Wednesday, September 30, 2015

September ALYOF Goal: A whole lotta quilting!

I finished my September goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes, hosted by Sew BitterSweet Designs and Fiber of All Sorts--quilting my liberated medallion quilt started at Gwen Marston's workshop last year--with 3 hours to spare. 
So pretty much right on schedule for me! 

I had almost as much fun quilting this as piecing it. I did a different motif in each border/section of the quilt, and because I was working in borders, it all seemed manageable (well, that and the quilt's smallish size--48" square!). Much of my motif inspiration came from  my go-to free motion quilting resource: Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters. Love that book! 

Here's the center:

And a few of the borders:

And the outer border:


And a look at the texture of the quilt:

This quilt (and three others) are hanging in the Quilts Kalamazoo show in nine days. Which means I'll be carving out some time the next few days to bind this quilt and add hanging sleeves to all four quilts. It's totally acceptable to attach hanging sleeves with safety pins, rather than stitching, right?! 

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Pellon Flex-Foam blog hop!

Pellon has just launched a fusible version of their Flex Foam. They asked me if I was interested in trying it out, and let me tell you--the timing was perfect--I knew just what I wanted to make! 

My third son just turned one. Which means I've had a lot of years of diapers and lugging around a diaper bag. Whenever I can, I'd rather just grab a few supplies (diaper, wipes, changing pad) and bring them along instead of an entire bag. I threw my last changing pad out when the fabric separated from the padding and the padding balled up inside--so frustrating! When I heard about fusible Flex-Foam, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it!

This Grab-n-Go Changing Pad folds up to hold a diaper and a travel case of wipes, and then unfolds to be used. Compact. Cushioned. Easy. I like it! 
Click here to find the tutorial for the Grab-n-Go Changing Pad.

The Flex-Foam adhered to the fabric so smoothly--not wrinkles, no pulling. And it stayed adhered! It's such a nice layer of cushiony softness! 
I can't wait to make something else with it. (And I have something in mind...which I will share as a tutorial...as soon as I find time to make it!)

Here's a little bit more information about the Flex-Foam, and then at the bottom of this post are a few additional photos of my project, links to the rest of the Flex-Foam blog hop, and details about a giveaway so you can try Flex-Foam yourself!




Pellon® Flex-Foam™ is a lightweight stabilizer consisting of a layer of foam sandwiched between two layers of soft fabric. It is excellent for use in crafts, accessories, and home décor projects for an elegant finished look. It can be used in place of or in addition to other stabilizers. Flex-Foam is a breeze to sew through and adds shape and body to projects such as computer cases, eyeglass cases, purses, tote bags, cup holders, diaper bags, and more! It is compatible with a wide variety of fabrics. It is available as a sew-in, a 1-sided fusible or a 2-sided fusible. Available 20” on the board and 60” on the roll*. 


*60” roll isn’t as readily available as the board at the moment, but that should change soon!



See the various Flex-Foam products here:


Here is the changing pad unfolded. I used a few prints from Kanvas' Safari Playground collection. I love these fabrics because they're a nice mix of cutesy and more mod. (After three babies, I'm sometimes done with cutesy!). I chose this (dark colored...don't need to explain that choice!) animal word print for the changing pad surface--something cute for my son.

And the outside is this neat circle print--something that doesn't scream "baby" for when I'm carrying it around. (I can almost pretend it's a clutch, right?!)

For the giveaway:
Comment here for a chance to win a yard each of each variety of Flex Foam:  sew-in1-sided fusible, and 2-sided fusible.  Leave a comment letting me know what you'd make with Flex-Foam. One random winner will be chosen (US & Canadian residents only). The giveaway is open through Sunday, September 20th at 11:59 pm EST. Please make sure I have a way to contact you!

Make sure to check out the other stops on this blog hop! 
9/10 – Cut to Pieces
9/11 – My Crafty Crap
9/13 – Pellon
9/15 – Sew Sweetness
9/17 – Anjeanette Klinder 

9/18 – Pellon

Monday, September 7, 2015

September ALYOF Goal

My September ALYOF goal is to quilt this quilt. Beyond the personal satisfaction of meeting my month goal, there's another deadline attached--I entered it in our guild's local show--Quilt Kalamazoo--which is October 9 and 10. So assuming I make this goal, I will then have at least one week to bind it and add a sleeve!


Time to get started...!