Once upon a time I found myself at JoAnn Fabrics.  I originally went there to purchase Juliana Horner's new fabric line Rosette.  Once I was there I decided that the fabrics did really read "me."  They are beautiful, but honestly just not my style, but since I was there, it wouldn't hurt to look around, right?  After spending some time browsing the bolts, I ran across that gorgeous yellow print above.  Then I discovered the other two coordinating prints.  They are all by Denyse Schmidt and are part of her DS Quilts line for JoAnn Fabrics.  Though, I do believe that two are from one line and one is from another, they all coordinate beautifully.  So I bought 3/4 yard of each (why that weird amount, who knows?) and headed home.  There the fabrics sat for a few weeks.

In the meantime I enrolled in Stitched in Color's Penny Sampler Class.  The very first project of the class is a pillow that featured a Dogwood Blossom applique on it.  Originally I had no intention of making it, but once I remembered I had bought these fabrics (and bought enough yardage) I knew it would make a beautiful pillow.  So here it is!  Just as pretty as I envisioned!

The background was free motion quilted in a simple stipple pattern using white thread on both the front and the back panels.  Then the applique was added on top.and features "the sketch stitch technique" that Rachel teaches in the class.  And yes, it is my new favorite thing to do and just perfect for applique blocks.  It really seals the edges of the applique and I KNOW that there won't be any raveling and no chance that it will come off in the future.  So awesome.  I used navy blue thread for the sketch stitch because those little dots on the blue fabric are actually dark blue.

I know that it appears like I followed directions to a "T" with this pillow, but alas I did not.  I don't think I am capable of following directions exactly like I am told.  The one thing I changed with this pillow was the applique technique that I used.  Basically in Rachel's class she teaches two applique techniques.  One for light colored fabric on top of dark fabric (where see through would be a problem) and the other for darker fabrics on top that won't show see through.  Because of the larger white flowers on the yellow print, you could see through to the blue fabric.  I didn't want to use the correct method because that would have entailed a trip to the store for missing supplies, and I really didn't want to go to the store.  So I figured out a way around it, and it worked GREAT for this pillow project.

I have a bolt of Pellon 50, which is a sew-in interfacing (it is NOT fusible.)  It is slightly see through (so I could trace the template onto it) and it is fairly stiff, around the stiffness of a cereal box, but thinner.  So I traced the template and cut out four petals from the interfacing.  I then took the yellow fabric and carefully ironed it around the interfacing template, once I was done ironing, the interfacing stayed inside, making a sandwich of sorts (finished edge fabric on top, interfacing in the center and the raw edges wrapped around to the back of the shape.) I then pinned the four petals to the background and stitched them on using the sketch stitch.  It worked out so well, no see through and the petals are slightly stiffer so they stand out a bit from the background.  This worked perfectly for a pillow, but this is not a technique I would use for a quilt, as it would just be too stiff for a quilt.

The only real mistake that I made was that I cut the pillow to the exact dimensions and then quilted it with the stipple pattern, well I didn't take into account that this quilting technique caused the fabric to "draw up and shrink a bit."  The finished pillow was supposed to measure 15" x 15" and would accept a 16" x 16" pillow form (so that it would look nice and plump.)  Well my finished pillow measured 14" x 14" and I JAMMED a 16" x 16" pillow form into it, so you can obviously see from the back view that it is overstuffed big time.  The front looks ok, but the back is lumpy.  I am hoping over time that it "settles in" a bit better.  We shall see...

I machine stitched on the binding and voila, it is a finished pillow that is now proudly displayed on my sofa next to the only type of indoor dog we shall ever have!  It certainly brightens the sofa and I just love this first project of the Penny Sampler Class!

Warning Photo Intensive Post!
Still playing catch up, but at least I am slowly chipping away at posting them! HA!  Here are blocks 22 - 27, I love all of them with the exception of number 25.  I think my fabric choices were wrong for this block, but I will leave it, it isn't horrible, just odd.  All of these blocks were easy to make, I think this chapter is probably the easiest in the book, just a bunch of straight lines and easy cuts.  So fun!  I actually love making these blocks, picking the fabric, putting it together, just so enjoyable.  A few more "catch up" posts and I will be officially caught up!  Fingers crossed!

Wondering what all of this is about?  Here are the details:
Book:  City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks by Tula Pink
Quilt Along:  Hosted by Sara over at Sew Sweetness
Flickr Group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/citysamplerquiltalong/
Blocks:  6.5" x 6.5" Featuring the fabric line Constellations by Lizzy House.

I wanted to pop in today to let you all know that Craft Book Month is here!  This great event is hosted by Craft Buds, basically you pick out one of your craft books (and you know you already own a ton) and make something!  Super simple, great fun, and you finally get to use that book that is gathering dust on your shelf.  I started making a simple list in my head and figured that I have made five projects from craft books this year and I'll be back on September 11th to share my latest creation on my stop of the blog hop!  All details of this event can be found below, I do hope you decide to join in!

Warning: Photo Intensive Post!
Ughhh....I'm playing catch up again, and the annoying part is that I have had these blocks completed for over a month, I just haven't had a chance to photograph or blog about them.  Oh well, I hope to spend this week catching up and getting current with showing off my blocks.  These blocks are the start of the second chapter, Rectangles.  All six of these blocks were fairly easy and straight forward.  I like them all equally with the exception of number 21, I think it had potential, but alas I am not too happy with that block.  I may redo it in the end, or leave it, we shall see.  Enough chitter-chatter, here are the blocks:

Wondering what all of this is about?  Here are the details:
Book:  City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks by Tula Pink
Quilt Along:  Hosted by Sara over at Sew Sweetness
Flickr Group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/citysamplerquiltalong/
Blocks:  6.5" x 6.5" Featuring the fabric line Constellations by Lizzy House.

The Triple-Zip Pouch Swap is officially over, for me anyway, and I have to say that this swap was so much fun.  Swaps on Flickr are always fun, speculating which pouch will end up as yours.  I tried really hard for this swap to comment on all pouches posted, and am happy to say that I did comment on the one that I received.  Awesome!  Before I show off my goodies that I received, I want to show you guys what I sent to my secret partner.  The photo above is what I sent to Tracy Hudson (Cece sews) and no worries, she has received her package so I'm not spoiling anything.  The package I sent included the triple zip pouch, note cards, post it notes, Aurifil thread samples, five text print fat eighths and a Moda mini charm pack of the fabric line Tapestry.  I tried to stick to a color theme with the fabric and thread, and I felt that it matched the pouch quite nicely.  I think she was happy with her package, so I am thrilled about that!

Now it is time to show off my goodies!  I honestly couldn't be more thrilled with my pouch!  It is so much my style and taste, honestly like I would make for myself!  This lovely pouch was made by the uber talented Alyce Rodriguez (wonderlandbyalyce) and she blogs HERE.  She totally stalked me, found out my favorites and totally rocked it!  I mean seriously, look how cute this pouch is!

Here is the back of the pouch, equally cute, and she was so smart to use a print that was multi-directional, so it worked for the front and back.

Here is the photo of my entire package!  How lucky am I?  I said that my favorite color was purple, so Alyce sent me some beautiful purple fabrics, none of which I had in my stash, and I love them all!  Such a cute notebook and candy that I scarfed down the first day! Sad but true! My pouch was stuffed full.  Thank you Alyce, such a nice present and a great end to such a fun swap!  Huge thanks to Stephanie at Quarter Incher for putting this whole swap together and doing so much hard work to make it successful!

Hello!  I feel like it has been ages since I have blogged, and I guess it has.  I've been busy stitching up a storm, plus the kids and I seem to live with a summer cold lately....yuck.  Anyways, earlier this year I participated in the Triple-Zip Pouch Sew Along hosted by A Quilter's Table, and the tutorial for the pouch can be found HERE.  At the time, I stitched up five finished pouches and cut out six more.  You can see and read about my first five HERE.  Well the extra six I cut out sat around for a while, but I grew tired of looking at the unfinished stack so I went ahead and finished them up.  Not long after finishing the final six I stumbled across Stephanie at Quarter Incher who decided to host a Triple-Zip Swap.  Well I just knew I had to sign up, how fun!

The basic premise for this blind swap (we have no idea who has our name) was that we were to make them a triple zip pouch and fill it with some goodies like notions, fabrics, you know that sort of thing.  Well since I have quite a few pouches already made, I knew that one was bound to be the perfect fit for my partner, because honestly I made eleven pouches that were pretty diversified, one had to be her tastes, or at least I was hoping so.

The swap is nearing its deadline to ship and I haven't posted anything for my partner yet, so I wanted to make sure and add an assortment to the Flickr group and hopes she responds as to which one she likes the best.  If not, then I'll make the ultimate decision, fill it with the goodies I have assembled and ship it off, hopefully later this week, or the beginning of next!  My partner was a bit vague, but I do have a pretty good idea of what she likes just by looking at her Flickr stream, I have my fingers crossed that I am on the right track.

Not all of these pouches shown here are up for grabs, some have been gifted to family members already, I pulled four pouches for her to choose from (or the Flickr group members to choose from!)   I just wanted to make sure I showed off all of the Triple-Zip Pouches that I made this year!  Such a fun tutorial and great gift, I know there will be more of these pouches in my future for sure!

Now that the summer is rapidly drawing to an end and my oldest starts Kindergarten soon, I am hoping to share some of my finished projects in the coming weeks with you guys, I have so much to blog about and oh so little time!  I do hope that once we get a good routine established again I'll be able to blog more frequently, fingers crossed!  Until next time, do enjoy your last bits of summer!

It is already the third quarter of the year, is anyone else depressed that the year is half way over.  *Huge Sigh*  Oh well, time to move on! I don't want to say that the second quarter was a bust, but it kinda was in terms of finishing things.  I believe I had high aspirations of 11 or 13 projects or something ridiculous like that, which obviously I didn't finish.  But....I did finish two.  I didn't link them up with the second quarter finish-a-long, simply because I haven't photographed them yet.  I finished two sets of pajamas for my boys and my Cosmic Burst Quilt.  I will post about them another time when the weather is right and the boys are behaving, so hopefully in the next three months! HA!  I was happy to at least cross two things off the list.

This quarter I am taking things a bit differently, instead of a long list, I am aiming for a smaller do-able one.  I actually finished up quite a few quilt tops last quarter and have all the backings put together too!  So here are my goals for quarter three:

Project One: Boom Boom Pow Quilt - This top is finished, the backing is finished.  I just have to baste, quilt and bind it.  This is a throw quilt that I plan to keep for myself!

Project Two: Dancing Stars Table Runner - The table runner top is finished and I have the backing ready to go.  The letters print will be the binding.  I need to baste it, quilt it and bind it.  This is to gift, but I don't have an intended recipient yet, I will just know when it is done, I'm sure.

Project Three:  Latticework Strings Quilt - This quilt top is finished and so is the backing.  I need to baste it, quilt it and bind it.  This is a throw quilt that also has no intended recipient, yet.

Project Four:  Emerald Cut Quilt - This odd sized wall hanging is all basted and ready to quilt.  This quilt will hang in my house when it is finished and will cover up a window that will be removed.  No rush, the window has not been removed, well not yet anyway!

Obviously, I will be doing a lot of quilting this quarter, but I have all of the supplies, so nothing should hold me up.  Linking up with Leanne at She Can Quilt and Never too hot to stitch! 2013 the Year of the Finished Project.

Rachel over at Stitched in Color is hosting a mosaic contest called Clashy Bright.  The basic point is to head over to Marmalade Fabrics, pick a collection of 12 that you define as "clashy bright."  This is my collection, I think I wanted to enter because I kinda define myself as clashy bright, and if you asked my husband, I'm sure he would agree.  Instead of just picking a bunch of random fabrics that would "clash" I chose fabrics that I think clash within themselves, especially the two ends on the very first row.  Those two are like, "Wow, these are some CRAZY colors mashed together in one print!"  I then choreographed the rest of the collection to match those two and stuck with a very defined palette that in the end I think is the definition of Clashy Bright!  Do you agree?

Last month, Threadbias announced they would be holding another quilt design contest featuring the fabric Wallflowers by Allison Harris.  I just knew I would participate.  I loved it last time so here was another chance to play around with the quilt design tool and some lovely digital fabric swatches.

I immediately knew that I wanted to try out some other ideas based on a recent quilt top that I finished up, a design that featured strings and a latticework design, which can be seen HERE.  Knowing that was my basis for the design, I wanted to see what a deliberate patchwork background would look like and if the block was even possible.  Well it was!  Once I had drawn up the block, the rest was easy, until I had to decide how I wanted the latticework to look.  Hmm....

My three ideas for the latticework can be see here.  My very first version started out with just random placement of the five larger scale prints from the collection.  That then transformed into a more deliberate placement of the fabrics, one that ended up with a predominant cross design, with a weaving of the other prints around it.  My second version featured the latticework all in one print, very traditional.  Lastly, I decided to lay out the five prints in a chevron like layout.  I liked this version a lot, but wasn't sold.  In the end I left the vote up to my mom and she decided that she liked the very first version, the one that featured the cross.  Be it that Mother knows best, that is the design that I entered into the contest.

Once again, this contest was really fun, and I loved playing with the Quilt Design Tool by Threadbias.  I used all of the prints from the collection and one of the solids that we were given the option to use.  Voting is open now in this contest, and if you have a free Threadbias account you can vote.  Please take a moment to hop on over and vote, I would love it if you would vote for mine, but honestly there are a ton of great entries, so vote for the one that you love the best!  Click on the image below to take you to the contest and there you will find the View Entries button!  Thank you to all the sponsors of this contest, I appreciate the chance to enter the contest and use the Quilt Design Tool.

Here we are at Week Five in the Zakka 2.0 Sew Along!  This week, the Diamond Patchwork Placemat, from the book Patchwork, Please! by Ayumi Takahashi.  I knew all along that I would be making four placemats and not just one, and boy am I glad that I did, they turned out so cute and really didn't take that long to make all four.

I used fabric from my stash with the exception of the 100% linen, which I bought from JoAnn's Fabrics.  I pre-washed the linen because I know that it tends to shrink a lot in the wash, but washed nothing else.  Hopefully that doesn't come back to haunt me one day.  The backing and binding is a Darlene Zimmerman 30's reproduction print that I have been holding on to for quite some time, I felt the scale and coloring was perfect for these placemats, especially since the backing wraps around to the front to create the binding.  I like that method, so quick and easy!

For some strange reason I have an insanely huge stash of kitchen and food prints.  I started pulling them for this project and after digging just a short time pulled out 25 prints.  I know I have more than that, that is just what I pulled out from light digging!  In the end I narrowed it down to just fruit, vegetable and Kawaii prints like the picnic and sushi themed ones.  I even used two of my HOARDED Spoonflower sample prints and cut them up!  It was the right decision, I just love them mixed in!

I didn't change much from the printed directions, just three little things.  First, I did not paper piece the diamond patchwork panels on either side, but rather just pieced them normally.  I can see why she recommended paper piecing, especially with the shiftiness of linen, but otherwise it worked out just fine.  Second, I used a pretty little lace on the side of my panels instead of the ric rac the author called for.  I wanted to use from my stash and this was the only suitable thing I had enough yardage of.  I rather like the look of lace, linen and a bunch of silly Kawaii prints.  Lastly, I did not spray baste as she suggested.  I didn't have any, so I just pinned, pinned, pinned!  You can obviously see that the front and back are not glued together simply by noticing the MILLION wrinkles all over.  Honestly the pictures make it look worse than it is, but they are there.

I quilted exactly as she suggested and I really like it, I used the binding directions that was suggested also.  I mentioned earlier, this is such a great method for this project.  In the detail shots below you can see a better example of my mitered corners, good and bad, which I machine stitched instead of stitching by hand.  They aren't perfect, but heck, they won't be perfect once food and drink gets spilled on them either!

Closing with a few detail shots of my favorite fussy cut blocks.  Love these little vegetable and fruit people, especially broccoli guy!  These are going to look so nice on my dining room table.

Details of the Sew Along:
Book:  Patchwork, Please! by Ayumi Takahashi
Sew Along: Hosted by LRstitched and A Quilter's Table
Project: Polka Dot Cafe Apron
Flickr Group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/patchworkplease/