I'm about to swoon....

....because it's finally finished! This quilt took 1/2 a year to finish!

I started it over the summer along with all the other Swoon 13'ers and I was so good about completing 1-2 blocks per week, pieced it in a timely manner, and even basted it all before school started back up. I promptly scheduled some rental time on the HQ Sweet 16 (45 min lesson required for first time renters) at one of my local sewing lounges, Urban Spools, but the day before my class/rental, I found out my dad was in the hospital and survived a heart attack.

So, I cancelled my rental time and the quilt just sat in my dining room waiting. About a month after my dad went home and I caught back up with life, I called Urban Spools back up and re-booked my class. When I finally made it to my class, my first thought was how adorable this sewing studio was and how welcoming and super excited the owner, Michelle, was teach me.

During the brief lesson, we got to talking and she discovered that I taught a sewing class at my library once a month. Her immediate reaction was to offer me a beginning sewing teaching position during the day while the girls were at school. I was so excited that I could barely focus on finishing the Swoon. I told her absolutely {!} and have already taught two classes this December and have 5 in January! Double swoon!

Sometimes, things happen for a reason and we never really know why. I'm just thankful that my dad recovered from his heart attack and open heart surgery and is doing better every day! I am also thankful that I cancelled that first lesson with Michelle, because who knows if that opportunity would have presented itself to me then. I am also thankful that Mr. Relish understands that I am not a breadwinner and if this job is solely to bring me additional joy (aside from being a mother) and to pay for fabric, then he is okay with that (especially the latter...hehe).

There really isn't much to share about this quilt other than it's a Swoon quilt pattern by Thimble Blossoms and I used Madhuri by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake. I quilted dense spirals and it took about 5 hours. Oh, and I love quilting on the HQ Sweet 16....it' a dream!!!

 

Oh, I almost forgot, I made myself some new quilt and sewing labels! It was fairly easy...just designed a logo in photoshop, collated them into a word document, and then printed on t-shirt transfer paper. I then ironed them onto 1 1/2 inch twill tape. I love the fold over style because it can literally be an afterthought (as with most of my labels).

 

To read about my Swoon in the works, check out my previous blog posts here and here. :)
Thanks for stopping by to visit!
Melissa

 

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Linking up with some of my favorite link parties to the right and Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF!

Top Ten of 2013

Happy New Year! I have to say that this year has been the best! I started blogging at the beginning of the year in January and haven't looked back! I first started as a way to keep up with what I am creating and a way to share with friends and family. I felt bad for always posting on Facebook when about 90% didn't really have an interest in what I was creating. It wasn't until March that I finally figured out what the heck I was doing and joined my first quilt-a-long, Virtual Quilting Bee. [I still need to finish that one, but all the blocks are completed so that's still a flimsy finish in my book!] I then joined Zakka 2.0 and a few other quilt-a-longs and met some wonderful new blogging friends along the way. The sewing skills and techniques I learned because of these sew-a-longs are invaluable!

So, in popular end of year blogging style, I give you my top ten viewed post of 2013!

1. Reversible Chevron Baby Quilt with Pattern



2. easy peasy chevron quilt



3. my pretty little GIANT star surround is finished...



4. Nap mat and quilting with minky...



5. Modern Christmas Tree Pillow Tutorial



6. Uptown square...



7. Zakka 2.0 - Happy Hexagon Trivet



8. for the boys: an anniversary man quilt



9.Dorothy Day Tripper...Glamping Style



10. MSBHQAL finish...



And I just couldn't leave out #11 since it was so close to making it...

11. southwest salsa: a free pattern



Things I learned this year:

1. How to blog and gain readers/blogging friends by interacting and participating in hops, quilt/sew-a-longs and visiting/commenting other creative bloggers.

2. How to capture my work with better pictures and editing. If you make something beautiful, make sure you take the time to capture that as well in your photos. Otherwise, that hard work and beauty can be lost to others that take the time to admire your work.

3. How to take my time on a project, big or small. It truly makes a difference in the end. Just relax and enjoy the process.

4. Never stop learning. Try new things to gain more skills. NOTHING is too hard! Join in a sew-a-long or quilt-a-long and you would be surprise how much you will learn along with the help of many others right there with you!

5. Share, share, share! It is so rewarding to get praise and affirmation of things you create. So, even if it's just on facebook, Flickr, or Instagram...SHARE AWAY!

Feel free to add to my list! Thanks again from the bottom of my heart and Happy New Year!

Melissa

Jingle bells, jingles bells...

Big relish would like to sing a Christmas carol for you tonight...

 

 

So, if your little ones are all grown up and you forgot how stinking adorable they sound ("wride" lol), I hope this video reminds you. Merry Christmas!

Melissa

 

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PSA: giveaway winner announced....

If you left a comment last week on my Mae's Daisy quilt post then make sure you visit Sew in Love {with fabric} to see if you won a FQ bundle from Benartex!

Congrats to the lovely winner!! I'd love to know what you make with your goodies!

Melissa

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Dashing through the snow...

Well, I was a busy little elf last week stitching away and shopping for Christmas gifts. Other than one little giftcard I need to get, I am finished. Whooohooo! Everything is wrapped, Santa has been seen, and I will deliver all the teacher gifts this week.

I do want to share some simple and quick gift ideas to stitch up for last minute gifts and most with a tutorial link!

1. I made some more composition book covers for a few of the teachers and our fantastic babysitter. These are super fun and easy to whip up. Our babysitter is a grad student in a microbiology lab and actually uses a composition book for all her lab notes. Needless to say she was thrilled to receive a fancy lab book cover and her lab mates were quite jealous, too (at least the girl ones were)! I used Jedi Craft Girl's Quilted Composition Cover Tutorial.

2. In the last sewing class I tought, only 2 ladies were able to come due to the ice storm Dallas received last weekend. So I decided to just postpone the lesson planned and we made scrap ornaments using Jenny's pattern at Stumbles and Stitches instead. I did mine a little different. I pieced a bunch of strips leftover from my Mae's Daisy Quilt and put batting on the back and quilted. I then traced out a bunch of stockings and then stitched together wrong sides together leaving an opening on the top. I stuffed a tad bit of poly-fil (or cotton balls would work) and then added the ribbon and stitched the top closed.

3. I made great mimi some oven mitts, which are replicas of mine that I love so dear, but they look terrible with stains and holes. Don't worry, I made myself a pair too! Fabric is from JoAnn's two years ago. If you are interested in a pattern for these, I can trace mine and post a pdf. Let me know if so in the comments. I have had so many pot holders over the years but these are the perfect shape and size. It is triple layered with cotton batting and thermal/insulation interfacing.

4. I made each of the teachers a zipper pouch and key fob as well. I love this gathered zipper pouch tutorial by noodlehead! It was easy to make and just took a little bit more time but so worth it!

For the key fobs, I just took two 2" strips of fabric and pieced long sides together. Then pressed them as if I was making double sided bias tape and topstitched each side. I then cut the pieces to the size I needed and attached the key fob hooks to them.

Funny story: Yesterday, when I was picking up little relish, her teacher asked me where I got my key fob and I had to tell her she might or might not be getting one too! lol

And that is it, my friends! I hope you get your Christmas shopping and stitching finished soon and can enjoy time with your family.

I would like to leave you with my sweet relishes visiting Santa!

 

ps - big relish is so stinking proud that she sat on Santa's lap this year! {and so am I!}

Merry Christmas!

Melissa

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Mae's Daisy Quilt

Hi Y'all! I shared this over at Sew in Love {with fabric} last week and now get to share on my blog. I am so super proud of this fun bright quilt and I hope you print, pin, share, or like (or whatever your "must make" list method is) my free quilt pattern. Go on, I'll wait....

I love to sew just about anything, but my heart belongs to quilting. So of course, when I was asked to create a tutorial for Benartex it had to be quilty.

At first, I thought I would be conservative and just do a quick little pillow and call it a day. But what was the fun in that? Why not do a quilt AND a pillow? Before I designed anything, I went onto Benartex's website to check out all the fabric goodies. Oh. My. Word. How can I pick? So many choices! I thought I had finally picked out a collection, then another collection's name caught my eye. Daisy Mae. So I clicked on it and what I saw was a page full of colorful and happy daisy prints and polka dots. Sold! Anything with the name Mae just makes my heart smile. That's my big relish's middle name, but it's also a special family name and both my husband and mine's initials. Once I had the fabric, the idea for the pattern was simple. I just busted out my newly acquired EQ7 quilting software and got to work.

I have created an easy little printable for you to print out or your can follow along below to create your own Mae's Daisy Quilt. Remember, you can make your quilt to be any size, just adjust the amount of blocks you use. I have provided instructions to make the lap quilt and pillow/mini size. I left the border off my quilt because I actually forgot about it and cut the backing fabric before I realized my mistake. These instructions have the border included for the lap size. Also, the pillow fits a Euro pillow insert perfectly. I get mine at Ikea but I am sure you can grab one anywhere like Walmart or Target.

Fabric Requirements:

*less than 1/8 needed
**assuming fabric is 43 inches wide
***2 1/2 inch wide

Cutting Instructions:

Crib/Lap Quilt:

• You will make 16 flower blocks that measure 10 inches each once finished (10 1/2 inches unfinished). For this pattern, I picked 16 different prints from the Daisy Mae collection, but you can do multiple fabrics for the flowers.
• Cut (4) 5 1/2 inch squares per block/fabric. Set aside.
• For the leaves (green), cut (192) 2 inch squares. Mark a line on the back of each square across the diagonal. Sorry! You can also place a piece of masking tape on your machine to line up with the corners to avoid having to mark all your diagonals. See picture below.
• For the flower center, cut (64) inch 2 1/2 inch squares. Mark down the center as well. So sorry again!
• For the sashing, cut (20) 2 x 10.5 inch strips & (5) 2 x 50.5 inch strips.
• Border consist of (36) 5 3/4 x 3 1/2 inch blocks (9 on each side) & (4) 3 1/2 inch squares for each of the corners.

Mini/Pillow:

• You will make 4 flower blocks that measure 10 inches each once finished (10 1/2 inches unfinished). Cut (4) 5 1/2 inch squares per block/fabric. Set aside.
• For the leaves (green), cut (48) 2 inch squares. Mark a line on the back of each square across the diagonal. Sorry!
• For the flower center, cut (16) inch 2 1/2 inch squares. Mark down the center as well. So sorry again!
• For the sashing, cut (6) 2 x 10.5 inch strips & (2) 2 x 26.5 inch strips.

Piecing the petals:

• To make one of the petals, take one 5 1/2 inch square, three of the green squares and one of the center squares. Place one of the green squares on the corner right sides together and stitch ON the line. Do this with the other two green squares and then the center square. Trim off the corners and press seams open.

Construct flowers and add sashing:

• Take the four completed petal squares and piece together as shown above.
• Add a sashing border to one side of all 16 flower blocks. Then, select the 4 flower blocks that will make the first column on the left and add a sash to the opposite side of the side that has the sashing. Press sashing towards flower blocks.
• Make a row of four flowers with the sashing in-between.
• Add the long piece of sashing to the top of each row and one row will also have sashing on the bottom.
• Piece all the rows together and set aside.

Piecing the border:

• Take 9 of the 5 3/4 x 3 1/2 inch blocks and piece short sides together. Do this for all four borders. Add the 2 1/2 inch squares to the ends of only two of the borders. Press. Add the short sides first, then the long sides. Press.

For the envelope pillow back, cut (2) 25 x 16 inches. Hem on the long sides by folding over 1 inch once and press then fold again 1 inch and press. Stich along the hems. Sandwich the pillow with wrong sides of fabric to the back side of mini quilt top with the hemmed edges overlapped. Pin liberally to avoid shifting when binding. Bind as you would your quilt.

Baste and quilt as desired.

And there you have it! I so hope you make one of these fun quilts. Please share with me if you do!

Melissa

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Giveaway Day Winner!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my giveaway hosted by Sew Mama Sew! I really enjoyed reading everyone's responses to the first item they ever sewed. I would have to say that there were a lot of stylish Barbie dolls out there thanks to us! haha! The other popular answer was learning to sew in home economics. My first time sewing was in middle (jr high) school home economics as well and we made flannel boxer shorts. They were green and plaid and awful! I did a little hand sewing in college because I couldn't afford a sewing machine, and then I got my first machine right after college and been stitching away ever since. Now, for what you really want to know...

The winner of S is for Stitch is...



Melissa @ Missouri Mel blogs over Missouri Mel. Be sure to check her out and tell her Happy Birthday! Congrats Melissa!

Melissa

Giveaway Day, Hurray!

Since I had a very special post this morning (giveaway there too ;), I couldn't post my giveaway for Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day until now. So, here I am...better late than never!

I was lucky enough to end up with 2 copies of S is for Stitch. I actually won one copy and then received a copy as a gift the exact same week. So instead of hurting anyone's feelings, I decided to give one copy away when a good oppurtunity arrived. Well, it has arrived! Yay!
This is a super fun stitching book for anyone, even beginners, and has some adorable projects and patterns!
To enter, comment and tell me the first thing you have ever sewn? For a bonus entry, you can follow me if you like and let me know as an additional comment. International entries welcomed!

Good luck, new and old readers!
Melissa

Post Edit: Giveaway closes Dec. 13th at 5 PM Pacific (7 PM Central). All comments after deadline won't be included. I will announce a winner this weekend on this post and probably a new post for those that follow. :)

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Giveaway closed! Winner is...



Melissa @ Missouri Mel blogs over Missouri Mel. Be sure to check her out and tell her Happy Birthday! Congrats Melissa!

I'm over at Sew in Love {with fabric} and a giveaway!

I am super excited to be sharing my quilt pattern and tutorial over at Sew in Love {with fabric} today. Go check it out and then come back to enter to win your own fat quarter bundle from Benartex!



To enter, please be sure to follow both Sew in Love {with fabric} and my fabric relish then leave a comment letting me know you did that.

A winner will be picked randomly by Mr. Random Number Generator not before 12/12/13.

Good Luck!

Melissa

Fresh New December

Happy December! So excited to have my Christmas tree and all the decorations up! Mr. Relish put out the outdoor lights and we all welcomed Osa the Elf to our shelves. Great way to start December!

I also want to share all my sewing achievements from November and really happy with what I was able to finish and it felt good!



I made this fun pillow for Quilt Story.



I went to Quilt Festival!



Made my first triangle quilt!



I made some super fun and easy fabric baskets.





Quilted up some pillow/minis for my niece and nephew in India.



Made my sister and mom some totes for Christmas.



Made a my Starring Piper quilt.



AND lastly, shared an awesome free pattern!!

Hope everyone has a spectacular December! Linking up with

Melissa