Category Archives: Ramblings

Scrap Quilt Tutorials Round-up

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A few years ago, I made a Scrap Vortex quilt. This is a fun, super easy method you can read about HERE). I was hooked. To this day, I think this quilt is my all-time favorite. I backed it in a snuggly flannel sheet from Target and it is the quilt that hangs out in my baby’s room. I use it literally daily. I had no idea scrap quilts were such a “thing” when I started, but now I know better. We don’t like to waste our precious fabric!

After I finished this quilt, I wanted to make another immediately. I decided to start saving my Cotton + Steel selvages to make a selvage quilt. I had no idea what I would choose to do eventually, but I saved every. single. one. Fast forward a few years and I decided to use THIS method to make my quilt. It took about a zillion selvages, but thanks to the help of awesome friends, I finished!

Last week on Instagram, I posed a question asking for suggestions of scrap quilt tutorials and patterns after having finished my selvage quilt. Here are some of the suggestions and links to tutorials/patterns!

Plaidish by Kitchen Table Quilting

Scrap Jar Stars by Gigi’s Thimble

Raspberry Kiss Block by Wooden Spoon Quilts (resized to 12.5″ by me)

Scrapbuster Log Cabin by Simple Girl, Simple Life

Quick Cornerstone Quilt by Diary of a Quilter

Scrappy Crossroads by Lori Holt

Two by Four by Film in the Fridge

Scrappy Granny Squares by Quilty Love

Snippets by Cotton Way

French Braid by United Notions (great for jelly roll strip leftovers)

Epic Bow Tie quilt by Heritage Threads

Simple Patchwork in any size you need (3.5″, 5″, etc)

The humble half-square triangle in any size you need

Log Cabin or Courthouse Step blocks (there are a variety of tutorials out there)

Scrappy Pixellated Heart (there are lots out there)

Irish Chain

Hopefully that is a good place for all of us to start planning our next scrap quilts! Do you have a favorite that isn’t on this list? Leave me a comment and I’ll update this post!

Stellar Quilt from Fresh Fat-Quarter Quilts

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I am so excited to be a part of Andy Knowlton’s book tour. Andy is the real deal. She is one of the kindest humans I have ever had the privilege of meeting and knowing. She is genuine and fun. Her curly hair is amazing and gives me hope that I can one day embrace mine with good results! 🙂

Andy has written her first book, Fresh Fat-Quarter Quilts. Guys…. it is AMAZING. There are so many books and patterns out there for yardage and precuts, but what is the first thing we all gravitate towards in a fabric shop? FAT QUARTERS! What is the hardest thing to actually cut into and use? FAT QUARTERS! Andy has broken her book down based on how many fat quarters each quilt requires. It. Is. Genius.

I had a hard time picking just one quilt to make, but I finally settled on her Stellar Quilt.

This quilt uses fat quarters for the background AND for the stars. I looooooved coming up with a plan for this quilt. I settled on using my favorite low volumes with pink and different pinks for the stars. This makes my pink-loving heart sing. It is such a fun quilt. This quilt finishes as a really good sized kid quilt. It’s the perfect size for snuggles or dragging around everywhere or an extra layer for cold nights.

This quilt uses 12 fat quarters. 9 for the background and 3 for the stars. I am pretty sure most of us could make this quilt several times over and still not make a dent. It is a fast quilt and if you have a little one who “needs” a gift for this holiday season, this quilt would be perfect!

Over the next few weeks, several other quilters will be blogging about their quilts from Andy’s amazing book. Be sure to tune in on instagram and on their blog’s to get more of a preview of Andy’s book!

If you’re interested in snagging yourself a copy (you should!), you can find it on Amazon (affiliate link), Fat Quarter Shop, or directly from Andy herself!

Fresh Fat Quarter Quilts from Amazon

Fresh Fat Quarter Quilts from Fat Quarter Shop

Fresh Fat Quarter Quilts from Andy

“I Smell Children” Doormat with Cricut Explore Air 2

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

Late last month I received a fun, new addition to our home. We have had so much fun getting to know and use our new Cricut Explore Air 2 machine. I have never used any sort of cutting machine before and it has really exceeded my expectations. I look forward to sharing projects in the future that work into the wheelhouse of sewing and quilting. Did you know you can use fabric that has been bonded and cut out shapes that way? Heat n bond lite is my usual go-to and I can’t even imagine how nice it will be to not have to cut out shapes by hand any more.

The first thing that I noticed about the Explore Air 2 is that it is very well thought out. Cricut has included everything you need to make a little sample project as you are setting up your machine for the first time. I love that this gives you the flexibility to test out the machine on something that you aren’t 100% emotionally committed to. If it goes wrong (which it won’t!) then it isn’t something you’ve spent money in materials to make.

For my first project, I wanted to make something for Halloween. I have loved paying a bit of attention to my front porch this past year and thought I’d make a new doormat. I found many, many wonderful existing tutorials on the “how to’s” of the actual stenciling and cutting out existing cricut designs, but I wanted a nod to a classic 90’s Halloween movie.

My husband helped me by creating a file I could use to cut out “I SMELL CHILDREN”. Once we had the file made, I found the Cricut Explore Air 2 to be very, very easy and straightforward to use. We used the weeding tools to peel out the letters, and then I followed the instructions I found on Everyday Jenny’s site.

I dont imagine this will be my last doormat. I LOVED making it and was giddy as I peeled off my template. Can you imagine how fun it would be to make one for every season or major holiday? For a $10 blank mat (I found mine at a popular orange colored home improvement store), your time, and your existing cricut machine, it makes a perfect porch refresh project.