2016 Recap :)

It's still January, so I'm going to go ahead and post a recap for last year.  OKAY then.  Without further ado, here are some numbers from 2016:

Quilts made:  12
(5 baby, 4 lap size, 1 twin, 1 queen, 1 king)
(2 were given to charity, 3 were sold, 4 were given to new babies, and the rest are still with me)
(Listed/Linked here in no particular order)

Puff Quilt in Hello Bear
Quilt Class Sampler Quilt (finished photos coming soon)
Puff Quilt in Bump to Baby
Diamond Ripple
Emily's Picture Perfect
Abecedary in Mint
ABC Improv
Carpenter Star
Diamonds in the Fire
Maggie's Charm Quilt
Do.Good:  Humility
Do.Good:  Believe Diamond Kites

A few smaller things I made last year (in no particular order):

Hot Pads for a wedding
Winter Table Runner for Mom (post coming soon)
Baby Quiet Books
Fabric Photo Book 
Red/Green Mini Swap
Vinyl Project Bag Swap
Microwave Bowl Cozies (custom order from a sweet and loyal Etsy customer - now I want some)
Hot Pads for a church service auction
Pin cushion thread catcher for a friend
Tons of new baby girl bibs
Cathedral Windows MINI mini swap

For those who have been to my blog once or twice, you may have noticed that 2016 (at least from the blogging side) was pretty much dominated by the Quilt Class I taught.  Here are the 12 sets of blocks.  Someday I'll show you the finished quilt!


And of course, here are my 12 bee blocks.  We started the year with one block in my old group before we were disbanded and dispersed into new groups.  :)



2016 Sep-Dec was also a very busy time for my Etsy shop.  I introduced a new quiet book in 2016 (check it out HERE and HERE by the end of February) and it (plus several of my bigger books) really took off during the Holiday season. 
p.s. If you go and check it out, just know that it's pretty sparse right now while I work on restocking it again on my own timeline.   :)

Because I spend so much of my sewing time working on things for my shop (which is the only reason I am able to keep my hobby fully funded), I have to document some of those numbers here too.  To prove to myself that I really did accomplish a lot last year.  ;)

Also - I tried out Amazon Handmade last year.  I like it, but once my free trial expires I will probably not continue selling on Amazon. :(  The fee schedule just doesn't work for the type/amount of products I create.  Etsy is still working great for me and keeps me JUST busy enough.  :)  For the record, about 15-20% of my sales in 2016 came from Amazon.

2016 Etsy/Amazon Shop Stats:

Total Orders:  81
Quilts: 4 (!) (2 puff quilts, 1 baby quilt, 1 custom order queen quilt)
Rummy Mats:  7
Patterns:  18
Baby Quiet Books:  27
My First Book of Colors:  7
Other Colors Books:  8
Other Quiet Books (Shapes, Letter Names):  9
Letters Quiet Book (all 26 letters):  1
Stockings:  2
Bibs:  9
Fabric Photo Books: 2
Microwave Bowl Cozies (custom order): 3

Most popular items based on views/faves:  Colors Button Book, My First Book of Colors, Shapes Book Pattern

One last thing - my most popular blog posts were these:
Quarter 1 Project List
Quilt Class Block 7: Flying Geese
Emily's Picture Perfect Baby Quilt
Diamonds in the Fire


You guys.  2017 is already turning out to be AWESOME.  I've created plan for keeping more on top of my shop this year during the slow months, and I've got tons of fun (and QUICK) quilt projects planned.  Plus, I'm going to teach myself a new skill this year - long arm quilting.  Wish me luck!!!

2017 Q1 Finish Along Time!

Hi friends!  I still need/want to write a 2016 year-in-review post (I think it was a pretty good year - very busy for my Etsy shop in the last quarter, although I still have SO many quilts still waiting to be made).   But for now I'm enjoying my new-found free sewing time (YAY no more orders!).  I would much rather be sewing than sitting here at the computer!
But since I've got all these new projects on the brain, I figured I could take a minute to write up a list and link up with the FAL.  :)  I have so many plans!

SO.  Here is my current list. I am making monthly goals on Instagram (find me at @tiffsewinsomethin), which so far is going super well.  But THIS.  This is my master list.  I have organized it according to level of progress:

Blog/Photograph:

1. WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class quilt.
It's finished!  YAY!  I finished binding this two days ago, but we can't call a quilt finished unless it's photographed and blogged, right?  (What do you think, hosts - can I still count this one?)

Bind:

Nothing in the queue at the moment.  Whew!


Quilt:

2.  Sweet Life Kaleidoscope
The SID lines are finished, I just need to figure out how to quilt it.  It's a little strange to think that this might be one of the last quilts I quilt on my domestic sewing machine!  (Oh!  Did I mention I scored a used quilting machine/frame for Christmas?  It's not as fancy as you think, and the machine is in the shop at the moment, but I'm excited to see if I can get it to work!)

Baste

3.  Moda Row Quilt

4.  Purple Runner
I don't really like the way this one turned out, but I might stick it on the aforementioned quilting frame for practice.  Do charity organizations accept table runners?

Assemble:

5. Do.Good Stitches December Quilt
All blocks have been received!  I'm planning to slice these blocks into quarters and stitch them back together into a quilt top.  I just need to decide if I want to slice vertical/horizontal or diagonal...

6.  Churn Dash Swap Quilt
I'm participating in a Churn Dash block swap with some friends.  We are each making 4 churn dash blocks for each member in the group, in their chosen color scheme.  I'm going against my normal bright, rainbow colors (well, mostly) and requested dusty/muted/burnt rainbow/fall colors.  I'm SO EXCITED!  Here is a photo of all the blocks I have made for my friends (mine are the ones along the top row).  We're swapping in February.

Piece:
7. Summerfest Hexies
I started this one on a long road trip and now it is my long term slow-stitching project.  But I really love it, so maybe it won't be so slow...

8. Swoon in Blushing.
Just in time for the #swoonalong on IG!  I'm about halfway through making these blocks.  :)

9. Be My Neighbor in B&C Basics.
I really wanted to participate in a quilt-along this year, but none of the current quilt-alongs appealed to me enough, so I picked one from 2016 that I never had time to join.  I'm using a bundle of B&C basics I won from Happy Quilting on Giveaway Day.  I'm shooting for two blocks a month.

10. Jelly Roll Race in Joel Dewberry True Colors
I've always wanted to try a Jelly Roll Race quilt and I figure this will be the perfect quilt to practice quilting with my new machine.  Fast to put together, with lots of busy prints to hide quilting, and lots of straight lines to divide the quilt into sections for practicing different designs. Here's my progress after one hour:

Cut:
11. Noah's Growth Chart.
Maybe I'll make him one for his 2nd birthday.  :D  I've got some Mixed Bag scraps set aside and the background is even already cut.

12. Apron for me.
Someday?

13.  Chunky Windmill in Little Miss Sunshine.
Again, I'm looking for a fast quilt I can practice quilting on.  I've got a layer cake of Little Miss Sunshine just begging to be made into THIS quilt.  I like that the blocks aren't set into a "background," making it easier to hide quilting mistakes.  :)

14.  Ombre Diamonds in the Deep.
I had so much fun making my Orange Diamonds in the Deep, I immediately went out and bought some ombre fabrics to make another one.  I have big plans.  I just need more time!

15.  Criss Cross in Summerfest.
I've got half a jelly roll left over from my hexie project and I'm going to see how many of April's Criss Cross blocks I can get out of it.  :)

16.  Moroccan Tiles.
I'm thinking of using my Pie Making Day bundle for this.  Or maybe one of these groupings a got in a destash from a friend.  Also - I purchased this pattern as part of the "May is for Makers" campaign (back in May).  Did anyone else participate in that?

17.  Triangle Quilt.
I've always wanted to make a random scrappy 60 degree triangle quilt.  Well, I got the ruler for Christmas, now I need to decide which of these bundles (or which of my many charm packs) to cut up.

18.  Goody Goody Binding Kit.
I NEED ONE OF THESE!  Who wants to make me one?

19. Easy Charm Quilt for the shop/quilting practice.
I keep collecting these charm packs (not pictured: Prairie) and they are begging to be used.

20. Quilt for Lisa.
A friend of mine is finally having her first baby and we are SOOOO excited for her!  As soon as I can figure out her color scheme, she's getting a quilt from me. :)


AND NOW.  Not only do I have crazy ambitious plans in my personal sewing life, I have plans for my Etsy shop.  This year I am going to focus on preparing one specific line of products roughly each quarter.  Most of these product lines will be old things remade, and some of them will be new.
For the record, here are my plans:

February:
Quiet Books (at least 8)

April:
Card Holders (12)

June:
Bibs (birthday, boy, and girl sets - about 18)

August:
Quilts (puff, charm, whatever I can get finished - hopefully 6-12)

August:
Stockings with plain cuffs for personalization (10)

September 
Rummy Mat Gift Sets (9)


OKAY!  Enough of this!  I've got some sewing to do!

Linking up:

WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class: BINDING!

It's time to finish up our quilts!  Wahoo!  The binding is the part where you trim your quilt so that all three layers are even and square, then enclose those raw edges with more fabric.   Make sense?  ;)

First you'll need to trim your quilt so that all four edges are straight and the corners are square.  You can do this with scissors, or with a rotary cutter.  I prefer to use a rotary cutter (with an old blade - batting is rough on rotary cutter blades) and my long (6 x 24) ruler for the sides and my brand new (THANKS GUYS!) big square ruler (mine is 12 x 12) for the corners.
***If you want to fold your backing over to create your binding - DON'T trim your quilt yet!  Follow the 2nd Cluck Cluck Sew tutorial a little further down.  It's an excellent tutorial.

You'll make your binding by cutting long strips of fabric (I cut mine 2.5" wide), stitching them together end to end, then folding it in half so that you have one raw edge and one folded edge.  You'll then attach the long strip to your quilt, aligning the raw edges and connecting the two ends of your strip at the end.  Then you'll fold over the binding and either hand stitch or machine stitch the folded edge to enclose all of your layers.

Here are some of my favorite tutorials for making and attaching quilt binding:

This is an EXCELLENT and very photo-rich tutorial for creating and attaching your binding:

Crazy Mom Quilts

Here is a great tutorial for stitching your binding down by machine:

Cluck Cluck Sew

This tutorial is great for stitching your binding down by hand:

Connecting Threads

Here is the tutorial for using your quilt backing as your binding.  Probably the easiest way to bind a quilt:

Cluck Cluck Sew

And now for a few extras.

This is a very helpful tutorial for getting more precise binding (machine or hand) using Elmer's Glue:

Pile O Fabric

 Flanged binding is a fun way to add a little pop to your quilt:

Sew Fresh Quilts

 Raggy Binding is really fun for little kid quilts:

A Maiden Hair Fern

 And last but not least, don't forget to label your quilts!  This is important because it helps you remember when/why/for whom/by whom a quilt was made.  You might want to include a label if you a making a quilt as a gift for someone and you want them to remember who made it for them.  You might want to include a label if there is something interesting about the quilt you want to remember (like "this was my first quilt," or "I tried curved piecing for the first time on this quilt," or "this quilt was inspired by a quilt my grandmother made").  And it's always a good idea to include the date you finished the quilt. 

Here are my two favorite methods for making and attaching a quilt label to the back of my quilt.  

This one is great for those times you remember to label your quilt before quilting it.  :)

My Quilt Infatuation

And this method works great for those of us who always forget the label until the last minute.  

**TIP** Use fusible interfacing as your lining fabric for this tutorial.  Stitch it to your label with the bumpy side FACING the right side of your fabric. Whjen you turn it right sides out, the bumpy side will be on the outside (the bumpy side is that part that will stick to your quilt when you iron it - keeping it in place while you hand stitch it down).  Just make sure not to iron anything until you are actually fusing it to your quilt.  :)

Quilty Pleasures

And of course, here is the handout from our class:
WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class:  Binding

Happy Stitching!

WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class: Free Motion/Straight Line Quilting

Okay!  It's time to talk about quilting our quilts.  Free motion quilting is my favorite.  Once you get the hang of it, you can do so many fun things!  There are a surprising amount of cool things you can do with straight line quilting, too.

Like my last post, this one is going to be pretty much full of me linking to other awesome quilters who have already done the work of demonstrating how to quilt.  My handout has some basic instructions, but you should check out some of these tutorials for sure.

However, I do have one thing I want to say before we start.   I strongly recommend you practice with a small practice piece before you tackle your full quilt.  Make a couple of small practice sandwiches using fabric your not particularly attached to and practice practice practice.  You'll feel better if you work out all the kinks on a small, disposable piece rather than on the quilt you've spent hours and hours making.  ;)

Okay.  Let's quilt.

Start here.  This is one of the places I first learned to free motion quilt.  Her instructions are very good and they start from the VERY beginning.  YES!

A Few Scraps - She even has a few books available!

Free motion Quilting with a home machine:

Craftsy

A few blog posts with tips for succeeding at Free Motion Quilting:

Craftsy

Sew Mama Sew

Once you've gotten the hang of free motion quilting and are ready to try a few new designs, you have GOT to check out this site!  Leah has HUNDREDS of free videos demonstrating quilting designs.  She's amazing.  I hear she even has a couple classes available for beginners and non-beginners alike.  ;)

Leah Day:  Free Motion Quilting Project

Alright.  If straight line quilting is more up your alley, I have rounded up a few links that you may like as well.

Start here for some great beginner ideas for straight line quilting:

Pile O Fabric

Then go here for some more straight line quilting stuff, along with troubleshooting for when things go wrong.  Isn't Alisa great for including that information?

Pile O Fabric

And here are a few posts with some inspiration/tips for straight line quilting:

Canoe Ridge Creations

Sew4Home/Heather Jones

And here are the handouts:
WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class: Basting
WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class: Straight Line and Free Motion Quiltingn (COMING SOON)

Happy quilting!

WHW RS Sample Quilt Class: Basting

Hi friends!

We're almost there!  It's time for basting and quilting.  This is the part where we create a quilt sandwich with our quilt top/batting/backing, temporarily attach them, and the stitch them together using free motion or straight line quilting on our home sewing machine.  Wahoo!  I love the quilting stage.  :)

First off, I created step by step instructions for my students, but I highly recommend you check out a few of the links I'm providing in this post.  Basting and quilting are best learned through demonstration (or photo/video tutorials) followed by lots and lots of practice.  Be patient if it doesn't look amazing on your first try.  Keep going and you'll get better and better, I promise.  :)

NOW.  Before we can quilt our quilts, we need to baste them (meaning we need to temporarily hold them together so that they can withstand lots of smooshing and shoving during the quilting stage). 

There are basically two methods for basting: Pin basting and Spray basting.  I personally prefer spray basting.  It's more expensive, but its easier and faster for me.  Plus it involves way less crawling around on the floor and I seem to get fewer puckers when I spray baste.  On the other hand, I used pins for years when I was first starting out and wasn't ready to make the investment in spray baste.  Both methods are great.  For the record.  I buy my spray baste HERE.  I can usually get 3-4 Queen sized quilts (or 6ish lap quilts or 12ish baby quilts) from one large can.

Here are some excellent links for quilt basting tutorials:

This is one of the best tutorials I have found for pin basting:

Crazy Mom Quilts

These video tutorials for basting, quilting, and binding are also excellent:

Happy Quilting

This is where I learned the tip to iron my quilts arter they have been spray basted.  I took her crafsty class, Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine and it was LIFE. CHANGING.  Worth every penny.

Obsessive Quilter

A few tips for basting (including a few alternate methods):

Craftsy

Spray basting How-To:

Craftsy

And lastly, if you're interested, here's a thread basting technique that may work for you (I've never tried it):  Sharon Shamber Thread Basting

Here is my handout:  COMING SOON...

Stay tuned for quilting instructions!

WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class: Sashing and Backing

Alrighty then.  The next thing we need to do for quilt class is assemble all our blocks together!

Wahoo! Because the blocks are all so different and we don't want them to get all muddled together, I highly recommend assembling then with sashing (the thin strips of fabric between the blocks, creating a sort of frame around each block).

Here are my finished quilt tops!  Regular blocks in the 12" size on the left, alternate blocks in the 9" size on the right.  I had just enough fabric left over to create the checkerboard borders for the alternate quilt, bringing it up to the same size as the regular quilt.  I'm planning to make a double-sided quilt!

At our quilt class last week, rather than give exact measurements for our particular quilt, I explained how to calculate and prepare sashing strips for ANY quilt. There is even an alternate method for creating sashing. the instructions I made are attached at the end of this pout.
I also found some great resources for you all if, in case you need more inspiration or guidance for assembling your quilt with sashing:

This is an awesome article about sashing:

Craftsy

And a great follow-up on borders:

Craftsy

This is a great blog post for new quilters about sashing and borders, with lots of helpful links:

Sew Fresh Quilts

Check out Jenny Doan's Video here for ideas:  Missouri Star Quilt Company: Quilt Sashing Ideas

A few more pictures of pretty quilts with sashing:

A Quilting Life

A Little Bit Biased

Of course, you don't have to assemble your blocks with sashing. You don't even have to assemble them in a traditional grid - do a Google images (or Pinterest) search for "modern sampler quilt layouts" and you'll see what I mean.

Once your quilt is assembled and you know exactly what size it ends up, it's time to prepare your backing and batting so that you are ready for the quilting process.

Again, I prepared a (pretty extensive) handout explaining all your options here and attached it at the end of this post.

Basically, you need a piece of batting that is at least 2"larger than your quilt top all the way around, and a backing that is at least 4" larger than your quilt top all the way around.

I found some awesome links for you with some ideas for preparing your backing, particularly if you want to piece it to save money.  Check them out:

Holly has a some great tips for creating pieced backs here:

Bits of Everything

Here's a great example of a pieced back made from leftover fabric:

Quilt Story/Nancy Noodle

One idea we never covered is to create a big border to go around your yardage to make your backing bigger:

Cabbage Quilts

 And here's one more post with some ideas for you:

Victoriana Quilt Designs

ONE MORE NOTE - In the handout, I show you an alternate method of creating sashing by sewing sashing pieces onto two sides of your blocks, then assembling the blocks together as if there were no sashing.  Another option similar to this one would be to sew a skinny border around all four sides of every block, then assemble the blocks together.  :)

And here are the handouts
WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class: Sashing and Backing