Accidental Baby Quilt

Have you seen the cute fabric line Gretel designed by my sweet friend Amy Smart for Riley Blake designs? I had a chance to work with them and I made a quilt top a few weeks ago. What? the quilt up above? NO. That isn't it. The picture below is the quilt top I made first. For some reasons, my dog always shows up from nowhere when I start taking pictures of my quilt and gets in the pictures. Sorry if you are not a doggy lover. ;) It is not quilted yet, but I love how it turned out. I made it up as I went along, which is great, but because it wasn't planned nor did I follow a pattern, I had some left over blocks. I hate to waste so many blocks, so I started playing with them and kept switching things up to see the design potential... and pieced them together...

and ta-da! This baby quilt was born.

I was so happy how it turned out and got carried away. I hand quilted it, decided to do scalloped edges, and embroidered some red motif on it.

Sometimes you can come up with something fun and unexpected when you go with the flow and just let it happen. My baby sister is pregnant with her first baby and I am crossing my fingers that the baby is a girl, so this aunt can ship this quilt to Japan!

Quilt Block Charms and More Sunnyside Avenue Projects

I have been making some fun things with Sunnyside Avenue fabrics designed by Amy Smart. This is her second fabric line and it is such a fun and cheerful collection. I have been playing with them and made a couple things in the last few month.

Have you had a chance to take a look at the bag I made back in June? If you missed it, here is the link to the tutorial.

I also couldn't resist maing some bottle cap pincushions with them. Aren't they so cute together? This is such an easy project to do and perfect addition to the Christmas gift exchange with your quilter/seamstress friends.

Now, I made some quit block charms. The idea popped in my head and I couldn't resist. You can make this with pretty much any quilt block designs you desire, but I recommend picking ones with a simpler design. It gets trickier to work with seams, since the blocks are so small.

Here are the four charms that I created and the measurements for them.

*PinWheel (finished size 3 1/4" x 3 1/4")

Cut 2- 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" squares from light fabric
Cut 2- 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" squares from dark fabric

Amy has a great tutorial about Half Square Triangle Short Cut on her blog. With that, you can just piece them together to create the pinwheel.

*Simplex Star (finished size 3 1/2" x 3 1/2 ")

To make 4 half square triangles
Cut 2 - 2"x 2" squares from red polka dot fabric
Cut 2 - 2"x 2" squares from Blue background with white flower fabric

Cut 4 - 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares from red and white fabric for corners
Cut 1 - 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" square from red polka dot fabric for center

*Aunt Ruth's Fancy Finished size 2 3/4 "x 2 3/4")

Cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 3" strips from white background with yellow flowers
Cut 1 - 3/4" x 3" Strips from navy fabric
Piece them together Navy fabric in between the white fabrics. Cut in half.

Cut 1 - 3/4" x 3/4" sauare from white back ground with yellow flowers
Cut 2 - 3/4" x 1 1/2" strips from navy fabric
Piece them together white fabric in between the navy strips

Use the picture as a guide; piece all the pieces you made and finish the block


*Log Cabin (finished size 3" x 3")

I started with a red square in the middle, which I cut in to a 1 1/4"x 1 1/4" square. Cut the same size of green fabric and piece them together. Then you can keep adding the 1 1/4" wide strips to create a log cabin look.

After I completed the blocks, I finished them with the same steps that I finish a quilt, except, I didn't add batting in between the top and the backing. It will add extra bulk and it is going be harder to quilt. The string is actually elastic, so it is easier to put it on purse handles and such. The scissor charm and little wooden spools are an extra touch which is a completely personal choice on whether to add them or not.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the post today!

Quilted Bag + Mini Quilt Block Charm

Summer is here and in full swing, I bet many of you are going places; local or far from home vacations. One of the things that is always nice and useful is a large bag you can throw things in and take it everywhere you go. I decided to do a tutorial of such a bag using fabrics designed by Amy from Diary of a Quilter. Sunny Side Avenue is her second fabric line from Riley Blake Designs. Hop over and check them out!

I decided to use these fabrics from her line for this project.

So, here is what you need:

*You will need

Two different green fabrics --- 1/2 yard each

Two different Blue fabrics --- one 1/3 yard, the other one 1 yard

Batting and muslin

Matching thread


How to

1. Cut 3 - 3"strips from each one of the fabrics and lay them out in the order you want. Once you have decided, sew them together. Open the seam and press with an iron.

2. Once you finished piecing 7 to 8 strips together, cut out 3" strips diagonally. To figure out the first line, I used the 30 degree angle line of the cutting tool and marked it with a pencil and started cutting.

3. Lay all the diagonal strips out to see the design before piecing them together. Once you are done piecing, it will look like this:

Open the seam and press with iron.

4. Cut off the ends. It is best to match the fabrics on both sides, so when you sew them together, the half diamond becomes one and gives a nicer finish.

5. Layer the muslin, cotton batting and pieced top together and baste. I used safety pins to secured them.

6. I can't tell you enough how much I love my new Aria sewing machine from Babylock. I should have a post just dedicated for this quilting feature someday! Anyways... I just did straight stitches on both sides of the seam. Cut off the excess.

7. Fold the quilted fabric in half right sides together. Sew the sides.

8. Create boxed bottom. Pinch the bottom corner and draw a 5" line (2 1/2" on one side of the seam and 2 1/2" seam on the other) and sew.

9. Sew liner. Cut 18 1/2" x 30" rectangle out of the blue fabric that is 1 yard. Also, cut 6" x 8" rectangle to create a pocket. Fold both sides and the bottom of the fabric, press with iron and fold the top twice 1/2" each time and sew. Sew it on to the large fabric. Sew the large fabric to make the liner in the same manner as you sewed the outer bag.

10. Sew handles. Cut 3" x 20 1/2" strips out of the left over strips you have already pieced to create the bag. I added fusible interfacing to strengthen the handle. Fold the fabric in half right sides together and sew. Turn inside out, press with iron. Using 1/8" seam stitch both sides.

11. Put the outer bag, liner and handles together and pin. Leaving a 4"opening, sew all around the top. Turn the fabric inside out, press with iron and give a good top stitch to finished it off.

I just gave quick steps for how I made this bag. If you are new to sewing and need more detailed instructions, you can visit my other tutorials such as She Carries Flowers or Reversable Crossbody Bag.

I made a mini quilt block to accessorize the bag... the idea popped in my head and I just couldn't resist! I am planning on doing a tutorials for this in the near future, stay tuned!

I am going to have a very exciting (and a little scary because this is a bit of out of my comfort zone...) week and I am going to let you know in a future post. Happy Summer everyone!

Craftsy Class by Amy of Diary of a Quilter and Layer Cake Giveaway!

If you are a quilter, you probably already know my dear friend Amy from her wildly popular blog Diary of a Quilter. She is a pattern designer, instructor and author of the book Fabulously Fast Quilts. Just before the summer, she debuted on Craftsy with her fabulous class Pre-Cut Shortcuts ~ Quilt Top in No Time! She did such a wonderful job on sharing her skills and knowledge and I felt so giddy while watching her class. Today, I have a special treat for you ladies... 50% off of her class AND, one layer cake giveaway!!

In her classes, she shared a few fun time saving quilt designs using pre-cuts and different color variations. I want to make them all!

I want to make Bricks and Sticks with my 11 year old daughter. Wouldn't that be fun for her to make a quilt top that is simple enough but a more interesting design than just squares?

I also LOVE to try Crosshatch quilt. I love the look of it and watching how Amy makes it appear effortless made me want to whip one up.

I usually don't buy pre-cuts, but watching her classes makes me want to run to the store, so I can make those quilts! The last one is my absolute favorite: meet "Gumball Block". I loved the different color combinations she showed during the class and they inspire me for other color possibilities.

Aren't they so adorable?? You will find more tips and trick in her course: from fabric care to binding a quilt. Head over to Craftsy to get 50% off her class.

Are you ready to enter the layer cake giveaway? She is giving away Bespoke Blooms by Moda! Look at the pretty prints, I think this will be perfect material when you are going to make one of Amy's quilt, wouldn't you agree? Good luck everyone!

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