Happy Halloween from George the sailor bunny, Jeni and Michael!


Not so sure about this hat business!


Well, I guess it's not so bad...


Did someone say treat?


Seriously, what does a bun have to do to get a treat around here?


George bunny was properly compensated in his favorite treats for this photo shoot! :)

Wishing you all a safe and happy Halloween!

Halloween Nine-Patch Quilt

Happy Saturday! Squeezing in one more Halloween project this month, another quilt! See the Halloween quilt I made last year, here.


I used a Lil Monsters bundle and added prints from past Halloween lines from Cotton and Steel to end up with twenty different prints. I was pretty immediately drawn to this collection, and didn't let it sit too long before chopping it up.


I cut nine (6") squares from each fat quarter to use up as much of the fat quarters as I could. This is the same layout and technique I used for my Nani Iro Dreams Quilt. Simple and sweet.


It's funny, looking back at the quilts I've made over the years I seem to prefer simpler quilts in times of extra stress. This makes sense, since more stress usually means less time to stitching and also an urge for comfort sewing. And what could be more comforting than nine patches and cutesy Halloween fabric?


I had a short window to get this one quilted and bound, so I kept the quilting super simple with diagonal lines. Speaking of comfort sewing, this is definitely my go-to no-worry quilting. It's quick and I love the cross hatch effect of quilting on the diagonal. One of these days I'll experiment with other designs!


I was finally able to use up a big cut of 1" black and white gingham for the back. I originally bought it for my Minny Muu Prism Quilt, but under-bought by 1/4 yard. Felt good to use some of it for this quilt. It's bound up in this cute add it up print.

More info on my custom woven labels here.


Get ready for Tuesday, I'll be sharing George's annual Halloween costume photo!

Happy Quilting!

Trick or Treat Tote Bag

Halloween is almost here! One of my favorite holidays. This week I stitched up a trick or treat tote bag using my Elemental Tote Pattern.


This is the Simple Tote, made using this adorable print from spoonflower, a long stashed orange stripe and some black webbing. I love using holiday fabric, and hopefully I'll have my Halloween quilt photographed in time to share before the 31st.


I was initially bummed that it was sort of overcast when I took these photos, but I think it added a little extra spooky!


Find it in my shop here: The Elemental Tote Pattern


Happy Making!

Fat Quarter Log Cabin Free Quilt Pattern

Happy Thursday! Today I have my finished Harvest Quilt to share with you. I'm also including a simple tutorial for this quilt since I've gotten questions about it every time I've posted a photo of it here or on Instagram!


As I mentioned last month, Julie from The Intrepid Thread sent over some Tilda fabric for me to play with. This is the Harvest collection by Tone Finninger. They've got a list to be notified about new Tilda collections, which you can sign up for here.

I pretty quickly decided that a simple log cabin quilt would be a nice way to show off all the colorful prints, and take full advantage of the fat quarters.


The collection had two prints with a creamy white background, which I used for the block centers. The rest of the fat quarters were chopped up for the blocks. Log cabin blocks are one of my favorites, but I haven't made many log cabin quilts. This quilt helped scratch that itch, but I definitely want to work more with this block soon.


For the quilting I kept things simple. I quilted a diagonal line through each block and then did some echo quilting around the block/row seams. It's pretty lightly quilted, which means it has lots of crinkle.

I gave this quilt to my Mom when I saw her at the end of last month, it was fun to surprise her with it!


I happened to have this purple print in my backing stash, which was a great match for the colors on the front. I finished it off with some lime green binding (my specialty). More info on my custom woven labels here.

Ready to make your own? Onto the tutorial!

Harvest Log Cabin Quilt Tutorial

A word of caution: This is truly a fat quarter busting quilt. You'll need nearly every precious inch of the fat quarter. Your fat quarters must be at least 18" wide (a little extra is even better), and at least 21.5" tall. A couple of my fat quarters were tight, and I ended up with a tiny bit of visible selvedge from one fat quarter.

If your fat quarters are on the smaller side or you prefer more wiggle room in your cutting, skip to the end of this tutorial, for a slightly smaller finished quilt that uses skinnier strips (2.75" wide).

Tutorial for Log Cabin Quilt Using 3" Strips
Sewing Level: Beginner Friendly
Finished Quilt Size: 75"x75"
Finished Block Size: 12.5"

Materials:
- 18 fat quarters (full 18"x21.5" required)
- 1/4 yard for block centers
- 4 3/4 yards of backing fabric
- 83"x83" piece of batting
- 5/8 yard of binding fabric

Cutting:

From block center fabric:
- Cut (36) 3" squares

From 18 fat quarters:
- Cut (6) 3"x22" strips

Subcut these strips into the following using the cutting diagram above:
- (2) 3"x3" pieces
- (4) 5.5"x3" pieces
- (4) 8"x3" pieces
- (4) 10.5"x3" pieces
- (2) 13"x3" pieces

Seam Allowance: 1/4" unless otherwise noted

Instructions:

1. Construct log cabin blocks: Start by sewing a 3" square to the right side of a center square. Press seam away from the center. Sew a 5.5" strip to the bottom of the pieced unit. Press seam away from the center. Continue adding strips in a clockwise direction until your block measures 13" square. Make 36 blocks. Press well.


2. Arrange blocks into six rows of six blocks each according to the above diagram. Sew blocks together in each row. Press seams in one direction, alternating direction every other row. Sew rows together. Press seams open.

3. Cut backing yardage in half. Press. Trim off the selvedge and sew your pieces together lengthwise. Press seam open. Baste, quilt, and bind.

Tutorial for Log Cabin Quilt Using 2.75" Strips

Sewing Level: Beginner Friendly
Finished Quilt Size: 67.5"x67.5"
Finished Block Size: 11.25"

Materials:
- 18 fat quarters
- 1/4 yard for block centers
- 4 1/4 yards of backing fabric
- 75.5"x75.5" piece of batting
- 1/2 yard of binding fabric

Cutting:

From block center fabric:
- Cut (36) 2.75" squares

From 18 fat quarters:
- Cut (6) 2.75"x22" strips

Subcut these strips into the following using the cutting diagram below:
- (2) 2.75"x2.75" pieces
- (4) 5"x2.75" pieces
- (4) 7.25"x2.75" pieces
- (4) 9.5"x2.75" pieces
- (2) 11.75"x2.75" pieces

Seam Allowance: 1/4" unless otherwise noted

Instructions:

1. Construct log cabin blocks: Start by sewing a 2.75" square to the right side of a center square. Press seam away from the center. Sew a 5" strip to the bottom of the pieced unit. Press seam away from the center. Continue adding strips in a clockwise direction until your block measures 11.75" square. Make 36 blocks. Press well.


2. Arrange blocks into six rows of six blocks each according to the above diagram. Sew blocks together in each row. Press seams in one direction, alternating direction every other row. Sew rows together. Press seams open.

3. Cut backing yardage in half. Press. Trim off the selvedge and sew your pieces together lengthwise. Press seam open. Baste, quilt, and bind.


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!

September Monthly Report

Happy October! It's time for September's monthly report. See past reports here.


You may have noticed that things have gotten a little quiet around here. To be honest, I've been struggling lately to balance things. I'm not quite ready to say where we're moving, but I will tell you we'll be leaving Madison mid-December and will be starting the new year in our new city. Later this month we'll be traveling to find housing and go on a much needed vacation. I don't want to jinx our search, but as soon as we find a place to live I'll make a little announcement!

It's been a stressful few months and the next few months will be stressful too as we pack up our apartment of the last six years and move over 1000 miles away to a new state. I'm trying to be gentle with myself through this transition period, and at this point one post a week is about all I can manage. I am planning to finally share the remaining quilts from my book, as those are already photographed and are fun/easy to talk about. I've got a few other things tentatively planned, but we'll see. Thanks for sticking it out with me as we navigate this move. Hoping to really be able to kick things up a notch when we get to our new city.

I did finish a quilt this month! I'll be sharing it in it's own post soon, but here is a little peek above.


I have also been working on another Halloween quilt! I'm using a Lil Monsters bundle plus a few extra prints from past Halloween lines from Cotton and Steel. It's actually a finished top already, but I snapped a few photos of the block pieces all paired up. Hopefully I can get this quilted up before the end of the month!


I don't often make time to mend, but this past month I finally fixed one of my favorite lined drawstring bags (find the tutorial here). The tension on my machine was completely out of whack when I top stitched the ties originally, and they were falling apart. I took out the ties, seam ripped, pressed and restitched them. It was a quick task, but made a big difference. Now I can get more use out of those bag!


To keep myself accountable for my stash goals, I'm tracking my yardage for fabric and yarn each month. Read more about how I track my here. Here is how I did in September:

September Fabric
Used up: 12.25 yards
Brought in: 14.25 yards
Net: 2 yards
Year to date: -157 yards

September Yarn
Used up: 0 yards
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: 0 yards
Year to date: -3731.5 yards

So this is the first month since May 2016 that I've brought in more fabric than has gone out. The amazing Daisy Chain collection by Annabel Wrigley is primarily to blame! I have been so anxiously waiting for this collection to come out, and it was finally released this month. It was so worth the wait and definitely worth blowing my fabric tracking for a half-yard bundle. I don't feel too bad about this purchase though because I've been planning it for months. It wasn't spur of the moment or just because, which is the type of fabric spending I've been trying to curb.


I wish I had better news on my goals front. Most of my sewing goals have fallen by the way side for the time being. I did make a few more blocks for my fantastic quilt voyage, so that's something.


I did find this amazing metal cabinet antiquing in Ohio this month. It's in really great condition (other than a little rust at the bottom), and it will be perfect to keep fabrics protected from the sun in my some-day sewing space. I love the detail on the front. It even has movable shelves in the inside.


George bunny! This little guy is always there when I need a good snuggle. Such a sweet bun.

Happy Sewing!