Destinations Project Tour with Riley Blake Designs

Welcome to my stop on the Destinations Project Tour with Riley Blake Designs. I love these Destination panels by the Anderson Design Group. My family and I love to travel so these are right up my alley! If you remember I made up a NYC quilt with a NYC panel. I also created a pattern using this panel. I used the same pattern for this quilt! This pattern works with ANY panel! You can find the pattern here.

Confetti Cottons with New England panel

This time we took a little trip to my neighborhood, New England! I live outside of NYC which puts us in New England! Growing up in Idaho I had no idea that parts of New England are suburbs of NYC. But this is where we have called home for over 8 years. So this New England panel is perfect!

Confetti Cottons

I chose these Confetti Cottons to coordinate with the panel. I used Riley White, Riley Red, Riley Navy and Peacock. See my quilt pattern for fabric requirements. I thought this gave it a bit of a patriotic look to the quilt. New England is so historical and integral in creating the United States of America.

Flying Geese with the pressing dream team!

I assembled the flying geese first. Just like in the NYC pattern, I only used one accent flying geese. The red matched the panel so well! I think the one accented flying geese gives it a modern feel.

I also used what I call the pressing dream team to assemble my flying geese. I use my Oliso iron for all my pressing needs. Then I place my Riley Blake Designs clapper on top for a minute or so. I have such flat flying geese! I love this combo. If you haven’t tried these out, give it a shot!

Fork Pins

Once I have all of my flying geese assembled, I need to stitch them together. I do this by using FORK PINS!!! These are the best! They hold both sides of the seam while stitching. I have such better points while I’m using these. Which means less unpicking with my seam ripper. If you haven’t tried fork pins, give them a try!

New England quilt

Nothing says New England more to me than a forested area by a beach! We have one close to our house. This is where all the boats dock. I love this place! It is perfect for a little photoshoot!

Uncle Sam Blossoms Fabric

I used Christopher Thompson’s Uncle Sam Blossom for the backing on this quilt. It is so patriotic and the perfect basic! I LOVE it! This is the same print I used as my background on my EPP stars table topper.

New England Quilt

I did straight line quilting on this quilt. My lines are 1 inch apart. I used my BERNINA 770 QE with a walking foot to quilt this up. I also used my favorite Aurifil thread. I used 2021 which is just the right shade of white to match my background fabric and the backing!

Thanks for stopping by! If you would like to see more of what I’m up to you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and subscribe to my new YouTube channel.

Chirp Out!

Jen

Old Made Project Tour with Riley Blake Designs + Tutorial

Hi! I am sew excited to share this project with you today! I fell in love with J Wecker Frisch’s new line Old Made for Riley Blake Designs. All of these illustrations are amazing. And I had sew much fun sewing with this fabric. These faces are hilarious and I couldn’t stop laughing at all of the sewing puns. Well done!

We are a game playing family! So when my kids saw the card panel, they decided we needed a new set of playing cards! Family game night for the win!

Would you like to make playing cards too? I am going to share a quick tutorial on how to make this panel into playing cards.

Supplies you will need:

Old Made card panel (1 yard to get two of every card)

1 yard Grey Wallflower Fabric for backing

Oliso Mini Iron

HeatnBond Fusible Fleece

HeatnBond Craft Extra Firm Non-Woven Fusible Pack

SpraynBond Fabric Stiffener

Aurifil Thread Grey Smoke

Hera Marker

Rotary Cutter

Sewing Machine

Press interfacing

Start by cutting out eat card. Leave a 1/4″ around the edges of each card. Once cut, the cards will measure 4 1/2″ x 6″. Cut out the backing fabric at 4 1/2″ x 6″. I used the Grey Wallflower print.

Then you need to cut out the fusible fleece and extra firm interfacing. To reduce bulk in the cards, cut these pieces at 4″ x 5 1/2″. Once your pieces are all cut out, press the fusible fleece to the wrong side of the card print, per manufacturer’s instructions. Press the extra firm interfacing to the wrong side of the background fabric. I use my favorite mini Oliso iron for all of my pressing!

Once the fleece and interfacing are adhered to the fabric it’s time to sew! With right sides together, place the card and the backing fabric together. Stitch 1/4″ around the entire card, leaving about 3″ opening at the bottom. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end. I am using my favorite Aurifil thread to stitch these up. I am using 50 wt. And I found the perfect shade of Grey Smoke to match this fabric line!

Tip: trim the corners of the card. Make sure you don’t clip your stitches. This will reduce bulk in the cards.

Next, turn your card inside out. Make sure to push out each of the corners. Stitch around the entire card using about 1/8″ seam allowance. Finger press your opening closed, tucking your 1/4″ seam into the card.

I wanted to quilt these cards a little bit. I used a Hera marker to mark my quilting lines. I quilted from diagonal to diagonal. This gives the cards some structure and makes them more sturdy for little hands to play with!

To give these cards even more structure, I used a new product by Thermoweb called Fabric Stiffener. This stuff is magic! My cards are now stiff and I love it!

This little kitty was so excited to play our new game! These cards are bigger than normal playing cards. That makes it perfect for kids! The fabric also makes the cards more durable.

Matching game

There are two games you can play with these cards. We enjoyed a super fun matching game! I took out some of the cards so it would be easier for my daughter to match! And seriously Miss Spellbinding??? These are just so funny!

Old Made

We also played a fun game of Old Made! Make sure to remove one Old Made card to play Old Made since you only need one of her and the panel comes with two!

Thanks for following along today! I’m off to play more rounds of Old Made! If you would like to see more of what I’m to you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and subscribe to my new YouTube channel.

Chirp Out!

Jen

Ahoy! Mermaids Project Tour with Riley Blake +Bag Tutorial

I am so excited to share this fun project with you today! Ahoy! Mermaids by Melissa Mortenson is so cute! We are big mermaid fans over here. So this fits right in!

Ahoy! Mermaids

This fabric line comes with such a fun panel. You can see a close up of this mermaid on the panel. I knew this would be the perfect center for this bag. Ahoy! Mermaids also comes with plenty of pink prints and has gold metallic accents. Pink and sparkly!

I had to gather the pink team to sew this project up! I am using my mini pink Oliso iron for all of my pressing. I am also using my pink Olfa rotary cutter. And these pink Aurifil thread spools match perfect. I am using 2440 and 2415 which match the pinks in this fabric line.

Would you like to make a mermaid bag too? I am including the cutting instructions for you.

1- Cut out your favorite mermaids from the Ahoy! Mermaids panel. Leave 1/2″ border around each mermaid.

2- Cut 2 piece A at 1 1/2″.

3- Cut 2 piece B at 3″.

4- Cut 4 piece C at 1 1/2″.

5- Cut 2 lining pieces at 10 3/4″x 12 1/4″

Now download the assembly instructions found below.

ahoy mermaid bagDownload

Pressing Interfacing

Once you have assembled your bag front per the assembly instructions it is time to attach your interfacing. Cut your interfacing pieces at 10 1/2″ x 12″.

I love Thermoweb products. When I needed an interfacing for this bag, Thermoweb is the brand I reach for. I used HeatnBond Fusible Fleece for the lining and HeatnBond Light Weight Non-woven Fusible Interfacing for the outside of the bag. Make sure you cut 2 pieces of fusible fleece and 2 pieces of the interfacing.

For construction of the bag I used Seasoned Homemakers tutorial. My bag is much smaller than hers. It needed to be little girl size! I did not make the straps as that is not my favorite part (turning little pieces…blah!) I found some sparkly webbing at Hobby Lobby that matched the gold accents perfect in this fabric line.

Ahoy! Mermaid bag

We headed to the beach for a fun photoshoot! This mermaid looks right at home at the beach! The fusible fleece and the interfacing add structure to this bag so it isn’t too floppy. And the top stitching I did with Aurifil thread is the perfect little accent.

Mermaid girl

My daughter is obsessed with mermaids. The whole time I was making this bag she kept asking if it was for her! Haha, yep! So we had to get a few pics with this mermaid loving girl at the beach. Pink and sparkly and mermaid! What is not to love?!?

Mermaid Hair Don’t Care

For the other side of the bag, we chose the ‘mermaid hair don’t care’ panel. I mean, look at that mermaid hair! She is in her element at the beach. She also had to bring along her mermaid friend, which now lives in this bag.

Mermaid loving girl

I just had to share one more pic of this mermaid loving girl! She loves her new bag, or purse as she calls it! If you haven’t purchased this fabric line, run and grab some! It is what mermaid dreams are made of!

Thanks for stopping by today! If you would like to see more of what I am up to you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and subscribe to my new YouTube channel!

Chirp Out!

Jen

Tiny Treaters Project Tour with Riley Blake Designs

I am so excited to share my Tiny Treaters project today! My kids have been so confused as to why I am sewing up a Halloween quilt in the spring. I keep telling them we are extra ready for Halloween this year! And I tried explaining to them about fabric releases and how fabric shows up before the Holidays so we can have our quilts all done in time!

I typically make my kids’ Halloween costumes. We have made everything from Peter Pan to Elsa and Anna. With such elaborate costumes and a lot of them…I have six kids, I usually run out of time for a Halloween quilt. I am sew excited to have this checked off my list for the year! Halloween quilt- done!

Tiny Treaters

I used a Fat Quarter bundle of Tiny Treaters and added some Riley Blake Designs basics. This fabric line is sew much fun! Jill Howarth (Zippyboro) did an amazing job with these cute prints. I love the little animals trick or treating. And some of the prints are glow-in-the-dark!

Animal Trick-or-Treaters

Here is a close-up of the animal trick-or-treaters. Isn’t that fox so cute? And the ghost skunk? Each little vignette is so adorable. These prints become a look and find for my kids. They keep finding some new animal going trick-or-treating.

I have to use my favorite tools while quilting! My pink mini Oliso iron is one of my favorites. It is the perfect size to keep close to my sewing machine. I also love my Olfa rotary cutter. And everything I stitch is with Aurifil thread. I use 2021 in 50 wt. It matches everything and works for piecing and quilting.

Riley Blake Designs Basics

I added some Riley Blake Designs basics to the Tiny Treaters. The basics I included are Gunny Sack Halloween, Pin Dot Halloween, Blossom on white with Black, Swiss dot on white with Hot Pink, and Bee Background Cross Stitch Grey. These basics are some great Halloween low volumes.

I also used my Plan to Quilt planner to create this quilt. I love my Plan to Quilt planner. It is an undated planner that keeps me and projects organized! You can use my code SMITTENCHICKEN to receive 10% off your purchase.

Greek Cross blocks

I created a traditional Greek Cross block. It goes together super fast with straight piecing. There are no half square triangles or flying geese to piece. This was a fast quilt to chain piece.

I am still working on a pattern for this quilt! Stay tuned for a new pattern coming soon! And if you have a name suggestion, leave it in the comments! I am still deciding on a name so give me your ideas!

At the cemetery

We took this quilt out to a local cemetery to get some fun Halloween pics. The Northeast is full of old cemeteries. We found this one outside of a church. The church was founded in 1622! Some of these graves were so old. It was cool to see the different headstones from long ago.

More cemetery pics

It was also a perfect overcast day! The overcast and the storm coming added to the spooky factor! Happy Halloween!

Thanks for following along today! If you would like to see more of what I am up to you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and subscribe to my new YouTube channel.

Chirp Out!

Jen

Riley Blake Designs Project Tour- EPP Land of Liberty with Aurifil+ Video

Hi! I am excited to share my quilted table topper for the Land of Liberty project tour with Riley Blake Designs. I love patriotic fabric! And My Mind’s Eye nailed it with this fabric line!

EPP stars with Aurifil

Each month as an Aurifil Artisan, we have a new challenge to focus on. This month was EPP (English Paper Piecing). I knew instantly I wanted to make stars with this amazing patriotic fabric. If I machine piece these star blocks then I end up with one thing…y-seams. Y-seams are not my favorite. So to achieve this block, EPP it is! I had sew much fun with this on-the-go method of sewing. My daughter and I enjoyed watching The Great British Baking Show while I stitched these up (which seems a little unpatriotic-haha).

I created a YouTube video using my top 7 EPP tools. Most of these tools are by my friends at Riley Blake Designs. Watch the video as I talk about each tool and why it’s on my must have list! The following are the 7 must have tools:

Sue Daley’s Rotating cutting mat

Sue Daley’s Glue Pen

Sue Daley’s Size 11 needles

Cindy’s seam ripper

Riley Blake Designs Clapper

Oliso Mini Iron

Aurifil Thread

I used Aurifil 50 wt. for all of the EPP. I love 50 wt. because it is not too thick or too thin to EPP with. It glides through the fabric like butter. I have no thread breakage. And there are a ton of colors to chose from to get the perfect match to your fabric. I used my favorite 2021 white to EPP. There is a lot of white in this fabric line, so it matched great!

Table Topper

After I finished stitching up all of my stars I appliquéd these stars onto the cutest background fabric, Uncle Sam Blossom by Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake Designs. The red and blue little blossoms are so cute and match Land of Liberty perfectly. I used what I’ve heard called Sue Glue by Sue Daley to appliqué the stars. Then I used a blanket stitch on my Tula Pink Bernina to attach the stars to the background.

Aurifil Liberty

One of my favorite pieces of this whole quilt is this spool of thread! This spool of Aurifil is called Liberty. It is a variegated thread that transitions from red to white to blue. I used this thread to appliqué and quilt this quilt. I love it!

Quilt back

Land of Liberty has an awesome panel! The flag is a cheater print that looks like it is pieced with all of the cute prints in this fabric line. I decided to back my table topper with this flag panel. Now I have a double sided table topper. Probably my favorite print is the text print in Land of Liberty. The text is the lyrics to the National Anthem. When I was in high school, I sang the National Anthem for the football games. Since I sang it so much, I grew to love this song. So this fabric is extra special to me! I can’t wait to use this table topper this summer!

Star binding

Here you can see a close up of the binding. I decided to bind this in navy stars. I think it frames out the quilt and matches the borders of the flag. You can also see a close up of the Liberty thread! I seriously can’t get enough of this Aurifil Liberty thread!

Land of Liberty EPP stars

Now if it would just warm up, I am ready for summer! And now I need a new EPP project! This one was sew much fun! And I have the best tools ready to EPP!

Thanks for stopping by today! To see more of what I am up to, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and subscribe to my new YouTube Channel!

Chirp Out!

Jen

Make it Modern Project Tour with Riley Blake + a New Pattern

Hi! I am so excited to share my Make it Modern project with Riley Blake. One thing that really says modern quilt to me is the use of solids. Typically I only use solids as a background. Using all solids to create this quilt was so much fun! Riley Blake has a great selection of Confetti Cottons. And I decided to go all PINK! No surprise there with the amount of girls living in my house! We love pink!

All the Pinks

I love ombre and I wanted to create that effect with my quilt. And these pinks were spot on! I also fell in love with this Blossom print. It’s called ‘All the Pink’ and is a perfect match!

I used my pink tools to match! My Oliso pink iron is one of my favorite tools! It gets so hot and is the perfect size to keep by my sewing machine for quick pressing. I love my Olfa pink rotary cutter. And Aurifil thread is my favorite to use! I use 2021 white to piece everything!

Plan to Quilt

One of my favorite tools is my Plan to Quilt planner. This undated planner keeps all of my projects organized. I really loved using it for this project. Now I have record of which solids I used for this project. (It can be hard to remember which solids I used!) Shannon is offering my readers 10% off Plan to Quilt when you use the coupon code SMITTENCHICKEN!

Alma Quilt

I had so much fun working on this quilt! It comes together so fast! And is my newest pattern! Welcome to the quilt world ALMA! You can check it out in my Etsy shop.

Alma means heart and soul

So now you are asking, why would you name your quilt Alma? After doing some research, we found that Alma means heart and soul in Spanish. (my husband speaks Spanish- thanks for Spanish lesson Kev!) That is exactly what quilting is for me! I pour my heart and soul into each and every quilt. Especially my patterns. So Alma it is!

We all need more heart and soul!

Doesn’t this dusting of snow work perfect with this quilt? We went on a winter hike for some beautiful quilt pics. We found these old ruins close to me that just needed a little heart and soul…Alma.

This quilt is perfect for Valentine’s Day. But we celebrate love all month long! Our anniversary and my birthday are also in February. So I won’t be putting away this quilt anytime soon. I think I may leave it out all year since we all need a little more heart and soul right now!

Keryn’s Chevron Quilting by Kim

I had to show a close-up of this quilting. Kim Santariello of Buried Threads did an amazing job quilting up my quilt. She used the design Keryn’s Chevron. I love the bold, modern look this quilting adds to the quilt. Its a perfect match! I also had to bind it with Riley Blake black and white stripes. They make the best stripes! And you can find them in so many colors!

Thanks for following along today! If you want to see more of what I’m up to, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and my new YouTube Channel! Be sure to check out this new pattern in my Etsy shop!

Chirp Out!

Jen

Riley Blake Project Tour- Notting Hill with Aurifil + Video Tutorial

Are you an Anglophile? I most certainly am! When we were young, my cousin and I used to pretend to have British accents while traveling through Yellowstone National Park. As I have grown older, I still love British accents and have a slight obsession with Jane Austen, British Royalty, any British History and the Great British Baking show to name a few. So yes, I am an Anglophile! When I saw Amy’s new fabric line- Notting Hill for Riley Blake I just knew I had to make something with it!

Notting Hill fabric with Aurifil Thread

Riley Blake recently released a line of Chambray fabric by Christopher (a.k.a. the Tattooed- quilter.) I wanted to try it out too! Doesn’t it match perfectly with this Notting Hill fabric?

I decided to make a travel pouch in anticipation of the day when I get to travel again! Do you want to make one too?

Here are the supplies you will need:

Notting Hill Fabric

Aurifil Thread

Zipper

Fusible Fleece

Iron-on Vinyl

Walking Foot for your sewing machine

Pouch Pattern

I created a video on my new YouTube Channel! I take you step by step on how to sew a zipper! Make sure to subscribe!

How to Attach a Zipper

This month’s Aurifil Artisan challenge was to use 3 different thread weights! I chose my three favorite- 50 weight, 28 weight and Floss.

3 Aurifil thread weights

Let’s be honest 50 weight is my favorite! I use it for everything! I used it to construct the bag. You can’t see it on the outside of the bag, but it is holding it all together. You can see 50 weight in action in my video!

I decided to add the word London to the bag. I drew out the text, traced it on the chambray and stitched it with floss. I love using Aurifil floss. They have so many colors! I can always find the right shade that I need.

28 weight thread

I am new to using 28 weight thread. I really wanted the quilting to stand out (even if it is straight line quilting). I absolutely love the way this Aurifil stands out on the Chambray. I used Aurifil 2415 for both the 28 weight and the floss. And it matches Notting Hill perfectly!

Vinyl lined interior

The last thing I added to the bag was a Vinyl-lined interior. I used HeatnBond Iron-on Vinyl to turn this pretty floral into a vinyl interior. This protects the fabric from spills or messes that may occur while using the pouch. Who am I kidding?!? My kids are going to spill all over this! Now it will wipe clean WHEN the mess happens.

London Travel Pouch

Now I’m all ready for my next adventure! Whenever the world opens up again! London is high up on my list!

To see more of what I am up to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and my new YouTube channel!

Chirp Out!

Jen

Sparkle Project Tour with Riley Blake

Did you know that Riley Blake has a line of basics called Sparkle? I have been sewing with it all month and I LOVE it! Because it is a basic, that means it will never go out of print. So you can buy this Sparkle fabric year round.

Sparkle Quilt Swish

I used this Sparkle fabric on the back of my Log Cabin-ish quilt. Now that my Holidays are starting to look all sparkly, I knew I needed to add another Holiday project.

Sparkle Basics by Riley Blake

What better Holiday project than stockings? Can you believe I have never made stockings for my family? My kids have been asking for new stockings. We have been using some hand-me-down stockings for a long time. I didn’t want to commit until I could have a full matching set. Haha So with our baby caboose, it was time!

Stocking front

The stocking pattern I used is a free tutorial on Suzy Quilts blog. She has great directions to follow. I love the shape of these. I also had to use my favorite tools to assemble the stockings. I keep this Oliso iron next to my sewing machine for quick pressing. I use Aurifil thread for everything, quilting and piecing! And my Olfa rotary cutter is my favorite. Plus I really love pink tools!

I made a variety of patterns with the Sparkle basics. This one is a simple patchwork. I love the way it looks. I used the Sparkle arrows, kisses, snowflakes, stripes, Swiss dots, Blossoms and the newest addition to the basics- pin drops.

Stockings

I can’t decide which stocking is my favorite! I was inspired by the #sunnystockingsal on Instagram and used their pattern for the diamonds. I love how the diamonds turned out on this stocking. I also made a simple patchwork stocking. I love this one too!

HST Stocking

Another pattern I used was half square triangles. I also really love this HST stocking. I think my kids are going to love these new stockings!

Stocking Back

For the back of the stockings, I used the Sparkle Blossom basics. I thought these looked like snow falling. I quilted these up using my Bernina and my favorite Aurifil thread. I used 2021 white 50 wt. thread. It matches perfectly with the white background Blossom fabric. I also used Aurifil thread to assemble the stockings. I really love the versatility of 50 weight thread!

All 8 stockings!

Thanks for stopping by! If you would like to see more of what I’m up to, you can follow on my Instagram @thesmittenchicken, Facebook, Pinterest and my new YouTube channel!

Chirp Out!

Jen