Blogger's Quilt Festival! Zigzags in Voile

When I was on vacation in Vermont this summer, I bought some fat quarters of Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks voile from Nido. I would take it out and pet it from time to time, but I was a little afraid to do anything with it. I don't know, I guess because it's so silky I thought it would be hard to work with. So I decided the only sensible way to conquer my fear was to keep buying voile whenever I could find it on sale. (This makes sense in my head. Really.) Finally I decided to suck it up and start sewing.



So I started cutting up and sewing together rectangles to make a zigzag quilt. AMH's fabric seems a natural fit with zigzags. I used the tutorial from Crazy Mom Quilts (no piecing triangles!), and it was really simple.


The voile didn't give me any trouble either. It can be difficult to tell "right" from "wrong" side, but I guess if I can't tell, it doesn't really matter! (I think Ashley mentioned this in a post about voile, and she knows her stuff.) I used a smaller needle and increased my stitch length a little bit, and it really wasn't much different than quilting cotton. It really presses beautifully too.


(The cream fabric is AMH voile in Froth.)


And here's a picture of my quilt artfully draped over a bench.


The binding is voile in RiverRock. (Do you think the voile will hold up as binding? I guess time will tell.) For the backing I used the Forest Hills in Sea print. I got it for a good price from an Etsy shop that was closing. The voile fabric is pricey, but don't forget it's 54-inches wide so you get more of it. (I'm really good at rationalizing.) The fat quarters are, like, huge.


I didn't want the quilting to interfere with the softness of the fabric, so I just quilted in straight lines along the zigs and zags.


I'm pretty sure my son thinks all moms take quilts on field trips to the park.


(New blog header?)

I'm posting this as a part of The Blogger's Quilt Festival on Amy's blog. Be sure to check out the other entries for hours and hours (literally) of inspiration.

In the mail

Check out what my friendly mailman brought me today.

Yep. Elizabeth Hartman's (of Oh, Fransson) new book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork. I preordered this on Amazon awhile ago, and (yes!) it was released early.

I'm really excited to spend some time studying it. So far, this is my favorite pattern:

If you haven't ordered a copy yet, be sure to check out the blog tour for a chance to win.

P.S. Are you ready for the Bloggers Quilt Festival? I just need to take pictures of my quilt, if it would ever stop raining!

Quilts for Kids #2: Turtle Power

At the beginning of the year I set a goal to make three quilts for charity. This is #3.


This is my second quilt for Quilts for Kids. If you haven't heard of Quilts for Kids, check it out. It's a really cool organization. They'll send you all of the fabric you need to make the quilt (you supply the batting), and when you send it back they give it to a child in the hospital.


I love the geometric print they sent for the backing.





I took this picture by accident and thought it was kinda cool.


P.S. I made my first cheesecake this week, and it was good. So good it was scary. Wah ha ha ha ha!

For the love of AMH

I tried to resist Innocent Crush...

I failed.

P.S. My new fabric is on top of the voile quilt I'm working on. More soon! So far, loving it.

One more Verna project. This time, it's a tree.

I used up some scraps left over from my Verna pillows to make a little wall hanging for my friend.


I used this tutorial from Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew. Allison made a pillow, but I used her tutorial for a mini quilt instead.


I echo quilted (my favorite) around the leaves. Easy and cute!

Falling for my new bag

I made myself a new fall bag, and I have to admit, I'm in pretty much in love. The pattern is the Runaround Bag from Anna at Noodlehead, and it's awesome. Her instructions are very clear, and the pattern has lots of little details that make the bag look really professional (even if you're a newbie like me!).


The fabric is from Valori Wells's Del Hi line.


I kind of wish I had taken the time to make my own bias tape, but I used the store-bought kind instead. Still love it. (The polka-dot interior fabric is Stones in Cinnamon, also from Del Hi.)


And here's where things get all kinds of fancy. Yes, my friends, that is a zipper. And a snap! It's definitely not perfect, but I think it turned out great.


And Susan at Tickled Paisley sent me this key fob. I'm not sure if she's psychic or something, but it matches my bag perfectly! Thanks, Susan! I responded to Susan's request for book recommendations on her blog, and she sent me this. Very nice.

P.S. The book I recommended? Ape House by Sara Gruen (author of Water for Elephants). Good book.

Quilted Verna shams

Here are the last two shams for my Verna pillow collection. I used the same basic idea from AmandaJean's Stacked Coins tutorial for Moda Bake Shop. I just changed up the measurements to fit a standard pillow form, and added an envelope closure for the back.

(Don't ask me what my pantsless son is doing in the background. I have no idea.)


I got a new walking foot for my machine. (Yes!) It is much better than my old one. I think we'll be good friends.