Blogger's Quilt Festival Modern Quilt Category!!

Amy of Amy's Creative Side is holding the Fabulous Blogger's Quilt Festival this week!!

Modern Dresden by SewPsyched! Pattern is copyright protected. 

I am entering Modern Dresden, my Quilt Con 2016 entry, into the Modern Quilts category.

How do you think it will do??? 

She was washed at least 3 times before she went to Quilt Con, and I love her wrinkly texture.

I've never done applique before, but I got better with each of the dresdens ;)) 

Next time I make this pattern, I will use fusible behind them! Lol!!! 

Modern Dresden lives at my son's house in LA, now. Nothing in this world could make me happier than that! Don't you love it when your kids want your work? Love Love Love went into every part of this bed runner :) 

Please stop by and check out all of the other marvelous entrants to the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!!

And VOTE FOR MINE!! ;0

XOXO!!

Lori

If you would like to pattern test this pattern for me, please contact me, below :))

Linking up with the fabulous
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday
Go  check out the quilts!!

Free Kitty Kozy Pattern and Tutorial

Kitty Kozy Pattern and Tutorial

 Fall has arrived in  Alaska, and I can tell you, the cats are on me like Barnacles! I have to pry them off of me, anytime I move, since I am clearly their only source of heat and succor in the Frozen Arctic North that is our living room ;0 

So, I made them these Kitty Kozies so that they can feel loved and cuddled, even when I can't be with them :)

This Kitty Kozy was claimed the moment I put it down to photograph it. 

What is a Kitty Kozy, you ask?? And where can I get this miraculous piece of Feline Furniture?? Well, right here, folks!

A Kitty Kozy is any fabric design that you and your fluffy furball desire (or let's be real... what THEY desire), and that won't show your particular muse's fur leavings, mounted onto a heat reflective, padded, backing. I have used ironing board cover in my Kitty Kozies. 

This is the perfect place to use up all of your left-over blocks! And how about changing them with the seasons?? I have a Holly Jolly Kitty Kozy, a Seaside Kitty Kozy, and a ScaredyKat Kozy, already ;)

Tutorial

Materials:

Fabric scraps, I used left over 2 1/2" strips

Heat reflective material, with batting attached. I used ironing board cover. This is a great use for that old ironing board cover or that coupon to your local megastore!

School or fabric glue 

Matching thread for top and bottom

80/12 needle

Process:

1) Measure the desired surface to be covered, measure your feline friend. Make your Kozy at least 6" larger all around for those 'lying before the fire' sprawling poses. 

2) Cut the heat reflective fabric to this measurement. I made one Kitty Kozy that laps over the arm of our sofa, so that it is a Two Kitty Kozy for those arm lovers out there. So I doubled my original measurement and added 4" for the bend. Why not measure your chair arm and tailor your Kozy to fit? 

3) Sew together scraps or loved but unused blocks in a manner that you and your furry friend find attractive. Or at least in a manner that your guests will not gawk at...

4) Press seams to one side, towards dark material, all in the same direction.

Assembly:

Method 1:

1) Make your top 2" larger or more, all of the way around, than your heat reflective bottom. (I realize what I just said... but that's why cats love us, isn't it??)

2) Place the assembled top and the bottom, WST (Wrong Sides Together)

3) Fold one long edge, so that the raw edge just touches the raw edge of the heat reflective material. Go all of the way to the end, our corners will not be mitered. Press well.

4)Fold this edge again, wrapping it up and over the raw edge of the heat reflective material. Press. Spot glue along the entire edge, near to, but not touching, the fold.

5) Press again, setting the glue.

6) Continue around the sides, in sequence, folding twice and glueing and pressing as you go.

7) Using thread that matches your top and bottom, respectively, top stitch all of the way around the Kozy. 

8) Stitch again, nearer the outside edge to help the Kozy maintain its structure throughout the rough and tumble that will occur the moment you put them in place.

Method 2:

1) Assemble your top and cut it to match the size of your heat reflective bottom ;)

2) Place top and bottom, RST, right sides together

3) Clip or pin all of the way around, leaving a 4" gap along one edge to turn them through.

4) Sew 1/2" seam all of the way around, starting at one side of the 4" gap, and ending at the other, without sewing the gap shut. Back stitch at the beginning and end. 

5) Trim the corners. Be careful not to cut through your stitches!

6) Turn right side out, gently easing first one corner and then the next, through the 4" gap that you left. 

7) Using a dull, rounded pokey object (I use a pencil), poke out the corners. Run your pokey object along the side stitching as well, to push it out so that you can get a nice clean edge

8) Press thoroughly. Turn the edges of the gap in so that they match the rest of your edge seam. Press. You may wish to use a spot of glue here, as well.

9) Top stitch all of the way around. I topstitched at 5/8". Backspace to hold your stitches at the end. 

Et Voila!!!

Your Kitties will love and adore you even more than they do now!!! 

If that were even possible:)

I hope you enjoy your Kitty Kozies!! Please post pics of any that you make using the hashtag 

#SewPsychedKittyKozy 

I can't wait to see what you make!!!!

XX!

Lori

I sure wish  you were here!!!

Linking up with the ever lovely
Crazy Mom Quilts
for finish it up Friday, Woo!

The 2017 Quilter's Planner is now on Pre-Sale!

Each Month has a weekly spread with a different FREE quilt block pattern,

And my block Parisian Tiles is the first week of September and in ALL of the print ads! Woo!

You can tailor the Planner to suit your needs.

There is a daily top three to help you keep on track,

Each page has TO-Do lists and Notes, for Quilting, Work, and Personal Life!

Each Month also has it's own full view calendar,

In addition, there are Projects at a Glance sheets, so handy for those of us with Quilter's ADD!

And, there are also Project Planning Pages where you can plan your projects and keep track of your designs!

AND, there are graph paper and quilting practice pages!!

I have to honestly tell you, the Quilter's Planner has saved my bacon on more than one occasion! It SO helps with the Quilter's ADD :) You can keep family, work, and quilting or craft projects in order of importance and organized so that you can get to everything, without having multiple planners or notebooks. And, this year, there is a mini planner that you can take on the go!!! Sign me up!!

So, as if all of that good in one place wasn't enough, you also get FREE patterns from world famous designers, right in the planner, and Quilter's references as well!!

Check out the quilt that got me started in Modern Quilting, Christa Watson's Chevrons! Free in the Quilter's Planner!

What’s Included This Year?

This year’s edition is  full of improvements made from the comments and suggestions you provided, including:

Weekly and Monthly Calendar Pages

Laminated Cover and Tabs to Last All Year 

Beautiful Quilt Photography from the Coast of Maine, by Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter

More Project Planning Pages

More Quilt Patterns by Top Designers(14 to be exact!), in a Digital Download Format 

Stickers for Adding Flare to Your Planning Pages 

A Pocket on the Back Cover 

Weekly Block Designs (with links to full online tutorials)

Weekly Free Motion Quilting Designs (and links to how-to videos!) 

A Small, Elegant, Companion Book for When You’re on the Go (Add-On Upgrade)

A Color Chart from Cloud9 Fabrics, Cirrus Solids, to help you choose the perfect fabric for your next quilt 

Here is the link to buy your Quilter's Planner while it is on Pre-Sale. Hurry up, though, they ran out early, last year!! Give the page a second to load and please do watch Stephanie's delightful video :)

I'll be making my quilt Parisian Tiles in these two colorways, A 3-D version, and a Nautical version:

Would you like to join me?? Let's start next weekend, August 5-7 and quilt together!!

The pattern and tutorial can be found on my post, here. 

I hope to see you then!!

XX!

Lori

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for 
Finish It Up Friday! Woo!

Paintbrush Studio's New Block Blog Hop and Giveaway!!

Welcome to day three of the 
2016 Paintbrush Studios New Block Blog Hop!!

Today, I have my Parisian Tiles Block pattern using Paintbrush Studios lovely Ocean Sunrise inspired theme.

These lovely Painter's Palette fabrics were provided to us by Paintbrush Studios, to make 12 1/2" blocks with. These blocks will all be sent back to Yvonne, Quilting Jet Girl, who will assemble them into several quilts for charity. How awesome is that??!! There is also a fabric giveaway, so hop on over and win yourself some love!

What reminds you more of Ocean's and Summers than a Nautically inspired quilt???

Meet Parisian Tiles, my 12" finished block.

Parisian Tiles makes up into a lovely Queen sized quilt with only 12 blocks!! Quick and easy for your Summer time decor!

You will need:
a FQ, each of:

Daydream

Midnight

White

Supplies:

Starch to stabilize bias blocks

A 12 1/2" Square ruler to square up your block

Rotary cutter, mat, Aurifil 50 thread in 2600, grey

80/12 needle

Cutting: (WOF is width of fabric, in this case, a fat quarter or 21")

White fabric;

(3), 2" WOF strips

(1), 4" WOF strip, subdivide into 4" Squares

Daydream fabric;

(1), 3" WOF strip

Midnight fabric;

(1), 4" WOF, subcut into 7 1/2" lengths

(2), 3" WOF strips

Left Half of Block:

Requirements:

(2), White 4"squares

(1), Midnight 3" by 9" strip

(2), White 2" by 9" strips

(2), Daydream 3" by 7" strips

Assemble Left Half of block as above:

• White square, Daydream strip, White strip, Midnight strip, White strip, Daydream strip, White square
• NOTE: Notice that the strips are all sewn from the same leading edge so that the bottom of the edge is straight. If your edge is not straight, rip and repiece. If your edge is almost straight, with less than 1/8" variation, it will be fine, as this edge will be in the seam when we combine the two sides of the block.
• PRESS all seams in one direction, using starch and no steam. The starch will help to stabilize the block as we piece the two sides together. 
• While hot from pressing, place the block under a heavy book to ensure super flatness. 

Let's Trim!!

• Using a 12 1/2" Square Ruler, place the center line 3/8 of an inch from the bottom, straight, edge, as seen above.

• Center top edge (at 12 1/2" corner) in the Midnight strip, maintaining the bottom edge of your block on the center line. 

• Holding ruler in place, trim both sides. 

Right Half of block:

(1) White 2" by 21"  strip

(1) Midnight 3" by 16" strip

(1) White 2" by 11" strip

(1) Midnight 4: by 7 1/2" strip

Assemble Right Half of block:

• Mark the centers of each strip using a pin or by folding and finger pressing
• Match the centers and pin, beginning with the White 2" by 21" strip and following the order, above. Sew in sequence
• Press, using starch, and no steam, and weight to lie flat.

Trim the block:

• Line the center line of the 12 1/2" ruler 3/8" from the bottom (long White edge) of the block, as above.
• Align the point of the corner of the ruler, with the center of the Midnight strip, as above.
• Trim along both sides.

Assemble the Block:

• Line the two halves of your block, longest  hypotenuse, together, 

• Keeping bottom, long, edges together, sew with a 1/4" seam, attending to seams so that they do not flip while sewing. 
• Press, folding seam to the long white strip

Trim the block:

• Align the center line of the 12 1/2" square ruler with the center seam you just sewed. 
• Trim the block around the outside edge of the entire ruler.

Repeat 11 more times and you have a quilt flimsy!! Wooo!!

For added zest, you can change up the colors to make the quilt 3D!!

Please check out the other Bloggers' Patterns!!!

Wednesday, March 30th

Host: Stephanie @Late Night Quilter

Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts

Shelly @The Carpenter’s Daughter Who Quilts

Amy @13 Spools

Geraldine @Living Water Quilter

Robyn @Hoops & Thimbles

Jan @The Colorful Fabriholic

Sharla @Thistle Thicket Studio

Jinger @Trials of a Newbie Quilter

Kathryn @Kupitis

Jane @Jolly and Delilah

Josi @Avocado Quilts

Deanna @Stitches Quilting

Lori @SewPsyched!

Linking up with the always stupendous

Crazy Mom Quilts!

Paperie SewTogether Bag

Today's Finish is my Paperie SewTogether Bag. 

Made with scraps from my Paperie

Piller of Lurve! 

And, man, is it lurverly!!

I hand stitched around all of the red and orange heart shaped leaves from the Gathering Blooms Panel, 

Then matchstick quilted in Aurifil Seafoam(2835), Light Pink(2423), and Off White(2021) all across the front panel. I only use Aurifil when I sew, and it works like a dream in my Pfaff, Janome and vintage Singer.

When you're constructing your Sewtogether Bag, and you want to add a fancy outside, be sure to cut your pieces extra long and wide, as you will embellish them Before you trim them and sew the bag together. If you begin with sides cut to the correct finished size, your bag will probably shrink and be smaller on the outside than it should be. So cut large and trim down, later!

On the other side, I used scraps of my favorite quotes from Amy's wonderful Paperie fabric, Quoted. So marvelous!! Then I fit in bits of the leftover scraps that were less than 2.5 inches, because I could not bear to lose them and wanted to see them every day. 

And the Answer to the Question, of course!!

I used Eponine as the outside sides, and Manuscript as the binding... I can see owning yards and yards of this marvelous print! 

I used a felt heart as my needle rest :)

And lined each zipper opening in velvet ribbon, with zippers to match. I placed the ribbon lower on the mint zipper pocket, to underline the wonderful quotes that Amy chose to use. Sigh!! Happiness!

The pocket interiors are Kona solids that sing with the Paperie line. The back lining is Happily Ever After, and the inside sides are Cosette. Find the entire line shown with names, here. 

The bottom is a section of the Gathering Blooms Panel, I added this to the pattern as I wanted extra space at the top of my bag, over the zippers, in case I needed to put a 4"square cutting template or other large object into the bag for safe keeping while I travelled to and fro.

Sweetness!!

Go and grab some Paperie as fast as you can!! It's limited edition and when it's gone, it's gone!! 

That Happily Ever After heart print comes in wide for backings, too!! Drool!!

And as if knowing that all of this lovely is out in the world, wasn't enough, my sponsor, Calico Cat Fabrics, has some very nice sales going on for you!!

I kid you not, she has Tula Pink Plum Ship Shape on sale for $3.69 a half yard. Sheer lunacy!!

Tanya has also just gotten entire ranges of novelty prints, so if a Dr Who Sewtogether Bag needs to be in your future, or a Sewing Themed bag, or Campers  (I mean, Campers!! So cute!!!), or Disney, hop on over and check her out!  All of her Riley Blake and Lecien are on sale until they're GONE!!

So Much Fun!!!

Moose slip on the ice, too ;)

XX!

Lori

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday :)