Best of Moda Bake Shop -- Pillow Parade Hop {Finished Pillow and More Big News}

 Yesterday was my day to share on the Best of Moda Bake Shop Pillow Parade on Instagram, so today I thought I would share my finished pillow!

If you have the book, I made a pillow out of a single block featured in the quilt without additional sashing. I made the block using scraps left over from the original quilt and added in a solid green background fabric that coordinated with the prints in the collection. 

I used some scrap batting and scrap white solid fabric to quilt the the block for the front of the pillow.

I quilted the block with the same chrysanthemum motif as I used for the quilt. I then trimmed the quilt block into a square.

For the envelope back, I used the same fabric that is used for the backing for the quilt. 

Now my lovely quilt has a lovely pillow friend!

We are nearing the end of the pillow parade, but if you missed any of the posts, check out the hashtag #mbspillowparade on Instagram. Each designer from the book made a pillow using the block(s) from their quilt. 

If you missed my other "big post" on Instagram, here's an update:

Not only did my sister have a baby in June, I am having a baby in October! This picture is from about a week ago when my nephew made his first trip to Aunt Alison's house. I have had to give up my dedicated sewing room and move my sewing space into our guest room, but I think that this compromise was definitely worth it.

I'm also planning to list some quilts for sale via Instagram later this week if you are looking for a gift or special treat for yourself! 

Happy Tuesday!

Meet the Chefs! {Best of Moda Bake Shop Book Hop}

Today is my day to shout from the rooftops all about myself and my quilt that's featured in the Best of Moda Bake Shop book!

For the book, I made a new version of the Garden Plots quilt pattern that was originally published on Moda Bake Shop in 2018. (The pattern is now only available in the book.)

The new version of the quilt features Painted Meadow by Robin Pickens. I used the large scale prints in the line for the center of the blocks. Each block uses two jelly roll strips in similar colors and the block design gives the illusion of sashing without actually having sashing between the blocks! The pattern makes a very lovely throw, but you could easily adjust the number of blocks to make a larger or smaller quilt to your heart's desire! 

Here are some pictures of my original quilt!

A little about me too! Here are the "official questions" for our blog hop:

-Favorite Precut -- Jelly Roll

-Favorite Sewing Tool -- Creative Grids 12.5" x 3.5" ruler

-Favorite Quilt Block -- Any sort of star block

-Favorite Sewing Snack -- Kettlecorn

-If I’m not at my sewing machine, you can find me -- probably at my "real" job working in a research lab!

And now for a GIVEAWAY! I am giving away two copies of the book -- one copy here on my blog and one copy on Instagram. Click here to visit my Instagram post.

To enter to win, leave a comment telling me the following: What is your favorite project that you've ever made with a JELLY ROLL?

One comment per person, please. The giveaway will close on Thursday, August 6th at midnight and I will pick a winner on August 7th.

Big big news -- I'm in a BOOK! {Best of Moda Bake Shop}

Today is a BIG BIG DAY! It is the release date of Best of Moda Bake Shop -- and I am one of the designers featured in the book!

The book has 15 (yes, 15!) different projects featuring the whole range of precut possibilities, including some seasonal quilts! Some of the patterns were featured in the past on the Moda Bake Shop website and some of the patterns are brand new for this book!

My Garden Plots pattern, which was originally featured on Moda Bake Shop in January 2018, is now a part of this book!

This version of the quilt was made with Robin Pickens' line, Painted Meadow. I used three large scale prints for the centers of each block and used a jelly roll for the rest of the piecing. This is actually a one block quilt!

The designers featured in the book are hosting a "get to know us" hop starting today and we will have a pillow parade hop featuring the blocks in our quilts starting on August 10th, so you have plenty of time to get a copy of the book for yourself!

Here's the introduction hop schedule and each Chef's Instagram link:

Wednesday, July 1: Lisa Calle (@vintagemodernquilts)

Friday, July 3: LeAnne Ballard (@everydaycelebrations)

Monday, July 6: Kristina Brinkerhoff (@centerstreetquilts)

Wednesday, July 8: Diane Brinton & Audrey Mann (@theclothparcel)

Friday, July 10: Jen Daly (@jendalyquilts)

Monday, July 13: Jessica Dayon (@jessicadayon) 

Wednesday, July 15: Lisa Jo Girodat (@neverlandstitches)

Friday, July 17: Julie Hirt (@juliehirt)

Monday, July 20: Sharla Krenzel (@thistlethicketstudio)

Wednesday, July 22: Lauren Terry (@brightsonwhite)

Friday, July 24: Jen Van Orman (@heritage.threads)

Monday, July 27: Susan Vaughan (@thefeltedpear)

Wednesday, July 29: Alison Vermilya (@littlebunnyalison) <--- That's me!

Friday, July 31: Christine Weld (@christine.weld)

Monday, August 3: Amanda Wilber (@piecedjustsew)

We hope that you follow along and join us! I'll be posting the pillow parade schedule at the end of July so stay tuned! I will also have an "official" blog post showing off my finished Garden Plots quilt as part of my posts on July 29th!

Christmas Churns {New on Moda Bake Shop!}

I'm excited to share that my newest pattern for Moda Bake Shop has been published! Introducing Christmas Churns!

This is the first time that I've gotten to work with a Lella Boutique line for MBS -- and it did not disappoint! Little Tree is a fun holiday line with beautiful poinsettias! I like that the greens in this line aren't too olive nor too grassy.

The basic block of this quilt is a churn dash, made from strip pieced jelly roll strips and HSTs made from charm squares, centered around a nine-patch. The quilt uses yardage plus one jelly roll and one charm pack -- without a lot of waste!

The sixteen blocks use nearly all of the charm squares, but since there were quite a few leftover full and partial jelly roll strips, I decided that the quilt needed a scrappy piano key border, made from alternating dark and light 4.5" x 2.5" rectangles, most of which were cut from the scraps left over from the churn dash blocks.

I picked out the red and white stripe from the line for my binding and it was a great choice! I picked the green background version of the poinsettia print for the backing. For the quilting, I did a simple stipple to let the fun prints and piecing shine.

(Side note: having a house with a real yard means that I can take some pretty great quilt pictures without having to put shoes on or drive to the park! The freshly stained deck -- thank you, Park Ranger husband! -- is also a great background for quilt pictures too.)

These blocks are 14" finished, and the quilt as designed and made is approximately 68" square with the piano key border. I am reasonably sure that if you had two charm packs instead of one, you could reasonably make a 5x5 block quilt instead of a 4x4 block quilt like mine.

After having no Christmas quilts for a very long time, I now have nearly a half dozen! Now  have one for every chair and two for the couch!

Check out the full pattern on Moda Bake Shop! As always, if you make any of my patterns from MBS, I would love to see them!

Sharing at Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday! And Brag About Your Beauties too!

Christmas Countdown {78 Sewing Days Left!}

There are 78 sewing days left until Christmas! Today I've put together a helpful compilation of a bunch of *free* tutorials for Christmas and holiday themed projects! As always, any pattern is a holiday pattern if you use holiday-themed fabric -- let your imagination go wild!

Jingle Bell Rock Throw Quilt from Moda Bake Shop:
This one is my latest MBS pattern! I've seen a few in-progress versions of this quilt and I can't wait to see more!

Rail Fence Table Runner:
The perfect pattern for those leftover 2.5" strips or for a quick and easy gift!

Frosty Cabins Table Runner from Modern By The Yard:
This is one that I'm actually planning to make another version of sometime this winter!

Bowtie Wreath and Countdown to Christmas 6" blocks from Moda Bake Shop:
Be creative and come up with your own setting for the entire collection of 6" blocks from last December's block-a-day "Advent calendar" on MBS!

Star of Wonder Table Runner:
Another simple table runner that's perfect for gifting!

Sparkle Tree Skirt:
This tutorial would work with any 6" finished block swapped out for the Ohio Star blocks!

Ribbon Candy on Moda Bake Shop:
If you're feeling festive, this is the quilt to try! Amanda designed and made this quilt and I have it on my bucket list to make myself.

As always, if you make something from one of our tutorials be sure to share a picture with us!

Happy Monday!

Jingle Bell Rock {New on Moda Bake Shop!}

I'm excited to share my newest Moda Bake Shop pattern with you -- introducing Jingle Bell Rock!

I've sort of had bowtie blocks on the brain in the last year and I came up with the idea of a bowtie made of pieced nine-patches in the springtime. I found that designs with just my nine-patch bowtie blocks were a little busy and I decided to swap out half of the blocks for log cabins built around a four patch. Here's my original design:

This quilt was made with the Overnight Delivery line from Sweetwater. This is a quilt that uses one jelly roll and background yardage -- I used a white on cream print from the line for my background instead of a solid this time around. 

To make the quilt, I made all of the nine-patch bowtie blocks first and then used the "strip stubs" and remaining jelly roll strips to make the log cabin blocks. Each of the bowtie blocks uses one dark and one light fabric; the log cabin blocks uses light scraps for the four patches, darker and medium prints for the first set of "logs", and background fabric for the second set of "logs". 

And guess what -- this pattern doesn't even use the whole jelly roll! I was able to make a coordinating table runner out of the scraps from this quilt -- I put together a tutorial for that too and that will be published tomorrow!

The backing for this quilt is one of the large text prints -- hope, joy, love, peace! The binding is the diagonal plaid in green and black. For the quilting, I did an all over filler of whimsical stars and loops in white thread.

If you're looking for a quick and fun quilt to make for Christmas, this pattern should be on your list! This quilt is also perfect for beginners because other than the stitch and flip units for the bowtie blocks, the rest of the quilt is put together entirely with straight seams and no sashings or borders.

It's always a little funny to work on Christmas quilts in the summer, and this one was no exception! I took these outdoor quilt photos on what was to that point the hottest day of the year here in Maryland!

Check out the full tutorial here on the Moda Bake Shop blog!

Quilt Stats:
Name: Jingle Bell Rock
Pattern: pattern on MBS, designed by me
Size: 60" square
Fabrics: Overnight Delivery by Sweetwater
Quilting: Stars and loops in white Aurifil

Sharing with Needle and Thread Thursday!

Garden Plots {New Moda Bake Shop Pattern}

I'm so excited to share about my newest Moda Bake Shop Pattern -- Garden Plots!

(Update 7/1/2020: This pattern is no longer available on the Moda Bake Shop website. It is now only available in the book, Best of Moda Bake Shop.)

This is a complicated looking quilt that has all straight seams! This could easily be accomplished by a confident beginner or intermediate quilter! Each block uses two jelly roll strips -- I chose to make each block using two different fabrics.

I quilted this quilt with an all-over meander with flowers -- my go to motif as of late!

This quilt uses one jelly roll and a total of a yard of fabric for the focal fabric portions of the blocks. I used three different fabrics for the large centers of the blocks.

I also wrote this pattern so that you could use either 3 yards of fabric -or- a neutral jelly roll as your background fabric. I used yardage but the directions don't change if you wanted to use a jelly roll and save time!

I had some trouble fighting the shadows given that I took these pictures before sunset, but some of the pictures show such amazing texture!

The fabric line used in this quilt is Voyage by Kate Spain! I absolutely love the purples used in this line. Every other block is turned 90 degrees which accomplishes two things -- it eliminates the need for sashing between the blocks and it also means that you only have to match the seams between the blocks themselves and not any of the "gears" around the block!

I used the large scale floral flourish print in three colors -- pink, teal, and blue -- as my block centers. I also used the teal fabric for my backing and the pink print as my binding. There is also a final "border" of background strips around the 16 blocks to help the blocks float on the background.

Don't forget to share your finished quilts using my patterns with me -- I love seeing them!

Sharing at Finish It Up Friday!