Caravelle Arcade

Jennifer sent me her newest fabric line, Caravelle Arcade, due out in May to play with. I made my usual random patchwork and was overjoyed at the fabulous color ranges in this line!

I took the finished blanket to the local Santa Monica mountains to get some pictures with the vivid green that covers our area this time of year. Unfortunately, it was super windy and light was fading fast, but I had Holly help me get some pictures!

Next, I decided to try the mini dresden using my tiny scraps and used the tutorial from Amanda at Westwood Acres.

I also made a selvage flap purse with some more scraps. Even though there isn't any navy in Caravelle Arcade, I love the contrast with the other colors. Jennifer's fabrics always play well together!

Below is a fabric grouping I put together combining Caravelle Arcade with her past collections as well as the newest Jenny Eliza due in Joann stores any day now if not already! If you love this collection as much as I do, you can preorder a blanket in my shop here

Good Company Love

I've been having lots of fun playing with sample yardage from Jennifer Paganelli's upcoming line, Good Company due out in November. I'm crazy for her color combinations and this time around I especially love the periwinkle/pink combo with the shot of yellow. I got out my beloved Casey Scroll fabric and used almost all of it for the exterior of my purse. (I did save some for quilts)

The strap & interior are Jane from Superfly. I used scraps from the random patchwork blanket I made her out of the fabrics. The back pocket was a great place to showcase some of the prints.

Below is the blanket ( I call it a blanket if it's minky backed with no batting in between or quilting).

I am taking preorders if anyone is interested. The fabric line will be out in November!

Lucky Girl!!!

I was so excited when Jennifer sent me Lucky Girl, her upcoming fabric line that is due out in September. It has a very vintage feel with some gorgeous contrast with navy blue to set of the pinks, light blues and teal greens.

I tried to use a different pattern, but in the end I still love the random patchwork where the fabric can be the star. I did longer pieces this time, cut at 6.5x12.5 in order to get the full visual of some of the prints. I loved making the inital pillow. I did 'P' for Paganelli since I was sending it to Jennifer, but I need to make one for myself now!

Update on my health: I ended up having a double mastectomy to just be rid of everything once and for all and so now I don't feel like I'm wondering what will show up next on my mammogram. I had found a pre cancerous growth in the 'other' side, so now I have a peace of mind about it all. I hope to be 100% back by the end of the year. I still keep my shop open taking custom orders as I see I can fit. It's great therapy! The Lord has blessed me with such wonderful customers! I just celebrated 5 years on Etsy earlier this month. Hope to blog more, if not, follow me on instagram under sewfunbymonique.

My Happy Quilt

Used Field Study ribbon and pom poms to decorate the lampshades

Pillow made from "Pillow Pop"

I decided when I was starting chemo that I 'deserved' a new quilt for my bed. One that was different than the one I had made before with fall colors. I wanted something that made me happy since I would be spending lots of time there! Starting with scraps I had from Circa, I pulled the colors out~ brighter reds, greens, yellows and a touch of brown. Blue was a new color introduction into my room. I love how it came out!! I used my favorite Jennifer Paganelli prints~ including the now super expensive Loopy Vintage Floral & Elizabeth Rose. I recently bought the brown damask from her Girlfriends line on ebay and I got a whole bolt! The Long Ladies from Marie Madeline had a scrap sale & I was able to get some of the out of print Nicole floral. I have always loved Tanya Whelan's Darla so I included it in there as well as some from her other lines. I like the fun Japanese print with the pastries on it & the text fabric from Moda. I bought some vintage sheets to add to it as well. An eclectic group!

On the back I used large squares of Denyse Schmidt's line from JoAnn fabrics with the intersections accented by more favorite scraps

I will be making more pillows when Circa yardage comes out, but right now I have a Field Study print which isn't in the quilt but looks great all mixed up with the group

Overall, I love the look with the bright pastels and snippets of favorite fabrics to look at every time I'm in bed!

Some Recent Finishes

 Random Patchwork quilt I will soon be working on

 Circa purse for me!

Flannel quilt for chemo

My new fav combo using golden browns and honey

So, I wanted to post something back to sewing somewhat. All of the above are recent finishes or soon to be. I love the random patchwork quilts and the first photo is a fabric group I'll be working with for a custom order. Love the finished combo Betty & I worked on. Next, my Circa purse, cause I needed a new one. Always patchwork! :) Third pic: during my first chemo I was cold & they had these nice, sterile white blankets to cover me, but I thought Anna's flannels along with the cute coffee & donuts munki munki flannel and a Sandi Henderson would brighten things up. I'm going to try to finish 2 more to hopefully give out to my 'neighbors' during chemo on Tuesday. The last blanket will go in my shop, but I really really love the combo and want to keep it! It's Jennifer, Anna Maria & Tina Givens. It really glows! 

Happy Land & Best of Jennifer Paganelli Quilt Done!

I was finally able to finish a custom order for a customer using the Happy Land fabrics with the best Jennifer Paganelli fabrics from her past lines that coordinate. I used Aurifil thread #5006 to quilt it. It was fun pulling out my Loopy scraps for this one. I love how the navy and fuchsia are great contrasts with the other colors. That's me in my newest Devon, a larger picture on flickr. I used Candice in sky and love how it looks with jeans. The fun has just begun with this fabric line! You can find it everywhere~ Hawthorne Threads, Etsy & Quilt Home to name a few. Marie Madeline will be carrying it soon. 

What I've Been Doing Lately

Fashion Formula Skirt pattern by Kay Whitt

Jennifer Paganelli twin quilt set

I've had lots of different projects I've been working on. I took some time off to have some surgery (hysterectomy) & realized that I needed to wear either drawstring, loose skirts or dresses. I sewed up some skirts using Kay Whitt's pattern from her Fashion Formula Skirts booklet which I LOVE! The strip skirts only require 8-9" strips, so you can easily use up some half or quarter yards you have laying around. I used Anna Maria Horner's Field Study in the aqua/yellow combo as well as a mini check from Michael Miller. The second skirt is all from Queen Street (Jennifer Paganelli). There are lots of other variations to try & I'm really looking forward to it. There are lots of drawings, so there was never a confusing part as I was sewing. I didn't do a good job distributing the gathers with the first skirt, but learned for the second one. I also bought some of her dress patterns- the Diane Kimono & the Bebe dress which Kay modeled so beautifully at Quilt Market. I also have the Monique dress, but haven't tried it yet. You can find all of her patterns here

Next up is a twin size quilt I finished along with matching pillowcases (not pictured) & pillow shams in Jane from Super Fly. As always, I love mixing Jennifer's fabrics & I used Crazy Love & Super Fly with some blue and green additions from Honey Child & Queen Street. It feels so good to be back sewing again and to immerse myself in this creative world again!

Quilt It!

I love the opportunity to free motion quilt some swirls. I use a Juki TL-2000 Qi. I love how it quilts~ it's a workhorse! For this eclectic mix of fabrics I chose a variegated pink Aurifil thread. The backing fabric is Natasha in red & the binding is Cecilia in brown. I think that sometimes one of the hardest decisions is choosing the thread color for the quilting. Often, the backing fabric has a greater influence on the choice for me. I like it to somewhat blend when I am doing the swirls as I sometimes feel like I am scribbling all over the fabric designer's artwork! I love the crinkly goodness that results after washing when it's quilted all over. I hope Kristin enjoys her quilt!
Additional info: it is available as a made to order quilt in my shop. :)

Lilly Pulitzer Quilt

I had the privilege of being sent a customer's collection of Lilly Pulitzer prints & making them into a random patchwork blanket (minky on the back, no quilting). It was like a puzzle interlocking all of these beautiful prints in a pleasing combination. Many of the fabrics were different weights~ home dec, voile-like, quilting weight & the white one with palm trees was textured like toweling. The result is an eye catching combination filled with different textures and motifs. I could spend hours just looking at all the beautiful prints! I hope my customer loves it!

The Best of Sis Boom Bedding

I was thrilled when I was asked to create this set as it has all of my favorite Jennifer P fabrics in it that span a wide range of her fabric lines! I am A L M O S T  O U T of the Elizabeth Rose fabric, my fav fav! I am actually working on making a Lucy Halter top with it as I realize when it's gone, it's gone and I want to wear it. I will review that when it's done. I hope Tiffany enjoys her set!

Plum Pretty Quilt

I have always loved every shade of purple, but going towards plum is just so lucious to me! I enjoyed every stitch of making this quilt for Jenni. I outlined the patches in a straight stitch and then free motion swirled the plum dot border which is Hoodie's Crosshatch dots in plum. Jenni ordered a whole crib set, so this is part of a bigger picture~ but it's a great start! I can't resist photographing my kids if they will let me with my quilts & I love how Holly looks with the backing of this one! Hope you are enjoying your Saturday!

June Song Quilt

A few months ago I was contacted by Lothian to make a custom quilt for her. She told me a few fabrics she loved and I pulled from my stash to create the quilt pictured. Alexander Henry's June Song fabric was the jumping off point for the colors. I used lots of coordinates from Jennifer Paganelli as well as Lizzy House (love all her pearl bracelet prints), Lecien, Josephine Kimberling, Valori Wells & the Daisy is from Riley Blake. I had the daisies with red center on hand and couldn't find yardage for the binding, but found the same print without the red center. It looks so pretty for the binding

I wish it showed up better, but I straight line quilted this with a variegated fuchsia thread from Aurifil which looks especially beautiful on the back against the black fabric. I hope Lothian loves it as much as I do!

New Quilt, New Year

I finished and started a quilt yesterday, so thought I'd share. The bottom one was free motion quilted with minky on the back. I will only do small quilts with minky as it wants to more. Here is an application where your 505 Spray and Fix will really stabilize the layers. I folded the backing over the front for the binding and the quilt has a snuggly edge for baby to feel. Its a 40x40 size.
The new quilt I've made before~ it will be a twin size using 7" squares in a 10x12 pattern. I label the rows so I can continually pair up the rows until its all sewn up without the guesswork of keeping track of the order. Over the break Christina and I were able to finish 7 tops for either minky blankets or quilts, so stay tuned for the results of those tops. I've got my month laid out for me! :) What are you working on this month??

Crazy Love Set

I wanted to wait to blog about the Crazy Love quilt and pillow I made for Jennifer Paganelli until after she blogged about it~ after all, its her amazing designs!! All I can say is put on your sunglasses as this is one vibrant collection. Everyone who saw it in my sewing room had a jaw dropping reaction~ its truely stunning! The amazing thing is that this is one fabric line where all the fabrics look good together. There are some color defined groups~ like the brown, fuschia, tangerine, purple, yellow or green, but they all intermingle and when put together make an eclectic gypsy~bohemian~70's look that is so different from anything else out there. It does match with her Honey Child, Queen Street and earlier collections really well. 

I decided after a couple of days of thinking about it to go with a random patchwork pattern that I make so often. I really love that design for large prints as it is showing off the prints rather than the pattern. Since a few of the prints were large scale, I fussy cut some sections so it looks like more fabrics then there really are. I pre cut my usual (plus seam allowance) 8x8, 8x6, 8x4, 6x6, 6x4 & 4x4 plus large square in the corner is 11x11 because I really wanted to feature that design completely somewhere. After that I just played with the colors and patterns to get a pleasing mix and sewed it all up and backed it with fuchsia minky. For the pillow, I did a log cabin variation and started with a square in the corner and kept adding on different width strips to get a finished size of 16x16. I tried to mimic a crazy quilt using my different stitches on my Viking, here's a closeup

I used iron on batting to keep it simple, then used the pompom trim and backed with fuchsia minky & voila we have a crazy, eclectic set for anyone who wants an adventure in color

Crazy Love comes out in March~ can't wait to play with it all again. Can you imagine the amazing crib bedding this would make???