Quilt-y Around the House

One end table finished!

This is my first attempt at the quilting stitch known as pebbles so please be kind. My end tables are not terribly huge however this stitch took along time to complete on just the first one. Plus it took over 4 bobbins of thread. Luckily I have lots of the color I chose for these projects. I had no idea going in and once you've started it's like I'm gonna finish this.

Now after a rest, on to table topper number 2.

Thanks for reading♥

Clutch Wallet

It's finally here!

My Clutch Wallet pattern is up for sale in my Craftsy shop. I have been anxiously waiting to post this pattern but wanted to run it by some trusted quilters and sewing enthusiast first.

Please check out my pattern listing and let me know what you think. I love feedback

Thanks for reading♥ Olivia

Chevron quilt

Finished! I started this project wanting to use up these fabrics, my stash has grown and it's time I whittle it down before I purchase new fabrics. I have some strips left from where I did not have enough of all four fabrics to make another round or set for more rows. This came from an Eleanor Burns Pattern Zig Zag. I just love her patterns so easy to follow and really this was fun and easy to put together. I was trying to make mine bigger more like a queen size and it did not work out.I got it about wide enough I just did not have enough for the length. I used roughly the equivalent of 2 jelly rolls for this quilt. I don't think I'll ever do that zig zag border at the top and bottom again; that was my idea and not part of Eleanor's pattern her version finishes much more simply.

Below is a closeup of that pesky border. mostly it was just very time consuming and the valley's were a bit tricky.

I quilted this on my machine at home using a chevron pattern.

Purple and Aqua Triangle Topper

I can't believe it was over a year ago that I posted this project. I had finished piecing it but never quilted it. Until recently I have been a bit shy with quilting on my home machine. You've seen me do straight lines with my walking foot but never free motion quilting. This is my third small project that I have done on my home machine. My quilting is called loopy line and it's probably more of a variation than a true design but I like it. I wasn't too fond of stippling I'm a girl who needs to cross the lines and break rules and this design allowed that freedom. Now all I need to do is add the binding.

I tried to get some close-ups of my stitching.

Here's a few photo's of the back side. I used matching thread in my bobbin so it really shows up on the white. My first two free motion  projects were with white thread so you couldn't see the mistakes. My quilting is far from perfect but I am so glad I have taken the leap into free motion. I wish I would have done this sooner.

Thanks for reading♥ Olivia

Cherry Table Runner

I love this block it's so simple and uses up a lot of scraps you could easily make an awesome quilt with this pattern. For this runner I did the equivalent of two blocks plus a partial on each end. I did not have enough of these scraps to make a full third block and I'm kinda glad I didn't. I really like how this turned out instead. I've been a bit obsessed lately with runners and place-mats lately as you can see from my pin board.
Also this is my second free motion quilting project! Yay!

Thanks for reading♥ Olivia

whirligig quilt

This Whirligig quilt was from an Eleanor Burns Pattern I loved making this I actually used scraps instead of full strips and this is only a small/baby quilt size but it was so much fun, someday I'll make one bigger. This has been sitting in my to be quilted pile for quite some time and after trying a few practice sandwiches I decided to quilt this free motion. This is my first completed free motion project. I was so excited by how this turned out that I had to share. I followed this guideline for how I was going to free motion quilt from Pinterest. There are some great tutorials and very encouraging words out there to beginners who want to give this a try. I can't believe it took me this long to take the plunge into free motion quilting.



Thanks for reading♥ Olivia

A baby hounds-tooth quilt

Lately it seems everyone is having a baby. I usually try to have some small quilts on hand, at least one girly and one neutral or boy made from my scraps. This time however with several girls in the works I needed to make some quilts fast. I did a quick sketch and pulled some fat quarter bundles from my stash that were reserved for just this occasion.

To make the hounds-tooth pattern you need 2 or 4 fabrics, this is for my easy version I have seen quilts with more but it would take some care and planning.
Next you'll cut 2¾" strips I used one fat quarter of each fabric (make sure you have enough to cut out matching 6½" squares).

 Next sew pairs of strips together...

 Iron them open...

 Now sew these two strip sets together. Sew on both sides to create a fabric tube.

Next we cut our 6½" squares. One way to do this is with your regular square ruler. using the diagonal line down the middle you can place that on your stitch line and cut.

 Or if you have the quilt in a day 6½" triangle square up ruler it works perfectly.

From the fat quarters I got 3 blocks from every "4 strip set" giving me a total of 18 blocks from my 4 fat quarters. As you can see below from that strip set two of my blocks are identical and one is different you'll need equal amounts of each block type to complete the quilt.

To get equal amounts you simply need to flip your strip set over so for example fabrics A and B are on the top for half of the triangles you cut and fabrics C and D are on the top for the other half. We have to do this because the fat quarters only give us 3 blocks per set since it's an odd number  we have to flip the set to make it even. If you are working with yards of fabric you might get 4-6 blocks out of your set and need not worry. I would open up your blocks and make stacks to ensure you have a even amount.

 Next I cut 6½" squares out of my four fabrics with the other fat quarter bundle. You can get 6 squares from each fat quarter.

I used only 4 squares from two of the fabrics and 5 squares from the other two fabrics below is what I had left.

Here's my layout. As you turn your stripey squares and match up your fabrics the design easily begins to fall into place.

And here's the finished quilt! This ended up being 34"square.

 Here's how the back turned out. I ended up using those leftover squares plus some other additional fabrics to create this pieced back.

Thanks for reading♥ Olivia

Chevron yoga mat

Wow it may seem that I am finishing things quickly but some of these projects have been in the works for a while so I am not really that fast. Besides I like to take time and make things that are quality not quantity. Today I have finished my chevrons quilt (which I had intended for it to be a yoga/stretching mat) the final dimensions are 23½" x 51". I wanted this to actually be longer but since I was using scraps I went as far as they would take me. I am also thinking now that nicer weather has come our way this would be a nice sunbathing blanket perhaps the perfect fit for a lawn chair or chaise out on the patio.

Without further ado here is my quilt... these first pictures are before washing the quilt.

 I did a close up to show the detail of my machine binding I did.

 This shows the back, I used more of the scraps here.

These next photos are after I washed my quilt, it adds such a charming look to the finished product.

 here's the back again. I almost love it more than the front.

What do you do with your scraps? What kind of scrappy patterns are your favorites?
Thanks for reading♥ Olivia