Sweet n’ Sassy Baby Quilt Pattern

This little quilt is so fun to make…not to mention a great scrap-buster.  I figured I better come up with a better name than Coral + Triangles (naming is not my forte remember?)…but a little bit pink with some bright scrappy edges?  Sweet n’ Sassy it is. 

Here is a quickie pattern if you want to make one.   It finishes at 38" x 44".

Keep in mind that I don’t leave room for squaring up these half square triangles…so if you like to square up your blocks (there’s a good tutorial here), start with 4" squares instead.

Start with:

Print fabrics:	40 squares 3-7/8" each.  In my quilt I used 7 colors, and 6 squares of each color…repeating some of the same prints.
Background fabric (I used white + aqua):	40 squares 3-7/8" each.  Or use a 1/2 yard, and cut the 1/2 yard into 4 strips 3 -7/8", then sub-cut the strips each into 10 squares 3- 7/8" x 3 -7/8".
Inner border fabric:	1/4 yard.  Cut into 4 strips 2" x width of fabric.
Outer border fabric:	3/4 yard.  Cut 2 strips 4- 1/2", and 2 strips 7- 1/2".
Backing:	1 -1/2 yard, non-directional print.
Binding:	3/8 yard.  Cut into 5 strips  2- 1/2" x width of fabric.

1.  Draw a pencil line on the wrong side of each print square.  Place a background and print square right side together, and sew a scant 1/4" from the line on each side.  Trim along the pencil line. Press seams gently towards the print or open.  I starch the heck out of mine while I press…you’ll be glad later!

2.  Trim off the seam corners with scissors or a rotary cutter.  If your squares are un-even or not all of the same size, square them up to the same size (approx. 3- 1/2", but it’s OK if you need to square them up smaller).  Repeat until you’ve made 80 half square triangles.

3.  Arrange the half square triangles in 10 rows of 8 blocks each, matching colors together as desired.     Sew the blocks together into rows, press seams of row 1 to the right, row 2 to the left, row 3 to the right, and so on.

4. Sew the rows together, press seams in either direction or open.

5.  Measure each side of the quilt center, take the average if the two numbers differ, and trim an inner border strip to that length.  Pin and sew the inner border strip on each side, press out.  Repeat with the top and bottom inner border.

6.  Measure each side of the quilt and cut an outer border 4 -1/2" strip and a 7 -1/2" strip to that length.  Sew the 4 -1/2" strip to the left and the 7 -1/2" strip to the right.  Press out.  Repeat with the top and bottom border, using the 4- 1/2" strip at the top.

7.  Press out and done!  If you need help finishing your quilt there is a PDF you can download here.

This quickie-pattern was a late night, too much soda, Netflix watching and writing at the same time kind of afterthought… so proceed with caution and happy quilting!  ;)

Techy Stuff

I’m surprisingly bad at all this "techy" stuff…I still use my ugly flip phone, and if you text me I’ll probably call you back.  Now that Google Reader is going away, I thought I better let you know other places you can find me and stay updated if your so inclined…

You can find me on Facebook here:

On Pinterest here:

And bloglovin’ is new to me…but you can also find me there:

Up at the top right you can see these quick and easy links to Facebook, RSS feed, Bloglovin’, Pinterest, Email, and Home:

Phew…that’s way too much tech talk for one day.  Now back to my un-techy life complete with my VCR, Cassette tapes, floppy discs, and flip phone.   ;)    To answer concerned emails….the blog will still be here and I’ll still be blogging away…nothing changes with that!

S is for Stitch Review

Today I’m participating in the book tour for this cute book:

This book is written by my friend Kristyne.   She must have known I needed it too, because while I love the look and thought of embroidery…I stink at it.  

There is a step by step stitch guide for beginners like myself:

and cute cute projects like this one I’m gearing up to make for Sophie’s room:

It will be a perfect take-a-long project and a good way to use up all these beautiful threads sitting in my drawer!

The book is full of do-able designs, I think even my 6 year old would be able to learn some basic stitches with me and make these cute designs.  There are designs for each letter of the alphabet.

Here are the rest of the blog tour stops with chances to win a copy of the book:

• Amanda Jean Nyberg – crazymomquilts.blogspot.com – Thursday, March 21
• Amy Sinibaldi – nanacompany.typepad.com – Friday, March 22
• Anne Sutton – bunnyhillblog.com – Monday, March 25
• Lori Holt- beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.ca – Tuesday, March 26
• Sherri McConnell – aquiltinglife.com – Wednesday, March 27
• Kristyne – prettybyhand.com – Thursday, March 28

Giveaway Closed…thanks!

Coral

After hanging on the wall for a week I decided to make my colorful mini-quilt into a quilt for Sophie.   My husband thought the 4 quilts she has are already enough. 

Psshhh….there is no such thing as enough quilts as long as we use all of them right?

I did an off center design so the borders are smaller on the top and right side.  I’ll put a bigger photo up with a quickie pattern in the next few days. 

I quilted it with flowers (so fun to do!) and it took a few tries to make my flowers look like flowers….and it turned out way better than expected.  

The backing and binding are from the Les Amis line for Michael Miller.

One

It’s amazing how fast a year goes! 

She is just so much fun. 

Now that she’s mobile she keeps me hoppin’.  She unloads every cupboard and drawer in site, whereas my boys never got into anything.

For her birthday I got myself a present:

I told you…I’ve gone off the deep end. 

Suburbs

It took me a couple of months… but I got another version of the Christmas Lane quilt made up with a pattern.  

I decided on this soft, spring like color palette after seeing this picture, then I pulled all of the fabrics from my stash and scrap bin.

I laid it over a bed and now I’m obsessed with making a version for my own bed. 

I sent this one to Kathy to be quilted.  She always does an amazing job and the texture her quilting adds is beautiful.  I  love this swirl design she does…I think this is the 3rd (or 4th!) time in a row I’ve asked for it!

A green stripe binding finished it off and the sun came out just in time to snap pictures.

This is a beginner friendly pattern and comes in 3 sizes.  It uses Layer Cakes, Fat Quarters, or 1/4 yards (a photo of the back with material requirements can be found here, in the 2nd photo).

You can find this pattern here as  PDF or paper pattern.   Happy Quilting!

Strip Tease

I got the word it was OK to show you a glimpse of my new fabric line.  Wallflowers for Windham Fabrics will be available soon.  In the meantime, I’ve got a mountain of strips to be sewn together and cut apart and sewn together again.

Luckily I had this bad boy this week:

No it’s not mine…but almost worth moving and changing my  name for so it could be.   I had it in preparation for my class tomorrow at the Sew Expo teaching this:

If you happen to be there I’ll be in the Bernina Classroom from 11-4:30…come say hi!