FLiQ Mini

This mini was made for the Flickr Fab Little Quilt Swap.  My partner said she liked bright colors, especially red and turquoise together.  This design was totally inspired by The Elven Garden's Tesseract Mini.  It was so lovely I had to try the design for myself.  I referenced Don't Call Me Betsy's Kaleidoscope Quilt along for cutting and piecing directions. The triangles I used were smaller than her templates so I ended buying a kaleidoscope ruler from my LQS to help with precise cutting.

I FMQ'd the background areas and then used a template to trace the curves in the colored parts.  I quilted those areas with my regular sewing foot.

 

I like the flower shape in the middle and the corners.

  I worry it may be a little too bold because my partner kinda went silent on me.  Maybe she didn't like the direction I went, not her style?  I enjoyed making it.  It's a really fun block to put together.  I enjoy working with triangles.  That Architextures print makes for such a great background too. 

This mini finishes at 24" square.  I bound it in a some shade of Kona red.  I hope it makes her happy.  On to the next project :)

 

Melissa

 

 

 

Circle Celebration Pillow

This little pillow was made for my second time participating in the X-Factor Pillow swap.  The theme was circles.  I wanted to do something different but wasn't sure in what direction I wanted to go until I saw this photo full of amazing paper pieced blocks made by Wombat Quilts.  Those blocks are seriously stunning!  Something about the Celebration block stood out to me and so I decided to go with that one.  I've paper pieced before and I enjoy the process but man oh man did this block kick my butt!  I screwed it up so many times.  This was almost the pillow that didn't happen.
Here is the 1st block I made.

I was so excited because I used a color wheel to choose my colors.  I wanted to get away from my rainbow comfort zone.  When I was done I just didn't love it so I decided to go back to a rainbow design. 

A word of advice, although it may be relaxing, don't drink and paper piece.  I had to unpick seams more than a few times.  Even when I hadn't been drinking I still messed up despite being super careful.  Can you spot the mistake?

 

Frustrating for sure.  I almost gave up at the thought of having to cut more fabric to redo the segments, and although my instagram friends said it wasn't that noticeable I couldn't send it out in the world knowing it was off.  So I cut the pieces again.  For the quilting I decided to go with straight lines to highlight the design of the block.

And then came the binding issue.  I love piping on a pillow and so I tried it on this one, with this result.

Terrible, hated it, bring on the seam ripper once again!  In the end it was better without anything.

For the back I used Roses in Celebration from the Valentina collection.  I also used Svetlana's awesome tutorial for a hidden zipper closure.

For all it's trouble, in the end I'm glad I stuck it out and finished this little pillow. 
It finishes at 15 inches square.  I used Kona Ash for the background.  The free block pattern can be found at Quilting On the Square along with lots more blocks.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Just a few things I've sewn up recently.
An apron for my mom for her birthday.  I used this great tutorial from the Dating Divas.  I really need to make one for myself.

 

This little pillow was made to match the Pezzy baby quilt I made here.

On the back I used a zipper closure but its hidden by a flap.  I used this tutorial by Svetlana of s.o.t.a.k handmade.  This tutorial is seriously life changing!  Never again will I do a lazy envelope back closure.  I love having such a clean finish.

 

And lastly, a few pouches for my etsy shop.



The prints are Vivie Sprinkle in Aqua, Vivie Bloom in Citrus and Vivie Bloom in Blush, from the Larkspur Collection by Alexander Henry Fabrics purchased from Fresh Modern Fabric.  The bottom fabric is Essex Yarn Dyed in Flax from Robert Kaufman purchased from Stash Modern Fabric.  I love using that linen blend.  Thank you for stopping by!

Happy sewing,
Melissa

 

Swappy Awesomeness

Hi everyone!  First off, thanks to those of you who followed me over on Bloglovin', and welcome to my new readers.  I have been busy sewing, hence the lack of blogging.  I will try to aim for at least one post a month.

I want to share with you the awesome stuff I've received from my recent swaps.  My first ever swap was with Jessie of Inside The Paper Box.  There is so much I love about this mini, the tiny little squares, the different shades of color and how they flow into each other, but most of all the quilting.  My picture doesn't do it justice.  Over to the right hand side are the loveliest flowers.  It's so perfect and I'm honored to have it hanging in my sewing room.  Thanks again Jessie for being such a great swap buddy!  You can see what I made for her here.

After getting my feet wet with the private swap, I was lucky enough to join the X-Factor Pillow swap on Flickr.  This beauty was voted number one and I got it!  There are no words to express how happy I was to get this one.  It came all the way from Germany and was made by Johanna.  Her work on flickr is amazing!  Even though its a pillow, I have it hanging in my sewing room so my 2 boys can't destroy it.  This one truly brings me joy every time I see it.

The back is pretty too!

I'm in 2 more swaps going on right now and then I think I will take a break for a bit.  I'm participating in round 5 of the X Factor swap and also the Fab Little Quilt Swap on Flickr.  I can't reveal the pillow I made for XFactor yet but here is a mockup of my plan for the FliQS.



I need to get cutting for this one.  I think it's gonna be pretty cool.  Thank you for reading!

Happy sewing,
Melissa

Bloglovin' - replacing reader

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Simply Modern and Pezzy

For my first official Flickr swap I was allowed to participate in the X Factor Pillow Swap. Today I wanted to share with you the pillow I made.  I named it Simply Modern and Pezzy because of the 3 fabric lines I used to make it.  The only guideline was squares.  I used a mini charm pack of Simply Color, and then cuts from a Pezzy and Half Moon Modern charm pack.  All three lines work so beautifully together. 


For the quilting I used Kelly's video tutorial on Cathedral quilting.  The way she does it makes it really easy to get a somewhat complicated look.  This method is perfect for 2" squares.  I used gray thread for a little contrast.

I love to put piping on a pillow so I did here with Madrona Road text in black.


I did not get any pictures of the back :^(
To my surprise, the pillow was voted second out of 18 entries!  This means I get one of my top choices and if I get the pillow I think I am, I will die with happiness!  I loved participating in this swap.  It was so cool and stress free.  I enjoyed the mystery of it and then the voting process.  There were so many beautiful pillows in the group I'm glad to be getting any one of them.  I'm so excited about the next round.  Next post I will share what I received from this swap and my swap with Jessie of Inside The Paper Box.

Happy sewing!
Melissa

Pickledish Mini

I am so excited to finally share with you the mini I made for a swap with Jessie of Inside The Paper Box.  Advance warning:  there are A LOT of pics in this post. 

I've been wanting to participate in some swaps on Flickr, but they all require prior swap experience and I had none.  I posted a message on instagram and Jessie so kindly volunteered to do a private swap with me to help build up my swappy street cred.  We posted inspiration collages and went from there.  I was so happy to see that one of her picks was Aneela's Pickledish block.  I've had this block bookmarked for a long time but never a reason or the time to actually make it.  And so here was my chance!  Jessie's only direction was that she liked scrappy. 

 

I have a very modest stash so everything I pulled was a favorite.

The first few arcs were a bit tricky but then I got the hang of it.

I included all of my favorite text prints for the cornerstones.

Planning the layout.

Pinning is crucial with these, but sewing the curves was no problem at all.  I found it very relaxing.

Before I started any quilting, I sketched the block out and planned how I wanted each space to look.  My quilting was definitely inspired by Angela Walters.  I turned to both of her books and her Craftsy class for guidance.  I had planned to include swirls and circles in the background, but my skills aren't up to par yet.  I kept with the pebbles which was fun and not too difficult for my first time trying them.

The only lines I actually marked were for the center quilting.

At first I was having major tension issues and getting these weird knotty spots on the back.  Then I posted a pic on instagram asking for tips.  Within minutes I had some great suggestions and after a quick cleaning, needle change, and putting my feed dogs UP, it was smooth sailing!  I love instagram!

Machine stitched binding.

A view of the back.

I really had a great time making this mini.  I hope it is enjoyed in its new home.  Thanks to Jessie for the opportunity.  And thank you for reading!  :^)

Melissa

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.