Planning to use the precious

Precious: (of an object, substance, or resource) of great value; not to be wasted or treated carelessly. Google definitions.

Almost any quilter you talk to will admit to having some precious fabric in their stash...fabric they like so much that for some reason holding on to it makes more sense than using it. I, myself, have five collections of fabric that most probably fall into this classification: 

• Lush (paint by number deer) by Erin Michael
• Rouenneries by French General
• Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt
• In From the Cold and 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain

I'm excited to have a project I can't wait to get started on which will use my Kate Spain In From the Cold Christmas fabrics! Here are the fabrics I have from this line:

In From the Cold by Kate Spain

On the Moda Website is a collection of patterns for placemats, a table runner, and a gift bag featuring this sweet fabric line. I'm going to use the patterns for the little mugs of steaming beverages to make placemats of my own design, coasters, and possibly napkins to use for an upcoming bridal shower gift.

I can use other fabrics from my stash to round out the assortment. Here are some fabrics I pulled that I think will work:

Fabrics pulled from my stash

Wow it feels good to plan on using some of my precious fabric! I can't wait to get started...stand by for cute pictures :o)

Summer handwork {sewing & crochet}

Something about summer just makes me want to do handwork. Whether it's sewing or crochet it's just so relaxing to have a portable project to take outside. Last week I reached into my unfinished projects and pulled out my English paper pieced Lone Star and got started with adding the background fabric. I knew it wouldn't take me very long to get it done, and in fact it's almost finished. I'm getting ready to take a trip and have been searching for something to take with me for some down time. So...I guess I'll just have to start a new hand piecing project to take along...darn :o)



A couple years ago I bought this magazine, Sew Scrappy, by Better Homes & Gardens. I've looked through it many times - there are some really great scrap quilts in it. I've had my eye on a few of them...just waiting for the right "need" to come along :o)



This quilt, Autumn Twilight, really caught my eye! I've always been drawn to stars. I don't need a quilt, but I do need new covers for the pillows on our couch. The current covers fell victim to a teething puppy quite a while ago...we've just been living with them. I'm thinking four stars per side will do nicely for new covers. 



Temptation is always there to go out and buy new supplies, but I've got more than enough fabric to meet the needs of most any small project so I've reaching into my stash instead. My plan is to go with an assortment of red stars {the center one with the curling ribbons may not make the cut} and use the low volume cream for the background fabric. 



This is my little hand sewing kit. It's all stocked up ready to begin the pillow covers. I made the square and triangle templates from scraps of cardboard I keep on hand. The pattern in the magazine calls for 6" finished blocks, but I resized my hand stitched blocks to finish at 10" in order to fit the 20" couch pillows. 



I believe I'll also take along some sock yarn to get started with a new pair of socks. Ever since I made these mean-green hunting socks for my brother-in-law I've been wanting to make a pair like them for myself. I like the toe section from one pattern, and the heel section from another pattern. For the foot and ankle I'll probably follow what I made up for my brother-in-law's socks. 

I do believe that between these two projects I'll have enough handwork to last me through a summer of enjoying time outside on the deck. How about you? Do you like to fill your summer with any handwork projects? If so, I'd love to hear about them :o)

A Little Bit of Quilt Market Came to Me!

Well how much fun can one girl have on a Friday afternoon? After a long day at school {spent mostly looking at a computer screen} I stopped by my LQS, The Scrappy Apple, on the way home...as is my usual Friday routine. It just so happened the Moda fabric rep. was there and my friend, Kelley, was placing orders for Fall fabric deliveries. Kelley asked me to look at the upcoming fabric lines and help pick out what to order! Can you believe it :o) Gosh there is beautiful fabric coming out this Fall!

I'd seen pictures of many of the fabric lines from all of the IG #quiltmarket postings and blog posts, so it was super fun to see them in person. Digital pictures just don't do the beautiful fabrics justice.

It seems kinda funny to write a blog post and have no pictures to go with it, but I don't feel I can legally post any since I do not have pictures of my own. Instead, I'm going to direct you to some I've found online. Hope you enjoy!

• Modern Building Blocks kit featuring Moda Bella Solids...this just may be my very favorite! I've already committed to buying this one!!
  
• Aurifil thread and quilt kits. These sweet kits contain spools of Aurifil thread, a package of coordinating Moda precuts, and a quilt pattern. So cute!!
  
• Moda's Future Groups of fabrics...take a few minutes to browse and enjoy...such prettiness! 

Kelley said the next time the Moda rep. is scheduled she will call me to come in and help her again...I can't wait! Maybe I can take a few pictures to share...

A New Project - A New Tool

There is just something about starting a new project...the thrill of the unknown...a fresh start down a path not yet traveled. For several months I've been looking for the opportunity to get started with an idea...

First came choosing just the right fabrics:

Initially I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use the Hope Valley fabric I've been holding on to. But, then decided the blue was too grayish and the gray was to black. Next, I auditioned random fat quarters from my stash, but this time the blue was too dark, the yellow too light, and the gray was still too strong. I finally moved on to Color Weave fabrics by P & B Textiles. I love this fabric! It is so soft and the depth of color so rich. (I ended up going with the more intense orange.)

Very uncharacteristically I cut all of my fabric in advance. Most of the time I'm a "cut as I go" type of girl. 

These  pretty little piles of fabric make me so happy :o)

This quilt involves using half square triangles so I thought I'd try out a new tool and ordered the The Angler 2, A Quilter's Tool for Angles.



I'm hoping since I don't have to mark the diagonal on the squares it will make the process go faster. I watched "This" video on YouTube to learn how to use The Angler 2. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'd love to hear if you've tried The Angler...and if so, what do you think of it?

Rice Bag Snuggles

Don't you just love a soft, snugly-warm rice bag wrapped around tired shoulders at the end of a long day :o) We use rice bags a lot here at my house.

Over the Christmas holidays my dear friend made two nicely-sized rice bags for her family using a good sturdy fabric. As she was showing me her supplies I told her that I could make covers for them if she'd be interested. I just love fun projects that allow for small bits of creative expression.

My friend picked out this wonderful red plaid (goodness I love plaid!) flannel to use for the covers. I prewashed the flannel just in case of shrinkage and looked through my fabric stash for some fun accent fabrics to add in.

My choices include: Sew by Sweetwater, Rain in cherry by Timeless Treasures, and Dark Blue Color Weave by P&B Textiles. I wanted to add just a bit of fun to each bag. 

I decided on a simple line of pinwheels in blue, and a zigzag in red. I probably shouldn't have a favorite so I'll keep it to myself which one I like best :o)

On the back I did a simple envelope closure. To guard against fraying I zigzag stitched all of the seam allowances. I'm so please with how these rice bag covers turned out! Final measurements for the covers are 8" x 22". I hope they will bring cozy comfort for a long time. 

Setting Goals

With a new year comes the promise of fresh starts...and hopefully, for me, several finishes! I've decided to jump on board with the wonderful group of quilters participating in A Lovely Year of Finishes as it fits right into what I've set before myself to accomplish. When I look around my sewing room I don't want to see so many unfinished projects...and so much fabric just sitting there. I just don't think these things lend themselves to being a good steward of the things I've been blessed with. 

A Lovely Year of Finishes encourages a goal be set to finish at least one project each month. At this point in time I have enough unfinished projects that I don't need to begin anything new in order to come up with 12 finishes for the year. My January goal is to complete the September Faith Circle quilt for do. Good Stitches. (I wrote about this row quilt in my previous post.) 

Often, by the time it comes to the quilt back am ready to just be finished with the quilt and begin something new. While I do love a scrappy back I challenged myself to come up with a design that would allow me to use fabric I already had in my stash. I started by doing a search in the flickr Quilt Backs group to find some inspiration. I found several pictures where the quilter had created a plaid design with fabric and I really liked the look. Next I got out my sketch notebook and worked out a plan:



Working out the measurements is not a strong area for me and I was a bit nervous I would get the back finished only to discover I'd made a mistake. I'm happy to report that I got all of the dimensions correct and now have a completed quilt back made entirely of stash fabric!
I'm so excited to have actually planned out and completed my own quilt back! Whenever people talk to me about things that I've made I am quick to point out that most of the time I am just following a pattern and it is the designer of that pattern who is truly the talented one. I'd love to be a designer one day...maybe with this quilt back I can now say I am :o)

I'd love to hear about something you've designed!

Planning a Sampler

This Fall I enrolled in The Penny Sampler online class taught by the talented Rachel of Stitched in Color. The main class project is a beautifully designed Scandinavian sampler quilt which Rachel named, "The Penny Sampler." The class focuses on developing skills in three areas:

• machine applique
• precise piecing
• machine paper piecing

Rachel teaches these skills through mini stand-alone projects. The first skill we are working on is machine applique with various techniques to choose from. 

I chose to try the stitch and flip method to create my dogwood petals and then use sketch stitch applique to attach them to my quilted-in-advance background fabric. I seem to be on a grid-quilting roll lately...really like the look of it. It is super fun to sketch stitch! I think I've found something I will continue to enjoy and will add variety to my quilting skills :o) I ended up using my darning foot and free-motion quilting for the sketch stitching. I love the "slightly" messy look of it...so freeing! (Note: this is a stand along project...not part of the Penny Sampler quilt top. It can be used as the front of a pillow, although I may just set this aside for now and try making a quilt-as-you-go mini medallion quilt with it.)

I used three online color palette builders to help me select the colors for my Penny Sampler quilt top. The photo I used for my inspiration is not mine so I'll not post it for public viewing. However, I will show you the rich, beautiful colors that resulted from it!


I am really loving these colors! Deep, dark chocolate browns, teal (this word does not even need any adjectives...it's super all by itself!) rich eggplant purples blending into lively magenta's, mustard yellows, and creamy neutrals. Sounds good enough to eat!

Rachel provided us with a black-line master of the quilt top so we can color it in to help balance out the use of color across the quilt.


Clearly I need more depth to the variety of shades in my colored pencils :o) I just have basic colors so the shades don't match up too well with my fabrics, but I do get an idea where I want to put my main colors. 

This is going to be a fun Fall! Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend~I'm off to work on my next class assignments :o)

For the love of Epp {English paper piecing, that is}

Last summer I was introduced to the wonders of English paper piecing. It was love at first stitch. The more I quilt the more I love hand work...be that hand stitching, applique, or hand quilting. Here are a few of the Epp projects I've been working on:

The jewel star pillow is the only complete project so far. The mini lone star is the focal point for a wall hanging and the grandmother's garden hexies will be a small pillow. I just love very single stitch from the basting to the joining of the various shapes. Please ignore the fact that I am showing you a photograph containing unfinished projects while I continue on to write about yet another project I'm getting ready to start :o)

When I saw the Mini QT Swap group on flickr had selected Epp and foundation piecing for the next swap round I just knew I had to ask to participate! I'd participated in a swap round with this talented group of ladies before when the theme was True Mini. Here is the quilt I made for that round. 

I was so excited to find out that I'd been paired up with Jen of SewWhat! We are both middle school teachers and if that does not make us two birds of a feather I don't know what would :o) After spending some time looking through her photo pool and reading her blog I'd made some notes on what I thought she may like in a little quilt. Now it's time to dive into the design process!

I thought I'd try sketching out some designs to see what I was going to be able to do in a 12"x12" (maximum size} quilt. I found a lot of inspiration in the photo pools for these flickr groups:
Ferris Wheel Along
English Paper Piecing/Foundation Piecing
60 Degree Diamonds

After working out a layout I'm pretty sure will work I used the incompetech Web site to draft template paper. This is a great site for making almost every shape used for English paper piecing. Now I've cut out all of my template papers and I'm ready to begin selecting fabric.

I am really fortunate to have a well stocked stash. For several months I participated in the Stash Stack Club sponsored by Pink Castle Fabrics. You can find information about the club here. It was a really good way to build up the blenders in my fabric stash. I'm happy to say that I've really been putting them to use!

I'm off now to pull fabrics. I'd love to hear about what you are working on!

Hooray for fun mail!

Don't you just love getting something in the mail besides bills and junk? Today I received this beautifully wrapped package of fabric from the Sew Lux Fabric & Gifts shop.



I've ordered fabric from Sew Lux before and am so impressed with the lovely way they wrap their packages. I'd say they go the extra mile to make you feel like the beautiful fabrics you ordered are really special! Wouldn't you?



Here are the lovely fabrics that were wrapped up in that pretty paper! A Day in the Life {Sky colorway}, the paint by number deer print from Erin Michael's Lush Uptown line is one of my *all time favorites* I just may have even more of this fabric coming in additional colorways... It will be added to the fabric I have stashed away from the first time the Lush line was released. {What can I say? I married into a hunting family.} The three beautiful gray fabrics (Leaf & Dot, Posie, and Bouquet) from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line are destined to become this new bag:

I've gotten into the habit of making the bags I carry. See here and here and even here. It's really a fun way to strike up a conversation with people and introduce them to modern sewing. I am drawn to this change-your-mind SLIPCOVER BAG because the outside "skin" is removable. I plan on trying to make it reversible, too. This allows the look of the bag to be easily changed up. I'll be working on this bag in September when imaginegnats is sponsoring the Selfish Sewing Week...have you heard of it? The idea is that after all of the preparations necessary to get kids back to school it just may be time to sew something fun {or necessary} for yourself :o) Go check out the flickr group and sign up! I just may not be able to wait for September 23 to get started :o) 

How about you? Do you have a project that has been just waiting for the right reason to pull it off the shelf and get started? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!