Category / quilts

by Bethe

Triangle Tips

As I discussed yesterday, I have a small obsession with triangle quilts. Once you master the basics, the possibilities are endless! Here’s a few pointers I’ve found:

1. I cut my squares 6 x 6 inches, which means for a 47 x 47 baby quilt, I use 100 squares. Now this varies, of course, based on my mood and the amount of fabric I have. Sometimes I add a border and use fewer squares. My ginormous blue chevron wedding quilt was FOUR times the size of my normal baby quilts, which made it a queen. (It was a beast, but so worth it for my tall friends).

2. After I sew my two triangles together to make a square and press it flat, I simply clip the tiny leftover fabric on each corner (which makes another triangle), and keep sewing. On my first triangle quilt I tried to re-trim every square to be perfect, but it was a colossal waste of my time.

3. I use technology to my advantage – after I lay all of my triangles out on my floor to make my quilt pattern (which is a lot like putting a puzzle together), as I tackle each section I snap a photo with my phone. This allows me to work with a larger section of fabric at a time, and be able to refer back to the photo to know how to place the fabric. This comes in handy when you’re trying to remember, “Does this fabric or that fabric go on the inside diamond?” and saves you a few trips getting up and down off the floor. Of course, I still get on and off the floor (and up and down to the ironing board) about 8 million times in the course of a quilt, but it could be worse. Who knew quilting was such good exercise?

4. I always cut a few extra triangles, because inevitably I’m going to mess up and it’s a pain to go back and cut again after you lose the rhythm.  Plus I’m really bad at math so sometimes I miscount.

And alas, just in case you couldn’t tell with the other behind-the-scenes pictures, my sewing room gets USED when I’m quilting. Like, destroyed. And that’s okay, I kind of like it that way. I truly believe it’s impossible to be tidy during the creative process.

At least for me.

PS–Why yes, I do sit on an old pillow while I sew. That old wooden chair gets quite hard on the hiney when you’re quilting for eight hours straight.

Keepin’ it clasy, my friends.

Interested in getting your own lovely? Visit my online shop, Texas Lovely, on etsy!

by Bethe

My latest quilting obsession

You may have noticed a pattern (no pun intended), but I am sort of in love with triangle quilts. It started with an obsession with chevron and then expanded to a desire to try every possible combination, partly because (a) I’m getting really fast at cutting those triangles and (b) they really are some of the cutest ones out there.

Here’s a few examples of gorgeous triangle quilts from the web. Click on the picture to view the original source.

And a couple that I’ve made. I could never narrow down a favorite.

And someday soon I promise I’ll try a new method. Maybe, if I’m in the mood. Oh who are we kidding, I’ve probably got a dozen more of these in me.

Stay tuned to tomorrow’s post for some:

For quilts, pillows and lovely prints, visit my Texas Lovely shop on etsy!

by Bethe

Friday Favorites

I’m sending you a very earthy, crunchy hello from gorgeous Portland. I keep telling Mr. Right I may come home with a nose ring and a tattoo. Which, for the record, is perfectly lovely on some people, but if you know me, I’m a bit conservative scared buttoned up not cool enough to pull that off.

But anyway, today I’m linking up with The Bargain Blonde for Friday Favorites. In particular, here are some of my current favorites for fall. Click on the pictures to be redirected to the original source.

Decorating with pumpkins – this makes me want to host a dinner party.

A free fall printable from one of my favorite bloggers (she draws these herself – crazy, huh?).

I’m thinking of making something like this as Christmas stocking stuffers. I could add a loop of thread and convert them into ornaments (with different fabric of course).

This gal’s etsy shop is like a burlap heaven. I love everything in there.

I love pairing my chambray shirt with skinny jeans and boots. I think I may have to add a scarf as well. I also do the white tank beneath it to hide my hiney in those skinny jeans – glad to know it’s considered fashionable and not just functional.

I found the perfect place to display one of my Texas Lovely designs in my kitchen. Although now I have a hankering to paint that frame and distress it. Hmmm…

I adore the applique on this pillow. It would take me forever, but might be a good ongoing project. Speaking of projects, I’m currently recovering all of my living room pillows. I figured I’d done enough sewing for others, it was time to spoil myself for a bit (besides, they were a bit worn, which is ridiculous considering I sell pillows these days). Pictures to come soon. One is a temporary home for some yo-yo’s I’ve been making for the past year – a definite labor of love.

One of my very favorite things is my newest nephew Jack. You may have prayed for him when he decided to arrive eight weeks early. Crazy thing is, he isn’t even really “due” for another three weeks. Is there anything more wonderful than a preemie baby’s grin?

On the fourth day of being home sick last week I finally had the energy to finish piecing together this yellow and gray quilt. It’s made from the same fabric as the chevron quilt I made last month. I love the endless possibilities that come from piecing triangles.

I had planned to put it in my shop but an old sorority sister with an adorable newborn baby girl called dibs, so it will be headed to Austin just as soon as I can get this gal quilted.

And that’s it! I hope you have a wonderfully fabulous fall Friday.

by Bethe

Baby Jack’s Quilt

My sweet nephew, Baby Jack, is in the NICU right now. He made his grand entrance EIGHT weeks early, and still came in at a whopping 4 pounds 4 ounces. He’s absolutely beautiful and loved by so many people. And someday soon he will be snoozing away on this quilt, an expression of my love for my precious little cowboy.

As you look at this quilt, say a little prayer for sweet Baby Jack. I can’t wait to snuggle him soon!

 

by Bethe

Yellow & Gray Chevron Baby Quilt

Goodness knows I love yellow and gray – they’re the colors I used for my wedding, and the colors I’ve used for my never-ending yo yo quilt. And so of course when I stumbled across this fabric, I just HAD to make a quilt with it.
Oh yeah, and I’m obsessed with chevron. It was a match made in heaven.

I’ve never pieced a back before, but for some reason the mood struck me (and I was trying to save a little of that gorgeous gray and white fabric), and I love the way this turned out. I may have to do this with my other quilts since I (a) stink at math and always have pieces left over, and (b) it makes me happy, and quilting should ALWAYS make you happy.

I never sell my quilts – they take so much time and energy (and materials) that I only make them as gifts. Until now. If you’d like your very own Texas Lovely original quilt, then head on over to my little shop and make this girl’s day.

by Bethe

In case you were wondering…

It took me 11 episodes of 30 Rock to piece my nephew Jack’s baby quilt on Saturday. That’s a new record! I’m bursting with excitement to show you and may not be able to wait until I’m able to get it in the hands of his sweet mama (my sister-in-law Michelle) before posting a sneak preview. I chose a design that I’ve had swimming around in my head for months, and I must say it turned out so cute I squealed, and then danced around while Mr. Right oohed and aaahed over it like a good husband of a quilter.  I may just make another one with some of the leftover fabric and stick it in my shop for a baby gift. You know, since I promised I’d never sell a quilt in there, and every good woman changes her mind.

I still have to quilt and bind it, but luckily I’m only on Season 2 Episode 12 of 30 Rock, so there’s plenty of time to finish it.

I got asked if I was pregnant on Friday. Again. Three times in one day. By one woman and two men. For the record, I’m not. And people should stop asking. And I am going to have to burn that shirt (along with this one and this one and this one), which I admit was a bit loose, but I bought it from the regular section of LOFT.
On Saturday I started tracking my calorie intake/outtake on the myfitnesspal app. I’m hoping the accountability of keeping a food journal will help me with item #2 on my list. I’m on Day 4, which practically makes me an expert. (Who’s taking bets that I’ve forgotten about this by Thursday?) PS–I’ve lost two pounds. It may have been water weight, but I’m celebrating nonetheless.
We watched the greatest movie this weekend – Capote. It’s rated R, but if you have a husband who will tell you when to close your eyes (an opening murder scene, and about two minutes toward the very end), it’s really more of a light PG-13. It’s now in my Top 10 list of favorite movies. (note to self – create list of my other top 9 favorite movies.)




Does anybody else LOVE LOVE Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition? Mr. Right and I want to adopt Chris Powell into our family.  We love positive people, and we hear he’s a fan of CrossFit like us. 



My favorite restaurant in all of DFW is closing in a few weeks. To be replaced with a TACO SHOP. As if Texas doesn’t have enough Mexican food restaurants already. I’m not sure who was more sad, Mr. Right and I when we found out on our date Friday night, or the manager who knows us because we go so much (and send all of our friends there). Rest in peace, Cowboy Chow in Roanoke. I will miss your watermelon tea and fry bread dipped in honey and black bean mash. 
My prayer right now is Psalm 107:7 – “He led them by a straight way…” Life seems to be swirling all around us lately, with our own plans turned upside down and many of our closest loved ones going through some pretty big trials. 
“When I said, ‘My foot is slipping, your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.’” Psalm 94:18-19

I am so glad you follow my little blog. Bless you!
by Bethe

My Summer Bucket List Update

It’s time for a little Summer Bucket List update (if you’re new, here’s 2011). We have been busy bees over in the Right house, crossing things off our list and dreaming up new and unexpected adventures. We’ve done pretty well, considering summer brought some unexpected new items to the bucket list (like starting a new business, building a patio, and a few other things that deserve their own blog posts). I’m choosing to think of this list as pure fun, and if I don’t hit all the items, then I’m not going to stress one iota. In fact, it’s my goal to add a little slacker-ness to my summer, which is a bit out of my nature. More than anything, this list helps us come up with ideas for fun date nights so we avoid the “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” rut of marriage. Mr. Right and I want to be FUN.



Here’s a list of what we’ve done, with just a few weeks to go before the end of summer.

Eat dinner on a patio

Dinner at the ultimate patio… Joe T. Garcia’s


The at-home version – a leisurely dinner on our back
patio one night while Mr. Right was working late –
just me, my ice tea, and The Bachelorette on my laptop. Bliss.



Have a picnic on Trinity Trail

Trinity Trail is like a little oasis in the middle of the city. If you want 
to get some fresh air, have a CHEAP date night, and enjoy a 
little romance, I highly recommend it.

We even brought Harley the Wonder Schnoodle along.

Learn to bake a pie


I learned to make peach cobbler (from fresh peaches no less!). My
definition of “pie” is something that you’d bring to Easter, Thanksgiving
or Christmas dinner. So cobbler definitely falls into the pie category.
I loved my peach cobbler so much I made it over. And over. And over.



Take a moonlit walk with Mr. Right on the beach

Marco Island, Florida


Wear shorts and heels

I actually did this quite often. Each time I felt kind of silly
but also kind of awesome. 


Ride my bike


I may be one of the few people who has a bike with cup holders.
Don’t be jealous.
Mr. Right and Harley came along for the bike ride
(they go every single morning).

Plan a secret date for Mr. Right

I surprised him with tickets to Concert in the Gardens in Fort Worth. It was
one of the last cool weekends in June before the Heat Wave of 2012 hit.


Hold my new nephew

Luke James, born June 11, 2012


Man, he’s a cute kid.

Go to a Rangers Game


We had a big debate before this game – is it trashy to wear workout clothes 
(running shorts and a t-shirt) to a Rangers game? Do you get a free pass 
if it’s 104 degrees? We chose to go with the all-wick-away fabrics. 
And we chose right.


Rangers lost. But I got a lemon chill. So it was a good night.



Kiss Mr. Right while watching fireworks

Bucket list fail. I have no pics because I was too busy a-smoochin’. And excited because we hosted 35 friends for a fireworks watching party. But trust me – we crossed this one off the list, and have a few witnesses who will vouch for us.


Learn to sew something new

Want one of your own? 



Finish my husband’s quilt


This was a quilt top we bought at an antique mall for $10 – the steal of the century.
The whole thing was hand-pieced, which took hundreds of hours. Mr. Right
picked out the quilt backing (his old sheet from college) and we bound it with
the shirt he bought for his first job at a Young Life camp in Colorado.
The whole thing has a ton of sentimental value.


This is Mr. Right modeling the finished product.

Host a dinner party

We hosted about 27 dinner parties, including one for our visiting preacher 
(that was pretty cool), dinner for about 35 people on July 4th, dinner 
for 15 girls at a bachelorette party, and a bunch with 6-8 guests. 
Each one was a blast – one of the highlights of our summer.


Dip my toes in the ocean



Marry off my dear friend Katie

Photo Source for both photos: www.mcgowanimages.com
Confession: I’m showing this one because it shows off my calf muscles, which I’ve never had before. Finally, those 800 million bazillion box jumps from crossfit have finally paid off. Oh, and it was a LOVELY wedding.


Do something spontaneous

We did a lot of spontaneous movie/sushi dates. Especially after we 
found out our local movie theater offers $5 Tuesdays. Score.


Get a mentor

Done – but this doesn’t really lend itself to picture-taking.

Cook with vegetables from our garden

Man, those are some GIANT tomatoes, eh?


Get a pedicure




Eat a sno-cone




Make one of the recipes from my Pinterest board

This is not exactly “cooking” but I “arranged” based off my Pinterest board. 
Judge says – good enough.


Eat a candlelit dinner at home
If you don’t take a picture, does it still count? We’ve had a few candlelight dinners including one where Mr. Right surprised me with one (along with a love note). That one was my favorite, and I was way too googly-eyed to remember to take a picture.

Finish writing Chapter 1 of my book

Done – but again, not really photo-worthy

Visit a state park

And here’s what’s left:

Take a photography class
Pre-plan all my meals for one week (confession: I have zero desire to do this, so it’s probably not going to happen)

Go to a museum
Go to a festival
Dance with Mr. Right in the kitchen
Take a road trip

Get a new dog (This will one is probably on hold for a little while)

Have a fish fry (with chicken strips for me, since I don’t eat fish)


Two weeks to go – we’ll see how many more I can cross off between now and then.

by Bethe

First Sale

I did it! I sold my first pillow. Two, actually, to one of my sweet relatives in Oklahoma. Today on my lunch break I dropped her package off at the post office and just like that, I’m in business.
I wish you could have seen how excited I was when I found out I’d made my first sale. I squealed, and smiled a big smile and basically skipped over to Mr. Right to tell him my good news. If you ever happen to purchase one of my pillows, just know that you’ll be making this girl’s day, and there will definitely be squeals in your honor.
Here’s the pillow Aunt Ginger bought:
Ruffle Pillow
I love these because they’re neutral enough to go with just about anything, and the ruffles create such a gorgeous, girlie texture without being too loud. I will quickly replace these now that they’re sold out, along with a two-toned variation that I think is going to be really chic. 
I also made two pillows out of Ethan Allen fabric samples – I love these pillows because they’re quilted (right now I’m not selling full quilts because the cost is so high that I’d have to charge a ridiculous price to cover my costs – which I’m just not ready to do). So if you’re in the market for a Texas Lovely quilt, then these are a great start – not only are they one-of-a-kind, shabby chic, but the striped pillow has some really fabulous texture combinations – velvet and fuzzy and slick and ribbed fabrics. It’s just… interesting. I like pops of the unexpected in my house.
This one reminds me of the beach…
14×14 Quilted Pillow

This one has some really gorgeous fabrics, with each triangle is individually quilted.

14×14 Quilted Pillow
Thanks to everyone who has helped spread the word about my little shop (and this little blog) – soon I’ll be doing a give-away to say a proper thank you.
Until then, have a lovely day.
by Bethe

Chevron Wedding Quilt

One of the hardest parts of quilting is keeping it a secret from the person receiving the quilt… and keeping it a secret from my blog. I’m always itching to post a tiny sneak preview because 50 hours of my life has been spent tucked away in my little sewing studio, but everybody I make quilts for reads my blog… and so instead poor Mr. Right is constantly bombarded with me running into his study and like a proud kid squealing, “Look at this! Isn’t it cool?!” every time I make any sort of progress on my project.
I married such a sweet, patient man, who has added quilting to the list of things he gets excited about, along with hospital advertising and the Texas Rangers.
So I’m bursting with excitement to show you my latest finished product – my chevron wedding quilt!

This quilt was made for my dear friend Katie, who is marrying her own Mr. Right in August, and I am so proud to be one of her bridesmaids (she was a bridesmaid in my wedding last year). Katie is one of those rare gems who perfectly balances a huge love for the Lord, a love for people, a hilarious personality and a successful career as a math teacher (and math team coach, and prom sponsor, and you name it… she’s probably done it).
Katie and I became friends 4-5 years ago when she graduated from college and joined my Sunday School class. Immediately I knew we had someone special and she became my back-up teacher (and a much, much better teacher than I ever was) and when I got married, she took over for my class. She has a real heart for people and is a huge encouragement to not only me, but to everybody she encounters. Katie is one of those people who could write a tell-all book about me after all the prayer requests I’ve sent her way.
Oh, and she’s hilarious. Like, really funny. I adore her!

So of course as soon as she got engaged to her fiance, who happens to work alongside my Mr. Right at our church, I knew I wanted to make her a chevron quilt. The pattern was the easy part – the hard part was finding her the PERFECT material – it took me three different fabric stores before I found something that was just right for her.

These were some of my inspirations from Pinterest.

Scrappy chevron (swoon!)
This beautiful two-toned chevron quilt
This gorgeous multi-colored chevron quilt
Chevron in cool beach-inspired colors
This one is probably closest to the one I made, and similar quilting style.

My pattern was the same as the triangle quilt I made my new nephew, but this time I just used two colors and arranged the triangles to form a chevron. I did a little miscalculation and somehow ended up with a bunch of leftover triangles (there’s somewhere between 425-500 triangles in this baby), so stay tuned for some pillows made with the leftovers. Math was never my strong point, made more ironic since this quilt was for a math teacher. Next time I need to have her double-check my math!

Anyway, this quilt is HUGE because Katie and her fiance are both really tall. To get an idea, it’s four times the size of my last baby quilt – it’s just under the size of a queen.

Here is the back of the quilt – this brown, green, blue and pink fabric reminded me of something I’d find in Anthropologie. I quilted it very loosely so that it would be extra cuddly for those newlyweds (the more quilting, the stiffer the quilt). I love how you can see the chevron design through the back.

I used the same material as the backing to bind it – I did my typical half-machine binding, half-hand binding technique. I’ve since tried an all-machine binding, which saves several hours of hand-sewing, but my edges aren’t as straight, and since I’ve perfected the other technique, I hate to mess up the quilt at the very last stage of the game. This quilt was so big it took me about 10 hours to hand-sew the binding (while watching the Bachelorette and the new Sherlock Holmes BBC series on Hulu), but it was worth it. Check out that corner!

To Katie & Sean – I hope you have many snuggly nights under that quilt, enjoying movies or just using it to stay warm on a cold evening. Thank you for being a blessing to me – I hope every time you see it, you’re reminded of how special you are to me.

My dear readers – I’m taking a little break from quilting this summer to work on some pillows (I’m seriously considering putting a few on Etsy – do you think anybody would actually buy them?). My next quilt will be a baby quilt for our new nephew Jack (on Mr. Right’s side) who is scheduled to come in October. This one will be western and I can’t wait to brainstorm something new and fun for this special little guy.

by Bethe

Pillows

You know I love to quilt, but I’ve been looking for some quicker, less-expensive projects to serve as gifts (and who knows, maybe one day can go in an Etsy store to fund my fabric stash). I’ve had some ideas for pillows swimming around in my head for a year now, and finally had time between quilt projects to give two of them a try.

Ruffle My Feathers Pillow

Lately I’ve been obsessed with ruffles and this gal was easy-peasy. I just sewed up a stack of ruffles and then machine-stitched them onto a matching square of fabric. I used a light-weight cotton and hand-stitched it shut at the bottom. This became a birthday gift to a dear friend. 

We’ve Come Full Circle Pillow

This pillow was inspired by a set of pillows we got as wedding gifts from Crate & Barrel. Ever since I got it, I’ve wanted to recreate it on a smaller scale. I just took some felt I had leftover from making a Christmas wreath, used a few items I had laying around my sewing studio to trace the circles, and then hand-stitched them onto a matching square. Next time I do this I’ll probably do it on my machine, but I was a little worried that my free-motion quilting might be a bit wobbly on those little circles. 
I think I may make some in red and white, or green and white, for Christmas presents. They would be so cheerful!