quintessential life

welcome to quintessential life – art, crafts, and QUILTS…..mostly quilted things!

my husband and I own a quilting store in a medium-sized area in north dakota. our town has approx. 25,000 people – give or take. anywho, we bought his parents out a year or so ago, but the store has been in business for 25 years.

some years ago, we were visiting his parents and my mother-in-law decided it was time for me to make a quilt. being an easy-going person, I just rolled with it. however, in my mind I was thinking ‘this is not a good idea for me.’ you see, back in high school, we had to make a sewing project in home ec. class. I chose a pair of shorts and let’s just say mine didn’t go as planned. but whatev, I went along with the whole quilting project plan. so, when we visited his parents, I’d sit at a table in her kitchen while she cooked, armed with fabric and a sewing machine. she walked me through the entire quilt……from picking the colors to my last stitch on my quilt top. she explained each step and away I went. I can’t remember how long it took, a couple months maybe as I only worked on it when we visited.

twelve years later, I’m still quilting away. however, I have since broadened my quilting ‘career’ to include smaller sewing projects such as bed sheets, pillowcases, aprons, and recently undertook a couple of bag projects.

if you’d like more info or if you’re interested in quilting services please contact me.

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I’ve been quilting for years. This year I dove into homeschooling all four of my girls vs just my oldest daughter. For the youngest girl, her history lessons have included learning about pilgrims. To help keep her engaged, I decided a pilgrim dress project would be perfect.

Guess who decided that following pre-printed tissue paper instructions is for amateurs? (Spoiler: it’s me!)

I officially decided to plunge headfirst into the terrifying, exhilarating world of pattern-free clothes making! My goal? To turn fabric into realistic looking piece of pilgrims clothing. The hopeful reality? A few simple, perfectly-sized pilgrims dresses complete with aprons, the things around the neck that I can’t remember the name of, and coifs for the head.

It went much better than I anticipated and the results can actually pass for a pilgrims’ get-up.

What about you? Have you ever sewn a project on the fly?

#sewingbyvibes #trusttheprocess #diyfashion

2025 Quilty Projects

As we begin to wrap up 2025, what’s been completed thus far? A bit of news, we no longer operate the quilting store, but we’re not selling it. As of now, we are just sitting on it 🙂 Anyway, following up from 2024, the following quilts have been completed:

2 boys quilts for a friend
Lucas’s wedding quilt
Levi’s wedding quilt

To finish up the 2025 quilting year, the following quilts have been completed:

two coffee tablerunners for my coffee friends
a flag quilt for my dad
a 4th of july quilt for my bed
an august quilt for my bed
a pinwheel quilt
a snowball quilt
black and blue framed flower quilt
a basic block quilt
a month of february/valentine’s day quilt
a christmas/december quilt
a halloween/october quilt

With a couple months left in 2025, there are a couple of quilts I still hope to finish:

a January quilt – to be ready for my bed on January 1st
a quilt to sell with the Highschool colors of the town where I live
a pokeman quilt for my daughter

And last, quilts to complete in 2026:

a september quilt that’s already started
a march quilt that’s already started
a spring flowers quilt that’s five years in the making
a november quilt
an april quilt
quilt for may
quilt for june
and whatever other quilt ideas sneak into my head!

2024 Quilty Projects

Okay, here’s to the new year…over a month in! So, as always, quilting projects in the works. I LOVE quilting, we own a quilt shop so quilt projects are never-ending.

And, as always, I have a ton!

This year’s projected quilting projects include:

2 boy quilts for a friend’s 2 sons
Lucas’ wedding quilt
Levi’s wedding quilt
a snowy mountain range wall hanging for a friend (completed!)
a Spring flowery quilt I’ve been working on for at least 5 years!
Framed Window wall hanging (completed!)
flowering gradient wall-hanging
Summer Soiree bed quilt
Hearts bed quilt
Lattice bed quilt in blues, black and white
Log cabin with star bed quilt

I better stop there! I have a tendency to get ahead of myself and way over-plan in the projects department and then I feel deflated when I don’t get everything completed!

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2023 Quilty Projects

So, we are already into July for 2023, almost August. I haven’t done much this year in the area of quilting, but I do have many projects that I am ‘working’ on. It seems to be a bit slow-going for me, especially in these long-awaited summer months! But, to be fair, quilting is not the only project keeping me busy. My family is in the midst of transitioning to a farming lifestyle and less city living.

With that, here are a few projects I have completed:

Quilt for my newphew
small quilt for my sister to take with her to radiation treatment for cancer
quilt for my niece
quilt for my niece’s stepson
quilt for my niece’s new baby (born March 31, 2023)
vinyl mesh bag

2022 Completed Quilty Projects

This year has been a busy one with quilting projects. I have started trying to keep better track of my projects by using an “In the Works’ progress tracker. Sometimes I remember to record, sometimes I don’t.

Anywho…here’s what I have completed so far this year!

you are my sunshine throw with two matching pillows
let’s go camping queen size quilt
square bears flannel throw
freedom wall-hanging
quilter’s apron
horse love throw with matching pillows
christmas cardinals table runner x3
christmas pinwheels table runner
falling leaves table runner x3
christmas star & pinwheels table runner
poinsetta’s table runner
it’s fall tablerunner
market street apron
mondo bag

making a 16″ square pillow tutorial

materials

rotary cutter
rotary mat
scissors (for trimming)
measuring tool (rotary mat, yardstick, tape measure)
1/2 yard fabric
16″ square pillow
coordinating thread

note: fabric based on 43″ fabric width. 1/2 yard fabric makes one 16″ pillow

step 1 – cutting

Using your rotary cutter and mat, trim the 1/2 yard of fabric to a 17 x 34 rectangle

step 2 – sewing

with the 17 x 34 rectangle folded in half width-wise and right sides together, sew 1/4″ seam on the left and right sides.

step 3 – sewing

on the bottom open side, still right sides together, sew 1/4″ seam 3″ in from both side seams, leaving a approx. a 10″ opening.

step 4 – turning right side out

begin pulling the inside (right sides together) to the outside through the opening

step 5 – insert pillow into case

by folding your pillow in half, insert into the opening of the pillow case. straighten pillow as needed once in the case

step 6 – closing the seam

after the pillow is fully inserted into the pillow case, close the seam by sewing 1/4 seam all the way around the edge of the pillowcase remembering to backstitch a few stitches when you start sewing and as the last stitches sewn. this ensures the seam will not unravel at the start/end points.