Quilty Fun Sew Along, Blog Tour & Giveaways!

 Are you ready for some more Quilty Fun???

 It's week 15 of Lori Holt's Quilty Fun Sew Along and Blog Tour and I hope you've been sewing along with us!  It's finally my stop on the blog tour and I'm so excited to share with you my sweet little butterflies!

First, I've gotta say though, that I'm a big fan of Lori's and was super excited that she asked me to be a part of all the fun.  So excited in fact that I had already pre-ordered my copy of her book, Quilty Fun and made one of the featured projects (my Apple-licious quilt which you can check out HERE).  Quilty Fun is chock-full of inspiring photos, clever piecing instructions and darling projects.  It's definitely a winner!

For the Sew Along, Lori has designed a sampler quilt based off of some of the blocks in her Quilty Fun book.  

Image from Lori Holt

To join the Sew Along, you'll need a copy of her book, Quilty Fun (which can be ordered HERE through the Fat Quarter Shop).  You'll also want to head to the Blog Tour landing page for the links to all the different blog stops.

Each week you'll use instructions from Quilty Fun along with a companion pdf sheet to complete your Sew Along blocks.  And wouldn't you know ~ the companion sheets are just as cute as her book!  

* Click HERE for the Week 15 Butterfly Companion Sheet. *

So gather up your favorite fabrics and let's get started!!! 

I've been using lots of bright fabrics from my stash and decided these Lecien florals would be perfect for my sweet little butterflies.

Lori also came up with these cute little tags (called Alphabitties) that are perfect for labeling all the different pieces you'll need to cut.  Seriously, everything Lori touches is just plain cute!!!  She is a huge inspiration to me (who tends to take the "bare minimum" route quite often.  I'm officially trying to work on that thanks to Lori:)

Once you get your fabrics cut, these little butterflies will work up in no time!

I've really enjoyed working on this sampler.  Each block takes about an hour or so to put together and honestly, it's just the fabric selection that takes the longest for me!  The blocks work up so quick.  They're fun to make and I always finish each week wanting more.  So here's what I've got so far:

If you're sewing along and want to win some fabulous prizes, be sure to upload pictures of your butterfly blocks to the Quilty Fun Sew Along Flickr Page.  I'm a little envious because two lucky winners will win a 10" rotating Busyfingers cutting mat and one lucky winner will win a set of Alphabitties!  I really want one of those cutting mats (round, and pink and just so cute!!!)  Winners will be announced next Monday, March 3rd on the Jolly Jabber blog.  

Oh, and as a special bonus, I'm giving away one copy of Quilty Fun to one of YOU!  It's not too late to join the fun!  Just leave a comment below and I'll announce a winner next Monday too!  Maybe you could tell me what Quilty Fun project or block is your favorite!

Happy quilting!

~ Amber

Sabrina's Sea Glass Quilt {Finished}

 I mentioned the start of this quilt at the beginning of the year and since it's been on my quilting "to-do" list I wanted to give an update.  It's finished and delivered!  Wahoo!

I made it for one of my best friends.  I let her pick out the pattern and the fabric and I think it suits her beautifully!

The fabrics are from an assortment of different fabric collections.  We were mostly trying to work with the colors she has used to decorate her family room with.  Her wall color is this blue/green color and she has cream sofas with little accents of red on her pillows and decor.

 My friend is very classic in her fashion and decorating choices so this pattern was perfect for her.  9-Patches and Snowball blocks - you can't get much more classic than that!

I chose a simple meandering leaf design for the quilting.  I thought it went nicely with the red and cream floral print.

Although I probably didn't need a pattern for this quilt (because the blocks are so common) I did buy a little book that had all the fabric requirements figured out for me.  The book is titled, Twinkle, from Fig Tree Quilts.  It's a nice book because Joanna shows different layouts and color options.  

A few more details about this project can be found HERE.

I'm glad to check another project off my list.  

Are you joining in the quilting "to do list" fun?

It's a great way to stay focused! 

Have a great day!

~ Amber

My Friendship Heart Quilt {Finished}

 And just in time for Valentine's Day!

 I fell in love with this quilt pattern several months ago when a customer brought her heart quilt top in to the fabric store I work at.  Shortly after, she delivered the pattern to me and I've had lots of fun with it ever since.  This is the second quilt I've made using this pattern (you may remember the first one, titled Blocks For Bella). 

 I really wanted to make another one after working on Bella's quilt.  So, I talked 9 members of a little quilt group I'm in to join me in a friendship heart quilt block exchange!

We each made one big and two small heart blocks to give to each participating quilter.  The rules were that you had to embellish at least one of those hearts and stick to the color scheme.  Everyone had free reign after that.  It should be fun to see how everyone ended up putting theirs together.  I'll get a picture at our next meeting :)

When it came to my borders, I originally planned on just doing a simple, non-pieced border.  But then I started thinking that I always do simple, non-pieced borders.  So I decided I would go the extra mile this time and add a postage stamp border for which I had no instructions.  I had to figure out what size my inner border needed to be to make my outer border work out.  It was kind of like working backwards so I was really excited when my math actually worked out!

  

For the inner border I used this white with gold polka dot fabric I had purchased for my stash a couple months earlier.  I thought it was very festive for Valentine's Day and it makes me happy.  The info on the selvedge reads: Spot On design #12873  Studio RK for Robert Kaufman. 

I originally planned on using Minky for my back but when I came across this  gorgeous fabric by Tanya Whelan for Free Spirit - I couldn't resist.  It also makes me VERY happy :)

Right around Christmas-time, I won some fun prizes on Instagram, including a set of permanent fabric markers.  I decided to try them out on a label for this quilt (I didn't feel like embroidering anything after my postage stamp border.  And no, I don't always put labels on my quilts...but I do try.)

Jen Ostler quilted this for me with loops, hearts and a little bit of outlining.

I've already had a few people asking for the pattern information so here's what I know.  The pattern was adapted from a pattern called Listen to Your Heart by Lizzie B Cre8tive.  I added on 2 3/4" inner border strips and then used 4 1/2" pink gingham squares for the postage stamp border.  The white squares on the postage stamp border were 1 1/2" each.  Then I added another 1 1/2" white border all the way around.  The finished size is 61" x 77".

This was such a fun project to do with friends!

Wishing you all a happy Valentines Day! 

Love, Amber

February Quilting To-Do's & a Wipe Board

Well, I took some time yesterday to think about what I wanted to accomplish this month and that got me thinking that I needed a cute little way to display my "to-do's".  I needed something that I could display right in front of my face so that I could stay focused.  (You know how you walk into a fabric store and get really excited and you completely forget why you were there in the first place?  Sometimes that can happen in my sewing room :)

While searching around on Pinterest I came across several cute (free!) to-do lists.  I settled on this one because I liked its simplicity and that it had boxes next to each line.  I mean, who doesn't like to check stuff off their lists?!?  That's the best part!

I trimmed the printout to size and stuck it behind the glass in this cute Ikea frame ~ and voila!  I now have a cute little wipe board that I can keep right by my sewing machine!

Now it's time for me to get busy!  

The "Things To Do" printable is available HERE via Pinterest.  

Sorry, but I couldn't find the original source. 

Happy quilting!

~ Amber

A Review of January's Quilting To-Do's

I'm really loving the idea of making a quilting to-do list at the beginning of each month.  It's helped to keep me focused and motivated.  January went pretty well, I'd say.  It wasn't perfect.  I didn't get everything crossed of my list but I still feel like I accomplished a lot.  Here's where I'm at...

#1 - My Sea Glass quilt is half way bound 

so I half-way crossed it off my list :)  I'll show pictures soon.

#2 - My sewing room was needing a little bit of TLC so second on my list was to hang frame, spools quilt and fix chair (and CLEAN UP!)

 

So I finally framed the Sew on and sew on and sew on picture that I had for about a year.  I displayed it on this little shelf and then decided the area also needed a little something on the wall so I used a single Dresden Plate block that I had lying around.  I also added the white iron (which was a gift from my sister) and the small red iron (which was a gift from my mom).  The spools were found in a box my husbands uncle gave to me that was my husbands grandmothers.  And it's hard to see, but the green container that is holding the spools has a #2 printed on the burlap.  I had to buy it to remind me of the two little cuties that call me mommy.

 

I quilted the Dresden Plate wall hanging myself, which was a lot of fun.  That was a bonus project but at least I was putting a loner block to good use.  Should I get a bonus point for that?

It was bothering me a little bit that I didn't have any quilts hung in my sewing room since I got my new Ikea storage cabinets about a year ago.  So I made room for this Spools quilt (pattern by Camille Roskelley) and finally found the perfect spot for the giant safety pin that was a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law!

And just days before the months end, I recovered my sewing chair with this cute little fat quarter I had on hand.  The fabric is from Lecien's Flower Sugar line.  (I love that fabric line so much that I featured it in two coordinating quilts in my upcoming book!) I liked having my "to-do" list to keep me on track and motivated because this was one of those projects that probably wouldn't have gotten done for a long, long time.

#3 Bind Honey Sweet Runner - Check!

(you can see my blog post about it HERE).

#4 Finish Farmer's Wife borders

   

My inner border is on and my outer border is pieced and ready to be sewn on as well.  I'm hoping to do that today so I'll post pictures soon.

#5 Make design wall quilt 

(that's going to be on hold for a little while...)

#6 Get heart quilt to the quilter

I did and it's back.  The binding is sewn on.  I just gotta hand stitch it on the back side.  Pictures coming soon :)

Lastly, I made two projects for a secret friend swap (that you can read about HERE) and started two new projects.  I'll post about the smaller one soon but here's what I spent the majority of my time working on at Quilt Bliss:

They're paper pieced Pineapple Blocks and I'm so obsessed with them right now!  I figured each one took me about an hour and a half.  It will definitely be a long term project but I'm really hoping I can find some more time this week to work on them!

So that's it.  I think it was a pretty good month and now I've got lots to blog about in the next few weeks.  I've also got to make my February list so stay tuned...

~ Amber