paper piecing

One fun thing about testing blocks for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks is the variety of techniques I get to try. You might paper piece one block, then applique the next.  Lately I've been getting into paper piecing, and I love how precise and crisp points can be!  I signed up for a pp class this summer with Penny Layman (of sew take a hike)! Yay! I also just joined a paper piecing bee on flickr. (because I am insane and think I have way more free time than I actually do.)

This paper pieced block is called Santa Fe Star, for obvious reasons :) Block #615 by Eileen Fowler. I'm going to quilt it and make a pillow for my Nana, who loves this kind of stuff.

another block that used some paper piecing is #621, Point Taken, by Pam McMahon.  I hadn't thought of combining paper piecing with patchwork, but it's an easy way to make those triangle points!

don't forget about the giveaway for a copy of Vol. 7! you can go here to enter, or just scroll down to the next post ;) and be sure to check out all of the other giveaway at sew,mama,sew!

giveaway time!

giveaway is over - thanks!
ah, giveaway day. time to grab a cup of coffee and spend an enjoyable morning visiting lots of new blogs and entering to win amazing prizes.

if you're new here, welcome! my name is tammie, and i try to make something every day. as a busy momma, sewing in bits and pieces is the only way i get anything done. i often host giveaways and fabric swaps, so be sure to follow me so you don't miss out on any of the fun!

today i have a copy of the new Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 7 for one lucky winner! i'll also include some FQs of vintage sheet fabric from my huge collection. :)

to enter, choose entry options from the rafflecopter widget below. i'd love to know your favorite potluck side dish, we have several BBQs coming up and i need some new ideas! (just leaving a comment doesn't enter you, you still need to use the rafflecopter to record your entry.) US shipping only, giveaway ends may 10 at 5pm PST, and winners will be notified by email. good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

block show & tell

Quiltmaker's blog tour for 100 Blocks Vol. 7 continues all week - don't forget to check in daily and visit the different stops! Here's another block I tested for the issue, this one is called Spinwheel and it's by Cindy Lammon.

 

i also want to share a project i learned about recently. if you have orphan blocks you don't know what to do with, there's a group collecting them to make quilts for people undergoing chemo. you can read more about it at their blog, quilts for chemo.

here's some other blocks i've been working on. april for bee vintage, lattice blocks for emily:

and garden gate blocks for pam:

now to get to the post office...

kona heaven

i can't believe i haven't showed you guys this yet. look what came the other day!

my prize from robert kaufman's facebook page. it is awesome.

i kind of want to dump them in a pile and roll around in them. is that weird?

um, probably a little. never mind.

they also included the book we love color, which has projects from some of my favorite quilters. i actually got to see a few of these quilts in person at spring market last year. i need to finish up a few things so i can start a new quilt!

the color card is going to be so helpful. the day before i found out i won, i had decided to bite the bullet and order one. it was such a funny coincidence! i love rachel's idea of cutting the pieces up so you can see how they look together - but for now i'm leaving it in my binder.

i am super excited about these hexie packs! they sent me a couple different color packs. i would like to say that i will take them along to ball games this summer, and patiently epp while i watch three different ball teams play. but keeping two eyes on a 2 and 5 year old doesn't leave much time for sitting. :) this summer will be the most challenging yet, with emma playing softball, alex playing 8 & under, and zach playing tball. we'll have some traveling to do for some of the games. maybe i can stitch in the car on the way to games. crossing my fingers...

anyways, a huge hug, kiss, and thank you to robert kaufman fabrics for this amazing bundle of fabric heaven. don't be mad if i just pet them for awhile. i promise to use them. someday.

get 'em while they're hot!

quiltmaker's 100 blocks volume 7 is officially available. (although you may not be able to find it in your store until may 7th.)

I've spent the morning sipping coffee from my mug and looking at all the blocks. head over to the quilty pleasures blog for their blog tour and enter to win a big prize bundle! you can also see some of the blocks that are in the issue.

like this one I tested, the pattern is called Pay Day.  I used some Kona, Amy Butler, and DS Quilts fabrics. I'll be sharing some of my other favorites all week long!

and don't forget, sewmamasew's giveaway day starts one week from today! i'll be participating so be sure to stop back then. have a great week and happy sewing!

what can i say, i'm a joiner

so i joined the local pieces and patches quilt guild! i'd been to a couple of their special events, but hadn't attended any meetings. (they meet in the mornings, which requires a baby sitter.)

last month, jenifer was giving a trunk show and applique workshop, so i made arrangements to be there. she's a great speaker and teacher!

it was fun seeing some of jenifer's more traditional quilts, as well as her latest, more modern ones. and then i took her invisible applique workshop (for the 2nd time), and i think i finally have the technique down!

this month's meeting was yesterday, and we had a miniature quilt show from florence milliman. (shout out to my bff stacey for watching the boys!)

she does amazingly teensy paper piecing! seriously, look at these minis. she said there's usually more fabric on the back than the front.

sorry for the blurry pic!

we have a quilt show coming up, for the annual square fair may 11. i'm planning to show a couple of quilts, but i need to add sleeves to them for hanging. i'm going to try to get those done this weekend, plus one of them needs a label! i also promised i'd run a 5K saturday morning, so here's hoping i don't injure myself. have a great weekend everyone!

brr!

another chilly week here in kansas! they are even saying snow, ugh. we haven't started our gardens yet - other than pulling a few weeds and planting my hanging baskets, and troy mowed for the first time. i have a few tulips and daffodils blooming too. so it sort of looks like spring. and our daughter emma had her 1st communion yesterday :)

packages keep rolling in for the denyse schmidt charm swap!

i realized the other day that i'll be sorting 6272 charms.  ok, written down, that sounds insane. if you've never hosted a swap before, i probably just guaranteed that you won't in the future. haha! there are 112 yards of denyse schmidt fabric being cut up into charms. just doing our part to keep fabric makers in business.  if you're in the swap and haven't sent your charms yet, don't forget the deadline is may 1st.

we have a kcmqg swap coming up too. the only requirements are that it can't be a potholder, mug rug, or pincushion (because we've swapped those before) i'm thinking a tote would be fun, but i'm not sure i will have time to get anything done before the next meeting. i suppose i should get to work! i am catching up on bee blocks and working on a super fun secret project. what are you working on this week?

exciting

quiltmaker's 100 blocks vol. 7 is coming out soon! my issue came yesterday, and lookie here:

that's me! i was on one of the block testing teams. ok, it's not as exciting as if my work was in the magazine. but still, fun to see my name in print!

and i will finally be able to share some of the blocks i made over the past few months. it feels weird to have "secret" projects that i can't share yet.  i tell you guys everything ;)

the blog tour starts april 29, and i'll post more about it then.

in other exciting news, i got an email that i still can't believe! robert kaufman fabrics was having a fan appreciation giveaway on their facebook page. and i won! not just any old prize either.

(image borrowed from the RK facebook page)

it includes a giant box of kona, hexagons, the book we love color, a color card...

i'm already planning some quilts. and my husband wants me to buy a lottery ticket.

my trip is almost over

do you ever have a quilt that you just get tired of before you actually finish? my scrappy trip along is one of those. i loved churning out the blocks, but didn't actually like it in the end. so i decided to sash it and break the blocks up a bit.

i used a polka dot sheet i found on clearance, cut 2 1/2" strips, and quickly stitched it together.  i'm going to use the same sheet for the backing, and a scrappy binding.

it's far from perfect, but it will make a homey quilt for the family room. so, top finished. into the "to be quilted" pile, and on to new exciting projects!

this and that

this month is already flying by!  i've had a little time to do some stitching though. a block here, a block there. and i started a quick project.

i began with this stack of FQ from my stash. most of the prints are dear stella petal pushers, but i swapped a girl on flickr for the owls, which are an older alexander henry print.

then i used the colorblock quilt pattern from bijou lovely. this is a great pattern to highlight fabrics you don't want to cut into bits. plus it's fast, which is a bonus for a baby quilt.

it would be finished, except the yellow i chose from my stash for my center strip was cut crooked on both ends. by the time i squared it up, it was a few inches short of what i needed. i have the greens in the picture, they work too, but i'd like to stick with yellow. i'd also like to avoid piecing the center strip. marmalade fabrics will be at our guild meeting tomorrow night, so i'm hoping i can find something there that will work.

and yesterday i started on a tank top for me! yes, you read that right. i am selfishly making something just for me. i'm trying the new look pattern (6026) out on an older robert kaufman kitschy kitchen print. but if it fits well, i have 2 yards of denyse schmidt meadowlark floral, waiting on the sidelines. so far so good, i just need to finish the straps. the pattern is kind of confusing but i'm figuring it out. also, pattern sizing makes me feel quite fat. so thanks, pattern people. :)

and here's a quick share. emma wrote and illustrated a story for the PBS Kids writer's contest! I am mailing it off today(the very last day for submissions, of course) and crossing my fingers for her. they show some of the stories during the after school programs, and i'd be so excited for her to see her story on tv! plus i'm just super proud of her for doing this on her own.

happy easter!

hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! we celebrated as we always do - with a huge potluck lunch, egg hunt, and kick ball game at the church hall.  it was a gorgeous day, full of sunshine, candy, and well behaved children. :)


i have a few bee blocks to share. sawyer took a long nap one afternoon, and it was nice to just stitch.

i worked on bee vintage blocks first. for josie, a scrappy tree! she's making a wall hanging, so raw edges were ok, thank goodness. i'm still pretty new at applique. she mentioned she loves owls. i used wonder under to hold the leaves in place. i'd like to try it again using the freezer paper method...

nikki wanted scrappy triangles.  these are made with film in the fridge's tutorial, and are simple and fun. she let us choose any solids we wanted for the outside, and so her finished quilt will be a rainbow of colors.

for the inspire group, we're doing a sort of framed floral for april's block. i made this one, and still need to do another. i don't know the name of the fabric, but i love how the centers have different prints.

i took an applique class from jenifer last week, and made a sweet little apple. today i finished up the rest of the block.

i started to quilt it but can't find my walking foot anywhere. i gave it a try, but it's puckering.  i'll probably rip out the stitches and try again with the right tool.

i still have a few more blocks to catch up on. plus some UFOs I'd like to knock out. what are you stitching today?

snowed in!

with all the kids home for spring break, it's been busy! we tried to make it a fun week for the kids, with play dates, soccer games, movies, and sleepovers. we even visited a 4H petting zoo!  they had baby goats and pigs, so adorable! it got me thinking about getting baby chicks...

zach is doing great at soccer, and i love watching those prek - kgtn kids run around and fall down :)  sawyer's kind of a handful at the games, so i was glad it fell on troy's day off this week! nice to have an extra set of hands.

i am not used to that much activity in one week, so i'm looking forward to a quiet day at home today.   good thing, because we got a bunch more snow and the roads are closed.

i did manage to finish up a couple of random items that have been taking up space on my table.

my sweet friend patty gave me some of her quiltcon swag, including this printed calendar from spoonflower. i decided to bind it with some aqua gingham, and used some command strips to tack it to the cabinets in the kitchen! i'd been looking for something fun for that spot!  and seriously, what did we do before those command strips? they are amazing. i did the binding by machine, it goes so fast that way. (and it's not as crooked as it looks in that photo, must be the angle.)

then i stitched up these nursery rhyme panel books. these have been in my stash for several years, i made two and then forgot about the others. i'm sending one to my niece and gave one to sawyer. emma reads to him every night at bedtime, it just melts my heart.

i got another scrappy trip block done, and i've got just one more to do before i call it good and start stitching them together. pics to come!

denyse schmidt charm swap

sign ups are open! come read the rules and join the flickr group before it fills up! we're full, thanks!

charm madness

I love fabric charms. I love swapping them, I love sewing with them, and I love tutorials for fun new ideas! Have you heard about the Charm Madness blog hop? It started on Monday so I'm a few days behind, but with the kids on spring break we've had a busy week!



There are weekly giveaway drawings at the Sew Lux blog. You can link up your own charm projects between 3/23 to 4/6. And then enter the Grand Prize giveaway April 7th and 8th by counting up how many charms used in all of the blog hop tutorials.  She's even included a chart to help you track :) Lots of stuff to do and prizes to win!

And you also get an automatic 10% off all charm packs and mini charm packs at Sew Lux Fabrics but hurry! It ends 3/22!

And, a somewhat related topic.  I recently participated in an Amy Butler charm swap, and an Anna Maria Horner charm swap.  Which led me to thinking, why not a Denyse Schmidt charm swap? Is this something you'd be interested in? I'm planning it out right now, so look for more details, or leave me a comment if you want in!

And again, somewhat related: I mentioned hosting a rainbow swap again. I have put that on hold for now, but you can join in the KC Rainbow layer cake swap! We need a few more people so if you'd be interested, go sign up at the flickr group! You'd need two, 1 1/2 yard cuts of fabrics, in two assigned colors.  They need to be quality quilting cotton, no Joann's or Walmart stuff. You'll cut them into 10" squares, mail them with a SASE to my friend Nikki, and get back a rainbow of layer cake squares! Check it out or send me a msg if you have questions!

the boardwalk skirt

i recently had the chance to test the boardwalk skirt pattern for andrea of GoTo Patterns. it's part of the sun & surf collection at pattern anthology. it's now available for a limited time, along with some other really cute designs!

i made this for my daughter emma. i used the size eight pattern, and it fits well. she will probably be wearing this a lot this spring!

i love that this pattern goes from 6 months all the way to 14 years.

it was a fun skirt to make. i will definitely make another, in better fabrics. we had a very short window for testing, and it was during the time i was snowed in for several days! i just used some random fabrics from my stash. the outer skirt is a lightweight yellow and pink stripe, and the underskirt is a floral quilting cotton. i fancied up my ruffle with crocheted lace on top of the cotton ruffle.  so emma got a new skirt and i used up two fabrics from my stash! win win!

National Quilting Day

Everyday is quilting day if you ask me! But it's nice to have an official day to honor it.

 

Want to celebrate at home? Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, hosts of The Quilt Show, are opening up free access to over 140 of their shows! Friday, March 15, through Sunday, March 17, visit their site and have a look. There will be terrific prizes from companies like Bernina, Gammill, Superior Threads, AccuQuilt, C&T Publishing, & RJR Fabric.  They will have gift baskets to give away too.  The grand prize is a new Bernina 550QE sewing machine! I'm planning to win that though, so don't get your hopes up ;) You can enter the contest here.

There's also a free pattern at the National Quilting association's website!

However you decide to celebrate it, enjoy your quilting day!

fresh fabrics

sew, mama, sew! has started their fat quarter idol contests again!

it's so fun browsing the fabrics and narrowing my choices!  last week's theme was "fresh", and i suppose i should have been looking at spring colors. (that is what they wanted :) but i'm crushing on this tree rings print from timber & leaf, so i started there.

what do you think? i didn't make it to the voting but i still love my bundle! and i can't wait to see what the next theme is...

fabrics, from top left, are all available at sew, mama, sew:
historic tile canary~notting hill
cameo grey~gabbie
topograph tangerine~architextures
leather~essex yard dyed

crosshatch white~architextures
scratch primrose~summersville spring
cell structure algae~field study
mercer dot navy~mecca for moderns

city planting tan~habitat
fois bois shadow~camp modern organic
tree rings blue~timber & leaf
twirl mustard~frippery