I picked up some fabric last year to make pillowcases.  It has sat and languished on my shelf until last week.  Our oldest son arrived for a visit and I decided it was time to break out that fabric and make new pillowcases.  Last fall I had the joy of meeting up with some quilters in Albany, Oregon.  We spent part of our day making pillowcases as a charity project for kiddos in the foster care system.  This is where I learned the Burrito Method for making pillowcases.  So I looked up the sizes I needed to cut my pieces and found a video to remind myself just how to make them.  It seems Jennifer Bosworth was equally excited about this method which is known by other names as well.

I cut my fabrics as follows:
Main Fabric-27"
Cuff Fabric-9"
​Accent Fabric-3"

I lined up all of the fabrics and trimmed away the selvages.

Next, I pressed the Accent piece in half lengthwise; wrong sides together.

I am using directional fabrics so I had to spend some time figuring out which way to lay them.  You start by laying out the Cuff fabric right side up. 
​And in my case I needed the print to go  upside down.

The Accent strip gets placed on top of this.  Line up the top edges.  Once again, I have mine so that the writing is upside down as I look at it.

With right sides together, lay the Main farbic on top.   Line up all of the top edges and pin to hold the layers together.  The print on my directional fabric is right side up this time. ​

Starting at the bottom edge of your Main fabric roll it up like a burrito.  Stop rolling before you get to the top, and after you can see the Cuff fabric appear.

Bring up the bottom edge of the Cuff and repin, matching the raw edges of all layers.

Sew a 1/4" seam along the raw edge.  You need to make sure that the rolled up fabric inside of the burrito is not sewn into the edges.  You can see the bump of where my roll is as I sew here.

Now for the fun part.  Grab ahold of the Main fabric rolled inside and pull it out through the tube you have made.  Press everything so that it lays nice and flat.

Now for a French Seam, which I had never done before that meet-up in Albany.  It seems backwards, but line up the raw edges of the pillowcase with the WRONG sides together.  

Sew a 1/4" seam around the unfinished side and bottom.

Flip the pillowcase wrong side out and press the seams flat.

The final step is to sew 1/2" around those pressed edges.  When you flip the pillowcase right side out there are no raw edges inside the pillowcase and it makes a very nice finish.

I think this might be a fun way to present a quilt as well; tucked inside a matching pillowcase.

Time for me to get back to enjoying my son's visit, the time is growing way too short.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and maybe even find some time to sew a pillowcase or two.

The next snowman block is coming Feb. 4th!
And the new BOM starts Feb 15th!!  Are you ready?

I have been hinting to my Facebook Sew Along group that there was another Block-of-the-Month in the works.  A couple of years ago I visited a shop near Portland that was filled with retro fabrics and quilt patterns that were reminiscent of years gone by.  Being a child of the 60's I grew up with some of those colors-in fact my mom's kitchen was a bright sunshiny yellow.  She was of the generation that still pulled out an apron whenever it was time to cook and I remember the bright colors of them as well.  I used to hate putting one on as a young girl, but now I have several that I keep close at hand.

This is going to be a mystery as far as the what the blocks look like-I just like being able to surprise you each month.  ​The blocks will be pieced using my usual techniques to make them as easy as can be.  There will be 12 different blocks that all finish at 12" x 12"

Something new I am adding this year are the fabric requirements for making a queen size version of the quilt.  I have not decided if I am going to actually make it in that size, but will provide guidance for those that want a bed size quilt.

For my quilt I am using several Fat Quarters in colors reminiscent of Mom's kitchen: yellow, aqua, red and pink.  Most of my fabrics are from Lori Holt collections for Riley Blake Designs.  I recently came across some of her fabrics and they perfecly met my desire for a brightly colored retro look.  I like that no matter which collection I found, the colors went together well so could be mixed and matched.  You can see that the fabrics in these two collections will go well together.  These particular collections are getting hard to find, but I share to show you my colors and how well Lori's fabrics all go together.
I picked out some aqua blue, red, pink and yellow from quilt shop. 

I love pinterst for getting inspiration for colors to use in my quilts.  You could also do some scrap busting with this BOM and end up with a lovely quilt as well.

A few details about how this BOM will work:  I will release the blocks on the 15th of each month beginning in February.  That gives you plenty of time to gather your fabric.  These blocks will be free for the entire year that we are working on the quilt.

I have put together a little introduction and more ideas of color schemes that is available under my Free Patterns page at the top of the page-or you can click here for the downloadable pdf.

So go gather your supplies and meet me back here for Block 1 of Just Desserts. 
And while you wait join in the conversation on my Facebook page and Sew Along group to share your fabric choices.

Happy 2019!  Here it is the first Monday in January-a brand new year and a brand new block.  I am really excited to share this one with you.  As I sit here typing the snow is falling outside which makes me really happy.  We took some time this afternoon to get out and enjoy the snow and were treated to a Bald Eagle that did not mind being photographed.  I am always thrilled to see them and we saw a total of five today.  This was the only one that was not in town-the country eagle.  The rest were hanging out at one of our local parks along the lake where we have been enjoying them for several days now.

I snapped this photo in the same spot, just looking down the river. 
​It is one of my favorite spots just a few miles from our house.

We returned home to our little covey of California Quail venturing out in the backyard.

 I do have snowmen on mind...and am enjoying this sweet Christmas gift I was given...

​But I know you are anxious to see this month's block.  So without further ado, here is Block 8;
​which reminded me of a snowflake as I was designing it so I have named it "A Beautiful Sight".  This is the most challenging block of my BOM.  In the introduction I encourage you to be patient with it, and I will repeat that here.  Take your time and all will be well.  This is a chance to dig a little deeper, to take what you have been learning and use it to stretch your skills a bit. 

Click on the link below to download your copy, which is free until Feb. 3, 2019. 
​After that it can be purchased on my shop.

pdf Pattern

You can purchase previous month's blocks in my shop Here.
​
I am thrilled to have a group of wonderful quilters testing patterns for me now.  They not only help improve my patterns but also are making beautiful blocks I get to share with you.

Romagene used some embroidery patterns on her machine to come up with this beauty.  

I hope you enjoy this month's block.  Looking ahead to next month...well it just might have something to do with a certain day celebrated in February.
Until next time,

Happy Quilting!