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June 2018

AGF Community Sampler GRAND FINALE REVEAL

Hi Fabric Friends,

 WE DID IT!!  The Community Sampler sew along hosted by Maureen Cracknell and Sharon Holland has come to an end and today we reveal our finished quilt! These beauties below each had a hand in the creation of this quilt and I couldn’t be more proud. With the majority of the girls sewing experience ranging from never touching a sewing machine to dabbling a bit in the sewing world I am so honored to have had the opportunity to get to teach each one of these gals the basics to sewing and creating a quilt block.

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Quilt Made With Splendid Fusion Fabrics

A special thanks to all of you who followed us on our journey each week and for commenting on each one of the girls blocks. Your motivational words of encouragement and advice means the world to us. If you missed out on these posts, don’t worry I got ya covered. Check out the links below to "meet the girl" behind the block.


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Block 1- Kitty-Corner Block made by Me (Melissa, a.k.a Meli :) )

Block 2 - Dovecote Block made by Steph

Block 3- Ribbon Star Block made by Michelle

Block 4- Cactus Block made by Jess

Block 5- Fairground Block made by Kelly

Block 6- Square Dance Block  made by Sophia

Block 7- Weathervane Block made by Martina

Block 8- Morning Star Block made by Adri

Block 9- Double T Block made by Jessica

Block 10- New Four- Patch Block made by Eli

Block 11- Sawtooth Block made by Jannelle

Block Setting made by  Laura and me

Borders made by Angie, Sarah, Lauv and me

If you participated in our poll on Instagram Stories, we asked for your help on deciding which backing fabric and thread to use and the winning combo was the “Coquet Bouquet Splendid” print (60% of you choose this) and yellow gold thread 56% of you choose this)!

 

Continue reading "AGF Community Sampler GRAND FINALE REVEAL" »


"Watching Fireworks" Table Runner Tutorial

Happy Summer, 

Who loves Summer? Growing up in Minnesota Summer used to be my favorite season for many reasons. Summer meant no school, BBQ's outside, being on the lake, and bike riding with the family. Now living in Florida it feels like Summer all year round but there is still something special about Summer especially getting to celebrate July Fourth with my loved ones. My parents are coming to visit me and we plan on having a July Fourth feast so I thought I would make something special for the occasion. I think the "Watching Fireworks" Table Runner would look beautiful displayed on our table full of yummy dishes and treats that we make.  

To get the full tutorial head over the We All Sew blog

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What's your favorite Summer time activity? Share with me below. Hope you enjoy my tablerunner tutorial and have a great July 4th! 

 

Happy Sewing, 

Meli


Color Master Box of the Month: Fresh Water

Hello, lovely fabric lovers!

Fresh Water  mood board

I can feel that sea breeze already… summer is finally here! Time to bring out the pool floaties, mouth-watering popsicles, and the refreshing drinks. My favorite part of summer is just wearing shorts, tank tops, and flip-flops all day. This is the time of year to take advantage of the sunny rays and relax by the beach, pool, and enjoy the water-parks. All these places have one thing in common- fresh water. So for this month, I thought it would be appropriate to choose this alluring “Color Master Box” in the Fresh Water Edition. In the picture above, I created another mood board to bring all these prints to life for the season. From the cooling raindrops, bright white florals, and cheerful bunnies hopping in the sunny fields!

It’s time to warm up those sewing machines for some fun summer projects that are perfect for the season. With this unique tones of aqua, take your fabric projects to the next level! All you need is one box to make a project that's perfect for the month, and you can get it in two sizes: Fat Quarters or Half yards.

Here are some projects from the lookbooks that you can make with the “Color Master Box”!

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Sunset Ride Bag #1: It’s tote season! Waking up on a sunny Sunday morning to visit your local fresh market, picking out all the in-season fruits. What’s more perfect than this tote to be a great vehicle for your shopping goodies and beach essentials? Using the print “Wind Melody Soft” to emphasize this playful pony print center.

Quilt #2:Using the entire "Color Master Box" to create this aqua inspired quilt! An explosion of color using our signature quality cottons, combined with an original a unique project. Each box includes 10 prints for quick projects to sew or quilt. This quilt shown was made with a Fat Quarter and you can download this pattern here.

Hoppy Pillow #3: The summer months have the most amount of birthdays, and this pillow would be the perfect gift for anyone you know is having a baby! This cute, bunny pillow with the print “Playful Petals Menthe” would fit in any nursery and the aqua color makes it perfect for any gender.

This “Color Master Box” can give you the option of using just one print or several to compliment any of your sewing designs. Although this bundle highlights the color aqua, each print has distinct color palettes that make it easy to pair with other projects. For example, the print called Stitched Anthomania Luster” (Print shown below, circled in red) has teal, neutral corals, reds, and a dominant cream background that can help piece together other fabrics with a matching color palette.

Fresh Water Edition

Imagine all the possibilities that can be done and if you are still lacking some inspiration, we had a color fun series post talking all about that bundle that includes baby blues and aquas! Remember that this box is there for your convenience, it has many uses! The “Color Master Box” can keep your fabrics organized and neatly displayed for easy finding, or you can share the love, because it’s perfectly curated in a box for an easy present!

Are you a fabric lover? Have a fabric lover in your life? Find them the perfect gift in our online stores.

If you’re creating a sewing project using a “Color Master Box,” please feel free to share it with us on social media and use the hashtag #AGFColorMasterBox.   

What would you make this month with the Fresh Water Edition of the  “Color Master Box?”

 

 

Happy Sewing,

Jannelle

 

 

 

 


Foundation Paper Piecing!

Hello Everyone!

Did you know that you can sew regular paper through your machine?

Inspired by the geometric and vibrant “Pieced Bunches Wild” print from the amazing Loved to Pieces Collection, I decided to make a foundation paper piecing block and take pictures of the process to share it with you.

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Foundation paper piecing consists of using a printed pattern on paper as a guide when making quilt blocks. This implies that you will be sewing the fabric with the paper through the machine at the same time, and once your pieces are perfectly sewn together you remove the paper.

I started by preparing my working station and my fabrics:

First, I changed the stitch size setting of my machine to 1, so at the end it would be easier to remove the paper.

The scraps of fabric that I chose were Reap and Sew Azul (LPC-1422) for fabric A, Efflorescent Fuchsia (LPC-2425) for fabric B, Anthonem Festive (LPC -2420) for fabric C, Light Grey (PE-419) for fabric D, Tile Blue (PE-418) for fabric E, and Banana Cream (PE-435) for fabric F.

I printed the Butterfly pattern and cut each block:

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After everything was ready, I started sewing:

I took the paper from Block a and layered it with fabric E for section a1 and fabric A for section a2.

The paper facing up to see the sewing guides.

Since the first fabric is E for  a1, I placed it with the right side down and making sure it covers all a1 space.

Then I took a swatch from fabric A for a2 and placed it with the right side facing up under the paper and fabric E making sure it crossed the dividing line, and also that it was big enough to cover a2 once it was stitched and fabric A was pressed open.



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I stitched following the dividing line; however, you never stitch farther than your line. In the image you can see that I sew over the ¼” seam allowance too, which didn’t matter for this block, but once I got to Block b I had to reap a couple of seam to be able to continue.



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I folded the paper on the stitched line and trimmed the fabric at ¼”.


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Then I opened fabric A and pressed.

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Finally, I trimmed the excess fabric around my block. Once I turned it over Block a to the fabric side, I could see that it was the vertical mirror image of the printed side:

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Once I finished Block a, I gained enough confidence to continue with Block b ;):

Again I started with the base, b1, because in foundation paper piecing is extremely important to follow the order of that the template indicates to get the exact results.

I layered the Block b paper with fabric B for section b1 and fabric E for section b2.

Fabric B facing down (wrong sides with the paper) and covering all section b1, and fabric E under fabric B facing up, and placed across the dividing line between b1 and b2, and big enough so when fabric E was pressed open, it would cover the whole space that corresponds to b2.

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I stitched on the line making sure I didn't cross over b3 (as shown in the picture), but once again I made the mistake of crossing over the ¼" seam allowance space, so in a couple of steps you will see why I had to rip out the end of the seam.

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I folded the paper following the stitched line, trimmed at ¼", opened fabric E and pressed.

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Once b1 and b2 were sewn, I started b3:

I placed fabric E under the block with the right side facing up, making sure it crossed the line between b1-b2 and b3, and was big enough so when pressed open it would cover all the space in b3 plus its seam allowance.


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I stitched across the line. The red Xs indicate that you should not sew over the seam allowance like I did.

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I folded the paper and trimmed at ¼”.


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After pressing fabric E open to finish b3, I trimmed all the excess fabric from the block b and continued with b4.

I placed fabric F under the block, making sure it crossed the line between b1 and b4, and that the swatch was big enough so once I opened fabric F it would cover all the b4 space.

Then I stitched across the line.

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And here it is!! the moment we have been waiting for, the moment when I get to show you what happens when you stitch over the seam allowance: when I needed to fold the paper along the stitched line, I couldn't lay it flat because the previously stitched line got in the way. So I had to get my seam ripper out and remove the thread to be able to fold the paper and trim the fabric at ¼” to continue with my block :).

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Then I trimmed, opened fabric F, and pressed.

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For b5 I repeated the same steps:

I placed fabric E across the line between the b4 and b5, making sure the fabric was big enough so when pressed open it would cover all the b5 space.

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I sewed across the line, and in this case seam ripped the previously made stitch that crossed the ¼” seam allowance.


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I folded the paper, trimmed at ¼”, opened fabric E and pressed.

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After finishing the blocks that correspond to the right side of the butterfly (a, b, c, and d) I placed them next to the printed side of the blocks that correspond to the left side.

And then, after finishing blocks e, f, g, and h, I placed the pieces in front of me to see them before joining them.



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Once I joined the blocks I turned the block to the wrong side and loved how the wrinkled paper combined with the unraveled fabric edges and the loose threads, gave my butterfly a very vulnerable look. It made me realize how sometimes we focus all our energy on the right side of our pieces, and we miss the beauty of the wrong side, the side that shows all the hard work, the struggle, and the human imperfect touch of the process. I loved it so much that I had to take a picture and show it to you so you could see it too.


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Anyway, after falling in love and crying over the wrong side of my piece lol, I removed the paper and continued the process by pressing and going back to admiring the right side of my block. The finished size is 7" x 6½”.

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I sewed rectangles from fabric E to the sides to make it bigger and fit it into an embroidery hoop, and used it as a wall art right next to my desk to remember how much fun I had making it.

After reading this post, how do you feel about this technique? What shape would you like to see using the Signature collection? 

 

Happy foundation paper piecing!

Laucara


Sunflower Quilt Block Tutorial

 Hey Makers, 

Have you gotten your hands on Sharon Holland's new collection yet? She has totally outdone herself in the creation of Signature Fabrics. With her hand drawn nature elements and beautiful use of color this collection will definitely be on my cutting table all throughout summer. I love florals and knew right away I wanted to create a flower inspired block, with Sunflowers being one of my favorite flowers it was differently a no brainier to create this really neat Sunflower Block.  I am so happy with how the block turned out, the color placement is so striking its's hard to stop staring at it. :) Make sure to check out the video below to make your very own Sunflower Block!

Sunflower-Block-Tutorial

 

What are some of your favorite flower inspired blocks? Share with me below.  I am thinking of making a quilt sampler filled with different types of  flower blocks. What a perfect quilt to bring on your summer picnics! 

Make sure to share your blocks using the #AGFQuiltBlockCollection! I love seeing your creations! 

Happy Sewing, 

Meli


Travel Essentials

Hello, wanderlust makers!

Travel essentials info

I can’t believe that summer is almost here and all the kids are on vacation. The best time to be going on roadtrips, exploring different countries, or just going to amusement parks (one of my favorites)! Everyone at our office has been talking a lot about travel lately, I guess we were all bit by the travel bug, haha! My future travel plans are taking a cruise to Mexico in the Fall! With all this travel talk, I was inspired to gather some essential travel items that you can sew for your next adventure!

 

Here’s my “Top 5 Travel Essentials” that includes free patterns:

 

#1 Neck Pillow: Is it even possible to sleep on a plane without a neck pillow? I know I can’t! A neck pillow is needed for comfortable rest. You can find the free pattern in the Striped Knits Lookbook and the print is called Striped Alike Aqua.

 

#2 Passport Holder: Sometimes, it’s easy to make a mess in your travel bag during a trip or even lose something during transit. Here is a solution! This passport holder will protect your passport from anything that might spill in your bag and it will make it easy to recognize. You can make learn to make this in the Mediterraneo Lookbook with the Shell Blaze Night print.

 

#3 Fanny Pak: Let’s bring back the fanny pak please… I’d especially wear one now with Esoterra fabric! Make this for yourself to satisfy your 80s/90s style using the Dinosaurs print.

 

#4 Sleeping Mask: It’s hard to sleep with the airplane lights on… solve that with these sleeping masks! Pair this with your neck pillow and you will be set for any ong flight. Find the free pattern in the our Lambkin lookbook and let Sir Wooly comfort you during any trip.

 

#5 Portside Travel Set: You can’t go on a trip without bringing your stuff! Make this your go-to denim duffle as it’s easy to spot at the baggage claim. This bag was spotted in out Denim Studios lookbook and made with Afternoon Sail print.

 

If you’re sewing obsessed, who needs to buy these essentials at the store when you can make them yourself?!! Hope these travel essentials inspire you to create something for your next big journey. As always, please feel free to tag us at #artgalleryfabrics if you make any of these projects, I would love to see your creations!

 

Happy travels,

 

Jannelle