Eastern Sunrise - Free Paper Piecing Pattern!!!

I've had a lot of requests for the pattern for my Eastern Sunrise Quilt and I thought what better time to release it than during Blogathon Canada! So if you're hopping here from one of the  lovely Ontario host bloggers Welcome! I'm Carol. I live in Toronto and have been quilting and blogging for close to 4 years now. 

I walked onto the train I was taking to work one day and a young girl's jacket caught my eye. I loved the lines and colors on it so I took out my little inspiration notebook that I always keep with me and sketched a little quilt block. I got home later and worked out this this paper piecing pattern. I started making the blocks and piecing them together and I got a lot of requests for the pattern. So here it is! 

You can download it for free here : Eastern Sunrise Quilt Block.

The block measures 7.5 inches finished and each copy of the pattern will give you one 7.5 inch block. Make some up and play with the placement. You can create different looks with this block. 

Here's the layout I chose. There's 4 in this one. 

And 20 here!
I make them and keep adding to my columns of bright rays!
You can have them go vertical.

Eastern Sunrise Quilt Top in Progress

 Or Horizontal.

Eastern Sunrise Quilt in Progress

If you make your own Eastern Sunrise I'd love to see it. 

Thanks for stopping by from Blogathon Canada!

Some Selvage Fun!

When I have my walking foot on my machine I try to get in a quick quilt-as-you-go project done before I have to change back to my presser foot.

Played around with selvages this time. 

Was not sure if I wanted to make a quilt out of it or just use this as a mug rug. So I didn't bind. We'll see. 

What's your method for Flying Geese?

I've was working on a few more blocks for my Whirl quilt the other day and I was getting a little frustrated with my Flying Geese! I don't know if it's because I cut some of the this fabric a while ago, or I didn't trim right, or if the bias is throwing me off ... a lot of them had to be let go. And I hate not being able to use something I've sewn up already.

What do you do when you make Flying Geese? How do you get them to be the same size and how do you make your points match?

Help! 

In the Pipeline Progress

I really wish I had a large design wall! This quilt top would go so much faster if I did. I should probably take it into work one Saturday and finish it up there. More on this quilt here. In the Pipeline

Linking up to:

The Needle and Thread Network

Soft Hexies

I started this off a little while ago... this is my hand sewing project for TV time.
I don't often work with soft/light colors but I'm enjoying these.

Color Palette for a Kona Solids Quilt

I absolutely love the Palette Builder on PlayCrafts! I saw this on a blog recently and told myself that I should check it out but then forgot. Today Robert Kaufman had it on their facebook page and I am in love!

PlayCrafts has a Palette Builder where you can upload an image and they will give you the matching Kona Colors! Including the new ones. How cool is that!!!

It is so much fun!

I'm planning to make a quilt with this color scheme. I don't have a pattern yet but I've wanted to use these colors for a long time.

I took this picture on our trip to the Toronto Islands. Something about it makes me feel at peace. Brings a sense of calm. I will let this brew and see what comes up.

Review: Class on Daily Craft TV

You've probably seen the reviews of Daily Craft TV on blogs recently.

Daily Craft TV is a new site for classes in quilting, sewing, knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking and paper craft. The site is brought to us by  Fons & Porter and associate companies like McCall's Quilting, Quiltmaker and  many more. Daily Craft TV brings together many years of experience and crafting knowledge both through the companies associated with it and the instructors whose courses are offered. You'll find many of the big names associated with your craft on this site so it makes sense to sign up for their newsletter so you don't miss out on your favorite teachers.

Eastern Sunrise Progress

Made a few more blocks for my Eastern Sunrise Quilt.

The blocks are only 7.5" so it seems to take a while to make them even though they're simple to do. I had a stack of 12 going at the same time but I ended up messing up one block so I couldn't add another row to it at this point.

I can't decide which direction I like more... what do you think?
Maybe I should make it a square quilt so I can turn it either way?

Eastern Sunrise Vertical

Eastern Sunrise Horizontal

Linking up to:

Ticklish Quilt Top Finish!

Finished my Ticklish Quilt Top. I used a Ticklish Charm Pack and some Kona White and a whole lot of partial seams! :) 

The colors and patterns in the line are gorgeous and the Kona White lets it all pop! 

Here's my initial post: Ticklish Baby Quilt

Crayon Cases from Laurie Wisbrun's Don't Be Crabby

These are for 3 little boys back home. I love Laurie Wisbrun's Don't Be Crabby. It's perfect for little boys with the crabs and boats and worked very well for these Crayon Cases. 

You can find the tutorial here: Crayon Case by Shirley from These Moments of Mine. 

Prince Charming Quilt Top Finish!

This was supposed to be a Lap Quilt from Tula Pink's Prince Charming but it's more of a twin now! Well it's really 70" X 82"... so a good size twin?

Anyway I am very happy with this top finish. I love Tula Pink's Prince Charming collection. I used Kona Snow for the background. 

I feel like I need to practice my free motion skills a lot more before I quilt this quilt. It needs a whimsical quilting design I think - with lots of swirls maybe? I don't know. I have to think about this one for a bit. 

Linking up to: The Needle and Thread Network ; TGIFF

Aren't Partial Seams the Best?!

I learned how to partial seam somewhere in the beginning of 2012 and it's a great technique. If you haven't tried it you should give it a go. It's so simple to do and it allows you to do more with your quilt blocks. I learned how to do it from a post on About.Com! You can see it here: Bright Hopes Quilt Block.

First used partial seams on the quilt for my nephew. 

There are many tutorials and videos that you can pick up this technique from so give it a go!

I started making this HST Quilt in 2012 with left over 3.5" squares from my niece's quilt. So I started to build the quilt from the centre out. And for a long time I kept crawling on the floor, laying out the HST's and sewing them as I added more. Each time I worked on it I had to rearrange the HSTs so I could start where I left off. A couple of days ago I thought... I should just sew the rows together leaving enough room to add more HSTs to each row and sew the row together. I think this has made it easier for me to work on this quilt which means that there is actually progress on it! :)

So much easier to manage!

More Scrabble Star Blocks

Read more about The Scrabble Star Blocks here: Scrabble Star
Linking up to: The Needle and Thread Network

It's time to Free Motion!

I haven't really done any free motion quilting. When I lived in India I had to use a darning foot and a darning plate on my Singer machine to free motion. Also, I used to use layers of muslin as my batting so it didn't lend itself well to free motion quilting.

I did try working with polyester batting and it was not too bad but I didn't do very much with is since I don't like polyester. 

In the Pipeline

Herringbone Top Finish!

Finished the herringbone top. It's a burst of color and many, many different fabrics! I love it! I wish I hadn't started putting the blocks together before I got all of them done though. :( I'm impatient like that! Grr. Lesson learned. 

In the Pipeline - Progress!

Eeeeeek!!!! I am so happy with the way this quilt is turning out!!! :) I'm working it out as I go along literally having to lay the pieces down, measuring with my ruler and trimming. It's challenging but good fun and very satisfying.

Each block is different and I've realized that I enjoy irregularity in my quilts now. This is going to be a cool quilt even if I say so myself! :)

Fresh Sewing Day Link Up

1. Gift bag. 2. Herringbone Quilt. 3.Scrabble Star. 4. Noteworthy Baby Quilt. 5. Zippered Pouches. 6. In the Pipeline. 7. Ticklish Baby Quilt. 8. Mug Rug

I've had a better month than I  have had in a long time! I do most of my sewing on the weekends so there isn't as much time as I'd like.

Linking up to:

It was calling out to me!

In the Pipeline - Progress

Ticklish Baby Quilt

On Quilter Blogs!

Have you seen the Quilter Blogs site? It's very cool. It's a nice way to find new quilting blogs. Add your blog too! 

Time to Finish Something!

So I finished quilting the mug rug for my friend, cut out the binding, began to sew it on, got to the corners and went blank! I couldn't remember how to do it!! Can this really be happening? Is there something wrong with my brain or has it been so long since I actually FINISHED a project that I couldn't remember how to turn the corners!

I have started these projects in the last year - 2013 To Dos - (I actually have a couple more that are I haven't blogged about) and have not finished even one.

It's tough 'coz new ideas hit me and I'm on to the next thing.
But this can't go on. I have to finish what I've started.

Anyway, I had to look up how to bind a quilt (this is embarrassing) and found this tutorial. I'm happy I did because I really like this method of finishing the binding. I don't like having to sew the ends together once I've sewn down the binding and this "pocket" method makes it much easier. Check it out: Binding a Quilt

Quick & Easy Mug Rug

A friend turned 30 earlier this week and she's having a little celebration tomorrow. She's been on a soul searching mission over the past few months so when I saw the Odds and Ends Moda Candy Squares with all the lovely, inspiring words on them I thought it would make a fitting gift.

Zippered Pouches!

Zippers have intimidated me for some time now but I've been dying to make some cute zippered pouches because I love using them. My good friend Angie had her birthday last month and I decided to make one for her.

Getting the Hexies together

I started this quilt for the store. We made kits for each of the flowers. I've started putting some of them together. I think its going to be a fun quilt. 

Scrabble Star

We have these magnetic scrabble tiles on our fridge.

My husband makes words with them.
I make patterns.

So I made this wonky star with the scrabble tiles and wanted to make a block like it. I figured it would be best achieved with Moda Candy squares. Working the squares like I worked the Scrabble tiles.

I used some Moda Candy Squares - Comma by Zen Chic and Kona Cotton Charcoal for the background. I'm going for a Quilt as You Go quilt so I made the quilt sandwich before I placed the squares.

I guess you could fuse the squares in place but since I didn't have any fusible web on hand and I didn't want to wait any longer to get this going, I just pinned them.

Herringbone Quilt

I started this quilt as part of the It's a New Year Sew Along on Sew Can She. Chipping at it slowly...

Bloglovin

Bloglovin it is!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Crayon Case

I had to make a quick gift for my friend's 3 year old and found a great tutorial for a Crayon Case by Shirley from These Moments of Mine. 

It's really simple and a great gift. Both mother and daughter loved it! :)

Finding Momentum

I remember when I began this quilt. It was sometime in October last year. I was so frustrated that I wasn't sewing anything that I got out two charm packs and decided to just sew. I was done with waiting for inspiration, or just the right design to hit me, or making something that would be fantastic... I just wanted to quilt. So I put this together. I think it could have been better but I had to start this quilt before I could start the 10 other quilts I started after!

This is the top. I might do a border with Kona Snow. 

Eastern Sunrise - Coming Along

Added a few more blocks to my Eastern Sunrise Quilt.

Eastern Sunrise

I walked into the train the other day on my way to work and a young girl's jacket caught my eye. No it didn't look like this but this block is what has come from it. 

It's a paper pieced pattern I drew up and I love it! I'm going to make it into a quilt but I'm thinking that pillows with just this block would also be great. 

Linking up to the Needle and Thread Network

February Finish!

This was my goal for February  - and it's done! :)

Build your Best Log Cabin - EBook Review

Last December, Eric Woolf, Online Media Coordinator for Fons & Porter asked me if I would review an E-book they had brought out. Of course I said Yes! But then the holidays, the flu, work, and house guests got in the way and I let it slip. So this is a little bit late but here it is anyway - my review of Fons & Porter's Build you Best Log Cabin Ebook.

The first thing that hit me about this e-book was that it was packed with information! Not only does it give you instructions to make three different styles of log cabin blocks, it also gives you the history of the block, antique samples for each style, and various layouts to customize your quilt. The book features three styles of Log Cabin blocks - Traditional, Courthouse Steps, and Chevrons. The instructions are by way of a simple chart that you can follow to make different sizes of Log Cabin blocks accurately. There are many handy tips and tricks thrown in too.

A Lovely Year of Finishes - February Entry

I didn't finish my January project unfortunately! :( But I'm going to try again!

Lap Quilt from Tula Pink's Prince Charming

I love Tula Pink's Prince Charming. The fabric is just dreamy! I started working on this quilt during my Christmas break and did a little more with it today.

I sketched the design out keeping the fabric in mind. I just knew I had to work with it when I saw it. So beautiful. Using Kona Snow for the background.

This is going to be a lap quilt.

Linking up to The Needle and Thread Network. 

It's a New Year Sew Along!

I've actually been home with the flu... :( But I got tired of lying around all day and decided to sew a little bit. Sewing is healing after all. :) So I got started on the herringbone quilt for It's a New Year Sew Along. It's such a fun block. I'm going to make this a lap quilt and it's going to be scrappy. Very happy with these.

Fabric picks for Sew Alongs

I chose a few fabrics from my stash to begin with. I still need to find more but it's a start. I'm going with red, aqua, green, and pink/coral. Still have to decide on a background. Should I just go with white/snow... or maybe an ash... not sure. Have some thinking to do!

So I started with the two Riley Blake Fabrics and picked colors from there. They came home with me some time ago and I guess this is their time! :)

This is the back. 

These are my fabrics for the It's a New Year Sew Along at Sew Can She.