Free Pattern for Sweet Heart Mug Rug

January 25, 2018January 26, 20189 Comments

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and I wanted to make something special for mom. I had some extra fabric from my Heartland Modern 01 10 18 quilt and thought I would make a few mug rugs/coasters for her. Below is my finished product, isn’t it a sweet heart? (Pun intended!)

Heartland3_GBD

Mom’s favorite color is pink and she likes to drink tea. I thought I would test this mug rug today, strictly for quality control purposes, of course! Yep, it passed the test!

Heartland2_GBD

I put my trusted Bernina to work last night. I pieced it AND quilted this sweet heart in no time flat!

Heartland5_GBD

This pattern is beginner friendly and easy to follow. Give it a try and be sure to share our site with your friends!

Hosting a bridal shower or a baby shower? Make one for each of your guests! It’s a nice take away from a memorable event and the heart can be made from the theme colors chosen by the guest of honor. If you have an embroidery machine, you could even personalize each heart.

Download this free pattern by clicking on this link: Sweet Heart Mug Rug

Heartland1_GBD

I will be adding this pattern to the FaveQuilts website as well. If you are looking for other beginner friendly quilt patterns, be sure to check out the FaveQuilts web site. There are many projects for many quilting skill levels. It is our “go to” site for quilting inspiration!

Be sure to share pics of your “Sweet Heart” with us!

2 for 1 – Free Valentine Quilt Patterns

January 11, 201812 Comments

One blog stop, two free patterns…what’s not to love?

If you are looking for Valentine’s Day quilt patterns to share some quilting love, look no further!

Passionate red — I’m not feeling it

We have two free and unique heart quilt patterns that are beginner friendly and can be used as a baby quilt, a wall hanging or a table topper.

Free Pattern #1 = Pixelated eHeart is the perfect quilt for all those red and pink scraps you have on hand AND it’s a jelly-roll friendly quilt. Download a free pattern by clicking on this link: e-heart_pattern_final-01-18-2017

e-heart_with_logo

Free Pattern #2 = Heartland Modern, is the perfect quilt for a cheerful mix of high contrast colors…like fuchsia and white. Download a free pattern by clicking on this link: Heartland Modern 01 10 18

heartland01

The fuchsia light and dark tone fabric is “Patio Splash” Color Strokes Fuchsia by The Kanvas Studio. The white/fuchsia fabric is a Robert Kaufman print in the “Blueberry Park” Collection. This design is called “Strawberry”. The solid white fabric is “Kona White” by Robert Kaufman.

heartland02

Be sure to share your completed projects with us! We love to see what you do with our patterns.

We will also be posting these patterns to the FaveQuilts Website. You will find many more free quilt patterns on this site BUT you will also find quilt block patterns, how to videos, tutorials, fabric and quilt kits. It is a great resource for quilters of all skill levels, be sure to stop by and take a look!

We Made It!

January 5, 201811 Comments

Sandy and I made the “Best of 2017” list on FaveQuilts!

Our Garden Gate Charm quilt made the Top 100 Free Quilt Pattern List that FaveQuilt readers fell in love with last year. We were thrilled to hear so many readers loved this pattern!

fullpic2b

You can download the pattern by clicking the link below:

Garden Gate Charm 03 14 17_final

Now is a great time to start planning your quilt projects for 2018. You are sure to find just the right FREE pattern on FaveQuilts.

Need a quick project for a last minute gift? You are sure to find a free pattern on the FaveQuilts site. Do you enjoy paper piecing? They have lots of free patterns to choose from! Are you an advanced quilter or maybe just a beginner? Find inspiration at FaveQuilts.

But wait, there’s more! FaveQuilts is constantly adding new patterns from many talented quilt designers. Sign up for their free eNewsletter, Piecing It Together, to get free quilt patterns delivered directly to your inbox.

What’s in store from Gray Barn Designs in 2018?

More original quilt designs, of course!

Don’t forget to follow us; just click on the “follow button” at the top/right of this page!

Snickerdoodle Hop

December 5, 2017December 6, 2017106 Comments

Carol from Just Let Me Quilt came up with a wonderful blog hop idea for the holidays: a Virtual Cookie Exchange. She had us at cookies. Follow the flour dust trail….

Our mother is a terrific baker and one of her specialties is the Snickerdoodle: a bit crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle and coated with a sweet cinnamon and sugar crust.

Helen’s Snickerdoodles

I have to confess that I was never a huge fan as a kid, but I’ve made up for my lack of judgement in the last 10 years or so. Mom can easily bake through a 25 lb. bag of flour from a warehouse store in a couple of weeks when she is preparing for the holidays.

And every grain of that flour traverses through a giant sifter that was extracted from a Hoosier cabinet and installed in a specially built kitchen cabinet for just such a baking enthusiast. (This must have occurred in the ‘40s when the “modern” kitchen was added on to the house and the Hoosier was relegated to the basement (sans flour sifter, of course)).

Flour bin and sifter from a farmhouse Hoosier cabinet

Anyway, for our virtual cookie exchange, we present Helen’s Snickerdoodles. She says the secret to her special version is using extra-large eggs. Since you probably don’t have a Hoosier flour sifter, she recommends measuring the flour and then double sifting it.

Snickerdoodles

To celebrate the holiday and this unique cookie exchange from Carol at Just Let Me Quilt, Cindy designed the Candy Cane 2.0 placemat that you can whip up quickly.

This placemat can be used as a table decoration while you display all the cookies you make from Carol’s Blog Hop. You can use scraps in your stash OR you can dash out and buy some great Christmas fabrics that coordinate with your decor.

Candy Cane 2.0–a free placemat pattern!

Download this free pattern here: Candy Cane 2.0 Placemat 12 03 17

But wait, there’s more! We’ve learned another secret to delicious Snickerdoodles: the cinnamon! There are different varieties of cinnamon but our favorite is Chinese “Tung Hing”. We’re giving away one 2 oz. jar of Chinese “Tung Hing” Cinnamon from The Spice House (located in Chicago, Illinois), to help the lucky winner re-create a farmhouse Christmas like Cindy and I used to share with our family.

Tung Hing cinnamon, sugar and Snickerdoodle dough balls–just waiting to be popped in the oven!

To enter our giveaway, simply leave a comment for this blog post before December 11, 2017. We’ll pick a winner at random and contact the winner via email to arrange for a jar of cinnamon to be shipped directly from The Spice House to the winner.