Bijou Lovely

pretty patchwork.

2013-05-15T16:19:00.001-05:00

I always crave super simple projects that I can finish right away in between the long, more difficult ones. It doesn't get much simpler than patchwork, but I still love the look of it.

I cut a bunch of 5" charms and stitched them together last night, connected the rows during lunch today, et voila, I have a finished quilt top.

The fabric is mostly Indian Summer (available at Pink Castle Fabrics, Stash Fabrics, and Fat Quarter Shop) with some Essex yarn dyed linen in Flax and some chambray scraps leftover from these quilts. I'm kind of wishing I had bought a bolt of that fabric when I found it, because I don't think JoAnn sells it anymore.

I really, really love some of the prints in this line. That animal print is my favorite!

The finished top feels very light and airy to me, which is a nice change compared to some of the other things I've been making lately.

I am very happy with the way my seams matched up on this quilt top! I find myself being a lot more picky when it comes to misaligned seams lately, actually taking the time to rip them out and do it over if I'm not happy with them. Thankfully I didn't have to do that much here!

This quilt will get a simple backing, most likely some crosshatch quilting, and be shipped off to a new baby very soon. We had two new babies arrive within our family and friends last week!

Quilts for Boston.

2013-05-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Since I'm in Boston this week, I thought it was a good time to share some information about the Quilts for Boston relief effort being put on by Boston Modern Quilt Guild. The goal is to make at least 50 quilts for those directly affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. To do so, the BMQG is asking for help making quilt blocks in the color scheme of gray, white, blue, and yellow.

I pulled some fabrics from my stash and scrap bins to make my blocks.

I finished up two blocks this weekend, just in time to hand deliver them to Natalie this week!

This one has a little improv heart applique.

And this one is just random improv, although I do see a heart shape in it that was totally unplanned.

If you're interested in making blocks to help out, please check out the details here. Blocks need to be shipped by May 24th.

There's also an effort being put on by the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild called To Boston With Love, in which they are asking for flag buntings to be flown somewhere in Boston this summer. I haven't made my flags just yet but I definitely plan to! Details of that effort can be found here. Flags need to be shipped by May 21st, and you can find the shipping information here.

I hope some of you can find the time to help out with these efforts!

sunday stash.

2013-05-05T21:52:00.001-05:00

Lots of new fabric in the mail this week! First, Robert Kaufman sent me a huge stack of Holiday Sweet Treats by Laurie Wisbrun. These will be shipping to stores in June. I was lucky enough to spend some time with Laurie at QuiltCon, and she is seriously awesome! Love her.

I see a Christmas quilt in my future! The mint color just so happens to match my living room.

Those cardinals are just so cute! I love that these prints are not overly Christmas-y.

Another gorgeous new line came this week too from Michael Miller, Edges by Laura Gunn! I am so excited for this collection. Laura was sweet enough to send me this line to play with, even after my last quilt made from her fabrics took seven months to finish :)

I've always loved Laura's Painter's Canvas and I'm happy to see so many other great stash builders all in one collection. The textures of these prints are amazing. The ombre circle print is my favorite! You can find Edges at Fat Quarter Shop.

I'm brainstorming a new quilt to be made out of these as well. Any recommendations for a good charm pack quilt pattern?

Last but not least, some Field Study Linens! I picked these up at Pink Castle Fabrics. 3 yards of the feather print for some new pillows for the couch, and a yard of each of the others, just because I love them. The scale of these prints is huge!

I need to do some catch up in sharing my stash! So many new fabrics arriving lately, and they're all so pretty! I think that also means a destash should be coming soon :)

Clementine Kites.

2013-05-01T10:49:00.002-05:00

My Clementine Kites quilt is finished!

This quilt was made for Dear Stella's booth at Quilt Market, out of their Clementine collection. I used the Must Stash pattern from the book Modern Designs for Classic Quilts (speaking of which, I'll be giving away a copy of the book very soon!).

I quilted straight lines across each of the diamonds to resemble kites, and then did free motion loops through the sashing to look like the kite strings. The FMQ was definitely a learning experience for me, but after practicing on some scraps, I did get the hang of it. It's not perfect but thankfully the quilting is dense enough to mask most of my mistakes (or at least, that's what I'm telling myself!). The quilting really made the diamonds pop off the background.

It's bound in the same Stella Solid White as the sashing to blend in with the background.

The back is this gorgeous Summer Floral print from the collection, which gives a nice contrast to the white on the front of the quilt!

I'm really hoping someone will take a picture of this hanging up at market for me, since I'm not going to be able to go!

Thanks Dear Stella for the opportunity to make this quilt! Check out their post on this quilt on their blog.

You can find Clementine at Fat Quarter Shop.

pondering fabric choices.

2013-04-26T17:05:00.002-05:00

Just another pretty stack of fabric today, sorry for the lack of exciting content around here lately! The last couple weeks have been packed full and I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit next week, and making something out of this stack just for fun. Well, technically it's for a belated birthday gift for my sister really, but it counts as fun since it is exactly what I feel like making right now. Thankfully my sister Gaby and I have very similar styles when it comes to colors and prints.

I posted this fabric pull on Instagram today and Anna commented that the colors we such "Holly" colors. I do agree that this stack is very "me", but I don't really know why! This is not the first time I've heard that and I think it's funny how everyone else can define things that are "me" so much easier than I can! Is it the brights plus black and white combo that makes it "me"? The text plus geometric print combination? The addition of those pink-ish purples? I do seem to add those to just about everything lately.

All I know is, if I could make a career out of just coming up with color combos and fabric stacks, I would be the happiest person on the planet! Anyone want to hire me? :)

quilting, quilting.

2013-04-22T17:05:00.001-05:00

I've been working hard on a new quilt recently! In a new color scheme for me, which is kind of refreshing. I never would have expected these colors to work so well together.

A lot of straight line quilting happening too.

Lots of lines left to quilt on this one. I love and hate straight line quilting all at the same time :)

MicroMod His & Hers Sew-Along.

2013-04-10T07:58:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my stop on the microMod His & Hers Sew-Along! I was so excited when Alexia asked me to be a part of this tour. I love microMod and had been hoping to get my hands on this versatile collection!

Before I show you what I made, here's a little Q&A, Newlywed Game style with Alexia and Rob. These two are a successful couple, so I wanted to know what they thought was their spouse's biggest accomplishment.

Rob: Alexia's biggest recent accomplishment is writing the book, something she did at the same time as we were buying a house and moving!
Alexia: My biggest accomplishment is starting our pattern & design company with Rob and my mom, Michelle! It is something that was a dream for so long, and we just stuck with it and did all that we could to make it happen.

Alexia: Rob's biggest accomplishment is our house...we bought a 20's era fixer-upper last year and have been working on it since! He has done SO much to the house, all while having his first fabric line!
Rob: My biggest accomplishment is wooing Alexia!

Okay Rob, that is pretty much the sweetest answer! I think you win this round! :)

Now, onto the sewing! I had been looking for an excuse to make the Around Town Tote from Alexia's book, Liberty Love, and it made perfect sense to combine it with microMod for this project.

For the girl version of the tote, I used the MicroMod Seaweed in Purple for the colored stripes, and my favorite yarn dyed Essex linen in Black for the gray stripes. I used a thrifted gray leather belt for the handle, and opted to keep the buckle on because I liked the gold mixed with the gray and purple.

For the guy version, I decreased the size of the stripes to fit my husband's Macbook Air. I added a flap with magnetic snaps to close it. The blue stripes are Micromod Seaweed in Teal, and the gray is more yard dyed Essex linen.

The insides of both bags are the Vertigo print from Micromod, in Teal for the guy version and Purple for the girl version.

Now for the giveaway! Alexia, Rob, and Cloud 9 are offering one of you a fat quarter bundle of microMod, and the Lots of Dots quilt pattern from the Green Bee Pattern shop!

~~To enter, simply leave a comment here!~~ Please make sure to leave a way for me to contact you in your comment, or you will not be eligible to win. I'll pick a winner on Monday (4/15).

Update: Congrats to our winner, The Bumble Girl! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Make sure to stop by the rest of the stops for more microMod sewing inspiration and giveaways, and at the end there is an amazing grand prize. You could win a fat quarter stack of microMod by Rob Bancroft from Cloud9 fabrics, the entire Green Bee Patterns collection, a microMod sewing bag, and a Singer Heavy Duty Sewing Machine! (US only for the grand prize).

April 2 - Alexia & Rob Green Bee http://alexiaabegg.squarespace.com/
April 3 - Kelly at Kelbysews http://kelbysews.blogspot.com/
April 5 - Amanda at the Craft Junky http://www.thecraftjunky.blogspot.com/
April 6 - Rachael at Imagine Gnats http://imaginegnats.blogspot.com/
April 8 - Heather at alamode http://alamodefabric.blogspot.com/
April 10 - Holly at Bijou Lovely http://www.bijoulovelydesigns.com/
April 13 - Alexia, Michelle & Rob Green Bee http://alexiaabegg.squarespace.com/
April 17 - Faith at Fresh Lemons http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/
April 18 - Katie at Swim Bike Quilt http://swimbikequilt.com/
April 19 - Deborah at Whipstitch http://whipstitchfabrics.com/blog/
April 20 - Jacey at Jaceycraft http://jaceycraft.blogspot.com/
April 24 - Jenny at the Southern Institute http://thesoutherninstitute.com/
April 25 - Amy from sukie don't ya know http://sukiedontyaknow.com/
April 26 - Jen from Betty Crocker Ass http://www.bettycrockerass.com/
April 27 - Sara from Sew Sweetness http://www.sewsweetness.com/
April 28 - Krista at Krista Withers Quilting http://kristawithersquilting.blogspot.com/
April 29 - Katy from I'm a Ginger Monkey http://imagingermonkey.blogspot.com/
April 30 - Amber from One Shabby Chick http://oneshabbychick.typepad.com/
May 1 - Alexia & Rob Green Bee GRAND PRIZE http://alexiaabegg.squarespace.com/

quilting kites.

2013-04-08T21:59:00.001-05:00

This weekend I spent a lot of time quilting my Clementine quilt! I started it on Saturday morning and was finished by Sunday evening, with lots of breaks in between of course.

I started by quilting straight lines horizontally through all of the diamonds, and then turned the quilt and did vertical lines as well, so each diamond had a cross through the center.

Then came the hard part, at least for me! I am still not the greatest at free motion quilting, although I have been practicing. I did some practice loops on a scrap quilt sandwich to get the hang of it before starting the real thing, and then quilted the loops through the sashing in both diagonal directions.

The loops definitely aren't perfect, but thankfully the pattern is pretty forgiving from far away!

The goal was to make the diamonds look like kites. The loops are what Kelly had used in the original quilt in the book, and I thought they would work to represent the kite strings. Do you see it? The quilting gives it some amazing dimension, it's almost three-dimensional when the light hits it. The dense quilting in the sashing makes the diamonds really pop!

I'm really happy with how this quilt is turning out. All that's left is binding!

Welcome Fat Quarter Shop!

2013-04-05T10:16:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! Today I want to introduce my newest sponsor, Fat Quarter Shop! I'm sure you all have heard of this great online fabric store?

Fat Quarter Shop was founded in 2003 by an avid quilter, Kimberly Jolly. The shop started as a side business run out of her house while Kimberly was still working a corporate position, and grew into a full time operation as the shop's reputation grew. Her husband Kevin and several staff members have joined the team as well over the past few years. The team is committed to delivering top-notch service for every single order and customer, and the shop continues to branch out to offer the best fabrics, exclusive kits, quilt clubs, block of the month clubs, and more.

Fat Quarter Shop offers an amazing selection of fabric, including a few new collections I've been coveting! Indian Summer by Sarah Watson is so cute, perfect for a baby boy quilt that I need to make soon!

Glimma by Lotta Jansdotter is also in stock. I am always a fan of her prints, and I really love the pinks in this line!

Fat Quarter Shop also offers tons of patterns and books, quilt kits and BOM clubs. Their Designer Mystery Block of the Month program is filling up fast!

Fat Quarter Shop is offering a great giveaway to one of you today, a Fat Quarter bundle of Urban Mod by Art Gallery Fabrics in your choice of colorway, Downtown Vixen or Street Siren! This is a gorgeous collection featuring fresh colors and lots of modern prints!

~~To enter, simply leave a comment on this post!~~ Tell me what you're doing this weekend, what you'd make with this collection, or what you're most looking forward to this spring (or really, anything else you want!). Please make sure to leave a way for me to contact you in your comment, or you will not be eligible to win. I will pick a winner next Tuesday (4/9).

You can keep up with the crafty happenings at Fat Quarter Shop on their blog, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

Thank you so much Fat Quarter Shop for your support!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to our winner, B Greene! Thank you all for entering!

clementine quilt progress and pin basting.

2013-04-04T16:38:00.000-05:00

I finished my Clementine quilt top yesterday! It's the Must Stash quilt pattern from Modern Designs for Classic Quilts. After sewing the top together I decided I had to baste it before I went to sleep last night. I set these silly rules for myself all the time, do you do that too? I suppose it does help me get things done when I need to.

Anyway, I finally bought a Kwik Klip the last time I was at Joann's so I tried that out for the first time while basting. I really like it! Basting is so hard on my fingers, so it's nice to have a tool to help me do the job. My manicures will probably last longer now too, although my nails weren't painted this time.

If you're wondering how the Kwik Klip works, basically it grips and pushes against the open side of the pin so you can close it with minimal effort. You hold it in one hand and use your other hand to grab the latch part and close the pin. You can use it for removing the pins as well.

I've had a few questions on how I baste my quilts, so this might be a good time to talk about that a bit. I almost exclusively use pins to baste! That is unless it's a tiny mini quilt and I'm feeling lazy, then I'll break out the spray baste and an old cutting mat to catch the overspray. My preference for pin basting mostly comes from the fact that I don't want any spray residue getting all over the carpeted floor in my sewing room. Plus I just feel like pins are more secure for me.

I baste on top of my sewing table, laying the backing down first and smoothing it out, then the batting and smoothing again, and finally the quilt top, smoothing out the layers one last time before I begin pinning. I have a big table so I can baste a large portion of the quilt at one time, and I always start in the center. If there is excess draping over the sides of the table, I just pull it up onto the table surface after the center is basted and smooth the layers out again before basting the sides.

This is a much easier method for me than getting down on my hands and knees on the floor. My back hurts after doing it that way! I've never had issues with fabric shifting or anything using this method. The hardest part is making sure the layers are aligned properly if they are hanging off the edge of the table, but I think that's the hardest part of basting in general.

I use a lot of pins while basting (placing them at least every 4 inches or so), and try to be mindful of how I'm going to quilt when placing them. In this quilt, I've basted only in the sashing since I plan to straight line quilt through the blocks first. I will remove them after the blocks have been quilted so I can then free motion quilt the sashing without them getting in the way.

I store my pins in a milkglass jar when I'm not using them, and just stick the jar near my sewing machine so I can easily throw the pins back in when I take remove them during quilting. Functional and pretty is always a good combination!

I hope this helps those of you who have been confused by my table basting method! Maybe someday I'll do a more in depth tutorial on the process, but since I usually baste late at night it's hard to get good pictures!

stitching by hand.

2013-04-02T15:06:00.002-05:00

I've been working on a hand quilting project the last few weeks, quilting around each of the stars in my Lone Starburst quilt!

The idea to hand quilt this project has been in the back of my mind for awhile, and after the hand quilting class I took from AMH at QuiltCon, I knew it was meant to be. I've been stitching up a star or two every time I sit on the couch to watch tv.

This is the perfect project to practice on! I am getting much faster compared to when I started, and my stitches are getting much more even as I go.

They are starting to look pretty good from the back side too!

I've only got two and a half stars left to go, and then I can finally bind and donate this do.Good Stitches quilt!

saturday stash.

2013-03-30T09:38:00.002-05:00

Thank goodness it's the weekend! Glad to have a day to recover after a crazy week, but it starts again tomorrow since we're hosting Easter dinner for our families. The weather here the past couple days has been beautiful (almost 50 degrees, finally!) which is giving me a bit of spring fever! I can't wait for the snow to melt.

Speaking of spring, my most recent stash addition is so perfect for the season! This is Clementine by Dear Stella.

So many awesome prints in this line! I especially love those cute little birdhouses and the large scale floral. The chevrons are pretty great too!

I'm in the process of sewing up a quilt with these now, which will be displayed in the Dear Stella booth at Quilt Market! Fun! I hope to share some of my progress with you soon.

In case you are in the shopping mood today, I've got some sales for you!

Pink Castle Fabrics is doing a flash sale of sorts, get 20% off of everything with the code SPRING20 (not sure how long the coupon will stay on, so don't wait if you've got some things in your cart!). Brenda also has a bunch of $6 voile right now, which means its actually $4.80 if you use the coupon too! There are also a ton of great collections like Flea Market Fancy, Loulouthi, and Hope Valley on sale.

Stash Fabrics is having a spring cleaning sale, including some great lines like Simply Color, Field Study, and Lucky Penny! Save 20 - 50% off in the sale section.

Quilt Sandwich just received some new Alexander Henry prints, including a couple I've been coveting from their Mecca for Modern collection. I just love that Urban Garden print. I also want the scallop print from Maritime Modern, what a great spin on the chevron! Check out the sale section too while you're there.

Little Pink Rose is offering 20% off all precuts and bundles this weekend, which includes Textures, Luxe in Bloom, and those Riley Blake Chevrons. Shipping is free when you spend $150, and only $6 for any other order.

ChristaQuilts has Line Dance by Kaffe Fassett for 20% off this week, and a huge Clearance section including tons of Amy Butler prints and patterns. Shipping is always free in the US and 20% off internationally.

Fat Quarter Shop has a ton of good stuff in their sale section, like Sew Stitchy and Chicopee for $5.38/yd. There are a bunch of great patterns and books on sale too, including Pillow Pop!

Welcome ChristaQuilts!

2013-03-22T09:33:00.001-05:00

Today I want to introduce you to a new sponsor, ChristaQuilts! The shop is run by Christa Watson, and her shop specializes in an eclectic mix of fresh, modern and fun fabrics. I was lucky enough to meet Christa at QuiltCon, she's awesome! Christa started off making traditional quilts, but over the last year has focused more on modern quilting.

ChristaQuilts offers an extensive mix of Kona solids, along with several popular modern fabric lines including Pearl Bracelets!

Christa also offers free quilt-alongs and tutorials on her blog, where she guides you through the process of making a quilt from start to finish. One of her tutorial quilts, Charming Chevrons, was even hanging at QuiltCon in the modern traditionalism category! She's got kits to make this quilt and lots of others in her shop too.

Christa also offers free US shipping and 20% off international shipping on all orders, which is pretty amazing considering how much shipping costs are lately! And every order over $25 includes a free gift called "Christa's Candy", which you can choose yourself!

Today Christa is offering one of you a $20 gift certificate to her shop! You can stock up on Kona solids or anything else that catches your eye.

~~To enter, simply leave a comment here.~~ If you'd like, take a look through the ChristaQuilts shop and tell her which fabrics are your favorites! Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment! I will pick a winner next Tuesday (3/26).

If you'd like to stay up to date on ChristaQuilts, sign up for the newsletter or subscribe to Christa's blog!

Thanks so much for your support Christa!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to the winner, Barbara Woods!

cosmos butterflies.

2013-03-21T16:56:00.000-05:00

My Cosmos Butterflies quilt is finally finished! Honestly it's been done for a couple months now and I just kept forgetting to photograph it.

It would've been nice if there were any signs of spring around for these photos, but we still have a ton of snow and 30 degrees is considered warm lately. So just pretend there are pretty tulips and green grass around, okay? :)

The butterflies in this quilt were made out of charms of Cosmos Collection that Laura Gunn sent me last August. I used this tutorial to make the blocks, and paired them with some low volume squares to spread them out a bit. The inner border was made with Laura's Painter's Canvas along with some Kona Ash. The Coastal Flowers print from Lotta Jansdotter's Bella seemed like a perfect match, so I added another border of that, and then Laura kindly sent me some of the Blue Skinny Plaid print to finish it off! I truly went into this quilt with no real plan and just made it up as I went along.

This was my first time really free motion quilting a large quilt. I used Elizabeth Hartman's dogwood pattern for the low volume blocks, and alternated with loops down the center of each butterfly.

The Bella print got some FMQ squiggles and outlines around each flower. I straight line quilted the inner and outer borders.

I used up some additional Cosmos yardage that Laura sent for the back, along with some more Painter's Canvas I had in my stash.

The quilt is bound in more Painter's Canvas in Lime, which ties in with the bodies of the butterflies and the cornerstones of the inner border. The quilt finishes at about 61" square.

This quilt was a lot of fun to make and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! Being my first attempt at FMQ on a large scale it's definitely not perfect, but that's how we improve our skills, right? I will be giving it to my grandmother this weekend and I really hope she loves it!

wiksten tank and a few updates.

2013-03-20T17:10:00.002-05:00

I made myself a Wiksten tank this week! I had to justify the massive amounts of voile headed my way from Sew, Mama, Sew's $6 sale by saying I was going to make some new shirts for myself, so I made this as a wearable muslin from some thrifted fabric I had found last week.

World's worst picture of myself, sorry! Was trying to take this fast this afternoon and my dog was jumping at my feet the entire time. He's high maintenance. This tank fits nicely with my jeans-tank-sweater uniform! I feel like I wear the same thing every day.

I wish I knew what this fabric is. It's woven and pretty flowy/silky like voile, but I don't think it's voile! It was an awesome find though for $2 for 2.5 yards.

In other news, I've updated my blog design again. Still a work in progress but I think I like it!

I also finally was able to buy bijoulovely.com! So both bijoulovely.com and bijoulovelydesigns.com will lead you here now. I've been trying to do that for about 3 years now, glad the squatters finally gave up :) And my twitter name now matches my instagram name: @bijoulovely. Victory on all counts this week with branding!

color me retro pincushion.

2013-03-14T15:05:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post today with a cute little project! I made this pincushion last week when I was in need of a finish. You know how sometimes you just want to start something and finish it all in one day? This was one of those projects. I'm finding that if I add a few of these in among the bigger quilts and such, I feel more productive and therefore want to sew more! Fast projects are just so satifsying.

I bought a stack of Color Me Retro (available at Pink Castle Fabrics and Stash Fabrics) as soon as it came out, and I've been having a hard time resisting cutting into it! I just needed a tiny strip of most of the prints for this project, but those little strips make a lot of impact here. I added a few coordinating solids here from my stash, all Michael Miller Cotton Couture (available at Pink Castle Fabrics and Stash Fabrics).

The pincushion pattern is another one from Alexia Abegg's Liberty Love book. I know I keep raving about that book, but I just love it! Making two projects from the same book is a record for me, and there are more that I want to try. (Note: if you make this pincushion, there is a minor error in the cutting directions, so check the Liberty Love flickr group for the correction before starting!)

The pincushion is backed in Florette in Crystal, and I added some teal crochet trim around the edges.

I quilted the front in straight lines, which took all of two minutes on such a tiny project!

This pincushion is headed off to its new home with a sweet friend. Jeni should have her own Color Me Retro pincushion, don't you think? (Surprise, Jeni!)

Marcelle Medallion.

2013-03-12T14:09:00.000-05:00

Since I had so much fun making my x plus quilt during the #xplusalong on Instagram, I decided to join in on another informal quiltalong this month, the #medallionalong!

We're making the Marcelle Medallion quilt from Alexia Marcelle Abegg's new book, Liberty Love (the pattern can also be found in the new UK magazine Love Quilting & Patchwork)

This quilt is meant to be really scrappy, so I pulled a bunch of different fabrics in six colors - coral, citron, light grays and whites, magenta, teal, and navy.

I made the center square last week and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I'm being extra careful to make sure all my seams and points match up on this one. It's a good pattern to practice piecing accurately, especially with those Y seams!

This quilt grows gradually with the addition of each border. I'm having fun working on it in little chunks of time between other projects.

I finished adding the third border yesterday and have all my pieces cut for the flying geese in the next one. I'm really enjoying playing with all the little scrappy bits!

If you want to join in, tag your photos with #marcellemedallion and #medallionalong on Instagram!

art student tote.

2013-03-11T16:28:00.000-05:00

After a year of procrastinating after buying the supplies in Atlanta last year, I finally made myself an Art Student Tote in time for QuiltCon. I've been in need of a larger laptop/carry-on bag for awhile now, and thought that with a few modifications, this bag would be perfect for me.

I had bought yardage of my favorite Melody Miller vintage flower print from her Ruby Star Rising collection from Whipstitch last year with the intention of making this bag with it. I decided to use it for the handles, accents, and lining rather than as the outer panels because I like to wear bags without a ton of prints on them. I bought some additional yardage of the print from Miss Matatabi and ended up having just enough to use for the bag. The main panels on the outside of the bag are made of yarn dyed Essex linen in Black, another of my favorite fabrics.

My favorite part about this bag is all of the hardware, which makes it look really professional! I used denim zippers and gold d-rings on mine.

I made the Option B version of the bag, which features a top zipper panel to close the bag and make it larger if necessary. I made my panel about 4.5" tall, which is about half of what is recommended in the pattern.

The inside has lots of pockets for my laptop, notebooks, pens, etc.

Most importantly, it has a zipper closure on the top so I don't have to worry about my stuff falling out when I'm traveling. It's the perfect size bag to fit under the seat of an airplane, and holds my laptop, small purse, notebook, knitting or hand sewing project, water, and more with plenty of room to spare.

Most of the modifications that I made to the bag were to make it more durable as a carry-on tote, since the original pattern seems to be more intended as a purse. I made a list of all the interfacing information in case you'd like to replicate this durable carry-on version of the Art Student Tote. It was pretty simple to make aside from all the cutting and interfacing, but make sure to use a heavy-duty needle and go slow when sewing all the layers together, it's a lot of fabric to get through!

Outer panels: I used Essex linen for the outside with light woven interfacing (Pellon SF-101 ShapeFlex) fused to it, and then a layer of Pellon 987F Fusible Fleece fused to that.

Straps: My straps are made of a Kokka linen/cotton blend with ShapeFlex fused to it, and a layer of fusible fleece fused to that. When the straps are folded in half and sewn, this means each strap has 2 layers of woven interfacing and 2 layers of fusible fleece. I topstitched twice along each side of the handles for added durability, and stitched Xs on the top joint of each side of the handle.

Lining: Linen/cotton blend with canvas interfacing for added durability.

Inner Pockets: Linen/cotton blend with canvas interfacing so they stand up better on their own.

Extension Panel: I used linen with ShapeFlex fused to it for the outer extension panel, and linen/cotton blend for the inner panel.

Pull Tabs: Linen/cotton blend with ShapeFlex fused to it.

Cross Straps on top of outer zippers: Linen/cotton blend with ShapeFlex fused to it, plus a layer of canvas inside.

Bottom Support: Two layers of Peltex between outer bag and lining.

I highly recommend this pattern if you're looking for a stylish large carry-on bag for traveling! I've traveled with it twice so far and I know it's going to get a ton of use!

QuiltCon workshops.

2013-03-05T11:31:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite parts of QuiltCon was definitely the workshops. It's an amazing opportunity to sit in a room with some of your favorite artists and have them teach you new techniques! I took two half-day workshops, Every Last Stitch with Anna Maria Horner, and Textile Printing with Lotta Jansdotter.

In Anna Maria's class, she showed us some of her beautiful hand stitched projects, talked about her philosophy on the hand stitching process, and then broke us into smaller groups to show us her hand quilting technique.

One of my favorite things that she said during the workshop is that she doesn't worry about how many in-process hand stitching projects she has going at one time. The point of the projects isn't to finish them, but instead to enjoy the slow process of hand stitching. The projects get finished eventually (hopefully) but the goal is the stitching itself, not the finishing. I found that a very refreshing way to look at these types of projects since I too always have several WIPs at once and feel like they never get finished! I tend to feel guilty about unfinished projects, but not anymore! :)

One of my favorite projects that she brought with her was this adorable little hand-tied baby quilt with tassels, called Flying Goslings. It's made completely out of voile and was so soft! I immediately bought a bunch of voile when I got home just to make something similar!

Since I had never tried hand quilting before, it was really nice to watch someone else demonstrate it in person. Anna gave us lots of tips and tricks and then we got started stitching our little quilt sandwiches. She has a post on her blog explaining her techniques in case you're interested in learning too.

By the end of the class, I didn't even finish quilting around a single flower, but it was a nice relaxing way to spend the first day at QuiltCon!

Anna Maria had brought a bunch of books, patterns, fabric, and kits in case we wanted to buy some extra materials, so I took it as a sign to buy her new Needleworks book that I've been wanting anyway, as well as those pretty perle cotton sets!

After the class she graciously signed our books for us, and I asked her if she would mind signing something else I had brought with me. I was very excited when she said she'd sign my x plus quilt, since I had lugged it all the way to Austin just for this purpose!

Since I don't belong to any local quilt guilds or anything, I've never had the opportunity to show and tell other than on my blog of course, so it was fun for me to get to show this quilt to one of my favorite people in the quilting industry! She even took a picture with me and the quilt :)

My second workshop, Textile Printing with Lotta Jansdotter was on Friday morning. I was really looking forward to this one as I've been really interested in learning more about fabric printing and design, and I really love Lotta's work.

We did block printing first. Lotta showed us some examples of her work, talked about the supplies that she uses, and then taught us how to carve our block. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do for mine, so I got to work carving right away.

We printed on paper first to test our blocks, and then moved onto muslin. I found that the carving blocks we used were a little too soft for my preferences, so I struggled to get a clean print. It was all just supposed to be practice though, so I kept going.

I decided to print a second color (neon pink!) of triangles in the opposite direction to nest the shapes together. I really like how it turned out! The pink didn't show up the best on the fabric but I think that might have just been the ink we used.

Next we moved onto stenciling. Again, Lotta showed us her techniques and then we moved on to try it ourselves.

I didn't really have an idea for another print, so after doodling for a little while, I went with some arrows. I mixed two different blue inks to get slightly different colors for each one. I was happy with the design but wished I had made the arrows a smaller scale.

I preferred the block printing method over stenciling, I think it was just more fun for me! I've stenciled before so maybe it just wasn't as new and exciting? I definitely want to continue block printing, and plan to buy the supplies to do it at home soon. I guess I thought there was a lot more involved than what it really is? You just need ink, a brayer, blocks, carving tools, and fabric! And ideas of course, which I always have plenty of!

I had to ask Lotta for a photo after class, she was just so nice, funny, and open! I really enjoyed spending a few hours learning from her.

So those were my two workshops! I wish I could've taken a bunch more, they were definitely one of the best parts of QuiltCon for me.

x plus quilt.

2013-03-04T13:03:00.004-06:00

I am back and finally fully recovered from QuiltCon! It was an amazing experience, and I'll be talking more about it this week, but first I want to share with you my finished x plus quilt!

This quilt was made using Badskirt's Japanese x and + quilt tutorial, but modified to make 12" finished blocks using Megan's measurements. I used all of the prints from Field Study for the + and x parts, a mix of low volume prints including grays, text prints, and white on whites for the background, and a mix of black and dark gray prints for the ends of the pluses (this black and white bundle would be a good start if you're trying to replicate this quilt). The intentional fabric choices give the quilt a very high contrast look that I love! It feels sort of edgy and strong, and the + and x shapes are very defined and make sort of a lattice pattern when you look at the quilt as a whole.

The quilt is pretty large throw, at 72" square. There are 36 total blocks, 6 across by 6 down.

I quilted down the edges of each of the pluses, and down the middle of each x, using black and white variegated Aurifil 28wt thread, with 50wt black in my bobbin so it would blend in with the back. I had no issues quilting it other than how heavy the quilt was with velveteen on the back! It's bound in one of my favorite text prints, from Architextures.

The velveteen on the back makes this quilt amazingly cozy. I curl up on the couch under it every night! It's so warm!

The back is super simple, but this Field Study print is one of my all time favorites. I want to buy it in voile too!

My husband was a really good sport during this shoot, here he is rolling his eyes at me after climbing a snowbank in snowshoes to get these pictures :)

I think this quilt is my favorite that I've made so far. I'm so glad to finally have made a quilt for myself!

Oh, did I mention that it's signed by Anna Maria Horner? I will tell you more about that tomorrow! :)

If you want to join in the #xplusalong, be sure to add the hashtag to your photos on Instagram, and upload your pictures to the flickr group!

Quiltcon bound and some things you may not know about me.

2013-02-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

As you read this, I am headed off to Austin for Quiltcon! I am seriously excited and yet, always nervous for these types of events for some reason. Being mostly an introvert makes things like this a little overwhelming for me. I'm sure some of you can relate?

The Modern Quilt Guild is encouraging everyone to post a picture of themselves to put a face to the blog to make it easier to meet in person, and I am late to the party but still wanted to share, so this is me.

And just for fun, here are five things you may not know about me:
| One |
By day, I am a biomedical engineer. I work for a medical device company doing usability/human factors testing and user interface design, and am lucky enough to work from home most of the time! I do have a cube in our Boston-area office though and have to show my face there once a month or so :)

| Two |
I have three wonderful sisters, and each of us are a little over 5 years apart in age (17, 23, 29 and 34). We are all in different places in our lives and our personalities are all completely opposite, but thankfully we still get along really well for the most part!

| Three |
My husband and I met in high school. I spent a portion of my junior year trying to set him up with one of my best friends for some reason, but thankfully neither of them was very interested in the other :) We've been together for 12 years now, and married for 3.5.

| Four |
I am very picky about the types of meat that I'll eat. I can't even swallow a piece of steak because of the texture (it feels like I'm eating muscle, which I suppose is true!). I am in love with vegetables though, and I've never met a vegetable I didn't like (other than green beans...ick!).

| Five |
You will probably never see me in public without a scarf or a necklace on. They're my wardrobe security blankets!

and a bonus | Six |
I never considered myself a creative person until a few years ago, and I still have a hard time defining myself as a designer/quilter/blogger/etc. For the most part, I don't believe that creativity is something you are born with, I think it is something that is learned just like science or math. The more time you spend doing creative things, the easier it becomes and the more you improve, just like with anything else in life.

Now that I've gone all philosophical on you, I think it's time to end this list! If you see me at Quiltcon, please say hi! I am terrible at approaching others but I really do want to meet you :)

a little v-day washi love.

2013-02-14T13:16:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day friends! I just wanted to show you all a little love to let you know how much I appreciate all of you for stopping by! Today that love happens to be in the form of a giveaway, not sponsored by anyone other than me :)

I have a minor obsession with washi tape. It's pretty and has about a million uses, so what's not to love about it? I thought I'd pass along my obsession to one of you, in the form of these 7 pretty rolls of washi!

~~To enter, simply leave a comment on this post.~~ Tell me what you're doing to celebrate Valentine's Day, or your favorite use for washi tape! Followers get an extra entry by leaving an additional comment. Please make sure I have a way to contact you. I'll pick a winner on Monday!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to our winner, Sew Nichole!

weekend sewing.

2013-02-12T11:16:00.000-06:00

I finished quilting my x plus quilt this weekend!

The velveteen backing feels so amazing. I cannot wait to wrap up in this quilt on the couch. Some people have been asking how it was to quilt the velveteen, and honestly I feel like it was just as easy as a normal quilt if not more so, provided it's basted well. I used a lot of pins! The feed dogs grip the velveteen as it's going through the machine and pull it along really well. It is heavy though, so I had to make sure it wasn't getting stuck due to the weight while quilting.

I kept it simple and quilted along the edges of the pluses and through the middle of the x's, and I'm happy with how it turned out.

I used Aurifil 28 wt variegated black and white thread on the front. I like how it looks but I wish the stitches looked more defined in the black areas like they are in the white.

It's all squared up and ready for binding! I've got a few options but I'm leaning towards this Architextures text print. I like the way it ties in both the blacks and whites!

Shouldn't be too much longer before this quilt is finished!

too cute not to share.

2013-01-31T15:27:00.002-06:00

Well I was going to share a fancy animation today of my finished #xplusalong blocks but it is taking me a lot longer to put together than I thought! So instead I will share with you another picture of my dog. I hope you're not getting sick of him yet?

The other day he was up on my cutting table keeping me company, and all of the sudden he just popped his head through my sewing machine to say hi! Of course I wasn't actually sewing at this point, don't worry. No puppies were harmed in the making of this photo. I'm thinking he wants to be the next Janome spokesmodel, don't you think?

more + & x progress.

2013-01-30T09:38:00.005-06:00

I am almost finished making blocks for my + and x quilt! Only 4 more blocks left to assemble, which won't take very long at all since all of the x pieces are made already.

My design wall is completely full, and I'll have blocks taped to the wall on both sides of it by the time I'm done. This isn't the official layout, I'm going to take them all down and mix them up a bit before I sew them together.

My velveteen backing came this past weekend. It is so soft and fuzzy! I can't wait to wrap up in this quilt when it's finished.

This quilt has been approved by Jackson already, he keeps snuggling up against the blocks on the wall!

He's been keeping me company as I lay out each block, although sometimes he decides it's break time and lays down on them while I'm working.

He's my favorite sewing buddy! :)