Fletching- A free Pattern

Posted in Finished Quilts by StaceyinStitches

It’s been a busy time here at Stacey in Stitches, so I thought I would post another free pattern for everyone! Say hello to Fletching!

Fletching is another quilt pattern from the book that never was. It was one of the first designs for the book, and my goal with it was to create a large, useable quilt that sews up quickly. I think I succeeded in Fletching. The best part is that it has an improv with intent element to the construction, so no two quilts will look the same. The pattern uses large scale simple paper piecing, so it’s perfect for anyone wanting to get their feet wet. I mocked it up in a few different colorways, and they all look spectacular, so you know whatever fabric you choose is going to look great. I used a selection of my favorite warm, rich prints and batiks from my stash to make the fletchings. Joan Nicholson of Maple Leaf Quilters did a bang up job on the quilting. I asked for simple and modern, and the straight lines in a rainbow variegated thread are perfect for this quilt.

The Fletching quilt went on a long flight recently to it’s new home with J, a childhood friend of mine in the UK. He went on a long vacation that ended up as a staycation, and finally has a proper flat in a charming little town full of old churches, hills, and bunny rabbits. He was my brothers best friend growing up, and we have known each other since I was 7 and he was 5 ( I think, it’s been a LONG time) when they moved onto our street. I have a lot of happy fond memories growing up in that neighborhood.

When J posted a picture of his room on Facebook, touting the fact that he finally had a real bed and pillows again, I realized he needed a quilt. Badly. White pillowcases and a sheet, it was screaming for some color!

Every so often, a quilt tells me where it wants to live, and in this case Fletching practically jumped out of my trunk and into a mailbox. I knew it would be the perfect quilt for J. The rich, vibrant colors and multidirectional arrows of the quilt seemed to speak to his life, in which he is a performance artist and now a traveller. His life has gone a direction he maybe didn’t plan on, but he is making the most of it. So I went out on the first actually sunny day in what seemed like forever and captured a few pictures (with the help of my little buddy) and promptly sent it away.

The quilt has been received and it goes great with his flat. I am so happy that Fletching has a forever home with J, where it will be used and appreciated as a quilt should!

You can find the free pattern in my Craftsy shop by CLICKING HERE.

Happy Stitching!

16Mar2016

Celebrate Old Glory

Posted in Finished Quilts, Tutorials and Patterns by StaceyinStitches

Well hello everyone! I am so pleased to finally be able to share this pattern with you. You may remember back in 2014 I had my very first Craftsy kit. It was quite popular and I got plenty of emails asking when just the pattern would be available. Enough time has finally gone by (plus some bonus time because, you know life happens) and I have FINALLY formatted Celebrate Old Glory as a Stacey Day Quilts pattern! Yay!

Celebrate Old Glory!

This quilts started out as a QDAD design, done on Memorial Day 2014. The inspiration photo was, you guessed it, an iconic antique American Flag. I created the block using my Electric Quilt 7 program, and I love the result. It really has a fun, celebratory movement to it. I love bringing a QDAD to reality!

As with any pattern, don’t feel limited to the suggested colors. I know this would be stunning with some flashy rainbow stars, or having the spin in a single hue ombre.

You can purchase your very own copy of Celebrate Old Glory by clicking here. Please tag me on Instagram @staceyinstitches or with the hashtag #OldGloryQuilt so I can see your own take on Celebrate Old Glory. Or email me a picture!

Thank you!

I also want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your readership and support! Without my fellow quilters, I wouldn’t have anyone to share my work with. And really, that’s what it’s all about, being able to share my love of quilting with other like-minded individuals. So, THANK YOU!

Happy Stitching!

11Feb2016

Dryad Blog Hop-* Winner Drawn!

Posted in Finished Quilts, Tutorials and Patterns by StaceyinStitches

Welcome to my stop on the Dryad Blog Hop!

I am so excited to share a tutorial with you all for my newest quilt using Shannon’s line, Dryad! I met Shannon at Quilt Market last October, and I fell in love with Dryad. The colors are bold and vibrant and earthy, and some of the prints have some subtle metallic details. Shannon is also super awesome and so easy to chat with! When she asked me if I wanted to make a project with Dryad for her blog hop, of course I said yes! Fabri-Quilt sent me a Snack Pack, which contains 42-2 1/2″ wide strips of fabric. It also has a handy swatch chart on the back so you can preview the fabrics and know how many of each print are included in the pack.

I have four favorite prints (because I couldn’t pick just one). First is the main print in the cool greens, which contains bits and pieces of each prints in that colorway. The print is reminiscent of Shannon’s Scrappy Bits Applique style, which I think works really really well with the collection. It adds a lot of visual interest and pops of color to the pieces.

Next is the bright orange print I nicknamed branchlers, because they look like branches and antlers. The orange in person is the PERFECT hue of orange. Orange can be a hard color to pull off, and Shannon nailed it. NAILED IT. Also, kiddo loves it too!

The next is the text print. The text is a Robert Frost poem “Into My Own” written in Shannon’s own handwriting. At first glance the fabric looks black, but it’s really a rich deep indigo blue that sets off perfectly with the other fabrics in the line and would compliment a lot of what’s already in my stash.

Next is the leaf print with metallic accents. I couldn’t pick between the gold and green at first, but the gold won out. It makes good almost neutral compliment to all of the other fabrics and I can see myself using it in other projects as well.

Now, I am always trying to stretch my creativity when it comes to precut fabrics. I wanted to make something simple, but that so did not happen. I had a brainstorm and ran with it, and the result is a full tutorial that uses almost all of the fabrics included in the Snack Pack. The quilt can be made by either a very patient, confident beginner, or an intermediate/advanced quilter. There are two options and you can just continue with whichever option you choose, it’s very streamlined! I added a metallic ivory print from my stash, and a blue binding fabric that looked like water ripples.

Greeting from ~Enchanted Forest~

I really wanted to have the idea of leaves, and at first I was just going to cut out leaf shapes from my strip sets. Then I started thinking more about the name, Dryad, and how they are mythical creatures that you would probably find in an enchanted forest full of sunlight and unicorns. I thought to myself “If I were in an enchanted forest, I would expect it to sparkle and shine” and the idea of the 3D curved diamonds came to life. The curve of the diamonds create the leafy shape I wanted, but with an added level of sparkle. They are the magic in the forest, the sunshine through the trees, and a perfect skill builder!

I just love how Enchanted Forest turned out, and once I got going I finished in a single day. The top anyways. For quilting, I chose to double up a polycotton blend that was much too thin on its own, and then quilted it in simple straight lines that paralleled the direction of the strips. The result is a lofty warm toddler size quilt. Kiddo simple ADORES the color orange and has already confiscated this quilt. Wish me luck getting this one back to show off at Guild!

Now, before the tutorial begins, here is all the information you need to follow along with the rest of the hop and enter to win some great prizes!

For a chance to win a bundle of Dryad, sign up to follow Fabri-Quilt’s blog, Inspired by Fabric. Then leave a comment here letting me know that you are signed up! The giveaway is open until Feb 15th at 10pm Pacific Time! Winners will be randomly chosen after the blog hop ends. You can enter to win from each blog too! Isn’t that awesome! Make sure to go check them out, there are a ton of great tutorials and projects to be had. Also, Angela Walters is offering 10% off of Dryad fabrics from her shop, Quilting is My Therapy, during the hop using the promo code DRYAD. Fabri-Quilt just launched an Instagram account, so be sure to share your own Dryad posts with them! C&T is giving one lucky hopper a copy of Shannon’s book, Scrappy Bits Appliqué, and Aurifil will also be promoting Shannon’s coordinating thread line. So much great stuff happening!

And the winner is Comment #65!

chanzy01 who said”This has got to be my favorite stop on the hop so far. I’ve saved, bookmarked and pinned it so there is no chance I can loose it. I already follow Fabric Quilt and their Inspired By Fabric Blog.” Thank you chanzy01, and enjoy your fabric

Schedule

2/2 Shannon Brinkley @ Bottle Tree

2/3 Inspired by Fabric

2/4 Angela Walters @ Quilting Is My Therapy

2/5 Aurifil

2/8 Casey York @ Studiolo

2/9 C&T Publishing

2/10 Rebecca Bryan @ Bryan House Quilts

2/11 Stacey Day @ Stacey in Stitches

2/12 Kristi Schroeder @ Initial K Studio

Enchanted Forest Quilt: A Tutorial in Two Skill Levels

Finished size: 48″x 64″

Finished Block: 8″x 8″

Materials

1 Dryad Snack Pack (42- 2 1/2″ strips)

1 1/2 yards metallic low volume ivory [3/4 yard for beginner]

1/2 yard blue for binding

3 1/4 yards backing

56″x 72″ piece of batting

Cutting

From the metallic ivory cut:

(18) 8 1/2″ squares [12 only for beginner]

(10) 4 1/2″x 8 1/2″ rectangles for advanced only

(4) 4 1/2″squares for advanced only

From the blue cut:

(6) 2 1/4″x WOF strips

Block Instructions- Both Skill Levels

Note: To see a photo or illustration larger or in more detail, click on the image and it will open that image full screen.

1. Remove and discard (2) strips from the Dryad Snack pack. Take the remaining (40) strips and randomly sew them together into pairs. Press the seams to one side, and then sew the pairs together to make (10) strip sets 8 1/2″ wide. Press in the same direction.

2. Cut the strip sets into (48) 8 1/2″ squares. You will be able to get (5) squares from a strip set.

3. Lay out the 8 1/2″ pieced squares into sets of (4), rotating the squares as shown so that the strips travel in two different directions. These pieced squares will be sewn together to make a large block with the 3-D shape in the center.

4. Take an 8 1/2″ ivory square and fold it in half wrong sides together (WST). Pin it to the right side of the first pieced square as shown, so that the raw edges match in the corner of the pieces square, and the fold is to the inside of the block. Place the second pieces square right sides together (RST) on top. Sew the pieces together down the side with the fold. Do not press yet.

5. Fold the block out of the way along the seam, so that the folded ivory piece is free. Pin and sew the other side of the folded ivory piece to a second set of pieced squares, in the same manner as before, making sure that the pieced squares are oriented as shown. Do not press yet.

6. Open the block and lay it flat, to check that the strips of the pieced squares are oriented correctly.

7. Place the two pairs of blocks right sides together, matching the side of the seam allowance with the folded ivory piece together. Finger press the seam allowances in opposite directions so that the seam nests together carefully. Make sure that the fold of the ivory piece is not caught up in the square. CLICK HERE for a handy video tutorial for this step! When you open the block it will look like this:

8. From the wrong side, gently open the seam allowance of the first two seams at the center of the block, so that the seams all spin in the same direction. Press the block flat.

9. Repeat steps 4- 8 with the remaining 8 1/2″ pieced squares, to make (12) diamond blocks total. Trim and square the blocks to 16 1/2″.

10. Take one of the 16 1/2″ diamond blocks and place it right side up on your ironing board. Gently fold one the side of the diamond in towards the center, until the side form a concave curve, usually about 1/4″-3/8″ fold will achieve this. Press the side to set the curve. Repeat for the remaining sides and the remaining diamond blocks.

11. Using a matching thread for each block, topstitch right next to the fold as shown, on the inside of the diamond, backstitching at the start and stop of the seam. Trim the threads or pull them to the back of the block to hide them.

Assembling the Quilt Top -Beginner Quilt

This section is for the beginner quilt. After completing Beginner step 10, scroll down to “Finishing the Quilt”. Skip this section if you wish to complete the Advanced quilt.

10. Sew the finished blocks together into (4) rows with (3) blocks in each row, matching the seam allowances. Press the even rows left and the odd rows right.

11. Sew the rows together, matching the seam allowances. Press the entire quilt top. The finished top will look like this:

Assembling the Quilt Top – Advanced Quilt

Alrighty folks, this is where the steps get a bit strange, but stay with me! You can already make the 3D Diamonds, so adding them into the rows just takes a little patience and longer seams. The corner curves are super easy, and the 3D geese are simple as well. Also, lots of pictures!

10. Take one of the 4 1/2″ ivory squares and fold it in WST. Pin it to the right side in the corner of a diamond block and then baste in in place. Turn the fold back like you did for the diamonds, and topstitch in place. Repeat for the remaining 4 1/2″ ivory squares and three more diamond blocks. This makes (4) corner blocks.

11. Take one of the 4 1/2″x 8 1/2″ ivory rectangles and fold it in half lengthwise WST. Pin it as shown on the right side of a corner block. Take an 8 1/2″ ivory square and fold it WST. Pin it in place as shown in the opposite corner of the same corner block.

12. Place a regular diamond block RST on top of the corner block and sew them together down the side with the folded rectangles. Press the seam allowance right and open the blocks flat.

13. Place a folded ivory rectangle and square on the regular diamond block the same as you did for the corner block, and pin them in place. Place a corner block RST on top, so that the curved square of the corner block is aligned as shown. Sew down the side. Open and press the seam allowance to the right. This is the top row.

14. Take (2) regular diamond blocks and pin a folded ivory rectangles in the top corner of each as shown. These will be the side blocks of the next row.

So far so good! This is where we will construct the 3D blocks that are between the rows. The technique is exactly the same as creating the regular diamond blocks, there is just some prep that needs to be done for each before sewing to set up the next set of 3D pieces in the rows below. The pieces tend to get a bit bulky as each diamond block is added and the rows are constructed, so take your time and use pins.

15. Take the left side block and place a folded ivory square in the bottom corner as shown. Using a pin or a removable marking pen, mark the opposite corner with the X. This is the corner that will be lined up with the other side of the first folded ivory square in the first row.

16. Take the first row and fold it back along the first seam allowance, like you did when constructing the diamond blocks. This will free up the folded ivory square and make it easier to sew the second set of blocks to it.

17. Match the raw edges of the left side block with the raw edges of the first folded ivory square in the first row. Pin, and then place a regular diamond block, now referred to as the center block, on the other side of the folded ivory square, RST with the side block. Sew down the side with the folded ivory square, as you did when constructing the diamond blocks. Open and press the seam allowance to the right.

18. Take the right side block and and place a folded ivory square in the bottom corner as shown. Using a pin or a removable marking pen, mark the opposite corner with the X. This is the corner that will be lined up with the other side of the second folded ivory square in the first row.

19. Match the raw edges of the right side block with the raw edges of the second folded ivory square in the first row. Pin, and then line up the center block on top of the other side of the folded ivory square, RST with the side block. Sew down the side with the folded ivory square. Open and press the seam allowance to the right.

Open the piece, and it will look something like this:

20. Place the two rows right sides together and pin at the seam allowances, adjusting and pinning the ivory pieces the same as when you made the diamond blocks. Sew the two rows together, open, and press towards the second row. It should look like this when you are finished:

21. Prep a second set of side blocks. Sew the blocks of the third row EXACTLY the same as you did for the second row.

23. Take the last two corner blocks and pin the final folded ivory rectangles to them as shown.

24. Using the prepped corner blocks and the remaining diamond block, sew the last row the same as the second and third rows. Press the top well, then baste the open raw edges down to the edges of the quilt top. Fold and press all of the newly formed 3D diamond and geese shapes. Topstitch them down the exact same way you did with the original diamond blocks.

Did you make it through? Then give yourselves a pat on the pack and a chocolate bar, you earned it! It’s smooth sailing from this point!

Finishing the Quilt- Both Skill Levels

Give your quilt top a final press. Piece together the backing so that it measures about 56″x 72″ (you can make it smaller, but since I work on a longarm I like to have the extra wiggle room just in case) and then layer and baste the top, batting and backing. Quilt as desired! I used parallel straight lines and left the centers black, but there is a ton of potential for custom quilting in the strips and in the 3D shapes as well. Piece together the binding strips using a diagonal seam, and then attach the binding to the quilt. Sew on a label, take lots of pretty pictures, and enjoy!

Phew! We made it through! I hope you enjoyed my stop on the hop, and if you have any questions when making your own Enchanted Forest quilt, email me or pop a question in the comments and I will help out as best I can.

When you’re done, tag me on Instagram @staceyinstitches or email me a picture of the finished quilt, I love to see what you make!

Until next time,

Happy Stitching!

6Feb2016

Will You Be You?

Posted in Finished Quilts by StaceyinStitches

I am so excited about this quilt! This is a QDAD to reality quilt from the summer. I love it for a number of reasons.

I made it at my Grandma’s house, so it will always bring back good memories of sewing with her
STARS! WOO!
I was able to use batiks in a modern way, and I LOVE batiks!
It is just so colorful and fun, that it can be enjoyed even without the social commentary
It’s been published in Modern Quilts Unlimited, along with a pattern from my good friend Amy Garro of 13 Spools, who just happens to be that issues covergirl

Will You Be You

What’s that? Social Commentary you say? What could that possibly be?

Well, in QDAD we often have themed design weeks. Kim Andersson of I Adore Pattern was in charge for this theme: Song Lyrics! It was a ton of fun, and an interesting challenge. on May 27th, Kim posted this beauty of a lyric and palette:

We have all heard the song, and know it’s about a breakup. But when you take just those first five lines of the song out of context, it dramatically changes. If you had never heard the song before, you might think this was a song about being discovered, but at the same time having everything about you changed to fit the ideal of someone else without much control. Which really struck me. How often to people change themselves, or have themselves changed, in order to fit in? To make others happy? To become something or someone else entirely in order to please someone else? And when you change everything about yourself, what do you lose in the process? How much of the real you is left?

The design started off a whole conversation that was a lot of fun, and people had such a positive response to it that I decided to submit it to MQU. Happily they accepted it, and I changed a couple of colors to work with what I had in my stash (that light lavender is gorgeous but so hard to find in a batik). The color change did lighten the mood of the quilt, but the message remained the same.

The original QDAD design

Recolored

It was a lot of fun, and a challenge to put together in a cohesive manner. Eventually I realized that one star at a time was the way to go, and used a combination of quarter and half square triangles to keep things interesting (also less seams). I quilted it using a pantograph, mostly because of time constraints, but there is a TON of potential there for custom quilting. I think some radiating straight lines from the yellow star out to the far borders would be an appropriate subcontext to the quilt. In yellow thread, it would read as the superstar overshadowing the original pieces. Also, it would look really really pretty!

I have been trying to use colored or contrasting threads for my quilting lately. I get to hang out with some awesome quilters and longarmers, and one thing that has stayed with me since my last conversation with Miriam, who owns Whispering Pines and is an incredible longarm quilter, is that it’s hard to go wrong with a bold thread choice. Yes, it’s a risk, but it tends to pay off. For example, I have a black and white quilt that I quilted with navy (almost purple, but it was more plum than violet and wasn’t quite as effective)

I hope you all pick up the Winter 2016 issue of Modern Quilts Unlimited. The issue has a great assortments of quilts and projects, and most of them are pretty spectacular (especially mine and Amy’s, wink wink!)

If you do make your own version, I would love to see it! I love to see what people make from my patterns! Tag me on instagram @staceyinstitches or email me a picture so I can ooh and aah over it and post it here!

Also, a huge special thank you to my neighbor Debbie and my friend Anne! Today was the first sunny afternoon in ages, so I had to try and take pictures like NOW. My little H (who isn’t so little anymore) tried his best to hold up the quilt but it was just a little too long and heavy for him, but Deb pulled up just in time and totally volunteered a hand to hold. Then Anne took my twilight photos and made them colorful again! Thanks both of you! ❤

Stay tuned for my stop on the Dryad Blog Hop next week, and, as always,

Happy Stitching!

3Feb2016

Updates and Freebies!

Posted in Tutorials and Patterns by StaceyinStitches

I FINALLY got around to updating and organizing the growing library of free patterns here at Stacey in Stitches. Under the Free Patterns link in the menu bar, you will now find drop down menus for each individual fabric company I have written patterns for. There have been a number added in the last week, so go check them out! The links are all either above or below the quilt image, and are highlighted in a nice peachy orange color. Each link takes you directly to the download page on the company website. Clicking directly on the Free Patterns tab will take you to the Stacey Day Quilts section, where all of my individual free patterns can be found.

Here is a quick preview of what has been added this week!

: Fan Quilt

: Easy Market Tote

: Rainbow Bouquet Quilt

: Flutterby Quilt

: Sparkle Quilt

: Baubles Quilt

Happy Stitching!

30Jan2016

New Craftsy Kit!

Posted in Finished Quilts, Tutorials and Patterns by StaceyinStitches

Yahoo! Finally another finish I can share!

This particular quilt I designed back in June and made in August, using Tula Pink’s True Colors and Birds and Bees remix. FreeSpirit Fabrics launched a limited series of reprints in a new collection called the Timeless Collection. Select prints from select designers were included, and they asked me to come up with some designs. Spectrum Stars was by far my favorite, and I am so glad they chose it!

Introducing the Spectrum Stars Quilt!

Spectrum Stars Quilt Kit- Photo courtesy of Craftsy

Spectrum Stars is bright and cheerful, full of rainbow goodness. It makes me happy just to look at it! The background is my new favorite ‘not-white’ solid, FreeSpirit Designer Solid in Mist. It’s a warm ultralight ivory-grey blend, it works so well with so many different things, I use it all the time in my designs. I just love how all the colors play so well together between the different collections. Tula Pink certainly did a spectacular job with her True Colors! It plays well on its own, with her latest releases like Eden, or her vintage collections as you can see here.

The quilt is a large crib size, finishing at 48″x60″, and the kit gives you all the fabric you need to complete the quilt.

Photo courtesy of Craftsy

The pattern calls for paper piecing, the templates will fit on regular printer paper. If you want to make a bigger quilt, enlarging the paper foundations 150% will give you a double size (72″x 90″), and 200% will give you a large queen (96″x 120″) Of course, you will have to increase the amount of fabric you need, but you can find the True Colors and Birds and Bees reprint fabric on Craftsy, online, or at your local quilt shop. Craftsy also carries the FreeFall 108″ wide backing, which is what I used for the backing. I love Free Fall, its a lovely sateen weave with some good weight and a sleek soft feel. I never have tension issues when I use it to back my quilts.

Photo courtesy of Craftsy

I picked a stylized flames motif for the quilting, it added depth and texture without overwhelming the quilt. I used my favorite Glide off white thread, it has such a pretty shine when you get it under bright lights, but doesn’t overpower the fabric.

Spectrum Stars is one of my favorite finishes from last year. If you love it as much as I do, you can CLICK HERE to get your own Spectrum Stars kit from Craftsy. I can say I will be making this one again in a queen size for home!

Photo Courtesy of Craftsy

Happy Stitching!

14Jan2016

Good Hair Day Blog Hop winner picked

Posted in Blogathon, Finished Quilts by StaceyinStitches

Welcome to the Stacey In Stitches stop on the Good Hair Day Fabric Blog Hop! Today I will be gushing all about Kim’s new line of fabric, Good Hair Day.

When Kim showed me the line and asked if I would make something for her booth at Market, I immediately said yes! I love the sweet, sophisticated, retro look of the prints and the colors. Kim’s signature hand drawn style is so fresh and classic, and really takes the prints to the next level. Her attention to detail with color and print means that every individual pattern stands out, and all work together in a group. Paired with some of the Windham Artisan Cottons (a supple, tightly woven group of crossweaves), Good hair day is sure to make a splash in whatever project you choose to make. I couldn’t decide what to make and what prints to use, so of course I just HAD to make a little bit of everything!

I have two FREE patterns for everyone for this line, available on the Windham website. Click here for your own copies =)

First up is the quilt Baubles. This design has been hanging around in my EQ files forever, and just needed the right line to match up with it. Good Hair Day fit the bill! It reminds me of the beach, and getting your hair braided and beaded while on vacation. I quilted the background using one of my favorite fillers, which perfectly complimented the lines and baubles. The baubles themselves are made using slice and turn applique, a super simple technique suitable for beginner quilters. I even included my quilting motif in the pattern in case you get stuck for ideas.

Then, I wanted to try and capture the feeling of freshly cut and styled hair, that fresh from the salon feeling. Using faux cathedral windows to create the curved diamonds shapes , Sparkle perfectly visualizes that salon day feel. I quilted it using a large all over swirl that gives the impression of big, beautiful locks of freshly curled hair. I used a solid white background to make the diamonds pop, but using the blonde braid print instead of a solid white would work as well and give the quilt some warm depth.

When the quilts were done and bound, I found myself with a few more days before I absolutely HAD to send out the projects, so I pulled out one of my favorite retro dress patterns and got to work. I used McCalls M7081 pattern and a pair of high contrasting prints. The dress turned out amazing, and I definitely need a crinoline to go underneath.

Then I decided that a couple of bags were in order. I pulled out my copy of Sara Lawsons Big City Bags, and picked my two favorites- a the Go Go Bag and a retro style Fireside Bowl Bag. Again, I paired some contrasting and complimentary prints, and used the low volume accessories print for the lining. I love the swivel closure, and even managed to find a matching zipper for the gorgeous cherry bobby pins!

The fabric is hitting stores this month, and of COURSE I just love every little bit of it.

Each blog is giving away a Good Hair Day charm pack, and there will be two Fat Quarter Bundles up for grabs as well, on on Kim’s Blog, and one on the Windham Blog. Be sure to pop by the other participants and see what awesome projects they have to offer.

Monday, January 11 – Windham Fabrics / Kim Andersson – I Adore Pattern

Tuesday, January 12 – Erin Harris – House on Hill Road / Terri Carpenter – The Quilted Fox / Cath Mosley on Instagram

Wednesday, January 13 – Adrianne Ove – Little Bluebell / Kristen Takakuwa – The Needies

Thursday January 14 – Dan Rouse – Piece and Press / Cal Patch – Hodge Podge Farm

Friday January 15 – Stacey Day – Stacey In Stitches / Amy Gunson – Badskirt

Saturday January 16 – Madeleine Roberg – Domestic Strata / Darci Alexis – Darci Sews

Sunday January 17 – Miriam Blaich – The Berlin Quilter / Crystal Chadwick – The Cloth Albatross

Monday January 18 – Pati Fried & Laura Nownes – See How We Sew / Gillian Smith –Coding Crafter

Tuesday January 19 – Casey York – The Studiolo / Nicole Daksiewicz – Modern Handcraft

Now for the giveaway! One lucky reader will be taking home a Good Hair Day charm pack, thanks to Windham Fabrics. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post! Easy peasy! To win a second bonus entry, share this post with your friends and tell me in a SECOND comment! Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or however else you can think of to share Kim’s wonderful collection and possibly win yourself some fabric! I will leave the comment section open until the end of the blog hop- Tuesday, January the 19th, when I will draw the winner. Good luck and happy sharing!

And the Winner is: Comment #29! Janie, who said “Everything you have created with this fabric line is beautiful. Thank you for the free patterns and the giveaway.”

Thank you Janie, and thank you everyone for the wonderful compliments!

Happy Stitching!

1Jan2016

Happy New Year!

Posted in Other by StaceyinStitches

Welcome to the New Year!

I want to thank all of you for sticking with me the last few years. 2015 saw lots of big changes and growth with my quilting, skyrocketing from a hobby into almost a career. 2016 looks to be just as promising! There are a lot of things that I just cannot share yet (Story of my life) that are pending publication.

On the first day of the new year, it is custom to make a resolution for the upcoming year, but my group of online quilty friends have a different tradition that I have decided to adopt. Instead of making a resolution, you pick a word. This word will help to shape the upcoming year, and should inspire positive changes and reflect how you want to see yourself at the end of the year.

My 2016 Word of the Year is: BALANCE

The last half of 2015 was incredibly busy, and I most definitely overwhelmed myself. Between work, family, and quilting obligations I was being pulled in so any different directions that I started to burn out. As a result, I haven’t touched my sewing machine in almost 3 weeks, which is incredibly unusual for me. Quilting has always been my zen, my unwind and relax, just being Stacey thing. I want to be able to keep quilting enjoyable even when working with deadlines, and still be able to have the family and friend time I need. I also need to be able to record what I do. The last few projects were so down to the wire (again, not the norm for me) that I wasn’t able to take pictures of any finishes!

Finding balance between my life, my work, and my quilting is my goal for 2016. There are more big changes coming this year that are going to be challenging and exciting at the same time. There is going to be an amazing amount of growth, and I am looking forward to everything the new year has in store!

Here is a quick look back at 2015

: Anemone Quilt Kit- Mendocino Collection

: Sparkle- Good Hair Day collection

: Hot House Quilt Kit-Craftsy

: Prism Quilt Kit- Craftsy

: Easy Market Tote- Tula PInk True Colors

: Eek! Tula Pink in person! Thanks for signing my quilt!

: Slice of Happiness Quilt of the Month

: Mariposa

: Corsage

: Fade Away- Quilt!KNit!Stitch! Exhibit- BTW challenge

: Incomplete- The quilt about emotions

: Designer Garden- Flora collection

: Photobomb- Year of Day online series with AQS

: Cover Girl! Whirlpool quilt pattern

: Covergirl! Rose Medallion quilt pattern

: Sunshowers and my favorite little person!

: Playing the Odds-Craft of Quilting Kit

: @iadorepattern and @staceyinstitches hamming it up at Quiltcon 2015

: The QDAD admin meetup dinner!

: Paperless Paper piecing with Cristy Fincher

: A Great Notion quilt- Snippets Collection

: Down by the Sea

: Linked In – Free Pattern!

: Gathering of the Guilds featured speaker

: Lanterns- Cotton Supreme Blog Hop

: BESTIES!

I wish you all happiness, health, love and family for 2016! Thank you so much for being a part of my life!

15Nov2015

New Craftsy Kits

Posted in Finished Quilts by StaceyinStitches

Oh MY GOSH FINALLY!!

I have been just itching to share these projects for SO LONG!

Back in June I had the pleasure of designing some quilts and a bag for FreeSpirit Fabrics using the True Colors and Eden collections by Tula Pink (TULA!) The designs were picked up by Craftsy, and turned into kits!

First up is Prism

Prism was a lot of fun to make. I love anything rainbow, and nothing is more rainbow than Tula Pink True Colors, with the sole exception of maybe an actual real life rainbow. I love the bright amber yellow in the collection, and the owl print in each color. All the prints are fun, detailed, and totally Tula.

I straight line quilted the center, following the branching pieces, and then for the outside square border I used a piano key. I love piano keys for keeping the borders straight and flat. I used all Aurifil threads in a bright fuschia and a purple. The black inner borders I went with a tight squiggle and black thread. LOTS of thead changed on this one, but TOTALLY worth it!

Next up was the Easy Market Tote. I picked my favorite selection of True Colors prints that went well together in a rainbow for the geese. I love flying geese, and the paper piecing is really straight forward. The entire bag is super easy to make! Best of all, no intricate little seams to match up, so no bulk!

And finally my personal favorite, the Hot House Quilt!

I LOVE Eden, and I was so excited to be able to work with it. It combines with True Colors beautifully. This beauty has so much quilting potential it hurts. I probably printed and filled 5 or 6 outlines with possible quilting, but in the end it came down to time limits, and I used my favorite floral pantograph. It is a hothouse after all 😉

Hot House is the largest quilt I had designed to that point, before I had always been concerned about what I could quilt at home, or have to pay for a longarm. With access to a longarm, I was finally able to make quilts in the sizes I really wanted without worrying!

I hope you all enjoy the kits, which are available by clicking the titles: Prism, Hot House, and Market Tote. They are really very affordable, Craftsy is excellent with their pricing! Whn you finish, please send me pictures, I love to see how people put them together! Send them to my email, or tag me in Instagram @staceyinstitches

Happy Stitching!

29Oct2015

Back from Market!

Posted in Other by StaceyinStitches

This year I had the immense pleasure of attending Quilt Market! I was able to go under my own credentials, but my good friend Kim, @iadorepattern, was also debuting her second line with Windham Fabrics at this Market, so I was able to tag along and lend her a hand as well.

There is so much to talk about I am going to have to write a Market Mini Series! There was so much to see and do, so many people to talk and connect with, it’s just too much for one post.

Overall, Market for me was a success. I learned SO MUCH!! And I even participated in my first Hurricane, so that was something.

On Thursday I met Kim at the airport and we whisked away to downtown Houston to our hotel.

Then we hurried over to the show floor. Windham was great, and set me up with a pass so I could come and go to help Kim set up her booth. In between set up, I hit up all the schoolhouses I wanted, from Kim to Tula Pink, to Cotton+Steel and Elizabeth Hartman. It was hard choosing, because there were so many great people booked at the same time. I missed out on Sara Lawson and Mandy Leins unfortunately, so many hard decisions to make! The Andover Little House on the Prairie was a ton of fun. Two of the actresses were there, and they were just hilarious! And while vintage reproductions fabrics aren’t usually my thing, they had some gorgeous quilts and the range of colors and prints is as true to the times as you can get. They put a lot of effort into making sure it was as accurate as possible, and it shows. And then of course there were these super cute dolls!

Doll by Kerry @kidgiddy

Kim’s schoolhouse was a lot of fun. Heather Givans, @crimsontate, was there to lend a hand and some laughs. She is absolutely delightful, and hilarious! I don’t know where she gets her energy from.

Kim with her Twice Tied Quilt, soon to be a free pattern on the Windham Website

Suprise!

Immediately following Kim was the Schoolhouse for Tula Pink! Oh man, she is so awesome to listen to! The quilts were either made by her or Julie Herman @jaybirdquilts . Chipper is probably my favorite line of hers. I love all the colors and the little chipmunk. We have a thing about chipmunks in my family, so I need to make a ton of stuff with this print!

Her new hardware is absolutely gorgeous as well. And she was super enough to sign this quilt for me, even though she is a very busy lady and had like zero time! Thank you Tula!

Then it was more set up, and then finally it was time to eat supper. But instead, I lined up for sample spree. Because why not? I sat in line with a great group of gals from Texas, and we managed to chat the 2.5 hours away until the doors opened. You might think I am crazy, but there were already people in line 3 hours before the doors opened, and I have been told to line up early becuase it gets crazy. And they weren’t kidding!

about half the line 20 min before the door opened. There were probably a couple hundred more to the left of the photo as well.

Spree was crazy! But I managed to get everything on my list thanks to a couple of super special spree angels ( who will remain nameless, but they know who they are). I completely missed the Moda booth and was a little bummed, because the new Zen Chic is so awesome, and I would have loved a bundle. But by that time my card was on fire, so I needed to stop.

All in all the first day of market was a rousing success, and the floor wasn’t even open yet! Kim’s booth was amazing and we both slept a good 8-10 hours that night, despite the blisters (note to self, bring flip flops next time!) The first aid lady was real nice though =)