I couldn’t think of a better time to share this Ode to Lizzy House quilt that I made! Even though I finished this quilt a little while ago, I thought it deserved to be documented in the springtime. The other event that happened recently is that Lizzy House is making her return to fabric design!!!! I’ve followed Lizzy for quite a while and I felt that she kept hinting at a possible fabric collection, so I was thrilled to find out her Love Letter collection with Moda will be coming out January 2025. Get ready folks!

A long time coming

Onto this quilt, it was a long time in the making. Like it could possibly be my longest project ever. Not that it took long to make, but it was collected and worked on over time. I’ve always love Lizzy’s fabrics, and found myself collecting quite a few of her collections over time. I would grab a few pieces here and there from quilt shops, even getting a few scrap packs from fellow makers. I had kept it all in a muslin bag in my sewing room as I collected each fabric.

Quilt Design

Eventually the bag got way way too full and I knew it was time to start! If you are familiar with Lizzy’s fabrics you’ll know that they’re special. I wanted to make sure I would be able to fawn over each square once the quilt was made. So I revisited a simple quilt I had made for my daughter years ago. A basic four patch within patchwork.

I took my time working on the quilt top. My kids helped a little when I was cutting fabrics. It came along to a few of my sewing retreats with my friends – all so long before Covid. I think I picked up the project sometime last summer and decided it was finally time to finish.

I sent it off to Katie at Modern Textiles to be quilted. We settled on the Raindrops on Water pantograph with bamboo batting and I bound it in a beautiful chambray stripe.

Project Details:

• Pattern: made it up
• Fabrics: Lizzy House (when she designed for Andover Fabrics), plus a few gingham and chambrays thrown in
• Backing: Carolyn Friedlander wideback and a super huge gingham (anyone know who made that? I seriously no longer have the ability to remember specific fabrics!)
• Quilting: Modern Textiles (Raindrops on Water panto, bamboo batting)

Thanks Lizzy for your fabrics, and I’m excited for the new ones to come! I’m thrilled with how this Ode to Lizzy House quilt turned out!

I made this cork Firefly Tote quite a while ago! I had it saved to gift to a friend of mine for over a year. I took pictures the other day and got to gifted it to her finally. It’s always fun to finally be able to give a gift!

Cork exterior

I don’t think I’ve used cork for the full exterior of a bag until now (only as accent features). It’s really great to use for the Firefly! You don’t have to use interfacing on the cork and I think I only used SF101 on the Main Lining pieces and interior pocket. It’s a really nice option and it is pretty speedy, too!

This is the Project size Firefly and I think it’s perfect to use as a lunch box or for holding your knitting/crochet projects! Of course you can use it however you’d want, too! I think the cork will hold up really well over time and will be wipeable for any spills that might happen.

If you’re newer here, the Firefly Tote has a full video sew-along available for FREE on my blog. Maybe you’ll check it out and sew your own cork Firefly Tote! It’s also the perfect project for using cotton canvas, dry oilskin, and waxed canvas or waxed twill! Lots of great options to choose from, hopefully you can find something in your stash!

Project Details:

• Pattern: Firefly Tote (this is the Project size, and the pattern includes a Tote size as well which is bigger) in both PDF and paper formats
• Fabric:
  • exterior is cork from Sew Sweetness I believe? I know there are probably lots of sources, but Sara is great!
  • lining is by Alexia Abegg for Ruby Star Society (I can’t remember which collection it’s from, if you know, leave it in the comments please!)
  • accent (drawstring closure, etc) is Perennial by Sarah Golden for Andover Fabrics (it’s an old one!)
• Notions: Zipper (6″ for Project size and 7″ for Tote size), chicago screws, webbing (for the handles), and drawstring cord are all available in my shop.