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Today’s quilt was made by Elizabeth of Don’t Call Me Betsy. Elizabeth is a hugely talented quilter, and you can see all her quilt tutorials here, her pattern shop here, and her finished quilts here!
Hello there! I’m Elizabeth and I blog at Don’t Call Me Betsy. I was so excited when Sara started putting together the Tula Pink Sew Along – I had seen Tula’s amazing Space Dust quilt at Spring Market, and fell head over heels for it. I’m a big fan of Tula’s fabrics, but I was a little bit baffled as to how to take this quilt on without using the same exact fabrics that Tula used.
Before I got the pattern in hand, I pulled some fabrics together, attempting to find a color scheme that I thought would work well with the pattern. It was hard! I really wanted to try a different kind of color palette than I normally like to work with. Once I got the pattern and got a better understanding of how much fabric I would need, I pulled together this stack below to start with, using shades of orange, yellow, aqua, and brown.
Each block of this quilt is pieced differently, using a unique paper piecing pattern provided in the pattern. I worked from the PDF pattern, which was 53 pages long! Each pattern shows your stitching lines, but isn’t terribly descriptive when it comes to what colored fabrics go where, so I spent some time with the Fabric Placement guide on page 8 of the pattern, trying to figure out how to place my fabrics for maximum pop. I would write down the color I wanted represented on each piece, much like I do with any other paper piecing project I tackle.
As I read through the pattern and got ready to create, I realized that I literally had my work cut out for me. Unlike most online tutorials and patterns for paper pieced projects that list cutting instructions for the block, because Space Dust is made up of 48 unique paper pieced blocks, there are no cutting instructions provided. After measuring quite a few of the pieces, trying to get an idea of how I could cut my fabrics, I ultimately decided the best way to cut and piece this quilt was to work one row at a time. Measure and cut the fabrics for one row of blocks, stack each pattern and pile of fabrics on top of one another, then piece the blocks. This method worked fairly well for me, and towards the last row or two, I was able to work from scraps rather than cutting for each individual block.
Seeing the rows come together on my design wall was a great feeling. It helped me make changes to some of my color and fabric placement plans on the fly and also gave me a good sense of completion as I finished my blocks. Though the blocks themselves don’t look terribly impressive on their own, once you put them in with the other blocks, they truly look stunning.
I did not add the borders specified in the quilt pattern; rather I added 4″ wide borders all the way around the quilt top. I may trim them down slightly after quilting, to give more of a rectangular shape to the quilt, but right now, I really like the squareness of the top.
All in all, this quilt top took a lot of time and effort, but I’m really happy with the way it came together, and I’m looking forward to deciding how to finish it off. I think it’s going to be a big hit with the person I intend to give it to over the holidays!
I'm so happy that we are now able to offer more and more videos to compliment my patterns. This is the Filigree Double-Zip Pouches sewing pattern, which is a great zipper pouch in 3 different sizes. This project also has 2 separate lining compartments, which makes it great for holding cosmetics, sewing supplies, school supplies, and so much more!
We've...
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I'm back with another video! This time it's for a fantastic holiday quilt called 'Hanging Out with the Homies'. The quilt uses fabrics from Tula Pink's fabric line, 'Holiday Homies'. It's a beautiful red-and-green wonderland of prints and my favorite are the animals wearing holiday sweaters! The quilt pattern was designed...
I love foundation paper-piecing, and so when I saw that Carl Hentsch of 3 Dog Design was coming out with a new book called 'New York Beauties and Flying Geese', I knew I'd be making a quilt from the book.
I had a hard time choosing which quilt that I wanted to make, they all looked fabulous, but I finally...
This is the Woodson Bag, perhaps one of my favorites from my new book Windy City Bags, out December 1, 2015. It is available on Amazon and in my pattern shop (books purchased from my shop will be signed by me, ship for free in the U.S. and with discounted international shipping, and you’ll receive a FREE paper pattern from...
Today, it's a closer look at another of the bag sewing patterns from Windy City Bags. This is the second bag in my new book Windy City Bags, out December 1, 2015. It is available on Amazon and in my pattern shop (books purchased from my shop will be signed by me, ship for free in the U.S. and with discounted...
It's pattern release day! I still get excited about putting out a new sewing pattern, and I think this is a really special one. This is the Filigree Double-Zip Pouches sewing pattern, available in my pattern shop as either a pdf or paper pattern, and coming soon to your favorite retailer or quilt shop!
Filigree is a 3-dimensional pouch with...
I love Tula Pink. I love everything that she designs and comes out with, and I buy it all because it's gorgeous and I have to have it. Fabric, books, a crossword puzzle book that I found on Amazon with a Tula-designed cover, ribbons, hooded sweatshirts, my cell phone cover, those wide quilt backings from I Heart Tula Pink, thread, playing...
Hello and welcome to my blog if you are visiting from Selfish Sewing Week! Check out all of the fun over on Imagine Gnats this week and whip up your own selfish project! This project is also part of my study on garment sewing, in which you can read about past garments here!
Today I'm happy to share my pattern...
Today, I'm presenting the Tudor Bag, a 'choose-your-own-sewing-adventure' bag sewing pattern, available now in my pattern shop as a pdf pattern! I think the the absence of sewing curves makes this more pleasing for a beginner (plus it's a really modern shape for a bag!).
So here is what makes this bag a choose-your-own-adventure:
Options:
Front Handles (choose Front Handles, Shoulder...
Before I tell you more about the dress that I made, I have to tell you a very sweet story. It sort of makes my eyes well up thinking about it. Last month, I had a booth at Quilt Market. I had a small amount of my new fabric to work with; I still wanted to make and display...
When Rae of Made by Rae released her Josephine Pattern last week, I immediately knew that I wanted to make it. This is available now as a pdf sewing pattern, which is easy to print out on your home printer. There are only 3 pattern pieces (front, back, and sleeves), so it isn't too much trouble to tape the pieces...
Day two of my projects made with Renaissance Ribbons continues (maybe you saw my other post last night with the free Arabesque Bag sewing pattern). There really are a million possibilities for these ribbons. The ribbons I used in my projects were all designed by Tula Pink, although Renaissance Ribbons also carries products by other designers that I'm sure...
Wow, it’s fantastic! Thi pattern is so far beyond my capabilities, even in how to “see” it, but not-Betsy did a fabulous and job of it. I am so impressed with the palette, and I love the squareness too.
Aww this is a real Gem. I really liked scrolling down and seeing the blue in the end, it really does pop, You did a wonderful job with placement, and I think you achieved what you wanted. Beautiful.
Great job Elizabeth!! I love how your quilt top turned out! This is one of those quilts on my list… but I need to shrink it all down. I’d like to make it mini! 🙂
Wow, it’s fantastic! Thi pattern is so far beyond my capabilities, even in how to “see” it, but not-Betsy did a fabulous and job of it. I am so impressed with the palette, and I love the squareness too.
Aww this is a real Gem. I really liked scrolling down and seeing the blue in the end, it really does pop, You did a wonderful job with placement, and I think you achieved what you wanted. Beautiful.
Great job Elizabeth!! I love how your quilt top turned out! This is one of those quilts on my list… but I need to shrink it all down. I’d like to make it mini! 🙂
Another great interpretation!
Wow. There seems to be a lot of work involved with that quilt. Beautiful.
WOW! I don’t think I could manage that one. But it is amazing.