Home Awaits

45" x 58" 

Here's a new pattern from Busy Hands Quilts. It's called Home Awaits. I chose to make the small lap size and used a layer cake called Sakura from Craftsy that I bought several years ago.  Funny how those precuts like to sit on my shelf for so long!

I found a textured black print to use for the back and binding. Looks great with those black prints on the quilt.  This is a fun pattern that came together quickly. I love that I only needed a layer cake. Who doesn't have one of those laying around?  The pattern actually comes in 6 sizes and I think it would look great in a bed size.

You can purchase Myra's pattern in her shop here. I noticed that she has the pattern on sale! Be sure to visit her blog Busy Hands Quilts.

Baby Rag Quilt

36" x 36"

This cute little girl of mine had a big hand in making this rag quilt that I started last year. She loves to sew (for a few minutes at a time anyway). Rag quilt square are perfect for this! So I asked her to sew the X's on the squares that weren't finished yet.

We worked on the layout together and then I sewed the top together and did the edge cutting. I feel like I got two birds with one stone on this project. She got to practice her sewing skills and I got a quilt finished that was sitting on the shelf!

And if you've read this far I have a treat for you! All my patterns are on sale in my Etsy shop today only for 50% off!  I'm also having a sale on bed sized quilts and baby quilts this week too.  Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Peter's Outdoor Quilt

40.5" x  49.5"

Perfect time of year for this quilt finish. My boys all have to make one quilt top in their youth. This was supposed to have been Peter's quilt top. He is 10. He picked out the fabrics and was very excited to learn to sew. I always have them practice on some scrap pieces before sewing the real thing because fabric is expensive and I don't want them to mess up their quilt. 

Usually my children pick up sewing pretty quickly and are able to sew a decent quarter inch seam. Peter has 5 older siblings who have sewed before him (and one younger one), so I was surprised when he had so much trouble.  So much trouble that I didn't let him sew this quilt. I know you're going to tell me that I should have let him sew it anyway.  He will just have to try again next year when his coordination is better.

Since he wasn't sewing the top, I wanted to make it bigger. So he was happy to help me lay out more squares.  Of course he then wanted to make it into a twin size for his bed, but he already has a quilt on his bed so we agreed that it would be put in my shop for a while.

I know he doesn't look super happy in the picture, but he really was! It was his idea to get in the picture so you all could see him. We will be trying again next year and he is okay with that.  I think he should be helping me pick fabrics, don't you?

Linking with Busy Hands Quilts

Layer Cake Custard - A Short Cut Quilt

Here's a new Short Cut Quilt pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop releasing today called Layer Cake Custard. It's a FREE pattern that you can make quickly!

63" x 88"

I bet you guessed by the name that this quilt is made from one Layer Cake. I choose to make my quilt with Moda's Return to Winter's Lane. It has such beautiful wintery prints. I love the snow and the plaids and the cardinals.

There are only 2 blocks in the quilt, so this is definitely a short cut quilt. The large blocks are great for showing off all the beautiful prints.

This is a big quilt as you can see from this photo below. That's my husband holding it as high as he could. This quilt is nicely sized for snuggling on the couch which is just what I plan on doing with it!

Be sure to check out other versions of this fun pattern on the Jolly Jabber blog today. Then hop over and get the free pattern here! There is also a video tutorial to help you make this quilt.

The Fat Quarter Shop Blog - The Jolly Jabber - has some great versions of the Layer Cake Custard quilt so go take a look!

Altered Book

Hi there everyone! I don't have a quilt to share this week and possibly next week too. What have I been doing? Well, I have been leading an art group through my church the last couple months. We are making an altered book. What is that, you ask? It's pretty much anything you want it to be. Mine is a hardbound book, most pages removed, the remaining pages glued together in 2's for more strength and then decorated with vintage style papers and ephemera.  It's also called a junk journal, but I have no junk around my house so mine is mostly Vintage French themed. 

Pockets are everywhere with papers for journaling. Even the pockets and envelopes can have pockets. There are lots of corner tuck spots and different style envelopes. I made two different sets of tags from pages. I'm having a lot of fun making this and finding new techniques to share with my group. 

I'm about half way done with my book.  Quilting should resume soon, even if it's a slow pace. Holidays are coming you know! I  have some new patterns stewing in my head for the new year. And there is a ton of stuff on the shelf that still needs to be made into a quilt because it won't fit in my storage bins. I'm still wanting to get things cleaned up and more organized for next year.  Hope you enjoyed a peek at what I've been working on.