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

Quilt from Crib Bedding

I recently had the opportunity to take a patchwork bumper I had made previously for a customer and make a patchwork & minky blanket for her as well as accessories for the new big girl bed! Above is the result. We refreshed the palette by adding some red and used Anna Maria Horner's Ghost Wing as well as a few other new ones. If you look, the top row is bumper at a narrow 8". The next row I did was 12" combining both old and new fabrics and then alternated between the 2. Repurposing the bumper was great in that some fabrics are out of print and I am no longer able to get them, like those from Jennifer Paganelli.

I also made a patchwork gathered skirt, pictured above. It is a lot of labor as all those seams need to be zigzagged to prevent fraying during washing. The result is amazing beauty, don't you think? Since this was going on a toddler bed I also made a fitted sheet and pillowcase using Sandi Henderson's Happy Butterfly in blush. I'm glad she liked the palette so much she wanted it for the big girl bed! It's one of my favorites!

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.

Another WIP

Another blanket I'm working on, finished the quilt in the previous post and loved working with the voile/quilting cottons. I really want to do an all voile quilt, its just so amazing!! This one is for Dana who wanted a 56x64 random patchwork in fallish warm colors and she's a huge fabric fan, (she also sells fabric) so I wanted to put both new and old fabric lines because I know she will appreciate that! Just have to add a little more to the bottom and then its time for chocolate brown minky on the back. :)

New Quilts

I just finished the quilt pictured above, size 50x70 for some newlyweds. I think it has a nice combination of his & hers prints and it was so fun to swirly quilt it all! The top picture is a quilt I am just starting for Carla. We are finalizing the prints and I love the colors so far. Can't wait to get sewing on it!

Whats Going On Wednesday

Here's whats going on today! Top pic is soon to be 56x64 random patch & minky blanket for Angie's mom for Christmas. I figured out the tray method works for this kind of project. As I've mentioned before I don't use a 'pattern', just lay out the fabric patches in a pleasing combo in the length & width needed. I set up the top row and left row and then fill in the middle. I need to organize by size and color so when the next patch is needed, I have in my mind which color & size & then I can easily find it with this method. It will be waaaaaay easier when I have more space in my new sewing rm~ which brings us to the bottom pic. The gold walls are my family room~ obviously not currently in use! The framed room next to it will be the exercize/utility room. My new sewing room will be on top of these rooms. They think the framing of that room will be Thurs/Fri, so I just can't wait! BTW, it was so cold last night with that roof off of the family room. Our bedrooms are upstairs, so at least we had a buffer from the cold. The furnace turned on at 2am, so my husband had to run into the garage last night and unplug it!!!! Not much sleep. :( Hopefully, the sheeting will go up today!

Saturday Night Finish

Hey! Wouldn't it be great if I could finish one order a day?? I'm on a roll, watch out! :) I just finished this set and hate to ship it out because I love it so much!!! Jennifer Paganelli, Anna Maria Horner, Joel Dewberry & Amy Butler~ how can you go wrong? This is one of my patchwork & minky blankets that have no batting in between & are topstitched around the edge twice. The sham has a quilted front, ruffle & envelope back. Its getting mailed out on Monday. I love creating these random patch lovlies! The fabrics are a work of art themselves!

WIPs of the Week

Thought I'd share what I'm working on this week~ and one finish! :) Woo Hoo to the dish towels! Actually, it is something to celebrate because they are for someone's JUNE bday!! They have a spanish style house & I thought Fandango by Kate Spain would be perfect for their kitchen. I have decided not to use flour sack towels in the future. They are just not square, and it drives me nuts!! The random patch blanket is going to have a matching pillow sham when its all done. Hope to finish by this weekend. Finally, the bird block has more additions of 1.5" strips to add to make an 18" pillow cover to match a throw I've made with another Valori Wells fabric. Just thought I'd try to sell a set rather than just a throw. Love the pinky~peaches, lavenders, gold & red together. What are you working on this week?

Quilt Along Step 2

Had to pause the posts for a weekend of soccer tournaments for my daughter! Okay, once your fabric is organized, start laying out a pleasing pattern. I start in the upper left corner with an 8x8 (I'm dropping the half inch for typing purposes) square of my inspiration fabric~ in this case Tanya~ then start going across the top until your patches add up to 42". So, first square 8, second 8, third 6. Keep going until you are at 42. Going under the original 8" square, do the same thing going down to 48". Fill in between a combination of patches with good distribution of color and sizes.

Next, start sewing blocks in sections like in the top picture. Once you have all sections sewn together, you are ready to start layering your quilt~ the next post! Get out your spray baster, batting & backing & I'll see you next post!

Random Patchwork Quilt Along

I've had some requests for directions on my random patchwork quilt, so I thought I would do that with a new baby quilt I'm working on as part of a set for Cortney. I am warning you that many of these directions are 'random'!! First, the number of fabrics needed? A completely personal choice. The more the merrier as you will see~ if you don't use enough of a variety, you will have duplicates near or next to each other. For this quilt, size 40x46 (apx), I have used various prints from Jennifer Paganelli's Poodle, Sisboom basics, Flower Power & Pretty Please in fuschia, turquoise, blue, pink & yellow. Usually I buy 1 yard of each print & use a little more than 1/2 yard of each in cutting them up. I like 10-12 fabrics in smaller & of course more for my larger sizes. I play with the pattern as I go, so I want a variety of sizes for every color & print, but not every piece will be used. I love to have at least 3 colors with one of the colors being a 'pop'. In this group, the yellow is my pop. The pile above is what's left after I designed the top. Probably enough for another 40x46. See what I mean about random?? Okay, here are the cutting instructions:
*From each fabric, cut strips in these sizes:
8.5, 6.5, 4.5 (for larger quilts I also cut 12.5)
*Then cut your strips again lengthwise into 8.5, 6.5, & 4.5
* When finished, you should have these sizes:
8.5x8.5, 8.5x6.5, 8.5x4.5, 6.5x6.5, 6.5x4.5 & 4.5x4.5
Next, I find it helpful to separate the piles by size & color on my floor or table. All 8.5 squares together in piles by color. The next post will be about the next step. If you have any questions, either leave a comment on my post if your profile links your email, or email me at sewfunbymonique@gmail.com.