Boxes and Bows - Free Charm Pack Pattern

It's another gorgeous summer weekend here in New Hampshire—sunny and warm—and wouldn't you know it, I'm thinking about Christmas!

That's because today, my new quilt Boxes and Bows is a featured recipe at the Moda Bake Shop.

Boxes and Bows is a fast and fun 15" x 42" holiday table runner that's made with only one charm pack, a bit of background fabric, and 1⅓ yard of backing/binding fabric.  

And speaking of fabric, I made my quilt with Kate Spain's colorful North Woods collection and it really is beautiful!  (the fabric, that is, although my quilt's not bad either!)

North Woods features cranberry reds, warm linen, and three shades of green that range from citron to turquoise—yum!  In fact, I loved Kate's fabric so much that I couldn't bear to discard even the 1½" scraps from the project.  Here's a sweet mini quilt that I made with the leftovers:

The center of this little quilt is comprised of 25—1½" squares, surrounded by a ½" (finished) white border.  The outer border is made of 8—1½" x 3½" rectangles and another 4—1½" squares.  I stitched down the middle of the white border with perle cotton for fun, but at 8" square, this quilt really doesn't require any quilting.  And check out the heart in the center of the quilt...

Looks like fussy cutting, right?  Nope, the heart ending up smack dab in the center of this little square was a coincidence, a happy accident as it turns out, because I built the little quilt around it!

If you'd like to make your own version of Boxes and Bows, my free tutorial is available at the Moda Bake Shop.  You'll find complete instructions for the project and lots of photos to help you along the way.  Have fun!

Christmas Baubles Quilt

What a gorgeous day here in New Hampshire!  It's so sunny and blissfully warm that Christmas seems a long way off, but I suppose it's never too early to at least start thinking about your Christmas quilting projects.

If you're looking for a fun and easy project (or an excuse to buy some Christmas fabrics!), try my Christmas Baubles quilt!  It's my latest recipe for the Moda Bake Shop and the free tutorial is featured at the Bake Shop today.

I have to say, I really love this sweet little project!  The combination of miniature Christmas ornament blocks and Kate Spain's colorful and cheerful "Jingle" fabrics just makes me happy.

Christmas Baubles is a very easy project.  It's perfect for a beginner and definitely doable in a weekend.  To make the quilt, you'll only need a single mini charm pack of Christmas fabric -- and Moda has some really gorgeous Christmas fabrics coming out this summer -- 2/3 yard of a background fabric, a scrap of gray fabric, and a yard of backing/binding fabric.  Once you have all of your ornament blocks made, the quilt comes together very quickly.  

I wanted this project to be fast and something that any quilter could finish at home, from soup to nuts, so I decided to try to quilt it on my regular old sewing machine.  I used a ruler and a vanishing marking pen to mark a tree shape that outlines the ornament blocks.  After stitching the tree, I then marked and stitched vertical lines in the background of the quilt.  The quilting went pretty quickly and I couldn't be happier with the results!  Just don't forget to be sure that the marking pen you choose comes out of your background fabric before you mark your quilt!!

So there you have it, a little taste of Christmas in June.  I hope Christmas Baubles fills you with inspiration, not anxiety.  And just in case you're wondering, there are 196 days until Christmas.  Plenty of time!!

Just Keep Swimming

April 10th and I woke up this morning to another half inch of ice on my car.  Now normally this would really set me off, especially on the heels of the three inches of snow that we got the day before.  I mean really, April 10th?!

But not today.  Today I'm flying high and even the prospect of spending 20 minutes scraping off my windshield can't diminish my good mood.  32°, whatever.  Freezing rain, bring it on.  I just don't care because as of today I'm officially a Moda Bake Shop Chef!!

My first recipe, Just Keep Swimming, is featured today at the Moda Bake Shop.  After our annual trip to Maine last summer (remember summer??) I was inspired to try my hand at incorporating fish into my quilt designs.  This happy little project is one of the results.

Twelve tropical fish swim around colorful patchwork on this fun 16" x 16" little quilt.  Just Keep Swimming is a fast and easy project that basically requires only one mini charm pack and 2/3 yard of a background fabric.  I chose to make this version with a "Paradiso" mini charm pack by Kate Spain for Moda.  I love her bright colors and bold patterns and I think they look great against the Bella Solid Royal Blue -- perfect for summer.

Here's a slightly quieter version of Just Keep Swimming, also made with Kate Spain fabric -- "Horizons" this time -- clearly I love Kate Spain's fabric.

Not sure if you noticed, but the fish are swimming in opposite directions in the two quilts.  Just a little construction issue that I hammered out for my tutorial -- never fear!

Just Keep Swimming is definitely doable in a weekend.  And if you'd like to turn it into a pillow, I give suggestions about how to do so in my Moda Bake Shop recipe.

The only problem I had making Just Keep Swimming was trying to find some sand for my cover shot!  New Hampshire has been inundated with snow this winter and it's hard to even find exposed ground, much less sand.  But last week I visited a nearby lake and after trudging 200 yards along a beach through knee deep snow, I managed to find a 2 foot strip of sand.  I then proceeded to make a sand castle while wearing boots and a ski coat.  Which was surreal in and of itself, but to top it off, the sand was water-logged and heavy and the wind blowing down the lake was arctic and by the time I finished, I could barely see through the tears in my eyes and the mascara running down my face -- hence the less than desirable sand castle.  I'm sure I looked like a fool making a sand castle while bundled up for winter and sporting raccoon eyes, but I got my cover shot.  And hey, it almost looks like summer, right?

Have fun making your own little quilt!  And if the weather is getting you down, just keep swimming...