Sweet Valentine's Inspiration

I was just perusing through Pinterest and found some adorable Valentine's projects. 

I couldn't resist sharing a few... 

This adorable french knot heart pin cushion is from our designer, Vanessa Christenson. 

I love this sweet linen pillow with heart bunting.  

Sandy Gervais has the most adorable fabric for Valentine's Projects, doesn't she?

And just grab some scraps to make this cute card.  

This "Hugs & Kisses" bunting free tutorial is featured on the Moda Bake Shop!

Stitch little felt hearts onto your valentines. 

In love with these tiny heart shaped cookies and stitched  up tight in a glassine bag.  

This sewn paper valentine candy pouch is so cute!!

 And she even offers the free printable designs here. 

I adore these Valentine's Day Embroidery Hoops. 

Easy enough for kids!

You must visit her blog and make oodles of these! 

I could go on forever... : ) 

What is your favorite treat to give/receive on Valentine's Day?

Hot Stuff on the Moda Bake Shop

It may still be winter, but things are always hot over at the {Moda Bake Shop}. Our Chefs are whipping up a selection of Valentine-themed projects for the month of February, including quilts, wall hangings, table runners, and more.

Pictured projects are by {Cindy Sharp} and {Leah Douglas} and will be published in early February.


Stay connected with the Moda Bake Shop for free tutorials using the latest pre-cuts:

Web Tips: New Site Navigation

My Favorite Bellas

 

Hello, and happy Friday! How about some Bella solids talk today?! One of my first ideas for writing about the Bella solids was to interview some of my favorite designers and ask them about their favorite Bella solids (This post is titled "My Favorite Bellas" because really, you can't have just one favorite). Today I'd like to share some ideas from Camille Roskelley, Joanna Figueroa, Kate Spain, and Carrie Nelson. Thanks to these terrific ladies, there is a lot of wonderful information in this post: I think this is one you'll want to bookmark to refer to again and again.

Photo by Camille Roskelley


First up is Camille who said this: "I love to buy my solids in my favorite colors by the bolt. They make the best backgrounds, bindings, and even backings, and I couldn't sew without my Bleached White 97. I should have counted how many bolts of white I sewed through last year! Maybe I'll try to keep track this year. Anyway, I love 97 (bleached white), 83 (gray), 34 (aqua), and 16 (red)."

Photo by Camille Roskelley

Next, I spoke with Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Company. Here are a few of her ideas:

 

"I use our coordinating cream backgrounds any time I can since they have that beautiful tone on tone feeling and coordinate perfectly with whatever collection they come with. I would always recommend ordering a few yards of that cream any time you fall in love with a collection. It's just the best! But, the minute I run out, I use Snow (9900-11) for most backgrounds these days. I also use the Fig Tree Cream (9900-67) and sometimes the Ivory (9900 60) if I am looking for something a little bit lighter. I seriously can't live without those creams and have several bolts on hand at all times!"

 Blossom Quilt Photo from With Fabric & Thread by Joanna Figueroa

Do you love the green in the quilt above? Guess what...it's a Bella solid! Here is a little more on this color (and quilt) from Joanna:

"Lately Clover (9900-73) is my favorite green although it is not the same as my standard "Fig Tree" feeling yellowy-green. This one is a bit crisper and more apple green in tone, I guess. It matches well with Strawberry Fields, California Girl, and Avalon. We used Clover and Snow for our Blossom quilt from our latest book, With Fabric & Thread."

Lollipops Quilt Photo by Joanna Figueroa

Joanna also had some terrific ideas on Bella neutrals to share:

"I use Tan (9900-13) as my standard linen-feeling background. It is the perfect neutral when I want something darker than cream or ivory, and I don't have actual linen on hand. I also love the Parchment (9900-39) color which is just slightly lighter than the Tan. I used the Tan for the background of my large Lollipops quilt, and I love how it sets off the Dresden plates. It [also] plays perfectly with the new Avalon collection.

The Golden Wheat (9900 103) is a wonderful orange that we used a lot in our Halloween Pops kits and other fall feeling projects. I will definitely be using that one again!

Other favorite 'must haves' that we have used in some of our bundles or that coordinate with our collections are Soft Yellow (9900-148), Butterscotch (9900-36)), Bubble Gum (9900-88), Coral (9900-147), Scarlet (9900-47), Breeze (9900-132), Mint (9900-133), and Celery (9900-72)."

Kate Spain also sent along a few of her favorite Bellas. She says:

"I love bright, bold colors, so not surprisingly my favorite Bellas *happen* to go along with some of my fabric collections! Here are my (latest) favorites:

 Mango 9900-222

 Robin's Egg 9900-85

 30's Blue 9900-25

 Terrain Iris 9900-168

But wouldn't you know, the one I buy by the bolt is plain ol' reliable goes-with-everything...

Bleached White 9900-97."

Photo by Kate Spain

Carrie also sent along a list of some of her favorites...here are some of her ideas on favorite Bella solids (Carrie also shared some Bella solids ideas on my last Bella Post found here):

"97 Bleached White PDF, 67 Fig Tree Cream, and 200 Off White. I love this one (Off White), and when I am out of 97, this is the one I'll continue to order. 16 Christmas Red is my favorite red--so far--as it goes with everything. You know, Red IS a neutral. I like using this as a background or border when I make quilts with all solids. 116 Dusk--it's almost purple, almost blue. This is also a terrific 'neutral' for quilts made with all solids. And 117, Night Sky. It's almost navy but not quite. Another really good 'neutral' for working with all solids."

9900-116

                                                                        
                                                                         9900-117

 

So there you have it...a wonderful list of Bellas you might want to consider having on hand. As for me, I always have Bleached White 97 and Snow on hand. I'm also trying to slowly grow my collection of other colors; after writing this post, I definitely have some ideas about what to add to my collection next!

Thanks so much for stopping by to read Scraps from Sherri at A Quilting Life!

COASTER KIT WINNER!

 And the WINNER of the Coaster Kit is... 

PINK SCISSORS DESIGN!!!!

"I would make them for my mother. She deserves them because she flew me over from Australia to Michigan to spend some much needed mother-daughter time with her for three months. Isn't she great?!" - Deborah

Please email your mailing address to scastaneda@unitednotions.com to claim your goodies!  

Moda Friendship Quilt Along

Join the Moda Designers

 for a 

Friendship blog hop

 where they will be 

sharing friendship block patterns along with 

some fun stories.

Each day visit 3 moda designers' blogs as they share with you a 

9" friendship quilt block. Add these patterns 

to your block library. 

The last day a setting option will be

 supplied on the moda blog, the Cutting Table.

Click here for more information and the listing of participating Designers.

"Charm"ing Coasters with Craf-Tex

With Valentine's day around the corner I decided to make a cute little set of coasters to brighten up my coffee table! After I made my first set and posted a photo on Facebook... little did I know that all of my friends would want a set as well!
Since they turned out as darling as they did, I thought you may enjoy having a little tutorial
so you can make them for your friends (and yourself!) as well.

They really do make a sweet Valentine's gift!

I decided to make mine double sided and here is how they turned out...

These guys are super easy to make, thanks to CRAF-TEX Precut Coasters. CRAFT-TEX is a heavyweight double-sided fusible stabilizer. What does that mean, you may be asking?
It means that you can take the precut coaster and simply iron fabric on to both sides and you have yourself a coaster! But I decided to spice mine up a bit more than that. :)

Below you will find my supply list and step-by-step instructions.
You can find the supplies for this project at your  local quilt shop.

  

1. Fabric...Moda Charm Packs- Charm Packs are ideal for this because they are the perfect size! 5"x5"
2. Bosal CRAF-TEX Coaster Pack- each pack has 6 - 4"x4" coasters in it.
3. Fusible - I prefer Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 but any fusible will work. I used the Lite Steam-a-Seam2 sheets. (they are packed with 5 sheets)
4. Fabric Scissors-   My preferred scissors still remain the Elan scissors. You will want a large pair to cut out the large shapes and a small pair to cut the tiny pieces- like inside the letters and intricate shapes. It is so important to use fabric scissors or your fabric will fray on the edges leaving it looking frazzled.    
5. Ironing Board. I really enjoy my Steady Betty pressing mat because it is so small and I can sit it right by my sewing machine and move it anywhere I need... and it is also great for taking to classes. 
6. Iron
7. Applique Pressing Sheet-  My pressing sheet is from Fons & Porter (The pressing sheet is a heat resistant sheet that will protect your fabric, iron and ironing board from the fusible and distributes heat better than putting your iron directly on the fabric.) 
8. Ball Point Pens- to draw/trace designs onto Steam-a-Seam. 
9. Design/Templates- Choose a word or design you would like to use on your coasters. I am including a Free PDF of the alphabet I used here. Otherwise you can just type out your letters in a Word Document and print them off.  

Choose your background fabrics as well as the fabric for your letters or designs. 

I chose Kate Spain's, Honey, Honey charm pack for the background 

and a white Bella Solid for my letters. 

Also- Decide if you want your coasters to be double sided and if so, 

chose the fabric for the back side as well. 

•TRACE or DRAW your letters or design on the STICKY side of the SteamASeam. (peal back corner to see which side is sticky) 

NOTE: Your design must be traced or drawn backwards (mirror image) onto the SteamASeam so when you transfer to the WRONG side of the fabric and eventually cut it out it will come out the correct direction. To achieve this you can draw it with a sharpie on a separate paper and then flip that paper over and lay under the SteamASeam to trace backwards. 

•CUT design out of STEAM-A-SEAM leaving about 1/4" - 1/2" around the design. 

•PEAL the smooth side of the SteamASeam away and then lay your Applique Pressing Sheet over the fabric and letter and then press the Sticky Side of the design onto the WRONG side of your fabric and press for ~10 seconds to get the stickum to adhere to the fabric.

•TEST by using your finger nail to pull back a corner of the SteamASeam to see if the stickum has transfered from the Paper to the Fabric. If not, press a bit more but not too long. 

•CUT the DESIGN out exactly on the line you drew. 

•PEAL back the SteamASeam paper from the fabric leaving the stickum on the WRONG side of your fabric.

•POSITION your letter/design where you like on your fabric. 

•PRESS- Once you have it exactly where you like, press that baby down! 

•Stitch around your design. I used the zig zag stitch. A blanket stitch would look cute as well. :) 

I decided to make my coasters double sided. 

The top side to say "Stitch" and the bottom side to say "LOVE" with two hearts on either side. 

So I stitched the letter on the top piece of fabric, then stitch the letter on the bottom piece 

and then I was ready to make my coaster!

•Grab 1 of your CRAF-TEX Coaster Stabilizers and your top and bottom fabrics. 

Then sandwich your fabrics around your CRAF-TEX Coaster. Since your charm squares are 5"x5" and your coaster is 4"x 4", you will have some fabric around the edges of the coaster. I just centered my coaster in the middle of the fabrics so the letters would be centered on the coaster once trimmed.

Your letters/designs should show on the outside and you will no longer see the CRAF-TEX. 

•Cover your fabric sandwich with the Applique Pressing Sheet and press down the top fabric for about 30 seconds. 

Then flip your fabric sandwich over and press the opposite side for 30 seconds as well. 

•Using your ruler & rotary cutter, trim the excess 1/2" off of each side. (you can just use scissors if you don't have a rotary cutter/mat)

•ALMOST DONE!!! Your final step is to stitch around the edges of the coaster to finish it. Again I used the zig zag stitch. A satin stitch or button hold stitch would also look great. 

And... VOILA! 

FREE PRINTABLE templates here!

And as an early Valentine's gift I am giving away a 

Coaster Kit to one lucky winner! :)  

Just leave a comment telling me who you would make these coasters for and why they deserve them. 

WINNER will be announced Monday.