Home Tweet Home Take Two

I've had some questions about how to make a larger version of Home Tweet Home, my latest Moda Bake Shop tutorial, using charm squares (5") rather than mini charm squares (2½").  If you're interested, here's some rough math to help you out.

For a 30½" square quilt made with a charm pack:

Birdhouse block size:  4¾" x 4¾" finished
Sashing strips:  1" x 4¾" finished (cut 1½" x 5¼")
Cornerstones:  1" x 1" finished (cut 1½" x 1½")
Inner border:  1" wide finished (cut 2 - 1½" x 22½" and 2 - 1½" x 24½")
HST border:  3" x 3" HSTs finished (make in the same manner described in the tutorial using 4" squares to start - you'll have to trim the charm squares first)
Outer border corner squares:  3" x 3" finished (cut 3½" x 3½")

I plugged this larger design into EQ7 and it's looks like you'd need roughly a yard of background fabric and ½ yard of fabric for the birdhouse roofs.

Here's a link to a foundation pattern that I drafted for the 4¾" birdhouse block.  And here, again, is the link to the original tutorial — the cutting measurements are different for the larger quilt, but the construction is the same.

I'd love to see what a bigger version of this quilt looks like and I may even try one myself!  One reader suggested appliquéing a black circle to the larger birdhouses rather than using buttons — great idea Cheryl!  Don't forget to tag me @JenDalyQuilts if you share your quilts on Instagram or Facebook!

Happy Quilting!

— Jen

Home Tweet Home

I know we still have two months of winter left, but somehow I can't help looking ahead to spring.  And in honor of the sweetest season, here's what I've been working on:

It's Home Tweet Home, my latest Moda Bake Shop tutorial.  This sweet quilt finishes at 15½" square.  You'll need a mini charm pack, a bit of yardage and 16 little buttons to make Home Tweet Home and you can find detailed instructions as well as plenty of how-to photos free at the Moda Bake Shop.

I made my little quilt with "Lilac Ridge" by Jan Patek Quilts.  Her shades of lavender, green, brown and cream are perfect for spring—soft, lovely and warm. 

But if you're wondering what Home Tweet Home would look like in a different color palette, here are a couple of ideas that I think are equally cute.  Each is inspired by a current or upcoming Moda fabric collection.

Mama's Cottage by April Rosenthal available now

Provencal by American Jane available in February

Whichever you choose, I hope you have fun making Home Tweet Home.  And if you share your little quilts on Instagram or Facebook, please tag me @JenDalyQuilts—I'd love to see what you're up to!

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.