I was part of a monthly bee, Sew Bee It, through my local quilt guild, St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild.
If you are not familiar with a bee, basically it is a small group, usually up to 12 members.  Each member gets assigned a month and during that month all the other members make a block or blocks of her choosing.  They may provide fabric or part of the fabric and the rest is pulled from your stash.

One of the blocks in our bee this round was an improv bird block.  Improv is not really in my comfort zone and especially having to look like something when it’s done so I procrastinated big time.  Turns out not only was it easy, it was really fun and went together fast.   We only needed to make one but with it being that quick and easy, I made a second.  

And then, of course, living in St. Louis and being a Cardinals fan, I had to make one for myself.   I used some leftover scraps of Baby Jane by the Comstocks for my cardinal and low volume and text prints for the background.

Want to make one for yourself?  This is the tutorial from Pie Lady Quilts. I modified the head to look more like a cardinal.  I also added extra fabric around the perimeter so my finished square would measure 12.5″.

The block I contributed for my beemate, @stlcaverly, became this beauty!

Isn’t it great?!

Have a great day!

The lawn chair quilt pattern is a quick and fun and free pattern to make by Monica Solorio-Snow, aka Happy Zombie that you can find in the Moda Bake Shop. It’s also kind of cool because it uses precuts and also, you can get 2 quilts out of three jelly rolls. But I didn’t do that.

The first couple I made were Christmas gifts for my sister, Kendra, and sister-in-law, Kelly, for Christmas. I followed the tutorial for two and made them at the same time, though I used very different fabrics for each. Let me apologize in advance for the poor photos of these first two. I’m going back a LONG time and my photos are subpar.
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I had this stack of fabrics in my stash, which I love, and decided to use them for Kendra’s quilt. I can’t remember what the fabric was called or who it was by.

I still have some leftovers that I hope to do something with some day.

For Kelly’s quilt, I used Kona chartreuse and a colorful chevron striped jelly roll.

You start sewing your background fabrics on either side of your jelly roll strips, cut to different lengths.

Then layout your blocks as desired and begin sewing your columns together.

I decided to try applique, which I hadn’t really done yet, to add their names to the backs of their quilts.

Then, of course, basting. I guess I didn’t take a photo of this riveting step in Kendra’s quilt. LOL

For Kelly’s quilt, I decided to free motion quilt swirls all over.

And for Kendra’s, loops and hearts.

And then binding. I always love binding, the anticipation of finishing the quilt, the first one to kind of use it while I’m snuggled up under it stitching it. And this time was especially nice because I was binding to Christmas lights.

I wish I had taken better photos of the finished quilts but you live and learn, huh? And actually, Kelly’s was still being bound when I took the photo of the front. 

And here’s Kendra’s.

All washed and ready to wrap up for Christmas.

The last one I made was a couple years ago. I had leftover strips of a jelly roll by @aprilrosenthal from making a @Sewkindofwonderful Metro Hoops quilt that I paired with Essex Linen for this gorgeous version. It’s one of my favorites.

I quilted it with a somewhat loose, plain meandering pattern all over.

I love how it turned out!

Thanks for stopping by.

Products used and recommended

My first lasagnas were different than now. For starters, they didn’t have meat. I also didn’t make my own marinara, and honestly, some years, depending on what’s going on and how much time I have, I will use jarred marinara.

Over time, as I learned to cook, I changed it up. I added meat, did the homemade marinara, and increased the amount of layers. That’s one thing that is fun with lasagna, is you can easily change things up, as long as you have enough sauce and cheese! Add some spinach, some vegetables, a different kind of meat or none at all. You can add taco seasoning to your meat, substitute some cheddar, and add some jalapenos, maybe some corn and black beans, and make it a little Tex Mex, if you want to spice things up! It isn’t a cheap dish and certainly isn’t good for the waistline, so I really only make it once a year.

For Christmas, though, every year, we do a classic, extra cheesy lasagna. I normally make it for Christmas Eve dinner with fresh made bread, roasted garlic and olive oil, and a big salad. Christmas Day, we normally have brunch with family, and then for dinner — left over lasagna! This year, our Christmas plans with family were rescheduled for later in January due to Covid, so we have extra lasagna to freeze for later. I may start making an extra to freeze in meal portion sizes. It freezes up great. To serve later, I defrost in the fridge, heat up in the microwave, and serve with extra sauce and parmesan.

I know you’ll love it!

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in making some things for the Mediterraneo fabric line by Katarina Roccella for Art Gallery Fabrics. The fabrics were so gorgeous, I couldn’t wait to get started!

Forgive me for the photo quality. I was trying to get everything sent off quickly but I’ll be updating these with better photos soon!

I really needed some pretty new kitchen accessories and I thought the theme of Mediterraneo would be perfect! So first I decided to make some potholders.

For these four potholders, I decided to let the fabric speak for itself and quilted around the designs so they would stand out. I then bound them with a complimentary fabric.

Next, I decided to get a little more creative. I love how these turned out and think I might need to make a couple more!

Want to make your own? Follow these tutorials below! (Printable PDF)

Single Print Potholders

You will need:

(1) 9″ square front fabric

(1) 9.5″ backing fabric

(1) 9.25″ batting fabric

(2) 9.25″ Insul Bright

(1) 2.25″ x 39″ strip for binding

Place backing fabric right side down. Place on top one of the Insul Bright pieces, then batting, then the second Insul Bright piece and finally the front fabric face up. Baste and then quilt as desired. Trim to 9″ square and bind to finish off.

Pinwheel Potholder

You will need:

(4) 2.5″ x 5″ pieces background fabric

(1) 6.75″ piece background fabric

(1) 6.75″ pinwheel fabric

(1) 9.5″ backing fabric

(1) 9.25″ batting fabric

(2) 9.25″ Insul Bright

(1) 2.25″ x 39″ strip for binding

1. Place background and pinwheel 6.75″ squares right sides together. Mark lines diagonally. See Fig. 1.

2. Next, stitch on either side of marked diagonal lines. See Fig. 2.

3. Finally, cut in half as indicated by the red lines. See Fig. 3.

4. Press seams open and then trim half square triangles to 2.5″.

5. Stitch together as shown below.

Place backing fabric right side down. Place on top one of the Insul Bright pieces, then batting, then the second Insul Bright piece and finally the front fabric face up. Baste and then quilt as desired. Trim to 9″ square and bind to finish off.

Diamond Potholders

You will need:

(23) diamonds

(1) 9.5″ backing fabric

(1) 9.25″ batting fabric

(2) 9.25″Insul Bright

(1) 2.25″ x 39″ strip for binding

Using this diamond template, cut out 23 diamonds of assorted fabrics.

Stitch together in rows as shown below being careful to not stretch the bias edges.

Sew rows together and then square up, trimming to 9″.

Place backing fabric right side down. Place on top one of the Insul Bright pieces, then batting, then the second Insul Bright piece and finally the front fabric face up. Baste and then quilt as desired. Trim to 9″ square and bind to finish off.

I also made these beautiful flour sack dishtowels to match!

To make them, I purchased flour sack towels from Amazon. I pressed them using spray starch and cut them to the same size. Then, I bound them using 1.5″ binding.

I hope you like them! If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you!

Products I used:

We had to use only Riley Blake prints but we could use any solids. I tend to run more modern traditional in my quilt designs and preferences, but I stepped a little outside the box on this one. I had no idea what I was going to do so I hit the internet for some inspiration. I ended up looking at bathroom tiles and really liked the look of these and the alternating columns.

I added some lighter gray along with some black to give it a little more interest.

The biggest challenge for me was the circles, cutting them out and getting the edges turned under and still keeping a perfect looking circle. I can’t tell you how many circles I cut and pressed to get them looking right! Now, I have an Olfa circle cutter, which I love. It cuts out perfect circles every time and you can adjust your circle size. It is awesome! I machine stitched my circles down and left them unquilted.

I really wanted to step up my game on my quilting and all these different colors and areas was a good way to practice some free motion quilting. First up, I wanted to do pebbles. Since they take a crazy long time, I decided to do pebbles only in the white areas since it was the smallest. They turned out so good, if I say so myself, but they do seem to take forever.

I did fun swirls in the light gray tiles. I always like free motion quilting swirls.

And just a tip that helps me – whenever I want to free motion quilt a design, I practice it first by drawing it over and over on a piece of paper. It gives me the feel of the shape or pattern and kind of creates a muscle memory. Then when you go to practice it on your machine, it almost feels familiar and I find it much easier. Then, I practice it on a small quilt sandwich before I take it to my quilt. I learned so much from the book Free Motion Quilting with Angela Walters . I also like Free Motion Meandering, and Shape by Shape, and Shape by Shape 2. Another really awesome resource is 365 Free Motion Quilting by Leah Day.

Sorry for the wacky lighting on this one. I had to do some photo adjustment so you could see the black and dark grey blocks better. For the black tiles, I did just “organic” straight lines. I tried to get them super straight but that is really a weak spot in my quilting talent. I need more practice doing straight line quilting.

I did some free motion squares on the dark tiles just turning and turning every so often.

This was a fun quilt to make. It really challenged me to try some new things and to step out of the familiar and stretch my skills.

Here it is getting ready to go to St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild‘s first quilt show back in 2017.

And hanging in the show!

Well, that’s all I have on this one! I hope you enjoyed. If you have any questions, I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Products used and recommended

“Smiling is definitely one of the best beauty remedies. If you have a good sense of humor and a good approach to life, that’s beautiful.”– Rashida Jones

“Peace begins with a smile.” — Mother Teresa

“The world always looks brighter from behind a smile.” — Unknown

“If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.” – Dolly Parton

“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” – Mother Teresa

“Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh

“Everyone smiles in the same language.” – George Carlin

“A woman is most beautiful when she smiles.” – Beyoncé

“And in her smile I see something more beautiful than the stars.” – Beth Revis

Something I Don’t Usually Share

…how much I miss my dad. His loss is still so tangible to me even though it has been 35 years. I work to keep my memories alive, replaying them like reruns of a favorite show. I can’t hear his voice anymore. I can’t hear his laughter but I remember it vividly, how he would sometimes laugh until he was crying. He loved to laugh. I believe in heaven and hope someday to see & hug my dad again & spend time with him. I know heaven probably isn’t like that at all, but I like to think about it.

Something I Don’t Usually Share

…how nomadic my life was while I was growing up, moving from place to place or between parents, always the new kid in a new school. I lived in 19 different cities in 18 years. I was always trying to fit in, to not be different, to be accepted. While that has made me resilient & adaptive, it has taken me a long time to learn (still) to walk through life boldly and authentically as me.

Something I Don’t Usually Share

…that when I was a teen we moved to a farm & I was introduced to farm fresh eggs & meat and was grossed out by it all. I wanted that USDA sticker on my meat & white eggs. Gardening and growing things was completely foreign to me and woe to the plant that I had to take care of. I wanted nothing to do with the farm & moved to the city with my dad. I wish I’d given the farm a chance. I wish I lived on one now, with fresh eggs & meat & a huge garden. When I think of this I’m reminded of that phrase, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it & that what you actually needed, you maybe ran away from.

Something I Don’t Usually Share

…how much I love slapstick comedy-Abbott and Costello, Lucille Ball, Dick VanDyke, Rowan Atkinson’s Johnny English & Mr. Bean’s Holiday. I thought I would die laughing when Mr. Bean got his head stuck in the turkey. 

Something I Don’t Usually Share

…how much I hate fancy food & restaurants & Michelin stars (though I did love The Hundred-Foot Journey). Maybe I am not sophisticated enough? It seems pretentious. Like a $2,500 margarita. Seriously?! I like rustic tables simple food, & love, laughter & conversation around the table. And a cheap pitcher of limeade margaritas. And hospitality.

I was asked a number of times about where I found the pattern, so I finally wrote one in 2018. We tend to like large quilts since everyone in my family is tall, so I wrote the pattern in two sizes.  The throw version is 56″ x 63″ and the larger quilt is 70″ x 84″.  

Since Sphere was no longer available, I decided to make a scrappy version so you could use any fabrics you like. I made this one in the larger size and my very patient husband held it while I took many, many photos!

One of my quilting buddies, Annie Cook, tested it and made one as a gift. It turned out super cute! She is a wonderful longarm quilter in the St. Louis area if you’re looking for someone! You can see her amazing work on Instagram @aecquilts.

And finally, I had gotten a bundle of Lavish by Katarina Roccella for Art Gallery Fabrics and wanted to do a version where the lights in the lanterns were all different colors rather than just the yellow.  This fabric line is just gorgeous.

I quilted it with loops and stars.

And used this adorable lightening bug fabric to go along with it.

Here they are hanging in St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild quilt shows!

It the first one is now in it’s permanent home with the mom of one of my old friends, who was one of the many, many victims of Hurricane Harvey.

If you’d like to make one yourself, Paper Lanterns is a fun quilt to make and is beginner friendly. You can find it in my Etsy shop! #paperlanternsquilt

Thanks for stopping by!