The Pearson Tree Farm Quilts

Pearson Tree Farm Quilt #1 - quilted by Jaki Soper of QuiltStudio55

I've hemmed and hawed on writing this post because this quilt was never meant to be such a public "worldwide" project where I shared all my backstory feelings regarding it. However, it became bigger than me - and so many people helped so I felt I should share the whole story as a way to show how amazing this quilting community is and to show in some small way, my gratitude to all of you that participated. 

Back in December 2019, a local family in my town, lost their husband, father, grandfather, friend, in a very tragic and horrific way. It was weeks before Christmas and where there was once hope and joy, there was immediately sadness and fear. I live in a big town and word got out quickly that a man was on the run and had brutally stabbed this dear man outside his home and headed north. Many talked about the tragic situation but no one knew what to do. I felt a tremendous amount of sadness for his wife who found him while he was still alive. I wanted to do something to help her, remembering my own Granny that lost her husband to natural causes but was there beside him. I didn't feel anything I could ever do would help take away that sadness she was likely feeling and everything that went along with the terrible situation. 

A week passed and I continued to think of her. After seeing many news stories about Jim Pearson and his family's Beech Ridge (Tree) Farm, I got this image of a (Christmas) tree quilt with a red heart on it. I pushed it out of my mind thinking a quilt won't help, however, I wanted to help change the narrative going on in the town/world. There are good people here. Evil will not win. We can do something, anything to show we care, and that we are here for her, even those of us that didn't know her personally and she didn't know us. The image kept coming back, so I sat at my computer one day and designed a bunch of different "Christmas Trees" in my EQ8 program to see how it would look. 

The process of designing the blocks and the quilt helped me and so maybe this quilt could help Nancy, but I knew this was not something I could sew on my own with a quick turn around. Since I knew others in my town were feeling as I was feeling, I reached out to the local town "mom fb group" and asked if anyone else wanted to help make a block. So many people signed up to sew a block - some offered monetary donations for supplies - some were willing to learn to sew in order to be a part of it - while others forwarded the info to local sewing groups and police stations (as one of the adult children was a soon to retire police officer) and news of the quilt project began to spread.

I quickly had enough people signed up to make a queen size quilt, from people in my town, state and even a few from out of state. Someone in the mom fb group suggested we make two more quilts for the adult children, that also lived in town, and was only sorry she didn't know how to sew. Knowing I only had enough blocks coming for 1 quilt, I knew I needed a new source for 2 more quilts worth of blocks, or three quilts weren't going to be possible. My only option at that point was to reach out to all of you, my @kidgiddy community on IG and the response brought me to tears. Without hesitation you all signed up, showed up and shared the post. Within 24 hours I had to shut down the sign up form, before I had more blocks than I knew what to do with. I felt like I closed a door with more people knocking outside. You all are so amazing!

The local Scarborough Public Library offered their public space for me to have "sew-ins" so I could teach folks how to sew the foundation paper piecing blocks, or how to sew the patchwork or applique versions. If someone wasn't there to learn, we were able to use that time to start sewing blocks together for the first quilt as the packages started coming in early January. Everyday at mail time was so exciting and always turned into tears of gratitude. Some of you sent letters and some also included the coloring page that your kids colored in (that were gifted with the quilts). 

February and March brought more of the same but by mid March our last sew-in happened just in time to make the quilt backs before Covid shut everything down. I had a couple of volunteers that helped piece the last blocks for two of the quilts together in their homes, while I finished the first quilt. With all the quilt tops and backs done, a local friend, Jess, began helping me search for local longarmers willing to give their time to quilt them. Other friends shared my posts and tagged their friends too which resulted in offers from as far west as Seattle and as far South as Florida and Texas to quilt the quilts, but I became hesitant mailing anything out with Covid taking over the news. 

Pearson Tree Farm Quilt #2 - quilted by Tammy Johnson courtesy of Alewives Fabric Shop

We finally secured 3 local quilters within driving distance that were willing to quilt them for this cause (Jaki Soper - Quilt Studio 55 in Maine, Alewives Fabric Shop quilter Tammy Johnson also in Maine, and Patty Sciacca from Massachusetts. Covid slowed down the finishing process, but eventually everything was done.

Pearson Tree Farm Quilt #3 - quilted by Patty Sciacca Crafts

When the quilts came back they were trimmed up and sent right back out to my local volunteers Leslie and Jennipher for binding and all the hand stitching needs. These quilts were truly a community effort that I was honored to be a part of. It was not just this local community, but a worldwide community of quilters that want to do good with their skills. In total, I received 235 blocks from approximately 75 quilters in the US, Canada and the UK. 

You can see everyone that helped in some way or another listed on the labels that my husband and I created. Jess, a friend of the Pearson family, also made pillows for each of the grandkids so they would have something as well. Each pillow and all three quilts have a tree or two pieced from Jim's clothing. The quilts have 1 or two blocks with his work shirt and one t-shirt tree from the clothing provided by the family. You can see in one of the images above, I made two tree blocks for Nancy's quilt using one of Jim's work shirts that had his name on the left side above the pocket and the farm name on the right side above the pocket. We were sure to use as much of the shirts that we cut into so as not to waste any of the material. Not even the buttons.  

While the quilts (and pillows) were being made, we had many folks wanting to donate so much funding to the quilts, which would've been more than needed. Eventually the family was able to set up a memorial education scholarship in Jim's honor, and the first recipient this year was recently awarded a scholarship for his freshman year at college. For more information about the Beech Ridge Farm, or to support the Pearson Family Memorial Scholarship, you can visit their websites (links highlighted). If you would like to purchase the #PearsonTreeFarmQuilt blocks pattern, please know that I am in the process of working with them to offer it on their website or a dedicated Etsy shop, with proceeds going to the Pearson Family Memorial Scholarship. I will update that info here when it becomes available. 

I truly want to thank everyone that helped make these quilts happen. It was a lot of work to put together and thanks to Covid took way longer than anticipated, but the process was made easier with the help and love of so many others. The Pearson family was grateful for the outpouring of love from so many strangers worldwide and really enjoyed looking at the variety of trees and hearing how they all came together. I never could've done this myself...certainly not 3 quilts (or the 9 pillows Jess also made), but not even the one quilt. Thank you again!

Disclosure: Although this is not a sponsored post - I did receive the EQ8 software previously which helped to create the blocks and quilt layout, but the opinions and comments provided are always my own. There are no affiliate links. Thank you.

Sew Plush Planner Sew Along Week 3

Welcome to Week 3 of the Kid Giddy Sew Plush Planner sew along! To make things a little easier in this post - I'm only going to show you the zipper pages of one of the planners I'm working on. This can be a super hard section, especially if you don't like zippers, but I'll also share some tips to simplify. If you want to see a video of all the original SewPlushPlanner features - check it out here...in this post. 

Just to quickly revisit some details...if you have not yet purchased a copy of the Sew Plush Planner from my Kid Giddy Etsy shop, you can do so here.... Whatever you do, please do not share your purchased pattern with someone else as it will upset me greatly. Please abide by my copyrights. Thank you! The Sew Plush Planner pattern will also come with some cute Bullet Planner Page blocks that are fun foundation paper piecing blocks to sew and use on the inside of your Sew Plush Planner if you'd like, or as it's own mini or quilt. All photos should be shared on Instagram using the hashtag #sewplushplanner.

Here's the Schedule we will follow:
Week 1 - Cover
Week 2 - Pages 1/2 and 3/4
Week 3 - Pages 5/6 and 7/8
Week 4 - Pages 9/10
Week 5 - Pages 11/12
Week 6 - Assembly

Pages 5/6 and 7/8 are the zipper pages, but before we get to those we have to make our little tabs as I made and chain stitched in the photo above...follow the cut out instructions in the pattern to make those and then place them on your front pages like so...it's easier to place them like this so you don't have to worry about some crazy mathematics to be sure they are evenly spaced. Be sure there is a little room at the top on the first page and a little at the bottom on the last page for seam allowances. Don't you just love how these Sunprint 2019 fabrics from Alison Glass play so nicely together?!

Once you have the tabs evenly spaced, pin them in place. One tip already to simplify your Sew Plush Planner is to not make tabs. You can use ribbon, labels, selvage, etc. or just leave them off completely and not have tabs at all.

Put aside all of the other pages you don't need right now - and just keep out pages 5/6 and 7/8. Place them as show below with zippers pinned in place. On the left side is my zipper pouch using the 5/6 pages and on the right is my zipper pouch using the 7/8 pages. If you really are phobic of zippers as I used to be (seriously I avoided them at all costs!), please consider giving them a try. If you really can't find yourself moving on from that fear - try hook and loop tape! It would work really well here.

I can't repeat too much info that is in the Sew Plush Planner instructions - copyrights - but wanted to give you some colorized assistance! The photos from here on out are for the spreads. That means the zipper pouches are sewn together, not as individual pouches. To sew them as individual zipper pouches, please read the instructions shown in the pattern. If you lay out your pieces as follows - take the top and switch it to underneath, then sew the left side (the left side of the floral print to the opposite side of the pink zipper).

If If you still need more help, I can upload a quick video in the Kid Giddy Sewing Patterns facebook group for reference. Just let me know! After the step above sew on your lining pieces. To simplify - don't add a lining. Truly easier!
I added a top stitch as you'll see in the photo below...but don't recommend it. It's not written in the pattern and has caused my zipper ends to stay tucked in a little more than I prefer. Once the pieces are connected as follows (the white lining is hidden underneath and attached to the pink zipper on the magenta word print side...and also to the orange zipper underneath the orange word print side) you can then sew it into the tube as further below. Before continuing, unzip both zippers a little bit, to be sure one is unzipped enough for turning right side out.

If your zipper spreads look like this inside out...you did it right. Now you find the opening on the liner and and gently pull the zipper pouches right side out.
Give the zipper pouches a good press and then they are done and ready for assembly week. Next week we will talk about sewing with mesh and vinyl. Be sure to share your Sew Plush Planner sew along pics with me on instagram. Tag me @kidgiddy on the photo and use the hashtags #sewplushplanner and #kidgiddy in the captions! I'm truly looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Disclosure: I received some Alison Glass fabric from Alison to use at my discretion. Expressed opinions are always my own. There are no affiliate links.

Sew Plush Planner Sew Along Week 2

Hello all, its a delayed start to Week 2 of the Kid Giddy Sew Plush Planner sew along! Last week I was working on 5 Sew Plush Planner covers, and now I'm working on 6...soon to be 7. I just keep getting more ideas for new pages and want to be sure they work before sending them out in the world. Some of the Sew Plush Planner organizers I'm working will feature the pages in the original pattern, and the other ones I'm making will have new pages for an add on pattern that will be available later in the sew along. If you want to see a video of all the current features - check it out here...in this post. Last week I finished the badge button Sew Plush Planner and love how it turned out. Now want to make one for my enamel pins too. How's your cover coming along?

Just to quickly revisit some details...if you have not yet purchased a copy of the Sew Plush Planner from my Kid Giddy Etsy shop, you can do so here.... Whatever you do, please do not share your purchased pattern with someone else as it will upset me greatly. Please abide by my copyrights. Thank you! The Sew Plush Planner pattern will also come with some cute Bullet Planner Page blocks that are fun foundation paper piecing blocks to sew and use on the inside of your Sew Plush Planner if you'd like, or as it's own mini or quilt. All photos should be shared on Instagram using the hashtag #sewplushplanner.

Here's the Schedule we will follow:
Week 1 - Cover
Week 2 - Pages 1/2 and 3/4
Week 3 - Pages 5/6 and 7/8
Week 4 - Pages 9/10
Week 5 - Pages 11/12
Week 6 - Assembly

Now that that's out of the way - let's get on to Week 2! Week 2 are pages 1/2 and 3/4. As I was working on these, and forgetting all of the measurements, I had to refer back to my pattern and sadly found two errors. Please make note of this errata on your pattern pieces or on your copy of the PDF. The Page Template says the width is 7" when it's actually 7 1/4". All other mentions of the page width through out the pattern are correct at 7 1/4". For the "sticky note" batting, it would be 6 1/2" width. My sincerest apologies for the errors despite checking it over and having it edited.

As you'll see in the photos below, I'm not sewing all of the pages together until assembly week. I've sewn all of the additional pieces (the sticky notes, envelope and pocket with strap), but they are only pinned together for layout purposes. There are two different options in the pattern instructions for putting pages together, so I'm waiting to decided until the assembly week to show you both options. If you haven't decided if you want to sew them together as single pages or as spreads, leave the additional pieces unsewn from the pages. Pin them for now. Below are the pages for my Sew Plush Planner that has my Westie Dog Block pattern on the front cover. I used batting on this envelope and have decided I prefer the light weight stabilizer instead. I may remake it, but I'm thinking the batting might prove beneficial for added protection depending on what's put inside, especially if I use it for metalsmithing. These are this beautiful Sunprint 2019 prints from Alison Glass.

When you finish making your sticky notes and envelope you can give them a press if you'd like. I press the top folded edge of the sticky notes but prefer to leave the envelope with rolled edges. It will sit easier once the flaps are sewn together and the snaps are put in place.   

For one of the other planners I'm going with an "English Teacher" theme...yes - for my friend that is an english teacher. lol. These prints are from Word Play by Sarah Fielke by Windham fabrics. Hopefully my friend doesn't see these pics, but I want to show you how you can do a different theme inside and go with a random vibe or more consistent (as in the next photo).

If you want to go more consistent and matchy matchy like I did here with these Mendocino prints by Heather Ross, use the same page prints for front and back (6 prints total) instead of double the number of prints. There are also multiple chances for fussy cutting. On the pocket page it ends up covering up the octopus on the bottom, bummer right?! So I fussy cut the pocket piece to have an octopus on it and now I have it back.

Once you have all of the pieces for pages 2 and 4, share a picture on IG and tag me @kidgiddy on the pic and with the hashtag #sewplushplanner and #sewplushplannersal in the post comment. Then you can set them aside with the snaps needed for assembly later in the sew along.

Over the course of the week, start thinking about the zipper colors you want or need and make sure you have them ordered for next week. While you are at it, start looking for some cute and fun zipper pulls or keychains that work as zipper pulls. I found these random CareBear (tm) keychains. I let my daughter pick one and opened it up to find a the cute "Heartsong" CareBear. It matches perfectly with my original Sew Plush Planner, and now I want all of the others! lol. So let's see what you've got on your cover if you've got it finished and let's see your 1 - 4 pages?! Be sure to share your Sew Plush Planner sew along pics with me on instagram. Tag me @kidgiddy on the photo and use the hashtags #sewplushplanner and #kidgiddy in the captions! I'm truly looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Disclosure: I received some Alison Glass fabric from Alison as well as the Word Play and Medocino from Windham Fabrics, to use at my discretion. Expressed opinions are always my own. There are no affiliate links.

Sewing Tales Book Blog Hop: Day 5 and A Turkey Bunny Cover-Up

Good Morning everyone.

Today is the last day of the Sewing Tales Book Blog Hop, someone pass me the tissues. It's been so much fun seeing all the projects others have made and their stories; the why or who they have made it  for, and the memories it sparked.

Later today I will take a much needed nap, and make chicken noodle soup in the hopes of curing this cold that is just now running through our house. I will probably go back through the week of posts and enjoy reading them again and all the comments - and you should to. Why? Because some of them are giving away some of the goodies. Until then, let's read the bloggers posts for today:

Emily Levey - Strawberry Patch Ramblings

 Nicke Cutler - Kiss Kiss Quilt
 Cathe Holden - Just Something I Made
 Kate Henderson - Two Little Banshees

I was working last night on the final bonus project but it wasn't shaping up as I hoped it would. I'm going to rework it today and post it when it's ready. In the meantime, you can enjoy those blog posts up above, and come up with a funny caption for my trial and error photo shoot from last night, before I decided that going to bed would be my best defense against this nasty cold. Isn't she so funny?! She was having a giggle fest in her little get up and couldn't help herself and finally fell over laughing!

Ok - off to reworked this outfit, and then get some thumbcovers shipped, then a nap while soup simmers on the stove.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I hope you have entered for your chance to win a copy of my book and a goodie box the size of Texas to go with it on my giveaway post!

If you haven't already, please click that link below and sign up to receive my newsletters. Have a great day.

A Gift For YOU: Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love Book Blog Hop Giveaway #1

Good morning giddy folks.

So by now you know all about the Sewing Tales Book Blog Hop, the "20 Bloggers in 5 days talking about 1 book" - right?

And you know all the awesome Sewing Tales Book Blog Hop Sponsors then too, right?...how they provided all the necessary tools and fabric for the bloggers participating in the hop - you know - that "goodie box", right?.

Well - guess what?! They gave me more, and it's time to party. I've had a couple of giveaways on other social media sites, before and during Quilt Market, but now I'm hosting one here. This is a big one - this is the same goodie box the bloggers got but with 2 extra Fat Quarters of Heather Bailey's new Lottie Da fabric!

So in the box - you will get: A copy of my book Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love (of course)

1. Fiskars: RazorEdge Fabric Shears (9”) because no one should cut tons of fabric without a really great pair of fabric shears, and my all time favorite Easy Action MicroTip Scissors so you don't have arthritic painful hands after clipping and notching all of your edges.
2. Dritz Tools: The Quick Turn Tool set that I can't make fun stuff without, a Bodkin (I call these fabric tweezers), an ever loving Seam Ripper we wish we never needed, a package of 5 various sized Doll Needles, a little package of 25 Assorted Craft Needles, a (reusable) box of Straight Ball Pins, a blue water soluble Fabric Marking Pen, and a Bamboo Point Turner (I also use this for pressing seams or creasing center marks instead of a little iron).
3. Fairfield World: 1 Bag of Supreme Polyester Poly-Fil
4. Bosal Foam: 1 Yard of their Create-A-Pattern paper to trace a lot of your pattern pieces on.
5. Free Spirit Fabrics: 6 gorgeous Fat Quarters of Heather Bailey's new Lottie Da fabric

So how does that sound? Great - right?! Now the question is - what do you have to do to win it. Enter your name into the rafflecopter giveaway link below, tap your shoes together and say ten times "I think I can win, add more giddy to my life". Ok - not really, but it was funny anyway..

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for all the book love, sponsor love, blog hop love and I now wish you good luck.

If you haven't already, please click that link below and sign up to receive my newsletters. Have a great day.

Baby Liberty - I Love the USA Blog Hop

I was so excited when fellow Craft and Hobby Association Designers Laura Kelly and Jen Goode contacted me to participate in their "I Love the USA Blog Hop" to celebrate Laura's Patriotic "America the Beautiful" print that is in Joann stores now! I jumped at the chance, not just because I love a challenge, but because I thought it would be fun to make something patriotic this year, not to mention it's fun to support other amazing designers I have met within the industry!

The goodie box came a few weeks ago and my girls and I oooh'd and aaaah'd over everything red white and blue {from Coats & Clark: phoomph & threads, Buttons Galore & More: buttons, May Arts: ribbon, Plaid: infamous Mod Podge and Apple Barrel paints, Fiskars: scissors} and the candy that was gone in seconds. The possibilities were endless...my mind started spinning...and the first idea came to me minutes later! My only hold up...I just had to do my final book edits first. I was itching to make something and kept adding one idea after another - it was driving me crazy to not get started.

But when it was time....it started with the bloomers. 

 

Then the sandals.

Which of course required some fun fussy cutting to have some little "peeps" on the soles and the word "beautiful" on the straps!

A little bonnet (which was a big enough for a one year old), so in comes the cute headband in 5 mins or less (can't make baby liberty wait - she might wake up)!

I had so much fun making this little newborn set with Laura's patriotic fabric and loved taking pics of this tiny "baby liberty". 

I got to photograph this adorable baby girl and hold her and cuddle her and even kissed her cheeks a few times (her grandma, my friend, said it was ok)! Have I told you lately I love my "job"?!

As I was moving baby liberty from the light box (yes - she fit inside my light box!) - she squirmed for a second, lost control of her arm, and laid quietly asleep in my hand...her grandma took this pic for me...

I'll be making some more stuff in the coming days before my studio move (or just after) - and I'll post the pics as I go along. I know my girls want to play too! When I was done with this one outfit...I went to bed with my craft table looking like this! (and it still does - i can't lie! lol!).

To get some of Laura Kelly's Patriotic "America the Beautiful" (Me & My Peeps) Fabric, you can purchase it in Joann Stores or click the link above. 

There is also an AWESOME giveaway and you can enter to win by adding your info to the rafflecopter link below..

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There were 25 designers included in this blog hop, that will go on throughout the week. Check out their designs too for some other fun crafts and ideas! You can find a full list on the 100Directions website, or click the blog hop image above!

Thank you to Laura and her co-host Jen for including me in the blog hop, for the fun fabric and awesome goodies from so many great manufacturers!

Have a great day all!

Although I was given free product, the opinions set forth in this post, are my own. Please do not use my photos without permission and please do not retake any photos to remake the post for your own blog or another company or in another language. These photos and the text are copyright protected. If you'd like to "Pin" the one finished project photo, please credit me by using "#kidgiddy". Thank you for your cooperation.
 <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/2330921/?claim=hemk6vwxh7s">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>