Hearth + Home Quilt Pattern by The Seasoned Homemaker

I recently tested the Hearth + Home Pattern for The Seasoned Homemaker. This pattern is 2 quilts in one. Both quilts are made using the same blocks and layout, there's just a variation in the fabric placement of the 9 patch blocks. I tested the Home version which is described as having a vintage feel and made a scrappy version. The Hearth version has a star like design with more negative space.

This has been a record setting summer in Dallas, Texas. The nonstop 100+ degree days have had me longing for the cooler temps of autumn. I have made a lot of brightly colored quilts this year and thought it would be nice to make one with a fall inspired color palette. 

I had fun digging through my fabric bins for fat quarters and remnants in shades of teal, gold, and maroon (I really wanted purple like eggplant, but couldn't find enough fabrics in this color in my scraps). I found so many fun prints and blenders and it was fun to mix and match them into the 9 patch squares. For the snowball blocks, I went to my cart of precut scraps and pulled out the colors I needed in the size needed for these blocks. It was such a timesaver having my scraps precut into common sized squares and strips.

For the background fabric and borders I went through my remnants that are less than a yard in size. I used two different shades of brown for the background fabric. For the borders I used two fabric leftover from projects I sewed for Jaftex. 

My quilt features scraps from  previous projects, random fat quarters and scraps that I've acquired from swaps and secondhand. In addition to the two different quilts that can be made from the pattern, there will also be a tutorial that provides instructions to make blocks and a small quilt with the trimmings of the snowball blocks. 

I loved how quick and easy the Hearth + Home Pattern was. I give it bonus points for being scrap friendly. I really want to make the Hearth version as well - and also make it scrappy.  Below is a graphic of both versions.

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Week ending March 20, 2022

I had a busy week! I had 2 "normal" blog posts this week. This coming week is going to be extremely busy as well. The Blue Grotto Quilt by Lifting Limits Quilting was released and I was so excited to finally share my version. See that Blog Post HERE. 

I am loving being an ambassador for Jaftex Fabrics and I got a package in the mail from them for a challenge we have coming up. They sent a variety of "blender" fabrics for me to have on hand to use as they send me future collections to work on.   The card that was enclosed was so cute. I think I will frame the front and hang it in my sewing room.  

We will be doing a challenge this Spring using the Creative Grids 6" Scrap Crazy templates and got a booklet on pattern idea by Karen Montgomery. I'm excited for the challenge and already have an  idea in mind. Now I just have to wait and see what fabrics I am sent. 

I ordered myself a rotating cutting mat! As I work on my pattern test for Mix Measure Make, I thought it might make life easier when trimming blocks. 

Just working away on some four at a time flying geese.

Finally have all my flying geese made!

I also had a blog post for a t-shirt pattern that released - The  Bondi 22 and Add-on Sleeve pack from Sinclair Patterns. Read that post HERE. 

On Friday I went to Stitchhouse for Fun Friday! They had 35% off all fabric and it was definitely a good time for me to buy a few wide quilt backs. I eyed those gorgeous Melody Miller floral ones but couldn't decide which one to get! But I'm going back this coming week to take my machine in for a repair and they will still be on sale so I will grab one then.  

After ironing all my flying geese I had to snap a few photos. 

 

I laid out my pieces to start making units and realized that I had not made all the half square triangle that I needed. I had the fabrics already cut. I just hadn't sewn them. And I'm not sure why....

I had to wash a pillow size version of a quilt to take photos. Smaug loves sleeping with this little mini quilt. The post for it will be live on March 22. But the pattern is already available in a sneaky early release here. 

I really hope I can say that I'm done (or almost done) with my pattern test for Mix Measure Make next Sunday. I'm going to put away laundry and work on it a bit more before this Sunday ends. 

Have a great week everyone!

Week ending January 23, 2022

With my Monday off from work, I did some sewing, went to a doctor's appointment and got sosme seeds started in my greenhouse  in my garage. First off, I wanted to do some work on my 2021 temperature quilt and got it pieced through April - I think. I love how it looks so far. January is on the left and those white and light pink pieces are Winter Storm Uri.

I got fabric in the mail this week. I had to order some for another pattern test that I'm doing - I'll share more photos of it next week as I didn't work on it this week other than to cut into the fabric I had to order. I had run out! But I got these Ruby Star Society Charm Packs in the mail from Stitch Supply Company from an Instagram giveaway!  These came in a nice zippered project bag.

I signed up for another quilt pattern test! This one is for Lifting Limits Quilting and it's going to be so good! I am determined to use my "good" fabric especially my hoarded fabric from Anna Maria Horner. She's my favorite fabric designer and I have hoarded some fabric from her for way too long. I really need to use it and get more enjoyment from it. I agonized over my fabric pull for way too long. I needed 12 fabrics - which I always feel like the more fabrics the better. But it can be so hard to make a final decision. 

I started cutting them out and kept checking how I liked them all together.

I was happy and relieved once I had everything cut out.

After everything was cut, I took some time to fold and organize all my Anna Maria Horner remnants and scraps. I think at some point this year I want to make a scrappy quilt with my AMH scraps and remnants - and any bonus blocks I make along the way. The bag on the bottom left is filled with truly scrappy bits and is the project bag that was part of my prize from Stitch Supple Company. It can hold a  lot!

 

I made quite a bit of progress over the weekend and got all my flying geese made.

I took some extra time to sew a second stitch line so that I could use the trimmed wings for a bonus project later on. I now have a whole bunch of HSTs in these fabrics. 

Here are my flying geese.

Now I just need to get them all trimmed this coming week. My bonus blocks are in the box shown at the top of the photo. 

I'm hoping to get at least one quilt top finished this coming week - but that might be a stretch. Thankfully I have plenty of time to get both done and  don't need to rush. One silly project I have in mind to do in the coming month is to make the cats their own quilt. Yes - that's right. I'm making a quilt for the cat. I'm thinking a 20" quilt or two that they can have in their kitty beds. 

Chantli Quilt Pattern by Jess Poemape

Earlier this year I was a "mentor" for the Chantli Quilt pattern by Jess Poemape. A mentor looks over the instructions and checks out the quilt math and provides feedback. I did this while I was recovering from my gallbladder surgery back in July. I was something creative I could do while I wasn't quite feeling well enough to sew. 

As I worked through the math and instructions I really loved the simplicity of the pattern - it's almost all strips of the same width just cut to different lengths, but how they are arranged really gives a complicated look.  I love it when a quilt looks harder to make than it really is. I also kept thinking about how great it could be for scraps and jelly rolls. I had been cutting fabrics to make my Deltille Quilt at the time and put all my scraps aside knowing they would make a great Chantli Quilt.

The pattern was inspired by the traditional log cabin block. A traditional log cabin block always starts with a red square to signify the home. I've included one small red square in my quilt as a nod to the log cabin block. Home in Nahuatl (a language of the Aztec and Toltec people) is Chantli - hence the name of the pattern. Jess Poemape is a Latina quilt pattern designer and wants to spread knowledge about her ancestral heritage. As a fellow Latina - I fully support her mission. 

I used some Art Gallery Lower the Volume cotton poplin in Simple Growth for my background. I had some of this fabric leftover from a project for Minerva. I was able to get all my pieces cut for the blocks, and for part of the sashing, and then ran out. I had to order more from  the Fat Quarter Shop. There is a very slight color difference between the two, but I don't think it's that noticeable.

The Chantli Quilt was really fun to put together. I will definitely be making another - most likely with scraps as I really love how it looks. 

Be sure to check out other Chantli Quilts on Instagram by looking at the #chantliquilt hashtag and give Jess Poemape a follow. She makes gorgeous quilts and is a fantastic longarm quilter. 

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Sofiona Designs 3rd Anniversary Sale

My selfish apparel sewing has been very little the past 18 months. The  Pandemic has really changed how I work, dress, and what I do. I haven't worked in the office since March 2020. I've resorted to wearing mostly athlesiure wear. I would say athletic wear, but really I'm not all that athletic. I do more than work in my athlesiure wear - I do get in exercise throughout the day. It's been great and I've been able to lose some weight and inches. So when I was contacted by Sofiona Designs to see if I was interested in sewing a few of their patterns I said yes! I have been in need of better fitting clothes. I don't mind wearing baggy clothes, but I thought it would be nice to have just a few new pieces that were in my new size. 

I knew I wanted to make the  Miss Trail Joggers. I wanted a top to wear with them and decided the Miss Birch Sweater would be a great top that would be casual enough for my walks in the neighborhood, but still nice enough to wear with some nicer pants or jeans to work. I also thought a new pair of leggings may not be a bad idea either and picked out the Miss Tamarack Tights.

The Miss Birch is a super comfortable top. I am 5ft tall and did not make any height adjustments for the top. I would say it runs a little short and would advise to lengthen it if you are of average height. I made the size 8 based on my bust measurement.  My hips are a few sizes bigger and I probably should have sized up the bottom band so it was not as tight. The print is a cotton jersey and the black is a thermal (waffle) knit. The cotton jersey is not especially stretchy.  Overall the fit is good and  I would make minimal adjustments when making it again. 

The Miss Trail Joggers have a design that I have only seen on tights before. I made a size 16 based on what I think my hips are (I think I need a sewing friend to help me measure)  and my thigh measurement. I did size down the waist a tad, and used a smaller elastic for the waistband. I took out 2" from the length for my height. This seemed almost perfect. I would probably add back a half inch when making them again as I like my ankles covered when seated.

For my Miss Trail Joggers I used a textured athletic knit from Zenith & Quasar. It has a bit of an optical illusion effect as it looks black at an angle and teal when viewed straight on. 

The pockets on the Miss Trail Joggers are nice and large. However they are placed very forward on the leg and feels a bit awkward when I put my phone in the pocket. The pockets are not bagged and I attached them using a reverse coverstitch. I then did a reverse coverstitch on the other seams to give them a sporty look. 

The back pieces have shaping over the rear. I have an ample bum and found that I could have used an extra half inch added to the rise as the waistband dips a little bit at the back center seam. You can see it peeking out from under my top. 

The Miss Tamarak Tights have some fun colorblocking options, but I wanted to keep them simple and solid. I have found that I wear my solid colored leggings way more than my color blocked ones. Colorblocking is so fun, but I have a hard time picking out colors that look great together. 

I decided a while back to keep my wardrobe to a few main colors and doing so has really made getting dressed easier and less stressful. My two main colors are green and blue and I pull in pops of purple and yellow. These purple tights were really needed in my closet. I love the dark and rich color. These are made with an athletic knit from Zenith & Quasar. 

Here's a look at the simple color blocking I did from the pattern. I did a reverse coverstitch on the seams for a sporty look. 

Here's another view of the colorblocked design. I didn't wear my shoes in these photos because I realized after the first few photos that my shoes had gotten muddy on my walk to this spot. 

Sofiona Designs is celebrating their 3rd year anniversary. All patterns are on sale for 40% off. These are the only patterns I have tried from Sofiona, but they have many more. The drafting seems to be spot on and the  instructions were clear. I was able to get all three items made over 2 days. I cut them all out on one day and sewed all three up the next day - with time to spare. 

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Week ending October 24, 2021 in my Sewing Room

I didn't do much this week.  I was so busy with work and didn't have much free time when I got off. 

On Monday I got mail from Minerva. They sent me fabric and a pattern to sew up.  I'm making view A of this new look pattern. The fabric is a cotton voile. 

I started a quilt pattern test for Frannie B Quilt Co. It took me forever to decide on fabric and this is what I settled on.  I decided to use some vintage ditsy floral prints and my scrappy background is 5 or 6 low volume light colored prints. 

I had a tumble Wednesday on my lunchtime walk and really bruised up my right hand. It hurt and was swollen,  so I took two days off from sewing to let it heal. 

I got out my Sew Easy ruler/cutter since my hand was tender and couldn't handle using the rotary cutter. I bought this at a garage sale about 5 years ago and this was my first time using it. I love it! I'll definitely be using all the time now. 

Friday evening I got my star block made for the Stargazing Quilt Pattern that I'm testing for Frannie B Quilt Co. I signed up for the block test, but I'm hoping to make the throw size quilt. 

Saturday I went through a few bins in the garage. We are planning on moving some shelves around and switching everything to smaller storage containers.  Before we do, we are going through everything to see what needs to go, and what we need to keep. I was excited to get to the storage bin with my grandmother's quilts. This is the quilt she made and gave to me for my graduation and wedding. 

Here's the note she wrote on the back. She left her signature and date on all her quilts and often left a little note about the quilt. 

I also have this Indian girl quilt that she made. I'm not sure why or how I ended up with this quilt. 

I also have this patriotic quilt top she made and hemmed to use as a table cloth. She gave it to me when she came to my house one year for a fourth of July cookout. We have used it a few times. I am thinking of turning it into a quilt. Or I might back it with something so the fabric doesn't continue to fray with use. 

I took my Deltille Quilt (Pattern by Running Stitch Quilts out for a photoshoot now that it's completely finished! Here she is in all her glory. I have a short blog post about it and the backing on Minerva.com 

I ended the weekend getting ally pieces cut out for my Stargazing Quilt.  

This week I'm hoping to do some work on a t-shirt quilt and on my Stargazing Quilt. I have plans for the Halloween weekend that will keep me busy and not much time for sewing. I'm already counting down the days to the next Holiday - Veteran's Day - and having some time off then.