biased projects

Later this week I will traveling to Michigan for glamp stitch-a-lot, where I'll be teaching improv string piecing to the students. I made the class sample many months ago, so I decided to immerse myself in a few "biased" projects to get warmed up for this weekend. It's been fun to revisit this technique! (You can see my biased tutorial here and the finished quilt here.)

I made a few pincushions from scraps to get started, because pincushions are ALWAYS a good idea!

They each measure about 3" x 5" and are filled with crushed walnut shells.

Then I moved on to some pot holders. They finish about 8 1/4" square. (I use Insulbrite for the inside, so they are heat resistant.) I also used bias binding, since the corners are rounded. It takes a bit longer to make them this way, but I really like the look!

AND...I started another quilt! I'm using mostly stash mixed with a few scraps. I thought I would try something new. Hahaha! It's definitely still a work in progress, but I'm enjoying the process. I'm still trying to get the color balance right, but maybe I'll get there by the time I make all 40 blocks. That's the hope, anyway!

 

I hope your week is off to a great start. Happy Monday to you!

retreat gifts, part 2

Thanks so much for sharing your ideas for "happies" in the last post. It was fun to read your comments. I've added a few new ideas to my list!

 

Of course pincushions are the number one on my list of things to make for retreat gifts. I have a few batches of them to share today!

In early August, I attended another annual quilt retreat with some of my quilting friends. I've been a part of that group for a few years now, so I'm finally catching on to each of their personal tastes. (It takes me awhile!) This year I made a paper pieced pineapple pincushion for each of them in colors that I thought they would like. (The pattern is in Plenty of Pincushions, Volume 1, which is available here.) Lots more assembly line sewing, but once I hunkered down, it wasn't so bad.

Each of the pincushions were heavily quilted, so I piggy backed them through my machine during the quilting process and it went pretty quick! Again, I love seeing multiple items grouped all together.  

A few weeks ago I was playing in my sewing room and I came across the scrap vortex blocks that I started on the 100 day project. I didn't do so well on the 100 day challenge, but that's ok! I turned a bunch of the blocks into pincushions in one afternoon. It was nice that the patchwork had already been made! I added a tab to each pincushion to "up" the cuteness factor.

I took these to a retreat that I taught at over the weekend and I let each student pick one of their choice. It's so fun to share things like this with other quilters and to release the pincushions out into the world as little bits of happy. It never gets old!
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Here is a rundown of my pincushion method in a nutshell (no pun intended!):

Each pincushion top is a little bit of patchwork that has been quilted onto a batting scrap. The backings are quilting cotton interfaced with SF 101 for a bit of extra stability. They are filled with crushed walnut shells, which is sold in pet stores as lizard litter. I hand stitch the openings closed with invisible nylon thread, so the stitches aren't visible.

I find that this combination produces a lovely finish for a pincushion. (I think it's safe to say that I've done sufficient testing. Hahaha!)
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Happy Monday to you!

a little of everything

I've been walking around my house singing "it's the MOST wonderful time of the year", but in a slightly sarcastic manner. I just can't seem to keep up! I know I'm not alone, but I still don't care for the ridiculous pace of early to mid December. This post is a little random, so please bear with me! :)

Thank you so much for the sweet comments on my gingham quilt! I had a few requests to see the pillows a little better, so here you go. I made pillowcases with Lotta dots in Coral, the chenille pillow shams were made from an old bedspread and the kindness pillow was finished earlier this year. I love the simplicity of the whole ensemble. It makes me smile every time I walk into my room! It's wonderful to have new bedding to brighten up the dreary winter days.

I've been working on a lot of different things this week...

I started knitting an origami top hat for a friend. I LOVE this shockingly pink yarn. It's been a great project to work on while I'm on the go.

This panel of hexies is part of a larger project that I will share more of soon. I estimated that it's taken me between 12 and 16 hours JUST to sew the hexagons together. Sometimes it's better NOT to count the hours. Hahaha! It did force me to just sit down for awhile, AND they are super cute, so it was totally worth it!

My neighbor ordered a pincushion to give as a gift, so I made one for her as well. I had a blast making these from my teeny tiny scraps.

And, I had to make an extra one, just for good measure. It felt so good to finish SOMETHING! Playing with scraps and finishing a few small projects was just the boost I needed to keep going.

 

I hope you are able to find a few moments in this busy time of year to breathe and enjoy the little things, too!

Emma & Myrtle fabric

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week was a big one!!! My second fabric collection with Connecting Threads was released and my oldest son got his driver's license! My first line of fabric was released the day he started high school, so apparently fabric release dates coincide with big milestones in my house. Might as well deal with all of the emotions at once, huh? 

Anyway...back to the fabric! This is a vintage inspired collection that was named after two of my great aunts, Emma & Myrtle. There are 19 different fabrics in the line, but not a polka dot in the bunch. (Can you believe that?!?! I'm not sure how that happened! Ha!) Don't get me wrong....even with the absence of polka dots, I'm thrilled with how the collection turned out! I had a lot of fun sewing with it already and I'm looking forward to seeing how others use it. Emma & Myrtle is sold exclusively at Connecting Threads. They have kits, bundles and yardage, all available here. I plan to share more projects, more about the fabric design process and all that at a later date, but I wanted to share the big news with you today! (Eeeek! This is nerve wracking!)

I've been using some of the scraps to make pincushions! (Shocker, right?!?!)

 These are the ones from day 26 of my pincushion-a-day challenge....

and this is day 27! I was thrilled to use some previously interfaced scraps from bag making on this one. It made my frugal side very happy. :)

Alright, I think that's it for me today! Now it's your turn to link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

pincushions and dishtowels

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I've got more pincushions to share today. Man, I love these things!

 Day 15--solid scraps in braid formation

 Day 16--denim scraps with wonky hand stitching

Day 17--diamond quilting on Essex linen. I'd like to make one of these in every single color! I used Essential thread by connecting threads for the quilting. It's nice and thick so the quilting lines really stand out...just what I was after!

Day 18--this iconic pattern is from the book Patchwork Please. I've been wanting to make this one for years, and it didn't disappoint. I literally want to make 100 more of them. I love this one so much!!!

Day 19--this one is called Crosswalk. It's based on a sketch that I did years ago, but I never got around to making the quilt. It was fun to finally make something from this idea! I rather like it in pincushion form.

Day 20--I'm calling this one marmalade on toast. I finally cut into a precious layer cake of marmalade fabric and this is made from some of the scraps. I love using it all! Each of the strips of fabric measure at about 1/4" wide. Crazy but fun!

I was able to go on a quilt retreat last weekend and I'm on another quilt retreat this weekend, so I made a bunch of patchwork dishtowels for gifts for my retreat friends. I think I made 14 dishtowels in all, so I used up a bunch of scraps. Hurray!!! (There is a simple dish towel tutorial here, if you care to make some of your own.) For these, I used rectangles cut 2" wide x 2 1/2" tall, and I pressed the fold down 3/8" on the top seam rather than 1/4". It worked out really well! The patchwork is a little bit smaller than the original tutorial, but as you know, smaller=cuter! I had a lot of fun making the patchwork strips, but I think I'm done with these for awhile! Can you imagine? Ha!

I think that's it for me today! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

pincushions 8-14

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I've actually done a lot of sewing this week, but it is all for gifts, so I can't share the results quite yet. I have also been keeping up on my one-a-day pincushion challenge. Making a pincushion every single day is not for the faint of heart. Each pincushion takes on average about 1 1/2 hours...that's if things are going well! Ha! I have been enjoying the challenge, though. It really pushes me creatively and I love that!

Here are the pincushions from the last week....

 day 8

 day 9

 day 10

 day 11

 day 12

 day 13

 day 14--the front

day 14--the back

Some days I start with a faint plan, other days I have no idea what I will make until I walk into the sewing room and start playing with fabric. Thank goodness I have plenty of scraps to play with! :) I think I could make at least 1001 more pincushions from my solid scrap bags alone. It's mighty tempting! Hahaha!

Here are the first 10 days of pincushions all together. It's fun to see the collection grow!

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week! Thank you for joining me for finish it up Friday!