Saving the universe one project at a time!
I’m so proud of my daughter for painting these beautiful pumpkins and selling them to earn money for college next year! She’s made over 100 and has officially launched her Etsy shop where she will be keeping it stocked with lots of hand-painted goodness!!
I love my selection of white pumpkins that I have hanging in the dining room in this cute plate rack! 
She has been working so hard!! 
It’s a little SPOOKY around here! Mini Kitty is getting a Halloween makeover! I love this little pattern so much and wanted to give it a little pop for the fall. Mini Kitty is now leaping over a pumpkin with bats and stars in the background. If you’ve already purchased the pattern you can download the Halloween applique shapes for free HERE. The Halloween PDF is also included with each Mini Kitty pattern purchase in my Etsy shop.
The original Mini Kitty pattern was created as a gift for a friend after the loss of a sweet kitten. You can read more about it HERE. 
Instead of using only 2 colors for the checkerboard border, I used 8 different oranges and 8 different blacks. I really love the polka dot pumpkin!
Mufasa was very helpful on this project and choose the colors all by himself 🙂
I love how it turned out and I have the purrrrfect place to hang it! 
I’m thrilled to share with you my project from Fat Quarter Shop’s The Jolly Bar Book today! This is such a fun book! First of all it is the exact size of a Jolly Bar which is 5″ x 10″! Jolly Bars come in your favorite fabric collections from Fat Quarter Shop and they are super fun to use!
I choose Farmhouse by Fig Tree & Co for Moda. The fabrics are to die for! 
I added a chicken wire print for my background yardage. I love how it works with the Farmhouse fabrics!! And how easy and fun is this pattern!!!!! You can sew it in about an hour.
Sometimes sewing time is a little longer if Mufasa decides to nap on the cutting board!
LOVE!!!!
And Mufasa loves as well! 
I had fun quilting this quilt! I quilted 5-petal daisies and loops.
For the backing I used a random newsprint style fabric and chose a red fabric from the Farmhouse line for the binding.
It’s got such a fun vintage feel to it. I would totally make this pattern again and again and again!!
It’s amazing how big the quilt is with just one Jolly Bar and some yardage! I love patterns like this!
Check out these wonderful designers to see what patterns they sewed up from the Jolly Bar Book!!!
Melissa from Happy Quilting
Tina from Emily Ann’s Kloset
Amanda from Jedi Craft Girl
Connie from Free Motion by the River
Afton from Quilting Mod
Pam from Pam Kitty Morning
Heidi from Buttons and Butterflies
Renee from Sewn with Grace
Remona from The Stitching Scientist
Andy from A Bright Corner
Angie from Gnome Angel
It’s feeling a little like fall and that means time to break out the fall decor! I made this quilt last year and it’s one of my favorites! I decorate my dining/living room with a more neutral pallet and I love using black and gray to decorate for Halloween. The family room and kitchen are bright orange, black, and turquoise 🙂 I used a variety of neutrals and gray/blacks from Penny Rose Fabrics. You can download the details of the pattern HERE.
Quilt measures 42″ square.
Most of the black/gray fabrics are from the Civil War Times fabric line. I love the variety! The rest of the fabrics are from Penny Rose Classics.
I love black and metallic pumpkins on vintage candlesticks!
I first made the background by sewing 5″ squares together in 7 rows of 7. Then the applique comes next. You could totally add ghosts and bats, I wanted to keep it simple.
The moon is made by tracing a pie plate.
Here is a little close up of the quilting, with Mufasa’s permission 🙂 
I love striped binding cut on the bias – it’s my absolute FAVORITE!!!! The backing is from Penny Rose’s mensware line – I love houndstooth!!!Ok, so this is totally my new favorite Halloween Quilt!
And now a project for the guys! I have a hard time finding projects to sew for my 13 year old son that are…… well….. not floral, cutsey, vintage, or girly which is pretty much most of my sewing! When I saw this fun “card print” from Blend Fabrics I knew it was for my son the “Card Shark”!!!!
It’s the perfect gift for the card lover in your life!
Supplies:
1/2 yard card print fabric
1/3 yard solid gray
Heat n Bond Ultra
2 yards trim
Zipper
Fiberfill
Vinyl letters
Fabric Paint
Shark Pattern download
Begin by tracing the shark pattern (in reverse) on the Heat n Bond Ultra hold – you can also use Lite.
Press to the wrong side of the card fabric.
Cut out along the pattern line.
Cut the gray background fabric 12″ x 19″. Peel off the backing paper and heat set the shark in place. Sew around the shark in black thread.
Cut the backing fabric the same size as the front 12″ x 19″.
You can use the hand sew method for closing the pillow or you can do the zipper method which is my favorite. Simply cut the backing fabric at 2″ and insert a regular zipper.
You can add the “Card Shark” words with stitching or you can create your own stencil. I cut the letters on my Cricut machine in vinyl. I peeled off the letters to leave the stencil. I used fabric paint to stencil and removed the vinyl when it was dry. 
Once the letters are on you can assemble the pillow. Baste the trim to the pillow front. Then with right sides together place the pillow front and back and sew all the way around using a generous 1/4″ seam. Make sure to leave the zipper open before you sew. Turn right side out and stuff with fiberfill.
I’m super excited to announce my latest quilt pattern called Alice’s Crossroads which is inspired by Blend Fabrics’ Wonderland fabric line.
One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” was his response. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”
I love this scene because we learn a lot about life from the Cheshire Cat’s answer and this totally inspired the quilt! The quilt actually has several different paths and so it’s up to you to choose which way to go! You can purchase the pattern in my Etsy shop for instant PDF download 🙂
I am always drawn to large theme prints. It’s hard finding patterns that let you use large cuts of fabric to showcase these prints. I love designing quilt patterns that let you do just that. This quilt would be fun to use with all different theme fabrics: character, sports, animal, etc. Get creative!!!
The finished quilt measures 60″ x 72″ and each block is 12″.
It’s really fun to sew together and I love getting to show off the amazing fabrics in this collection!
I hope you like it and give it a try!!!
I am so excited to share the finish of this quilt that has been in the works for the last year!
I started it last summer, finished piecing the top this last spring, had it quilted in May and just finished the binding! It is one of my all time FAVORITE quilts!!!!!
Each cat head is either black or orange print with the exception of the bottom right corner – it’s Mufasa!!!!
I used Elizabeth Hartman’s cat head block pattern (here). They are so much fun to sew!!
Here you can see the fun geometric quilting that Nicole from Kwilt It quilted. I LOVE it! I also adore the gingham backing!!!
Oh my gosh – it’s too cute!!!!! 100 cat heads!!!
I’m super excited to be a part of Kerri Horsley’s Lovely Little Patchwork Blog Tour! Her book is so adorable with creative projects ranging from quilts to pillows to aprons!
What I love about this book is that not only are the projects inspiring but the book is also fun to read and so pretty to thumb through! I choose to make her Patchwork Market Tote.
For my fabrics I selected Milk, Sugar, Flour by Elea Lutz for Penny Rose Fabrics – one of my all time favorite fabric lines! The pattern calls for an embroidered pocket. I found this vintage pillow case with cats and flowers and knew it would be purrrrfect for this project.
I gathered all my supplies and began cutting and Mufasa decided this would be the perfect place for a catnap 🙂
I followed the cutting instructions exactly. I am a lover of totebags and so I stabilized my bag a little differently. My favorite method is cotton batting + HeatnBond medium weight fusible stabilizer!
Once I had the outer portions of the tote bag completed I fused the Heat n Bond® medium weight stabilizer to the wrong side of the outer bag pieces.
Next, I used Spray n Bond to baste the fused outer bag pieces to cotton quilt batting and then quilted. The addition of the stabilizer gives the bag more strength and substance while the batting keeps it feeling soft!
I cut my pillowcase to the measurements indicated in the pattern.
I used this same method to create the pocket, first ironing on stabilizer to the wrong side of the embroidery piece, followed by quilt batting.
I quilted the entire bag with straight line stitching along each of the seams.
I didn’t have webbing for the straps so I created my own using the same length measurements as in the pattern.
To create a 1″ wide handle, cut a 4″ x desired length piece of fabric. Press the entire length in half.
Open the strap and press both long edges in to meet the center crease.
Now comes the fun part, cut a 2″ x desired length piece of stabilizer and slip it inside the folded handle. Press to fuse. Then fold the 2″ piece in half again lengthwise to result in a 1″ wide strap. Top stitch both sides to secure. There are 4 layers of fabric and 2 layers of stabilizer in the handle! It’s perfect! I topstitched along the handles and then continued following the pattern.
I love it so much!
I took this bag to quilt market in May and I was thrilled to show it to Elea who absolutely loved it!! 
For more inspiration stop by each of these designers’ blogs to see what fun projects they have made from Kerri’s book!!
Today I am releasing my latest quilt pattern called Snow Globe Jars! You can find it in my Etsy shop! Have you ever made homemade snow globes out of mason jars? That’s what inspired this little quilt! I love fussy cutting and these jars are perfect for that. I used Pixie Noel Fabric from Riley Blake Designs. It was so fun to choose what little scene to put in each snow globe!
Mufasa also loves snow globes 🙂
This quilt measures approximately 39″ square which is the perfect size to hang on the wall, place on a table or flop over a couch!
Each of the snow globe blocks is sashed and set with red stars.
I hope you like this quilt as much as I do! How fun would it be to give this as an early Christmas present to someone you really love!!
And one more picture of Mufasa just because he is so handsome and takes such great pictures!
I’m so excited to be a part of Carina’s Posy Garden Blog Tour!! Before I share this quilt tutorial with you I thought it would be fun to show a little peek at all the fun we had at Quilt Market with Carina and her Posy Garden Glamper!!
The Glamer catches your eye right away with the adorable aqua and white polkadot paint and the chalkboard door with mini quilt attached!
Inside there were mini quilts having on all of the doors, quilts and pillows on the benches, and even a quilt hanging in the bathroom!
Andy and I had fun giggling and chatting with Carina and raiding her secret chocolate stash!
Yes – the Glamper really is that much fun! And now onto the Blog Tour Quilt Pattern!!
Of course when I saw this fabric I knew I wanted a quilt out of it. The colors are so amazing in person!!!
I used a fat quarter bundle of Posy Garden and 2 .5 yards of quilters muslin. Let’s get started!!
Begin by cutting a 2 1/2″ strip from each of the fat quarters (I used 14 fat quarters)
Next cut a 4 7/8″ strip from each fat quarter.
Cut 7 WOF x 2. 1/2″ strips from the muslin.
Cut 7 WOF x 4. 7/8″ strips.
Make the 4 patch strip sets by pairing a 2 1/2” Posy strip and a Muslim strip right sides together. Sew lengthwise using a 1/4” seam. Press toward the dark.
Do this with each of the 2 1/2” strips. Once they are all sewn and pressed, cut them at 2 1/2” increments.
Mix them up and pair them up in a checkerboard style. Match the center seams and sew right sides together using 1/4” seams. Press open. Set aside.
Cut the 4 7/8” strips into 4 7/8” squares.
Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the muslin squares. I like to use this tool. Instead of drawing the diagonal line, you draw the 1/4” lines that are on the side of the diagonal line.
However you choose to do this, sew 1/4” away from the center line. I like to pin my squares together so they don’t move around.
Cut on the diagonal line yielding 2 half square triangles (HST). Press to the dark side. They should measure 4 1/2” square.
Keep those HSTs coming!!!
Now comes the fun part! Don’t lay out the pattern, just grab and go! Each block should look like this:
Sew together just like you would a 4-patch using 1/4” seams. Press all seams open.
Next take each of the blocks and group them into a larger 4-patch unit. Sew together in the same manner with 1/4” seams and press the seams open. This creates the Posy Garden Path Block!
Finish putting the quilt together by sewing 3 rows of 3 blocks – 9 blocks total. Of course if you want it bigger you can add more blocks. Make sure to match all seams as you go. Press the seams open. See if you can make this quilt without laying any of the blocks out. I love how it turns out totally random and scrappy!
I love how it turned out! The perfect quilt for a summer garden picnic! Finished quilt 48” square.
Tina and I sewed our Posy projects together when I was at her house in New Jersey. We had such a good time chatting and sewing, laughing and playing with the cats! Her home is the perfect backdrop for photographing quilts!
OK, just one more picture!!!
