Not Your Grandmas Cheater Quilt!

by | Feb 6, 2017 | DIY, Graphic Design, handmade, quilting, Sewing, tutorials

 

Welcome to the blog today! Several months ago I designed a fresh take on the old cheater quilt.  After testing it out, I’m finally ready to share the whole process with you.  Ever heard of Spoonflower?  The company offers an amazing service that I’ve been wanting to take advantage of for years.  So this is my year!  I’m doing lots of things I’ve never done before.  I’m seizing the day – Carpe Diem! Or perhaps I’m seizing the year?  Carpe Anno!  Spoonflower Fabric allows customers to upload a design to their website and have it printed on fabric.  {They also offer wallpaper and wrapping paper.}  If you aren’t a designer but want a custom piece of fabric you can shop the Spoonflower fabric site with thousands of designers from all over the world to find your perfect piece! They operate a bit like Etsy in that, you can look at each designers shop, not just the designs themselves. So I invite you to look at my Spoonflower shop and buy a modern cheater quilt to start with!

I love the idea of cheater quilts, they are fast and fun! Sadly, though, most cheater quilts are very ugly and outdated.  In fact, I haven’t really seen a good cheater quilt until Spoonflower hosted a contest last year on them.  It got me thinking about it.  I wanted to incorporate some of the tried and true quilt blocks from the past and yet I wanted a modern airy feel to the cheater quilt.  I chose a squash blossom pattern, enlarged it on a grid big enough for one yard of fabric, used half square triangles to construct the pattern and quilting lines.  The panel is available in two color ways of cheerful, calm solids.

My Peachy version contains a few shades of grey, pale peachy pink, and a light smoky blue on navajo white.  This design is great for a modern baby quilt, but also finds it’s home amongst cozy couches, and master bedrooms.  You can make a large quilt out of several yards/panels. I included a border on two sides to help you implement this concept.

I hope you catch the cheater quilt bug…. You can buy it in my Spoonflower shop and whip it up in an afternoon….

 

Here’s a shot of the Teal Colorway panel.  I’ll be sewing it up soon.  It has dark and light teal, mustard, and navajo white.

My Top Two Graphic Design Resources….

by | Aug 19, 2015 | Graphic Design, Home Decor, Interior Design

I’m like a 100% sure that Creative Market is THE BEST thing that has ever happened to me graphic design wise. (Cue “I love technology…………but not as much as you you see!” from Napoleon Dynamite.) I want to be that designer that makes everything from scratch using my wacom tablet and my imagination. But alas, real life “gets in the way” and the MOST IMPORTANT WORK is of course asking me for pancakes and juice in the morning and needs clean laundry to wear and books read to them. So, until my littles aren’t so little anymore and life isn’t so full, I”ll leave the amazingness to the independent artists that make up the awesomeness that is Creative Market.  They have the latest and trendiest fonts, web site themes, graphic clip art, hand drawn illustrations, logo templates……..

The other best place to buy graphics is Etsy, OF COURSE!  Both of these sites are supporting real live independent makers!  Check out this collection of printables I was able to make for my job at the girlies school this week! I bought a package of cute clip art on Etsy from Graphic Grace Design. We are having a big growth spurt in our Classical Christian School and space is a big problem…The Lord has given our school some modular units that will be put together and remodeled this fall for more classroom space. So until that is finished, we will be in a “wilderness” period. That means driving my kids to THREE DIFFERENT CAMPUSES for school. I’ll be teaching at the Secondary Campus with The Boss Lady, The Doodle will be in 4th grade at the Elementary Campus and my sweet Hayler Bunkity will be starting Kindergarten at the temporary location. In an effort to communicate how this season will look my friend and PTF Coordinator came up with a great campaign to help everyone understand how awesome this is. Plus we could NOT EVEN help ourselves with all the cute teepees and adventure themed art at Hobby Lobby! So kudos to my friend Sara for the great idea and here are some Wilderness Prints available for your printing pleasure in my Etsy Shop. They would be great for a children’s room, homeschool room, boy’s nursery decor, or Sunday
School Room/Giveaway. Unlimited Personal Printing License for $5. I do ask that if you buy the pdf files, to please be respectful and don’t share the digital files. Every little bit helps 🙂