Laundry Day

  I love this quilt, I call it Laundry Day because for one reason or another it reminds me of grandma and fresh laundry. There is nothing better then the fresh smell of clothes just in from the clothesline. Oh that fresh, crisp smell. It's snuggly and wonderful....
I gave the original quilt to my sister for her birthday a few years ago. It dawned on me I need to make another one for my trunk show. I also need one just for myself too! It's a quick and easy weekend quilt. It's a lovely lap quilt size. I featured 'dot' fabric while making this quilt. I have to admit, I'm a dot-o-phobic... sorta scared to buy dot fabric, use dot fabric.  I dug around in my fabric and found a fabulous collection of scraps that I actually bought on Etsy, there were some wonderful dot fabrics included.  I've been saving this fabric to make a quilt.... so I came up with this fun quilt square which is quick and easy to put together.  I hope that you enjoy my quilt.  The pattern for my quilt can be found on Etsy and Craftsy.... I have called it 'Laundry Day'.... the colors are fresh and bright, like clean laundry hanging on the clothes line.

Here is one of my blocks for my quilt.... it measures 12 1/2" (this includes seam allowance) I really like the green dot fabric.

Then there is this block with the blue dot fabric.... love this one too!

"What..... why can't I lay  down here?" A silly picture of Wilson
from years ago when I originally put this quilt together.

Here is a section of my "Laundry Day" quilt with my Dot blocks...

Here is 'Laundry Day' laided out on my kitchen table, all ready to be pinned for quilting....

Lime green with white dots...... I had so much fun free motion quilting!

A funky flower dot.....

More lime green....

A fun lime green and pink dot fabric!

Well, as a recovering Dot-a-phobic.... I quilted 'dots' too!  It was a lot of fun to do.

The finished quilt!
'Laundry Day'
44" x 56"

This is one of my favorite go to patterns because is whips together pretty quickly. It's scrap fabric friendly, plays well with jelly rolls and layer cakes. My quilts featured 'dot' fabrics, but this quilt is adorable in any fabric. Moda's Bonnie and Camille would be wonderful made up with this pattern too. This pattern could be easily adapted to make a bigger quilt by doubling the amount of fabric and make a quilt that would be 4 x 6 squares. You could even make a matching table runner for a dresser by just making 3 blocks in a row. Wouldn't that be cute for a guest bedroom.  'Laundry Day' can be found HERE and HERE    Happy quilting and perfect stitches to you! 

Cindy

"Tis the Season to Finish Our Quilts!

We all have our long holiday to do lists, putting this quilt together for the holidays would be worth every sewing-quilting moment you take to finish it. It will be an adorable quilt for you to put out for Christmas, also a great quilt to decorate your guest room with. Your holiday guests will love being welcomed with this cozy warm holiday quilt. I find quilting to be relaxing and enjoy doing my hand sewing in front of the TV watching movies. so when you get to the binding and embellishment stage of this quilt. Turn on the Hallmark station, (there's bound to be some traditional Hallmark Christmas shows on) sit in your favorite comfy chair and enjoy finishing your Christmas, Tis the Season quilt. Oh, and don't forget a plate of Christmas cookies and a cup of hot cocoa, (or a glass of wine). A couple of Hallmark movies and some hand stitching will surely help you relax and enjoy the holiday season.

I have all of my blocks and sashing laid out by my sewing machine.
I'm all ready to sew together my quilt top.

Here I am sewing a sashing and pinwheel strip following my quilt layout diagram.

I have my quilt top all sewn together except for the borders.

Here I am sewing on the borders, making sure to match up the seams

to set the snowmen as the corner blocks.

Here my darling nephew is posing with my quilt top.

I think he really likes it too!

You still have time to catch up if you are a block or two behind. This quilt will be so much fun to put out for the holidays. It would also make an awesome gift for someone special. The pattern for finishing the quilt up can be found for FREE this month in my Craftsy Shop and also on my website. Also, if you ever need to find past blocks or tutorials, I have a tab at the top of my blog labeled 2016 BOM that you can click on to get links to all past blog postings for this quilt. A complete listing of fabric supplies can be found on my website, Craftsy Shop and also under the 2016 BOM tab on my blog. Remember to post pictures of your progress on Instagram #quiltdoodledesignsBOM2016 (you can also tag me at Quilt Doodle Designs) There is also a flickr group you can join and post pictures. I love seeing pictures of what you guys are doing with the Tis the Season patterns. It is soooo much fun to see the quilt made in different fabrics! Love it!

Button packs are available in my Etsy Shop. I have packaged the button packs a couple of different ways. Either as one big pack with everything in it or individually for each design/row.



I hope that you have fun making this block this month. Email me if you are interested in joining in on a blog hop show and tell. Send me you email address, blog address, and name. I will put together and email you a day to present your finished quilt. If you don't have a blog and want to participate, let me know and I will post  your pictures for you.

Our blog hop will be January  19th - 22nd.

There will be all sorts of fun prizes for our blog participants and visitors!  Remember to post those calendars! I can't wait to see everyone's finish quilts!

 Happy Quilting!

Cindy

November's Block ~ A Kazillion Pinwheels!

Or many tiny blocks…
Please don’t hate me too much after you get done with this month’s section of the ‘Tis The Season’ BOM quilt.  You get to make what will feel like a ka-gillion pinwheels…. Tiny pinwheels… teeny... tiny pinwheels. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I drew up the pattern. In theory it was adorable. I was shooting for adorable… I did a lot of chain sewing to get these little pieces done and even contemplated drinking (not pop) by the time I got to the end, I was also ready for the pretty white jacket that ties in the back. So plan on taking breaks while working on these. Lots of breaks, watch a movie, grab a pop... (or a drink) Whatever helps you get these blocks done. Also your ¼” seam allowance is super important with this block, so make a ‘test’ block and adjust accordingly. You want these to be 2 ½” squares when you are done (this is including the seam allowance.) If after you do a few of these you are going insane and want to choke the designer. Feel free to substitute 2 ½” red blocks, or make a ‘four patch’ using red and white (or green) using 1 ½” squares. Your quilt will turn out just as cute. If you are having fun making these pinwheels, (And I have to admit, I did fall in love with my stack of double pinwheel blocks when I was done.)  make a bunch extra and set them aside for a special project that I will present this month to go with your ‘Tis The Season’ Quilt. You’re gonna love it!

Following the directions, cut your red square and then cut the square diagonally from corner to corner and then corner to corner again to form four triangle pieces. I like to chain sew, so I cut a ton of them... repeat with the white squares of the same size.

Following the pattern... I cut the squares and cut these in half diagonally corner to corner.

I find it easier to show how this block goes together by showing you the layout.

I chained sewed the small triangles together... It took some time... but it will certainly be worth it in the end. Make sure you stay consistent with how you sew the red and white triangles together. You want your pinwheels to all spin in the same direction.

Iron your triangle sections, to the dark side and trim the 'dog ears'.

Now it's time to sew your white triangles with the red and white triangles together.

I also chain sewed these.

To form the double pinwheel block you will sew these four blocks together.

Make sure your pinwheels are spinning all in the same direction!

An adorable tiny, double pinwheel block. Make sure to square them all up to measure 2 1/2".

I love my stacks of pinwheel blocks. They are so pretty!

You still have time to catch up if you are a block or two behind. This quilt will be so much fun to put out for the holidays. It would also make an awesome gift for someone special. The pattern for the pinwheels can be found for FREE this month in my Craftsy Shop and also on my website. Also, if you ever need to find past blocks or tutorials, I have a tab at the top of my blog labeled 2016 BOM that you can click on to get links to all past blog postings for this quilt. A complete listing of fabric supplies can be found on my website, Craftsy Shop and also under the 2016 BOM tab on my blog. Remember to post pictures of your progress on Instagram #quiltdoodledesignsBOM2016 (you can also tag me at Quilt Doodle Designs) There is also a flickr group you can join and post pictures. I love seeing pictures of what you guys are doing with the Tis the Season patterns. It is soooo much fun to see the quilt made in different fabrics! Love it!

Button packs are available in my Etsy Shop. I have packaged the button packs a couple of different ways. Either as one big pack with everything in it or individually for each design/row.



I hope that you have fun making this block this month. We are all done making blocks... next month we get to sew everything together with sashing and then put on our borders. I'm sorta amazed at how quickly this year went by and I can't believe we are almost at the end of our BOM. Remember to post those pictures! I can't wait to see everyone's finish quilts!

 Happy Quilting!

Cindy

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April Showers...and giveaway too!

Brings May flowers...... and Pinwheels! Usually in April I am back working a few evenings a week at the greenhouse... I look forward to seeing all my green thumb friends and all the beautiful colors the flowers bring! It's also time to think about what to plant in the garden and I look forward to my favorite thing of all.... strawberries! They usually start to peek out of the fall leaves around the end of April, by May they are blooming. Shortly after that I have fresh strawberries! But in order to have strawberries to pick, I learned from a good gardening friend how to protect my precious berries, pinwheels!  I usually run down to the dollar store, or Fleet Farm and pick up a dozen or so pinwheels and post them in my berry garden. It works like a charm! It keeps the birds from picking berries too!

So for my mug rug, I wanted to feature pinwheels!  Here's a quick tutorial on how to make three dimensional pinwheels... so much fun!

First I cut 4  3" squares from both my backing and pinwheel fabric.
Then layer background fabric and pinwheel fabric together right sides
Then fold the pinwheel fabric as shown above.

Then fold your pinwheel fabric again, and pin.....

Here are my four pinwheel block sections, ready to sew....

A three dimensional pinwheel block!
I made two pinwheel blocks for my mug rug and offset them
with some 2 1/2" fabric strips. 

Making mug rugs is so much fun, they are quick and easy and make a wonderful gift when paired up with a mug and some treats.  I want to thank Madame Samm and Erin for organizing such a fun hop! So much wonderful inspiration and talented quilters! For my giveaway I will put together a fabric kit to make a fun pinwheel mug rug of your own! (fabric, rick-rack and buttons) I will choose a winner at the end of the hop. Leave me a spring time comment for a chance to win. For a second chance, follow me too!  Want a third chance.... like the Quilt Doodle Facebook page. a Rafflecopter giveaway
Make sure to visit all of today's April Showers participants!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10th

Hayley @ Mrs. Pickles

Karen @ Sew Much 2 Luv

Mélanie @ Les passions de Cliodana

Cindy @ Quilt Doodle Doodles

Jamie @ Busy Bee Quilts

Judy @ That Other Blog

Regena @ The Distracted Domestic

Amy @ Domesticity and other Ponderous Things

Denise @ My Whittle Adventures

Heather @ a Reformed Heath'n

Marica @ ~Englating~

Happy quilting~