Tag Archives: moda

Cashmerette has a new pattern out – the Springfield Top. It’s a woven tank pattern with options for a closer fitting princess seamed back or a looser back version. I’ve been wanting some sleeveless tops to wear to work so I bought it as soon as I got the email. This pattern got printed and assembled right away – I love trimless patterns! Then I just had to find some fabric.

This pattern requires 2 yards + of fabric if you’re using 44″. That seems like a lot for a tank top. Most of my stashed fabrics for tops are 1.5 yards and the rest are 3 yards for dresses. I ended up biting the bullet and pulling this Moda lawn I had purchased in January 2015. I figured if I was really going to make a dress out of it I would have done it by now!

I opted not to cut the bias binding for the neckline and armholes and use premade bias tape. Luckily earlier that day I had scored a massive bag of bias tape and seam binding at an estate sale for $4. By not using my fabric for the bias tape, I managed to get this cut out of around 1.5 yards of fabric! So there is hope for using this for some of my stashed top fabrics.

I opted for the looser version and it went together very quickly. I had some issues with my neckline sticking out but judicious ironing and clapper application got it to settle down. The only issue I had with the pattern is some gaping in the back neckline. I asked Jenny if this was intentional since I noticed the same thing in some of her own Springfield photos. She replied back that this pattern includes a forward shoulder adjustment and if you didn’t need it then your back might gape. Bingo! If I slouch my shoulders forward then it sits flat. So I just need to remember to make this adjustment to the pattern. Who knew having good posture would cause such problems! 🙂

My gripe is that $14 seems a little pricey for such a basic digital pattern. The version I made was literally 3 pattern pieces and could have been 2. I get that Big 4 companies charge the same for every pattern, but that doesn’t matter when I can get them for $2. I would really like to see independent pattern makers adjust their pricing models to reflect the effort that went into creating a pattern.

Chevron Baby Quilt

posted by lorene

on 05.08.2015

Since everyone is having babies these days I’m making lots of quilts! I made this quilt for one of my besties who lives in Germany. I wanted to get it done before Christmas so I could pass it along to her mother to deliver it for me. The last quilt I had to ship to Europe cost $50 to mail!

Almost done hand sewing the binding on!

Making a chevron quilt has been on my to do list for awhile and I really like the ones with white stripes. So all I had to do was find some fabric. Since I’m lazy I went for a charm pack. I knew it was a boy but I dislike things that very gender specific, so I ended up buying The Boat House by Sweetwater for Moda. I needed 2 charm packs because the chevron blocks required 2 squares. I was also super lazy and got a Kona white charm block. Yay for precuts!

Chevron blocks are super easy to make. It’s just a bunch of half-square triangles. Although if I made another I’d definitely invest in one of these nifty Half Square Triangle Rulers, that my sister Natalie only told me about when I was almost done.

Magi says “I’m not sure this navy polka dot block should go here.”

For my block layout I was trying to get an ombre effect as from red to navy. My cat Magi was super helpful in figuring this out.

Is it too late to shorten my last name to Vosky?

One of my special touches on my baby quilts is a hand embroidered quilt label that I sew into the corner of the quilt backing. Whenever I do one of these I wish my last name wasn’t 11 characters long. 🙂

I totally forget what the name of this fabric is, but the lady at Modern Domestic was brilliant in suggesting this. I had something totally different in mind when she pulled this one out and I instantly knew it was perfect. The design and colors totally complement the quilt front. I forget your name but thanks!

My other cat, Cleo, was also very helpful in the making of this quilt. Her she’s keeping my lap warm while I hand sew the binding. On a side note, Cleo loves hanging out under blankets. Every morning she greets me by trying snuggle up under the comforter. It’s adorable.

Jelly Roll Baby Quilt

posted by lorene

on 01.26.2014

I guess it’s become my thing to make baby quilts when my close friends have their first baby. I mean I’ve done it twice now, so that makes it a thing. Right? I was originally going to make a cut chenille blanket but last minute I changed my mind which left me with not a lot of time to complete it. I asked Natalie for some ideas and she suggested a jelly roll quilt.

I looked it up and found the perfect pattern from Fat Quarter Shop called the Jelly Roll Jam. I’ve only made one quilt before so I didn’t want to do anything to crazy. I found watching their Youtube video on making this quilt to be a little more helpful than the written pattern.

Now I could focus on finding really awesome fabric. I ended up buying Bluebird Park by Kate & Birdie from Moda Fabrics. What really got me were these adorable hedgehogs.

Here is the finished quilt. Basically to make it you assemble 3 sets of 6 strips. Then you cut them up to make 9 different blocks. It’s very straightforward. Since you only use 18 strips that means you have a enough for a scrappy binding and a second quilt!

One thing I wish I had done on my first quilt was to make a cooler quilt back. So on this one I saved all my strip scraps and did a stripe down the back. Natalie gave me some great suggestions on how to get it centered. Then of course I had to to make my quilt sandwich and do the quilting. I tried 2 new things on this quilt – spray basting and quilting gloves. The spray basting was awesome, but I’m not sure the gloves made much of a difference.

It took me awhile to figure out what quilting design I wanted to use, but in the end I went with the figure 8 loops. I used my chalko pen to draw guide lines so the rows would be relatively even and then I went at it. Not sure what I did differently this time but I didn’t break a single needle! It’s not the greatest quilting in the world but it looks nice enough!

Natalie also told I should make a quilt label. This was totally not on my radar but her reasoning made sense – many quilts become family heirlooms and 20 years from now no one may remember who made it or why they made it.