UFO Friday - The Boat House Jellybean Quilt in Progress
If you joined me last Friday on the blog, then you know that I have been working on my UFO's. My current project is Jellybean made with The Boat House fabrics. I have made great progress, three rows out of seven completed, and all the blocks are ready for their cornerstones!
I feel like setting aside 15 minutes has really helped me focus on getting this UFO completed, or at least I'm off to a good start! It really is such cute fabric!
If you're on Instagram, make sure you come find me @jennthurston I'm using the hashtag #ufofridays - feel free to tag your UFO's you are working on with that tag too!
Project details:
Pattern: Jellybean by Thimble Blossoms
Fabric: The Boat House by Sweetwater
Labor of Love
We recently made a custom quilt, our customer came in requesting a King size quilt to be used at a party for an autograph quilt. We have made several autograph quilts before (although never a King size one), and the hatchet block works wonderfully. Creative grids makes a hatchet ruler, you can see here the hatchet quilt we made from the Papillon line.
The quilt is expected to have over 500 signatures! What a special gift for an amazing woman. She is a midwife that has touched the lives of so many.
Our customer had us embroider this quote:
"Birth is not only about making babies.
It's about making mothers strong, competent,
capable mothers who trust themselves and
believe in their inner strength.
Barbara Kratz Rothman"
What a perfect quote to go on the quilt, this quilt is sure to be treasured for many years to come.
This is the front, a simple but impacting assortment of colors to form stars. I love the look of this, such an easy pattern to make, but still enough of a complex design to give it interest.
The fabric is French General, the customer had photos of her home and I truly believe this fabric was made for her interior! She has a beautiful victorian style home with all the traditional furniture that will showcase this quilt perfectly.
Due to the signatures we suggested a looser design for quilting, the design is called Hearty Meander and it is just enough quilting while still giving the signatures plenty of space.
Here are the quilt stats:
Pattern: Hatchet block on one side, half square triangles on the other
Size: 105" x 115"
Quilting Design: Hearty Meander
Fabric: French General
Want us to longarm a quilt for you? Here are just some of the quilts we have longarmed, and we have an easy estimate form to give you an idea on pricing.
UFO Friday - The Boat House Jellybean Quilt
So today is the day, I'm putting my foot down. I have so many UFO's (unfinished objects) that need some love and attention. I am dedicating 15 minutes every Friday (and a little more if I can squeeze it in) to finish up some projects!
Everyone, meet Jellybean. Jellybean is a lovely assortment from The Boat House fabrics that is beckoning me to wrap it up. This is a great quilt for beginners (and for people that want a really quick project!).
The fabrics are simply gorgeous, I love how clean and simple the prints are. The red, white and blue colors make a spectacular summer quilt (or fall in my case because it's taken me so long to finish up!)
So who's with me?! Are you going to join me in dedicating 15 minutes every Friday to complete some UFO's? I will update every Friday with my progress, and if I happen to finish I'll share my next UFO. It's all about staying on track!
If you're on Instagram, make sure you come find me @jennthurston I'm using the hashtag #ufofridays - feel free to tag your UFO's you are working on with that tag too!
Project details:
Pattern: Jellybean by Thimble Blossoms
Fabric: The Boat House by Sweetwater
Cultivate Blog Tour
Hello everyone! Today is my day for the Cultivate Blog Tour. Everyone has different places they find inspiration, Pinterest, blogs, Etsy, well mine personally is Instagram. I could spend hours just looking all the pretty things that everyone else is making. One of my favorite people to follow is Bonnie Christine (@goinghometoroost), she takes the most inspiring photos from every day objects that you might just normally walk by unnoticed. It really makes you stop and take in all the objects and scenery around you.
I chose these four fat quarters, but I still had to decide what to make. The fabric lends itself so well to any project, clutch, bag, top, skirt, quilt, doll clothes… oh the options are limitless.
I decided to make two pillows; because let's face it, I love to make pillows! Art Gallery Fabric is the smoothest fabric to work with, in fact it takes hardly any ironing (if any at all!). I thought, I know a little toddler that will love to rest his head on a soft pillow…. ahhh, who am I kidding, our little toddler doesn't ever come to a complete stop!
My inspiration was fall, and although I'm not a huge fan of fall because that means winter is right around the corner, this fabric very well might change my mind! The color pallet is perfection, in fact it is a perfect match for our bedroom.
I made the larger pillow, which is 18" x 18" with the large floral print on one side, and I pieced the other side. I cut the stripes on the bias so it would add more of a pop. The smaller pillow is 12" x 16" and has a pieced front with "falling leaves", featuring the backing print with brown, coral and aqua. I thought the accent stitching on the front really emphasized the "falling leaves" as well as the quilting which I considered as the "wind whipping".
If we decide not keep them in our bedroom, they also coordinate really nice in Caleb's room! Although he sleeps through the night almost every night, Dad reads him his bed time story and I know he will appreciate the extra lumbar support!
For the pillow enclosure I went with the invisible zipper. This is my preferred method, unless I do something crazy like installing piping! I have gotten so efficient with installing them, and really appreciate what a clean look it gives with no stretching of the pillow case once you begin to use them.
Remember how I said a top would be really cute made out of Cultivate? Well, make sure you check out Calico Dreams to see what one of those cute tops look like! Tomorrow's Cultivate blog hop is Dandelion Drift with the cutest little gym shorts you ever did see! Do make sure you check out the others on the Cultivate Blog Tour, there are so many amazing projects already!
Jenn
Four Number Quilts Completed
Do you remember my post about Baby Quilts for Four Please? Well, we finished them all... on time! I'm a little late in posting, but that's what happens when you go on vacation and come back with a vacation hangover. I have been flooded with a whole other slew of stuff to do too, but more on that exciting news later!
So to recap, we had a week to make four baby quilts, yes you read that right... four baby quilts. I use the term "baby" quilts loosely, these quilts ended up finishing at 50" x 64". We wanted the babies to be able to grow with them, learning numbers and colors, making blanket forts, wrapping up with it outside while making s'mores at a bon fire... we have big plans for these boys and their quilts.
Caleb is the name of our little boy, then we made one for his best friend at day care named Colton, and I was long overdue to make my twin nephews quilts, Luke and Logan. There is something so special about making a baby (or in our case, toddler) their first quilt. I imagine these quilts traveling around the house on whatever latest adventure they're on, of course with multiple washings making them crinkle with love.
We made the border of each quilt a different color, each number is a different color too. These are some of my favorite fabrics, and they all play so nice together!
For the backing, we used some Ikea fabric I have been hoarding, glad I bought a whole bolt when I did because Ikea no longer prints this fabric (sob, sob). It's the print with the numbers, I'm so pleased with how it turned out. Is it wrong I want to use this as the backing on all my quilts?!
We used a wool batting in Caleb's quilt, it has a puffy, light weight feel that makes you just want to snuggle with it. It's so lovely, and I can already imagine it on his big boy bed when that day happens (fingers crossed it won't be anytime soon or I will never get any sleep).
Here are the quilt stats:
Pattern: Sew Modern Baby (modified the pattern to make a little larger)
Size: 50" x 64"
Quilting Design: Swirls 3
Fabric: Variety of fabrics:
Dark Blue
Light Blue
Red Raindrops
Pink Numbers
Black Squiggles
Yellow
Green
Some of the prints I didn't list because we have since sold out of, but if you need recommendations we would be happy to help!
Jenn
Goody Goody Binding Kit Completed
So here is my completed Goody Goody Binding Kit, I used a mixture of Bonnie and Camille fabrics ranging from Vintage Modern to Daysail (see this post for more on that). It was so fun to make, and could easily be made using scraps! The Goody Goody Binding Kit is an all in one, take on the go, space saver for your binding materials.
The inside has a zippered pocket to keep your binding clips, a pocket to hold your scissors (which I modified mine, make sure you check out Vanessa's sweet little strawberry!), a needle and thread holder and a "goody" pocket. Vanessa put candy bar treats in hers, mine on the other hand is still a candy, just of a different persuasion.
I used the green striped fabric from the April Showers line, I need to buy a whole bunch of yardage of that so I can use it on every binding!
I mean really, if this kit doesn't make you want to bind something I'm not sure what will!
There is still a sew along happening on Instagram, make sure to tag your Goody Goody Binding Kit photos #goodygoodysewalong so we can follow your progress. You can find us on Instagram @jennthurston
Details:
Tutorial: Goody Goody Binding Bag
Zipper Installation: Zipper Help
Fabric Used in Our Goody Goody Binding Kit: Daysail by Bonnie and Camille
Jenn
Goody Goody Binding Kit
Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm not one for hand stitching on binding (or anything else hand work for that matter). Not that I don't love the look, it's just not my thing. I think it's because I'm so slow at it, I know practice makes perfect.
However, Vanessa Goertzen with Lella Boutique has a very cute sew along for a Goody Goody Binding Kit that might just make me change the way I feel about hand binding. We're participating in a sew along sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop. If you would like to sew along with us, the full tutorial can be found at Lella Boutique's blog.
Here are the fabrics I have selected. All of them being Bonnie and Camille, mostly Daysail but I did pull out some favorites from the Vintage Modern line.
This is the exterior to my Goody Goody Binding Kit, it's one of my favorite prints from Vintage Modern. I love the colors and the floral design, definitely had to include this print!
I'm currently finished installing the zipper, Fat Quarter Shop has a great video with Vanessa featuring zipper installation. Swing back by tomorrow to see more progress! I do hope you'll join the sew along with us! If you make a Goody Goody Binding Kit you can tag it #goodygoodysewalong so we can all see what you're making too!
Here are more details:
Tutorial: Goody Goody Binding Bag
Zipper Installation: Zipper Help
Fabric Used in Our Goody Goody Binding Kit: Daysail by Bonnie and Camille