sotak kits

You guys, I'm so super excited for today's post. Because you know what? I get to show you my newest "crafty brain child".

What do you think?

I designed pouch making kits featuring my own screen printed fabric. Eeeek!!! This project has taken months to come to fruition, mostly because I was too obsessive about how to package it all. I wanted to make sure I would be proud to show you these kits. I wanted something pretty, crafty looking, something I'd be happy to gift or to receive myself.

This is what the packaging looks like on the front and back of this perfectly sized little brown paper box.

And here are all the goodies included inside the box - waxed canvas, screen printed fabric, cotton canvas lining, zipper, and zipper leather pull. Plus a full color booklet with pattern and instructions, of course.

I think these kits would make wonderful presents for an experienced sewist as well as someone who'd like to give pouch making a try for the first time.

The finished pouch is 7" wide on bottom, 8.5" wide on top x 5" tall x 1.5" deep. My girls keep their special markers and drawing supplies in their pouches.

I have a limited number of these kits available for sale in my etsy shop. Click here if interested.

All the kits are sold out. I'll try to have new ones in stock soon. Thank you for your support.

Thanks for reading, friends. Svetlana

qayg scrappy trivets {a tutorial}

I'd like to share a super simple scrappy project with you today.

Don't these scrappy trivets/ snack mats look fun? And you know what? All you need to make them are some fabric scraps, leftover batting, backing fabric, and just a little bit of time.

Each trivet finishes at 8" square and I absolutely love how they all turned out (I do have to admit gray and gray and mustard ones are my favorites, though).

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Here's a quick how to in case you'd like to make a few of these yourselves.

To make one 8" trivet you will need:

scraps (either random ones or separated by color)

two 10" squares of batting (use cotton only, or you could use one batting and one Insul-Bright if you want your trivet to be heat proof)

10" square of backing fabric

1. Sort and press your scraps.

2. Make one approximately 10" qayg block using one batting square and assortment of scraps and following this tutorial.

3. Trim your finished block to 8.5" square. (I usually draw an 8.5" square on the block and use 1/8" seam allowance to stitch inside the perimeter of  the drawn square to secure my quilting stitches before cutting out the square). Cut your square out.

 

4. Lay remaining batting (or Insul Bright) square on a flat surface. Place backing fabric right side up on top, then place finished block right side down. Align the edges, pin all the way around.

5. Use 1/4" seam allowance and stitch all the way around the perimeter of your trivet "sandwich" making sure to leave about 3" opening in one side for turning. Clip the corners, press the seams open.

6. Turn your trivet right side out through the opening, push the corners out, smooth out the edges, press. Clip/ pin the opening closed.

7. Use 1/8" seam allowance to stitch all the way around the perimeter of your trivet (you'll stitch the opening closed as you sew). Backstitch at the end. Trim any stray threads, press, and you're finished.

Super easy, wasn't it? And such great fun to use up some scraps. 

I hope you give these trivets a try. And, as always, if you make a project using any of my tutorials please add it to my Flickr group or use #sotakhandmade if posting on IG. I love seeing all your amazing creations.

Happy Monday, friends! Svetlana

not a sampler baby quilt

A few months ago I jumped on the Moda Modern Building Blocks Quilt band wagon. I loved all the gorgeous quilts popping up all over IG and blogland so I got to work as soon as my pattern arrived. And then, after finishing just one giant block, I was done. I suddenly realized that while I liked seeing sampler quilts, I simply didn't want to make one, so the block joined my other orphan blocks and I completely abandoned the idea of a sampler quilt.

And then, the other day as I was looking for something totally unrelated, I came across this one lonely block and decided it was time I gave it a new life. It was a large block (finished at 36" square), so I simply added two thick-ish solid borders and my quilt top was done.

I pieced a super simple backing using fabric from my stash. I think it contrasts quite nicely with the super graphic front. As far as quilting goes, I went with my absolute favorite for when I want the finished quilt to be nicely squishy and cozy - straight lines about 1 1/2" apart.

The quilt finished at 36" x 48", perfect size for some baby snuggles.

Svetlana

sewing room re-shuffle

My sewing room has been a sort of disaster zone for a few weeks now. There were piles of fabric, paperwork, tons of wips, toys (cats' as well as children's), plus tons of other miscellaneous items all "on display" everywhere. Madness, I'm telling you. Especially since my brain totally shuts down when it's surrounded with clutter. No wonder I had such a hard time getting any work done.

 

So, on Friday night I decided it was finally time to do some major clean up. And then I decided the whole room needed a complete redo. Please tell me I'm not the only one who starts by folding fabrics and ends up moving furniture around :).

I would lie if I didn't tell you I'm absolutely in love with the way it all turned out though. Yay, don't you just love it when your crazy spontaneous ideas really work?

This is what my room looked like last year. Quite a change, isn't it? I've since painted the walls, added more furniture, and toned down all the patchwork-y craziness, but until this weekend I pretty much kept the same layout of the room.

My cutting table now lives by the window and I added a new cabinet in its original place. The new cabinet is full of my screen printing supplies and was a much needed addition to my happy place :). I've also changed the orientation of my table - I think this one change itself made the biggest impact to the whole room.

My fabric cabinets stayed in their original spot (across from all the windows) as they are a perfect fit for the largest wall in the room. 

The room would not be complete without at least one of my furry sidekicks, of course. 

 

I think I'm ready to tackle some serious sewing now. You know where I'll be if you need me :). 

Talk to you soon, friends. Svetlana

avant garde pillow

Have you seen Katarina Roccella's newest fabric collection Avant Garde? It's full of beautifully unique prints in gorgeously saturated colors and I'm excited to show you a pillow I made using one of my very favorite prints.

Pretty fun, isn't it?

I based this pillow on Bright Birch Trees pattern by Crazy Mom Quilts and I so love how it turned. And,  no tiny piecing was needed to achieve this patchwork-y look :).

I used the same print for the back of the pillow and finished it off with invisible zipper closure.

I love how my pillow turned out and can't wait to see what other super talented folks make using this gorgeous fabric. Hope you'll hop along.

Also, Katarina is running a giveaway on her blog so be sure to stop by to enter.

January 15th: Megan Jimenez from Quilt Story
January 16th: Svetlana Sotak of Sotak handmade (me)
January 17th: Sharon Mcconnell of Colorgirlquilts
January 18th: Rachael Gander of Imagine gnats
January 19th: Ali Brorsen of Because of Brenna
January 20th: Laura Scaramella of Simple Life Company
January 21st: Alexis of My sweet sunshine
January 22nd: Marija Vujčić
January 23rd: Hema Malini of Malini’s quilts
January 24th: Kristy Sachs - Rockbabyscissors
January 25th: Paul Hallinger aka Evildemondevildog
January 26th: Erica Jackman
January 27th: Kathleen Quilts
January 28th: The Tattooed Quilter
January 29th: Nicole - Lillyella
January 30th: Sari - Sariditty handmade

January 31st: Lynne Goldsworthy of Lily’s quilts

Wishing you all a super lovely weekend. Svetlana

quilted wall art

I've wanted to make some sort of quilted wall art for our living for ages now. I was hoping to make something simple and modern, with minimal piecing and solid fabrics only. Something like this absolutely stunning quilt by Nicole or these showstoppers by Luise Gray. 

 

Truth is though, I had no good ideas of my own. And then I came across this tutorial 

which I absolutely loved. So, I decided to shamelessly copy this masterpiece by Ethan Cook (I am hoping to eventually swap it for my own idea but for now it will have to do) :) and got to work.

I pieced, and quilted, and quite dreaded the idea of having to buy wood, stain it, cut it, and assemble my own frame, when I suddenly realized I had a large picture frame in the basement. And, wouldn't you know it? It was a perfect size. So, I removed the glass, wrapped quilted patchwork around the board, popped it back in, and I was done.

Now, I will admit, I do like the wood frame better, but I decided to be realistic and enjoy it just the way it is :).

Wishing you all a super lovely day, friends. Svetlana

modern machine quilting workshop DVD

Happy Sunday to you all!

Today I'd like to talk about my friend Catherine Redford's newest Quilting Arts workshop DVD on free motion quilting.

 I've been a fan of Catherine's amazing work for years now and I really enjoyed her first DVD on straight line quilting. So, of course I was super excited to watch this new DVD as I hoped to learn some helpful tips and tricks on how to get better at free motion quilting.

I'm happy to say I was not disappointed. I loved seeing all the sketches Catherine shared before demonstrating different free motion quilting patterns (from continuous eights, to pebbles, snail trails, and "flames" all the way to modern feathers and ferns) on her sewing machine. I should definitely sketch out my ideas on paper more often before I jump to actual quilting. As Catherine says: "It's way faster to put stitches in your quilting than take them out".

 

Thanks to Catherine I finally learned what the difference between stipple and meander is :). I just adore how she combines different quilting patterns together. This waves + writing placemat was my favorite. I think a whole cloth quilt covered in favorite quotes would look absolutely stunning, don't you?

I hope you'll check out this DVD, you won't be disappointed. You can purchase a copy by clicking here.

Also, Catherine is giving away two copies of this fantastic DVD as well as a grand prize of Stella task lamp + DVD. Just hop on over to her blog and leave a comment.



Thursday January 7th – Catherine Redford
Friday January 8th – Fresh Lemons Quilts
 Saturday January 9th – Bonnie Hunter
Sunday January 10th – Svetlana Sotak - me
Monday January 11th – Kim Niedzwiecki (Aurifil)
Tuesday January 12th – Julia Wood
Wednesday January 13th – Susan Brubaker Knapp
Thursday January 14th – Jenny Lyon
Friday January 15th – Kathy Matthews
Saturday January 16th – Back to Catherine

star baby quilt

Hi friends, happy 2016 to you all!!!

Is your new year off to a good start? I hope it is. Ours has been rocky, not at all what I have imagined, as it included a very serious health emergency and hospital stay for one of my kids. Life can sometimes seriously stink, don't you think?

And thus sewing time has been pretty hard to come by. I do, however, need to sew and make things on a regular basis to keep my sanity intact, so I found little bits of time here and there to make this super simple baby quilt.

I used a tutorial by Amy Smart. It was such an easy and quick little quilt, and I loved that the pattern was written for 10" squares as I had quite a few of those already cut out and waiting for just the right project.

Plus, I'm quite smitten with all the striking one block quilts that seem to be all the rage these days. 

How about you? What have you been up to? Any fun projects in the making?

Wishing you all a super lovely week. Svetlana