Archive for the ‘sew it’ Category

I’m so happy to be able to share my newest quilt pattern – Canning Day.

Maybe it’s the time of year, but as I created this quilt, I kept thinking of neat rows of jelly jars cooling on my kitchen counter.  The squares in the quilt even made me think of pieces of  fabric used to top a jar of preserves, tied with a ribbon and given to a friend.  “Canning Day” seemed like the perfect name.

I designed this quilt with my mom.  She made hers using Civil War scraps with all the plus signs made in blacks and browns. The shirtings gives her quilt such lovely texture and warmth. Here and there she added unexpected pops of red, mustard or blue.

She is hand quilting hers right now and it is going to be stunning.  I love how dramatically fabrics can change the look of each quilt.

$9.95

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This pattern is a downloadable PDF.  No hard copy will be mailed to you.  After you make your secure purchase through Paypal, you will receive an email with a link to download your pattern, so be sure to provide your active email account address.  If you pay with a credit card or with your Paypal account, it usually only takes a few minutes for your email to arrive.  Yeah for instant gratification!

Once downloaded, save the pattern to your computer for easy reference or print a copy for your own use.  If you have any questions, drop me a line at callimakesdo at gmail dot com.

A few weeks ago my mom delivered the Gee’s Bend inspired quilt that we designed together and made for my son, Ben.  She picked it up from being quilted by my very talented Aunt Karen, just in time for his birthday and delivered it to me with the binding almost finished.  Yeah!

This quilt was such a long time in the making.  I started it over two years ago.  The blocks were inspired by this quilt from The Quilts Of Gee’s Bend which my mom and I turned into a design for a twin bed.  The bright color theme was chosen by son (along with his bright green walls).  I purchased some of the fabrics, but many of them came from the stash.

The quilt was coming together nicely when I discovered that I hadn’t bought enough fabric for the sashing and borders.  That’s the pitfalls when you are designing as you go.  After searching high and low with no luck, I put the unfinished pieces of the quilt in a box, away on the shelf until I could come up with a solution.  Since the sashing was a solid denim color, and I felt that the design of the quilt would be all ruined if I threw in another fabric, and I am definitely too frugal to buy a whole new fabric.  I just couldn’t picture a way to solve the problem.

The fact that a Gee’s Bend Quilt had been the inspiration for the quilt should have been the first clue that it was time to make it do.  I’m quite sure the talented Gee’s Bend quilter, who inspired the quilt, would have cut up some old jeans and her quilt would have been done.

The solution wound up being one of my favorite things about the quilt.  I found a soft brushed fabric for the top and bottom borders.  It makes the quilt less predictable and much more interesting.  With some careful piecing, we were able to make the rest of the lightweight denim work for the sashing and side borders.

The new quilt really makes his room feel completed and more grown up.  It’s a quilt perfect for my almost-as-tall-as-me, 12 year old kiddo.