Today I’m taking part in yet another fun, quick sew along hosted by Fat Quarter Shop. Kimberly from FQS teamed up with Sherri McConnell once again to bring you a video tutorial for a really simple and cute pin cushion, which is being released today. I definitely will be making more of these!
I really love clear video tutorials since I am very much a visual learner. Seeing each step helps make the process smooth and easy to complete without hang up or confusion. That, to me, is a big win!
I decided to make my pin cushion with a range of warm Alison Glass Sun Prints 2015 and 2016, and once it was finished, it begged to be photographed out in the garden with the peonies. Such vibrant colors need to be in colorful company.
I used a Tula Pink ribbon I won in a giveaway from Renaissance Ribbons a year or so ago as the ribbon detail, top stitched with Aurifil 40wt 2230-Medium Peony (so fitting!). I topped the pin cushion with Robert Kaufman Quilter’s Linen, which is a fabulous all-purpose blender fabric that happened to coordinate wonderfully. Aurifil 50wt 5022-Mustard was the perfect thread for hand stitching the opening in the Quilter’s Linen closed, too. I just love when perfectly coordinating fabrics and thread can be found in my stash.
I backed the pin cushion in Ex Libris Bookplate in Charcoal by Alison Glass (Andover Fabrics), and really would be tempted to use the pin cushion upside down every so often, it’s so pretty. This pin cushion is not for me, though, so the recipient can do with it as she pleases!
This is the first pin cushion I’ve stuffed entirely with crushed walnut shell, at Sherri’s suggestion, and I really like the sturdiness and ease with which pins go into it. I bought the crushed walnut shell from a quasi-local, fabulous quilt shop, Clementine in Rockland, Maine months ago but had not yet had a chance to use it. Leah at Clementine suggested the crushed walnut shells since the oils from the nut shells help keep the pins and needles sharp and rust free. They also provide a nice, sturdy base for your pins and needles.
Check out the video below and make your own pin cushion if you want! There’s no such thing as too many pin cushions, right?
Be sure to visit the other bloggers in the hop to help spark your inspiration and see what they did with this pin cushion:
I have spent the past three months or more psyching myself up for the Quilter’s Planner designed by Stephanie at Late Night Quilter. I’ve dreamt of a year during which I’m organized, on time, and actually accomplishing my goals in a somewhat planned and consistent way. One month into using the Quilter’s Planner and I’m excited to report that it has helped me create a life that fits my vision! I also finally finished sewing the cover, which adds even more color and cheer to the year ahead. To celebrate, I’ll be giving away a Quilter’s Planner! Now is your chance to get one since they are sold out everywhere else! To be clear, the giveaway is for a planner and fabric only. The planner cover shown in this post is mine… BUT there will be instructions on how to make one just like this available soon, and I’m including the fabric needed to make the outer panel in the giveaway!
Ever since Stephanie announced that she would be teaming up with Amanda at What the Bobbin to provide a tutorial for sewing a personalized planner cover, I’ve been planning to finally cut into my cherished Art Theory panel from Ex Libris by Alison Glass. I am absolutely smitten with the result, and am planning to create a tutorial and piecing instructions for the outer panel in case you would like to make an Alison Glass-themed outer cover, too. (I’m hoping to have it to Stephanie some time next week and she will make it available on the Quilter’s Planner website.)
The cover has the Art Theory panel as the center focal print, with Essex linen in charcoal and coordinating Sun Prints 2016 on the sides. Sun Prints 2016 are arriving in stores now, but Alison was kind enough to send a bit my way in advance for this project. I love how all of her fabric lines coordinate and compliment each other so well!
Here’s the full outer cover, without the planner in it. As you can see, I chose cool colors for the front and warm for the back, complete with the appropriate Sun Prints 2016. As I mentioned above, cutting and piecing instructions for recreating this outer panel will be available on the Quilter’s Planner website soon. I absolutely love it!
Here is the inside without the planner so that you can see the Bookplate in Charcoal (Ex Libris) pockets paired with the Sticks and Twine in Charcoal (Abacus) lining. I added two ribbons; one marks the current weekly calendar page, and one marks the page on which I’m currently sketching new ideas.
I used a bit of Artifact in Charcoal from Abacus as a pen/scissor holder, too. It fits perfectly! Realistically, I most likely will keep my pencil and micron pen in the zip pocket and my scissors in my sewing kit, but I know I have an option to carry them along if need be. Plus, BEAUTY!
I found a perfectly coordinating zipper and some fun eggplant colored elastic at my local quilt shop Fiddlehead Artisan Supply. The elastic is designed for bra straps, so it’s sooooo silky smooth.
View of the back of the planner cover, with the gorgeous elastic holding it all together.
I love how the elastic holds the planner together when it’s closed. I have big plans to make a coordinating Super Tote (a Noodlehead pattern) and carrying my planner with me everywhere (scheduled for sometime in the future! LOL).
As you can see, I absolutely love my planner and am very excited to have this finished cover to show to you. I am a big list person, so making the decision to set goals and write out my lists at the beginning of each week and again every morning has been monumental. Not only am I improving at setting and staying on top of realistic sewing and blogging goals, I’m also keeping my house nearly completely clean for the first time ever. The change? A switch from “I should do…” to just doing it. Instead of looking at the dishes and saying “I need to do the dishes” I just put on my dish gloves and dig in. I also space out tasks so that laundry is done in manageable steps instead of left until it’s a mountain with no end in sight. Did the planner work some magic over me? Who knows. Either way, knowing that I have a paper planner with actual listed items I need to cross out each day has made me much more accountable for actually doing the things on my list.
Giveaway time!
Now, for the giveaway! Stephanie was nice enough to send me an extra planner and I want to share it with YOU! I’m also going to include a charm pack of Alison Glass’s Sun Prints 2016, one Art Theory panel in charcoal, and a bit of Robert Kaufman’s Essex linen in charcoal–in other words, all of the fabric needed to create the outside panel for a planner cover just like mine!
To enter the giveaway today, tell me your favorite feature of the Quilter’s Planner, OR a feature you’d like to see next year. You can read all about this year’s Quilter’s Planner and can sign up for email updates here. Leave a comment and make sure I’m able to get ahold of you if you win. If you’re a follower of Night Quilter, leave a second comment telling me how you follow for a second entry.
For those of you who want to be in the loop for next year regardless of whether you win this planner, I definitely recommend signing up for the mailing list at http://quiltersplanner.com/. When you sign up, you’ll also immediately receive a PDF of the Individual Project Planning Page. Stephanie will periodically email you new PDFs as she develops them to thank you for your support, and you will be the first to know when preorders open for next year’s planner.
This giveaway is open to US and international participants. The giveaway will be open until 8pm Wednesday 2/10 when I’ll select the winner randomly with random.org. Good luck, and spread the word! This giveaway has ended. The winner will be announced shortly!
Please note that while I usually try to reply to every blog comment by email, due to the volume of comments during giveaways I will not be able to reply to all comments on this post. Know, though, that I read every one and appreciate all of your kind words!!
**Sponsor News**
All Night Quilter love-themed patterns are on sale through Valentine’s Day on Craftsy and Payhip. Sew up some hearts for your home!
Twice a year, Amy from Amy’s Creative Side hosts a Bloggers Quilt Festival, an online quilt show where peers vote for their favorite quilt in each category. It should come as no surprise that I am entering a quilt into the ROYGBIV category, given my penchant for rainbows. As my first-ever entry into the Bloggers Quilt Festival, I’m entering my Alison Glass Prismatic Medallion mini quilt. Yes, this quilt will soon be mailed off to my swap partner, but that’s one of the huge benefits of this Quilt Festival–you don’t need the quilt in hand to enter!
Without further ado, I give you Alison Glass Prismatic Medallion:
I finished binding this quilt earlier this week. It’s created with primarily Alison Glass fabrics, most of which come from her newest 2015 Sun Prints Mercury and Grove. The pattern is the Prismatic Medallion pattern offered for free on the Robert Kaufman website.
Alison’s Sun Prints offer such a gorgeously saturated and bright color palette, perfect for ROYGBIV quilting creations. I decided to quilt this mini in coordinating Aurifil thread, both 40 and 50wts, depending on what weight I had in my stash. I used a fun prismatic quilting pattern, which really brings out the angularity of the design.
Quilting detailNice crisp corners!
The quilt is bound in Yarn Dyed Essex linen blend in Charcoal by Robert Kaufman. Here are the final quilt stats:
Alison Glass Prismatic Medallion Mini Quilt
Completed May 2015 Pattern: Prismatic Medallions by Robert Kaufman Fabrics Size: 23″ x 20″
Fabric: Assorted fabric from Alison Glass’s 2015 Sun Prints, Mercury and Grove (Andover Fabrics), with other Alison Glass fabrics: Feathers in Dahlia and Black, Bike Path, Handcrafted, and some others, including but not limited to Carolyn Friedlander Architextures Crosshatch in Tangerine, Cotton + Steel basics in yellow, magenta, and green, and some Timeless Treasures Sketch.
Binding is Yarn Dyed Essex Linen blend in Charcoal (Robert Kaufman Fabrics).
Quilting: Prismatic straight line quilting with my walking foot
Thread: Aurifil 50wt 2600 – Dove for piecing
Assorted color coordinating Aurifil for quilting:
Before heading to QuiltCon, I promised myself I wasn’t going to go crazy with buying tons of fabric and notions, etc. Truly, I stuck to my word–probably more because I simply didn’t have time to browse the vendors as much as I would have liked, but still! The one fabric line that was on my list of “definitely buy” was Alison Glass’s new Sun Prints. I am signed up for the Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap, so really, I needed to buy some anyway. However, in my mad dash through the vendor booths on Saturday afternoon, I discovered that many booths were getting cleared out. When I arrived at Pile O’ Fabric‘s booth, they had only ONE bundle left of Sun Prints Mercury and Grove, the two that were on my must-buy list. I was planning on seeking out fat eight bundles, but these were, um…. half yard bundles. Close? I bought both, my only non-food purchases the entire trip.
Grove on top, Mercury on bottom: Half yard bundles of Alison Glass’s newest Sunprints from Pile O’ Fabric.
I love how this gorgeous pile of fabric has a Pile O’ Fabric tag on it. What a great name for a fabric store!
I’ve had my eye on the new Sun Prints since they were released for preorder. The saturated, bright colors and tone on tone nature of this fabric line falls right into the “Kitty must have it loves it” category. I admit I did hesitate before buying both half yard bundles, since it’s the largest one-time fabric purchase I’ve made to date (yes, I’m that frugal when it comes to buying fabric). I KNOW that these fabrics will be loved and used, though, so carpe diem, right?
Mercury: Alison Glass Sun Prints 2015Grove: Alison Glass Sun Prints 2015
With all these gorgeous colors, I had to arrange them in a rainbow for some serious photo shoot yumminess. Mercury, meet Grove. Feast your eyes on these beauties!
I had my usual helper during this photo shoot, and I will be astounded the day he doesn’t want to “help” by being right smack dab in the middle of the photos. As per usual during our sunny day playroom photo shoots, Max took turns taking photos and posing in the photos. In my opinion (and I’m sure in Grandma’s opinion, too), his cute mug just makes the photos that much more perfect.
I seriously love this kid!
And I love the rainbow gorgeousness of these fabrics. Here, I’ll take you for a little stroll down Rainbow Way:
Now that these lovelies are officially part of my stash, I just have to figure out the perfect pattern to make for my mini partner. And then decide what to make with the leftovers!
What pattern would you use to let these gorgeous colors shine?
I’m linking up with Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash, since if he can be a bit late, I can, too! Tuesday, Sunday… eh, it’s close enough!
I grab a needle and thread once the kids are in bed
I really love clear video tutorials since I am very much a visual learner. Seeing each step helps make the process smooth and easy to complete without hang up or confusion. That, to me, is a big win!
I decided to make my pin cushion with a range of warm Alison Glass Sun Prints 2015 and 2016, and once it was finished, it begged to be photographed out in the garden with the peonies. Such vibrant colors need to be in colorful company.
I used a Tula Pink ribbon I won in a giveaway from Renaissance Ribbons a year or so ago as the ribbon detail, top stitched with Aurifil 40wt 2230-Medium Peony (so fitting!). I topped the pin cushion with Robert Kaufman Quilter’s Linen, which is a fabulous all-purpose blender fabric that happened to coordinate wonderfully. Aurifil 50wt 5022-Mustard was the perfect thread for hand stitching the opening in the Quilter’s Linen closed, too. I just love when perfectly coordinating fabrics and thread can be found in my stash.
I backed the pin cushion in Ex Libris Bookplate in Charcoal by Alison Glass (Andover Fabrics), and really would be tempted to use the pin cushion upside down every so often, it’s so pretty. This pin cushion is not for me, though, so the recipient can do with it as she pleases!
This is the first pin cushion I’ve stuffed entirely with crushed walnut shell, at Sherri’s suggestion, and I really like the sturdiness and ease with which pins go into it. I bought the crushed walnut shell from a quasi-local, fabulous quilt shop, Clementine in Rockland, Maine months ago but had not yet had a chance to use it. Leah at Clementine suggested the crushed walnut shells since the oils from the nut shells help keep the pins and needles sharp and rust free. They also provide a nice, sturdy base for your pins and needles.
Check out the video below and make your own pin cushion if you want! There’s no such thing as too many pin cushions, right?
Night Quilter 