Karin Jordan Studio

The Purl Bee Adjustable Unisex Apron

Standard-size aprons don't work for tall people. My father is nearly impossible to buy gifts for, so when I saw this apron pattern on The Purl Bee blog, I had an a-ha moment. I stuffed the pockets with European chocolate and Latvian sprats and couldn't wait for him to open it on Christmas morning. 

I love the two colors of ticking, and the straps are adjustable so the part that goes around the neck can be shortened or lengthened as needed. 

I added a few additional inches in length and width and it fits him perfectly. 

Yes, goofiness is hereditary. There's no need to wonder where Annabel and Colton get it. :)

If you've ever wanted to make an apron for a tall person in your life, this is the pattern! Father's Day is a couple of months away. . . 

xo Karin

        

A Sunny Crib-sized Quilt

Alternate title: Quilt with Boots. I started this quilt months ago. I'd had orange and green on my mind, and I wanted to make a simple, strip-pieced pattern with a single sunny yellow square. I'm in the process of writing up the pattern. It will be put together into a printable PDF that will be available on the Pellon Projects page in a few weeks. 

All the fabrics are from my stash, except for the backing. I may never have bought this fabric on its own, but the colors went well with the front, and I'm glad I gave in and used it. It's cheery!

I'd been dying to use the orange striped fabric as binding. It was also in my stash. The loop and swirl quilting was done by Melissa at Sew Shabby Quilting. She did a great job, and she saved me from having an unfinished quilt in December as I worked my way through my super huge holiday to-do list. 

I'll let you know when the pattern and tutorial is live on the Pellon Projects page.

Hope you're staying warm,

xo Karin

UPDATE: The pdf for this pattern is now available on the Pellon Projects page here. 

        

January Bee Blocks: Wonky Stars

I recently joined the do. Good Stitches charity quilting bee, started by Rachel of Stitched in Color, and am thrilled to be part of the Harmony Circle. Jemellia of JemJam was in charge of the design this month. She asked us to do two wonky star blocks, based on this tutorial at The Silly BooDilly, in green, blue and purple with a grey background. 

When I first pulled the fabric, I thought I was going to like this star better than the other one. I wound up liking the other one more. Funny how that works! I cut the fabric for the points larger than the recommended 4.5" so they'd be a bit larger. 

The fabric for the points was cut to regular size here. I like the addition of the subtle star print. I can't wait to see the finished quilt with everyone else's stars.

Have a lovely weekend!

xo Karin

        

The Cat Quilt is (finally!) Done

It feels as though I started this quilt eons ago, but it was only December 1, 2013. I stayed pretty much on schedule with Elizabeth Hartman's Cat Quilt Along, basically a cat head a day during December. The end result is 25 different cats and a 30 x 35" quilt. I debated backing it in minky, but I held out for the arrival of Lizzy House's Catnap and I'm glad I did. It's perfect! I also used one of her prints from the line for the binding.

The rainbow of cats was created with Robert Kaufman's solids for 2013 and Kate Spain's Sunnyside for Moda. There are a few other scraps thrown in, mostly in the first row. I used Aurifil 50 wt in an off white, and Pellon Legacy Natural Cotton Batting.

The background fabric is Pinking Shears in cream for the Mama Said Sew collection by Sweetwater for Moda. It vaguely resembles cat whiskers.

Catnap!   

 

Don't mind my hat; it was just enough weight to hold the quilt onto the rock. This is actually my second quilt finish of 2014. The first one will be posted in the near future as a Pellon Project. Stay tuned!

xo Karin

        

What I Subscribe To {Online, Magazines & Fabric}

In addition to the umpteen blogs I follow on Bloglovin', I have recently returned to the world of print media. Having started my career in magazine publishing, and being married to a guy who has been in publishing for 25 years, it was astonishing to me that my subscriptions nearly came to a screeching halt a few years ago. We have a house full of books, but I missed stalking our mailbox. Suddenly, there are once again magazines being printed that I'm interested in. There are even fabric subscriptions available. Yes, please! I thought I'd share what I subscribe to, and I'd love to hear your favorites if you don't mind. 

I signed up for Love Patchwork & Quilting over the summer and received the first three issues all at once (!) a few weeks ago. It was worth the wait. Quilty is excellent — a line that keeps coming back to me from the last issue is that using regular plastic wrap instead of Press n' Seal "will make you cry". It's a quilting magazine with a little 'tude. American Patchwork & Quilting, Stitch, Country Living and Modern are fun to flip through, and I pick up Modern Patchwork and Mollie Makes when I see them.

There are a few online subscriptions I can't live without, namely Cook's Illustrated a k a America's Test Kitchen. I may be biased; I used to work there. Their receipes are flawless, spot-on and never disappoint. PicMonkey has become addictive, and is useful for the blog. 

Pattern subscriptions are fun, too. I recently signed up for Elizabeth Dackson's (of Don't Call Me Betsy) Lucky Stars Block of the Month Club for 2014. I'll be following along and sharing my completed stars with you.

 

The latest find I've stumbled across is Marmalade Fabric's Around the Color Wheel fabric subscriptions. This is great whether you have certain colors lacking in your stash or just want a few new cool fabrics each month. There are subsciptions available for solids or prints, from fat quarters to half yards. You can opt out or change the subscription at any time. December's color was lime. I'm thinking little shots of color will come in handy for the Lucky Stars blocks. For January I received these yummy greys. 

Pink Castle Fabrics has a few fabric subscriptions that I'm looking into, such as the Color Inspirations Club and the Stash Stack Club. 

So. Please tell me what you subscribe to. What am I missing out on?

xo Karin

P.S. If you're looking for a free printable monthly calendar that doesn't use all of your printer ink, TomKat Studio just came out with a new one for 2014. I keep two months at a time up on my wall in the studio to help me stay organized.

        

Tutorial: Patchwork Triangle Pillows

Certain fabric lines make me think of particular shapes. Kate Spain's Sunnyside, for example, had me cutting rectangles. The moment my Chicopee by Denise Schmidt for Free Spirit Fabrics arrived, I knew it needed to be equilateral triangles. I'd purchased the fabric with no plan other than making pillows for the dark leather furniture in our living room. Over the holidays I cut many triangles and played with them on the design wall until I had a look that I wanted. 

The pillows are 16" square, and have bottom zippers. I made five of them; each one is different. Both the front and the back are quilted.

To make one 16" pillow you will need:

21 60 degree triangles, cut to 6" high
1 square of fabric for back of pillow, cut to 17 1/2 x 17 1/2"
16" zipper
2 pieces of Pellon Fusible Fleece, each cut to 19" square
Cotton thread, I used Aurifil 50 weight in light grey (2600)
Seam ripper
16" pillow insert

Optional but helpful: 60 degree ruler

Step 1: Cut 21 triangles.

Step 2: Arrange the triangles as desired, in three rows of seven each.

Step 3: Starting with the top row and working from left to right, piece the triangles together with 1/4" seam allowances.

Step 4: Press seams to side.

Step 5: Sew the second row together and press seams to the opposite side of the first row. For example, if you pressed the seams to the left in row #1, press the seams to the right in row #2. Repeat for the third row.

Step 6: Sew row #1 to row #2 with a 1/4" seam allowance. Add row #3. Press seams as desired. 

Step 7: After pressing, cut pillow front into a 17 1/2" square.

Step 8: Fuse pillow front to rough side of Fusible Fleece according to manufacturer's instructions.

Step 9: Fuse back of pillow to Fusible Fleece. Allow to cool. 

Step 10: Time to quilt! Since I straight line quilted both fronts and backs, in 1/2" increments, I used a hera marker to make a crease down the center of each piece to get started. 

Step 11: Once the front and back are quilted, trim both pieces to 17" square.

Step 12: Zipper time! Choose which side of the pillow front will be the bottom, as that's where the zipper will be. Right sides facing, sew with a basting stitch and a 1/2" seam allowance. Press seam open. Center the zipper along the seam, upside down, and pin one side. My zippers are from Zipit.

Step 13: Return to your regular stitch length. Sew a rectangle around the zipper, backstitching at the start and the end. 

Step 14: Turn it over and rip the basted seam out to expose the zipper. 

Step 15: Important! Open the zipper a few inches before placing pillow right sides together and sewing the other three sides with a 1/2" seam allowance. Clip corners, turn, press, insert pillow form and you're all done! 

I'm glad I took the time to quilt the backs; they look and feel great.

They go together quickly, and the living room is now a bit cheerier. And, I have plans for another project with triangles.

Enjoy!

xo Karin

 

Linking up here:

   

       

 

        

Economy Block Along: Are You? I am, and it's Addictive.

My Instagram has been flooded (in a good way) with photos of people's Economy Block Along creations. Check out #economyblockalong to see what I mean.  It's a great way to frame fussy cuts and use up scraps. Once you get started, it's hard to stop! The free pattern and tutorial can be found on Red Pepper Quilts here. 

I realized, after the fact, that my subconscious designed this block. Every night we've been watching the deer stand in the moonlit snow, munching away on the hedges outside our bedroom window. See what I mean? Envision tall shrubs instead of mushrooms and it's pretty funny. 

I like how the houses line up here. This block is becoming a replacement for my cathead-a-day habit from December's Catvent Quilt Along. All the scraps I used are from scrap packs found at Sew Fresh Fabrics. They get snapped up quickly when they're listed in the shop. 

These two blocks will find a new home, as they're for the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild's block lottery. Someone will win all the blocks made by members and have a fun quilt to piece together! I wonder who it will be. 

OH, and I almost forgot. One of the things on my 2014 to-do list was to redesign the banner on the blog. It's up! There are a few tweaks that need to happen with the nav bar (font issues) but I'm feeling pretty good about it. Chicopee triangles make me smile. What do you think?

xo Karin

 

Linking up here:

   

       

        

Quilted Laptop Sleeve

I made this laptop sleeve over the holidays. It was fun picking out solids from the pile of Robert Kaufman's solids for 2013 and playing with strips until I was happy with the arrangement. I've seen quite a few nice tutorials for tablet covers that are quilted but have a loose lining. I prefer a quilted interior, so I used Pellon Fusible Fleece and straight line quilted front and back before sewing the two sides together. The laptop fits inside snugly, so I didn't feel the need to add a velcro or magnetic flap closure.

The colorful strip on the back was fun to piece together, too. 

I love the pop of bright orange inside. It's actually reversible, as I turned it inside out and added a binding to the inside with the same orange fabric. 

There are no process photos but I did take notes. I plan on creating a tutorial for an iPad sleeve when Jason gets a new iPad. His old one is barely functional, so that'll likely be soon!

xo Karin

Update: For my tutorial on how to make a gadget sleeve, please see my post here!

        

Easy Kids' Fleece Scarves

Hi and happy January! 14 is my lucky number — it was even my soccer number in high school — so I'm hopeful for a fabulous year. Lots of good things happened in 2013. The kids acclimated to New Hampshire and Annabel to a new school, my father survived a failed pacemaker (scariest phone call I've ever received), and I fell in love with quilting for real. There were of course bumps along the way, but I am grateful to have made sewing and crafting a priority again after a few year hiatus. Thanks for reading, following along and supporting this effort. It's what keeps me going through the inevitable why am I doing this? moments. 

Every Christmas I try to whip up at least one gift for everyone in my family. Annabel had been asking for a fleece scarf, so I searched around online and decided upon this fabulous little pattern by Anna Graham of Noodlehead. I headed to Joann's a few days before the holidays and picked out four colors of fleece, as each scarf requires two colors and Colton would certainly want one, too. 

Colton was too busy running around wearing his new scarf, new superhero cape and fireman hat to allow me to take his picture. Suffice to say it was pretty darn cute. :)

Annabel also scored another flannel nightgown from the Sadie Grace pattern by Seamingly Smitten I'd made a few months ago. You can see that post here. She enjoyed sleeping in it on Christmas Eve and wearing it to open her presents.

Hope your holidays were warm and wonderful. I'm looking forward to all the fun things 2014 will bring!

xo Karin