Moda Spell it With Fabric blog hop sponsored by the letter V

Hello hello! Welcome to my turn to the spell it with fabric blog hop! I'm Very excited to have you! I'm your host Vanessa Christenson of V and Co.
This post is brought to you by the letter V ;) naturally.

download the letter V here

Of course V is an awesome letter for me to have for all obVious reasons.

I made my "Supa-Star V quilt" to show off my "V" block at last fall market. It's based off of my Lucky Star quilt pattern somehow making it personalized with a big letter V has got it perks, as no one dares to use my quilt so it's always readily available for me when I need it...and this winter, oh man haVe I needed it. Safe to say I use it eVery day.

So aside from having the perfect letter block assigned to me for obVious reasons...I get to answer a few fun questions using the letter V as well...totally sounds fun right?
Oh yeah? Sounds fun till you actually have to do it. I mean HELLO, how many times do you use a descriptiVe word starting with a letter V? NOT OFTEN. But we'll give it a go.

Here are my questions:
What's your letter: V(easy enough)
What is something you don't like: Vomiting (seriously who does? If you do, I don't think we can be friends anymore)
What's something you like: uuuuuhhhhh....NOT Vomiting? No wait...VACATIONS! I like Vacations, but not just any vacations I like warm Vacations. So I guess I like summer Vacation. (Ha this might be easier than I thought!)

 I like quilting because: When I'm quilting I'm in a happy Vortex (oh now I'm just totally showing off)

An object or tool you like to use: hmmmm my Color Me Happy Variegated thread  (actually all my thread but hey had to highlight the V!) that goes awesome with my:

gradient ombre fabric

Last but not least
favorite motto (with the word Virtue in it):

And I truly am grateful for so many things. My family being of course my biggest blessing I'm grateful for, but also just every day that I get to wake up, healthy, happy, and alive. Honestly, everyday I give thanks for what I call my life.


Ahem speaking of blessings one of them also known as my third noisemaker is having a birthday today.

He is obsessed with turtles so of course a little turtle cake was in order. We're celebrating all things him today and I'll get to his own blog post in a couple of days.  :) after the blog hop festivities die down.

Well then, that was WAY easier than I thought it would be to use V in all my answers!  I feel like a Vwinner I mean Winner...

So do you want to feel like a Vwinner too?

Of course part of this is to celebrate my upcoming new line Color Me happy...so I'm offering a great sale

from now till Saturday the whole V and Co store is 25% off when you enter MODASPELL when you check out.

 that includes my Color Me Happy Large Spool threads and the Color Me Happy small box of threads 
(ALL Thread is now BACK ORDERED (that sold out quick!) but I'll grant the sale price if you don't mind a little bit of a wait)...if you order something else it will ship with your thread when it comes in.

to the point quilt pattern

that includes all patterns, new AND old...

that's kind of a big deal! :) And it's all to say thank you for your support. Honestly, thank you. :)

And now for the giveaway part:

Here's what I am giving away to one lucky Vwinner:

1 layer cake and a jellyroll of color me happy, one lucky star pattern to use your jelly roll on, and a new slice cut (which next week I'll be doing a free "how to" on making the banner with the slice cut)

All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment telling me what you would do with your prize if you win. (and yes petting it or staring at it is a very good answer too) please include an email address in your comment if your profile does not have an email attached to it.
Friday is the last day to enter then we will announce the winner.
talk to you soon. :)
ps also make sure you visit today's other letters!:
Malka Dubrwaski with the letter W
And Blackbird Design 

how to make: Christmas Stockings

Hey so guess what.
My calendar...totally broken. It says that there's only 7 days left till Christmas.
HA...yeah I know. I KNOW. Okay?! Sheesh. Where did the time go?
I guess its okay. I'm not the best winter season person, and this year it's COLD. And snowy and COLD.
So of course lets throw out there a project for you if you want to spruce up your mantle a little bit on the last minute side shall we?

Over at the We All Sew Bernina Blog I give step by step with pictures how to make these stockings. 

I used my ombre stripe from my newest fabric collection "Color me Happy" which wont come out till March, BUT I also include instructions on how to create your own ombre stripe if you want them to look like these featured RIGHT NOW. :)

 Also I'd like to point out that my little Trees kind of match my stockings....and now my pillow...I just bought teal dye so maybe i'll add some more little trees to the colorful forest here soon.
I followed the tutorial online from last year, but since then it's no longer available. So here's the next closest tutorial I just found to give you a link to how to do it. And I kind of like her ombre look...maybe i'll do that next time. Also I've not been successful in finding the little bottle trees with the wood base. So if anyone knows where to get those, please indulge me...but only if it's at a store I can get to. Otherwise, you'll just frustrate me more...and we don't want to frustrate the Vanessa...she gets weepy and sad. Kidding but not really. okay...

 So yeah for now this is what I have on my little forest of bleached and dyed trees...and I'm all kinds of festively coordinating over here now that I've added new stockings and a pillow this year!
Wonder what I'll decide that I need to do next year? I guess we'll see next year, cause this season is almost behind us.

Now if you don't mind me I have to avoid all Christmas treats that keep coming to our door, and continue to finish up my leave to the last minute teacher gifts....but i'm almost done so I'll show you those soon too. 

Hope you are having a less rushed holiday season than I'm experiencing! 

We'll talk soon.

Christmas stockings how to here.

He's 12 and he loves Domo

 My second Noisemaker turns 12 today.
I can't really wrap my head around that but it's true.
The other night I caught all my kids looking at the computer laughing. I asked them what they were looking at and one of them answered "We're reading about the UGLY Christmas tree." And then one of the other ones says "Mom, you need to write more of our stories again."
Man, talk about a slap in the face.
It also has occured to me that I've not written any "right now's" in a couple of years.
If nothing else it gives us a good place to look back through the years and gives us snap shots of the kids each year. So if you don't mind I'm going to do that again.
My kids have grown and matured so much these last two years that I should write about it. And I will. :)

so this said noisemaker that has a birthday today...really likes domo's so of course last minute I tried to attempt to make one.

I had a sick kid home today so we couldn't really venture out and that's when I realized I don't have like any brown fabric! 

Literally this was the only brown fabric I had.

And it's not cotton...it's fake leather sort of fabric.

So it's thick

 I learned a lot trying to make this guy. In the middle of it I had to turn it around just to see how cute he was coming out or even IF he was coming out cute! I turned him inside out after I finished sewing the arms in (and btw KUDOS to my BERNINA for being able to handle 4 layers of thick fake leather as if it ate that many layers for breakfast!)  Anyways, first try I had sewn up the head... but in the middle of thinking about turning it back outside in, I had a "oh crap..." moment of how the heck am I going to get all those body parts out of a tiny little hole?!

So I turned his insides back out on to the outsides and unpicked his head sewed the legs in...and...

 TADA!
He's not perfect, but he's totally going to be a great present!
AND I know what to do differently and I'll try a few other things next time! Oh you know there's going to be a next time. The other kids are going to think I need to make everyone of them one...

 So yes, this guy was a success. And add a cute Domo cake that my neighbor made for us...

 Makes for a Domo-tastic Birthday!
HMMMM... doesn't that look like Domo is trying to eat a Domo cake! NO! Don't do it Domo!!!

okay well here's a few Right Nows for my Domo loving 12 year old:

right now:
*You are in 6th grade, are loving middle school, and have some great friends at church and school.
*You play the cello and LOVE instrumental music like  The Piano Guys and 2Cellos but your absolute fav band at the moment is Imagine Dragons

*You love Domo, the color green, and your favorite home cooked meal is Tacos
*You currently wear glasses and braces. And you don't care that you wear glasses and braces. :)
*You love to read.
*You love to be around friends.
*You are in the LEGO league at school and you love it.
*You are a great babysitter to your younger siblings and a good friend to your older brother.
*You have a quick sense of of wit and can pull off some pretty funny zingers.
*You can sew a really great 1/4" seam.
*You are my go to photographer when I need someone to take a picture of me holding a project.
(and you have an awesome eye for it)
*You love to snowboard, swim, and have been training to run cross country next year.
*You are a very loving son, and brother. You pay attention to others emotions and you act upon them.
* You already have big college goals. BYU is your top choice of school to get into.
*I never have to get on you to do your school work. There's been only a handful of times I've had to have words with you about not getting things done.
*You quietly serve others.

We are very happy with who you are molding yourself to be, we appreciate your witty smart mouth comments and your love of learning.
We are blessed to have you in our family.

ps: and no I don't have a picture of you right now...you may like taking pictures but you hate being in them. Btw start preparing for it cause family pictures are coming. You've been forewarned.

okay NOW, lets go eat some DOMO!

V and Co: introducing..well no, not yet

as much as i'd like to introduce my next fabric line "color me happy"debuting at fall market to all of you i can't just yet. i have too many things to sew and not enough time to place many words let alone pictures together for you. but there it is in the background ready to be cut up and sewn with.

(well actually it's already been cut up and being sewn with and that clean area is nothing but a memory at the moment as i'm running around with strings attached to every part of my body, and i walk around talking to myself quilt references and measurements... and fabric has exploded everywhere)
as a matter of fact i've taken into wearing this sign:

 that a great friend made for me so i didn't have to keep telling everyone "no i'm sorry i can't, but maybe in novemeber?" i think november is going to be as busy as this october with all my "...come talk to me in november about that"s

the good news is though that even though i am a thread of a mess with hardly any sleep, we did get out the bat garland and other halloween-y type things out for the house. and i am feeding my children, and making sure they are clothed before they leave for school. see mom i'm still taking care of them!

so just give me a couple of more days (man i ask that a lot!) and i'll get you action shots of the fabric. okay maybe not action shots, but i'll at least talk more about it and give you a closer look. hang tight.

V and Co.: jelly roll jam quilt free pattern and video tutorial

hi there! 

so with summer lone gone and a distant memory, we now look forward to fall. we've had a Fall-ish kind of weekend, and honestly, fall hasn't been my favorite since i moved from california. while i grew up in california, i LOVED LOVED fall. why? well because it meant pumpkins, and pumpkin smelling like candles and cinnamon. mmm i love cinnamon. and i loved the crisp cool air, the fun decor and thanksgiving (oh and my birthday as well) but since moving to places that have winter, i no longer love fall i just like them because AFTER fall means all H-E double hockey sticks breaks lose and we get that stupid stuff snow. nope, don't like it. so summer has turned into my favorite season. 

this weekend seemed to have been such a lovely fallish weekend, cool temps, a little bit of rain, and a whole heck of a lot of family. we had a lovely time building and launching rockets, going to soccer games, church, and family meals. we ended the weekend with renting iron man 3. 

yeah, this weekend made me feel like i could love fall again. and plus i might not hate the snow that much, it just means i get to quilt more. ;)

okay but that's not what you came here for is it? if you are new here visiting from the Fat Quarter Shop, WELCOME! i'm Vanessa and this is my blog that i ignore a little too much these days, and keep trying to keep my promise to just write about my nonsense and projects a little more regularly. i will try to keep that goal. :) 

for the rest of you who are regulars: HI! welcome back! thanks for sticking around. 

okay, ready for a fun little project the fat quarter shop has created? 

i am so excited to finally get to show you another project i've worked on these last few months. it feel like there is so much behind the scene work these days that i hardly get to show off half the things i am working on nope, try more like 3/4 of the things i am working on right when i make things. but that's okay cause at some point i get to show you and well with this project now is that time!

the fat quarter shop has created a video tutorial a pretty fun little FREE pattern called the jelly roll jam using one jelly roll to make TWO baby quilts.
so using my simply style jelly roll:

i was able to make a boy and girl version of the jelly roll jam quilt.

i am completely in love with this boy version
for the boy version i used all of the yellow, and a lot of the navy, aqua, lime, and gray. this pattern was super easy to follow and ahem, i made the quilts in less than a day.
start to finish people.

i really love the look so straight line quilting (and i'm not going to lie) it's what i feel most comfortable doing because i feel like i've not practiced enough with FMQ that i can master it just yet.

in the boy quilt i used most of the rectangles, oblongs, and ombre chevrons. when i looked at the fabrics i felt like these were the most boyish looking ones in line.
i think it turned out pretty cool. and i have a close friend having a little baby boy soon, so it already has a home.

and now for the girl version.

this cute girl quilt consists of most of the flowery prints. the large and small ones! i also added all the pink, and some of the navy (because i'm a huge sucker for navy and pink together!) some of the aqua, gray, eggplant hex's, and one yellow flowery print. i eliminated most of the eggplant because i felt like the pink needed to be the focal point in it.

all in all this quilt turned out super cute as well. i think this quilt has a home as well as i just found out that another friend of mine is having a baby girl.

so yeah seriously, ONE jelly roll, TWO quilts is awesome.
check out the tutorial video and check out the FREE pattern, cause it's totally worth it and totally doable for a fun quick need for a baby shower this week kind of awesomeness.
thank you fat quarter shop for having me be part of the jelly roll jam.
we'll talk soon!
some new fabric is on the horizon. :)

V and Co: how to make: ombre dutchman free quilt pattern

 welcome welcome!
i'm so excited to finally have the time to share this with you! it's been sitting here since last may when i made this quilt for quilt market.
but as you all know the kiddos are in school now and i did my "go and do everything i've not been able to do since june 1st without children" all in two days.
i went to get my car detailed, went grocery shopping, to fabric stores, went to hang out with friends, went to eat with-friends-went-to-target-went-and-walked-around-places-just-because-i-could-AND-THEN-I-WENT-AND-ATE-CHOCOLATE-IN-THE-MIDDLE-OF-THE-DAY-IN-THE-KITCHEN!!!!!!!!!!!

BECAUSE.

I.

COULD.

so i got it all out of my system and now i am able to get back to work.
it's basically a mom's version of the first weekend of college for freshman when they realize there's parties and no parents around. not that i would know anything about that...i've just heard about that kind of stuff.
anyways. what were we talking about. OH yes, here's my project i've been wanting to show you.

this quilt is a lovely quilt 48" x 48" and perfect for babies or for a wall.

it looks like i used different shades of fabric, but in actuality i used my ombre fabric. 

i used the gray, navy, teal, and lime green for this particular project. 

lets get started

what you will need: 

-1/2 yard fabric of green, blue, teal, and gray.

-1 1/2 yards of fabric of white or background fabric.

-rotary cutter

-erasable pen/pencil

-pins

-ruler to cut strips and to trim down HST (half square triangles) 

 from each color (gray, teal, navy, green) of fabric:
cut 4- 4" x WOF (width of fabric) strips
  -sub cut from strips 20- 4" squares
from white fabric:
cut 4- 12 1/2" x WOF strips
  -sub cut from strips 16- 12 1/2" squares

-put aside 16- 4" from each color (you'll trim these down a little bit later but lets leave all the trimming to the same time)

-next pair up lights and darks and mediums to create contrasting HSTs (half square triangles)
and please don't freak out that it's pink, i totally missed taking pictures the first time around of a quite a few steps so i made some of the steps using pink. 

-with your erasable pen/pencil draw a line from corner to corner on the wrong side of one the squares in the paired up squares.

 -sew a 1/4" seam from the drawn line on both sides of the line

-cut on the drawn line

 -when you open up each side you will have a HST square.
-do this to all your paired up squares

 - trim down each to 3 1/2" square (and even the squares you put aside)

 use 1/4" seam unless otherwise instructed
-place first row and sew as follow: 2 squares
-second row 2 HST then sew it to the first two squares to create a 6 1/2" square
-sew the two 3 1/2" squares on either side of the second row.
-third row you are going to sew 4 HSTs and sew it to the above sewn block

 -sew two more squares on either side of the third row

 -fourth row...you know the drill... but this time sew 6 HST squares

 -and again sew two more squares at either side

 -take one of your 12 1/2"white square and place it on one side of your "step up triangle"
-i like to draw a line so that i can have a guide to follow.

(hint: make sure you dont sew over your points of the squares already sewn)
-pin in place
-sew on the line

 -cut off excess

 -repeat on the other side!

 - and there here's your first one done!!!
now do it again for all the other ones

 -place your blocks the way you see them in the picture above.
-sew your blocks

 i quilted my quilt by using my walking foot  and quilted straight lines just like i did in my reverse hopscotch.

i am going to enjoy this little bit of time to work again. and then i'm sure once we get close to summer vacation again i'll be ready to take a break and hit the pool again. but i'm getting ahead of myself, right now i'm just relishing in the blissful 6 full hours of the only noise being made by me and my talking to the animals and my working on the sewing machine.
:) school rocks.
we'll talk soon.