alittlesweetness

a Little Red giveaway + quilt tutorial (giveaway is now closed)

I know this is so long overdue, but I've had a few requests for this recently, so I figured it would be useful for perhaps a couple more of you out there.  

 

This is a quilt I made for Spring Market 2013 for my Little Red Riding Hood line and it's so simple and fun!  The finished quilt is approx. 46.5" x 52.5".  Perfect baby or toddler size.  

  Here's a tutorial for anyone who might be interested:

Needed Materials:

(64) 5" charm squares - (a Little Red charm pack has 24 pieces)  I cut my squares from yardage.  If you like any fussy cut squares, you'll need to get a fat quarter (or 2 or 3 if you want different colors) 

1 yard Little Red Riding Hood border print - I used the red

1/2 yard pink scallops for inner border

1/2 yard white floral for binding

2 3/4 yards backing of your choice

52" x 60" cotton batting 

 

Cutting Instructions: (read all instructions first)

*Take Little Red Border print and cut the LR image portion of the fabric away from the polka dot portion of the fabric on the line that seperates the two areas.  You'll have a polka dot piece and a LR border piece.

  

*Using a ruler, measure 7" down from the top of the image border strip and trim away the bottom exess fabric.  Your border strip should measure 7" wide.  Take notice that there is equal white space above the row of flowers on the top and below the text on the bottom so that it's evenly spaced/centered on the quilt. 

 

The below photos shows a measurement of 7" wide.  

*Take the polka dot piece, (not re-pictured, sorry!) cut (6) 4.5" strips.  You should cut horizontally with the longer side of the fabric.  After removing the border portion of the fabric, one side will be 36" and the other side will be about 33".  Cut so that your strips are 36".  You will have extra polka dot fabric.  You can use this to make more 5" squares.  This is how I got my polka dot squares since I didn't use a charm pack.

*Take inner border fabric (pink scallops) and cut (4) 2.5" WOF (width of fabric) strips

 *Take binding fabric (white floral) and cut (6) 2.5 WOF strips (not pictured either!)

Quilt Assembly:

*Always use a 1/4" seam allowance

*With 5" squares, and RTS, sew together a row of 8.  Make 8 rows. 

*Sew together 6 rows.  Sew together 2 rows.  Keep them seperate so that you have 2 patchwork pieces.

*Now join the sections as shown below:

3 pieces layed out:

3 pieces sewn together:

*Add inner border by adding side borders first, then top and bottom:

Inner borders added:

* Sew together the 6 polka dot border strips to make 4 outer border strips:

 Add top and bottom borders first, then side borders:

 

Your top is now complete!  Make a quilt sandwich with batting and backing.  Quilt as desired. 

*Make a binding by sewing end to end the 6 binding strips so that you have one long continuous strip.  Iron in half lengthwise.  Use your favorite binding method to complete your quilt.  I have a simple tutorial in my sidebar for making a patchwork quilt that will also show the binding.   I also follow Red Pepper Quilts binding tutorial for joining the ends together and it helped me alot!

Here's the finished quilt!

 

*Edit*  THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! Thank you!!

Now, here's the fun part....I'm giving away a kit to make this sweet little quilt!  The only thing you'll need to get is the batting!  

Just leave me a comment telling me who you would make this quilt for!  If you'd like 2 entries, just leave me another sweet comment!  ;)  (2 entries per person please)

*Giveaway will be open for a few days, (about Mar. 27th/28th) then I'll post a winner by Friday, Mar 28th.

Thanks for playing along!

Tasha

Country Girls ~ the fabric

I've waited a long time to show you this line!  Country Girls missed going to market by a hair, but it's perfect now and I'm happy it's here!  Well, almost.  It's available in January 2014!  Not sure if that's the beginning, middle or end at this point, but nevertheless....very soon!  Yay! 

This line is really fun because it mixes the red and aqua with the navy, pink and green.  You can get lots of different combinations!

 

This line was inspired my love of all things country.  To be more specific....Little House on the Prairie, Gingham Girls paper dolls and Holly Hobbie.  All of which were childhood favorites of mine.  Ok, and adulthood favorites too.  I still watch Little House.  In one episode, Nellie calls Laura and Mary "Country Girls" in her Nellie way.  Love those Country Girls.  ;)

I hope you love my version of Country Girls!!!  I sure do.  ;)

Tasha

Little Red show and tell

During the summer I had a sweet shop owner in Australia email me some pictures a customer had sent to her, showing what she had made with the Little Red Riding Hood fabrics she purchased from her shop.  The shop owner passed them along to me as well as the link to the blog of the lady that made these adorable outfits.  It truly brightened my day and I'm in love with these cute photographs!  I hope you love them too!

All photographs are from The Toffee Tree blog! 

In LOVE with these gray pants! 

Now how adorable are those?!  I can't stand it.  Love, Love, LOVE!

Thank you so much Clare from Fabric2Go! for letting me know about this!  And Michelle from The Toffee Tree for posting about these adorable little girls wearing these adorable little outfits!  Loved it all!!

Remember my SHOP SALE is still going thru Friday, Dec. 6th.  Just enter coupon code: CYBER20 for 20% off your entire order!  Thank you for all the orders so far!! 

See you soon!

Tasha

spring quilt market 2013 ~ portland

I think I've demonstrated very well after the last 2 markets that I need at least 2 weeks before I'm even partially ready to do anything that doesn't absolutley HAVE to be done.  (sorry blog!)  After I'm done vegging out for a minimum of 3 days, my focus turns so much to the ongoings of family life and then bit by bit, the necessesities of running a business sneak back in.  I absolutley love what I do, I feel so blessed, so lucky, so honored to be a part of this fabulous and fun industry.  I love it all, it's just that I love my family more.  And often they are on the back burner, so I take all the little chances I can get to put them first again.  It's a bit of a juggling act that I'm not always the best at keeping even all the time.  That said....both fulfill me in different ways and I'm so thankful!!

Me and my kids on Mother's Day 2013...

Here's the same bunch at Christmas that I didn't really get a chance to share...

Now here's what they put up with from me. :) 

I sure loved my little booth this time.  Just the right size, just the right amout of stuff....just right!

I had wonderful helpers this time as well, who all did an amazing job on their projects.  I'm so thankful for their contributions! Thank you Thank you!

These darling dresses are by my sweet friends at Marie~ Madeline Studio.  They are a mom and daughters business and I was able to meet 3 of the 4 sisters last market.  They are the cutest, nicest girls!

My friend Chelsea from Pink Fig Designs, who is incredibly talented and sweet!... made this super cute dress below.  This is a new pattern called Bali Hai.  And can you believe she had that little aqua manequinn too!!?  Perfect.

My sweet friend Heather was kind enough to make this very cute dresden pillow for my booth.  The best thing about it is that she has an instant download pattern for sale in her Etsy shop, Heather Hales Designs.  Love it!!

The adorable and talented Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches made the most lovely little sewing kits/booklets!  The embroidery is perfection and they were just darling.  Also the sweetest little mini quilt that hung above the two pillows on the other wall was made by Natalie.  (See photos above)  I'm so excited she is a Riley Blake designer now... She's just the nicest!  :)

The adorable star quilt was designed and made by Jina Barney from Riley Blake.  This pattern is a free project download on the Riley Blake website under the tab 'sew together and notions', then go to free quilting projects.  You can also find the chevron quilt pattern in the same section.  

Another fun project is the cute tote bags that Riley Blake has put together in kits and available on their website as well. 

I went to market with my 2 lovely sister-in-laws, Kerri and Ninzel.  They were the perfect company and we had a great time.  :)

We all love antiquing so we spent quite a while here one day!  Thanks Jodi, for telling us about it!  We each found something with a handle...funny huh.  We were happy shoppers!

Of course I visited Target while I was there and had to stand in the circle like a 4 year old. 

It was fun.  :)

And of course I met a bunch of awesome people there.  (Not at target, at quilt market!)  Some I took pictures of and some I was in la-la land and didn't take pictures of.  I loved everyone I met and chatted with though....sincerely, I did!  Riley Blake had a lovely dinner one night, which is so nice to get a chance to talk and get to know everyone.  Truly the nicest group of people!!  I'm pretty new to all this market socializing so I hope I wasn't too awkward or lame-o, but it's a high possibility that I was.  (like for real.) 

Here's a few people I hadn't met IRL...each of them was a delight to meet!! 

Pam Kitty....

Camille Roskelley...

Shari Butler...

Carina Gardner in the middle of us there....

Again, I loved meeting everyone, but I just wasn't real good with the camera.  I was kind of taking it easy this time and just let myself relax and enjoy.

It was super fun though and I can't wait till next time!!

If you are ineterested in seeing all the wonderful booths from Riley Blake Designs, please visit their blog.  There are a couple market posts so be sure to go through both to see everything!!

 

Tasha

winner!

Hello my sweet friends!!  Thank you so much for your comments...  You have again made me blush and feel so loved!  It gives me great enthusiasm going into market and I appreciate it so much.  I really wish I could send fabric to each of you!!  THANK YOU!!

And now....

My winner is KATHLEEN O'GRADY!  Who said...

Your fabric is sooo cute! I would love to make some little girl dresses and a quilt, a pillow would be adorable and a tote with some sweet embroidery. Oh, I could go on and on. Thanks for the chance to win! 

Kathleen, Please contact me here on my blog and let me know how to contact you!

In other news....

I've been getting some hexies all ready for market because I get to teach a little mini class at the Riley Blake booth on Friday at 3:00!  It's just 45 min. so please stop by to join me if you happen to be hanging around.  :)  I'm really excited even though this will be my first time ever teaching a sewing related class!  I'd love to see you there! 

I probably won't get a chance to be back here next week since I leave Wednesday for market and won't be back until Sunday night.  I can't wait to have more to share with you after that!

Thanks again for all of the sweet comments and your constant support.  :)

*Remember I'm on instagram as tashanoel1 where you can see more of what I'm up to than what I get a chance to post here on the blog. 

Tasha

countdown...+ a giveaway (giveaway closed)

I've just completed a couple of quilts for market, which is coming up sooner than I can say 'Little Red Riding Hood'.  It's in just 11 days and I leave in an even shorter 9!  eeek and yay!!  I'm very excited and at the same time wondering/hoping if I'll be ready.  Crossing my fingers over here. 

I've made a simple patchwork incorporating my border print, which I'll have a tutorial for on my blog shortly after market.  

I used Little Scallops in aqua for the backing...

And Little Floral in white for the binding....it's so cute!

The chevron quilt is a free project download from the Riley Blake website and I super love this one!

It's the first time I've made something with so many half square triangles and I really enjoyed the process actually!  Simple and fun.   

For my backing I used Little Floral in Gray and for my binding I used Little Scallops in Aqua...

I have to credit a couple talented gals for my nearly perfect borders and bindings.  Taking Camille's fabulous Craftsy Class has helped me get my borders from being wavy.  Time well spent doing it her way....no more wavy's for me!  And Rita, from Red Pepper Quilts has a wonderful binding tutorial that shows how to join the ends/tails with a bias cut.  (If you look closely you can see the bias seam in the photo below.)  My bindings are waaay super better and I love it!!  I LOOOOVE that my borders and bindings are so much prettier thanks to Camille and Rita.  Don't you just love learning new things?!?!  I do.  :)

And on that note, I think I recall saying something in my last post about a little giveaway!  Yep, I just checked and I did. ;)  And it's a good thing, because it's just what I'll need to keep a smile on my face this week. 

So I have a lovely fat quarter bundle I would love to send off to someone!  Just leave me a comment and tell me what you want to make this summer.  I'm already thinking about it and have a couple must's on my mind already!!  Feel free to leave up to 3 comments if you've ever purchased from me and/or left me comments before.  :)

I'll see you back here on Friday morning (May 10th) to announce the winner and I'll send it off before I leave for market.

Meanwhile, this is where I'll be hanging out....and trust me, it doesn't look so pretty right now.

Thank you ALL for everything!  All the support, friendship and encouragement means a lot.

Hugs...

Tasha

simple twin bunting blankets

A few months ago we had the cutest little baby twins join our extended family!  Even better, it's a boy and a girl and they are simply adorable and sweet. 

These fabrics are from my line The Simple Life, with a few others from my stash mixed in. 

Girl bunting baby blanket....

I decided on a simple design, but with just the right amount of extra cuteness added with the patchwork strips between the sections of bunting fabric. 

My extra fabrics included some Pam Kitty Love, Doohikey Designs, Annies Farmstand and Lecien.  ( I think I'm right on those...) ;)

Inside these soft little blankets, I added a piece of white flannel for a bit of added weight and to help stabilize the minky backing.  I love adding binding to blankets and I wanted to quilt it, I just didn't want the stiffness of batting.  Especially with these being small blankets, I wanted them to be cuddly and wrappable.  I did a very large stipple on these as well.  Which was also very quick...each blanket only took about 15 minutes to quilt.   

My daughter really loves helping in any way she can when I sew.  Taking the pins out after I quilted was the perfect little job for her.  She's 4 now and we've talked alot about how to handle the pins. 

If you look closely, she was sorting them into color groups as she went.  Her own idea!  :)

She also likes to be up close and personal.....oh, and silly too. 

She was very excited to get these blankets done with me before the twins got too big!

Me and baby girl...(these were a couple months ago)

Me and baby boy...

They are growing so fast, but they are still tiny since they were preemies.  Doing great though!

Here are some cute pictures Kerri took when they were newborns....

How cute are they?!?!

Cuter than my blankets for sure!!

;)

Thanks for stopping by my loyal readers and friends! Even when I disappear, you seem to re-appear and  I appreciate it very much.  ;)

I feel a giveaway coming on soon....

Tasha

granny

This granny quilt was always intended to be my daughters 'baby quilt'.  I just happened to have started it when she was about 2 and I've finally finished it just after she has turned 4.  At least she has it to keep for forever now.  :)

On purpose I used lots of floral fabrics, little animals and little girls.  :) 

When Ava was a baby, her nursery was red, pink and aqua, so I kept with that same color palette, but adding gray. 

I used Annie's Farm Stand pink circle buds for backing and Lecien basics for the binding. 

I'll give you a hint what else I've almost finished too.....

I can't wait to show you more of that one too!  :)

For now though, I'm going to stay in these pj's and snuggle my daughter up in her new quilt.  We need it.

Happy Monday!

:)

Little Red is here!

Not only is Little Red Riding Hood here, so am I!  As much as I love the many aspects of blogging, I really needed to give myself permission to take it off my list for a while.  Once I did that for myself, it was nice to focus on my family and a few other important matters.  One of which was completing my 3rd fabric line for Riley Blake....but it's not quite time for sharing that, but soon.  :) 

Meanwhile, I've been anticipating the arrival of my Little Red Riding Hood line and she's finally here! 

I couldn't be happier with how it all came together!  It's very sweet and cheery, just the way I like it.  :)

I hope you like pictures of fabric because I have a few....

and a few more...

and because I sincerely love these little mushrooms....

here's another.  :)

So, there you have it and it's in shops now!

A lot of you may know that my Little Red Riding Hood fabric was originally created a few years back when I sold it in my Etsy shop using Spoonflower.  Which, btw, I'm so thankful to have been able to use their services to be able to start experimenting with fabric design and SO appreciative of so many customers who purchased these fabrics from me.  Totally cool and fun for me!  So, I did some revision of that design for this new line, but essentially it's the same.  I also was selling my Mushrooms in my Etsy shop at that time too, so it's really amazing to me to see them both on bolts now! 

Yesterday I was featured on the Fat Quarter Shop's blog, The Jolly Jabber where I talk about the history of this design a little more, as well as some other fun questions they asked me.  I'd love it if you took a quick peek!  :)

And one more....

Thanks so much for stopping by even though I've been missing for a bit!  I'll be back soon. 

I promise!

Tasha

life happens....

It's funny how sometimes life is super busy, but at the same time you don't feel like you are getting anything done.  Does that happen to you?  Me too.  I can't really even focus on one particular thing to share with you because so many differerent little things have been taking my time.  Some things are great, some things are just things, some things are hard.  The past week, one of my sons has been struggling with a medical concern, so that sure takes time and attention.  And I'm up to my ears in some pretty tight work deadlines that may or may not pan out in my favor.  As in, I don't know if I'll get it done in time....We'll see. 

Meanwhile...

This is what has happened to my scrappy trip along blocks....

Although I did order some lovely new fabrics for whenever I can get back to those.  Thanks Sew Deerly Loved, Fabric Bee and The Stock Room....all on Etsy.  Yum! 

Before too much craziness broke out, I managed to finish up a patchwork pillow I had started ages ago and literally only had to sew on the backing and binding.  I love how it turned out!  Super simple, super cute.  My kind of project.  ;)

I used mainly Vintage Modern fabrics, but squeezed in some Flea Market Fancy and a few basics of mine from The Simple Life....plus a couple others from my stash.  Easy peasy.

At nights, I've been inching away at a few hexagons here and there...

But really that's about it as far as the cute sewing projects are concerned.  The rest is fabric creating secrets and a busy, full life that is happening at a rapid speed around me and there just isn't always time for everything.  And some things just come first.  

One last thing now..... 

I wanted to say thank you so much for the wonderful orders I had during my sale!  I appreciated it so much!  I have the nicest customers ever.  :)

Have a wonderful week!