The Last Piece

And the Winner is...

I've just drawn the winner of the little apple pouch from the 32 is a Bushel Sew Along... and the winner is Tracey Cox! Yay Tracey, I will be in touch shortly to see what colour apple you would like on your pouch :) Congrats, and thanks so much to everyone for sewing along with my mad little apples. Here is a pic of another finished top by Linda Dawson for you all to see. I love how she's turned some of the apples upside down - they look like roses that way!

32 is a Bushel Post 4

Hi everyone and welcome to the last post of our Sew Along - covering how to put the quilt together! 

Oooh she needs a little press doesn't she... poor thing has been sat on by Chippie for the last few weeks on the couch while I've been writing the blog posts!! Sorry quilt.

The first thing to do once you’ve made all your apples and your basket is to have a good look at your blocks, and the layout of my quilt if you need some guidance, and place all your blocks out on the floor or a design wall with some space in between them, in rough rows. Take a photo with your phone, or use a ruby glass or a door peeper, or squint your eyes - whatever is your favourite method of judging colour value. Move the blocks around until you're happy with where the lights and darks are all falling. There is no need to try and place blocks of similar size together OR to make them the same  height at this stage. 

Once everything is laid out, then its time to add some pieces to the top/bottom of each apple so that everything in a row is the same height. Even though the blocks are all different sizes and shapes we are still looking for a basic, straight line patchwork row in the end. This is the point where you're going to be able to estimate the finished size of your quilt - so if you want it to be a little bigger, float a bit more fabric around each apple, or consider putting some little strips in (see the video for what I'm talking about) to add a little more height and sparkle.

Once everything is the same height, its time to start putting some pieces in between if you need to. This is going to determine the width of your quilt so again, add a little extra or shave a bit off if you need to. Remember too that you don't have to have only 32 apples! If you want a larger quilt then just add a few extra, and for a really big quilt maybe two bushel baskets and 64 apples! There's no rules to this, it's easy to customise the quilt to your needs as you go.

Putting the basket row together is the same concept, except that you're going to make all the apples at the left into one "block" thats the same height as the basket, and then stitch that block to the basket.

Heres a pic of Amy's top - see how she's inserted some little bits of apple fabric here and there for fun, but it's also acting as a spacer to make that particular row longer? If you don't have any apples, maybe leaves, or birds (to peck at the apples), or tractors....

Click here for more detail in the video, as well as a few words about the border - so have a little watch, and enjoy putting your quilt together! Here's some more photos of Amy's quilt, she's the fastest gun in the west and she's already got it quilted! (BTW she;s an ACE machine quilter, she's done quite a few of my quilts, so if you're in Detroit and needing your top quilted check her out... Big City Quilting, or @alobsiger on Instagram)

And that's the end of our Sew Along! I really hope you've all had fun making apples with me :)

The competition will remain open until September 30, so if you've made some apples or even a whole top and want to share them with the world make sure to tag me so that I can see them, and use the hashtag #32isabushel as well. each social media post is an entry, and the prize is a little apple pouch made by me, with your initial appliquéd onto it, and with a few fun goodies inside. Happy sewing peeps! x

 

32 is a Bushel Sew Along Post 3

Hi everyone! Today's video talks about making your bushel basket, and then on Friday we will discuss putting the blocks together and finishing your top! Sorry for the slight delay in posting this, we were all ready to go but we went away for a few days and the internet at the hotel wouldn't upload the large file. 

The bushel basket is easier than the apples, its really all about SCALE, so make sure your basket is tall enough before you cut the curve into the bottom. The only tricky bit is the curved piece - you don't have to do that, but its a fun technique to learn because you can use it for so many other things. The video gives you a walk through of the improv curved piecing for the top and bottom edges of the basket - you will find the link to it at the end of this post.

Make sure to take note of the order the basket is pieced together in! It's really important that you piece the centre sticks of the basket first, then the top and bottom pieces, and then start adding the background. It's all in the pattern but just a reminder as you will be quite frustrated with the result if you get things out of order. 

My friend Amy has been powering away at her apple quilt and she's finished the top! 

Don't forget to post on social media about your progress - we would all love to see, and you might just win a prize! All the details for this, to join the sew along and for earlier instructions are in the posts below this one. Have fun everyone :)

CLICK HERE for the video link.

*** Have you joined my Christmas Ornament Swap yet? All the details are on the post below!****

My Annual Christmas Ornament Swap!

Hooray for some Jinglebird cheer!

 

Today I have opened registration for my Christmas Ornament swap for 2022! The first year I did this it was during the pandemic, and the Swap was only available for Aussies. However SO MANY OF YOU wanted to play from around the world, that last year I opened it to everyone around the world - and it was such fun and such a success that I'm doing it again. Plus we had NO FLAKERS if you can believe that! Everyone sent their package - only one was lost in the post. Let's all be awesome and do that again this year peeps :)

 

 

There are some things you need to know that are VERY IMPORTANT before you sign up so please read everything before you hare off to join!

 

1. The swap works like this. You register at my website, I take a few weeks to work out everyone’s partners, you are sent their name and address and preferences for a Christmas ornament. You then make or purchase an ornament, and post it to them by the deadline date, along with a little treat or a Christmas card or whatever takes your fancy to send.

 

2. Details of dates, rules, signups etc are on the website. You will also receive an email after you sign up.

 

3. Please DO NOT JOIN if you cannot commit to making or purchasing something for your partner by the shipping date. Also please remember that people go to a lot of trouble to make lovely things, you need to send something to your partner that you would enjoy receiving yourself.

 

4. This year there will be a $5 AUS registration fee to participate. This is basically to cover the admin, which is extensive when there are so many of you! We had several hundred last year and its a lot of organising and emailing and chasing people up.

 

5. Your partner could be from anywhere in the world. I simply cannot manage to partner people only within their own country. Please don’t sign up if you are not willing to post your package internationally. Remember that a small flat Christmas ornament made of fabric or felt and a Christmas card won’t be heavy, so there are ways to send something lovely without having to pay a lot of postage.

 

That’s it! I hope you’ll join us, it was truly lovely last year. Use the hashtag #sarahchristmasswap and the screenshot of my birdie to post on social media about your ornament or to let your stitchy friends know about the fun!

 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

PLEASE please remember to read everything carefully and put your preferences in at checkout! Thank you xxxx

32 is a Bushel Sew Along Post 2

Hi everyone! Apologies for the slight lateness of this post, I was under the weather yesterday.... and thank you also for the many amusing messages about an apple a day keeping the doctor away  ;) you are cards.

If you are wanting participate in this Sew Along, there's two things you need to do! One is to SIGN UP at the link box in the post two below this one.You only need to do this ONCE. You don't get a confirmation or anything afterwards, the link just sends me your email address and IG handle if you have one. That way you are registered to do the Sew Along, and I can email you and let you know when I post new information about the apples.

The other thing you need to do is to buy the 32 is a Bushel pattern from my website. You can't make the quilt without the pattern - all the measurements and the detailed steps are in the pattern. The videos will just be a helping hand, and tips and tricks as we go. 

There will be a prize drawn at random at the end of the sew along (all the details in the below post). To enter to win the prize, all you need to do is to post on social media about the sew along or your progress in it using the tags, and TAG ME so that I can see your post. Every post is one entry.

If you aren't in the email list you will have missed the memo that I have cut some starter packs for apples for those asking! There are a few left, they're $15 AUS for 32 x 5" squares in red, green, blue or orange. To order please email me [email protected], let me know what you would like to order and I will send you an invoice via email. Heres a little preview of what might be inside - remember that these are all cut from my stash so each pack will be slightly different.

Here are a red apple, a blueberry and an orange for you! I know people have made blueberry and orange quilts in the past (if this is you, please send me a photo!)

I didn’t put leaves in my orange or my blueberry, but there’s no reason why you can’t! Note that there’s LOTS of space around them all to be trimmed back once the quilt starts to be constructed. You don’t want to limit your options.

And click here for a link to the little video I've made to help you along. As this video doesn't require a password to view, I must ask you to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE in good faith - do not share it on Pinterest or Facebook or your own website etc. If you want to tell someone about how to do this method or about the sew along, please post or refer them to the blog posts, and don't take the content intended for the sew along without permission.

Have fun everyone and I can't wait to see your apples!! They're quick and fun and very moreish - my friend Amy started one or two the other day for fun and then had to force herself at nine to stop and make dinner. :)

 

32 is a Bushel Sew Along Post 1

Hi everyone!

This is the first post in the Sew Along for my improv apples quilt, 32 is a Bushel. If you don't already own the pattern, you will need it to participate in the Sew Along - these posts will give you some ideas and information on technique, but no measurements or fabric requirements or anything like that. You can download it here. 

If you haven't already, you also need to sign up using the form on the post below this one. The I Have your email address so I can email you when a new post is live, and to enter you to win a prize for the Sew Along!

The details about how to win a prize are also in the post below. You can enter as many times as you like, but if you aren't signed up or you don't tag me in the post then I can't contact you or see your entry :)

As this is an improv quilt, the measurements and fabric requirements ARE only approximate. What's improv? It's short for improvisational. Its a method of quilting where there isn't a PATTERN per say - more of a recipe you can follow to achieve a similar result to the designer. Your quilt will look sort of like mine, and end up sort of the. same size, but it can. never be exactly the same. I teach quite a lot of improv quilts - and I like to call my method of improv, Improv with Intent. Thats because it's not just make it all up as you go along, there are a few rules and methods you need to know in order to make the patterns. Then you can then break all the rules as you make the quilt your own!

The first thing we need to do is select fabrics, and thats what this post is all about, and then this coming Friday we will start to sew. This will give everyone a chance to get some fabrics together and cut a few things out before we launch into stitching. 

To start on Friday, all you really need is the fabric for one apple (or orange or blueberry), one leaf and stem, and some background. We will talk a little more about that at the end of this post.

All of my apples are made using different fabrics, which is some of what gives this quilt it's quirky charm. All my apples are red apples (my favourite kind), and so the fabrics I chose are PREDOMINANTLY red. That means you can add fabrics that aren't all red, but in the context of your quilt they will read as red. This goes for whatever you choose - green apples, blueberries or oranges will all need the same domination of colour in order to make the quilt successfully fruity.

You can see from the fabrics below, my interpretation of red is strong but it's also not strict. 

The feather fabric has a red background, but the feathers aren't red! When all the red fabrics are grouped together though, the red comes forward and you don't notice the coloured feathers.

This apple actually has a black background, but the red is strong so the black doesn't matter so much.

The same goes for these two apples - the one on the right is quite white really.

You'll notice that all my stems and leaves are more solid greens (although they're still patterned). Those pieces are smaller and less. of the fabric is there to be read, so it's important that the green shows strongly enough for it to be interpreted as a leaf.

The other important thing you need to gather before you start is background. From the photos above, you'll see that each apple has the same fabric around it, but that all the fabrics are different. The trick to successful scrap quilts (and this is very much a scrap quilt!) is having a constant. 

I have 32 different red fabrics, but only two green fabrics. All the apples are RED, all the leaves and stems are GREEN. Those are both constants. I have dozens of white and off white fabrics for my backgrounds, but they are mostly all black and white with no colour, they are all small scale prints, and they all have good contrast with the apples and the stems. You could use any colour you like for your backgrounds, but they need to have GOOD CONTRAST or you won't see apples, you will see the SEAMS in the blocks and no special shapes. 

Playing to your theme will also help to hold your quilt together. My quilt is all apples - I have apple shaped blocks of course, but I also have a few apple fabrics in my "filler" pieces 

And I have an apple border, and even apple backing!

Of course, you don't need to go that far. It's fun though to put some things into your quilt that will make the viewer smile.  After all, these quilts are not serious objects, they're supposed to be a big quirky, a bit fun and a bit off the wall. 

Your pattern tells you how much fabric you need for each apple (these sizes will be the same regardless of wether you make apples, blueberries or oranges). Remember that you can very easily customise your fruits to be larger or smaller, depending on the size of quilt you want to make, and you can add more or make less and the. quilt will s till work out just fine. We will talk more about how to personalise your fruits on Friday, but you might want to have your fabrics cut out for the fruit itself before we start sewing, especially if you want to use 32 different reds as I did! Use the pattern as a guide for the size, but remember that they don't need to be accurate squares, just sort-of sizes!

If you've got any questions for me feel free to drop them in the comments, and otherwise I'll see you on Friday to start stitching! An apple a day keeps the doctor away ;)

 

32 is a Bushel

It’s time for a Sew Along! Would you like to make a bushel of cute apples with me? 

This fun little quilt is very easily customized. Mine is a single bed size but you can make it any size you want by changing the size or number of the apples. Although there are 32 apples on my quilt (did you know a bushel of apples of standard weight is most often 32 apples?) and a bushel basket, you can make more or less apples, leave off the basket, or even make oranges or blueberries instead!

The apples are improv pieced by machine, there is no appliqué. The quilt isn’t suited for hand sewing due to the method of cutting through seams you’ve already stitched. 

To stitch along, simply sign up here so that I have your details for the prize draw. I need your email address, but don't worry if you don't have an Instagram account.

 

and then purchase the pattern from my website

by clicking the green link above!

On Monday September 5 I will post a blog here with some tips and tricks for choosing fabrics etc, and then on Friday September 9, 16 and 23, there will be three posts and some little videos about how to make your apples. the bushel basket, and the quilt assembly. 

Please post your progress on Instagram by tagging me, @sfielke and using the hashtag #32isabushel, or by posting in my Facebook group Sarah Fielke Quilts - EACH TIME YOU POST on either platform about the sew along or about your progress with the quilt you will get ONE entry into the prize draw. Make sure to tag me to that I see! The prize will be drawn from the pool of posts on September 30. You must have posted on Facebook or Instagram to be entered, and you must own your own copy of the pattern. 

Yay I love a Sew Along! I can't wait to see all your gorgeous apples, oranges or blueberries :) See you on Monday for some fabric tips! 

New! Project Puff pattern

Looking for a quick fix weekend stitch? My new pattern is now available!

 

The Project Puff is fun and easy to stitch and a great present for your stitching friends, or pretty much anyone really.

 

 

Just leave the stitchy wording off and you could use it for keeping all sorts of things safe. Large enough to hold thread, needles, scissors and all your bits and pieces, it doubles as a little bowl to keep your things safe and close as you stitch. There’s even space for your EPP papers while you’re basting! Great for travel sewing or keeping things tidy next to the couch.

 

 

You can purchase the PDF pattern here. If you’re a member of my Rainy Days and Sun Rays BOM for 2021, this pattern is available to you for free now on the BOM website!  

Join the 2022 BOM along!

For the last few years I've been asked whether I was ever going to run certain BOM programs again - and the answer was always no.

 

This year though the answer is YES! It's THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOM ALONG!*

*disclaimer - may not actually be the worlds greatest. You decide.

 

 

Essentially, instead of there being a new BOM design next year, every single one of my previous Block of the Month programs is available! That's NINE quilts to choose from! (Never fear, there will be a new design for 2023 - this is just year of Greatest Hits).

 

There's a lot to unpack here, so please make sure to read everything carefully so that you sign up for the right thing. There’s even an option to play along on a BOM program you started already when it was the BOM for year, or through one of my BOM books. All the details are here.

 

Options galore - you choose! 

2022 Dollies Online program

Dollies Online was dreamed up in about 2008 I think? My friend Amy was having a bad time, so I made her a little quilt, wrapped it up and popped a few presents in, and posted it off to her in the USA. A few months later she sent a box back, with a little quilt she had made, and some presents! No no no I said, this was supposed to cheer you up, not make work for you... so I made her another one, and sent it off

 

This continued for quite some time, and after a while we decided that the little quilts we were coming up with were way too cute not to share. And so Dollies Online was born.

 

Since then I have had a LOT of dolly quilts in my life. Amy and I ran Dollies Online for a number of years, and then we wrote a book together, all about them! Cute Little Quilts is still in print. There are also dolly quilts in my book Quilting From Little Things, which is still my favourite of all the books I've written, incidentally.

 

A dolly quilt is historically just a small quilt, a quilt a little girl would make for her dolly. These little quilts are wonderful fun to make because they're quick, satisfying, cute and also an excellent chance for a LESSON!

 

 

Each little quilt in the 2022 Dollies Online program is made with a different technique or block design, so you try some things you might not otherwise try without having to start a huge quilt to do so.

 

Once you've made your dolly tops, they don't have to be quilts! Turn yours into a tote bag, cushion, the centre for a larger quilt - there are loads of options for these fun little projects. Or you can quilt them and hang them somewhere special all together, like I do!​

 

The 2022 Dollies Online program will consist of 6 patterns, one every two months, delivered via PDF plus a video tutorial. Each of these quilts will be no smaller than 12" square and no larger than 18" square.

 

There is an optional template set (which for this program I HIGHLY recommend you order) that contains templates for the little pieces in some of the quilts and the paper pieces for some of the blocks. There are also some optional notions available - for English Paper Piecing, needleturn applique and for making the stems of flowers on one quilt.

 

Sign up for the 2022 Dollies Online program here!