Happy Monday! Just wanted to pop in quickly for a quick reminder! The introductory price of $7 for the Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern ends tomorrow night, 12/31/19!

Starting January 1st, 2020 it will be $9. At that time it will also become available in a bundle with the original Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern for $16.

Find both patterns in my online shop here:
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern
Original Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern

Happy Sewing!

Patchwork Essentials: Perspective Quilt

Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.

We finally made it! Today I'm sharing the last quilt 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.


We are in the block chapter, which is the last chapter in the book. All the quilts in this chapter use blocks (or parts of blocks) from the 60 block chart in this chapter. Read more about the block chart and the three free quilt settings here. Today we're chatting about the Perspective Quilt.

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


Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.

Ta-da! We've finally reached the end of the book and the very last quilt. This sampler quilt uses 32 blocks, all from the block chart. The color scheme for this quilt is a nod to my very first quilt, which you can see here. I actually celebrated 10 years of quilting just last month! So the timing of sharing this quilt now feels right! I also used a lot of my fabrics from Dreamin' Vintage* in this quilt.


This is a big quilt, approx. 72"x96". I sent it over to Melissa Kelley of Sew Shabby Quilting. Kept it nice and simple with some swirls!


I love the backing and binding that I used for this one. The binding is a Leah Duncan print from Tule*, and the binding is one of mine from Dreamin' Vintage*.


Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.

Thanks for sticking around as I raced through the last few quilts this month. I've been dragging this show and tell out long enough. Hope you enjoyed seeing all the quilts!



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.

Upcycled Lined Drawstring Gift Bags + How to Cut up a Button Down Shirt

Happy Thursday! I have a fun pair of upcycled lined drawstring bags to share today! Plus a little how-to on cutting up a button down shirt.


A couple weeks ago I picked up two button down shirts at the thrift store. They were half price, so they were a bargain. I knew I wanted to turn them into holiday gift bags, so I picked out two that felt festive. I ended up with a red and white stripe and a muted green.

I was inspired to make drawstring bags with shirts by Leigh. She made a bunch of drawstring bags using thrifted shirts (see them here) and I just loved the idea!


I wasn't sure exactly what I'd do until I cut up the shirts, but I'm so pleased with how they turned out! I decided to use the pockets on the fronts of each bag, as an extra spot for a gift! I cut around each pocket leaving about an inch of the background fabric. Then I used the method outlined in the lined drawstring bag expansion pattern to center the pockets and figure out the borders needed to create the bag exterior.


This is the Project size bag, and I featured the stripe fabric as the main exterior fabric. It was a little fussy working with the stripes, but I think it looks pretty good!


For the second bag I featured the green shirt fabric and made an Artist size. Both bags are lined with Essex linen and have natural cotton twill for ties. I interfaced all the shirt fabric with a woven interfacing to give it a little extra weight. The green fabric probably would have been fine without it, but the stripe was pretty thin.


The backs are plain! There was enough fabric from both shirts that I could have made them plain on both sides. It's such an economical way to make gift bags. These sizes are available in the Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern.

Now, for a little how-to on cutting up a shirt! There are many different ways to go about cutting up a shirt for fabric, this is just the way I did it. I knew I was going to use this fabric for drawstring bags, so these steps made the most sense for the project I was making. Think about how you're going to use the shirt fabric before you start cutting so that you can get the most out of it.


First, find some shirts! Use up shirts that have stains, holes, or were headed to the thrift shop. If you don't have any on hand, stop by your local thrift store. I started in the men's shirts, working my way from the largest sizes to the smaller sizes. I choose shirts that were discounted, which means they had been there for a while.

Once you've got your shirts, give them a good wash and dry!


Cut away the collar and button bands down the front of the shirt.


Next, cut away the bottom hem.


Cut the sleeves off at the shoulder seams.


Cut off the cuff from each sleeve.


Cut off the seam on each sleeve.


Cut the side seams off of the shirt body.


Cut each front panel from the yoke at the shoulder seam. Cut the shirt back from the yoke.


Cut the sleeve seams from the front pieces and back piece.


Here is the shirt all cut up! You'll end up with two front pieces, a back piece, and two sleeves. Plus a bunch of leftover pieces that were cut off like the cuffs and collar.

Happy Sewing!

Patchwork Essentials: Getaway Quilt

Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.

This week I'm going to be sharing the very last two quilts 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.


We are in the block chapter now, which is the last chapter in the book. All the quilts in this chapter use blocks (or parts of blocks) from the 60 block chart in this chapter. Read more about the block chart and the three free quilt settings here. Today we're chatting about the Getaway Quilt.

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


Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.

This is one of the smaller quilts in the book, it's approx. 48"x60". It's made with a single block from the block chart. The two color scheme gives it a bolder look and helps the individual blocks disappear a bit! I love these colors together, it feels like a quilt that should live in a beach or lake house.


I quilted this quilt myself! Every so often I itch to quilt some swirls, and this smaller quilt was perfect for it. I like to think it looks a little like waves or water to add to the beachy theme.


I used the binding to add a pop of color. The backing isn't a great match, but it was what I had on hand! I think it still works okay.


Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.

Only one more quilt to share after this! It's taken me so long to get through them all, and I can hardly believe the book came out four years ago!



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.

Patchwork Essentials: Convergence Quilt

Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.

Time to share another quilt 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. I'll be sharing the rest of the quilts this month! Today we're chatting about the Convergence Quilt.

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


Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.

This is the largest quilt in the book, and it has the most half-square triangles too. It's 84" square and is made from 576 half-square triangle blocks! This particular quilt was quite the undertaking! I designed it using block quarters from different blocks included in the block chart that is part of this chapter.


Despite it's size, I ended up doing the quilting for this one myself. Timing wise it just worked out that way. I actually ran out of basting pins partway through and had to run out for more! It was basting it in the lab kitchen in the building at UW where Michael worked. I was nervous to leave it there, but I had no choice! Thankfully it was the weekend so there weren't many people around.


I quilted an X across the quilt from corner to corner. I then echoed those lines within each quadrant, quilting lines about an inch apart. It took a long time, and the lines aren't super straight, but I love how it turned out. I am happy that it didn't loose any of it's softness.


It's backed in a print from Urban Mod* by Art Gallery Fabrics. I had picked up almost an entire bolt of this print on clearance and managed to squeeze two backings out of it. I still love the colors, that dusty navy in particular.


Is it weird to miss a brick wall? I took so many photos in front of this wall. It was the wall of our apartment building back in Madison, and I do miss it!


For each quilt in the book I showed an alternate version of the quilt in either a single block or entire quilt top. I this case I made a block, and a few years ago I turned it into a baby quilt. You can see that quilt here: Convergence Baby Quilt


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.

Christmas Two by Four Quilt

Happy Thursday! I'm excited to share my finished Christmas quilt today!

My new quilt happens to match the pillow I made a couple years ago. See more of that project here: Patchwork Christmas Projects


I started working on this quilt last year before the holidays. I had just finished my tree skirt and my stocks and was on a holiday sewing roll. I pretty quickly landed on using the two by four quilt tutorial by Ashley of Film in the Fridge. I started cutting all my Christmas fabrics into strips, but only got about halfway through the cutting before I had to stop. Too many gifts to make! Fast forward to this Fall when I picked it back up!


I didn't have a huge stash of Christmas fabrics, so I used a little bit of everything. It's based around leftovers from a bundle of Tinsel* by Cotton & Steel. I added in prints from their other holiday collections, plus an assortment of prints that aren't holiday, but coordinate.


Once I really got going, this quilt came together fast! I do love how many different prints ended up in this quilt. I made 56 blocks, it's approximately 60"x80".


I kept the quilting simple, my favorite diagonal lines! Nothing fancy, but I enjoy it.


In October I picked up yardage of this starry print from Daisy Chain* by Annabel Wrigley for the backing. I love how festive it feels alongside other holiday prints. It's bound up in a red-orange print from my stash.


We got our first real snow of the season early this week, so I took full advantage of the fresh snow for a few photos before I shoveled the driveway. So happy to finish this quilt, we've already been enjoying it!

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.