I have been trying to mix things up and have a theme for each shop update! This month’s theme was hand painted laser cut wood (with one or two exceptions)

I went through my old sketchbooks and picked several designs that I thought would make neat brooches. They are all based off my own taste, but I will be open to suggestions in the coming months.

I also went through some of my fabric designs and took out a few elements here and there as tests.

All in all I’m very proud of all the new pieces and love seeing them up in the shop.

Oh and I also threw in some new XL Wall Scissors to mix things up a bit! These are made from 1/4″ MDF with Designer Fabric fused to the surface before laser cutting. They are a great addition to any sewing room (or any space really).

You can find all of these pieces plus more in the shop!

Just as a recap:

Samarra came up with a bunch of fantastically awkward pixelated animal illustrations and I took them and transformed them in to quilt patterns. There was a lot of back and forth about things like colors, placement, which animals to release when, etc etc. So you know your getting the best product we could think of.

I introduce to you the Bat!

The bat is one of our Seasonal Specials. This means it coincides with an upcoming holiday or a theme the current month has. These are mostly going to be much larger quilts too, so they may be the only animal that month.

You can find this pattern in my shop, or in Samarra’s.

This is an 81″ square quilt with many half square triangles and two different curved templates. Unlike the other animals, this quilt also features background objects like the mountains, moon and fellow bats in the distance.

The pattern is written in such a way where you work on small sections at a time, and then piece those sections together. It makes it less overwhelming and easier to pick up and drop at any moment. It doesn’t need to be pieced all in one setting.

Also, like with the rest of the series there are video links included to help you along, as well as tips and tricks throughout.

This is our third month releasing these Awkward Animal Portrait Quilts and I am loving the way they all look together! It’s been a lot of fun and I’m glad I signed on.

It’s the first of the month, which means it’s time for another series of Awkward Animal Portraits to be released in to the wild!

Just as a recap:

Samarra came up with a bunch of fantastically awkward pixelated animal illustrations and I took them and transformed them in to quilt patterns. There was a lot of back and forth about things like colors, placement, which animals to release when, etc etc. So you know your getting the best product we could think of.

Today is my stop on Christa Watson’s Piece and Quilt with Precuts blog hop…

The Book:

Piece and Quilt with Precuts is a fantastic book that helps you use all of those precut bundles you have accumulated over the years. I know I have entire drawers dedicated to charm packs, and shelves filled with 10″ square packs and jelly rolls. Don’t even get me started on the fat quarter bundles!

In addition to 11 quilt patterns, there is also suggestions and 18 lessons on how to quilt them using your walking foot, free motion setting or a combo of the two. So Christa pretty much covers all the bases from the start of a quilt to the finished piece.

The Blocks I Made:

To show off one of the patterns in the book, I decided to make two blocks from the Twinkling Diamonds pattern.

Normally there would be 31 blocks measure 8″x12″, but due to other obligations, I couldn’t finish a whole quilt. After making my two blocks though, I’m kind of tempted to come back to this at a later time and make all 31. They went together so nicely and the instructions were very easy to understand.

Due to the large block size, a finished quilt top wouldn’t take you very long. So it would be a very satisfying finish.

For my blocks, I added extra fabric around the edges so I could make these in to a set of pillows for my couch. I haven’t quilted them up yet, but I’m totally following the suggested quilting motif shown in the book. It really is perfect for these blocks. I’m not too great at free motion quilting on my domestic machine, but luckily all her designs can easily be done on a longarm too.

The Fabric I Used:

First Block:

• Middle Section is one of Cotton and Steel’s basics called Sprinkle in Jelly Bracelet.
• Outside Section is my own abstract design from Spoonflower.
• Background is Andover Fabric’s Chambray in Black (my all time favorite!)

Second Block:

• Middle Section is Cotton and Steel / Alexia Abegg called Moons Pink.
• Outside Section is Cotton and Steel / Kim Kight called Little Pill Dot in Ice Blue.
• Background is Andover Fabric’s Chambray in Black (still my all time favorite!)

Bonus: The pattern was written in such a way where even the leftover pieces were ready to go. Look at this awesome half square triangle pile I ended up with! I’m thinking they need to be a third pillow to go with the bunch.

Where To Find The Book:

You can find Piece and Quilt with Precuts on Amazon, Martingale’s website and a SIGNED COPY in Christa’s shop.

 The Giveaway:

• Christa and Martingale are giving away one digital copy of this book to one of my readers!
• I will be adding a digital copy of my Pixelated Circles Quilt and Spinning Icosahedron Quilt patterns as well.

All you need to do is comment below telling me your absolute favorite fabric that you don’t think you could sew without!

One entry per person, period. Any duplicate entries will be deleted. This giveaway will run for one week and will end Midnight Sept 1st EST. I will choose a winner within a few days of the end and get all of the important information at that time. This is open to all international readers as well since the prizes are digital.

Blog Hop Schedule:

Make sure you check out all of the other blog hop participants! They each made something completely different from the book and it’s all great inspiration. Plus,I believe a bunch of them are also doing giveaways. So that will help your odds! ;)

Christa Watson’s Initial Post!

FRIDAY AUGUST 18

Kathy Bruckman Blog: Kathy’s Kwilts and More IG: @kathyskwiltsandmore
Kate Colleran Blog: Seams Like a Dream IG: @seamslikeadreamquilts
Sharon Parcel Blog: Yellow Cat Quilt Designs IG: @punkydoodle53

Saturday August 19

Sandy Maxfield Blog: Sandy Star Designs IG: @sandystardesigns
Joanne Harris Blog: Quilts by Joanne IG: @turtlequilterjo
Teresa Mairal-Barreu Blog Sewn Up: IG: @teresadownunder

Monday August 21

Nancy Scott Blog: Masterpiece Quilting IG: @masterpiecequilting
Jenny Wilding Cardon Blog: Stitch This! IG: @martingaletpp
Lorinda Davis Blog: Laurel Poppy & Pine IG: @laurelpoppyandpine

Tuesday August 22

Sherry Shish Blog: Powered by Quilting IG: @poweredbyquilting
Michelle Bartholomew Blog: Michelle Bartholomew IG: @michellebartholomew
Allison Dutton Blog: Allison Sews IG: @allisonsews

Wednesday August 23

Lissa LaGreca Blog: Lovingly Lissa IG: @lovinglylissa
Sherri Noel Blog: Rebecca Mae Designs  IG: @rebeccamaedesigns
Sandra Healy Blog: Sandra Healy Designs IG: @sandrahealydesigns

Thursday August 24

Laura Piland Blog: Slice of Pi Quilts IG: @sliceofpiquilts
Cheryl Brickey Blog: Meadow Mist Designs IG: @meadowmistdesigns
Jen Frost Blog: Faith and Fabric IG: @faithandfabric

Friday August 25

ME
Jessica Caldwell Blog: Desert Bloom Quilting IG: @desertbloomquilting
Anjeanette Klinder Blog: Anjeanette Klinder IG: @anjeanetteklinder

Saturday August 26

Terri Vanden Bosch Blog: Meanderings Along Lizard Creek IG: @lizardcreekquilter
Suzy Webster Blog: Webster Quilt IG: @websterquilt
Katie Joy Church Blog: Wild Prairie Studio IG: @katie_joyquilts

Monday August 28

Pam Cobb Blog: The Stitch TV Show IG: @thestitchtvshow
Jen Rosin Blog: A Dream and a Stitch: IG: @adreamandastitch
Rashida Khanbhai Blog:  No. 3 Quilt Studio IG: @no3quiltstudio

Tuesday August 29

Lynn Kline Blog: Monkey Needle IG: @monkeyneedle
Kathy Bruckman Blog: Kathy’s Kwilts and More IG: @kathyskwiltsandmore

Wednesday Aug 30

Jen Shaffer Blog: Patterns by Jen IG: @patternsbyjen
Sandra Starley Blog: Textile Time Travels IG: @textiletimetravels

Happy Quilting!!!

Samarra came up with a bunch of fantastically awkward pixelated animal illustrations and I took them and transformed them in to quilt patterns. There was a lot of back and forth about things like colors, placement, which animals to release when, etc etc. So you know your getting the best product we could think of.

The second quilt this month is the Dog. He looks super excited and looks like her just wants to lick your face. The quilt measures 40″x52″ and is also made using Kona Cotton and Essex Yarn Dyed Linen.

I am ridiculously excited to announce that my Pixelated Circles Quilt pattern is now available in print form!

The pattern is 100% full color throughout and includes full size templates that are folded up inside. Other than the pre-printed goodness, the pattern is exactly the same as the PDF. Except now I have a large amount of them on hand.

For the entire week, to celebrate this big step for Art School Dropout, this pattern will be 20%. No coupon code needed. 

If you own a shop and would like to carry this pattern or get news on upcoming patterns, you can join the wholesale newsletter here. If you would like to just purchase a set of these, you can email me and I’ll set it all up for you.

Alchemy Tea released this awesome new Dumpling pincushion pattern this week and I just had to make one!

I used my newest fabric from spoonflower and was finally able to use the ground walnut filling my amazing neighbor gifted to me.

You can buy the pattern here, and the fabric here!

I was given a limited palette and I used the preexisting DCMQG Logo for the center design. The outside pieces are supposed to mimic cherry blossoms and the Potomac river, which runs between Virginia and DC. I made this quilt specifically for a group to piece. A large group. So even though it looks like a bunch f overlapping pieces, its actually sewn in 10″ blocks.

It was a lot of fun to see everyone pitching in and even more fun to see it all come together at our fall retreat.

Sari of Sariditty took the quilt top at the retreat and worked her magic on it. She emphasized the areas that were cherry blossoms with rays of sun and flower motifs. She made the monuments stand out with a brick design and she added nice wavy stitches for the river. I only saw sneak peeks here and there the whole time.

It wasn’t until I arrived in Savannah, GA. for Quiltcon 2017, that I got to see the completely finished quilt! It was amazing. I was even hanging out with other DCMQG members when i first saw it. It’s just one more reason I love that I switched from independent member to full guild member. I have been working alone for so long, and it’s nice to be part of a community again.

I loved it so much, I also joined a makerspace, but I’ll talk more about that at a later time!

So back to the quilt, I’m new to this, but I believe the quilt will be auctioned off at some point with all the proceeds going to a charity the guild chooses. I’ll post more about that at a later date.

If you follow me on Instagram, then you have probably seen a few dozen photos showcasing this awesome fabric line in the past six months. I had the pleasure of working with Samarra and Lecien Fabrics to create a few samples for their Fall 2016 look book and Quilt Market booth. I was also given extra yardage, and decided to make a dress and some other little odds and ends. What better time to share all these goodies than a blog hop, right?

The Projects:

The first piece I whipped up was a 60″ version of my Spinning Icosahedron Quilt. Samarra really wanted to see her fabrics mixed with this pattern, and after a lot of convincing, I agreed. I’m glad I did too, because I am absolutely in love with this quilt. The colors were easy to mix and match, and they stand out beautifully against the white background (which is Lecien’s solid white cotton btw).

In normal Jessee fashion, I had to go that next step with my design. So of course I also made an actual 3D Icosahedron that matches the flattened quilt version. I even made a video of the 3D piece spinning in front of the quilt, but due to my lack of video editing skills, I have no idea how to share it!! There is a lower quality version on Instagram that will give you an idea of what im talking about.

I used a few techniques to assemble this piece, but I will not be showing a tutorial due to the finished piece (not the technique) being very similar to a project on Sew Mama Sew. I will post a tutorial at some point this year showing the technique with a different shape. Keep an eye out!

Of course I didn’t stop with just those two projects! I also made the calculator quilt from Samarra’s book Sew Adorkable: 15 DIY Projects to Keep You Out of Trouble (you may remember me making this quilt from her book last year) It is a quick sew with huge impact! It’s also a huge quilt in size and perfect for a kids bed, which is where this one now lives.

The photo above only shows the quilt top, since I never got a good shot of it all quilted up. You can kind of see the wood grain and wavy design I did in the photos further down. The size did make it a little difficult to photograph once quilted. I also used plush batting, so it is HEAVY!

For my final project today, I wanted to show that Geogram is also great for non quilting related things. I decided to go neutral and make a Geranium Dress with the dark grey fabric and just a little pop of color.

Since the prints are non directional for the most part, it was easy to get as much out of the yardage as possible. That is always a plus when making kids clothes that you know they’ll grow out of in a year.

I still have enough fabric leftover to make myself something nice! I’m thinking maybe a bag? A family of pouches? Some awesome pillows? I don’t know yet, but I’ll try and share it here when I do.

Quilt Market Booth:

I wanted to also take this time to show off what the booth looked like at Quilt Market this past fall. I was unable to attend, but Samarra and few others sent me some awesome photos of the quilts hanging up and the 3D piece hanging out with her other creations (I’ve heard that those animal portraits may be hand sewing patterns soon! How neat are they?)

Blog Hop Schedule:

Thank you for stopping by and checking out all the projects I made using the Geogram Fabric! I am just one of many stops along this blog tour, and I think you should go and check out everyone else’s posts too. There is a load of inspiration going on here…

Random Photos:

I designed two smaller quilts to go along with her upcoming fabric line called Merrily. You can see one of the quilt and wall hanging above. Both were made specifically to fit her illustrated panels from this line and the previous one called Thicket. Both also include tips and tricks that double as skill builders. That was my favorite part.

The patterns will be printed booklets, and available to purchase the same time the fabric is available in stores. I am super excited about this and I’ll share more once they are available!

Stacie was so great to work with, I have agreed to continue the collaboration and we will be releasing three more patterns within the year to go along with her next line (name and images are top secret, so I have to wait to share that info).

As well as these two patterns, and then the three after, I myself will also be releasing several patterns. Both PDF and printed. I’m going to take the leap, and this will be the year of patterns!! Woohoo!