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A couple weeks ago I got note home from school that my kids' classes desperately needed donations for the baskets that their classes were putting together.  Apparently the school does a fundraiser where the classes collect items for themed baskets and then they are raffled off.  I had completely missed any information that came home about donating, but I didn't have anything pressing on the agenda so I decided to donate quilts. For my daughter's class, they were collecting items related to reading - books, hot cocoa, mugs, and snuggly blankets.  That was easy, I donated this quilt .  But my son's class wanted outdoor items - kites, soccer balls, picnic items, etc.  I didn't have a picnic quilt on hand - I had only made one and it's the one that we use - so I decided to make one. We have really enjoyed the picnic quilt that I made for my family so I knew I wanted to make this one the same way and I thought I'd share my process with you.   1.  I cut a bunch o

Another happy Culcita Box  arrived on my doorstep this month. Yay! This month's box contained a really cute pattern.  This would be so fun with lots of scrappy fabrics.   The fabric for this month is from Tula Pink's new collection, Tabby Road.  Even my daughter (who hates pink) loved these fabrics.  They are enchanting. I have a confession to make: I have never made anything with Tula Pink's fabrics.  I have used a couple of prints, but never a collection.  I am looking forward to making something with these this month. There are lots of options if you want to join in with Culcita Box .  You can specify the size of the cuts you receive (fat quarter or half yard) and how often you receive it (monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly).    You can also purchase one off boxes, including past months here .   March Quilt March Fabric February Quilt February Fabric January Quilt January Fabric

A few weeks ago, the kind people at the  Fat Quarter Shop  contacted me to see if I would be interested in making a quilt with one of their new Cake Mix recipes.  I am always up for trying something new, so I decided to give  Cake Mix #4  a try. This is something that I would have loved to have when I first started quilting.  It takes a lot of the planning out of the process and simplifies the steps.  Cake Mix #4 gives you 4 different options and I decided to make Block 2. I pulled the colors from the print that I used for the backing.  The gray background color is Free Spirit Sand Dune and the binding fabric is Kona Pewter. The backing and a few of the prints on the front of the quilt are from a few of Elizabeth Olwen's Joann's collections that have been in my stash for a while.   If you head over to the  Fat Quarter Shop blog  you can see the other quilts made with this Cake Mix and vote for your favorite. Finished size: 64" x 72"  This quilt is now listed in my  Et

This month I used my Culcita Box fabrics to make a chevron baby quilt.  Like I mentioned , these fabrics are a little outside my comfort zone.  As a general rule for myself, I try not to buy fabrics that have a lot of contrast within them.  They are beautiful and some people do beautiful things with them, but I tend to have a hard time using them. But despite being a little nervous about using them, I am so pleased with how the quilt turned out! I ended up omitting the pink circle fabric from the bundle because I wanted something with a little more orange to it, so I subbed in Kona Mango.  I also added a black Art Gallery triangle print that I had in my stash. These are 60 degree chevrons and I quilted it with a random 60 degree grid.   I was happy to find this Katarina Roccella print in my stash for the backing and I used more of the black triangle print for the binding.  I stitched the binding down with Perle cotton. This quilt is now listed in my Etsy shop . Finished size: 33"

I am excited to finally introduce The Linda Quilt pattern to you today!  It is available on Craftsy and Etsy . When I started this pattern, I decided that I wanted to try to include as many options as I could into the pattern, so the pattern actually includes instructions for 5 different sizes and versions.  Three of them are on point (like the one above) and 2 are horizontally pieced.  This decision was accompanied by a lot of stress and tears on my part as trying to fit all of that into the pattern without making it 100 pages long turned out to be a little challenging, but none of my pattern testers sent me hate mail so I think I figured it out ;) This pattern is a variation on the mini quilt that I made for the Kona Color of the Year exhibit. I would have loved to make the pattern exactly like the mini, but it would have involved a lot of tedious piecing and you would have hated me.  Hopefully this has the same feel without all of the tiny pieces.  You can see the on point baby ve