Mother Nature sure has been trying hard to confuse us up here in NW Pennsylvania! We’ve had temps in the 60’s! Can you believe it? I wouldn’t, except I’ve been reading the temp on the thermometer. Yesterday, I even had peepers (tree frogs) on my basement window in the rain. This is WAY too early for the little dears to be awake! I’m wondering what Mother Nature has in store for us in March and April. Who knows? Maybe we’ll have snow in June?!?
I’ve been on a quilting roll since my curated list of Spring VRD Rose Card patterns a couple weeks ago (you can find the post HERE if you missed it). So I wanted to do another tutorial this week. I reached into my magic project crate and pulled out Pacific Grove.
But first, let’s chat about the upcoming Blog Hop!
Villa Rosa Designs Blog Hop March 14-21
Well, it’s now officially 2 weeks until our VRD Fast & More Fun Blog Hop, which kicks off right here on March 14th. I hope you’re getting excited about it.
Prizes keep coming in — it’s like Christmas around here! Except it’s not for me at all, instead — it’s ALL FOR YOU.
So far we have 2 AWESOME Grand Prizes lined up. Nope, I’m not going to show them to you yet. You’ll have to wait until March 14th for our Blog Hop kickoff post. Everything will be explained at that time, I promise.
We now have 26 bloggers participating in the Hop. And who knows? Maybe more if anyone comes late to the party.
Remember, the fun begins March 14th right here on the Villa Rosa blog. So make sure you stop by and hop along with us for the week.
Okay, now let’s get to the quilt tutorial!
VRD Pacific Grove Quilt Tutorial
I’ve been wanting a reason to make Pacific Grove for a while now. I’ve always thought the quilt on the cover of the pattern looked like a work of art. What do you think? Wouldn’t it look amazing framed and hung on a wall? On my wall???
Finally, today is the day to finally make my very own Pacific Grove work of art.
Get your own Pacific Grove physical pattern HERE or a digital pattern HERE.
Special thanks to Hoffman for providing the fabrics for this tutorial.
Before we get started, I do want to say that digital prints can be a little finicky so it’s important to start with a new sharp needle in your machine. If you use pins when you sew, make sure they’re sharp. Why? Because you don’t want to break any threads. Take a look at this photo. Do you see area inside the red circle? See the 2 broken threads? You don’t want this to happen to your quilt because it will probably be visible on the front, not just on the back. Lucky for me, this was in the seam allowance. Whew!
So, let’s get start by cutting the main print and the background fabric. I kind of don’t want to cut this lovely fabric up, but I know it will look fabulous in the Pacific Grove pattern.
Now that the pieces are cut and ready to sew, it’s time to assemble 2 side units. Easy piezy!
Next up is putting together the center of the quilt. I really like how this quilt is coming together into vertical rows. That makes it really simple to put together. And I’m not having to match up a bunch of seams. Yay!
Now that the sides and the center are made, I’m going to work on the purple background strips. Here you can see in the first photo how I creased the center of the side strip and the center of the sashing strip. Then I matched those creased centers and put a pin right there. After I found the centers, I went to the outside edges and lined them up. You’ll see in the second photo that not only do I place a vertical pin, I also place an horizontal pin . That horizontal pin helps to keep my strips straight instead of bowing as I sew (I learned this little trick a long time ago from a quilter friend when I was a new quilter). After the center and the outsides are pinned, I always add a few more pins in between to keep everything from shifting when I sew.
Yay! Here you can see the design taking shape now that I’ve sewed the purple strips to the sides of the quilt center.
Next I’m gong to sew the side units to the center. Again, I will crease and match my centers. I think it’s looking really lovely with these digital prints.
Time to add purple background strips to the sides. It has a bit of an Art Deco feel to it, doesn’t it? Or maybe a stained glass window?
Time to sew background strips to the top and bottom of the quilt. Isn’t it looking amazing???
The borders are next up. What’s cool about this pattern is that you add the top and bottom borders on first before the side borders. When I did the purple strips, I added the sides first. But it does make sense to do it this way because it uses the fabric more efficiently — you don’t have to piece the top and bottom borders if you add them first. Ingenious!
Here is the finished quilt top. It looks like an Art Deco stained glass window garden to me!
With so much open space, I’m just itching to starting machine quilting it, but that will have to wait for a while, I’m afraid.
Duet Quilt Tutorial Update
Last week I was debating whether to add a border or not to my Duet quilt top. Then I took a deep breath and just added that outer border. I chose a light batik because Duet felt a bit dark to me. The binding will frame it all nicely — it’s dark blue.
TWO WEEKS TO GO AND COUNTING DOWN……..until the Blog Hop. Get ready.
I hope you were as inspired as I was after seeing my curated Spring VRD Rose Card pattern list last week. If you missed the post, you can find it HERE. I was SEW inspired, that I used a new blog quilt tutorial as an excuse to make a pretty new quilt top. (Nah, you’re right — I didn’t really need an excuse. LOL!)
But, first, let’s talk a little bit about our upcoming VRD Blog Hop!
VRD Blog Hop March 14-21
Oh my gosh! The Hop is only weeks away. I hope I’m ready in time. Of course, I’ll be ready on time.
I thought I’d tell you a little bit about some of prizes that are coming in for the Hop from our awesome event Sponsors.
Here’s a glimpse of the goodies that have arrived so far! I can’t wait to send them off to the winners. Maybe you’ll be a winner this year. All you have to do is visit all of the blog posts each day to register for prizes! Lucky you! Yippee!
I am also happy to share that our International friends will have a lot more variety this year for prizes as several of our Sponsors are able to ship directly to you. I’m getting really excited about the Hop. I hope that you are too. Don’t forget to tell a friend…..or two about it (or everyone you know!) so they can Hop right along with you.
Be right here on March 14th for the kickoff to our week-long Blog Hop in celebration of Villa Rosa Designs and all of our bloggers and sponsors. Be here or be square (yeah, you knew I was going to say that.).
Okay, now let’s make a quilt!
VRD Duet Quilt Tutorial
After last week’s post, I just kept telling myself I had to do a new quilt tutorial for the blog. So I dove into my big magic crate of project kits and pulled out a Bali Pop to make Duet.
You can get your own physical Duet pattern HERE or a digital pattern HERE.
I’m really loving this Aurora Bali Pop for Duet. Isn’t it just so yummy with blue, green, teal, purple and all the shades in between. Special thanks to Hoffman for providing the fabric for this project.
Sadly, we don’t have the Aurora Bali Pop in stock at the VRD online shop, but we do have other great options you can use to make this quilt. You can check out our 2 1/2″ strip sets HERE.
Let’s get started!
The first thing I did was pair up my strips. You’d think it would be easy to do this — pair a dark with a light — but most strip sets do not have an equal number of each. So that meant I had to use the mediums as either a light paired with a dark or as a dark paired with a light. Here you can see my tangle of strips as I pair them up. And you can see my unique way of keeping my pairs together by stacking them at different angles. Sometimes I don’t know where my ideas come from. And I don’t really care as long as they work.
Happily, this strange stack did actually work and I took it to my sewing machine to sew my paired strips together. At the machine, right before I stitched each pair, I cut the strips in half. Or you could cut them in half after you sew them together. I chose to do it first because I really don’t enjoy sewing long strips together. Then I sewed and sewed using the assembly line approach until I had all the pairs sewn together. Check out my tangle of sewn strips in the second photo. Yikes!
Now that my strip pairs are all sewn together, it’s time to sew the 2 matching strip sets into a quartet. No, they really weren’t tied up in knots. I just started at one end and kept working my way through the assembly line, sewing one quartet together after another. Surprisingly, it was a pretty speedy process.
Woohoo! All those quartets are sewn and now I’m going to press the seams on each strip set going in the same direction. This will actually save me some time in a couple of steps.
I really love sewing with batiks. Now.
HOnestly, I’ve come late to the batik party, but I’m here now and that’s what counts. For a long time, my friends Mary Lee and Leslie, were always ooh-ing and awe-ing over the latest batiks while I was always like — okay, pretty fabric.
I’ve learned since then that batiks truly are a joy to sew with. They are smooth and supple, even crisp. And the colors — oh my goodness!
I have found that I do need a brand new needle when I’m sewing a batik project (yes, I know I should start every project with a brand new needle……). Batiks have a much tighter weave and a higher thread count than regular cottons. I have found that a used needle pokes holes in the fabric and may even break threads whereas a sharp needle kind of glides between the fibers. Food for thought……..
Let’s press!
Now all of my quartets are pressed, it’s time to cut the units. Do you stack your pieced strip units for cutting? I do, and here’s a technique I learned a long time ago — stagger the strips when you layer then so that seams are not sitting on top of each other. Cutting is a lot easier and more accurate when you are not trying to cut through a big lump of seams.
I stacked 4 quartets on top of each other when I cut the units. Then I just picked up the units from each quartet and stacked them together. It was kind of like dealing playing cards, in a way. Then I stacked up the units, keeping each quartet together. Easy piezy! Now back to the machine for more sewing!
Next I’m going to take 2 matching units and sew them end to end, making sure that the alternating fabrics are consistent. Then I will sew the second set of units exactly the same way as the first one.
Because I pressed all my seams in each quartet the same direction, sewing the units together is really easy as the seams matched up and nestled together (awwww! They’re so sweet!) when I layered them right sides together.
Quick! Sew, sew, sew!
Yay! Time to finish the blocks! I am going to sew the 2 units from the same quartet together side by side, flipping a unit so the 2 fabrics alternate completely throughout the block. 19 more to go….
Blocks all done! I’m going to press them one more time and then it’s time to do the block shuffle on my flannel board.
Okay, here’s my final block arrangement. The purples and the lights were a challenge to find a way to lay them out so everyone was happy. What do you think?
Back to the sewing machine to sew the blocks into rows and the rows together to make the quilt top.
I’m very pleased with how Duet turned out. I’m considering about adding a border to make it larger. Hmm, methinks I need to think about this a while longer….
Like a lot of our VRD patterns, Duet worked up quickly and I would say it’s probably a one day project to make the quilt top. It’s great to have some one day projects tucked away in your back pocket to pull out when you need a quilt in a hurry. I hope Duet will be one of them for you.
Well, that’s it for me today. One marathon quilt in a day is enough for me for now.
I hope you are all staying warm and cozy, holed up in your sewing room making beautiful quilts! I am happy to say that I’ve been able to get some quilting in since the beginning of the year and thought I’d share a fun tutorial for a terrific small quilt, perfect as a baby quilt.
But before I get started with the actual tutorial, let me share a little bit about one of my favorite things about my job in the quilt industry. I actually wear many hats (don’t we all?) and one of the coolest ones is making sample quilts for fabric companies. Recently I whipped up this adorable Corners quilt featuring the Love and Learning collection by Hoffman. It’s a really sweet collection featuring a charming alphabet panel in your choice of light or dark background. I saw that darling collection and immediately thought it would look great in Molly Cook’s Corners Rose Card pattern.
Here is what the quilt looked like as a digital image before I actually made it:
Don’t you just love it? Yes, it has a little bit of pink in it, but don’t you think it would work for a boy or a girl? I do!
Anyway, I made a sample of this quilt for Hoffman and as I made it, I photographed the steps so I could create a new tutorial for the blog just for you, our loyal readers.
Do you have Molly’s Corners pattern yet? If not, you can get it as a physical pattern HERE or as a digital pattern HERE.
Let’s get started on our first quilt tutorial for 2024! Yay!
VRD Corners Quilt Tutorial
So the first thing you need to do is gather up your fabrics and your pattern. The first image shows the alphabet panel, the second image is the background and coordinates, and the last photo shows the binding, backing, and accent fabrics. Oh what fun!
After you’ve got your supplies together, then it’s time to cut each alphabet letter out of the panel one at a time. I don’t know if you can see in the first photo above, but each letter includes an item that begins with the specific letter as well as the item’s name.
Time to cut! I used a square ruler the size of the square called for in the pattern (or at least I thought I was). That way all I had to do was center each design and cut around all four sides of the ruler. Unfortunately the letters in the last row of the panel were wider than the rest and I ended up having to cut some of the designs a bit, but made sure the letter was not cut off.
OOPS! Then I realized my ruler wasn’t the right size. Luckily it was a bit bigger, so I could trim those squares down to the correct size.
Whew! Done with trimming down 26 squares. That took me a little while. Make sure you cut your squares to the correct size the first time!
Moving on……….
Next it’s time cut a bunch of strips and sew them together before we cut the units for the half frames. Sewing long strips together is not one of my personal favorite things to do. What’s your least favorite part of quilting?
Okay, the strips are sewn into pairs with a background strip sewn to a colored strip. Next let’s cut all of the units out of the strip sets. To create the corner unit for the block, you will have to sew a rectangle to the squares as in the second photo.
All right, now the hard part — to achieve the same layout as Molly’s sample quilt on the front of the pattern (see above), we will be making 4 versions of the same block.
For most of you, this won’t seem like a big deal, but there will be a few quilters who have trouble getting the right block orientation. Well, I am included in this group, definitely. Blame it on being a lefty for me.
I strongly urge you to use some kind of flannel board. Make one block at a time and place them in their proper order on your flannel board so you can more easily see the orientation of each block as you sew them together.
I did try sewing a group of blocks together using my usual speed sewing method, but that ended up being a disaster. I had to do a lot of ripping out and rearranging the pieces of my blocks. So, after that, I made one block at a time.
Once I had all my blocks up on my flannel board and double checked their orientation, I started sewing the blocks into rows and then sewed the rows together into the quilt center. I was holding my breath the whole time………
Once I knew I had conquered the center, it was time to add borders. I added the side borders first and then sewed the top and bottom borders on last.
Woohoo! The top is done! Time to layer, machine quilt, do binding, and add a label. Oh! My last thing to do will be shipping the quilt to where it needs to go. It will come back eventually…………
Have you made the Corners quilt before? Do you have any tips to share?
Update on Decluttering
Before I go, I wanted to give a little update on my decluttering project. I started with my cutting table first. Lately it’s been more of a storage surface than a cutting surface.
Holy moly! I found several groupings of fabrics paired with patterns as well as yardage and stacks of fat quarters. Some loose patterns, too. Ugh! Now I have to put the fabrics away and figure out where to house the projects. Decisions, decisions! This is why I avoid decluttering — I have way too much stuff and not enough space.
I need to start pulling stuff out I don’t love anymore and finding it all new homes. Time to start purging my stash or I will never ever find an organization system that works for me because you can only stack so many plastic crates. Well, I’m going to keep plugging away, so stop in next week to see what else I’ve accomplished.
I’ve been thinking of some ways I can move forward in 2024 with my goals (Did you miss last week’s post? You can find it HERE). I’ve been seriously thinking about how to get my studio in order, which is definitely part of my 2024 Goals. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have the same thoughts, so let’s brainstorm some ideas together!
For some unknown reason, I never seem to get time to actually clean up, organize, and declutter my space. I truly believe there are little pixies who come to my studio at night and have wild parties because there’s no way that I’m making this mess. LOL!
I think I just need to take a couple days (or years) — maybe a week end — to focus entirely on my studio. Whew! That’s going to be a challenge, though, because I try to cram as much as I can into each day — you know what I mean? To focus completely on one task for a week end would be totally foreign to me. Sigh….I don’t know why 24 hours just isn’t enough time to get everything done every day…….
Now, don”t freak out, but I’m going to show you some pictures of my studio. I’m totally embarrassed to show you any photos of my space, but maybe if I do, then it will motivate me to make improvements. So here goes!
Okay, there it is — my very messy studio. Gulp! I am really embarrassed, but hopefully looking at these photos will motivate me to make some changes because obviously my current organizing system at isn’t working for me. Part of my problem is way too many quilts and way too much fabric — there just isn’t enough room for everything. That means it’s time to purge. Scary……..
Before I dive into this huge undertaking, I think I need a game plan. So here are 11 ideas to help get our sewing spaces ready for a new year of sewing! I bet you can come up with even more ideas so please share your thoughts in the comments.
Fabric and Supplies
1. Look at Your Stash: Take some time to go through your fabric stash and see what you really have. Sort your stuff into categories such as color, material, or project type. Maybe this will give you a better idea of what you have to work with.
2. Donate or Sell: If you come across fabrics that no longer spark joy or that you haven’t used in years, consider donating them to a local charity or selling them online. This way, someone else can put them to good use and that fabric isn’t just collecting dust. If you sell stuff, you will have extra space and extra money. Win-win!
3. Proper Storage: Invest in storage solutions that work for your needs. Clear plastic bins, shelves, or even hanging organizers can help keep everything neat and accessible. Be creative! What do you already have that you can use? Shop second hand. Psst! One of my favorite places to get bins and such is my local Dollar Tree store.
4. Label Everything: When storing your fabrics and supplies, labeling containers can be a lifesaver. It helps avoid the hassle of rummaging through everything when searching for specific items.
5. Streamline Notions: Just like with fabrics, it’s important to go through your sewing notions as well (buttons, zippers, threads, etc. ). Get rid of any duplicates or items that are no longer usable.
6. Keep Favorites Visible: If there are fabrics that inspire you every time you see them, make sure they’re easily visible in your workspace so they don’t get forgotten!
7. Pegboards: Hanging tools on pegboards is a great idea! Not only does it keep everything organized, but it also makes things easy to find whenever you need them. Pegboards come in various sizes and can be customized to fit your specific needs.
Clutter-free Surfaces
1. Clean Your Sewing Table: Start by giving your sewing table a good wipe down. Dust off any debris or lint that might have accumulated, and use some mild cleaning solution to get rid of any stubborn stains or spills.
2. Clutter-Free Work Surface: Take a look at your work surface and remove any unnecessary items that may be cluttering it up. This could include scissors, pins, scrap fabric, or anything else that doesn’t need to be there while you’re working. Yeah, according to my photos, this is definitely something I need to do ASAP!
3. Organize Your Cutting Table: If you have a cutting table, make sure it’s well-organized so you can find what you need when cutting fabrics. Consider using storage bins or containers for keeping your rulers, rotary cutters, and other cutting tools neatly in one place.
4. Tidy Sewing Desk: Keep your sewing desk tidy. Small storage compartments or jars can help keep everything organized while still being easily accessible.
Storage Ideas for Your Thread Collection
1. Wall-Mounted Thread Rack: A wall-mounted thread rack is not only functional but also adds a decorative touch to your sewing room. It keeps your thread spools where you can find them and is even visually appealing (think arranging your thread in rainbow order!).
2. Drawer Dividers: Use drawer dividers to create separate compartments for spools of thread or other sewing sundries.
3. Bobbin Rings or Holders: Keep your bobbins organized by using bobbin rings or holders. These handy accessories prevent tangling and make it easy to see the color of each bobbin at a glance.
4. Clear Plastic Boxes: Invest in clear plastic boxes with compartments specifically designed for storing spools of thread. These boxes are often stackable, making them perfect for maximizing storage space in your sewing room. And we all need that, don’t we???
Sewing Zones
1. Cutting area: This is where you’ll prep your fabrics before diving into the fun part of sewing. Make sure you have enough space for a cutting table or mat where you can spread out your materials comfortably. Consider adding storage for rulers, rotary cutters, and fabric scissors nearby to keep everything within arm’s reach.
2. Sewing stations: These are dedicated spaces where your sewing machines will live. Make sure that each station has enough room for the machine itself along with any additional equipment like sergers or embroidery machines that you may use. I’m hoping to set up a second sewing station in my space so I can have a friend or two sew with me in my studio.
3. Pressing station: Having a designated area for pressing fabrics is crucial in achieving professional-looking results. Set up an ironing board or invest in a sturdy pressing table that suits your needs. Keep essentials like irons, water spray bottles, and pressing tools nearby so that you don’t have to hunt them down every time.
Patterns
1. Purge: Bring all your patterns to the same place and decided which ones to keep and which ones to donate, sell, or discard.
2. Categorize by pattern type: One way to organize your sewing patterns is by grouping them together by topics. For example, you could have sections for bags, jackets, toys, accessories, quilts, pillows, etc. You could even subdivide categories into smaller groups like quilts could be subdivided into bed quilts, throw quilts, wall quilts, runners, etc. Grouping patterns with the same topics together will make finding what you’re looking for a lot easier when starting a new project.
3. Sort by difficulty level: If you have patterns that vary in complexity, maybe organizing them based on their difficulty level would work for you. You can have separate sections for beginner-friendly patterns and more advanced ones.
4. Use binders or folders: To keep your sewing patterns neat and easily accessible, consider storing them in binders or folders with clear sleeves or pockets. This allows you to flip through the pages without damaging the patterns and also makes it simple to locate specific designs. If you use clear sleeves and only put one pattern in each sleeve, you won’t have to pull out the pattern to see the fabric requirements (if they are listed on the back of the pattern).
5. Label everything: Don’t forget to label so that you can quickly identify what’s inside your boxes, baskets, drawers, or binders without having to search through every single one.
Books and Magazines
1. Purge: gather up all your books and magazines in one place and decide what to keep and what to donate, sell, or discard.
2. Alphabetical order: If you have a collection of books related to sewing techniques or reference guides, alphabetizing them can make finding specific information a breeze.
3. Subject-based organization: Another option is to group your books based on their topic such as applique, paper piecing, hand quilting, machine quilting, etc. Once you’ve gathered your books and you start to look through them, you’ll get a good sense of what categories you can divide them into.
4. Get control of your magazines: sort them by year or by magazine name. Or maybe tear out the patterns you want to keep and pass the rest of the magazine onto someone else.
Scrap Fabric 101
1. Scrap Fabric Bins: Transform old shoe boxes or plastic containers into storage bins for your fabric scraps. You can label them by color or sizes/shapes, making it easy to find what you need for future projects.
2. Fabric Scrap Garland: Turn your fabric scraps into a colorful garland by cutting them into strips and tying them onto a string or ribbon. Hang it up as decoration in your craft room or use it to jazz up a plain wall.
3. Scrap Quilts: Need I say more???
4. Fabric Covered Storage Boxes: Give plain cardboard boxes a makeover by wrapping them with scrap fabric using glue or double-sided tape. These stylish storage solutions are perfect for organizing smaller items like buttons, ribbons, and beads. Covered cereal boxes make great magazine and pattern storage!
5. Scrap Fabric Wreaths: Use wire wreath frames as the base and tie on small pieces of fabric all around until the frame is completely covered. This DIY wreath ad
6. Bags and totes: Use your scraps to make bags and totes in a multitude of sizes and shapes. Bags and totes can used to store projects, take on the go, use in place of plastic grocery bags, and much more.
7. Rag Rugs: Cut fabric scraps into strips and weave them together to make colorful rag rugs for your home decor. It’s an eco-friendly way to repurpose those leftover materials!
8. Pincushions: Imagine the possibilities!
Cleaning Habits and Routines
1. Start with a clear workspace: Before you begin sewing, take a few minutes to clear off your work area. Put away any tools or materials that are not in use, so you have plenty of room to work. Sounds like a good habit to start, doesn’t it?
2. Wipe down surfaces: Dust and debris can accumulate quickly in a sewing room, so it’s important to regularly wipe down your surfaces. Use a damp cloth or disinfectant wipes to keep things clean and hygienic.
3. Empty the trash regularly: Don’t let the scraps of fabric or discarded thread pile up next to you as you sew. Make it part of your routine to empty the trash bin frequently, keeping your space neat and tidy.
4. Organize your supplies: Invest in some storage containers or bins for all of your sewing supplies such as thread spools, bobbins, scissors, etc. Having designated spots for everything will make it easier for you to find what you need and to maintain an organized space.
5. Vacuum or sweep the floor: Fabric lint can easily accumulate on the floor around your sewing area, so give it a good vacuum or sweep every now and then to keep things looking fresh.
Better Lighting
1. Natural Light: Place your sewing table near a window to take advantage of natural light during the day.
2. Task Lighting: Invest in good task lighting options, such as adjustable desk lamps or floor lamps with flexible necks. This will help you focus light directly on your sewing machine or work area, reducing eye strain.
3. LED Bulbs: Consider using LED bulbs as they are energy-efficient and provide bright, white light that mimics natural daylight. They also last longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.
4. Overhead Lighting: Ensure that you have adequate overhead lighting in the room to provide general illumination when needed. Choose fixtures with adjustable brightness settings so you can control the intensity based on your needs.
5. Multiple Light Sources: Use multiple light sources around your sewing room to minimize shadows and ensure even illumination across your work area.
6. Dimmers or Smart Bulbs: Installing dimmers or using smart bulbs that allow easy adjustment of brightness levels.
An Ergonomic Sewing Room
1. Your Sewing Chair: Look for one that provides good back support and has adjustable height options. This way, you can ensure proper posture while you work your creative magic.
2. Adjustable Cutting Table: It’s important to have a surface at a comfortable height so that you don’t strain your back or shoulders while cutting fabric. Look for tables with height-adjustable legs or consider using risers to customize the height according to your needs.
3. Sewing Machine Height: Make sure your sewing machine is set up at the right height for optimal comfort. You don’t want to be hunching over or straining your neck while working. Adjust the table or use additional supports if needed.
Make Your Space Your Space
1. Inspiration boards: These are fantastic for keeping your creative juices flowing. You can pin up fabric swatches, color palettes, sketches, and anything else that inspires you. It’s like having a visual brainstorming session right in front of you! Plus, it adds a lovely touch to your sewing room decor.
2: Artwork: Hang up some beautiful prints or paintings that speak to your soul. Maybe vintage sewing illustrations, artistic photographs of sewing machines, or framed inspirational quotes about quilting. Surrounding yourself with art that speaks to you will definitely lift your spirits while you work.
3. Special Keepsakes: Why not add some special keepsakes to your space? Maybe display a vintage thimble collection passed down from generations of skilled sewists in your family? Or use an antique jar as storage for small notions? Adding these personal touches adds character to your space and keeps those precious family memories alive.
I hope these ideas will help jump-start your journey of taking back your sewing space!Stay tuned and I’ll tell you more about my own journey in future posts.
VRD UPDATES
Just a few quick update on our recent projects:
12 Quilts of Valor Pattern Collection
The Quilts of Valor VRD Collection is finally available — you can get it HERE. You will definitely want to add this pattern collection to your Quilts of Valor patterns because all 12 quilts meet the QOVF size requirements. Additionally, a portion of the sales will be donated to the QOVF. You can visit the QOVF HERE.
12 Quilts of Christmas
I’m sorry we didn’t get this collection out in time for the 2023 Holidays, but you can be sure it’ll be out in plenty of time for Christmas in July 2024! Woohoo!
VRD Blog Hop
You bet we’re still having our 2nd VRD Blog Hop in 2024. We’ve just bumped it a little later in the year to March 2024. Stay tuned…….we’ll have more information coming soon.
I can’t think of any other updates right now, did I forget anything?
Well, that’s it for me this week. Fingers crossed that I squeeze in some time in the next week to begin taking back my studio from those wild partying pixies!
3 days after Christmas! How can that be??? Wow! I feel like I’ve been flying on autopilot and all of a sudden I’ve landed and I have no idea where I am. Do you ever feel that way?
Well, it’s Week 5 — our final week — of our December Sew Along. I definitely enjoyed sprinkling a bit of sewing time throughout this crazy month and I think we should do this again next year. What small projects do you think we should do December 2024?
Of course, by then, we’ll probably have even more choices as we hope to add new Accessory Rose Card patterns in 2024. Hmmm…. We’ll have to see what fun new patterns our amazing designers come up with, won’t we?
You can find the December Sew Along Accessory Rose Card collectionHERE.
Even if you didn’t get to sew along in December, I will add the December Sew Along posts to the right side of the blog so you can enjoy sewing along with me whenever you’re ready to join in. There’s no pressure, really. Do it at your own pace. I hope you do, though, because the projects are not only fun, they are functional and achievable!
If you missed the December Sew Along projects so far, you can find them here:
Petula Jane is rather particular so sometimes she has to find creative ways to maintain her high standards. She often has to eat on the go or even at her desk -- horrors -- at the office. However, why should she have to endure paper napkins and plastic silverware like her coworkers do? Adding a little bit of elegance to any meal can make even burgers and fries gourmet, although Petula Jane prefers a nice mixed green salad. So Petula Jane created a collection of these wonderful place mats with proper cloth napkins and her grandmother's silver tucked into the handy pockets. She even rolled a battery-operated candle inside each place mat for a classier ambience! That way, meals away from home can still be considered an event and not just a happening. Petula Jane used fabrics from her favorite designers and added embellishments and embroidery to make her place mats and matching napkins perfectly perfect. You do you, girl!
Your Sew Along Challenge this week is to make your very own Petula Jane Roll & Go Place Mat and Napkin.
That’s right — this week, for Week 5 of our December Sew Along, you need to have your pattern pack in hand. Grab your supplies and create your own one of a kind unique Roll & Go Place Mat and Napkin.
Please make sure to join us on the Villa Rosa Facebook page to share your project this week and to check out the projects of your fellow VRD enthusiasts. The “social connection” is what makes sew alongs SEW much fun! Show us your fabrics! Any tips or hints for construction? Anything you need help with or don’t understand? Did you customize your project? Maybe you’re making 10 of them for gift-giving! Please share because we ALL want to see your Sew Along “sew and tells.”
Villa Rosa Designs Facebook Page — you can use this link to take you to the VRD Facebook page. Make sure you are signed into your Facebook account and on the VRD page you can “like” us to join in the fun. The more folks that join in, the more fun it will be!
Tricia’s Petula Jane Sew Along Project
Here are the wonderful fabrics I chose for this project. I received these fat quarters in a fabric exchange a few years ago and never could find a project I wanted to use them for …. until now. I love that they are blue and tan, but even more I love that they are contemporary and would be appealing for men as well as women.
I made my napkin first. Instead of folding my hems under and pressing, I decided to use my rolled hem foot on my sewing machine. It sort of worked…..I had to repair a few sections and one corner was a bit messy, but it is completed, which is actually more important than perfect to me.
Next I made my pockets and stitched them to the place mat front. I went ahead and stitched the pockets close to the raw edges so that when I sewed the place mat front and back together, the pockets wouldn’t get crazy on me and slide about.
Then I made the strap. I actually folded it down the center lengthwise and pressed, then folded the raw edges into the fold and pressed again, using a few pins to keep things under control before stitching down both sides of the long edges. I folded one short end in as well. I am not a big fan of sewing narrow tubes right sides together and turning them right sides out, especially with one sewn short end. The tubes always get away from me and I end up with some kind of a fabric nightmare. LOL!
I decided not to add the velcro to the strap, either, instead planning to wrap the strap around the place mat and tuck the end under in a more casual way.
The last thing to do was to layer the front and back of the place mat right sides together and sew all the way around the outside edges, leaving an opening for turning it right sides out. I poked out the corners and smoothed the edges, pressing the raw edges of the opening under. Then I sewed around the outside close to the edge.
Yeehaw! Done!
What a great project! Love it! Can’t wait to make some more as gifts….
Okay, now it’s your turn! I hope you will enjoy making your Petula Jane place mat and napkin!
Time to get your Place Mat and Napkin made this week (between Thursday December 28th and Thursday January 4th) and share it on the VRD Facebook page. I’ll see you there and I can’t wait to see what you make and hear your Petula Jane sewing story! Let’s add where you’re from, too! It’s lots of fun to see where all our VRD friends hail from!
Oh My Goodness! It’s 4 days until Christmas Day. Wow! That’s so hard to wrap my head around. I hope you are more ready for the holidays than I am……I am so far behind now, I don’t know how everything is going to get done unless I forgo sleep until the 25th….
Happily, our December Sew Along gives me the chance to slow down a little bit and enjoy sewing something really fun.
I am sorry, but it’s probably a little late to join in the fun of our December Sew Along at this point as we are now on Week 4 out of 5 weeks. However, you can still order the set of 5 Accessory patterns HERE and do the SAL at your own pace as I will add the December SAL along the right side of the blog so you can find the individual posts easily.
If you missed the December Sew Along projects so far, you can find them here:
Olivia Jane is one sassy lady! Variety is the spice of her life. She has too many interests and hobbies to count and makes these cute patchwork totes in multiples just to keep her life organized. They are quick and fun and Olivia Jane can use charm square packs, fat quarters, and even her scraps and stash to whip up these great little totes. Each bag that she makes in truly one of a kind! Olivia Jane keeps a few bags empty so she she can take them shopping, antiquing, to her quilt guild meetings, to knitting club, or to her multiple book clubs. Whew! Trying to keep up with Olivia Jane is a difficult task for all her friends. To thank her besties for everything they do for her, this year Olivia Jane is making these fun bags for everyone. Of course, she started them early in the year so she would be ready for holiday gift-giving. Just one more to go.....
Your Sew Along Challenge this week is to make your very own Olivia Jane tote bag.
That’s right — this week, for Week 4 of our December Sew Along, you need to have your pattern pack in hand. Grab your supplies and create your own one of a kind unique Charm Square Patchwork Tote Bag.
Please make sure to join us on the Villa Rosa Facebook page to share your project this week and to check out the projects of your fellow VRD enthusiasts. The “social connection” is what makes sew alongs SEW much fun! Show us your fabrics! Any tips or hints for construction? Anything you need help with or don’t understand? Did you customize your project? Maybe you’re making 10 of them for Christmas! Please share because we ALL want to see your Sew Along “sew and tells.”
Villa Rosa Designs Facebook Page — you can use this link to take you to the VRD Facebook page. Make sure you are signed into your Facebook account and on the VRD page you can “like” us to join in the fun. The more folks that join in, the more fun it will be!
Before we get to my Olivia Jane tote bag, I wanted to talk a little bit about the pattern. Olivia Jane is a great pattern to add your own touch or to use your own finishing techniques. The pattern even gives you 3 different options for sewing your squares together! The tote works up quickly and it’s fun to play around in your charm squares and stash — we all need a reason to dive back into our own stashes, right? Or, head to your local quilt shop and gather up a beautifully-coordinated collection of fabrics to use for your tote bag. Whatever you do, Olivia Jane will be right by your side.
One of the cool things about bag-making is that there are a lot of different techniques to explore as well as a lot of different ways to get to the same end results. If you’re reading between the lines here, what I’m really saying is that I don’t follow directions very well — Mea Culpa….
Tricia’s Olivia Jane Sew Along Project
Here is my finished Olivia Jane tote! I just love how it turned out. Isn’t it adorable??? This would be a great tote for carrying books to/from the library, going to quilt guild meetings, or whatever. With its open top design, though, I wouldn’t use it as a purse because my wallet and personal items wouldn’t be secure. But beyond that, anything goes!
Here are my fun and sunny fabrics! I looked through my stash of partial charm packs and this blue and yellow one begged to be used. I added the leftover floral print for the lining and the tonal yellow for the strap. Ready to go!
The first thing I did was to sew my charm squares together. I chose to alternate my blue and yellow squares. Do likewise of you want or not. It’s your tote! Don’t forget to read over the pattern because it gives 3 different variations for the charm square arrangement on the front of the tote.
Shhhh, but I deviated from the pattern a little bit. I decided that I wanted a sturdier tote that would hold up to what I usually put in my tote bags like books and sewing projects on the go. I added a layer of Pellon Decor Bond, which is my favorite fusible interfacing for bags and totes. I fused Decor Bond to the back side of my charm square bag front, my lining fabric, and the strap. I really like this product because it gives my bags and totes body so they stand up without wilting. Love that.
Another option would be to add a layer of batting in your tote to give it a little bit more body. But wait — there’s more! Other possibilities include Soft and Stable foam from byAnnie’s, Flex-Foam from Pellon, or Bosal’s In-R-Form Plus fusible foam stabilizer.
Another adaptation I made was to add an inside pocket because you can never have enough pockets!
I sewed 4 leftover charm squares together into a Four Patch block. Then I sewed the pieced pocket front right sides together with a same-size square of leftover lining fabric. I sewed around both sides and the bottom, leaving the top open. Then I turned my pocket right sides out and pushed out the corners. I pressed it well, folded the top edge down, and folded it down again to encase the raw edges. This little trick gives you a sassy little strip of fabric at the top of your pocket.
Next I measured about 2″ up from the center bottom of the lining fabric and centered my pocket on the lining. (Yup, that’s a friction pen I’m using to mark my lines on the lining fabric. With a quick press of my iron, the lines will disappear!) Finally, I sewed around both sides and the bottom of the pocket. Done! Now I have a place for a bottle of water or my keys or a small notebook…or whatever fits. LOL!
I also added a little fun to my strap by using one of the gazillion fancy stitches on my sewing machine. I stitched this really cute spiral design down the center of my strap. It actually helps to keep the strap from stretching; however, it looks like a fancy-shmancy embellishment.
Adding little details like this to any bag or tote raises the bar for its uniqueness. Little details like this are also the difference between a 2nd place and a first place finish at your local fair or show. Just sayin’……
The last thing I did to change up Olivia Jane was to box the corners of the bottom of my bag. This gave my bag a flat base so it could stand up, which works better for me and my stuff.
Boxed corners aren’t hard to do. First you make sure the inside of the lining or bag is on the outside and then fold the bottom of your bag so that the side seams create a point like you see in the first photo above. I decided to use 1.5″ as my measurement for making my boxed corners because I didn’t want to make the bag much smaller in size. In the second photo you see my Frixion pen line, which is measured 1.5″ from the point. Then simply sew on the line, back-stitching at each end. Repeat for both sides of the lining fabric as well as the the corners of the charm square bag front. Some people trim away the waste triangle at each side, but I leave them there to add a little extra support to the bottom of my bag.
There are actually lots of other things you can do or add to your Olivia Jane tote to make yours individual to you. You could add a flap and magnetic snap, velcro, or a button to secure the top of the bag. You could add more pockets — even on the front and back of the tote. Make 2 straps instead of just one or use ready-made bag handles as another option. Make the strap(s) longer or shorter to suit your needs. Make the bag bigger by adding more charm squares — just remember to make the lining fabric the same size. Another idea would be to use batting on the inside of your bag and practice your free motion quilting to quilt the front of the bag and the batting together. All of these options make bag-making really fun because you can start with the same pattern and end up with totally different bags.
My sewing partner….Griffin. He’s the studio supervisor, of course!
Okay, now it’s your turn! I hope you will enjoy making your Olivia Jane tote!
Time to get your Patchwork Tote made this week (between Thursday December 21at and Thursday December 28th) and share it on the VRD Facebook page. I’ll see you there and I can’t wait to see what you make and hear your Olivia Jane sewing story! Let’s add where you’re from, too! It’s lots of fun to see where all our VRD friends hail from!
See you next Thursday for Week 5 of our December Sew Along.
(PSST! If you’re one of those work ahead kind of folks — our Week 5 project is Petula Jane which will officially begin next Thursday, December 28th. Feel free to have at it, but please don’t post any of your photos or progress on Petula Jane until after next week’s blog post. Between now and then, let’s focus on Olivia Jane. Thank you!)
Are you ready for another fun Accessory pattern project for Week 3 of our December Sew Along? I really hope that you are sewing along with me. These accessory Rose Card patterns are not only fun, but fast, too! Of course, I’ve only picked 5 for this Sew Along, but there are more. You can find all of our current Accessory patterns HERE. Don’t forget that we are planning to add more Accessory patterns in 2024, so you’ll have to stay tuned….
Did you order your set of 5 patterns for the December Sew Along yet? There’s still time for you to jump in (you’d better get cracking,though!) and sew along with me.
Or you can save the projects for when you’re ready to do a little fun sewing after the hustle and bustle of December. I will add the December Sew Along to the right side of the blog so you can find the posts whenever you’re ready to sew. That’s definitely one of the cool things about an online Sew Along, you can do it anytime you’re ready, even in the middle of the night wearing your pajamas and eating a bowl of ice cream.
Catrina Jane is a scrap saver, but more importantly, she is a scrap user.Quilts are just not complete until you use at least 100 different prints in them.One background fabric???Absolutely not -- when 57 are better!Catrina Jane dove into her stash of scraps and small pieces and whipped up a dozen of these delightful little Pattern Card Holders!Now to decide which quilty pal gets which one.Decisions....Decisions.... And of course, Catrina Jane plans to slip a few Villa Rosa Designs Rose Cards into her cute little Pattern Holders before gifting them.
Your Sew Along Challenge this week is to make your very own Catrina Jane Pattern Card Holder.
That’s right — this week, for Week 3 of our December Sew Along, you need to have your pattern pack in hand. Grab your supplies and create your own one of a kind unique 2 Pocket Pattern Holder.
Please make sure to join us on the Villa Rosa Facebook page to share your project this week and to check out the projects of your fellow VRD enthusiasts. The “social connection” is what makes sew alongs SEW much fun! Show us your fabrics! Any tips or hints for construction? Anything you need help with or don’t understand? Did you customize your project? Maybe you’re making 10 of them for Christmas! Please share because we ALL want to see your Sew Along “sew and tells.”
Villa Rosa Designs Facebook Page — you can use this link to take you to the VRD Facebook page. Make sure you are signed into your Facebook account and on the VRD page you can “like” us to join in the fun. The more folks that join in, the more fun it will be!
Tricia’s Catrina Jane Sew Along Project
Like Catrina Jane, I perused my own oversized stash and settled on these fun fabrics. The red and blue floral is an older Minnick and Simpson print. Then I added a tonal red and a creamy white to the mix. Yes, you can make a Pattern Holder out of a single fabric, but also like Catrina Jane, I love a scrappy but coordinated look.
Now to cut out all the pieces and get sewing!
After I made my tab, I centered it on the left side of the main print. Nope, I didn’t measure a thing! My secret to finding the center of pretty much anything is to fold it in half and make a crease at the center. Then I just line up the creases and done. Easy Piezy!
Once I centered the tab on the main print, I placed the pocket fabric right sides together on top on both sides of the main print. If needed, go ahead and add a couple pins to hold things in place. Then I stitched the sides. I pressed my seams towards the main print on the back and voila! My tab ended up in the right place. Whew!
Now let’s place the lining fabric right sides together with the main print/side pockets. I learned a great little tip a while back at my quilt guild — at the corners, instead of trying to make them 90 degrees, pivot and stitch a couple stitches at the corner to gently round the corner instead of making a sharp corner. It makes a much nicer, smoother, and sharper corner than turning 90 degrees! Try it sometime. Don’t forget to leave an opening for turning your Pattern Holder right sides out.
I turned my Holder right sides out and used my handy dandy chopstick to gently push out the corners. I also like to run my chopstick along all the seams on the inside to help the seams to behave.
Time to fold over the pockets and sew. The directions called for using a zig zag stitch, but I chose to use a straight stitch on mine. Do the same if you like, or maybe you’ll explore some of the million embroidery and fancy stitches on your machine.
Instead of velco, I decided to put a cute little red snap to secure my Pattern Holder. Fun, fun, fun!
The very last thing to do is to fill up the pockets with cards!
Wouldn’t this be a great little gift for your favorite quilting friends? Add a couple Rose Card patterns inside and instant swoon-worthy gift. The Pattern Holder takes around an hour to make, depending on your finishing options, so it truly is a great last-minute gift idea.
Some Fun Ideas to Personalize Catrina Jane:
Add ric rac, buttons, or other embellishments.
Add a monogram or initials to the front cover if your machine can do that.
Try a fun button as a closure instead of velcro or a snap.
Add a few small pockets to the front cover and/or inside to stash cash, a credit card, or even more Rose Card patterns.
Make it bigger to hold more cards — with 4 pockets instead of 2. You would need to basically double the width of the lining and main fabric while keeping the length the same. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll try this idea sometime.
Shrink it down and use it to hold business cards.
What else could you stash inside the pockets? How about handmade note cards? Wouldn’t that be a sweet gift to yourself or someone else?
Add a layer of fleece or batting to make a firmer Pattern Holder.
Okay, now it’s your turn!
Time to get your Pattern Holder made this week (between Thursday December 14th and Thursday December 21st) and share it on the VRD Facebook page. I’ll see you there and I can’t wait to see what you make and hear your Catrina Jane sewing story! Let’s add where you’re from, too! It’s lots of fun to see where all our VRD friends hail from!
See you next Thursday for Week 4 of our December Sew Along.
(PSST! If you’re one of those work ahead kind of folks — our Week 4 project is Olivia Jane which will officially begin next Thursday, December 21st. Feel free to have at it, but please don’t post any of your photos or progress on Olivia Jane until after next week’s blog post. Between now and then, let’s focus on Catrina Jane. Thank you!)
Are you ready for another fun Accessory pattern project for Week 2 of our December Sew Along? Of course, I also have the NEW December Rose Card patterns to share with you, too. Lots of great fun this week.
So, how’s your holiday shopping and preparations coming along? I am happy to say that I’ve gotten started a bit this last week. I put up the outside Christmas decorations and lights (not that I do a lot of decorating, but at least we’re not a dark house for December). I don’t have that much more Christmas shopping to do, but I do still have some Christmas sewing and makes to get done. I haven’t started decorating inside yet nor have I started baking or wrapping gifts. Guess I’d better get to it, huh?
Speaking of gift gifting, I think you’re going to love Savannah Jane, our wonderful and quick Week 2 Sew Along project.
Did you order your set of 5 patterns for the December Sew Along yet? There’s still time for you to jump in and sew along with me.
Or you can save the projects for when you’re ready to do a little fun sewing after the hustle and bustle of December. I will add the December Sew Along to the right side of the blog so you can find the posts whenever you’re ready to sew. That’s definitely one of the cool things about an online Sew Along, you can do it anytime you’re ready, even in the middle of the night wearing your pajamas and eating a bowl of ice cream.
If you missed it, you can find the December Sew Along Week 1 — Amanda Jane — HERE.
Here’s Molly’s version of Amanda Jane! Don’t you just love her mod fabric choices??? isn’t she just rockin’ this Amanda Jane apron with style?
Thanks for sharing your project, Molly!
Savannah Jane
VRD December Sew Along Week 2
Savannah Jane is a sophisticated gal with an artsy streak. She just loves this wonderful and versatile pieced scarf -- she can add an artsy touch to her wardrobe without breaking the bank. Savannah Jane can make this scarf in about an hour, so it's a snap to whip up a new scarf for any occasion or outfit. Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but she's made at least a dozen already. And when she meets her gal pals for lunch, they ooohhh and aaahhh over her latest scarf creation. Savannah Jane just smiles because she knows something they don't -- they are all getting their own one of a kind scarf for Christmas.
Your Sew Along Challenge this week is to make your very own Savannah Jane pieced scarf!
That’s right — this week, for Week 2 of our December Sew Along, you need to have your pattern pack in hand. Grab your supplies and create your own one of a kind totally you Savannah Jane pieced scarf. Bet you can’t make just 1 (wink, wink)….
Please make sure to join us on the Villa Rosa Facebook page to share your project this week and to check out the projects of your fellow VRD enthusiasts. The “social connection” is what makes sew alongs SEW much fun! Show us your fabrics! Any tips or hints for construction? Anything you need help with or don’t understand? Did you customize your project? Maybe you’re making 10 of them for Christmas! Please share because we ALL want to see your Sew Along “sew and tells.”
Villa Rosa Designs Facebook Page — you can use this link to take you to the VRD Facebook page. Make sure you are signed into your Facebook account and on the VRD page you can “like” us to join in the fun. The more folks that join in, the more fun it will be!
Now, I’ve never made a pieced scarf before, so I was pretty excited to give Savannah Jane a whirl. And guess what??? If you like Savannah Jane, you’re going to LOVE her sister, Inessa Jane. Inessa Jane is an Infinity scarf!
Let me show you my Savannah Jane pieced scarf! Or should I say scarves??? I’ve already made 2 and have plans to make a couple more for holiday gifts. And maybe even one for myself. LOL!
I chose this charm pack for my Savannah Jane scarf. Don’t you just love the yummy colors? I have a special someone in mind for this one already!
The instructions are simple to follow and Savannah Jane goes together in about an hour! Nice — my kind of project!
Here you can see my squares all sewn together into 2 long long strips! I sewed them together randomly, just making sure not to put two like colors together.
I pressed all my seams in the same direction, pressing first on the back and then also on the front so those seams would stay as flat as possible. Who wants a lumpy scarf??? I even used a little of my favorite Best Press.
Are you familiar with Best Press? My favorite scent is Peaches and Cream, it’s so yummy (No, I don’t drink it, silly you for wondering that!). Of course, if Peach isn’t your scent, there are lots to chose from, including an unscented one which is perfect if you’re sensitive to scents. I’ve personally tried most of them and found Peach to be the scent for me.
Anyway, after my seams were all nice and flat, I was ready to sew my 2 long long strips together on both sides — basically making a long tube with both ends open. I layered them right sides together, offsetting the ends.
Yay! Here it is all ready to turn right side out.
Ta Da! Here’s my scarf partially turned right side out. It reminds me of a snake shedding its skin — ick — not my favorite image, I can assure you.
Whew! All turned right side out now. Time to flatten the tube with the long seams centered on the front and back of the scarf so you see the offset piecing effect. Isn’t that the coolest thing? Sew clever! Sew easy! Sew beautiful! Especially with these batik fabrics!
Let’s finish the ends now. I folded them under about 1/4″ or so and tried to make each end as straight as possible, which meant I had to do a little fiddling as I pressed the ends flat.
At this point you could hand-sew the openings closed if you didn’t want to see any stitching, but I opted for simple and quick, sewing a straight line across the ends about 1/4″ in from the edge, back-stitching at each end.
Another thought would be to try out some of the wonderful fancy stitches on your sewing machine to finish your edges — that would add a little bit extra something something to your scarves. Or maybe just a edgy modern serged effect? Bet you can come up with even more finishing ideas for your scarves!
Done! In about an hour, no less. LOVE IT!
It was such a fun and quick project, I knew I had to make another one. Like I said, bet you can’t make just one….
Hmmm…..I’m thinking I might need to make 2 or 3 more for Christmas, too. Now that I have this great go-to pattern, it’s going to be loads of fun to personalize my fabric choices for each recipient.
It’s also easy to customize if you need a shorter or longer scarf. Use a charm square pack or cut your own squares from your stash — it’s all up to you.
I’m thinking a flannel charm pack might just be the ticket for my own scarf for this winter. Now to hunt down some squares! Where did I put that flannel charm pack???
VRD NEW December Rose Card Patterns
Now that we’ve had some fun with Week 2 of our December Sew Along, it’s time to show off our newest patterns!
Aren’t they awesome! Every month just gets better and better. Our designers are simply the best! You can get the set of 5 new patterns HERE.
I promised a new table runner pattern for December, too. Sorry we didn’t have enough time to get one out for last month, but I think you’ll like my December runner. It’s fun and very fast. I chose a background fabric with metallic stars and assorted grey fabrics for the strips.
Before I close this post, I wanted to take a moment and update you on the projects we’ve been feverishly trying to get done for you.
Quilts of Honor (Quilts of Valor) Collection — this wonderful set of 12 VRD patterns sized just right for your Quilts of Valor donation quilts will be out very soon. You’re going to want this collection! And a portion of each purchase will be donated to the QOVF.
12 Quilts of Christmas — Sadly, we’re a little bit behind schedule with this one, but it should be out soon as well, just in time for Christmas. This collection features 12 brand new Christmas-themed quilts designed just for you by our talented VRD designers.
2024 Blog Hop — The 2024 Blog Hop is going to be pushed back a little bit to February/March as we’ve been working so hard on the other projects.
Okay, now it’s your turn!
Time to get your pieced scarf made this week (between Thursday December 7th and Thursday December 14th) and share it on the VRD Facebook page. I’ll see you there and I can’t wait to see what you make and hear your Savannah Jane sewing story! Let’s add where you’re from, too! It’s lots of fun to see where all our VRD friends hail from!
See you next Thursday for Week 3 of our December Sew Along.
(PSST! If you’re one of those work ahead kind of folks — our Week 3 project is Catrina Jane which will officially begin next Thursday, December 14th. Feel free to have at it, but please don’t post any of your photos or progress on Catrina Jane until after next week’s blog post. Between now and then, let’s focus on our Week 1 project Amanda Jane and our Week 2 project Savannah Jane. Thank you!)
Are you all geared up and ready for our fun December Sew Along? It’s not too late to join us if you haven’t gotten your Sew Along pattern set yet. You can get the set of 5 patternsHERE for the special price of $8.95.
This week, we are kicking off Week 1 of our December Sew Along with our Amanda Jane pattern.
Amanda Jane
VRD December Sew Along Week 1
Amanda Jane is a super busy and hard-working gal. It's hard enough to find time in her crazy life to spend some quality time doing her favorite hobbies and interests, so losing important items like her scissors and measuring tape are totally out of the question! Amanda Jane has it all covered in her cute and sensible work apron featuring 7 pockets! Hello supplies! And good bye wasted time looking for notions. Amanda Jane loves her work apron sew much, she just might make a different one for each day of the week, just because she can! And one for each of her crafty besties for the holidays, too!
Your Sew Along Challenge this week is to make your very own Amanda Jane work apron.
That’s right — this week, for Week 1 of our December Sew Along, you need to have your pattern pack in hand. Grab your supplies and create your own one of a kind totally you Amanda Jane apron.
Please make sure to join us on the Villa Rosa Facebook page to share your project this week and to check out the projects of your fellow VRD enthusiasts. The “social connection” is what makes sew alongs SEW much fun! Show us your fabrics! Any tips or hints for construction? Anything you need help with or don’t understand? Did you customize your project? Maybe you’re making 10 of them for Christmas! Please share because we ALL want to see your Sew Along “sew and tells.”
Villa Rosa Designs Facebook Page — you can use this link to take you to the VRD Facebook page. Make sure you are signed into your Facebook account and on the VRD page you can “like” us to join in the fun. The more folks that join in, the more fun it will be!
Tricia’s Amanda Jane Sew Along Project
I’m really excited to show off my Amanda Jane apron!
I had this adorable gnome Christmas fabric in my stash — it’s been begging to be made into something fun — and I thought it would be an awesome starting point for my apron! Not sure where it came from originally, but it is totally too cute NOT to use.
Who’s gonna rock Christmas in her apron this year, yeah??!!
Next I paired some coordinates straight outta my stash. What do you think? I wasn’t sure about the green, but I tried some other greens and this was the one that looked the best. Besides, I’m going to use the green on the back, so it really doesn’t have to be perfect. The teal was a complete no-brainer. And it had to have red polka dots, am I right here?
Hmm. I think I’ll use the red as the main fabric instead of the gnomes. And the gnomes as the big pocket so I’ll get to see more of the gnome fabric, because it really is all about the gnomes. The green definitely works as the back. Finally, the teal would make a great strap. What do you think? Oh! Then I’ll have a red pocket and a green pocket on the front. Cute. Let’s do this!
Well, I’d better stop chit chatting and starting cutting out my pieces.
Okay, I’m back. I got everything cut out, which wasn’t too hard, but I did have to dig out my really big square ruler to rotary cut my large pieces.
Here’s my gnome pocket, folded and ready to go. I’ve got the smaller pockets cut from leftovers of the red and green pinned and ready to stitch onto the gnomes.
You know, if you wanted even more color and fun, you could raid your scraps to find some coordinating fabrics for the smaller front pockets. Wink, wink. Just sayin’……
I know, I know…..I’d better get back to work. Can’t wait until I have a fun apron to use soon.
I think it would be great for wrapping gifts this holiday season. I’m always losing my scissors and tape in piles of paper…. What are you going to do with your apron?
Now I’ve got my big gnome pocket layered on my red dot fabric. I don’t know if you can see in the photo, but I’ve already got my sewing lines marked to create the large large pockets. I think it’s cool that one of the sewing lines goes right through the middle of my little red polka dot pocket to divide it into 2 smaller pockets. Nice! Now all the stuff I cram into the red pocket is less-likely to fall out when I bend over while wrapping.
Tags! Tags, anyone? I’ll know exactly where to find ’em when I need them. And I can tuck a pen or two in my handy dandy apron, too. Wow! I’m going to be the Inspector Gadget of Gift Wrapping this year!
Next I layered my apron front and back Right Sides Together (RST) and sewed along the bottom and the sides. Fingers crossed, I sewed relatively straight…. The I turned it right side out, smoothed and pressed the edges. And for a nice finish, I stitched about an 1/8″ inside the outside edge on both sides and the bottom of the apron.
Moving on to the strap — my goodness, that is a lot of strap. I think I could wrap my little house up in this strap. Wow! This step took me some time, but I nailed it!
AHA! Here I pinned my layers together with the apron sandwiched in between the long folded edges of the strap. To find the center of the apron, I folded it in half and marked the center top. Then I folded that long long strap in half and found the center, too. Finally, I matched up the centers and pinned that crazy strap into submission.
That strap seemed to have a mind of its own, though — it kept slithering away from me. Ugh! I think I need MORE PINS!
Huh! It worked! I got the apron pinned into the strap folds, sewed it, and it all worked. And it looks so so cute. Really! And it wasn’t difficult, once I got the hang of it. Take that, you crazy strap!
The final test — does it fit???
It fits! It actually fits me AND the strap wraps around my body back to the front just like in the photo on the front of the pattern — I won’t have to be a contortionist to tie it in the back, like most aprons! Awesome! I’m no skinny Minnie either — I’m a plus-size kind of gal and it fits me perfectly! I am thrilled.
Okay, now it’s your turn!
Time to get your apron made this week (between Thursday November 30th and Thursday December 7th) and share it on the VRD Facebook page. I’ll see you there and I can’t wait to see what you make and hear your Amanda Jane sewing story! Let’s add where you’re from, too! It’s lots of fun to see where all our VRD friends hail from!
See you next Thursday for Week 2 of our December Sew Along.
(PSST! If you’re one of those work ahead kind of folks — our Week 2 project is Savannah Jane which will officially begin next Thursday, December 7th. Feel free to have at it, but please don’t post any of your photos or progress on Savannah Jane until after next week’s blog post. Between now and then, let’s focus on Amanda Jane. Thank you!)
I don’t know if you are like me at all but I have a bunch of quilt tops — or flimsies, as they are often called in quilt jargon — piling up and I can’t work fast enough to make a dent in them. Part of the problem is that I have NEW quilts to make, so it’s hard to work backwards to finish the stack of flimsies that I have already made, but haven’t finished yet. It’s such a vicious cycle….
Recently, I started brainstorming some ideas to power through those unfinished tops while still working on my current and future projects. Today I thought I’d share my ideas with you. Feel free to leave a comment if you have ideas, too, because I’d love to hear them. Maybe if we all brainstorm together, we can combat the universal quilting problem of too many projects and not enough time.
Ideas to Finish Your Flimsies
Make a Plan of Action — Maybe it’s time for all of us quilters to go through our flimsies and look at them realistically — a very important first step so we know how many flimsies we really do have. How many of them can we really finish in a lifetime? Let’s be honest with ourselves here. Maybe divide them into 2 piles — the ones we think we might finish and the ones we won’t. Let’s keep only the ones we’ll actually finish and then write down a plan to get ‘em done. Soon that teetering stack of flimsies will be a thing of the past.
Share them — Since you’ve decided which flimsies you are going to complete and you’ve made a written plan to accomplish that, why not share those unwanted flimsies with quilty friends, fellow quilt guild members, quilters who make charity quilts, a church quilt group, or some other charitable organization. Then you can clear away those unloved flimsies without guilt and make someone else’s heart happy.
Take a Class — Maybe you don’t know how to machine quilt your own quilts. Why not learn how? Check out your local quilt shops or quilt guilds to find a machine quilting class. Or maybe you’ve always wanted to learn hand-quilting? What are you waiting for? Sign up for a class and get quilting those flimsies yourself!
Use fleece — I’ve talked about using fleece on the backs of my throw quilts before. Check out my post on quilting with fleece HERE. Using fleece on the backs of throw quilts makes them super cozy and lightweight. Fleece fabric is relatively inexpensive and batting isn’t even needed, which makes using fleece also economical. And don’t forget time-saving — you only have to layer your flimsy with a single layer of fleece, which takes less time than using both batting and backing. Just remember that fleece is very stretchy while your flimsy is not and you may need to adapt your quilting designs to manage the stretchiness.
Practice makes perfect — Just get those quilts layered with batting and backing and get quilting. Hand quilter? Set time aside every day to work on your hand quilting. Machine quilting? Use your flimsies as hands-on experience as you master free motion quilting! Start with table runners and smaller projects and work yourself up to larger projects as you feel more comfortable and your machine quilting skills improve. Wiggly lines and straight lines get the job done too.
Long Arm Quilting — Find a local long arm quilter and work together to create a plan to get your large flimsies quilted. Maybe you can swing getting one done every month or every few months, or…? Do whatever works for you, just keep working towards your flimsy-free goal.
Have a party — Enlist your friends and have a good old fashioned quilting bee, but instead of everyone working on the same quilt, ask each friend to quilt one of your smaller projects. Anything goes! Ask your friends to bring their sewing machines and you will have tables and extension cords at the ready and will provide all the munchies! When you ask your friends to help you, make sure you promise to help them finish their own flimsies.
Presto Change-o — Who says a quilt top has to continue its life as a quilt? Why not repurpose a flimsy (or more) into a snazzy jacket. A tote bag or purse? Pillows for the couch? Place mats? Or whatever else your little heart desires. Have some fun with your flimsies and turn them into finished projects.
Mix and Match — Speaking of chopping up your flimsies to make new projects, how about mixing and matches bits and pieces from different flimsies together into a new project?
Host a Flimsy Swap — Gather up your quilt posse and have a fun flimsy swap. You might need to set some basic rules — the most important one that comes to mind for me would be that each participant must take as many flimsies as they bring for the swap, even if it means taking some of their own back home. Or limit the swap to one flimsy per person. Agree on a future date to have your new-to-you flimsies finished and have a quilt show of the completed projects. With snacks, of course. Then……..repeat. Often.
Take Me as I Am — Maybe you don’t machine or hand quilt. Maybe you just don’t have the money to send your quilts out to a long arm quilter. So why not enjoy those flimsies just as they are? Fold them over the rungs of an old ladder. Drape them over the couch. Use them as table covers in the dining room. Fold them prettily and stack them in an old jelly cupboard. Quilts love to be admired and enjoyed, even if they aren’t quite completed. Just remember to continue to work towards getting them done, one flimsy at a time.
Tie ‘em Up — Have you ever tied a quilt? This is how I made my first five or six quilts way back when. I backed them with a sheet and used a thicker fluffier poly batting. I sewed the layers together envelope-style and then used cotton crochet thread with a long needle to tie my quilts. I tied double knots and trimmed my threads close because I really didn’t want a hairy quilt. I usually placed my knots at seam intersections to hide them a bit better. Tying worked great and I could finish a throw or bed-sized quilt in a day. This was, of course, before I taught myself to do free motion quilting. Just make sure to put in enough ties to keep the batting from shifting around.
Go Small — Maybe you love to make big bed quilts but can’t or won’t quilt them yourself or send them out to a long armer. My solution? Make them smaller! No one ever said you couldn’t cut up your quilt to make 2 or more smaller quilts! Maybe a big bed quilt could become a throw, a wall quilt, a table runner, a set of pillows? Bet you can manage those more easily! This is even a great way to create a new coordinated look for your space, too. Just think how fast you could whip up a stack of table runners or quilted scarves for Christmas gifts when you start with big quilt flimsies? Oh, the possibilities….
Swap skills — You’ll need some friends to help you out with this idea. Have a friend who likes to machine quilt? Swap skills with them! If they will machine quilt one of your quilts, you will clean their house, make cookies, bathe their dog, babysit the kids, or whatever skills you can barter with. Maybe you can swap skills with more than one friend or even a local long arm quilter. Write a list of the skills you are willing to barter before you talk to people about swapping your skills for machine quilting. Just keep it legal, clean, and safe please.
Make Toys — Why not find a brilliant collection of simple stuffed toy patterns you can make for kids and cut the pattern pieces out of your flimsies. Don’t have kids or grandkids? Donate your soft toys to a children’s hospital or other charitable institution. Lions, tigers, and bears….oh my!
Repurpose — Did you know you can repurpose your flimsies? This is kind of like Presto Change-o above, but with a little twist. What else can your flimsies be besides quilts? Maybe you can recover a side chair with a pieced top to create a unique one of a kind accent for your space. Or perhaps you could make dining chair seat covers? Time to think outside the quilt here — anything goes.
I hope these ideas will inspire you to dive into your own stack of flimsies and get them done. From quilts to decor to soft toys. Upholstered foot stools and lampshades. Pillows and table runners. There are sew many projects you can create with your stack of flimsies. Sew, what are you waiting for???
Villa Rosa Quilts 