Happy Cloud Creations

Posted on March 12, 2019October 4, 2019 by happycloudcreatons — Leave a comment

Week 5 – Frame It QAL – Finish 4 Blocks

Week 5 Frame it qal

Yay! It’s week 5 of the Frame It Quilt Along! This week we will be finishing 4 of our blocks (If you are making the Throw size, adjust according to what size you are making).

Get your copy of the Frame It Quilt Pattern HERE!

Tips for finishing your block:

Make sure to square up your block after each step.
Check the beginning and end of your seam, make sure they are a consistent scant 1/4 inch seam all the way across.
Finger press your seams open, then press with your iron.

JOIN ME for a LIVE Video today (March 12, 2019) at 10:00 am PDT (West Coast USA). I will be going over how to finish our quilt blocks. I will also be answering any questions you have! If you can’t join me LIVE, the video will be saved to the Facebook Group, it will be available on Instagram for 24 hours and I will upload it to my YouTube channel.

Quilt Along Schedule:
Feb. 12 – Week 1-2: Get Pattern and Pick out Fabrics
Feb. 26 – Week 3: Cut out our pieces
Mar. 5 – Week 4: Make Center Units (Square in Square Blocks) (Steps 1-4)
Mar. 12 – Week 5: Finish 4 Blocks
Mar. 19 – Week 6: Finish 4 Blocks
Mar. 26 – Week 7: Finish 4 Blocks
Apr. 2 – Week 8: Add Sashing and Finish Quilt

Join the Quilt Along by posting your progress photo’s on Instagram with the hashtag #FrameItQAL
OR Join the Facebook Quilt Along Group and post your progress photo there!!

Happy Quilting!
Andrea

Posted on March 5, 2019October 4, 2019 by happycloudcreatons — Leave a comment

Week 4 – Frame It QAL – Square in Square unit

Week 4_ Square in Square Unit

Welcome to Week 4 of the Frame It Quilt Along!! This week we will be making all of our Square in Square Blocks (Steps 1-4 on the pattern).

Still need the pattern?
Digital (USA and Canada)
Paper (USA and Canada)
Digital (worldwide)

First you will want to decide which version you will be making:

The main pattern
Half square triangle method (uses more background fabric)
Stitch and flip method (uses more main fabric and background fabric)

I recommend trying the Main pattern instructions with some scrap fabric before deciding on which method you want to use.

Tips for this week:

Read ALL instructions
Be gentle with the cut triangles
Sew slowly
Square up the finished Square in Square unit to the specified size. When squaring up the block measure 4 1/4 inch from the center of the block.

JOIN ME for a LIVE Video tomorrow (March 6, 2019) at 10:15 am PST (West Coast USA). I will be going over all 3 methods of making the Square in Square unit. I will also be answering any questions you have! If you can’t join me LIVE, the video will be saved to the Facebook Group, it will be available on Instagram for 24 hours and I will upload it to my YouTube channel.

Join the Quilt Along by posting your progress photo’s on Instagram with the hashtag #FrameItQAL
OR Join the Facebook Quilt Along Group and post your progress photo there!!

Happy Quilting!
Andrea

Posted on February 26, 2019October 4, 2019 by happycloudcreatons — 2 Comments

Week 3 – Frame It QAL – Cutting our Pieces

Welcome to week 3 of the Frame It Quilt Along! The first two weeks of the quilt along were dedicated to pick out our fabrics! This week we will be cutting out our pieces.

If you still need to grab your pattern click below:
Digital Pattern (USA and Canada)
PAPER Pattern (USA and Canada)
Digital (Worldwide)

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I bought this beautiful bundle from Southern Fabrics! I was going to go with Kona Cotton in Silver, one of my usual background fabrics. But I thought it would have better contrast and make the prints pop better if I went with Kona Cotton in Iron.

Tips for cutting your pieces:
If you are cutting from yardage, I recommend cutting your largest pieces out first. Then cut the smaller pieces out next. This will insure that you have enough fabric for the whole quilt.
If you are using Fat Quarters, check out the cutting diagram in the pattern.
If you are making the Baby size you will be cutting out less pieces from each fat quarter than you would be if you are making the Throw, Twin, Queen or King size.

And as always, measure twice and cut once!

LIVE VIDEO
Join me for the Live Video today (Feb. 26th) at 10 am PST (West Coast USA). If you can’t watch Live, the video will be saved in my Facebook group. It will also be available for 24 hours on Instagram. After that I will upload it to my YouTube channel.

Join the quilt along fun by posting a progress photo on Instagram with the hashtag #FrameItQAL
or post a progress photo in the Happy Cloud Creations Quilt Along Group!

Happy Quilting!
Andrea

Posted on February 6, 2019October 4, 2019 by happycloudcreatons — 7 Comments

Frame It QAL Coming Soon!!

I asked in my Quilt Along Group which pattern everyone would like to make next as a quilt along and the majority voted for my Frame It Quilt Pattern. I love the modern look of this pattern!

Get the Digital Pattern!
Printed Paper Pattern (USA and Canada Only)

16 inch Blocks
Fat Quarter Friendly – includes cutting diagram!
Scrap Friendly!

Dates: February 12 – April 2nd
25% OFF the pattern thru March 11th! Get your Pattern February 12!

frame it quilt pattern

This pattern will be released in my shop on Feb. 12 with two versions.
*Digital PDF download
*Printed Color PDF mailed to you (USA and Canada ONLY – this will be cost a little more to cover the printing and shipping fees)
The patterns will be 25% OFF the first month of the quilt along, then 15% OFF thru the remainder of the quilt along.

What you will get:
Both versions will come with the Main pattern and 2 supplementals. One supplemental will give you directions how to make the square in square blocks with Half Square Triangles. The second will give you directions how to make the square in square block with the Stitch and Flip method.
The main pattern uses triangles cut on the bias. So I thought I’d give these two other options for those that are worried about sewing triangles.
I found that if you are gentle with your fabric and sew slowly, you shouldn’t have a problem with sewing the triangles on the bias. For extra help you can starch your fabric before cutting.

Quilt Size: Throw – 56 x 74 inches (12 blocks)
I will be making the Throw size, but you can choose which ever size you would like and adjust how many blocks you will finish in weeks 5 – 7.
These sizes are also in the pattern: Baby (4 blocks), Twin (20 blocks), Queen (30 blocks) and King (36 blocks)

Quilt Along Schedule:
Feb. 12 – Week 1-2: Get Pattern and pick out fabrics
Feb. 26 – Week 3: Cut our pieces
Mar. 5 – Week 4: Make center units (Square in Square Block) (Step 1 – 4)
Mar. 12 – Week 5: Finish 4 Blocks
Mar. 19 – Week 6: Finish 4 Blocks
Mar. 26 – Week 7: Finish 4 Blocks
Apr. 2 – Week 8: Add sashing and Finish Quilt

Each week I will have a LIVE video to go over that weeks step and answer any questions you have! You will be able to view my LIVE videos in my Facebook Quilt Along Group: Happy Cloud Creations Quilt Alongs OR my Instagram.
After the video is done, I will upload it to my YouTube page for easy access!

How to Follow Along:
*Follow Along on Instagram with the hashtag #frameitqal
*Join the Quilt Along Group and post your progress photos with the group.
*I will post a blog post every Tuesday of the Quilt along and have LIVE video in the Facebook Quilt Along Group and on my Instagram Stories.
*You can sign up for my Newsletter to get weekly reminders!

Since I have received a lot of requests for the Fabric Requirements early, you can download them now! Make sure to decided which way you would like to make the blocks. The main pattern, half square triangle and stitch and flip versions all have slightly different fabric requirements.
If you like to pre-wash your fabric or if you are worried about miss cutting, but a little extra!

DOWNLOAD: Frame It Fabric Requirements

Download the Digital Pattern

Printed Paper pattern

I’m so excited to make this quilt with you all!!
Andrea

Here are some of my Testers versions!

Cindy Price Kelley

cindy price kelley

Marg Sharpe

Julie Anne Ricketts

Sheri Bing

sheri bing

Joanne Harris

Joanne Harris (2)

Posted on January 29, 2019October 7, 2019 by happycloudcreatons — Leave a comment

Happy Scrappy Quilt

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I am a yardage girl! When I draw out a pattern I will imagine it in 4 to 5 main colors. But lately I’ve been seeing so many beautiful scrappy quilts using Fat Quarter bundles. So my goal was to make a pattern that is Fat Quarter friendly. But to have enough blank space, so the quilt doesn’t look too busy. This is where the Happy Scrappy Quilt was born.

Dig through your fat quarters or scrap bins and pick a complementary solid and you are ready to go!

Download the Pattern here: Happy Scrappy Quilt Pattern
PAPER PATTERN

This is a 16 inch block quilt and includes directions for a Baby, Throw, Double, Queen and King size quilts. This pattern is great for the adventurous beginner to intermediate quilter.

I used 9 fat quarters from the Garden Girl line by Riley Blake Designs with Kona Cotton in Iced Frappe for the background fabric. I was able to cut all my pieces out and then cut my binding strips from the left overs of each fat quarter to make some scrappy binding!

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I love how this baby quilt turned out! You can find it for Sale in my ETSY shop HERE!!

I love that Cloud is tall enough to hold baby size quilts for me! What a great helper!

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My awesome test quilters did a wonderful job picking out fabrics and making their quilts!

sheri bing 3 (2)

By Sheri Bing

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Marg Sharp done (2)

By Marg Sharp

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michelle graham

By Michelle Graham

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gaiella cupitt done (2)

By Gaiella Cupitt of Stitched by Gaiella

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cindy price kelly 3

By Cindy Price Kelly of Nannascreations Cindy Kelly

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ashley hall done

By Ashley Hall

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joanne harris 2

By Joanne Harris

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You can find the pattern here DOWNLOAD HAPPY SCRAPPY QUILT PATTERN!

PAPER PATTERN

Make sure to share your photo’s on Instagram with the hashtag #happycloudcreations

Or post your photo’s in my Quilt Along Group!!

Happy Quilting!
Andrea

Posted on December 11, 2018October 7, 2019 by happycloudcreatons — Leave a comment

Crystal Wave Quilt

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This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this post.

When all you have is girly quilts and you want to give your brother a quilt, you design something special.
You can find the Crystal Wave Pattern here!

PAPER PATTERN

After I drew out this pattern I thought it would be perfect for my Brother. You can make it manly or make it more girly with floral prints. The design reminded me of Ice crystals so that’s where I came up with the name Crystal Wave. I like how the pattern echo’s out and has sharp repeating lines.

This is a 20 inch block quilt, so it goes together super quilt. It’s great for the adventurous beginner to intermediate quilter. This quilt uses my favorite 4 at 1 time no waste flying geese method. So cutting your pieces and sewing a precise 1/4 scant seem is necessary.

I thought Kona Cotton Solids would be great for this quilt. Storm (Dark), Cadet (Medium), Prairie Sky (Light) and Silver (background). It kind of give the quilt an ombre look.

Sometimes a quilt needs a little more than straight line quilting from top to bottom. With this quilt I decided to echo the pattern with 1/4 inch straight line and then about an inch from that. I used my walking foot with it’s guide.

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I love how a quilt can look so different in different fabrics. Here are some of the quilts my awesome quilt testers made:

If you love this quilt pattern and would like to make your own, you can find the Crystal Wave Pattern here!

PAPER PATTERN

Make sure to share your photo’s with the hashtag #crystalwavequilt or #happycloudcreations

Happy Quilting!
Andrea

Posted on December 10, 2018December 11, 2018 by happycloudcreatons — Leave a comment

Chunky Child’s Cowl Knitting Pattern

cloud cowl 2 (2)

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this post.

Even though it’s not officially ‘Winter’ yet, it sure feels like it outside! Here in Western Washington we huddle inside by our heaters when it hits low 40’s. But since my son is in school every morning and afternoon we have to walk to the bus stop for school.

I have made myself a few infinity scarves and I love that you don’t have to worry about it falling off. And that’s a big issue with the long scarves I had made for Cloud and Snow. The ends of the scarf end up dragging on the ground and that’s no good!

So I decided I would make them infinity scarves…cowls…neck warmers, what ever you wan to call them!

First you need to find your gage, how many stitches on circular needles make 1 inch. This is key since your gage will be different depending on the yarn you select and the needles you select. You can use the recommending needle size that is listed on your yarn.

Then you find the circumference on your head. I measured around the forehead to the back of the head, the scarf will need to be large enough to slip over your head. You don’t want it too big if you want it to stay up around your ears and nose.

cloud cowl (2).jpg

Next: Gage (how many stitches equal 1 inch) x Head circumference = number to cast on.

Your cast on amount should be divisible by 4.

For Cloud’s I used Hometown by Lion Brand Yarn. This is a bulky yarn. I used my circular size 13 needles. My gage was 2 stitches for 1 inch and his head is 21 inches (my kids have large heads).
So 2 x 21= 42 I rounded up to 44.
If you want a tighter fitting scarf round down to 40.

Chunky Neck Warmer
This should fit a 5 to 10 year old, depending on head size. Adjust depending on your gage and the circumference of the head (see above to calculate your cast on amount)

What you need:
1 – Hometown Lion’s Brand Yarn (81 yds)
Size 13 Circular needles (20 inch cord or smaller)
Large Tapestry Needle

Cast On 44 stitches
Join to work in the round, making sure not to twist the stitches, place a stitch marker at the first stitch.
Knit 2 Purl 2
Repeat this until you have about 10.5 inches (9.5 inches for a smaller child)
Cast OFF
Weave in your ends

This is Cloud’s scarf on Snow. She wanted some fun photo time too!
Snow is 5 and Cloud is 8 1/2 years old.

Posted on December 4, 2018June 12, 2019 by happycloudcreatons — Leave a comment

Finishing – Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler Quilt Along

CloudyDaySampler (2)

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this post.

Now that we have all our blocks done, it’s time to make them into a quilt!! I like to make the cornerstones with the strip piecing method. This makes it so you don’t have to cut out a ton of little squares. If you would like to assemble your top the way I completed my top, click below to download the directions:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNOAD: Finishing Instructions Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler

Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler Pattern
Flying Geese Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler

If you are looking for the Flying Geese Supplemental, you can find that in the Block 1 Blog post.

Quilt Sandwich:
First you will need to make your Quilt Sandwich. You will need to cut and sew your backing fabric to make it fit under your quilt correctly. Make sure it is at least 3 inches wider than your quilt top on all sides (quilt top size + 6 inches). Trim your selvage edge off after joining your pieces.

Make your quilt sandwich by first laying down your quilt backing, wrong side facing up. Tape down to a hard surface, making fabric taut. Next lay your batting on top. Smooth out with your hands, do not stretch. Then lay your quilt top right side up, smooth out with your hands.

Basting Your Quilt:
Spray baste: My favorite way to baste my quilt is by using Spray Baste! It makes basting so much easier. If you have allergies, this is probably not a good option for you.
Find a place where you can lay out your quilt. Make sure to tape the backing fabric taut to the floor (or large table).
Here’s great spray baste tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew: Spray Baste Tutorial

Pin basting: You can use safety pin about 3 to 4 inches apart (about the width of your hand). I like to use the large curved basting pins. This takes a little longer than the spray basting, but is a great option.

Quilting your Quilt:
This step is totally up to you!

With my quilt I chose to quilt from top to bottom ‘organic’ straight lights approximately 1 inch apart. I used my walking foot with the guide set to 1 inch.

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Hand Tie your Quilt: Some prefer to tie there quilt.
Here’s a tutorial on how to do this on Craftsy.

Hand Quilt: Here’s an article that goes over the basics of hand quilting on Craftsy.

Machine Quilt using your Walking Foot:
Emily Dennis from Quilty Love has a great tutorial on how to Zig zag quilt your quilt with a Walking foot. Click here I love this method of quilting, it give your quilt great texture.

Free Motion Quilting:
Free motion quilting can give you great texture and if you aren’t great at quilting straight lines, this would be great for you. Suzy Williams from Suzy Quilts has a great Free Motion Quilting Tutorial. Click here.

Binding Your Quilt:

Binding is the fabric strip that goes on the edge of your quilt. It covers all of the unfinished edges and rounds out your quilt.

You will want to make sure to square up your quilt before you attach the binding. Cut off the extra batting around the edges and make sure your sides are straight and corners are squared.

Most quilters will cut 2 /12 inch by width of fabric strips and then sew them together at the ends at a diagonal. Then press the strip in half, so that you are wrapping 2 layers of fabric around all of your edges.

You can machine sew the binding to the front of your quilt and wrap it around to the back and hand stitch it down. Or some prefer sewing the binding to the back of the quilt, wrapping it around to the front and machine stitching it down.

One of my favorite binding tutorials is by Suzy Williams of Suzy Quilts. Go check it out!

Make sure to post your photo’s on Instagram with the hashtag #CloudyDayQAL or in the Facebook Group: Happy Cloud Creations Quilt Along (If you are just joining, make sure to answer the Questions so I can weed out the spam/fake accounts from the real ones)

Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler Quilt Along Schedule:
September 19th – Download Fabric Requirements and Blank Coloring Sheet
October 2nd – Block 1
October 9th – Block 2
October 16th – Block 3
October 23rd – Block 4
October 30th – Block 5
November 6th – Block 6
November 13th – Block 7
November 20th – Block 8
November 27th – Block 9
December 4th – Finishing Instructions

Share your progress:
On Instagram use the hashtag: #cloudydayqal
On Facebook you can join the quilt along group: JOIN THE GROUP

Happy Quilting!!
Andrea

I’m excited to sew all my blocks together!!

sampler quilt

Posted on November 27, 2018June 12, 2019 by happycloudcreatons — 1 Comment

Block 9 – Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler Quilt Along

Block 9

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this post.

Welcome to Block 9 of the Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler!! Our last block in the Quilt Along! I can’t believe how fast it has flown by! This weeks blocks will have a couple Half Square Triangles in it. If you have any questions about the half square triangles, I will be going over them in my LIVE Video today at 10 am PST in the Quilt Along Facebook Group and on Instagram!

Next week you will be able to download the finishing instructions!

Block 9 Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler

If you are looking for the Flying Geese Supplemental, you can find that in the Block 1 Blog post.

Share your progress:
On Instagram use the hashtag: #cloudydayqal
On Facebook you can join the quilt along group: JOIN THE GROUP

Happy Quilting!!
Andrea

Here are my Block 9 fabrics:

block 9 (2)

Posted on November 20, 2018June 12, 2019 by happycloudcreatons — Leave a comment

Block 8 – Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler Quilt Along

Block 8

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this post.

Welcome to Block 8 of the Cloudy Day Sampler Quilt Along!! This quilt along has just been flying by! This week’s block is a beautiful star inside a star block. If you didn’t know I love star blocks!! This block goes together quickly using the 4 at 1 no waste flying geese method.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD: Block 8 Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler

If you are looking for the Flying Geese Supplemental, you can find that in the Block 1 Blog post.

Join me Today (November 20th) at 10am PST (West Coast USA) in the FACEBOOK GROUP or on INSTAGRAM today for a LIVE Video to go over how to make this block and answer any questions you have.

Share your progress:
On Instagram use the hashtag: #cloudydayqal
On Facebook you can join the quilt along group: JOIN THE GROUP

Happy Quilting!!
Andrea

My fabrics for Block 8:

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