Sanibel Summer Candy with a Giveaway

Good Morning and Happy Monday my friends! I hope you had an excellent holiday weekend.

Today I have a special treat for you! It is my stop on the Sanibel Blog Hop. This line of fabric by Gina Martin (a Moda designer) is super summery and it makes me want to go to the beach. It has sunglasses, adirondack chairs, bright flowers and gorgeous summer colors.

I had such tough time deciding on what to make with my stack of fabric. Then my bestie Lee of May Chappell sent me a bunch of her patterns and I fell in love with her Eye Candy Pattern. It was perfect to show off the beautiful focal prints and blenders from Sanibel. I think you will agree.

I fussy cut those summer flowers and lined up some of my favorite chair prints. I love those basket weave prints, they remind me of lawn chairs my parents had growing up. This line is nostalgia made bright and modern. It is perfect for beaches, picnics, and cuddling by the bonfire.

The Eye Candy pattern is also pretty much amazing. To get real life all on here for a second. I have been super busy with work and my husband and I are house shopping and he is busy with work and I have been traveling a ton (a run on sentence for my run on life). Shocking no one, I got super sick the weekend I was supposed to work on this project. I am telling you all this because I ran low on time and I made this throw quilt top in two sittings. One night after work, I cut the whole thing. Then I sewed up the whole top in 3 hours on a Sunday! Stay tuned for a complete quilt top to come very soon. I need to finish it in time for summer concert season. This will be the perfect picnic blanket. 

I wanted to give you some tips for sewing up this pattern. The pattern itself is great and doesn't need too many tips, but I have a couple of general pointers.

- This pattern is really ideal for chain piecing. I recommend cutting all of the pieces in one sitting and labeling each of your cut types.

- There are three types of blocks you make for this quilt: flying geese, hourglass blocks, and your center "candy" squares. I recommend making all of each type of piece in batches.

- Once you have made all of your blocks you can decide how you want to place your "candy" blocks.

- I had fun with my center fussy cuts. This pattern is great for showing off those focal prints you fall in love with. I think it is great for showing off a fabric line or specific color story you love too.

- Try a fun background. I decided to go bold with Moda Bella Summerhouse Lime, but you could try anything. I tried to think outside my comfort zone with this one.


I saved the best for last, I am giving away a Sanibel Jelly Roll and a PDF copy of the Eye Candy pattern right here right now! All you have to do is comment on this post and tell me where you go for your favorite vacation. This summer I don't think we will get a long vacation (buying a house and all), so I need to live vicariously through you. I will choose the winner via random number generator on Sunday, April 12th. International winners are okay! Make sure you are not a no-reply blogger.

That is not all, nope! I am doing a bonus giveaway. I am giving away this bundle of 10, 1/3 yard cuts of Sanibel and another PDF copy of Eye Candy on Instagram. Incidentally, this is exactly what you need to make your very own Eye Candy quilt (minus background). Click on over to my instagram (@stitchingandbacon), follow me, and comment on the contest photo for another chance to win a bundle and pattern! For this giveaway I can only do U.S. winners, I am so sorry friends. 

There are two chances to win two prizes! Once on this blog and once on instagram. 

The winner of the blog post was comment number 3! Cassandra, who is headed off to Myrtle Beach this summer! I have already emailed Cassandra. Thanks for playing my friends!

Be sure to check out the other blog hop participants this week for more precut giveaways and fun project ideas.

Monday - April 6th

Stitching and Bacon - That's me!

Crafty Tammie

Tuesday - April 7th

DonnaLeeQ

Sally's Angel Works

Wednesday - April 8th

Jess Toye Quilts

I am a Quilter

Thursday - April 9th

Silly Mama Quilts

Friday - April 10th

Hadley Street Quilts

Gina Martin at Pattern and Hue

Nordic Christmas in September

Hey friends!

This is going to be a short blog post. Mostly, I just want to check in here. Sometimes I feel like checking in with you all is one thing that seems to slow my crazy world down. When weeks and months fly by I can look back at this blog and remember that I was there in September. I was there, I was sewing things. My weeks and months are full of love and work and fun, they are bracketed by sewing projects and finishes.

If I were to have a timeline for my life right now, it might be a series of quilts. I have been working (paying, work work) so much! We are just slammed right now. When I am not working I am thinking about work. Sewing is my sanity. My quiet place. I think you know what I mean.

Speaking of sanity... finishing projects is its own kind of sanity.

I finished my Nordic Christmas quilt (originally blogged here).

I love it. It is my kind of Christmas quilt. Subtle. Slightly traditional. Clean lines. 

I quilted it with a woodgrain design. It is my first time with this design and it was actually really fun.

We did some photos when were up in the Blue Ridge Mountains for our annual getaway. I wanted to share the process, because it was funny.

Do you all see my hair flying? I laughed out loud when I saw this picture. 

 Apparently I laughed out loud then too.

Then, finally a good picture.

Quilt Stats:

Name: Nordic Christmas (Tutorial avalaible here)

Size: 65" x 65"

Fabric: Folk Art Holiday by Gina Martin for Moda

Quilting: Woodgrain quilting with Aurifil thread

Finished: August 2014

I love you all so I am leaving you with this soothing picture. Mountains are my happy place. 

Nordic Christmas [Christmas in July]

Merry Christmas in July! This is a tutorial for a quick Christmas quilt. Seriously quick and fun. It is a Scandinavian inspired design I put together for Folk Art Holiday. This is something you can whip up quickly and enjoy all Christmas season! I just super sized this classic block for a fresh and fast Scandinavian inspired quilt.

Make sure to head over to the Sew Lux Blog to see the other fab tutorials.

As always, if you have any questions or if I made a mistake (known to happen, I am not a professional) let me know. I am happy to help and would love your input.

Nordic Christmas Tutorial

Finished Quilt Size: 65” x 65”

Finished Block Size: 25” x 25”

All seams are a scant ¼”

Skill level: Confident Beginner

Please read all of the instructions first before you start. 

Materials:

8 Fat Quarters of Folk Art Holiday (Available here)

3 yards Bella Bleached White

4 yards backing fabric

½ yard for binding

Coordinating Thread (I used this)

Supplies:

Basic quilting supplies (rotary cutter and mat, ruler, scissors, sewing machine, iron, etc)

6.5” Square Bloc-Loc Ruler (optional, but helpful)

Rotating cutting mat (optional, but helpful)

For each block cut (parenthesis note the prints from my example):

6 – 6 x 6” squares white

4 – 6 x 6” squares Print B (Green)

2 – 6 x 6” squares Print C (Blue Snowflake)

8 – 5.5 x 5.5” squares white

2 – 5.5 x 5.5” squares Print A (Blue Bird)

1 – 15.5 x 5.5” rectangle Print A (Blue Bird, cut this directionally so the birds stand upright, horizontally the long way)

1.    Make twelve (5.5 x 5.5”) half square triangles (HSTs) blocks, eight of Print B and four from Print C, using your 6 x 6” squares of the print fabrics paired with white. You can use your favorite method to make these HST blocks, I outline my favorite below (using your 6 x 6” squares):

a.     Draw a diagonal line through all six of the white squares using your fabric pen or a pencil.

b.     Pair the white squares with squares of Print B and C, right sides together.

c.      Sew ¼ inch on either side of the diagonal line for each pair of squares.

d.     Cut along pencil line.

e.     Press blocks, with seam toward darker fabric (print).

f.      Trim each HST unit to 5.5 x 5.5” (Use your Bloc-loc and rotating mat to make this painless and quick).

g.     You should have twelve half square triangle units (eight from Print B and four from Print C, all paired with white).

2.    Now it is time to layout your block. It is a 5 square by 5 square block unit. Lay the block out as pictured below (time to get Print A involved).

3.    Sew together in horizontal rows. When you are finished with rows 1 through 5, press the rows in opposite directions, row 1 to the right, row 2 to the left, row 3 to the right, etc. I used a technique called webbing my block (for a tutorial on that, see this video).

4.    Sew five rows together.

5.    Repeat to make four blocks. Each block measures 25.5” square.

Corner Stone Instructions:

Cut:

Eight – 3” by approximately 15” strips of each print you would like to use (I chose two red, two gray, two blue, and two green, using the Print A from each block.)

1.     Sew strips of the blue print to the red print, then strips of gray print to green print. Make sure you check to ensure directional prints are facing the same direction.

2.     Press all of the seams to one side (up for the blue and red and down for the green and gray).

3.     Cut 3" strips from the long strips. You need nine from each fabric set.

4.     Take one from each combination and sew together so seams lock. If you want all of your cornerstones to look the same just make sure to sew them in the same orientation.

5.     You will finish with nine 5.5 x 5.5” four patch blocks.

Sashing/Layout and Assembly:

Cut: 

Twelve – 25.5 x 5.5” strips of white for the sashing.

1.     To the left of each 25.5” square block attach a sashing strip. Sew blocks together in large strips and add one more sashing strip at the end. So your block units look as pictured. Press seams towards sashing.

2.    With the remaining sashing strips attach them with the four patch corner stones in between each strip. You will have 3 long strips. Press seams towards sashing.

3.     Sew sashing onto blocks, use pins at this stage to line up seams (even if you never use pins, trust me, you'll want to here).

4.     Sew rows of blocks together to complete your quilt top (use pins, you may need to ease in some seams to your blocks line up perfectly).

5.     Press! Step back and enjoy!

Now you can baste, quilt and bind your quilt in your favorite way!

I am off to finish this one. I will make it my personal goal to have this finished to show you by the end of the Christmas in July Challenge. I can’t wait to see what you make. 

Link up your projects by between July 21^st and August 4^th on the Sew Lux Blog for a chance to win fabulous prizes. More importantly, get a jump on the Christmas sewing and avoid the craziness that can come with that season! 

For complete challenge details see here.

Full Disclosure: This fabric was given to me in exchange for writing this tutorial, but I love Sew Lux and I buy fabric there all of the time. My endorsement of the shop is heartfelt and my opinions are my own.