Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your families! I'm excited to finally share a secret project I've been working on over the last month. See, my husband has tried for the last many years to convince our now almost eight-year-old son that he is indeed Batman - long before we heard of Batdad (who is quite hilarious in his own right), and this year, I got the crazy idea to make him a pixelated Batman quilt to go with his obsession. Naturally, the idea didn't dawn on me until just before Thanksgiving, so it's been a feverish kind of project that I've worked on in my spare moments whenever I could, and somehow I managed to pull it off.


I posted a few photos as I worked on Instagram, since my husband is one of the few people I know who isn't constantly scrolling Instagram. I chose to work in strictly white, black, and shades of gray, much like how Batman in The Lego Movie professes that he only works in "black and sometimes very dark gray."







For the quilting, I kept it super simple, sticking with a stitch I can do in my sleep, a simple stipple in lovely gray Aurifil #2615. Free-motion quilting while nine months pregnant is definitely not an enviable task, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. In fact, I was able to quilt with very few modifications to my usual work setup, so it went pretty smoothly.


I sure hope that the husband is pleased with his new quilt - I know I'm super pleased with how it turned out and the fact that I managed to keep it secret all this time, which will make the surprise when he opens it all the more special :)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays again to you all, I hope you have a wonderful day with your families!
Monday, December 21, 2015

39 Blocks Before Baby: Week Twenty

Holy wow, a finished top! Let me just say, I don't recommend trying to assemble a quilt top and take pictures of it while nine months pregnant. It's just a bit uncomfortable. But I was motivated to get this baby (ha, no pun intended!) done, so I kept on plugging away at it, all the while having to make weird little adjustments to get comfortable. I had to sit a little shorter than I usually like to, to try to get my bump under the lip of my table so I could get close enough to the machine, but it was worth it. I strongly suspect basting and quilting is going to have to wait until after the little lady makes her appearance in two short weeks, but in the meantime, I'm going to bask in the glory of having finished this top.


Don't forget, if you love these blocks, you can get all the patterns for the blocks I've made in this project by subscribing to the Epic Sampler BOM Club, where you receive 3 new block patterns per month. All of the blocks from my 39 Blocks for Baby project are included in your subscription. You can find out more about the club right here. Have a great week everyone!
Monday, December 7, 2015

39 Blocks Before Baby: Week Eighteen

Oh my goodness, I can hardly believe it. I've officially made the last two blocks! That means I've got some serious row sewing to work through this week, which is often my least favorite part of the quilting process, so we'll have to see how far I get. I suspect there will be some heel dragging. That and my very-pregnant belly is really starting to get in the way of sewing - I bump into my sewing table a lot, trying to get a good view of what I'm doing, ha!



Isosceles Strip
While I have totally made this block, it's nearly impossible to photograph, so I'll show you how the whole thing's looking altogether instead. Oh my goodness, this sampler is quite possibly my favorite thing I've ever made!


Pennant Star
This star was designed eons ago - at least three or four years ago - and it sat around in my design notebooks because it's a five-gridded block. Five gridded blocks are great for blocks that would fit in a five times table, like a 10" finished block, or a 15", but more often than not, I like to make 12" finished blocks. That's exactly what this one turns out to be, thanks to the beauty of paper piecing. Paper piecing is a great cheat when you're working with a grid that just does not quite work for the block size you want!

Don't forget, if you love these blocks, you can get the patterns by subscribing to the Epic Sampler BOM Club, where you receive 3 new block patterns per month. All of the blocks from my 39 Blocks for Baby project are included in your subscription. You can find out more about the club right here. Have a great week everyone!
Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Epic Sampler BOM Month #3

Epic Sampler BOM Subscribers, it's that time again! This month's pattern kit is winging its way through the interwebs to your inbox, with three new block patterns for the Epic Sampler quilt project. This month's blocks are: the Churn Dash, Exploding Star, and X Plus.

Block 1 - Churn Dash 6"

Block 2 - Exploding Star 6"

Block 3 - X Plus 6"



Have fun with these blocks, and don't forget to share your progress with me through social media - you can tag me on Instagram by using #epicsamplerbom or #dontcallmebetsy

If you haven't joined in the Epic Sampler Block of the Month fun just yet, no worries, you can still join in! You'll receive all of the past block pattern kits within 48 hours of purchase, as well as the current month that we're on regardless of when you purchase. You can purchase your subscription right here in my Pattern Shop or on Craftsy. Have a great day!!

Welcome! I'm Elizabeth, mom to a mood teen boy and a chatty six-year-old girl and I sew for my sanity. Let's get to quilting, shall we?
The Epic Sampler BOM Club kicks off Oct 1st
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