Pinspired!

Pinterest strikes again!

How lovely is this from Tabatha at Bending Pins!
You should go check out her blog!  It's so inspirational and has tons of yummy eye candy.

I have been wanting to buy a 45degree angle ruler for a while and what better excuse than to try my hand at piecing something inspired by this.

So, I did!  You can also see some gorgeous fabric picked up from a LQS and Kate Spain's "Honey Honey".  I used the 2" measurements for the diamonds and the squares ended up 2 3/4" sq.  I'd like to think I'm getting better with the math at figuring out a block I don't have a pattern for, or am resizing. 

This is my first attempt at piecing all the center seams together.  Blah!

I tore everything apart, cut new diamonds and used Elmer's glue (I'm getting true fabric glue next time) to help me keep the fabric stationary  while stitching.  It also helps to make sure all your seams are pressed clockwise and clip a little into the bulk of where the seams meet.  Big improvement!  

I watched this tutorial before stitching the star the second time and while I was stitching it.  

Here is the pieced block before trimming.  I love the solid Kona blues as the star!  I tried to alternate pink and orange squares around it and then went to alternating pink/orange and blue for the outer diamonds.

While I love this block and am glad I took the time to repiece the center, it's not quite as polished as I was hoping for.  I was wanting a wall hanging, but after sashing it with scraps:

I think I will make myself a pillow for the den.  Some points aren't true and cut off in places.  More learning and practicing coming up.

I'm still crushing over Florence's wall hangings and will probably piece this again with the goal of having something as beautiful to hang on my wall!

Each week, Quilt Story, Freshly Pieced, and Crazy Mom Quilts host linky parties where you can share what you're doing as a quilter and blogger and see what other quilters are working on.  I never walk away without being encouraged, smiling, thinking, and working on a new idea someone has given me!  I learn so much from these ladies.

Hope this week sees you warm and sewing!



Winner!

Wow!
A huge "Thank You!" to everybody for their encouraging comments and entries for the basket!
How awesome is it that you can "meet" people in New Zealand, Australia, Israel and even in your own state through blogging about a shared passion!

Housekeeping before announcing the winner:

Deere Driver asked for the tutorial to make the basket.  Ayumi of Pink Penguin has the best one to make this type of basket, hands down.  I added the flower using a handy Olfa Rotary Cutter I got for Christmas from the Hubster. (more on that later)

Pat and Cath asked about the Frixion Pen from Pilot.  Amazon and Overstock, as well as Staples and Office Dept carry them.  I found mine at a LQS, so asking for them by name or asking to have them stocked might be a way to get them where you are.
Sandra gives a timely warning for using them with batiks saying they leave "bleach marks".  Good to know as I'm looking at a pile for a quilt for hubby.

I've fallen in love with the Scrappy Trips Around the World blocks and quilts popping up all over blogland, Pinterest and Instagram.  If you've seen them, can you blame me?

I'm using 2" sq blocks to make mine and they go together so easy...I can sit and put one together and not miss a beat homeschooling two active boys, cooking, or doing laundry!  Easy peasy!  Plus, I get to revisit all my favorites from the scrap buckets.

My first one quickly went to two and the next thing you know...there are six of them!  Just like bunnies!

LOL

I'm trying to keep a darker strip in the middle of the blocks as I go and give the center a "Granny Square" sort of feel.  I think the watercolor effect is so pretty!

I'm working on a sweet little project for a giveaway in February!  These will fiinish up as Needlebooks.  One as an "encouragement, I'm thinking of you, you are loved" gift for a neighbor whose mother just got out of the hopsital from having pneumonia.  My friend and her family spent Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays driving back and forth from Indiana to Georgia to be with their mom/grandma.  It's been a hard holiday season for her and I want her to know how much I appreciate her friendship (going on for over ten years!) and her being such a sweet neighbor.

The other one will be given away in February.  One of the things I wanted to do this year was to make two things each month to give away.  One to someone here I interact with on a daily/weekly basis and one to a friend of mine from the blog.

Thanks for being such sweet bloggy friends!
The winner of the basket is Anjeanette! 

Don't forget you have a chance to go to three quilt shows this week!  The linky parties hosted by Quilt Story, Freshly Pieced and Crazy Mom Quilts are always inspiring and encouraging for any quilter!



Fun with FMQ and a Giveaway!

January 1st I started quilting "Hens and Chicks". 

Pinterest had given me the inspiration for a FMQ feather.

Pretty easy peasy, straight forward.  I thought it was something I could do.  So out came my trusty Pilot Frixion pen to draw on the design.

If you have never used one of these before, you're really missing out!  It's a smooth pen suitable for drawing quilting designs on your fabric without staining.  If you make a mistake, use your iron (follow package instructions) and the markings are erased!  It does have a temperature limitation in that at like, about 20 below temps, the markings come back...but I'm hardly ever out when it's that cold, let alone my quilts!  LOL

I started quilting...and endured a horrendous and painful squeaking from my darning foot.  Crap!  Quick call to the local sewing machine store and Mr. Fix It.  Not open.  Why?  Because it was New Year's Day and he had the nerve to want to close shop and spend time with his family.  LOL

Okay.  Call to my LQS.  Also closed.  What was wrong with these people!  I was having a quilting crisis and they weren't there!

Ack!

So, I turned to my two best friends...Hubby and Google.  I oiled the darning foot and while I was in there I cleaned everything again, adjusted the bobbin tension and oiled the wick.

This is what the finished feather looks like.

(backing fabric)

Happy.  Happy.  Happy.

I decided to add a shadow to one side of the feather as I went along.  Bonus!  My stitch length seems to have worked itself out for now.  Woo Hoo!  My machine is purring and quilting like a dream.

Here is the finished table quilt in its new home.

I love the girliness (three boys here) of it all!  I quilted a heart into the center of each larger block's center.

Now for the giveaway!

I meant to do this at 300 posts, but Life got in the way and I totally forgot.

So, here we go!

A sweet little basket using scraps from the "Hens and Chicks" table quilt.  It's four inches high, two inches wide and six inches long.  Perfect for storing scraps, fat quarters for your next project, nail polish, hair doodles, or candy!

There are three chances to win per person.

Leave a comment here for a chance (please put your email in your comment), become a follower for another (or let me know you already are, and blog about the giveaway and let me know here in a comment so I can come visit your blog too!  I will have one of my "little" elves draw a name Sunday the 13th and I'll announce the winner the following Monday.

Linking up a sneak peak of another Pinspired project to Fabric Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Finish It Up Friday.

After editing, Angie and Gale, KY quilter will be "upgraded" to having three chances. 

LOL

Hens and Chicks Table Quilt

A couple of weeks ago, hubs sweetness and I went to Always In Stitches, a LQS, if you will, for me.

I found this delectable fabric and brought home a yard.  It's "Pam Kitty Floral" by Lake House Dry Goods' founder, Holly Holderman.

What happy, bright, cheerful colors and I love the selvage!  An awesome blog I came across recently while browsing for different selvage designs is the Selvage Blog.  

(images from Selvage Blog) 

How over the top cute are these!

This weekend, I decided that I wanted to put together a new table topper for my bedside table and that the "Pam Kitty" needed to be a focus fabric.  I scoured Pinterest, Flickr, blog sites and quilting magazines on hand for inspiration.  I knew I wanted straight sewing after all the "Y" seams from this monster.

(waiting for inspiration on how to finish this out...ideas?)

Two geometric quilts kept speaking to me.

Bush Fire Quilt by Quilt Craft and Film Strip by AmandaJean.

I started cutting 1 1/2" white squares and sashing them with 1 1/2" wide fabric strips that complimented the focus fabric.  I then went a little bigger and did the same with fabric cut 3 1/2" wide around a 3 1/2"sq white center and played around with the placement.

I had already settled on my finished pattern when I came across this "upscaled" quilt on Pinterest.

How weird is that!  I thought I was being so original.  LOL

This is what I finished putting together yesterday.

I named it "Hens and Chicks".  The table by my bed measures 28" x 18" and the table quilt comes in at 23" x 15" before finishing.  I've already picked out a bright, yellow floral print for the back and a skippy pink polka dot for the binding.

This went together fast! and was fun to hit the scrap baskets to find yummy fabrics to go with the "Pam Kitty Floral".  Hopefully, it will be my first finish for 2013 and on the table soon!

Fabric Tuesday, WIP Wednesday and Finish It Up Friday are linky parties hosted each week.  You can click on the links and have a quilt show without even changing out of your jammies and leaving home!  Make sure you start 2013 right and stop by for inspiration and encouragement!

May 2013 be full of blessings, new beginnins, renewed and restored relationships, love, and quiltey goodness!



Final Finish for 2012

...just in time for Finish It Up Friday with crazy mom quilts!

I fell in love with EPP (English Paper Piecing) Rose Star Blocks.  I made a lot of them!  Each one was so much fun to pick out fabrics for!  I am not a huge fan of sewing these by hand...I love the look, but I figured out how to cut templates for machine piecing them.  Having a good feel for "Y" seams is very important.  You can find more Rose Star Blocks that are EPP on flickr.

The first one was started on January 21st, 2012!

Here it is, December 28th, 2012...and I can say I've finished up the block piecing and joining part of the quilt.  This was an "on again-off again" relationship!  I worked on joining the blocks on and off through the year.  There were times I was very discouraged and just folded it up and put it back for when I wanted to work on it again.  I decided to get it out over the Christmas holidays to see if I could finish it up.  I'm so glad I did!  Once I started, the work went fast and easy and was perfect for sewing on in between Christmas activities and slow days post 25th.

My helper elves (Ben and Chris) helped me capture this in some weak, morning light in our kitchen. 

There are a total of eighteen blocks joined together by a soft, white muslin.  I'm working on making it a twin size quilt for snuggling and cuddling up with a good book (or iPad mini e-book).  Now comes the hard part of deciding what fabric (s) to use as borders, what the back will look like and the ever perplexing question of "how do I quilt this?"

I don't know that I have a favorite because each one I pieced became my "new" favorite block!  Hubs and Javi like the deep red, rose fussy cut one.  It is such a happy mix of some of my favorite fabrics and colors.  There's even some vintage fabric in there, which always makes me happy!

Thanks for joining me through the year and sharing a love of sewing and quilting with me!  I have "met" so many people, made friends, learned so much and been encouraged by the projects you've shared with me.

Blessings for 2013!



Snowflakes!

We haven't had many of them here...and I'm perfectly okay with that!

Living in Indiana for over forty years has taught me I'm more of a beach person, not a wintry slopes one.

Not much sewing going on around here lately.

So, in the spirit of the season, I thought I would go back and look at a snowflake project I did for a swap a couple of years ago.

This was a fun, paper piecing block!  You can find the pattern here.  My original Flickr notes say I took this to the printer and had it increased by 50%.  I wish I had kept better track of statistics and general information about this!

I'll be doing this one again for a mini to hang on our front door through the season after Christmas.

Guess I'll be making another trip to the printer.

May your season be merry and bright!

 

Epiphany Finished!

and ready to hang in our front hall when all the painting is done!

I had originally wanted it in the den over the fireplace, but, oops!

It's too big!

Epiphany finished out a whopping 31" sq.

Woo Hoo!

I was inspired by this incredible  photo on flickr a few weeks back.

I know, right?  Beautiful!

This is a Ferris Wheel block and I've been in quiltey love with it for a long time.

Out came the scraps and some stash.

Kaffe Fassett and some of my beloved vintage sheet go well together, don't you think?

Ferris Wheel is usually an EPP (English Paper Peicing) block...but I really stink at that!  lol

I have better results machine piecing using "Y" seams.  I hand appliqued the finished block onto a stiff, white muslin I had in the stash.

Some straightline quilting and hand quilting around the outer edge of the block with periwinkle embroidery floss...and I knew I didn't want to quilt into the white at all.

Love the look of stained glass when the sun shines through the back.

I finished the binding on it this week and wanted to share it at Canoe Ridge Creations for Sew Modern Monday,

Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday and at Freshly Pieced as part of my WIP Wednesday.

While I rested from the binding (arthritis can be a bummer when you want to hand stitch) I played some Quilter's Solitaire.

LOL

Four short of a full "deck", these 2" x 3.5" scraps are laid out and on their way to some chain piecing for more Useful Baskets.  I have four made and ready to ship to New Jersey to a friend as soon as I know she's up and back to normal speed again after Sandy's visit.

These baskets are sold to support our homeschool co-op's Senior Scholarship Fund.

I have an order for twenty from one person.

Crackin' the whip here and burning the midnight oil!

Don't forget to stop and look at all the eye candy on Canoe Ridge Creations, Quilt Story and Freshly Pieced!