Category Archives: Patterns

Kerryn Bag Class

Yesterday I taught the Kerryn Tote Bag class at Quilter’s Common in Wakefield, MA.

I had two students and Colette also joined us to work on a shop sample.

Joyce and Nancy finished their bags, and Colette almost finished hers.  I have to thank Colette for a couple of great ideas …

1.  Add fusible interfacing to one of the lining pocket pieces to add more stability to the inside pocket section.

2.  To shape the bottom of the bag:  After sewing the pocket sectioning seams from “pocket top” to “pocket top”, sew two seams from one side to the other of the 36″ x 21″ bag and lining pieces.  The seams should be 3″ apart in the center of the bag and lining pieces.

It was great fun spending the day sewing with the ladies at the shop.  I may be teaching the class again sometime in the future and will post when that is scheduled.  In the mean time the pattern is for sale as a downloadable file in my Craftsy Shop.

 

 

Dear Jane August Blocks

August Jane Blocks

Good Grief.  It’s nearly the end of August and I still haven’t shared my Jane Blocks.

I enjoyed putting these blocks together … not too much applique this month.  Just the handle of the basket, which I did by machine. Not sure if that was a good idea or not, but it looks okay.  I used steam a seam and ironed the handle in place and then machine sewed along the edges.

 

 

Dragon Fly Quilt

I love the colors in this summer quilt.  Very cool and calming, but also whimsical!  The large blocks in this quilt are a great way to use some of your favorite large scale fabrics.  They won’t get lost in this quilt!

The quilt is off to Deerfield, MA for the 10th Annual Memorial Dinner and Fund Raiser to honor the memory of my cousin Gregory Belanger, who was Killed in Action in Iraq, August 27th, 2003.

The pattern for this quilt is available for sale in my Craftsy shop.

 

Christmas Kitties Quilt

Just finished my Christmas Kitties quilt … in July!  The block is a log cabin variation and goes together quickly.  The kitty fabric is a cute fabric used in a modern quilt.  I love the brown fabrics, which were Peggy Anne’s idea.  I never would have thought to use these colors together in  a Christmas Quilt … but I love it.

 

 

month three jane

Month three of Jane

Here are my latest Jane blocks.  Three of the five blocks are purple this month as indicated in my plan for the quilt .. a rainbow scheme starting with green in the middle, followed by yellow, etc.  I still love working with the Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs fabrics.  You can use the large scale fabrics and pick sections to work with.  The blocks seemed fussy to me this month, but maybe it was me!  The reverse applique is the most trying.  Hard to get the corners sewn without the raw edges poking out.  I think I need most improvement in that area and will not doubt get the opportunity to do so in the next few years of my Jane Journey!

June Jane Blocks

I have finished my Jane blocks for Tuesday night’s meeting.  I am enjoying this quite a bit …. so far!  I love the fabric I am working with and the fact that each block is so different.  This month I had two rotary cut and pieced blocks, two paper pieced blocks and one applique block.  The paper pieced blocks are the fussiest, but the triangle block went together pretty quickly.  Take a look at the May blocks.  10 done 215 to go!

Here are the blocks:

Project Overload

Okay … Here is a list of my current projects:

Quilters Common Projects:

Dear Jane

may_blocks

Main Streets and Back Roads – A twelve month Block of the Month designed by Antoinette which, if the previous months’ block is finished, is free each month.  This is the first month, so I am all set for my free block 2.

block1_autumn_road

Aunt Lucy – A 16 month block of the month quilt in reproduction fabrics with 5 months completed!

P1080535

Peggy Anne’s  Quilting and Sewing Company projects:

In the Meadow was the 2012 block of the month.  I started the background a a few of the blocks, but never finished because I was too focused on the Bird Quilt, but I am really going to try to find some time for this now!

inthemeadow

Chicken and Stars is a 9 month BOM.  I already have two months and I need to get started on this one before it ends up like the In the Meadow quilt!

chicken_stars

Seven Sisters – This is the same pattern as the Star Quilt, but I am going to do this as a Seven Sisters quilt, with the 7 stars in the middle in blue and the others in purple.
seven_sisters

Christmas Quilt – Peggy Anne has asked me to get a Christmas Quilt ready by June for her store.  I have a pattern ready for this and will be getting the top done this month!!!

P1080543

And … there is a an entire basket of quilt kits …. someday!!!!

projects

Modern Jane

Despite all of the projects I am working on, I could not resist signing up for the Jane Stickle quilt group at Quilter’s Common.  I started a Jane quilt a few years ago using reproduction fabrics but I only got four blocks done before I gave up on the idea.

img_3169

This time around I am feeling more confidant with a few more years of piecing experience and a sewing machine (Bernina 830) that makes it a lot easier to be precise … which is absolutely necessary with these small 4 1/2″ blocks .  I have decided to go with modern fabrics this time and I am using a pale gray fabric for the background.

I have a collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics and also just purchased three sets of 6 1/2″ squares of Kaffe and Philip Jacobs fabrics.  I think the 6 1/2″ squares will be perfect for the Dear Jane blocks … 5″ squares would be too small for the blocks that require 2 or more 2 3/4″ square pieces from the same fabric.

I am already ahead of my first attempt attempt at Dear Jane.  I have finished four squares and a triangle.  I make no promises about keeping up with the pace and I don’t plan to make this a Dear Jane Blog … but, I will post updates as I go along!

Through the Needle Article

Yes, I have been published!!

I sent the editor, Jo Leichte, a copy of the tutorial featured in my Bird Applique Quilt article …  and now it is published in the latest issue of Bernina’s on line magazine  Through the Needle!

The article provides all the instructions for programming your embroidery machine to sew around each little applique piece when using raw edge applique for a project.  The article features my Gold Finch applique pattern which is in my Bird Applique Quilt, along with my Blue Jay.

I also made a pillow with my Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal pattern.

cardinal pillow

Please visit my Craftsy Shop if you would like to buy these patterns … and finish the applique any way you want! My method, your method … but do try applique … it is like paint by numbers combined with a jig saw puzzle and does anyone else remember colorforms???

But wait, please read on! … I must give this fabulous applique designer credit …. the majority of the patterns in the Bird Applique Quilt were designed by Peggy Anne Klinker.  These were made available for her 2011 Block of the Month quilt. You can still get some kits for a few of the birds in that quilt, as well as some from her 2012 BOM quilt.   And now Peggy Anne has a new BOM featuring Hens and Chicks … very cute, so do check it out.  Sign up!

 For a closer look at the applique embroidering click on these thumbnails of the Gold Finch and Blue Jay:

.finchfinished     finishedjay

Here is a PDF of my tutorial:  embroidering-raw-edge-applique