Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 10!

❄❄❄Update:  The complete pattern for Sweet Shoppe is now available for download on my Etsy shop.  The pattern includes material requirements, step-by-step instructions, and full color diagrams to help you on your way.  Click here to view the pattern.❄❄❄

Welcome back for the final day of the Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along!  This quilt-along has been so much fun for me because I've been able to keep the final quilt a secret until today!  So without further ado, here's a look at the finished Sweet Shoppe quilt!

Ta-da!  It's a table runner with colorful candy rows interspersed with strips of sweet stitching.  It's amazing to me how simple shapes and bright colors can combine to create a quilt that's bold and graphic but still very sweet.  Don't you just love quilting?!

Some Thoughts on Finishing Your Sweet Shoppe quilt:

The quilt was pretty before I added the red perle cotton, but I think the red stitching is really the cherry on top!  If you'd like to add the stitching to your quilt, you can also substitute 2 strands of embroidery floss for the perle cotton.  

But don't feel limited to finishing your quilt the way I did—there are countless ways to personalize this project.  You could do decorative machine stitching or a narrow quilted border pattern of wavy or swirly lines or ribbons within the sashing strips.  The larger blocks are an opportunity for some fun machine quilting—I can imagine spirals in the lollipops and maybe a small cross-hatch in the wrapped sweets.  Even the red and green peppermint stick rows could be embellished with complementary colored diagonal lines stitched between the HSTs.  And if you really want to take the Sweet Shoppe theme over the top, you could stitch little bows to the lollipop sticks or the narrow parts of the wrapped sweets and sew tiny buttons to the centers of the minty fresh and peppermint blocks.  Just have fun!

I'd love to see your finished quilts, so please tag me @JenDalyQuilts if you post them on Facebook or Instagram, or send a picture to me via email:  jendalyquilts@gmail.com.  And if you haven't been able to quilt along this year, but you'd like to make your own Sweet Shoppe quilt, the complete pattern will be available in my Etsy shop after Christmas.

Thank you all so much for following along with this year's Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along!  Happy Holidays and, as ever, Happy Quilting!

Cheers!  Jen

Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 9

Welcome back for Day 9!  After 8 days of piecing blocks and half-square-triangles (and I think we can all agree that we're experts at making HSTs by now!) we're finally going to start assembling our quilts!

Today we're making rows!  I just loved making a row quilt for last year's quilt-along, so I thought we'd give it another try this year with a different shape and size.

Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 8

Happy Monday and welcome back for Day 8 of the Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along!

Today we're making lollipop blocks!

These blocks couldn't be easier—we'll be strip piecing the lollipop stick units and making snowball units for the lollipop tops.  Fast and fun, so let's get started!

Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 7

Welcome back for Day 7 of the Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along!  Today we're making peppermint blocks!

These blocks are actually just like the minty fresh blocks that we made on Day 5, but they're red and white and spinning in the opposite direction.  We're also making twice as many as we did on Day 5, but because it's the weekend, we've got an extra day to get them done.  Ready?  Here we go!

Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 6

It's Day 6 of the Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along and today we're making wrapped sweets!

On day one, I suggested that you label your 2 favorite red fabrics as red print #2 and red print #3 and your favorite green fabric as green print #3.  The wrapped sweet blocks are the biggest in the project, so we'll be using your favorite fabrics (as labeled) to make them today.

Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 5

Welcome back for Day 5 of the Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along!  Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!  With fresh snow on the ground here in New Hampshire and more on the way, my Christmas spirit is definitely on the rise, so let's get started!

Today we'll be making green peppermint blocks.  Or should I say spearmint or wintergreen blocks?  Either way, these blocks are super sweet and minty fresh!  Hmmm... "minty fresh," am I crazy or is that a cute name for this block?!

Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 4

Woohoo!  It's Friday and Day 4 of the Quilt-Along!  Today we'll be making half-square-triangle units... only kidding!!  As promised we're moving on to something new—split quarter-square triangles.

These fun little units are so cute when they're combined to make Double Pinwheel blocks, just like the one pictured above.  We're going to be doing something different with our split quarter-square triangles, or "SQST"s, but I'm going to save that reveal for another day!  Now let's get started...

Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 3

Wow, it's Day 3 already—welcome!!

You may have surmised from the above picture that we're making half-square-triangle units again!  These will be smaller HST units and we'll be making quite a few of them.  We won't be making the star pictured above for this project, but I'm definitely filing the idea away for another time—I love the red and green polka dots together!

Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 2

Welcome back for Day 2 of the Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along!  I hope you all had a good weekend and that your fabrics are cut and ready to go!

Today we'll be making half-square triangle units in both red and green.  The method we'll be using makes 8 half-square-triangle units at a time—some quilters refer to it as the "Magic 8" method.  I like to make the half-square-triangle (or "HST") units a bit bigger than they need to be to start out with and then trim them down to ensure that the HST units are the exact size that I need, so that's the approach we'll be taking today.

Ready to sew?  Here we go!

Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along - Day 1

❄❄❄Update:  The complete pattern for Sweet Shoppe is now available for download on my Etsy shop.  The pattern includes material requirements, step-by-step instructions, and full color diagrams to help you on your way.  Click here to view the pattern.❄❄❄

Welcome to Day 1 of the Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along!!  I'm so happy that you're joining us for the fun!

The inspiration for this year's quilt-along is Christmas candy—candy canes, peppermints, anything sugary and sweet, as long as it's red, green and white.

These are the fabrics that I chose for my Sweet Shoppe quilt.  The green isn't quite a mint green, but I just love yellowy-green right now and I couldn't help myself!

Just in case you missed my last post, here's a complete list of what you'll need for this year's Quilt-Along:

• 3 fat quarters - red prints
• 3 fat quarters - green prints (you can get away with 2 fat quarters and 1 fat eighth)
• ⅛ yard gray print
• 1½ yard white fabric for background (I'm using a solid)
• ⅓ yard fabric for binding
• 1⅔ yard fabric for backing
• 26" x 60" piece of batting

I'll be posting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between now and Christmas and we'll wrap up on the 22nd—no pun intended!  I'll reveal a different block or component with each post and we'll work on assembling the quilt during the last week.  Some of the pieces we'll be working with are small, but this project is suitable for most quilters.

So, without further ado, let's get started!

2017 Christmas Quilt-Along Starts this Friday!

♫It's the most wonderful time of the year♫... time for my annual Christmas Quilt-Along!!

The Quilt-Along starts this Friday, December 1st.  This year's project will be pretty straightforward—with standard piecing and blocks suitable for all quilters.

Here's what you'll need for this year's Quilt-Along:

• 3 fat quarters - red prints
• 3 fat quarters - green prints (you can get away with 2 fat quarters and 1 fat eighth)
• ⅛ yard gray print
• 1½ yard white fabric for background (I'm using a solid)
• ⅓ yard fabric for binding
• 1⅔ yard fabric for backing
• 26" x 60" piece of batting

Wondering what shades of red and green to buy?  Here's a hint...

This year I'll be posting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between December 1st and December 22nd, that way you'll have the weekends to catch up if necessary.  You can follow along with the Quilt-Along here or on Instagram and Facebook @JenDalyQuilts.  

I can't wait to get started and hope to see you back here Friday!

Wool Appliqué - Free Pattern

Tomorrow I'm teaching a Wool Appliqué class at a local Sew-op and I've had so much fun stitching up samples for the class, that I thought I'd share the love and make the appliqué pattern available to all!

Here's a peek at the pattern:

Here's one of the finished samples popped into a 5" x 7" frame:

And the second made into a 12" x 16" pillow:

I cut the background fabric for both projects into an 8" x 10" rectangle.  To stitch the samples, I used two strands of embroidery floss and a Blanket Stitch for the topmost shapes and a single strand of embroidery floss and a Whipstitch for the stem and the larger, bottommost shapes.

To finish the framed version, I layered the stitched project with a thin piece of batting, wrapped both around the glass that came with the 5" x 7" frame, and inserted the unit into the frame.  

For the pillow version, after stitching, I trimmed the background down to a 5" x 7" rectangle and added scrappy squares and strips around it to make it into a 12½" x 16½" unfinished pillow top.  I used an envelope closure for the back of the pillow and inserted a 12" x 16" pillow form.

If you'd like to make your own little wool appliqué project, you can find a pdf of the pattern here.  

Happy Stitching!

Halloween Candy revisited

Looking for a quick Halloween project for this weekend?  Here, again, is my Halloween Candy pillow featuring "Hocus Pocus" by Sandy Gervais.

Halloween Candy Tutorial

Find the link to my Moda Bake Shop tutorial in the original blog post, as well as a downloadable pdf of the embroidery pattern.

Have fun!

Etsy Shop Now Open!!

Sunflowers

The leaves are just beginning to change here in New Hampshire — hints of red, orange and yellow are peeking out of fading green.  But because I'm not quite ready for fall, and because these beauties are still in bloom...

 

 

 

... I think I'll keep my Sunflowers table runner out a little while longer.

You can find the pattern for Sunflowers in the current issue (Fall 2017) of Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine.  It's a great one for beginning quilters and perfect for late summer!  Happy quilting and enjoy the last days of summer!

Hocus Pocus

It's a gorgeous summer day out there, but today I'm thinking about Halloween!

My Hocus Pocus table runner is featured in the September/October 2017 issue of McCall's Quilting available now online at the Quilt and Sew Shop and wherever magazines are sold.

Photo by McCall's Quilting

My starting point for designing this quilt was the Snail's Trail Blocks.  While making a variation of Snail's Trail blocks for another project, I realized that the swirly, twisting quality of the blocks could be kind of creepy—almost like arms reaching out—and I decided to try to use them in a Halloween project.  I tried them in the center of the quilt first with mixed results, but when I decided to use the Snail's Trail Blocks as a border, I loved the spooky result!  Using colorful Grunge fabrics by Moda for this quilt added texture and sparkle without detracting from the overall pattern.  

Hocus Pocus screams Halloween, but the pattern is surprisingly versatile.  On page 31 of the magazine, the McCall's team shares a lovely and scrappy Christmas version of the quilt, and here's a summery idea made with beachy blues:

It's a totally different feel, but just as fun!

If you'd like to make the Halloween version of Hocus Pocus, McCall's Quilting has exclusive kits available at the Quilt and Sew Shop.  In the kit, you'll find everything you need to make the quilt, including backing fabric.

Happy Quilting!

Halloween Candy - Free Mini Charm Pack Pattern

Happy Holidays, fellow quilters!  It's only July, but today I'm celebrating Christmas and Halloween with my latest Moda Bake Shop tutorial.

Christmas Candy is a 14" mini quilt that I made with a mini charm pack of gorgeous "Petites Maisons de Noël" fabric by French General for Moda.

This little project is fast and easy, but my favorite part is the simple backstitched poinsettias and vines and French Knot berries that wind their way around the red and green patchwork center.

Christmas Candy is also a great portable project—once you've assembled the quilt top, it's the perfect size to take along with you for some summer stitching.

Not quite ready to think about Christmas?  Here's Halloween Candy, a pillow version of the project made with "Hocus Pocus" by Sandy Gervais.

This spooky pillow is embellished with spiderwebs and spiders.  You can find the embroidery pattern here.

I made Halloween Candy the same way as Christmas Candy (find the tutorial here), with just a few adjustments:

• Before embroidering, I layered the pieced quilt top with both batting and a muslin lining panel.

• Instead of machine quilting this project, I simply stitched an "x" across each of the junctions (through all layers) in the center patchwork.

• And rather than binding the project, I used the following steps to turn it into a pillow:

Finishing the Pillow 

1. Cut two 10" x 14½" panels from your backing fabric. 
2. Fold one long (14½'') edge of a panel toward the wrong side ⅜'' twice and press.
3. Stitch the hem close to the fold.
4. Repeat with the second panel.
5. Layer one panel on the embroidered and trimmed quilt sandwich, with right sides together and raw edges aligned.
6. Layer the remaining panel on the opposite side of quilt sandwich, with right sides together and raw edges aligned.
7. Stitch through all layers using a 1/4'' seam.
8. Trim the corners to reduce bulk, turn the pillow sham right side out and insert a 14" x 14" pillow form.

Whether you choose Christmas or Halloween, mini quilt or pillow, if you'd like to make this fun mini charm pack project, you can find my free tutorial at the Moda Bake Shop.

Happy Stitching!

Flutter by, Butterfly

The landscape is finally in full bloom here in New Hampshire, and just the other day, I saw my first butterfly of the season.  To celebrate, I thought I'd share a sweet little project that I stitched up over the weekend.

This quick little project fits into a 5" x 7" frame and couldn't be easier!  I made the little butterfly by fusing two pieces of fabric together.  After cutting it out, I stitched it onto the background using a few long straight stitches that do double duty as the butterfly's body.  I did the rest of the stitching using two strands of embroidery floss—using a backstitch for the lettering and flower stems, lazy daisies for the flower petals and leaves, and French Knots for the flower centers.

You can find the pattern for Flutter by, Butterfly here.  Before beginning, make sure that the box of the printed pattern measures 5'' x 7''.  Using a water soluble marking pen, transfer the pattern to a 7'' x 9'' rectangle of background fabric and layer with a 7'' x 9'' piece of batting before stitching.  This step gives a bit of dimension to your stitching and prevents the floss ends from showing through.

After stitching your project, remove the contents of a 5'' x 7'' frame, wrap both layers of the project around the glass, pop it back into the frame and voilà!

By the way, I'm always on the lookout for great frames and I actually found this beauty at Kohl's.  The frame cost only $5 on sale, it comes in several great colors and best of all, it's deep enough to accommodate the extra layers of fabric and batting without having to tape the back.  I bought two and I'll probably go back for more!

Before I go, I just wanted to let you know that I'm hard at work on a big project that I hope to be able to share with you soon.  In order to be able to focus on the project, I've decided to take a month off from blogging.  In the meantime, I wish you all happy quilting and I'll see you back here in July!

Jen

Going Green

New Hampshire is beautiful in the winter, and I love the monochromatic palette of white snow, brown-black trees and blue-gray skies.  But I don't think there is anything prettier or more welcome than the return of green in spring.

And, as is always the case with color, "green" can mean a lot of things...

Ahh. green.