notes from Terry Ann

Splendid Sampler: My Road Trip Block

Hello and welcome!

I'm Terry Atkinson, the designer at Atkinson Designs. A former teacher, my love of quilting led me into teaching quilting classes at a local quilt shop, and my most popular class projects became my first two patterns! I’ve been designing simple, easy to sew patterns for 25 years now – time flies when you’re having this much fun!

These days, my husband Kirk and I are traveling in our camper. A few years ago a friend sent me a link to a 1960's retro Shasta camper and it was love at first sight! It was available in turquoise, my all time favorite color! We purchased the camper and began traveling around the Midwest, meeting many new friends on the way. We loved traveling so much that we traded up to a larger camper and are now crisscrossing the country six to seven months of the year. This will be the second year we have left the cold and snow of Minnesota. Love it! Another major plus is recharging my creative batteries. The beauty of the desert, mountains, sea, sunrises, and sunsets is amazing! Of course I bring my sewing machine along and visit quilt shops on the way.

I'm so excited to be one of the designers for The Splendid Sampler 2 book. My block, Road Trip, is on page 63. My design was inspired when we were asked to finish the sentence "I'm living my best quilting life when . . .

I'm living my best quilting life when I follow the design wherever it takes me. For The Splendid Sampler, I started out designing an arrow block, which led me to think of the "wings" on our Shasta camper so I ended up drawing a camper for my block.

I always include "Terry's Tips" in my patterns and and I'd like to share some tips with you for this block!

When choosing fabric, be sure to look at both the right and wrong sides of the fabric to find the exact color you like for your camper. In the photo above, the top of the camper uses the wrong side of the fabric. Why not fussy cut motifs for a fun touch?

When tracing the camper onto the paper side of fusible web, use a ruler to quickly trace the straight edges. A circle template from the office supply store helps to trace perfect circles (5/8" circle for the hubcap and wing, and 1-1/4" for the wheel).

Fuse scraps leftover after cutting to a piece of background fabric for the perfect place to test your machine stitches and thread colors.

For more tips, patterns, and sewing fun, I'd love to have you join me in our Groovy Girls Club and on facebook. Each week I post a live chat to share tips and our travels with you.

If you love retro campers as much as I do, check out my camper patterns: Snack Shack hotpads and Hippie Zips. In our Groovy Girls Club, the free mug rug pattern is perfect for using this camper block! 

Be sure to post your block on the Splendid Sampler website this week to be entered into a drawing for Schmetz needles!

Happy sewing and I hope to see you down the road!

 

 

Fat Quarter Christmas #8: Morning Noon and Night

Whenever I need a quick quilt for a gift, I make Morning, Noon, and Night because it is so fast and simple to put together. It's one of my favorites for that reason!

No matter which quilt I make, I like to finish the binding by machine because it is quick and durable. Here's how:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finger press the binding away from the center. Fold the binding around to the back and stitch “in the ditch”, catching the binding underneath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right before you reach the corner, look underneath and fold the edges exactly as shown. You may wish to place a pin to hold it. The side part must fold on top so it stays in place as it goes toward the needle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stop with the needle down at the corner to turn.

Terry’s Tip: I like to fold each corner when I get there because if I try to pin them ahead of time it doesn’t work as well for me.

Fat Quarter Christmas #7: Happy Holidays

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get the holiday season started with a Happy Holidays table runner! I love the star shape that this pattern creates, it's fun, festive, and perfect for this time of year!

The Happy Holidays table runner may look tricky but the triangles are actually made from simple rectangles! Here's how:

Fat Quarter Christmas #4: Bridget's Bagettes

Looking for a small and simple gift idea? Why not make some Bridget's Bagettes! Using just two fat quarters you get one in each of the three sizes. They're speedy to make and have an easy edge finish, no binding or fuss! Bridget's Bagettes are great for giving notions (how about some Wonder Clips!), gift cards, jewelry, and candy. 

Fat Quarter Christmas #3: Natalie's Napkins

The contrast fabric looks like binding on these reversible fat quarter napkins, but why waste time binding? Our Natalie's Napkins pattern includes a fast and easy edge finish that is much easier than traditional binding. Make luncheon or dinner size napkins. (luncheon size shown in jar, dinner size shown below)

Fat Quarter Christmas #2: Doll Apron

Josephina is ready to bake holiday and cookies and pies wearing her new apron. Even though she's not old enough to use the oven, she wants to wear her new oven mitts! She's excited that her apron looks just like mom's.

Pearl is wearing the child size apron from Mom and Me Aprons. There was enough leftover fabric to make a matching apron and Oven Mitts for Josephina.

You'll find toddler, child and adult aprons with a chenille hot pad in the Atkinson Designs "Mom and Me Apron" pattern.

Doll Apron and Oven Mitts: Download

Fat Quarter Christmas: #1 Monterrey Medallion

I'm diving into my fat quarter stash this week and each day I'll share my favorite fun and festive projects for everyone on your list. Each day I'll also share a  sewing tip, recipe, or decorating idea. I can't wait to get started!

Day 1 Monterrey Medallion quilt

 

We chose three completely different greens for the center star (above left) but when they were sewn together, they all looked the same. Out came the seam ripper!! Adding a lighter green made a huge difference (above right).

Lesson learned: If the colors don't seem quite right - try something else! Sometimes colors don't behave the way you think they will, and it just takes a few minutes to find a combination that you like better.

It was really fun to arrange and rearrange the blocks to try different layouts but we got the woodpile blocks all mixed up when switching layouts.

Lesson learned: It was faster and less confusing to stack the "lefty" and "righty" woodpile blocks in separate piles before trying each layout.

Favorite Layouts: We took a cell phone photo of each layout so we could compare them. Each layout uses the same blocks! Which one do you like best?

Stop back tomorrow for a gift idea for that special child on your list using just 3 far quarters.

A Little Bird Told Me . . .

These little songbirds have a lot to say on Karen Haugland's project. Karen got creative with our Classmate pattern - fussy cutting a border print. Gotta love it!! I can't wait to see the students' fabric choices in my class at the Des Moines Quilt show next week!

Terry's Tankini

No, you're not going to see me in a swimsuit! The Tankini is one of our four new patterns. Those triangles do remind me of a bikini top, but that's not the reason for the name.

The Tankini includes three sizes - mini, small, and large.

Guess where the mini one fits? On the toilet tank, of course!