a gift guide for quilters (and a few tool recommendations)

The holidays are fast approaching, and gift guides are popping up all over the place. I've loved the gift guides for quilters that Amy from Diary of a Quilter has published over the past few years, so I wanted to put together my own list of go-to sewing tools and favorite quilting-themed gifts. I'd also love to know what tools and gifts are on your holiday list this year, so be sure to share them in the comments below. 

The Kwik Klip is a basting tool that helps you easily close safety pins when pin basting your quilting projects. This tool has definitely sped up my basting process, and reduced the soreness in my fingers caused by closing hundreds of safety pins in an afternoon!

I use my hera marker all the time to mark quilting lines in my quilt tops. I've had mixed results with marking chalk and pens washing out of my projects, so I enjoy having the peace of mind knowing that this tool will only leave a temporary crease in my quilt top, and not a colored line.

Pincushions are a must, and my favorite are the beautiful crocheted linen ones by Namolio.

I've been using a felt-backed vinyl tablecloth as a design wall for the past few years and I love it. I simply tack it to the wall with flat-head thumbtacks, and it holds my WIPs without a problem. It's also super easy to take down whenever we move.

Patchwork key fobs, with tiny flying geese, are perfect for both quilters and non-quilters alike!

A quilt block rubber stamp is just too cute to pass up.

The classic Olfa 45 mm straight-handle rotary cutter works for both left-handed and right-handed quilters (and ambidextrous folks like myself!), which makes it so useful.

Wonder Clips are handy for so many things, including binding quilts and holding together projects layers that are too thick for pins.

I've loved having a quilt block letterpress calendar by Lineville Letterpress on my desk this past year, and this year's colorful version is equally stunning.

Cotton thread from Connecting Threads is my favorite to work with, and the large spools are a great price.

A sewing machine is a definitely at the higher end of the gift-giving spectrum, but I have two recommendations in case you're feeling extra generous: the Janome Jem Gold (perfect for first-time sewers and those looking for a lightweight back-up/travel machine) and the Juki TL-2010Q (an investment for sure, but a workhorse of a machine).

Happy shopping!

quilting with stripes (and working from a kit)

After spotting a Kaffe Fassett quilt and its accompanying kit during a visit to the Waterwheel House Quilt Shop this past fall, my mom and I struck up a deal that she would buy the kit and I would make the quilt for her for Christmas.

I finished the quilt just in time to gift it to her for the holidays (I shared a process shot on Instagram back in November), and it's been a staple in the living room ever since.

This was the first time I'd made a quilt from a kit, and while the colors and fabrics were outside of what I typically work with, I really enjoyed learning a few new piecing techniques, and having the chance to work with the soft, yarn-dyed, woven stripes.

For the backing, I used a deep solid turquoise from my mom's stash, and added a strip of leftover stripes to the middle. I quilted it with a turquoise thread in a large grid, keeping the quilting somewhat minimal, so as to leave the quilt puffy and soft.

Have you ever made a quilt from a kit? If so, would you do it again? I'd love to hear about your experiences!

sachets + a friday link round-up

For gift giving this past Christmas, I made a pile of lavender flower sachets (pictured above) using this excellent Purl Bee tutorial. Purl Soho carries the prettiest stacks of wool felt, and I opted to use the Spice colorway for my sachets. The final product was super fragrant and really beautiful; I highly recommend the tutorial!

What are your plans for the weekend? I'm hoping to sew (of course!) and fit in a couple of runs. In the meantime, here a few of my favorite things from around the web lately to take you into the weekend:

Season Evans makes stunning quilts, and this spotlight on her work is killer.

Etsy also did a feature on another fellow quilter, Btaylor Quilts.

My friend Kait bought a fabric shop!

Umbrella Prints launched their new Flowers Collection, and the color palette is spot on. (Pieces from their past collections can still be found in the Salty Oat shop.)

Apartment Therapy has some great tips on how to clean quilts.

Lee over at May Chappell is hosting a fun block swap featuring Carolyn Friedlander's new Outhouse quilt pattern; I've already signed up!

This video of a putter (a scissor maker) at work is so cool.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

christmas in july

Before mailing off Christmas gifts last December, I snapped a few photos, which I'm finally getting around to posting, if you'd like to see...

For my twin nephews, I made two sets of bibs from this excellent pattern, using a crab print I picked up on a trip to Nashville last fall and prints from Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee line.

I also made some simple quilted placemats, using fabric from Cloud9 Fabrics' Monsterz collection and a kitchen print gifted from a friend.

I used my favorite tutorial and a Leah Duncan print from Grey's Fabric to make some pillowcases for my parents.

And finally, I made a pair of quilt-as-you-go potholders with rounded corners, using green scraps.

Have you started planning any handmade projects for next Christmas? Any favorite tutorials you'd recommend?

P.S. I'm posting more over on Instagram these days. Come follow along!

quilting project: white and navy log cabin

In January, right before my parents arrived for a visit, I managed to finish their Christmas gift: a queen-size log cabin quilt made from navy prints and solid white.

I collected the navy prints from a variety of places (including Whipstitch, CityCraft, and Stitch Lab) over a number of months and based the design on quilts I saw in Modern Log Cabin Quilting and Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. For the back, I pieced together all of the leftover scraps.

I sent it off to Joanne, who beautifully quilted it with loops, and then bound it with solid navy (and a little bit of white) when it returned. It's the largest quilt I've made to date, and I'm so, so happy with how it turned out.

quilt: innocent crush brick quilt

As a Christmas gift for my in-laws this past holiday, I made them a quilt:

{Made mostly from Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush fabrics, using Amy Smart's Easy Strawberry Fields Brick Quilt featured over on Moda Bake Shop. It was the very first quilt I've ever sent off to a long-arm quilter, and I was quite pleased with the results.}

sewing project: pillowcases

I've been on a pillowcase-making kick lately, so I whipped up a pair for my parents for Christmas to coordinate with their blue-and-white bedroom. Using some P&B fabrics I picked up from work, I made the pillowcases from Heather Ross's pattern in Weekend Sewing.

I love being able to customize my bedding, and I think this project is a great way to feature large pieces of favorite fabrics (my next set will be made from one of Lizzy House's Castle Peeps prints).

2011 calendars: patchwork

Two years ago, I fell in love with SeptemberHouse's calendar panels. So last year, I decided to order a few and customize them for the family members on my holiday list. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing the calendars that I made with you. 

For the first calendar, I made a mini quilt from scraps in my bin. I appliqued the patchwork piece to the calendar panel and then used navy embroidery floss to quilt it.

To finish it, I added ribbon loops to the top of the panel and then backed it with some Japanese fabric I was given a few years ago.

P.S. Thank you to Melissa for spotlighting "Welcome to Our Year" on her blog, Oh, My Darling!

christmas wish list

In case you were wondering (you were, right?), here's what's topping my Christmas wish list this year:

 

Many Mountains Stitchable Tote Bag by Sublime Stitching

Made in France: Cross-Stitch and Embroidery in Red, White, and Blue

Zipper Purse by Made by Hank

christmas loot: tote bag

A handy-dandy tote bag by doe-c-doe. (Thanks, Husband!)

christmas loot: fabric from japan

From my brother and sister-in-law, who live in Japan:

Four lovely yards of cotton fabric.

cross-stitch project: travel mug

For Christmas, my sister-in-law asked for a travel mug. Since I was on a crafting kick for holiday gift giving this year, I wanted to somehow personalize the mug and disguise the fact that it was store bought. I decided cross-stitch was the way to go.

Inspired by the petals pattern on the set of Avie Designs' stationery that I also included in her Christmas package (which I snapped up during the free stationery sale), I translated the pattern into cross-stitch, and cross-stitched it in shades of pink and peach. Because of the size of the surface, it took quite a bit of time to stitch, but I was happy with the results and definitely plan on using the design for other projects.

christmas loot: cross-stitch earrings

From my husband:

Cross-stitch earrings by The Pin Pals.

quilting project: pieced border scrap quilt

Back during Scrap Buster Month on Sew Mama Sew!, I fell in love with this quilt by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts. Knowing that I wanted to make my parents a quilt for Christmas, I decided to use her easy-to-follow tutorial.

I chose to keep the colors for the lap quilt simple, and used shades of blue for each border. The blues were a combination of scraps from around the studio, and fat quarters that I found on sale. The white cotton and the blue flowered backing were both thrift store finds.

I made the binding myself, using my handy new bias tape maker. In order to ensure that the backing was wide enough, I added a patched strip of some of the blue fabrics that were used on the front. Everything was quilted on my machine.

And finally, using an extra square, I embroidered a message to my parents, and stitched it to the quilt's backing.