Fairy Tale Dress

When my niece, Grace told me she needed a new dress for a special occasion, I knew it would be a great opportunity to put my new fabric collection to use.  I chose Oliver + S’ Fairy Tale dress pattern. Not only is it cute but I know that Liesl Gibson’s designs are thoughtfully made and the directions are excellent.

For the dress, I paired the small dot pattern for the top with the bolder iconic design for the bottom. A pink bow and matching collar completed the look. As usual we had a fun photography session in the park and got quite lucky with the weather.

Star Bright, Article and Kit!

The current issue of American Patchwork and Quilting is featuring Star Bright, a quilt that I designed for my The Sultan’s Garden fabric collection. It is a simple quilt to make, and measures 48 1/2" x 60 1/2”.

Here is a mock-up of the quilt design that I submitted when I pitched the fabric line to RJR Fabrics. Since then, the quilt was pieced by Laura Boehnke and quilted by Sue Urich, a solid team effort.

The December 2015 of American Patchwork and Quilting is available now, so be sure to pick up a copy. Even better news is that the quilt is available as a kit at Cotton and Chocolate.

Sew-Along Winner Announced

Thanks to everyone for joining me on my sew-along. Also, thank you for your comments and suggestions on basting. 

The winner of the giveaway (chosen randomly) was comment number 3, Sandy A (scottylover) .  Sandy, I'll send you an email through your blogger account to get your address. Congratulations.

A special thanks goes to RJR Fabrics for gererously donating The Sultan's Garden fat quarter bundle set.

Final Sew-Along Post and Give-away!

Welcome to the third and final part of my Point of View Sew-Along. In this post I’ll be working on basting, quilting and finishing up the quilt.  For the instructions you can download the free pattern at the RJR Fabrics website, here.

I used to baste my quilts with a needle and thread.  When I found out I could simply pin my quilt top, batting, and backing together with curved safety pins I was delighted. I know there are several other new ways of basting. I would be curious to know your favorite method.

Now for the quilting… pattern instructions always say “quilt as desired”, let me show you how I quilted mine. I am a fan of expert machine quilter, Angela Walters. I took her Craftsy course, Dot –To –Dot, and since then, have used what I learned in the class in several of my quilts.

First I stitched the major seams in the ditch with my walking foot, then free motioned as shown in the diagram shown below.

 Machine quilting is always somewhat of a challenge, but in a good way.

I love striped binding, there is just something fun about it.

Finally the finished quilt! I'm so pleased with the finished piece.

To celebrate, RJR Fabrics is giving away a set of The Sultan’s Garden fat quarter bundles. Just leave me a comment here on my blog. If you like, tell me which color story you prefer, Apricot or Berry. I’ll select a winner randomly in the coming days.

Good Luck!

Point of View Sew Along Part II

Welcome to the second part of my Point of View Sew Along. In this post I’ll be discussing cutting and piecing the patches.  For the full instructions you should download the free pattern at the RJR Fabrics website, here.

From each of the seven prints, I cut 8 large triangles from the 9 3/4" squares (as described in the pattern download). In the same manner I created 8 smaller triangles from the 7 1/8” squares.

Cutting the striped pieces was a bit trickier. Not hard but I had to work slowly and carefully.

Here are the finished pieces for the quilt top, all spread out. I’m ready to start piecing.

First, I chain pieced the white squares.

After I attached and trimmed my white triangle tips, I arranged all the pieces on my design wall.  By doing so, I was able to distribute the fabric patterns to my liking.

I sewed individual patches, and then replaced them into the design on the wall. This way I could keep the quilt top organized and see how it was progressing. 

Tip: Before I started piecing I took a photo of the arrangement so at any time I could refer to the placement of each patch. I printed the photo and marked which way was up. I referred to this “blueprint” constantly.

 There are several ways one might choose to create the decorative stitches.

Once the units were formed, I embroidered them by running two strands of thread through my machine needle so that the stitches really stand out.    

Some quilters can't or don't like to turn the quilt during the quilting process, but you could add this embellishment later on as quilted stitches.  Another alternative would be to use hand quilted stitches in a pretty color.

For me, the best part of piecing is when I sew the last pieces together. I know... finally, right?

Here is the finished top! All ready to be basted, quilted and bound. More on that in my next post along with a give-away announcement!