And they are look great.  Under the Veranda is 22 pages – full-color through and through.  It took me awhile to figure out how to print this one affordably for you all… but it turned out beautifully I think.

The cover is shown in my Topiary collection, which ships from Blend Fabrics in January.

Two color ways (my Topiary and Bella collections for Blend Fabrics) are included in the directions or you can make up your own.

With full color fabric diagrams, it is easy!

And all the blocks have clear, full-color diagrams too!

The final section explains how to piece the blocks together.

But wait… I forgot to show you pictures of the actual quilt.  It has a little bit of a lot of different techniques.  I sewed it up in Bella because Topiary wasn’t read in time for Market.

Under the Veranda in dappled afternoon sunlight

A little bit of bargello…

Appliqued berries

“Cabinet Doors”

A Dresden Plate

An applied vine with some “brick blocks” on the far left…

And the central medallion

I used Topiary strike-offs for this one

I’m so excited because my new Craftsy class, Elegant Embroidered Bags, is now live over on Craftsy!

This class was developed for those who have an embroidery machine and want to learn how to use it to make personalized accessories.  This pillow below is from my Elegant Machine Embroidered Quilts class and the bags are from this newest class.  (Can you tell I’m going through an aqua phase?)

We’ll work with a variety of pre made-bags, and I’ll give you some tips on how to embroider difficult-to-hoop items.

 We’ll also make two bags from scratch. I have a fun canvas tote design we will whip up – we’ll experiment with the dreaded double-hooping process (it really isn’t that bad!) and integrate a fun accent fabric panel for a personal touch.

We’ll make a little quilted pouch with a zipper and pleated pocket, which will give you lots of design options.  (The zippered pouch and canvas tote could be sewn from coordinated fabric – they would make a great holiday gift!)

I designed 5 embroidery designs especially for this class and I really hope you will love them!

If you are interest in making some Elegant Machine Embroidered Bags of your own I hope you will join me over on Craftsy!  They gave me a 25% coupon to share with you all. Just click this link to sign up.

Happy sewing (and embroidering too!)
Amanda

Hi everyone!  If you are looking for stocking stuffer ideas I have a quick embroidery project that I whipped up this weekend.  Machine embroidered coffee sleeves!  (I also included graphics you can trace in the pdf pattern if you prefer hand embroidery.  No instructions for specific stitches for hand embroidery but you will have something to trace.) I made these on the Bernina 780.  These coffee sleeves are really simple to make and have a Velcro closure.  I made a poinsettia and a snowflake design for the Holiday Coffee Sleeves.

And for those who just can’t wait unit spring, I made a flower and paisley design!

(Excuse the lighting – I was fighting the end of the day and the sun was really low in the sky and then my camera battery died so I had to use my cell phone…)  Which do you like best?  Right now I think the Snowflake is my favorite but that is probably because of the lovely red canvas from Indygo Junction.  All the canvas is from Indygo (they make a wonderful, buttery-soft one that is great to work , the embroidery threads are Isacord, and the sewing thread is Aurifil 50 wt. cotton.

Oh – and they ll fit in a 145 mm x 25 mm hoop.  File types are: ART, HUS, PES, PEC, SEW, and VIP.

You can find the patterns using this link or by clicking the button on the left hand side of my blog.  I can’t believe it is less than a month until Christmas – where did time go?

Hope you had a lovely weekend with lots of sewing!

Amanda