The sweet ladies over at Sew, Mama, Sew asked me if I would do a tutorial for a summer beach and picnic blanket.  Of course I said yes!  I was completely flattered to be asked and had so much fun coming up with a simple, but fun summer quilt.

I've added a link in the sidebar that will take you right to the tutorial.  Or you can click here.  And of course, while you are there, you should check out all the other wonderful tutorials and project ideas they have.  Their blog is a fabulous resource for many how-to's and Sew, Mama, Sew's webstore is filled with cute fabric and patterns, too!

If you make one of these blankets using the tutorial, let me know.  I would love to see yours!

Have a great day!

My quilt is moving along.  I wish I had a finished top to show you, but I changed my plan and am adding a different border that is taking much more time (of course).  It is going to be so much better than plan a, that I am not complaining (much) about plan b.

So you all want to make x's, don't you?  I have to say, first and foremost, that I had no idea where to start when I first saw the inspiration for this quilt.  I am not really a quilter.  I'm just working on earning that title.  Of course, since Sarah led me to said inspiration and is making her very own string x quilt, I asked her where I should start.  She graciously sent me a big flickr mail with loads of info, lots of tips and then another one after that.  Big thanks to you, Sarah.  Really.

I think it all clicked for me when Sarah pointed me to Heather Bailey's Freshcut quilt.  Of course I had seen it before - I do read her blog and a huge chunk of this quilt is made out of her fabric.  Well, wouldn't you know, it's an string x quilt, too?  Well, kind of, at least.  The fabrics that make up her x's aren't the same so they don't look like x's per se, but the idea is the same.  While reading the supply list, I noticed the 12.5" square quilting ruler.  That was my "A-ha!" moment.  I had thought I would have to piece rectangles and then trim them to make squares, but a ruler?  Genius!  And of course, a real quilter would know they actually existed.  See, I told you I am a fake-o quilter.  You should believe me.  OK, now I am sure you can still do this without a square ruler. I just justified my purchase because the squares for the Virtual Quilting Bee need to be 12.5" too....and look, that is just 12 more squares for me to use it on!

So I started where Heather has you start.  I cut 4" x 18" strips out of my white fabric.  Lots of them.  My quilt takes 36. At this point, I stopped following Heather's directions and just started adding fabrics in my studied random way - you know....so it looks random, but in all actuality is very studied.  I think I managed not over thinking it about, um, 50% of the time (I am being generous with myself here, too).  Anyhow, at this point, I took my rotary cutter and cut various widths of various fabrics and started piecing.

I used 1/4" seam allowances throughout and pressed the seams away from the white strip.  I placed my ruler over the white strip to see how long each additional strip needed to be.  Sometimes I used 4 fabrics, sometimes up to 6.  I didn't worry about straight lines and matching the colored strips.  I like it all wonky.  Once I had 4 blocks pieced, I used my ruler and squared them up.

To do this, I lined up the white strip with the lines on my cutting mat and then centered the ruler on the middle line. 

Then using the rotary cutter, I trimmed the excess away.

Next, I sewed them together in to an x.  Match up those seams (where the white meets the colors) and use lots of pins.  Don't skimp here - trust me.  It is no fun to rip out uneven seams.

I was afraid if I waited until all 36 were sewn to make the actual x's, I would never finish it.  You know - the random factor - it would be overwhelming.  It was a good plan.

I stopped after 9 x's - now all I need to do is add borders to make it the size I want.  Of course, in a perfect world, I would make 3 more x's for Euro shams...one thing at a time, Erin.

Confused yet?  Please say no.  If you are really befuddled, ask away.  I will try my best to explain better.  And if you have lasted this long, you might want to know I have updated my blog links in the sidebar.  Check them out, people.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a border to finish piecing.

The zipper tutorial is finished.  Hooray!

It took me FOREVER to decide on what kind of pillow to make....I thought about patchwork and actually made most of a log cabin piece before abandoning it.  I thought about embroidery also, but settled on good old applique.

Let me know if you follow the tutorial and have any problems.  I have read it over once, but I am always afraid I might have missed some crucial step.  Happy Sewing!

The tutorial is up!  Look over to the sidebar on the right and there it is.  Go on, get some elastic thread and get sewing.  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Things will be quiet on the blog for the next few days.  I may pop in and post some pictures.  I am also trying to get my act together and clean up the blog - you know, update links and the like.  I want to start a flickr group for all those twirly skirts that have been popping up all over cyberspace, too.  I have some sewing I want to accomplish, including something for myself.  Oh, and a couple of trips to the pool.  We are so excited for that.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

The good news:  the twirly skirt tutorial is finished!  The bad news:  I can't get it up on my blog the way I want.  I have spent the entire afternoon trying different things and still can't get it right.  If there are any typepad users out there who can help, I'd appreciate it.  Here's the deal:  I set it up as a photo album.  In design configuration, when I click on the photo album to show in the sidebar, you can only see my description/introduction.  I don't want this (lengthy) information there.  What I really want is a thumbnail of the above skirt that you click to take you to the gallery/tutorial.  Anybody have an idea?

For all of those waiting, it's coming.  I promise.

Thank you Kim!!!!  You can find the tutorial link in the right side bar.  Ahhh...finished!