Friday, October 25, 2013

Blogger's Quilt Festival With Amy's Creative Side



Here is my entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  I hope you like it!  I am entering my Moda Bake Shop feature, the Anasazi Medallion Quilt in the "Favorite ROYGBIV (color wheel) quilt" category.  While it's not a circle, I assuredly used all the colors of the rainbow creating this project.  I hope you like it and I hope you visit Amy's Creative Side and vote for me!  You will need to click on the "See more" to view entries in all categories.

Tutorial--Mitred Edge Receiving Blanket



We always seem to need a quick and easy gift for new babies, don't we?  My mother showed me how to make these simple receiving blankets when I was having my children.  They're great.  While normally they are sewn using  two pieces of flannel, it is easy and luxurious to substitute a piece of flannel-backed satin or minkee for the center fabric panel.  As I needed one for a baby shower last week, and yet another for this week, I thought I would make a tutorial for you.  After all, the completed blanket took less than 30 minutes to complete.



FABRIC REQUIREMENTS:

1 Yard of two coordinating prints.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut the outer fabric square to measure 36 inches square.
Cut the inner fabric to measure 32 inches square.

Fold the outer fabric in half diagonally.


Measure down two inches from the outer corner, and pin perpendicular to the fold.  This creates a mitered corner.  Repeat with the other side.

Sew down both pinned corners, perpendicular to the fold.  Trim seam to measure 1/4 inch.  Repeat with the other side.  Unfold the outer fabric and repeat for the remaining two corners.

Open the outer fabric and place right-side down.  Turn the mitered corners out.  These will naturally turn the outer blanket to the front.  Set in the other fabric.  Turn the outer fabric under 1/4 inch and pin it so it overlaps the inner fabric about 1 1/2 inch (there is some "fudge" room here).  Pin it in place.

Top stitch  adjacent to the ditch and on the outer border, all the way around the border.

Cute blanket, eh?  These are so fun and so fast--multiples can be created at once by chain-piecing the mitered corners.

As an alternate version, I considered bringing the outer border to the front without rolling it under 1/4 inch.  Instead, it would be fun to leave it raw and snip with the scissors every 1/4 inch to make it a rag blanket border.  When I get that done, I'll have to show pictures of it as well.



I also thought the readers over at Crazy Mom Quilts would love this idea, so I'm sharing it with them too!



Until next time,

Happy Quilting!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Announcing the Nana's Pantry Fabric Line from Connecting Threads

I am pleased to announce the arrival of the Nana's Pantry Fabric line from Connecting Threads.  My Cascading Garden quilt pattern was chosen as a featured quilt pattern for this new fabric line last July.  I was so excited that I've had a hard time keeping it a secret until the fabric was released today!  It's really cool to get the fabric fresh from the company before anyone else can purchase it.

 
I love this fabric.  The colors are modern and fresh while the prints are classic and crisp--similar to the classic 1930's fabrics.  It was so much fun to work with.

Photo courtesy of Connecting Threads


Additionally, the pattern update is available starting today from Connecting Threads.  Go get your instant download and have fun sewing this beauty!

Here's the link to my online patterns at their store:  http://www.connectingthreads.com/cfPatterns/IDP/IDP_Pattern_List.cfm?id=C00043

Here are some close-up photos:


Close-up

Another close-up.
I think rick-rack makes great vines, don't you?

I'm also sharing this piece on Tuesday with quiltstory.com Wednesday with Lee at http://freshlypieced.com.

Until next time, happy quilting!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Photo Shoot

I do enjoy photographing my quilted projects.  Tell me which do you like, the color photos or the sepia?  I loved the way the sepia turned out and am tempted to use it as the cover photo for my quilt pattern.  I'd love to hear which one is your favorite photo as deciding this usually takes me as long as typing out the piecing instructions!  Silly girl!  Oh well.

Color #1
Color #2
 I admit that I usually purchase quilt patterns from color photos so I can do similar color hues and placement, but these pictures turned out so well!
Sepia #1

Sepia #2

Sepia #2

BTW, I am sharing this post with "Anything Goes Monday" over at Stitch by Stitch, click on the blog button on my right side-bar to view other awesome creations!