fun things to share over here at the blog. Fortunately, I did get a great action shot of the quilt I made for my friend’s big girl bed. I love the mix of modern and old fashioned.
On a personal note, it looks like I will be making a big girl quilt for my little girl too. It turns out all those hours at the playground gave her super powers and she now gets in and out of her crib on her own. She isn’t even 2 yet. This is so not cool. So be on the lookout for some toddler bed posts coming up in the near future.
A Quilt for Baby Tom
Here is another recent quilt I made for a new baby friend. I held on to it so I could show it at my little quilt show but now I am excited to get it packed up and sent off to its new owner. I kept the design simple but had fun with the quilting. I alternated with straight line quilting and stippling and love how it looks.
A Little Quilt Show
My in-laws were nice enough to host me and another artist at their last night for an art and wine open house. It was so fun to meet so many new people and to get a chance to chat about my quilts. My favorite thing was to see them all hung up together and to photograph them in natural light.
Here I am with some of the quilts. There were more quilts on the other side of the fence but I forgot to photograph them.
A Quilt for Cameron
Oh, so many babies, so many quilts, so little time. Here is a quilt I just finished for a new little baby girl. I can’t wait to get if off in the mail so I can get some action shots.
I used prints from Birch’s Storyboek line with Kona Baby Pink sashing.
And here is a shot of the back. The different sized polka dots are just so cute.
A pillow for my little girl
It is amazing to me how quickly time passes after having a baby. When Lila was first born, people would say that to me and it didn’t make any sense. I felt every freakin’ sleep deprived second of that first year, but once she she started sleeping through the night, time started speeding up. Suddenly, I am only two months away from her second birthday and making her a pillow for her crib.
She seems ready for one and I was able to find a very small, very flat pillow at Ikea. And of course, I had to use Birch’s Wildflowers print. It is so soft and so cute. I made the cuff out of Cobblestone Stripes and used the Seahorses for an accent.
Since Lila’s room is super dark, I included a second picture of the pillowcase outside to show off the true colors.
A Quilt for Sedona
There is a very special little girl that just moved into a new house and a new big girl bed. How could I not make a quilt to celebrate such exciting developments? Sedona has all of these beautiful quilts decorating her walls so my goal was to incorporate all of the different colors without competing with the other quilts or making the room too busy.
I decided on a color palate and went with a Plain Spoken inspired design. Instead of doing all solids, which just felt a little too mature for a three year old, I added some Birch Storyboek prints. I added some Wildflowers and Seahorses to make it a little more fun and to add just a little more interest to the design. I bound it with Denyse Schmidt’s Picnic Dots Red/Pink.
Baby Bedding
I just finished up making some super cute custom baby bedding for a new friend. We weren’t friends before she asked me to make the bedding but I quickly decided to include friendship in the order, whether she liked it or not. I am full service that way.
The pleated bed skirt is made with Oliver + S fabric Artisan Aqua and the bumpers are made with Birch Fabrics Seahorses Sun. As you can see, the nursery is looking pretty ready. All it needs is a little baby!
My first picnic
We have been enjoying outdoor concerts this summer, especially in the evenings. It is a great time to spend with friends and family and a little extra playground time is always a plus. It is also a great excuse to use my new picnic quilt.
I cut the striped print on the bias for the binding and then sewed it with my machine instead of by hand. It makes me a little crazy to do it now that I am hooked on hand sewn bindings but I needed the binding to go on fast and to be nice and secure.
And here are some close ups of the quilting, which I did on my new-to-me long arm machine! This is my first quilt that I quilted on the long arm so there is some extra special excitement about it.
The big secret I have been keeping is that I bought a long arm quilting machine. It is not that I was intentionally keeping a secret as much as I have been too busy practicing to talk about the machine. I scored the machine on Craigslist – it is 20 years old and the bare bones Kenquilt model and it makes me so happy. I have a lot to learn and a lot of practicing to do but it is just so awesome.
A Picnic Quilt
I have been collecting vintage sheets for a while now, with the idea that I could use them to make simple picnic quilts. I wanted to keep the piecing of the quilt tops simple enough that it wouldn’t make me too anxious to actually use them.
This quilt is big – 75″ x 75″, made up of 25 15″ blocks. This quilt is perfect for lying on the beach and has plenty of room for a lot of friends, but it is really big. Next time, I will definitely make the blocks smaller so the finished quilt is closer to 60″ square. That seems a more manageable size.
After I bind it, I am going to play around with making a carrier for it that involves velcro and a shoulder strap.
The yellows in the prints came out a little muted. Once this baby is finished, I will do a proper photo shoot outside.
A Market Bag Tutorial
Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone is enjoying themselves as summer kicks off. I have a tutorial over at Fabricworm on how to make this bag of you are interested. Here is the link.
Happy Sewing!
Two For the Road
Some good friends had twins two months ago so it was my pleasure to make them two little quilts. I had one finished before they were born but I got busy sewing up samples for Birch’s booth at Quilt Market, so the other one had to wait a bit. I finally finished the second one up and then it only took me ten days to get in the mail. Yikes!
This one is made with my favorite scraps and a lovely pale pink solid.
The back is a vintage sheet I found the day before I was going to quilt this with a solid cream. I have nothing against a solid background but the stripes and the pink worked perfectly.
This quilt is made up of a candy bar of City Weekend prints. My local fabric shop sold it to me individually after many harassing visits : ) The blue floral print was from my stash and picked up in Mexico.
I kept the back simple on this one with a solid Kona Ivory.
Even though I made the quilts with different designs, I did want to have one thing unifying between them so I bound each one with the same pink floral.
The best part of the whole process is that I already received some action shots of the girls modeling with their new quilts. You are supposed to give a gift without strings, but I am going to admit that I really give them to get action shots of the babies.
And the winner is…
Skooks! Thank you all for the super sweet comments! I wish I had enough copies for everyone.
Exciting News and A Give Away!
I am so excited that three of my patterns are included in new 101 Patchwork and Quilts Projects magazine. The magazine is awesome and full of so many great projects. Just flipping through it is so inspiring. 
Here are two of my three pillow projects. I made these pillows for Birch Fabrics for their booth at Quilt Market in the Fall.
And here is my third pillow. It was also made from Birch Fabrics to show off their line Marine fabrics.
Since this is such a cool magazine and such a fun opportunity, I want to give away a copy. Please leave a comment and I will pick a winner randomly on May 8.
Good luck!
Some New Purses
I have been so obsessed with quilting lately that I have really neglected my first love, purses. Every once in a while, I will force myself to stop quilt to whip a purse or two. A friend’s birthday is always a good excuse, especially when this friend delivered food to my doorstep in the pouring rain right after my baby was born. Yeah, that kind of friend deserves a new purse.
I made this little cutie the day of the birthday celebration. The exterior fabric was picked up in Mexico a couple of years ago and the lining is from a fat quarter stack from Purl Soho. The strap is made from brown ultra-suede for durability.
Since I have sewn so many purses, it makes for a really nice, productive afternoon because I can just go into auto-pilot. I even managed to make myself a new purse while I was at it. My last one was so great but it had a lot of love and really needed to be retired. Carrying around a stained, old purse doesn’t really speak well for my sewing abilities.
And I even allowed myself to use some of my favorite fabric. This Echino print is so fun and whimsical with the little purple beetle. It is a perfect everyday print.
I kept the style nice and small with a zipper closure. I need to be able to just tuck the essentials under my arm and be ready to chase after a toddler at a moment’s notice.
Speaking of a certain toddler, my little one now makes me stop in front of the grocery store to dance to the music playing over the loud speakers. We do this on our way to the gym in the mornings. It is seriously the very best part of my day.
40 yards
I am now the proud owner of 40 yards of 90″ batting! I bought it from Joann’s with a 40% off coupon. I buy so much batting that it finally made sense. It is really a commitment to quilting.
Magnolia Garden Quilt and Tutorial
Here is my most recent quilt and tutorial. You can find the tutorial over at fabricworm.
And here is the back.
I have some other baby quilts in the works but I have to get them mailed off before I can do the big blog reveal, not that the new parents of twins are checking my blog, now that I think of it.
Five Points Quilt Tutorial
So my exciting news is that I made a second quilt and drafted a tutorial for it over at fabricworm. Click on over if you want to check it out.
The big reveal!
This quilt is happily in the arms of its new owner, and it seems like just in time since new York City is getting record snow fall this winter. From what I have heard, the quilt is already getting lots of cuddling time.
I had just enough fabric left to piece a strip on the back.
And here a closeup. I was going for a cute baby/quilt portrait but it turns out that is physically impossible to get a 15 month old to sit still and look at the camera at the same time. I think I will try bribery next time.
Also, there is some exciting news related to this quilt but I need to wait a few more days before spilling the beans.
The beginnings of another quilt
This quilt is a surprise birthday gift for a very dear friend. I only have a couple of weeks to get it done but the design isn’t too complicated. I don’t want to get too detailed about the design just in case the birthday happens to check this blog but hopefully the grand reveal won’t be too far off.
These grays, oranges and yellows have been singing to me for a while so I really can’t wait to get this baby put together. They all came from Fabricworm. It was soooooo much fun getting to pick them out (with Arlene’s help).
I’ll keep you posted!
2010 Projects
Since there is no way I would be able to find the time to get individual posts for all the projects I did during the last couple of months of 2010, here is one big, mega post of projects galore.
Here is a sample apron I made for a sewing class that I offered at Birch Fabrics.
Here is a sample skirt for another sewing class I taught at Birch.
Here is a quilt I made as a thank you present for our friend who let my husband stay with him for both of his trips back to NYC. Being nice enough to have a friend crash in your studio twice warrants a quilt. And maybe some matching throw pillows…
In honor of all the teething going on around Halloween, it only seemed fitting that Lila dress up as a vampire. I made her a little cape, a stuffed bat and appliqued some “blood” drops on her tunic.
I made this lovely dress and jacket and blogged about it over here.
I made this tote with a matching mini-purse for a friend’s birthday.
I made us all new stockings based on the pattern and tutorial I created here.
I made this little cutie and blogged about it here.
And finally, one of the many sets of pot holders I made for holiday presents.
Sadly, I didn’t photograph most of my holiday presents because I was too busy sewing and mailing. They were all super cute, but you will just have to take my word on it.
So goodbye 2010 and hello 2011, a year of crafting and blogging!
Hello 2011!
I can’t believe it has been so long since my last blog post here. So so sorry – excuses, excuses, blah blah blah. My goal for 2011 is to get back into posting about my projects. Things are so busy around here with a toddler that just getting time to sew has been tough enough. Actually blogging about the projects too would have been a miracle.
Here is my first quilt for 2011. I have FIVE babies coming in the next few months so I figured the lull after the holidays would be a perfect time to get a jump start on making some presents. The new line of Dr. Seuss prints are so freakin’ cute that I had to add them to my stash. Luckily, so many of my friends decided to have babies so I was never at a loss for what to do with the fabric.
Since the prints are pretty busy, I decided to keep my piecing simple. I also kept the back simple too. Everyone’s eyes are going to need a break from those wild prints.
I had fun with the quilting and used Guetterman’s painted yellow thread. The change in colors adds a little fun to the quilting, especially on the back side.
I can’t wait to get this one in the mail and off to the soon-to-be-new parents.