marmalade quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

It's an exciting day! I finished hand stitching the binding on my marmalade quilt this morning!

This is the first quilt finish I've had since May. That's like 6 months! (WHAT???) I'm still trying to figure out how that happened. I guess it really doesn't matter that much. It's not like I'm running out of quilts or anything. Hahahaha!

The pattern is called Cartwheels, which is free on the Moda Bake Shop. I made this version with a layer cake instead of a jelly roll. Because of that, I had to cut some extra squares from my stash for the top and bottom borders. I thought about leaving them off, but my friend Mary talked me into adding them. I'm so glad she did. The few extra inches on each end means it's a twin size quilt rather than a lap size. Perfect!

The fabric is called Marmalade, which is an OLD line by Bonnie and Camille. I'm glad I finally bit the bullet and sewed it up rather than to continue to hoard it! What a concept, eh? ;) The background fabric is Kona snow, which was a perfect match.

I quilted it on my Juki with a simple stipple in white Aurifil thread. I look forward to washing it soon to get that wonderful crinkled texture.

The backing is a wide back from Connecting Threads. It's called Picnic Gingham. It's the second time I've used it on a quilt back and it probably won't be the last! It's so happy!

The quilt measures about 64" x 88". Can I just say it....finishing feels GREAT!

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend!

cartwheels quilt

I've had several emails asking me for a good pattern for a jelly roll quilt. Well, today I have your answer. :)

I finished this quilt up back in April, but I drug my feet writing the tutorial for a few months. All that to say, I'm so excited to finally be posting this quilt! It's made with Strawberry Fields fabric, designed by Joanna of Fig Tree Quilts. I LOVE THIS FABRIC! In fact, I think this quilt may be one of my top 5 favorite quilts I've ever made! (Even though it is strip pieced, which is NOT my favorite technique.) But, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! :) Actually, strip piecing made quick work of the top.

I love the pieced back! The strip of coins breaks up the repeat of the fabric. Plus, it made the backing just long enough AND it used extra pieces from the top. There is very little waste and just a few extras. I love maximizing my fabric! But you already know that, right? ;)

One of my favorite parts of the quilt is the little 2" blocks at the top and the bottom of the quilt. Aren't they so sweet? I like having borders on only 2 sides.

For quilting, I stippled it in cream thread. The red binding fabric is the cherry on top...the icing on the cake...my favorite binding ever!

The tutorial is posted over here on the Moda Bake shop! If you make a quilt using this tutorial, I'd love to see it.

Happy Friday to you!

Progressive Dinner

Welcome to Moda Bake Shop and Stash Book's Progressive Dinner! We are celebrating the upcoming release of a new book called Fresh Fabric Treats. It's a book filled with 16 great patterns for using pre-cuts. The patterns are designed by Moda Bake Shop chefs. (hey, that includes me!)

If you are new here, let me introduce myself....I am Amanda Jean aka Crazy Mom. I have 3 young children and a wonderful, supportive husband. I quilt rather obsessively. I've been at it for 10 years (can it be?) and I love it more every year. I have recently started teaching quilting classes and I love to design my own quilts. A few of my favorite MBS quilts are here, here and here.

Since this is a progressive dinner, here's a little recipe for Stromboli for you. I know it's early in the dinner, so I should be serving up an appetizer, but I'm skipping right to the main course. This is one of my family's favorite meals. Serve it with a green salad and cottage cheese. Oh, and don't forget some marinara sauce for dipping! Yummy for all! We actually had this for dinner last night.

To make Stromboli you will need:
1 loaf frozen bread dough
1/2 lb. sliced ham
1/2 lb. pepperoni
8 oz. shredded Swiss cheese
Parmesan cheese
dried oregano
garlic powder

Let the dough rise according to package directions. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface until it is about 14'' x 18''. Layer the ham and pepperoni on the dough, top with Swiss cheese, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, oregano and garlic powder. Roll up like a jelly roll and pinch the ends and edges to seal. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Let cool slightly. Slice and eat!

Ok, now let's talk a little more about this book and the prizes!

Here's a sneak peek at a few of the projects that are included....see that quilt on the lower right? That was designed by me! I'm so thrilled to be a part of this book. (It's still hard to believe.) It's fun to finally be able to talk about it!


If you would like a chance to win a copy of the book AND a layer cake (specific fabric line to be determined), please leave a comment here on this post. The book is scheduled to release in late April or early May, so you would receive both prizes at that time.

If you would like a chance to win a fat quarter bundle, a fat eight bundle, jelly roll, layer cake AND a charm pack (over $200 value!), be sure to visit and leave a comment at every author's stop of the progressive dinner.

Here's the schedule:

January 20
Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts
Roslyn Mirrington of Bloom

Vanessa Christenson of V and Co.

January 21

John Adams of Quilt Dad

Monica Solorio-Snow of The Happy Zombie

January 22

Kimberly Walus of Bitty Bits and Pieces

Melissa Mortenson of The Polkadot Chair

January 23

Natalia Bonner of Piece N Quilt

Vickie Eapen of Spun Sugar Quilts

January 24

Rachel Griffith of P.S. I Quilt
Lissa Alexander of Moda Lissa

January 25

Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts
Sweetwater

January 26

Angela Yosten

Jenny Garland

I'll pick the winner of the layer cake and a copy of Fresh Fabric Treats on January 27th. Good luck!

figgy pudding

I finished a new Christmas quilt! There is a tutorial up on the Moda Bake Shop for this simple quilt that features the Figgy Pudding fabric line.

This quilt is QUICK! There is still plenty of time to (start and) finish it up before the holidays.

This one actually matches my house. Bonus! ;) I have 3 Christmas quilts in my collection now, with an idea for a 4th one that's been brewing for a long time. Hopefully I can get to it soon!

edited to add: oops! i made a yardage calculation error. (ironic, since i just posted how to calculate your quilt measurements. ha! :) ) for the center panel, you will need 1 3/4 yards of fabric, not 1 2/3 as originally stated. the green fabric is from JoAnn's. It's from their classic cotton line in the color celery.

a sweet quilt

This is a little quilt that I designed for the Moda Bakeshop.

It measures 45" x 54". I consider that a baby quilt, but it could also be used for a lap quilt.

I like the busy prints all crammed together. And the tumbler shapes make it look complex, but it really is easy peasy. Just the way I like it. :)

The tutorial is here.

so far, so good

I started the line quilting on my square dance quilt, and so far, so good! I think it's the perfect quilting treatment for this one. Since I had so many questions about this technique, I thought I would run down a few answers. First off, it's done using a walking foot. My lines are between 1/4" and 1/2" apart. It's VERY easy to do and somewhat mindless, especially on this quilt, since I am using the squares as my guidelines. Early on in the quilting process, I crossed over the seam lines, and it looked really sloppy, so I ripped it out and decided to keep the stitching between the rows of blocks for a cleaner look. It does use a lot of thread and it is somewhat time consuming. I have about 1/3 of the twin sized quilt done which I did over a day and a half. So, not THAT bad. I started quilting about 1/3 of the way in and worked my way to the edge. Now just (ha!) 2/3 more to go!

Now, to answer the question, "so, what do you do with your mini quilts?"

We use them. :)

(it's very easy to get an action shot with a 3 year old.)

And...I posted a new tutorial on the Moda Bake Shop today.

excitement

Tutorial can be found here.
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A few weeks ago I was contacted by Moda Lissa (isn't that the BEST blog name ever?) about being a contributor to the Moda Bake Shop blog. Would I be interested?

Um, YES, PLEASE!!!

(Nancy, can you imagine my excitement over this?) I have been a long time fan of Moda fabric-ever since I discovered it about 7 years ago, I suppose. Being asked to design projects for their blog sent me over the moon. :)

My first project, as you can see, is a simple baby quilt using charm squares. From start to finish this quilt took me just two days. It's the perfect project for a last minute baby gift.

So, go check out the Moda Bake Shop. There are plenty of cute projects designed just for your pre-cut fabrics!