Announcing the Tips and Tutorials Festival

Mark your calendars! Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl and I are excited to announce that we are co-hosting the first biannual Tips and Tutorials Festival in June!

The goal of the Tips and Tutorials Festival is to share and celebrate all the wonderful online tutorials that the quilting community has created recently. There are going to be 4 categories.

Tutorial Categories

• Block and Pattern Tutorials
• Sewing Tutorials
• Other Sewn or Quilted Item Tutorial
• Quilting Tutorials

We encourage fresh, new content, so we ask that you link up posts that have be published since January 2017. We will be sharing more details about the festival and how you can participate on June 1st, so if you have been thinking about writing a tutorial, now is the time to do it!

Tips and Tutorials Schedule

• Monday, June 11 – Submissions Open
• Friday, June 15 – Submissions Close
• Saturday, June 16 – Voting Opens
• Wednesday, June 20 – Voting Closes
• Thursday, June 21 – Winners Announced 

Sponsors

We are able to offer prizes to the people with the top 4 votes in each category thanks to our very generous sponsors:

Aurifil | Make Modern Magazine | Fat Quarter Shop | FreeSpirit Fabrics | Sarah Maxwell | Pattern Drop | Olfa | Honey, Bunny, and Doll Etsy Shop | Meadow Mist Designs | Quilting Jetgirl | Modern Quilts Unlimited | Quilter’s Planner | Needle and Foot Etsy Shop

Blogger Bundle with Needle & Foot Fabrics and Giveaway!

I am so excited to share one of my latest projects with you, a curated bundle of fabrics for the Needle and Foot Etsy Shop!  (Plus there might be a giveaway of your own bundle at the bottom of this post)

Bernie had asked if I wanted to curate a bundle of fabrics from her shop for April and I jumped at the chance, I love playing with prints and coming up with different combinations.

For my colors, I went with my favorites of blues (both dark and light) with a pop of mustard. 

Do you like the five-piece bundle?  You can get yours from Needle and Foot's Etsy shop right here.  The bundle is available in both fat quarter and 1/2 yard bundles and is on sale 20% off through Friday night.

The bundle contains the following five fabrics:

• Asteria in Ecru by Angela Walters for Art Gallery Fabric
• Tartan Midnight - Indie Folk by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabric
• Scenic Blue Sky - Bountiful by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabric
• Terra Firma Sunlit-Garden Dreamer by Maureen Cracknell for Art Gallery Fabric
• Panda Patches Contrast from Pandalicious, designed by Katarina Roccella for Art Gallery Fabric

I knew that I wanted to make something with this bundle of fabric and not just let it get absorbed into my stash.  Looking through my patterns, I settled on one of my older designs called The Quilt in a Hat.  This pattern uses 4 fat quarters (or 1/4 yard cuts) plus some background yardage to make a 36 1/2" x 36 1/2" baby sized quilt.

The Quilt in the Hat is available as a digital pattern in both my Etsy and Craftsy shops and is a perfect pattern for a quick quilt.  The baby size is shown below, but the pattern also contains instructions for lap, twin, and queen sizes.

I used the Tartan Midnight, Scenic Blue Sky, Terra Firma, and Panda Patches combined with some Bella Solids in white by Moda in the quilt top (I saved the Asteria for another quilt).

The backing is a fun, gray print from Blueberry Park by Karen Lewis for Robert Kaufman Fabrics and I used my go-to batting, Warm and White (I even pieced the batting to use up some of my batting scraps).

I quilted the baby quilt using an allover double loop pattern that is whimsical for a baby and open enough to keep the quilt soft and snuggly.

This quilt is heading to my sister's good friends who are having a baby this summer after a long struggle with infertility.

Giveaway!!

Would you like to win a five-piece fat quarter bundle of my curated Needle and Foot fabrics?  Many thanks to Bernie for offering one of the bundles to a lucky winner! The giveaway is open for 5 days, through Monday April 30th at 8 pm EST (US winners only due to shipping costs).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Remember, you can pick up your bundle from Needle and Foot right here and find The Quilt in the Hat pattern in my Etsy and Craftsy shops.  Have a wonderful week!

My Favorite Tools and Notions ++ Amazon Influencer Page

About a year and half ago, my cousin had asked me to put a list of quilting related supplies she needed to get started quilting.  I curated a whole list of my favorite tools and notions that I thought she would need to get started (and make her quilting life easier) and was looking for a way to share more broadly my list.  I figured that if the list helped my cousin then it might be helpful to others.

Enter Amazon and their Influencer Program...

Amazon now has an influencer program where I can create a webpage to share my quilting essentials list.  I have been able to add comments and tips to each item so you can read why I like the item or how I use it.

While I do not think that I am an "influencer", I hope that sharing some of my favorite tools will help others save money as they will not have to test brand after brand like I did.

The influencer program is an affiliate program, which means that if you click on the link and wind up purchasing something, I will get a small percentage of the sale (this does not affect the price you pay).

Want to see some of my favorite tools and notions?  Everything on the list I own and have used and love.  You can click right here to get to my influencer list.

Meadow Mist Designs Influencer Page

I had a number of people asking about my backup / travel machine, the Brother CS6000i and I promise to post a full review on it soon.

Screen shot of my influencer page

Flock of Geese ++ Pattern Release

I am happy to announce the release of two new patterns, Flock of Geese and Layered Addition!  I will be highlighting Flock of Geese today and then Layered Addition tomorrow.  Both patterns are offered in a digital pdf and professional full color printed version (printed version only available through my pattern shop).

Etsy: digital version

Meadow Mist Designs Pattern Shop: digital version, printed version

You can use coupon code TWOPATTERNS for $2 off two patterns or THREEPATTERNS $4 off 3 patterns in my pattern shop for even more savings.

(photo by Kitty Wilkin)

Flock of Geese was originally published as part of the 2018 Quilter's Planner and know as a stand alone pattern, I have expanded the instructions for both a baby and lap sized quilt.

Flock of Geese is a modern take on the traditional Birds in the Air quilt block designed for advanced beginner / intermediate level quilters.  To create the quilt top, I pulled various teal, green, blue, and yellow colored printed from my stash.

I assembled the quilt top with the blocks on-point, giving a different look to the traditional Birds in the Air design.  I quilted Flock of Geese with randomly spaced diagonal lines to form a cross-hatch pattern using Aurifil 50 wt in white (color 2024). The diagonal lines are in a variety of spaciongs from about 3/8" to 1".  I like the texture the quilting gives, but I must admit that it was very time consuming.

 Photograph by Kitty Wilkin @nightquilter, taken for The Quilter's Planner 2018 @thequiltersplanner

Photograph by Kitty Wilkin @nightquilter, taken for The Quilter's Planner 2018 @thequiltersplanner

Here are some other renderings of the design...

Many, many thanks to Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl and Paige @Quilted Blooms for their help with tech editing this pattern!

If you make a Flock of Geese quilt please share it using #FlockofGeeseQuilt.  Thanks!

Layered Addition ++ Pattern Release

I'm excited to share the second of two new patterns today, Layered Addition! (You can read about the other new pattern, Flock of Geese, here). 

Each new pattern is being offered for a special introductory price of $7.50 for a short time.  Both patterns are offered in a digital pdf and professional full color printed version (printed version only available through Etsy).

Craftsy:  digital version
Etsy: digital version, printed version

The pattern is on sale for one week (through Wednesday April 25th at midnight) for only $7.50. 

(You can use coupon code TWOPATTERNS for $2 off two patterns or THREEPATTERNS $4 off 3 patterns in my Etsy shop for even more savings.)

Isn't this a fun plus sign design? I had this design sketched out in my pattern book since when I began brainstorming quilts for my plus sign book but could not decide the best way to piece it.

When I was revisited the design I figured out the quilt could be made using only 2 block types! Once I figured out how to construct the quilt, it came together quickly and easily.

Next came the fun part, the quilting. I decided to do some custom quilting in this quilt, using a different design and matching Aurifil thread for each layer of the plus sign. I picked the 50 wt Aurifil thread, I find it to be the perfect weight for dense quilting.

I originally designed this pattern made the quilt and pattern for the International Association of Quilters and am happy to be able to release it as a stand alone pattern.

If you love this plus sign design and would like more, you can check out my book, Modern Plus Sign Quilts for another 16 patterns! (affiliate link)

Here are some other renderings of the design...

Many, many thanks to Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl and Paige @Quilted Blooms for their help with tech editing this pattern!

Remember, you can find Layered Addition on Craftsy and Etsy (digital, printed) for only $7.50 through Wednesday the 25th and if you make a Layered Addition quilt please share it using #LayeredAdditionQuilt.  Thanks!

Child's Play Quilts Book Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Child's Play Quilts Book Hop.  Child's Play Quilts was written by Stacey Day, another Stash Author, and contains 20 different baby quilts designs.

The book focuses on using your stash and is divided into two sections, 10 applique patterns and 10 traditionally pieced patterns, with each of the designs being shown in both warm and cool colors.  Child's Play Quilts has a great resource section in the front to help organize your stash as well as instructions for basic quilt making skills.

There were a number of quilts I was interested in making and I chose Fox Hunt, a traditionally pieced design.  My co-worker is expecting his second child in May so I figured that I could make Fox Hunt for them.  Here is the version from the book:

He and his wife are not finding out the sex of their baby, so I picked out some red, black, and mustard prints for the fabrics.  It kind of reminded me of Mickey and Minnie mouse so hopefully they will like it.

The quilt came together pretty quickly and I love the addition of the fox faces to a couple of the blocks that Stacey teaches in the book.  I used some black Aurifil thread in the thick 12wt to embroider the eyes and nose.

I used one of my favorite (and quickest) quilting design, the meander, on the quilt and then finished the binding completely by machine (both for speed and for wash durability).

I will be gifting this quilt next month to my co-worker at his baby shower, I hope he likes it!  Have you made a gender neutral quilt recently?  What colors did you use?

Thanks Stacey for including me in your book hop!  Hop over to her her blog, Stacey in Stitches, for a chance to win a copy of the book and you can purchase a copy in her Etsy shop or at Amazon (affiliate link).

Here are all of the stops on the hop:


Stacey Day @staceyinstitches April 9th
Brett Lewis @naturalbornquilter April 9th
Cheryl Brickey @MeadowMistDesigns April 9th

Karen Foster@CapitolaQuilter April 10th
Cathy Mackay @cathysmithmackay April 10th

Fiona Kelly @tangledblossom April 11th
Jackie White @jackiesartquilts April 11th

Jean Jones @sew_catstudio April 12th
Reece Montgomery @reecemontgomery April 12th

Carl Hentsch @3dogdesignco April 13th
Brooke Sellmann @sillymamaquilts April 13th

Kaitlyn Howell @knotandthread April 14th
Amy Gunson @badskirt April 14th

Kelly Bowser @kelbysews April 15th
Karis Hess @themodernsewist April 15th

Sara Lawson @sewsweetness April 16th
Leslie Meltzer @lelliebunny April 16th
Pamela Morgan @sweetlittlestitches April 16th

Amy Garro @13spools April 17th
Stephanie Perrins @stitchandbobbin April 17th

Chelsea @Pinkdoorfabrics April 18th
Michelle Wilke @ml_wilkie April 18th

Tiffany Sepulveda @sewtiffany April 19th
Rachael Riechmann @sewilearned April 19th

Pamela Lincoln @mamaspark59 April 20th
Kate Maryon @katydidklm April 20th