Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Bibs for Babies!!!

I'm thrilled to bring back Bibs for Babies!

Bibs for Babies is exactly that- bibs for babies! We want to use our talent to share love and bless others who may be in need of a little joy!

The goal is to collect 150 bibs made by YOU for a special donation to Operation Baby Shower.
Operation Shower is about celebrating and honoring military families. Operation Shower is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides joyful baby showers for military families to ease the burden of deployment.

How it works:
1) Make 2/two bibs 

2) Send them to me (DM/email me for address once you are ready to mail)
     Please include a note that states:
          Your Name
          Email Address
          Instagram Handle

Each pair of bibs received will be entered into a drawing for some fabulous fabric goodies, patterns and a handmade quilt!

You may make as many bibs as your heart desires, only 2 bibs count as one entry for all prize drawings.

All bibs must be mailed by THURSDAY 3/2/17 to enter final drawing

Prizes:
The following prizes will be raffled on the following dates

            Friday 2/10 – Elizabeth Hartman Pond Layer Cake, coordinating Robert Kaufman                                            Solids Layer Cake and Fancy Forrest Quilt Pattern (Drawing One)
                                   
            Friday 2/17 – Pam Kitty Morning Fabric Bundle and Fancy Forrest Quilt Pattern                                                  (Drawing Two)
                                    Anna Graham Noodlehead Pattern Package (6 patterns) and Pam Kitty                                          Morning FQ bundle (Drawing Three)

            Friday 2/24 – Andover Alison Glass- Insignia FQ bundle and Andover Cathy                                                    Nordstrom- Floral Splendor FQ bundle (Drawing Four)
                                     Andover Lizzy House- Printmaking FQ bundle (Drawing Five)

            Friday 3/3 - Candy Coated Raindrops Quilt pieced by moi and quilted by                                                        Crinklelove (Drawing Six)





How do I make a bib?
There are a gazillion tutorials online- Google, Pinterest, Craftsy, etc. Bring your A-game! We’re collecting good quality bibs for little ones, please submit your best work.

Please use our hashtag on Instagram #bibsforbabiesdrive to share our progress pics and be sure to invite your friends to participate!

Bibs for Babies is targeted to the crafting/sewing community. If you are not a sewist and would like to participate, please consider making a donation directly to Operation Shower by visiting their website. The are in need of a plethora of items.

I'm thrilled you'll join me in reaching our goal of 150 bibs!!

Monday, August 15, 2016

Apple Farm Blog Hop!!




It's blog hop time! I hope you have been following along this week by visiting all the talented bloggers to see their fabulous projects! I'm very excited to share with you what I made with Elea Lutz's amazing new fabric line (aren't they all), Apple Farm! Playing with this line was a dream- it's ridiculously C-U-T-E!

One of my favorite quilts from the past is my Little Apples Swoon quilt made in 2012. I thought it would be fitting to make another one with Apple Farm since we're working with apples here.

Forgive my photos, the sun was setting and I'm a procrastinator :)




How about that rick-rack, huh?? I LOVE IT!!
I used Riley Blake's Le Cr'eme Swiss Dots in black for the background.

I knew I had to fussy cut these lil apple picking bears into hexagons as soon as I saw them. I whipped up the cutest (if I don't say so myself...) hexagon bag to store all the crafty things. These jelly handles by Lecien were the perfect pairing! I bought mine here.


It's just the right size for storing a sewing or knitting project. Be sure to visit me on Instagram to enter a chance to win this sweet project bag- that's right, it could be yours!

I hope you enjoyed my projects as much as I enjoyed playing with Elea's sweetest new fabric line. If you haven't already- go buy some! It's too cute not to have in your stash.

More amazing crafty goodness on the Apple Farm Blog Hop, be sure to visit these blogs to see more eye candy:
8/16/16 Kristyne @prettybyhand www.prettybyhand.com
8/17/16 Melissa @ohhowsweetco www.ohhowsweet.com
8/17/16 Sedef @downgrapevinelane http://www.downgrapevinelane.com/
8/18/16 Faith @faithessenburg www.saranaave.wordpress.com
8/18/16 Veronica @vividfelicity www.vividFelcity.wordpress.com
8/19/16 Megan @dollyhenryau www.dollyhenry.blogspot.com
8/19/16 Amanda @jedicraftgirl www.jedicraftgirl.com
8/19/16 Elea @elealutz www.elealutzdesign.com

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Quilt it Modern Blog Tour

Today is my day on the Riley Blake Quilt-it Modern blog tour!

I'm so excited to share my project today! I had a grand idea for using Riley Blake Confetti Cottons solids with Crayola colors. If you know me, you know I love raindrops! I knew immediately what I wanted to make. These beautiful and soft solids are great to work with. 



I put together a sweet and cheery hoop with colorful rainbow raindrops! Isn't it adorable?!



I had purchased this yarn for a previous project that was a total bust, so I used it to wrap the hoop and add some "dreamcatcher-ish danglies" (those are words, right?)





I had lots of fun putting this project together. There are plenty of other talented folks participating in the blog hop so be sure to check them out. Get your hands on these beautiful solids, you're going to love them!

Crayola Cottons colors used:
  • Geranium
  • Cheddar
  • Shamrock
  • Purple
  • Aqua
  • Raspberry
  • Dandelion
  • Mermaid
  • Sand dollar

Next on the blog tour:


Thursday June 30: Euphoria Jessica / Material Girl Quilts
Friday July 1: Samelia's Mum / Sassafras Lane
Tuesday July 5:  Quilt Matters / During Quiet Time
Wednesday July 6:  Sometimes Crafter / Modern Handcraft
Thursday July 7: Orchid Owl Quilts / Piece and Quilt
Friday July 8:  Sew Katie Did / Tumbling Blocks / Leigh Laurel Studios

Use the #modernquilttour hashtag on Instagram to check out all the amazing projects.


Friday, July 17, 2015

The Pineapple Drawstring Bag- A Tutorial

Clearly, unless you've been under a rock, the pineapple is all the rave! A freaking fruit- it cracks me up! I put together this cute little bag cause I LOVE making these knitting/project bags. They're so easy and fun to put together.



So, here we go!

Materials
Background print- 6.5x4.5 inches, 2.5 inch squares (2), 1.5 inch squares (2)
Yellow for pineapple- 6.5 x. 7.5 inches
Green leafs:
Leaf 1- 3.5x5 inches
Leaf 2- 2.5x3.5 inches
Leaf 3- 2.5x3.5 inches
Bag side strips- 11.5x3 (2)
Bag top- 2.5x21
Drawstring- 2.5x36
Lining- Approximately 22.25x11 inches
Backing- Approximately 11.5x11.5 inches
Heat & Bond
Chalk/soluble pen
Scissors
Green thread
Black acrylic paint
Fine paint brush



Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on all 4 background squares.
6.5 is the width and 7.5 is the length of the yellow pineapple print.
2.5 squares go on the top of your pineapple and 1.5 squares go on the bottom as shown in the photo. Sew on the line to your pineapple print. Cut a .25 from the sewn line and press seams.



Place your your 6.5x4.5 inch background print above and align with your pineapple print. Take your Leaf 1 (3.5x5) print on top of the background print and align the bottom edges. From here we want to mark the quarter inch marks that are needed to sew our first leaf print down. Ensure you mark the green leaf print .25 inches from the yellow pineapple print on the bottom on each side. Mark the green print and the pineapple block.


Cut your Heat & Bond pieces as listed below
Leaf 1- 3.5x4.75 inches
Leaf 2- 2.5x3.5 inches
Leaf 3- 2.5x3.5 inches

Adhere each H&B to the leaf prints. Note Leaf 1 is a quarter inch shy (see photo)


Now its time to sketch out our leaves. Just wing it- I did.


Then cut them out and peel the backing.


Heat press the leaves as pictured below. Make sure the bottom of your large green print has the quarter inch without the H&B. Note those quarter inch marks on the pineapple block we made earlier! That is where you are going to line up your main green print. Top stitch with green thread.


Sew your leaf top to your pineapple! Your leaves should line up to the pineapple top perfectly.


Break out that acrylic paint and paint on the fabric with little "V" as desired. My original pineapple had diagonal lines painted on it and boy was it a HOT MESS! But do what you love. I used a paper towel on the backside before painting to protect my work surface.


After that is dried up, attach the two side panels and trim excess if needed.


Now, I hate measuring and my sewing mantra is really to wing it and do your best. So, lay your pineapple block on top of your backing print and trim to size.

Sew them together with right sides together. If you lay each piece down, ensure your backing is on the left and the pineapple is on the right. This is important for the drawstring.

Sew along the seam.

In other words, place the backing piece on top of the pineapple piece (right sides together) and sew on the left side.

Open and press.

Now, Lay your lining print with the right side up and put the pineapple piece on top (right sides together). Trim any excess lining.


Put that aside and lets make the top piece of our bag where the drawstring will be in.

Take your 2.5x21 inch bag top print and fold in a quarter inch on the end, then again. Press and sew on both sides.


Fold this piece in half and press.
Lay your lining piece up, then the folded bag top with an inch or so away from each side, and your pineapple piece on top (right sides together). Ensure the folded part is facing downwards. Stitch along the top completely.


Open and press towards the lining.


Now take your bag and fold it over to line up the side edges as pictured below. Sew the left side of the bag. Then sew the bottom (the bottom of the pineapple block). Now sew the lining together and leave a wee bit so you can flip the bag inside out.


Close up the bag after your flip it! Place the lining inside the bag and press in place.
My lighting starts to suck from here... sorry, it was getting late.


We're so close to being done!! Time for the drawstring!

Press the drawstring piece in half. Open and take each raw edge to your center and press again. Fold and sew with at an eighth of an inch from the edge.




Put a safety pin on that edge and pull through the top of the drawstring bag. Tie together and clip the edges on the diagonal.

BOOM- we've got a bag!


 I really hope that was not complicated, please email me or leave a comment below with any questions.

Enjoy!
Jess

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The Meadow Quilt

I'm so excited it's finished!!

Isn't it a looker??


I was thrilled when I heard Lizzy House was coming to Portland, OR to teach the meadow quilt at my LQS. It was a weekend of great classes and visits from so many great and talented woman- plus I got to sew and hang all weekend with my sweet sidekick Robin!

It took me awhile to finish it, but here it is!!
I used low volume prints, kona bubblegum and some cotton and steel basics for the flower centers.I bound it in kona lawn, which is sooooooooo fantastic- I love how it brings everything all together.


I'm not much into overly elaborate quilting (though amazing and gorgeous), it's just not me. So I asked Sarah to do something floral and simple. I'm SO pleased with it!


This was such a lovely pattern to put together, I'm glad I had the opportunity to take the class and can now check this off my quilty to-do list!


Of course I used some of my precious Lizzy House prints (Lizzy Dish, 1001 Peeps, Castle Peeps, Constellations and the new Natural History) :-)


Saturday, April 25, 2015

Shop update

So... I've been making these drawstring knitting/project bags and just LOVE doing so!
I've made a few more and hope you'll swing by my shop to take a peek and, take one home :)












Thursday, March 26, 2015

The Betsy Travel Bag- Blog Hop & Pre-Order!

EEEPPPPPP!! I'm so giddy about this awesome new pattern created by Kristi of Schnitzel & Boo for Rebel Craft Media! Its soooooooooo big, roomy, chock 'full of pockets galore.


I had so much fun putting this beast together! I must admit, I had a little trouble with some cutting due to not reading all instructions. I kinda scanned and winged it- be sure to ready every detail before starting- it will totally be worth the extra trouble- or extra fabric needed on the inside pocket... :)



I  kept my fabric choices fun and whimsical, which is totally my go-to scrappy style anyway- I love these cute novelty prints! I opted not to include a back side pocket since these fabrics were just too adorable, and ain't nobody got time for that!






I also skipped the canvas and went gun-hoe with Peltex Pellon interfacing- this baby is stiffer than stiff, hard as a rock! I figured I'd use only items I had on hand, with the exception of the hardware. Again, read all instructions. :/ 

Things I'd do differently:

  • Cut properly, less winging it and more accuracy
  • Cut the Peltex 1/2 inch shorter than fabric for seam allowance (I broke 2 needles)!
  • Do not add batting to the pockets on the side panels, instead use lightweight interfacing (that was probably in the directions somewhere...)
  • Steer clear of the denim for the hook tabs, it was so bulky

Overall, this pattern rocks! I made this bag in two and a half days with multiple cooking, cleaning, and errand breaks. My favorite part is that darn perfect Lizzy House Castle Peeps print pockets- makes my heart sing!





So- GO GO GO pre-order your pattern here and join the sew-a-long next week!! I have my fabric ready to make another one just for me! This particular bag will be donated to Crafters for Courage auction to raise money to build homes for minor girls rescued from sex trafficking. 

Sew-Along starts April 2nd- be sure to post and share your pics via social media with hashtags #thebetsytravelbag #redelcraftmedia #schnitzelandboo



And follow along with the rest of the blog tour..



The  Betsy  Travel  Bag  Blog  Hop  Schedule 
March  17
pattern available for pre-­sale  through  RCM  shop




Blog  Hop  Day  1  posts




March  19
Blog  Hop  Day  2  posts



March  21

Blog  Hop  Day  3  posts




March  23
Blog  Hop  Day  4  posts



March  25

Blog  Hop  Day  5  posts



March  27

Blog  Hop  Day  6  post
ME!!



March  29

Blog  Hop  Day  7  post


March  31

Blog  Hop  Day  8  post