LMS

A few arrows have joined the feathers I was working on last week and a quilt top has been pieced and quilted.

Both the feathers and arrows were paper pieced patterns that came together somewhat quickly.  Although paper piecing does take me a bit longer than traditional piecing.  I think it’s all the up/down, trim, press, snip, cut that goes on.  At least this time around none of my fabrics were cut too small.  There is nothing more annoying than when you get that piece sewn on only to realize that it doesn’t cover your seam allowance and then the paper falls off when you are fixing it cause its way too perforated…ha, you can tell I’ve been there done that a time or two!

For this quilt I decided to do some wavy straight line quilting.  This is such a fun take on traditional straight line quilting.  With all of the white space on this quilt I wanted something fun.  I marked off the lines in 1 inch increments.  After quilting all of them(the blue lines) I went back thru and quilted in between many of them.  I’ve found if I mark in 1 inch increments my walking foot fits perfectly in the middle so I can do 1/2″ increments if I want to without having to mark all of them.

I much prefer marking my quilt tops ahead of time for straight line quilting.  I know many people don’t mark or just mark a bit and then line up their foot for the remaining lines but I think I’m a little too picky about the “straightness” of my lines and I’m always happier when they are marked beforehand.  I love that my walking foot is almost exactly 1 inch wide as it does allow me to get away with less marking and still maintain perfect straight lines.

Today it’s a binding sort of day–and maybe a bit more marking on a different quilt top that my four year old is just itching to have completed. =)

And for those wondering, the wavy stitch is a #4 stitch on my Bernina set to a pretty wide width/length to make it curvy.

Linked up with WIP Wednesday.

Hey Folks!–Today we are enjoying day #2 of Spring Break–we kicked it off with a fun bit of snow yesterday–lots of snow & Spring Break, both events are equally as much fun for me now as they were when I was a kid.

Anyhoo, today I’m sharing my Petals Runner.

It’s in the current issue of Fons & Porters Easy Quilts.  This was another fun collaboration with RJR fabrics using fabrics from their line of Cotton Supreme Solids.

Love these colors!–And I think the back of the runner is just as cool as the front!

This is a great project if you are interested in trying out machine applique.  Gentle curves & a symmetrical template make this a breeze for a beginner.  I finished it off with a bit of straight line quilting–and voila!–a great spring project.

Happy Quilting!

Today I’m sharing another recent magazine project.  This is my “Buttoned Up” pillow for the winter 2013 issue of Stitch Craft Create.  It takes full advantage of two hot trends right now…chevron and buttons.  Plus it’s super easy and you can whip it up in a jiffy!

Did you know that you can buy fantastic assorted bulk buttons from the Martha Pullen store?

I had to take a screen shot of all these lovelies!–Aren’t they fabulous!  I have been itching to work with these buttons–so when Shannon, the editor of Stitch Craft Create, asked if I had any projects up my sleeve and offered to send me buttons to use for my Buttoned Up pillow idea I jumped at the chance.

I love the way it turned out!–a super fun and quick project.  I machine quilted my pillow top following the chevron pattern.  This was actually the trickiest part of making the pillow for me–some of the larger buttons were a little bit tricky to navigate around.

And just look at all the cute buttons–I love the little flower ones.  And I stacked some of them to give it a little bit more added interest.

My chevron pillow is currently sitting on this fun little chair.  This was another project I took on during my break.  I picked up two gnarly chairs from my local thrift store, painted them, and refinished the chair cushions.  Love the way they turned out.

I picked up the cushion fabric online here–it’s a home decor weight fabric by Cosmo Cricket for their Odds and Ends fabric for Moda.  It’s also available in aqua and in green.  It is a beautiful text print and was just what I was looking for–I may end up picking it up in another color way (or two).  This fabric is also available in quilting weight fabric–just as cute, but the print is much smaller.

If you’d like a Buttoned Up pillow of your own, this issue of Stitch Craft Create is in stores now.

Happy sewing!

Thanks everyone for stopping by during the MBS Sweet Celebrations Blog Hop!

The winner of my giveaway is Comment #344:

Congrats Sue Bone!  I’ll be in touch shortly!

If you weren’t a winner here at LMS, be sure to stop by all of the other blogs to see if you were a winner.  You’ll find a list of all of the participating blogs here.

And, you can now snag a MBS Sweet Celebrations book of your own on Amazon.

Happy Sewing!!

I’m always pumped when I get to share another finished project with you all!  This is my Fresh Forest quilt which I designed for the holiday issue of Stitch Craft Create.

Fresh Forest is made using Vintage Modern & Ruby fabrics–both by Bonnie & Camille for Moda.  This is the bundle of fabric that I used.

The quilting was done by Mary of Quilt Hollow.  She used an all over pattern which turned out beautifully.

Of course I went with a stripey binding–it totally reminds me of peppermints or candy canes…perfect for this quilt!

The folks over at Stitch Craft Create Magazine liked my design so much they asked me to make a 2nd quilt for them.  This time using Tilda fabrics.

I was very excited to work with the Tilda fabrics.  They’ve been on my radar for awhile now–they are fabulous in person.

Photo Courtesy of Stitch Craft Create

The kit for the Tilda version of Fresh Forest can be found here.

And of course, SCC has been kind enough to send me an extra issue of Stitch Craft Create to give away to a lucky reader.  Just leave me a comment!

Hello, Hello!–Welcome to any new folks stopping by and thank you to my faithful readers for swinging by my stop on the Sweet Celebrations Blog Hop!

I have been just itching to share more new with you about the 2nd Moda Bake Shop book coming out very soon.  Last fall, Lissa Alexander, invited me to participate in the book and of course that was a huge “yes indeed” & now I can finally share a bit more about the book.

Sweet Celebrations is a precut friendly book with projects for all of your favorite holidays.  And today, my celebration for the blog hop is Wedding!  Which is perfect because I just happen to have several wedding projects in the Sweet Celebrations Book…here’s a little peek:

I made a trio of “Love” pillows & a Wedding quilt using a.m.a.z.ing fabrics from Fig Tree’s, California Girl line of fabric.

As you can see, tons of great projects!

So, for the blog hop, Moda decided to do a little Q & A with questions from Oda May for each of the chefs.  So, without further ado..a little bit more about Little Miss Shabby.

1.  Do you prefer to celebrate with cupcakes, cake pops, or just plain old cake?  Hmmm…I gotta be honest I am not much of a cake person in general.  I can totally pass up cake at any event with no problem.  Now, the hubster is a white cake guy all the way…and let me tell you, do not mess with the wedding cake…in his eyes it is one of the key elements to a great wedding.

2.  Do your pets/kids/spouse help or hinder your creative process? Help for sure!–well, maybe not so much the pets…although she does make for cute photo ops(can you spot her?):

My daughter, Chloe was 100% the inspiration for this pillow:

after she showed me this adorable little water color painting she made:

3.  If you could have a quilt shop spree, which items would you snag off the shelf?  I’m going to go with future items because it always seems like I am waiting on a fabric line to come out.  So, I would snag some Honey Honey by Kate Spain(I’ve seen a couple prints in person and they are fabulous!):

And, I’m also itching to see Bonnie & Camille’s next line of fabric after Marmalade.  I actually had a dream about it last night(seriously, I’m not the only one who dreams about fabric, right?).  It was an aqua, brown, orange line–they were going a more boyish route.  And it had the same tree fabric in the line as Just Wing It by Momo for Moda.  Craziness, right!?!

4.  What have you gained from the online quilting/sewing world?  What a vibrant community first of all!  I think the main thing I have learned is to just go for it, dive in & have fun…you can do it.  Too often, I think we sell ourselves and our skills short.

5.  What is your favorite part of quilting – fabric selection, piecing, quilting, binding, and why?  Definitely fabric selection…I love putting together stacks of fabric…I mean, seriously…

Bella by Lotta Jansdotter for Windham Fabrics

I actually began purchasing fabric before I ever touched a sewing machine or knew how to sew.

Now, as part of this blog hop, each chef was asked to share a recipe with you that corresponds to their assigned celebration.  Well, if you remember my celebration was wedding…and when we think wedding, we all think cake!  Well, as we learned earlier, I am soooo not a cake eater, however…I have a favorite cake…and it is one that is requested often to be made by my mom…it’s an old family recipe for Oatmeal Cake.  Just thinking about the ooey gooey delight that is this cake, makes me want some. =)

There you have it–a little bit of fluff about Little Miss Shabby–and now on to some more fun…

It’s Giveaway Time!

To enter to win a copy of Sweet Celebrations and a Moda Fat 8th Bundle, just leave me a comment.

Comments are now Closed.

(*Note: Only entrants with U.S addresses are eligible to win the actual book.  Winners with addresses outside the U.S. will win the e-book version).

You have from now until October 14 to leave a comment–winners will be announced on October 19.

Be sure to hop along to all of the other chefs’ blogs on the Blog Hop to enter to win a copy of the Sweet Celebrations book and some fantastic fabric.  You will be able to collect all of the yummy recipes on your hop as well. =)  A complete list of participating blogs is listed here.

I have received numerous questions recently about using Perle Cotton for quilting whether by hand or by machine.  So, I thought I’d talk a bit about the two techniques.

The Faux Sashiko pillow(pictured above) that I designed for the fall issue of Stitch magazine was machine quilted using Perle Cotton.  This is a great time saving trick, but one I would really only reccommend on smaller projects–my machine gets a bit cranky when using the heavier weight thread and I certainly wouldn’t want to attempt it on a larger quilt.

When I machine quilt using Perle, I only use the Perle for my top thread–the bobbin thread is regular thread.  I use 8 wt. Perle cotton–although 12 wt. might make my machine a bit happier with me.  I always lengthen my stitches–I usually set my stitch length as long as I can on my Bernina.  And I manually pull the thread off the Perle cotton spool so my machine doesn’t have to work so hard.  I leave my tension at the same setting I would use for regular sewing.

My Fall Petals Pillow is hand quilted using 8 wt. Perle Cotton.  Hand quilting with Perle Cotton is essentially the same thing as hand quilting with quilting weight thread.  The technique is the same, but you take longer stitches and you get to use prettier thread. =p

There are a lot of great resources for hand quilting–one of my favorites is from Mary.

Appliqued Pillow

 I almost exclusively use Finca Perle Cotton which I can now purchase locally.  Prior to purchasing locally, I purchased online from Yarn Bazaar.  I was able to purchase a color card from them which is a wonderful tool if you are unable to view the thread colors in person.

Machine Quilted Journal Cover

 Hopefully this answers some of your burning questions about quilting with Perle Cotton! =p

I am very excited to once again have gotten the opportunity to work with Stitch Craft Create Magazine. =)  My Fall Petal Pillow is featured in the Fall 2012 issue which just came out.

We all know that I’ve kinda got a “thing” for applique and hand quilting.  This pillow combines the best of both worlds.  And I always love working with fall colors–and that unexpected pop of blue just works so well in my opinion.

There are so many cute projects in this issue of SCC…paper, yarn, fabric, felt, thread…I think that’s why I like this mag so much!  It’s just got a ton of cuteness going on–and as a mama who loves crafting, with a 7 year old daughter who loves crafting, we always find cute new projects we want to try & new inspiration on every page.

Can I tell you how much I enjoy being able to use Flea Market Fancy for binding!–No fear of not being able to buy more…at least for now…which is perfect, ’cause I love that little posey as a binding.

Shannon, the editor of Stitch Craft Create Magazine, was kind enough to send along an extra Fall issue for me to give away to one of my readers!  If you haven’t checked out Stitch Craft Create Magazine yet, or if you have and you’re addicted to it (like me), just leave me a comment for a chance to win a copy of your own. =)

Today’s the day folks!  My cohorts and I are kicking off the Fusion Blanket Crochet Along with some great giveaways. =)

If you remember in one of my posts I mentioned that a layer cake would work perfectly for this project…so, I am giving away one layer cake of Martinique by 3 Sisters for Moda.

Cindy and Deb will be co-hosting the Crochet Along and they are also hosting giveaways on their blogs.  So make sure to stop by their blogs for a chance to win more fun giveaways.

Also, make sure to join the Fusion Blanket Crochet Along Group on Flickr.

And you can snag the crochet along button from my sideabar for your blog.—>

To enter my giveaway, just leave a comment on my blog.  Comments are now closed.

 Make sure to stop by Cindy & Deb’s Blogs to enter the other giveaways!  The giveaway winners will be announced next Monday followed by the first Fusion Blanket Crochet Along post on Tuesday.

As a reminder, here are the project supply requirements

• Charm Squares–You will need to decide how big you want your blanket to know how many charm squares you’ll need.  My completed (crocheted) block measures 6.5″ square.  So, I’m thinking maybe 52″ x 65″(a nice throw size).  I will need 80 completed squares ( my blanket will be 8 squares x 10 squares) which means I’ll need 160 charm squares.  The equivalent of 4 charm packs or 1 layer cake.
• Yarn–I picked up 3 skeins.  I will need to purchase more as I go.  I am not concerned about the dye lot varying a bit.  If you are, make sure to purchase plenty of yarn, or purchase yarn without a dye lot.  You could also opt to use different colors of yarn.
• Crochet Hook–Pick up the recommended crochet hook for the yarn you are using.  I am using a lighter weight yarn & the recommended hook is G which is what I purchased.
• Perle Cotton or Crochet Thread–This is for the blanket stitch around the outside edge.  For my trial block I used 8 wt. Perle Cotton which works great.  For my Marmalade blanket I will be using Crochet Thread–it’s a little bit more cost effective & I am all about that.

And of course, the original Fusion Blanket Pattern by Sewing Daisies.

Chloe, my almost 7 year old!, was playing with her Leapster and she decided to make a quilt block.  This is what she came up with…very proud of my little quilt makin’ Chloe!  I took her design on over to EQ7 and this is what the block looked there:

Then I let her color in her block in EQ7.  This is what she came up with:

I took her block and put it into a quilt layout & voila! Chloe’s first ever quilt design:

Cool, right?!?

I don’t know that Chloe will end up being so into fabrics/quilts like I am but that girl does love herself a good craft project!  She did tell me that when she grows up she will have a fabric store and I can work there.  However, she’s also told me that she wants to “be a vet, or a teacher, or maybe I’ll just get a husband”. =p