If you’re ready to add another tool to your quilting arsenal, graffiti quilting is an awesome one to have. A few years ago (when I was prego with Gemma), Karlee Porter visited our guild to teach her Graffiti Quilting workshop. Also, I love Guns N Roses. I just saw them in concert a few days before this, so the shirt I bought there was getting some heavy use! Ever since I found Karlee, I’ve been a serious fan girl–so I jumped at the chance to take the class. I learned so much from that workshop and the techniques Karlee taught stuck with me and influence my personal quilting style.
Today is Cabin Fever Release Day! I’m so excited to share this modern log cabin quilt with you today, as it’s a design I planned out about two years ago. It’s always difficult to be patient waiting for this day! The PDF and print versions are now available :)–and a limited amount of kits.
The inspiration for this quilt came from a few things…even though the name conjures images of being stuck inside. (Which, admittedly, we can all probably relate to currently.) First, I wanted to make a quilt that came together fast and looked great with solids or prints. I like to try out new quilting motifs, and this quilt is so much fun to practice on. Secondly, our daughter was one at the time. A lot of times, I felt the repetition of house chores and potty training (who was I kidding? She still wears a pull up to bed sometimes–and I’m fine with that 😉 made me a little cagey. So I jokingly named it Cabin Fever. The geese represent breaking free from routine and they’re ridiculously fun to quilt.
Funny enough, I didn’t realize how appropriate the name would be at the time, but here we are!
The Cabin Fever quilt instructions come in two sizes, baby and throw. These quilts go together really quickly, and they’re a nice break from traditional block-based quilts. The pattern comes with some fun and easy tips for making flying geese quickly.
Tula Pink Solids / Kona Cotton Equivalents
This colorful version is one of my favorites. I’ve been using all Tula Pink solids and stripes to work on another quilt, and I stumbled across a perfect stack of colors just as I was about to make an all blue version. Sadly, after I made it, I realized the Tula Pink solids can be a bit hard to find, so I matched them closely to Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solids. Thank goodness for color cards! I quilted the outer border with some ghost geese to make it appear the entire border had flying geese. Then I did some fun ruler work in each strip of color. I love how the straight lines pop so much on solids! This is the baby version, which measures 52″ x 52″. It’s a really nice size, and I use this one to cover up on the couch while I english paper piece.
Blue & Grey Cabin Fever
This colorway is the very first one I had planned out but didn’t end up making until just recently. I love how the brightness of the blues contrast with the darkness of the grey. I haven’t decided just how to quilt this one yet. Some nice ruler work and custom quilting would really pop against those solids, but I have a new edge to edge design I’m itching to try out. This is the throw size, which measures 81″ x 81″.
Peaches and Pinks Cabin Fever
This was the very first Cabin Fever Quilt I made. I mixed in prints with Kona cotton solids, but I’ve added a color chart in just solids. The great thing about Robert Kaufman fabrics is they generally use the names of the coordinating solids in a lot of their prints. It’s easy to mix and match prints from different collections to what the coordinating solid would be. This is another throw size.
Ruby Star Society – Clementine
Have you seen Miss Melody Miller’s new collection for Ruby Star Society called “Clementine”? I love it so much!! She’s a wizard when it comes to color, and these ethereal pinks and blues are insanely good together. I used Rashida Coleman Hale’s Speckled as the sashing/background fabrics. My daughter Gemma saw me putting this one together and claimed it before I could say no. I let her pick out a color of Shannon Cuddle. Her favorite color is pink, so it was a no brainer. And then she got to pick the edge to edge design that I quilted. They’re subtle, but they’re little heart rainbows. This is the softest quilt, so cozy and squishy.
I can’t wait to see what fabric collections or solids you guys pick for your Cabin Fever quilts! I love seeing the amazing different quilts that y’all make and the incredible fabric selections you make. Have fun with this one–I know I do 🙂 If you want to see more of the photos I’ve been posting of Cabin Fever, you can head over to Instagram and check them out!
I’m stoked to finally introduce to you the Trippy Triangles Quilt pattern! This quilt has been a pet project of mine for the last year (and then some). From picking just the right fabrics–I changed my fabrics several times before I finally got with it stitching–to fussy cutting, etc. and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’m currently working on another version and planning yet another with some fun fussy cutting 🙂
The thing with EPP
Here’s the thing with English Paper Piecing: It’s an obsession of mine. Aside from longarm quilting (which I do almost all day), EPP is my favorite way to pass the time. I always have a little EPP kit in my purse so that if I’m caught waiting at the doctor’s office, or getting my car inspected, or whatever, I always have a little something to keep me busy AND productive. I hate wasting so much time on my phone when I could be sewing something, right!? It’s such a convenient way to pack a little sewing kit and get things done when you otherwise couldn’t.
Last week was QuiltCon 2020 in Austin, TX. I had the best time one could have–and got the full experience of teaching a handful of classes too. I dropped my kiddo off at daycare on Wednesday and headed to Austin (only about a 2 hour drive for me), checked in, and had lunch at Moonshine across from the convention center. Me and the hubs had a meal there a few QuiltCons ago the last time it was in Austin and the food is SO good. Then I got settled into my AirBNB–check out the gorgeous couches in this place…I pretty much picked this airbnb for those couches…and the reviews on the super comfy bed–it did not disappoint.
In this series of blog posts, I’ve talked about start up supplies (what my favorites are) and discussed glue basting (also my favorite). Now that you know how to prepare for sewing, lets get going! In this video, I’ll show you how I sew my paper pieces together once they’re basted. There are many, many ways to accomplish this. I’m showing my favorite methods, in case you haven’t seen them before, in the hopes of inspiring you to try new things!
There are different kinds of stitches you can use to sew the pieces together. My go to is a simple whip stitch, but I’ve heard people rave about the flat back stitch. I tried the flat back stitch, and it wasn’t for me–but you might love it (so def. check it out!).
I know, I know. I know what you’re thinking. Why do I need to know how to glue baste?? So before we get into it…let me just say that I am not the authority on english paper piecing. There are so many ways to get a finished project, and I certainly don’t claim to be the one holding all the answers. But I want to let you in on what has worked so well for me after lots of trial and error. And before I go on, I just want to say: ALWAYS TEST NEW PRODUCTS LIKE GLUE STICKS ON YOUR FABRIC PRIOR TO USING THEM IN AN ENTIRE PROJECT. The glue I use has never done me wrong, but that’s not to say you might not have a different experience.
If you’ve spent any amount of time on my blog or Instagram, you know by now that I LOVE sewing and quilting. SO much so that I like to have a travel-friendly project I can take with me, whether it’s in the car, waiting at the doctor’s office, taking my daughter to the dentist, etc., to help pass the time. While English paper piecing is fun, it is much slower than powering up your sewing machine and zipping through a few seams. There’s something meditative about it that helps the craziness of the world to fade away for just a moment and let you appreciate the thoughtfulness of a stitch. English paper piecing appealed to me first when I was still an ag teacher. A lot of times, I’d be on a school bus with kids and nothing to do for hours while we traveled to judging contest OR I’d be stuck in a hotel room at night, not able to go to sleep and wishing for something productive to do. So I started dabbling in EPP. My husband bought me the La Passacaglia kit (Pattern by Willyne Hammerstein) for my birthday and I was totally hooked. I want to take the time to share my favorite English Paper Piecing supplies and tips in the video below.
I’m a sucker for bright, bold prints. Grant Haffner‘s Horizon collection for Windham Fabrics, is so inspiring! I loved the linear look of the prints and knew I wanted to create a quilt that showed this lines radiating out from the center of a block. Star blocks are my favorite, and I really enjoy the precision of foundation paper piecing that create the Starry Dreams blocks. I also fell hard for the Windham Artisan Cottons and knew they needed to be a supporting player in this game. Starry Dreams is the quilt that was born out of love for these collection, and there’s a free pattern available from Windham so you can create your own! Since I’m so inspired by these fabrics, I’d love to challenge you to check out the Horizon Challenge!
It’s the MOST wonderful time of the year! (Sorry you’ve now got that stuck in your head all day 🙂 Tis the season for gift giving and making, and one of my favorite things to do is make stocking stuffers. It’s easy to drop a ton of money of useless little items that might never get used, so I try to make utilitarian stocking stuffers that will see the light of day over and over again. One of my go-to gifts is a reversible lanyard that can be used as a quick release keychain or an ID badge holder. It’s a quick gift that I know will get lots of love throughout the year. The Reversible Lanyard Tutorial goes by even quicker with the helpful Oliso Mini Project Iron. It doesn’t take up as much work space as the standard sized iron, and it’s really convenient for smaller sized projects like this.
Week 6 is here, and we’re finally in the home stretch!! Many of you have already completed the baby size and pieced your tops, and you’re ahead of the game. Last week, I popped in a catch up week due to the holiday weekend, and I hope you got to enjoy some time with your family (or squeezed in some extra sewing time 😉
