Sewing Scientist: July 2022

Week ending July 31, 2022

It's always a fun week when I'm pattern testing and a pattern I've tested is being released. This week I finished working on the Mushroom Table Runner from Rope & Anchor Trading Co. It's so cute! I was tempted to not finish it as a table runner and just set it aside and make plans to continue making scrappy mushrooms until I had enough for a quilt. But, I went ahead and finished it as a table runner, but have a different plan for it. I'll be sharing soon when I write up my blog post for the pattern launch.

~~I sat down this week and wrote a post on~~ I never got around to writing my blog post about my scrappy baby Entropy Quilt (Pattern by Squats and Running Stitches). But I did load all the photos - here's a sneak - look at that yummy texture. But I do have it posted on Minerva. I'll be showing the back off on my post here once I get around to it.

The Hurrication Quilt Pattern from Running Stitch Quilts released and I had that blog post written and posted as well.

I finally made the binding for my Chantli Quilt (Pattern by Jess Poemape) and did the binding on it. I posted about it on Minerva. I'm sending this quilt to one of my new Aunts that I've never met. My father was adopted and after doing a DNA test on 23 and me, I found my father's birth mother and that he had half siblings late in 2019. It was exciting to find that I had a living grandmother, as the two that I grew up with had passed. Unfortunately COVID prevented me from meeting my new Grandmother before she passed. I'm waiting for the day when I can meet my new Aunts - I have 3! I plan to give each of them a quilt that I have made.

This is the binding I made for my Mushroom Table Runner. It matches the backing fabric.

I finally took some photos of my Sunshine Cabin Mini from Kindred Quilt Co. It will be posted on Minerva in a few days.

I started a new pattern test. This is my fabric pull. I'm using two solids and two Anna Maria Horner prints. The Anna Maria Horner prints were gifts from Scott Fortunoff at Jaftex. He had sent me bolts and I am slowing using the fabric up. The pattern I'm testing is for TJ Wright Quilts.

Here are all my pieces cut out any ready to be sewn.

I now have two mini quilts for my mini quilt rack. It looks so cute! I keep it on top of my sewing pattern filing cabinet, but might need to find a better location to show it off.

This week I plan to work away on my pattern test. I should have my August Studio e Fabrics Ambassador shipment from Jaftex arriving this week. I'm really excited to see what they send. I already know that I'm making a By Annie pattern for a friendly Ambassador Fall Challenge. It will be my first time using a By Annie pattern and it's something that I really could use to stay organized.

Hurrication Quilt Pattern by Running Stitch Quilts

I was so excited when Julie at Running Stitch Quilts asked me if I would be interested in testing her new quilt pattern. When I tested for Julie previously - I screwed up so badly. I was able to salvage my blocks and made a beautiful quilt, but I had read the directions wrong and had made a huge mess. So I was so happy to have an opportunity to redeem myself.

Once I told Julie, yes I would love to test the Hurrication Quilt, I showed it to my husband and asked him if he thought his mom would like it. My mother in law recently retired. When my husband and I were on our Alaskan cruise, we stopped at Rushin Tailor's Quilt Alaska store and my husband thought that his mom would really love a quilt as a retirement gift and would like it with some of the beautiful batiks the store had. He agreed that it would be a lot better than the simple quilt pattern that came with the half yard bundle he had selected for his mom's quilt.

I really loved that the Hurrication Quilt pattern used half yard cuts. When I buy fabrics I tend to buy by the yard - if not in multiple yards. The pattern calls for 10 different half yards of prints. We had purchased a bundle of 6 and a package that had the backing and binding fabric. Since we were making a bigger quilt than what the bundle pattern had called for, I used the binding fabric as one of my 10 prints and then pulled three other batiks from my stash.

I did go to Jo-ann's to buy the background fabric and a wide backing. Initially I wanted to go with a white background, but my husband was concerned that his mom would get it too dirty. I then thought a grey would look good, but my husband was indifferent about it. Then we found this creamy tan that had spots of blue and green and knew it would be perfect.

As soon as I finished the top and photographed it, I took it to my local longamer and she was able to get it quilted in just a few days.

In these photos I had completed the quilt and washed it. Since I was using batiks I knew there was a chance for the colors to run and I wanted to do the first wash before giving it to my mother in law. Plus, everyone always love to see the beautiful texture created from the quilting after a wash.

I really enjoyed making this quilt. I had never made a snail trail block before and I loved Julie's modern interpretation. This wasn't a quick sew, but it was so satisfying to watch my blocks grow bigger and bigger as I worked though the pieces from the inside to the outside of each block.

Julie posted a video on instagram showing how she planned out the scrappy ombre version that she made and it has me itching to make another Hurrication Quilt - this time for myself.

The quilting panto that was used is called Splash. I wanted something that reminded me of the ocean waves. Some of the prints I got in Alaska are of whales. One of the things my mother in law wants to do now that she is retired is to go see some whales.

My mother in laws favorite color is blue and why so many of the prints are blue. The bundle we purchased in Alaska also included some green prints. I love the mix of the blues and greens.

I failed to get a photo of just the back of the quilt before my husband took it to his mom. I was kind of in a hurry. I got the quilt back from longarming on Friday and quickly added the binding and washed the quilt before we went to bed. Saturday morning my husband and I trekked into the woods for photos and he left a few hours later to see his mom on his way to Amarillo to see his father's side of the family. But you can see a bit of it below. The backing is a beautiful blue and green marbled batik.

I attempted to get a few photos by the lake, and this is my favorite of the Hurrication Quilt.

Julie has all her patterns on sale for the pattern release - no code needed, the discount shows up in your cart. I highly recommend the Hurrication Quilt and the Deltille Quilt. I made two versions of the Deltille. My first one in testing - did not go as plan, but I made a king sized ombre version that I use on my bed and is one of my favorite things that I have ever made. I get so many compliments on it. Ju;ie's patterns are so well written and have great diagrams.

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Week ending July 24, 2022

It was a busy week, and this coming week will also be busy. All my doctor appointments seem to be at the same time this month. Below are my fabrics that i chose to test the Mushroom Table Runner for Rop & Anchor Trading Co. These are prints from Anna Maria Horner.

When I have a lot to do, I like to get everything prepped for the week. I had two items to make with the Elegance Collection by Corrine Wells for Riley Blake Fabrics, the Mushroom Table Runner, and a scrappy Entropy Quilt- Pattern by Squats and Running Stitches.

I recently tested the Soller Top and Dress for Itch to Stitch and my previous blog post talks all about it.

Here's a look at one of my Elegance Collection makes. Thus is the Nest Sweatshirt by Sew Liberated.

I did a reverse hem with a Decorative stitch on my sewing machine. Also seen here is my extra hand. Lol My neighbor was having a garage sale and I couldn't resist buyingbthis wooden posing hand for artists. Because, who can't use an extra hand now and then?

My Mushroom Table Runner is coming along. I hoped to finish it this weekend, but it's going to need a few more days.

My plans for the scrappy Entropy Quilt changed. I had planned to sew a gender neutral version in tealish green colors. I was making it for a dear friend who just became a grandma. I had been secretly planning on making a baby quilt and she sent me a text earlier in the week letting me know her daughter delivered a beautiful baby girl. I decided to abandon my gender neutral fabrics and decided to do something more colorful and fun. I couldn't resist making a scrappy rainbow Entropy Quilt instead. I ended my week making a trip over to my friends house to surprise her. A mutual friend quilted it on her longarm over the weekend. I'll share some completely finished quilt photos soon. I just need to get them off my camera.

My plans this week are to finish my Mushroom Table Runner and to catch up on some blog posts. Maybe I'll also bind the last quilt I got quilted. I have a few other quilts I want to work on, but I really need to finish some wips first. I decided to make a wall hanging fir Dia de Los Muertos this year and hope to draw it out soon so I can get it done before October gets here. My next fabric delivery for Jaftex as a Studio e Fabrics ambassador will be arriving soon and I can't wait to see what I have to sew for August.

Itch to Stitch Soller Top and Dress

My pattern testing for apparel items happens rarely these days. I try to be pickier when it come to pattern testing for clothing as my wardrobe doesn't need as much variety as it used to. Working from home full-time is wonderful and I love having a more casual wardrobe. I only sign up to test a pattern if I can see myself wearing the item frequently and it helps if I can wear it for a lunchtime walk, but also look nice with dressy pants for a rare trip into the office. When I saw the Soller Top & Dress pattern from Kennis at Itch to Stitch, I knew it would fill a whole in my wardrobe.

For one - I absolutely love v-neck tops. I find them most flattering on me.

I love a top with a unique detail. The slight rouching from elastic near the shoulder provides just that detail that takes a top for ordinary to something special.

I wear a lot of sleeveless tops during the summer, but they are all either athletic style tanks or longer tunic style tops. I am kind of tired of my tunic tops and don't like wearing my athletic tops when I have a doctor's appointment. I loved that the Soller felt sleeveless, but was actually more like a cap sleeve.

The Soller above was the first one I made and I used a bamboo jersey. I did not shorten the pattern for my height and found the top was a little short for my taste. I felt like it ended at my fullest paart. The one below I made with athletic brushed poly and added an inch to the length.

The best thing about the Soller top is that it takes less than a yard to make! I graded my top from an 8 bust to a 16 hips (yes my butt is that big) and I could easily make a Soller with a 26" cut of knit. I raided my remnant bins to make all my tops except for the first one I made - the blue elephants on bamboo jersey and the succulents which were on athletic brushed poly.

The Soller has a relaxed fit and is a super quick sew. The v-neck and sleeves are both finished with a bound edge - this is easy to do on a sewing machine using a stitch in the ditch foot. The v-neck is done in the round and then folded and sewn to create the v - so easy to do! I hemmed all my tops on my sewing machine as I didn't feel like getting my coverstitch out just for hems. I did my binding then hemmed.

I had one top that did not come out as planned. I had this amazing hand dyed bamboo interlock that I decided to use that I only had a small piece of. I laid my back piece on the fabric and saw I had just enough to cut it height wise. Yes! Then I went to cut the front and found my cut of fabric was not cut the same width all the way across and did not have room for my full front piece. So I cut the top at the line for the elastic guide and then cut the piece above the elastic separately. I then sewed them together. I tried sewing elastic over this seam for my gathering, but it wanted to curl instead of having nice gathers. I ripped off the elastic and made pleats instead. I didn't like how my seam looked so I dug into my draws from a trim to sew on top and found a stretchy lace trim that I thought looked good. I like how it turned out and might do one like this again.

I would love to make more Soller tops, but I've told myself that seven is enough! I have been wearing them in a non-stop rotation since I made them. They are my favorite thing to wear currently. I will likely wear these into fall with a cardigan. I have been tempted to make a dress version as a swimsuit coverup since I have been taking water aerobics and I walk to and from class. But my classes end in early August so I'm telling myself to wait until next year to make one at this point.

The Soller Top & Dress is on sale for a short time. This is definitely a great pattern to have on hand for a quick and satisfying sew. I love patterns that are one-yard wonders and this is one of the best. See all the tester versions on the Itch to Stitch Blog.

Week ending July 17, 2022

It was a busy week in my sewing room, but most of my sewing I can't show you yet! I did take finished photos of my Darling BUg Quilt and posted about it on Minerva.

I got another quilt back from the longarmer. Here is the back!

I posted about the Flitter Flutter Quilt pattern released by Kelly Renay.

I picked out my project for the Elegance Collection by Corrine Wells. I plan to make the Nest Sweater from Sew Liberated. These are my fabrics.

I finished the top of my Sunshine Cabin Mini from Kindred Quilt Co.

On Sunday I stepped out of the sewing room so I could make some plum jelly. Plum jelly is my absolute favorite flavor of jelly and the store bought versions are horrible compared to homemade.

I'll have lots more to share next week.

Flitter Flutter Quilt Pattern from Kelly Renay

Kelly Renay is so creative! She has come up with some fantastic quilt patterns and I am so honored to have tested 4 of them. It's hard to pick a favorite, but the Flitter Flutter Quilt might be it.

This quilt may not look like it, but it goes together in large blocks. There is a center block of the flower and then two different blocks make the butterflies - although I think you could make them moths depending on your fabric selection. The background of my quilt is a navy dot from Jo-anns. If that sounds familiar, it's because I used it on another quilt pattern test for Kelly - the Nanette.

I didn't set out to use this background. But after I picked my other fabrics - all are Anna Maria Horner prints, I felt like the navy with polkadots looked best from my stash. I'm trying really hard not to buy loads of fabric and wanted to use from my stash. This fabric looked great with my prints and happened to be big enough.

I became an Ambassador for Jaftex Fabrics brand - Studio e Fabrics in January. The Jaftex President Scott Fortunoff is so kind and very generous. He had a box full of bolts of fabric sent to me with many of them being prints by Anna Maria Horner whom I just love. I used one of those for the larger wings. I then picked two other prints from my stash that added some contrast, but also complimented the main design.

This was not a quick quilt to make, but it was so satisfying to see the butterflies take shape. The blocks didn't make much sense on their own, but then as I put them together the butterflies magically appeared.

One of the testers made the most amazing scrappy version of the Flitter Flutter and it has me inspired to make another one day. I haven't decided how I want to quilt this one. But I think I want to use a coral speckled backing.

If you want to see the other tester versions, Kelly made a blog post of each. She made a super sweet writeup about each tester and shows of their photos.

Dark Forest Collection by Melissa Wang for Studio e Fabrics

I am having so much fun as an ambassador for Studio e Fabrics and was so excited when I got the Dark Forest Collection designed by Melissa Wang. After I saw the collection, I knew I needed to find a great quilt pattern that would show off the collection really well. I ended up picking the Cultivating Quilt by Lifting Limits Quilting. Carrie, the master mind behind Lifting Limits Quilting, helped me with the design layout and I almost stuck with the layout she made me.

The Cultivating Quilt is a skill building quilt. It has different blocks in rows that allow you to practice making each type of block. There are some simple solid strips in the pattern and they were perfect for me to show off one of the linear designs in the collection. I took extra time and care to pattern match the design so it flows seamlessly down the quilt.

The largest stripe in the quilt was perfect for the large scale print that featured fern and moths. I pattern matched this one too.

The rust brown colored solid you see is the leftover backing from my king sized quilt I made recently. I had purchased the backing many years ago when Hancock's was closing. The color was perfect to bring warmth to the collection and highlight the rust tones in the prints.

The one block that was in the cultivating quilt that I had never made before was the half rectangle triangles. It took me making all these blocks to get to where I felt I finally got it. Mine are not perfect and they are definitely a block that I will need to get more practice making.

Here is my quilt fully finished! There is a colorful stripe in the collection and I saved it to use for the binding. I love a striped binding.

This is the back! The collection also included these beautiful panels and I knew I would use them in a fun pieced backing. I used my extra blocks and extra pieces. I had accidentally cute and sewed too many strips for some blocks - so I just added them into the back. I also had other little scrap pieces and just added the pieces in here and there.

I wasn't done just making a quilt. I made a pillow to go with it. This is the Emblem Pillow from SIY Sew it Yourself. The pattern is free - and there are a bunch of free patterns on the website.

One of my favorite prints from the Dark Forest Collection was the Moon Phases print. I used it for making the nine patch squares on the quilt and used it for one of the larger pieces on the pillow.

Here is a look at my striped binding. I used a decorative stitch on my sewing machine to attach the binding and love how it looks.

I also used the stripes for the back of my pillow.

Here are a few close up shots of my finished quilt. I did a simple grid quilting on my sewing machine and had a thread that matched the background fabric perfectly.

This was such an enjoyable project to make. I love all things forest themed and these prints were just perfect. I really loved the beautiful moths - they are so detailed! The green print above is a tone on tone fern leaf design that is the perfect blender. The pop of blueish purple from the morning glory flowers is a fun element among all the dark earthy colors. This collection is in stores now.