Sew Fresh Quilts

14 July 2017

Fox among the Birches {in grey}

Are there any of you who also have this problem???

I already made this quilt!!! But I just HAD TO make it again!

You can see the original Fox among the Birches quilt post here.

I never used to have this problem. You see, I don't have the talent of being able to look at a stack of fabric and envision how it will look once cut up and pieced into a quilt. To help me with that problem I purchased the Electric Quilt (EQ7) program back in November of 2013. Last year I wrote about how much I have been enjoying using the EQ7 program and listed some of the things I like about it here in this post.

My problem now is that whenever I use the EQ7 program to draw up a new pattern design, and fill it in with different fabrics and colours, I alway end up making more than one colourway that I wind up wanting to make! Another reason I wanted to remake this quilt is that I had come up with a new way to piece the legs for the walking fox and shared about that at the Let's Bee Social in this post.

So now today I am sharing the Fox among the Birches using Kona Steel for the background instead of the Kona Mushroom.

I used a dark grey thread on top and plain white Gutermann thread in the bobbin. And I love how well it has blended in with the background and yet remained rather subtle across the orange foxes.

The background is Kona Steel. The birch trees are made from Minimalista by AGF Studio and a dark and light black smokey looking fabrics. The foxes are Kona Kumquat and Papaya.

The backing is a new stash addition (my first one this year!) from Bobbie Lou's Fabric Factory and is called Out Foxed by Michael Miller Fabrics.

Normally, I first attach the binding to the back and press toward the front before topstitching to finish. But this time I sewed it onto the front and then pressed to the back. Then I stitched in the ditch along the edge of the binding, catching the folded edge on the back with the bobbin thread. It's a bit trickier. But I like the thinner binding edge to be at the front sometimes. And then you aren't cutting off the points of your piecing either.

The "Fox among the Birches" baby quilt finished at 38" x 45"

and was the 39th use of my 2nd edition of 100 labels

ordered from Ikaprint.

You can find the Fox among the Birches pdf pattern here in my shop.

Linking up to Finish it up Friday with

Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

Am I the only one?

Or do you ever have the compulsion to make more than one version of the same quilt?

Keep On Quilting On!

To follow Sew Fresh Quilts by email....

12 July 2017

Let's Bee Social # 185

Welcome to the Let's Bee Social!
So glad to have you join us for the Let's Bee Social weekly linky party!

This week I have been working on a few raccoon blocks made using solids. I do love using solids. And I like how the eyes are looking particularly sneaky on these little guys.

For this little quilt that finishes at 26" square, I used the Raccoon Block pattern, which you can find here. The blocks finish at 8" tall by 10" wide. Then I added the following background pieces:

2 (A) 2.5" x 10.5"
2 (B) 4.5" x 10.5"
3 (C) 2.5" x 22.5"
2 (D) 2.5" x 26.5"

Apparently, all this figuring made my quilt assistant very tired. Poor Fluffy!

Now... It's your turn for Show and Tell!!!

What have you been working on?

<div align="center">
<a href="https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com" title="Sew Fresh Quilts" target="_blank"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mqqPpWeFz7A/UtyR1HYzgmI/AAAAAAAADjA/MZ84gVa9KXk/s1600/LinkyBees.jpg" alt="Sew Fresh Quilts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Click on at least a few of the others who have linked up.
In your blog post, please include a link back to my blog.
Grab the "Let's Bee Social!" button from above and put it on your sidebar. This way others who visit your blog that week can join in the fun! Share the news of this new linky and Let's Bee Social!
Following Sew Fresh Quilts is not required. But it sure would BEE nice!

An InLinkz Link-up

Keep On Quilting On!

To follow Sew Fresh Quilts by email....

7 July 2017

Dog Gone Cute

This Dog Gone Cute quilt makes me so happy!

This quilt was made in preparation for my first trip to Houston Quilt Market this fall. I have made this quilt previously using a dark grey solid for the background, which you can read about here.

Making the Dog Gone Cute again, I wanted to have a lighter background, so I used Square Dance in grey from the Hopscotch collection by Jamie Fingal for RJR Fabrics. Then I chose blue, black, green and orange prints randomly from my stash for the faces on these dogs.

Of course the quilting is my signature organic wavy lines from edge to edge, done using my walking foot. A light grey thread was used both on top and in the bobbin to blend with the background and backing fabrics. I used to apologize for continuing to use the same old quilting method for every one of my quilts. But no more. I have had so many people ask me about this method and I love the quick, easy and completely stress free finish this method provides.

The backing is Widescreen Crosshatch in Grey by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman. I have had this wideback fabric sitting in my stash since November 2014 and it has been used on so many of my quilts since then. And I still have plenty left, but I was glad to be using some of it up and I like how it coordinates with the fabrics used in the front of the quilt, and even lightens it up a bit.

Binding is a solid black, which provides a strong frame and matches the dogs' noses and eyes.

The "Dog Gone Cute" quilt finished at 60" x 60"

and was the 38th use of my 2nd edition of 100 labels

ordered from Ikaprint.

Want to make your own Dog Gone Cute? Click here to go to my Pattern Shop.

Linking up to Finish it up Friday with

Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

Keep On {Dog Gone} Quilting On!

To follow Sew Fresh Quilts by email....

5 July 2017

Let's Bee Social #184

Welcome to the Let's Bee Social!
So glad to have you join us for the Let's Bee Social weekly linky party!

This week 8 more baby foxes were born! These little foxes were made using Kona Tangerine and Kumquat against a Steel grey background.

This is certainly not the first time I have made these little 8" fox blocks. But it is the first time I have been happy with how the legs on the standing fox were pieced. As you can see in the photo below, the legs used to be made out of two long strips that were then joined along the horizontal seam. When I was making the fox blocks for the first Fox among the Birches quilt, I was not happy with how difficult it is to line up those diagonal legs where they join along that horizontal seam. So I changed how they were pieced and now the leg portion does not have that horizontal seam. Much better!

Now... It's your turn for Show and Tell!!!

What have you been working on?

<div align="center">
<a href="https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com" title="Sew Fresh Quilts" target="_blank"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mqqPpWeFz7A/UtyR1HYzgmI/AAAAAAAADjA/MZ84gVa9KXk/s1600/LinkyBees.jpg" alt="Sew Fresh Quilts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Click on at least a few of the others who have linked up.
In your blog post, please include a link back to my blog.
Grab the "Let's Bee Social!" button from above and put it on your sidebar. This way others who visit your blog that week can join in the fun! Share the news of this new linky and Let's Bee Social!
Following Sew Fresh Quilts is not required. But it sure would BEE nice!

An InLinkz Link-up

Keep On Quilting On!

To follow Sew Fresh Quilts by email....

1 July 2017

Quilt Market in Houston Fall 2017

First of all....

I want to wish everyone a very happy and monumental Canada Day!

This year we celebrate Canada's 150th birthday!

I've been working on a new litter of puppies this week.

This is in preparation for my upcoming trip to Houston, Texas.

That's right! I'm heading to Quilt Market this fall!

The Dog Gone Cute pattern is one of my favourites and a best seller.

So I wanted to make up a fresh, new quilt to display in my booth.

This is all very exciting and a little bit scary all at the same time.

Although I have been touring all over Ontario for the past two years providing trunk shows and workshops for lots and lots of quilt guilds, this will be my first major event. And I don't really know how it's going to go.

I do have to give credit to one person in particular. And that is Elaine of Crazy Quilter on a Bike. She encouraged me to get out there. And although I did not feel that I was ready for this kind of "next step" I figured... When are you really ready?

I also must give credit to two others - Lisa of Soft Impressions and Marlene of Pastime Pieces. I met these ladies while giving a workshop and trunk show for the Chatham-Kent Quilers' Guild this spring. These two each had a vendor table set up at the guild meeting and were both very encouraging. They also provided me with all kinds of helpful information.

Now it's not that I don't already have enough quilts that I could easily cover the walls in my booth about ten times over. But quilting is a wonderful stress reliever.

And so here comes another Dog Gone Cute!

That's right! I'm heading to Quilt Market this fall!

The Canada 150 quilt was designed last year in preparation for this milestone birthday in 2017. It comes with a lap size and a baby size.

And the following photos were sent to me by email from fellow Canadian, Claire:

"The smaller one is for my yet to be born grandson, Jacob (any day now)! and the larger one is for his big brother James who is almost 6 and is anxiously awaiting his bear quilt. Happy. This was so much fun, I am now going to make one my for my 4 year old granddaughter, Grace who lives overseas and gets inundated with all things Canadian (because I am so proud to be one)! I need to change up the colours in the white bears, the writing is difficult to see in the pictures. Enjoy!"