Summer Sewing with Les Amis

I've been sewing like crazy and I am pretty happy with the things I've made lately.  I was able to complete 2 different baby quilts using the same collection.  The fabric is Les Amis by Patty Sloniger with Kona Medium Gray.

Pattern is Swirling Medallion from the Book Quilting Modern by Jaquie Gering and Katie Pederson. 

I quilted it with a serpentine stitch which gives it such a great effect.

The back

Here is the second quilt from the same line.  Lately I've been rounding the corners on some of my baby quilts.  I love how it softens the frame.

 

Simple crosshatch quilting.

 

I also finished another pillow for the X factor Pillow Swap round 6.  I named it Double Hexy Delight.  The theme was hexies.  I used Kerri's tutorial.  As I was making it, I wasn't sure about the direction it was going in.  The hand stitching totally made the difference for me, and I really enjoyed doing it.

 

Here is a peek at what I'm working on now.  It's my swap piece for the Sewing Summit Secret Swap.  Sewing Summit is less than a month away and I'm so excited and a bit nervous about going.  I'm also working on my Amy Butler Weekender Bag, which I hope to share with you soon.  If you're on instagram you can see some pics of it there.  I'm cutsewpresslove on instagram.

I hope you all have had a productive and fun summer.  I cannot believe its almost time to start thinking about Christmas projects.  EEEK!  Crazy talk!  Happy sewing and thanks for reading!

Melissa

Recent projects

Here is a look at some projects I've sewn up lately. 
To start, a baby quilt for my new nephew.  I used a few solids from a Bella Solids 'Neutrals' bundle mixed with some high and low volume prints.  The pattern is a simple disappearing nine patch.  It finished at a nice crib size so it can be used for a toddler.

 I used minky for the backing.  It was pretty easy to quilt with.  Not as difficult as I expected it to be from what I read online.   I kept with simple straight line quilting.  I don't know if I would try fancy free motion with minky.

 Next, is another custom maternity gown.  I wasn't too sure of the fabric at first, but once the pink bow went on I loved the whole thing.  I used Spotted in the Crowd in Grace from Anna Maria Horner's Field Study line.

 I made this little pillow for my friend's daughter who turned two.  It was made from scraps I had left over from making her baby quilt before she was born.  I'm told she likes her pillow very much, which makes me smile.  I used Elizabeth Hartman's dogwood quilting tutorial. 

Again I used Svetlana's method for the back.  Just a few adjustments and I got the face to match up perfectly.  I love it!  This Tula Pink Parisville print kills me with how gorgeous it is.

 And that's about it for now.  It's been nice to have time behind the machine even though it means staying up until 2 sometimes 3 in the a.m.  I love the quiet time of the night.  Its great to relax even if I do pay for it in the morning.  Anyone else a night owl sewer? 
I leave you with a sneak peek of what I'm working on now.  It's so sweet and dreamy.

Thanks for reading!
Melissa

Modern Mini Quilt Challenge

Jennifer of Ellison Lane is hosting the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge.  Today is the day to link up and submit only one entry.  In the past 6 months I've made nothing but minis and I love all of them.  It was so hard to decide which one to submit (like choosing a favorite child).  After a little help from my Instagram friends I've decided to go with the Circle Celebration pillow I made for the X-Factor Pillow swap.  This little pillow had a rough start (you can read about the process here) but in the end I'm pleased with the result.  Its funny that every single one of my favorite works live somewhere else now.  All of them were made for swaps.  This one traveled across the ocean and now lives with Tiina in the U.K. 

This foundation pieced pillow finishes at 15 inches square and is straight line quilted.  The free block pattern can be found at Quilting On the Square along with lots more blocks.  There are already lots of gorgeous minis linked up at Ellison Lane.  I highly recommend visiting and checking out all the lovely eye candy.

 

 

As always, thank you so very much for reading!

 

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 foundation 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

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.