New Patterns!

Popping in to announce that I'm working on a series of seasonal quilted pillow patterns! Spring and Summer are already available on Etsy or Craftsy. My Etsy shop is 30% off through the 14th with code SUMMERFUN. I'm so excited about the different designs of these two sets and can't wait to finish up the fall and winter versions. The fall one is going to use some lovely woven plaids.

Why pillows? I love a big ol' snuggly quilt, of course, but I am busy and want (need!) the satisfaction of finishing something. I know I'm not the only super busy quilter out there! Pillows are a great way to make a manageable quilt project. They come together quickly, don't require a ton of fabric, don't need to be sent out to be quilted, and still add a big punch to living spaces. I feel like we actually use our quilted pillows more than our throws anyway.

It's fun to make little changes with the seasons, without giving everything a full bore holiday look. Pillows are perfect to change out with a removable cover that makes them store flatly and not take up too much space.

Slopeside change up from my mom

My mom was one of my pattern testers for Slopeside. I had asked her just to work through a few blocks but she loved it (of course--she's my mom!) and wanted to make a whole quilt. It is great to have a supportive mom even though I'm an adult.

Look how great it looks! She's a fairly new quilter but she pieced it perfectly. She used a print layer cake called Tranquility by Sandy Gervais. The quilt will be cute to have out during the fall especially.

My mom's version of Slopeside!

Notice that she also paired up her colors instead of using a contrasting mix like I did. I love seeing what she did with the pattern!

Don't forget you can still get the pattern on sale! Get 20% off your purchase of the Slopeside pattern from now through July 12, 2014 with this coupon code: SLOPESIDE20.

Slopeside + Layer Cake winner!

Random number chose #8, my friend Megan! Megan, the pattern pdf and a layer cake are headed your way! Thank you to everyone who commented and your supportive words!

The discount is still available to everyone else for the pattern. Get 20% off your purchase of the Slopeside pattern from now through July 12, 2014 with this coupon code: SLOPESIDE20.

Slopeside giveaway and discount!

I'm so excited to announce the launch of my pattern company, Quilts for the Making, and my very first pattern, Slopeside! I hope you will love making your own version!

What I love about Slopeside

I love how bold and colorful it is and it isn't too hard to make. It uses a unique but easy construction technique that I walk you through with LOTS of diagrams. You can use either yardage or layer cake squares for the colored triangles. I love to have variety in the colors so a layer cake is a great way to get that, especially for the throw size.

I've included size options for throw, twin and queen. It will look gorgeous on a bed! I always appreciate having size options instead of having to calculate how many blocks and how much fabric I need to alter the size of a pattern.

This pattern has been thoroughly tested, too, so you can be sure that it is clearly written and accurate.

To celebrate the launch of Quilts for the Making and the Slopeside pattern, I'll be giving away a copy of the pattern and a Kona Summer 13 Ten-Square layer cake to a lucky blog commenter (US only for the layer cake). Leave me a comment to enter and I'll draw a name on July 1. 

Please make sure you are not a no-reply blogger or if you are, leave your email in the comments. If I can't reach you, I'll have to draw another name.

Everyone wins!

Get 20% off your purchase of the Slopeside pattern from now through July 12, 2014 with this coupon code: SLOPESIDE20. 

Other Slopeside news!

P.S. In case anyone is interested in making your own version of the Slopeside quilt, check back because I will be releasing this as my first ever pattern. Feel free to email me or comment if you want to be notified when it is ready. It is being pattern tested right now because I want to make sure I get it right. It won't be long before it is available!

I just didn't want to post that up on the Festival post so that it would just seem like some big advertisement. :-)

Quilter's Cheat Sheet Freebie

Like all quilters, I always find myself calculating some of the same measurements over and over, which is hardest while actually at a quilt shop. I finally created a little cheat sheet for myself. I'll be giving them to my quilt guild tomorrow. I wanted to share it with you too!

• There are yardage calculations for straight grain, double fold binding (which is how I do binding 95% of the time) for a few different binding widths. It even says how many strips you need to cut.
• There is a quilt size and backing chart which shows the minimum sizes and backing yardage needed. 
• It's got a yards to inches conversion because no matter how many times I think about those numbers, I always seem to draw a blank when I get to a cut counter.
• Finally, on the back, there are some calculation guides for creating squares, half square triangle blocks and quarter square triangle blocks.
• All of that, and it folds up to the size of a business card.

I hope you find this useful! Click on the image below to get the pdf, open that file and print (no scaling), cut out on the black lines, then fold long sides together and then fold short sides together, and voila—you've got yourself a handy, dandy little cheat sheet wherever you go.

PS: I hope to show you more about that Quilts for the Making logo soon!