Happy New Years!

Well, we can' move forward into a new year without taking a quick look back first! Although I originally made little quick slid shoes of pictures, I can't get them to load here! So instead of showing you everything I made and did, I will chose to edit it down to 9 favorites in a few different categories!

Favorite Store Moments!

This was a big year for me, with the store opening and everything that came along with that! I absolutely loved taking and teaching classes at the shop, doing my first quilting bee, having the outdoor quilt show, and being able to spend so much creative, productive time in this sunny little place I'm building! There were so many fun new things, like going to quilt market, filming for The Sewing Party, the outdoor quilt show, participating in Sewvivor, and so much more! It hasn't always been easy, but it's always been interesting, and that's way better anyway!

Favorite Quilts, 2014

Now on to the favorite results of my favorite thing to make: quilts! My records show that I made almost 30 quilts this year, if you include a few minis (which I do, because they can still take forever!) And they all had a special place in my heart, but here are my top 9! I guess I can see a bit of a theme, color wise, as they dont look especially different from each other, so maybe 2015 i branch out? That or I settle into a signature style. See more here!

Garment Makes 2014

I also explored the wide and wonderful world of garment sewing for the first time with any real success this year! From my first Briar Tee to dip my toes into knits, to the McCalls pattern I have almost successfully finished, to finally attempting button holes, I am proud of the things I tried this year! Though they weren't all successes, I am happy with the additions I have to my wardrobe, and the possibilities for what else I can learn in the coming year.

Thanks for following along on this adventure with me. Looking forward to sharing 2015 with you as well!!

xoxo
Nancy

The Ohio Quilt

Click here to purchase this pattern!

Hello all! Great news to report-- I have released my first quilt pattern for "The Ohio Quilt"! This is a really fun, pixelated version of the great state of Ohio. The making of the quilt pattern came about after Devon sent me a customer wanting an Ohio quilt based on the one she originally made, which can be seen here. Devon also awesomely made a tutorial for this quilt, which is very handy, but I know some people like to know exactly what to do, hence this pattern! I made it up for this order in these rich, bold colors, but I am also picturing it looking awesome in all reds with a grey background? Perhaps all low-volume? There are lots of options, all of which would look great!

O-H

This quilt is a combination of squares and rectangles, and the directions show you how to break it down into sections that become blocks, which are then joined together to make the full state.

I-O !

The pieces are fairly big, so the quilt top actually comes together pretty fast once you've cut everything out. I'd love to also try it shrunken down a bit, and using more negative space. Maybe some type of script Ohio appliqued on top? So many options!

Magical floating quilt

I used a Pat Bravo for Art Gallery gray and black floral print on the back, and I think the grey is a nice contrast to the bright, graphic front of the quilt.

Add caption

I also made the binding out of a few different prints and colors from the quilt to give it a scrappy look. The background is Kona bone, which is a nice off-white, and I quilted it with straight lines going up and down every 3".

Close up. 

And remember, the quilt pattern is available for downloading by simply clicking here!!

Nail polish mini

Nail Polish Mini

Greetings! Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! Mine was pretty relaxing, just stayed in Nashville, closed the store for 2 days, drank some wine, ate some food, and, since this is Nashville, went to a concert. It was nice! As for the quilt you see above you, I recently signed up for my first quilt "swap," which I had been wanting to try for a while!

How swaps work is that there is generally one person in charge, and you sign up via a form that asks for your quilty likes and dislikes. You then get assigned a partner, and someone else gets you, so its all a secret. Then you look around (stalk) your partner's instagram feed and see what you think they might like! My partner was a nailpolish rep and likes bright colors, so when I remembered this block, I knew it would work!

Nail polish rainbow

The original pattern for this block comes from Fat Quarter Shop but it makes one large bottle. Then I found a mini-fied version at a blog called Bee in My Bonnet, so I went with that one so I could use more colors.

Close up on aqua Cotton and Steel polish

I picked out the background fabric first, which I dont know what brand or designer it is, just something i got on sale at some point, and then I picked nailpolish colors that matched the polka dots. And the lids is one of my favorite prints by Rashida Coleman-Hale for Cloud9. The bottles are Cotton and Steel, Michael Miller, Art Gallery, and another old Cloud9, and they are all some of my faves! And I like them together too. 

Back and label

I made my first label out of a combo of embroidery and fabric markers, and I think it's cute! I hope my swap partner doesnt see this until she gets her package, but I dont know why she would, so I should be safe. 

The back

I thought making a quilt for someone I dont know was really fun! It was fun deciding on a pattern and picking colors. I hope she likes it, and I'm curious and excited to get mine in the mail this week too!