My Wide Open Spaces Quilt in McCall's Quick Quilts April/May 2017

I am so excited to share my most recent published quilt pattern!  It is in the April/May 2017 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts and it's called Wide Open Spaces.

This pattern is modeled after those vintage chenille bedspreads, where the pattern was along the outside border and the center was empty.  I thought it would look beautiful hanging over the sides of a twin bed.  It's an extra long twin, with the finished size measuring 70"x 90.5".   If you look closely at this picture, you can see the beautiful quilting done by Laura McCormick of Always Keep Quilting.

I used some prints from BariJ's Joie de Vivre line and lots of Art Gallery Pure Elements Solids.

You can purchase just the single downloadable PDF pattern here:

http://www.mccallsquilting.com/quickquilts/articles/Wide-Open-Spaces-Quick-Colorful-Quilt-Patternhttp://www.mccallsquilting.com/quickquilts/articles/Wide-Open-Spaces-Quick-Colorful-Quilt-Pattern

One of my favorite parts of having my quilts in magazines is the artsy photos they do to show off the quilt.

If you'd like to buy just the one issue, you can do that using the link below:

http://www.mccallsquilting.com/quickquilts/issues/Quick-Quilts-April-May-2017 

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My First COVER and Some Summer Catch Up

The lazy days of summer. They are wonderful aren’t they? It’s light out earlier in the morning AND later in the evening, and still, I realize things are getting scratched off my to-do list more slowly.

I’ve had some pretty exciting things happen though, during July and August. I’ve plastered them all over Instagram, but I decided it was important to memorialize them here.

My first published quilt pattern was published in the British magazine Quilt Now, in it’s June 2015 issue, number 12. The quilt is an oversized version of a single block. I absolutely love the look of bold, large scale designs like this. It’s made with Petal & Plume fabrics, by designer Bari J. of Art Gallery Fabrics. I also made a matching pillow, and called the two projects a “nap set”.

The editor Katy Jones had told me which issue the projects would be in, but it was a complete surprise to find them on the cover of the issue! I was scrolling through Facebook, and there they were…

That's my quilt, ON THE COVER

I didn’t find a copy of the magazine until around July 1st here in the US. It was a wonderful, fun day for me. 

As if that wasn’t enough, Michele Muska invited my quilt guild (Southern CT MQG) to come to the Simplicity creative offices in NYC in early August. I took a day off from work and spent a gorgeous sunny Wenesday travelling to the city to meet 6 of my fellow guild members for the day.

Me, Michelle our hostess, and my guild members

Michele took us around the office, and introduced us to lots of the people who work in the pattern making part of the business. It was so much fun to hear about what each person did, how the process worked, and get to see garments actually being made up.

Then we met with some of the folks from other areas of the business to talk social media, sewing tools, and the future of quilting. It was fantastic.

Michele lives in CT and had done a wonderful trunk show for our guild in March with the quilts from her book Quilting the New Classics. The quilts were just amazing in person and it was a treat to see them all at once. The book is beautiful, and full of color and inspiration.

Michelle's Wonderful Book, hyperlink above

August and September will be filled with making t-shirt quilts for customers, a Kate Spain/Simplicity mini-tool challenge, and my swap gift for my partner at Glamp Stitch-a-lot. I’d better get back to work!

City Weekend Square Dance - Waiting for Cora

This is my very favorite reason to sew.  Two of my very dear friends are welcoming their first grandchild in the next few weeks, and I couldn't wait to make the baby a quilt.  

I used Oliver & S City Weekend.  It was a fat quarter bundle that I got a few years ago at QuiltMarket and have been hoarding away for just such a special occasion.

My husband doesn't like the quilts hung up on our fence, but I love it.  It's just the right height for baby size quilts.

Front view

Blue for the sky, yellow for the sun, green for the grass.

Big striped backing

Adorable birds from Hideaway by Lauren + Jessi Jung

I have to say I am one of those who loves hand binding.  It's very relaxing but it also builds up the excitement, as you know you're getting closer and closer to another finish.

Blue Kaffe Fasset Aboriginal Dot for the binding

Here are some of the other Square Dance versions that I've done.  I have two others that I never took pictures of before I gifted them away.

Sock Monkeys

Seven Seas Organic

Forest Friends in Flannel

Sweet Upcycled Girl's Purse Pattern/Tutorial

I have made tons of these small purses. It's made from a felted sweater, some vintage trim, and a little fabric (I used new) for the interior. I've sold them in my Etsy shop, I've made tons to give away. Now you can make them too!

Here is the link to a PDF of the pattern:

Girl's Purse Pattern

This is what the first page should look like:

Please feel free to use the pattern as many times as you like. You can even share it with friends! If you'd like to use it to make bags to sell, that's fine too! My only requirement is that you don't sell the pattern itself to make a profit.

Enjoy!

After a long dry spell...vintage sewing goodies!

It feels so good to have something fun to share again! I have been working on some larger projects (still....boring!) and then just not sewing as much as I'd like. But last weekend I was lucky enough to have a great estate sale to go to, and I got lots of great vintage sewing "stuff". The ad had said "hundreds of yards of vintage fabric". Of course, when I got there, a huge portion of it was polyester, and not very old...but there was plenty for me to take home, and I only paid $1 for each "piece".

In this first picture, there's some nice cottons, but the black is a gorgeous light, almost georgette fabric. And there's enough to make a small dress. The colors are fabulous.



In the next photo the floral on the left is from Mexico. A lot of the fabric was still in bags, with tags attached, purchased in the 60's. As I was pawing through the boxes and boxes of fabric I thought "I'd better get sewing or someone will find fabric still bagged and tagged at MY house!" The small print on the far right has the prettiest gold in it.



The blue red and white, second from the left is great. One of my favorite things about vintage fabric is the color combinations.

The dark blue is a heavier, almost home dec weight. That may become my daughter's dance bag for next school year.



These are basic cottons, but they are large pieces...each about 3 yards, and remember that price? $1/piece? How's 33 cents a yard grab you?? Many of the cottons say "Concord Fabrics". I think the company may now be part of Springs Industries. Anyone know for sure?



There were only about 50 patterns, but these that I chose (got all four for $1!) are all uncut, and actually things I would wear. I especially love the cape, which I am seeing in fall fashion previews already. Best of all, I got some great wools that I could make one in (next photo down).



The left two are wools, 3 yard pieces, no smells at all, and nice quality. At least one of these will become a skirt. I seriously LOVE plaid skirts and boots in the fall.

The floral is linen...not very old, but I liked the pattern. It reminded me of my grandmother, so I took it.



I foolishly didn't take the large bags of buttons they had. There were 4 or 5 of them, but they had really new looking buttons. Of course I wished I'd taken them when I got home. I did take these though.



Last but not least I got two great vintage tablecloths. The one with the ADORABLE deer is in perfect condition, so that will get used this year. The other is a Wilendur that has seen better days, so that will become some cloth napkins for my Etsy shop (someday).



And what may you ask did I pay for this haul? A whopping $18. I didn't even get pictures of ALL of the fabric, and I also got an adorable white wicker purse. Serious bargains for seriously great vintage stuff! One of the great benefits of living in New England.

Find me on You Can Make This!

Now this is exciting news! I've had my very first pattern published on You Can Make This.com. I heard about his site from Carla Crim (aka The Scientific Seamstress), who is a pattern writer extraordinaire. It was at my very first Quiltmarket, last spring in Minneapolis. Carla said it was easy to get your patterns published and sold using this great website. It's a year later, but my first pattern was approved this week, and I am officially a pattern "author"!

The pattern is for a large pieced pillow, styled to resemble a garden maze. You can find my pattern here.



My favorite part about this confident beginner pattern is that you could easily quilt it and make it into a wall hanging or table topper.

Now I'm off to write another pattern!

Vacation Week Sewing Treat - Kyoko Dress

This is the week my kids have had for April vacation. Crazy late it seems to me. Everyone else has been on vacation, come home, and is back at school. My "day" job has been really busy (see my earlier post), so I couldn't take the whole week, but I did manage to squeeze in 3 days off. I knew I had only so much time, so on Tuesday night I cut...and yesterday, I dove in.

I've been saving some Meadowsweet from Sandi Henderson that I bought, you guessed it, from Melanie at Above All Fabric. I really love the color palatte, especially the orange and the lime...and for some reason, the plaid just SPEAKS to me. I decided to try it with Patty Young's Kyoko dress. My five year old is dress crazy, and I know how beautifully Patty's patterns are and how well they fit my peanut. The result was nothing short of stunning!



We ran a few errands this morning, and without exception, everywhere we stopped, someone commented on Ally's dress. Maybe she's used to it now...but she sort of smirks and says an exaggerated "Thhhank you!" Truth be told, I love when people ask me where I bought it. And when I say "oh, I made it for her" their mouths always fall open. *LOVE THAT*

One of our stops today was at CVS, where she got some new sunglasses. She didn't really want to pose, so her focus is more on Snow White on the arms of the glasses.





The pattern went together super smoothly. I would say maybe 2 hours of actual sewing and pressing time. I take forever to trace patterns, and cut them out. I also take forever to pin. I am mad-crazy over pinner. Mostly because I keep trying to NOT pin, and I have to "un-sew" because it's crooked.

The only challenge I ran into was in making the obi. I had another print cut, and was informed by my lovely daughter that it wasn't "the one". So I cut a second. Funny, I like her choice better than mine, but in cutting the second set, I rushed. And the two were not 100% equal on both sides (from my too-quick rotary cutting), so I had to go over some of the areas twice, because one side was narrower than the other and the stitches didn't catch the fabric underneath. *NOTE TO READER* this is not a short coming in the pattern in any way. The directions are clear, and actually really easy. I just tend to get ahead of myself.



I love when I start something, and it goes together this easily, and the result is so fantastic. I also traced this pattern, instead of cutting it, so I could use it again in another size. It was the first time I had used a tracing wheel. I love it when those "easy" tools work as well as this one did. I will be much more confident using it now, and will likely get a lot more use out of my patterns.

What do you think of my print mix? I'd love to know what you think works about it, or what you'd do differently.

Holiday Sewing & Hazel Pattern Review

Wow, so here it is, Christmas Eve. And not only am I just now finishing my final gift, but I managed to take a bunch of pictures so I can do a review of the pattern. Talk about multi-tasking!

Before I continue, I must say, that Twitter (my name is @restitcherator if you'd like to follow my tweets) is just about my favorite thing in the world these days. After I post pictures or talk about doing one pattern review or test, I get a request to do another one! It's like heaven! I follow quite a few fabric designers, pattern creators, sewing book authors, but also a ton of other crafters and sewistas like me.

My most recent project was from the very talented and wonderfully friendly Trish Preston, of Two Peas in a Pod Designs. She also has an Etsy shop where you can buy this great pattern for a hipster bag.



The pattern comes with multiple variations, pockets, no pockets, smaller, larger, etc. I made the basic version as a purse for my cousin for Christmas. She hates to carry big, heavy purses, so I thought this would be perfect for her. I used Sandi Henderson's new Meadowsweet fabric, which I think is absolutely GORGEOUS. It was everything in me not to keep the bag and get something else for my cousin!




The pattern was very well written, with great "tips" along the way for important notes to remember. One of the things I liked the best, was that there was a blank line between each of the numbered directions. And the font was a decent size. So often I get patterns that have tiny print on a page that's folded up 10 times and I flip back and forth and get myself confused.

Trish's steps were easy to follow, and I am super pleased with the results. What do you think?




I will most definately be making more bags with this pattern. It took me maybe a total of 3 hours including cutting, pressing, and sewing (and even the pictures). And I will be looking at Trish's new patterns when they come out too!

Pattern Review- "The Ruffled Chef" from Indygo Junction

I wish I had some better pictures to go along with this post, but if I wait for pictures, I'd post even less than I do now!

I've had this pattern for a while, and was looking for a reason to make it. Then I got a request for a special order from one of my West Coast cousins for a full length apron for her daughter, and we agreed on this one. I always love an excuse to try a new pattern, and this is the first garment I've made with an Indygo Junction pattern. (Although I have more patterns, just haven't used them yet!) So here's the cover...



I used some great pink cupcake fabric, along with a stripe and a dot. I had orignally chosen another pink pattern, instead of the stripe, but after starting to assemble the apron, the colors just didn't do it for me.

One challenge I always have is when there are directions and notes on the pattern pieces about numbered sides, or something to that effect. The two triangle tops of this apron had that, and I sewed them on backwards the first time around. The only other thing that I didn't like about the pattern was the width of the ruffle around the neckline. I found it really difficult to get the ruffle to lay the way I wanted it to, and it was almost like trying to sew a bias tape (which usually results in me cursing up a storm).

Other than those two small nits, overall, I think the pattern was very well written. Directions were clear, and easy to follow. Steps were separate enough that I felt like I made real progress, moving from one to the next. OH! And the pattern recommends that you serge most of the edges of the fabric. This made for a really well-finished look to the apron when I was done.

Poor picture and all, here it is.


I'm 5'4", and it was actually really long on me, past my knees. So it would be a good apron for someone who is quite a bit taller than me. Also, the ties are really nice and long, so you can either tie it in front, or in back and make a nice size bow. One final note, the pockets ended up feeling nice and substantial. I was afraid that they would feel flimsy, as the seam allowance was small on the bottom, but they were a pleasant surprise when I was done.

I'm hoping Laura loves her apron, and I'm looking forward to making more Indygo Junction patterned items soon!

Ally in Julia

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I am totally addicted to Twitter.

One afternoon as I was driving, I saw my phone light up with a Tweet from designer Patty Young. She was looking for new pattern testers for her new girls' clothing patterns that are coming out at the Fall Quilt Market.

Needless to say I jumped at the chance. It's a two layer skirt with a shirred drawstring that shows off the underlayer, and appliques put onto a purchased top.

I used fabrics from Patty's Mezzanine fabric line. Maybe it's because I'm a child of the '80s, but pink and green as a color combo just make me smile.

I got to use my new Pfaff overlocker on this pattern that I got for my birthday. And I got to use that great dark green large rick rack that I bought during my first Shop Hop.

The pattern went together like a breeze, and Patty's pattern was laid out beautifully. The fabrics from Michael Miller are a very nice quality. Over all, more fun than I think one sewer should get to have!

P.S. Fabric was purchased online at Above All Fabric.

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Amy Butler Placemats in Lotus

Wow...these made up super quickly and easily. The pattern is from Amy Butler's book "In Stitches". I bought the Lotus fabric from Above All Fabric, a wonderful online fabric store. The owner Melanie offers super quick shipping, an amazing selection and top notch customer service.





I love when I actually make the projects out of the MANY books I own.

The Art Smock

Maybe it's because I grew up during the '80s, but I just LOVE  those old reversible raincoats.  In my constant search to find materials to salvage and make into something else, raincoats are one of my favorite finds.  I spend a lot of time thinking about what I can make out of which materials.  I had this brainstorm about making an art smock for my daughter, because she's forever painting with those so-called "washable" paints, that always seem to leave color in her clothes.  But if you know Ally, any smock would have to be pretty special to go over whatever her outfit-du-jour is.  Old raincoat...washable...perfect art smock!

Lucky for me, I found this amazing opalescent purple girls XXX raincoat at the Salvation Army.  It had a few stains on the INSIDE...how perfect is THAT?  So I paid a whopping $3 for it, and brought it home.  The result was the new "FAB" art smock.

Now, leave it to Ally to wear it over a chicken costume...but the good thing is that you an see what it looks like. It was a simple kids apron pattern, Simplicity pattern 3802 (Which I got on sale at Joann for $1!!).

Just three pieces and some double fold trim. I must admit, I used new trim, not reclaimed. I was too excited to finish it to wait to find just the right one. I also stole the pockets from the front of the raincoat and put them on the front, which was a bit different than the original pattern.

 

I'll have to have Rob take some better pictures, but if you look closely, it's been used already, and has been christened with some blue paint near the collar.  And Ally loves it.  Mission Accomplished!