Candy Under Wraps Quilt

February 24, 2016March 18, 20164 Comments

When I saw “Desert Sand” from the “Canyon Collection” by Kate Spain for Moda fabrics, I fell in love!

What to do with a fabric I love? I designed a quilt around this beautiful fabric. My Candy Under Wraps Quilt is the result!

Candy Under Wraps

While wandering through a favorite quilt shop, I came across a charm pack of Robert Kaufman pastel solids that complemented the Desert Sand fabric and reminded me of Salt Water Taffy. Personally, the green taffies are my absolute fave!

While we were growing up on the farm, mom and dad always made sure we went to the county fair at summer’s end. We would always buy a big box of Salt Water Taffy as a take home souvenir. Throwing the empty wrappers at annoying sisters on the drive home was very fun but got me into trouble!

For the next few weeks I’ll be posting a sew along for how to make my Candy Under Wraps Quilt. I hope you’ll join me!

The colors of your quilt can be adjusted to fit your taste in wrapped candy; Salt Water Taffy, Jolly Ranchers, Tootsie Rolls, Butterscotch, Peppermints, Smarties (striped fabric would be cute), Halloween candy, Christmas candy, and the list goes on!

Finished quilt size: 53 inches x 53 inches

Block size: 11 inches x 11 inches

Here are the fabric requirements for the quilt:

36 charm squares for candies

Aqua fabric for blocks: 3/4 yard

White fabric for candies, solid blocks and setting triangles: 1 1/2 yard

Outer border: 1 3/4 yards

Binding: 1/2 yard

Backing: 3 1/4 yards

DSCN5414

Your homework for this week: Look through your stash for just the right fabrics OR buy the fabrics that speak to you!

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.

DSCN5343

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.

DSCN5364

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.

DSCN5353

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.

DSCN5358

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.

Rolly Polly Teddy Finale

February 17, 2016May 12, 2016Leave a comment

Yesterday’s giant rain/snow/sleet/snow storm brought winter to my house for what feels the first time this year. We lost two beautiful full-grown river birch trees. This one is in the back of the house. The other is in the front. Too the far right you can see that my neighbor also lost several birches. It’s sad to say goodbye to these graceful gentle trees (cue “Circle of Life” music). However, my neighbors have already moved on — they are proposing a summer bonfire to enjoy the trees one last time. I think I’ll be over the grieving by then. IMG_1163[1] Cindy has done me a solid. She made a handy-dandy grid for my Roly Poly Teddy quilt that will help you lay out the rich and luxurious brown and gold teddy squares we gathered earlier. Then she went one step farther and exploded the Teddy the grid so you can see how to pull the teddy rows together.

Here’s my finished quilt top. Dimensions are 43″x 45″. You can find the original blog post here.

Rolly Polly Teddy Bear

I’ve created a pink and brown flannel backing. I’m hoping to work on the quilt sandwich today.

<updated below>

Roly Poly Teddy Bear quilted — can you see the bears and hearts? Adorable!

Cindy’s beautifully written pattern Roly Poly Teddy Bear Pattern FINAL.

Gather your scraps for a Teddy Bear Party!

January 28, 2016June 21, 2016Leave a comment

Roly Poly Teddy Bear Baby Quilt

Today I’m going to give you all the scrap requirements for the Roly Poly Teddy Bear baby quilt. I had no idea how many brown scraps I had. Then I remembered that I made a Ginger Belle quilt designed by Carrie L. Nelson last fall. I used prints from the Kansas Troubles Harvest Moon line. The quilt seemed a little dark when I was sewing it, but I was so pleased with the end result — that quilt was very hard to give away.

When I dug through my 3 inch squares, I had plenty of brown and dark gold prints to choose from. If you don’t have a lot of brown, I think this quilt could be made in almost any color.

Scrap fabric requirements:

3″ squares

168 white/cream squares

98 brown squares

18 pink squares

2″ squares

8 brown squares

2.5″ Squares

12 brown squares

4 white/cream

1″x3.5″ strip

16 pink