One of my quilting besties published her first book!
Amanda Niederhauser recently published Playful Precut Quilts, 

a beautiful book that includes 15 projects that each feature 12" blocks -

making it easy to mix and match blocks from different patterns!

There were so many cute patterns in this book but I chose to make Flower Basket.

It's a basic patchwork pattern that uses a unique piecing technique, sewing partial seams.

I had never used that technique before.  I was a little nervous to try it but also wanted to 

push myself to learn something new!  And it was actually really easy and really fun!

Flower Basket is a 2-1/2" wide precut strip friendly pattern.

I don't have a lot of precuts in my stash so I decided to do a scrappy

blue and white version using varying shades of blue from my stash.  

Blue is the color I have the most of in my stash

and it was so fun using some of my favorite blue prints.

I put a very small dent in my blue stash but it felt good.

I even had a bolt of the blue chambray I used for the back and

the binding was leftover from a recent finish (my new pattern, United)

so this quilt was made 100% from my stash.

I LOVE those kinds of quilts!

This quilt finishes at 60" x 72" but it would be really easy to make

the pattern bigger or smaller depending on your needs.

For the quilting, I chose a new-to-me edge-to-edge pattern called Terracotta.

My friend Jen Ostler in Lehi, Utah quilted it for me.

I love the way it turned out!

I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt and can definitely see

myself using this pattern again!

There are so many other cute projects in this book

and I love the idea of mixing and matching blocks to make

each quilt your own.  So many possibilities with this book!

You should definitely run out and grab a copy!

Even though Amanda lives in California and I live in Utah,

we get to see each other now and then.  We had a spontaneous

lunch date the other day when she was in town and you bet your bottom dollar

that I had Amanda sign my copy of Playful Precut Quilts.

Congratulations to my friend Amanda on a fantastic book, as well as, 2 darling fabric lines

with Riley Blake Designs.  I'm so happy for her and thankful to be able to call her a friend!

You can visit Amanda's blog HERE for a list of all the other makers

that participated in this book tour.  There are so many inspiring projects representing

a big variety of projects from Playful Precut Quilts.

Have a great day you guys!

Perfectly Pretty Patchwork Book Tour

I am so thrilled to be a part of the Perfectly Pretty Patchwork Book Tour.  

I have admired the author, Kristyne Czepuryk for many years.  

In fact, I even asked Kristyne to guest post on my blog back in 2012 where  

she shared her lovely sewing space in a series I called Sew Inspiring Rooms.  You can 

check it out HERE.  Kristyne is a wife, mother, fabric designer for Moda, 

two-time author, the designer of numerous other patterns for quilts, pouches, 

bags, stockings, etc., and has been featured in several magazines!  Kristyne you amaze me 

and this book is another wonderful accomplishment!

For the book tour, I chose to make a rather small, but sweet item from Kristyne's book.  

It's something I've wanted for a long time so this was just the push I needed!  I made the 3" Needlebook and it was such a fun project!  In fact, I made TWO!  One for me and one for a friend.

 Quilters...we're in the business of making pretty things.  

So why shouldn't our Needlebooks be cute too?!?

I love Kristyne's pattern because it was very customizable.  She had great ideas for 

adding lots of fun details but I kept mine somewhat simple and I still think it's adorable!

I really enjoyed getting outside of my comfort zone and trying something different.

In fact, I was able to learn something new with this project!

Have you ever tried a single-fold binding?  I hadn't!  But it's the perfect kind

of binding for a tiny project like this.  It was easy and it felt good learning something new. 

I finished both of these needlebooks in one afternoon and now I'm excited to give one 

to my quilty friend for her birthday!  I might throw in some of my favorite needles, 

thread and possibly a handmade pouch or bag!

  

Perfectly Pretty Patchwork has 16 projects in it - 8 quilts and 8 smaller projects such as a 

pillow, a pouch, and a pincushion (just to name a few!)

It is such a beautiful, inspirational book Kristyne!  

Thank you for asking me to be a part of your book tour! 

I sure hope the rest of you will check out the other makers on this tour 

and try to get your hands on this lovely book!

Fresh Fat-Quarter Quilts Book Tour

The day is finally here!  It's my stop on the Fresh Fat-Quarter Quilts book tour and I am so excited!

Mostly, I am just so excited for my friend, Andy Knowlton and her beautiful new book, Fresh Fat-Quarter Quilts which is full of 12 fabulous projects!  Andy and I have been friends for many years now.  We roomed together at the International Quilt Market a few years ago, we've retreated together, lunched together, and cheered each other on over the years.  I'm just so proud of Andy, my talented friend.

Like Andy, one of my favorite cuts of fabric is the fat-quarter.  That's what I usually buy when I'm fabric shopping just for fun.  So I love the concept of Fresh Fat-Quarter Quilts.  Andy gives 12 project ideas that use different amounts of fat-quarters, ranging from 6 to 14 fat-quarters.   

One of the patterns that really caught my eye in Fresh Fat-Quarter Quilts is called Sunny Day.  Mine is quite different than Andy's version which uses sweet pinks, yellows, and greens.  I decided to use some of the Christmas fabrics that I recently inherited after my grandmother (the one who taught me how to quilt) past away.  It was such a sweet experience to be able to work with many of her fabrics.

I purchased the black print by Sweetwater and also threw in a white with green 

polka dot fabric that I had in my stash.

The greens in this quilt were quite different than anything I had in my stash though.  They are more blue-green as opposed to the yellow-greens that I have in my stash and that are more popular today.  So I was surprised to find green Minky that worked with them.  Minky was definitely the way to go; this Christmas quilt is so soft and cuddly and will definitely get used for many years to come.

The fun scalloped border "had me at hello" 

and was one of the main things I loved about this quilt.

Have you ever made a scalloped border?

I've done it one other time on my Friendship Heart Quilt.

I guess I'm a sucker for scallops!

I was going to bind it in the black print but at the last minute, I decided

red would be a better note to end things on since there was so much black 

near the edge of the quilt.  So I ended up using a red grunge fabric I had in my stash and 

I'm happy I went that route.

I love the blocks in this pattern!  

They really showcase my grandma's vintagy Christmas fabrics.

I believe she used many of them to make stockings, but I could be wrong.

The quilting design is a fairly new-to-me designed called Gemma #3 by Karlee Porter.

My quilter, Cathy Barney did a fantastic job, as always!

And finally, I have to tell you about the labels I got!  They're really simple but I love them!

I feel so professional with them, haha!  I got them from Border City Quilts on Etsy.  

You can customize them to whatever you want and the owner from the shop was really great 

to work with!  I got 20 labels for about $20 so I think they were very reasonably priced too!

This is just one of the quilt patterns I would love to make from Fresh Fat-Quarter Quilts!

It's a great book with beautiful patterns, easy to understand instructions, great photography, 

and lots of helpful tips throughout!  I hope you'll get yourself a copy!

Be sure to stop by the other blogs that are helping with the tour!

So much eye candy!!!

Nov 18:   Jen Van Orman - Heritage Threads

Nov 19:   Holly Lesue - Maker Valley

Nov 20:   Amy Chappell - Ameroonie Designs

Nov 21:   Nadra Ridgeway - Ellis and Higgs

Nov 22:   Kristina Brinkerhoff - Center Street Quilts

Nov 23:   Amy Sinibaldi - @AmySinibaldi 

Nov 25:   Jessica Dayon - Jessica Dayon

Nov 26:   Amy Smart - Diary of a Quilter

Nov 27:   Amanda Niederhauser - Jedi Craft Girl

Nov 28:   Andy Knowlton - A Bright Corner

Nov 29:   Sharon Burgess - Lilabelle Lane Creations

Nov 30:   Samantha Dorn - Aqua Paisley Studio

Dec 2:   Lindsey Weight - Primrose Cottage Quilts

Dec 3:   Bev McCullough - Flamingo Toes

Dec 4:   Christopher Thompson - The Tattooed Quilter

Dec 5:   Amber Johnson - Gigi's Thimble

Dec 6:   Melissa Corry - Happy Quilting Melissa

Dec 7:  Amanda Castor - Material Girl Quilts

A big thanks to Andy for asking me to be a part of the tour!

I'm honored and truly enjoyed making Sunny Day!

Utility-Style Book Review + Project + Giveaway

Welcome to the fourth stop on the Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living Blog Tour!  

I am so happy to be able to share a new book with you today! 

If you struggle with perfectionism in your quilting, if you often find yourself stressed or at a stand-still with indecision during your projects, or you just want some beautiful new projects to make...you should check out this wonderful, new book by Sharon Holland!

The notion for this book is that if you embrace irregularity in your art you will find freedom!  Sharon even quoted Pierre-Auguste Renoir who said, "Regularity, order, desire for perfection destroy art.  Irregularity is the basis of all art." and Leo Tolstoy who said, "If you look for perfection, you'll never be content." I love that idea!  It is so true...in all facets of life!

Not only does Utility-Style have 12 creative, beautiful projects, lessons on color theory and quilt-making basics, it also has a thorough section on different types of machine quilting, a section for note taking at the end and lots of beautiful, inspiring photography!

I decided to try one of the most simple projects in the book ~ Cabin.

It's a graphic, log-cabin style quilt.

I don't think I have actually ever made a quit like this before.  Normally, I would probably choose something a little more intricate.  But I actually really, really love the simplicity of this pattern!

I pulled out some old Christmasy fabrics and shirtings from my stash.  The only thing I bought was the minky backing.  I just happened to have enough yardage to complete each "round".  But the beauty of this book is that it teaches - if I didn't have enough fabric, I could just fill in with another complimentary fabric and it would be just as beautiful!  Scrappy, unique and full of character!

It's a quick make.  I got it done in one afternoon/evening.  It feels nice to have another Christmas quilt ~ to add coziness to my home this time of year.

Melinda Raven in Alpine, Utah quilted it with this feather/swirl design.  I like that it's not super dense.  The density of the quilting and minky back make it extra soft and cuddly!

Doesn't the minky show off the quilting so well?

I think this might be one of my new go-to patterns now.  It's quick ~ it would be the perfect pattern for a baby or wedding gift.  And, it's a striking, no-fuss design that lets the fabrics shine!  I thought about making it even bigger (maybe for my son's bed?) but thought I'd stick with the pattern so you could see exactly what this book has to offer.

I really do hope you'll check out this book!  You won't be disappointed!

Be sure to stop by Sharon's blog HERE to get more details on her book and the following
15 creative blogs that are sharing more Utility-Style projects. 

Monday 12/4  Heidi Staples - Fabric Mutt

Tuesday 12/5  Amy Friend - During Quiet Time

Wednesday 12/6  Maureen Cracknell - Maureen Cracknell Handmade

Thursday 12/7  Amber Johnson - Gigi's Thimble

Friday 12/8  Karen O'Connor - Lady K Quilts Designs

Saturday 12/9  Kori Turner-Goodhart - Olive Grace Studios

Sunday 12/10  Silvia Sutters - A Stranger View

Monday 12/11  Sarah Maxwell - Designs by Sarah J

Tuesday 12/12  Jessica Swift - Jessica Swift

Wednesday 12/13  Lisa Ruble - Love to Color My World

Thursday 12/14  Cindy Wiens - Live a Colorfullife

Friday 12/15  Eleri Kerian - Sew and Tell Project

Saturday 12/16  Anjeanette Klinder - Anjeanette K

Sunday 12/17  Stephanie Kendron - Modern Sewciety

Monday 12/18  Christopher Thompson - The Tattooed Quilter

Tuesday 12/19  Susan Playsted - Hopewood Home

Also, I'm dying over this FREE project called Roman Stripe that Sharon published to kick off her book tour!  Isn't it just perfect in all it's scrappy glory?  And, it uses 2 1/2" strips (and I know you all have lots of those lying around!)!!!  So be sure to stop by her blog today!

(Roman Stripe photo cred: Sharon Holland)

Sharon has generously offered to send Utility-Style to one of you, my lovely readers!  Just leave a comment below.  For extra brownie points, tell me one of your favorite holiday traditions.  I am trying to be more festive this year and incorporate some new traditions so I'd love to hear ideas from you.  

I will pick a winner Sunday night and announce the winner Monday, December 11th, 2018.  

Note: this giveaway is open to US residents only.  

Happy quilting!

A Piece of Cake Book Tour

Good morning and welcome to a new day on the ~ A Piece of Cake ~ Book Tour!

Peta Peace lives in Australia but we became online friends a few years ago and then finally met in person at the Spring 2016 Quilt Market in Salt Lake City.  I am so happy that Peta asked me to be a part of her book tour!  She is so sweet, positive, thoughtful and extremely talented!  She really cheered me on when I wrote my book, Vintage Vibe a few years ago so I couldn't be happier that she has embarked on the author journey, herself!

As you can probably tell from the front cover, A Piece of Cake is a beautiful book featuring 14 fresh, happy projects made from Layer Cake squares.  I can attest that the instructions are clear and there are several projects inside that I would LOVE to make!

There are so many cute projects inside that I decided to "test out" several of the projects by making a block or two or three of each!

Now, I'm kind of going through a blue phase right now so I decided to make blocks that I can eventually put into a sampler of some kind.  But using these more traditional blues really puts a different spin on Peta's version of these blocks.  I want to show you both versions so you can see how different the quilts can feel depending on the colors you use!

Look how different it looks when repeated over and over:

It's such a clever block!  I just love Peta's version called Delight.

I also made a few blocks from her pattern, The Simplest Sampler.

Again, a super cute version by Peta!  I love her aqua background!

Here are my blocks in blues...

Her Confetti pattern is so darling too!  

The stars in Confetti really called to me so I made a couple of those.

Gosh, all of my stuff is looking so boring next to Peta's sweet, happy versions!

But I am going through a farmhousey, vintagy phase at my house, accenting with lots of blues so hopefully it will look cute in my house someday...

And finally, I made one block from her pattern called Spin.

The Spin block is such a unique block.  

I haven't ever seen or made one like it before!

I can't wait to make some more blue blocks for my blue sampler.  Every time I get the itch to make or design a new block I am going to make it in blues (until I have enough for a big quilt!)  I'll keep you posted...it may take a while though!

If you're new to Peta's book tour, here are the other stops:

14 Aug Sedef - Down Grapevine Lane

15 Aug Jemima - Tied with a Ribbon

16 Aug Samantha - Aqua Paisley Studio

17 Aug Andy - A Bright Corner

18 Aug Kirsty - Bonjour Quilts

19 Aug Lisa - A Spoonful of Sugar Designs

20 Aug Alison - Cotton Factory

21 Aug Carrie - Moda Fabrics

22 Aug Nadra - Ellis and Higgs

23 Aug Angie - Gnome Angel

24 Aug Tara - Tara Sews

25 Aug Jules - The Creative Retreat

26 Aug Kristyne - Pretty by Hand

27 Aug Kimberly - Fat Quarter Shop

28 Aug Lissa - Moda Lissa

29 Aug Amy - Diary of a Quilter

30 Aug Kerry - Kid Giddy & Cat - Hello from Cat on Instagram

31 Aug Jane - Modern Makers Retreat

1 Sept Kate - Never Enough Hours

2 Sept Jodie - Vintage Ric Rac

3 Sept Sharon - Patches Indooroopilly (in store & online!)

4 Sept Amanda - Material Girl Quilts

5 Sept Amber - A Little Bit Biased

6 Sept Xanthe - Wife Made

7 Sept Rachel - Family Ever After

8 Sept Jenny - Martingale

9 Sept Amy - Nana Company

10 Sept         Peta - She Quilts A Lot

Be sure to stop by as many as you can for lots of inspiration and eye candy!

Congratulations again to Peta on creating a wonderful book!

It is definitely a "must-have"!

Happy quilting!

~ Amber