sewing with mini charms + a new quilt

Thanks to my job at Spoonflower, I've had the good fortune to attend a number of Quilt Markets over the years. As anyone who has attended this event knows, many fabric companies give away mini charm packs (2.5" squares) of fabric to attendees to promote upcoming collection releases. I managed to snag two mini charm packs of Vanessa Christenson's fabrics in the past few years, and recently took the time to turn them into a quilt.

Inspired by this Amish Hourglass quilt, I cut each of the squares into triangles, and sewed them to the corners of solid white squares. Unlike the original inspiration, I sewed the triangles to each of the squares' corners, so that once sewn together, they created scrappy squares on point.

For the backing, I used a long-saved gray-and-mustard print from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern line, which turned out to be the perfect complement to Vanessa's prints.

Continuing with the backing's color scheme, I quilted a large grid in gray thread, and made a gray, scrappy binding from some favorite prints.

I love how the quilt incorporates so many colors and prints, yet thanks to the block's minimal design, remains simple and modern. This is definitely a block pattern that I would like to experiment with more, especially by limiting the number of triangles I add. This quilt is now available in the shop, ready for gifting.

keeping it simple

Though I finished this quilt last year (and am only getting around to blogging about it now!), I actually started it back in 2010, not long after we moved to Maryland. I made the blocks as part of the Stitch DC Mystery Quilt Along, and stashed them away until last year.

I stuck with a lime green and periwinkle color palette, using prints from Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, and Cloud9 Fabrics. Though I played around with numerous layouts and considered incorporating borders and sashing, I wound up laying out the blocks in a simple grid pattern, which I think suits it perfectly!

I selected a fun, bright Amy Butler print from my stash for the back and love how it coordinates with the front. For the binding, I used a light blue and white seersucker stripe for a pop of texture. After quilting and washing, the quilt came out so soft and squishy---perfect for snuggling.

It's so nice to finally have this quilt done! It's now for sale in the Salty Oat Etsy shop.

UPDATE 11/21/14: This quilt is now available for purchase at Cary Quilting Company, in downtown Cary, North Carolina.

All photos by Caroline Okun. 

latest finishes

This past weekend, my husband and I drove around looking for a place to photograph two of my recent finishes. We wound up at this pink brick wall in downtown Raleigh, and were actually soon joined by a photographer and a family, who were looking to use the wall as a backdrop as well (they awkwardly stood behind me as I snapped my last few pictures). First up was a low-volume Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt I made from solid and almost-solid cottons and linens. I stuck with a low-volume theme, throwing in strips of color here and there.

I backed it with one of my favorite Anna Maria Horner prints and quilted it with a light peach thread. I've listed it here in my Etsy shop, if you'd like to take a closer look.

My second recent finish is this Tatami Mat quilt, using a pattern designed by my friend Melissa, of Lunden Designs. Melissa and I met at Quilt Market in Houston last year, and have kept in touch since. I've had the chance to test out a few of her amazing quilt patterns, including this one, and have loved how they've turned out.

For this quilt, I pulled a stack of peach, pink, orange and brown prints by Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, and Art Gallery Fabrics. I enlarged the quilt's borders a bit, and backed it with larger cuts of floral prints by Art Gallery Fabrics and a vintage daisy pillowcase I'd been hoarding. It will be heading off to its new home soon, joining a matching pillow.

log cabin baby quilt

I first made the blocks for this quilt three (three?!) years ago, as part of a mystery quilt along that never finished. I finally pulled all of the blocks out this summer, and made a soft and crinkly baby quilt.

I paired the Heather Bailey, Amy Butler, and Cloud9 prints in the quilt top with another Amy Butler print on the back.

I quilted it in straight lines with green thread, and bound it with a blue and white seersucker for a bit of unexpected texture. 

You can find the quilt for sale in my Etsy shop here.