Sew Americana

Welcome to my stop on Wild and Wanderful's Sew Americana tour! I stepped a bit outside of my normal sewing zone and made a quilt!

Well, most of one anyway.....

This is the story of good intentions and life just happening. Because, bloggers actually have real lives outside of the sewing studio. My summer life has been busy!  And well, the weather has been nice and I've been out in it instead of behind the sewing machine.

But, I LOVED the idea of this tour when Katy shared it and I had to sign up. And then, my friend Jen from Patterns by Jen released this amazing quilt and I knew it would be absolutely PERFECT for this tour!

And then, it was fabric picking time. Well, Gemia from Phat Quarters was the biggest help in the world and spent I don't know how long pulling fabrics and sending me pictures so I could decide what I wanted to use. And TWO days later, this pile of gorgeousness was on my cutting table.

The green on the far right is from stash and I have no clue what it is. Next, we have Mediteranneo, followed by Remix Grey Plus, (which I ended up not using) Pretty Flowers on Denim, Off Shore Red Dot, Lakehouse Dot in Dove, Coral Gingham, Fog Peppered Cotton and Lake Peppered Cotton (I had this in stash and it's no longer listed). (also used and not shown, Parchment Triangles.) The white used as the main background is Kona white. Phat Quarters has free US shipping on orders of $25 or more with code SUMMER25 so if feel inspired, now is the time to go grab some fabrics. ;) Code expires at the end of the month, so hurry!

So, I'm #notaquilter. But, once in a while, I pretend to be one, about three times a year. And I'm pretty proud to say that I managed to piece this top together in a mere 6 days. Now, I know that that's not impressive, Jen can knock this out in an evening, I bet. But, for me, 6 days is quite amazing.

   And then, I sewed the final seam and I managed to sew one half of the quilt on backwards.

Whomp, whomp, waaaaahhhhh.

Can we say this again, #notaquilter. 

So, I get the seam ripper out and 30 minutes later, it was correct. And then came time to make my sandwich. If you are #notaquilter, let me tell you what a sandwich is. It's your quilt, in pieces. Your backing fabric, batting in the middle and then the pieced top on top. Because what I made so far, is just a pieced top. It's not a quilt until all those layers are sewn together. So, like a good pretend quilter, I started assembling my sandwich on my living room floor.

And it wasn't long until I was sending this picture to Jen begging her to fly to my house to help me.

Because, dude, it's HARD! You have to pull all the wrinkles out of all three layers and get them all together nicely. And then, you have to pin them all together. Which, cover your eyes, Jen, I didn't pin it. I used some basting spray and went with it. Yeah, after 45 minutes of wrestling with that thing, I was over it. I drug it to my machine to show it who was boss. 

But not before pretending I could get away with a shot like this pretending it was finished. LOL

So, to the machine we went and I quilted it together. Well, most of it.

I have a couple blocks let to go. This small log cabin is one of them.

 These are beautifully quilted together though, so we can admire this part of the quilt.

I just love how these fabrics work together giving the quilt a vintage Americana feel that is soft and subtle.

The three blocks on the left still need quilted. But, the end is in sight!

And then I have to sew on the binding. Don't worry, I'll share it when I'm all finished!! I can't wait! I know this quilt is going to get LOTS of use!

Thanks so very much to Patterns by Jen and Phat Quarters for sponsoring my post for the Sew Americana Tour!

There are lots of stops on this fantastic tour! Please go check them out and give the blogs some love!

Take a look at the AMAZING lineup for the Sew Americana tour!
Monday, June 27  Wild & Wanderful | Sew and Tell Project | Call Ajaire Paisley Roots | Wally and Grace
Tuesday, June 28 Sew Thrifty | Coles Corner and Creations | Rebel & Malice Friends Stitched Together | The Wholesome Mama
Wednesday, June 29 Sewing by Ti | EYMM | HattieLu Handmade Daydream Believers | PenSebRox | Handmade Boy
Thursday, June 30 Beatnik Kids | Phat Quarters | Sew Starly | Sew Sophie Lynn The Kisses Co. | Adventures with Bubba and Bug
Friday, July 1 Very Blissful | That's Sew Kari | Sew Happily Ever After | Pear Berry Lane
Mae and K | Musings of a Seamstress | Sew and Tell Project
As a special bonus for our readers, use the code ' SEWAMERICANA ' and enjoy a 20% discount at www.THREADandGRAIN.com  You'll find a ton of maker-inspired goodies!
(All created by your tour guide, Katy, from Wild & Wanderful.)

An InLinkz Link-up