An autumn finish for the Fat Quarter Flourish Quilt Parade

It’s September 30, the day we parade our completed Fat Quarter Flourish quilt tops! I hope you had a chance to join My Timeless Day and me for this fun project.

I sewed up an autumn version of Fat Quarter Flourish, featuring splendid fall fabrics by Lori Holt and Sandy Gervais (Riley Blake). My version is available as a kit from My Timeless Day.  Won't this make a lovely addition to my Thanksgiving table?

I had hoped to have mine all quilted and bound by the time September 30 rolled around, but life seemed to get in the way.  I'm sure you can all relate! I plan to do some simple, straight-line quilting, which is all this little quilt needs.

If you made your own Fat Quarter Flourish this month, Allison and I can’t wait to see it. We're also excited to hold our random prize drawings! To be entered, you will need to post your photo on social media. 

FACEBOOK: Today I will post my finished top on my Facebook page.  Add a photo of your finished top to the comments section of that post!

INSTAGRAM: Post a photo of your finished top on Instagram and tag both My Timeless Day (@mytimelessday) and Carried Away Quilting (@taunjalynn).  Be sure to use the hashtag #fatquarterflourishquiltparade

Winners will be announced on both social media platforms on Sunday, October 4.  Good luck to everyone, and thank you for parading with us!

~Taunja & Allison

Next Up baby quilt featuring charming farm fabric

When I saw Stacy Iest Hsu’s newest fabric collection, On the Farm, I just had to sew up a baby quilt. The fabric is darling, with vibrant colors and charming farmyard scenes. In keeping with the country theme, I paired this collection with Moda’s Indigo Chambray and decided to use my Next Up charm pack pattern. The result is a cheerful baby quilt that is gender neutral and hay bales of fun.

Making children’s quilts is so rewarding. For me, they bring back special memories of my kids when they were little. This particular quilt reminds me of how Luke loved to play with his tractors from Grandpa and Grandma Ohlson. Luke didn’t grow up on a farm, but he visited one often!

If you look closely at the prints in the collection, you will find an array of farm animals, classic barns and windmills, and a few wildflowers for good measure. Just imagine a small child exploring each square of this quilt. What a great play quilt it would make!

For binding, I chose the red country check print, which nicely frames the chambray. I selected the cream Ol Macdonald print for the backing. I’m thinking some little person will love the back of this quilt as much as the front. This baby quilt finishes at 38” square.

Would you like to make your own farm-style Next Up baby quilt?  I thought a few of you might!  So, I’ve stocked my Etsy Shop with a supply of kits, as well as yardage for backing. The backing will be sold separately.

The kit includes the following:

Next Up paper pattern

(1) On the Farm charm pack

Moda Indigo Chambray....................... 3/4 yard

Bella Solid 9900 182 (Porcelain)......... 1/3 yard

Red Check Binding............................. 3/8 yard

Backing is sold separately.  I have all three Ol Macdonald prints available, in blue, cream and gray.  Important note: the Next Up pattern calls for 2 5/8 yards for backing, which is the standard calculation for a quilt 38” square.  However, you should check with your long-arm quilter. You may get by with just 1 1/3 yard if 44” wide is acceptable to your quilter. I used just 1 1/3 yard backing, with my machine quilter’s approval.

My Next Up pattern includes instructions for two size options: large (86” square) and small (38” square, shown here.)  This is my fifth Next Up quilt, and I never tire of making this pattern. It's quick, easy and yields such pleasing results. Here are the others that I have made.

Layer cake version in Fig Tree fabrics

Charm pack version in Fig Tree fabrics

Layer cake version in Lella Boutique fabrics

Charm pack version in Elea Lutz Fabrics

Thanks so much for your ongoing support of my small business. It means the world to me. I will work to continue to bring us patterns and projects that help us get carried away quilting!

~Taunja

New pattern: Buffalo Check Christmas Runner

I am a buffalo check girl. I have buffalo check pillows on our living room sofa, buffalo check napkins in the dining room, and even buffalo check curtains in the guest room. I recently debuted two new patterns, Buffalo Check Autumn and Buffalo Check Winter, which both feature this favorite motif. Today I have another fun pattern to show you, Buffalo Check Christmas Runner!

This holiday runner exudes timeless, homespun charm. Simple trees and scrappy stars rest upon a foundation of the classic buffalo check.  I laid out my new runner with some plates, napkins and simple greens.  Now I can’t wait to decorate my winter table using this runner as my focal point. Buffalo Check Christmas Runner is generous in length, finishing at 56 1/2” x 12 1/2.” 

Creating the 16-patch star centers was my favorite part of making this runner. Although only one charm pack is needed, I broke open two charm packs I had been hoarding: “Christmas Card” and “Merry Starts Here” by Sweetwater (Moda).  I selected my favorite prints and then fussy cut some of them so that little Christmas messages would appear. (You could just as easily sew the 16-patches from your scrap bucket.) The red star points are from the “Return to Winter’s Lane” collection by Kate & Birdie (Moda)

My evergreen trees are made using a green print from Sweetwater and a green print from “Wintertide” by Janet Clare (Moda). The stump fabric is called Brown Crow Tracks from Riley Blake’s “Calico Crow” collection. Again, these are all fabrics I had been saving.  The great thing about a runner project is that fabric requirements are often so small, you may have much of what you need right in your own fabric closet!

I was already quite happy with my runner when I finished the piecing and shipped it to Starlit Quilts for machine quilting. But I was absolutely tickled when I received the runner back from Star. The quilting motif that she selected is perfect, don’t you agree?  The scale is right on, and the simple repetitive pattern so nicely accentuates the piecing.  Thank you, Star! Once again, you’ve made me smile from ear to ear!

The Buffalo Check Christmas Runner pattern is available on my Etsy Shop in PDF format, and I’ve listed fabric requirements below. 

My Etsy Shop also has a limited supply of the Bella Solids needed for the buffalo check portion, if you would like to order the necessary yardage.  Then you could take your time deciding upon your colored prints, either from your stash or from your favorite quilt shop.

Fabric requirements for Buffalo Check Christmas Runner:

1 charm pack  OR  2 mini charm packs  OR  scraps to yield (48) 1.5” squares

White (Moda Bella Solid 9900 98 White Bleached):  1/4 yard

Light (Moda Bella Solid 9900 178 Etchings Stone):  1/2 yard

Dark (Moda Bella Solid 9900 128 Stone):  1/4 yard

Green (all one print or scraps to yield):  1/4 yard 

Red:  1/4 yard

Brown (4 pieces 1 1/2” x 2 1/2”):  Scrap

Binding:  3/8 yard

Backing:  1 5/8 yard

Thanks so much for stopping by, quilting friends! Now go and get carried away quilting, buffalo check style!

~Taunja

Progress: Fat Quarter Flourish quilt parade

I'm popping in today to share my progress on the Fat Quarter Flourish quilt parade I'm hosting with Allison Cotton of My Timeless Day.  I've finished the center block of my mini quilt, and I'm so pleased with how it's coming together. Will you be joining us?

Please be sure to visit my earlier blog post for all the details on our quilt parade. We're even holding some random prize drawings for those who finish their top by September 30 and post a photo either on my Facebook post or on Instagram.

There is still plenty of time for you to join the fun. Fat Quarter Flourish is a quick and easy project. Simply purchase the pattern if you don’t already own it.  It is available in paper or PDF format on my Etsy Shop. There are even kits available from My Timeless Day. You could also order individual fat quarters from My Timeless Day, creating your own unique bundle!

Thanks for taking the time to check on my progress.  I hope your stitching is going well. I cannot wait to see all of the beautiful creations you make!

~Taunja

Pumpkin Sky pillow: A welcoming touch for my front porch

The first week of September has ushered in bright, crisp days for those of us in Minnesota. I plan to spend part of my Labor Day weekend doing some fall decorating. As a jump start, I added a few autumn elements to my front porch, including my newest Pumpkin Sky pillow.

I hope you don’t remember that I was working on this white, butterscotch and denim version of my Pumpkin Sky pillow in September of last year! I finally got my ducks in a row and sent it off to be quilted by my friend Barb at Quilts on Broadway in Foley. The loop-de-loop quilting pattern is one of my favorites. It's soft and subtle, adding texture without overpower the piecing.

This version of Pumpkin Sky features a denim blue background from Lella Boutique’s Harvest Road collection, which sets off the white pumpkin so nicely. The orange flying geese are from a past Fig Tree collection. I just love a blue and orange color combination.

The pillow is just one project in my Pumpkin Sky pattern, the other is a wall hanging. Here are the originals, as quilted by my other lovely quilting friend, Starlit Bear of Starlit Quilts.

I used a simple envelope back construction for the pillow. You could modify to use a zipper if you desire. But for me, the envelope back always works well and is such a quick finish. My pattern includes instructions for making the envelope back.

The Pumpkin Sky pattern is available on my Etsy shop in both paper and PDF format.  I hope you’ll consider giving it a try. Happy September to you all!

~Taunja