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!

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You can download the pattern by clicking the link below:

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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!

A Quilting Story

November 27, 20178 Comments

Every year, my guild makes a quilt to give to a family receiving a Habitat For Humanity sponsored home. These quilts are a lot of fun to make because each of our guild members contributes her talents (and fabrics!) to this worthy cause.

Below is the quilt we are finishing up. I volunteered to make the hanging sleeve and binding and sew them to the quilt. Mission accomplished! Some of my fellow guild members LOVE to tack down quilt bindings so I will pass this task off to them.

We always use the same basic pattern but change around the locations of the houses, trees and community buildings so every quilt is different. Three layers of fabric “bricks” is our standard to add more color and texture to the outer border.

Each guild member is assigned to make a building and/or a tree for the quilt. It’s always fun to see the creativity each person brings to the quilting table. I like the school, it’s a happy color!

This little log cabin is a favorite of mine. It’s soft and fuzzy, 3 dimensional and has a cute curtain in the window.

I always notice roof lines because my husband is a contractor! This roof line is just plain cute, don’t you think?

The church windows are made from scraps of iridescent fabric that resembles stained glass. We all ooo’d and ahhh’d over this one. How about that cute little french knot for the door knob?

One of our guild members took a thread painting class and made this life like tree. It’s a nice addition to our standard pine trees!

In January, this quilt will be part of our guild show. After the show, we will present the quilt to a family starting a new chapter in their life story. It’s nice to be part of their story!

Birthday Trip to the Fancy Forest

November 9, 201712 Comments

What do you give a very dear friend for a milestone birthday? A trip to the Fancy Forest, of course!

In my October 23rd post, I mentioned my dear friend (DF) and I attended the Tompkins County Quilters Guild Traditions & Beyond 2017 Quilt Show.

While at the show, DF fell in love with a Fancy Forest quilt, designed by Elizabeth Hartman . At a silent auction, I bid on a smaller Fancy Forest wall hanging (hoping to use it as a birthday gift for my DF) but GASP!!! I didn’t win.

What to do? Sewing pedal to the metal of course! I had just two short weeks to make a wall hanging, pop it in the mail and pray it arrived in time for her birthday. After staying up until 1:30 am to finish, here is the resulting masterpiece:

Who could resist a cute little fox face with a quilted snout?

Hazel the Hedge Hog is my favorite!

DF, I hope your birthday trip to the fancy forest brings many smiles to you!

P.S. I wrote about the backing in my October 31st post “Should Knot Be Seen”. As you can see, I had to change out the thread colors more than once but who will see the back of this wall hanging? Just the wall! Knots 1

FAMILY Pillow – Free Pattern

October 2, 20172 Comments

Need a gift for the upcoming holidays or other special occasion? You can make this quilted pillow to share your love of family with those around you!

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I wanted this pillow to look modern and sophisticated. I think the Navy on White Damask by Riley Blake Designs helped me to achieve this look.

Kona White and Kona Navy for the letters and background helped to bring all three fabrics together for an outstanding FAMILY…ha! Pun intended!

While testing and double testing the pattern, I made 5 pillows! One of the pillows I made used Garden Girl Damask Pink by Zoe Pearn of Riley Blake Designs. This pillow got some extra pizzazz with black pom pom trim. How cute is this?!

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If you decide you like the pom pom trim (or some other decorative trim), be sure to purchase 3 1/2 yards. This will give you a bit of extra trim to match where the pom poms start and stop or to match other trim designs. Since I had never used pom pom trim before, I found a great tutorial for adding pom poms to a pillow. You can link to the tutorial here.

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I will be adding this FAMILY pillow pattern to our favorite pattern website, FAVE Quilts. In addition to finding inspirational FREE quilt patterns, FAVE Quilts posts tips and tutorials on the latest quilting techniques. Sandy and I subscribe to their free e-newsletter, Piecing It Together. This newsletter keeps us up to date on the latest quilting trends! You can subscribe to Piecing It Together by clicking here.

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This pattern provides you with all the information you need to make your own, unique FAMILY pillow with an envelope back. It’s a great weekend project!

To get started on your pillow, download the pattern by clicking the link below:

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Be sure to share pics of your FAMILY with us!