Finally this quilt is done! I thoroughly enjoyed quilting this one and it didn’t take as long as I thought it would be! Mindset is really key to enjoy the free motion quilting process. By taking regular breaks and limiting my quilting sessions to 20-30 minutes at a time, I found myself fully immersed in the free motion quilting process without feeling overwhelmed or fatigued. And that has surely made a big difference!

An Idea as a Handmade Gift – Pillows!

Whenever I can, I try to gift someone I love and care with something I made. There’s just something more about making gifts that just brings me joy and I hope the recipient will also feel the same too. In this post, I will be taking you through the process of me makeing  patchwork pillow covers which hold a special significance – they’re not just another DIY project, but heartfelt gifts for my daughter’s day carer as she embarks on a new chapter in her journey, transitioning from day care to playschool. I wanted to express my gratitude and appreciation for the love and care she has provided to my daughter over the years, and what better way to do so than with something handmade?

While I could have easily picked up some pretty pillows from the store, I firmly believe that nothing beats the charm and warmth of handmade creations. So, armed with whatever is in my stash, I set out to create something truly unique and special. I did bought the pillow inserts from a local DIY store and with little plan in my head I know I was going to do some figuring out myself. 

Patchwork

Instead of opting for a straightforward sewing project, I decided to embrace the complexity of patchwork. Why? Well, partly because I have a penchant for complicating things, but mostly because I wanted to make the most of the fabrics I had on hand. I had a piece that was just enough for a single cover if I wasn’t going to do any patchwork. AND I wanted two of the exact same covers. So, with a bit of creative ingenuity and a willingness to patch fabrics together, I embarked on a journey that promised both challenges and rewards.

I used a charm pack for this project, I always love using precut fabrics as I love that we can have a variety of prints and cut time cutting! 

Here are some of my favourite online store where I get my fabrics:

• Fat Quarter Shop
• Missouri Star Quilt Company – Use this special link to get 15% off in your cart. 
• Green Fairy Quilts

I am also lucky to be an affiliate to these stores that I love and they’re supporting the content creation here on the blog. So thank you for using my link as it does help me in keeping up with sharing more free tutorials and inspirations here on the blog. 

Navigating Unexpected Twists

As with any creative endeavor, my project didn’t unfold exactly as planned. What was intended to be a quick and simple patchwork project with half-square triangles units turned into a slightly more involved process. My initial oversight in planning the size of the half-square triangles led to some adjustments along the way. However, I embraced these unexpected twists and turned them into opportunities for innovation and growth. You can see how I did all of that in the video HERE>. I recorded the process and it was surely a longer than expected project. What I thought was going to be a short quick afternoon project, needed more than just a couple of hours. Plus, recording the process also slowed me down. But I figured, it will be a fun one to share!

Despite the bumps in the road, the end result surpassed my expectations. The patchwork pillow covers turned out beautifully, each stitch infused with love and care. I couldn’t be happier with the final outcome, and I hope that they bring joy and warmth to my daughter’s day carer as she embarks on this new chapter. In the end, it’s not just about the finished product, but the love and thoughtfulness that went into creating it. Here’s to the power of handmade gifts and the joy they bring to both the giver and the recipient.

As winter blankets the world in a serene hush, there’s something truly magical about bringing that seasonal charm indoors through the art of quilting. For me who is living in a tropical country, the thought of winter is mesmerizing. But I know, cold weather is not my favorite. But surely there’s something magical about winter that I love. 

I have just recently completed my table runner, inspired by the natural colors of winter hues.

Fabric Selection

This project is a partnership with Missouri Star Quilt Company, one of my favorite online stores! For this collaboration, they’re offering 20% off your cart using my LINK HERE> 

I’m excited to share a finished quilt with you today. I must admit, this is probably one of my favorite quilts I’ve made so far.

I adore the colors in this quilt—the house quilt blocks, the scrappy low-volume background, and, to top it all off, I was thrilled with the swirl design I chose for the quilting.

It’s been a while since I made a baby quilt, and I have forgotten how fun it is. So quick to piece and quilt. And gifting it away is the icing on the cake. Handmade with care, a baby quilt becomes a cherished keepsake that holds not only physical warmth but also the warmth of your affection. 

Picking Fabrics

One of the best things about making a baby quilt is working with fun cute fabrics. I love working with bright colors and this is one of the projects that I get to do so. For this quilt, I am using a set of fat quarters that I received from Annie’s Fat Quarter Kit Club. It was such a delight opening the package to these beautiful bright fabrics and seeing the cute fruits with little faces on them!

Oh, and here’s the coolest part: You can snag your own fat quarter kit from Annie’s with a jaw-dropping 50% off your first shipment! Just follow this link and use the code SHARE50. Trust me, you’re gonna want in on this.

Selecting the Quilt Pattern

I knew I wanted a simple design and wanted to make sure the pieces are large enough to showcase the prints with the cute fruity faces. I have always loved the churn dash block, so I decided to make a 12.5″ churn dash block from the mix of fabrics. I only need to make 9 of the blocks to make it large enough for a baby quilt. I decided to use up leftover background fabric from this previous quilt here as I only needed less than a yard of the background to make all 9 blocks. 

Hey there, fellow Quilty and sewing friends! Hold onto your sewing needles because we’ve got some seriously exciting news to share! I am so delighted to introduce you to the fabulous “Make” fabric collection, brought to life by the uber-talented Kristy of Quiet Play for Riley Blake Designs. Picture this: a vibrant explosion of rainbow colors and a sewing machine that’s doing its happy dance. Yep, that’s what you’ll find in “Make” – the ultimate crafting dreamland for all you color-crazy, fussy-cutting fanatics out there!

I was so excited when Kristy asked whether I would like to join in the fabric tour for the launch of her new fabric collection “MAKE” which is as many of her collection, bursting with vibrant colours. 

Meet the Creative Whiz Behind “Make” fabric collection

Let’s give a warm welcome to Kristy Lea of Quiet Play, the brain behind this jaw-droppingly awesome fabric collection! She’s like a magician of foundation paper-piecing quilting patterns, and with “Make,” you can peek through some of her wonderful pattern like the rainbow sewing machines & scissors.

A Party of Rainbow Colors! ?

Okay, imagine a party where rainbows are the guests of honor – that’s the “Make” fabric collection! It’s like a pot of crafty gold at the end of a rainbow, bursting with vivid colors. With these eye-popping hues, your projects are gonna be Insta-worthy masterpieces! They are so easy to match up with many other of her fabric collections too. I love that there are lots of coordinating pieces in various colours, meaning you can pick one or two of your favourite colours from the rainbow, match it up with one the feature fabric from this collections and you can add your own touch to the project. 

Sew Much Fun with the Rainbow Sewing Machine

Can we just take a moment to gush about how insanely adorable this sewing machine is? ? It’s like the cutest sewing buddy you could ever wish for, with colorful body and a heart motif, it is hard not to love it.  “Make” comes with the cutest, quirkiest, and most magical rainbow sewing machine motif you’ve ever seen! Sewing has never been this joyful, folks! We’re talking about unicorns level of joy here. Trust me; you won’t be able to resist smiling every time you see this sewing machine sprinkling rainbow confetti all over your fabric! ??

Another fun Finish this week is a table runner. I have been intentionally trying to make more small usable projects like table toppers and table runners for me to gift away. I do love small quick projects for quick gratification.

Making small quilted gifts

As much as I want to gift every friend and family member a full bed-size quilt, that seems like a big dream, and most likely some will never get anything made from me. So, I have been intentionally putting more time and thoughts to make these small items that I am making to gift away. As I make these gifts, I am always excited thinking about the person who will be receiving them, and I think that is part of the joy as well. 

Some ideas that come to my mind when gifting quilted gifts are hot pads, table runners, table toppers, pouches or placemats. I have gifted these before and they’re always fun to see again when I come and visit my friends and family at their home. 

So, I’m looking forward to making more and spreading more love to more people. 

Mini Charm Pack

Mini Charm Packs typically contain 2.5-inch by 2.5-inch squares of fabric. These packs consist of an assortment of fabric prints and colors that are carefully curated to coordinate with each other, often following a specific theme or color palette. Moda Fabrics releases new fabric collections regularly, so their Mini Charm Packs provide quilters with the opportunity to explore and work with the latest fabric designs and patterns in a convenient and cost-effective way. I do love that you get all the variety from one single mini charm pack. Some people like to collect these for their favorite collection just to keep.

Mini charms packs are super fun to get, especially when you grab them at the counter in a brick-and-mortar shop or when you’re trying to fill up the cart to get free shipping when shopping online. You can even sign up for a monthly dose of Mini Charm Packs here>. This is a great way to get an idea of what fabric you might want to get in a larger precut size or even in yardage.

Another Quilted Table Topper got finished today. Small projects are fun to make, enough to get all the fun feeling of making it to the finish line, and also a great project to learn new skills. I usually use small quilted projects to top all kinds of furniture in my home. 

At this point, I may have a little more than I needed, so this one is going to be gifted someday! It’ll go in my bucket of gifts to give away. 

This one is a project from March 2021 Sew Sampler Box. I love the fabric. The pattern called for 2 charm packs as received in the Sew Sampler Box and I had to add some yardages for the background and the accent fabric. 

Spinning the Seam Flat

This was such a fun project and I had fun making the little 9 patches. To make sure the seams are not too thick, I press the seam in a spin to ensure that there were less bulk which makes it easier to quilt. 

You can see what I mean by that in the video below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Amira – Quilting And Sewing (@amira_littlemushroomcap)

Free Motion Quilting Echoing Leaves Motif

If you are in Free Motion Quilting Bootcamp, there’s a practice template for this motif in the workbook.

I love how this motif adds textures to the quilt, and it is dense enough for my liking and easy to do under a domestic machine. 

You can read more tips on free motion quilting with a domestic machine and all the essentials I used HERE>

The quilting process took about 2 hours but was surely a relaxed one. It was an easy design as it was very organic and flexible. I spread the 2 hours in 3 days, quilting here and there whenever I have a few minutes to spare. It took 3 full bobbins to complete the quilting as it is pretty dense. 

Binding

Stripy fabric to the rescue. I love to stash on stripes, hence I usually go over the SALE section here and stock up for some whenever there’s a good stripe fabric. This time I purposely made the binding a little wider, just to frame the quilt a little more since there are no borders. 

I love how you can easily brighten up a table with a quilted table topper. I wouldn’t eat on it, but it is nice to freshen the table when the table is not in use. 

Would you eat on your quilted table topper?

Probably controversial. Some say use your quilt.. but really, I would use them when cuddling in but for eating on, maybe not. But I think having a plastic cover on them is an option. 

Labeling the Quilted Table Topper

I was inspired to try out the method for labeling shared by Emily Dennis HERE. I didn’t do exactly as hers, but I tweaked it so that it is blending with the binding and I’d say it turned out pretty good! I’ll share a tutorial on how I put this as I put the binding soon.

I used one of the labels I custom made and this new template is coming to Quilt Label Wizard as a bonus soon! If you are already in Quilt Label Wizard, you’ll be notified of the new bonus, but if you are not yet in the course, come and join us and never miss labeling your quilt next time. 

I love how subtle it is in the binding.

A finish is always worth celebrating!

One quilt flimsy is done, and several more are waiting. But a finish is worth celebrating!