Rosemary Quilt by Tales of Cloth / Beauties Pageant 299

Until a year ago, I had no interest in English paper piecing. I’m a girl who needs regular finishes to stay engaged, and doing anything by hand takes in the neighborhood of forever. Over time, however, I’ve seen one friend after another embrace, and create truly amazing quilts with, the technique.

Then, last summer, I was faced with some special circumstances: I had to occupy myself while my older son was taking a class an hour away from home. Because of the distance, I stayed near the class site, taking walks and reading books and starting some hand sewing. Pictured here are the fruits of my labor!

I made the Rosemary Quilt from Jodi Godfrey’s book, The Seedling Quilts. This project is not fully hand pieced and perfect for the EPP skeptic. I supersized the sample quilt from the book and made 11 EPP pieces, which I then hand-appliqued onto background rectangles. The remaining blocks without an appliqued EPP design provided an opportunity to highlight favorite prints, including some large-scale designs.

Those solid rectangles are a who’s-who of fabric designers: Kate Spain, Amy Butler, Lizzy House, Heather Ross, and Anna Maria Parry (formerly Horner), among others. For a lady who is famous (notorious?) for using white backgrounds, this Rosemary Quilt is my version of maximalism.

I handed this project to my friend Ophelia for quilting (she and I settled on an edge-to-edge pantograph called, most appropriately, Rosemary!). Then I used one of the featured prints again for the binding. 

I so enjoyed making the EPP sections for this quilt that I started another Rosemary project. I didn’t make too much progress with that second project last summer, but I was in no rush and tucked it away until now. I have two trips planned in the next few months and look forward to whiling away summer nights visiting with family and hand-stitching more Rosemary blocks.

I know some of you are accomplished EPPers. I’d love to see your past projects! You’re welcome to upload them to this week’s linky along with your more recent finishes. : )

 

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Knot and Thread's All the Things Tote / Beauties Pageant 284

The past few days have been all about re-entering life as usual after an amazing QuiltCon in Phoenix. I had the best time at the conference, looking at quilty works of art, reconnecting with faraway friends in person, enjoying so much good food, and doing my fair share of shopping.

The All the Things Tote that I talked about in my last post was with me every step of the way. The pattern, by Knot and Thread, provides instructions for three sizes. I made the large one, skipping the suggested sturdy base, which I thought might be cumbersome on the plane and in the convention center.

I can’t say enough about this pattern. The adjective that I keep using to describe it is “slick.” I was a bag maker before I was a quilter, and I’ve sewn some elaborate bags. This is not one of them. I am confident that a quilter who’s embarking on a first bag project could get great results with this pattern.

The instructions are geared toward yardage, with a workaround if you’re sewing with a directional fabric. Of course, I complicated the situation by piecing my exterior panels with blocks from my upcoming book. It was 100% worth it! The bag was a great conversation starter as I walked the show floor last week, and everyone who commented on it was rewarded with a sticker sheet featuring other blocks from the book.

The pattern calls for machine sewing every step of the bag-making process, and I did that up until I had to finish the binding on each end of the bag. I knew I wouldn’t be able to top-stitch through that bulk as neatly as I wanted to, so I used a 12 weight Aurifil thread to hand-sew a chunky stitch on that section of the binding. I’m calling this decision the “the path of least swearing”!

 

All of the fabric selections are from Ruby Star Society except for the Bella Solid I chose as the lining. I particularly love the black Starry featured on the binding. If you take a peek in the pockets, though, you’ll see that I also used the small-scale white Starry. I went with the white Starry here mainly because I didn’t have enough of the Bella Solid for the pocket linings. I love the juxtaposition of the two Starry fabrics, though, so let’s call it a design decision!

If you’ve made an All the Things Tote, I want to see it! Link it, along with your other finishes, in the linky below!

You can preorder my book here!

 

Even if you weren’t at conference, you can take advantage of my QuiltCon special: Preorder the book, and receive 2 PDF patterns free right now.

 

The preorder listing includes these instructions: To get the free patterns, add the book preorder to your cart. Then, navigating to the PDF Patterns page, add 2 PDF patterns to your cart. (You must add 2.) Upon checkout, use the discount QUILTCON.

Your patterns will be available for immediate download from an email that you’ll receive momentarily (check your spam folder if it doesn’t appear in your inbox after a few minutes). The book is slated to ship at the end of April 2025 via USPS.

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Quilters outside of the US: The cost of international shipping is ridiculous! As a result, this preorder is limited to US mailing addresses. Just because you live elsewhere on this planet, however, doesn’t mean you should miss out! Drop me a note (frombolttobeauty@gmail.com) after preordering or purchasing the book locally, and I will hook you up with your free patterns. : )

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Patchwork Ghosts / Beauties Pageant 191

I’m not a fan of celebrating Halloween, but The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt is a seasonal story I can get behind. Are you familiar with this picture book? Written by Riel Nason and illustrated by Bryon Eggenschwiler, The Little Ghost is the charming story of a ghoul whose patchwork sets him apart from his friends. The happy ending and it’s relatable message make it an enjoyable read for kids and adults alike. Take a peek at one of the book’s illustrations, below. Super sweet, right?

Another quilter transformed the book’s hero into stuffies last Halloween, and with this year’s holiday on the horizon, I knew I needed to follow suit! 

Construction was super easy: I sewed 3-inch squares into 4-by-6 panels, quilted them, added the mouths and eyes, and squared the bottoms. I then stuffed the bodies with a little polyfill and whip-stitched the bottoms ... Voila! Two cuties!

Rooting through my scraps and selecting fabric for the patchwork was fun, as was making the felt faces. A circle die on my AccuQuilt Go made cutting the eyes easy, and a little embroidery added some life to them. I will be shipping both stuffies, with a copy of The Little Ghost, to my nieces.

Are you sewing anything for Halloween? If so, I’d love to hear about your project in the comments.

My Halloween sewing is over. I’m in the mad rush to finish up QuiltCon submissions (which happens some years despite my best intentions to avoid it) and working on a new pattern release. If you enjoy testing patterns, this one is easy. More details are in my latest Instagram post here.

 

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• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
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Dreaming of Bags / Beauties Pageant 164

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I have a lot of fun quilt projects on my sewing table these days. I’m using up my Bonnie and Camille stash on two easy quilt tops, I have two other quilts in the works, and my Gypsy Wife project is ready for binding. What I’m really dreaming of right now, though, is making bags.

Before I was a quilter, I was a bag maker. I’ve made easy bag patterns. I’ve made hard bag patterns. I’ve made bag patterns that claimed to be easy but ended up being rather hard. Big bags, small bags ... I’ve made them all.

This drawstring bag I made a year ago was fast and easy.

Sewing this bag was simpler than it looks.

And now I’m getting the itch again. It started when I received the gorgeous cross-stitched bag at the top of the post. My quilty friend Kathy (Kayak Quilting) made it for me, and I am over the moon about it. There’s something special about receiving an unexpected handmade gift. Could I have made a comparable bag for myself? Sure, but I love this all the more because someone made it for me.

The bag pattern I have my sights on next is Anna Graham’s Sandhill Sling design. I need a small casual bag for taking to the soccer field this spring, and the Sandhill Sling fits the bill. I purchased a kit from Stitch Supply Co. for the sling. Now it’s just a matter of fitting this project in amid those quilt WIPs. I find it hard to switch gears between quilting and other sewing. I’m not sure why that is. (Can you relate?) Once I have a few more tops completed, I think I can act on the bag pattern. Wish me luck!

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Plaid-ish / Beauties Pageant 154

Hey, there—long time, no post! I’m happy to be back on my blog after an unplanned break that included a month’s worth of appointments compressed into a week, a visit with my in-laws, and Thanksgiving with my side of the family. Aside from one deadline-driven project I’m working on, I’m hoping to mostly coast through the end of the year. Lucky for me, I have projects close enough to the finish line that I will still have fun stuff to share, even though sewing is in low gear for me through the new year. : )

Pictured here is one of those finishes! It’s my first Plaid-ish quilt. It’s also my only Plaid-ish quilt—until I finish my Gypsy Wife quilt. I’ve decided that feat will earn me a second Plaid-ish. What makes this pattern so much fun? It’s the fabric pull, friends. I love sitting down with my scraps and stash, and developing a palette. It’s almost as much fun as designing patterns. What makes Plaid-ish extra satisfying is that it uses no background fabric, so it busts through a ton of fabric.

 

And there are so many good fabrics in this beauty. Two collections from Kate Spain—Aria and Canyon—set the stage color-wise. (I had bits left over from this quilt and this quilt and this quilt.) I built the palette from there, focusing on salmon, periwinkle, grassy green, aqua, navy, and gray. There are selections from Alison Glass, 1Canoe2, Lizzy House, Janet Clare, and other fabulous designers. The pattern, a freebie from Erica Jackman, of Kitchen Table Quilting, is built around low, medium, and dark tones. If you’ve never played with value before, it’s a blast—you’ve got to find the time to sew a Plaid-ish!

I splurged and sent this project to Narda at Maz Q’s Sewing and Quilting Studio for an edge-to-edge panto. I like to quilt my tops myself and considered stippling this one, but it’s an oversize throw and I knew Narda’s work would give it a polish that my domestic and I couldn’t. 

We have so much to catch up on! Please share your finishes from the past few weeks (more than one upload is encouraged!) in the linky below. It’s nice to be back. : )

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Pretty in Pluses Reveal / Beauties Pageant 139

I wanted to share a new pattern I’ve been working on called Pretty in Pluses! 

This design was precipitated by a fat quarter bundle of Hindsight, by Anna Maria Horner for FreeSpirit Fabrics. I adore AMH’s collections, but this one in particular features large-scale prints. I had a hard time finding a pattern that would work with this line without cutting everything into little bits, so in the end, I just designed something myself.

The result is a modern take on a plus sign quilt. It’s a whole-composition design—in other words, the larger sizes are created by enlarging the plus signs, not by adding more blocks. I’ll be releasing the pattern in early September. It still needs to go through a round of testing and tech editing before it’s ready for you to sew. : )

I’m crushing hard on this finish, friends. Hindsight includes new colorways of AMH’s echinacea print. I think it might be my favorite fabric design of all time from her ...

I originally wanted to use the American Made Brand solid in light turquoise as the background but opted for Kona Silver instead because this beautiful print got lost against the pale green ...

The center block was an opportunity for a little fussy cutting ...

Pretty in Pluses’ simple, streamlined design was the perfect opportunity to get fancy with the quilting. My friend Ophelia quilted this with the most beautiful panto. I’m in love with the texture!

I’m excited to get this pattern into testers hands and see what they create. I’ll be sharing those beauties here and on Instagram in another month!

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Back to Being a Bag Lady / Beauties Pageant 114

Before I started quilting, I sewed bags and home decor items. And although I’d rather carry a bag of my own making or sew some window treatments instead of buying them off the shelf, it can be hard to change gears. These days, it’s usually all quilting all the time.

So when a friend and I made plans to go for a walk, it was the self-imposed deadline I had been missing. I had promised her a handmade backpack, and our date to walk was what I needed to get it done!

The result is pictured here. It’s a simple, straight-forward drawstring backpack with a single pocket on the exterior. I used the Lionel Drawstring Backpack Pattern, by I Think Sew. It was fine for the five dollars I paid for it. If you are interested in making something similar, there are plenty of other options—including free tutorials—online.

I chose to quilt the exterior panels to give the bag more body; otherwise, I didn’t do anything fancy. Heck, the pocket doesn’t even have a zipper.

For me, the hard part of bag making is finding the necessary notions. I found the gray synthetic drawstring from a nice selection of colors at Crosscut Sewing Co., a local fabric shop.

I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome here; the final product was much nicer than I was expecting. In the past, I’ve sewed certain bags patterns ad infinitum. (For real. Plug “Jane Market Bag” into the search function in the right-hand sidebar, and you’ll see what I mean.) This backpack may be my next serial sew—it would make good end-of-year teacher gifts.

What I really want to work on next, however, is a new quilt that I designed with huge blocks. I’m super excited about it, and the background fabric should be arriving on Monday. Yahoo! Now that I’m in this home dec mode, however, I should bang out a few more projects I’ve had planned, including a pillow and two pouches, first. After those are done, I have two in-process quilts to finish and then I can start the new one. Darn you, self-discipline!

A quick public-service announcement: Love Boldly, my most recent pattern release, is still available at Quilt Pattern Mart at the introductory price of $7.50. I’ll be sure to share tester projects in next week’s post! In the meantime, check out some pics on Instagram.

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
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