Hi there!  I have been wanting to share a new

project that I started a month or two ago.

It's based on my new pattern,

Flora's Baskets. 

Flora's Baskets is a pattern I designed

based on an antique quilt I saw on 

@caravanquilts Instagram feed.

[This picture is shared with permission from @caravanquilts.]

I love following that account.  It's a great resource

if you're in the market for an antique quilt!

[This picture is shared with permission from @caravanquilts.]

[This picture is shared with permission from @caravanquilts.]

If you look closely at the two pictures above you can see that the 

"flower" part in the basket block is made with diamonds

which would've had to have been made with English

Paper Piecing or Y-seams.  My block uses

traditional machine piecing.

All of that to say,

I started a new version of Flora's Baskets -

a scrappy version and I am so excited about it!

I think it's going to be so pretty.

I'm using low-volume backgrounds and 

muted pinks, blues, and yellows for the "flowers"/

"basket tops" (what do we call that part of the block?)

Anyways, if you want to make a scrappy version like me,

you will first need to get the Flora's Baskets pattern.

You can get the paper pattern HERE.

Or the PDF pattern HERE.

And then use the following info in

conjunction with the block assembly instructions

to make scrappy blocks.  This will make 2 blocks

but you can mix and match pieces so they're both unique.

1 brown square, 5" x 5"

1 brown square, 3" x 3"

2 brown squares, 2-1/2" x 2-1/2"

10 white rectangles, 2-1/2" x 4-1/2"

1 white square, 3" x 3"

2 white squares, 2-1/2" x 2-1/2"

1 pink, blue, or yellow square, 5" x 5"

8 pink, blue, or yellow squares, 2-1/2" x 2-1/2"

And then just have fun playing with your fabrics

to make as many basket blocks as required for your chosen 

quilt size.  Flora's Baskets has 3 quilt size options.

I might make a queen size because I'm loving this

project so much.  I think it will look so vintagy 

and beautiful at the foot of our bed.

I'm even saving the cutoffs and making tiny half-square

triangles out of them.  Maybe I'll make

a little pouch or bag with them someday.

I'm super excited about all of this!

If you decide to join me on any of this

please tag me on Instagram @gigis_thimble

and use the hashtags #gigisthimblepattern

and #florasbasketsquilt.

Have a great day!

Single Wedding Ring Blog Hop

When my friends from The Fat Quarter Shop

asked me if I wanted to participate in their

Single Wedding Ring Blog Hop 

(which starts today!) I just couldn't resist!

I immediately fell in love with this block

and it came together really easy.  

The hardest part has been deciding on a color scheme.  

This is kind of what I'm thinking so far...

(I'm kind of diggin' the vintage-y feel these fabrics have together.  

I love to mix the old with the new!)

I did end up cutting my squares a little bigger than the pattern instructs 

since I prefer to square up my Half Square Triangles 

(it just makes everything match up so nicely!)  

I cut my squares 3-1/2" and used THIS method for squaring them up.

I've only had time to make one block so far 

but I'm itching to get back to my sewing room so I can make more!

Luckily, I have a retreat coming up in a few weeks 

so I know I'll at least be able to work on it there.

The Fat Quarter shop has so generous provided a free pattern 

for this block which you can find HERE plus a really great how-to video which you can find HERE.  I love the method they show in their video for making HST's too - you should check it out!

This & That

 As you may have guessed (since it's been 1 month since my last post!) things have been a little crazy around here.  I have been frantically trying to get my 3 new patterns done (priority #1 on my May To-Do list!) and I am SO close!  For some reason it always takes me a lot longer to get them done than I think it will (hmmm...can't figure out why :)  But I am so excited about them and am hoping to be able to share them with you in the next week or two!  So stay tuned!

One of them will be perfectly cute for boys using this new fabric coming out in August.  It's designed by my friend, Emily Herrick from Crazy Old Ladies.  It's called Rustique and I think she did a fantastic job with it.  Lots of fun prints and vibrant colors!!!

Emily gave me a fat quarter bundle of Rustique.  Isn't she sweet?!?  Here's the rest of the line.  I've got some fun plans for these, as well (some of which might include YOU!)  

I'm still plugging away at my Pineapple Blocks.  I've got 13 now.  I will reach my goal of 24...slowly but surely.  I need to do at least 2 more to reach my goal for May.

I also started a new project for the fabric store I work at (Just Sew in Highland, Utah).  It's a mini quilt finishing at 24" x 24".  The tutorial for it can be found HERE on the blog, The Purl Bee.

I had a picture of the one from The Purl Bee pinned on my "I Heart Red, White & Blue" Pinterest board for a long time and since I'm in charge of the display table for July I decided it would be a great time to finally make it!

I'm really enjoying hand quilting it too.  It's the perfect little project to work on at the kitchen table during my kids' snack time or when we're on our way to soccer games!

That's it for now but I hope you'll come back next Tuesday when I get to share one of my favorite quilting "quick tips" as part of Amy Smart's new blog series (in conjunction with her new book, Fabulously Fast Quilts).  

Happy quilting!

~ Amber

March Review & April To-Do's (and lots of little projects)

It was about mid-March before I finally sat down to write my goals for the month.  I was sure to keep my list to the bare minimum since I knew I had other big commitments going on (like taxes - yuck).  I didn't quite get everything done but maybe that's because I snuck in a few little side projects.  See below.

I did get most of my sister, Tammy's, quilt done but I still need to bind it.  I plan on getting it done this weekend so I can take it with me to Montana next week for our annual Spring Break Sister's & Cousins Trip.  I'd love to show pictures of the quilt but I'm planning on writing up a pattern for it so you'll just have to wait and see :)

My friend Kellie is expecting a baby boy in a few months so I gave her a couple of homemade bibs at our mini shower/recipe group the other night.  

[link]

The smaller bib was inspired by one I saw on the blog, Nana Company.  It's a wonderful blog.  Amy makes beautiful things and has beautiful photography.  I could definitely spend a lot of time looking around there.  She offers a PDF pattern for the little bib (which I had to enlarge quite a bit but it works for a 1 year old.)  I used a simple template I had in my pattern stash and some raw edge applique for the larger bib.

Unfortunately I only got one Pineapple Block done.  

Have I mentioned that I really do love working on them?

You can find the over-sized paper-piecing patterns in my Etsy shop, HERE.  And don't be shy about paper-piecing, my next blog post will be a tutorial for this specific block.  It's really not that hard!

I somehow managed to squeeze in two little projects for the fabric store I work at.  First, was a Simple Squares baby quilt. I've used this pattern before.  It whips up in just a few hours and is the perfect baby size I think.  The fabric showcases the new line by Riley Blake called Rocket Age.

 [click HERE for more info on this pattern.]

 Last, but not least, I got the opportunity to make one of Camille Roskelley's new mini patterns for the store.  I chose to do the Mini Swoon pattern, since I never got around to making the big version (which I loved from the minute I saw her sample hanging at the Int'l Quilt Market back in 2011).

I loved working on it.  When I finished the first block I thought to myself, it may be the cutest block I've ever made.  I hope to make a few more of her mini's someday...  

 

Another fun aspect of making the mini quilt is that I was able to machine quilt it myself in about 30 minutes.  I love the look of straight line quilting and thankfully, it's a lot easier than free motion quilting.

Well, that's about it for March.  

As for April, my main goal is to get my three new quilt samples made for my 3 new patterns.  I've been a little distracted the last few months with random projects so now it's time to get back to work!

Happy quilting!

~ Amber

Pineapple Quilt Progress & Patterns

 Now that I'm done with my Farmer's Wife quilt for a while, 

I figured it was okay to pick up another crazy, intense, long-term project.  Well, at least for me it is :)

I started these blocks at the beginning of February when I attended Quilt Bliss (a quilting retreat in Heber, UT.).  These paper-pieced Pineapple blocks are really fun to make and kinda make my heart sing!

  My green stash has needed a little "refreshing" lately so I picked up a bunch of 2" strips the other day while I was at work.  One of the benefits of working at a quilt shop, I guess! 

I like to pre-cut lots of strips so I can just grab one and sew.  

It makes my piecing go much faster and

I keep them in one of my big scrap jars for easy access!

Once I got into my groove, I figured it took me about an hour and a half to make one block.  I'm hoping I can do at least one block a week until I'm done.

 I've got 10 so far and am planning on doing a total of 24.

If you're not following me on Instagram (username: gigisthimble), you may not know that I've started selling sets of these patterns all ready to go for those of you that want to quilt along with me.  Since they're over-sized (each block finishes at 12 3/8") I had to get them specially printed at a local print shop.  I'm selling sets of 36 patterns (+ 1 master copy) for $20.50 plus shipping.  Stop by my Etsy shop if you're interested.  I'd love some company on this long (but fun) journey ahead!

Happy quilting!

~ Amber

A Review of January's Quilting To-Do's

I'm really loving the idea of making a quilting to-do list at the beginning of each month.  It's helped to keep me focused and motivated.  January went pretty well, I'd say.  It wasn't perfect.  I didn't get everything crossed of my list but I still feel like I accomplished a lot.  Here's where I'm at...

#1 - My Sea Glass quilt is half way bound 

so I half-way crossed it off my list :)  I'll show pictures soon.

#2 - My sewing room was needing a little bit of TLC so second on my list was to hang frame, spools quilt and fix chair (and CLEAN UP!)

 

So I finally framed the Sew on and sew on and sew on picture that I had for about a year.  I displayed it on this little shelf and then decided the area also needed a little something on the wall so I used a single Dresden Plate block that I had lying around.  I also added the white iron (which was a gift from my sister) and the small red iron (which was a gift from my mom).  The spools were found in a box my husbands uncle gave to me that was my husbands grandmothers.  And it's hard to see, but the green container that is holding the spools has a #2 printed on the burlap.  I had to buy it to remind me of the two little cuties that call me mommy.

 

I quilted the Dresden Plate wall hanging myself, which was a lot of fun.  That was a bonus project but at least I was putting a loner block to good use.  Should I get a bonus point for that?

It was bothering me a little bit that I didn't have any quilts hung in my sewing room since I got my new Ikea storage cabinets about a year ago.  So I made room for this Spools quilt (pattern by Camille Roskelley) and finally found the perfect spot for the giant safety pin that was a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law!

And just days before the months end, I recovered my sewing chair with this cute little fat quarter I had on hand.  The fabric is from Lecien's Flower Sugar line.  (I love that fabric line so much that I featured it in two coordinating quilts in my upcoming book!) I liked having my "to-do" list to keep me on track and motivated because this was one of those projects that probably wouldn't have gotten done for a long, long time.

#3 Bind Honey Sweet Runner - Check!

(you can see my blog post about it HERE).

#4 Finish Farmer's Wife borders

   

My inner border is on and my outer border is pieced and ready to be sewn on as well.  I'm hoping to do that today so I'll post pictures soon.

#5 Make design wall quilt 

(that's going to be on hold for a little while...)

#6 Get heart quilt to the quilter

I did and it's back.  The binding is sewn on.  I just gotta hand stitch it on the back side.  Pictures coming soon :)

Lastly, I made two projects for a secret friend swap (that you can read about HERE) and started two new projects.  I'll post about the smaller one soon but here's what I spent the majority of my time working on at Quilt Bliss:

They're paper pieced Pineapple Blocks and I'm so obsessed with them right now!  I figured each one took me about an hour and a half.  It will definitely be a long term project but I'm really hoping I can find some more time this week to work on them!

So that's it.  I think it was a pretty good month and now I've got lots to blog about in the next few weeks.  I've also got to make my February list so stay tuned...

~ Amber 

First Work in Progress for 2014

 Happy New Years everyone!  

It's such a wonderful time of year, isn't it?

  It's just day 2 of twenty-fourteen and already I feel so much motivation and energy!!!  I've been rockin' that post-holiday diet that I started umm...this morning.  I got some cleaning and organizing done last night...  I'm doing a blog post right now...  Can you feel the awesomeness going on here?!?  Just kidding!  I've got a long way to go but I definitely feel a lot better now that Christmas is put away and deadlines have been met.  

Can I just tell you that I mailed off 14 new quilts to Martingale Publishing on December 31st?  It. Felt. Awesome.  That was my big accomplishment for 2013.  We can talk more about it when it gets closer to book release date though.  Just 11 months and counting...

[A sneak-peek of one of the projects.]

Anyways, I've been having lots of fun with this little crew over the last week or two.

And the highlight of our New Years Day?  Sushi with family.  

We went to my brother-in-law/Sister-in-law's house yesterday (my sister-in-law is Japanese and both my husband and brother-in-law served 2-year LDS church missions in Japan many years ago).  Needless to say, they all love sushi and got me hooked on it a few years ago.  It's such fun food.  And so delicious.  Seriously.  Have you tried it?  

[My Temakizushi via Instagram.  

Ingredients included:  Seaweed, rice, tuna, crab meat, avocado, jalapeno, green onions, Sriracha hot sauce and Japanese mayonnaise.  Heavenly.  That's all I'm gonna say.  Heavenly.]

Anyways, I'm all vamped up for the new year.

I'm ready to tackle projects that I've been neglecting for some time now and honestly, I haven't been able to fall asleep on several different nights recently because I'm dreaming of home renovation projects I want to do!  It's terrible! 

In the quilting department though...

I am making a little progress on a quilt I recently started for one of my BFF's. 

She's a pretty traditional gal and her house is super cute (Restoration Hardware-style) so she picked out this simple pattern and the fabric (my treat!) to work with her family room decor.  It's going to be a late Christmas... birthday, Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day... gift to her and her family :)  No, hopefully I'll have it done sooner than that but, you know - a quilt's a big gift so it's going to be a late Christmas & birthday gift.

 

 

The pattern is from Fig Tree's "Twinkle" booklet.   It's a cute little book that takes 2 basic blocks (the 9-Patch and the Snowball blocks), puts them into 1 setting and then shows what can happen with the use of different color combinations.  Pretty straight-forward but fun to see the dramatic change that can happen with color and fabric placement!

 

Well, here's to the start of a fabulous new year!  

Hope you're feeling as gung-ho as I am...

and I hope it lasts!

Happy quilting!!!

~ Amber

I'm here...

 I really am.  

Yet, I'm struggling with how much to say here today.  There's a lot on my plate right now. I'm happy but my mind and body are all over the place.  I'm reflecting on different people and relationships in my life, how to prioritize my commitments and how to balance everything...all while trying to enjoy the ride!  It's just normal stuff, that all of us deal with.  So instead of whining to you I will share some happy pictures before heading off to soccer games and dinner making :) 

These are kits for crayon roll-ups that I will be making and donating to the Dollhouse Festival, an organization that raises money to help abused children in Utah County.  The boutique will be held at the Provo City Library September 26-28 for any Utah locals that want to support a good cause!  

The tutorial I used (and tweaked a bit) is from the blog, 

Skip To My Lou and can be found HERE.

Also, I betcha didn't know that I jumped on the Scrappy Trip bandwagon a month or two ago!  I think I'm probably the last one to do so but I'm having fun.  I've got 16 blocks so far.  My colors are kind of funky and I'm trying to decide if they are kind of Anthropology-funky or just a really big mistake :( 

The Scrappy Trip tutorial is from the blog, Quiltville 

and can be found HERE.

Yesterday I whipped up these half square triangles so I could test out a new pattern I'm working on. 

Check out my tutorial for squaring up HST's HERE.

And last but not least, I made two more Farmer's Wife blocks the other day.  I told you I would have 7 done by about this time.  But life got in the way and two is better than zero - so don't judge :)  It was a good thing I made that goal publicly otherwise I would probably be at the same place I was back HERE. 

Block #14 Butterfly at the Crossroads and #45 Grape Basket.

Two of my favorites.

Have a great day, enjoy the ride

and spend a little more time loving your dear ones.  

Life is fragile and can be gone before you know it.

~ Amber