Monday

Hello Kitty, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend! I was unfortunately stuck on the couch with a cold, but I'm feeling a bit more like myself today!

Not much to show for this past week, on top of having a cold, my sewing machine was acting up too, so I dropped it off for a tune up on Friday.  So, I'm sewing pretty with Hello Kitty in the mean time! It's pushed me to re-think my back-up sewing machine options, and I'm happily looking for a new machine! :)

Heat Pack, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I did do a little sewing though! I needed a new heat pack, so I quickly put this one together using Cloud 9 bunny flannel and some navy beans.  Just heat it in the microwave for a few minutes, and it's nice and toasty warm!

Blocks, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I had good luck thrifting this weekend! Found these 16 vintage log cabin blocks for $3! Now I just need to figure out what to do with them! They'll definitely become some kind of quilt!

Vintage Sheets, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Finally had some good vintage sheet luck! These will be in the shop later this week, along with a shop sale!

Arabia Finel, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

This find got me really excited! A vintage Arabia Finel Daisy enamelware bowl! It's in great condition and was only $2!!

George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

George and Michael hanging out this weekend!

I'll be back tomorrow with our next HST Block of the Month!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Spring
Sound of: Pushing Daises
Taste of: Popcorn
Sight of: Vintage Sheets
Feel of: Putting my feet up

Good Things about Today:
- Great thrifting day
- Fudgepops
- Pushing Daises!
- Feeling better today

Favorites

Favorites, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

1. summersville, 2. P!nk Confession Quilt, 3. flying geese, 4. queen sized quilt top on the bed, 5. Nearly 20 Months Later, 6. Placemat with no name, 7. Finished: new pillow for masons teacher for teacher appreciation week., 8. delightful quilt, 9. Metro Link - WIP

Wednesday

Lined Drawstring Bag, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Happy Wednesday! Just popping in for a second to share a few things with you!

First, I am excited to have a project in the newest issue of Fat Quarterly, as a part of their Designer Challenge. We were sent a fat quarter of this animal print from Woodland Tails by Sherri Berry. Predictably I made another drawstring bag, hehe! Issue 9 is all about sewing for and with kids, it comes out April 30th!

Spring Top Sewalong 2012 - Top #1, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I entered a few of my handmade tops in Made by Rae's Spring Top Sew Along this year.  My newest Tova made the "Top Tops" for this week! If you just so happen to like it, you can vote for me here! I'm in great company, so many cute tops! :)

I'm still trying to clear out my stash a bit, so I've added more fabrics to my destash! Use coupon code JENIDESTASH for 10% off.

George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

And of course, a little George :)

This Week

Wip, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I've been bad lately! Ever since getting an fancier phone, I have been neglecting my camera more and more. It's just so much easier since my photo is always handy! I definitely need to make an effort to get back to it :)

This week is turning out to be a busy one! The sun is coming out and I've got sewing fever! I finished cutting out the Patchwork Prism Quilt (free pattern by Anna Maria Horner found here) last week and now I'm slowly piecing it together! I love the way it's turning out, and happy to see all my favorite vintage sheets in it!

Garment sewing, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Took a little inventory of all the garment sewing I've been doing lately.  My little wardrobe of handmade clothes is making me so happy!

Scrappy, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I dug into the scrap bin today cutting for a new quilt! I sure do love rainbowy goodness!

Sauce, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Tonight I made a simple favorite, spaghetti.  What makes it so good is this super easy pasta sauce from Smitten Kitchen.  It's really yummy!

Garden, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Sunday I was able to get Michael into the garden to help me divide my plot up into beds. I wish I had thought to take a photo before we put the row covers on! My little plot has already come a long way since March! I can't wait to start planting! Lots of veggies, some herbs and a few flowers!

George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

George bun!

In other news I'm excited to be featured today as one of 10 must-see color blogs on the Huffington Post's DIY/Home site, Stylelist Home!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Clean kitchen
Sound of: 30 Rock
Taste of: Kix cereal
Sight of: Sunny day
Feel of: Slippers

Good Things about Today:
- Spent some time in the garden
- Caught up on dishes!
- Sewing, sewing, sewing!
- Snickers ice cream bars :)

Catch-up!

Scout Tee, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Wow, it ended up being a really slow week around here, didn't it? Sorry about that! I was about to post Thursday and Friday and stuff ended up getting in the way! Oh well, at least this way I have more to show you all! Hope you've been enjoying your weekend so far!

So last night, Amanda posted her finished Scout tee on Instagram (I'm jenib320 on there, if you want to find me!) and it pushed me over the edge! I had seen the pattern around, but hers turned out SO cute, I knew I had to make it! Thankfully, it's a PDF pattern, so in a few minutes I had it printing and was taping it together (PS - did you see Ali's tips for using Print It Yourself patterns?). This morning I pulled out this small gingham from Joanns to make a muslin.  When I first finished it, it seemed a bit too boxy, but a good wash and it fits great! I'm excited to make some more!

You can find the pattern here, it's the Scout Tee by Grainline Studios!

Claire Bag, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Yesterday I finished up the bag I started earlier in the week! The pattern is the Claire bag by Clover and Violet! I used a number of lilac and peachy fabrics, inspired by some of the prints from Weekends by Erin McMorris! The bag is nice and sturdy with lots of room and pockets, and I love the hexagon detail! It's going to house my sewing supplies when I need to transport my sewing to guild sew days or Iowa sew days! :)

You can find the pattern here!

Mermaid Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

You know how loneliness can somehow hit you out of nowhere? Well, that was me last week! Michael has been working crazy long hours, and my family is far away and suddenly it hit me all at once.  Kind words from friends and a few dinners eating takeout at the lab with Mike and I'm feeling better this week.  Sweet Darci surprised me with this Mermaid pillow (that I had been oogling on flickr!) to cheer me up! I love it so much, and it looks so fantastic with my Mendocino quilt! Thank you dear, it definitely put a smile on my face! :)

Tea Cup!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

As if that wasn't enough! Look what else arrived! A sweet teacup card from the one and only Nova! It went right up on my inspiration board so I can see it while I sew, it's just too darn cute! Thank you Nova!

Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I'm playing around with a new pattern that's been on my mind lately, am hoping to cut into this jelly roll of Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket this week to make it happen!

You can find Salt Air at Pink Castle Fabrics and Fat Quarter Shop!

Hand dyed, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I spent some time tidying up my stash today, I have a bad habit of stacking it up around the sewing room instead of putting it away! As I was reorganizing I put together all my hand-dyed fabrics. I think I definitely need to make a quilt from these asap!

George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

George :)

Today I love the..
Smell of: Fresh air
Sound of: Keane
Taste of: Lasagna Soup
Sight of: Happy bunny!
Feel of: Relaxing evening

Good Things about Today:
- Got some sewing done!
- Sewing room is cleaned up!
- Made Lasagna soup!
- Happy mail!

Favorites

Favorites, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

1. Scattered Color, 2. Scrappy HST Quilt, 3. Savanna Bop quilt top, 4. Quilt top finished... now on to the back!, 5. Flocking1, 6. watercolor quilt front, 7. Abstract Expressions, 8. March design camp 2 blocks, 9. Finished Stargazer

This Weekend

Another Tova Top, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend! Mine was filled to the brim, so Monday ended up being a bit slower than usual! Saturday the Madison Modern Quilt Guild had it's first sew day, and while I didn't get a ton of sewing done, it was a lot of fun! :)

At the tail end of the weekend, I managed to start another Tova Top, pattern by Wiksten! I picked up this print from Maya by Leah Duncan, it just seemed the perfect print for this pattern.  This top fits me really well, so this is the fourth version and I still have plans for more! I do have a few other patterns to try in the coming weeks, but for now I'm happy to have another Tova to add to the rotation!

You can find the Tova pattern here, and Maya fabric here and here.

WIP, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Other than my new top, I feel like I've mostly been cutting out new projects rather than actually sewing lately! Finally finishing up my Mendocino quilt and wrapping up the Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt Pattern have left me feeling off-balance!

The above half-hexagons are for a new bag for myself! I'm using the Claire Bag Pattern by Clover & Violet!

Cutting, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I have made a bit of progress on my Prince Charming + Neptune Kaleidoscope quilt! All the cutting is now finished and I'm half way through sewing the corner triangles! I'm using the Marti Mitchell Kaleido ruler!

New Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

As if I needed any more new projects, I started cutting out the Patchwork Prism Quilt by Anna Maria Horner.  It's a free PDF pattern, you can find it here.  I'm using my personal vintage sheet collection! The cutting is a bit slow going, but I'm happy to be making a quilt from sheets again! :)

Cathrineholm Tea Pots, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I got lucky on eBay again last week! Snatched up another vintage Cathrineholm enamelware tea pot, this time an orange one. Don't they look so cute together? I'm normally not a big eBay shopper, but for some reason this one too flew under the radar and went for much less than usual. I had to jump at it, hehe!

Lilacs, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

We had a bunch of thunderstorms and wind over the weekend, and they brought me a gift! I woke up Sunday morning to a big bunch of dark purple lilacs in front of our building, directly in front of our apartment! They're my absolute favorite flower!

George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

George, flopped :)

Today I love the..
Smell of: Fresh air
Sound of: Arrested Development
Taste of: Grilled cheese
Sight of: SUN!
Feel of: Hot shower after working in the garden!

Good Things about Today:
- Productive day!
- Got outside today!
- It's sunny and beautiful out!
- Michael is coming home early!

Shop Policy Changes + Scrap Sale

Vintage Sheet Fat Quarters, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

It's been a while since we've done a true shop update around here! Now that tax season is almost behind us, I'm taking some time to think about what direction I'd like to move my shop in and also some changes that need to be made.  After much consideration I'd decided to discontinue the bulk fat quarter discount.  The main and pretty much only reason is simply about book keeping.  Manually adjusting all my records to reflect the discount is just too tedious! But don't worry, I'm not leaving you with nothing!

Instead, you'll see more sales, coupon codes, promos (like buy 1 get 1 free type!), and hopefully more kits/bundles/etc.  I'm sad to see it go, but I think in the long run it's going to open up more fun things!

In addition, I'm happy to now have Direct Checkout in my shop! So you can now pay directly with a credit card if you'd like, no Paypal account needed! :)

So! Let's get this thing started off right, with a fun sale! This weekend, its Scraps!

Vintage Sheet Rainbow Scraps, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

If you've never worked with vintage sheets before, and want to give them a try, the vintage sheet rainbow scrap packs are a perfect way to start! Lots of variety in color and pattern!

Vintage Sheet Skinny Hems, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

A limited number of vintage sheet skinny hem packs are back! These don't come around too often, so grab them while you can!

Vintage Sheet Wide Hems, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Vintage sheet wide hem scrap packs are ready and waiting too! :)

Happy Weekend!

Favorites

Favorites, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

1. smalls, 2. improv solids quilt top, 3. sherbet squares., 4. Basketweave star, 5. [postage stamp quilt], 6. 20120409 Triangle Quilt-3, 7. This should be in someone's mailbox very soon. @bijoulovely I promise it's straight; I guess I took this at an angle. Blog post soon., 8. Quiltlet #21, 9. herringbone

A few favorites from our HST Block of the Month from the In Color Order Flickr Group!

HST Block of the Month, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

1. January HST BOM, 2. , 3. HST BOM Bock #2 February, 4. HST block of the month March, 5. half-square triangle block of the month ~ april, 6. 046, 7. HST April, 8. IMG_1184, 9. February HST BOM

Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt Pattern

Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I am SO excited to finally share the Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt with you all! This quilt has been on my mind for a long time.  Back in 2010, we pulled some vintage quilts out to take some photographs and one of them was this blue nine-patch quilt. We know someone in our family made it, and are pretty sure that it was my Great-Great-Grandmother on my Mom's side.  I don't know if it's the scale of the pattern, or the fabrics, or simply that it's vintage, and someone in my family made this quilt, but I love it.

Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Unfortunately the original is in pretty poor condition.  There are oil stains, rips, places where the binding is gone, and gray paint on it.  It's very fragile and not exactly in useable condition.  I decided the best way to preserve it was the remake it, so the Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt was born!

Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

For a quilt this special, I knew I needed to use special fabrics. I've been saving a fat quarter bundle of It's a Hoot by Momo for a while, and it felt like the perfect fit for this project. I sashed the blocks in Kona Aqua, to keep the look of the overall quilt true to the original.  It's a healthy throw size at 61.5"x76.5".


I decided to create a pattern to go along with this quilt, so you can make one too if you'd like! It's a 5-page PDF pattern with instructions for making the quilt with 20 or 40 fat quarters, and from scraps! Also includes license to sell quilts made from the pattern on a small-scale basis!

You can find it here! Thanks for your support!

Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I love the way these sister quilts look together! The original is safely tucked away most of the time, so it was fun to pull it out for some photos!

Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I backed mine in a vintage sheet I'd been saving. The bright colors and fun plaid pattern were a great match for It's a Hoot!

Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I quilted it with simple diagonal lines across each block, quick and easy! It's bound up in scraps!

Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

It's been hard keeping this quilt under wraps while I was working on the pattern! It was a really special project for me, and I look forward to making more quilts with this pattern. My scrap bin could definitely use a project (or two!) like this!

Happy Quilting!

Half-Square Triangle Pot Holders Tutorial

Hello! Today I have a tutorial for these fun patchwork half-square triangle potholders to share! If you're new here, welcome! I hope you'll take a peek around, be sure to check out my HST Block of the Month and my book, Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle!

This was originally published as a part of the Festival of Half-Square Triangles.


After making my Patchwork Chevron Quilt earlier this year, I've been playing around with adding patchwork to half-square triangles in other ways! We'll start with simple nine-patch blocks to make these fun pot holders! Materials and instructions will make two 7.5" potholders!

I always make my pot holders with a layer of quilt batting (I use Warm & Natural/White), and a layer of Insul-Bright* (which is heat resistant). I used Miscellany by Julia Rothman* for Cloud 9 Fabrics, Quilter's Linen* in Beige by Robert Kaufman for the background, and Annie's Farm Stand by Lakehouse Dry Goods for the binding. I quilted them with Aurifil #2325* cotton thread.


Sewing Level: Intermediate
Finished Size: 7.5" square

Materials (for two potholders):
- (16) 2.5" print squares
- (2) 2.5" background squares
- (2) 6.5" background squares
- (2) 9.5" backing squares
- (2) 9.5" batting squares
- (2) 9.5" Insul-bright squares
- (2) 2.5"x42" binding strips

Seam Allowance: 1/4" unless noted

This would be a great project to use up scraps! Including those pesky weird shaped batting pieces you end up with after a large project! :)

Instructions:

1. Lay out your print squares into two nine-patches, both with the background 2.5" square in the center.


2. Stitch together nine-patches and press seams open.


3. Place nine-patch and background square right sides together.


4. Sew a 1/4" around all four sides. Lightly press.


5. Using a ruler and rotary cutter, cut along both diagonals.

*Note: You are cutting along the bias, so if you're nervous about stretching, I'd recommend using a little starch or a starch-alternative! My favorite is Flatter by Soak*!


6. Press all four half-square triangle units, seams open. Repeat with remaining nine-patch and background square.


7. Trim half-square triangles to 4" square. Arrange your half-square triangles as shown above.


8. Piece together and press seams open. Trim to 7.5" square.


9. Layer your pieces with the backing square right sides facing down, then the layer of insul-bright, then the batting, then the pot holder top, right sides up. Baste! (Tutorial on basting if you need it, here!)


10. Quilt as desired (I machine quilted mine, using a walking foot!) and trim away excess backing, batting, and insul-bright. Bind (I machine bind both sides, you can find my tutorial for it, here)! Voila, you're done!


I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial! I have lots of other tutorials for everything from quilts, pillows, bags, and holiday items to informational series and techniques. Find all my tutorials here: Tutorials. My online shop is filled with patterns for quilts and bags. Find my patterns here: Jeni Baker Patterns

If you make something using one of my tutorials or patterns, I hope you'll tag me @jenib320 and use my hashtag #jenibaker on instagram!

Happy Quilting!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.