Quilts and More: Trick or Treat Tote Bag

Used with permission from Quilts & More™ magazine. ©2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Happy Tuesday! I'm excited to share my project in the Fall 2019 issue of Quilts and More Magazine!


Used with permission from Quilts & More™ magazine. ©2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

I made a trick or treat tote bag, which you can see on the right-hand side of the cover!


Used with permission from Quilts & More™ magazine. ©2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

This tote was a lot of fun to make and came together pretty quickly! I based the pieced candy blocks on one of my favorite candies, Smarties! I stuck with Halloween colors for the candy since the main tote was a nice neutral. I used quilting cotton blenders from my stash and yarn dye Essex linen in black for the main bag.


The candy blocks are pieced simply, no paper-piecing or anything. You could really change up the look of the tote by using different colors!


For the lining I used this funky orange and black raven print from Honor Roll by Anna Maria Horner. For the handles I used a plain black solid.


This bag gets extra structure with pin-tucked corners. This is one of my favorite techniques for giving bags extra shape and stability without making them too stiff. I filmed a tutorial for this technique last year, you can find it here: Using Tucks to Add Structure to Your Bag

You can find the pattern in the Fall 2019 issue of Quilts and More Magazine, on newsstands now!

Happy Sewing!

Sweet Treats Designer Palette Bundle

Happy Wednesday! I wanted to pop in here to share a solids bundle that I curated!


© 2019 Pink Castle Fabrics.

I put together a bundle of Kona cotton solids for Pink Castle Fabrics this past Spring as a part of their designer palette series, and it has arrived! The bundle is called Sweet Treats and it features 12 fat quarters in a range of sugary sweet colors. I was inspired by some of my favorite sweet treats, and also by sherbet, wild berry skittles, and tropical gummy bears!


© 2019 Pink Castle Fabrics.

You can find the bundle for sale at Pink Castle Fabrics here: Sweet Treats Designer Palette Bundle

Happy Quilting!

Patchwork Essentials: Block Chart + Free Settings

Time to share another project from my book, Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle! You can find all the posts about Patchwork Essentials using the MY BOOK link at the top of every page, or here.


I'm going to share each quilt, in order, with the exception of a few that I've already shared. We are in the block chapter now, which is the last chapter in the book. Before I share the three quilts in this chapter, I wanted to share a little more about the block chart and the three extra quilts I made with those blocks.

For more on how the book is structured see this post.


Need a copy of the book? Buy a signed one here: Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle


The block chapter begins with 60 different blocks that can be made with just half-square triangles. The rest of the chapter uses blocks designs from the chart, but I wanted to make a couple of quilts with the actual blocks that I made for the block chart. So, I designed three bonus sampler quilts that use up all 60 blocks. I also wrote and shared a free tutorial for each quilt setting, which you can pair with the book!

Here are all three quilt tutorials:

Over and Above Quilt Setting Tutorial


Blockade Quilt Setting Tutorial


Interlaced Quilt Setting Tutorial
I love the way the other quilts in this chapter turned out (which I'll be sharing over the next month or so), but I wanted to be able to share some other options. Making all 60 blocks would be an excellent way to hone your half-square triangle skills, bust some of your fabric stash, and make a bunch of quilts all at the same time! Selfishly, I also wanted to use up my blocks! The half-square triangles in these blocks are also on the front cover, so these almost feel like memory quilts for me in a weird way. Plus, it was a fun challenge to use up every block.


Happy Quilting!

July Monthly Report

Happy August! It's time for July's monthly report. See past reports here.

I started a bunch of flowers from seeds this year, including these snapdragons. They are the perfect dusty purple color, Potomac Lavender.


If you follow my blog through Bloglovin', you may have missed my last blog post! I released a new pattern, the Snack Size Pincushions Pattern. It features six different paper pieced pincushions that finish at just 2" each.

Check it out here: Snack Size Pincushions


I worked on a lot of smaller projects this month, including a much needed oven mitt! I had an Orla Kiely for Target one that we used for years but it was in really bad shape. So I traced it and made a new one. I'm so SO happy with how it turned out! I used a layer of batting and a layer of Insul-brite* on the inside, with these lovely cotton/linen prints from Framework by Ellen Baker*.


This past weekend was our annual Wisconsin retreat, so I headed out west to hang out with friends and sew! It was lots of fun and of course I had to make a little something for everyone.

I made magnetic needle minders! I used this tutorial as a guide. I already had the fabric cover button kit so all I ended up needing to find was some magnets. I ended up ordering these ones*. They are quite strong! It was fun to use up some scraps, and I dressed up the cards with my Cricut Maker*.


I made a couple drawstring bags in July, including this big one to gift a quilt. This is the Laundry size from my Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern. I started with this Paris Market* fabric by 3 Sisters and paired it with black yarn-dyed Essex Linen and some muslin. It's finished off with black paracord.


I set these fabrics aside months ago for a drawstring bag, and finally got around to stitching it up last month! This is the Project size from my Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern. I just love this puppy polka dot* print by Alexander Henry. They make some of the best novelty prints. The accent is from Black & White* by Cotton and Steel and the neon pink paracord is from Walmart.


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

July Fabric
Used up: 4.75 yards
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: -4.75 yards
Year to date: -44.25 yards

July Yarn
Used up: 0 yards
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: 0 yards
Year to date: -426 yards

It felt like my "used up" number should have been higher this month because I did finish a lot of projects. They just all happened to be pretty small! No fabric purchases for July, but brace yourselves for August. Let's just say I came home from camp with some fabric! No yarn activity this month, but I did pick up one of my mitten projects again, so that's happy!


George bun! He loves to sit on top of our floor pillows. It's pretty darn cute :)

Have a Great Month!

*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.