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.

There's a discount code available when you sign up for emails from The Seasoned Homemaker.

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

Coral Shadow Quilt Pattern by Sew Beachy Quilts

I recently tested a quilt pattern for Sew Beachy Quilts. The pattern is the Coral Shadow Quilt Pattern. The pattern is beginner friendly and is a block based pattern. 

When I visited my mom a few months ago, she insisted that I take home some of the fabric she had been stashing for a long time. In her stash I found several yards of this colorful tropical print "Rainbow Jungle"  by Alexander Henry that was dated 2003. The print is large and I loved the colors and patterns of the tropical leaves. Since the Coral Shadow Quilt Patter includes large squares for a focal fabric, I decided to use the Rainbow Jungle fabric and then found complimentary solids and a batik for the rest of the fabric needed for the pattern. 

The Coral Shadow Quilt Patter uses strip piecing which makes the construction of the blocks go very quickly. The arrangement of the blocks creates a visually interesting pattern that makes the quilt look more complicated than it is. 

The Coral Shadow Quilt Pattern includes three sizes. I made the Throw sizes which finishes at 68" by 82".  The size could be adjusted slightly be leaving off the borders or even making the borders a different size. 

The Coral Shadow Quilt Patter is perfect for highlighting a large scale print. I think it would be fun to make a scrappy version of this quilt. 

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

Big Sky Star Quilt

The Big Sky Star quilt pattern by Plains and Pine has been on my Quilt "Bucket List" since I saw it. I bought the pattern (and the matching sticker - it's on my pattern cabinet) while back. 

When I received the Froth and Bubble Collection by One Sister Designs for Henry Glass Fabrics as my January Ambassador project for Jaftex, I knew it would be perfect for the Big Sky Star quilt pattern. The colors reminded me of the cover quilt on the pattern. 

The Big Sky Star pattern cover quilt is a scrappy version of the pattern. The Froth & Bubble collection was huge! It contains 28 SKUs and I received 25 of them. 

I knew the only way to really show off that many different fabrics in one project was going to be making a scrappy something. I could have split the fabrics into two separate projects, but I don't have that much free time to try to attempt two complete quilts in less than a month. 

The Froth and Bubble Collection has so many different prints and colors. Some really didn't feel like they went with the rest of the collection. There's one purple print and it felt like an outlier, but I worked it into my quilt and it looks beautiful.  

What does Froth & Bubble mean? I have no idea! Some of the prints have words on them and I wasn't very fond of these. I prefer prints without words written on them unless the  words really add to the design. 

This quilt pattern was fairly easy to follow, but not so easy to actually make. I redid many pieces over and over, and left many seams that are "off". I figure if you can't spot it easily from 10 feet, then it's all good. 

Plus, I find that once you quilt it and wash it, it hides all those sewing sins. 

I quilted this on my Tin Lizzie and used the free "Wild Cherries" pantograph from Urban Elementz.  I scaled the design a bit big as I like something that quilts fast and isn't too dense. I feel like quilting that has a looser spacing gives the quilt more drape

I definitely learned a lot making this Big Sky Star quilt that I'll take into consideration when I make it again. I found that I liked the fabrics arranged in a certain way for the scrappy layout and will be more mindful of layout next time. 

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

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 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. 

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.