Simplify

Snapshots Quilt Along

Last weekend my mom and I headed back to Texas for something really special- that quilt right up there.

This is the Snapshots quilt, which is part of a Fat Quarter Shop quilt along for a cause, this one benefiting the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Did you know that the families of the children receiving treatments at St. Jude's don't have to pay a dime? St. Jude's wants the families to worry about helping their children get well, not about how to pay medical bills during such a difficult time.

So here's how it works. Each month, starting January 15, a video tutorial will be released on the Fat Quarter Shop blog to make one of the blocks. With each tutorial, my mom, Kimberly and I will be sharing memories, photos, and stories that go along with the block. All of the patterns will be free, but we are hoping that people can donate $5 per block to raise money for this great cause. Did I mention Fat Quarter Shop and Moda Fabrics are matching every dollar raised up to $10,000? Pretty great, right? You can donate and track the progress here. 

Oh! And if you would like to make one from Daysail just like ours, you can reserve your kit for everything you need for the top and binding now. If you do, you'll even get the first few blocks before they are available. There's more info about that here. And lots of links for the quilt along here!

We really are so grateful for the opportunity we had to participate in all of this and help raise money for St. Jude's. The last year and a half my mom has been battling breast cancer, so this really hits close to home. She is feeling much more like herself now, and we feel so lucky to help give back after all the kindness and love that we've been shown. A big thank you to Kimberly and all of the Fat Quarter Shop crew for inviting us to come be a part of something so wonderful.

So, which block is your favorite? Will you be sewing along? If you are, make sure to use the hashtag #fqssnapshots so we can see your blocks as you make them. I can't wait to get started on mine.

Quilt Market and Scraps Inc.

Lots to catch up on!

First, Fall Quilt Market in Houston has come and gone. It was so wonderful to be there with my mom again (who is doing great!) and to catch up with old friends. We don’t get to see our quilt market friends nearly enough, so that is always such a treat. We showed Daysail in our booth, and it was so fun to see everyone excited about it. Most of the time we are just working alone in our sewing rooms in our pajamas, so it's quite different than normal day to day designing stuff. :-)

 

(Isn't this a cute picture of my mom while she's talking to a customer?)

I didn’t get nearly enough real photos, but did get a few pictures up on Instagram. One of the highlights of this Market was seeing Scraps Inc, a brand new Lucky Spool collaboration I contributed to, in person. It is such a fabulous collection of scrappy quilts, and I’m not exaggerating when I say I want to make every single one! There are so many amazing quilts and designers in this book.

Here’s mine, called Delightful.

It's a really simple quilt that was made entirely from my scrap bin and one of my favorite backgrounds, the gray and white dot from Ruby. I used Moda Pez in navy for the binding, and some of Vanessa's Simply Color for the backing. 

I am kicking myself for not getting any good in progress photos (or photos before I sent it off), but this one was made during some late night sewing a while back, so they wouldn’t have been that great anyway. :-) 

Abby quilted it in the most perfect swirl, and I washed and dried to to make it extra wrinkly. Unfortunatly, traveling here and there left it even more wrinkly for these photos (sorry!), but nothing that another good wash and dry won’t fix. 

See?

I really enjoyed making this quilt, and enjoyed working with Susanne and the Lucky Spool team even more. They have made some really beautiful books, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next. If you think you’d enjoy Scraps Inc (and I think you will!) they have a special right now directly from Lucky Spool for 30% off using the code SCRAPS30.

I have a few more things to write about, but they will have to wait for another day. It’s cold outside, my sewing room is nice and warm, everyone is ready for bed (after Elf is over), and I have a quilt I’m working on just for fun. No deadline! Oh, and the Gilmore Girls. How have I not watched this before?

       

Have a great day!