Do you happen to pick up just fantastic fabric panels from time to time but somehow don’t seem to get them done? Sometimes I am disappointed with the end result that doesn’t look quite like I had imagined! I have to say that this Zoe Zombie Doll and Bones her Immortal Dog did not disappoint me! What do you think?
The trick for me on this panel was that before I even cut the panel apart I long armed the pieces giving each one structure and form with the 80/20 Warm and Natural Batting and muslin backing. The tutorial for How to Quilt a Fabric Panel and particularly the ideas to accentuate Zoe and Bones. I have lots of thoughts, pictures and actual video of the tutorial for Zombie Apocalypse Fabric Panel by Emily Taylor for Riley Blake Designs. If you are interested in purchasing this fabric panel it come free when you purchase a Zombie Love Fat Quarter Kit by Emily Taylor Designs for Riley Blake Fabric
I have to tell you that my family and I really enjoyed making Zoe and Bones come to life for our Fall Festivities!
Zoe the Zombie Doll body part pieces that you will need.
Bones the Immortal Dog body pieces that you will need.
Additional Supplies Needed: a NEW Demin Jean Needle for your sewing machine, Gray Thread and Stuffing
Let’s Get Started to Bring to Life Zoe the Zombie Doll:
Cut out the quilted body part pieces for Zoe. For the arms and legs, I left about a 1/4 inch seam allowance around them but with the Zoe Front and Back Body pieces I cut them along the outer edge of the doll. Be sure to mark where the location of the arms are on the doll front and back pieces.
The arms and legs are constructed in a tubular manner. Fold one arm piece in half with right sides together and sew around the arm starting at point A and ending at point B. Turn inside out and stuff until firm. Repeat with the second arm. Set aside arms.
Fold one of Zoe’s legs in half with right sides together. Sew around the leg, leaving the straight edge open. Turn inside out, stuff until firm. Repeat with other leg.
Use a fat knitting needle or other blunt object to push the seams of the arms and legs all the way out after turning them inside out.
I did not close the openings of the arms or legs and did not allow the stuffing to poof out where I was going to attach the arms and legs to the body of Zoe. We already have a lot of layers to sew through with the batting and fabric. You can see in the picture that I have positioned Zoe’s Arms and stitched them to her body.
Now attach the legs to the body bottom. (Refer to photo)
Match up the front and back body pieces of Zoe the Zombie Doll. It is important to notice that you want to make sure that her hair, neck, dress white stripe are matched up on the body as those will be noticeable pieces to not have accurately matched when turned inside out – see photos and video for additional help on this.
First stitch her head together first matching her collar and hair on each side.
Leave the legs hanging out with the arms tucked in, stitch the front and back of the Zoe the Zombie bodies together Leaving the bottom of her dress open to turn her inside out.
Stuff Zoe the Zombie doll firm and hand stitch her dress bottom completely closed.
There she is! Embellish her with some of your own home elements or leave her just exactly as she is! Sweet isn’t she?
Let’s Get Started to Bring to Life Bone’s the Immortal Zombie Dog:
Cut out all of Bone’s Quilted body part pieces of the left body side, right body side, underbelly, front ear piece and back ear pieces.
Sew together Bone’s front and back left and right ear pieces. The back side is polka dotted and the right side is black. Turn the ears inside out and finger press the quilted ears. No stuffing is needed as they have great structure to them.
Fold the underbelly of Bones along the dotted line. Pin the underbelly to match “E” and “F” side of the left quilted body then stitch together. Next pin the underbelly to match along with the “D” and “C” sides of the right quilted body finish stitching the underbelly to the right side of the quilted body. Bone’s is starting to take shape eh?
Line up the ears on the left side of the Bones body and stitch into place.
If needed, trim some of the batting from the ear seam when you are attaching them to the body to have less fabric to sew through. I decided to offset the ears when stitching the top of the body together so my sewing machine needle would smoothly go across all layers. (See photo)
It is important to make sure the Bone’s green collar is matching under Bone’s chin and the back of his neck. These would be obvious places that one would notice if his body was not stitched together right.
Start stitching the top part of Bone’s right and left side of the body together starting at Bone’s neck to ensure the matching of his green color and then leaving open a 2 to 3 inch space at the back of his body below his tail.
Turn Bone’s body inside out from the opening. Use a long blunt knitting needle or object to ensure that all seams are pushed all the way out.
Stuff Bone’s the Immortal Zombie Dog and hand stitch his opening completely closed
There he is! Embellish Bones with some of your home element or leave him just exactly as he is! Darling isn’t he?
I would just love if you emailed me a photo of own created versions of Zoe and Bone’s! I would love to see how they turned out. If you get stumped anywhere do not hesitate to email me!
What extra ideas do you have to embellish Zoe or Bones and share your ideas or tips to construct them. Post your photos and #ZoeZombieBonesDog so all can search them and see your fantastic ideas! YEA! It sure feels great to share!
Have you purchased a fabric panel and don’t know what to do with it? Have you used panels before and then disappointed with your effort and money spent?
We have some ideas for YOU! I am going to break down how to take a panel and figure out how to embellish it so it takes form into something that is unique and loved! You will feel great about the efforts you spend and the new skills you learned. I have purchased several panels through the years and rarely turn back to actually do anything with them. In the spirit of Halloween Fun, let’s break down this darling panel created by Emily Taylor Designs for Riley Blake. This panel was a coordinate with Emily Taylor’s Zombie Apocalypse 2014 Fabric Collection.
Zombie Apocalypse by Emily Taylor Designs for Riley Blake Fabrics
For Fall 2015, Emily Taylor designs with her talented skills created the Zombie Love collection for all of us to play with!
Zombie Love by Emily Taylor Design for Riley Blake
Zombie Love is just beyond adorable! I love studying her whimsical artwork and sweet loving Zombie story lines on her fabric! Darling! We will get to more of that in another post!
Let’s go back and focus on the 2014 Zombie Apocalypse panel we are going to break apart today.
Zombie Apolcalypse Panel Zoe Zombie Doll and Bones Dog Pattern
You can see here there is a darling doubled sided Zoe the Zombie doll that has one side featuring her loveliness and the other side featuring her zombiness. Zoe the Zombie has cute tubular arms and legss to attach. Emily Taylor just couldn’t stop with her talent with a Zoe Zombie Doll, but Emily’s imagination gave Zoe a companion of “Bones”, the Zombie Dog! How darling is that? Bones the Zombie Dog has two body sides, an underbelly along with darling floppy ears to attach!
There have been times that I will create something from a panel but it lacks any shape or form to make the sewable item look like what I imagine it should be. Well to solve that issue in sewing you use interfacing right! This time we are going to quilt this panel with Warm and Natural 80/20 Batting and 100% cotton muslin fabric backing. This type of panel would be fun to learn and experiment how to quilt on a domestic sewing machine. Challenge yourself and play with a panel to learn quilting techniques on your sewing machine. I have a long arm quilting machine and going to load this sweet panel on that machine and doodle away.
I brainstormed what might look good for this Zombie panel and thought of things associated with Zombies while not being morbid. I’m more of a playful Zombie Halloween person not the scary kind run away from. Being the conservative person that I am, I do not find enjoyment in watching scary movies; life is already a bit to scary to add more to it. I do have immediate family members that enjoy scary movies. We do have Walking Dead fans in our family and I thought they might appreciate me “entering their world” making some fun Zombie items for them. Back to brainstorming… I find that Zombie culture has plaid in it, flowers, humor, and more.
When I was long arm quilting this panel, I felt like I was doodling with Emily Taylor and just simply embellishing her darling drawings! I used shiny black thread with on the hair and eyes. I used a metallic light green thread that worked great on all the various colors in the panel and made the quilting simpler by not have to change threads for the rest of the parts.
I decided to put flowers on Zoe the Zombie’s dress, accent her hair with waves, accentuate her eyes with more eyelashes, give the collar a bit of a lacey look and finally give her skirt some swirls. On the other hand, Zoe the Zombie’s scary side I quilted her eyes to look more zombieish, accented her hair with zig zags, scratched up the tares in her dress, and more. You can study the images to see more.
Zoe’s legs and arms are sewn in a tubular fashion so there wasn’t a zombie and non-zombie side but the panel seemed to have a zombie arm/leg and regular arm/leg. After making this observation, I decided to quilt the zombie arm/leg a bit scary and the non-zombie arm/leg a bit friendly.
Zoe’s Zombie dog Bones is already darling but I decided to quilt him with abstract non-descript “bones” on his body. I accented his eyes and features along with quilting a plaid pattern on his nose.
On the outside of Bone’s ears, I quilted lines between the polka dots and the inside of his ears did a circular pattern.
Videos of the long arm quilting of the panel are included in the post if you want to watch it in action. Remember I am trying to be lose with my quilting of the panel to give it a whimsical look. If you are new to quilting it is best to not try for perfection but instead be “consistently inconsistent” and you really end up with a great result. It pains me to think of the unpicking going on with quilting. Remember quilting is a fluid art with each person having their own fingerprint and style. Find your style and let it flow throughout your work. This video was filmed as a live Periscope Video with people asking questions during the video. After watching it I can’t believe the number of times I said “um” YUCK! I promise my next live video will NOT have that going on! The first person to watch the entire video and count the number of “um”s that I said and be the first to make a remark in the comments of this blog post, will have a quilting Halloween surprise mailed to them! The video was also a bit shakey and I will improve upon my video set up while long arm quilting and not have the video camera attached to the machine.
Tomorrows post will be on assembling and stitching together Zoe the Zombie Doll with her companion dog Bones which will be a written photographed and video post from streaming live on Periscope. If you are new to Periscope then it is an app you download on your phone, you can follow me at stitchesquiltin for live broadcasts and inspiring chats. You can watch the video and interact with me live by making comments and I can answer your questions. Let’s have some creative fun together.
Zoe and Bones are definitely going to bring smiles to my family members! You can still purchase this Zombie Apocalypse Panel at Stitches Quilting with either the Zombie Love or Zombie Apocalypse Fat Quarter Kit. So pull out fabric panels that you may already own and let’s get them put together for possible holiday gifts this season! I am a firm believer in using up what you have and put it to good use! Maybe this tutorial will motivate you to pull out some panels laying around transforming them into something unique! Please share comments below if you have been disappointed with panel results yourself and any tips you have used to make them come to life. I would also LOVE your comment of other ideas you have for quilting Zoe the Zombie and her dog Bones along with use of the fabric collections!
Day 1: People feel just like YOU – We have each other!
Parents of Special Needs Children are some of the strongest people that I know. We are a breed of people that are different from others. We are tired, exhausted and spent being pulled in many directions. There is enormous responsibility because no one is going to take this path with our child.
Disappointments began when we noticed that our child’s growth or development just wasn’t quite right and then more disappointments to follow when least expected.
We celebrate and appreciate moments that parents of typical children may never even notice. We grow in ways that we never imagined, developing abilities beyond our foresight. Being consumed taking care of others, we may not even know who we are anymore.
We may feel nervous asking ourselves are we doing too much, too little, the right thing, or are we focusing on the completely wrong thing? We try not to step on anyone’s toes as we advocate for our children. How do we network to figure out what is right for our child to reach their potential?
We juggle the impossible of raising our child/ren to their fullest potential, accessing resources for their development, their siblings, our spouse and finally ourselves.
I remember when my son was diagnosed with a disorder that would most likely cause significant development and medical issues for him. I was stunned, numb while activated to search everything to learn what I needed to do to help him. How was I stunned, numb and yet activated to a higher level than I have ever been?
During that time in our little family, our life revolved around his diagnosis. Time passed with his disorder became just a part or appendage of our family that was a part of us. Later we got in the rhythm of existing as a family but taking care of the specials needs when needed. Occasionally there would be unexpected hiccups that we hoped wouldn’t impact our son. Naturally we shifted our routine to mobilize but then those hiccups became routine.
Somewhere though I think on this path we tend to lose part of ourselves taking care of critical along with other needs of the family. Larger life ordinary events creep in, we lose a spouse, death of a parent, divorce, remarriage, step-children, more children, etc.. We once again shift our family unit and the needs of our unique family into these unexpected events.
Something happens to us as we drive and push the momentum of caring for so many others that we sometimes stop feeling or at times feel too much. We disappear, become invisible and our needs …. well our needs – we don’t even think about our needs anymore. That is when I have seen us lose something deep within us.
Then we become so strong and caring for a chronic disorder that people don’t come around to help anymore. We are long forgotten and even avoided. When someone asks us how we are doing or how our child or family is, they are being polite but don’t really want to know and truthfully couldn’t even imagine what our world is even like.
We need less strength at time and allow ourselves to soften to feel parts of the world that we don’t even notice passing by us. It is then that we begin to reach out and participate in them again.
I will be writing for the next 31 days in the month of October about strategies that can enable us to avoid chronic dullness or burnout as caregivers of long term disorders.
I’ve been a parent of a special needs child/ren since 1996 and I may have another 50 more years ahead of me. As parents of special needs children, we can relate to each other in ways that our own extended family members can’t possibly understand.
We are all in different stages of this journey. Let’s break those stages down and when a stage might return we can understand what we need. I want to help identify those stages, feelings to empower ourselves with strategies to get through those stages in the healthiest way possible.
I want to learn from all of you too, your comments and shared journey is important. I learn from my experiences and other caregivers I know with special needs children and what strengthens them.
I want you to know that I know you are out there and even though what I may speak of in a particular stage may not be you, I want to learn how you get through it. I have crossed paths with many exhausted caregivers that just didn’t know where their next drop of energy would come from. We spend a couple hours sharing and I think we both go our separate paths strengthened.
I will share the deepest part of my heart with you and I hope that you will feel comfortable sharing parts of yourself. I have been through a lot; have seen a lot and I am certain that you have too. Share your story… share your heart and what has helped you during different parts of your journey. We will all grow together… you can comment below or email me personally at deanna@stitchesquilting.com For this first post please know that there are many of us that feel different but similar things at different times and find comfort that we are not alone.
Let’s start this journey together and identify more strategies for our future. Let’s not just exist but live uniquely as we navigate the windy paths. Each day will have a message and then printables that you can print off and write down how your unique path has carved you and how you have carved out your own journey.
Are You Worried About Your Children? Are you overwhelmed not knowing what the best thing is to do? Or completely bewildered how to raise children in this day in age.
The climate of raising a family has completely changed from raising my 22 year old son to now my 14 year old son. My girlfriends and I are just stunned at how different it is! Need a new way to look at the challenges of raising a family then allow Matt Townsend (Setting Boundaries), Brad Barton (Resilient Kids), Carmen Rasmusen Herbert (Kid’s Self-esteem), Clay Olsen (Effects of Pornography), Lucy Delgadillo (Money Talks) with a Special Musical Guest of Joshua Creek INSPIRE YOU! You will not be disappointed and NEED this Parenting Evening to get you going!
Last Chance to purchase a couple’s date night or individual tickets with dinner for this Saturday, September 19, 2015 for the 2015 Uplift Families Parenting Conference. With Stitches Quilting Coupon $5.00 off Code of Stitches2015 your couple ticket will only be $20.00 and an individual ticket $10.00. Click above to purchase your ticket now before it is sold out!
There will also be resourceful exhibits at the Thanksgiving Point, Show Barn set up for you to obtain additional community information available here in Utah. Don’t miss out! Remember not only can YOU do hard things but YOUR kids can do hard things too! We can raise better children, families and communities together!
2015 Fabri-Quilt Challenge – Ball of Summer Love² – Block Hop & Quilt Tutorials
Fabri-Quilt challenged as a group of Quilt Bloggers to each create an unique quilt block with Fabri-Quilt’s Prairie Cloth Solids. The Prairie Cloth Solid Colors by Fabric-Quilt were selected from the Watermelon Summer Palette to include these colors:
Fabric Quilt Prairie Solids of Aqua, Chartreuse, Lapis Blue, Pale Aqua and Coral. The colors themselves say Summer!
I wanted to create something playful bringing back memories of Summer Love and the Ball of Fun we had in our younger years. These simple quilt blocks with colors, arrangement, design and placement express this! I love the “plus” + sign quilts with the different meanings they can have. Summer is a time of daydreaming and doodling our name + summer love written everywhere.
Let’s break the Ball of Summer Love² Quilt into patterns:
Ball of Summer Love²
Ball of Summer Love² with Chartreuse & Lapis Blue to Represent the GuysBall of Summer Love² with Turquoise & Coral to Represent the Gals
Do you remember the songs we would sing with our friends of “Two Love Birds Sitting in A Tree, K – I – S – ….”, when learning of someone’s summer crush? Wasn’t our summer daydreaming simple and narrow? We didn’t know it then, but later in life, our thoughts would never be as simple as the daydreaming of a young summer crushes. I love this quilt because it represents those simple, strong, playfulness with summer colors, the “plus sign” gently swooping into form and a center square with memories solidly put. I feel many memories fading away but memories and feelings of summer love are so vivid. Why is that?
Notice that this 12 1/2 inch block pattern is really only four 6 1/2 inch blocks rearranged. Do you recognize the basic design of the block now?
Guy Basic Block Ball of Summer Love² with Chartreuse & Lapis BlueGal Basic Block Ball of Summer Love² with Turquoise & Coral
The block is very similar to a drunken path quilt block. This classic block updated in this pattern with modern fabrics, colors and a triangle sewn in the corner. Now if you look carefully you will see that the Pale Aqua triangles differ in size between the blocks with the Fabric-Quilt Prairie Solids of Coral and Lapis Blue. I didn’t want to be difficult and you can choose to make the triangles all the same but I love how the different sized squares in the Coral and Lapis Blue Plus Signs are more pronounced.
Ball of Summer Love² Notice the Colorful Summer Balls Bouncing on the Quilt
Don’t forget to notice the bright summer balls playfully bouncing on the quilt separating those plus signs. You will notice their formation when looking at the quilt in the alternating blocks constructed by the design. Some of us might recognize the summer balls pattern from a Snowball Quilt Block.
Summer Bouncing Balls form by the alternating contrasting pattern created when combining the blocks
Now let’s get down to learning how to build the quilt block. I have all the patterns included in this tutorial for you to complete the block at home.
Instructions
Download and review the PDF file for the Ball of Summer Love² Quilt Blocks. We will use Guy Block Sheets and Gal Block Sheets for these instructions. Print on regular paper or a light cardstock.
1 pattern sheets of the Guy Block Sheet 1 Paper Piecing
1 pattern sheets of the Gal Block Sheet 1 Paper Piecing
Fabric Needed:
Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Turquoise
Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Chartreuse
Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Lapis Blue
Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Pale Aqua
Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Coral
Remember we will construct two different blocks: Guy Block with Lapis Blue and Chartreuse with the larger Pale Aqua triangle. Gal Block with coral and turquoise with the smaller Pale Aqua triangle. Don’t forget that the triangles that make the center square in the Lapis Blue Block are larger than in the Coral Block. Cut and piece your fabrics keeping this in mind.
Lets Get Started – Get Out All Your Supplies
Cutting the Fabric
Cut the fabric as outlined below keeping the Guy Block Fabric separated from the Gal Block Fabric
Guy Block Group:
Cut 5 inch strip of Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Chartreuse
Cut the ¼ circle pattern – You will need 4 – ¼ circles for each block you want to make.
Cut 5 inch strip of Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Lapis Blue
Cut the Guy Block Main Pattern – You will need 4 Block Main pieces for each block you want to make.
Cut 4 inch strip Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Pale Aqua
Cut the 4 inch strip into 4″ squares. Cut square on the diagonal to create 2 triangle. – You will need 4 triangles for every block you want to make.
Gal Block Group:
Cut a 4.5 inch strip of Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Turquoise
Cut the ¼ circle pattern – You will need 4 – ¼ circles for each block you want to make.
Cut a 5 inch strip of Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Coral
Cut the Gal Main Pattern – You will need 4 Block Main pieces for each block you want to make.
Cut a 3 inch strip of Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids – Pale Aqua
Cut the 4 inch strip into 4 inch squares. Cut square on the diagonal to create 2 triangle. – You will need 4 triangles for every block you want to make.
Cut Pieces Organized and Set Aside
Now let’s get to stitching…. if you have never done curved piecing then are going to absolutely LOVE trying out this method! I have photographs and video along with helpful instructions to get you going at it!
Here are our cut pieces ready to stitch the first block.
There isn’t a right or wrong side to the Fabri-Quilt Prairie Solids so that will make our piecing easier.
Let’s start with the Guy Block:
Please refer to the pictures.
I am sewing with a blue Aurifil 50 weight 100% cotton thread to piece this block together from the Happy Colors by Bee in My Bonnet Collection color number 2725 available at the Stitches Quilting Shoppe.
If you are new to curved piecing, set your stitch length to 3.5 or 4.0 for the first couple times piecing these curved pieces together. That way if you don’t get it right then you can unstitch it and try it again. The Fabri-Quilt Prairie Cloth Solids hold up really well so it can take a few different times of unpicking a block and restitching it back together again. You need to get the rhythm of it and then you will be string feeding them together. You will be surprised at how fast you can put these together.
Carefully snip the seam allowance on ¼ circle rounded side, this will allow the fabric to naturally follow with the reverse curvature of the main block.
You will start stitching the curved pieces together like this.Keep pulling the lime green fabric to match the curved blue fabric.Here we are almost finished stitching the curved pieces.For those of you that have sewed sleeves doesn’t this look like a sleeve just stitched?
Press open the two fabrics folding the Chartreuse fabric open. Isn’t it just beautiful! If you didn’t get it just right you can try again if this is your first time piecing curves together. You may find that the fabric will lay flatter with the curve if you add a few more snips in the seam allowance so it can stretch to match the curvature of the seam. Lovely isn’t it!
Now stitch the Pale Aqua large Guy Triangle onto the Main Guy Block Pieces with a ¼” seam. Press the basic block and set aside.
Continue to piece three more Guy Blocks exactly as instructed above.
Square up each of your basic blocks before sewing together
Square up the 4 Guy Blocks to 6.5 inches square using your mat board, rotary cutter and ruler. You can use a square ruler or just your regular ruler. Keep in mind while squaring up the block that you want proportion around the entire block. This is a very important step to insure that you are going to match your seams as you piece the 4 blocks together to make the 12.5 finished square block. If the blocks are less than a 6.5 inch block then mark the block with a safety pin, pin, sticky note in the corner or edge that is falling short to compensate for it as you are stitching the 4 blocks together to form the larger 12.5 inch block. Don’t get discouraged just move forward with any mistake as you can work with it and spin out a fantastic project. The key is to stay consistent with your ¼ inch seam when putting any block piece together.
Let’s piece the four blocks into one large block rotating them in the position we want with the Light Agua triangles in the center to create a square. Make certain to match your seams to make each design in the block to work. It is better to stretch the cotton fabric a bit than to not match a seam. You will be surprised at how stretchy cotton fabric really is.
First start with stitching the top two blocks A and B in the first row together while matching your seams. Second stitch the blocks A & B of the second row together while matching your seams. After stitching press the blocks assembled. Stitch the top row and the bottom row together to get the complete Guy Block constructed and press once again.
Look back and enjoy your block. Isn’t it just beautiful! Don’t forget to square your block up once again making the final Guy or Gal block to be 12 1/2 inches square.
Refer to the pictures and video instruction for anything that isn’t quite clear and please let me know where the pattern instructions might need clarification so I can improve the pattern and become a better pattern writer. Please include feedback, tips for other or inspiration in the comments below.
Next Let’s create the Gal Block with Coral & Turquoise colors
Follow the same instructions for the Guy Block to complete the Gal Block keeping in mind that you are using Carol and Turquoise Fabrics instead of the Lapis Blue and Chartreuse. Create the four coral basic blocks to make the large Gal Block of 12 1/2 inch square block.
Look at our finished blocks! Marveling that it all came from one simple block design.
EXTRA
To complete the quilt as designed above build 6 total 12 1/2 inch Guy blocks and 6 total 12 1/2 inch Gal blocks. Piece the blocks as arranged in the quilt image.
I’m planning on making a summer tote bag by constructing four of the blocks together and will do a tutorial next week for the summer tote bag construction.
THOUGHTS
This therapeutic quilting activity is another way than “luminosity” to rustle old memories from the cob webs in your brain to the forefront. Journal these thoughts of summer memories to take you back to those careless days. Take time while you are quilting to jot down those old memories or even look around for old photographs; your children and grandchildren will love it!
Comment below and let me know the memories that come back to you and what you think of the simple design and construction of the quilts. How would you construct it differently?
I’m very grateful to the gals that organized this Fabri-Quilt Blog Hop! The blocks designed for this Blog Hop are utterly incredible! You will find yourself mindlessly surfing the world wide web reviewing the unique modern quilting blocks with free tutorials from the talented group of 60+Quilt Bloggers coming to you literally from around the world.
Below are the organizers of this Blog Hop that worked extremely hard to bring you the best! These creative blocks are mailed off to our fearless hosts constructed into charity quilts.
You will be able to find Quilt Bloggers that participated in this Fabri-Quilt Challenge and their blocks along with free instruction on the four hosts pages:
I want to thank everyone that participated in the Farm Girl Vintage Book with 18 Fat Quarters from Stitches Quilting Giveaway as it was excellent fun getting to know all of you! Several more Giveaways coming soon! I learned so much from doing my very first one and got excellent suggestions and feedback to improve!
Our next giveaway is a Fall Halloween Giveaway Fat Quarter Collection of Emily Taylor’s Zombie Apocalypse for Riley Blake that includes a specially designed panel by Emily Taylor to make a Zombie Doll and Zombie Dog! We have included a tutorial on how to assemble the Zombie Doll and Dog with some extra embellishments. To purchase your own Emily Taylor’s 9 piece Fat Quarter Kit with Zombie Doll and Zombie Panel here before they sell out. We also have extra Zombie Doll and Dog panels designed by Emily Taylor for you to purchase without the Fat Quarter Collection in case you already have Zombie Apocalypse yardage in your stash. To enter the Stitches Quilting Fall/Halloween Zombie Apocalypse Giveaway click here!
It is time for Stitches Quilting to offer their first Giveaway of Farm Girl Vintage Book with 18 Quilt Fat Quarter Kit! We hope this is something that you will like!
ENTER NOW! The Giveaway is for the Best Selling Farm Girl Vintage Book by Lori Holt with Bee In Your Bonnet AND an 18 Quilt Fat Quarter Kit to start stitching away from this inspiring book!
Celebrate with us our 1st ever giveaway with the hashtags of: #stitchesquiltinggiveaway #fabricgiveaway #quiltgiveaway
You can enter multiple times through the Rafflecopter link below and to get additional entries go to @stitchesquilting Instagram Feed and the Giveaway Post and follow instructions within the post. Share and tag this page on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Email and MORE! Subscribe to Stitches Quilting website online store and blog for an additional 5 entries.
There will only be one winner that will be notified within 48 hours after the giveaway. Absolutely no purchase is necessary for the giveaway! I just want everyone to win something so you can use the coupon code of Expired XXXXXX for 30% off your shopping cart and there is free shipping if you spend $50 or more. Expect a total of four giveways over the course of the next 4 weeks so subscribe to stay tuned in for more awesome quilty giveaways coming your way!
Enter the giveaway below…. The giveaway starts August 7, 2015 and will end August 14, 2015 at midnight!
Summary of things that would describe this quilter:
Blogger & Owner of Stitches Quilting Online Store – Live in Salt Lake City Utah – Born on a farm but now live in a city – Quilter – DIY – Sewist – Pattern Writer – Surface Pattern Designer – Graphic Design – Special Needs Mom – Proud Handy User of Power and Hand Tools – Hand and Machine Embroidery – Heirloom Maker – Long Armer – Jewelry Maker – Gadget Lover – Technology Lover – (I use every gadget to its fullest potential to not waste money – I like to read the entire manual) – Social Media Networker – Laid 2 stories of my own hardwood floors – Redecorated husband’s law office with DIY Repurposed Stripped Filing Cabinets in Industrial Look – Thrift and Repurpose Lover – Positive – Appreciates Antique, Vintage, Simplistic Items – Bargain Enthusiast – Spiritually Oriented – Survivor – Creative parent – Gentle Spirited – Non Judgmental – Divorced and Happily Remarried for 12 years – Mother – Practical – Enjoy making Household Products and Makeup – Novice Photographer & Videographer – Entrepreneur – Firm Personal Believer in the Quote, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” (Often in this day and age we live a life of such over excess.) – Generous and Love to Share what I have with Others – Always and Endlessly trying to improve myself to be a better person.
My love of sewing started when I was a young girl and I actually made a vest with my grandmother on a non-electric foot treadle sewing machine!
My First Sewing Experience Was on This Manual Machine
As a teen, I loved finding a pattern to make something to wear or a gift for someone else. I always felt a sense of accomplishment after I made something, although I have to admit that sewing my own clothing was disappointing at this age.
I learned about quilting when I was in high school and I know this is mind boggling but my first quilt was a whole cloth hand quilted quilt. I started it in the 1980’s which the shiny fabric and design dates my selection, I found hand quilting relaxing although I have to admit that family members helped me finish it as it was a huge undertaking.
My very first hand whole cloth quilt I started my senior year in high school
My next sewing adventure that I loved was making Halloween costumes for my children. It was something that my girlfriends and I enjoyed doing with our children and my children loved how I could make their imagination come alive with fabric. My children loved the super hero capes and everything else I sewed for them. Just a few years after I had my first child, a good friend, Randi Welch, taught me how to cut fabric and piece it back together again to create a quilt top. I loved it and embraced the craft with precision. The quilting generation at that time taught you to always press your seams to the side with the darker fabric. I lived in Galveston Texas at the time, with no fabric store on the island with my only access to Walmart fabrics and one small darling quilt store that I didn’t feel I could afford the quality quilting fabrics. Not having much of a budget for gifts during my 1st husband’s school and training, I made every gift for each holiday to extended family members. I loved giving gifts that were personal, useful and handmade. We didn’t have much money so I was very frugal with what I made.
Stitches Quilting Brick and Mortar Storefront
I never lived in a place where I had easy access to trendy quilt stores and especially in Yuma, Arizona. I found myself having to travel three hours to Phoenix or San Diego to try to find quality quilting fabrics. Even though there was a quilting store in Yuma, they did not sell Moda fabrics, and I really loved the style of Moda fabrics. After my divorce in 2002, I invested some money into opening a 2,000 square foot brick and mortar quilt store.
I loved my Shoppe and it was a second home to my three young boys. When the fabric started arriving, I was in ecstatic and loved touching and arranging displays. My Shabby Chic Italian themed Shoppe attracted new young quilters along with the snow birds that would travel to Yuma for the winter months. The Shoppe had a large variety of classes available, but was ALWAYS open and room for someone to just plop in with their sewing machine to stitch there and socialize instead of being alone at home. The Shoppe had a beautiful area for children to play that had a custom crafted stucco Italian playhouse as the central feature along with dolls, quilts, tea sets, dress up clothing, legos, TV’s gaming and more.
Custom Stucco Italian Playhouse for Children to play in while their Moms shopped
It was darling because no child ever wanted to leave my Shoppe. After a mother would make her selections, we could see her nervously approach the child to say it was time to leave, and the child always protested. The mom would have to say to the child five or ten more minutes and then nervously walk the Shoppe and visit with others going back to retrieve the still resistant child. People loved to come to the Shoppe although leaving the Shoppe was often difficult. Every month I showcased a local ordinary quilter’s work and displayed all their pieces in the store. The Shoppe evolved monthly with new quilts from designated local quilters of the month let alone the beautiful samples for the fabric, books, pattern and notions being sold.
My Boys and I at Stitches Quilting in Yuma AZ
One of the hardest things I did was close the Shoppe, my youngest child sustained a traumatic brain injury at 11 months of age from riding a horse. He was paralyzed on the right side and had to learn everything over again and I already had one autistic son diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosiss . I knew I needed to focus all my energies to my children and it was costing so much to have other people run the shoppe. I remarried and moved to Utah. I had no idea how much fabric the sweet employees and snow birds had packed up for me after my son’s accident. Unknown to me these boxes traveled with me from Arizona to Utah. After getting my master’s degree 2008 and being the practical person that I am, I decided to re-open the Shoppe online with the boxes of bolts of fabric newly discovered from the store. The fabric sold like hot cakes because by that time the fabric was highly collectible and out of print.
Current Stitches Quilting Shoppe Studio
After selling enough fabric, I saved up to buy a long arm quilting machine. I always wanted one and would only machine quilt my quilts on my domestic machine. I had a friend, Renae Haddadin, at Quilts on the Corner, that encouraged me that I could operate a long arm machine and after admiring them for years, I finally bought one in 2010. I don’t care to long arm for other people but love to long arm for myself and teach others how to long arm quilt tops they would make in my studio.
Innova Long Arm Machine that Renae Haddidan encouraged me to get
I choose the name of “Stitches” for my business in 2002 but after reopening it in 2008, I had to add “Stitches Quilting” to the name in Utah. The name Stitches represented happiness and lightheartedness. I am a glass half full kind of gal, and the one that looks at things through rose-colored glasses. I am one of those positive “Tiggers” that seem to naturally annoy “Eeyores”, although when I sense an “Eeyore” is with me, I am sensitive and naturally limit the positive annoying “Tigger” within me.
Stitches Quilting
One thing that I love about quilting is the connections it brings with other people. Either making a gift by hand or building relationships through spending time to teach someone how to quilt those connections naturally come. I have domestic machines that are always available for people to come over and sew with.
I wouldn’t be able to even count the number of quilts I have made in my lifetime or the number of people I have taught to quilt. I’m apprehensive to just show you quilts I have made, as it isn’t the quilts that I work hard at making but connections with other people and impacting others’ lives through quilting that is important to me. Do you feel the same way about your quilts that each one is a personal journey of growth or meaning with an entire story behind it? An extremely simple quilt of mine may have the most amazing personal impact in my life based on why I was making the quilt and what journey I was on in my life at the time.
A Quilt I made for my Mom before she passed away of ALS Lou Gehrigs
Many people think that they can’t quilt, based off of negative impressions say from their home ec class. Nothing thrills me more than to share my enthusiasm that anyone can do anything they set their mind to. Nothing is as difficult as it ever seems when it is broken down into sizable pieces. Especially for quilting because anyone can embrace it at any level as really it begins with simple sewing of straight lines. I love to teach people and even children that what they have told themselves from past experiences that they can’t do they really can do and are capable of anything if they have the faith and encouragement to try. Were you someone that didn’t think you had a skill set or thought it would be too difficult that made you apprehensive to enjoy quilting or something else in life?
Quilting is also a hobby that is simple or challenging as one wants. Each quilt is uniquely personal by learning new techniques, using different materials, fabrics, threads or expressions of what one loves at the time. That is what I love about quilting is the connections you make with others and that the craft is as easy or challenging as you want it. I now no longer need a pattern to make anything. Someone can just show me a picture or doodle of something and I can personally make it or teach them how to make it. I love the challenge to create my own patterns based off of the fabrics available, project needed and limitations existing. I find that sometimes the limitations we are given is what draws out the most creativity that is within us. Do you feel the same way? What is the simplest quilt you have made and then the most challenging? Do you find your emotional attachments of the quilts you make are based on the complexity of the quilting?
This quilt I made for my youngest son upon his birth. I customized it with his eyes looking at a bumble bee on his nose.
This blog is dedicated to teaching others what I have learned from many years of quilting and “stitching through life”. I fiercely believe that if someone buys fabric from me that I don’t want it to sit somewhere unfinished because they are overwhelmed by the project or just in need of some encouragement. I believe in supporting those that purchase things anywhere so they are used in that the work of our hands can delight the souls of others along with making ourselves feel uplifted and good.
May the Work of Your Hands Delight the Soul
A blogging tip from me at this time of developing my own blog is to make sure your branding is carried through all of your social media. Social media is a free place to draw others to the things we love. Make your email, usernames of all accounts the same along using the same profile picture and banners on every social media platform. Even if you are not comfortable with a certain social media platform and not nearly ready to even use it, save the user name so it is consistent with all your other social media accounts. One can also really polish their social media networking by inserting hyperlinks into the bottom of your email signature including social media icons, a photograph of yourself and logo of your brand. (photo) What blogging tip do you have to share, because I have a lot to learn including that this blog post should be shorter in length?
Another quilt blogging tip is to join our #Quilt Bloggers# Pinterest Group Board where we can pin our blog posts to and then each member of the group will repin each other’s group pins posted to the group Pinterest board. Email me at deanna@stitchesquilting.com to request to join.
For a quilting tip – take care of yourself meticulously now so that you can continue to quilt and share with others you love for a very long time. When I say take care of yourself, live a gentle life of balance, keeping in mind that a healthy physical, emotional and spiritual well-being will give you more time to quilt and create giving you extended years of health. I also believe in making your craft a family social affair to spend time together. What life or health things do you think can extend your ability to quilt a long and healthy life. My children always played right with me as I created things sometimes with them joining in to help and sweet gentle boundaries were always set to not touch the rotary cutter etc.
My son Nick helped me select every fabric for this quilt. Watched me stitch it together as he played along side me for his lizard decorated themed room.
A quilting tip is to always have your sewing machine out or fabrics to cut. I reward myself with a bit of stitching after getting a ton of required demands of life done. But even that 15 minutes I may have been able to stitch something and admire the block or item gives me much pleasure. If you always have a small area available it is amazing what time can be carved out of a day while you wait for noodles to boil for dinner or whatever it might be. So have your machine or hand sewing project easily accessible. What do you think helps you make progress on your projects?
A quilting tip is that hard and fast rules of quilting may change through the years as access to quality quilting materials, techniques, technology and sciences evolve. (ex. the standard is now to press your seams open because thread and fabrics are of a very different strength) Summing it up don’t be so rigid on yourself. What quilting technique have you seen change through the years?
A great long arm quilting technique is to use Renae Haddadin’s “Red Snappers” to attach your backing and quilt to the leaders by just snapping away instead of pinning or sewing zipper leaders to your quilt top and backing. It saves a TON of time! Are you not amazed by the things that can still be invented in this quilting industry that has been around for centuries? Below is a video of Renae explaining how to use these “Red Snappers”! What an invention!
My dream is to make a complete cathedral quilt and have that quilt be on my bed in my later years when I can no longer quilt and pass on to another season and phase of life. But before then I plan on sharing what I have learned in my younger years with anyone that would like to join me on the journey and share their experiences with quilting and life. Attached is the picture of the cathedral window quilt that I have kept posted on my daydreaming board next to my sewing machine for years. What ultimate quilt do you day dream of making? What other life experiences have you learned from embracing the art of quilting?
Please comment below, I love to interact with people and hear the thoughts that you have. I certainly don’t just want to ramble but look forward to having a dialogue with all of you and learn the thoughts you have about quilting. I hope this article helps you learn more about me as the store owner of Stitches Quilting and author of “Stitching through Life” Blog.
I was challenged to write this blog post as a member of the 2015 New Quilt Bloggers Group. This is week 4 of the group and there are many other wonderful Quilt Bloggers that are a part of the group that you would enjoy reading about them and their blogs. There are also several valuable Giveaways that you can enter that are being used to promote this group of Bloggers. I can’t possibly thank enough the four group leaders that have inspired all of us to collaborate as a group and optimize our skills.
My personal group leader is Terri Ann with Childlike Fascination and my group is called the Sewcial Swarm
Welcome to the final week of the 2015 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop! I’m so happy and thankful that you’ve all been here to follow along and check out all these new quilt bloggers along with us. Today I am excited to introduce you additional members of the Sewcial Swarm Hive that are posting in week 4:
I invite you to click and visit their blogs, and leave them a friendly comment to say hi. Bloggers appreciate comments so much; so many of us don’t have friends to sew with and connect to the quilting world virtually. Comments make the online quilting world go ’round!
I always drooled over I SPY quilts and waited forever to make one for our family! I waited and waited because I just didn’t think that I had enough pieces of fabric to make the quilt! I didn’t want the quilt to familiar like it had pieces of every single other quilt I had made in it. Which I actually think now is a charming idea because my children can look at pieces of the I SPY fabric and actually remember other quilts made with the same fabric. Well it took me a long time to collect enough novelty pieces for the I SPY quilt that I was day dreaming to make. I did eventually get this quilt off my quilting day dreaming bucket list!
I stuffed all the obscure novelty prints in a squished plastic shoe box and often I would pull the pieces out to count them and see if I was close to collecting enough pieces that could work for the quilt. Disappointed after counting, I would shove those pieces back into their plastic bin determined to keep collecting! But one day I went through the count and holy cow I finally thought I had enough of a diverse variety to start the process of making the quilt.
I SPY Basket of Swap Fabric
I was so excited and my biggest admirer of my quilts was my darling son, Nick, so I immediately showed him that I had enough pieces. I so vividly remember Nick and I, sitting cramped against my sewing room wall examining and counting each piece. The pieces stuffed in that plastic box for years were now crumpled up odd pieces of fabric! They were really crumpled! I quickly grabbed a cutting board with rotary cutter and placed it on the floor next to us along with an iron and tiny ironing pad to start it right away. My son, in fourth grade at the time, and I sat so awkwardly against the wall with him just as excited about the project as me. We had bought so many I SPY books through the years and loved reading those. Maybe these I SPY quilts remind of my days as a child sitting in the doctor’s office going through Highlights magazines searching the hidden pictures! I guess I figured this quilt could be something like a permanent huge Highlight magazine hidden picture. No one in those days other than family practice offices had those Highlight magazines back then.
Well my sweet Nick would iron each of the crumpled ODD shaped fabrics and I was sitting on Nick’s left side fussy cutting away these pieces to work with the pattern I had in mind! It was a big task ahead of us and I have no idea why we didn’t do this process on a table. I know my back starting hurting crunched over to make these perfect cuts. Sweet Nick would iron each one and hand it to me and I would cut away. With excitement we examined each piece of fabric together to decide which image would be fussy cut and then BAM I felt this HOT searing feeling on my arm. Nick and I were sitting so close together watching what each other was doing that when handing me another pressed piece of fabric the iron hit my arm and I had one heck of a burn! Nick felt so bad but we just kept working away. I had a scar from that iron burn for the longest time but it represented a sweet memories of the two of us finally accomplishing something we daydreamed about.
I have no idea why I made the quilt in the pattern I did with all those hexagons! Being thrilled to finally have the resources to make this quilt, I got it put together quickly! Through the years, our family has cherished the quilt with the memories of playing I SPY and interacting with each other. I can only imagine the years and years of fun we will continue to have with this quilt with grandchildren and more! What an heirloom! I embroidered all around the border of the quilt different things to search for to start the challenge and interaction.
I SPY Embroidery of Items to Search For Completely Around Perimeter of Black Border
I have found some fabulous ideas for different I SPY quilt patterns! You may already have a pattern in mind. I have a Pinterest I SPY Quilt Board and would love if you pinned ideas or post them with #ISPYQUILT and I will find them! I will summarize my favorites in a blog.
At Stitches Quilting when I had a store front, we always had a basket that people could trade novelty square pieces of fabric for the pieces in the basket. It was fun and I still have that same basket today! You can mail me some of your extra novelty fabrics and I will mail you back the same number of pieces from the basket. Let’s keep that I SPY basket of fun swapping away. Click the following link to see 20 piece – 5 inch I SPY charm packs and 10 inch layer cakes for sale in the Stitches Quilting Shoppe! Let us know if you would like some! Many of the prints in the basket are out of print and no longer available so you will be getting a very unique collection and of course if you have a particular interest in girl, boy, fish, holiday etc. prints just let me KNOW!
Share the quilts that you waited and waited to get just those perfect fabrics that took forever and then you finally had it perfectly right to then assemble! What fabrics did you stash away for that perfect quilt? Post photos on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #quiltybucketlist #quiltfabricstashaway or #stichesquilting to share with each other what you are daydreaming about or have accomplished! I can’t wait to see your things and read your comments! Where you ever quilting with a family member or friend that developed into a first aid experience and memories? Tell us your stories!
What could be better than reading to a child wrapped in a kid friendly quilt? Reading couldn’t be more important to instill in our children; so making reading warm, friendly, and cozy in a kid friendly quilt just couldn’t be more ideal! They feel your love and warmth as you read to your children or grandchildren wrapped up in a quilt together. Not only can the quilt be used to cover eyes with anticipation, but the reading draws you and your child closer together. There are so many fantastic books to read! There is reading to babies, toddlers, grade school children, middle school and even high school teens. Maybe by that time we will need two quilts, one for us and one for the teen! The books to choose from are just endless in each of these age ranges. Each of our children have had their favorites and for Christmas one year we purchased a copy of their favorite childhood book, signed the front of the book with memories of reading the book with the child and how the book ties into the beauty of their individuality. What a great way to make your children feel loved and important to you than setting aside the time to read with them and enter their world with books that interest them.
Another way to help a child feel loved and appreciated is to make them a child friendly quilt to read those books in! TIP 1: Fancy quilts are not necessary; they will appreciate anything! TIP 2: A great way to learn how to quilt is to make a quilt for a child. That is one of the ways that I learned how to quilt was to quilt for my children along for my nieces and nephews. I love to do the quilting of the quilt with them right along side me. No surprises because I want them to see the way steps to build a quilt and constructed.
TIP 3: A child loves to watch a loved one make something extra special for them. Children playing along aside you as you piece the quilt top together is ideal. They can help in whatever way they can. My children loved to see me make a quilt for them. TIP 4: My children loved to help with picking out fabrics, designing a pattern, cutting pieces, ironing and sometimes piecing bits of the quilt together with guidance. All the children that I have done this with have enjoyed every aspect of the project, although when they tire of things and get distracted with other items, that gives me the time to get some real work in. TIP 5: Sometimes I involve them in the initial process and then as I build the quilt together, I continually show them it as it grows into what you designed together. They are just marveled…. marveled that you would do something like that for them and feel loved as you do it.
TIP 6: Now we don’t want to make the quilt too difficult and keep the pattern simple so the process goes quickly and it gets finished never becoming a UFO. TIP 7: The other reason we want to keep things simple is we want to get to the reading part of snuggling up with that child and read a book! We daydream that possibly this quilt will be the quilt that they drag everywhere feeling that safe loved feeling when they are sick, traveling, or creating good memories with. TIP 8: Do we really need to hand stitch the binding? No, we don’t because if one of those hand stitches get worn out with use, then that binding is going to start to unravel. Can’t you just picture those cute little fingers irresistibly fingering a worn spot with the binding not attached to the back and the batting now showing! Do we really want unraveling quilts?
TIP 9: Some tips with piecing the quilt…. too many things to come apart and become vulnerable with time. Kids appreciate the memories that these quilts bring and treasure them so keep it simple so they stay intact. TIP 10: Thinking of hand quilting that project? No, resist the urge, the quilt is small but once again we really dream of them wanting this quilt when they are sick and washed properly without jeopardizing the construction of it. TIP 11: So use this opportunity to try a new machine piecing, machine binding, or machine quilting technique that we have been curious to try. AND for goodness sake…. please let’s just domestic machine quilt the quilt.
TIP 12: Don’t send the quilt to a long armer for months waiting for completion. TIP 13: I promise you can quilt a child’s quilt. Easy peesy and you will love it too – so lower those feed dogs on your domestic sewing machine. Quilting three layers together is NOT difficult – I will teach you just how to do it. TIP 14: Now we have to resist the urge to fuss over perfection, remember ladies we are NOT submitting this to a quilt show or entering it into the county fair. This quilt is for the beloved child in your life and you know what…. I bet if you are a great lady then there are probably lots of beloved children you have around you that you want to give a quilt of literacy to.
TIP 15: So let’s keep everything simple because the point of these quilts is to make those kids feel loved and to read to these kids we adore! You need time and money to run to get a book that you will to read to this child with this quilt. TIP 16: Don’t fuss over quilting details because you really want to sign the front of the book with a personal message that the child can read emphasising how important reading and the child is to you. Below you can see my 21-year-old son’s favorite book was Good Night Gorilla, and you can see the message I wrote for him in the images. I not only tell him that I love him, that reading is important but I also share why I think that book was so important to him because he had the same mischievous snuggly spirit as the Gorilla in the book, wanting everyone included and part of the party! TIP 17: An extremely shocking tip for you, please hand print the message in the front of the book instead of cursive. Kids are no longer learn how to read cursive in schools…. yes one of those lovely cut backs. It’s okay…. just be aware of it so that your adorable child will eventually read the book and your message too.
TIP 18: As you work on the quilt, think of things to jot down for front of the book that is unique to the child and your love of reading – Post It notes are handy in my sewing station for this.
TIP 19: Now picking out the fabric…. find out what the child’s favorite colors are…. dive into your stash… I know you have those colors in there somewhere. TIP 20: You probably don’t need to spend any money whatsoever. TIP 21: If you are new to quilting, be sure to go to a quilt shoppe or visit an online quilt shoppe to purchase fabrics. The fabric dyes are stable and the fabrics shrink together. TIP 22: Have a special fabric that is a family heirloom then incorporate it into the quilt! I promise… you don’t need to follow a pattern. TIP 23: Design your own and sweet ladies out there quilting is just about math and it is simple math – you can do it. I have an entire series of videos that I plan to create to help you through every ounce of this process and then I’ll be learning from you. I LOVE to learn from other quilters! They are the best ladies in the world – gentle spirits, always willing to share. TIP 24: I know this is controversial… but you do not HAVE to pre-wash your fabrics! I don’t saving loads of time with every single one of the quilts in these pictures never pre-washed. Guess what? That is more time reading than washing and then ironing those fabrics. Let the fabric, batting and everything else shrink together after you complete the quilt. TIP 25: You do not need to wash the quilt prior to giving it as a gift. I never have and guess what… every quilt that I gifted was loved and then washed many time. That saves you more time and I like the way the sizing in the fabric feels.
TIP 26: Now what could be a family heirloom – grandpa’s ties or handkerchiefs. There are so many items in your home to cut up and put into a quilt making your gift even more special than you ever dreamed. Remember when you were newly married or a new mom and you just had to get creative. TIP 27: Pull yourself back to that creative place and pull out things that you would like to see become an heirloom within an heirloom.
Attached are pictures of many quilts that I have made for my children and the books I LOVED to read to them. TIP 28: Notice the quilts are simple – I made them fast and I wasn’t worried about them being perfect. TIP 29: The purpose of the quilt was to get it in the hands of the child I loved.
TIP 30: I think my children, my nieces and nephews sincerely felt valued when I made a quilt for them. I’ve made quilts for the friends of my children to comfort during difficult times they faced for instance, a parent passing away to cancer in 6th grade to have something special representing memories. TIP 31: Giving a quilt is more than giving a gift of love it is giving part of yourself to that child permanently.
May we all celebrate the opportunity to quilt for loved ones or just special kids out there that need a little extra love. TIP 32: Let’s combine those quilts with a book to read because quilting truly can increase literacy. Right now I am enjoying curling up at night reading Jonathon Living Seagull by Richard Bach with my 13-year-old son. TIP 33: Not all children are natural readers but as life changes and my 21-year-old son is a now a ferocious reader and even though he isn’t living in my house, I know my quilts are with him in his apartment at college and that dreamer of a son of mine is curled up in the quilts I sent with him to college reading those books. The reason I know is that I’ve seen him time after time reading in his room with several quilts propping him up and covering him to make him comfortable in his reading positions. TIP 34: Make the quilt kid size friendly. It doesn’t need to be a crib size or a twin size….. there are other sizes… you just make it up! I like to think the size of the quilt is a Reading size…. something they will drag around the house with them. That size to me is maybe around 40 to 50 inches wide by 60 to 70 inches in length. Just wing it – you don’t have to be precise! TIP 35: Remember after you give the gift, you can always read to your children or grandchild via FaceTime or Skype. Learn how to use the technology that is available so that reading becomes a past time that goes away. We can still read to our loved ones even if they are far away!
May we enjoy the process of creating quilts and sharing our quilts with loved ones. May our quilts support our families as they grow up and then as our children launch in life knowing we did our very best at balancing being a good mother and parent to them with all the needs of life. Most of all…. my motto… may the work of your hands in every way delight the souls of others to help them grow the ways they need to. More than anything kids in the world need to feel loved and accepted – the kids in the world today face more than you can ever imagine. I’m dedicating this blog to affirming that the quilts we make for our loved ones make a difference and they really can improve literacy when we let them know how important the individual is to us along with how important reading is to us too. Let’s not allow reading to become a pastime with all the distractions of the world but use our cozy quilts to actually read with our loved ones and increase the self-worth of those we love.
Please share what are some of your most cherished books or quilts that you want or have shared with you loved ones! Let me know if you want a pattern or some fabrics for the quilts above. I can do any tutorials for you on my YouTube channel of making any of these quilts or a particular skill you want to build. Just let me know and I can’t wait to hear from all of you! Please I am very respectful to all quilters and their desire to pre-wash fabrics or wash quilts prior to giving them away. We all have different styles and please don’t let any of my time-saving tactics turn you off from quilting with literacy. It is always up to you to decide your style of quilting. I’ve always been a busy mom with kids everywhere and very often quilt for my love of others and to relax and unfortunately at the time of life with many demands and have to get to the hands on of parenting. So many seasons of life and we must enjoy each and every one of them!
Could Gardeners deep down inside have budding skills to become Quilters?
Or are Quilters really deep down inside budding skills to become Gardeners?
As quilters, we naturally use our quilting skills in our outdoor gardens to create warmth for the exteriors of our homes.
How I love to get in the outdoors, especially during the spring with drizzling rain, moist soil, to dig in the dirt, making the outside of our home warm to delightedly saunter by feeling welcome. In the spring there are many weeds to pull, soil nourished before planting can be done. It is kind of like the concept that we have regular pieces of fabric then we cut them up and stitch them together to be a quilt.
Well at least that is what I try to do…. Actually I completely doubt that any human being would gather warm fuzzies as they saunter by, let alone even notice my home. I really wouldn’t want to have a house that stands out too much for people to feel bad they don’t have that yard.
So I just simply have a house that is sort of…… unnoticeable. Not such a bad idea, right?
I mean let’s get real, at times we do things to just pathetically blend in, AND trying to keep my gardens half-way decent for the neighbor across the street that has their house for sale.
I don’t want to have the house that stands out with the weeds and unrecognizable things growing from the earth. The house that children cross the street before they walk by because they aren’t certain about what’s with that scary growing house that might have rats and snakes lurking in the growth. Well at least that is what I am trying to do – to be unnoticeable.
Gardening a bed of flowers or vegetables is all about patterns and that is exactly what quilting is all about. Patterns, colors, with interweaving of different threads and textures are things consistent in quilting and gardening.
Four things that have stuck consistently as basic skills to develop are cooking, cleaning, gardening and quilting. The pioneers that our nation grew from relied on both of these skills along with others so they must be a good skill to develop. At least that is how I convince myself.
Let’s get back to gardening, because we are not made to only have one skill set. Especially as women, we were made for multi-tasking the constant needs of a family, work, play. So… if you are a gardener secretly you might really be a budding quilter deep down inside – and it may not have crossed your mind. I believe the reverse of quilters being budding gardeners may also be true. What do you think?
Let’s get the real truth out about me and gardening. The honest label would be a “black” thumb. There hasn’t been much that stays growing around me. I dreaded getting plants as a gift or purchasing them to then feel bad about myself because shortly they would die. I admired gardeners and was determined to change this aspect about myself! So slowly I learned some basic gardening skills. My niece is a master gardener with gorgeous long red hair! In my younger years, I used to pay someone to manage my garden beds knowing I was probably saving money by not having everything die. Paying people money to do something that I so badly wanted to learn was absurd especially considering how frugal I am! Then my gifted gardening niece with the long red hair would come every year helping me.
My niece helped but we also replaced all the plastic sprinkler heads with brass heads so the 3 Labrador retrievers would no longer chew up the sprinkler heads with white lengths of pvc pipe through the grass. It also helped to have the sprinklers turn on during the early hours of the morning, when the 3 labs were asleep in the house.
Deep down I believe in self-sufficiency, there are not many things that I can’t figure out how to do.
Each year, my niece taught me and I would watch her carefully. She would explain things before she did them wanting my flower beds to grow into blankets of blooms. She would let me know my soil wasn’t nourishing enough…. that my sprinkler heads are not efficient giving coverage to that area…. That I can’t grow that kind of flower in that hot and sunny space. I would ask her “Where do I go get fertilizer?” She would answer, “The dump…. a whole pick up truck load for $30.” I would be puzzled and think, “Really? I don’t just go to Lowes or Home Depot….? Hmmm.”
With both us deeply valuing frugality and resourcefulness, she taught me and through the years I listened…….. and grew. The listening part can be the most important part of growing.
You can see how my garden is growing now. I do it now all by myself with my sons. You can see the patterns, colors of different plants I used to complement one another to connect the beds with threads to grow.
I would love to listen to you share some thoughts so we continue to grow in different ways. Living all around the world, we all have different kinds of garden. Below is a beautiful picture of a succulent garden I took in Cambria, California this summer. What types of gardens do you grow? Let’s not forget our vegetable and herb gardens too. Please share what you grow in your region, we are all different in around the world and so are our gardens.
To those of you that are gardeners…. you may not know it but deep down could you be a budding emerging quilter? If you have admire quilting maybe this post can encourage you to try.
To those quilters out there, could we be a budding gardener? Some of us may already be both! What are you?
A flower garden of a quilt that I have always wanted to make is A Trip Around the World, here is a picture of a quilt I daydream making similar to:
This my stash of fabric to make this quilt?
What do you think of my colors and fabrics so far?
I do need to pause from quilting and do some catch up summer weeding…. My neighbors did sell their house…. I am very happy for them.
What kind of beauty whether through gardening, sewing, quilting, parenting or more enriches your life for the better?
Yvonne
Cheryl
Stephanie
Terri Ann
