I found this pattern on Craftsy.  AND it was on sale!  Anyone who has ever made a quilt knows that it can get price-y.  That is why I prefer to go with quilt kits to try and keep the price down.

Piecing the quilt is such a challenge.  Your fabric cuts have to be precise in order for it to turn out square.  Creating these pinwheels was so much fun though!  I loved watching it come together block by block.

The one thing I absolutely despise about quilting is all of the ironing.  So much ironing.  You iron after every seem.  It gets tedious.  But it is a must.  If you skip the ironing, you are condemning your quilt to a lifetime of puckering.

I had this quilted at a local shop in southwest Missouri and they do such a fantastic job!  They also did the quilting on my Puddle Jumping Quilt.  (You can check out that quilt HERE!)

It turned out better than I could have imagined!  I love the backing too!

Binding the quilt is the best part!  It provides a completeness that appeals to my OCD on the deepest level.

I can’t wait to give this to my friend!  I know she will love it!

 I’d love for you to pin this image!

Share this image on Facebook!

Click HERE to see more sewing ideas!

The post Sweet Talk Quilt appeared first on Create Craft Love.

I used this pattern from Thimble Blossoms.  Bonnie and Camille is one of my favorite fabric designers.  The prints are so bright and colorful.  Plus the patterns are very modern.

I was a little intimidated by the blocks.  But once I got a couple made, they started coming together quickly.

The blocks were more time consuming than I’m accustomed too.  With the size and bulk, there was no way I could quilt this one on my own.  I sent it to a local quilt shop and then did a beautiful job!

I love the swirls!  They remind me of ripples in the water.  Perfect for a quilt named Puddle Jumping.

The colors are so crisp and compliment each other well.

It really is addicting.  I’m getting ready to start another one!

If you’re looking for more quilts I’ve made, check them out HERE!

Verona Zig Zag Quilt

Island Beach Quilt

Dino Roars Fat Quarter Quilt

Happy Go Lucky Quilt

The post Puddle Jumping Quilt appeared first on Create Craft Love.

I have been a huge fan of Thimbleblossoms by Camille Roskelley since I started quilting!  {And no this is not a sponsored post – just a fun FYI for all of you quilters out there!}  Camille’s designs put a modern twist on this old art form and I love it!

This is the first time I’ve quilted something other than squares and triangles.  I’m not gonna lie.  At one point, I was going to give up.  These darling little hexies are fun to create with but a pain to get lined up straight.  Once I walked away from it for a few days, I was able to come back determined and ready to tackle it!

Every time I look at this quilt it makes me happy!  {Appropriately named fabric line, don’t ya think?}

I quilted it along the vertical rows – very simple.  To add a bit of fun vintage flair, I decided to hand stitch little ties into each hexagon.  I love the home-y touch it adds!

Doesn’t this sweet quilt just make you smile?

The post Happy Go Lucky Juggle Quilt appeared first on Create Craft Love.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to the newest addition to Reed’s room – Dino Roars Fat Quarter Quilt!

When Sarah first approached me about doing a Quilt Along, I wasn’t sure I had the time to devote to making a quilt right now.  It’s been crazy getting ready to move across the state and start a new job.  Thankfully, she chose a simple pattern that was easy to complete and came together quickly.

For those of you who missed it, I chose the Dino Roars collections by Michael Miller.  Well, actually, Reed chose it.

I used the fat quarter pack for the large rectangle blocks in the middle.  Each block is separated by a red rectangle.  My sashing and border are the fabric shown in the lower right hand corner above.  And Reed chose the red Dinosaurs! fabric for the back.  He even chose the plaid for the binding!

I used a straight stitch quilting technique and went up and down the rectangle borders.  I completed it by circling the quilt three times to create a faux border.

I love the contrast of the plaid binding against the rest of the quilt.  Kinda gives it a madras look.

I love how simple it is!  Perfect for a little boy’s room!  I do not have any pictures of it on the bed because we haven’t bought Reed his big boy bed yet!  He is still in a toddler bed.  When we move, we will transition him.  I’ll take more pictures when we complete the room.

Now for our linky party!  Please add your finished quilts below so we can show off your awesomeness to the world!  If you haven’t finished yet, no worries.  We will keep the link party live for a year.  Just add them as you complete them!  We can’t wait to see your quilts!!

The post Dino Roars Fat Quarter Quilt appeared first on Create Craft Love.

We are going to begin by sewing your backing together.  You should have already cut the fabric for your backing in half.  Lay the two pieces face to face and sew the length the fabric on one side.  This is what it should look like once sewn together.

{Sorry for the poor lighting, it’s the only room in my house that can accommodate such a large piece of fabric!}

Flip the backing over so the “good” side of the fabric is face down.  Press the seam.  Once you are done pressing the seam, iron the entire backing.  You want to make sure you get it as smooth as a baby’s butt so your quilt does not have any wrinkles or bunching.

Tip:  I use an extension cord and just do this right on the floor.  So much easier than the hassle of the ironing board.  

Here is where your T pins and curved safety pins come into play!  Once you have your backing as smooth as you can get it, pin the four corners into the carpet.  It will help prevent shifting as we piece the layers together.  If you have a hard wood floor, you can just use tape.

Once your backing is secure, start building your quilt sandwich.  {Quilt sandwich is just the three layers of the quilt – the backing, the batting and the top.}  Roll out your batting.  Your backing will be bigger than the batting.  Smooth it out.  I just used my hands and Kyle’s.  He helps me with this part.  <—– good husband!

Next, add your quilt top.  {Again – seasoned quilters beware.  I think I’m about to do something that isn’t allowed.}  I iron my quilt top once it has been added to the top of the quilt sandwich.  GASP!  Won’t that melt the batting?  I have no idea.  I’ve done this for all three of the quilts I have made and haven’t lost one yet.

Now you are going to carefully T pin the corners of the quilt top to secure it before moving on to the pinning.  And because I don’t think that’s enough, I always pin all the way around the edge of the quilt top too.

If you noticed, you have gobs of extra fabric.  You can trim off the excess.  Be sure to leave about two inches to accommodate for any shifting that may take place as part of the quilting process.

Get those fingers ready!  It’s time to start pinning this bad boy together!  Using your curved safety pins, pin through all three layers of the quilt.  You will want to do this every couple of inches or so.  It is better to over pin than under pin.  You will be really mad at yourself if you do not pin enough and the quilt starts bunching!!  Trust me!  I start in the middle of the quilt and work my way to the edge – pinning and smoothing as I go.

Give your fingers a rest!  Good work!

Now you are ready to start quilting the quilt!

Preparation:  I start by winding about 4 extra bobbins.  It makes the process so much easier when you don’t have to completely un-thread your sewing machine in the middle of quilting.  {I didn’t learn that until this quilt.}  Make sure your magnet is handy to help with any spills, broken needles, missing pins, etc…

Grab something to drink and put in a good movie!  You are going to need it!

Let’s begin quilting!

According to quilting guidelines, you are supposed to start in the center of the quilt and work your way to the edge to prevent bunching and puckering.  For this quilt, I started on row 6 of my blocks and worked my way to one edge.  Then I repeated the process for the other half.

To deal with the bulk of the quilt, it is easiest if you roll the quilt to feed it through the neck of your sewing machine.

I am using a straight line quilting technique with my regular foot.  I have not progressed beyond this method.  If you are more experienced, feel free to quilt this as you see fit.  After all, it is an expression of your creativity!  But for the purposes of this tutorial, I will be posting about straight line quilting.

Using the left side of your foot as a guide, begin sewing down each long seam of the quilt top.  The left side of the foot will be running down the seam as pictured below.

You want to stop your thread as little as possible.  If you run out of thread or the thread breaks, just start back where you left off.  When moving between long seams, I stitched through the edge seam.  You will be making a looping pattern as you move across the quilt.

Start at #1.  Sew across the quilt to #2.  Sew through edge seam to get to #3.  Sew across the quilt to #4.  Sew through the edge seam down to #5.  And so on and so forth…

I know that sounds so confusing, but I promise once you get started, it will all make sense.

For the edge, I just sewed around about three times to give it a little definition.

Here’s what it looks like from the back.  Very simple!  But Reed LOVES it!  That’s what counts!

If you want to add more, be my guest!  After all, it is your quilt!  Personalize it as you see fit!  This is a super easy quilting pattern.  I was able to quilt this in one afternoon.

Feel free to leave a comment with any questions or hit up my email!  If you are part of the Facebook group, feel free to ask in there!

Have fun quilting and I will see you back next week for the final phase of the quilt – binding!

The post Quilt Along: Quilting the Quilt appeared first on Create Craft Love.

If you chose to work ahead, you can skip this first part.

For those of you who waited, you are going to need to do a little prep work prior piecing the quilt together.  Begin laying out your rows.  Start with the large rectangles.  Each row will contain 7 large rectangles separated by 6 small rectangles.  There will be 12 rows separated by a sash.  {You will only use 84 out of the 88 large rectangles.} It will look like this.

Lay out the entire quilt top.  Move pieces around until you like how it looks.  This took me about an hour because I’m picky.  Don’t worry that the laid out rectangle rows are longer than the sash rows.  Remember, once the rectangles are sewn together, they will be the same length as the sashes.  This just gives you a general idea of how it will look.

Once you have it laid out how you want it, begin picking up the pieces – keeping them in order!  I begin at the bottom right hand side {if you are looking at it} of the quilt.  Place the first large rectangle on the bottom and then keep moving to the left and stacking the rectangles in order {right to left}.  Next, fold the sash and lay it the opposite direction.

Keep moving up the quilt, collecting rectangles from each row {right to left} until all of the quilt is picked up.

I like to place that bundle in a gallon size freezer bag to keep it separated and in order.  Then I gathered the borders and small rectangles and placed in another bag.

Now let’s start piecing the quilt!

Grab that top row from your quilt pile.  Place the first piece on your working space.  Add your first small rectangle on the right hand side of the large rectangle.  Remember for each row you will have seven large rectangles separated by six smaller rectangles.

Now here’s where my disclaimer comes in.  Most of the experienced quilters may pass out when I divulge this next piece of information.  I do not pin it.  {I know! I know!}  Here’s why…it takes longer to pin it than to sew that 4 inch piece to the large rectangle.  So I’m sorry if this upsets you but I didn’t pin for this part.

Using your 1/4 inch seam allowance, stitch the length of the small rectangle.

Open up your piece that you just sewed.  You will place the next large rectangle FACE DOWN on top of that piece.  Line up the right hand edges and stitch again.

Continue this process until the entire row has been stitched together.  Be sure to keep the rows in order!!  I laid them face down across my dining room chair after I completed each row.

Once your twelve rows are sewn, press the seams open.  I use a cute little Petite Press that I got from Joann Fabric for $20 and it has saved my fingers!  When I was using the steam iron, I kept getting burned.  It’s a great investment if you are going to continue quilting after the Quilt Along!

Lay out your top row of rectangles.  Place the first sash, face down, on top of it – aligning with the bottom of the rectangle row.  Pin that edge.

Sew along the pinned edge.

{Because I am anal retentive, I press my seams after it has been sewn.  I want it to lay correctly.}

Now open up your sewn piece.  Place the next row of rectangles, face down and upside down, aligned with the bottom of the sash.  Line up your small rectangle seams.  Pin along that bottom edge.

Sew along this pinned edge.  Continue this process until all of the rows of rectangles and sashes are sewn together.  You will end up with 12 rows of rectangles separated by 11 rows of sashes.

Once this piece has been sewn together, square off your edges using your acrylic ruler and rotary cutter.

Now you are ready to add your borders.  Begin with the long border.  Place border piece face down on top of the quilt.  Make sure to line up your edges.

Pin the edges and sew.  Repeat process for the other long edge border piece.  Once sewn, press out the seams.

Place short border on top of the quilt, face down, lining up the edges.  Pin and sew.

Repeat for the other short piece.  Sew and press.

You have completed the quilt top!  Great job!  Next week, we will begin quilting the quilt!

The post Quilt Along: Piecing the Quilt appeared first on Create Craft Love.

First, you want to iron all of the pieces from your fat quarter pack.  {Trust me – this will make it way easier to cut properly.}

Once you have ironed all of your fabric, pull out your self healing cutting mat, acrylic ruler and rotary cutter.

Before we cut the “real” fabric, grab some scrap fabric from your fabric stash.  We are going to practice using the rotary cutter.  I am having you practice first so you don’t make the same mistake I did last year and have to purchase extra fabric.  Here’s what you need to remember when using the rotary cutter.

1. Place your scrap fabric on the cutting mat. You will be using the acrylic ruler as a guide.
2. Hold your rotary cutter at a 45 degree angle.  This is important.  Do NOT try to do this at a 90 degree angle.  You will lose control of the cutter and not cut a straight line.
3. I like to hold my cutter with my pointer finger on the curved, bumpy part for better control.
4. Don’t cut too fast, you will lose control.
5. Make sure to apply pressure to the acrylic ruler to hold the fabric in place as you cut.
6. Practice this over and over until you get the feel for it.  It will save you lots of heartache later.

OK – feeling good about the rotary cutter?  Let’s start cutting the fabric!  To create the blocks in the middle, you need to cut 88 pieces of fabric measuring 4.5 inches by 7.5 inches.  {You will be able to cut eight blocks out of each fat quarter.  My fat quarter pack came with 12 pieces of fabric – I only cut 11 of them.}

Take a fat quarter, lay it out horizontally and square it up with the edges/lines on your cutting mat.

Cut four 4.5 inch strips.

Once you have your four strips, lay them on top of each other and place horizontally on the cutting mat.  I cut and measure from left to right.  So I always lay my fabric out with the selvage to the right.  Does that make sense?  Selvage is the self finished edge of the fabric to keep it from fraying.  {See picture below.}

Line up the top edge of the stack with a line.  Measure out 7.5 inches and cut through the stack.  {Most rotary cutters will cut through 12 layers of fabric.}  You will get two 7.5 inch sections {through 4 layers of fabric = 8 blocks} out of this.  There will be about 6 inches extra.

Repeat this process for all 11 pieces fat quarters.  Once this step is completed, set the blocks aside.

Next, you will begin cutting the smaller rectangles.  For this you need 72 pieces measuring 1.5 inches by 4.5 inches.  To do this, I cut 8 strips measuring 4.5 inches in width.  Then I stacked all 8 pieces on top of each other and cut ten 1.5 inch sections.

Once you’ve finished the blocks, you will work on cutting your sashing, borders, binding and backing.  For this particular quilt you need…

Borders –  Cut (2) 6.25 inch by 87 inch pieces for the long edges.  Cut (2) 6.25 inch by 67 inch pieces for the short edges.  Set aside.

Sashes – Cut (11) 4 inch by 55.5 inch pieces.  Set aside.

Backing – Cut your fabric exactly in half. Set aside.

Binding – Cut (9) 2.5 inches by 42 inch strips.  Set aside.

And that’s it!  The fabric is all cut!  At this point you can stop or work ahead for next week.

For the overachievers:

If you choose to work ahead, you can prep for piecing the quilt together.  Begin laying out your rows.  Start with the large rectangles.  Each row will contain 7 large rectangles separated by 6 small rectangles.  There will be 12 rows separated by a sash.  {You will only use 84 out of the 88 large rectangles.} It will look like this.

Of course, that’s not the whole quilt.  I didn’t have enough room to take the picture.  LOL  But you get the general idea.  Lay out the entire quilt top.  Move pieces around until you like how it looks.  This took me about an hour because I’m picky.  Don’t worry that the laid out rectangle rows are longer than the sash rows.  Remember, once the rectangles are sewn together, they will be the same length as the sashes.  This just gives you a general idea of how it will look.

Once you have it laid out how you want it, begin picking up the pieces – keeping them in order!  I begin at the bottom right hand side {if you are looking at it} of the quilt.  Place the first large rectangle on the bottom and then keep moving to the left and stacking the rectangles in order {right to left}.  Next, fold the sash and lay it the opposite direction.

Keep moving up the quilt, collecting rectangles from each row {right to left} until all of the quilt is picked up.

I like to place that bundle in a gallon size freezer bag to keep it separated and in order.  Then I gathered the borders and small rectangles and placed in another bag.

Great job!  Now you are all set for next week when we will begin piecing the quilt!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at jillfritz126@gmail.com or ask in the Quilt Along Facebook group!

The post Quilt Along: Cutting the Fabric appeared first on Create Craft Love.

Here is the quilt and pattern we will be following for our quilt along – it’s a simpler pattern, quilted in rows.

Before I list your supplies, do you want to see the fun fabrics that Sarah and myself picked out?  After all, picking fabrics can be so much fun!

Here’s mine… Dino Roars by Michael Miller:

 

And Sarah’s is… Hello Sunshine by Lori Whitlock for Riley Blake:

Now you get to go pick out your own fabric – make sure to save a picture so you can upload it to the facebook group and show us your selections!

Here’s what you’ll need:

(Quantities and pattern from allpeoplequilt.com)

11 “fat quarters” (18×22″ pieces) for the patterned bricks

1/2 yard of solid color for the small rectangles between the bricks (shown in pink)

4.5 yards solid color for rows between patterned bricks (shown in yellow)

3/4 yards solid color for binding (shown in green)

5 7/8 yards solid color for backing

73×105″ batting

straight pins

curved safety pins

cutting mat

rotary cutter (or scissors, but rotary cutter is easier to work with – don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it)

acrylic ruler

The finished quilt is a twin size quilt and measures 67 x 98.5″, and the quantities are based on 44/45″ wide fabric.  The measurements also include 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Are you excited yet?  We are, and we can’t wait to see your fabric selection!

*If you didn’t get an invitation to the facebook group yet, click here and request to join!

PS – Check back this weekend for some great giveaways to get you started!!

The post Quilt Along: Gathering Supplies appeared first on Create Craft Love.

{And the chorus of followers says, “Hi Jill!”}

Ever since I finished my Verona Zig Zag quilt, I have been scouring the quilting magazines for a second project.  I was perusing Simple Quilts and came across this Island Beach Quilt kit from SassyPacks.  The colors and fabrics were outstanding and immediately caught my eye.  I fell in love with the strip block pattern and instinctively knew this was it!  Nothing says summer like this fun Island Beach Quilt!

Have you heard of SassyPacks?  They have some amazing projects and kits!

The quilting instructions were simple and easy to follow.  And they also included washing instructions for the finished product.

I used a diagonal seam to connect the extra strips of fabric which gave it this fun colorful border!

The backing is terry cloth so it’s super absorbent!

The post Island Beach Quilt appeared first on Create Craft Love.

Quilting is a labor of love, a test of patience, and an outlet for creativity.  Quilting is intimidating.

You begin with over 120 pieces of fabric and watch it come together into something more beautiful than you envisioned.

 When Ashley at Mommy by Day Crafter by Night announced that she was doing a Quilt Along with start to finish tutorial, I was intrigued.  {Big hugs and a huge thanks to Ashley for patiently answering all my questions!}  I had some reservations, mostly about my sewing machine and its capabilities.  But I knew I wanted to challenge myself. 

 Those of you who follow me on Facebook have seen this quilt come together over the past month.

It’s finally finished!!

I chose the Verona fabric collection by Riley Blake Designs.  Beautiful colors and patterns!  

{I didn’t know it was possible to fall in love with fabric but I did!}

Isn’t the fabric fabulous?  I mean, seriously.  It’s gorgeous!

The majority is machine quilted with a touch of hand stitching through the middle of the zig zags. 

Despite the fact that it is 8pm as I write this post and still 95 degrees outside, I am curled up on the couch under my new blankie.  =)

 Quilting is dangerous.

I sliced my finger open with my rotary cutter, burned my fingertips several times, and pricked my fingers more times than I can count. The hubs even suffered an injury when he stepped on a straight pin!  Oops…

But the end result was worth all the pain and time!

 On a final note,

Quilting is addicting.  

I can’t wait to start on my next one!

The post Verona Zig Zag Quilt appeared first on Create Craft Love.