Gold Shoe Girl

Vintage Picnic Throw Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 15:16:00 +0000

My latest finish. I wanted to do something a little different than patchwork squares so I came up with a block that used 4 patches and half-square triangles. I'm sure it's not an original block (I don't think any design with HST or 4 patches or any basic building block can be these days) but I figured out the math and overall pattern on my own. I think next time I'm going to size down the block - these were large 12 inch blocks.

I made it up in Bonnie & Camille's popular Vintage Picnic collection. I choose 26 of the prints for the front and used the navy blue cherry print for the back.

It finished up at 70 x 70. Nice generous size for a throw. I hadn't intended on doing it this big but once I was arranging the blocks I could tell it needed another row to make the overall pattern more symmetrical and pleasing to the eye.

Like usual I machine stitched the binding which is also the navy blue cherry print.

I really like the little bird print from this line and I have a few yards that I'm going to use for a baby quilt that is in process. It's my first triangle quilt so I'm taking my time with it to make sure I like the layout and the way the prints go together.

This wonderful bright quilt is available in my etsy shop.

Now I have 2 custom orders in the works. One is a wedding signature quilt - the bride is having me make up half-square triangles that are one side in a print and the other side in a light colored solid. I'm going to send them to her for a display at her reception which will instruct her guests to sign the solid side. Then she's going to send them back and we'll put together a large throw quilt. Her fabrics arrived yesterday so I'll be in HST production for a few days.

My other order is from a sweet woman who wants a Guess How Much I Love You quilt made for her mother. It was their book when she was young and she wants a queen-sized quilt for her mom to cuddle under. Still waiting on a few fabrics for that one as we had to order from multiple sellers in multiple countries to get ahold of anything in this out-of-print collection.

And of course, if you've been following me on Instagram you know I'm about to do a little master bedroom redo. Like on Monday while my husband is away on business for 2 days because he can't stand all my diy project mess. It's a little crazy timing-wise, but I'm excited to finally get a color I like up on my bedroom walls. Hopefully all my plans work out although I have a feeling it might be an all-nighter on Tuesday. Wish me luck.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Red & White Patchwork Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:55:00 +0000

I've been hiding this one for a few weeks. Trying to decide if I was keeping it or adding it to my etsy shop. Well, practicality (and perhaps the guilt of a small purchase of a new bed and mattress for the master bedroom - yeah me!) won the day.

You may have seen this picture from Instagram. I love how the sunlight sneaks through the stair railing at the bottom of the quilt. The quilt finished up at 56 x 70 inches - perfect throw size!

I felt like crisscross quilting was ideal for this since the patchwork and the color scheme are so traditional. The backing is Riley Blake's red on white Swiss dots. I really really liked the scale of this print and I can see using it in different colors on lots of quilts. Something about polka dots that ties together all kinds of crazy prints.

There are 20+ prints in this quilt. I just kept digging through my stash and adding whatever I could find.

With all those prints and the polka dot back I thought the solid red binding was the way to go.

If you're interested you can find this beautiful quilt in my etsy shop. Don't wait too long though my last red and white one sold quickly.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Charming Strawberry Fields Toddler Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 17:36:00 +0000

This was a custom order for a precious little girl. Her mom wanted something long enough to cover her little toes. She liked my Throw size Strawberry Fields quilt so we did this one up in the same fabrics but in the pattern I had designed for my Fly a Kit Quilt. This is the second time I've had a custom request for this pattern - I guess I should start making this more often for my etsy shop.

All the fabrics are from Fig Tree's Strawberry Fields Revisited collection for Moda Fabrics. She choose to use the pink strawberry print for the back and binding.

Crisscross quilting on the middle section of patchwork squares.

And more crisscross on the border. Simple but gives it a really nice effect on the back.

I love how it turned out. The fabrics and the pattern went perfectly together. If you're interested in designing your own custom quilt just click here for more information.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

Modern Metro Living Baby Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 16:31:00 +0000

This is a new favorite. After doing a few quilts in muted and soft colors it's nice to use these bright vivid prints.

Another good use for half-square triangles.

I think this is great for baby boys but it also would work well in a gender-neutral nursery. The fabrics are from the Metro Living collection by Robert Kaufman.

I quilted it in straight lines around the outside of each color group. I had intended to only stitch in the ditch but I wasn't paying attention and I did an extra row around one of the colors. Since I hate ripping out more than doing extra quilting each color got 3 rows of stitching. In the end I think it worked out perfectly and the back looks pretty cool too.

The back is the same white as the front and the binding is a solid navy blue. I love how it looks against that white.

This quilt is available in my etsy shop if you're interested.

Meanwhile I am finishing up a custom toddler quilt using more Strawberry Fields Revisited and starting to pick/order fabrics for a custom wedding signature quilt. Check out my Instagram account for more frequent updates.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

Two Quick Quilts

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:36:00 +0000

Now that I'm into my 4th year of quilting I am finding myself finishing things much quicker. It's like all of a sudden everything is on the fast setting - cutting, piecing and quilting - all going so fast. The basting not so much - still hate that part.

So anyways, I have 2 baby quilts to share from this week. First is this one made from 3 Sisters for Moda's Whitewashed Cottage collection.

This was made using the cheater print for the front and the pale pink floral for the back. I wanted to point out to any new quilters or sewers that a cheater print like this one makes a great starting project. The print looks like a patchwork so all you have to do is put together the cheater, some batting and a backing and quilt away. A cheater print is also great if you need a quick gift since you don't have to do all the fabric choosing, cutting and piecing that normally would go into a quilt.

I decided to quilt this in a diamond crosshatch pattern. At first I started quilting around all the faux squares but it became extremely tedious very quickly so I soon deserted that idea and went with the crosshatching instead.

The binding is the same print as the backing.

My 2nd quilt finished this week is for a baby boy. Or I suppose it could be gender neutral but I think it leans towards boy.

I used my Daysail by Bonnie and Camille stash for this one but I choose only the geometrics, stripes, dots and script prints - no florals or anything girly in this one.

It's a traditional pattern but the fabrics give it a very modern feel. The background is a tone on tone white - I like the depth it gives versus my usual plain white backgrounds. I also used the same print for the back.

I quilted it up and down and side to side across each square. I think it gives it a nice clean line in keeping with the fabrics.

The binding is scrappy made from all the different colors of the script print which says all kinds of cute nautical words.

This quilt was also very quick because it was just simple HSTs and then regular squares. I use the non-traditional way of making them so I get 4 at a time. I pieced them together into bowtie blocks and then put together my rows. Easy breezy. Another great beginner quilt.

Also, another good beginner tip I wish I had known - keep the width of your baby quilts to less than 40 inches. Most of mine end up between 36 and 40 inches. This way you don't have to piece the back and you can just use a standard yard of fabric for the back. This makes your quilts go a lot faster and easier.

The floral baby girl quilt and the nautical baby boy quilt are both listed in my etsy shop for sale.

By the way, if you want to see the things I am working on a daily basis including some behind the scenes pics then be sure to follow me on Instagram too.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Preppy Baby Girl Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 17:35:00 +0000

Well today's post is going to be short and sweet thanks to some incredibly frustrating crappy internet service we've been having the last 2 days. This seems to happen every few weeks. We get a spurt of bad days where the internet in the house is so slow I actually have to use my phone's hot spot to get anything done. UGH - Comcast - UGH!!!!

Anyways, I made up this quick and cute patchwork baby quilt the other day. I had bought some of Tasha Noel's Countrygirls collection a while back and never got around to using it until I had a craving to make something in my favorite navy and green palate.

I decided to go with the checkerboard look on this one because I really like the blues and greens and aquas to pop out. I think sometimes a quilt can look all muddled if there's not enough white or low volume prints in the palate.

I quilted it criss-cross fashion. Easily my go to choice for quilting patchworks like this.

The back is a piece of the main novelty fabric from the collection and has the most adorable little girls doing farmy stuff.

The binding is the floral navy print and like usual I machine stitched it on. I got so lucky to have that little cutie end up sitting just perfect in the corner of the quilt.

This was such a nice project for me to complete - easy and quick and turned out cute. Plus it helped me use up some of my stash so I think I may be able to justify a few more purchases in the near future. Anyone else indulging in Vintage Picnic?

If you're interested this sweet quilt is available in my etsy shop.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Sweet Strawberry Fields Throw Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 19:21:00 +0000

If you've been following me on Instagram you know that I finished this one a week ago. I really, really, really love it. It's one of those that you see it in your mind and then it turns out just how you envisioned it. The fabrics and the pattern really work well together.

The pattern is Radiant by April Rosenthal. I didn't really follow the pattern but used it as the design basis. I wanted my quilt to finish larger and I didn't use charm packs to construct it. I had bought a fat quarter bundle and some yardage of Fig Tree & Company's Strawberry Fields Revisited so I wanted to make use of it for this quilt.

It's a basic HST (half-square triangle) pattern. And it just shows off the fabrics so nicely. My version finished at approximately 62 x 62 - just right for a nice throw. It took me a little bit of time to put together but only because I'm so fussy about not repeating fabrics and making sure that the same prints don't touch each other or are too close to each other. I want it to look totally random even if I'm being all anal about it and it's really not random at all.

Each block has 16 HSTs so I used 16 different fabrics from the collection.

I am so smitten (does anyone really say that or just in movies) with this fabric that I may have to buy another bundle. I would really like to do the Strawberry Social pattern by The Pattern Basket in these fabrics. And use the sweet strawberry print for the back. I think it would turn out so awesome. Maybe someone will get me a gc to the fabric store for Valentine's Day - hint, hint.

For the back I used the red floral with the off-white background. I also used an off-white Kona for the background on the front. I quilted it in straight lines criss-crossing each HST block. And of course, I machine stitched on the binding.

It's just so pretty I almost can't bear to give it up - but I can't keep them all. So this wonderful quilt is listed in my etsy shop if you're interested.

In the meantime I've finished 2 more baby quilts that I'll share soon. One is from Tasha Noel's Country Girls collection and the other is from more of the Strawberry Fields Revisited.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Snug As A Bug Toddler Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 17:21:00 +0000

This was a sweet little project that I finished recently. It's my own design done to highlight the adorable creatures found in the Bugsy collection of fabrics by Kids Quilts for RJR Fabrics. I thought the applique saying was kinda clever.

The top and bottom sections are done in patchwork squares - some fussy cut to highlight those wonderful butterflies. The middle was raw edge applique.

Each letter is a different print from the collection and the background for the applique section is also a print. It's a swirly dotty floral print on a creamy background.

I quilted the patchwork squares crisscross and then did swirly loops around the applique.

Of course it has a matching pink binding that I machine stitched on.

Here's a close up of the prints in this line. Cute little snails and caterpillars, flowers and butterflies. It's definitely a girly quilt.

This sweet baby/toddler girl quilt is available in my etsy shop for sale. The nice thing about making baby size quilts is that I am never really tempted to keep them. I love just being creative and then passing them on to be enjoyed by others.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

Rustic Blush Throw Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 16:30:00 +0000

I've been on a sewing tear lately. Maybe it helps that a few of my finishes were actually UFOs that I started this summer and just now got back on my radar. This was exactly the case for this quilt.

It's made from Verna Mosquera's Rustic Blush collection. I bought it late last spring, made piles of half-square triangle over the summer and just pieced it together last week. Originally, I was going to just do all pinwheel blocks but then I thought I'd see how it turned out with a little twist so I did half pinwheels and half in these other arrangements.

I'm sure there's an official quilty name for those other blocks so I'd love if someone let me know.

I used every last bit of the fat quarter bundle I purchased and this ended up at 52 x 52 inches - a decent sized throw quilt.

These fabrics are so pretty. I imagine this would look fabulous draped on a chair in the corner of someone's sunroom just beckoning you to cozy up with a nice book.

I quilted this one all in the ditch - up and down all the squares and then diagonal along the pinwheels. It makes for a nice clean and simple pattern on the back.

The back and the binding are made from the floral tan and white which is nice and neutral.

I had a few blocks left over so I turned them into a pillow. Quilted on the front and smooth on the back. Lately, I've only been making pillow covers not finished pillows, but this was finishing up at a size that doesn't fit a standard insert. So instead of adding a border or such I just stuffed it full and topstitched the edge closed.

Both the quilt and the pillow are available for sale in my etsy shop.

Now I've already started another throw quilt out of my brand new Strawberry Fields Revisited bundle. This was the first bundle I had bought in forever and I knew I'd like it but now I like it so much I wish I had gotten more. I'm posting pictures almost daily over on my Instagram so check out my progress on my new projects there.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Sweet Striped Baby Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 17:19:00 +0000

Hi Y'All.

It's been awhile since my last post. I got caught up in our never-ending basement project - I'll share pictures soon - but check my instagram for a few peeks. Then the holiday stuff took over - the putting up and then the putting away. So now that those two huge time sucks are done, I'm back into a more regular routine and hoping I can post here at least once a week. I know there's a few emails that I need to catch up on so if you're waiting to hear from me I hope to clear those out in the next week.

Now onto the fun stuff. I just finished this baby girl quilt for my sister-in-law. She's expecting her first baby in March and the shower is in a couple of weeks. Her taste runs a little more modern so I knew I wanted to do something other than a typical patchwork.

The stripes are 1 inch cut and finish at 1/2 inch wide. It was a little tricky trying to iron the seams flat but so worth the outcome.

The back is a sweet print that I picked up from Joann's last winter and have been waiting for just the right project.

I quilted it in diagonal crisscross pattern. Kinda traditional but I didn't want to take away from the simplicity of the front with fancy swirls or loops. I thought about mimicking the stripes but I didn't think that would be the best treatment for the back.

I really liked how this quilt turned out. So bright and happy. I love the contrast between the stripes and the white background.

This one is being sent off to it's new home but I do have enough of these fabrics to make another. If you're interested just hop over to my etsy shop and look at the Sweet Stripe Baby Quilt.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Another Star Baby Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 18:59:00 +0000

You may recognize this pattern. I've used it a few times before, but this time I did it up in RJR Fabrics new collection called Everything But the Kitchen Sink by Yuko Hasegawa. Plus I quilted it much different than I did in the past.

I started out with this fabric pull. I needed 8 fabrics to make up the center star and these all seemed to go together so nicely. These are 30's reproductions and they work really well in this traditional pattern. The white background lets each of the prints stand out so you can see each of the colors.

You would think this would piece together quickly for me since it's just half-square triangles and squares but I am so particular about where the fabrics fall in the outside border that it takes me forever. If you did this all scrappy it would go together super fast. I may try that next time.

While I was putting together the front I decided I loved the green floral print so much that I made it the back too.

The green is so cheerful and while overall I think the quilt still reads girly the green keeps it from being too over the top frilly girly.

You can really see the quilting from the back. I didn't plan it out but I like how the straight lines end up boxing in the loopy quilting. The last time I did this I quilted all straight lines following the star but the loopy loops seem to highlight the prints really nicely.

I haven't washed this one yet but I know it is going to crinkle up all lovely.

I've been attaching my binding a little different lately. If I am doing a quilt with a white front or white border then I am machine sewing it on from back to front. I like doing it this way because I can make it all perfect on the back - so my stitching is exactly where I want it on the edge of the binding. The only disadvantage to this method is that it is almost impossible to get it in the ditch on the front so your stitching line will show on the front. But if it's white on white it's barely noticeable and blends right in with the rest of the quilting.

Before I used to sew from front to back and catch the binding while stitching in the ditch on the front. The front looks all perfect but the stitching line is not always perfectly spaced from the edge on the back of the binding - now I know there are some people out there that get that perfect too but I am just not that patient or that good at it. This method works well when I don't want a stitching line to show on the front. And really once you wash the quilt no one notices that the stitching on the binding is not exactly perfect.

Of course, if I was a patient person I would hand-stitch my bindings but I just cannot bring myself to spend hours doing what now takes me a few minutes. It's the same personality flaw that causes me to lose interest in projects that take more than a few days to complete. I love getting to the end quickly and being able to start something new.

And with that thought I'll end this post and leave you with one last gratuitous beauty shot of this quilt.

This beautiful baby quilt is now available for sale in my etsy shop. Use the links or see the etsy section of my sidebar.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

And the Winner Is...

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 02:09:00 +0000

Using the very scientific and sophisticated random number drawing method known as ask-your-husband the winner is...

Congratulations FlourishingPalms!!!

Also, thank you to everyone else who left such nice comments. I really appreciate all your kind thoughts.

Here's a sneak peek at the fabrics I'll be using in my next project.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

Mini Quilt Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 19:29:00 +0000

I really enjoyed making this mini quilt using RJR Fabric's new line Everything But the Kitchen Sink by Yuko Hasegawa and I know you will too. Here are my simple directions.

This mini is made up of 4 basic pieces; the dresden plate, the patchwork checkerboards, the background and the binding. All my seams are sewn at 1/4 inch.

Let's start with the dresden plate. You'll need a dresden ruler (I use Wrights 8829306 EZ Quilting Dresden Acrylic Tool, 1 to 8-Inch) or you can print a template off of the internet. The dresden ruler comes with great instructions on assembly so you can use those or follow my basic outline here.

Use the ruler to cut 20 petals at 5 inches. I used 4 prints but obviously you can use as many different fabrics as you want. To make each petal cut a strip of your fabric 5 inches wide - the length of the strip depends on how many petals you need. Then place your ruler on the strip and use your rotary cutter to cut the sides. I like my ruler because it is clear and allowed me to easily fussy cut some of my prints so I could make sure I was centering the little bunnies or other fun elements in the middle of each petal.

To make the tips you just fold each petal in half right sides together and then stitch across the top. You can chain piece these to make it go quicker. Snip the corner and then turn them right side out. You may want to use the tip of your embroidery scissors or such to make the point of your petal nice and crisp. Now press each petal.

Next, sew all the petals together along the sides. I like to plan out my plate first before sewing, but you can sew them all random if that's your thing too.

Once the outside of your plate is done you need to make a center. Use your judgement on the size of the center. I happened to have a little bowl handy that was the perfect size. I traced around the bowl on a piece of cardboard then I cut a circle out of my fabric that was about a half inch larger than my cardboard template.

Then with a needle and thread hand stitch around the outside of your fabric circle about 1/4 inch from edge. When you get all the way around put your cardboard in the middle of the fabric and pull the thread so the fabric scrunches around the cardboard. Tie off the thread - nice and snug.

Now iron the circle so the raw edges are hidden underneath. Next, carefully remove the cardboard from the center of the fabric. Finally place the center on your plate and top stitch it in place.

Now let's get the background pieces cut out.

You can see from my fancy diagram that you need to cut 2 pieces that are 2.5 inches x 18.5 inches and 1 piece that is 14.5 inches x 18.5 inches for the middle.

After your middle is cut you need to fold it in half twice and press the folded piece. Then unfold it and use the press marks to help center your dresden plate onto the background. Pin it in place.

Now you want to topstitch your dresden plate to the background. You can do this any which way you like. I like to do it by stitching around the outside edge of the plate.

Next make the checkerboards. I did this the long way. I cut each individual square out of each of my prints and then pieced them together. You could do this faster if you strip piece the white and the print together first and then make your 1.5 inch cuts, but I wanted to fussy cut my pieces to show off the little bunnies.

So that being said you need to cut 19 white pieces that are 1.5 inches square and you need to cut 19 print pieces that are also 1.5 inches square.

Now sew together your pieces into 4 rows of 19 squares following the diagram above. Basically you are alternating white, print, white, print. Press your seams toward the dark squares. Then sew 2 rows together lengthwise to finish the checkerboard section.

Assemble your quilt top as shown in the pictures. Sew a white boarder piece to a checkerboard section then sew those to the middle piece.

Once your top is done you are going to make your quilt sandwich like usual, then baste, quilt and finally bind. When I quilted this, I did simple straight lines down the center of each petal of the dresden. I've seen people leave their dresdens unquilted or done with fancy patterns inside each petal - it's really up to you. I quilted straight lines the width of my presser foot in the white background spaces and then did diagonal crisscrosses on my patchwork squares.

For the binding, I used a single fold 1.5 inch binding strip. Since this is intended for a wall hanging and won't get the wear and tear of a regular quilt I didn't find it necessary to do a double-fold binding.

I hope you have fun completing this mini-quilt and I would love to see you post pictures to Instagram. Don't forget to enter the fat quarter bundle giveaway from RJR Fabrics - we draw a winner next week.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

Mini Quilt Finish & GIVEAWAY

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 15:14:00 +0000

This was a quick and fun project. I like to stop and just do something pretty and creative every once in a while.

The kind folks at RJR Fabrics sent me a bit of their new collection from Yuko Hasegawa called Everything But the Kitchen Sink. It's a really cute 30's retro collection that features adorable bunnies, circus elephants, some dots and geometrics and loads of florals.

When the fabrics arrived I was immediately drawn to the black and whites. After thinking on it for a few days I decided to use them to make a mini quilt featuring a dresden in the center. I hadn't done a dresden in a while and I thought this would be the perfect project for one.

It went together really quickly and I just love the results. All the black and whites really play well with one another. Plus the little splashes of red and yellow give it some neat interest. I think people shy away from 30's fabrics because they are perceived as too cutesy, but they came out really sophisticated in this piece. Sometimes limiting the color palate can really make a difference in the tone of the project.

Tomorrow, I will post a tutorial on how to make this mini quilt. If you're looking to get in on the mini quilt party that seems to be taking over instagram and the internet then make sure you stop back - or even follow me on bloglovin by clicking the button Follow and get the tutorial as soon as it comes out!

Today, however, RJR Fabrics is going to giveaway a fat quarter bundle of the 4 fabrics I used to make this project. To enter just leave a comment telling us what you might make with these fantastic fabrics. To get an extra entry leave another comment after you follow me or RJR Fabrics on Instagram! I'll randomly pick a winner on August 26th. GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED - WINNER CHOSEN AND NOTIFIED - THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED. Make sure you leave your email in your comment if you are a no reply blogger.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

Red and White Log Cabin

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 15:10:00 +0000

It's been a while since I last blogged. Life gets busy and Instagram takes over. I have been both sewing and doing house projects since I last posted over here. One of my best customers kept me busy with a beautiful swoon quilt and then a bunch of baby quilts (check out my Instagram feed for quick pics of those projects).

While my husband was away on a business trip, I got all crazy and decided to redo the kids bathroom. Since my husband hates all my project messes I knew I had to get it done before he got back. The kids and I worked pretty hard and got most of the big stuff done - removed all the old 1980's hunter green fishy wallpaper, tore out the old shower doors, painted the walls, painted the tile grout, and took down the old light fixture. We even installed new shutters on the window and made a curtain all in 3 days. He was very surprised when he got back. After helping us put in the last finishing touches - new light fixture and faucet we called it a success.

Then my husband asked if I would paint his little exercise room in our basement. It is in a very dark corner and has 1970's paneling and was in desperate need of some brightening. Of course I could paint that room, but while I was doing that room it only made sense to do the entire basement. I mean why would we stop at just that little room?!?!?! The whole basement needed refreshing. So he agreed to let me paint all the rooms.

Well, once I painted the stairway and front room and it looked all fresh and new we (really meaning just me) couldn't live with the crappy old carpet on the stairs so I ordered new carpet and had that installed. Then the old gold brass door hardware on all 9 doors down there didn't really go with our new look so we needed new door knobs. And really then how could we not get matching switch plates.

A week after that, I got the middle room all painted but I "accidentally" spilled a can of paint on the carpet in there so unfortunately we need to replace that carpet too. Of course, that carpet is this horrible commercial stuff that is glued directly onto the cement floor so I have to have a professional in to take care of that mess. Then the kids and I will be laying a new vinyl plank floor in the back 3 rooms. And we still have to paint the basement bathroom (which really means new paint, new counters, new toilet and new faucet) and paint the guest room down there. Meanwhile his poor exercise room - the thing that started this whole avalanche of basement freshening up - is still waiting for its final coat of paint. And that my friends is the long story version of why I haven't had time to blog lately.

But I did finish this quilt recently and wanted to share it with y'all. I had been wanting to make a red and white quilt for some time so I ordered a ton of prints not really knowing what I was going to do with them once they arrived. Then I was browsing through pinterest and saw a log cabin quilt and thought it would be perfect starting point for my reds and whites.

So this is my version of a log cabin done in red and white prints. I used 15 different prints - florals, plaids, dots, chevrons, herringbone, etc. The center of each block is either solid white or solid red and then I alternated white strips with the prints. I really like having white next to my prints so that you can see the prints better.

I quilted it using an idea I also found on pinterest which is doing a diagonal line from corner to corner on each log and winding around the block that way. It was a little time consuming but I love the way the back turned out.

The binding is the same red solid as the center squares. It gives a nice contrast to the solid white back.

I made this up in a lap/throw size with the intention of selling it in my etsy shop. I have listed it here but I love it so much that if it doesn't sell I won't be sorry.

I do have a good bit of the red prints left so I will be making another red and white quilt soon. I'm thinking Irish Chain but would love your input. It has to be simple and fast. I get too bored with complicated patterns. I'm in the middle of a Cottonway Snippets quilt and that is just about as time consuming as I like to get.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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A Lovely Finish

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 02:43:00 +0000

This quilt came about because I ended up with a good handful of patchwork squares leftover from my original Miss Kate bundle. This is the 4th quilt I made from that bundle plus I made 3 pillows and 2 doll quilt sets and I still have a pretty good stack of scraps leftover!!!

I was in the mood for some Valentine's love and this pattern goes together so quickly I knew it would be ideal for all my patchwork pieces.

The last time I did this quilt pattern the heart wasn't as easy to see from the background so this time I decided to make the heart obvious by using white for the background.

This is a baby quilt size and it finished up at 36 inches square. I used 3 inch patchwork squares for the heart. I really like how fun and bright this one turned out.

For the binding I used a red with white polka dots print. It wasn't part of the Miss Kate collection but I had it on hand. I don't remember where it came from.

I really went to town with the quilting on this one. I crisscrossed the patchwork pieces and then did those dense straight lines zig zagging around the heart. For the border I did long straight lines that crisscrossed at the corners.

I like the way it turned out but boy it took a long time. I am a quick finish gal. I have found over the years that if a project takes too long then I get bored and distracted. That much quilting was about as much as I can handle. Anyone else the same way?

Anyways, this one is available in my etsy shop just in time for Valentine's Day or it would be perfect for a baby shower gift too.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

Milk, Sugar & Flower Doll Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 23:23:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the wonderful Elea Lutz who asked me if I would be willing to make a doll quilt out of her new fabric line Milk, Sugar & Flower. Ummm YES!!! I couldn't type my reply fast enough. Her beautiful line of fabrics is produced by Penny Rose Fabrics which is the sister company to Riley Blake. I was so honored that she asked me to work with her and so excited because I had already been looking forward to this line.

Elea asked me to make one of my patchwork doll quilts and I gladly agreed.

I have to say that these fabrics are even cuter in person than in the pictures.

Everyone always notices the adorable bunnies and kittens, but I think the strawberries in the stripe are so incredibly sweet.

Originally, we were going to do the back in white but once the fabrics arrived I knew we had to use the large rose print.

This print just quilts up so nice. I think this print would make a wonderful backing for any size quilt.

The colors are gorgeous. I love the combination of the yellow and reds with the light blue highlight.

I couldn't help taking another close up.

Milk, Sugar and Flower is coming out this month. I can't wait to get my hands on the whole line. If you want to see some other cute inspiration projects from this line check out nanaCompany's blog and Tied with a Ribbon's website.

If you're interested in purchasing your own sweet doll quilt check out my etsy shop.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Crazy Mom Quilt's Finish It Up Friday

Two for Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 16:19:00 +0000

Since I have been absent from my blog for a short time I thought I would share 2 recent finishes here today. I've been busy with a few things - holidays, custom orders and a special project I hope I can share soon.

Anyways, the first quilt up today is the softest quilt I have ever made.

This was the first time I have used flannel to make a quilt. I kept seeing other bloggers using it and then the other day while at Joann's I saw this adorable retro-looking baby flannel and I couldn't resist.

The print features scenes from favorite nursery rhymes. It is really so sweet and perfectly done in just the simple shades of blue.

For the back and binding I used a baby blue gingham flannel. I free motion quilted it in swirls and loops which seemed to work just right for the flannel.

I was a little worried about shrinkage and curious to see how it would crinkle up so I washed it and it just made it softer and sweeter. I have a feeling I will be trying out more flannel in the future.

This baby boy quilt is available in my etsy shop if you're interested.

I also recently finished this sweet little owl quilt.

This one didn't require a lot of piecing - just the top and bottom striped borders - which I love. Originally, I was going to use the striped fabric for the back but I am not great at getting the front and back to line up perfectly and I hate when the pattern looks all wonky compared to the squareness of the quilt.

So instead I used this pretty pink print for the back.

I also like how it is little tree branches - like that's where the owls on the front perch. It's silly but it felt like it was meant to be - well, at least to me - I know - I am a little weird at times.

For this one I quilted the middle in loops and swirls using pink thread. Then for the borders I did straight lines following the stripes. The binding was done by machine and is a precious pink print with tiny white circles.

The photos make the colors a little more bold than they seem to me in real life. In real life they are a little more pale or shades of pastels than bold colors.

And just like the baby boy quilt, this baby girl owl quilt is available in my etsy shop for sale.

I have been posting more regularly on instagram so I'd love if you follow me over there too.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

Windows for Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 20:09:00 +0000

Finally. Some more pictures of the inside of my house. Well, sorta. Today I am working on some quick curtain panels for a few of the windows in our new home.

We are lucky to have 3 large beautiful picture windows topped with stained glass panels. Everything about them is gorgeous; the woodwork, the light that comes in and the colors and designs of the stained glass. However, they leave us a little exposed. Especially now that the leaves have fallen off the trees and we are turning the lights on very early in the evening.

The window in the first picture is in our foyer and looks out onto our wraparound front porch. I consider it the least worrisome in terms of exposing ourselves but the easiest for any old person (nosy doorbell ringer, antsy delivery guy, neighborhood pervert, etc) to peek in from the porch.

So I ordered myself some samples and then decided on this really pretty lace fabric from Waverly called Jammu Lace Snow. I think it will provide just enough privacy and it is elegant but not old ladyish. I love when they send your fabric on the big tube bolt. It makes you feel all like a professional decorator in a magazine (I know. I am a total dork.).

I am going to do 2 simple panels for each window and hang them with a tension rod. I am using the tension rods because my husband actually hates that I am putting up any sort of curtain and ruining his view out the windows. I tried to tell him that I am also ruining the view of any Tom, Dick and Harry that may also be looking in the window at his young daughter and his beautiful bride, but he didn't seem convinced. Anyways, I sort of half agreed that once the trees bloom again in the spring that we can take the curtains down. We'll see.

This window is in my husband's home office. You'll have to excuse the over-exposed smartphone pics. It's really hard to get pics with the bright light from the window.

The last window is right above the foyer window and is on the front stairway landing. Right now the foliage on the 2 trees provide some privacy but once that falls anyone driving or walking by outside can see up into our 2nd floor hallway and into the master bedroom. I prefer that people don't see us all in our pjs every night or first thing in the morning when I am running around trying to get little bodies dressed for school.

I'll show you the finished curtains when I'm done and you can let me know if I'm crazy or not.

In other news, I also thought I'd share a picture of the quilt I am making for our living room. I finished the top and now just need to baste and quilt and bind.

I have a few other works in progress going on but they are not picture worthy yet. If you want more daily updates follow me on Instagram.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Work In Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Grinch Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:37:00 +0000

Here's my latest finish. This cool grinch patchwork quilt. I made this in a lap/throw size so it's ideal for cuddling and story reading.

I actually bought the fabric last year but didn't get around to making stuff out of it until this year. Ce la vie.

I fussy cut quite a few of the prints to make sure that I featured these super cute characters.

For the back I used this green dot print. It's just perfect. It ties in all the colors from the front and gives you a little peace for your eyes.

I quilted it on each side of the patchwork squares. Nice and simple so not to take away from all the grinchy action in the prints.

These fabrics are from Robert Kaufmann and they're very nice. The best part was I bought some yardage of the fabric with nice big scenes from the story. I fussy cut out the best ones and made them into a couple of pillow covers.

Again, the colors in the fabric are just so spectacular. That blue is just lovely.

And, of course, I had to do something with my scraps.

This is an adorable little quilted patchwork pillow cover. The red piping is the perfect finishing touch.

I did make this Grinch collection with the purpose of selling them in my etsy shop so if you're interested be sure to check them out!

Also, my Christmas Tree ornaments are now 20% off so don't miss out on those either.

I've been busy with a few other behind the scenes types of things including a custom quilt order (I didn't share pics because she ordered the exact same quilt as the Iris quilt) and coming up with some gift packaging ideas for my baby quilts and doll quilt sets.

If you check out my instagram feed you'll see the quilt that I'm working on for my living room. I figured as a present to my family we finally ought to have a quilt to cuddle with ourselves while we watch our favorite holiday shows.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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crazymomquilts finish it friday party

Deck The Halls

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:13:00 +0000

This summer I made a number of these quilted holiday ornaments to occupy myself during our long drives from Illinois to NY. They turned out so beautiful that I decided to make some extras to offer in my etsy shop.

I have listed them and wanted to let you all know that they will be on sale from now until Thanksgiving. I have a number of different fabric sets and 2 different sizes available.

I just love these red ones with the gold ric rac. The fabrics on most of my ornaments have metallic prints or glittery accents so they reflect the tree lights just beautifully.

These ornaments are completely handmade by me and make the perfect one-of-a-kind gift and with that in mind I am also offering a gift box option.

It has been such a fun new experience for me trying to think of all the things you need to run a successful at home business and I think I am finally hitting my stride. I'm really starting to find the right balance between making things I love and making things that I think will sell and provide my family with a little extra income. Hopefully these ornaments are the perfect combination of both.

Anyways, if you're interested they are now available in my shop and use code DECKTHEHALLS10OFF when you check out to get 10% off everything in my shop until Thanksgiving!!! That's right - everything is 10% off - so if you've been eyeing up one of my quilts now is the time to get it too! Also, I only made a limited number of these ornaments --- so when they're gone, they're gone until next year!

Thanks for all your support!!!

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Denim Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 15:19:00 +0000

This quilt was a really neat project for me. My customer had started making it following a pattern from purlbee. She asked me if I would be interested in finishing up the blocks for her and I offered to finish it all. She sent me everything she had completed, the backing fabric and I went from there.

You can see some in progress pics in this post. The biggest challenge with the blocks was trying to come up with as many original combinations as possible. The cool thing about the blocks is that you are using both the right and wrong side of the fabrics. That's what gives it such nice depth and contrast.

It took me a bit to get all the blocks exactly how I wanted them but then the top went together nice and quick. We decided to quilt it in the ditch. There's so much texture with these fabrics that I thought any other quilting would just take away from that.

After it was done being quilted I made the binding. Here's the icing on the cake part of this - the binding is the reverse side of the backing fabric cut on the bias. So the stripes in the binding are diagonal against the vertical stripes of the backing and the horizontal and vertical stripes in the top.

I don't know if you can tell or not but my customer wanted to hand sew the binding to the back so I just machine stitched it to the front for her. I apologize for the pictures - they don't do this quilt any justice at all. It really has incredible depth and contrast and texture.

Because the denim is such a heavy-weight fabric this quilt is much more substantial feeling than my usual cotton quilts. It will be just the thing for a cold fall afternoon. I'm so glad I did this project because it is so different from my usual quilts. It gave me some great ideas to use down the road.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Twinkle Twinkle Ticking & Toile

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 14:50:00 +0000

A quick panel quilt. It's not often that I find a panel that I like so when I spotted this one I clicked it into my cart right away.

I bought it from fabric.com and it's called Nursery Rhyme Toile. They had it in this soft brown and a pink too.

The panels are nice because they go together so quickly. If you're in need of a quick gift or just feel like finishing something in an afternoon than this is for you.

I did the quilting in a loopy free motion pattern all over the toile part and then straight lines around the borders. The toile features little children at play. The verse in the border is twinkle twinkle little star.

The outer border is a terrific ticking stripe pattern. The back and the binding are from a matching brown polka dots on a cream colored background.

It turned out really lovely. A nice departure from the brights and whites I've been working with lately.

And it is available in my etsy shop. It's just perfect for a shower gift.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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Denim Quilt In Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 15:11:00 +0000

Today I'm working on finishing up a denim quilt for a customer. She started the quilt but is now pregnant and super tired and asked for my assistance. The project was too cool to pass up.

The pattern is from the purlbee.com. They offer a ton of ideas and free patterns for quilts and knitting and crafts in addition to selling materials and kits and such.

I'm trying to get my arms around what to do next. She had already done a few of the blocks so I need to decide which comes next.

In the meanwhile, I'm still working on my mudroom floor. I'm trying to undercut the door moldings so I can just slip the tiles underneath. I'm doing it with a special handsaw because I'm too cheap to buy the power tool. Needless to say it is taking me a while to get it done. Only 2 more spots and then finally I'll be ready to lay tile.

But I did get the cushion for the bench done! It looks great although a little puffy. I think it will calm down in time.

Originally I had wanted to do a cushion with piping but then quite honestly I got lazy. I didn't want to make my own piping and the premade from the store was just too black. So instead I took the easy breezy route and did her with one simple seam and 3 button tufts.

Although I have to say the tufting was not as easy as I thought it would be - there may or may not be a few drops of my blood on that cushion:). The fabric is Waverly Nassau Vine Toile Onyx. I really do love it so I bought a few more yards for a matching project in the pantry. I'll share more details on that in a bit.

Just a quick note on the cost for the cushion. I was tempted to just get a premade cushion, however, it would have required a custom size and the cost would have been astronomical. The standard size cushions from places like Pottery Barn, Ballard, and even Amazon were at least $100. I spent $35 on the fabric, $10 for the stuffing and I had the buttons but let's say they were $2. So that brings me to a total of $47. The sewing was super easy straight line stitching. Just something to keep in mind for those of you who might be inclined to diy. This is a great project for diy.

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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A Quilt For Iris

noreply@blogger.com (Gold Shoe Girl) — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 15:17:00 +0000

So my sister is having her second baby. Her little girl is due in December and as soon as we found out it was a girl we picked out some fabrics and got sewing. Her room is going to feature navy blue so we picked the Miss Kate fabrics since they had a ton of variety and the required navy blue component.

My sister wanted her quilt done up in a larger crib size so it measures about 40 x 60. There are 35 pinwheels and each is a made from a different fabric from the collection.

The backing and the binding are done in the navy dot print. Plus we added the navy ric rac at the top and the bottom just for fun and something a little special.

I quilted it following the seams of the pinwheels and then straight lines in the borders.

I purposely quilted all the seams so it would get all nice and crinkly.

The first picture also shows the pillow that I made to go along with the quilt. Nice and simple but cute.

Now my sister is going to have to wait just a bit before I ship this to her because I am going to whip up a surprise for baby's older brother too. I'm not quite sure what the surprise will be but checking out my recent pins on pinterest may give you a clue to what I'm thinking.

If you've been following my blog then you also know that while I was making this quilt I also did 2 other baby quilts in the Miss Kate fabrics. The first quilt was done to feature the florals and the second one was done without any florals. It's neat to see how different each quilt turned out just by changing the selection of the fabrics even within the same collection. Now I promise no more pinwheels or Miss Kate for a while - well, maybe not too long - I do have half of the bundle still left. How about something other than pinwheels - I think I can keep that promise for a bit:).

~ Gold Shoe Girl ~

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