Curious Dream Blog Hop {and Giveaway!}

I'm going to do my best not to make this post too sappy, so forgive me in advance if I fail.  I found out around a year ago that my friend Angela was designing a fabric line.  I was secretly thrilled I was one of the few people who got to peek in on her process:  agonizing on which prints were best, indecision on exactly what shade of blue was just the right one,  etc.  I was {almost} as excited as she was when Windham Fabrics picked up her line, Curious Dream!  I mean, come on! This is the same fabric company that has artists like Heather Ross and Lotta Jansdotter!  It is unbelievably rewarding to witness a friend's dream come true.  I am so proud of her and all the hard work that went into this collection, inspired by Alice in Wonderland.  I HIGHLY recommend browsing her stunning look book for this collection.  It is jaw dropping! 

So what happens when one of your good friends designs a fabric collection?  You get mail like this!!!!  Then you realize you actually have to open the bundle and cut the pretty, pretty fabric......  drat!  I'm not going to lie, the timeline for the blog hop wasn't great for me.  I had my own deadline for 9 (yes, NINE) quilts to complete, but I was not going to miss out on a chance to create something with this beautiful collection and SHOUT about how stinkin' happy I am for Angela!!!  She always teases me about how fast I am so I needed to live up to the hype!  I created 3 different projects with Curious Dream!

First up is a simple patchwork pouch.  I love making little pouches like this!  You don't need much fabric and it's a fun way to showcase the entire collection, especially that little rabbit who is a personal favorite of mine.

Hi sweet rabbit!!!

Next is a Jane Market bag.  This is a classic grocery tote shape and always a huge hit as a gift around the holidays. 

I am OBSESSED with the Alice patchwork print!  Hello bags and backing!!!  

I used it here as the middle accent pocket and used another Windham collection, Twilight, for the navy print in the body of the bag. 

For the lining I used two of the lock/heart lock prints.

For the straps I used one of the "key" prints.  Love the lock and key theme!!!

 Last up is a mini quilt.  I thought what could be more "Alice" than a wonky 9 patch! 

 This being the real world, I will admit I messed up my 9 patch shuffle in my excitement to finish, but I love the results all the same!

Now, for the fun part!!! I'm giving away a FAT QUARTER BUNDLE of Curious Dream!!!!  All you have to do is leave a comment.  Maybe tell Angela how awesome her fabric is.  Just a suggestion! :)  If you want to enter another giveaway, hop on over to my IG account @kelbysews to enter for a chance to win one of the items I made with Curious Dream! 

Thank so much for joining me on the blog hop!  Be sure to catch all the stops for more fun Curious Dream projects and more giveaways!  

Curious Dream Blog Hop Stops 

Monday, December 12th – Windham Fabrics: https://windhamfabrics.wordpress.com/

Tuesday , December 13^th – Kelly Bowser –Kelly Sews  http://www.kelbysews.com/

Wednesday, December 14^th – Brooke Sellmann- Silly Mama Quilts http://www.sillymamaquilts.com/

Thursday, December 15^th - Wendy Sheppard -Ivory Spring  https://ivoryspring.wordpress.com/

Friday, December 16^th – Becca Bryan – Bryan House Quilts  http://bryanhousequilts.com/

Saturday, December 17^th –  Chris Dodsley- Made by ChrissieD  http://madebychrissied.blogspot.com/

Sunday December 18^th – Aurifil - https://auribuzz.wordpress.com/

Monday, December 19^th-  Jennie-  Clover & Violet http://www.cloverandviolet.com/

Tuesday, December 20^th – Stephanie Kendron – Modern Sewciety  http://www.modernsewciety.com/

Wednesday, December 21^st – Joanne from  The Fat Quarter Gypsy – http://www.thefatquartergypsy.com

Monday, December 22nd – Heidi Staples – Fabric Mutt  http://fabricmutt.blogspot.com/

Friday, December 23rd – Round up post at Windham Fabrics https://windhamfabrics.wordpress.com

Winners announced Friday, December 23rd!



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Easiest Chevron Quilt EVER {a Tutorial}

I love love love chevron quilts, but I really really really hate trimming half-square triangles and I never mastered the whole rectangle method.  When I figured out I could make a chevron with squares and not have to constantly worry about block orientation, I was stoked!!!  I'm not reinventing the wheel here folks.  I'm sure some smarty pants out there figured this method out ages ago and has a tutorial on it, but  I have never seen it so I'm guessing a few of you haven't either!  I'm also cutting out a lot of work and listing the fabric requirements and dimensions to make 4 different sizes so you don't have to do any math, yay!   That being said, I've only actually made two of the sizes below.  I sketched and did some rough cutting diagrams to make sure I had the right fabric requirements for the others.  If you find a mistake in the larger sizes, please let me know!  You can alter my math to fit whatever size squares you want to use, these are just what I chose.  There is no right or wrong!  Make it your own!  I'd love to see what you make so if you post on IG, Twitter, etc., tag me @kelbysews

For a 20" pillow/mini quilt you will need 5 Fat Quarters

from EACH fat quarter cut:

(5) 4.5" squares

(10) 2.5" squares

For a baby quilt 32"x40" you will need 1/2 yds of 5 fabrics

from EACH 1/2 yd cut:

(4) 8.5" squares

(8) 4.5" squares

For a lap quilt 60"X72" you will need 20" or 2/3 yd of 12 fabrics

from EACH 2/3 yd cut:

(10) 6.5" squares

(20) 3.5" squares

For a bed quilt 80"x90" you will need 1.25 yards of 9 fabrics

from EACH 1.25 yd cut:

(8) 10.5" squares

(16) 5.5" squares

For a bed quilt 84"x96" you will need 3/4 yd of 16 fabrics

from EACH 3/4 yd cut:

(14) 6.5" squares

(28) 3.5" squares

Rule of thumb:  The more fabrics you have, the more lines of zig-zags you have.  The larger the squares, the chunkier the chevron.  

I've cut and lined up my big and little squares to make the 20" chevron mini.  Be sure you're happy with the order you place the big squares.  You want to make sure there is some contrast between any two fabrics that are next to each other so you can see the chevron shape.  

Next, shift all the little squares UP one place so they can make friends with their new big square.  This means that the little squares that match your top fabric will move DOWN to the bottom fabric--in this picture, the smaller squares of yellow flowers on white move down to pair with the larger squares of white flowers on yellow.  

See?  All the little squares have new big square partners.  Keeping the original order of big squares is important in this quilt.  You can NOT make changes once the little squares start getting sewn so make sure you are happy with your order!

Using a ruler and your favorite marking tool, draw a diagonal line through ALL of the smaller squares on the back/wrong side.

Place the smaller square on the BOTTOM corner of the larger square you paired it with in the previous step--right sides together.  Here it is important to point out, if you have a directional print on your LARGER square like the white flowers on yellow, make sure you are placing the smaller square at the BOTTOM of the print.  As for the smaller squares, I decided I didn't care about direction for those.  It gets too stressful worrying about it and I like quilts that are quick and easy.  It's easy to notice if the big square is oriented correctly, not so much for the smaller ones.  Additionally, you could avoid this whole paragraph if you used non-directional prints.  Just saying.  If you're ever in a hurry and want to make this quilt, non-directional is the way to go!

Sew along the line drawn, or, in my case, I sew VERY SLIGHTLY below the line (toward the part that will be cut off.  I do this because sometimes if you sew directly on the line, when you fold the little square down, it's a bit short of making your larger square whole again.  This is due to the fold line created when you fold the smaller square down.  If you sew a hairline below where the line is, your squares come out perfect!

Using a rotary cutter or scissors, trim off the bottom corner leaving 1/4" seam allowance below the stitch line.  Don't throw these little triangle paris away!  They are already perfectly matched and ready to make into half-square triangles on a another day!  You can make mug rugs, potholders, table runners, or even whole quilts from these trimmings depending on how large of a project you're making.  

Press the seam open.  It's actually important for bulk reasons, so trust me, OPEN.  I know some of you are old school, but take a walk on the wild side and try my way here!

Repeat the sew and trim process for the second square.  

OPEN OPEN OPEN! 

Your finished block.  It should still be the size of your larger block, but with cute little contrasting triangles on the bottom.

Once you finish all the blocks for the row, sew them together.  Repeat for the remaining rows.  I alternate which side I press the seams per row because pressing open at this stage isn't important and it's faster to nest the seams than match seams that are pressed open.  Once you make all your rows, simply join them together to form your chevron! Is that easy or what????????  If you have any assembly questions please feel free to ask! 

My finished 20" block

This was my original project with this method.  This is a 32"x40" baby quilt made with Alison Glass and Tula Pink fabrics.  It's super bright and fun!

I went with high contrast for the back and used my favorite IKEA numbers print.  Why they discontinued this print is a mystery! 

Sweat Shop

I've been hard at work lately between gifts and finishing up custom orders!  One of my favorite go-to gifts are these voile/velveteen infinity scarves!  Anna Maria Horner has a great tutorial on her blog, though I use different measurements since I find hers a bit bulky.  For mine, I use one yard of voile and one yard of velveteen to get TWO scarves.  I cut two pieces of velveteen 13"x36" then sew together along the 13" end to get a 13"x72"ish piece.  Repeat with the voile.  Then follow Anna Maria Horner's instructions!  Well, I also sort of cheat and machine stitch everything closed with invisible thread.  Shhhhhh!  Don't tell anyone I'm too lazy to hand stitch!








Then I put all the scarves in some totes I got on clearance at Old Navy.  Voila!  Teacher gifts!


I also finished this quilt, which has been partially quilted for months, and gave it to my friend, Ryan, because he's cool and I just felt like giving it away.  :)


Jessie made me this mini dresden forever ago and I finally found the perfect frame for it……after I painted the matting that awesome color!  Can't wait to hang this up!


A few more boxy bags for gifts!


Some Liberty Christmas trees as gifts for special ladies!

Swapsies: A Rainbow Mini Quilt

An IG friend mentioned wanting to swap with me and I could always use a new mini quilt for my sewing room so I happily agreed!  She didn't give me any instructions or preferences so I just made something that I loved!

Sadly, I love it a bit too much and I have a feeling I'm going to cry a little when I mail it to her! :)  I used this pattern by Diane.  CLICK HERE for a chance to win the pattern!!!  There are two versions, one finishes at 12" and one at 18" (mine is 18").  All of the fabric is by either Anna Maria Horner or Tula Pink with the exception of the black/white background fabric which is a print from Wordplay by Benartex.  Creating the 8 sections went relatively easy; the tricky part is sewing the 8 sections together so the everything lines up!  Lets just say I did not get it right the first, second, or third time with some sections!  I decided on some minimal radiant quilting from the center (thanks Michelle!) and my favorite color teal solid for the binding. 

Instead of highlighting the stars this pattern can create, I decided to highlight the geese!  I was surprised how different the pattern looked when I was done!  Change the fabric around and you get a whole new look!  I won't lie, this took some time and a LOT of background fabric--I tend to cut pieces way bigger than necessary when dealing with paper pieced triangles.  I somehow always muck it up and have the fabric fall short of the area I'm trying to cover.  I really hate ripping out tiny paper piecing stitches so I over compensate by cutting the fabric larger than necessary.  Anywho!  Hope Chrissy likes her new mini and it doesn't accidentally get stuck to my wall.........I mean, LOST in the mail! 

Another Instagram-fueled Catchup

I swear I'm here and sewing!  

Babylock Symphony is my main sewing machine, top right. The Babylock Tiara is my quilting machine, bottom left.

I had to clean things up because it was getting messy in my sewing room!

Had a great day thanks to Jessie (the mini dresden) and Amanda of Westwood Acres (the fabric)

I used the Briar Rose scraps to make a mini, though now I'm thinking of taking it apart to make it one long rectangle--just to be different!

I'm working on a pillow for Pillow Talk Swap 10! 

I'm also working on a Fall-hued Liberty quilt!  Lots of neutrals in this one.   It's not my usual rainbow fest, but I'm sort of liking it!

I'm also getting ready to quilt this one!  It's a custom order for Ann Kelle and it looks like candy to me! Love all the solids!

I'm also working on a little review and video for my Babylock Tiara! I've had a number of questions about it and I find that video is the easiest way to answer them.  

Blissful Bea!

Bea (my new BabyLock Tiara) and I have been getting aquatinted!  It's been blissful!   This is a custom order full size quilt using Moda's Domestic Bliss.

I managed to quilt this 85"x95" quilt without having to wrestle it! You know what I mean--the rolling, the shoving, the cursing-yourself-for-making-a-quilt-so-big moments we all have when you try to free motion on your home machine.  There is just so much room now! 

Quilting larger quilts is so much easier!   I used a floral motif from Angela Walters' book.  I won't lie, this design took a while to do all over this big quilt.  It's not difficult, just lots of bobbin changes!

Here's a peek at the backing.  This may be my all time favorite print for backing (from Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi line)!  It's at least tied with an Ikea text print I'm pretty nuts about!

While I have a stitch regulator for the Tiara, I did not use it for this project.  I'm really comfortable with this design and I like to go super fast so I chanced it. :)  I'm pretty happy with how the stitches came out, especially the back!!!!  I had absolutely NO tension issues! Oh happy day!

Le sigh.  I seriously love the back!  It's making me want to quilt a whole cloth quilt using just that print! 

I'm also using Bea to expand my FMQ horizons a bit.  I'm trying some new things out with this quilt--not quite sure if I should be experimenting on my Wonderland quilt, but oh well!  Bea will make it beautiful I'm sure. ha ha!

Made this little mini version of a quilt I made last year.  I gave this one to my quilty friend Stephanie who lives just down the road from me.  She is about to move into her new house and I thought her new sewing room could use some decorating!

The backing on this one is pretty special too!  This is an IKEA print that Faith gave me a while back.  I've been hoarding it waiting for just the right project.

Whew!  I think I'm all caught up now!  I'm headed to Dallas tomorrow to visit my best friend who is 9 month preggo!  She's still disgustingly tiny though.  So unfair!