Planning for 2018

I can't believe it is almost 2018!!!! This year I am trying something new to keep my everyday and quilty life organized...The 2018 Quilter's Planner!!! I'm so excited to do this!!! Plus the included Pattern Magazine is awesome!!! More about the awesome Quilter's Planner at end of post (including a video).

Goals:
1. Finish my WIPs...I cannot just work one project! I see a new quilt-along that I must join (anyone else do this???), new fabric or patterns are released, or I just want to start something new :)
2. Try new free motion quilting patterns. Currently, I am the stippling queen....time to branch out!
3. Purchase Electric Quilt 8 and start designing patterns...eek this makes me nervous!
4. Open an Etsy Store to sell my finished products....eek this also makes me nervous!

I tend not to make exact quilty goals because I love finishing a project that I LOVE! I don't like feeling pressured that I must finish a certain quilt because I pre-assigned it to a particular month. Sewing/quilting is my creative and relaxing time....so I love to sew what makes me happy!

More about the Quilter's Planner and how it will help me meet my goals and be more organized!

• Quilter's Planner Available at Fat Quarter Shop here or directly from Quilter's Planner here.
• Awesome Lori Holt pens for planner or just everyday doodling here.

Spelling Bee Saturday - Cake Block

It is Spelling Bee Saturday with Fat Quarter Shop and Lori Holt ! I'm excited to be sharing the cake block for the quilt along! The cake block was fun to sew as Lori's patterns are always clear and well written. My cake block finishes at 12"x 12" before border (there is a smaller size too at 6" x 6"). The Spelling Bee Book has 26 letters (upper and lower case) in 2 sizes, plus punctuation, numbers, picture blocks, quilts, and mini quilts....it is quite amazing...more in a bit!

I had sew much fun sewing the first cake block that I needed to make more! Three blocks with a bit of sashing was perfect for a Cake Table Runner. My cakes are: Cherry, Chocolate, and Blueberry...yum! We can't wait for the next birthday!!!!

Ready to make your own.....here is a quick how to....

Last Minute Christmas Sewing Ideas

I love fun sewing projects that I can finish in an afternoon! I saw this cute placemat at Target and thought it would be perfect for a pillow!

Sewing my Christmas pillow took about one hour...I love a quick project! 

Quick how to:

Peppermint Pizzazz Tablerunner

I'm excited to share my new Peppermint Pizzazz table runner!!! I just love my new Christmas table runner so much...it is perfect! I even used some of my Bonnie & Camille Vintage Modern fabric...crazy!!!!

I started making these cute blocks.....

Then they became my Christmas table runner....I'm loving the backing and binding fabrics!!! I might have a slight obsession with Bonnie & Camille  fabrics ;)

The super cute sleigh and glitter silver brush trees are awesome Target finds!

Cake Mix Quilt Book - Sherbet Quilt

Happy Cake Mix Monday!!! What a great way to start the week!!! I'm super excited to quilt along with Fat Quarter Shop and It's So Emma with their new book: Cake Mix Quilt Book -Volume 1.

Cake Mix Quilt Book - Volume 1 contains 16 quilt patterns plus a "how to" for using the Moda Cake Mixes to make perfect half square triangles. Plus each pattern is clearly written and easy to follow! I chose to make the Sherbet quilt...which I just LOVE!

I wanted to make my quilt red and gray so I made my own layer cake using reds from Moda's Sweetwater: The Tree House Club and Bonnie & Camille: Little Ruby and Basics plus Pat Sloan: Sunday Drive. 
Each 1/2 yard of fabric gives you (4) 10" squares plus extra fabric for scrappy binding or 1 yard gives you (12) squares plus extra fabric for scrappy binding.

Mini Charm Chocolates Quilt with Fat Quarter Shop

I'm so excited to share my Mini Charm Chocolates Quilt with The Good Life Fabric by Bonnie & Camille! I love this quilt so much! It is perfect for mini charm packs or jelly rolls or layer cakes or charm packs! Fat Quarter Shop is sharing the Mini Charm Chocolates pattern for free with multiple sizes: table runner, crib, lap, and queen.

I chose to use Bonnie & Camille's The Good Life fabric with Moda Crossweave. I love this fabric sooooooo much! This was my first time sewing with Crossweave and it is fabulous! It adds such wonderful texture!

Ready to gather up your 2.5" squares and start your Mini Charm Chocolates Quilt! Be warned...once your start sewing your quilt...you will want to make your quilt bigger. I started with the lap size and then super sized it with extra mini charm packs.  My quilt measures about 70" x 78".

Supplies:

Bella Skill Builder with Fat Quarter Shop - Quilt Top Time

Happy November 1st! I can't believe we have reached the end of the Bella Skill Builder Quilt Along with Fat Quarter Shop! This month we are assembling our blocks into the completed quilt top....which I love!

It is so fun to see how the blocks come together to form the quilt top! I also love that you don't notice my missing points or that I flipped two of the blocks...it just personalizes my quilt ;) 

Ready to assemble your quilt top.

Rhinestone Tablerunner with Fat Quarter Shop

I'm super excited to share my Rhinestone Tablerunner with Fat Quarter Shop for the Tablerunner Bliss Quilt Along! I used Gingiber's new Savannah Collection with Moda Fabrics. I love the cute safari animals with the matching black, gray, and cream prints!

I chose the Rhinestone Tablerunner from the Tablerunner Bliss book by Sheri Falls because I loved the large open center in the block, which was perfect to appliqué a safari animal to the center of each block. I used Heat N-Bond Lite to adhere the animals to the block centers and stitched around the edge (optional). 

Rhinestone Tablerunner 20.5" x 60.5"

Supplies:

Spelling Bee Quilt Along with Fat Quarter Shop

It's Spelling Bee Saturday with Fat Quarter Shop and Lori Holt! I'm excited to be starting off the Quilt Along with letter A.  The block was super easy to piece as Lori's patterns are always clear and well written. My A block finishes at 8.5" x 12.5" (there is a smaller size too at 4.5" x 6.5").  The Spelling Bee Book has 26 letters (upper and lower case) in 2 sizes, plus punctuation, numbers, picture blocks, quilts, and mini quilts...it is amazing...more in a bit!

Let's get ready to start off with A

Supplies:

1. Spelling Bee Book by Lori Holt

2. Little Dolly Lilac Hearts by Riley Blake - 0.5 yard

3. The Good Life Coral on Cream Whole Heart by Moda- 0.5 yard

I decided to add borders to my A block to make it a 16" square so I could make it a mini quilt and/or pillow! I couldn't decide if my daughter would like a pillow for her bed or to hang on her wall as a mini quilt! A zippered backing....will let her choose and change her mind ;)

Cobblestone Quilt with Fat Quarter Shop

Happy Friday! I'm so excited to share my Cobblestone Quilt with the Fat Quarter Shop Quilt Along! The Cobblestone Quilt pattern is the next free Shortcut Quilt with Fat Quarter Shop. The large block size shows off the fabrics so well....I love that! Grab your favorite 25 fat quarters and start sewing!

I chose to sew my quilt with Sweetwater's The Treehouse Club fat quarter bundle! I just love these cheerful fabrics -they are perfect for my sister! Merry Christmas early sis ;) 

Here is another view of all the lovely fabric colors!

Let's start sewing the Cobblestone Quilt

Gaze Tablerunner with Fat Quarter Shop

I'm so excited to share my Gaze Table runner with Fat Quarter Shop Tablerunner Bliss Quilt Along! I was so glad that I could use Moda's new collection Big Sky! It is perfect as my husband grew up inWyoming and even got chased by a moose when he was a kid. Plus those bears are just too cute! 

I chose to make the Graze Pattern from the Tablerunner Bliss book by Sheri Falls. I just love how this pattern really shows the larger prints of the Big Sky Collection. The blocks could also be easily adapted into a quilt by just making more of them!

Rose Petal iPad Mini Clutch

My iPad mini needed a cute carrying clutch and I had just a little bit of left over fabric from my Rose Petal bundle and some cute pink polka dot bias trim from Fort Worth Fabric Studio that would be perfect!  I had a few hours to sew on Saturday, which was just enough time to sew myself a new clutch! I just love it!

Since I was using left over fabric...my clutch is reversible too ;) I also added a wrist strap so I would be less likely to drop it!

Back of clutch

I even added a pocket to the inside.....

I love being able to complete a project in one day and start using it right away!!! I think these clutches will be perfect for Christmas gifts! 

Supplies I used:

• Rose Petal Friday Bundle Batch at Fort Worth Fabric Studio - just a few bundles are left
• Pink Polka Dot Bias Trim- with crochet edge
• Fusible Fleece - to line exterior fabric
• Pellon Shapeflex SF101- to line lining fabric

Tutorial:

Lindsey at Fort Worth Fabric Studio has a fabulous tutorial (here) on making your own pouches/clutches. Mine is sized between the Large and Medium Pouches.

I love my new iPad mini clutch! It's perfect! Plus now when I carry it, I'm not worried about dropping it!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram @mellierc for more sewing fun!

Have a great day!

Melanie

Bella Skill Builder with Fat Quarter Shop

Happy October 1st and Month 9 of the Bella Skill Builder with Fat Quarter Shop! I can't believe we are already at the final month of blocks! Next month will be assembling our quilts...yay!!!!

This month we are sewing the Lazy Angle Blocks in 2 different sizes

Time to get sewing our Lazy Angle Blocks

Jolly Bar Jazz Quilt

When Zen Chic's True Blue Fabric was first released, I knew I need to sew a quilt with it! I was waiting for the perfect pattern to show off the lovely blue and gray fabrics....then came Jolly Bar Jazz Quilt Pattern by Fat Quarter Shop...a perfect match!

The Jolly Bar Jazz Quilt is another free Short Cut Quilt Pattern, which means it is a quick and easy quilt to sew! Plus Kimberly always creates a video if you are a visual sewer.  Let's grab 2 Jolly Bars and some background fabric and start sewing! 

Plus I even created a BONUS quilt with the left over pieces...a quick tutorial at the end of my really long post ;).

Let's start sewing our Jolly Bar Jazz Quilt 65 x 84"

Rose Petal Friday Bundle Batch with Fort Worth Fabric Studio

Happy Friday! I'm excited to share my Rose Petal Pillows 

with this week's Friday Bundle Batch at Fort Worth Fabric Studio!!! I always enjoy sewing pillows because new pillows are an affordable way to update the style of your home!  

I just love this super sweet rose fabric with soft pinks and gray! This week the Friday Bundle Batch features Free Spirit's Charlotte Fabric by Tanya Whelan...she designs the best floral fabrics!

Does this pattern look familiar??? I used the same block pattern for my Home is Where the Haunt is table runner! I love a good versatile pattern! The pattern is Blossom Tablerunner in Tablerunner Bliss.  ...I just changed the pattern a bit to become pillows! Keep Reading on how to sew your own matching pillows 16" x 16" using the Rose Petal Friday Bundle Batch!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Part 2

I'm excited to enter my second quilt in Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival! I love how she brought the festival "back to the basics" by having just one post and random winners. I think this is perfect as each quilter has their own unique quilting style- which is what makes quilting so awesome! Plus you can enter up to 2 finished quilts...that was the tricky part...choosing favorites ;). Check out Amy's post here for all the details.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I'm excited to enter in Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival! I love how she brought the festival "back to the basics" by having just one post and random winners. I think this is perfect as each quilter has their own unique quilting style- which is what makes quilting so awesome! Plus you can enter up to 2 finished quilts...that was the tricky part...choosing favorites ;). Check out Amy's post here for all the details.

Camp Glamp Mini Quilt with Fort Worth Fabric Studio

Happy Friday! I'm super excited to share my Camp Glamp Mini Quilt with a bonus doll sleeping bag!  I just love this week's Friday Bundle Batch: Camp Glamp at Fort Worth Fabric Studio.

The Camp Glamp Bundle features Glamper-licious by Samantha Walker for Riley Blake Studio! These prints are just too perfect! I love the cherries, gingham, polka dots, and cute campers!

Grab your Camp Glamp Bundle and get ready to sew your Camp Glamp Mini Quilt or Table Topper.

Mini Tutorial Below- click on read more to keep reading

Lady of the Lake with Fat Quarter Shop

I'm so excited to sew along with Fat Quarter Shop with the Lady of the Lake - Classic & Vintage Series Sew Along! I love how Fat Quarter Shop takes a classic block and makes it easy to sew...complete with a video and pattern! Fat Quarter Shop has both the free one block download plus a low price purchase version pattern that includes multiple quilt sizes. I decided to sew 4 of the blocks and make a table runner...keep reading for the mini tutorial below!

It's time to start sewing!

Mini Tutorial for Lady of the Lake table runner 17.5" x 53.5"  

click on Read More to keep reading 

Bella Skill Builder with Fat Quarter Shop - Month 8

Happy September 1st and Month 8 of the Bella Skill Builder with Fat Quarter Shop! We are so close to being done with our quilt top!!! I am loving learning all the new sewing skills each month!

This month is the Starburst block!