My Quilts

Want to see what I sew? Take a closer look at some of my projects and quilts that I have worked on in the past.

  • Baby Mountains – A Hexagon Quilt!

    Hello quilters! Today is a great day ? I finally finished a quilt that has been in the back of my mind for ages… seriously. I wanted to make this hexagon quilt a long time ago but the timing just wasn’t right. I just had to wait for the right opportunity to come along!

    Do you have quilts like that? Quilts that you want to make, but don’t yet have the right recipient? Or patterns that you’re saving for a rainy day?

    I can tell you it is so refreshing and invigorating when you finally can check it off of your list as done!

    And even better when the finished quilt idea comes out better than you could have hoped for!

    This is the finished quilt. – Baby Mountains. ❀❀❀

    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!

    I made this quilt for a friend of the family that just recently had their second child.

    Hexagon quilts have drawn me in lately with their versatility. I wanted to make a hexagon quilt using the templates I had on hand and I kind of made it up the pattern and layout as I went. – I didn’t use anything but a vague idea I had in my head for an earth-y/nature-y vibe with a soft baby twist.

    Pretty sure I nailed it. ? What do you think?

    I made a quilt for their first child too. It turned out super cute as well… Something about the size of baby quilts makes me want to call every single one of them “super cute”… just saying ‘cute’ doesn’t feel like it is enough, I guess?

    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!

    Unfortunately, I was a terrible quilt photographer back then and this is THE ONLY picture I have of the whole quilt?! Say what?! I don’t know. I’m sorry. That is why I will always encourage you to take pictures of each and every one of your quilts… even if you think they’re terrible and don’t deserve to be photographed. You’ll want to look back on it one day!

    As you can see, the back of the first quilt had this adorable mustache fabric on it! There are certain fabrics that I’ll never get over… I swear it still makes me want to squeal with delight at how awesome it is. I LOVE this mustache fabric!

    When I was searching through the fabrics that I have in my stash (because… quarantine, right?) for fabrics to pull together for the Baby Mountain quilt, I ran across a little leftover mustache fabric and just KNEW I had to use it too.

    …because sibling quilts! ??

    I used the mustache fabric on just one of the mountains. It works as kind of a focal point for the quilt as well.

    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!

    As I was piecing the quilt together and working on the mustache mountain, I imagined the new big sister getting excited about seeing a mountain matching her quilt. It is pretty special, I think. πŸ™‚

    Of course, I might be the only one excited over that cute little matching mountain, but that is ok. πŸ™‚ Sometimes you just have to imagine the world a better place all by yourself!

    Here are a few more pictures of the Baby Mountain Quilt…

    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!

    This was the first quilt that I got to use my new labels on! I love how cute they came out. (ignore the ugly yellow lighting… it has been raining for 3 days and I can’t go outside to get good sunlight photos…)

    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!

    The backing fabric is one of my favorites by Carrie Bloomston’s Wonder line of fabrics. Absolutely in LOVE with this fabric and being in a quarantine state it was hard to part with even a little bit of this fabric haha…(I might have hoarding problems.)

    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!
    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!

    There is so much going on with the fabric and colors in this quilt… your eyes are drawn all over the quilt from mountain to mountain. I feel like the soft color palette helps to calm things down a bit, but I didn’t want to complicate things further with the quilting so I decided to keep it really simple. This quilt called for some straight line quilting.

    I also decided to hand stitch the binding on this quilt to give it a special finished look. (also, *bonus* I was able to sit and watch a movie on the couch with my kids while I worked)

    Here is a close up look of just how simple the construction of this hexagon quilt is. I used my half hexagon template and a triangle template. That is it! It is simple to mix and match your fabrics however you like to create the shapes that you want!

    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!

    The Other Sibling Quilt

    I might have gotten really happy cutting out half hexies… or possibly distracted? I’m really not sure. After I got the quilt pieces arranged on my design wall I realized I had way too many cut pieces left over. oops.

    I could either make this baby quilt into a throw quilt, let go of the extra pieces or I could save them and use them on another project.

    I decided that since baby brother has a matching piece to big sister’s quilt… perhaps big sister would like a matching quilt to baby brothers! Also, She might be getting to the age where she wants to copy mommy or have little baby dolls of her own, so I decided to make a mini quilt using the leftover pieces. It is a 32″ x 32″ mini quilt.

    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!

    I arranged the pieces a little differently because playing with hexies is a lot of fun ? I hope she likes her little quilt gift.

    Also, I had leftover binding from my Social Distancing Quilt Project, so I re-purposed it on this her mini quilt.

    I’m really excited to make this quilt off to its new home to hopefully have many many snuggles and naps in the future.

    This "Baby Mountains" Hexagon quilt is made using a half-hexagon and triangle template. I love the earthy vibe that it has while still having the soft fabrics for baby quilt perfection!

    Here are a few more blog links about using templates and rulers that you might find useful:

    The quilting rulers that are my absolute favorite are from Gadget Girls. Their quality is absolutely superior to what else I have found in the chain stores while shopping. Check out their website here.

    Let me know what you think in the comments ? Feel free to ask any questions… I’m off to go work on another baby quilt that has been in the works for a while! More pictures to come in a few weeks!

    Happy Sewing!

  • “Social Distancing” – A Look at My Most Recent Quilt Project

    I don’t know what it is about my office/sewing room… it is always freeeeezing in here compared to the rest of the house. I’ve been meaning to make myself a pretty lap quilt for a while now… if only I had the extra time, right?

    Oh… be careful what you wish for, right?

    When Hurricane Harvey hit my Hometown in 2017, we were stranded for days and expecting the worst… because, what else can you do? To busy myself and wait for the storm to hit, I made a quilt. (perfect productive activity, right?!)

    The pattern was super simple so that if needed I would be able to finish it by hand should we lose power or have to evacuate.

    When it was all over, I had a pretty new quilt for our home and a reminder that everything will always be ok in the end. Thankfully we were among the fortunate ones and didn’t experience any loss or flooding.

    Faced with another period of time sitting at home and waiting to see what the future holds… I decided to make a “Social Distancing” quilt project!

    Have you started a new project lately?

    Stuck at home? Make a quilt! Check out the latest of my quilt projects and see how I made a Social Distancing Quilt symbolic of the crazy times we live in!

    The goal was again to keep it simple.

    When I make a quilt for a friend of family member… I will absolutely almost always make it way more complicated than it needs to be.

    It’s in my nature… it is what I do?

    I choose a pattern that make you want to pull your hair out. It’s complicated and usually involves me learning a brand new crazy skill as well… because I’m a curious creative and a glutton for doing things the hard way!

    And because I love my family and friends fiercely… I’ll fight through it and learn the skills needed and fix my errors as I go.

    Saying it out loud makes me sounds completely insane… I get that now. Perhaps my next few quilts will be relatively easy ones before I pick another hard one.

    (FYI – this is also why I share so many of my tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the years with you… because I often do it the hard way the first time! It is much easier if someone can share the easy way first and allow you to jump over that learning curve with ease!)

    This social distancing quilt was going to be mine and for my own personal use in my freezer of an office.

    When I make quilts for myself and my personal use, I like to focus on the fabrics.

    I absolutely fell in love with this Katarina Rochella Print from Art Gallery Fabrics… I mean… it is pure perfection and makes me so excited just staring at it! (I actually wrote an entire post on Katarina because I love her fabric designs! You can read that here.)

    The name of this fabric is Framework Violet. It is part of her fabric line entitled Grid. I believe it is a 2019 release.

    Stuck at home? Make a quilt! Check out the latest of my quilt projects and see how I made a Social Distancing Quilt symbolic of the crazy times we live in!

    The fabric has a floral yet grunge look to it and I couldn’t bear to cut it up and piece it together again. The fabric was busy enough by itself as well.

    I left one side the quilt the Katarina Rochella Fabric and decided to piece the other side of the quilt with some other fun finds from the quilt shop!

    Fat Quarter Shop Quilting Fabrics and Supplies

    Check out this mix of fun fabric that I picked up from Tula Pink (the blue fabric) and Ruby Star Society (the pink fabric) that I used on the other side!

    Stuck at home? Make a quilt! Check out the latest of my quilt projects and see how I made a Social Distancing Quilt symbolic of the crazy times we live in!

    And because of the craziness of the times we are living in right now with the isolation and feeling completely out of sorts… I went with a very unconventional choice for the binding.

    I had this dalmatian spotted fabric for a while and felt like it was the right random choice for my Social Distancing quilt πŸ™‚

    Stuck at home? Make a quilt! Check out the latest of my quilt projects and see how I made a Social Distancing Quilt symbolic of the crazy times we live in!

    Does it match the rest of the quilt? No, not really. Is it what I would have chosen had I had the ability to run back to the quilt shop real quick and pick a nice pink or green? Again, no.

    While the binding wasn’t my first choice, it still turned out lovely. It’s really grown on me the more and more I spend time with the quilt.

    I feel that it reflects the fact that we’ve had to make a lot of choices recently that we otherwise would not have had to make… be it weird dinner combinations before having to go to the store or figuring out how to celebrate birthdays and holidays while away from family…

    You know what? The times we’re in are a little crazy right now… but it is all going to be just fine as long as we take care of each other.

    Stuck at home? Make a quilt! Check out the latest of my quilt projects and see how I made a Social Distancing Quilt symbolic of the crazy times we live in!

    This quilt is the perfect addition to my sewing room. It is perfect to wrap up in when I feel chilly because I will always prefer to be barefoot in the house!

    The last little bit that I wanted to show you was how I decided to quilt my Social Distancing Quilt!

    Being that we’ve been spending a lot of time together as a family… I mean a lot of movies on the couch, board games, card games and snuggles watching classic old cartoons etc… I decided to hand-tie this quilt while I was sitting on the couch with my family!

    It seems fitting, right? I’ll be sharing a tutorial very soon on how you can hand tie a quilt or even just add a little more of a hand-finished touch to your machine quilted quilts.

    Check out the little knots on the quilt πŸ™‚ Aren’t they cute?

    Stuck at home? Make a quilt! Check out the latest of my quilt projects and see how I made a Social Distancing Quilt symbolic of the crazy times we live in!

    I know I’ve met several other quilters that have their own version of “social distancing” and “Isolation” projects going on! Let me know what you’ve been working on and what you think in the comments below!

    Stay safe & healthy,

  • FREE PATTERN! DIY Quilted Floor Pillow

    I had such a positive response to the DIY quilted floor pillow and photos that I shared last week. It was so overwhelming that I decided to go ahead and create a pattern for you! I also included detailed instructions on how I made the pillow… oh, and did I mention that I decided to give the pattern away to you… for FREEEEEEE? ?❀

    Simply fill out the form below and I’ll email you a copy!

    If you decide that this pillow just MUST be a part of your life and your home… there are a few things that you’ll need…

    In addition to the free pattern for the DIY quilted floor pillow and templates, you’ll also gain access to my Freebie Library which has SO many more free patterns!

    I also send out weekly newsletters to my subscribers with helpful quilting tips and tricks as well as links to the coolest stuff in the quilting community!

    Check out some of my other popular posts! πŸ™‚

    Lastly, a picture of what happens when you make something comfy in this house and it sits on the floor for 2 seconds… πŸ™‚

  • Top 15 Quilt Blogs To Follow In 2020

    Hey, so I wanted to share something really fun with you today!

    I’ve been listed as one of the top 15 Quilt Blogs to follow in 2020!

    You can check out the article on Feedspot here!

    It is a great group of blogs that I’m included with on the list so I’m pretty honored and excited. Make sure you check out the other wonderful bloggers that have been listed.

    I've been nominated as one of the Top 15 Quilting blogs to follow in 2020! So I'm sharing more of my favorite content with you today!

    For more fun lists, check out these posts that I’ve created with more great content:

    And here are some more FREE Pattern links for you!

  • DIY Quilted Floor Pillow

    I’ve had this idea for a DIY quilted floor pillow for a while. I wanted a soft and fluffy meditation pillow for quiet moments – even though they are rare around here. haha

    I wanted something that would be comfortable and large, but also beautiful and of course… quilted!

    I started by searching online first for something that I loved or something I liked but could easily add on to. No luck… So, Like any good DIY artist, I went to Pinterest for ideas on how to make my own.

    Ideas brewed and percolated… I looked through my fabric for inspiration and….

    I started out with was this beautiful Jelly roll with Alison Glass fabric. Isn’t it just to die for?!? I LOVE the happy wonderful rainbow colors!

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    From here it was just a matter of calculating the right measurements and working out the combinations of colors.

    Here is a picture of the final DIY Floor Pillow!

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    When the pillow insert arrived in the mail today, I didn’t waste 5 minutes before I stuffed it in to marvel and take a moment to squeal at how much I loved how it turned out!

    But then this promptly happened…

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    So what started out as MY pillow… might turn into something I have to share with a few furry family members… I’ll just roll with it, I suppose.

    Why Floor Pillows?

    My Family I have always been obsessed with lots of pillows. I love the soft comfy cozy life surrounded by cushy soft fabrics. (lots of beautiful fabrics!)

    When my kids were toddlers I had a rather large collection of pillows from all the times we moved around and changed our decor to fit our new place regularly.

    My kids would lay out all the pillows to watch movies and inevitably fall down on purpose to a big pile of pillows. πŸ™‚

    Floor pillows are an easy and quick way to add extra seating to your home or bring everyone closer in for game/movie nights.

    Even in elegant spaces, a few floor pillows can make guests and family members feel at home. It softens the edges of “hard/don’t touch” decor and looks great in both formal and casual spaces.

    The DIY floor pillow that I made will have its home with me here in my office, but I might make a few more for the living room and upstairs game room to add more seating as my kids get a little older.

    It was such a really fun project to make!

    DIY Floor Pillow Directions

    Someday soon, I plan to add this DIY Floor pillow pattern for you to make your own. (Update! I did it! I made the pattern for you! And it is a FREE download! You can find it here)… I just wanted to show you what I made!

    I started with this pattern that I drew up…

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    I sewed together the jelly roll strips and cut out pieces using my template.

    See the photo below for the beginnings of the project coming to life when I put together all the jelly roll strip pieces… It’s already coming together so lovely!

    Did you catch the subtle radiating star pattern forming with the angles?!

    I love it so much!

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    I ended up with a lot of beautiful scraps for projects in the future to play with! (This is my favorite Alison Glass fabrics so not a single square inch will be wasted… I just have to find the right project to play with.)

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    To really give the DIY floor pillow a quilted look, I layered the fabric top with a layer of warm and natural quilt batting under it and secured it with pins.

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    I decided to add a few chosen quilting lines to make all the difference in the design!

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    With so much already happening with the fabric, I chose to keep a really simple quilting line designs and add just enough to accentuate the stark geometric lines.

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    The final little touch was a decision for the cute stripey piping around the outside edge to accent the bright and colorful fabric.

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    A Few Notes on Pillow Forms/Fillers

    The first thing I considered using for a filler was a bag of beanbag beads that I found on amazon. It is mostly tons of tiny little styrofoam or recycled plastic little balls that are typically used in bean bag chairs and “tween hang out rooms”.

    I had a moment of panic when I pictured not only the form of my peaceful floor pillow being lost but the absolute horror of a potential future hole in the fabric and… *shudders* nope. No bean bag filler.

    It had to be pillow fluff or Polly-fill material, to be more specific.

    But I wanted enough filling that the pillow didn’t sink flat to the ground as soon as someone sat on it. I mean, you can’t meditate with your tailbone screaming in pain, right?

    So I did a little experiment and thankfully, my idea worked!

    My pillow measures 24″ all the way around, BUT I went ahead and ordered the 32″ round pillow form hoping to add a much firmer poofy look for only a few dollars more.

    Best.Decision.Ever!

    This was a decision that I am super happy with! My DIY floor pillow has plenty of fluff and support and is puppy approved πŸ˜‰ What more could I ask for?

    Check out the DIY Floor Pillow that I made in an afternoon! It is so quilty and fabulous! This was such a fun project to work on - see how I did it!

    What do you think? Do you have a need for a fun floor pillow like this in your house? Would you be interested in a pattern for this project? You can get the FREE pattern here!

    Let me know what you think in the comments below!

  • Making a Jelly Roll Rug: The 5 Mistakes I Made

    Since I’ve been showing you my progress on the Jelly Roll Rug Quilting project I have been working on, I thought it only fair that I show you the messy and struggle parts as well. Read on for the 5 Mistakes I made on my Jelly Roll Rug!

    I like to call my “mistakes” my “learning moments”… as in “oh, I guess I had to learn the WRONG way to do it before I learned the right way to do it“. Uh-huh, I’m special. I have a lot of learning moments in the sewing room. Part of that due to the fact that I like to briefly read through the instructions, decide that I totally got this with the confidence of a woman who has been to hell and back again and then jumps in with both feet like I know what I’m doing.

    *cue seam ripper* I usually only vaguely know what I’m doing with new projects.

    It used to bother me when I would have to pull out the seam ripper, but apparently not enough for me to stop being so fearless in the sewing room and slow down, I guess.

    I love to just go forward and problem-solve as I go.

    And thus, I am happy to share the tricks I learned along the way while I was working on my Jelly roll rug! You can get the pattern here. I highly suggest buying the pattern because it has really good steps as well as materials and measurements that you will need to refer back to.

    If you want to see my tips for what you should do: read this post! Current Project: Jelly Roll Rug – I share the tools I recommend and loved using as well.

    The 5 mistakes I made while making a Jelly Roll Rug

    Hopefully, by shining a light on my mistakes, I can give you an idea of what to watch out for when you make your jelly roll rug!

    Just FYI – Here is my finished rug (mistakes and all) and I LOVE the way it turned out. It’s perfect for the little half bath that is attached to my sewing room! And I’m totally making another rug as my next project – that will be a little more ‘mistake’ free and over all cleaner.

    So no pressure when you make your own rug…But you can learn from my mistakes and save yourself the trouble of having your own “learning moments”! πŸ™‚

    1. Practice your tension and stitches until you get it right before working on your rug

    Heads up: You and your sewing machine are not used to going through 4 layers of fabric AND 4 layers of batting.

    It’s like… a lot, ok?

    So practice and get your zig-zag stitching to perfection before you jump in on your rug.

    My machine had some issues skipping stitches occasionally as I went as you can see in the photo below.

    I kept working and adjusting as I went and towards the end finally figured out a good setting. RIP to the middle stitches.

    2. Go S.L.O.W.

    It is so much fun to floor your sewing machine pedal and go all in while you watch this beautiful rug come to life.

    However, go slow anyways! I went about 1/4 of the speed I usually sew.

    This helped a lot with the stitches skipping issue that I had. You just have to tone it down on speed because there is a lot to consider and keep in mind while sewing. Give your machine the chance to keep up with it and get through all the layers.

    3. Pick The Right Needle

    Sharp. Brand New and of good quality. That is what you need.

    Your standard Universal needle will not work to your favor in this situation.

    A lot of fabric and layers need something tough!

    I used a denim needle… below are a few suggestions of needles you can order from Amazon, but you should be able to find them at your local quilt shop or craft store as well.

    4. Relax around those curves!

    It’s a little tough at first when your rug is still taking shape and you’re excited… but if you don’t, your rug won’t lay flat and there will be a weird hump in it that will make you frown and step on it every time you walk over it in effort to smush it into submission… or something of the like?

    Here is what I mean… Again, another “learning moment” for me!

    The fabric around the tighter area tends to bunch up and want to squish together while the outer edges (when I had practiced and kind of found my groove) lays flatter and looser.

    The straight edges of my jelly roll rug lay flat easily. It is just the curved edges where you are coercing the fabric around the curves that you have to remember to relax and just let the fabric guide itself around the previous row.

    5. Be mindful of what is going on on the BACk fo your Jelly Roll Rug!

    Finally, live and learn! This view below is of one of the curved edges of my jelly roll rug and it was the worst of it. There were only a few other areas where I have to go back and fix my mistakes.

    When I was doing my zig-zag stitch to join the rows together, the backside flap of my rope didn’t get caught in the zig-zag. Oopsies…

    See? You can tell where the brown and orange meet up is smooth and the red/purple joint is just… not ok. πŸ™

    While this is an easy fix… (hello again hand sewing and a little clear thread!) It would have been nice to notice what was happening earlier on in the process and take the steps needed to make sure it didn’t keep happening.

    Still, it is fixable and no one will know!… except for of course me, and now you because I told you about it.

    Lessons Learned…

    There is kind of a lot to focus on at one time the first time you make one of these jelly roll rugs.

    I still really enjoyed the process and can’t wait to sew my next one. I expect it to go much easier as I have worked through the mistakes and “learning moments” during my first jelly roll rug, right?

    Have you thought about making a Jelly Roll Rug?

    Do you feel like these “mistakes I made” posts help you or make it easier for you to jump in and make your own projects that maybe you were on the fence about before?

    I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! πŸ™‚

    Happy sewing!