Apple Farm Makeover

I've known Amanda from Westwood Acres for years now. In fact one of the first full collection bundles I ever bought was from her shop, a fat eighth stack of Madrona Road by Violet Craft that I could not resist late one night. Amanda asked recently if she could send me some fabric to use in an upcoming blog post, and she surprised me with a lovely bundle of Apple Farm by Elea Lutz (one of my favorite designers, as you know) and a gorgeous stack of Lecien's Modern Basics text prints which I'm dying to use in my next patchwork project. Seeing those darling Apple Farm prints, though, made me decide that it was time to make a few fun accents for our breakfast nook. 

If I had to pick my favorite furniture in our home, it would definitely be the Amish breakfast nook that my parents purchased when we moved to Texas. It's perfect in every way (the seats even lift up to reveal storage for all my table linens) and it's been a sweet spot for the girls and me to share breakfast together every morning before we start school. I use green plastic cafeteria trays for the girls to eat on so that we keep the mess contained -- another one of my favorite things -- but the table has been needing a small, narrow runner to brighten things up. 

I pulled out my copy of Quilty Fun by talented Lori Holt and opened to her adorable Apple-licious Quilt. I used her two apple blocks to create a small runner that's just the perfect size for our table. The background fabric tends a bit toward the busy side, but I've learned that, when it comes to table runners, that's probably for the best if I want to hide any spills and splatters! Lori is such a genius when it comes to making cute blocks that sew up easily and quickly. These were such fun to make.

It took me less than an hour to whip up a quick patchwork pillow to add to our bench that would go with the runner. Simple squares are always a favorite with me, and I love being able to make another fun addition to our pillow collection for the breakfast nook. 

My girls were absolutely delighted to see the new decorations for their special spot, and I'm pretty delighted to have friends as nice as Amanda who made it possible. To me this is everything that makes fall cozy. All that's missing is a pot of tea and some cookies. Speaking of which, I'd better get to work on that...

Patchwork Bench Pad

A gorgeous Amish entryway unit came to live with us last month, and my mom asked if I'd be willing to make a patchwork pad for the bench. Nothing seemed more appropriate than to pull out a stack of my favorite Denyse Schmidt prints and start sewing. After measuring the space, I decided that 3 x 4" finished rectangles would be a good choice for my blocks. I most often work with squares, but it was nice to mix things up a little this time.

As I mentioned in my progress photos on Instagram, randomly placed patchwork blocks may look simple, but it takes me hours to settle on an arrangement. I came back to my sewing table at least a dozen times to play with these blocks before I was done -- and even then I switched a few around while I was finally sewing them together. 

I used two layers of heavy batting to give this piece a little more padding and quilted it with a zig-zag stitch along the seams. I like the way it gives the cushion an old-fashioned look, making it appear slightly tufted.

The pad is backed in another favorite Denyse Schmidt print, and it's bound in yarn dyed Essex linen. Although technically this piece is reversible, I expect that we'll be keeping the colorful side up most of the time. 

Patchwork...it's the greatest.

My Favorite Spot

My girls and I were wandering around World Market yesterday when suddenly I saw it...the cutest little loveseat ever made. We've pretty much come to the end of furniture purchases for our new home, but I couldn't get this piece off my mind. Thankfully my husband was kind enough to not only send me off to the store this morning to buy the loveseat, but he even got it upstairs to our room and assembled it for me. What a guy...

This beautiful piece is covered in natural colored linen and dotted with little buttons, each one covered in a different fabric print. They reminded me so much of Liberty prints that I decided it was time to finally break out my small stash and make a matching pillow. This was my first time working with Liberty, so I pulled out Alexia Abegg's beautiful book Liberty Love (now out of print and only available electronically unless you're lucky enough to find a hard copy) to read up on her tips for sewing with lawn. I found it very helpful, and the fabric was easier to work with than I had expected.

The pillow is made up of six blocks, each containing one 4 1/2" square and five 2 1/2" squares. Each block contains prints that feature a dominant color: red, yellow, green, blue, pink, and purple. It was such a treat to play with all those little squares until I got the layout I wanted.

I backed the pillow in leather yarn dyed Essex linen, binding the edge of the backing in a favorite Liberty print.

And look at the beautiful bowl of scraps I had left over! I'm leaving these out on my cutting table to look at while I work. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed making this little pillow. There will definitely be more Liberty sewing in my future.

But for now, I can't wait to get upstairs and curl up with a good book on that loveseat, my new favorite spot in the house.