Category: Mini-Quilts

FREE Woodland Mushroom Quilt Block :: Fabric.com Fall Block Party

It’s Week #2 of the 9-week Fabric.com Fall Block Party and I’m ready to take you into the deep woods…  I just love this season with the air getting crisp, the foliage changing colors, and the weather is cool enough for a good long hike.  It’s so much fun to explore the wilderness, especially with my young boys.  We find so many little critters, unique leaves, and lots of different plant-life.  Our own discoveries made me think of the quintessential Woodland Mushroom.

For this design, I wanted a fun scrappy mushroom to go along with all the different colors and textures we see out in nature.  The 12.5″ x 12.5″ (unfinished) block is based mainly on half-square triangles and you will love how just a little rearraging can give your block a new look.

For the Woodland Mushroom, I stuck to the Kona party theme found here, but prints are my key to scrappiness 🙂  These are the fabrics I selected (from top to bottom):

As I was making the block I was thinking of all the ways I could the mushroom as decor….because my house need some help!  I thought of all the fabric signs we see in big box stores with witty sayings all bound together with living picture frames (just a piece of wood at the top and bottom.)  Then it dawned on me to use pant hangers!  I know a lot of you already use them to display blocks, but I thought I would turn it up a notch and refinish a few.

I found these two pant hangers for a total of $0.60 at my local thrift shops.  Both were blonde wood with the same nickel finish on the wire.  With a little fine sandpaper, I took the shine off the entire hanger and used materials I had around the house to refinish it.  A watered down brown acrylic craft paint gave me the “stain” and I happened to have this gorgeous hammered bronze spray paint leftover from another forgotten DIY project.  A few layers of clear coat topped it off to protect the fabric against any paint which may rub off.

The hanger makeover really makes the piece more modern with an industrial rustic feel.  It works well with this fall palette and displays my Woodland Mushroom mini perfectly!  It will be easy to change out mini’s over time and through the different seasons.

Here is the mini displayed with some upcycled “ribbon” cut from a burlap coffee bag and leftover lace from my sister’s wedding.  It is displayed on a mantle with a wreath hanger and helps to bring the random decor I had around the house together.

And if mantle or table-scapes aren’t your thing, the pant hanger make it easy to display a mini quilt on your front door.  I think quilts should be the “new” wreaths, don’t you think?  We should get on that movement!

I hope you enjoyed our walk in the woods!  To make your own Woodland Mushroom block, visit Fabric.com’s blog here.

Don’t forget to keep sewing along and follow the rest of these amazing designers and their Fall #fabricdotcomblock party patterns!

Sept 12 – Fall Geese

Kristi Schroeder – Initial K Studio – @initialkstudio

Sept 19 – Woodland Mushroom

Cristy Stuhldreher – Love You Sew – @loveyousew_ (You are here!)

Sept 26 – Mod Tartan

Jenn Rossotti – Ginger Peach Studio – @jennrossotti

Oct 3 – Time Lapse

Christopher Thompson – The Tattooed Quilter – @thetattooedquilter

Oct 10 – Double Windmill

Haley Anderson – Happiness in the Making – @happinessinthemaking

Oct 17 – Antlers

Lisa Hofmann-Maurer – Sew What You Love – @sewwhatyoulove

Oct 24 – Gather

Elise Baek – Elise & Emelie – @eliseandemelie

Oct 31 – Forest Floor

Sarah Thomas – Sariditty -@sariditty

Nov 7 – Flutter By

Nicole Young – Lillyella – @lillyellasworld

 

Happy Foraging!

Cristy

 

***This post was sponsored by Fabric.com and there are affiliate links.  The block design, instructions and post are my own original work with my own opinions.

Observer Fabrics Preview

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Have you ever seen something out in the wild, and wondered how pretty it would be to freeze that shot and frame it forever?  It’s that moment that is just SO good, you take in that extra long gaze and lose yourself a little…  Well when you’re April Rhodes, you take that extra step into permanence and create Observer fabrics.  It’s a collection of patterns seen out in the world…through the eyes of Miss April, herself.

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It is such an honor to sew with an unreleased collection.  The initial reveal is always exciting, but I love to hear about the inspiration.  That’s why it’s so wonderful to work with April…as we collaborate together, I get to hear the story behind every pattern and every color.  With all of that information, it then allows me to dig a bit deeper in my design wheel well.

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I was immediately inspired by the Homespun print.  It is based off of April’s love of weaving and fiber arts.  The 24″ x 24″ (finished) quilt is paper-pieced  to make every angle and line as sharp as can be. It utilizes mainly 1.5″ strips, making it very scrap friendly.

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With Observer, the prints are either monochromatic or duotone and this quilt was designed to really show off the contrast by using the colorways, exclusively, in each quadrant.

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As you get closer to the fabrics, you can see the little hints of metallic (yaaas!)  With this collection, April incorporated silver which looks amazing against the deep blues.  It’s always hard to photograph metallic, but you can see it in Triangle Tokens and on the Speck Stardust.

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The background is Art Gallery Fabric’s Premium Linen Blend in Soft Sand.  It is such a great texture and color to make the design and colors pop.

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With so much negative space in the piecing, a random application of matchstick quilting was in order using Aurifil 2310. The areas were split into quadrants, like the quilt design, itself.

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The backing was pulled from April’s Wanderer collection.  Wandering Lands Mineral was the perfect print which really complimented all the tones in Observer and it shows off the quilting beautifully.

Stay tuned…this quilt pattern will be available closer to Observer‘s release in August!!!

 

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April asked if I would help make some baby leggings as well and how could I not?!?  Ya’ll know babies are my business and LOVE the opportunity to make itty bitty gear.  These leggings are made with Overshot Gold in knit and they are so amazingly soft.  The pattern for the pants are from My Childhood Treasures.

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I drafted a pattern for the hat from an old one I have.  Make it Love it has a great tutorial and pattern which is similar.

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As an added detail, I used the selvage from a woven print on the back of the leggings.  It’s a great way to make a little tag so you know the direction of your hand-made garments.

Aren’t these clothes just perfect for the little bohemian in your life?

 

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Last, but surely not least, is my mini quilt hoop (measuring about 2.5″ lengthwise.)  Making these quilt hoops has become one of my favorite projects and I cannot help myself when I have such amazing fabric laying around.  I love tiny (who doesn’t?) and love being able to use up every little scrap.

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Of course, I used Dandelyne hoops and chose an oval to make a piece based of the main quilt I designed at the top of the post.  A little gold embroidery thread made this hoop extra special and I love how it turned out.

I hope you enjoyed my little preview of Observer which is due out in August.  Make sure to check out the full collection here.

Do you have any plans for these fabrics?  Please let me know!  I have a few already planned….maybe an envelope clutch, dresses for my nieces, shirts for my boys, and dresses for myself….I could go on and on!

 

Happy Stitching, Friends!

Cristy

Kaleidoscope Quilt and Schnitzel & Boo (R4) Mini Quilt Swap Re-Cap

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The Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap was the first swap I followed on Instagram.  I was pouring over the hashtag #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap and trying to figure out what the heck was going on!  This swap has the claim of being the original swap where you are blind partnered (the recipient doesn’t know who is the maker) to make sweet mini quilts and thus, it had over 1000 participants…wow!

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I had the pleasure of making a quilt for someone that liked V & Co fabrics and happened to have charm packs of the newest Simply Colorful and Simply Colorful II lines.  With the popularity of this swap, I felt some pressure to make something pretty nice….so I thought a Kaleidoscope design would be perfect.  It’s very striking and is perfect for some rainbow action 😉

The Kaleidoscope is a traditional paper-pieced pattern I got from Quilter’s Cache.  This is an amazing website with tons of FREE patterns!  The original pattern finishes at a 6″ block.  In order to fit the parameters of a mini, I shrank the pattern to 47% of the original to create a 3″ block. (I don’t know why 50% reduction didn’t work, but a little playing around helped me get to the size I wanted.) To plan out the colors and layout, I used this coloring sheet I found by Debbie Kratovil.  I think every quilt designer should have coloring sheets with their patterns.  They make life SO much easier!

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TIP: When piecing together the blocks, there is quite a bit of fabric that ends up at the center.  It is quite thick and can be a nuisance to quilt over later.  Initially, I tried to grade the seams and by luck, saw that I could make a little rosette by opening my seams  back a 1/4″ and tuck the seams under as shown above.

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To finish, I used gold thread to quilt (insert heart eyes emoji!!!)  I just love using metallic thread whenever I can.  It just adds that extra “something” special and matched with the gold dot backing.  For the binding, what else would be better than MORE V & Co…and in Teal Ombre?!?  The ombre was fun to use and made this design really pop.

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Kaleidoscope Quilt – Completed

 

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In return for sending off the Kaleidoscope,  I received this beautiful mini with extras from  @amandafech. Isn’t it so fun with the primary palette and appliqué work?  I am 3 for 3 with great swap experiences….all delivered on time with amazing work!  Hopefully, all of you have had positive swap experiences or will decide to join your first one 🙂  They are lots of fun!!!

I’m going to be a swap mama soon so I hope these good vibes carry over 😉

 

#MakeAQuiltMakeAFriend

Cristy

 

Make a Mugrug from the Dwelling Quilt Pattern

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When Holly Gets Quilty asked for pattern testers for her newest Dwelling Quilt pattern, I couldn’t help but get involved.  I first became familiar with Holly’s patterns through her Squash Blossom pattern I used in the Squash Blossom Bouquet mini.  She makes the most gorgeous quilts and I love how her patterns are so nice and clean…as well as beginner friendly. And this paper-piecing pattern does not disappoint!

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When I received the pattern, I decided to first make the smaller of the two blocks offered.  It measures 4 3/4″ x 5 3/4″ unfinished and I thought it would make for the cutest little mugrug.

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As a single block on its own, I wanted to fussy cut all of the pieces and bring out the literal design to resemble a home.  I dug back into the Cotton + Steel archives and pulled out some Homebody and Hatbox.  These fabrics created the most ideal walls, roof, street and even a little garden!

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1 1/4″ strips were added all around  the block to give a little more area to the block.  I wanted enough room for my larger mugs and even for a little snack 😉  Riley Blake’s newsprint is my favorite text print (out of print, of course…but if someone wants to share any, let me know!) and it goes with the whole house theme, right?

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I used a scrap of cotton batting and more Cotton + Steel for the back to complete the quilt sandwich.  Since you know I’m a straight line quilter, I just cross-hatched the mugrug a 1/4″ apart in a diamond pattern with Auriful 2030 and ….

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To finish, you know C + S had to be using in the binding too.  Since this was such a small project, I used Cut to Pieces glue binding method to secure the binding into place without the use of Wonder Clips.  It was fast and I top-stitched the binding all around.  I can never get even amounts of the back binding with “stitch-in-the ditch” method, so I sewed about 1/8″ inward to help me with my OCD…

This was a nice quick project you could have completed in an afternoon.  Holly’s Dwelling Quilt pattern is simple and pre-cutting the pieces (measurements provided!) will help cut down on quilt time.  Are you ready to make your mug rug?!?

Check out these Instagram hashtags for more inspiration: #DwellingQuilt #HollyGetsQuiltyPatterns

 

Hugs and Stitches,

Cristy

Testing the “Jacks Quilt” Pattern

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The “Jacks Quilt” pattern has just been released by Bryan House Quilts and I was fortunate enough to be one of the testers.  I’m SO excited to finally reveal my #SecretSewing project!  It’s tough not being able to show what I’ve been working on lately…especially since it’s just so darn pretty 🙂

This quilt pattern is gorgeous!  You can find the pattern in Becca’s shop currently for 30% off as part of it’s new release (discount code on her blog.)  This design is based off of a 16-patch and paper-pieced stars and has so much versatility.  You can omit the patches and play with the number of blocks to have completely different looks.

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There are five different sizes you can make.  I opted for the throw, which is a 4 x 4 block.  It’s a generous size and I could (always) use another couch quilt 🙂  Not mentioned is the possibility to make a mini with a 2 x 2 block (approx 34″ x 34″.)  This would be a perfect baby quilt or stroller blanket.

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When I received this pattern, I knew I was going to use my Black and White Cotton + Steel bundle.  The 16-patch made for some good mixing and matching of the fabrics for a checkerboard look.  To bring out the stars and add some fun, I chose Tula Pink’s Butterfly Swarm in Jam from her Moonshine collection.  This saturated fuchsia was perfect against the Black and White.  I paired the Butterfly Swarm with Kona Cotton in Valentine to complement, but not compete against the busy fabric.  All of these fabrics were balanced out with Kona Cotton in Snow to make the design of the quilt pop out.  I added Architextures Grid in Black as possible binding, but I’m not entirely sold on it just yet…

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There is a good amount of paper-piecing involved for the stars, but luckily it involves only three fabrics per Star Spoke and they are a generous size.  Becca provides great instruction on the process to help you along.  If you are new to this and need some more help, this is a great video tutorial on paper-piecing as well.

Chain Piecing

I found that prepping all the fabric at once and setting up an assembly line worked the best for me.  Then I could have a “modified” chain-piecing line.  This is “modified” because you generally do not sew through the seam allowance on paper-piecing templates, so I had to lift the presser foot to pull the templates through vs continually feeding fabric.

Matching Points

When attaching the spokes together, I decided not to nest the seams to keep the look of the triangles clean (since they were white and you could see through to the seam allowance.)  So to match up the points, I pinched the ends where they met.

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Then I flipped over the pieces to check that the points indeed matched.  I pinned the pieces and sewed away 🙂

Grading Seams

A great tip from Becca was to grade the seam allowances of the stars as you assemble the blocks.  This takes out some of the bulk and allows the blocks to lay better for pressing.  The points of the stars get pretty bulky otherwise.

Finished Single Block

So far, I’ve completed the quilt top and am waiting on the backing fabric to arrive so I can quilt this puppy.  I can’t wait to show you more….plus, this will be my first quilt completed on my new sewing machine….eek!!!

***For pictures and the post of the completed “Jacks Quilt,” go here.***

 

Happy Stitching,

Cristy

 

The pattern was provided by Bryan House Quilts as part of testing. All material was purchased and selected by myself. All opinions and comments are my own and have not been influenced by 3rd parties.