Tag Archives: American Quilter Magazine

Published – Peabody Pouch

Posted in Finished Projects, Gift Ideas, Published by

Hot off the Press! I am delighted to share my Scrappy Peabody Pouches! These cute little pouches feature a unique shaped top that opens wide to fill with whatever goodies you like. I used color coordinated scraps from the stash to create these little cuties.

Featured in the July 2021 issue of American Quilter Magazine, this issue is loaded with lots of fun projects…including my Peabody Pouches.

I pieced the scrappy half square triangles and then used scrap linen from the stash for the body of the pouch.

I stitched the zipper right on curved top of the pouch to create the unique shape.

I quilted right through the lining and just used binding to hide the raw edges on the inside.

That curved top helps the bag open wider to really fill it up whether you use for cosmetics, quilting notions or essential chocolate.

You can stitch up a whole group of little Peabody pouches for gifts or just make something special for yourself. They make great assembly line sewing, so make up a pile of them.

Grab a copy of the latest issue or head over to Americanquilter.com to get a digital copy.

Happy Stitching!

Published – Welcome Home Pineapple Table Topper

Posted in EQ8, Finished Projects, Home Accessories, Published by

 

In the May 2020 issue of American Quilter Magazine, you will find my latest design. It is a stunning table topper made with Princess Palette Batik by Mirah.  This palette of batiks acts like blenders and is the perfect combination of colors for the design.  This sunny Pineapple represents warm welcomes, celebration and hospitality and is perfect to welcome guests or gift to a friend.

I designed my topper in EQ8 Quilt Design Software.  It is a foundation paper pieced design that would be great for an intermediate quilter or a dedicated beginner.  I find starting on paper pieced projects that are smaller is a great way to try out this technique.

I was able to import the Princess Palette Batik fabrics right into EQ8 to mock up a realistic picture of my design.  I could try different colors before I had to cut into that precious fabric.  Batik by Mirah generously provided all of the fabrics.  They have some beautiful fabrics that you should definitely consider for your next project.  Batik by Mirah

 

I used foundation patterns created with #EQ8 to make each of the eight sections of the quilt.

It is a lot of stitching, pressing and cutting, but the result really starts to take shape.

Here, I am trimming the sewn foundation.

Then I stitched the four sections of the block together.

The individual blocks  come together to create one pineapple.  There are 8 blocks needed to make the topper.

 

I sewed four blocks together to make half the topper and then stitched the two halves together.

I use a water soluble pen to mark the quilting designs on the topper.  I wanted to stitch little feathers in the background.

Then I stitched cross hatching in the pineapples.

Here is a closeup of the quilting after it was finished and washed.  I love that crinkly texture!

I would love to see your version, just tag me on facebook or instagram @lorimillerdesigns

Happy Stitching!

 

Published – Cookie Cat

Posted in Finished Projects, Home Accessories, Published by

MEOW!  Cookie Cat is here, my latest quilt made to celebrate my sweet kitty, Cookie.

You can find this fun little quilt in the March 2018 issue of American Quilter Magazine.  This magazine is published by the American Quilt Society (AQS).

Note: If any of you would like to join AQS in February, you will get access to the March digital issue as soon as you join, plus you can get 6 additional issues, a full year, in print.  Also, if you join and log into americanquilter.com, all AQS members have digital access to ALL American Quilter magazines back to 2013.  I just happen to be a member, so I though I would share.

Here is the real Cookie Cat, he loves to help me with my quilting.

As usual, I designed this cutie with Electric Quilt design software.  It makes the process easy and I had quite a few iterations on this block until I got it where I liked it.

I started quilting at my cottage in Northern Michigan.  I have a well used Featherweight Singer up there and it pieces a quilt quite nicely.

I generously received cotton solid fabric from  American Made Brand to make this sweet quilt.  The pieces are sized at five inches so they are charm square friendly too.

There are two variations in the colors for the blocks.  These are large 18″ blocks.  I love a large block, easy to sew, easy to have a large quilt quickly.

Here is my fancy light box at the cottage.  Yes, its a window from the second story, so I have a lovely pine tree backdrop.  I just taped the template to the window and then moved the block to where I wanted the face and taped the block to the window.  Then I traced with a water soluble marker.  Once I had the face on, I hand embroidered the whiskers.  The little nose is a piece of fleece.

I went a little crazy with the quilting.  I wanted to try out my Babylock Jazz on a larger quilt.  It may look like a jumble, but the large throat made it easy to do free motion quilting and the walking foot quilting.

Here you can get a better idea of all of the quilting.  I made the tiny swirls so tiny around the kitty, that took me forever.  Next time, I will make those babies just a bit bigger to get it done sooner.  I cant complain too much, I do love all that texture it creates, especially since the kitty is so basic.

I have enough scraps to make a baby quilt with just four blocks.  That just might be a great idea if you want to try this block but not make a twin size quilt.  Just one block would make a super cute pillow too.

Happy Stitching!