Oh my goodness. I have been thinking about nothing but the layout of this quilt.  Do you get like that? I just want to change one little thing, and it takes me a few days to figure out how to do it.  Like it's my first quilt. Which was cute, Mary Engelbreit fabric, but a mess of a layout.

I have decided to use a print for both my background and letter. Unlike my first letter A, that has a creamy white background.  I think I might re do that one....

So in using two prints for each block, I have decided to have 1 1/2" borders all around each block. That way each letter will look centered.  And I won't have a huge border going through the middle of each row of letters.

I know this isn't rocket science.  But I have to visualize so much and make sure that I will really like it.  It's like putting together a puzzle for me.  A puzzle that I don't want to have to do over.

Even with the pattern being online still, I am so thankful to have so much quilt (layout) inspiration out there.

Did I tell you, I started another Pinterest board for this quilt. That makes 133 boards, who needs that many?! Anyway.... you will find the links to the letters will be there too.

Here you can see how I added the 1 1/2" border to both sides.  Now I just need to cut down the top and bottom borders.  These shown here are 2 1/2".

This is the block from the Cotton Way blog, where you will find your letter C pattern. I love how she added a little Sawtooth Star!  I must try that in one of my blocks :)  This one is made as a mini quilt. So cute for your sewing room!

Having such a large stash of Bonnie and Camille fabrics it's hard going through and picking which combinations I like best for each letter.  I am looking for contrast obviously.  And pattern size. A large floral might be cut up a lot like in my first letter A.  So for the B both prints are of similar size, but there is contrast.

I love how there is a navy in this collection.  I would also like to add more orange to my stash as well. The sashing on this block is also the green background fabric.

girls in the garden

Some have done the quilt with a white background, which I do like. But I love the scrappy look, like this one below.

pretty little quilts

And here is your link for the letter B, from Bunny Hill Designs. Have fun sewing!

Since our family plans for moving to Georgia have been changed to summertime, I got out some of my fabric.  I am starting my Spell it With Fabric quilt again! 

If you remember, Moda first did this quilt as a blog hop. Later they came out with a printed pattern that you can still purchase for about $10.  Or you can still find each letter online. You just have to search a bit.

Here is my letter A. I've already shared the link with you on my blog, so I won't do it again here. You can also look on my Tutorials page for the links. I am using only fabrics from Bonnie and Camille. I love their fabric so much and I cannot resist buying some whenever I see it.

Here is my most recent purchase from Beverly's Fabrics in Rocklin. Usually for a scrappy quilt project like this, I really only need fat quarters or 1/4 yard cuts.  These are all from Bonnie and Camille, Hello Darling.  And you will see how easily each of their collections really work so well together!

Fresh Figs: honeysweet

If you search using Google Images, there are a ton of other cute collections out there! Here is Fig Tree Quilts. So soft and warm, really a dreamy collection of colors.

Pretty Little Quilts

But this is the look that I am really going for.  I even see some of my other favorite fabrics in this one.  A little bit of Lakehouse Fabrics makes me so happy to see! Some might even sneak its way onto my quilt.

So I encourage you to look around and get some inspiration. Especially if you have been waiting to make this quilt like I have. Let's get it done!

And of course I have a Pinterest page full of vintage tablecloth fun! Have fun looking, I hope it inspires you.

tablecloth inspiration

I really didn't know how much I have used vintage tablecloths until I started looking through my old pictures. I love them all!

I especially love this little model :) She was sometimes very reluctant too! But so cute, even if you can't see her face. I love seeing her little hands.

I made these very scrappy hot pads for my mom. A Christmas present most likely. And look at that cute vintage ric rac!

And another apron! I love this one! My sister Judith made a similar apron for my daughter, and I just used that one as my pattern.  This one closes with a velcro tab and I added a cute button to cover the stitching.

Here's another one with a sweet vintage button!

Here is my tiny model again! I can't believe I had fabric left over from the half apron to make a little dress too. I love the soft pink and faded flowers on this one.

I know there is more. Maybe I need to write a book!

vintage tablecloths

I don't know if you heard.... but my husband got a new job, in Atlanta Georgia!  We are very excited about it, and will be moving sometime in the summertime.

charm of the carolines

Right now I am going through a lot of my fabric collection. Mostly vintage fabrics. And specifically a lot of vintage tablecloths.  I love buying them and have a ton! I have used many of them on my kitchen table.  And many I have bought to use as cutters.  Those that have stains and holes. I could never imagine cutting up a perfect one!

fabric swatches

If you do a google search you will find a ton of inspiration for those not so perfect pieces.  I have always wanted to use one of mine as a quilt back. Or a quilt front and back!

tablecloth quilt

And isn't this Christmas one just perfect! There is a large red border added to make it just the right size. I just love the contrast of the white thread too.

Next, I'll share with you a little more of what I've made with my vintage tablecloths.

school skirts

With school starting soon for some of us, wouldn't it be fun to make a skirt for your girl? Or with your girl?  I loved it when my daughter was younger and we would pick out fabric together.  It made sewing with her or for her so very fun!

This is the simple skirt pattern that I would often use in my shop.  It is from the Made blog.  There are a lot of great skirt tutorials out there, but this one I really like because it is a great first skirt pattern.  Your girl will make this in just day.  And you both will love sewing it up that you will want to make one for all of her girlfriends too.  Wouldn't that be a fun gift!

And here is my girl in the skirt she made. This is from the summer of 2014.  I loved this fabric too, so very much!  I remember how proud she was, finishing it herself.  It always amazes me how empowering sewing can be :)

Have fun sewing!

kids sewing

Since I am not teaching this summer, I thought I would share with you a few of my favorite tutorials. These are great for sewing with kids or for those who want to learn how to sew.

One of my favorite things to teach to the beginner sewist is a pillowcase. We have been sewing these for the past four years at Sew Katie Jean. Donating all of them to the national organization called Heads at Ease.  We have probably made 1,000 pillowcases for our active duty military!

I will share with you a video tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  This is a great one:

I just wish that she would have ironed her fabric.  Ironing is very important for a great finished project.

And here is another one, the Magic Pillowcase.  She even shows you how to make French Seams.  They are easy to do. It just requires a bit of extra sewing.

I cut my fabric a little differently here too.  3/4 yard for the pillowcase body. 1/3 yard for the cuff. I like a bit of a wider cuff. It looks good, and it makes turning the pillowcase a little easier.  And when you pick out your fabric, I don't like to use flannel on both the body and cuff of the pillowcase.  It makes it really hard to turn the fabric right side out.

Leave a comment if you have any questions!

spell it

This quilt originally appeared on the Moda blog in February 2014.

I shared this idea on Instagram.

And everyone wanted to sew this quilt too!

But no one was really interested in looking up all of the letters.  So I did it. No big deal, I thought. But it did end up taking me about 2 hours to hunt each one down and print them out! 

After much thought about what fabrics I wanted to use. I decided to use my Bonnie & Camille stash. I love this fabric line because the new fabrics and their older prints always go together so well!  I still want it to look scrappy.  So I will be using different background fabrics, not always white. And different sashing fabrics too. 

Folding my squares in half and hitting them with an iron is a little tip that I saw on Missouri Star Quilt one day. I do love my Frixon pen, but this was quick when I was getting the rest of my fabrics together.

Here is my finished A. I love this red! So gorgeous.

And here are two different choices for my sashing.  Still trying to decide what to use.

Here is the A from Comfort Stitching. Aneela Hoey has the cutest of fabrics!  You will also find the PDF for this letter on her page here.

Happy Mother's Day!

My dad used to tell us the story how he met Colonel Sanders.  He sat next to him at a movie, and they got to talking.  He told my dad that he had a great chicken recipe and wanted to open restaurants. I always imagined him wearing this white suit when they met!

operation comfort warrior

Getting ready to leave for Oregon

My husband, Jeff, is always training for a bike ride.  This summer he had plans for a cross country ride to support Operation Comfort Warrior.  Yes... had.

Training with the team in Oregon

Some of you know that my husband had a big bike accident.  He is always training for a ride.  And on this day he was doing a 20 mile bike ride. I will spare you the gory pictures, but he needed 53 stitches to his face, and has a fractured nose.

This is himself and his new bike helmet, sent from my sister Judith. His face is healing up nicely (he had a great plastic surgeon do the stitches). But the rest of him is taking its time. Still moving slowly and has some balance problems too.

So, yes... I am feeling very thankful that I am home now to take care of him.  The timing is amazing.

This was a bittersweet day.

Two of my beauties came with me to the shop.  Seeing it for the last time.  It looked very much like it did when I first moved in.

My wonderful friends also came

and helped take down my cute signs, and fixtures.

My girl is still tiny enough to fit into

some of the small empty spaces.

And so many of what little was left.  Filled up three cars.  Lots was donated, shipped off, and some will be listed on my etsy site.

last days

In case you missed it ~ here is an update on the last few days of my shop:

Birdie came in to pick up our last donation of 34 Pillowcases for Soldiers. Thank you ladies for your hard work on these!

Some sweet ladies had a cupcake, lemonade, and a nice chat! I love that about my customers. Such a great friendly group of ladies.

And the shop sold out of pretty much everything! Thank you so much for coming in and shopping. Whatever I have left will be listed soon on my etsy site.  Plus some other handmade and vintage items.