Monday Musings

Waiting to tempt me in my Inbox Sunday morning was this email.  Anthropologie joining forces with Liberty London spells trouble for my pocket book!

I walk by this stack of books (some new, some not so new) several times a day, each time telling myself I really should take a minute to sit and peruse them.

Wideback fabric designs have improved since I began quilting.  As much as I love a pieced quilt back, having the option of Kaffe 108" wide fabric, for example, to put on the back of a quilt is so nice!

I am growing my collection of EPP Happy Flower Blocks. Love this picture of a few I pieced out by the pool.

The move to SquareSpace is still in transition.  If you have an extra minute, please click here to take a look and tell me what you think.  Thanks in advance.  Have a wonderful Monday!  Happy stitching,

EPP-ing

I am back to making my english paper pieced/applique Happy Flower Blocks.  I purchased Deborah's adorable thread pooping unicorn which conveniently arrived in time for hexie making!

Day 1 - notice the thread pooping unicorn?!

For our guild's Cre-active Club Challenge I need to have 75 of these blocks made by September's meeting; that's #4 on my list.  I love these blocks so I am happy to have an excuse a reason to work on them.

Day 2

My friend Stephanie offered EPP thread advice at our retreat. Now the stitches that connect the hexies to the black center square are less visible.

Day 3

Mary Sorensen, needle turn appliqué expert and lucky for me OrlandoMQG member, helped with tips on stitching the EPP block onto my background squares. I was embarrassed hesitant to show her my blocks, but her advice was worth the risk...ha! Now those stitches are less visible.

Day 4

When making my list, I thought one a day would be doable.  However, the month of July got away from me which means I pretty much need to make two a day to reach my goal. Yikes!

Day 5

Over the weekend, my daughter and I went away for a girls' getaway.  Hard to believe my baby will head off to college in less than a month! While away I did find time to whip up some blocks.  

Day 6

Stitching them onto the background squares will have to wait for another day. 

Day 7

If I am going to reach my goal, I need to pick up the pace!  

Thanks for stopping by,

Hitting the Reset Button

Well, I am WAY out of practice with blogging, and I am WAY behind on posting what's been going on in my world, but here I am ready to hit the reset button and began again...

Instead of starting with getting everyone (is anyone still out here reading?!) caught up on the last six months, let me tell you about one of my favorite ongoing projects at the moment.

I call these Happy Flower Blocks.  I love making them and have turned quite a few into pincushions, but I am now saving them all for a throw size quilt.  

A while back I made a hexie flower for Eleni and loved how Jodi stitched them all onto background squares.   I really enjoyed making that hexie block, but I am not a big fan of stitching all the hexies together.   Later I ran across this block on Amy Sinibaldi's Instagram feed and knew that was the EPP block I wanted to use.  I could not find reference to this block anywhere else, so I started calling it the Happy Flower Block.

 Stitching these blocks make me happy.  It's nice to just sit, slow down, and stitch for a bit.  Having a project that I can work on and hang out with my family is a bonus.

Sometimes I'll just sit and whip up a bunch of hexies, other times I will sew the four hexies onto the black square until I have a few, but my favorite part is stitching the flower onto the background square.  

I now have 28 blocks made for my throw quilt....only a hundred or so more to go!

If you are still here, please leave a comment and say hi!  I sure have missed being here.  Thanks and happy stitching,

Crafty Tuesdays

During the school year, my friend Caroline hosts Crafty Tuesdays most weeks at her home.  I am going to miss those Tuesdays now that school is almost out.

Photo credit Kim Niedzwiecki of GoGo Kim

Most times I do more chatting than crafting, because it's nice to have friends to discuss important topics!    It's amazing what problems you can solve when you sew with friends.

While others knit, embroider, bead or hand stitch quilt bindings, I usually will work on my long term EPP project.  I hope to make a quilt out of these one day.

I have picked up knitting, but I am super slow.  I do like its portability and few necessary supplies.  I am still practicing the knit stitch while making a scarf.  It's pretty mindless which is what I like about this project.

Books and magazines also play an important part in our gatherings.

Do you regularly get together and craft with friends?

Happy stitching,

Good Neighbors Pincushion Party {and a giveaway}

Welcome to the party!  Have you been following along this month with the Good Neighbors Pincushion Party?!  If you scroll to the bottom of this post, you will find direct links to the stops before mine.  The pincushions made with Amanda Jean's (aka Crazy Mom Quilts) new fabric line from Connecting Threads have all been fantastic.  It's no wonder given the beautiful prints to work with!

When Amanda told me about her new fabric line, I was SO happy for her.  When she asked me to participate in the blog hop, I didn't hesitate to say YES!  When I started blogging in 2009, Amanda's was one of the first quilt blogs I discovered.  Her generous spirit of sharing her love and knowledge of quilting with others hooked me from the start (not to mention the gorgeous scrappy quilts she makes).  She is just as sweet and generous in person too, as I am fortunate to experience at least once a year at retreat.

Amanda's first line of fabric is the perfect combination of happy, cheerful prints and lower volume fabrics that all play well with each other and mix beautifully with other fabric lines.  There are so many possibilities, and I immediately wanted to chop up the charm pack and start with scraps!  However, I took some time thinking about what type of pincushion I wanted to make before pulling out my rotary cutter.  I may have gone a little overboard in the pincushion making made more than one pincushion before settling on this design to share with you today.

 
It's difficult to pick a favorite print, but I must say these teal blue colors speak to me.  I love the bright yellow center here to break up the blues and how it all looks stitched down on the gray stripe.

The Peaks print is available in five bright colors.  I selected four of them for the hexies in this cushion.  All the pincushions are stuffed with crushed walnut shells.  I like the weight the shells provide.

This EPP block is stitched onto one of the lovely X's print.  I ordered a couple of yards of this in the teal color way!  I see this showing up in quite a few quilt projects.

And a third pincushion with dots, stripes, X's and peaks stitched onto a linen background.

Amanda Jean's Good Neighbors fabric line is exclusive to Connecting Threads and can be found here.   As you can see above, the line offers a great variety of prints in cheerful colors as well as "low volume" fabrics.  I love that one of the prints is available in 104" wide, making it perfect for quilt backs.

The Connecting Threads site also has a free download, patterns, quilt kits, fabric bundles and coordinating solids for the Good Neighbors collection all in one handy link.   I think I need the coffee cup pattern!

 When preparing this blog post,  I noticed these cushions didn't use the cross stitch print.  If I had to pick a favorite, the teal cross stitch print would be mine.  I must have used it in one of the other three pin cushions I made!

Connecting Threads has generously offered a charm pack to one of my readers (open to U.S. and Canada).  Leave a comment below and I will pick a winner on September 30th.  I would love to know which Good Neighbors print is your favorite.  Again, the entire line can be found here.

Congratulations Amanda Jean!  You knocked it out of the park!  Be sure to check out the other lovely pincushions made.

September  1     Amanda Jean  -  Crazy Mom Quilts

September  2     Anna  -  Noodlehead

September  3     Mary  -  Mary on Lake Pulaski

September  4     Svetlana  -  S.O.T.A.K Handmade

September  5     Debbie  -  Esch House Quilts

September  6     Holly -  Bijou Lovely

September  7     Carla  -  Grace and Favour

September  8     Faith -  Fresh Lemon Quilts

September  9     Vanessa  -  V and Co.

September 10    Anna  -  Thimbleanna

September 11    Krista  -  Poppy Print Creates

September 12    Erin -  Why Not Sew

September 13    Lee  -  May Chappell

September 14    Alex  -  Teaginny Designs

September 15    Cheryl   -  Naptime Quilter

September 16    Penny -  SewTakeAHike

September 17    Amy  -   During Quiet Time

September 18    Debbie  -  A Quilter's Table

September 19    Anne  -  Springleaf Studios

September 20    Melissa Corry -  Happy Quilting Melissa

September 21    Amber  -  One Shabby Chick

September 22    Nettie -   A Quilt is Nice

September 23    Adrianne  -  Little Bluebell

September 24    Cindy  -  Live a Colorful Life

September 25    Amy  -  Diary of a Quilter

September 26    Chase  - Quarter Inch Mark

September 27    Rene'  -  Rene' Creates  {that's me!}

September 28    Erin   -   House on Hill Road

September 29    Nicole  -  Modern Handcraft

September 30    Teri  -   Connecting Threads

Friday Finish: EPP Pincushion

I have pincushions on the brain.  (Read all the way to the bottom and you will know why!)  Here is another quick pincushion I made from a test EPP block.

EPP pincushion

I fell in love with a similar block on NanaCompany's Instagram feed and had to give it a try.  After making several blocks I turned one into a pincushion.  

Love this EPP block!

If you want to see some beautiful pincushion inspiration, check out the schedule for Amanda Jean's Pincushion Party Blog Hop to celebrate her fabric line with Connecting Threads.  Make sure you come back here on September 27th when it's my turn to host the party!

Date	Blogger Name	Blog URL
9/1/2015	Amanda Jean	http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/
9/2/2015	Anna	http://www.noodle-head.com/
9/3/2015	Mary	http://maryonlakepulaski.blogspot.com/
9/4/2015	Svetlana	http://sotakhandmade.blogspot.com/
9/5/2015	Debbie	http://www.eschhousequilts.com/
9/6/2015	Holly	http://www.bijoulovelydesigns.com/
9/7/2015	Carla	http://carla-graceandfavour.blogspot.com/
9/8/2015	Faith	www.FreshLemonsQuilts.com
9/9/2015	Vanessa	http://www.vanessachristenson.com/
9/10/2015	Anna	http://www.thimbleanna.com/
9/11/2015	Krista	http://poppyprintcreates.blogspot.com/
9/12/2015	Erin	http://whynotsew.blogspot.com/
9/13/2015	Lee	http://www.maychappell.com/
9/14/2015	Alex	http://teaginnydesigns.blogspot.com/
9/15/2015	Cheryl	http://naptimequilter.blogspot.com/
9/16/2015	Penny	http://sewtakeahike.typepad.com/
9/17/2015	Amy	http://duringquiettime.com/
9/18/2015	Debbie	http://aquilterstable.blogspot.com/
9/19/2015	Anne	http://www.springleafstudios.com/
9/20/2015	Melissa Corry	http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/
9/21/2015	Amber	http://www.oneshabbychick.typepad.com/
9/22/2015	Nettie	http://aquiltisnice.blogspot.com/
9/23/2015	Adrianne	http://www.littlebluebell.com/
9/24/2015	Cindy	http://www.liveacolorfullife.net/
9/25/2015	Amy	http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/
9/26/2015	Chase	http://quarterinchmark.blogspot.com/
9/27/2015	Rene' (THAT'S ME!)	http://www.renecreates.com/
9/28/2015	Erin	http://www.houseonhillroad.com/
9/29/2015	Nicole	http://modernhandcraft.com/
9/30/2015	Teri	http://blog.connectingthreads.com/

one more pic

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts!  Enjoy your weekend!

QuiltCon 2015 = New WIPs

It seems I am always on the go which prompted me to take classes at QuiltCon that would provide portable stitching skills.  As a matter of fact, out of the four workshops I attended only one required a sewing machine.

embroidery class project

First up was Embroidery with Alison Glass.  I pretty much knew the stitches taught, but it was a nice refresher and I was inspired to pull out some old embroidery WIPs and plan new embroidery projects.

two sample class projects

Another workshop I took with Alison Glass was Modern Appliqué.  We learned four techniques, but by far my favorite was the reverse appliqué using jersey knit.  I love the nice surprise when the knit is cut away and you see the gorgeous fabric underneath!

this WIP also served as my blanket on the train...super soft!

This inspired a bigger appliqué project that I recently took with me on my daughter's orchestra field trip to NYC by train (23 hours each way!).  I used Deep Dark Ocean for the top, Sahara Sun for the back (both new jersey solids from Art Gallery Fabrics) and Melody Miller's Playful from Cotton+Steel for the middle.  Circles, squares and triangles are traced on the top which will result in a shapes themed blanket for my grandson.

good times!

My sister and I were in class together with Katy Jones learning English Paper Piecing.  We both had a blast in this class...laughing, learning, chatting with our table mates, and of course eating chocolate.

EPP class progress

making hexies

Skills I learned in Katy's class came in handy when making the hexie Flower for Eleni and are nice when I join my friends for Crafty Tuesday.

improv piecing

Basic Improv with the Gee's Bend Quilters was the only workshop I used a machine.  I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the stories of Gee's Bend and did not do much sewing.  That's OK as I can sew at home any time, but the opportunity to listen to the ladies of Gee's Bend is rare!

So there's my latest WIPs added to my existing, long, and always growing list!  

Since I haven't really done a post QuiltCon recap, here are a few more pictures from my workshops:

love Alison's stitching setup

another reverse appliqué project with all quilting cotton

 The stitches learned in Embroidery were useful in Modern Appliqué.

Class photo from Modern Appliqué 

looking and listening - Gee's Bend

Selfie with the sweet Vicki aka America's Best Friend 

Susan and her daughters in Embroidery class with me 

Overachievers in EPP -  Melissa and Kristy

Teacher's pet!

picture with China Pettaway

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
Thanks for stopping by,