Riley Blake Vintage Happy Fabric and Laundry Days Pattern

Who doesn't love retro fabrics?  The colors are so bright and cheerful.  They seem to scream Spring!  I love these fabrics because they remind me of my grandmother.  She was a saver and had lots of old clothing and linen with similar colors and patterns.  I think if you were alive during the Great Depression, you didn't throw anything away.  The colors and patterns in the new Riley Blake, Vintage Happy collection are happy.  The combination of reds, greens, navy's, oranges and yellows really make you feel warm and happy.  

Riley Blake provides this free pattern and I have 7 fabrics from this collection that you can use to make this pattern.   These fabrics are sold individually by the yard in my Etsy shop Run 'n Stitch.  You can also buy half yard and fat quarter bundles.  You will also find white fabric in my shop.   

The bundle includes medium and light pieces with flowers and geometrics.

There are also three pieces with navy blue in them for a spot of dark in your project.

Enjoy this pattern with any of the fabrics in your stash.

This post is linked to:

Get Schooled Saturday, Weekend No Rules Blog Hop, Pin-It Party, Skip the Housework Saturday, Friday Frenzy, 

Spring Tulip Quilt Tutorial

The robins are chirping, Spring is here!! There is nothing quite like the feeling of Spring in Southeast Alaska.  This year the sun has been shining and the stars are out at night.  The robins are singing, the ducks are quacking.  This time of year holds promise for things to come during the next six months of light in Alaska.  One of the things I love about the season are tulips.  Unfortunately, the deer love the tulips as much as I do.  They nip the little buds from the stalks just as they are about to open.  My solution is a tulip quilt of course.  I developed this pattern to use with Aunt Grace '30's fabrics.  

This pattern is for a Twin size quilt.  For the full pattern with Crib, Twin, Queen and King size directions, Click Here

For this quilt project you will need:

Light Fabric- 1-1/2 yards

Medium Fabric-2-1/2 yards or 16 fat quarters

Dark Fabric-1/2 yard

Sashing and border fabric-2 yards

Backing fabric-5-1/2 yards

Binding fabric-3/4 yards

Cutting Instructions for a Twin Size quilt:

Light-

Cut (6) 4-3/8” strips:
crosscut into (48) 4-3/8” squares; set (16) squares aside, cut (32) squares on the diagonal and make (64) 1/2 square triangles.
Cut (10) 2-1/4” strips: Set aside (6) strips. From remaining strips cut (64) 4” X 2-1/4” rectangles.

Medium -
Cut (6) 4-3/8” strips: ! cross cut into (48) 4-3/8” squares. Set (16) squares aside, cut (32) on the diagonal and make (64) 1/2 square triangles.
Cut (7) 8-1/4” strips:! Cross cut into (16) 8-1/4” squares.
You can use fat quarters instead of the medium value fabric for a scrappy look. You will need 16 fat quarters-cut (1) 8-1/4” block and (3) 4-3/8” squares from each fat quarter. Set (1) 4-3/8” square aside; Cut (2) 4-3/8” squares into 1/2 square triangles.

Dark-
Cut (4) 2-1/4” strips. 

All seams are a scant 1/4” from the edge of the fabric.
WOF means Width of Fabric

Draw a diagonal line on all light and medium 4-3/8” blocks. Set aside. 

Step 2
Sew one light 1/2 square triangle to one medium 1/2 square triangle. 

Snip off your dog ears.

Step 3
Lay one medium and one light 4-3/8” block on top of the 8-1/4” square, matching your drawn diagonal lines, as shown.

If you are using a different fat quarter for each block, be sure the 4-3/8” square is the same fabric used for the 8-1/4” square.

Pin in place as shown.
(I am generally not a pinner but pinning is a good idea for this step)

My pile of 8-1/4" blocks.  Spring;)

Step 4
Using your 1/4” foot, sew a seam a scant 1/4” on each side of your drawn line, from end to end. You can chain at this point, just sew all of your blocks down one side and turn the string and sew back up the other side. 

Step 5
All of your 8-1/4” blocks will have a light block and a medium block sewn to it on the diagonal. You will make 2 cuts on each block. The first cut is from corner to corner through the middle of the block with nothing sewn to it. Do not move the fabric at all Make the next cut through the middle of all of the fabric blocks as shown. Press toward the small, corner triangle and snip the dog ears.

 Cut #1

Cut #2

You will have 4 pieces that look like this

 Step 6
To finish flying geese blocks, sew the remaining 1/2 square triangle to each side as shown. The light 1/2 square triangle goes on the sections that are all medium and the medium 1/2 square triangle goes with the sections that have a medium bias triangle and a white 1/2 square triangle. You will have (4) flying geese units. Sew 1/2 square triangle to unit to make flying geese blocks. Cut dog ears and press toward the triangle.

Step 7
Sew together light 2-1/4” X WOF strips and dark 2-1/4” X WOF strips. Press toward the dark strip. Cut strips into 2-1/4 X 4” rectangles. You will need one set for each quilt block. You may not need to cut the entire strip set. Set aside.

Divide your light/dark 4” X 2-1/4” strips in half. Make two equal piles and with the dark square on the top and the light square on the bottom and lay the two piles side by side. Place an equal number of 4” X 2-1/4” light strips next to these piles as shown. Sew the light strips to the light/dark strips so you have equal sets of mirror image blocks. Press toward the dark/light side.

Step 8
Sew the 1/2 square blocks to each of the light/ dark blocks as shown. You will have equal piles of mirror image blocks. 

Step 9
Sew each of your flying geese blocks to these blocks as shown to make the tulip block. You will have an equal number of mirror image sets. 

Setting Blocks:
You will sew sashing first but you must cut your boarder strips before you cut your sashing strips

Cut your borders first. Crib/Lap quilt borders can be cut from selvedge edge to selvedge edge. The larger quilt borders are cut from the length of the fabric. Use the remaining fabric to cut your sashing strips. 

Side borders- cut two strips that measure 63-1/2" X 6-1/2"
Top and Bottom Borders-Cut two strips that measure 61-1/2" X 6-1/2"

Sashing: From you Sashing/Border fabric, cut (54) 7-1/2” X 2-1/2” rectangles and (56) 9-1/2” X 2-1/2” rectangles. You are using the sashing to separate the blocks. You will not have sashing for the outside blocks. If you choose to sash around the outside blocks, you will need to buy more fabric and cut more strips.

Border:  Sew the side borders onto the quilt first. Sew the remaining two border strips to the top and bottom of the quilt. 

Linking to  Cheerios and Lattes-Saturday Show and Tell #105; Creative Blog; Hexie Weekend Again

 

Family

One of the best things about our travels has been spending time with family.  Doug's sister Jendy and her husband Paul and son Peter Newman live in Vancouver, Washington.  Doug's brother Ben and his wife Amy and their kids Ai and Tessla live just across the river in Portland.  Each year we stop on our way south and then again on our way home.   I've posted some pictures we've taken through the years.

Ben and AI off to school and work. 

2010

Tesla, Peter and Ai

2010

Jendy, Paul and Peter 

2011

Peter, Tessla and Ai 

2011

Jendy, Amy, Tesla and I on a winter walk. 

2012

Cessna and Ai.  2012

The Climbing Wall

2013

Tess, AI and Peter

Peter 2014

Tesla, Peter and AI 

2014

Going Home

The best laid plans....The reason we had driven to Fort Bragg was because we had planned to drive highway 1 and then up the Oregon Coast and then to Portland.  While we were in Fort Bragg it started to rain.  We checked our weather app on our phone and saw the rain was there to stay for awhile, so we decided to head back to I-5 for our drive north.  If I'm going to be wet and cold, I'd rather be in 4 star RV parks close to shopping and sights than in a soggy campground with nowhere to go.  My parents were headed south and were in Yreka so we made plans to meet up with them in Redding. We parked next to each other in the Premier RV Park in Redding.  This park is very, very nice and clean.  The best thing about this park was the sound of the happy frogs at night.  There is a little creek that runs through the park and it must be full of frogs because they sure make a lot of noise. 

My mom and dad took us to the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay.  The bridge is clear glass so you can see the Sacramento River beneath you as you walk across it.

A rainy day in Redding

When we left Redding, we drove to the 7 Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville, Oregon, which is just off I-5, south of Roseburg.  The 7 Feathers was one of the nicest RV resorts we had stayed in during our travels.  In addition to the warm, welcoming staff, the comfortable clean spaces and amenities, there is a 24 hour free shuttle service to the casino and the little town of Canyonville.  The 7 Feathers casino is located down the hill and across the freeway from the park.  The park sits in a little valley, away from the freeway.  It's very lovely.  If you travel through Oregon in your RV, you want to give this resort a try.  The casino is really nice too and they even have a non-smoking section.  While at the casino we didn't win, but we didn't loose any money either, another plus.

We stayed at the 7 Feathers for one night and then in the morning we were off to Portland.  We were able to enjoy two wonderful days with the Riemer/Curtis' and the Newmans.  On Friday night we attended a play in Portland, "The Monster Builder" with Amy and Ben.  Saturday night we all got together for a yummy dinner at Jendy's. Sunday night we watched the Academy Awards.  

We left Portland and headed north, for the final leg of our travels.  We stopped in Centralia, WA so I could get some more Annie Sloan Chalk Paint at Attic Door Vintiques.   I purchased paint from this shop last year for my kitchen cupboards project.   I don't know what I will paint but I will have the paint when I find something.  

We spent one night in a KOA in Kent.  We picked up a new bed to put in our guest/granddaughter room at Ikea and picked up packaging materials for my Etsy shop at U-Line.  The following day we moved up to Everett and parked next to our friends Shirley and Jere in the Lakeside RV Park.  We had a wonderful dinner with them.  The next day, Doug and I went shopping with Shirley and her sister Floss.  Jere had to have some work done on his RV so he couldn't join us.  We went to Ballard because I had never been to Ballard except to go to the Wharf.  We did a little shopping and had lunch at Chinooks. On our way back to Everett we drove past the Ballard house my dad lived in as a boy.  

Shirley and Floss

The House My Dad Lived In

After visiting Shirley and Jere and doing a little business we drove to Anacortes.  We parked at our staging area, the Fidalgo Bay RV Park.  We always start and finish our journey at this park.  We had another chance to visit with my mom and dad, who had just returned from their trip South. Then we cleaned and prepped our trailer.  Then we drove to Bellingham and got on the ferry.  

We are home.  This blog will help us remember what we did, where we went, and who we saw.  We tend to forget things from year to year, actually day to day, and some things should never be forgotten.