It's A Hoot Triple-Squared Quilt Tutorial!!!

As promised, here is my version of the "Triple Squared Quilt" tutorial I originally planned for the Moda Bake Shop. If you need to catch up on the story behind the tutorial, read this post. I just want to say that Moda has been very kind and gracious throughout this little debacle, but regrets they won't be able to re-post it. Thank you all so much for your supportive words, I'm really happy so many of you still wanted the tute, so here it is! And of course we all know there are dozens of different variations on this design floating around out there, my little version is just engineered to help you get the most variety of print and color combinations out of ten inch squares of fabric.

If you want to whip one up out of your favorite layer cake, here is what you'll need:

One or two It's a Hoot layer cakes, depending on whether you'd like to make a baby-sized or large throw quilt. You could easily convert this to a jelly roll, fat quarters or yardage also and make any size quilt you like.

3/4 yard It's a Hoot print 32377 45 Fudge Turquoise for the binding

4 yards It's a Hoot print 32371 15 Sky for the backing

a Design Wall (I  highly recommend this, even if it is just a piece of batting tacked to your wall - that's what I use! I will make designing your quilt so much more easy and enjoyable.)                                           

First, open up your layer cake(s) and pet all the yummy new fabrics:) Next divide them into three piles, trying for a good diversity of prints and colors in each stack. Then, combine two of the stacks into one pile. You will have one stack with 14 (28) prints and the other with 28 (56) prints.

You will begin by rotary cutting the larger stack as follows:

• 1 strip 6.5 by 2.5 inches
• 4 strips 4.5 by 2.5
• 4 squares 2.5 by 2.5

Make yourself a little cutting map of this diagram for easy reference. The cross-hatch sections indicate portions unused in the pattern - set those aside.

With the smaller pile, cut the following pieces:

• 2 strips 6.5 by 2.5
• 3 strips 4.5 by 2.5
• 3 squares 2.5 by 2.5

Here is the cutting diagram for that pile.

Phew! All done?

Now you can separate all the pieces by size.

You will start building your blocks by pulling two squares of different colors and prints and sewing these right side together. Finger press your seams to the left.

Next, chose a 4.5 inch long strip matching the square on the left and sew it, right sides together, to the top of the squares. Finger press this seam towards the new strip.

Chose another contrasting 4.5 inch strip and sew it to the left of your new square, finger pressing again to the left.

And finally add the matching 6.5 inch strip to the top and finger press again toward the new strip. Now, press your finished quarter block and start making a pile.

After I've completed a dozen or two, I like to start placing them in a pleasing way on the design wall, arranging four mini - blocks to make one larger window-paned square, or bento box. Try and be as diverse as possible with your combinations. 

When you get near the end of your strips and squares, you will have some left over. I added these in with my cutting scraps and made myself a new mug rug and patchworked the front of a new tote! You could also use them in piecing a backing, if you wish.

Now you'll want to sew you quadrants together, and press your seams open to minimize bulk in the center where all the seams meet.

Here is what your finished block will look like!

Now sew these beauties up in rows, 4 by 4 blocks for the baby size,

or 5 by 6 for the throw quilt!

Baste, quilt and bind! Enjoy your cozy new quilt!

This will yield one generous baby quilt, approximately 48 by 48.

Or, if you used two layer cakes, one 56 by 68 throw quilt!

I hope you all enjoyed my little tutorial - it's my first so go easy on me! But please let me know if there are any changes you find that need to be made:)

Show and Tell

First I want to say thank you to all of you who left such sweet comments about my last post. You instantly made me feel so much better about everything! I'm still waiting to hear if the tutorial will be re-posted on the Moda Bake Shop, but no matter what you will see it here or there soon.

I just can't make enough of these Jane Market Bags! Not exactly as fashionable as the handbags I used to carry, but these have become my carry-all tote for knitting, diapers, wallet, water bottle and every other on the go necessity. My first one has been going everywhere with me so I decided to make more before I trash it too much. I love the fact that one or two of these can be whipped up in an evening.

The first one is made of twill cloth from It's a Hoot by Momo, and is probably my favorite print of the line. The yardage is supposed to be out any day now. I used up some scraps from the quilt to do a little patchwork on the pocket, paired with a little japanese linen. 

The second bag is a buttery soft linen by Megumi Sakakibara from Superbuzzy that I just couldn't resist. I have a half yard stack of the cotton prints by this designer that have been marinating in my stash for awhile, so I cut a little up to patchwork the pockets of this one, too. And the lining is one of my favorite Modern Meadow by Joel Dewberry prints, Herringbone in Maple. That guy is just a genius with coordinate prints, don't you think?

My stress relief knitting project of the week is this super simple Drop Stitch Scarf. Looks complicated? Well trust me, it's not! If you can knit and count, you can make this scarf. I love this Manos del Uruguay Maxima merino wool yarn soooo much. The colorway is Chrysanthemum and it makes me happy to see the cheerful colors changing as I go along. Having a simple knitting distraction is a necessity for me because my big long-term projects tend to be above my skill level and drive me crazy more than occasionally. I'd really like to finish my Kererra sweater up but I keep encountering road blocks. If anyone has experience with knitting double garter stitch in the round, please PLEASE contact me - I beg of you!

And I just finished up my block for Brioni (flossyblossy) in our first month on Bee Hexed In. She chose blue and green and I think this quilt is going to be just lovely! 

I have lots more to show you soon - don't ask me where all this crafting energy came from! Right now I am ready to hit the sack and it's only 7:15:)

It' A Hooty Dilemma

Here it is, my It's A Hoot quilt I finished awhile back but haven't been able to show you until now. This quilt, along with a full tutorial for constructing it out of a layer cake, was scheduled for the Moda Bake Shop this weekend, but had to be yanked after only twelve hours. Needless to say I'm disappointed after pouring so much time, thought and energy into the tutorial and making of this quilt. But unbeknownst to me, the name I used for the tutorial is under copyright. Because of all of the countless variations on this design and the many different versions of tutorials already all over the web, I wrongly assumed this pattern belonged to the public domain. All I set out to do was to try and show you how to cut up a layer cake to make this design.

So yeah, I'm bummed.

With all due respect to the owner of the copyright for the name of this design, I wonder where the line is drawn if the quilt is by a different name. Like everyone else out there I detest copy catting and plagiarism and completely understand the right of the designer to protect their own creations. But when a design is so simple it can be made in a million different but similar ways, who owns the design? I know this issue strikes a cord with a lot of you, especially those of you who feel your owns designs have been ripped off. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Anyways, the quilt is done and I think it turned out beautifully. I knew the moment I saw the previews for Momo's new line "It's A Hoot" that I couldn't wait to get my hands on these fabrics. The color palette is full of yummy jelly bean colors that really speak to me, and there are some great stash must-haves in the line like the egg dots and the branches print. I love the large scale prints, too - I think I already showed you the peek of the back as I binded ~

And here is a shot of it against a clear blue sky not often seen around here these days! These photos were taken in the beautiful gardens of acclaimed Herbfarm Restaurant near our tasting room in Woodinville, Washington. 

Anyone have any new name ideas for this quilt???

And of course I couldn't resist showing you my little Mouseketeer on her first Trick or Treat outing! She would only wear the ears for a few minutes so this is the best shot we got of her in the full get-up. 

Happy First of November - today is official "start your holiday projects for real" day!

Blogger's Quilt Festival Time!

Hooray for Blogger's Quilt Festival! I just love cruising through all the beautiful quilts and finding some blogs I've never visited before. The last festival was my first entry, and I chose my beloved Flea Market Fancy quilt. This time around, I have a lot more quilts to choose from, so it was a harder decision. But in the end, the quilt that gets the most use wins - my Little Folks HST quilt.

I love this quilt so much for many reasons, the biggest one being the amount of tedious effort that was put into it. It literally had me tearing my hair out at a few different points during the process! But in the end, soooo worth it.

If you've worked with this voile before, you know how wonderfully soft it is. The softness and light-weight makes it a bit slippery, so piecing the half square triangles was less the easy! It's quite imperfect and tons of the points don't exactly match, but I learned a lot of valuable lessons in the making of this quilt, and for me it sort of adds to the charm.

I backed this quilt with voile as well, which made it super tough to baste. I could just NOT get it without a pucker when I took it to the machine. So, in the end, I hand quilted all whopping 90x90 inches of it. And I'm not sorry I did. The hand quilting helped to retain the soft, airy feel of the quilt.

And this is where you can find this quilt on most days of the week....

being loved and used just the way a quilt is meant to be.

Make sure you hop on over to Amy's page all week long and check out all the other lovelies!

Welcome to all of you who have never visited before! I hope to see you again soon!

WARNING: The following post may make you green with envy

I am feeling like one of the luckiest girls around today - look what came in my mailbox!

SHERBET PIPS!!!!!!!!!

I told you that you'd be jealous! Of course you've already heard of Sherbet Pips unless you've been hiding under a rock somewhere. It's the first I'm sure of many stunningly adorable fabric lines by Aneela Hoey for Moda. Aneela is one of my most favorite crafters in all of Blogland and when she announced her designs were going into print I jumped for joy!

And let me tell you, they are even better in person....the colors are absolutely perfect and I think I might faint from kawaii overload.

"Scoot" is a favorite from her Spoonflower prints, and I think that "scarf stripe" is ingenious.

And check out her awesome coordinates! These will for sure be joining the ranks of stash must haves.

And puppies - in four colorways!

Don't forget about what is probably the most beloved image in Aneela's designs, "Girl on a swing" or is she called oh, cherry?

I was really hoping to go to Quiltmarket this year but it just wasn't in the cards. Since this was at the tippy-top of my list for a sample spree purchase, this is definitely making up for me missing the show. But, I MUST HAVE MORE! Yardage is not available until April next year, so this will have to tide me over until then. I see a sweet little quilt for Lucy, something simple to showcase all the loveliness of the prints. You know I won't be able to resist cutting in for long!

Hand Stitching Central

That's what my bed has become lately. And I love it! Ever since I can remember, I have been big on hibernating when this time of year rolls around. I love pajamas and tea and coffee in bed, wrapped in a blanket, knitting and stitching merrily away. Of course, that pesky thing called life does get in the way that demands I get up and take care of life's necessities, but then after Lucy is tucked in it's back to my favorite  nook in the universe again.

I just started cross-stitching this cute little Alice in Wonderland pattern by Gera I ordered from Superbuzzy - it's the first time I've cross-stitched anything since I was in junior high! I also just ordered a new PDF pattern designed in part by my super talented blog buddy Amanda. Have you heard of her new venture The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery? These gals have some crazy cute patterns already in stock and I can't wait to see what else they will be coming up with! 

On the needles is the Honey Cowl from Madeline Tosh. I had to jump on that bandwagon after my awesome new LYS started carrying Tosh yarns. This one I'm doing up in the Pashmina in Cerulean Blue. It's a gorgeous yarn and a satisfying simple knit which I'm distracting myself with when my Kererra sweater WIP starts frustrating me.

The hexagons are for Brioni's block in our first month of the Bee-Hexed In Bee. I was so honored to be invited to join this group of gals and the block we're making, based on Tacha's Bee Hexed pillow pattern from Fat Quarterly Issue #1, is labor intensive but well worth the outcome. 

That quilt in my lap is my old Flea Market Fancy, which is enjoying some rigorous ripping out of the quilting right now. It's a fun stress relieving activity! Okay, maybe "fun" is not the right word. But I love the quilt, the quilting not so much. I'll let you know how it goes.

I have gotten up off my duff to do a little time at the sewing machine lately - I finally finished up my blocks for the 3x6 Bee. I'm sorry these are so incredibly late ladies! I love this Circle of Geese block, but I sort of lost my steam on them. Somehow I thought machine paper-piecing would go much more quickly, and boy was I wrong! But I think they turned out pretty well and I hope my fellow Bee-ers like them!

And I know you're all wondering what is going on in Blythe land around here, right?

Introducing Miss Astrid! She arrived very quickly on Saturday (I got her from the U.S.) but I didn't want to show her off until she had some proper attire. And what a better welcome home out fit that a little Liberty of London jumper? I've got a stack more patterns (even some knitting ones!) and fabrics to make some teeny weeny clothes from.

Astrid is an Ice Rune, and while she is quite pretty I do see some customization in her future. Does anyone know a good spa to send her to state-side? I might give it a go myself but it makes me nervous. Any tips would be very appreciated.

Thank all of you so much who participated in my big Stash Sale Blowout! It was a crazy few days and sort of exciting but I'm glad it's over. I couldn't believe how fast everything sold. Every time I went to list the next item, the one I had posted right before it was gone! I do apologize to all of you who sat chained to your computer trying to get what you wanted without even getting up the use the restroom! I know, because I've been there before! It's nice to know my beloved fabrics will be going to some homes where the will be equally loved.

I also wanted to ask you to stop by the Moda Bake Shop this coming Sunday, Halloween! I've been hinting around about this for awhile but I can't wait for you all to see what I've "cooked up"!

More on the way!

Yipee! I just bought my first Blythe! Thank you so much to all of you who found something from my stash to add to your own! But wait - there's more! I need to finish this sale up today so I can clean my house and pay attention to my child. She was allowed to eat a pink frosted donut for breakfast that her dad brought her so I could try and get some more listings going. This has been a bit of a whirlwind, life needs to return to normal!

So take a peek, I hope to finish listing by this evening. There are still a few more treats to be gotten, even some Flea Market Fancy!

Thanks again everyone!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/meggied23

******UPDATE: I am still listing more items, hopefully starting around 3:30 PM west coast time if Lucy will nap!
There is still a big FMF bundle, some Heather Ross and a couple more goodies to go!