The Olympics!!! (a quilt tutorial)

Hurray, hurray -- the Olympics are here!!  I have a new friend (Jen from Heritage Threads) who just wrote up a blog post -- and it explains EXACTLY how I've always felt about the Olympics! You should totally check it out, it's so stinking cute, and so is her mini Olympic rings quilt!

 

So, here's the backstory on this quilt: When our girls chose "The Olympics -- Go for the Gold" for our Girls Camp theme, I immediately thought about making a quilt. A quilt with the Olympic rings, and the rest just as GOLD as I could make it! And I decided to make it not just for YW Camp, but so I could use it for the Olympics later this summer, and for the Olympics to come. I really wanted to finish it up in time for Camp, but didn't quite make it in time. But I did have it finished in time for the 2016 Rio Opening Ceremonies!

 

 



And I had the foresight to take a BUNCH of pictures along the way -- because I just know I'm not the only one who wants a quilt for the Olympics! Have fun!

 

OLYMPICS QUILT TUTORIAL

 

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS:



• {92} 5 1/2" squares (I used assorted yellows and golds)
• {1} 30 1/2" x 40 1/2" background piece
• assorted scraps for rings and words
• Heat-n-Bond Lite (I just used scraps)

 

1. I laid them some plates on my FAVORITE quilt (it's the perfect size), to kind of test out how big the pattern would be, then used those plates to trace a ring.

 

After I decided to use those bigger plates, I used another plate to make what I think is just about perfect. (I think the little one is 6" and the other is 10".)

  

2. I traced the rings on freezer paper, which was a FANTASTIC idea. You'll see why later!

 

3.  I cut out the circle EXACTLY on the outside line, then folded it in half and marked the line formed between the two rings. I repeated, folding again and again, until I had 16 segments. I didn't take a picture, but after I had the 16 segments, I cut out the middle, about 1/4" from the line. Then, I cut along ONE of the lines, to make a little opening so I could layer the rings just like they do in the official Olympics logo.

 

 

4. Now for the fun part -- fabric selection! I have 16 different fabrics for each ring, so I trimmed each fabric I was using to about 4" x 5". There was a little waste, but I really loved using that smaller size, rather than trying to figure out how to fit my large sections of fabric to the little freezer paper sections.



 

5. I used the freezer paper as a paper-piecing template. When I want to be REALLY precise, I really love to paper piece! And for the Olympics, precision seemed like the thing to do. :)

 

I pressed the first fabric to the freezer paper, adhering the wrong side of the fabric to the freezer paper. Then I lined up a second fabric to one side of the first fabric, making sure there was at least 1/4" for a seam allowance. Then I flipped over the freezer paper and sewed with a shortened stitch length along the line, all the way to the edge of the paper. (And I always did at least two at a time, so I didn't waste much thread.) Then I trimmed the seam, as needed, and pressed the second fabric to the freezer paper.

*One little trick I've learned with paper piecing is to trim the first fabric I'm using to about 1/4" away from the seam I'm about to sew. To do that, I fold the fabric along the line, then trim with fabric scissors. It really helps to line up that second fabric!

 

6.  After all my rings were pieced, I made five more rings, this time on the back of some Heat-n-Bond Lite and cut away about 1/4" from each edge, plus cut one line through the ring (just like you did with the freezer paper). In retrospect, I wish I had folded under the sides and appliqued the rings onto the quilt, but it was so much easier to do it this way! Plus, I used the raw-edge applique technique for the words, so I thought it would probably match better that way.

 

*You can use the centers of these pieces for some of the letters, if you choose to do so.

7. Working with one ring at a time, I carefully peeled away the freezer paper from the back of the ring, then adhered the Heat-n-Bond to the BACK of the ring. Then I trimmed on the line, and pulled the backing away from the Heat-n-Bond. (It totally helps to mark at least a couple of the markings on the paper part of the Heat-n-Bond so you can line things up juuust right.)

 

Here they are, in all their glory -- they look so good!!

 

8. After that, adhere the rings to the 30 1/2" x 40 1/2" backing fabric, interlocking as shown in the Olympic logo (I just googled it!). Stitch them down, one by one, starting and stopping as needed for the "interlocking" to work.

9. I figured out which fabrics I wanted to use for the words, and laid them out in order. Then I adhered the Heat-n-Bond, cut them out, adhered them, and stitched... and stitched... and stitched... for DAYS. But it was SUCH a quick finish once I was done with that part. :) The rest is super simple!

10. After that, I laid out my squares and stitched it all together! I first put 6 squares together in a column, then attached those to one side of the background piece, then repeated for the other side. Then I made the top (2 rows of 10) and bottom pieces (6 rows of 10), and attached them to the top & bottom of the quilt center.

Then, I sent it off to the quilter, and I am so, SO happy I did! My friend Marion, who blogs at My Quilt Diet, is an AMAZING quilter, and I just love everything she did! (She recently blogged another quilt I made HERE.) So, prepare for a picture overload -- I took these the day I brought the quilt home, which happened to be Friday, August 6th, the day of the Opening Ceremonies!! It wasn't bound yet, but I just couldn't help myself, even with a little storm rolling in -- it was just so pretty!

Please note: I mostly used sunny, bright fabrics to make this a really great "Go for the Gold" quilt, but it also made it feel VERY summer-like, so I backed it mostly in this pretty sun fabric from Vanessa Goertzen (it's my favorite!) -- but the Olympics is during the winter half the time, so I included just a strip of this DARLING snowman fabric from Lori Holt. :) Marion did such a great job making it nice and straight with the front of the quilt!

And... of course there were some outtakes! We had a bit of a wind (there was a small storm that was coming), and my #1 Quilt Holder wasn't too excited to show his face... I have to be pretty quick to get a shot of this handsome boy!

Thank you for sticking with me this far! I sure hope you liked my quilt -- I'm absolutely in love with it -- I love it almost as much as the Olympics!!

Baby Boy Quilt

A friend of mine was about to have a little baby boy (her first!) and I had the VERY last-minute idea to do a collaborative quilt for her. I used a pattern from a friend (which I think originally comes from rachelwoodenspoon -- look at the bottom of the tutorial page to find the exact dimensions we used), which we used for a different baby quilt (I did two blocks -- the one in the bottom center (!!!) and the first one on the next row).

Happily, that baby boy was born THE VERY DAY I finished quilting, so I was able to take some artsy photos. I'm learning! :)

 

 

I also washed and dried the quilt, which made it SUUUUPER soft and crinkly, and today I got to give it to him in person!

 

What a sweet little guy he is - and now he has a sweet little quilt to go along with him!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I just love this time of year -- for me, it's a chance to reevaluate and restart and recharge.

I hope everyone had a great holiday. We celebrate Christmas in a big way, and I couldn't post any of my projects until now, because at our house we take Christmas secrets VERY seriously. I even lied to my mom once about being pregnant so it would be a bigger surprise -- but she totally called me on it. Moms can just SENSE these things.

We have five kids in my family, so we just rotate through the list and this year I had my littlest sister's name. She has a husband and two little kiddos, and I ended up just buying a couple of toys for the kids and printing off her husband's blog. I thought they were good presents, but my little sister's was my FAVORITE!

She and I have been really into cross stitch lately. She even did the Quilty Stitches Sampler -- twice! Once for her, and once for our Mom for her birthday. So, when I was brainstorming presents, it was pretty easy to decide on making a little cross stitch kit.

First, I decided I wanted to give her four seasonal patterns. We've talked before about Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery patterns, so I knew I wanted to get them mostly from there. The problem was deciding -- there are so many cute patterns!! I really wanted one pattern from each season, and it was so hard to choose between Halloween and Thanksgiving -- that turkey is so cute! I finally decided to nix Halloween, but I may get that cute little Frankenstein couple for myself. :) I bought the digital patterns, but the designers are super clear about NOT sharing patterns, so if I decide to do the "spring" pattern, I'll be sure to purchase it myself. (I already got Thanksgiving -- that turkey!!)

But the little summer pattern I wanted to buy wasn't being sold at the time, and I didn't really find anything else I loved, so I decided to try my hand at designing cross stitch patterns. I've done a couple already, so I knew Excel could work for it -- and when I didn't do any half-squares it really worked out well. I designed one for Christmas (based on a certain Red-Nosed Reindeer, did you notice? :) and one for summer. The summer one really reminded me of the Quilt Stitches Sampler, so I'm sure she'll love that one! I designed both patterns to be around the same size as the others, so I cut four little 8" squares (two white and two lightly variegated) for her to work on.

After that, I went to my local yarn shop, Heindselmann's, because I knew they would have all the DMC colors I was looking for. It turns out they didn't have one -- a specialty thread that has monofilament inside it -- so I just got a kind of monofilament to go along with a close-enough color.

Then I made Thimble Blossoms Sundae Scallop Bag for her to keep everything in. I made one for me earlier in the year, but it was a little too small, so I upsized this one -- I think the finished dimensions were about 10" x 15", with the box seam at the bottom 1" from each corner. It was the perfect size for everything!

My last project was the needle book. I used the tutorial from NanaCompany to make myself a needlebook at the beginning of last year, so I knew it was just about the perfect size to go along with this project. It ended up so cute! You can barely see it, but I used a piece of denim (cut from actual jeans!) for the "binding edge". It's so cute and stylish and perfectly her!


For Joel's family, we had his sister's name -- and I already knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do for her. When we had her name last, maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I couldn't think of a thing to get her, so I told Joel I wanted to make a quilt for her. I decided on a pattern and how much fabric I'd need, and then I set to work to make her a lap quilt. Well, in the end I didn't finish it for that Christmas, but the colors were perfect for her, so I set it aside knowing full well that I'd get around to it the next time we had her name. So, I finished up this quilt -- and I've come a LOOOONG way since 2007! My seams were so funny! But I ended up putting it all together without too much hassle, and I free motioned some double swirls in the center, some figure eights in the first border, and some flowers on wavy lines in the second border. I think I'd change up the thread color of the double swirls, but all in all it turned out really nice!

{front}

 

{back}

 

{double swirl quilting}

 

{wonky corner flower}

Another present I made was for a white elephant swap. Now, I don't mean to be vulgar in any way, but when I saw this idea on Pinterest I knew it had to make it to our annual Christmas party! Little did I know, but the man who LOOOOOVED his "Ask me about my explosive diarrhea" shirt last year was totally squeamish about this little present! So, please let me know if you think this is hilarious or gross -- I'm totally voting for funny!



{for him: "apple", Gator gummy candy, black Twizzlers bites, beef jerky

for her: maxi pad slippers, raccoon scarf, Rob-sessed DVD (Robert Pattinson documentary}

Our principal (thank you second grade teacher Mrs. Sales, for teaching me that our Principal is our PAL!!) is a really great lady. Last year I made a plate of cookies for Teacher Appreciation Week and told her to take the leftovers home and to keep the plate -- it was a gift and REALLY not my style, so I didn't mind if it didn't come back. Well, the other day she had this plate and told me how much she loved it. Not long after that, I commented on a candle warmer she had in her office, and just said how cute it was. And she GAVE IT TO ME. I wasn't asking for it, I was just trying to make conversation really, but how nice is that! She said it was because she loved her plate so much and that she uses it all the time, because it was given to her and she doesn't care if it comes back. Well! I promise, her gift to me was worth WAY more to me than that silly plate, so I looked in my cupboard, and I have three more of those same plates, and I realized I could give her another one and a hot pad in thanks. But not just any hot pad -- I'd seen this sweet little paper-pieced patter for FREE online, and it's so cute! So, I got some fabrics together and made her one, and this is how it looked -- pretty cute, if I don't say so myself. :)

{hot pad}

{plate & hot pad present}

And the last project I did for Christmas was a Thimble Blossoms Swoon. I've done this pattern for baby quilts, twin-sized quilts, and now for a Christmas table topper -- and I'm still not tired of it! It seems to take a kind of long time to make one block, but for a twin-sized quilt, you only make SIX blocks! And for a 24" table topper, I only made one. It's so Christmas-y and nice, too, don't you think?  I hand-quilted this, mostly last year, and then all I had to do was bind it and add just a touch more hand-quilting around the border.

{front}

 

{back}

And now I'll leave you, because I've got some Resolutions to plan!

Hello Again!

Wow -- I didn't mean to take a three-month break from blogging.  That being said, it's been a pretty good break.  I went to Quilt Market, we finished up school, and summer vacation is in FULL SWING!  I'm really enjoying my kids being home this summer -- they only drive me crazy when they're fighting, and that's been mostly prevented by strategically-planned playdates. :)  Aaah, playdates -- a Mom's best friend!

I've also been working on some projects, and I still need to show-and-tell all about Quilt Market, but for today (since I have just a few minutes), I'll just show some pictures of a recent project I did.  Many thanks to two ladies -- Lori Holt from A Bee in my Bonnet and Angela Walters from Quilting is My Therapy.

Isn't it cute?! I thought I'd make a wintry table runner, and this was originally going to be the back side -- but in the end I just couldn't help but make a second table runner. The block I made is a Great-Granny Square, a super popular tutorial made by Lori Holt. It's like magic how this comes together! And a great leader/ender block -- although I generally notice that my leaders and enders are so much fun to work on that I scrap the first project so I can work on them. :)

^^I had bookmarked a tutorial, but I think it's no longer available, because she made a whole book about it.  The book looks so cute!

^^As my friend Marion says -- the back side is the best side!  See how I learned from my mistakes? A more plain (although still pieced) back is totally okay not to show all the time.

^^And the quilting was made possible by Angela Walters' book "Free-Motion Quilting", which I got from Amazon. It's really a great reference on how to make all sorts of motifs, including pebbles, flowers, and leaves -- all of which are in my little project!

I have always been pretty naturally good at a lot of crafty things -- knitting, crochet, scrapbooking, sewing clothing -- as long as I have a pattern or an idea of what I want to do, I'm good to go.  But free-motion quilting really stole a little bit of that confidence for a while.  My mother picked it up really easily, and I've had a bunch of friends that just do it, so I took a class at my local quilt shop, and I was just so naturally BAD at it that I didn't even want to try! Now that I'm trying my hand at pattern design, though, I'm really cranking out a bunch of new projects, and I really wanted to get good at it.  As you can see, I need a little more practice -- but for a first attempt at three different techniques, it's not too bad, if I say so myself!