Quilt Top Pattern

After I posted the quilted duvet, a reader asked for the pattern.
She was in luck because I drew it all out in advance and actually kept my work. Most amazingly, I was able to find it!
You can use the how-to here to assemble the duvet itself. This is just a pattern for the quilt top based on a finished duvet of 88" x 68".
I've never used or written a quilt pattern...you've been warned.

Just for fun, here is what my draft looked like for the quilt. Remedial math and random scribbles.

DON'T follow this as a pattern since it was only a draft in progress. 

Now, if you want to make a similar quilt, here is a basic pattern. 
It's not to scale, but does show the overall construction.

High tech handwriting and all...

 And my duvet for reference (flipped to match the sketched pattern)

 You'll need:

Two yards of your main fabric (Curious George print on mine)

Half a yard of 4 or 5 different coordinating fabrics (these are the red, blue, green, yellow and white vertical strips on mine)

One Yard of a solid cotton (this is white Kona muslin on mine...)

1. Cut your main fabric into four strips running the full width of the fabric and measuring 16 1/2" tall (this is the Curious George print on mine). Trim your selvages. These are your 1 pieces.

2. Cut one full width piece of each of your coordinating fabrics, also 16 1/2" high .

3. Take your coordinating fabrics from step 2 and cut them into various width strips. Assemble them in a random order until you have four sections, each about 30" long. These will be your 2 sections.

4. Sew 1 together with 2 for all four A sections. You'll notice I alternated these left and right so that two of my A sections have 1 on the left, while the other two A sections have 1 on the right.

5. Piece together four 4 1/2" x 70" strips using your solid cotton. These are your B sections.

6. Join A to B, alternating until all the sections are joined.

7. Piece together one 6 1/2" x 70" strip. This is your C section.

8. Join C to the top edge of your first A strip (the head of the bed).

9. Piece together one 8 1/2" x 70" strip. This is your D section.

10. Join D to the bottom of your last A strip (the foot of the bed).

From here, make yourself a twin size quilt or make the duvet like I did.  

And please feel free to ask questions since I have serious doubts that this will make sense to anyone but me.

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quilting season has begun...

For some reason, I get motivated to make quilts during the summer. 

A lap full of cotton and batting when temps near triple digits. Uh-huh. 

It doesn't make sense to me either but it gets things done. 

Last summer I did a lot of quilting and I've just finished my first quilt of this summer. 

This is my salvaged project from here. 

It's simple but exactly what I wanted.

I really love the back.

And I do love those little feet...

It's also the first quilt I've made for myself! 

(which explains all the pink...my favorite color)

I really just started with a blank canvas of quilted white Kona muslin and batting.

Then I did a whole bunch of appliques...

I added horizontal pink lines and a little bit of free motion quilting to give it a sense of movement.

And it's mine. All mine.

Fabrics: 

Joel Dewberry Mazanita

binding fabric escapes me...I'll figure it out and add it

Oh, and the dimensions are 69 1/2" x 44 1/2", what I deemed "couch-sized."

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On the line

 My husband did the sweetest thing with his Father's Day morning...he installed a clothesline for me.
I've been shamelessly begging for a clothesline for months.

Seriously, running a dryer on sunny Southern California days? That doesn't even make sense to me.

A beautiful sight.

The kids think it's a merry-go-round.

But I think it's heaven

I even made a clothespin bag.

Because what is new domestic bliss without a little sewing?

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Handmade Gifting Lesson #3

I could easily entitle this post "The Smartest Thing I've Ever Done" but that may be overstating things a bit.
This probably isn't THE smartest thing I've ever done, but it's definitely at the top of the list.

Sometimes you get a great idea, volunteer to help a friend, or start running with an idea with all the best intentions. Then, you find yourself overwhelmed or simply unable to finish because you have a whole life to manage in addition to this crazy sewing habit you've developed. I get it.

The third little handmade lesson is: know when to reclaim your sanity and walk away from a gift (big or small) in the works...or better yet, know your limits and stick to what you can manage right from the beginning.

A LONG time ago I promised a girlfriend that I would make a new quilt for their master bedroom thinking I was doing her a favor and it would be fun. But I'm pretty sure that making a friend wait on a project for almost a year isn't really a favor. And it turns out that muscling a queen size mass of muslin and batting through my little machine was way more cumbersome than I anticipated and surprisingly hard on my hands. My sweet friend never mentioned the quilt or harassed me about it. 

{For the record, I have amazing friends.}

So a couple weeks ago I got on ebay and found her the exact same Pottery Barn quilt brand new with shams (all in the original packaging). It has been long discontinued at PB so this was a wonderful stroke of luck. Even better, their anniversary was coming up. Apology & anniversary gift all rolled into one.

The gift didn't work out at all, but I was able to make good to my friend and reclaim my good sense.

And now I have whole bunch of sort-of-quilted fabric & batting (that huge bundle up top) that will become multiple smaller quilts...like this one in progress.

If you're new to my "expert" gifting lessons, here's #1 & #2.

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Quilted Duvet Cover...with how-to

Let's say you would love a homemade quilt on that bed of yours but just can't find the time to make one (if you're like me...).
But you also love your fluffy warm comforter and don't want to part with it.
It sounds like you need a quilted duvet cover!

{edited to add: if you want to know how I made the quilt top, here are directions
http://handmademommy.blogspot.com/2010/06/quilt-top-pattern.htm}

Admittedly, Curious George may not be your taste, but it is a dream come true for my girlfriend Mya's 3 year old son. She asked me waaaay back when if I could make something for his bed and I eagerly signed up. It's taken me an embarrassingly long time to finish it {blush}but at least you get a quick how-to out of it.

You'll need...

a quilted top

a big piece of cheap muslin to back the quilt top

a piece of fabric big enough for the backing (a flat sheet will probably work but check dimensions first)

a handful of buttons

First make a quilt top in the right size for the top of your duvet (measure your comforter and add a couple inches to width and length + seam allowances).
Don't you love how that only takes one step in this how-to??

Next, use quilter's basting spray to adhere the quilt top to a large piece of muslin. Use the cheap unbleached muslin because it will be on the inside of the duvet. Sew the muslin and top together. I just sewed along the horizontal seams of the quilt top.
Here is the front and back of your quilt top sandwiched together with the muslin. 

 Hem the bottom of your duvet by folding 1/4" towards the muslin, then again, and sewing.

 Place your backing wrong sides together with your quilted top and stitch the top opening (head of the bed) and sides together using a 1/4" seam allowance. Clip your corners.

Turn your duvet wrong side out and stitch the top and sides together using a 3/8" seam allowance.
French seam: check.
These steps don't make for very exciting pictures, but I trust your skills.

Add the buttonholes to your top and buttons to the backing along the bottom to close it up.
Hint: get a buttonhole foot! It will make buttonholes a breeze!

 If you make your top about 2" longer than your backing, you can create a nice little pocket closure at the bottom (foot of the bed).It will look like this. It's not necessary but sure does look nice.

And if you want a matching pillowcase to go with your duvet, this tutorial is great over at Film in the Fridge.
Really, what is a custom duvet without a coordinating pillowcase?

Here's the whole package...
(laid out on my son's full size bad because we don't have a twin in the house)

If you're making it for a dear friend, bundle it up and take the circus to the post office!
(let me tell you how much fun it is to stand in a 20 minute line with 2 kids who refused naps and bounced around the place like Mommy gave them a bag full of sugar...)

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What to do with all this fabric?

A girlfriend of mine asked me to post about my fabric organization and I was all too happy to oblige. It's a really geeky thing to want to show off your fabric organization (even typing it irreversibly cements my geekiness) but maybe others will find this helpful. So, Nat, here's your quick rundown of my fabric storage. And a peek into my sewing area tucked in the corner of our living room.

{Lighting was not on my side today...but you get the idea.}

I used to have drawers, but shelving works soooo much better for me. I don't have to empty drawers to get to the bottom of the pile and everything is completely accessible. 

This is the top half of a china hutch/buffet combo. Maybe someday I'll put feet on the bottom...for now, it works great as is.

I have my fabrics organized by type: 

minky/baby gift fabrics, jersey, printed cottons, utilitarian (terry, duck cloth, broadcloth), home dec, and the bottom right shelf is a little pile of unfinished quilts...someday.

For my fat quarters and smaller cuts of quilting fabric, I use one of the shelves in this cabinet. 

(Crate & Barrel RTA furniture, if you were wondering, very durable and won't break the budget)

For my fabric scraps, I use a clear bin with a lid so I can see everything and easily dig through it. 

And even with this great storage, a lot of my fabric ends up scattered all over my sewing table. 

It's not just you. 

How can we simultaneously be creative and organized 100% of the time? 

Creativity comes at a price.

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Happy Wednesday

You know, some days your kids are those kids at the play date. Some days you have a hard time getting out of bed. Some days you are really really grateful that both your kids took a nap at the same time. And, if you're very lucky, some days you get handmade earrings from a dear friend. Like today.

These are a couple of stragglers from the earring making night that inspired the earring organizer. And I am in love.
They looked like something you might like too, so I'm just sharing.

These remind me of little scoops of sherbet.

Cool. Sweet. Rainbow Colored.

What is better on a hot summer day?

And these, oddly enough, remind me of Marilyn Monroe.

It's the sparkly silver bands that look like her diamond cuffs 

in "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend".

I hope that your week is going well even if you might have a day or two like we did.

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Little Birthdays

 As you already know, I love making the gifts we give. 

I made up some little gifts for little friends and actually had time to take pictures before they went in the mail!

Here are hair clips for my girlfriend's daughter

(I told you I was in love with making clips...)

And my favorite of the bunch

And a couple crayon rolls

made using this tutorial by Lindsey on V and Co.
If you need a little gift idea, this is an easy tutorial to follow.

This was the "girl" version complete with love label.

And a boy version with rockets.

What boy doesn't love rockets?

I love the text on this fabric...

Fabrics:

polka dots from a random fat quarter bundle...clueless

Rocket Scientist by Keri Beyer for In The Beginning

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Space Cowboy

I don't make a whole lot of clothes for the boys, but I do love making jammies. So when the nights started getting warmer here and my 3 1/2 year old only had cool weather pajamas, I was ready to sew! I altered my 15 minute jammy pants tutorial to make boxer style shorts and picked up a pack of little boys' undershirts for the appliqued tops. 

And what do little boys love?

All things space related, of course.

Especially rockets. 

 And cowboys are a favorite in our house.

Especially little retro cowboys to go with the heirloom western bed and cowboy quilt.

Fabrics:

Robots line by David Walker for Free Spirit

Lariat Larry by Michael Miller

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