Happy Tuesday! Today I want to share a project that I worked on back in 2014, that works out to be quite relevant now. I flew home to Cleveland in early 2014 to film two episodes for It's Sew Easy, which airs on PBS. I adapted two of my older tutorials for the episodes, which is fun.


The first episode is 706 and features my Vintage Sheet HST Pillow Tutorial. For the episode, I remade the pillow in Color Me Retro! I wanted to share this because this episode is available to watch on Youtube (here), so if you are still unsure about trying half-square triangles, you can watch me make them on video!


It's a cute little pillow, and doesn't take too long to put together. I also brought along a number of other half-square triangle projects for the shoot. My Dreamin' Vintage Half-Square Triangle Sampler quilt, my Warm Cool HST Quilt, my Nordika HST Pillow, and my Quilted Grocery Bag Holder.


The second episode I taped is 707, featuring my Logcabin Quilted Coasters. For this episode, I remade the coasters in Nordika. These turn out really cute and make a great gift.


These are a fun way to try out different quilting techniques, I used a different pattern for each coaster. Love making these!


I made another sample for the episode, this log cabin mini quilt, also using Nordika. I cut 2.5" strips to make four small log cabin blocks. I really need to plan a full size log cabin quilt, these blocks are really satisfying to make. This mini lives under my sewing machine folded in half, to help muffle the noise from my machine.


I quilted all of these projects with 50wt Aurifil threads from my thread box. I especially enjoyed using the teal thread in my mini quilt!

Part of the reason why I put off sharing this experience and projects is that it wore me out. Even though I was doing smaller projects, the amount of prep work involved in taping these videos was huge. I have at least 7 versions of the pillow (plus enough HSTs to make more) in various stages as step outs for the episode and back-ups in case a part with sewing needs to be shot again. That and I was SO nervous. It was really far outside of my comfort zone to do something like this. I did it, but it showed me that it is not something I enjoy doing. But that's okay! I tried it, and it wasn't a disaster, so all is well.

You can check your local listings for these episodes (if you want!), here.

Happy Sewing!

This Month

Happy Wednesday! I'm back, at least for today. This month has been pretty draining. I am working towards finishing up some deadlines, doing regular work, trying to keep the apartment in order, and planning our wedding from afar. Plus, it was Michael's birthday and our anniversary this month.

I haven't had much to talk about or show in this space, and honestly I think I needed a little break. I've been pretty quiet on Instagram too, I guess I've pulled back from most social media this month, and it's been good. I can't do everything, so something has to give. Hopefully next month things can get back to normal.

I did find time recently to refresh the quilt ladder. I love having quilts on display! It was made using this tutorial.


I've joined a quilt bee for the first time in years and I'm pretty excited about it. It's a traveling bee, so we had to send out our quilt "start" last month. I choose some orphaned blocks that all happened to coordinate in color. I can't wait to find time to work on this project.


I started my first knitting project of 2015, a Schwimmen hat (pattern by Shannon Cook). It's another gray hat, because I love gray hats. This is the fourth gray hat I have made, whoops! Oh well, I know what I like! More on my Ravelry.


We are finally to the point where we are simply running out of space in our apartment. Since we aren't planning on moving until we leave Madison, this means some purging is necessary. Thankfully, I love ridding through things, so it's not all bad. This past weekend I tackled my sewing room. I took almost everything out of the wall of closets, and got rid of a decent amount of stuff. Not enough, but there is nothing being stored on the floor anymore, so definitely an improvement! I also ordered this FJÄLKINGE shelving unit from Ikea to take better advantage of the space between my sewing table and the window. It's definitely one of the better quality pieces I've seen from there, and it fits perfectly.


Last month when it wasn't quite so cold (it's 2 degrees right now), we got brave and went out onto Lake Mendota for some photos of the ice. It was really cool. Don't worry, this is as far as we got from the shore.


George bunny has been good. He is so sweet, I like to pick him up for a squeeze everyday. He has been waking us up every morning at about 6:30am to go out in his play area. Stinker!


One more George photo just for good measure, cause he is so cute!

Have a great day!

Weekly Snapshot

Happy Thursday! It's time for another round of Weekly Snapshot. Which, I suppose I should rename "Bi-Weekly Snapshot". Or "Every Once in a While Snapshot", but that's just too complicated!

This fun little stack of fat quarters from all of my collections is hanging out in my sewing room. It's cool to see them all together!


I have a quilt in the new Scraps, Inc book from Lucky Spool, out this month. I'll be sharing the full quilt and more details soon! It's one of my favorites!


I am a big Adventure Time fan, and I recently started reading the Adventure Time comic. It's really good, and so much like the show! This is vol 3, but I'm on vol 5 right now!


This probably comes as no surprise, but I am always on the lookout for black rabbit things. I have had very little luck over the years, but last week I hit the jackpot! A STUFFED ANIMAL! I love stuffed animals, so needless to say, I was really excited! We named him Theodore, Theo for short. He is made by Jellycat and is so soft.


I am a huge Orla Kiely fan, and was excited to find her new cosmetic bags for Target. I was well behaved and only brought things pink one home. And I am actually going to use it for cosmetics when I travel, fancy!


The Cavs started their season last week, and we are a little excited about it over here! It's going to be fun following along this year!


I had to give you one more George Halloween shot! He really does make a cute bee :)

Have a great day!

Aurifil Thread Collection Projects

Happy Thursday! Today I have a few projects to show you that I made this past Spring to feature my Aurifil Favorite Things Thread Collection. I found the photos hiding on my desktop, and realized I had never posted about these projects!


First up is a mini quilt! I love to make mini quilts, and was in the mood to play with really simple log cabins. This came together in an afternoon! I used Nordika for this mini, and I love the play between all the different prints.


For the quilting I used a triple zig-zag stitch (with the stitch length and width turned up), and the teal thread from the collection. It's super quick using this stitch for quilting.  The thread looks so shiny with the rich colors of Nordika!


To finish this mini quilt up, I used a teal Squared Element. They're perfect for bindings!


Next up, a simple patchwork pillow! I never tire of plain old patchwork, and it really suits Dreamin' Vintage. Adding quilting to a pillow gives it so much comfort in my opinion!


I quilted this pillow using the light blue thread from the collection with a simple loopy meander.


The pillow is finished off with a zippered back, which is my preferred way to finish a pillow!


Finally, I wanted to come up with a project that not only used all 12 threads from the thread collection, but also used fabrics from all four of my fabric collections. Enter this funky zipper pouch!


I knew I wanted to use strips of my prints, but I added the solid portion so that you could better see the different thread colors. I was surprised by how well the prints from my different collections play together! Maybe a quilt with all of them is in order!


I quilted the back of this pouch with a serpentine stitch using the dark purple thread in the collection.

You can find both the small and large thread boxes in my shop!

Scrappy Star Quilt

Happy Wednesday! It's time to finally share this finished quilt with you. I started this quilt back in April last year. You can find the tutorial for this quilt here: Scrappy Star Quilt Tutorial.

I whipped up the quilt top and then it sat. This Spring I decided enough was enough and sent away a few quilt tops to be quilted. It was nice to have zero un-quilted tops for a short time!


This quilt features my first fabric collection, Color Me Retro. I used my favorite Pure Element solid, Lemonade. It's just the best green! I designed this quilt to be a sibling to my Giant Vintage Star Quilt. It's just as easy and simple, but is completely constructed with large half-square triangles. It's a healthy 68" square, and it's made a great couch quilt the last month or so.


I actually pieced a backing this time! Since it takes quite a bit to back it, I didn't want to use up so much of a single print. I have to say, I had forgotten how much longer it takes to piece a backing! I think it turned out fun though, it's nice since the front is rather simple!


I had this quilt quilted by Melissa of Sew Shabby Quilting! I asked her use the Loopy Star design for this one. I have always wanted to have something quilted with stars and this quilt seemed very appropriate for it!


I think it adds the perfect amount of whimsy to the quilt. I love that there are loops in there with the stars, so much fun!


For binding, I choose one of the Kitchenette prints from Color Me Retro. I think it makes a great binding! So happy to get this one finished and photographed! Now to tackle my quickly growing pile of quilt tops! :)

You can find the tutorial for this quilt here: Scrappy Star Quilt Tutorial.

Happy Quilting!

Simply Sampled Quilt Pattern

Happy Thursday! Time the share the last of the new patterns, the Simply Sampled Quilt Pattern! This is a skill-building sampler quilt I designed for the Block of the Month Club we run at The Sewcial Lounge. 


Knowing that many students would have little to no quilting experience, I wanted them to learn something every session! So, there are lots of different techniques covered in this pattern. There are half-square triangles, quarter square triangles, flying geese, strip piecing, and more.  Most of the techniques are repeated at least once so that by the end of the quilt, it should really sink in!


I made the blocks for this quilt during our first round of block of the month club in 2013.  I finally put it together this Spring! The quilting was done by Melissa of Sew Shabby Quilting. I can never resist swirls, and I love how this quilt turned out! Sometimes you just need some fun, all-over quilting!



Crinkly, wrinkly, quilty goodness!


I bound this puppy up in Oval Elements in Green Apple by Art Gallery Fabrics.  As it turns out, I am addicted to green bindings, I have used lime green for binding on NINE quilts! Oh well, it's just too perfect! I used my Color Me Retro collection for the top and back, with Pure Elements in Snow for the sashing.

We still have a spot left in our September - December session of Block of the Month club! There is a January - June session scheduled as well! Sign up here!

You can find the PDF and paper versions of the Simply Sampled Pattern in my shop!

New Patterns

Happy Monday! I'm here today to share three new patterns with you! I've been working on getting these ready pretty much non-stop for the last few weeks, so I'm happy to finally have them done! The PDFs and paper versions are available now in my shop.  I want to simply introduce them to you today, and will spend a post on each one this week to talk about them in detail!


First up is the Sew Portable Travel Set Pattern! I have been trying to find time to work on this pattern for ages! This is the travel set I use for my Singer Featherweight 221. You'll find instructions for the tote bag, extension table cover and drawstring bag in this pattern. Even if you don't have a vintage machine, it's a super sturdy tote bag, and I use it all the time! It's designed to fit the Featherweight but will fit other vintage or small machines up to 11" long.


Next, is the Triplizip Zipper Pouch Pattern! These are the pouches that I teach at The Sewcial Lounge in the Zipper Pouch class and Laminated Zipper Pouch class! If you've never tried zippers before, this is the pattern for you.  There are three pouches in this pattern, a simple lined pouch, a cosmetic pouch with gussets, and a boxy pouch. They are fun and easy to customize!


The last one is the Simply Sampled Pattern. This is a a skill-building sampler I designed for the Block of the Month club I teach at The Sewcial Lounge (we have one spot left in our Sept-Dec session!). It's perfect for a quilter who is ready to tackle basic quilting techniques. From strip piecing to flying geese and quarter square triangles there are lots of different things to learn.

I'll be back tomorrow to chat more about the Sew Portable Travel Set! Have a great day!