Patchwork Pillow Covers

 

I don't like having WIPs around. I tend to complete one project and then move on.  However, last year I did spend a few days madly making dozens of HST units with a quilt design in mind.  I decided against the design but liked all the HSTs so I set them aside.

I decided it was time to do something with them.  I made pillows--my usual fallback!  I like they way they came out though!  I pieced the smaller HST units into blocks and combined them with larger HST on the pillow fronts.  I then backed them in a nice high loft fusible fleece from Thermoweb and quilted. 

The pillow closure is my old standby invisible zipper.  I just love the clean, professional look of them.  They make me smile.

The backs are pieced with large HST units so the pillows are truly reversible.

I wish I could tell you the names of the fabrics in case there are any that you are interested in...but this is what happens when you have WIPS sitting around, you forget!  Most all of the fabrics were from Marmalade Fabrics though, I do remember that. I got the wine colored shot cotton there (but took her last piece), the tone on tone burgandy print, the white linen and the vanilla grunge.  I used scraps of Hometown and Anna Maria Horner prints.  I think that the cream with grey dot is a Moda print.

These pillows look really nice in my office room, but then again, so do the six that I already have in there so I am putting these in my shop.  I hope they will find a home. I have them listed together but if you are interested in just one, send me an email.

Pattern Giveaway

 

 

 

Good morning, I just wanted to let you know that I am sponsoring today's prize for Ellison Lane's Spread the Love Valentine Blog Hop.  Below is the complete schedule.  You will find my prize at Owen's Olivia blog (5 patterns from my Etsy shop!). 

 



Check out all the stops in the hop and enter the giveaways every day this week!

1/28:

Blog: Ellison Lane - Giveaway: Papa's Old Shirts Fabric Shop

Blog: Doodle Do Designs - Giveaway: Material Girl Quilts

1/29:

Blog: Canoe Ridge Creations - Giveaway: Knotted Threads Fabric Shop

Blog: LR Stitched - Giveaway: Lima Sews Fabric Shop

1/30:

Blog: Owen's Olivia - Giveaway: During Quiet Time

Blog: Petit Lyons - Giveaway: Stitch By Stitch Long Arm Quilting

1/31:

Blog: Jednoiglec/Sewing Under the Rainbow - Giveaway: By Mary Fabric Shop

Blog: Stitchery Dickory Dock - Giveaway: Knotty Gnome Crafts

2/1:

Blog: From the Blue Chair - Giveaway: Our Epoch Fabric Shop

Blog: Sew Crafty Jess - Giveaway: Hot Pink Stitches

 

Here is a sneak peek of the tutorial found on Nancy's blog today. 

Enjoy the blog hop.

 

Printmaking Paper Pieced Block

I've been a member of the Cocorico Bee for a little over a year now.  We've just completed round one of the bee (or are completing as there are still some late blocks) and there was talk of a second round. I asked if we could push it off for a few months in order to give us time to make our blocks from the last round into quilts.  I'm trying to focus on spending some time on this task since I suggested it after all!

I had the bee members make me blocks with the Art Studio theme.  You can see them here.

I wanted to at least make one block of my own to incorporate into the quilt so I decided to start with a printmaking block.  I used a linoleum block print that I carved and printed for the block itself.  The background fabric is a textured solid by Moda (I can't remember where I got it), and the brayer metal and handle are both shaded cottons. The sides of the rubber block are made from Lizzy House's Bracelet in White.

I had to take a picture of the fabric brayer with the real life model next to it.  This brayer has seen a lot of use.  My best friend from childhood gave me a gift certificate to an art store for my birthday one year when I was in junior high and I bought this brayer and carving supplies. I only just replaced the brayer this winter because it was so warped. I think I am going to have to keep it for sentimental reasons. 

I am contemplating a couple more blocks but I am also anxious to start putting them together!  One suggestion I received from a reader was a photography block.  I really do love that idea but I am not sure I can pull it off without applique.  I'll have to think on it a bit.

I Like You Winner

The Random Number Generator was  kind to me again!  I only had to count up to 5.  Perfect.  The winner of the "I Like You" charm pack is:

LauraJanuary 25, 2013 at 7:07 PM

This is beautiful! And fun!

I Like You Giveaway

I know I just had a giveaway but how about another?  Windham Fabrics was kind enough to share two charm packs of I Like You by Amy Sedaris with me and I thought I would share one with you.  Who would like to win? 

Please just leave a comment on this post to enter. I will draw a winner on Monday morning or thereabouts.

Winner of Art Gallery Fabrics Bundle

Can I just tell you how excited I am that #3 won?  It makes counting so much easier!

The winner of the Art Gallery Fabrics Valentine's Day Blender Bundle is:

giddy99January 21, 2013 at 12:57 PM

I follow you, and AGF! Thanks for the chance.

I'll be in touch!

Last Chance to Win!

 

 

A winner will be chosen tomorrow so today is your last chance to enter to win this Fat Quarter bundle of blenders from Art Gallery Fabrics.  To enter, leave a comment on this post, where you will also find some inspiration!

Why no seam rippers?

 

 

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you already know that my husband makes beautiful, hand turned acrylic handled seam rippers for my Etsy shop.  I haven't listed any since Christmas because he has been busy with this project.  

 

It was a special 71st birthday gift for a family member and he just finished it up.  It's a Shaker style lap desk.



 

Inside there are sections for pens and paperclips and an envelope holder.  You can put two stacks of paper in the main section, side by side.

 

 

I don't think he has made a project of this complexity, at a small scale before so it was a challenge for him and there were a few frustrating moments but I think it came out really well.  That's his stamp in the center of the bottom.  I designed it for him as a birthday present about 10 years ago now.  He burns it onto each of his projects.

 

He has a few home renovation projects that need attention now but hopes to fit in some seam rippers here and there too!



Lovebug Tutorial

You can find me on the BasicGrey blog today sharing a tutorial for a simple and sweet lovebug softie for your littlest Valentine.  

A few months back, I shared a tutorial, also using Kissing Booth fabrics, for this houndstooth heart mini quilt. I thought I'd remind you of it again now that it is a little more appropriately seasonal!

If you are looking for some Kissing Booth Fabric to sew a Valentine's Day project, you can find it at the Fat Quarter Shop and ChristaQuilts.

Shades of Love Table Runner Tutorial and Giveaway!

Today I am sharing my third tutorial as a member of the Art Gallery Fabrics Fat Quarter Gang!  Due to the fact that Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, I chose a selection of Pure Elements, Lace Elements and Living Elements blenders to make a Valentine's Day table runner.

It's all hearts, of course, but I love that they don't jump right out at you due to the strong secondary design.  The finished runner measures 24" x 36."  You can print out the pdf tutorial from the Art Gallery Fabrics Blog.

I took this as another opportunity to work on my free motion quilting. I used the basic swirl again within each heart and then a simpler pattern within the cream sections.

If you'd like a chance to win a bundle with the same 8 fat quarters that I used on this project, leave a comment here on my blog to win.  You may enter a second time if you follow During Quiet Time.

As always to be eligible to win you must follow AGF on your fav social media platform (Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter)and Subscribe to their blog to stay up to date on all things AGF & the Fat Quarter Gang! 

I will select a winner randomly on Friday, January 25th.  Good luck!

Sale at Sew Fresh Fabrics

There is a big clearance sale underway at Sew Fresh Fabrics!  There is a space crunch happening and Peg needs your help.

She is offering 25% off HALF YARDS only of over 550 prints including Amy Butler, Lizzy House, Valori Wells, Aneela Hoey, Denyse Schmidt, Organics and Japanese fabrics too.  Some Specials are even on sale.

The sale ends Sunday so shop soon!

Bathtub Gin Quilt

I made this quilt using the new Sizzix 8" tumbler die and Bari J.'s Splendor 1920.  Since the fabric evokes the 1920's, I named my quilt "Bathtub Gin."  There's no other reason...it just seemed like a fun name. 

I thought that the large tumbler shape was a great way to really show off the fabrics in this line since they didn't get chopped up very much.  It also turned out to be a very efficient use of fabric.  I used a fat quarter set of both colorways, 20 fat quarters total, and used nearly every bit.  If you fold a fat quarter in quarters and run it through the Big Shot Pro, you can cut 4 tumblers.  

Instead of laying the prints out randomly, I grouped the prints in pairs to make sort of elongated hexagonal shapes.  The rows alternate between the two colorways.  I did find that the Grandeur Mist print in the Exuberance colorway was too close in color to the Elegance colorway so I removed that print and exchanged it for Nighttime shaded cotton.

I quilted with a mustard colored thread in my bobbin exclusively.  I changed the top thread a little bit though. For all the Elegance colorway rows, I used a mustard thread for the quilting and used basic swirl quilting pattern.  Since that was pretty dense, I used a wavy line for the Exuberance colorway rows, spaced about a 1/2" apart.  When the fabric had a lot of cream in it, I changed to a cream thread.  In the two navy shapes, I felt I needed to use a navy thread but feared that no matter how much I tried, the tension might not be perfect enough to pull that off with a mustard bobbin thread.  I changed to straight line quilting for those sections and it worked.

I like the way the alternating sections of dense and sparse quilting look on the back.  I used Pure Elements Honey for the backing along with a pieced strip of 2" squares left from cutting the tumblers.

The binding is Pure Elements Tile Blue, a pretty peacock blue sort of shade.

This picture shows the texture nicely, my favorite part I think!

The completed quilt is a nice lap size, 62" x 63."

Braving the FMQ with Splendor 1920

I am plugging away at my free motion quilting on a quilt top made with Splendor 1920 by Bari J. for Art Gallery Fabrics.  I am using Angela Walter's basic swirl design for my quilting. This is my second time quilting with that design and I feel like it is really starting to click now and I am enjoying it.

I hope to be back in a couple of days with a finished lap quilt to show you!  In the meantime, if you are looking for Splendor 1920, you can find it at the Fat Quarter Shop, Sew Fresh Fabrics and the teapot print only at Sew Me A Song.

Half-Hexagon Bag Tutorial

If you have read my blog for any length of time, you might have noticed that I haven't done a hexagon project yet, even though they have been all the rage for quite some time. I have to stay that English Paper Piecing doesn't really appeal to me all that much (yet) and neither do Y seams frankly.  So I was excited to have a chance to try out the Sizzix Half Hexagon Die because I could make hexagons without the EPP and Y seams!  

I tried a small scale project, which still involved 40 die cut pieces, to try it out before going bigger. Besides, making a bag gave me a chance to embellish with a felt flower.

Here's the zipper shot.

If you'd like the free tutorial for making the pouch, I walk you though it step by step, including zipper installation on the Sizzix blog today.  

Voile Scarves

I needed a birthday gift for a friend and decided on a voile scarf. I ordered the kit from Anna Maria Horner's shop because she sells the two coordinating cuts in the full length necessary for a scarf.  You can find them here.

I've been wanting to make one for awhile so I made a very happy unbirthday scarf for myself too.  I chose the colors on the left for my friend.  I had already ironed the scarf all nicely for wrapping before I thought to take a picture so I didn't want to wind it all up!  The one that is knotted up is mine.  I loved all the fabric combinations and couldn't decide which I would prefer so my husband picked that one.  I'm pleased with his choice.

If you are thinking of making one, I would suggest fairly heavy pinning (I did every 3 or so inches) and this is a great time to use a walking foot.  They are not just for quilting!  They are great to use when you have slippery material or material that you don't want shifting. I also used it for the edge-stitching to avoid a wavy edge.  Worked like a charm.

Valentine's Day Crossword Sham Tutorial

This project has been planned for some time now.  The idea first came to me when I saw the crossword fabric from Sew Me A Song.  It's from Bungle Jungle by Tim and Beck for Moda in grey.  In addition to Sew Me A Song, this print can also be found at Sew Fresh Fabrics, the The Fat Quarter Shop and Marmalade Fabrics in multiple colors (but the grey is my favorite!).  

I wanted to make a Valentine's Day crossword patchwork.  I made this pillow sham to fit a normal bed sized pillow. What I love about it is that it could be made for a guy and how many Valentine's Day projects can you say that about?

I started by cutting 19 squares measuring 3 1/2" from Alexander Henry's grey crosshatch using my 3 1/2" square Sizzix die. Then I appliqued the letters needed to spell "Valentine," "Kiss," "Heart," and "Love" using two prints from Basic Grey's Kissing Booth and Sizzix Lollipop Shadow Alphabet Dies.  I applied the letters using a fusible webbing.

Next I sewed the word "Valentine" together with 1/4" seams.  I cut all the "filler" pieces that I needed out of the crossword print.  You can use the Sizzix 3 1/2" strip cutter for many of these.  I cut the narrow red border to 1" using the 1" strip cutter. The solid Kona medium grey borders were cut with a 2 1/2" strip cutter.  I applied fusible fleece to the back of the pillow sham front and quilted around the edge of each letter, in straight lines in the grey section, and in a meandering box pattern in the crossword sections.

I made the back of the pillow a simple envelope closure and bound in the red grunge print.  The finished dimensions of the sham are 27" x 20".

If you want to make one, you've got a month still till Valentine's Day!

Sewing Machine Block Take 2

Today I led a paper piecing workshop at our Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild meeting. I think it went pretty well.  I am looking forward to seeing pictures of finished blocks!  We didn't have time to finish them at the meeting.  

This is the block I made today as my sample. I normally use copy paper for my paper piecing because it is cheap and easy (already in my printer) but Christa from ChristaQuilts sent me some vellum from her shop to try out.  I used that today.  Normally, I hold my paper and fabric up to the light in order to line up fussy bits like the "Broken Dishes/Pinwheel" piece I used from the Mama Said Sew line as the label on my sewing machine block.  The vellum is so transparent that it made lining things up very easy.  It also stitched well, handled my ironing just fine, and ripped off more easily than copy paper putting less stress on my stitches.  If you are interested in ordering some, don't forget to use the exclusive During Quiet Time code B12QT to receive 5% off your first order and every subsequent order.

Materials used in my block:

Background fabric: Confetti Dots in Charcoal from Play Date by Dear Stella  

Table:  Pineleope by Anna Griffin (originally from the Fat Quarter Shop)

Sewing Machine:  Kona Mustard and Sundrop Shaded Cotton

Throat Plate:  Cream Lines from Word Play (originally from Sew Fresh Fabrics) The two text prints are Mama Said Sew.

I'm thinking that I will use one of my Sewing Machine Blocks to make a sewing machine cover. It's the perfect size for the front of a machine with a bit of sashing.

If you are interested in the pattern, you can find it in my Etsy shop.

Cocorico Bee Blocks

 

 

I haven't shared the blocks I received from my year in the Cocorico Bee.  When it was my turn, I requested blocks with an Art Studio theme.  I love the variety of blocks that I received.  I now need to challenge myself to create at least one block of my own to add to the quilt and then assemble these blocks into a quilt!  They are not all the same size so it will involve some creative sashing but they look remarkably good together color wise don't they?  It's astonishing how easily they will all meld together.  I feel very lucky and grateful for all the time and effort that I know was required to make each of these blocks and look forward to making a quilt with them this year. 

 

Thank you to: 

 

Top Left:  Sewing Studio by Charise
Top Center:  ART by Leila
Top Right:  Mannequin by Krista
Second Row Left:  Drafting Tools by Lauree
Second Row Center:  Paints by Tamiko
Second Row Right:  Easel by Erin
Third Row Left:  Easel by Kylie
Third Row Right:  Paint Jars by Muriel
Bottom Row Left: Calligraphy Pen by Megan
Bottom Center:  Watercolors by Kerry
Bottom Right: Pottery Studio by Melinda

Here is a collage of the blocks that I made for my bee members in the Cocorico Bee this year.  This bee was a huge commitment of time and creative energy but I really enjoyed it!

Any ideas for my block for the Art Studio quilt?  I am thinking of perhaps something Printmaking related but am open to ideas.  I might also create some space fillers like a long brush to make a rectangular block turn square with a little sashing in order to fit everything together.