Hearts and Tarts

Happy February!

This morning I flipped over the calendar page and ta-da!

It's my Hearts and Tarts table runner and it's the February quilt in the Better Homes and Gardens American Patchwork & Quilting 2017 Calendar.  

This beautiful calendar, available online at The Meredith Store, features 12 gorgeous quilts, complete with full project instructions and even suggestions for alternate colors and sizes.  

My Hearts and Tarts table runner is simplicity itself.  I paper pieced the heart blocks with a variety of pink solids and used candy pink perle cotton to big stitch quilt in the sashing and borders.  This quilt is soft and pretty—perfect for Valentine's Day!

Here's a close-up of the big stitch quilting:

And here's the little quilt I made to test the idea for Hearts and Tarts.  The blocks in this little cutie are 3" square.

And because I can't get enough of these sweet hearts, here's a fun little project that you can make with a single block.  It's a 4½" square pillow that you can use as a pin cushion or embroider with a message and give as a valentine.

If you'd like to make your own little heart pillow, you'll need to print a foundation pattern for the 3" heart block (find the pdf here).  You'll also need some scraps of pink and white solid fabrics.  

From the pink solid, cut:

1 rectangle, 1¾" x 2½" (area A1)

1 rectangle, 2¼" x 3¼" (area A4)

1 square, 5" x 5" (pillow back)

From the white solid, cut:

1 square, 2" x 2" (area A2)

1 square 2½" x 2½" cut once diagonally to yield 2 triangles (areas A3 and A5)

1 square 3" x 3" cut once diagonally to yield 2 triangles (areas A6 and A7)

2 strips 1¼" x 3½" (side borders)

2 strips 1¼" x 5" (top and bottom borders)

Putting this little pillow together is very easy.  Once you've got the block made, stitch a white 1¼" x 3½" strip to either side of the block, pressing seams towards the white strips.  Then stitch a white 1¼" x 5" strip to the top and bottom of the block, again pressing seams towards the white strips.

Layer your pillow top with a small piece of batting and then embellish it as desired. I embroidered the "Be Mine" and "XOXO" using a backstitch and two strands of embroidery floss.  Then I used perle cotton to big stitch quilt in the border ¼" around the outside of the block.  The layer of batting will give the stitching a bit of dimension and will help keep the front of your pillow smooth when you stuff it.

Once your pillow top is embellished/quilted, layer the pillow back atop the pillow top with right sides together.  Stitch on all sides using a ¼" seam allowance, but leave a little space unsewn at the bottom of the pillow for turning.  Press the seam to set it, clip your corners, and turn the pillow right side out.  Stuff the pillow gently using fiberfill and blindstitch the opening closed.  And that's it!  

Before I go, here's another example of the gorgeous photography that you'll find in the APQ 2017 Calendar.  December features my Winter Wraps lap quilt in the most charming scene—I just love this picture!

Happy Quilting!

Just for Fun

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of teaching a beginner's log cabin class at the Upper Valley Food Co-op's Sew-op.  The women I was teaching were all friends and we had a great time chatting and sewing (ok, mostly chatting!).  At one point during the class, one of the women asked me if I still quilt for fun or if it's just for work and while I answered that quilting is always a joy for me, I realized that it's been too long since I made a project just for fun and just for me.

The solution:  a mini orange peel quilt!  I've always wanted to make an orange peel quilt and I love all things miniature, so I'm going to combine the two and make it with fabrics leftover from my log cabin class.

After a couple of nights of prepping leaf appliqués, here's what I've got:

Aren't the colors gorgeous?! I just love these batiks!

Each finished leaf block is going to be 2" square.  My mom will think I'm crazy, but I can't help myself; I LOVE small blocks.  Not sure what I'm going to do for a border yet, but hey, there are no rules here!  This is just for fun — appliqué here I come! 

I'll keep you posted...

Merry and Bright - Day 12!

❄❄❄Update:  The complete pattern for Merry and Bright is now available for download on my Etsy shop.  The pattern includes material requirements, cutting chart, step-by-step instructions, full color diagrams, paper piecing foundation patterns and embroidery templates to help you on your way.  Click here to view the pattern.❄❄❄


Welcome back for the final day of the Merry and Bright Quilt-along!

Today we're going to talk about finishing touches and, drum roll please, here's a look at my finished Merry and Bright quilt!

I have to be honest—I adore this quilt!  The color palette is so cheery and I love the combination of the simple, graphic blocks and the sweet, pretty embroidery.  This one is definitely one of my faves!

On to the finishing:

Basting Backing Fabric to Quilt Top/Batting Sandwich:

The next step in the process is to layer your quilt top/batting sandwich with a backing fabric panel measuring at least 34" x 40".  Once again, I chose to use spray basting adhesive to baste the backing fabric to my quilt sandwich.  I smoothed the backing fabric out on a flat surface with the wrong side up and used masking tape to hold it taut.  Then I lightly sprayed the surface with the basting spray, placed the quilt top/batting sandwich on top of it with the batting side down, and smoothed it out, starting in the center and working outwards.  Then I pulled up the tape, flipped all three layers of the quilt sandwich over, and made sure it was nice and smooth on the back side.

If you'd like to use a different method of basting your quilt, please feel free to do so!  One way or the other, it's time to baste the backing to the back of your quilt sandwich.

Quilting Inner Border:

I quilted my inner background fabric border using two colors of embroidery floss and a big running stitch.  This method matches the look of the embroidery that we used on the sashing strips, but it is actually quilting because we're stitching through all three layers now.  This helps to hold the layers of the quilt together and because it's a running stitch, it looks just fine on the back of your quilt.

After placing my quilt sandwich in a quilting hoop (basically a big embroidery hoop), I used two strands of floss and the same needle that I used for all of my embroidery to do the big stitch quilting.  I stitched ¼" inside the background fabric inner border seams.  You can mark your lines prior to stitching if you like, but I could actually see the shadow of my seam allowances through the background fabric and just ran my stitching along those lines.  Easy peasy!

Your stitches should measure between ⅛" and ¼", but really the stitch length matters less than keeping them consistent.  And finally, as in regular quilting, bury your knots between the layers of your quilt.

Final Touches:

The last thing I did before binding my quilt, was to machine quilt in the ditch on either side of the 4 embroidered sashing strips with a walking foot and white thread to match my background fabric.  This quilting doesn't really show up much, but I added it to help hold the layers of the quilt together.  Then I decided that because my quilt was sufficiently stabilized and charmingly embellished, it was (finally!!) time to bind!

If you'd like to further quilt or embellish your quilt, please do so!  My mom is thinking of adding a star button to the top of one or more of her Christmas trees and for a while contemplated decorating the trees with additional embroidery (if you choose to add more embroidery, make sure you do it before you layer the backing onto your quilt).  You could also use quilting to add texture to the trees, the ornaments or even the house roofs.  The options are many and an opportunity for you to further personalize your quilt. Or maybe, like me, you'll step back and think "that'll do!"

So that wraps up my 2016 Merry and Bright Quilt-along!  (please excuse the little Christmas pun, but I've been waiting all month to write that!!)  I have truly enjoyed sharing this project with you all and I've especially loved connecting with you via email, Facebook and Instagram!  What a treat to be able to see your progress and to know that we were actually quilting along together!

I'd love to see pictures of your quilts when they're finished!  You can email them to me at jendalyquilts@gmail.com or please tag me @jendalyquilts when you post your pics on Instagram or Facebook.

In the meantime, thank you all so much for following along with this year's quilt-along!  Happy Holidays and may all your days be Merry and Bright!

Cheers!  Jen

Merry and Bright - Day 1

❄❄❄Update:  The complete pattern for Merry and Bright is now available for download on my Etsy shop.  The pattern includes material requirements, cutting chart, step-by-step instructions, full color diagrams, paper piecing foundation patterns and embroidery templates to help you on your way.  Click here to view the pattern.❄❄❄


Welcome to Day 1 of the 2016 Christmas Quilt-along!  Da datta da!! (imagine a trumpet fanfare at this point!)

This year we'll be making a 28" x 34" wall hanging.  Every other day between now and December 23rd, I'll be unveiling a new component or embellishment for our quilts.  We'll start off with traditional piecing, move into some paper piecing, and wrap up with simple embroidery.

This is the color palette that I chose for my quilt—I'm trying for a happy, Christmas candy kind of look—but feel free to choose whatever color palette appeals to you.  Hint:  you'll probably want to have at least a couple of green prints to work with.  

2016 Christmas Quilt-along Coming Up!

I've finally emerged from my pie-induced coma and, as promised, it's time to get ready for my 2016 Christmas Quilt-along!

I'm calling it a "Quilt-along" this year, rather than a mystery quilt, because we'll actually be assembling the quilt top by the middle of the month and spending the last week before Christmas embellishing it with embroidery.  We'll be using both traditional and paper piecing again this year, and the embroidery will be very simple—perfect for the confident beginner to intermediate quilter!  I can't wait to get started!

Here's what you'll need for this year's quilt:

    

• 6 Fat Quarters - 3 green prints and 3 red prints (I'm actually substituting a pink FQ for one of the reds because I'm going for a Christmas candy kind of look)
• 1 6" x 6" square gray print (mine looks like a solid, but it's actually got a subtle print)
• 1 yard background fabric (mine is the white/pink micro dot.  All of the embroidery we'll be doing is on the background fabric, so you'll want to choose a background fabric that the embroidery will show up against—nothing too busy, think subtle print—and if you can't find a print you like, a solid white will work just fine!!)
• 1 yard backing fabric
• ⅓ yard binding fabric
• 34" x 40" piece batting
• embroidery floss to match your fat quarters (mine are (from top to bottom) DMC's 817, 666, 3832, 937, 470 and 166).

It will also be helpful to have a washout marking pen, embroidery hoop and needles, and basting spray.

I mentioned above that I'm trying to use Christmas candy colors in my quilt.  Earlier in the fall, I wrote a post about my Holiday Games quilt and included some ideas for different colorways.  The red/pink/green version really caught my eye and it's the inspiration for this year's quilt.

The Quilt-along will start this Thursday, December 1st.  I'll be posting every other day throughout December and we'll finish up on December 23rd, just in time for Christmas! So exciting!!

And now before I let you go, I'd like to share some amazing photos of last year's mystery quilt, all made by readers of this blog.

This one was made by Jill and I love how she kicked it up a notch by adding the yellow piping:

Here's a beauty made by Maureen from Canada.  I had to include Maureen's home country because my husband is also Canadian!  Yay Canada!

And finally, here's my mom's version!  I love the quilted cross-hatch that she used in the inner border—it adds dimension and it's a great substitute for the big stitch quilting that I used in the original.

Thank you Jill, Maureen and Mom for sending me photos of your gorgeous quilts!

The free pattern/tutorial for last year's mystery quilt is still available on my blog, if you'd like to make your own little quilt.

In the meantime, I'll see you back here on Thursday!!

Give Thanks - Free Pattern

I've had the idea for this Thanksgiving project circling around in my head for a while and finally had a few hours this morning to knock it out.

It's my Give Thanks mini quilt— a quick little project and the perfect reminder to pause for a moment to ...well... give thanks!

To make your own little quilt, you'll need:

1—7" x 7" square of background fabric

1—7" x 7" square of backing fabric

1—1¼" x 30" strip of fabric for single fold binding

1— 7" x 7" square of batting

embroidery floss (shown in 729 (gold), 400 (rust), and 898 (brown))

13" length of jute, ribbon, rope—whatever you'd like to hang your quilt with

1.  You can find a pdf of the embroidery pattern here.  To make your project as shown, the box around the pattern should measure 5¾" square.  If you'd like to make your quilt bigger, feel free to enlarge the pattern—just remember to adjust the size of your fabric squares accordingly.

2.  Using a washout marking pen, trace the embroidery pattern onto your 7" background fabric square.

3.  Layer the marked 7" background fabric square with the 7" square of batting, insert into an embroidery hoop (I used a 4" hoop), turn on a holiday movie, and settle in for a bit of embroidery. Use two strands of floss and a backstitch for the lettering and wheat stalks.  Stitch the tops of the wheat using two strands of floss and lazy daisies.

4.  When you're finished embroidering, wash out your marked lines.  I use a spray bottle for small projects like this.  I spritz the marked lines, then blot off most of the water with a clean tea cloth, and let the quilt top dry flat on my ironing board.

5.  When you're satisfied that the marked lines are gone, press your work.  Then thread a needle with a short length of embroidery floss or perle cotton (I used green perle cotton).  Insert the needle on one side of the wheat stalks and then bring it up through your work on the opposite side of the wheat.  Tie the two ends of floss or perle cotton into a little bow and trim the ends.

6.  Layer your embroidered background fabric/batting unit with your 7" backing fabric square (I basted my layers together using spray basting adhesive), and trim all layers to desired size.  Again, my finished quilt is 5¾" square.  Bind.

7.  Finally, tie a knot at either end of the 13" length of jute (or ribbon, rope, etc.).  Stitch the knots to the back of your quilt to make a hanging loop.  And that's it!

Hang your little quilt on a door knob, from a hook, or wherever you like.

Or wouldn't it be great to give as a hostess gift on its own or wrapped around the neck of a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers?!  Yes please!!

Hope you have fun with this little project and I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

(p.s. Check back here after Thanksgiving for news about my upcoming 2nd Annual Holiday Mystery Quilt! Can't wait!)

Candy Stars - Free Mini Charm Pack Pattern

Last week I was hard at work on my latest Moda Bake Shop tutorial, and this mini charm pack of gorgeous "Desert Bloom" fabric by Sherri and Chelsi of a Quilting Life...

...became this sweet little mini quilt!

I named it "Candy Stars" not only because it's made with a Moda Candy, but also because the colorful, sparkly half square triangles in the star blocks make me think of candy.

Candy Stars is fast, fun and easy, and it finishes at 16" square, the perfect size for a pillow!

Here's Candy Stars finished as a Christmas pillow and made with Kate Spain's beautiful "North Woods" fabric:

I made this little pillow exactly like the mini quilt, but substituted a white center square for the navy blue that I used in the "Desert Bloom" version.  I also used red perle cotton to embroider an oversized running stitch down the center of the sashing strips and the inner border.  This fun pillow has a totally different vibe than the original mini quilt, but it's just as sweet!

If you'd like to make your own version of Candy Stars, grab a mini charm pack and head over to the Moda Bake Shop for my free tutorial—you'll find complete instructions and lots of picture to help you on your way.

Happy Quilting!