teal diamond quilt

This quilt began as a fabric pull, many months ago, inspired by the teal and mint prints in Carolyn Friedlander's Botanics collection. It turned out that I had a number of solids and prints in my stash within the same color range, so I pulled them all to create a sizable stack of pretty, monochromatic fabrics. Not long after, I had the perfect project for them: a diamond quilt pattern created by Erica, a member of my circle in do. Good Stitches.

Lots of cutting, arranging, and piecing ensued, and eight hours later, I had a finished top.

I pieced a back from a few coordinating fabrics from my stash, including a favorite Japanese floral and a Marimekko stripe.

I stuck to straight-line quilting, using teal thread, which formed a pretty argyle pattern on the quilt's top, and a diamond pattern on the quilt's back.

I really love the restricted color palette of this quilt, and find myself gravitating more and more toward monochromatic quilts these days, especially when working with scraps.

In case you're interested, this quilt is now available in the shop.

Quilt Stats
Finished dimensions: 44" x 46"
Fabrics used include: Kona cotton solids by Robert Kaufman; Botanics prints by Carolyn Friedlander; True Colors Herringbone by Joel Dewberry; and a Chicopee print by Denyse Schmidt.
Quilt tutorial: Kissing Diamonds by Erica Jackman of Kitchen Table Quilting

black-and-white pow-wow quilt in cotton lawn

 

Just before I left Spoonflower, we added a super soft cotton lawn to our line-up. I was really excited for this fabric's release, as I knew it would be perfect for quilting (think Liberty of London's Tana Lawn). Wanting to make a quilt from it myself, I selected a number of low-volume designs from the Spoonflower marketplace, and the Marketing team kindly provided me with a stack of fat quarters to work with.

I quickly decided that I wanted to give Cluck Cluck Sew's Pow-Wow quilt pattern a whirl (I purchased it a number of years ago). Rather than using prints for the arrows and a solid for the background, as the pattern suggested, I switched things up and used a solid black for the arrows and the assortment of lawn prints for the background.

I really love the graphic pop that results from pairing the low-volume prints with a solid black, and how the prints create a subtle, yet interesting background. It's fun to spot faces, bow ties, and letters between each of the arrows.

The construction of the arrow blocks results in leftover half-square triangles, which I in turn sewed into a row, and set amidst a light gray cross-hatch print on the back, which shows off the zig-zag quilting beautifully.

I used a black-and-white striped binding (love!) to finish everything off, which I machine-stitched down.

With the remaining half-square triangles, I then pieced a complementary throw pillow cover. I really loved working with the cotton lawn---it was super soft---and I didn't have any issues pairing it with a heavier weight quilting cotton. I think the fabric gives both the quilt and the pillow a nice hand, making them perfect for snuggling.

Both the quilt and the pillow are now listed in my Etsy shop.

Quilt Stats
Finished dimensions: 38.5" x 42.5" 
Spoonflower designs used: Gilhoolie Tulip in Peachy Pink by Gilhoolie; Letters by Anke Panke; Cute Faces by Anke Panke; Bow #2 Black on White by I Got Stripes Studio; Mod Baby Tiny Crosses Grey by Miss Tiina.
Quilt pattern: Pow-Wow by Cluck Cluck Sew

scattered squares quilt

Do you have projects that begin in one place and wind up in another? When I started this quilt a few years ago, my idea was to create a colorful, scrappy checkerboard quilt, inspired by those by Red Pepper Quilts. At the time, I pieced five blocks and set them aside, assuming I would continue to add to my pile as I collected more 2.5" scraps.

Fast forward to earlier last year, when I came across these blocks again while cleaning my studio. Rather than doing any more checkerboard piecing, I decided to make a quilt by mixing the blocks I had with large white and cream squares.

The resulting random and scattered layout, with its wide open spaces, is perfect, and I think better than what I'd originally envisioned.

I backed the top with a Marimekko large lime green dot, and quilted it with intersecting straight lines in a matching bright green thread. The binding is a navy-and-white stripe from Sew Modern.

This quilt is now listed for sale in the Salty Oat Etsy shop, and I can attest to its crinkly fluffiness, which makes it perfect for snuggling.

All quilt photos by Caroline Okun.

triangle scraps + a finished quilt

I'm so excited to share today's quilt with you! I started this quilt earlier this year, on a quest to clear out my scrap bins---at least enough to fit the lids back on top.  While I didn't manage to do that---my scrap pile keeps growing!---I did fall in love with this scrappy quilt.

The quilt pattern is "Up, Up, and Away," by Amanda Jean Nyberg, and is found in the book Sunday Morning Quilts. I paired white, cream, and khaki squares with little triangles of color, ranging from vintage to modern fabrics. Piecing took forever---lots of trimming and experimenting with the layout---but I think it was well worth the effort.

I used a saturated and bold blue Marimekko print for the back and a coordinating cobalt-blue-and-white stripe for the binding. I stuck with my favorite cross-hatch quilting, which added a nice texture to the quilt.

 

This quilt is now listed for sale in the Salty Oat Etsy shop, and I'd love to know, what are your favorite scrap-busting projects?

All photos by Caroline Okun. 

star system quilt + a giveaway

When I attended my first Quilt Market back in 2012, I had the pleasure of meeting Melissa Lunden, of Lunden Designs. Melissa designs gorgeous quilts, and I've had the chance to test a few of her patterns. The first pattern of hers that I tested was the Star System.

When Melissa sent me this pattern, I knew I had a stack of fabrics that I'd pulled months earlier that would be perfect. Fabrics included Lizzy House pearl bracelets, polka dots, Japanese florals, and Alexander Henry's Heath cross-hatch.

This pattern definitely used techniques previously outside of my skill-set---like machine sewing hexagons and sewing Y-seams that lay flat. I feel like I learned so much through Melissa's instructions and was really proud to have a finished quilt top in the end.

I stuck with simple straight line quilting and backed the quilt with the ubiquitous Ikea numbers print, which I thought tied in quite beautifully with the front. Since the quilting isn't terribly dense, the quilt is quite squishy and soft, perfect for snuggling.

It's listed for sale in my Etsy shop here, along with a few more photos.

Melissa kindly sent me some extra patterns, and I'd love to share them with one of you! For a chance to win both patterns, simply leave a comment below. I'll select a winner at random next Wednesday, July 23. This giveaway is open to everyone!

surprise weekend sale!

Last night, while working on my Etsy shop, I noticed I'd reached 200 admirers---and decided we should celebrate with a sale! Use the code "YAY200" for 20% off your fabric order now through Sunday night at midnight EST.

And be sure to check the shop in the coming weeks. I'll be restocking some favorite prints and adding some new ones!

thankful + a sale

This holiday season, I'm thankful for all of the customers, blog readers, and friends who've supported my little shop. I've been having so much fun sewing and sourcing pretty fabrics. As a small token of my appreciation, I'm offering 20% off everything in the shop---including fabrics, quilts, and pillows---through Monday. Simply enter the code "THANKS" at checkout to receive the discount.

latest finishes

This past weekend, my husband and I drove around looking for a place to photograph two of my recent finishes. We wound up at this pink brick wall in downtown Raleigh, and were actually soon joined by a photographer and a family, who were looking to use the wall as a backdrop as well (they awkwardly stood behind me as I snapped my last few pictures). First up was a low-volume Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt I made from solid and almost-solid cottons and linens. I stuck with a low-volume theme, throwing in strips of color here and there.

I backed it with one of my favorite Anna Maria Horner prints and quilted it with a light peach thread. I've listed it here in my Etsy shop, if you'd like to take a closer look.

My second recent finish is this Tatami Mat quilt, using a pattern designed by my friend Melissa, of Lunden Designs. Melissa and I met at Quilt Market in Houston last year, and have kept in touch since. I've had the chance to test out a few of her amazing quilt patterns, including this one, and have loved how they've turned out.

For this quilt, I pulled a stack of peach, pink, orange and brown prints by Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, and Art Gallery Fabrics. I enlarged the quilt's borders a bit, and backed it with larger cuts of floral prints by Art Gallery Fabrics and a vintage daisy pillowcase I'd been hoarding. It will be heading off to its new home soon, joining a matching pillow.

new fabrics in the shop!

I'm so excited to share that I've added more fabrics to the shop! You can now find a selection of prints by the British textile designer, Sarah Waterhouse, on my virtual shelves. Sarah hand prints all of her beautiful designs onto organic cotton and hemp blends in her Sheffield, England, studio.

Sarah's prints are bright and bold, and great for so many projects, including throw pillows and zipper pouches. I've started on an improv quilt using swatches of her designs that I'm really excited about.

In addition to new fabrics, I've also added some finished goods to the sale section of my shop, in preparation for a move into a larger home studio next week. The less I have to move the better, and there are some great potential holiday gifts in there!

honeycombs wall quilt

For a dear friend's birthday this month, I stitched up a small wall quilt, using prints by Umbrella Prints from my fabric shop and some scraps of chambray.

Inspired by Betsy's honeycombs, I stitched up my own by hand, using an English paper-piecing technique.

I then machine-appliqued the honeycombs to my quilt top and did echo quilting around the edges.

I stuck with my now-favorite rounded corners, and used up the rest of the binding I had made for this quilt. I used a coordinating vintage blue print for the backing, and I added both a label and a hanging sleeve.

I loved having the chance to work with these prints (they're among my favorites) and I'm happy to report that the birthday girl loved her gift.

free shipping week!

Now through Friday, October 4, I'm offering free domestic and international shipping in my Etsy shop! Simply enter the coupon code YAYFREESHIP at checkout. I've got lots of pretty fabrics by Umbrella Prints in stock, including a few fat quarter packs, along with quilts and pillows. All orders will ship on Saturday, October 5.

Happy shopping!

salty oat: the fabric shop!

Today, I'm so excited to announce the next phase of Salty Oat: an online fabric shop! I've always loved screen-printed fabrics (both their modern aesthetic and their handmade, earth-friendly nature), but have often been unable to find the designers I love in shops in the U.S. So, I decided to do something about it, and am so excited to add the first batch of screen-printed fat quarters to my virtual shelves.

You can now purchase prints by Umbrella Prints in the shop, including a few from their newest collection, Floating World, which launched just last week. Umbrella Prints makes beautiful, organic fabrics and is run by two talented women, Amy and Carly. I've loved working with their fabrics, and competing in their annual Trimmings Competition (you can see my past entries here and here). 

I have a few other designers lined up for the shop, which I'll be adding in the coming months. If you have any favorite independent designers you'd love to see in the shop, please let me know!

open studio this friday!

For the past two months, I've been dividing my time between my home studio and a new shared studio in downtown Cary, which is part of the co-working space Gather. Moving into the new studio has been just the kick in the pants I needed to try out some new things, including reopening my Etsy shop and stocking it with previously unfinished projects, and re-imagining the future of Salty Oat---with more details to come soon (there's a mini hint in the photo above)! I'll also be teaching two classes at Gather this fall, and will share details about those in the coming months.

In the meantime, this Friday is Gather's grand opening, and I hope you'll stop by and say hello! I'll have my wares for sale, including some pieces that aren't currently available in my Etsy shop, and there will be food trucks, coffee, local vendors, and more. It promises to be a fun night!

log cabin baby quilt

I first made the blocks for this quilt three (three?!) years ago, as part of a mystery quilt along that never finished. I finally pulled all of the blocks out this summer, and made a soft and crinkly baby quilt.

I paired the Heather Bailey, Amy Butler, and Cloud9 prints in the quilt top with another Amy Butler print on the back.

I quilted it in straight lines with green thread, and bound it with a blue and white seersucker for a bit of unexpected texture. 

You can find the quilt for sale in my Etsy shop here.