Happy Little Things BOM block 1

Welcome to the first block of the Happy Little Things Block of the Month hosted by Jacquelynne Steves! I’m honored to be one of the participating bloggers this year, and I’m so glad you’re visiting today.

Happy Little Things free block of the month by Jacquelynne Steves.

You can sign up for this free BOM here, and then you’ll receive all of the patterns and instructions directly into your inbox. You’ll also find fabric kits, pre-printed blocks in two sizes (for the block centers), quilt labels, buttons, charms and pins that all coordinate with the fabric kits on the sign-up page.

Every month there will be giveaways on each participating blogger’s blog, so there are multiple chances to win. This month’s sponsor is Olfa, and they’re giving away a fantastic prize package! Details can be found at the end of this blog post.

Happy Little Things, Block 1

For my version of Happy Little Things, I’m making a mini version. My blocks will finish at 6″ square! I will include my cutting instructions each month, but you will need to sign up for the BOM to get all of Jacquelynne’s assembly instructions. Here is my completed block for this month:

Happy Little Things, Block 1 made by Julie Cefalu. Pattern designed by Jacquelnne Steves.

I’m using an older fabric collection titled Jingle Birds by Keiki for Moda Fabrics along with some of my own blenders. The Jingle Bird print is just right for fussy cutting 2 1/2″ squares for the center of my blocks.

I like making mini versions of quilt blocks. They require a bit more attention to detail, but that’s part of the fun! The photo below gives you a little size comparison with the pen and glasses.

Happy Little Things, Block 1 made by Julie Cefalu. Pattern designed by Jacquelnne Steves.

I made a mock-up in EQ8 of my version of the finished quilt. I’ve included the words, “Winter Friends” to applique in place of the pieced border. If you want to follow along with me, I’ll give templates for my letters as well as the cutting dimensions. It’s optional, of course, either way. This will be a nice wall hanging size and will measure approximately 23″ x 31″ when finished.

Happy Little Things BOM, by Jacquelynne Steves. Mini version @ The Crafty Quilter

Mini version cutting instructions

The mini version of block #1 will finish at 6″ square. I followed the assembly instructions that Jacquelynne gave and found it easy to put everything together on my smaller scale.

Happy Little Things, Block 1 made by Julie Cefalu. Pattern designed by Jacquelnne Steves.
Block #1, Mini version in EQ8

You can download the cutting instructions for the mini version of block #1 here:

Happy Little Things, Block 1 mini version cutting instructions

If you haven’t tried Jacquelynne’s method for making flying geese, I recommend giving it a try. It’s based on a traditional method, but she over-sizes the squares to give you something to trim down.

Giveaway (closed)

This month’s giveaway is generously sponsored by Olfa. I can’t live without my Olfa rotary cutter and rotating cutting mat in my sewing room.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment telling me whether you like making mini quilts or not (no judgement here) by Sunday, August 11, 11:59 pm PST. Now CLOSED.

NOTE: To leave a comment, make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this blog post (not from my home page), and look for the rectangle that says “Enter your comment here”.  On August 12, I’ll randomly pick one winner!

Here are the giveaway rules:

  • To enter, leave a comment telling me if you like making mini quilts (or not).
  • You must comment by 11:59 pm PST on Sunday, August 11, 2019. (Now Closed).
  • You must leave a contact email so that I can reach the winner.
  • There is ONE prize per person per month (in other words, the same person cannot win two prizes within the same month.)
  • Giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. International winners will receive an alternate prize.
  • Winner will be chosen at random.

Due to the high volume of comments, I won’t be able to reply to you (unless there is a direct question), but I will read each and every one.  Thank you in advance for your participation and for leaving a comment.

Participating bloggers

Make sure to visit all of the participating bloggers to see their version of Happy Little Things! You can also enter the giveaway on each respective blog so you have more chances to win.

There is also a Facebook group where you can stay up to date and post photos: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SewQuiltyFriends.JacquelynneSteves/

If you use social media, please use the hashtags #HappyLittleThingsBOM and #HappyLittleThingsQuilt .

Happy Little Things, Block 1 made by Julie Cefalu. Pattern designed by Jacquelnne Steves.

Thank you for visiting today! Have a wonderful week.

Sew Thankful Sunday, August 2019

{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, August 2019 @ The Crafty Quilter includes pillow tutorials, tips, a table runner, chocolate zucchini bread recipe, a locker organizer, thread inspiration and more!

It’s August and still Summer for those of us in North America. But we’re beginning to think about school starting again and new projects on the horizon. There’s a little of everything today in this list of inspiration that I’m sew thankful for!

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.

  1. If you’re a beginning quilter, you’ll want to join the Jolly Jabber as they begin The Ultimate Beginner Quilt Along. Beginning August 1, a free pattern and video will be released weekly through November 7. Every detail will be covered, so even an advanced quilter might learn a few new tricks!

2. It’s still early, but this Christmas Tree Table Runner Tutorial from Polka Dot Chair will get you thinking about the holidays in no time. This is a quick and easy project that would make a great gift or for your own use.


3. The ladies at The Cloth Parcel have come up with a lovely Summer Cabin Quilted Pillow Tutorial as part of the Olfa + Aurifil Stitch & Slice challenge. I love everything about this one – and that quilting!

Summer Cabin Pillow @ The Cloth Parcel

4. Do you have an abundance of zucchini in your garden? If so, you’ll love this Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe from Love & Lemons. I’ve made it twice already and it’s a winner!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread @ Love & Lemons

5. I found this blog post on How to Get Seams Really Flat by Christen at I See Stars to be really helpful. You’ll be surprised at her little trick that works every single time.


6. Back to school ideas are starting to pop up and I love this Locker Organizer Tutorial by Stacy Schlyer for We All Sew. This would be perfect for your favorite teenager!

Locker Organizer @ We All Sew

7. I love this Pocket Pillow Tutorial by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. It would make a great gift for a book lover, young and old alike.

Pocket Pillow @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

8. If you want to see some eye-candy in thread form, check out the artistry of Sheena Norquay at the Aurifil blog. Her latest Peacock collection of thread in 50 wt. is gorgeous, and I was so inspired and awestruck by her work!

“Polly” from the Peacock Collection by Sheena Norquay

I just want to stop everything and get to my sewing room! This is a wonderful group of creative ideas and inspiration today. Thank you for sharing it with me and especially thank you to everyone featured.

New things are cooking

Hey all! The last day of July is here and the second half of 2019 is underway. I thought I’d get you caught up with some new things that are cooking in my house. And I’m talking about in the sewing room, in the kitchen and in the family!

I have multiple projects going on in my sewing room, and it’s always the newest and shiniest that gets most of my attention. I just finished a new quilt block and I’m super excited about it. Now I need to decide if I want to make it into a pillow or a table runner or a quilt. And then, do I want to submit the idea to a magazine (on my bucket list), publish my own pattern or neither of those? For this project, I’ve used Merry Starts Here by Sweetwater for Moda Fabrics. I especially love the plaids in this fabric line, and it would make a fabulous winter/Christmas quilt .

New quilt block made and designed by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter

I love my summer vegetable garden plus all of the sweet fruit available at my local farmer’s market. Sometimes there’s more produce than I can handle, and I love a good cookbook that has recipes for all of that harvest. I recently bought the book, Bake the Seasons, by Marcella DiLonardo. OMG, if you like to bake, you will love this book. It includes sweet and savory recipes to make throughout the year.

Bake the Season Cook Book by Marcella DiLonardo - highly recommended by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter

We have an abundance of sun gold cherry tomatoes. They are sweet as candy! I made focaccia bread using a recipe from this book, and it was so darn delicious. I made it the focal point of a small charcuterie and cheese board for Mr. Crafty Quilter and myself. I think this is my favorite way to eat in the summer!

New things are cooking at The Crafty Quilter's kitchen, including this focaccia bread from the book, Bake The Seasons.
New things are cooking at The Crafty Quilter's kitchen, including this focaccia bread from the book, Bake The Seasons.

Earlier this month, I made apricot and triple berry jam. Every year I make at least two batches of jam and I share it with my family. We all look forward to jam-making day. I took a picture of my jewel-toned jars of jam to show my kids. Then I used a long-forgotten app on my iPhone called Waterlogue to turn my photo into a work of art. It’s a fun app to play with. Here’s a before and after:

Homemade jam by Julie Cefalu
Using the Waterlogue app by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter

Isn’t that amazing? I’m not trying to sell this app and I don’t have any affiliation with Waterlogue. It’s been around a while, and I’m just passing along my experience with it. Now, we quilters can turn our quilts into another art form using this app. Here’s my Disappearing 9-patching quilt before and after:

Disappearing 9-patch quilt made by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter
Using the Waterlogue App to create a work of art from a quilt by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter

I saved the best news for last. My daughter and son-in-law (Kelly and Steven) are expecting baby number 3! They just found out that it’s going to be a boy and he’s due in December. Right now there’s just a little baby bump – although I took this picture 3 weeks ago. He’s probably more than just a little bump by now.

Kelly's baby bump.

Amelia just turned four in July and Clara is 16 months old. They are super excited to be big sisters.

Big sister's Amelia & Clara

You know I’m excited! I will gladly add a new baby quilt on my list of things to make by the end of the year. I’m also looking forward to keeping up with my UFO & WIP Challenge each month, and coming up with a new holiday tutorial for you guys is on the radar.

I hope you’re enjoying your summer. Thanks for spending a little of it with me here!

July UFO & WIP link up

It’s the last Saturday in July which means it’s time to show off your completed project for the 2019 UFO & WIP Challenge. There is a link up at the end of this blog post and one winner will be chose to win a prize package that includes a fat quarter bundle of Bee Backgrounds by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Fabrics, a Simple Folded Corners ruler and a small flower tin with flat-head pins – compliments of me and my stash! .

July UFO & WIP challenge prize package @ The Crafty Quilter

As for me and my July UFO & WIP challenge project, it’s still right where I left it. Table runner top, backing and batting ready for basting, quilting and binding. I just couldn’t get to it this month. Priorities change and that’s how it goes sometimes.

July UFO & WIP challenge project is a table runner that needs finishing @ The Crafty Quilter

However, I have been making progress on my granddaughter, Amelia’s, busy book. She turned four a few days ago, and I wanted it finished for her birthday. Well, that deadline has passed, but we are going to visit in mid-August so that’s my final deadline. FINAL. I mean it.

So far I have semi-completed seven pages. There’s still a few finishing touches to add sto a few such as eyes for the lady bug and dinosaur, etc. I have a tic-tac-toe page, a Chicka-chicka-boom-boom page, a dinosaur page, a mitten page, a “button on the flower” page, an overalls clasp page, a ladybug zipper page, and a “spell your name” magnetic page. I will do a separate blog post all about the busy book once it’s completed. I still have to figure out how I want to “bind” all of the pages together, but here they are so far:

Tic Tac Toe Busy Book page made by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Busy Book page made by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter
Dinosaur Busy Book page made by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter
Mitten Busy Book page made by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter
Button Flower Pot Busy Book page made by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter
Overalls Clasp Busy Book page made by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter
Lady Bug Zipper Busy Book page made by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter
Spell your name Busy Book page made by Julie Cefalu @ The Crafty Quilter

It’s definitely a work in process (WIP)! I’m going to make it so that you can add and remove pages as needed. So even when it’s completed, I can still create new pages for it.

I hope you all have had time to complete a UFO. Summer can be a time of busy-ness with vacation plans and house projects, or it can be a catch up time for fun and relaxation. It’s a little bit of both at our house! Let’s see what you’ve been busy with. Add your photo to the link up below to be entered into this month’s giveaway.

July UFO & WIP Link Up

Link-up Rules:

  • You may add up to 2 finished projects.
  • One image per finished project.
  • Project must be quilting, sewing or needlework related.
  • The link-up will be open until August 3, 2019, at midnight, PST.
  • This month’s giveaway is open to US and Canada only.
  • Winner will be drawn at random on August 4, 2019

Link-up Instructions:

  • Click on the blue “add link” button (below).
  • Enter the URL of your link.  If you don’t have one, click on the blue “enter without link” button. The upload widget will activate.
  • Note: If your photo size is too large, it may not accept it. You’ll have to re-size it to a smaller file size.
  • Enter a caption for your image.  This should describe your project and it can include your name if desired.
  • Enter your email address.  No one will be able to see this but me.
  • Agree to the InLinkz terms of service & privacy policy.
  • If you have any trouble, just leave a comment or send me an email with your photo attached.  I can add it for you.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Happy Little Things BOM participants

Hey everyone! I am so excited to be participating in Jacquelynne Steves’ upcoming free block of the month, Happy Little Things. It starts on August 5 with instructions for one block each month and finishes with assembly and border instructions in November.

I'm participating in Happy Little Things BOM hosted by Jacquelynne Steves

Giveaway information

Today, Jacquelynne is having a giveaway on her blog to introduce you to all of the other participating bloggers!

Prize includes Dwellings Contempo fabric by Benartex,  Aurifil thread box designed by Jeni Baker, a package of Heat n Bond by Thermoweb, a package of Pin Mini’s which have been created to coordinate with the Happy Little Things BOM by Just Another Button Company!!! The retail value of this prize pack is over $80 US. Giveaway is open to US and International entrants; you must go here to enter.

Happy Little Things giveaway @ Jacquelynne Steves

Participating blogger

If this is your first time visiting here, welcome! I’m so glad you stopped by. I have been a participating blogger for Jacquelynne’s BOM’s for the past four years. One year I made each block into a wall hanging representing a different season. Below are my finished quilts (and wall hangings) from each year.

  • Save The Bees
  • I Love Home
  • Maggie’s First Dance
  • Cozy Afternoon

The nice thing about this block of the month is that you can follow the participating bloggers to see how they make each block. Some of us will do the applique version, some will do the embroidery and others will use a focus fabric. It’s so nice to have options! And I love seeing the different color palettes that everyone chooses.

In the past, I have always included the applique that Jacquelynne provides. I love the charm of applique and her designs are so cute! This year I’m doing something different. I’m going to make a mini version of each block. My blocks will finish at 6″ instead of 12″, and they will be made out of “winter” fabric. I’m using an older collection titled Jingle Birds by Keiki for Moda Fabrics along with some of my own blenders.


Because my blocks will be so small, I won’t be doing the applique. Instead, I will fussy cut the cute birds from one of the prints which will fit inside a 2″ finished square just right!

Fussy cut 2″ squares from Jingle Birds fabric

If you’re interested in making the mini version of this block of the month, make sure to follow me. I’ll share my piecing tips, and I’ll be posting the revised cutting instructions each month on my blog. I will NOT be providing any other instructions; you’ll need to sign up at Jacquelynne Steves blog to get all of the directions for making the blocks.

I’m intending on making this into a small wall hanging with the addition of some applique words. It will be perfect for the winter months. You’ll have to come back on August 5 to see exactly what I’ll be doing!

I hope you’ll join us in making Happy Little Things. Jacquelynne is providing instructions in two colorways along with fabric kits available for purchase here. Plus, there will be monthly giveaways AND did I mention that it’s free?

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you have a wonderful week full of happy little things!