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.

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:

Today I am super excited to share a project from the newly released book Sew Adorkable: 15 DIY Projects to Keep You Out of Trouble by my friend Samarra Khaja. When she contacted me asking if I would like to review the book, my response was “I’m not great at reviewing things. I don’t hate enough. So how about I make something?” She went for it, and here we are!

To make this post even more awesome, there is a giveaway involved! You just have to read on a little more for all of the details.

The Book:

Samarra is one of those ladies who sees the fun in everything around her, and her sense of humor is great. When you flip through Sew Adorkable, you can see just how much of herself she poured in to this book. Every project has just the right level of cute, funny and nerdy and most can be made for kids or adults. All of my favorite things.

There is a nice mix of small and large projects, so no matter your time constraint, you can finish something! You can see above the super cute Toothy, the Tooth Fairy pillows and the Typewriter Tissue Box Cover, that are perfect one day projects.

Then there are projects like the Candy Dots Quilt and the fabric Prehistoric Portrait Painting

Plus there are clothing projects for both kids and adults, more home decor and even more quilts. Then to top it off, Samarra talks about her life as a textile designer and shows a peek at her process. I love a good back story!

If you would like to see more inside peeks at Sew Adorkable: 15 DIY Projects to Keep You Out of Trouble, and hear Samarra talk, then check out this cute video CT Publishing put together to promote the book.

The Project I Made:

It took a little while to pick out the perfect first project to try from this book. I was torn between the Calculator Quilt, The Odd Socks Quilt and the 8-Bits Bird Quilt. With help from my husband, I settled on the Odd Socks Quilt.

I’m not going to give away the secrets to making this quilt, but I will say the instructions are well written and not scary at all! You need to buy the book to get all the juicy details.

I used a nice mix of white on white fabrics for the socks, scrap fabric for all the details and Hoffman Fabrics new ME+YOU batiks line for the background and the binding.

The overall finished piece is 38″ square and I long arm quilted it using two layers of cotton batting to give the piece even more texture and dimension.

I absolutely love the finished piece and have already hung it up in my home, right outside the laundry room. I am also already planning on trying out one of those other projects I wanted to make. Maybe the 8-Bit Birds quilt first? I wonder if I have any family members who would like it as a gift? (I’m in holiday sewing mode these days)

The Giveaway:

Here’s that giveaway I was talking about earlier. Samarra and C&T Publishing are giveaway away a free copy of Sew Adorkable to one of my awesome readers! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment below telling me your favorite nerdy thing. It could be a TV show/movie, book/graphic novel, video game, board game, event or anything else I’m forgetting. Let it all out!!

Now the technical details: One book per winner. Open internationally, however if winner lives outside of the US, they will receive a promo code to purchase the ebook version free of charge. US winner will receive a hard copy. Entries are open until midnight, October 26th. Please make sure your email address is correct when commenting, otherwise I won’t be able to contact you! Winner will be chosen at random, using random.org.

The Rest of the Tour:

I am just the fifth stop on the Sew Adorkable: 15 DIY Projects to Keep You Out of Trouble blog tour. I highly recommend checking out all of the other super talented and interesting bloggers and companies involved. I’ve already seen some amazing projects, and from the looks of this list, I bet all the future posts will be just as awesome.