New Possibilities Quilt Pattern and class

9 / 12 / 219 / 12 / 21

Hi everyone! I’m very happy to announce that my new Possibilities Quilt Pattern is available here, and that I’m teaching a 5-week Zoom class with it! This is a great pattern to develop your piecing skills and create a beautiful lap-size quilt in the process. It includes detailed instructions with full color diagrams and quilting suggestions for all three.

As the name suggests, there are a few “possibilities” for this quilt pattern. Each option is based upon four different 10″ quilt blocks and there are three different settings to choose from. Option 1 (45″ x 58″) is quick and easy with the blocks sewn together with sashing and borders; Option 2 (59″ x 59″) is a little more challenging with setting the blocks on point and requires 13 blocks; and Option 3 (60″ x 76″) is a more complex option of setting them inside a larger block which creates a secondary pattern (and is so pretty!)

Possibilities Quilt Pattern designed by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter.

Possibilities Zoom Class Information

The Zoom class starts this Tuesday, September 14, at 7:00 pm PT and will last about one hour for five consecutive weeks. I know this time doesn’t work very well for everyone, but I’m teaching it through my local quilt shop and we’re located in California. I will be recording each class so if someone has to miss any, they’ll have the recording to watch at a later time. Anyone is welcome to sign up and you can find that information here. Three different kits are available at The Granary as well.

I designed this pattern and class to teach fast and efficient piecing techniques. In the Zoom class, I will be sharing my favorite tips for accuracy as well as efficient methods for making some of my favorite quilt blocks. Plus, there are a few bonuses that I will include along the way!

I recently took some photos of the Option 2 and 3 quilts. We were at Santa Cruz beach last week and I had fun taking advantage of the natural landscape for the batik quilt (option 3).

Possibilities Option 3; quilting by Carol Dockery at The Granary Quilt Shop

I’m finishing up the Option 1 quilt right now. I’ll have pictures of that one soon. It was fun designing this pattern; it’s kind of like getting three quilt patterns in one! The pattern includes 16 pages of instructions, diagrams, fabric key charts, and quilting ideas. You can find The Possibilities PDF Quilt Pattern in my Etsy shop for $10.

Happy Quilting!

Quilt donations for Lake County, CA

9 / 10 / 219 / 10 / 21

Hi everyone. Many fires are still burning in California. So many of you have already donated quilts to various groups including WE CARE. I have recently been contacted by another group, Bike Angels United, who are looking for quilt donations for fire survivors in Lake County, California. In August, the Cache fire burned 56 homes to the ground, the majority of which were located at two mobile home parks. This displaced many who are low income and/or older folks, all of whom lost everything in the fire.

In 2015, Candy Alcott started Bike Angels United by giving away 30 bikes to kids whose bikes were lost in the Valley Fire. Unfortunately, not every child walked away with a bike that day. After a push on social media, Candy and her friends, family and local bike organizations (all bike angels) were able to return with 300 bikes! And their work has continued each year as fires continue to pop up in nearby areas. The most recent of those is the Cache fire.

Bike Angels United

So, what does this have to do with quilts? Candy has seen a need to provide the warmth of a quilt to displaced senior citizens and children of Lake County. She will be in that area in mid-October to give away bikes and would also like to have quilts to hand out to those in need.

Quilt Donation Information

Quilt size: Lap or bed-size
Quilt type: Finished quilts suitable for adults or children
Total quantity needed: 50 adult and 25 children
Donation deadline: October 10, 2021
Contact person: Candy Alcott, alcottcandy@gmail.com Phone number available upon request.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bikeangelsunited
Mailing address for quilt donations: Sandy & David Hall, 21190 Santa Clara Road, Middletown, CA 95461

I’m running low on kid’s quilts to donate, but I do have some that are perfect for adults. I’m glad to know they will be going to a good home and bringing someone comfort. Thank you in advance for being quilt angels for this great organization!

Julie Cefalu surrounded by her quilt donations for Bike Angels United.

Sew Thankful Sunday, September 2021

9 / 5 / 219 / 5 / 21

{I love the idea of “paying it forward”. I think the world would be a better place if we could spread some joy and acknowledgement of good deeds done by others. I try to do that once a month for my Sew Thankful Sunday posts. I highlight some great content that I’ve found on other people’s blogs that I hope will inspire you and reward the originator by bringing traffic to their site. If your blog has been mentioned without your consent, please let me know and I will take you off the current list of featured bloggers.}

Sew Thankful Sunday September 2021 is full of quilting tips, Fall projects and sweet treats!

Sew Thankful Sunday for September is full of fall flavor and lots of ideas to keep you busy and warm. This might be my favorite month of the year with the cooler temperatures and beautiful Fall colors. Today’s list for Sew Thankful Sunday has some great projects and ideas to inspire you.

Note: If you use Pinterest, please pin from the original source and not this blog post. Remember, you can click on any of the images in this post and it will open up a new tab to the associated link.

A perfect Fall treat in any form, Aurifil has featured Candy Corn for their Five For Friday treat! Even if you don’t love them as candy, these candy corn projects will put a smile on your face.

To celebrate National Sewing Month, Fat Quarter Shop is sharing a free quilt pattern, 3-D Popstar. This quilt requires just 12 Fat Quarters, and it measures 49.5″ x 63.5″. It’s sew cute!

I love to make pillows and Elizabeth at Quilter’s Candy has an easy tutorial for How to Make a Quilted Pillow. She shows you how to turn a churn dash block into a beautiful quilted pillow. The options are endless!

It’s time to think Christmas with the Mystery All The Trimmings Quilt & Stitch Along at Fat Quarter Shop! After seeing how cute their last mystery quilt along was, I think I’m going to have to join this one.

It’s apple season here and the perfect time to whip up The Best Healthy Apple Crisp Recipe from Monique at Ambitious Kitchen. A little fall treat without the guilt sounds good to me!

If you love mini quilts as much as I do, you’ll appreciate this Qurtis Mini Quilt tutorial from Connie at Free Motion by the River. It measures 18″ square and it would make a beautiful table topper or wall hanging!

Qurtis Mini Quilt tutorial @ Free Motion by the River

Grab a charm pack and make this free State Fair Quilt by Melissa at Happy Quilting. The PDF pattern has five size options and looks really quick and easy to make!

I love this Autumnal Free Quilt pattern from Corey at Coriander Quilts. She uses her recent fabric collection, Cozy Up for Moda Fabrics, and it definitely has that cozy feel! The version below is layer cake friendly too.

September is one of my favorite months as we transition into Fall with cooler temperatures and shorter days. It seems like the perfect time to get caught up on sewing projects and start some new ones. I hope you found some ideas and inspiration in today’s Sew Thankful Sunday post. Thanks for stopping by!

Nordic Star Table Runner free pattern

8 / 28 / 218 / 28 / 21

Hi friends! I get so excited when I get to share fun projects with you. Today I bring you the Nordic Star Table Runner pattern, and it’s free! This project has simple piecing and it’s really quick to make. Even though it’s only August, this is a great time to be get a head start on holiday gift and decor making. I chose a red and white color palette, but you could customize the colors for any occasion. Your dining table will look fabulous!

The Nordic Star Table Runner is a free pattern by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter. It's quick and easy - perfect for gifting or for your own home decor!

The finished runner measures 15″ x 54″ and the blocks are 12″ finished. You could add or substract the number of blocks to make the table runner longer or shorter. This 54″ length is just right for a 72″ table. I always have a seasonal table runner on my kitchen/dining room table. They make great gifts too!

Nordic Star Table Runner Pattern

You can download the Nordic Star Table Runner pattern below. If you’re reading this in an email or RSS feed, it might show up differently and you’ll need to click over to my blog to access it.

Nordic-Star-Table-Runner Download

The pattern includes a supply list along with complete instructions. Please be aware that this is a free pattern and has not been tested for accuracy. I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible, but I’m also human. If you find any errors or discrepancies, please send me an email and I’ll look into it as soon as possible.

Julie@TheCraftyQuilter.com

The fabric used in my sample came from my stash and it’s a few years old. I don’t have fabric manufacturer information except for the background fabric which is Spotted by Zen Chic for Moda Fabrics in white.

The backing fabric is from the Merry Stitches collection by Cori Dantini for Blend (no longer available) and another fabric from my stash. I like to use my fabric as efficiently as possible so I pieced the backing with two coordinating prints. I used 1/2 yard of fabric for the center and cut 1/4 yard of a different fabric into two pieces and sewed those to each short end of the large piece. It’s also nice to have a reversible table runner.

Deciding on a quilting design is often the hardest part of the process for me. To make things simple (and fast) I chose straight, parallel lines spaced 1/2″ apart. I used a hera marker and a ruler to mark the lines at first but they were hard for me to see. I switched to an air erasable marker and that made a big difference (plus it made me work fast!) I also like how the straight lines give the table runner more of a home decor-like appearance rather than a cozy quilt on the table. I just hope nobody spills their red wine on my beautiful table runner!

I had a leftover piece of batting that was the exact size I needed for this table runner. I believe it’s a 80/20 cotton/poly blend. I sewed the binding on entirely by machine. I love this method for projects that I know will be washed often. I have a tutorial on my machine binding technique here.

Even though it’s the middle of summer, I’m imagining this table runner will be just perfect for the holidays. It took some effort to bust out the Christmas “treasure chest” of decorations but it was worth it. (How could I resist a cute gnome?) I love the versatility of a red and white color combination. It can also be used for Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day, and 4th of July!

I recently indulged in some new fabric: Christmas Morning by Lella Boutique for Moda Fabrics. I ordered ten half-yard cuts from Hunnie Quilt on Etsy. My package came quickly and it was wrapped so nicely! Oh my goodness, it’s so pretty! I absolutely have to make another table runner out of some of it.

Christmas Morning fabric by Lella Boutique for Moda Fabrics would be perfect for the Nordic Star Table Runner.

I made a few mock-ups in EQ using Christmas Morning fabrics and another in what I call “modern farmhouse” colors. The possibilities are endless!

The Nordic Star Table Runner is a free pattern by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter. Shown with Christmas Morning fabric by Lella Boutique for Moda Fabrics.

Nordic Star Table Runner Pattern by Julie Cefalu at The Crafty Quilter

You might also be interested in the original inspiration for this table runner. It came from my Nordic Mini Quilt Along (six years ago)! The original Nordic Star block measures 4 1/4″ (finished)! It makes up one row of a mini quilt and it’s still one of my favorites.

Nordic Mini quilt by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter. Free tutorial and QAL.

I hope you enjoy this Nordic Star Table Runner pattern. I had so much fun making it and I’d love to see your version too. You can use the hashtag #nordicstartablerunner on Instagram and tag me @TheCraftyQuilter. Happy quilting!

Mondays and WIP’s

8 / 23 / 218 / 23 / 21

Now that we’re empty nesters (again) I kind of like Mondays. It’s the start of a new week and I get myself organized for the next five days. For me, organized is a very loose term. It means I make a meal plan, a grocery list and a “to do” list for the next five days. It doesn’t matter which fancy planner I use, it always falls to the wayside after the third or fourth month. I like a piece of paper that I can write my list on and my menu for the week, and then I need a master calendar.

I did find a weekly planning pad at The Lamare that I like. I’ve been using it consistently for about three months. It has a general “to do” section and each day of the week has it’s own area for accomplishing items from your “to do” list. There’s also a habit tracker which I was using for a while, but I think I might repurpose it into a meal planner. I need a space where I can write down the dinner/menu that I’m planning for each night of the week (well, at least four of them anyways). I don’t use the “Top 3” section hardly at all. So, it’s not the perfect planner for me, but it’s close.

I am picky about my writing pens, and I finally found one that I love: Uni-ball Jetstream retractable ballpoint pen. It’s pictured below along with the weekly planning pad. The ink flows beautifully and I like that it’s retractable. I hate having to stop to take a cap off before I write.

I also have The Quilter’s Planner which I use sometimes, but it’s more like my master calendar. It works great for my quilting needs, but it doesn’t really hit the mark for my household management needs. I want something simple but effective for me. It might be an impossible quest. Do you have a good planner or system that works for you? Leave a comment and share!

WIP’s

I just finished Month 3 of the Strawberry Garden Mystery BOM from Fig Tree Quilts. Now I’m just two months behind. These blocks are so darn cute! This month included one 12″ block, one 9″ block and four small basket blocks. Each month I receive the instructions and fabric to make the blocks. This BOM is closed so I don’t have any links for it, but I’ll keep you updated on my progress. Fig Tree always has great BOM’s going on throughout the year.

I am still working on the Nordic Star quilt block and table runner tutorial that I mentioned last week. I just finished piecing the table runner together and it turned out better than I hoped! It’s basted and now I’m machine quilting it. The block size is 12 1/2″ (unfinished) and the table runner measures 14 1/2″ x 53 1/2″. I’ll have the free instructions for you this weekend. If you want to start looking at your fabric stash, you’ll need 1/4 yard each of two complimentary colors and 1/2 yard of background fabric.

Nordic Star Table Runner - a free tutorial coming soon at The Crafty Quilter

That’s all for now. I hope you have a wonderful week. Happy Monday!