Amy Butler Lotus Quilt (My First Quilt!)

This is my first quilt (I've never even quilted a coaster or 'mug rug'!). I took it off my sewing machine 2 minutes ago and wanted to jump around and start dancing!! It was definitely a monster project, but I'm so glad that I made it!
I used the Amy Butler Lotus quilt pattern, which I thought looked uncomplicated for my first outing. When I sewed the front of the quilt together, it was so sweet and fun. You can see my progress for this quilt in my previous blog posts for days zero, one, two, three, and five.

Fabric - This quilt took 198 squares, and I used fabric scraps that I've had shoved in a drawer for the past 4 years. I used each fabric once or twice, so it truly is a random work of art. These are all fabrics that I have used and loved over the years, and since I've had them for a bit, some of them are discontinued or hard to find. Besides the scraps, I purchased a yard of Alexander Henry Diamond Eye fabric for the binding; I love how the black and white pulls all the colors together. I used 4 yards of blue Kona cotton for the back, and Fairfield 80/20 twin quilt batting for the middle.

Illustrations/Instructions - Amy Butler's instructions are most always easy to follow. It was only one page of instructions, since you're mostly just sewing squares together, but I also appreciated the diagram showing how to connect the rows together.

Since this was my first attempt at quilting, I had no prior knowledge of what to use or how to do it. I consulted my sewing friends Kim, Amy, and Monique to answer my gazillion questions, and I also watched some videos on YouTube on how to sew the quilt binding to the quilt. My biggest difficulty was attaching all my layers together with the spray baster, and you can read my full headache on Day 5 of my progress (I don't want to relive it, lol). Thanks so everyone who offered so much helpful advice on my blog!!

The actual quilting took me a very long time. I used a pink thread in my needle and a blue thread in my bobbin (to match the backing). I feel like the two different threads gave it more coordination, as the front of my quilt had a majority of pink in the squares. In addition, when I cut the quilt binding, I used the cross grain and cut 4" strips (for double-fold bias). I wanted to make a thicker boarder in order to show more of the design of the border, as well as my main reason: I thought that a thicker boarder might hide any little design flaws I might run into (such as the batting/backing not being exactly straight from my 'wonderful' basting job).

Also, the quilt pattern called for the quilting to be done in stitch in the ditch. I had several people suggest I sew 1/4" off each seam, which I did for the vertical rows. When it came to my horizontal rows, the squares were not perfectly aligned (it's a brick pattern, but the imperfection was not that noticeable), so I sewed a straight line every 5 inches (as seen below). I think it turned out fine. I'm not a perfect sewer (ever).




Conclusion - I loved making this quilt pattern. The design was easy enough to build my confidence at the beginning to get me through all the tough spots in between. I definitely give credit to those of you who make quilts all the time...this was definitely a huge project, and I don't know how you do it! I promise that I will make another quilt in the future, but for now I'm back to sewing some more clothes and handbags. :-)

P.S. I'm posting this, my first quilt, for Quilt Festival. Please stop by and check out all the other quilts! And if you're visiting my blog from the Festival, please leave me a comment with any helpful nuggets that I can take and use for my quilting future. Thanks! :-)

Sewing Pattern Giveaway #2

I've decided to spread the handbag pattern love and give away a new, unused handbag sewing pattern every Friday until Christmas. That's right. One every week.

This week's pattern giveaway is going to be the Nicole Mallalieu Belle bag sewing pattern. This bag was featured on the cover and in a spread of Australian Stitches magazine!




How you can enter:
1. Leave me a comment and show me some love!

2. "Follow" my blog (if you're already a follower, super!). Then, just leave a second, SEPARATE comment saying that you follow me.

You can have up to 2 entries. I will randomly choose a winner, who will be the new owner of this shiny new pattern! The drawing will close on Thursday, November 4th at 12am CT.

The winner of last week's giveaway, the Amy Butler Frenchy Bags pattern, was amylouwho! Congratulations Amy!

Be sure to check back every Friday morning for the newest pattern to be given away!

iSew Coupon Organizer

I am really into couponing; I've been doing it for over a year now, and it saves us a lot of money. At first I was using a plastic divider envelope that I got at the dollar store, but I wanted something cute, since I sometimes take it into the grocery store like a clutch.

So I found a .pdf sewing pattern for a coupon organizer on Etsy from iSew. What a great idea, and such a beautiful pattern! I made this organizer for myself earlier this year, but I wanted to dig out the photos and share my review.




Fabric - For the exterior of the coupon organizer, I used Alexander Henry Apples and Pears in pink. The inside is Moda black and white polka dots, and I used an Alexander Henry fabric with yellow lemons on it for the binding. I wish I would have used a solid-colored binding, but oh well. The divider tabs with the sections (i.e. Bread, Canned Goods, etc.) are printed on my computer with June Tailor Colorfast printable sheets.




Pattern Pieces - There is a pattern piece for the main panel of the organizer, and the sides and dividers are rectangular cuts. Easy! I have to say again, that the actual design of the .pdf pattern is really pretty. The photos, text, everything is just beautifully done. I couldn't have asked for a better .pdf.

Illustrations/Instructions - The photos are clear and pertinent to the accompanying instructions. The instructions are very detailed, and not only that, but there are helpful tips along the way, as if someone is standing over your shoulder and offering a suggestion. My favorite part was sewing all the dividers together, it came together so nicely. As noted in the pattern, sewing the binding along the sides of the organizer was a little tricky, but I just kept along slowly and it was fine.

My binding skills aren't so hot, so I'm not so crazy about how that turned out, but I just love how I was able to sew the accordian-style dividers together...SO cool! The magnetic snaps I used were a little heavy-duty for the fabric (I even used a small piece of interfacing inbetween the layers to enforce the snap), so I would probably go with the smallest snaps you can find.

Conclusion - An intermediate sewer should be able to get through this with no problem. It looks a lot more complicated than it is. I had a good time sewing it, I doubt I would make another, but it was a fun project (and no one has a coupon binder like mine).

Sewing Pattern Giveaway #1

I've decided to spread the handbag pattern love and give away a new, unused handbag sewing pattern every Friday until Christmas. That's right. Just like your favorite store, I'm bringing out the Christmas before Halloween has even arrived.

This week's pattern giveaway is going to be the Amy Butler Frenchy Bags pattern. So cute and modern!

How you can enter:

1. Leave me a comment and show me some love!

2. "Follow" my blog (if you're already a follower, super!). Then, just leave a second, SEPARATE comment saying that you follow me.

You can have up to 2 entries. I will randomly choose a winner, who will be the new owner of this shiny new pattern! The drawing will close on Thursday, October 28th at 12am CT.

Be sure to check back every Friday morning for the newest pattern to be given away!

My First Quilt: Day 5

Shameless plug: I'm running an Echino/Amy Butler fabric co-op that's closing this Wednesday the 27th, if you're interested in more information just leave me a comment! Thanks! :-)

I started my quilt at the beginning of last week, but I haven't sewn much this week. Sometimes my body just needs to catch up on sleeping, I guess (sewing is my night time, after-the-kids-are-sleeping hobby). I finished the front of the quilt on Sunday, so I'm counting this as day 5 of working on it, lol.

Last night I spray-basted the three layers together with the help of my husband...what a disaster! Hopefully this setback was because I was a newbie and not because spray basting is going to be this hard every time, 'cause yikes!

I watched a video on YouTube beforehand on spray basting; the woman had the backing tacked up on her wall and spray basted them like that. I thought, huh, that doesn't look too hard. I don't have access to an area (on the floor or the wall) that was big enough for my 72" x 72" quilt, but I figured I could still do it. My first attempt was completely bunched up, so my husband offered his help. We tried to spray half of the backing, attach the batting, then do the other half. The first time wasn't so good, but the second was much better. Then we attached the front. We (thought we) had it right the first time, but when I went to pick the quilt up to take it upstairs, I noticed the front and back weren't even (I hadn't cut down the excess backing and batting to match the front) by about 12". I toyed with the idea of cutting my front to match the back, but he convinced me to give it another try. So we took the backing off AGAIN (of course, tearing some of the batting in the process), sprayed it again (I tried not to faint at all the fumes, which were terrible), and stuck it down. I said, "However it looks, I don't care, just leave it." Thankfully it was more or less smooth.

I started quilting tonight. I decided instead of sewing stitch-in-the-ditch, to sew 1/4" off each seam. I got a good start, but I can see that it's going to be awhile until the whole thing is finished. I'm also still debating which color/fabric to use for the binding.




I want to say a big thank you to Amy, Kim, and Monique (check out her Etsy shop, her quilts are AMAZING!) for all their mentoring along the way as I try to finish up my first quilt, as well as everyone else who has posted encouraging words on my blog. I was so worried about doing something wrong! I'm pretty happy with it so far, though, and can't wait to finish it!

P.S. I love posting projects every Friday for Amy Lou Who's Sew and Tell Friday! Come join along and post yours!

My First Quilt: Day 3

I got 5 more rows sewn onto my quilt, only 8 more to go! I realized that I am about 14 squares short, though, so I'm going to have to dig into the stash and cut some more fabric up. Not much else to report, I'm just trying to think of what fabric to use for the back. I'd rather make the back as easy as possible, since the front is so busy. Any ideas??

Halloween Pretzels

I picked up these cute Wilton pretzel molds at Joann yesterday for $1.39 each. William picked out the ghosts and the haunted houses, and Violet chose the skeleton fingers.




My mom used to make molded candies with us when my brothers and I were little, so I thought it would be fun to make these with William and Violet. I didn't buy the colored Wilton chocolate meltable tabs at the store, though, because I was never that crazy about them...they look beautiful, but I don't like how they taste (and anyway, who has time to paint all that colored detail on them? Not me.). So I just used some semi-sweet chocolate chips that I had around (I'm also planning on using peanut butter chips that I have also...I think the pretzels would taste great half peanut butter and half chocolate).




All I did was put the chips into a plastic bag, microwave them in 30 second intervals until the chips were melted, and cut a small hole in the bottom of the bag. I let the kids pipe the chocolate into the mold (filled halfway, put the pretzel in, then turned it and filled the remaining mold with chocolate per the package instructions).

And here the pretzels are being enjoyed...don't they look tasty?!

My First Quilt: Day 2

Somehow I got all 198 squares of fabric cut out today, and after the kids went to bed tonight I started sewing the squares together. I feel like this Amy Butler Lotus quilt pattern is fairly easy (so far), for me being a quilting beginner and all.



At first I was worried that my random fabrics would look bad; even as I was arranging the first 7 rows (out of 18), I was still worried. But once I started sewing the rows together, the quilt grew on me more and more. A majority of the fabrics won't be repeated (some will be repeated, but only twice). These are all fabrics that I have loved over the years, so it is nice to see them again, and I'm sure when the quilt is finished it will be great looking at each of the patterns.




Just a reminder: I posted earlier this week about hosting an Echino/Amy Butler wholesale fabric co-op, if you missed that post and are interested, just leave me a comment and I'll e-mail you the details!

I am an avid participant in Amy Lou Who's Sew and Tell Friday. I'd love it if you'd visit, take a look at all the other projects, or leave a comment!

My First Quilt: Day 1

So I started working on my first quilt today (the Amy Butler Lotus quilt pattern that I mentioned in a previous post). I have a little over 100 fabric scraps, all different prints, that I was using to cut 4-1/2" x 7-1/2" squares from. To begin with, I had to iron all the fabric since it had been crammed in a drawer for the last few years. Here's part of my nicely ironed stack:




After the ironing, I was excited to get out the Omnigrip ruler that Kim and Amy recommended, which I bought at Joann's today using my lovely 40% off coupon. It has nice little grippies on the bottom so it won't slide around on top of the fabric. I was all ready to cut with my Clover rotary cutter, when...hrm. Didn't really cut through much of anything on the first swipe. So I started hacking away like I was cutting into a piece of meat. Sort of ridiculous. I had forgotten that I had last used it (years ago) when cutting up a lot of minky. Maybe that's the culprit. So I got two of my squares cut out and decided to call it a night. I am scared to death of not cutting everything perfectly as it is, and having dysfunctional tools isn't going to help at all. Back to Joann's tomorrow with another coupon...I think I'm going to get an Olfa.

I Heart my Sewing Friends

I love my sewing friends. All of you. But especially Karrie, Kim, and Amy. Amy's amazing blog, Amy Lou Who, keeps me going every week because I try to get a project done in time for Sew and Tell Friday. Not only is she getting me motivated, but she is also getting 40-80 people posting their projects every week. You can post yours too (or just see all the handmade loveliness!).

And my friends Karrie and Kim, who I don't know in real life, but are so amazing and supportive. It's funny how you can meet someone over the common bond of simply being a mother. We laugh about funny little inside things, talk about books, fabric, music, whatever. Share our worries, ask questions. If they say that I can do it, then I start to believe it too. Thanks you guys. :-)

Starting My First Quilt

My on-line sewing friends are all making quilts, so I finally decided...why the heck shouldn't I make one too? I know nothing about making a quilt. I have a rotary cutter, but silly to say, I don't even know how I'm supposed to go about cutting everything out. I figured I'd try to find a video on YouTube, lol.

So I surfed around online a little. There are some beautiful quilt patterns out there, but I wanted something easy, and I thought if I had a pattern where all the squares were the same size, I couldn't go wrong. This afternoon I decided on making the free pattern that Amy Butler has up on her website, the Lotus Quilt.




Once I decided on my pattern, I thought...what fabric am I going to use? I really don't have much in my stash...when my second child was born, I sold off everything I had leftover from when I sold fabric on ebay, even some prized pieces that I was hanging onto. My friend Kim took most of it, so I know that it is in loving hands. However, when I was putting the kids to bed tonight, a light bulb went off in my head...I have a drawerful of bib and burp cloth cuts from when I used to make them to sell on Etsy! At first glance, I probably have almost 100 different prints (you're probably asking why I cut out so many without finishing them...I just realized that I really hated sewing things to sell to other people; for me, it just zapped all the fun right out of it). These have been sitting in the drawer for about 4 years, which means a lot of these fabrics are also out of print.

I looked at the Amy Butler quilt pattern this evening, and it calls for 198 blocks, each measuring 4-1/2" x 7-1/2". I can get exactly 2 blocks cut out of each of the diaper/burp cloth cuts that I have, which means I have enough fabric and I don't have to buy any!! While, of course, it is fun shopping for new fabric, it makes me happy that I can save myself $50-$100 in fabric and use what I already have. And each block will only be repeated twice on the whole quilt, which sounds pretty cool to me.

Okay, all you seasoned quilters...besides figuring out how I'm going to cut these out, I also have a question about how to 'stitch in the ditch'. Also, what would be a nice fabric to back my quilt with...would minky work? Please leave me a comment and give me your helpful advice for a beginning quilter...what important things do I need to know in order not to screw this one up. I'd really appreciate it!!

Dear Followers...Need Fabric?

To my dear blog followers, I am thinking of getting a *small* group together to order Kokka/Echino and Westminster (Amy Butler) at wholesale. The new Echino and Amy Butler fabrics are coming out soon (Amy Butler not until December) and I would like to replenish my stash. I don't plan on doing this on a regular basis, but I could probably make it happen a couple times a year.

I organized some co-ops last summer (Melissa & Doug, Laptop Lunches, etc.), so I have run some before, and before I had children I also used to sell fabric on ebay, so I (ahem) know what I'm getting myself into. ;-) I know some of you don't know me from Adam, but I have positive feedback on ebay (sarabluemerle), Etsy (bluemerleboutique), and Diaperswappers (bluemerle); over half of my feedback on Etsy and Diaperswappers was from trades, and all 3 accounts are at 100% feedback. Just in case you would like to see that I'm not planning on ripping you off. :-)

If you think you might be interested in participating, just leave me a comment and I will get back to you later in the week when I have more of the details hammered out! Thanks!!

Fabrics I'll Be Waiting For

Oh my gosh, I'm salivating...salivating and quivering in my chair. If my birthday and Christmas weren't coming up shortly, I would say it was my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one. I saw all the Echino fabrics coming out, on Fabricworm.com. I can honestly say that I want everything. We're looking for a new house, and wouldn't some Echino curtains (ahh...can you bankroll me so I can have them in every room in the house, a different print in each room??) look stunning?




Besides Echino, what about these prints from MoMo that I saw on Fat Quarter Shop? Actually, this little graphic doesn't do them justice, I found some of them in greater detail when I surfed around on Etsy and clicked on the jellyroll links. I especially liked the colorways with the birds (it sort of is Echino-esque).



And of course I can't get enough of Amy Butler. The Soul Blossoms line is coming out in December, and you can see all the colorways on Fabricworm.com as well. I don't see any in the Home Dec line that I like, but there are several that I know I am going to have to get in the woven line.

Mmm....better get some projects lined up, looks like I'll be busy for the rest of the year. ;-)

Mama Roux Home Accents

I looked in my e-mail this evening and was so surprised that I had won a giveaway from Mama Roux, a shop on Etsy! I won a pair of oatmeal dishcloths, and I am so excited! Besides selling some super-cute bags, Mama Roux also has a new home accents line, featuring window valances, pillow covers, pot holders, and more. My absolute favorite is this table runner pictured above. I love the Anna Maria Horner and Denyse Schmidt fabrics, they look just perfect together.

If you have a minute, please visit Mama Roux. I haven't seen anything that caught my eye in the home area on Etsy before, but these definitely do...something fun for your kitchen or living room!

Tuesday Top

I made this top for my daughter, Violet, this past spring, when she was still wearing clothes that I had handmade. Now that she's 2, all she wants to wear is her big brother's Spiderman stuff. At first I was secretly disappointed, but I think I found a fix. Hopefully I can post that project for you next week whenever I receive the fabric in the mail: I found some various Spiderman fabrics with pink backgrounds, and I am going to try them out on the ModKid Frida pattern which I have been hoarding!

But until then, here is the Tuesday Top from Googoo A GoGo on Etsy.



Fabric - For my first attempt at making the top, I used Alexander Henry Apples and Pears in blue. The second time I made it in Alexander Henry 2-D Zoo in pink. I think Alexander Henry has some of the greatest children's fabrics! The pattern allows you to use different fabric combinations for the sleeves, optional pockets, and optional ruffles, but I just wanted to use one fabric for each one. There is also bias tape under the arms, but I made my own out of old t-shirt fabric.

Pattern Pieces - For the option that I chose, there were minimal pieces, at it is just comprised of the front, back, and sleeves. There are also pockets and ruffles, if you so choose.

Illustrations/Instructions - Everything about this pattern was easy to follow. The text was nice and clear, the photos were zoomed in and appropriate to the steps that you needed to follow. The first time I made the top, I felt the sleeves were a bit too big and wing-like (although my husband preferred this style); so when I made the top the second time, I trimmed in each side of the sleeve about 1/2". Other than that, I didn't make any other changes to the pattern because I liked it just the way it was.



Conclusion - I feel like this would be a great pattern for a beginner to sew. If you stick with the basic option, it will be a quick project. Besides sewing a straight seam, the only other skill you will need to use is sewing the bias around the sleeves and making one casing for the elastic, which continues through the neckline and to both sleeves.

McCalls 5050 Peasant Top

This is just about the easiest sewing pattern I've ever attempted. Which makes me happy, because this type of shirt is just my style and I love it! There is no lining to the top, it is just comprised of all casings to put your elastic through (the sleeves, neckline, and under the bust) and a hem at the bottom. What could be easier?

Fabric - After my last debacle with the Echino scooters fabric, I wanted to try this pattern out with a cheaper fabric to make sure that I would like it. I got this Robert Kaufman pink skulls fabric on clearance at Joann's for $1.50 per yard. For my size, I used 1-1/2 yards, so this was an inexpensive project. I thought the fabric was sort of reminiscent of Pepto Bismol, so I broke up all that pink with a Moda black polka dot fabric underneath the bust (for the elastic casing) and at the bottom of the top.


Pattern Pieces - I made the short-sleeved top option, so there were only 3 pattern pieces to cut out. If you are making the long sleeved options or the ones trimmed with lace, your construction will be a little more in-depth, but the short-sleeved was definitely the easiest and least amount of steps. There is also a guide to cut out for the waist and neck elastics, so you know how long to cut the elastic based on your size. I guess I have a freakishly small chest, though, because I had to cut both of these elastics 5-7" smaller than what the elastic guide told me to (I could have fit about 4 more boobs inside my top when I tried it on).

Illustrations/Instructions - The instructions were very easy, however, I have a problem with the major pattern manufacturers (Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls, etc.) in that I feel they are not beginner-friendly. If you are learning to sew, these patterns are definitely not the easiest to understand. They give you the bare minimum in order to construct their projects (whereas Amy Butler is wordy and tells you exactly what to do). However, I still feel that a beginner would be able to navigate through this based on how easy it is.
The only modifications that I made to the pattern was that I put my bust elastic on the outside of main fabric (the instructions called for you to put it on the wrong side of your fabric). I did this because I wanted the black polka dot fabric to be seen. Also, I added the polka dot trim at the bottom of the top. I will probably continue to put the casing on the exterior of the fabric when I make more tops, and the trim maybe, depending on if I have any good coordinating fabrics.

Conclusion - This is a great, great project...maybe it's not your taste, but if it is, you have to make it...it's so easy, and I love mine. My husband actually gave it the thumbs-up, too. I saw that some people who had reviewed it said it looked like a maternity top, but mine doesn't at all...it's pretty much perfect. Even though winter is coming, I plan to layer my top over a long-sleeved cotton shirt. I'm probably going to make about 20 more. :-)

P.S. Like sewing? Want to see more projects? I participate in Amy Lou Who's Sew and Tell Friday every week, and I would love to see you there!

Pretty Pinafore Purse

Normally I am not the swearing kind, but if I was, this purse would have me spouting all sorts of expletives. I don't know if I've been tired this week or what, but I should have known right from the start this project would be a disaster. This is the Pretty Pinafore Purse from U-handbag. While cutting my pattern pieces out on the fold, from my precious little bit of Echino scooters fabric, I made a boo-boo and ended up with a chunk missing out of one side of the bag. So I shortened the ends on each side, forgetting to also shorten the height.

Well, whatever, I got through it. I'm not too crazy about the finished bag, though. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had made it exactly as in the pattern, or maybe not. I don't even have the heart to sew on the second strap because I just feel like banishing it to the land of misfit purses. Which is a shame, because the fabric is so beautiful.



Fabric - I used 1/2 yard of Echino scooters fabric, which is a cotton canvas, and for the lining I just used solid-colored scraps that I had from a previous project. The instructions also called for medium-weight interfacing (for the exterior) and fleece interfacing (for the lining).

Illustrations/Instructions - There were full-color photos and step-by-step instructions. Normally with .pdf patterns, there will be a paragraph followed (or next to) the corresponding photograph showing you what to do. This pattern has the text instructions on the left side of the pages, and the photographs on the right side; however, the photo next to the paragraph is not necessarily for that step (i.e. the photo might actually be on the next page). I mean, the photos were clearly marked Fig. 10, Fig. 11, etc. so you can figure it out.

This pattern features a concealed zipper, which I have never done before (see the two pictures below). For some reason I got confused on making the tab (which should have been easy) on each side of the zipper. I did adjust the zipper length due to the fact that I knew my bag was smaller because of my cutting error. At first I thought the concealed zipper was sort of nifty, before I had installed it into the bag. But now that I look at the finished bag, I'm not really all that crazy about the tabs sticking out of each side. I would rather have a different zipper design or a magnetic snap.


This was my first time doing piping on a project, so I was excited to learn. I didn't have time to order the Nancy Zieman Fusible Piping that someone had suggested to me, so I just bought regular cording from the store. The instructions called for a piping sewing machine foot, which I don't have, but they said that a zipper foot would work okay too. I had a hard time keeping the fabric for my piping under my foot, as it was so thin and if I didn't hold it with both hands, it would slip out the side. Once I got the hang of what I was doing, it was okay though. I am glad I tried piping, I sort of like it and wouldn't mind using it on another project in the future.

I sort of wish I had used a sturdier interfacing, the bag is floppy and I normally like stiffer bags. I did what the pattern called for, and I can understand you need a lighter interfacing for the exterior because of the pleat down the center. But maybe if I had used a heavy interfacing, like Peltex, on the interior, it would have been able to be sturdier. Not sure.




Pattern Pieces - There were only two pattern pieces to cut out (1 of those had to be taped together). The rest were a series of rectangles for the pocket and piping. I opted to try a leather strap since I hadn't before. I am not sure if I would use this type of strap again, I would rather get one that I can sew directly to the bag, but this one was the cheapest (the rest I would have to order online).

Conclusion - This is for the intermediate sewer. I made a lot of mistakes, but I also learned a lot sewing this bag. I might make it again, provided I can cut correctly next time, but I will definitely not use a fabric that I have been saving a long time, like I did with this fabric (sob).