Koukla's Apron

My sweet friend Trisha had a great idea for this Christmas. She had a apron that belonged to her grandmother, or affectionately referred to as Koukla. It was an apron Koukla wore until she passed away in April at the age of 86. Trisha asked me to take the apron, cut it up and make it into four aprons: one for her mother, her two sisters and herself. I felt honored to be given this project. I only met Koukla once, but she was unforgettable kind and I knew instantly why she was beloved by her family.


Trisha found an apron pattern she liked on Pinterest.
Moda Vintage Pleated Apron

 

I was able to find some vintage re-prints from Riley Blake at my local quilt shop to mix in with original fabric. It was so fun to take the apron and cut it apart. I removed the sleeves and turned them into the pockets. The front facing was re-purposed into neck straps. 

Since there wasn't enough of the original material to make four identical aprons, each one would be a little different and one of a kind. The neat part about the Moda pattern is that each apron is totally reversible, making them all even more unique. 
The pattern called for rick rack and I think it was the last touch that really finished the aprons off and gave it the sweet retro look.
Each apron has a pleated bodice and pleated skirt with make it flattering for almost every body type too.

Here are the four finished aprons. Each one was my favorite until I finished the next one!
 

It was a fun project but it had such a deeper meaning and that made it feel even more special. When you sew, you have a lot of time alone to think. As I worked, I reflected on my own sweet grandmother. She was kind, hard working, spiritual - all the things I knew of Trisha's Koukla. I look forward to taking something of my grandma's and turning it into an item I can treasure and use, like these sweet aprons. Thank you Trisha for trusting me with this idea and I hope it keeps the spirit of Koukla alive in a little way.  

Ins and Outs: Baby Sellman

 

My sweet friend Jessica is having her second baby in August. The new baby will be a wonderful addition to their family. As with her first child, (Dane, an amazing nine year old) Jessica and her new husband Jake have decided to find out the gender of the child at the birth.

I like the idea of not knowing for the simple fact of not buying into the typical "pink for a girl" or "blue for a boy" stereotypes. I also wanted to stay away from the generic, "here's your yellow and green quilt...since we don't know what you're having..."

Starting with 1/2 yd of four different Riley Blake prints, (which jumped out at me for Jessica. Adorable, but not kitschy, and classic)

I cut 6" x 8" squares, and 3" strips of the fabric to make each of the blocks. Adding skinny 1 1/2" white sashing between the blocks and 5" border pieces to join the rows, really made the squares pop!

After I completed the top, I added a neutral backing and quilted it on my Handi Quilter long arm machine with an all over bubble pattern.

 

After quilting it, I added a pieced binding with the leftover strips. I opted to not hand stitch the binding. With baby quilts, I know they get laundered frequently, so a stronger, machine stitched binding was the best way to go.  

 

This was such a fun quilt to make for a baby that I can't wait to meet. I know she or he will be loved so much and will have a wonderful life in a lovely family.

Here's the finished quilt!

 

 

 

My Quilt Featured on Camelot Fabrics blog!

Check out this wonderful post Camelot Fabrics wrote in reference to my quilt that I designed with Jackie McFee's fabric collection, Paisley Please. Their kinds words were overwhelming, as the design of this quilt was a labor of love. Each block tackles a different and interesting technique. Their high quality fabric was inspiring and a joy to work with. 

I will be posting the tutorials of each block as I teach them throughout this year in my classes here in Idaho. 

Check back often! 

The Big E Wall-Hanging

I had some triangles left over from the baby quilt, so I decided to make a wall-hanging for the nursery for Baby Everly, my best friend Jolene's first baby. 

With no pattern I just started sewing the triangles together. To personalize it more, I decided to draw a big monogram for Baby Everly. I adhered the monogram with Heat n Bond and then appliqued using my blanket stitch. I used my Handi Quilter and did a simply back and forth free motion stitch in each row of the triangles. Is it quilted to death? Probably, but I love the look.    

The "E" needed an outline of some sort as it blended in with the white background, so I took a crochet cord and couched it around the E with a zig-zag stitch and my cording/embroidery presser foot (#6 on Bernina)

I stitched the binding to the front with my machine and then finished it on the back by hand. (Have any of my long-hair friends accidently sewn over their hair before? Or am I the only one?)

I think it turned out great, it's fun to use up scraps for a personalized project for a special little girl coming into this world very soon. 

Gracie's Herringbone Baby Quilt

When thinking of my friend Megan, I can choose a variety of amazing memories that we have made together. We've traveled and ate our way around various cities and ballparks, invented the very popular "pre-dinner" (where we stop for tacos before the actual dinner) and regularly discuss our love for baseball, Liz Lemon, Idaho and Netflix. She's supportive of my work, always offers her encouragement and never gives up on me when life gets busy.

After getting married last summer to her love Obi, I knew a baby would join their New Jersey family of Paprika, their puppy and Beula, the only cat I've ever cared for.

We are both obsessive Pinterest pinners, so when she sent me this pin from Hyacinth Quilt Designs,
"Keep this in mind for a baby quilt"
I had to laugh because I had already pinned the same quilt. 

After the gender reveal, Megan finalized her colors for the nursery. She was having a baby girl, and Gracie would be her name. Bright pinks, oranges, yellows and grays would enhance her classy Dr. Seuss theme.Megan has a great eye for detail (she's an amazingly talented graphic designer and photographer) and it's been exciting to be a part of her nursery design.   

With gray and white as the neutrals in the quilt, the colored rows would really pop! I choose fun, bold prints from the Lillified line from Benartex.

I used my standard rotary ruler to cut the material at a 4 degree angle. I sewed white cotton strips between each color and then repeated the process over and over again. 

After finishing the top, I loaded the quilt onto my Handi Quilter and used the channel lock to achieve the "matchstick" quilting effect. There wasn't a pattern per say, I used mostly white thread and then incorporated the colors into the gray area. I wanted to bring the color all over the quilt and break up the gray more. It made it feel more whimsical, but still sharp, like  Dr. Seuss. 

The next step was to create a custom label for baby Gracie's quilt in my V7 Bernina software, and then using my Bernina 830, I embroidered it. 
I hand stitched the label to the back of the quilt and then hand stitched the binding in place. 

I absolutely love how this turned out. It's a great mixture of a whimsy and structure - just like Megan herself. She is a very focus individual, a go-getter but does everything with heart and sense of humor. I love her and can't wait to meet this gorgeous little one!


Now here's all the photos of the finished Gracie's Herringbone baby quilt: 

Everly's Diamonds

 Your best friend only has her first baby once. Jolene is that perfect best friend, almost. Her only flaw is that she lives 2000 miles away. Jolene and I met years ago and instantly clicked. She's incredibly generous, supportive, full of love and has the best sense of humor in the world. She took a huge leap of faith and moved across the country to start a life with her now husband and wherever she goes, she sparkles and shines. 
The minute she told me she was having a baby, I immediately started daydreaming of ideas for her quilt. I had a design that was gender neutral but I just couldn't start. It wasn't until I was driving and listening to that incredibly catching, albeit slightly annoying (and drug inspired) Diamonds by Rihanna when I read a text from Jolene. She was having a baby girl! 

Shine bright like a diamond, shine bright like a diamond in the sky..find light in the beautiful sea...

Jolene is a diamond; she's one of a kind, valuable and beautiful. And her baby girl would definitely be one in the same. So the quilt had to have a diamond pattern. She chose the colors for the nursery and I followed suit in my fabric selection. I used my Hex N More ruler to cut perfect diamonds of the four fabrics.

 So at this point I knew I wanted to put a lot of white in the design and added the 60 degree strips between the diamonds. The top measures about 50" x 65" 

After I got the quilt pieced I designed a quilt label in my Bernina embroidery V7 software and embroidered it. I really like this part of the quilt, this baby thing was starting to feel real! 

I loaded the quilt on my Handi Quilter and used the Pro-Stitcher to do an all-over quilting with the "orange peel" pattern. I liked the vast difference between the sharpness of the diamonds and the curves of the quilting. I used white thread on the top and back to blend and let the diamonds shine.  

After quilting, I attached the label to the back on the diagonal, with a hand stitch. 

Here's the label on the diagonal on the back. You only have to hand sew one side!

With the wide white borders I liked the idea of doing a white binding so that the diamonds would really pop. The rational part of my brain kicked in and I decided to use the coral polka dot instead. White bindings are so beautiful but tend to look dirty after a few touches.
 I love a hand stitched binding and was happy with how this beauty turned out. Once the binding was done, it was time for an outdoor photo shoot for Baby Everly's Shine Bright like a Diamond quilt. 

 Sometimes people ask why I quilt. (or for that matter, why does anyone quilt?) We don't need the quilts. We do it because we love it. We love pretty things. We love our friends and family. We want to see someone smile. We want to show our appreciation. We want to express feelings that have no words. 

I'll never be able to match the amazing-ness of Jolene, and I won't get to hold the baby very often, but at least she'll have a quilt that will always remind her of how much I love her and how much she means to me.

Shine bright like a diamond... 

3D Pinwheels

3D Pinwheels are a fun, eye catching quilt block that give your project dimension and a little fun flair! 

You can make this in any size, you will just simply need to cut everything to the same size. For a finished 12" block, pictured above I started with 16 = 3" squares

For the pinwheel portion of the block, take 4 of your squares and iron them individually in half diagonally. 

Then fold again on the diagonal and iron a second time.

Grab two background squares and lay two of your pinwheels down as show below. Sandwich the pinwheels between your two background pieces and stitch using a 1/4" seam allowance. (do two of these for a complete block)

Open up the seam after you sew it and press the pinwheels into the position.

Put your two pieces of pinwheels together, matching your center seam and stitch. 

Press seams on direction on the backside. For a flatter center, press the center joint open like you see below. 

Keep making your pinwheels until you get enough for your project!

This block below is a larger version, starting with 6" squares and a button for the center for a fun accent!