Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

(Tote Back) Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

(Tote Front) Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

(Interior View) Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

(Tote Base) Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

(Tote Back) Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

Image credit: Jessica Sands Photography (jessicasands.com)

I sat down a couple weeks ago determine to finish a couple samples of my new pattern, the Hillside Tote, using Pendleton Wool. I knew as soon as I was making my initial samples of the Hillside that I would definitely need to make a few using some wool. The fabric sat and waiting patiently while I got the pattern ready and got the other samples made. My friend Brienne made a Hillside using some and it was all I needed to carve out enough time to sew up two, one for me and one for my mom.

On my trip to Denver a couple years ago I was lucky enough to be able to shop in person at the Fancy Tiger Crafts store! It was delightful! I wish I had more room in my small suitcase at the time, because of course they have so many great fabrics and supplies. I spent as long as I could touching all the fabrics and made my way home with some favorites. Two in the stack were Pendleton wools which promptly went into the ‘set aside for a future important project’ area of my stash. I would pull it out from time to time, but it took me a little over two years to commit. Feels a little crazy because it is!

I sent my mom a few pics of choices and let her decide what colors she liked best. The wool is two sided, so each side is the opposite on the reverse side – two fabrics in one! These are the mini size of the pattern. And I should note that if you have a super special fabric, you can cut the two exterior pockets from a fat quarter for the mini size. Yay for that! I also decided to add a rivet to the top of the divided part of the back pocket, just a fun little detail. Not necessary for function, but pretty.

Well, these beauties came together quickly with a few scraps of waxed canvas and leather straps. I’m so excited to use mine! I’ve been waiting!

Pattern: Hillside Tote (mini size)
Fabrics: Pendleton from Fancy Tiger Crafts (I believe you have to call in to buy yardage, they don’t offer it on the website), waxed canvas from AL Frances Textiles

Thankful Sale 2019! All PDFs and leather 20% off!

Just a quick hello and a huge thank you to every single one of you! I certainly wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for YOU and this awesome sewing community! Thank you! I’m having my 8th annual sale on all my PDF patterns and leather straps in my shop! Wahoo! I’ve also put my booklet, Everyday Essentials on sale! It makes a great gift. From now through Monday, December 2nd (11:59pm CDT) 2019 all PDF patterns and leather items are 20% off. No coupon code necessary, all prices reflect the discount.

This is the first time the Redwood Tote and Crescent Tote patterns have been on sale! Yippy!

For the leather please know that the discount applies while supplies last. The leather is fully stocked, but if the item you want is out of stock please check back the following day. If you’re looking at getting a certain color/length be sure to stop by early!

No coupon code necessary, all prices in shop reflect discount.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Oh, and the fabric stack includes Carolyn Friedlander’s Instead collection and Cotton + Steel’s Grumpy Whale and In Bloom canvas.

Thank you so much from my family to yours!

Photo credit: Jessica Sands Photography

As I began to think about what my studio space would look like, I had a vision of framing several large traditional quilt blocks and framing them for some wall decor. I’ve seen framed quilt blocks through the years (check out Suzy’s framed mini quilts here) and thought it would be an approachable and fun project while also packing a visual punch!

At my annual friends quilt retreat last summer (yes, 2018) I made almost all the quilt blocks. I’ll go into detail about each block below, but for now I wanted to share the details of the project in general. I first thought of a gallery wall of 9 blocks, so I set out to make nine 12″ blocks. I chose blocks that were visually appealing, plus some recognizable ones that I thought would be fun to share with non-quilters. I didn’t end up using them in a gallery like I had planned, but I really like how they look leaning on wall shelves. They’ll be easy to swap out and move around!

I used Ikea Ribba frames (the 19 3/4″ square ones) and had a piece of mat board cut to fit the opening of the existing mat. I wanted the blocks to sit on top of the mat and this allowed for the quilt block to not sink into the shadowbox type frame. So I just taped the piece of mat into the Ikea mat with clear shipping tape on the back side and then used double stick tape to mount each quilt block centered within the frame on the front of the mat. It went pretty smoothly! Before I framed each print I hand quilted them a little to add some texture and detail to each block. I tried to highlight the block design.

For fabrics I stuck with four main choices in my favorite black and white color scheme. I find that I almost always gravitate to black white and gray so I felt like it was a good choice for these framed blocks! I used Essex white, Essex black, Essex Yarn Dyed Homespun in Charcoal, Cirrus Solid in Shadow.

Ohio Star

Anvil and Nine Patch Variation

Jacob’s Ladder

Log Cabin

Friendship

Dutchman’s Puzzle

So now onto each block! I made 7 total blocks (five of which I have framed and hanging in my studio currently, the other two are going to get hung in bathroom or back room perhaps):

• Friendship
• Log Cabin
• Jacob’s Ladder
• Dutchman’s Puzzle
• Ohio Star
• Anvil
• Nine Patch Variation

For each block I referenced Quilter’s Cache, which is a really great site for quilt blocks! A little hard to navigate, but it’s packed with everything you’d need! It was a fun way to explore traditional blocks and not have to commit to a whole quilt! It was kind of hard to not make plans for a whole log cabin quilt (I still might!) plus a scrappy Friendship quilt might be super fun, too. I’m keeping my options open. 🙂

Hope you find this helpful. I think this would be a really fun project to gift as well! Plus I love using them as a prop for photos, I think it really makes an impact!

Couldn’t help but include Frida, our new pup. She loves the sun and coming to work with me.