This one has a Christmas in July like theme and uses patterns out of Sherri Falls pattern book called Holiday Wishes. We were to choose a pattern of our liking and interpret it in our own way. My first choice was the Merry Gifts Quilt, but the lovely Nicole over at Modern Handcraft got to it first. She’s fast. So I went with my second choice which was the Norwegian Holiday Quilt. It was my second only because of all those tiny squares.

It was a bit intimidating.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish a whole quilt, so I decided to just make one block and call it an XL Mini Quilt.

I originally was going to go for a minimalist look for the mini, so it wasn’t tied to just one holiday, but after piecing it all together, I realized it kind of has a grungy Halloween look instead.

For the background I used a half yard of Moda’s Grunge in Onyx, and for the design I used a fat quarter of Lizzy House’s Metallic Yellow Constellations. Both were subtle but have a bit of texture too. So the look of solids, but with some depth.

The pattern and cutting guide tell you what to cut for the entire quilt, but I figured out what to cut just for one block and figured I’d share it in case anyone else wanted to make one too.

Each letter coordinates with a letter in the pattern. You can find the size of each block in the book.

The finished block ends up being .

I think the most difficult part of the pattern was I kept mixing up the background and design fabrics and ended up sewing this thing three, maybe four, times. Totally my fault. The pattern itself was written really well, and if I had more time on my hands, I’d totally sew the entire thing!

As you can see from my photo’s, I haven’t quilted this top yet. It’s purely because I just can’t decide how I want to. Do I want to go swirly with gold thread? Or straight lines with dark grey thread? Or do I want to do something different and use thin, almost invisible thread? Once I do decide, I’ll totally share it here with you!

Now, If you would like to see what everyone else in the Sew-A-Long made then just click away below. There is some really talented people showcased here.

Renee Lange
Heidi Staples
Lorrie Gartman
Kathryn Jones

This post was sponsored by the Fat Quarter shop, and I was compensated for my time.

For any new readers who would like to get updates on any of my new posts you can follow me on InstaGram, add me on Bloglovin or follow Art School Dropout on Facebook (Blog posts show up there an hour after they go live)

This week’s Sew Along is all about this cute patchwork pincushion with decorative tape accents. There is a video by the Fat Quarter Shop and Sherri of A Quilting Life that show’s exactly how to make it at the bottom of this post.

I mostly stuck to the video instructions when it came to what to cut to what size and all. I even used the fusible fleece as my stabilizer. The two parts I had to change were the type of accent tape used, and the filling. Both weren’t by choice, I just didn’t have the supplies.

When I signed up to do this sew along, I figured I had all the supplies on hand. I always have scraps, I always have filling and I always have twill tape on hand.

Well, I had filling, but it was polyfil, and the pattern calls for ground up walnuts. Once I realized I needed it (I somehow missed that step when I originally watched the video!), I tried to buy it locally with no luck. I didn’t have time to buy it online, so I stuffed mine with polyfil temporarily. I have the ground up walnuts coming in and will be replacing the filling later this week. I like the idea of a heavier pincushion.

The other missing part was the twill tape. I normally have yards on hand! However I forgot that I had made a bunch of drawstring bags recently and I used up my entire stash. I was going to go out and get more, but then thought “well, what if I have something similar on hand?”. After about an hour of searching through my supplies, I came across a spool of vintage snap tape. It’s a twill like tape that has molded plastic snaps built in. I use it on the backs of pillows all the time. I thought the one side looked neat on its own, so I decided to use that in the place of the twill tape. I actually built the entire pincushion around the snap tape!

Most of the patchwork pieces are scraps, or fussy cut pieces off fat quarters. The top and backing are Robert Kaufman’s Essex Yard Dyed Linen. It’s a little one the heavier side, so it was perfect for helping the pincushion keep it’s shape.

I was very happy to see that the snap tape looked right at home once the entire thing was assembled. I was a little worried it would look silly.

Oh and I used 12wt Spaghetti thread by Wonderfil as a secondary accent on the snap tape. Just that last little detail to pull it all together.

If you would like to make one of these cute little pincushions too, then check out the video below. It includes the supply list, instructions and more…

And if you would like to see what everyone else in the Sew-A-Long made then just click away below. There is some really talented people showcased here.

• Kitty from Night Quilter
• Amanda from Jedi Craft Girl
• Nicole from Modern Handcraft
• Jessica from Quilty Habit
• Tina from Emily Ann’s Kloset
• Michele from Island Life Quilts
• Angie from Gnome Angel
• Sinta from Pink Pin Cushion
• Melissa from Happy Quilting

This post was sponsored by the Fat Quarter shop, and I was compensated for my time.

For any new readers who would like to get updates on any of my new posts you can follow me on InstaGram, add me on Bloglovin or follow Art School Dropout on Facebook (Blog posts show up there an hour after they go live)

I was invited to be a part of their sew along and I just couldn’t say no. This bag is perfect for carrying around sewing projects and more. I think my daughter is already eyeing it for her own needs.

The bag uses Annie’s Soft N Stable, which I had never sewn with but am now in love with. It’s awesome! It doesn’t really crease and it keeps it’s form for awhile. Plus I imagine it would protect you in case scissors opened inside the pouch or something similar.

I highly recommend it, and if a pattern calls for it, don’t ignore the suggestion. Ever.

I used Heather Jones’ upcoming line with Robert Kaufman appropriately named Color Dash (It’s available for pre-order on the Fat Quarter Shop website) for the outside, and then Kona color of the year Highlight for the inside. The binding is one of Robert Kaufman’s chambray, however I can’t remember exactly which one it was.

If you’d like to make one of these super easy bags then check out the video below! It includes the supply list, instructions and more…

And if you would like to see what everyone else in the Sew-A-Long made then just click away below. There is some really talented people showcased here.

• Tina from Emily Ann’s Kloset
• Erin from Why Not Sew?
• Kitty from Night Quilter
• Leanne from She Can Quilt
• Vanessa from Lella Boutique
• Amanda from Jedi Craft Girl
• Sherri from A Quilting Life
• Cristy from Love You Sew
• Leslie from Seasoned Homemaker
• Tiffany from Tiny Seamstress

This post was sponsored by the Fat Quarter shop, and I was compensated for my time.

For any new readers who would like to get updates on any of my new posts you can follow me on InstaGram, add me on Bloglovin or follow Art School Dropout on Facebook (Blog posts show up there an hour after they go live)

Today marks the third and final week of the Spooky Delights Table Runner Sew Along with the Fat Quarter Shop!

This week is all about the borders, quilting and binding…

Last week I showed off the middle section of the table runner, and the week before I listed off the fabrics I used, and now this week I share with you the last section of the pattern (which can be found here) and show some behind the scenes shots of the making of the piece.

The first section of the pattern is all about cutting out the border blocks and assembling them. You get to pick the order of the blocks, all that matters is how many go on each side.

I set up my work area like an assembly line and chain stitched all the blocks at once, pressed them and then continued on. It went very quickly doing it this way.

As you can kind of see in the picture, I made sure to use my 1/4″ foot to get a perfect seam every time. I’ve said it a million times on this blog already, but I’ll do it again… Go buy yourself a 1/4″ piecing foot if you don’t already have one! They run $5-$30 depending on your machine, but I promise it’s worth the investment! There is a little metal bar on the edge to line up your fabric and it doesn’t let fabric get past, so it keeps your stitches straight and even from the edge. This means all of your piecing will match up in the end! win win.

More photos of that 1/4″ foot! It’s truly amazing.

The quilting was done on my longarm. I kept going back and forth between doing straight 1/2″ spaced stitches with my domestic machine, and freehand wood grain on the longarm. I need practice loading and using my longarm still, so I went that direction! It was a fun and quick run.

I’m super happy with the outcome, and the table runner was fun to piece together! I don’t do enough sewing for myself these days. Even though this was a sponsored post, I get to keep the runner and it was made for ME! One less thing to make come Halloween. WOOHOO!

Thank you Fat Quarter Shop, and thank you everyone who has been reading along. I seriously suggest you go make yourself one of these runners too, you’ll be happy you did come October.

Oh and make sure to stop by the Fat Quarter Shop’s blog to get the complete pattern and to get the links to all the other bloggers who participated. They made some awesome runners (and other things) too!!

This post was sponsored by the Fat Quarter shop, and I was compensated for my time.

For any new readers who would like to get updates on any of my new posts you can follow me on InstaGram, add me on Bloglovin or follow Art School Dropout on Facebook (Blog posts show up there an hour after they go live)

Welcome to week two of the Spooky Delights Table Runner Sew Along with the Fat Quarter Shop!

Last week I showed all of the fabrics I would be using in the table runner along with the link to show how much you would need of each.

This week I will be sharing my progress and the link to the first half of the pattern.

Fat Quarter Shop decided to release this pattern over a three week period of time so that everyone would sew at the same pace. I think it’s a really neat idea.

This week’s section, which you can find here, is all about the assembly of the pumpkins and appliqueing the bat and moon on.

The pumpkin assemble was very straight forward and well written. I kind of regret using the fabric I did, since it was hard to get all those little plus signs lined up, but in the end decided to keep them. those crooked plus signs will give it personality.

For the applique pieces, it says attach them in whatever manner you like. I went for a lightweight double sided fusible interfacing, which I adhered to the fabric first. Then I used basting spray to temporarily attach the paper templates (that come with the pattern) to the the paper on the back of the interfacing before cutting it all out. Then I removed the paper backing, and using a dry iron, I attached them to the large middle block on the table runner.

I technically could have just left them be since I plan on doing some heavier quilting, but I decided to go that next step and do a blanket stitch around each piece.

I used slightly contrasting thread so it stood out a little. I feel like blanket stitches sometimes look messy if they are the same color as the fabric. It may just be me though.

I really think my favorite part so far is the fussy cut trick or treating kids I was able to put in the doorways!

I can’t wait until I can share the finished runner with you! I stepped outside my comfort zone yet again with this project, and now I’ll finally have some Halloween decor that I actually made!!

Make sure to stop back by next week to see all the pretty finished photos! Also please go visit the Fat Quarter Shop’s blog to see all of the other table runners everyone else is making.

This post was sponsored by the Fat Quarter shop, and I was compensated for my time.

For any new readers who would like to get updates on any of my new posts you can follow me on InstaGram, add me on Bloglovin or follow Art School Dropout on Facebook (Blog posts show up there an hour after they go live)