Bunny and Berry Cuteness!

Bunny  and Berry Cuteness!

I had such fun  ( more than " a barrel full of bunnies!" ) making a spring pillow.... using a paper pieced pattern design by Janeen at Quilt Art Designs, and a background fabric by Moda's Bonnie and Camille fabrics!

Pattern:    Rabbit  by Janeen  from Quilt Art Designs "Paper Piecing 1/4 " " digital magazine, issue 9  April-June 2016  {available Here }.  This issue 9 features lots of adorable pets!!!  

Block size:  14 " x 14 "  finished

Fabric:  -   background for pillow front-  Hello Darling  by Bonnie and Camille for  Moda Fabrics   
             bunny - various taupes and creams from my stash
             back-   red and white picnic gingham from my stash

Zipper and 14" pillow form

I looked up some cute little pet bunnies online, to give me some inspiration on what fabrics to use for making my own little bunny.

I love the taupe and white bunnies.... and before I knew it,  my own little paper pieced rabbit, shown below,  in the center, was sewn up!

My little pet rabbit.... her name is Strawberry!  

Strawberry,  the sweet little pet  rabbit pillow

I love, love, love using the  Bonnie and Camille "Hello Darling " strawberry fabric as my  background fabric for the pattern!!!  I smile whenever I see it !

And when I found the red gingham fabric in my stash, I knew that would make the perfect backing for the pillow !  And I couldn't resist making a  covered zipper with some of the strawberry fabric scraps!!

Strawberry loves posing for photo shoots!  ( Don't tell her about Instagram!)

The eyes on Janeen's patterns are so life-like, aren't they?  

Want to see other cute little pets??   Be sure to look at the rest of the   pet patterns that Janeen has designed in this issue 9 ,  of "Paper Piecing 1/4 "  "  digital magazine !  A pillow or a mini wallhanging would make a beautiful Mother's Day  or birthday gift!  

available here

***And don't forget to visit these quilters in the Crafted Applique Blog Hop:

The Crafted Applique' Blog Hop Schedule for the month of May:

Sunday, May 1 - Introduce the Hop and post the schedule onBuzzinBumble
Monday, May 2 - Valerie Smith - Pumpkin Patch Quilter
Tuesday, May 3 - Dana Gaffney - Stormy Days
Wednesday, May 4 - Lorna McMahon - Sew Fresh Quilts 
Thursday, May 5 - Mary S. - Needled Mom
Friday, May 6 - Heidi Kuntz - Red Letter Quilts
Saturday, May 7 - Alycia Carmin - Alycia Quilts
Sunday, May 8 - Amy DeCesare - Amy Made That
Monday, May 9 - Sherri McConnell - A Quilting Life
Tuesday, May 10 - Lara Buccella - Sew Mama Sew 
Wednesday, May 11 - Christina Cameli - A Few Scraps
Thursday, May 12 - Melissa Corry -  Happy Quilting
Friday, May 13 - Sarah Craig - Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Saturday, May 14 - Soma Acharya - Whims and Fancies 
Sunday, May 15 - Val Reynolds -  Val's Quilting Studio
Monday, May 16 - Angela Pingel - Cut to Pieces
Tuesday, May 17 - Sandra Walker - Musings of a Menopausal Melon
Wednesday, May 18 - Cheryl Brickey - Meadow Mist Designs
Thursday, May 19 - Judy Murphy - Quilt Paradigm
Friday, May 20 - Yvonne Fuchs - Quilting Jetgirl
Saturday, May 21 - Cindy Pieters - Stitchin' at Home
Sunday, May 22 - Susie Zlogar - Susie's Sunroom
Monday, May 23 - Connie Kresin-Campbell - Freemotion by the River
Tuesday, May 24 - Ruth Bourke - Charly & Ben's Crafty Corner
Wednesday, May 25 - Kaja Zieslar - Sew Slowly
Thursday, May 26 - Ann Brooks - Fret Not Yourself
Friday, May 27 - Cynthia Brunz - Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Tuesday, May 31 - Jenn Trott-Zisserson - Quarter Inch From the Edge
Wednesday, June 1 - Paulette Horn - The Way I Sew It
Thursday, June 2 - Sandra Jansen - Studio Sew of Course
Friday, June 3 - Christine Sherman - Triangles and Squares
Saturday, June 4 - Darlene Simmons - Quilt Shop Gal
Sunday, June 5 - Announce BuzzinBumble Giveaway Winners - Lara Buccella

Nibble ! Nibble!

I'm off to my sewing room!

Linking up at:    Let's Bee Social @  Sew Fresh Quilts      and 
                         Sew Cute Tuesday @  Blossom Heart Quilts

A Clambake Quilt

The Clambake Quilt

Ding! Ding!  Ding!
I found a winner -a fun and easy way to make the popular clamshell quilt!

The Clambake quilt pattern  

                                                           
The design is by  Camille Roskelley  , " Thimble Blossoms".   ( available here), and also  at the Fat Quarter Shop ( here ).

Camille's pattern had me hooked  when I saw it was Layer Cake friendly, and no curves!
She featured this pattern with the new Bonnie & Camille fabric " Vintage Picnic", but I have  stashed  curated a  huge  nice selection of their "Hello Darling" fabric, and thought the Clambake quilt would work well with that gorgeous fabric . 

Hello Darling ( B & C by Moda)  has  the ultra-cute strawberry fabrics in five colorways!

Five colors of Strawberries!!

My March OMG was to make the flimsy top 

In early March, I wrote in  my blog {here}, stating my  OMG,  One Monthly Goal for March, but I realized that I forgot to link up the blog post at Red Letter Quilts!  O.M.G. !!

I still won.... I did accomplish my goal!

Lay out of the basic bricks

I had sixteen different fabrics to lay out.  I wanted LOTS of strawberries in my quilt!

Now I was joining the rows together

And before I knew it, I had the flimsy top of the quilt all sewn together!

They look like clam shells now!!

It was time to decide how to make the quilt backing.  Do I use up my precious stash of leftover Hello Darling fabrics,  or do I make something else  for the back of the quilt?  

Fortunately,  I had started  viewing the Craftsy Class by Camille, " Pre-Cut Piecing Made Simple, " where she teaches us how to make her Swoon block.  I officially  *heart* everything that Camille makes now !    I have seen the Swoon quilts out there, and always wanted to make one.  Now was my chance to try a Swoon block out!

 I chose the green strawberry fabric , and the red floral fabric for some pop and jolts of color.  This is a 24 inch finished block.
WOW!   SWOON! SWOON!  

This is my first Swoon Block!  

I noticed that  somebody else began to swoon, too......

Whiskers , on her first swoon block!

Well, there was no turning back at this point... I had room on the quilt to make a total of four Swoon Blocks.

I used strawberry fabrics for each center fabric

And , I needed a label.  I just love these strawberry star points!

I only had room for the inner star of the Swoon Block.... so I made up a scrappy star!

And here is my finished Clambake Quilt!
 

Quilt Stats:

Patterns:    Clambake  and Swoon Block    by Camille Roskelley of  "thimble blossoms"                                                                                                          (here)
Size:  70 inches across x 76 inches high

Fabrics:   Hello Darling   by Bonnie and Camille for Moda    I used 16 fabrics of the line
              White on white tonal fabric from my stash

Batting:  Warm and Natural  100% cotton

Thread:  Aurifil  50 wt.  color #2024  my favorite for piecing

Quilting:  I made fine,  Serpentine  "S" lines , on the diagonal, approx 5 inches apart 

I used my walking foot to quilt the curvy  diagonal lines ,  from edge to edge, using Aurifil 50 wt thread. I set my Viking Topaz on the largest S shape stitch, and  followed the edges of the clam shells to make the diagonals.  

Things I like about these two  patterns:

• The size of the "rectangle" for  each clam shell is 7.5 " across x 4.5 " high.  This allows the design of each fabric to really shine through!
• It was fast and fun to piece the clamshells
• There is a mini Clambake pattern available, too!
• Camille's directions are excellent 
• The Swoon blocks are addictive!!

                                                                              

See all of the strawberry fabrics!

The quilting - Fine lines of the wavy s line on the diagonal

I love the back as much as the front !

I like the way the FINE lines of quilting create  diamonds , as seen on the back of the quilt. 

April- FINE challenge

                                                                   

  I am linking my Clambake Quilt up to the Le Challenge blog, for the April "Fine" challenge.   

"Fine" Quilting lines

And, since I am allergic to seafood,  this is is close as I am going to get to a "fine dining" ,with clams ,meal!!  Hop on over here to see the other entries.

I am enjoying my quilt , laying over top of the railing, in the back of my kitchen.

Whiskers likes to lay on the fourth step, while we eat dinner and clean up.  She likes "hiding" behind the quilt.  I think it must be warmer there with the quilt.  Plus, she may be or may not be a little bit spoiled!

I'm off to my sewing room!

Linking up at:   Can I Get a Whoop Whoop   @  Confessions of a Fabric Addict    and
                       Fabric Frenzy Friday  @  Fort Worth Fabrics     and
                        Let's Bee Social  @  Sew Fresh Quilts   and
                       Le Challenge - Fine @  Le Challenge
      

March Goal Making

One Monthly Goal for March

March Link for our Goals

                   I have a fun project to start, for my One Monthly Goal in March.
             
My Goal ~     sew the fimsy top of the Clambake Quilt  by  Camille Roskelley   of Thimble Blossoms

"Hello there!" Hello Darling fabrics!!   By  Moda 's Bonnie and Camille        

I fell in love with this Hello Darling fabric... by Bonnie and Camille.  These  strawberries hooked  me at my first look!


***********************************************************************

I've been busy making some  small  and scrappy projects, too.

Here's my  little  Pixie Basket...
                            a  fun, free tutorial by Heidy Staples at Fabric Mutt:

The Pixie Basket      design by Fabric Mutt        

I have been hoarding away a stack of 5 inch charm squares forever.   I got them when I participated in a fun texty fabric Charm exchange.  Everyone sent in a different fabric for swapping , to get a wonderful selection of texty 5 inch squares!

The other side of my Pixie Basket

A basket full of smiles!

And then I ran across this cute pattern for a Scrappy Pincushion: 
                                         Free Tutorial  HERE   
            It is from the  book Retro Mama Scrap Happy Sewing by Kim Kruzich-

You make a little dresden plate for the top and bottom.....

A scrappy pincushion   ..... made with more of my  Millhouse Inn scraps and some linen

I had fun making the pleats  in the linen gusset.

Here's a photo of the pair of my  scrappy Millhouse Inn fabric pincushions:

My little Deluxe Pincushion  (by Heidi Staples) (here)  and
the Scrappy Pincushion (by Kim Kruzich)

I just love making pincushions, don't you?  Do you have a favorite new pattern to share with me?

I'm off to my sewing room!

                                Linking up at:       OMG  @  Red Letter Quilts   and
                            Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!  @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict   and
                         Let's Bee Social  @ Sew Fresh Quilts     and
                           Fabric Frenzy Friday @   Fort Worth Fabric Studio