Appleton Dance

by Alisa In January, I found out that a friend was about to have a baby boy. I had to make her something to celebrate!  I wanted it to be baby boy-ish and modern. I loved the idea of hugs and kisses for a baby so I chose to do a variation on the X's and O's block from Missouri Star. I picked the Delfina line from Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts for Andover Fabric . I used the Single Scoops  charm pack  for the body and Confetti Blue Moon  yardage for the binding and backing. I also ordered a yard of the Lady Bug Ivory yardage for a border, but ended up keeping the quilt borderless. I made the blocks following the tutorial from Missouri Star. I pulled out the blue and beige colors from 2 charm packs (leaving the medium tan patterns behind) and made the blocks by 'snowballing' the light patterns on each side of the blues. I used my new Diagonal Seam Tape by Cluck Cluck Sew to guide my seam. I played around with a couple of layout options ...

by Alisa Back in June of 2013 I went with my Mom, Aunt Sue and several friends to the Shipshewana Quilt Festival in Indiana. This is the only non-quilt photo I have from the trip! I wasn't much of a quilter back then, but I fell in love with the charm pack from the  Comma by Brigitte Heitland for Zen Chic for Moda  collection.  I picked up a Bosal preprinted grid ( 1" Craft & Quilt Grid On Point  1 yard) to use with the charm pack to make a wall hanging for my living room. I don't remember much else about this project until last week when I found it stashed in a project box in my closet.  I didn't want it for my living room any longer, but thought that it might brighten up my office, so I decided to finish it up since it was nearly done and all the materials were at hand. The top was complete and the sandwich was fused using  June Tailor Low Loft polyester Quilter's Fusible Batting .  The back was cut from orange yardage which...

by Alisa I found this Makower UK 'Wrap It Up' advent calendar panel on Etsy when I was searching for another Makower UK fabric earlier this year.  I bought it and began planning to make it for my nephew and two nieces this Christmas. The instructions for the calendar are printed at the top of the panel.  I found this v ideo tutorial from Makower UK very helpful in putting it together.  They demo a different panel but the assembly is the same. I started by cutting the panel and the pocket strips on the solid lines.   I then used my mini iron to prep the pocket strips - creating the hems and box pleats and then sewing them to the calendar panel. After I had finished sewing all the pockets to the top, I played around with the fancy stitch options on my new machine and added some stars and a 'Merry Christmas' greeting to the borders. I used coordinating fabric from the same line (ordered from Needle In A Fabric Stash on Etsy) for the ...

by Alisa I'm still going strong on memory games as gifts for babies and little kids. I've made two more sets in last year or so - the first is an update on the 'jolly jungle' set with a cute little pouch and the 2nd is no-sew! Jolly Jungle Memory Game v2.0 I had enough flannel left over from the previous version of the Jolly Jungle memory game to make a set for a baby shower last December. I followed my original tutorial for the game and added in a pouch and a card with the game instructions.  The pouch is from the design demonstrated by Sew Very Easy in their "Fat-Quarter Friendly Draw String Bags"  video tutorial. The bag is great for this use because it has a handy pocket to hold a card with the instructions for the memory game.   The instructions for play were adapted from rules for playing Memory . No-Sew Memory Game I wanted to make a new memory game for a friend's two-year-old granddaughter so I went looking for...

By Alisa We are finishing up a 5 year project at work and I have been thinking of making something to commemorate the completion. I ended up making the small quilt below for one of my teammates. It came together really easily and I love how it turned out. Back in April I was rummaging around looking for something else and came across this single PB&J by BasicGrey for Moda charm pack . I don't remember where or how I got it, but I opened it up and really liked the washed out floral prints so I went on a hunt for more. The only place I found with any of the fabric was  Kammie LouLou . Honestly, I wasn't even sure what I was buying as the site only listed 'quantity'. I crossed my fingers that I was getting three yards of fabric and waited for the package to arrive. When I opened it, I had one yard each of three floral coordinates from the line: Aqua 'Fluffer Nutter'; Red 'Jelly' and Navy 'Picnic'. And, the red was 60" wide! I wante...

Summer tote using "Alexandra" pre-printed batting by June Taylor Co. by Linda Theil I made this quick-and-easy summer tote bag using quilt-as-you-go preprinted batting by June Taylor Co. that I got on sale from Missouri Star Quilt Co. The finished bag is 15 x 14 x 4-inches.  https://www.missouriquiltco.com/shop/detail/108145/june-tailor-company/june-tailor/alexandra-tote-bag-quilt-as-you-go-preprinted-batting As with most purse/tote/wallet patterns, working with a heavy-duty sewing machine is very useful.  To make this tote you will need backing fabric and batting 21 x 32-inches or approximately 5/8-yard of material. You will need the same sized piece of fabric or patchwork for the outer surface of your tote. For this project I pulled a selection of fabrics from the "Strawberry Fields Revisited" collection by Fig Tree & Co. for Moda Fabrics, also cuts from Three Sisters Favorites: Lemon & Sea Grass collection also for Moda. If you wish to repli...