Freshly Picked Mini Quilt

Greetings friends! It is new project tutorial day - time to share my August project created for Therm O Web with you! I always enjoy putting on my Fabric Education Designer hat and creating new projects/tutorials to share with you on the Therm O Web Blog. Each month, I share a new project and you give you my tips and tricks for using their extensive catalog of products. For the month of August, the blog is focused on projects for back-to-school, animals, self care and travel. I created a brand new project that was posted yesterday - it is a complete project tutorial for my "Freshly Picked Mini Quilt" featuring HeatnBond. My comprehensive tutorial contains a detailed supply list and step-by-step directions with color photos and a pattern with applique templates (and you can find a short tutorial video on my YouTube channel and Instagram page). This is a versatile, beginner friendly, appliqué project. I hope you will stop by the Therm O Web Blog and check this fun design...

This is an afternoon project that can definitely be a scrap buster! You can use your favorite fabrics to create your own mini quilt. If you are new to appliqué, this project is a great place to start - these simple appliqué shapes are great practice for a beginner. Plan out the blocks or make them super scrappy! I used a Stitch by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Designs Joly Bar for the quilt top...and a coordinating fat quarter from my stash for the back (also from Riley Blake Designs)....and of course, the hand-dyed rick rack is from Lady Dot Creates!

Therm O Web recently released a new product, a Tear-Away Stabilizer Value Pack. While you may immediately think of this as a machine embroidery product, I will let you in on a little secret…this is my favorite product for getting the very best machine appliqué results! I use a sheet under each of my appliqué blocks when doing my machine stitches and these stabilizer sheets keep my blocks and stitches nice and flat, with no puckering. After my appliqué pieces are all stitched in place, I simply tear away the stabilizer and sew the block(s) into my quilt. These magical tear-away stabilizer sheets come in two sizes (8”x 8” or 10” x 12”), making them convenient and versatile. I thought this mini quilt would be a perfect project to show off this new product and my technique...plus it is perfect for a back-to-school teacher gift or seasonal décor.

For this post, I used Tear Away Stabilizer 8 inch x 8 inch Sheets, Fusible Fleece, Medium Weight Interfacing, a HeatnBond Lite EZ-Print Iron-On Adhesive Sheet, and HeatnBond Fabric Fuse PeelnStick Fabric Adhesive Tape...plus, I give you some pro-tips in my post. Visit the tutorial post for a complete and detailed supply list.

To find the mini quilt stand and my favorite small, sharp scissors used in my post (along with other supplies/tools listed), visit my Freshly Picked Mini Quilt Supply List on Amazon (full disclosure: as an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases - I only share products I actually use - and I truly appreciate you shopping from my links, thank you!).

If you have questions on any of the Therm O Web or HeatnBond/SpraynBond products or would like to see a specific type of product in one of my projects, drop me a comment or email.

You will have to visit the ThermOWeb blog for my complete tutorial and pattern, but I am posting a few photos here...

Here is a direct link to the project tutorial:

https://blog.thermoweb.com/freshly-picked-mini-quilt-featuring-heatnbond

I hope this project gets you excited to create something special and unique...

I am creating monthly projects for the Therm O Web Blog and I will be sure to post here when I have a new tutorial available. My next project will be available on September 23th...and it is going t be a GREAT one - a collaboration with Benzie Design!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today - I always enjoy sharing with you. Have a great week and make time to work on something creative...

Inspiration Along the Journey

Greetings friends - happy weekend! I am back from my quick trip up to northern Illinois to visit my momma and second dad...and I thought I would quickly drop in to share some photos of my journey. It was a good trip, minus the standard (extensive) train delays. They live in a lovely lakeside home with incredible wildlife, birds and gardens. We spent most of our time at the house, working/playing outside...but we did make a trip up to Wisconsin to a favorite apple orchard (Ten Eyck Orchard). We also took the pontoon boat out for a trip all around the lake....and I did a little painting at my mom's artist easel. It was a good, quiet, artistic week...and here are a plethora of photos I took...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit - I hope you feel happy and inspired! I will be back on September 20th with my latest project tutorial for Therm O Web (you can see it on the Therm O Web Blog on Tuesday, September 19th)...it is an autumn/Halloween project with a bit of magic. I hope you stop back soon...

Blooms, Bees, and a Barn

As an artist, I am obsessed with nature...the colors, textures, shapes, shadows, values, and lines. Just being outside sparks my creativity to no end and provides me with inspiration for all of my original designs. Earlier this month, my husband and I took a road trip to Illinois to visit my mommy and her husband Dan - they live on a gorgeous lakefront property that my mother has lovingly nurtured and gardened. Her green thumb is evident throughout every nook and cranny of their yard. She's planted vegetables, trees, shrubs, berry patches, flower gardens, even a quaint woodland garden...and she has things blooming year-round. The manicured grounds truly look straight out of a gardening book...and it really makes me wish I had more time/space/money for landscaping. Every time I visit, I take hundreds of photos that get my creative juices flowing. Here is just a sampling of the photos I snapped during our stay - some of which, I have already printed and tacked on my "art in progress" board...I hope one or more of these images will inspire you (click on any image to enlarge)...

If those photos aren't enough, on the same trip, we visited a fabulous apple orchard in Wisconsin  - the Ten Eyck Orchard in Brodhead, WI (side note: they have a wonderful Facebook page, with all sorts of inspiring images). We enjoyed a journey through the corn maze - Travis and I actually made it all the way through and came out the exit without a map (not too bad for our first time in a corn maze). We sampled a few fresh apples...and I flipped over a really cool bee skep and the incredible round barn. It was a delightful morning and I would definitely recommend this orchard to anyone in the area...

I hope you enjoyed your visit today! I'll be back again soon with more sewing projects and needlework finishing, plus a little announcement on a new addition to our family...stay tuned...