Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Paper piecing - slopestyle

Yes I'm still at it.

Vintage skier

Inspired by this bee and the ski-themed foundation pieced blocks one member requested, I decided to start my own ski-themed quilt because that would be the perfect addition to our ski-themed game room. Plus I love ski stuff so it would just be a uber-cool addition to our home.

So this is the first block for that quilt. Designed by Amy (During Quiet time) you can purchase the block in her etsy shop here.

More ski themed blocks to follow and since I can't find too many foundation pieced block patterns with a ski theme (I've found 1 so far), I guess I'll have to start designing my own.

Off to start drawing lots of lines as I embark upon designing a foundation block....stay tuned.

Happy Sewing!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Paper piecing craze

SOL Block 2 Weekend sewing fun ~ Block 2 of the Sew Out Loud quilt along is out and I had to whip it up. This one is designed by Kirie of Shapemoth. SOL Block 2 I chose to do the scrappy background version to add a little interest. Lots of different text fabrics needed. Add in a little hand stitching... SOL Block 2 and all done. Woot that was fun! Then a little Matroshcka fun (aka copying Heather) Not sure what this will become but it was fun to make. Needs a little more practice though. Pattern from Bubble stitch on Etsy. Russian doll test run

Thursday, February 16, 2012

PTS7

Ah that time of year again, my favorite Swap of them all - Pillow Talk Swap version 7. I have been kind of trying to cut back on swaps because they take so much time, but I can't give up the PTS. This time I went all scrappy. It still has a touch of modern and me in it, but it's scrappy and colorful and reminds me of spring. I hope my partner will like it. It's got lots of texty fabrics and a flour sack print on the back. Sorry about the dark pics, it was raining and I was losing daylight fast. I paper pieced the flower petals then appliquéd them onto the top of the pillow. A little hand quilting as an accent and it's all done. Hope you like it partner Happy Sewing!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Sew out loud

I know I have mentioned that I joined this Sew out Loud quilt along
SOL QAL but who knew that the blocks were going to be so fabulous? I figured when I heard the talented bloggers involved that it would be good. Add to that the fact that it was going to a sewing themed set of blocks, use text fabrics and paper piecing? - what's not to love? I needed some practice on the paper-pieced blocks anyway, so this was perfect for me. Check out block one: Sew out loud QAL block 1 Is this not the coolest? It was so fun to do also. This one is designed by Julianna of the Sewing under rainbow blog. I can't wait for block 2.... I predict this will be the most talked about QAL of the year. Happy Sewing!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Ready for the sun!

Sunshine quilt Darn that groundhog for predicting more winter! Why is that always the way? I'm ready for some sun. Since I live in Oregon where I'm likely to see a few more months of rain before the sun really pokes out reliably, I've made myself a little piece of sunshine to keep in the house. We repainted the master bedroom before Christmas and I have been redecorating a bit in the there ever since. This lap quilt will be the perfect addition. Plus it makes me feel all sunshine-y and happy. All done and ready for the crinkle-induction wash and dry. Sunshine quilt This is Christina’s (the Sometimes Crafter) retro flowers quilt pattern for the most part except that I cheated a bit and used my accuquilt go baby drunkards path dye to cut out the pieces. So my blocks are really a tad smaller than called for in the pattern, but overall it doesn’t make much difference. Backyard baby fabric for the backing. I love that birch tree print and the colors are perfect. Sunshine quilt Now I just need to find me a good book….. Happy Sewing!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Presenting some bright cheery stars for the kitchen ~

Potholder Pass I made these for the potholder pass. My partner likes bright and cheery so I think they will like these. I am very reluctant to give them up, I love them so much myself. Certainly they are much nicer than any potholder that currently resides in our kitchen. Even my husband made a comment to that effect. Hmm, I think he may have been hinting around ~ I guess I will have to do something about that.

Potholder Pass I used the Sparkle Punch design from Elizabeth Hartman and just reduced the size of the squares. The squares were all cut to 1.5" so in the final pieced design, the squares are 1". I wanted it small so I could pack more stars into my 8" potholder.

Potholder Pass In the other potholder I used the Ribbon Star block that Faith (Fresh lemons quilts) posted on her blog as part of her Solstice Stars Series quilt-along. I wanted the star to be patchy, so I broke up the half-square triangles, into small 1" squares and then pieced them accordingly. I love the effect.

Potholder Pass I used a mix of different prints in bright hues paired with linen. I used Elizabeth Hartman's potholder tutorial for the overall design of the potholders including the pouch at the back. Now they are off to the post office for their little journey.

Also, I am joining the Sew Out Loud Quilt-along. This quilt along is being organized by Kirie (Shapemoth) and Julianna (Sewing under rainbow) and involves a score of quilt bloggers who will each be designing a sewing themed inspired block using text fabric. I'm so excited to see what these talented ladies come up with. I really love seeing the creative ways that quilters incorporate text into their blocks, so I'm looking forward to joining in on this QAL. I have been quietly building my text based fabric stash for quite a while now and this will be the perfect opportunity to use some of it up. Won't you join us? Just click on the box

SOL QAL

There are even some fabulous prizes to be had.

~Happy Sewing!