Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Patchwork Heart Pillow - A tutorial


I thought I would share with you a patchwork heart pillow I made recently for Valentine's Day.  It is super easy, and a great way to use up your scraps!


You will need:
A variety of red, pinks and whatever else you want to throw in there.  Be scrappy!  The scrappier the better.
White fabric
Basic sewing tools (cutting mat, rotary cutter, thread)
Left over batting
Pillow form - My pillow is an 18" pillow form.  You could use this tutorial for any size pillow form - just adjust your square sizes and maybe the border sizes to make it fit.

1.  Cut your colored scraps into whatever size square you want them to be.  I used my 2.5 Omnigrid template. You will need 20 scrappy squares.

2.  Cut out 6 white squares, same size as your scrappy squares.

Half Square Triangles:
The heart has 10 half square triangles (HST's). For the HST's, we will need these to be a little bit bigger than our 2.5 blocks.  I found an awesome chart to help you figure out what size you will need.  There is a math formula out there, but let's face it, THIS girl does NOT do math. ;)

Click on the link below for tips on making HST's and/or the alternative method.
Courtesy of Blossom Heart Quilts

3.  Cut out 10 squares of white for your HST's - based on the chart above.  For my 2.5 blocks, I cut out size 3 3/8 white squares.
4.  Cut out 10 squares of your red/pink prints for the HST's - same size as above on #2.



This is great for fussy cutting prints.  I love these butterflies.


5.  Lay out your prints how you would like them to form the heart.


6.  Now we will make our 10 HST's.  Use your preferred method for making these.  Chain piecing is a great time and thread saver!


7.  Add your HST's to your heart layout.  Use the above as a guideline.  Also lay out your 6 white squares for the bottom 2 rows.
8.  Sew your blocks together by row, using a 1/4 seam allowance.  Depending on your HST's, you may need a scant 1/4 seam allowance.  Just watch for the corners where the HST's meet, if it cuts off the point of your triangle, rip it out and sew a scant 1/4 seam allowance.  (I had to do this a few times) :(
9.  Iron your seams flat and open.  I typically iron to one side, but for small projects as a pillow, I usually press them open as I like the look better.


10.  Now it's time to sew your rows together.  I pin my seams with the Clover fork pins.  They work great for keeping the seams in line.
11.  Once all your rows are put together, trim the heart square.


12.  Once your heart is finished, you can add borders if you want.  I cut out a 2 inch white border, then used a 3 inch red border to frame it.  You could also make it scrappy using your blocks cut out for the heart!


13.  Quilt as desired!  I sandwiched this with left over batting and a cheap muslin from Joann's for the back.  I quilted it using a crosshatch grid.  I have a Frixon pen and they are awesome for this.  Iron it once you are done quilting and the pen marks disappear.  It's magical!


For the back I used the envelope method.  There are lots of easy peasy tutorials out there for this - it really is simple.


There you go!  I hope you will use my tutorial to make one for Valentines day!  Make one, make two!
Make one for friends!  Share the love!   ♥♥


If you make one using my tutorial, I'd love to see!  Leave a comment with your link!  :)

Monday, January 27, 2014

I ♥ Technology

It's no secret.  I am a robot, thus I ♥ technology.  For holidays my husband always asks for gifts like tools, welding supplies, drills, you know, boring stuff like that and I have no clue what he's talking about.   So I give him technology that he needs and just doesn't know it.  ;)  It's what I know, and I feel confident in these purchases.

Anyway, I have had an iPad 1 since they came out.  It's loved.  It's slow. It is inundated with kids apps galore.  I always have to fight the kids for it.  I can't get the new fancy schmancy shiny apps because my iPad is outdated.  So sad. 



If you recall on this post, I asked for suggestions on how to keep all your 'quilty' ideas manageable and organized.  The fabulous Michelle  gave me the suggestion of using Evernote, as her husband swears by it.  I had been using OneNote to hold all my tutorials, inspiration etc., but I couldn't get it on my sad old iPad. Evernote is very similar to OneNote.  So I downloaded it on my PC and LOVED it.  I immediately moved all my stuff from OneNote to my new Evernote account.  Then I ran to my iPad only to find out, it was one more app I couldn't get.  Boo!!

Mama needs a new iPad.  

Isn't this cover the cutest?
 I ended up going with the iPad Air.  She is so sweet.  Light and fluffy.   Ahhhh.  Bliss.

Eeek!  Quilty shapes here....


So, I have 3 tabs running in Evernote for all my quilty goodness.  I have tutorials, Patterns I ♥ and Inspiration.

I know some of you may say, 'Well Pinterest can keep all your stuff too', but I get a little overwhelmed with Pinterest.  I put stuff on there that I like, think oh that's cute, but then I never look at it again.  Plus, I get annoyed by having to log in, click something, then be launched somewhere else...that may or may not be the correct link.  I also get extremely sidetracked on Pinterest.  I have had to set myself time limits for when I am in the Pinterest universe.

But hey, that's me.  Remember I am a Robot and the more streamlined and organized, the better I function. ;)


The best part is, if I'm at my computer, and find something I want to put on my Evernote, it automatically syncs to my iPad.  LOVE it.  

We are becoming best friends. ♥

See?  Technology is A-Mazing. 

**Don't worry, no old outdated iPads were harmed in the update.  iPad #1 has been adopted by the Robot Children, who are very happy and excited to have her as their own. ;)**

Thursday, January 23, 2014

TSotTQ


Are you ready for this?  
I have joined a traveling Quilt Bee.  SO exciting!!  Stephanie of Spolgar Quilts sent out an invite and I jumped right in.  Feet first.   I have NO clue what I'm doing, no ideas are spilling out of my brain, but it will be fun, regardless!!    These four lovely ladies and I will be sending our quilts around the country.  So exciting!  Well, actually, the black sheep that I always am, I am the only West coast gal.  Everyone is East coast, but still - what an adventure these quilts will have!  

Here we are: 

Wish me luck!! ;)  Stay tuned for our adventures.  We are also on Flickr.
Thanks to Jess for the cute button!! :)

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The Library Project



Ok!  Yay!  It's time for the Library Project!!  This is hosted by the lovely Adrienne from Chezzetcook Quilts, created in mind for us to not just drool over our quilting books/patterns, but to actually use them. A great concept I think!

I actually ended up deleting quite a few.  Let's TRY and be realistic here.  :(  Sigh.  Not enough hours in the day.  

Here are the ones I am really dedicated to completing this year.  I have a mix of actual books, patterns and magazine patterns.

1.  Heartthrob - Pattern by Lella Boutique.  I finally got my FQ's picked out for this.  I am using Heather Bailey's Lottie Da.  SO excited.

2.  Giggles - Pattern by Jaybird Quilts.  Not sure but I'm thinking of doing this in Lecien.  Or something like it.  Reds, pinks, greens and turquoise of course.

3.  Cub Crawl baby quilt by Fat Quarterly.  So cute.




4.  This flying Geese quilt from Modern Designs for Classic Quilts.  I will probably do a baby version...I really need to brush up on flying geese.

 5.  Math Facts - from the Quilty Winter 2012 issue.  LOVE the solids.

Chevron & On Kit
Photo courtesy of Quilty
6. Chevron and On - from the Quilty Spring 2013 issue.  For some reason I cannot find my copy, but it's here somewhere. :(  I have the fabric picked out - Les Amis in orange.



So there we have it!  6 picks.  I think it's manageable. ;)  Join us won't you?




Tuesday, January 21, 2014

A Pug Pillow fit for a Pug

A while back on one of our numerous fabric shopping adventures, Robot Child #1 and I came across some Pug fabric.  Yes, there are other doggies on there, but most importantly, there are PUGS on that fabric!!  I'm sure you can imagine the squealing that commenced from my child and, um, er, myself. Haha.  Not ashamed. It's PUG fabric people!  And the pug even has a little curly tail.  Awwwww.
There are Pugs on that fabric!
So, we had an extra pillow lying around and decided that Mimi the pug, should really have a pug pillow.  I mean, really, what else was this fabric created for?


I made it with a zipper enclosure on the end because Mimi likes to destroy anything that has fluff inside.  If it's a stuffy she knows it and her main goal in life is to kill any stuffy and eat it's insides.   So, we put a kibosh on that idea.

This pillow took all of maybe 10 minutes.  But the pure joy of it was showing it to Robot Child #1.   Mimi is technically her pug and she was SO excited for Mimi's pillow.  Our love for pugs originated from RC #1. Her favorite thing is pugs...I'm not sure where this came from, but she loves their goofiness.  Pugs live to make people happy and laugh.  Pugs are the clown of all dogs and she lives up to that title.  I bought Mimi for RC#1 for her 9th birthday and it was the BEST.DAY.EVER.  Seeing her face when we picked her up from school with Mimi...there were tears!  It was so awesome.  I loved it.  Mimi came to us when we were going through some rough times together as a family and she was definitely a therapy dog for us.  We ♥ her.  (In case you couldn't tell).  :)


Pug photo shoots are always entertaining.  It's like she knows she's being photographed for a human blog, and is so utterly disgusted by the idea.  That and having to be leashed up inside because she's a wanderer.

At any rate, I do think she loves her pillow.  It's a perfect pillow, fit for a spoiled rotten Pug. :)
Linked up to:
Quilt Story

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Suck it, Cancer #Deux



Suck it, Cancer #Deux
This is the 2nd 'Suck it, Cancer' quilt I've made.  I made this one slightly different than my first version, but I think I may love this one more.  Shhhh, don't tell.


This was a commissioned quilt for my friend Amanda, who requested a red color way.  I found a bundle, and we both loved the butterflies right away.


I tried to sneak in the one lone butterfly, flying different than the rest.  The rebel butterfly.  ♥


I love how after I washed this, my label got nice and chubby.  Love it. ♥

BTW - I want to give a huge, high-five-ing fist pumping 'Shout Out' to Shout Color Catchers!  (see what I did there?) ;)

After crossing my fingers, taking a deep breath, I plunged this very RED quilt into cold water with TWO color catchers.  When the cycle finished, more deep breathes and prayers said, washer opened and Voila! My whites stayed pristine and the reds stayed bright and lovely.

There is never a need to worry with color catchers.  I think they are on my top 5 list of things of quilter-must-haves.  Funny thing, I don't use them for regular laundry.  They are tucked in the back, secretly waiting for a quilt washing.  No one here knows about them.....and it will stay that way. ;)  Again, Shhhhhhh.


Today's post is brought to you by the color Red.  

Monday, January 13, 2014

Busy January!



Well, I had this thought a while back, once Christmas is over, things will calm down.  Right?  We all think that, no?  Well, January is proving to be just as busy.  But that is good!  I love to stay busy.

I haven't posted much of late, but I have been busy making stuff.  Here are some sneak peeks.



Finishing this.
SUPER belated Christmas present. :(



Heart Pillow for V-day.  Tutorial coming soon - along with a matching 'LOVE' pillow. Stay tuned!



'Suck it, Cancer' quilt #2 for Amanda.  I love the reds in this.  Binding left to do, then completed.


Next up....
Have you heard about the TLP with Chezzetcook Quilts?  You know you have a hoard of quilting books on your shelf right?  You know you have maybe done a few of your favorites from those books, or dog-eared the ones you wanted to do, but you never did them.  Well Adrienne is starting a fantastic QAL to get us USING those books!  Making those quilts that we said we wanted to, then never did!  Yah, I've got a bunch...so I'm in!!  Jumping in feet first people!  Check out her blog for info - starting on January 17th!
I can't wait...I have a LOT of dog-ears!  Narrowing them all down will be difficult!



Here is a list of quilts I've got planned, but haven't started:
  • Triangles - Demystifying the mystery of Triangles ;)
  • Heartthrob quilt
  • Ladybug quilt
  • Briar Rose quilt ♥

Question:  How do you all keep track of your projects or things you see that inspire you?  I've currently got a OneNote going with all my inspirations, tutorials and patterns...but I can't take that everywhere I go...um, I'm not even sure if I can pull it up on my iPad.  That's about the extent of my tech-savvy self...I created the OneNote, have it all pretty, but then what? Haha.  Just curious how you all keep track of everything (besides Pinterest-I find it a little overwhelming at times).  Thoughts?  Suggestions?  


Linked to: Quilt Story