Quilt Ideas — Urban Homestead Gatherings

A few weeks ago when I released the Jonah Quilt Pattern, several people commented that they were excited to see a pattern that was easily made a little more masculine. Me too! I don't think a quilt for a girl needs to be feminine or a quilt for a boy needs to be masculine — it really doesn't matter — but I do think that it is a little trickier to find patterns that lean more masculine if that is what you are looking for.

Then I started to think that which of my other patterns would lend themselves well to this type of project. I saw a new woven collection from Primitive Gatherings called Urban Homestead Gatherings. I happen to really love gray and brown, they are two of my favorite colors, even though I mostly sew with bright colors and this collection does gray and brown really well so I put together some quilt ideas.

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A Stashbusting Penny Quilt

Way back in the fall of 2021, I hosted a Quiltalong for the Penny Quilt Pattern. During the QAL, I made 2 different versions of the quilt and finished one of them up right away.

But the other quilt top has been hanging out in my sewing room ever since. I know, that is pretty unusual for me! The quilt just kept getting moved down the priorities list + it was the holidays so it took me a few months to get the quilt finished up.

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How to Make Any Pattern a Valentine's Quilt

You guys know that I am not generally a big fan of holiday-type quilts. I have made a few (see here, here, here, and here) and I have found that I would usually rather use a non-holiday themed pattern paired with holiday prints.

So this week instead of doing a Quilt Ideas post using a single collection, I am going to show you some non-holiday patterns mocked up in some Valentine's prints.

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A Holiday Classics Penny Quilt

I'm feeling very proud of myself because not only did I finish a Christmas quilt, but I also photographed  AND am posting about it before Christmas. Miracles do happen!

I do not make many holiday quilts because I would rather have quilts that can be used year round, but I made an exception for this quilt. The fabrics are Holiday Classics from Rifle Paper Co. and the prints feel so timeless I just had to make something with them.

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The Penny QAL - Trimming Your Quilt

 It's finally here: the last week of the Penny QAL.

To trim your quilt, it is helpful to have the following items - there are links to the rulers that I use in the video, but there are lots of comparable options out there.

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The Penny QAL - Quilt Top Assembly

We are getting so close to the end of the Penny Quiltalong - I hope you guys are still hanging in there. 

For this week, here are a few tips to get you started -

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The Penny QAL - Sashing

Yes, I know - we all dislike dealing with sashing but I promise it isn't too bad for the Penny Quilt Pattern. I have a couple videos and a few tips for you.

If you didn't cut your sashing strips when you cut your other fabric, go ahead and start there. I always like to cut all of my fabric at once because I dislike cutting fabric just as much as I dislike adding it to my quilt. It is an important part of this pattern though, you can't really skip it!

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The Penny QAL - Layout

I hope every is having fun with their Penny Quilts! Things have been a little quiet on my end as I have had a lot of not-so-fun, administrative type stuff to deal with. 

Next week we will be working on our sashing and you can go ahead and start piecing your quilt top if you are at that step. I recorded myself working on my layout for my quilt top and wanted to share the video with you in case you find it helpful. 

The layout for this quilt is very forgiving so don't overthink it. You might find it helpful to work on layout a little bit at a time - sometimes if I let the quilt sit for a few days, I have new thoughts about fabric placement. 

Happy sewing!

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The Penny QAL - Cutting Your Blocks

It's time to cut down those big blocks for our Penny Quilts! If you made the fat quarter version of the pattern, your blocks are already in quarters so you can sail right through this week (but keep reading if you are having issues with your block sizes).

If you make the pattern as written, I just want to tell you that cutting your blocks into quarters is going to be easier than you think - I recorded myself cutting all of my blocks and there are lots of tips and advice mixed in with my rambling.

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The Penny QAL - Queen Size Mockup

Since a few people have asked for help in creating a queen size Penny Quilt, I put together a mockup of what the layout would look like.

This is not a pattern that I will likely be adding sizing to for logistical reasons, but it is easy enough to add more blocks to make the quilt larger. You will need to make your long sashing strips quite a bit longer as well.  

This mockup is done in Sincerely Yours by Sherri and Chelsi. The finished size of the quilt would be 92" x 110" which is a perfect size for a queen bed. I hope this is helpful if you are going big with your Penny Quilt!

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The Penny QAL - Piecing Your Blocks (and what to do if they aren't the correct size)

I thought I would make a post talking about the differences in piecing between the pattern as-written and the fat quarter friendly version. Note: if you have purchased the pattern, you can get a copy of the fat quarter friendly instructions by signing up here - an email with links to all of the QAL emails will be sent to you. The instructions are in the "Week 2" email.

In the pattern as written, you construct a large block and then cut it into quarters. This is quicker and (I think) much more enjoyable so that is why the pattern is written that way. You can go ahead and cut your blocks into quarters or wait until we reach that section of the QAL. I will have a video for you!

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The Penny QAL - Week 3

Welcome to Week 3 of the Penny QAL! This week will begin piecing our blocks. 

This will look a little bit different if you are making the FQ version or the version as-written in the Penny Quilt pattern, but you have lots of time to complete this step or catch up on cutting your fabric if you have gotten a little behind. Next week will be a catch up week and then in week 5 we are just cutting our blocks (which you don't even need to do if you are making the FQ friendly version).

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The Penny QAL - Cutting Your Fabrics

I have so enjoyed seeing the #pennyqal posts show up on Instagram! Make sure to use the hashtag in your posts and follow the hashtag to see each other posts. It is so nice to see you commenting and helping each other with your Penny Quilts!

This week I will be doing a live Q&A session on Instagram. This will take place on Tuesday 10/5 at 11:30am PST. I will add a question box to my Instagram stories on Monday night and then I will answer the questions in the live video. If you have any questions, this is a great time to ask them!

The majority of information will be distributed through the email list this week. There are videos discussing how to cut your fabrics for the fat quarter version and for the pattern as written. Because the videos discuss specifics about the pattern, the videos are only available for email subscribers who have purchased the pattern. 

If you haven't signed up for the email list, don't worry! If you sign up now, you will receive an email (it takes about an hour to show up in your inbox) that has links to all of the emails that have been sent out so far. You can sign up using the form below. Note: if you purchased the pattern from a shop, just put the name of the shop in the "order number" field

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The Penny QAL - How Much Fabric Do I Need?

Thank you for joining in with the Penny Quiltalong! Today I will be discussing fabrics - specifically how many different fabrics you need.

In the pattern, you have four different types of fabrics: A, B, C, and D. Fabric A will be the smaller squares, Fabric B will be in the middle, and Fabric C will be on the outer edge. Fabric D is the slim sashing fabric. 

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New Quiltalong - The Penny Quilt

Now that the kids are back in school and I have some quiet time to work (yay!) it's time for a Quiltalong - this time we will be making the Penny Quilt. The pattern is 20% off from now until the QAL starts using the code PennyQAL. This discount applies to both the PDF and paper versions of the pattern. 

The Quiltalong will last 8 weeks and will begin on September 27th. Each week we will be tackling one step in the process. Bear with me, there is will be a lot of words in this post.

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Fabric Guide - The Penny Quilt in Five + Ten

A while back, I made a version of my Penny Quilt pattern using Denyse Schmidt's new Five + Ten collection (you can see it here).

I loved it, and apparently some of you loved it too, because I have had lots of requests for a fabric guide. 

If you would like to download a fabric guide for the pattern, you can do that here. This lists all of the fabrics that are used and how much you need of each print. If you have a shop and are interested in making a kit, just send me an email!

You can find the Penny Quilt Pattern in my shop!

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A Penny Quilt for a Teacher

I always like to give quilts to my kids' teachers at the end of the year. My son, Jonah, was extra enthusiastic about the idea so even though I have a giant stack of finished quilts, we decided to start from scratch and we picked the Penny Quilt.

This year has been on hard on students but it has been so hard on teachers. My son has ADHD and struggled big time with online school. His teacher (who was also my daughter's 5th grade teacher) was wonderful with him so I wanted to make sure we did something just for her. Plus I always love a good excuse to make another quilt.

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The Penny Quilt - Pattern Testers' Versions

 I know that when I said that the Penny Quilt pattern works with just about any combination of fabrics, you had your doubts. But don't doubt me! Check out the beautiful work that my pattern testers did on their quilt - they are so different and all so very good. 

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The Penny Quilt - Five and Ten Version

 A few weeks ago, the nice people at Windham Fabrics were nice enough to send me a bundle of Denyse Schmidt's new Five and Ten collection that will be out this summer. I have been drooling over this collection ever since Denyse started showing it off on Instagram and knew I wanted to make a version of the Penny Quilt Pattern with it.

This collection is all of the things Denyse does best - it's vintage but also modern and it's bold but also muted. There are florals, plaids, and strips. So much goodness.

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The Penny Quilt - Stay Gold Version

I thought I would share a little bit about how I designed the Penny Quilt Pattern. When I am working on designing a new pattern, I usually go back and look at old ideas that I have rejected.

A couple of years ago, I did a mockup similar to this pattern, but it wasn't on point. I switched it up and made it on point and a little off center and all of a sudden the old idea (that I wasn't that excited about) was a new idea that I was VERY excited about!

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