Sew Fresh Quilts

18 August 2017

Rainbow Unicorn {twin size quilt}

It's a great big giant Rainbow Unicorn!!!

Last week I received a message in my Etsy shop from Anna. She was requesting a custom order and wrote, "Hi! I love your quilts and designs. I was wondering if you could custom make me a unicorn quilt in a twin size. Thank you!"

We conversed for a while, "What did you have in mind? Do you want the whole body of the unicorn or just the head? What size of quilt did you want - 70" x 90"? Can you give me a range of what you are willing to spend?"

"I like just the head that you have for sale. I would like it to be on a light pink or light aqua or turquoise background. 70" x 90" would be perfect. Open to prices. I love quilts but haven't had the time to learn to make them."

I went on to explain, "Using fabrics I have on hand would be less expensive for you. I got a good deal on these fabrics because I bought them by the bolt. If we have to purchase something for the background, fabric is about $15-$19 a yard. And you will need about 5 yards for the background. And 5 yards for the backing."

So I sent the following mock ups, made using my EQ7 program. It has taken me a little practice to get the hang of the Electric Quilt program, but now that I have learned how to use it, I don't know what I'd do without it. It was easy to take the Rainbow Unicorn block that I had designed and put it in a layout for a twin size quilt. And then plugging in fabrics to audition was a breeze!

Anna settled on the pink background option and choose the aqua for the backing. And I still had enough fabrics, left from making the smaller versions of the Rainbow Unicorn quilts I shared last week, to make this great big one.

The Rainbow Unicorn pattern provides instructions for piecing blocks in a 10", 20" and 40" square size, plus borders. So for this quilt, I omitted the borders while cutting, and instead drew up a diagram similar to this one, to calculate the fabric needed to place the block in a 70" x 90" setting. Unfortunately, I goofed in my initial calculation and made my top and bottom pieces 23" x 40.5" instead of 25" x 40.5", so my length of the quilt ended up being short. (I think I must have been fixated on the finished size of the block that included the borders.) Then when I was cutting my batting, I made another error and did not make it wide enough. (I think I must not have had enough coffee.) So my finished quilt ended up being 68" x 86". Sorta close to 70" x 90".

All of the fabrics used in this quilt were from Northcott Fabrics, most from the Artisan Spirit collection, so they all play nicely together. I have been working hard on using fabrics found in my stash this year and this custom quilt sure helped me to make a hefty dent!

The quilting was performed using my walking foot to create organic wavy lines with white thread both on top and in the bobbin. And I like how the quilting stands out a little more than if I had used a matching pink. Plus it blends well with all the other colours too, so we don't have pink stripes running across that white unicorn face.

I normally cut my binding strips while doing all the other cutting. But this time I waited until the top was pieced to allow some time for thought. In the mock ups, I had used the purple to show the binding, but I decided to use the background fabric and blend in rather than outline. And I think the hot pink looks great against that aqua print used for the backing.

The twin size "Rainbow Unicorn" quilt finished at 68" x 86"

and was the 45th use of my 2nd edition of 100 labels

ordered from Ikaprint.

You can read about my Rainbow Unicorn mini quilts here.

The Rainbow Unicorn pattern provides instructions for three sizes. The blocks are 10" 20" and 40" square and finish at 12", 24" and 48" square including the borders.

The Rainbow Unicorn also NOW comes with instructions to make a solid horn or a spiral horn.

You can find the Rainbow Unicorn pdf pattern here in my shop.

Linking up to Finish it up Friday with

Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

when she returns in September.

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Fat Quarter Shop 20% off Essentially Yours by Moda Fabrics in August.

16 August 2017

Let's Bee Social #190

Welcome to the Let's Bee Social!
So glad to have you join us for the Let's Bee Social weekly linky party!

Once again I am here to sing the praises of my clever readers!

Last month I received an email from Sydney who wrote, "Love your patterns!! I'm doing the Jolly Little Christmas one now. Love the bikini one also! I was wondering if you would consider designing a mermaid block. I would like to make a baby quilt for a very special friend's new baby girl. Thank you! I look forward to hearing from you."

So I set to work on designing this Mermaid block and quilt pattern layout.

Although I have managed to write the pattern, it's still in the testing phase. The quilt blocks finish at 18" x 21" and can easily be made with either the long or short hair versions. And the quilt finishes at 52" x 62" using 6 mermaid blocks.

I ordered my fabric from Sew Sisters Quilt Shop. I chose Sprinkles Yellow (hair), Pink (bikini tops) and Green (tails) from the Boutique Brights collection for RJR Fabrics, Woven in Ruby (hair), Sapphire (background) and Black (hair) from the Mixology collection by Camelot Fabrics and a 108" wideback Swirly Scroll in Lime from the Essential collection from Wilmington Prints for the backing.

You can purchase your Mermaid pattern here.
Hope to be sharing an update on the Mermaid quilt soon!

One more thing....

This week I received an email from Joanne who wrote, "Hi Lorna! I attended your workshop last October at the Royal City Quilters Guild in Guelph. Taaaadaaaa! It's finished! I thoroughly enjoyed piecing this quilt and my friend Linda quilted it on her longarm. Not sure if you can see the quilting but there are lots of little monkeys dancing around on the quilt. I think my grandson Arthur will enjoy it once he graduates to his "big bed" from his crib. Thanks so much for the wonderful time we all enjoyed at your workshop! P.S. I love your new finished carpet bag!"

Joanne chose the Jungle Friends pattern to work on during the workshop. And it is so exciting to see her great big beautiful finish so I asked her for permission to share it with you all!

Now... It's your turn for Show and Tell!!!

What have you been working on?

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Click on at least a few of the others who have linked up.
In your blog post, please include a link back to my blog.
Grab the "Let's Bee Social!" button from above and put it on your sidebar. This way others who visit your blog that week can join in the fun! Share the news of this new linky and Let's Bee Social!
Following Sew Fresh Quilts is not required. But it sure would BEE nice!

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14 August 2017

Companion Carpet Bag

To start off with.....

Let me just say that I am so pleased and proud and happy with my new purse. I mean, just looking at that cute chipmunk does it for me. And as expected, I learned a lot from this first bag making experience.

This bag was my first attempt at making a purse. And other than quilts, of course, I have only made ~~one~~ two other items that were not quilts. I made a quilted jacket for my birthday and then one for my mother's birthday back in 2014.

You can see some in process pics in this post. For this purse, I purchased the Companion Carpet Bag pdf from Sewing Patterns by Mrs.H on Etsy. According to the pattern, I also ordered fabric and doodads and stabilizer and handles.

The pattern is well explained. And you can print the first half of the pattern that includes photos or you can print the second half of the pattern for a text only version. I did not realize that was the case. I printed the entire 24 pages and only realized when I was almost finished making the bag, that the last half of the pattern was the text only version. Oh well....

The pattern calls for a yard of the outer fabric and a yard of the inner fabric. This is enough to make two of these smaller bags. Easily. This bag is a a Small - 12"W x 8"H x 6"D. But the pattern also provides instructions for a Large - 16"W x 10"H x 6"D.

This was also my first time sewing in an inset zipper for the inner pocket. I wish now that I would have chosen a single fabric for the entire lining instead of bits of this and that. The lining ended up being slightly larger than I would have liked and is a wee bit frumpy at the bottom.

I ordered all my fabric from Bobby Lou's Fabric Factory and am so pleased with the Tula Pink Chipper chipmunk. Even though I am not a big fan of purple. I wanted to keep the lining fabric light and had ordered Woodland Critters in White. But when I seen how little fabric is needed for the lining.... I couldn't cut into it. Now I wish I would have. But if I don't use it for a quilt, there just may be another opportunity to use it in a bag.

Woodland Critters in White

Here you can see that I added feet to the bottom of the bag. I was kind of disappointed that they sink in so far due to the fact that the stabilizer is so cushy. The pattern also calls for a rectangle of "plastic bag base" or "plastic grid canvas". This provides a stiffness for the bottom of the bag and keeps it from drooping. I did not have anything like that, so I cut up an old rotary cutting mat and drilled holes for where the feet go through. But I regretted that decision when it came time to turn the bag inside right when finished. That base material was way to stiff, making the birthing process so incredibly life like. Next time I am heading to the dollar store to see if I can get a stiff plastic place mat to cut up instead.

The pattern suggests using piping along the top edge of the outside pocket. I did not. I have never made nor do I own any store bought piping. So I just sewed the lining and outside pocket pieces together. I am really pleased to have managed to get the fabric on the pocket and main face of the bag to match up so well. And if I make this bag again, I would like to press the lining back a little more so it does not show as much along the top.

I got all of the hardware from Janelle at Emmaline Bags and am really pleased with the Barrel Hinge and other doodads I purchased. Especially that "made for me" badge. I LOVE the Barrel Hinge. It is spring loaded so the bag stays closed. But also easily pops open when you pull gently on the handles. She did not have any handbag handles in stock, so I did an Etsy in search for genuine leather purse handles which I found at Purse Making Supply. They are Olive in colour.

What are my overall thoughts? I was dreading the starting of making a bag because I had never done it before. But now that I have had the experience, I would make another. And look forward to sharing more purse and bag making finishes with you again!