Hi friends!  Today I want to share a fun project I made for the Riley Blake Designs YouTube channel!  It's for a sewing machine mat that will keep your notions close by and organized during any sewing session, whether you're at home or away.

You've probably seen tutorials for these mats before but this one uses my Pineapple Block Cheater Print which is part of my Feels Like Home fabric collection with Riley Blake Designs.  Any cheater print would be cute for this project but you know I love Pineapple Blocks! This print features little 6" Pineapple Blocks so it has a big "wow" factor and would be cute in any sewing space.

Mine just so happens to match an ironing board cover that I made a few months ago. 

I'll share more about that project soon!  

The sewing mat has a large pocket on one side that is meant to hang off your sewing table.  You can customize the size of each compartment to hold all of your favorite notions. I especially love taking my mat to quilt retreats so that all of my notions stay in my own sewing space.  There's usually a lot going on at retreats and it's easy for things to get misplaced.

It also has ric rac on the side so you can roll it up for easy transport.

You could use some beautiful ribbon instead if you prefer.

Check out the YouTube video HERE for all the details.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy quilting!

United Quilt in Solids

Hi there!  I'm popping on really quick to share a quilt I said I would share.  
This is my United quilt pattern and I finished this particular version in 2021.

I have two other versions that you can see HERE and HERE.   

I decided to make this bright and happy version because I had a lot of solids in my stash that I wanted to use up.  I also think it's fun to try out different color palettes to see how different a pattern can look.  I had fun putting together different color combinations for the flags and I especially loved making the heart block!  Each star is a different blue or green color.

I had my long-arm quilter do wavy lines 

(which is one of my favorite pantos to do on a flag or patriotic quilt).  

It adds some movement to an otherwise "angular" quilt.

I love a fun quilt back and fell in love with this old Juice Carton fabric the minute I saw it.

It had a lot of my flag colors in it so I thought it tied everything together with a bit of whimsy.

The United pattern is pretty big (it finishes at 78" x 87").

So I decided to leave off the 2 borders on this one to make it a little smaller.  

I just wanted to document this version of United.

I can't believe I never posted about it before!  Better late than never!  

If you'd like to snag a copy of my United pattern you can get the paper pattern HERE

and the PDF pattern HERE.  It's a beginner-friendly pattern.

Thank you for stopping by today and happy quilting!

Finished Uneven 9-Patch Quilt

 Hello friends! On November 30th, I shared a free pattern (on my blog) for an Uneven 9-patch quilt and today, I want to share my finished quilt! (Click HERE for my original post about starting this project.)

I wanted to make a 2-color quilt for my king-size bed using these two fabrics I designed.  The cream fabric is called Seeing Stars for the Hush Hush 4 low-volume collection for Riley Blake Designs.  And the green fabric is called Sketchy Leaves for my Feels Like Home collection with RBD.

I worked on the quilt top throughout December 2024 and finished it right after Christmas.  It was fun working on something kind of festive in December but I love that the fabrics aren't Christmasy so they'll be great in my bedroom all year round!

It's a big quilt!  It finishes at 112" x 102".

I found this beautiful fabric for the back.  It's so classy and matched the green well.

My cute mom stopped by my house one day and helped me line up the backing pieces so the print matched up.  So glad we took the time to do that!  She is a really good seamstress so she showed me some good tricks!

Pretty darn good, right?!?  Thanks mom!!!

I had my quilter, Jen Ostler (in Highland, UT.) quilt it with a 1" grid pattern.  Grid quilting is always a favorite of mine; it's so timeless!  Jen did her signature move and quilted an extra little object into the quilting (in this case - a quilty star) which makes for a fun game of I-Spy!  Do you see the star below?

After I bound the quilt in the same green Sketchy Leaves fabric, I found some coordinating pillows to tie everything together.  I already had the artwork above my bed so I just pulled light green, natural, and gold colors from those prints to use as my pillow colors!  I got all of the pillows that you see here from a wonderful local shop called Layers Bedding.  It's at Gardner Village in West Jordan, Utah.  They add the perfect finishing touch and make my bed feel so cozy and inviting!

I love how the different sizes, colors, textures, shapes, and prints of the pillow fabrics add a lot of warmth to the room.  It took a lot of time to find the perfect combination but it was fun. The process was similar to doing a fabric pull for a quilt and I love that part of quilt-making!

If you want to make a quilt like this, you can download the free pattern HERE.

It includes instructions for 5 quilt-size options and would be cute in any colorway!

Have you ever made a 2-color quilt?  They're so classic; I just love them.

Tell me, what colors would you use if you made a quilt like this?

The Original United Quilt

Introducing...my United quilt!  This is one of the most special quilts I own!  Many hands went into making it.  It was completed in 2020 so this blog post is long overdue! Keep reading to hear the story behind this quilt...

I am sure you would all agree that 2020 was a rough year for humanity.  At the beginning of the year, people started to realize we had a terrifying worldwide Covid-19 pandemic on our hands.  Then, a few months later George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis, MN. police officer.  Riots ensued and cities across the country burned. All of this happened during a major U.S. presidential campaign.  Things got ugly.  It wasn't our best moment as Americans.  My heart was in turmoil.  So what does a quilter do when things get rough?

They create.  They use the hum of a sewing machine to blur the chaos of the world.

So, I made a little flag block and then another.  They were so fun and easy to make.  I quickly realized what would make them even better though - if some of my Instagram friends joined me.  So I put a request out there for anyone who desired - to please send me a flag block for my special project.

My request was for just one block in soft red, white, and blue fabrics.  Of course, many quilters could not resist sending more than one because they are that simple to make!  Just 2 seams!  It takes more time to pick out the fabrics than it does to make the block!  They're kind of addicting to make.

I received so many blocks!  Most came with sweet notes, a few with extra fabric they thought I would enjoy.  Everyone was so kind; it was so fun to open each package.  After I received all of the flags, I started piecing together my quilt top which included 50 flags (to represent the 50 states), plus 5 stars and 1 heart.  Thus, my United pattern was born!  And there really wasn't a question about what I would call it, "United" was meant to be.  It really was such a heartfelt project, from beginning to end.

I smile when I see the back of my quilt because it represents the generosity of my Instagram friends!  I didn't know any of them personally, but I received so many blocks that I had to put some on the back!  It's a reminder of how good, kind, and thoughtful people really are.  Despite all of the different religious, political, economic, and cultural backgrounds we have (there was even a flag from Australia!), we are all humans, and I believe, children of God.  And that is the greatest uniter.  We have more in common than we think and sometimes we need to be reminded of that.

I enjoyed putting the quilt together and then I took it to my quilter, Jen Ostler, who quilted it using the Diagonal Plaid panto.  It's a great general panto that looks good on everything!

I think the light blues and reds look great on the navy background.  But I've also made two other United quilts!  One with a low-volume background that you can check out HERE.  It's extra scrappy.  And one with just solid fabrics that you can check out HERE.  I would love to hear which one is your favorite!

This quilt will always have a special place in my heart.  I want to thank everyone who sent me a block.  They mean so much!  I even had several pattern testers for United so be sure to check out the #unitedquilt hashtag on Instagram to see lots more inspiration.  They really knocked it out of the park.  People have even hosted block swaps for United (which I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing!) 

This quilt finishes at 78" x 87". So it's big!  Someone told me the other day that they gave their United quilt to a friend in her "Military Mom Era".  That made me so happy!

If you'd like to make a United quilt you can grab the 

paper pattern HERE or the PDF pattern HERE.

Have a great day!

Scrappy United Quilt

 Hi friends!  Happy New Year!  I am so excited for 2025!  I love a fresh start and am looking forward to some fun things on the calendar this year!  I don't know if you've noticed but I now have an "Events" tab at the top of my blog with some of the said things on my calendar!  Check it out if you're looking for trunk shows, classes, and retreats you can do with me this year!

Today I want to share a quilt I started back in July of 2023.  

I just finished it last month and finally have some pictures to share!

This is my United quilt pattern and the third United quilt I've made.

Okay, I just realized that I never blogged about my other United quilts!  

I will have to make another post for those ASAP!  But here's the original United quilt. 

It has a great story...stay tuned.

01//14/25 Edit: I finally posted about my original United quilt!  Click HERE to check it out and hear the beautiful story of how many hands came together to create this quilt.  You can also check out the third United quilt HERE.

I really love the original quilt so much but I saw a scrappy version that one of my friends/pattern testers made and I was smitten!  Leah @pinkdesertblossoms.shop on Instagram made a darling low-volume background version that I couldn't stop thinking about.  Here's her finished quilt:

[Photo by Leah @pinkdesertblossoms.shop on Instagram]

With Leah's permission, I totally copied her!  Because I just loved it so much!

I made scrappy little flags whenever I had red and blue fabrics out.

United has 50 flags in the pattern - to represent the 50 states of course!

It also has 5 star blocks and 1 heart block for a little extra sweetness!

I used a red and white striped fabric for the binding and was absolutely in LOVE 

with the two-toned blue floral fabric I used for my back.

Jen Ostler quilted it for me with a really fun quilty star panto that was new to me.

It's called Starry Sawtooth by Melissa Kelley of Sew Shabby Quilting.  

I love how the quilting turned out!

Lots of fun fabrics were used!

The red and white wide-striped fabric below was from an old shirt of mine! 

These flag blocks are SO easy to make!  It will take you more time to decide 

which fabrics to use than to cut the fabric and make the blocks!

The quilt is pretty big!  It finishes at 78" x 87". 

I'm gonna give you a pro tip too!  It's awesome to do this pattern as a block exchange because then you don't have to buy so many different red and blue fabrics (if you want all of the flags to be different).  I did end up buying quite a few for mine because my red stash had gotten really low!

You can snag a paper or PDF version of this pattern HERE in my Etsy shop.

I'd love to hear what you think of this United quilt!

I'll try to do another post soon of my other United ones!

Happy quilting friends!