smoochie, smoochie

I decided our bedroom needed more French Kisses, and it is covered in them every day and night now. ;)



This was my original (aka practice) version of the design, done in Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden (for Michael Miller) fabric line.



The quilting was done by Lindsay at Eileen Quilts... I wasn't quite up to tackling king-sized on my own machine, and she does such beautiful work. :)

To make the quilt this big, I basically doubled everything in the pattern, did not do the inset border piecing, and used 3 yards of fabric for the 10" wide border all around.

I wish I had a good picture of it on the bed, but I couldn't get the lighting right... so I think I'll trek it over to my mom's house and try again.

I just used some big chunks of fabric for the back.

But it's extra soft, because these were printed on michael miller's couture cotton (so soft and drapey).

Anyway.

It inspires me to make my bed.  So I think it'll do.

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Also --

I have paper versions of the French Kisses pattern printed and for sale.

The patterns are full color, fully diagrammed, and printed in a little booklet.

So if you'd like one... I'll put it in the mail for you. :)

Please note: explicit directions for the big version are not included in the pattern; however, I'd be happy to give you help if you need it... just email me.  But I mentioned above -- you basically just double everything in the pattern.

One more picture --

This is what Scarlet likes to do, unprompted by me -- she opens the cupboard, pulls out the piles and surrounds herself.  Girl after Mommy's own heart methinks...

(and how much do I love that little wispy curl over her ear?) ;)

Linking up with Kati! :)

Giving away French Kisses (my first pattern!)

Giveaway is closed, but you can still comment if you'd like. :)
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In my ongoing effort to make quilting sustainable, I give you my first pattern, French Kisses -- all published and ready to go!



And I feel really grateful...

Grateful I will no longer be agonizing over how to design the cover (which I hope you like)

Or grateful I'm not sitting at the computer editing...

Or grateful I'm not still trying to figure out EQ7 and come up with cute virtual quilt options (like this one in Vintage Modern)...

You know, it's just exciting to be "done."

This quilt measures 64" x 80" -- so it makes a good twin or big throw size.  You can see that it very nicely covers my tall husband while he snoozes on the couch.

The design is a result of day-dreaming while Scarlet was eating, and we were the only two awake in the house.  It dawned on me that two of my favorite block designs could interact nicely.  Rouenneries Deux had yet to be released at the time, but I thought it might be a good design to justify adding to my French General stash.

 

I already had some Secret Garden stashed, so I made some test blocks (and then kept going) until I had enough blocks to make a quilt for our bed (this one is actually on its way back to me now from Lindsay, and I can't wait to see it -- and sleep under it)

"The hubs" got me a FQ bundle of Rouenneries Deux for Christmas, and as soon as the yardage was released, I went about to finishing this quilt.  

Lindsay of Eileen quilts did the long-arm quilting for me, and it is so beautiful; I love the big roses all over.

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I have made this quilt design twice now, and my friend Kelly tested it for me.  The blocks are big, come together quickly (remember I made both of these with a newborn not yet sleeping through the night... which she's still not doing, but she's cute nonetheless), and have lots of movement.  It's also got a great spot for fussy cutting or big focal prints (though you might need to figure in extra fabric, depending on how you cut it).

This one was made by Kelly at KelbySews

You'll notice in Kelly's quilt (which uses a layer cake of "It's a Hoot" by Momo for Moda), that she used the light gray as her solid.  When you're using a layer cake, you'll want to choose your background fabric to contrast, even a little, all the prints.  Because "It's a Hoot" has the white prints, the gray worked well.

Stained Glass French Kisses by Kelly at KelbySews

So if you like it, and want me to do your math for you, or just need a way to use up an extra layer cake or fat quarter bundle (yes, fat eighths should work fine, but I didn't create explicit directions for them) you have, then I'd love for you to buy my first pattern.

There are directions for using either a layer cake or fat quarters, and I've included a bonus layer cake pattern (called "Just Hugs"), because hey, we all love a bonus (and it was a cool design).  

The pattern is a pdf file that will be emailed to you immediately after purchase, and includes detailed and diagrammed instructions for how to cut and construct your own.  I did not write up the directions for the larger size, but if you'd like to join our quilt along, I'd be happy to help you with the math for adding blocks (you would pretty much just double the fabric if making the size I made in Secret Garden pictured above). 

To celebrate and launch my new pattern, I'm also giving away this layer cake of Rouenneries Deux, along with a copy of the pattern (and I'll probably give away another copy of the pattern too).  

To enter the giveaway:

- Leave me a nice comment {can be about the pattern, how to potty train an almost three year old boy who is as (cute and) stubborn as his father, how cute Scarlet is, how cute I am, how your day is going, whatever}.

- Pin, Blog, or Facebook with a link to my pattern for a second entry and leave a comment telling me so.

 I do hope to have this as a paper pattern, but honestly don't understand all the goings of getting a paper pattern published yet, but I'm learning!

Thank you, and I hope you all like French Kisses. 

♥ ♥ ♥

P.S. -- If you buy it and then win, I'll refund your purchase. :)

Linking to AmandaJean's Finish it up Friday.

well phooey...

The UPS man had this for me today...

But sadly the laundry and dishes fairy didn't visit our house this weekend, so it will have to just sit there looking pretty.

This is the fabric for my next quilt pattern.  I've had the design all worked up in my head (another one I dreamt up while nursing Scarlet in the wee hours of the morning) and on EQ for a while, and I am really excited to see it actualized in fabric.

Speaking of things looking pretty... here is Miss Scarlet in her new hat.

Perfect.

My friend Jen made it... we're doing a little trade; I'm making her daughter a quilt, and she's making my kiddos little hats.  I know how to crochet blankets (or I used to at least), but nothing fancy like this.  I REALLY want to learn to knit... anyone know a good "teach yourself to knit" resource?

♥

And thank you for all the encouragement with the coming very soon French Kisses pattern. :)  It's nearly complete!  I just have the finishing directions to add... oh, and it'd probably be good to get the quilt back from Lindsay (at Eileen Quilts) and take a pretty cover photo.  I'm trying to think of Parisian places I can take it to... I'll have to keep thinking.

Sharon from Lilabelle Lane was so sweet to ask her husband to make me a quilt along button...

It's in the sidebar, but feel free to grab one!



Fabric requirements again:

10 light fat quarters as background (+ one quarter yard for border pieces)
10 medium/dark fat quarters

-- OR --

2 5/8 background yardage (includes border pieces)
and a layer cake or 10 medium/dark fat quarters

2 1/2 yds for the outer border (if you want to miter your corners)
5/8 yd. binding (cut at 2 1/4")
5 yds backing (will be more than enough to create the extra needed to send it to a long-armer if you'd like -- I used some extra fat quarters for my backing + 3 yds I believe)

"French Kisses" top and quilt along

My first pattern is almost done!  And here is the quilt top. :)

It just needs a few finishing touches... you know, like...
quilting (by Lindsay of Eileen Quilts -- can't wait to work with her!)...
testing (by Kelly)...
editing and publishing! (by me)


I'm sure it will be available as a PDF, and I'm trying to figure out if it will be cost-effective to have it available as a paper pattern too, but because of how I'm diagramming everything, it really will be best in color (easy to do with a PDF of course).


If you study the design, you can see that it is a play on a couple basic half-square triangle designs, two of my favorite HST designs.  One night (hmmm, I believe it was actually the wee hours of the morning), while I was nursing the Little Miss, I dreamt up combining the two designs (I do a lot of imaginary quilt play while I'm nursing).  The thing is, I love HST designs, but I don't like all the piecing that goes with them; all those little triangles really make for a lot of pieces!  So I thought about how I could potentially simplify the blocks, and here it is -- "French Kisses."


Wanna see it again?  But with different colors?
The first quilt I did up with this pattern is actually going to go on our bed.  Here is a picture of it without the borders added (fabric is Secret Garden by Sandi Henderson, if you're curious).  I did a lot of fussy cutting for this one, and also played with solids on the corners of the blocks.

Sleeping under it will be cozy. 

The pattern cover will feature the quilt in Rouenneries Deux, (as you all know how I like the French General fabrics) and the directions will be written for both fat quarters or a layer cake.  The pattern should be conducive to a fat-eighth bundle too, with the cutting diagrams easily lending themselves to figuring that out (all the cut sizes are less than 9").

yea!  Someone's making a button for me!

When the pattern is all ready, I'll be kicking it off with a quilt along, and a giveaway of this Rouenneries Deux layer cake!

So, if you like the design, and would like me to do your math for you, I'd love you to join us. :)

And if you want to get your fabric ready -- these are my (not 100% final and published, but really close) fabric requirements: 

Quilt measures 64" x 80"

20 fat quarters (10 light/background and 10 medium or dark)

2 1/4 yds. outer border (I used the roche solid because it looks like linen)

(If you want more variety for your focal centers or for fussy cutting, throw in an extra fat quarter or two)

OR

A layer cake

2 1/2 yds. background fabric

2 1/4 yds. border

(Again, throw in a fat quarter or two if you'd like more flexibility with your fabric choices, or to fussy cut)

I hope you like "French Kisses" as much as I do.

(sorry, again, couldn't help myself). ;)

And now may my children sleep dreamily so I can get the computer work for this done!