Blog from Homesewn by Carolyn, baby quilts & lap quilts

Old Maid's Puzzle 1 - Block No. 117

11/17/2015

Continuing on with my project to complete all 200 quilt blocks from "Around the Block with Judy Hopkins". Old Maid's Puzzle 1 is another easy pattern to try. Once you have mastered the half square triangle, this block is a breeze.

Old Maid's Puzzle 1

First you start by sewing your small half square triangles to your squares. Then you sew those sections together. Next sew your large half square triangles.

Sew all those sections together. I press all my seams open flat. This makes it a lot easier later when I am free motion quilting. I won't be fighting with lumpy fabric.

Then alternate your pieces and sew together. This is your completed quilt block.

Now for my favorite part and why I started this project in the first place. I never know what the blocks will look like when you put them together.

Here are two options you have for making your quilt. The first option is keeping all the blocks facing the same way. The second option is turning the blocks to make a star pattern.

four squares of Old Maid's Puzzle 1 quilt blocks

Option 1

Option 2

I decided to go with Option 1 for my Lovie Lap Quilt with Pockets.

Lovie Lap Quilt with pockets from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Thanks for joining me on quilt block 117, Old Maid's Puzzle 1. Be sure to give this quilt block a try!

0 Comments

Sometimes You Just Get Lucky!

10/13/2015

2 Comments

What a wonderful experience I had a couple of weeks ago! All of a sudden my sales exploded and I didn't know why. Then I received an email from Suzie at The Warm Company:

Hi Carolyn!

My name is Suzie and I work for The Warm Company, home of Warm & Natural Batting. I saw your quilt on Pinterest and shared it on our Facebook page and I have to tell you that it has been our most successful post EVER. Everyone has been asking for the pattern so I posted a link to your website. I hope that you’ve received a lot of orders for it. Just to give you some idea of how popular your product is…it has received 1,384 likes on our page alone to date. It has been shared by 6,128 people and has reached a total of 365.6 K people. Wow! You have a very cool, innovative design here and I hope that my post has helped to generate some revenue. I just had to contact you and let you know how much people love what you are doing. I hope you are well and have a great Monday.

This is the picture from Pinterest that Suzie shared on Facebook. I do love the colors in this Lovie Lap Quilt. I am so appreciative of all the comments and shares I received.

This was an eye opener for me. It showed me just how many people really like my Lovie Lap Quilts and how important it is to advertise to get your product seen. I have been in business for myself for four and a half years. Every year my sales increase. This year will be a record breaker! Thank you, Suzie!

If you are a quilter and want to start your own business, go for it. It takes a lot of time and persistence but it does work!

2 Comments

Quilting in September!

9/25/2015

0 Comments

What beautiful weather we are having here in New Hampshire. It's the prettiest September I can remember in a long time. I am busy with my quilts, filling special orders. Below are the quilts I have been working on.

Baseball Baby Quilt

Paper Pinwheels Quilt Block From "Around the Block with Judy Hopkins"

Mouse Quilt, original designs.

I love these mice. They are an original design by my artist niece, Wendy Mierop. They have such character.

Of course this guy needs no introductions!

Lovie Lap Quilt with Pockets

Optical Sawtooth Quilt Block From "Around the Block with Judy Hopkins"

If you haven't already done so, check out my Lovie Lap Quilts with Pockets. These make the best gifts for your Mom or Grandmother. Christmas is coming! I also sell the pattern for the Lovie Lap Quilt. I hope you give it a try. Until next time, keep quilting and enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

Carolyn

0 Comments

Free Motion Quilting Sampler

9/10/2015

4 Comments

I am in full swing quilting mode now that I am back home from spending the summer in Maine. I have just finished a patchwork quilt full of free motion quilting designs.

Patchwork Baby Quilt

Each of the squares has a different free motion quilting pattern. What fun I had. I have learned all my free motion quilting techniques from Leah Day with her online Craftsy (http://www.craftsy.com) classes and her videos from her website http://www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com. I highly recommend Leah as a teacher. She has a great gift for teaching.
Just recently Leah has started making her own videos for sale. Make sure you check those out too!

I use a Janome 7700 for all my quilting, piecing and free motion quilting. The Janome 7700 has a larger work space (11 inches) for your quilt to fit in while you are free motion quilting. I love this feature.

I spend as much time quilting my quilts as I do piecing. I'm so glad I discovered free motion quilting. It's one of my favorite parts to making a quilt. I hope you give free motion quilting a try!

Carolyn

4 Comments

Summer in Maine!

8/25/2015

1 Comment

Summer is winding down for me. I've had a fabulous summer here on the coast of Maine. I was able to quilt quite a lot of the time. Here are some of the quilts I've made this summer.

Pinwheel baby quilt from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Dinosaur baby quilt from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Sea Creatures baby quilt from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Amish Living quilt from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Floral Lovie Lap Quilt from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Peach Butterfly and Floral quilt from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Ice Cream quilt by http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Peach floral Lovie Lap Quilt by http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Unisex Baby Quilt, handmade by http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

I was busier than I thought.

While I was busy quilting, we had some construction going on. After 57 years of owning our camp, my family had a dock built! We are so excited! Below are some of the pictures.

It's time to pack up all my fabric, sewing machine and quilts and move back home. I'm sad to be leaving this beautiful spot but excited to be going home to start quilting full time. I'm also excited to be with my husband full time as well. Until next time, Happy Quilting!

1 Comment

Quilting on the Coast of Maine

7/25/2015

0 Comments

Below are the quilts I have made since being in Maine this summer. I have such a beautiful view while I am quilting that I really enjoy. The first quilt I made is a "Lovie Lap Quilt" with pockets. What a great gift for your Mom or Grandmother! The next quilt is a soft pastel pinwheel baby quilt. This quilt is great for a boy or girl. The next quilt is a sea creatures quilt. What fun! And the last quilt is a dinosaur quilt. It shows several different dinosaurs which will encourage imagination.

Lily Lovie Lap Quilt from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Sea Creatures Baby Quilt from http://ww.homesewnbycarolyn.com

Pastel Pinwheel Baby Quilt from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com

This weekend in Maine there is the 38th Annual Quilt Show in Augusta, Maine. http://www.mainequilts.org/Quilt_Show/

I love seeing all the quilts and, of course, shop with the vendors. Each year I try out the long arm machines. Someday maybe I will purchase one but for right now I do all my free motion quilting on my Janome.

I hope you are in the area and can go to the show! Happy Quilting!

0 Comments

Great 4th of July!

7/6/2015

3 Comments

I hope everyone had a safe and happy "4th of July"! My weekend was spent with family at our summer house on the coast of Maine. This is our first summer without Mom but we feel her spirit with us at our cottage. She loved it here.

I will be spending most of the summer here with the exception of going home on Wednesdays for my yoga class and to see my husband. Ken comes to Maine most weekends.

The first thing we did this weekend was to put my sister, Sharon's boat in the water!

This is our cottage. We had rocks put in front of it to help hold the embankment. The foliage is filling in and will look better soon.

I love the new view we have!

On Saturday we went to the Harpswell 4th of July Celebration where they read from the Declaration of Independence and shot off their guns and canon.

Then back to camp for some outdoor games and a fantastic display of fireworks at night with patriotic music playing along.

On one of our walks we found mountain laurel that I think I might like to paint a picture of with my watercolors.

Sunday was such a beautiful day that we packed a lunch and took the boat for a long ride.

I hope you all had a happy 4th as well. Now I'm back to quilting!

3 Comments

Ten Best Baby Quilt Patterns

6/22/2015

1 Comment

Here are my top ten favorite baby quilt patterns. They are all easy pattern to make.
1. Log Cabin Quilt Block

Log Cabin Block, One of the Ten Best Baby Quilt Patterns

2. Northwind Quilt Block

Northwind Quilt Block from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com/blog

I love this quilt block. It doesn't look like much all by itself, but when you sewn the whole quilt together, WOW! Love it.

3. Square on Square Quilt Block

4. Beginners Delight Quilt Block

5. Cross within a Cross Quilt Block

Cross with a Cross Quilt Block from http://www.homesewnbycarolyn.com/blog

I think I like Cross within a Cross because of all the colors.

6. Louisiana Quilt Block

Pinwheels are always a favorite for baby quilts. This is just one of many patterns for pinwheels.

7. Turnstile Quilt Block

Turnstile is another great pinwheel quilt. This pattern has a double pinwheel.

8. Friendship Quilt Block

This is a great pattern for a scrap quilt.

9. Four Patch

Four Patch is a great beginner pattern. It works up really quickly.

10. Hearth and Home

I hope you have enjoyed my Best Ten Baby Quilt Patterns! I hope you give one of these patterns a try. Make sure you send me a picture!

If you would like to follow my blog, just click on the RSS Feed button on the right. Keep Quilting!

1 Comment

Mom's Life Celebration Service

6/16/2015

1 Comment

Mom wearing her butterfly t-shirt enjoying lunch at camp.

Last November I lost my beautiful Mother to a four year battle with a blood disease. We had a church service in Florida where she has lived for the past twenty years. A week later we had another church service and burial in New Hampshire, where she lived with my Dad before he passed away.

On the day of her funeral, there was an ice storm in Maine so many of her relatives there couldn't make it. So... Last Saturday my Aunt held a Life Celebration Service for my Mom at their shared cottage on the coast of Maine. What a beautiful place. The picture above is the view we have there. All wee long the weather was showing as raining. I prayed all week for sunshine and we got it! What a perfect day.

Mom loved butterflies so my cousin bought some butterfly wings for the children to wear. They looked adorable fluttering around. Mom would have loved them!

Adorable butterflies at Memorial Service for Mom.

Two beautiful butterflies at Mom's Celebration of Life!

Butterfly about to take flight at Mom's Celebration of Life Service.

As soon as the service started, a butterfly flew by. I think Mom wanted us to know she was with us. After the service we all paraded down to the water to place a floral wreath in the water and each person had a rose toss in as well.

Wreath of flowers for Mom about to be launched into the ocean.

Wreath and roses launched into the ocean for Mom.

It was so nice to share Mom's stories and traditions with our family and friends. We kept the whole day upbeat just like Mom would have wanted.

1 Comment

Creating Hobson's Kiss Quilt Block

6/10/2015

0 Comments

Hobson's Kiss is another quilt block from my favorite quilt book, "Around the Block with Judy Hopkins". I am currently making a quilt from each of her 200 quilt blocks. Hobson's Kiss is quilt number 116.

Here is what the quilt block looks like:

I decided to change up the blocks, alternating the medium and dark fabrics.

Here is what the quilt looked like before I added the alternate block.

I liked it but I wanted to try the navy instead of the grey.

I liked this too. But in the end I decided to mix and match. I like the depth the grey has. The navy is flat. So the combination of the two seems to work the best.

Ok so I just realized how the stripes really change in this sample. In the first two it almost looks like a Christmas decoration. Do you see it? The top triangle with a thin stripe then a wide stripe then a thin strip and the bottom triangle.