Christmas Sofa Quilt – A Free Pattern

August 20, 20191 Comment

Good morning from Cindy in Ohio! I just finished the pattern for Sandy’s latest masterpiece…a “Christmas Sofa Quilt”!

We fell in love with this Little Tree fabric line and knew it was the perfect match for Sandy’s pattern. She combined four 10 inch (finished) patchwork blocks to make one large patchwork block. Here’s a close up view:

Sandy designed this quilt with a 2 inch tone on tone border to showcase these lovely Christmas prints. We like this pattern because the large floral blocks and the color scheme can easily be changed to use other themed fabrics for Valentine’s Day, Easter, July 4th, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Quilts of Valor, Birthdays…you get to choose!

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You can find the FREE pdf pattern by clicking on this link: Christmas Sofa Quilt 08 20 19

We’ll also be posting this pattern to the FaveQuilts website where you can find many more FREE quilt patterns for quilting inspiration.

Santa’s Coat Quilted Wall Hanging

October 18, 2018October 22, 20186 Comments

I love it when I am fabric shopping and something jumps off the shelf and into my arms because it triggers a lever in my brain and it is absolutely dead-spot on — exactly what I needed for a long-dreamt of project. Does this happen to you too?

This is the story of such a fabric.

Are you as obsessed with this Buffalo Check by Essentially Yours from Moda as I am? I found it at Red Rooster Fabrics in Dublin, Ohio when I was visiting with Cindy this summer. What is the source of the obsession? Step into the past with me….

Reason #1 why I am obsessed with this fabric:

When Cindy and I were growing up in the farmhouse, there was an old hunting coat of my father’s that hung in a cedar closet in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

He had long outgrown this special coat by the 1970’s and it was too masculine and structured for the fashion of the day, so it never entered our minds to appropriate it for our own uses. But the quality was so good that my mother just never got around to throwing it away (and let me tell you, she was/is a prodigious thrower-awayer). So it stayed in the closet and became a reliable touchstone whenever I would return to the farm for visits in my wild-west days. It is still there as I type this blog post. The buffalo check instantly reminded me of this coat.

Reason #2 why I am obsessed with this fabric:

Christmas things just accumulate in my home. There is a store in nearby Cuba, NY, called By the Light of the Moon. It has the most adorable, elegant and unique items year-round, and the year I started quilting I found a Mary Lake-Thompson cotton hand towel at BTLOTM that I just knew would make a cute quilt something. So I bought two, gave one away as a Christmas stocking gift, and then proceeded to move the other one around in my quilting fabric stash for some time.

I don’t know if BTLOTM still has this item, but you can find it here.

Then I saw the Buffalo plaid and everything made sense: I had to make a Santa’s coat quilted wall hanging.

Well, truth be told, I dreamed it and Cindy made it!

Cindy and I trimmed the tea towel to highlight Santa’s cheeky wink. We found faux fur and big black buttons at Joann to trim the coat. I had some leftover metallic fabric to make the belt buckle and we used scraps of green to make the vanity buckle frame. A couple of simple rectangles of Buffalo Check and a strip of Kona Black were used to make the coat assembly easy.

Cindy has a couple of hints about sewing on the fur trim inside of the pattern.

Cindy did the final assembly and added a hanging sleeve and as quick as Bob’s your uncle, we have a new Christmas pattern. It’s cold enough for a coat here in New York and it even snowed a bit last night, so I’d say that this is timed perfectly! I might even run over to the farm and see if that coat fits me now…

Santa’s coat quilted wall hanging pattern. Enjoy!

You will also find this pattern posted on the FAVE Quilts website. If you are searching for just the right Christmas quilt design, you will be sure to find it on FAVE Quilts. Stop by to take a look at all the FREE quilt patterns.

Tropical Flight – A FREE Quilt Pattern

May 21, 20189 Comments

My $5 batik charm pack was the basis for this easy, beginner friendly quilt design. I wanted to make the border interesting and unique. What do you think?

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In my March 29, 2018 post, I asked you, our readers, which color(s) would work best with my batik charm squares. The vote tallies were equally split between the lime green and the navy…so why not use both?

The green is Moda Grunge Basics Key Lime and the blue is Wilmington Essentials Crackle Navy. This strong, dramatic color combination is a show stopper when combined with the batiks. I’m already thinking picnics, porch swings, sunset watching on the beach, naps on the couch…the possibilities are endless!

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You can download this free pattern by clicking on the link below:

Tropical Flight GBD May 2018

We’ll also be posting this pattern on FaveQuilts, a website that provides us with a lot of quilting inspiration. FaveQuilts has free e-books, videos/tutorials and an entire library of free quilt blocks and patterns. FaveQuilts has a great e-newsletter, Piecing it Together, that Sandy and I subscribe to. This newsletter is a great way to keep up to date on what is happening in the world of quilting. If you’d like to give it a try, you can sign up here.

If you are a beginning quilter, the 8 flying geese units in the border provide great practice to learn a new technique! Transport yourself to the tropics with a “Tropical Flight” Quilt, we just know you’ll be glad you jumped on board!

Misc. Monday

February 21, 2016February 24, 20163 Comments

I am finishing up several projects that have been in the works for a few months. My quilt guild sponsored a sew in one weekend and we were challenged to make a quilt using charm squares. I was drawn to a pack of Dottie Polka Dots from Moda Fabrics.

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I used a quilt pattern from 3 Times the Charm – Book Two by Me and My Sister Designs. This is a great book filled with adorable quilt patterns! I have made several baby quilts using the patterns in this book. Although the patterns work well for charm packs, I’ve also made a quilt or two using scraps from my stash.

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By the time I got around to making my binding, most of the Moda Dottie Polka Dot fabrics were sold out at my favorite quilt shop. BUT I did find a nice black and white polka dot design from Riley Blake Fabrics. I think the black and white binding frames the quilt and adds nice contrast to all the bright colors.

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I used an aqua and white polka dot fabric for the quilt back and I am very happy with the results! I always send my quilts to a local long arm expert, Ms. JM. She does an incredible job and here is a close up of her work.

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This was a fast, fun and easy quilting project. If you are new to quilting, this book would be a nice resource to help you get started on your quilting journey.