"Juggling Charms" Another Charm Quilt Finish

I've had a remarkably productive week!  I have several finishes to show today, starting with the "Juggling Charms" baby quilt.

This quilt used part of a charm pack I got a year or two ago, "Juggling Summer" by Zen Chic.  The colors are way outside my usual comfort zone, but I fell in love with the detailed, geometric prints.

 

I quilted it with a square spiral (another Angela Walters design) to compliment the geometric prints.  I love how the quilting shows up on the back.

My favorite part of the whole thing may be the bright orange binding. I found this orange in my stash and I wasn't sure I was going to link it until it was sewn on. Now I love it!

I developed a tutorial as I went along, if anyone would like to make a similar quilt.  The tutorial is here.    


This quilt was the second so far to get one of my very own customized labels :) I ordered these as a Christmas gift to myself from MommieMadeIt on Etsy.

I highly recommend this shop for anyone thinking about ordering quilting labels.  Lisa was so easy to work with and made sure the my design was exactly how I wanted it before printing. Printing and shipping were fast, too!

Also this week I made my February do. Good Stitches blocks.  Stephanie asked for 12.5" sampler blocks in rainbow brights.  I found these two blocks from the Modern Block Library.  On the left is Cracker Scraps and on the right Fireflies.

Finally, I made a couple of accessories for my sewing area. I made one of the popular Skinny Pincushions (original here) with dimensions customized to my machine.

One change I made was to include a flap of fabric sewn into the seam which my machine sits on top of to keep the pin cushion from scooting away.

I also made a sewing caddy to hang of my desk and hold feet, seam rippers, embroidery scissors, and everything else that is always getting knocked of my desk and onto the floor.

Whew! Ok, that's actually not everything I got done this week, but that's enough for one post. I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Friday.  See you Monday!

Juggling Charms quilt tutorial

Hello and welcome to yet another way to use a charm pack!  This simple but effective design can make a fun baby in no time at all or use more charms (or 5" scraps from your stash) to make a larger quilt.

I named this pattern "Juggling Charms" after the charm pack I used, which was Juggling Summer by Zen Chic.  To make this quilt (not including optional borders) you will need approximately:

(36) 5" squares, or one charm pack

1 yd back ground fabric

Cut (6) 1.5" x WOF strips and (5) 3.75" strips from your background fabric.

Sort through your charm pack and pick out 36 charms. After you pull out the ones that are basically the same color as the back ground and the ones that aren't very interesting to look at your will probably have just enough left.  Chain piece 24 of the charm squares onto the 1.5" strips.

Use your rotary cutter and ruler to slice apart the sashing strips and square them up with the charms.  

Then join the remaining 12 single charms to 12 of these creating pairs.

Join the remaining 12 charm+sashing unit to the doubles to make trios (stacks of charms 3 tall) and press.

Sew a 15.5" strips of the 1.5" strips of background fabric onto one side of 3 of the 3-charm-units.

Then sew the other 3-charm-units onto the sashing strips you just attached. Be sure to pin to keep the charms lined up across the middle sashing.  Press the blocks.

Next sew the 3.75" strips of background fabric onto both sides of each block. Press and trim. The finished blocks should measure 16".

Lay the blocks out to decide on an arrangement.  If you finish the top at this point it will measure 31.5"x47".  That was a little too tall and skinny for my tastes so I decided to add borders.

I added a first border of the 1.5" background strips to all sides, and a second and third border to the left and right sides only of a 2.5" strip of coordinating color followed by another strip of the 1.5" background fabric.

With the borders the top measures 39.5"x 49",  which looks much more balanced to me.  I choose to FMQ the top with square spirals (an Angela Walters design).  You can read more about my finished quilt on its post here.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to email me, and if you make anything based off one of my tutorials I'd love to see it!

Linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

The WIPs are multiplying...

Nothing make my day more than going to the mailbox and finding quilt-y things.  I love when it's my turn as the queen bee in my do. Good Stitches circle and the blocks start coming in. Every time I get a new one I have to rush in and put in on the design wall with the others. 

So far I have 4 blocks here.  (I am aiming for 12 but can make do with 9 for the finished quilt.)  These were made with the Drunken Circles tutorial.

The other thing I accomplished this week was coming up with a cute new layout for a charm pack.  I took pictures and wrote down measurements along the way so I can put a tutorial on the blog for y'all later.

Here's hoping this next week is a little more productive!  Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.