Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Under The Sea...

Hi, all!

The days have flown by so fast, and it's finally Friday again!  And that means it's time to get our whoop whoop on - are you ready?  Let's get started!

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Welcome to springtime in Tennessee!

Where if it's not raining, it's so windy you can only get horizontal pictures of quilts on the line...

But out of the fifty or so pics I took, I did manage to get a few that showed most of the quilt.  This quilt has a very funny story behind it....

Remember the pillowcase dresses?  I took one with me when I went to pick up Emmy (who's nearly six) along with some fabric I had bought to make a dress for her.  I showed her the pillowcase dress, which of course she loved, and told her I could make her one with the fabric I brought.

As you can see, there are mermaids all over this fabric, and it immediately reminded me of her.  She looked at me and said, "No, Nana, it can't be a dress!"  I asked her why not, and she insisted that it was a "bwanket" - the word quilt is very hard for her to hear properly, so she doesn't try to say it very often - so I gave up on making a dress out of it.

Then I saw this beautiful quilting by Christina Cameli of A Few Scraps on Instagram...

And I knew what I would do with that fabric!  This quilting design looks so much like water to me, the perfect accompaniment to those lovely swimming mermaids!

All that wavy quilting is really hard on the body - I was totally whupped by the end of the quilt - but so worth it!  

The front of the quilt is whole cloth - just one piece of yardage - but I pieced the back from several pieces I had on hand.  

Two of the pieces were a bronze-y gold on white, and the other was a floral print from Joel Dewberry's Modernist line. The binding is another print from Modernist.

We'll be celebrating Emmy's sixth birthday on Easter Sunday, and I hope she'll like her "bwanket"!!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

via GIPHY

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you.

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS Our dancing T-Rex team this week is in honor of my niece's birthday - happy birthday, Heather!

Are You Ready for Modernist? Beautiful New Fabric!

Hi, all!

I am so excited today to be introducing a new fabric line from Free Spirit Fabrics - Modernist by Joel Dewberry!  

Look at these beautiful colors and prints! Teals and plums, tans and aquas...

...even some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle green, which made my grandson very happy!!!

I knew right away when I saw this fabric that I wanted to make him a shirt, because it is absolutely his favorite color.  I think he likes it!  In fact, he liked it so much he wouldn't stop jumping up and down, making for a very blurry picture.  So here's a clearer shot!

This shirt was made using the Arrowhead print in Emerald.

But with all these beautiful fabrics to hand, I knew I wanted to make some other things. And of course, the first thing that sprang to mind was a quilt!   I needed a baby quilt for a little girl, and I really loved the Prismatic print in pink...

I paired it up with some low volume prints for the background - you can see them better in this photo...

...and backed it with some beautiful white linen.   Lots of swirl quilting made this quilt super cuddly - perfect for a new baby!  If you want to make one of your own, there's a tutorial for it here.

And then this happened!  I took a class at QuiltCon - Wedge Play with Christina Cameli.  I decided to use some of the Modernist fabrics in my design, and this is the end result!  

The front is made using six different Modernist prints sashed by a solid cream fabric.  I appliquéd the half circle to a field of natural linen, which was a bit challenging to work with but made for a beautiful top!

The back is made with more of the Modernist prints in a strip bisecting some white linen.

I had so much fun quilting this one, doing both straight line quilting on my tabletop machine and then loading it on the long arm for some custom quilting.

Look at that gorgeous texture!

But - - - there were still so many beautiful fabrics left, and I still wanted to play!  So I gathered up the teal and green fabrics and paired them up with a mid-range gray solid...

...and made this version of my Supernova quilt!  I love the way the blues, greens, and gray complement each other.  

It's quilted with a simple loose loopy curving meander that lets the colors and design shine!  If you want to make one of your own, there's a tutorial here, and you can see it in another color scheme, too.

I had some leftover half-square triangles when I finished this quilt, so rather than let them go to waste, I put together a couple of pillows to go with the quilt!

Some simple straight line quilting, a little binding, and these were ready to show off!

And I had some little wedges left over from cutting the wedges for the first quilt - and who can bear to throw away pretty fabric?  So here's a cute little table runner I like to call Chopsticks...

Some matchstick quilting helped the sashing recede into the background, allowing the fabrics to take center stage.

And one last shot, just because it's pretty!

Many thanks to the folks at Free Spirit Fabric for giving me the opportunity to share these beautiful fabrics with you!  I hope I'll be sharing more creations with you soon, because I didn't have a chance to play with this little bundle of Modernist...

...or with this one!

I'm thinking there may be some Easter dresses hiding in there!

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If you're interested in getting some Modernist for yourself, I've seen it at several on-line fabric stores in the last few days, including but probably not limited to Fabricworm and Hawthorne Threads.  Several of the prints also come in voile... yummy!!

Thanks for bearing with my picture-heavy post - I hope you found some inspiration here today!!

Hugs!

Sarah

And just a reminder - there's still time to join in the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!  Signups started yesterday, and there's a giveaway you will be entered in if you sign up by March 18th.  You can read more about it by clicking here!

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Happy Boy...

Hi, all!

Friday has rolled around once again, and you know what that means - - - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!  Time to share our week's accomplishments and do a little happy dance!  So let's get started!

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This week I've been working madly on projects using Joel Dewberry's new fabric line, Modernist, that will be revealed on Monday - but I've got one I want to share with you today!

Nathanael was a little disappointed when the girls got new outfits for the Rambling Rose reveal, so I decided to make him a shirt this time...

The fabric is Arrowhead in Emerald from Joel Dewberry's Modernist collection, and I used Butterick 3475 for the design.  I did change it a bit, using snaps instead of buttons.  I HATE making buttonholes!! (Can I get an amen??)

This boy REALLY loves green - it's the color of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, his favorite cartoon.  This was the perfect fabric for his shirt!

A quick face cleaning by mom before his pictures... then he was so excited about his new shirt and having his picture made, he started jumping up and down!!

I'd say that's a pretty happy kid!!

So - - - can we get a whoop whoop??

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And now it's your turn!  

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you dance a little happy dance?

Share - because we want to dance right along with you - 

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS - remember to come back on Sunday and sign up to participate in this year's Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!  There will be a giveaway open to all the people who have signed up by next Saturday, 3/18, at noon CST, so don't miss your chance!

Stunning Stars #6 - "A Star Is Born"!

Hi, all!

Welcome to the final week of the Stunning Stars Quilt Along!  It's hard to believe we've made it this far - and next week marks the beginning of this year's Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!!  

Today I'll be sharing a simple baby quilt with you.  This quilt killed three birds with one stone - a baby quilt for a gift, a quilt using some beautiful Free Spirit Fabrics I'll be introducing in a week, and the final Stunning Stars quilt.  May I introduce to you.... A Star Is Born!

For the record, this quilt is made using a print called Prismatic from the upcoming collection Modernist by Joel Dewberry, surrounded by various prints from the Modern Backgrounds collection by Zen Chic.  

Aren't those wonky stars cute?  And really pretty quick and easy!

I had lots of fun quilting this one, too, using some new designs I learned at QuiltCon.  It will be for a little girl, so I think these swirls are perfect!

And here's one last shot of this cute baby quilt being modeled on my vintage rocking horse!  My grandchildren all love this particular horsie, but it also makes a great photo prop.

So now let's get started with the tutorial!!

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“A Star Is Born”

A Baby Quilt for the 

Stunning Stars Quilt-Along

Finished size:  approximately 42” square

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS:

44  - 6.5” squares background fabric - if scrappy, use low volume neutrals

5 -    6.5” squares for the star centers.  You can use one color for all of the stars, or choose 

to make your stars scrappy by choosing a color for each one and coordinating your fabrics accordingly, or by using a different fabric print for each star.

8 -    scrap pieces for each star point in coordinating color or matching print to each center 

(you will need 5 sets).  Your scraps should be basically rectangular, about 2.5” - 4” wide and any length long enough to make your points.  My pieces were about 4” wide by 6-8” long.

1/3 - 1/2 yard of fabric for binding, or about 180” of scrappy binding (this is a great way to

use up your binding scraps!)

1 1/4 yards of fabric for backing (if your quilt is no wider than 42” and your backing fabric is a full 44 or 45”, you can probably quilt it without having to piece your back. If not, you may need more fabric for your back.)

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS:

From your background fabric(s), cut forty-four 6.5” squares.

From your star fabrics, cut five 6.5” squares for the star centers, and if you need to cut your star points, cut eight rectangles varying from 2.5” - 4” wide and 6” - 8” long.  If you are using scraps, choose coordinating scraps for each star sufficient to make all eight of your points.

ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS:

Your first step is to make your wonky star points.  Rhiannon at The Nifty Stitcher has a great tutorial for these so I won’t repeat the instructions here.

Now arrange your quilt by placing your centers and arranging the points around them.  As you can see from the diagram, they interlock a little bit so you can’t just make the separate star blocks and assemble them.  Once you have it laid out, assemble it however works easiest for you.  Check your layout frequently to be sure you don’t have something out of whack!  (Don’t ask me how I know this…)

Once it’s pieced, check the width.  If it’s 42” or less, you should be able to use just one width of fabric for the backing (always a great thing, in my book!)  If not, piece your back as needed.

Now get to work quilting!  This should be a quickie, whether you do straight line quilting or FMQ on your domestic machine or throw it on the long arm.  

A quick, sweet baby quilt for either your newest arrival or a charity quilt!

PS This quilt would be super-simple to make larger, simply by making your blocks larger.  7.5” squares would yield a 49” square quilt; 8.5” squares would yield a 56” square quilt, and 9.5” squares would yield a 63” square quilt.  

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And this concludes our tutorials for the Stunning Stars quilts!  If you've missed them in the past weeks, here's a quick recap of the previous five quilts...

"Scrappy Stars"

"Exploding Stars"

"Speak To Me Of Love"

"Supernova"

"Ring Around The Roses"

Be sure to come back next week as we start this year's Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!  I'm so excited to get this party started!

Hugs!

Sarah