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.

V and Co: first quilt over at Gen X

today is the first day of school.
but i also just got back from a vacation that our family drove 4, 438.8 miles to california (and to utah and Disneyland and so forth) and back.
we are still toasted.
i am totally celebrating with having my car detailed to get rid of all gooey/stickiness/sand and basically scrape all the"kid" off from the inside of my car.
they asked for 5 hours.
apparently that's how much time they need for people with gross children like mine. :)

i have a new free quilt pattern (the quilt at the bottom of this post) coming your way (i'm hoping this week) i have to tell you about my trip back to my beautiful san diego...and i have to let you in on a lot of fun projects that have been brewing in my head all summer long! yay for kids going back to school, and yay for a wonderful summer to look back on!
but because i am still fried from my family trip i have none of that prepared. sooooo i thought it would be fun to share a post i did for Gen X blog earlier on this month.
at the beginning of this month i was asked by the lovely ann marie of Gen X quilters about my very first quilt.
here's what i wrote:

i'm so excited that i was asked to share with all of you my very first quilt. 

i made this "rag quilt" with a wonderful group of seasoned quilter friends. i along with one other were the only ones in the group that had never made a quilt before. so as a group we went and picked out fabric enough to make (i think) 6 throws and the idea would be that we would all walk away with the same "friendship quilt".

as the years would pass we could look at it and think of our group of friends. 

i am proud to say that it still hangs out prominently in my home. (in our basement but still prominently!) and yes, i still think fondly of those wonderful women that held my hand and said "you can cut the fabric, there's no need to cry. seriously...its just fabric." 

looking at the colors you can probably guess when it was made! early 2000 when the reds and the greens and the tans and the yellows were very popular is a dead giveaway.

i remember going to the store and picking out the flannel with a couple of the friends. it was exciting and fun and i absolutely loved the picking out of fabric process.

i did have a hard time cutting into the fabric. and yes i did cry. i was scared that i was going to ruin the fabric make a mistake or something. 

they told me "it's just fabric."

i yelled back "ITS FABRIC!!"

 i did end up putting on my big girl panties and i cut the squares and didn't line up all my seams that great, but darn it i had made a quilt!

and i will forever love it. because it started the journey of what i create now:

reverse hopscotch

 see i still love mixing and matching colors and prints. and i no longer cry because i'm afraid of making a mistake. mistakes help you learn. understand how not to do something, and sometimes mistakes come out with pretty cool outcome.

i heart you quilt pattern V and Co.

 one thing is for sure, i still love color. sometimes i focus on just one color like in my i heart you quilt  here we have all the shades of pink (ombre fabric by V and Co.)

houndstooth quilt pattern V and Co.

and sometimes a quilt like my houndstooth quilt just needs to be simple and two toned.

bubbles (baby version) V and Co.

i struggle to label myself as modern or

kaleidoscope quilt pattern  V and Co.

 traditional in the quilting world.
i feel like i am a little bit of both every single time.

confetti quilt pattern (baby version) V and Co.

but what ever kind of quilter i am, i'm glad i am one.

bloom quilt pattern V and Co.

the dutchman quilt (free pattern coming soon)

it's very much a part of who i am and what i love to do.
i am forever grateful for that first quilt because it has led me to keep trying new things and finding a passion in something that i hope to instill in anyone who wants to listen.
quilting is the best.
thank you ann marie for making me talk about my journey in quilting!
we'll talk soon! 

V and Co: another finish

this summer is passing me by quite quickly. 

anyone else having a super fast warp speed summer too? 

not that im complaining.

we've had a great summer.

we've relaxed, we've done some fun family stuff, and we've done a family vacation. which i'll show pictures of that soon too. 

i've worked on my new fall patterns at the pool, in the car, with a fish, in a dish...wait. 

hmmm. well the idea is that whenever a i do get a minute i've been doing some work that i can take with me anywhere i am and when the kids are all occupied.

 this summer i've made it a point to get a little bit of sewing done. not too much "work" related sewing, but more "just for me" sewing.

and honestly it's not been that much but it's more than in the years past. 

i think it's because my kids are getting older and needing me less and less. (mixed feelings)

here's my latest "just for me" finish. 

i decided that i could work here and there on a double point dresden plate.

using my  Dresden plate ruler i decided to just used the top part of the blade of the ruler. 

(use this tutorial for the normal blade construction) 

for the "double point" look you are going to sew the bottom part of the blade just like the top.

continue with turning the points inside out and press with an iron. 

then just like the normal dresden plate, line up your raw edges. and sew those together.

you end up with two finished edges on your dresden plate. 

easy for appliqué!!!

 for basting my wall quilt i used  505 basting spray . if you havent tried this you should. it's worth it and makes quilting a little easier on a home machine.

 next i drew my lines on my quilt. i wanted "X"s.
once i drew my line with a erasable pen i then used my walking foot (bernina) which i still can't believe i've gone so many years not having a walking foot. it's one of my favorite to quilt my quilts. (seeing that i mainly do straight line quilting. okay i've only tried free motion quilting twice and it's something i need to work on.)

 remember how i was saying i "worked" on stuff anywhere i could and many days it was at the pool.
i hand bind all my quilts. i like how it looks
here's my tutorial i did a while ago on how i bind quilts. :)

now i know what you must think...because i'm a quilter and i love quilts, that must mean i have quilts lining my walls, hung over couches, chairs and on quilt racks.

i don't.

i have one quilt on a couch back in the basement. katies room has the i heart you quilt up but i'm thinking i may need to at some point add some other kind of art in there...

mainly we just sleep under them and have them at the foot of our beds. i have them in baskets upstairs and downstairs and anywhere we have sitting places. but yeah not any of them are up on my walls in my main level area. 

so when i placed this up on my front entry way...i've been passing it every day a few times a day thinking, hmmm...

i like it. 

i really like how simply color and simply style go well together. 

oh...and yeah. btw. simply style. is now available in a quilt store near you. :) and if it's not. raise hell that you want it.
you have my permission.
just sayin.
;)