Fun Things Come in Small Packages

Sometimes a fabric line will come into the shop and I will just LOVE IT, but at the same time will not be quite sure how to turn it into something that would be appealing to everyone that comes through the door. This is true about the Michael Miller Funky Christmas fabric line. They are so fun and bright, but can be a little much when making a quilt or wall hanging. So I was thrilled to see a blog that showed something wonderful made with these fabrics. Sew, Mama, Sew! has done a couple of projects for their "Christmas in July" event. So head on over and take a look at this fun advent calendar tutorial!

Hope to see you soon!

Holly

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A 5" SQUARE?

Do you love Moda's charm squares like I do but wonder what you can do with a 5" square? Here is a link to a great tutorial by Moda. Enjoy!

Sandy

Honeybun Hourglass Tutorial by SANDY

I love Moda's line of bake goods - charm packs, honey buns, jelly rolls and sweet rolls!

I was given a sweet roll at spring market and designed the mini quilt pictured here to go on my fireplace.

I admit it. I am obsessed with quilts of yummy prints bordered by white. I just can't get enough of them.

So if a little bit of something is good - a lot is better. I liked the mini quilt so much that I decided to use a Jelly Roll from the Moda line Sweet and make a larger version. I hope you enjoy! (CLICK on the photo below to purchase a kit, regularly $38.95 - now only $29.95!)

HONEY BUN HOURGLASS

Finished Size 48" x 53"

SUPPLY LIST

1 Moda Sweet Honey Bunn
2 1/4 yards Moda Bella Solid white
1/2 yard binding
3 yards back
45 degree triangle ruler

INSTRUCTIONS:

All seams are 1/4"

From White Cut:
37—1 1/2” x WOF
5—4” x WOF

Set aside 7 of the honeybun strips that have the light background and will not contrast well with the white. Pair and sew together remaining 1 1/2” print strips from honeybun with 1 1/2” white strips.
Press toward the dark.


Line ruler along the 4” mark (this is the size of the finished hourglass block) as illustrated.

Rotary cut triangle.
6. Flip ruler to the opposite side and cut. Continue in this fashion until you have a total of 12 triangles, 6 with the print at the point and 6 with the print at the base.

From the remaining strip cut into 4—1 1/2 x 2 1/2” segments

Sew triangle pairs together. Press to the triangle that has the print at the base.

Pin two triangles of the same print together. (Seams should but up against each other to help with alignment)

Sew.

Press.

Lay out rotating hourglass blocks and sew blocks together in 11 rows of 9 blocks each row.

Cut: From remaining 1 1/2” x WOF white strips cut (2) measuring 38 1/2” for the inner top & bottom borders and (2) measuring 44 1/2” for the inner border sides.

Sew inner border strips to each side of your
quilt center.

Sew top & bottom inner border strips.

Join (2) strips of 23 units each of the 1 1/2” x 2 1/2” units together (checker border sides)

Join (2) strips of 20 units each of the 1 1/2” x 2 1/2” units together (checker border top & bottom)

Sew 23 unit checker border to sides of quilt. (one side should start with a dark square at the top and the other side should start with a white square at the top).

Sew 20 unit checker borders to top and bottom.

20. Cut two of the 4” white strips to measure 4” x 40 1/2”. Sew to top and bottom of quilt.

Cut one of the 4” x WOF white strips in half. Sew one of the halves to each of (2) 4” x WOF white strips. Cut down to measure 55 1/2” for outer border sides. Sew to sides of quilt.

Back, quilt and bind in desired method.

Always Something to Work On

I began working on the embroidery Block of the Month "Once Upon a Time" by Melly & Me when I was on bedrest. I just love it!!! We saw the quilt made up at the Fall Quilt Market in Houston, Texas, and I knew I had to be the one to take this darling project on. The lovely ladies, Rosalie and Melanie, from Melly & Me had taken the nine blocks and made it into a quilt using fabrics from the Japanese company Lecien. Be still my heart!








Judy has been working on a quilt by Late Bloomer Quilts called "Weekend in Paris." It also uses fabric from Lecien. The quilter called today to say that the quilt is ready for her to pick up and bind, YEAH!







Valayne has been working on the boy version of the quilt called "Baby Mine" by Thimbleblossoms. She is using the new fabric line from Freespirit called "Oh Boy!" I love the ric rac in this quilt, it is so cute and I cannot wait for you to see it! Knowing Valayne like I do, I'm sure the quilt will be here this week!







On a future post, I will let you in on some more projects the ladies at Pine Needles are creating for us to enjoy!


See you all soon!

Holly

WELCOME!!!

WOW! Here we go! We are so excited to be starting our blog and want to bring you all the inspiration and fun that we can! Sandy, Holly, Wendy and many of the Pine Needles family will be posting each week bringing you glimpses of projects in progress, places we find inspiration, the lastest news in the industry, tutorials, and much, much more!!

VACATION

Hi all! I am heading off this morning for a sunny week in Lake Powell. Of course for me it would not be a vacation without some hand work to take long. This trip I will be working on completing the remaining ornaments for my Countdown To Christmas punch needle series as well as starting the Monthly stitchery's by Bare Roots. There is a house block for each month and they are so cute! Barri had them shown as a 12 block quilt as well as individual monthly little quilts (which is what I am doing) to hang from a great stand. We received the stands in the shop and I can't wait for you to see them! I hope you all have a great 4th of July weekend and I will return in a week with completed projects in hand!

SANDY