LMS

I apologize in advance if you have received several notifcations from me today!–I was having some email glitches but I think all is well now!

I really enjoy working with the folks over at P&B Textiles.  I have worked with a number of their collections of fabric over the past year–while I enjoy working with all of them sometimes one comes along that really catches my eye.

Village Green by Carolyn Gavin is one such line:

Photo Courtesy of pbtex.com

I have purchased Carolyn’s fabrics in the past–I’ve used her seed pod fabrics from Wild Thyme in a number of different projects.

Seed Pods from Wild Thyme

Probably my fave project made using these little seed pods is my cathedral window pillow I made for my partner during a round of the Pillow Talk Swap over on flickr:

So, when the opportunity arose to work with Carolyn’s latest line of fabric, I was pumped.  And the fabrics are so cute–trees, birdies, houses…really cute.

I really like the trees print as well as the little ditsy floral print:

I knew right away I wanted to play off the fabric theme…and Urban Village was born.

This  quilt combines piecing and applique & the free pattern is available here.

I played around with the pattern a bit this morning in EQ7 to check it out in another fabric line.  And I think it’s very cute in Bonnie & Camille’s Happy Go Lucky line.

Hope you are having a fun productive Friday!  If you make an Urban Village quilt I’d love to see it!

It’s not very often that I choose to work (or get to work with such a non-girly palette).  These are solids from my stash–I’m not sure what they all are–I’ve got Art Gallery solids, Amy Butler Solids, Kona & Bella all mixed in there.  I can tell you that the 2nd from the bottom solid is a Moda Bella solid–I think it might be my favorite aqua ever!–It’s a soft eggshell aqua that I dearly love.

Feathers are all the rage right now & I’ve had this quilt on the back burner for awhile now.  The pattern is one I drafted–an easy little paper pieced number.

I have another fun little paper pieced block that I’ll be adding to my cute little feathers.  These little blocks are the perfect rainy Monday project!

What’s on your agenda for today?

I told my mom today that I pulled some fabrics for a project that I thought she might like.  She told me me I should snap a picture and zap it on over to her–I decided to share it here as well.  We’ll see what she thinks…it might be too colorful…but, I dig them nonetheless.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with RJR’s Cotton Supreme Solids recently–they are so lovely.

From left to right:

Turk & Caicos

Riviera

Kelly Green

Clover

Elephantastic Pink

Just Peachy

Ochre

Straw

Yellow Ground

Even the names are fun. =)

Last week, I spent some time trying to get some good shots of Miss Elonie.  I find that I have a lot of pictures of this:

SummerLove Bundle

But, not as many of my girlies.  Chloe’s last week of school was last week so, while she was learning Elonie and I had a couple photo shoots outdoors.  We had some great cloudy days–you can always get the best photos on cloudy days so I took advantage.

I had to take this picture of Elonie:

because, 2 years ago, I took this picture of Chloe:

And another picture of my little goober:

In that photo she’s standing under our weeping peach tree.  It grows teeny little peaches about the size of grapes.  She loves to pick them off and stick them between the spare tire and the tail gate on the back of our jeep.  I went to the grocery store over the weekend and noticed about 10 of them on the ground in the parking spot after I got there–hopefully they weren’t sailing out behind me as I drove down the road–I didn’t hear any unhappy honking as I drove so I think all was well.

I did manage to snap one fabric picture in the last couple of days.

Some fabrics that I’m auditioning for a little stitchery I drew up.  I adore that birch print, it’s a new addition to my stash as well as the Summersville print.

Sunday afternoon we hit the pond, for some fishing with the family.

Finally, after several fishing trips, Chloe snagged her first fish.

Followed by 4 more.  She’s quite the little fisher girl.

Hope your weekend was wonderful as well!

On the right of Ryan’s work truck, there lives a pile of dirt.  Compiled from countless trips on muddy roads, this small pile of dirt is a favorite of a small girl.

It is super fine dirt, very soft–perfect for running through your fingers and letting it blow in the wind.

This small pile of dirt will entertain a little girl for hours.

And cover little toes and jeans with dusty goodness. =)

The simple joys of childhood.

I always find it interesting to see what fabrics other people are anxiously awaiting.  Last week, Lynne  blogged about anxiously awaiting Sweetwaters new line “Mama Said Sew”–I found this intriguing.  I know there are a lot of people waiting on pins and needles for Lu Summers “Summerville“–again, very interesting.  I love taking a peek into quilty bloggers fabric wants.  So, I thought I’d share some of the upcoming lines I can’t wait to see.

Bella by Lotta Jansdotter looks fantastic–for fans of Echo, I think these are must haves.

A Little Bit of My Echo Stash

I often get asked about my stash of Lecien Antique Flower whenever I post pictures of it or use some in my projects:

Antique Flower on the Right

 I was excited to see that it is being reprinted–I have had my stack of fabrics for probably 5 years or so–it’s been out of print for quite awhile.

I’m pretty excited about Aneela’s Cherry Christmas line:

And Sweetwater has a 2nd line of fabric, Lucy’s Crab Shack, coming out this year.

I am totally stoked about Tasha’s debut line of fabric for Riley Blakc:

And Seaside is looking pretty amazing as well:

What fabrics are you anxiously waiting on? =)

Wow!–First off, thanks everyone for the positive response to my Triangle Toss quilt!  It’s been a crazy couple of weeks as I wrap my head around some new opportunities–hence, the lack of blogging.  Ever have too much to blog about so you just don’t?…that’s me right now. =)

Also, for those of you who might be making the Triangle Toss quilt, I noticed(thanks to a blog reader for pointing it out!) that there is an update to the cutting instructions here.

Now, on to something else fun!

On May 15, 2010 I sent out a starter block and journal to the first member in the Quilting Journey Round Robin Bee.  My block and journal have traveled from person to person around the world with each person adding a block and journaling and then sending the package onto the next person.

The block instructions were simple:  make a block in the same style as mine, using the multi polka dot fabric I included and add coordinating fabrics from your stash.

And, after almost 2 years, my blocks and journal have arrived safely at home.  I have an incredible journal–filled with stuff like this:

and this:

and:

And wonderful blocks from all around the world…Australia, Germany, Canada, & the US

Thanks so much Quilting Journey ladies!

Now, I need to decide how I want to put this bad boy together.  With all of the color and craziness it seems like it needs some kind of sashing–but, as soon as I put sashing in, it puts such a harsh border around each of the blocks which I don’t care for.  I might need to play around a little bit with sashwork color choices so the sashing doesn’t become such a focal point.

Any suggestions?

I was fortunate enough to be contacted by Cindy of Live a Colorful Life to see if I’d be interesting in trying out some Superior Thread.  Well, I’m always up for trying out a new product and a great thread can mean the difference between a stellar project or time spent with a seam ripper…if you know what I mean! =p

I opted to try the MasterPiece Thread:

MasterPiece Cotton Thread
MasterPiece by Alex Anderson. Nature’s finest thread. #50 extra-long staple Egyptian-grown cotton for piecing, detail quilting, bobbin, lace, and applique. Very smooth with virtually no lint.

I’ve had a chance to work with this thread for several days now and my first impressions have been great.  I pieced the block above using this thread and was very happy with the thread–it’s very lightweight & smooth.  My Bernina gets a little bit snaggy about certain types of thread but, so far has been getting along great with the Superior Thread.  The recommended needle for this thread is a Topstitch 80/12 which I’m sure most of you have on hand all of the time.

I’ve also been using this thread to quilt my Pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap–although not advertised as a quilting weight thread, I wanted to use a thread that would bury itself nicely and I have been happy with the results.  I’ll share pictures of that project with you a bit later.

Giveaway Time!

I have two spools of Superior MasterPiece thread to give away.  Just leave a comment on this post and I’ll choose a winner Friday.

My niece, Ashley, thought this thread was pretty darn cool.

Kid Tested, Mother Approved! =)

Be sure to check out all the other Leap Day Superior Thread Giveaways going on in blogland today for more chances to try out this thread:

Shabby Heart Pillow

Welcome to Day 10 of the Simply Charmed Blog Hop hosted by Melissa of Happy Quilting!  I’m so excited to be playing along–have you guys seen some of the great projects & tutorials? – so cute!

Each blogger was given the challenge of making a Valentine’s project using one charm pack from Deb Strain’s Always and Forever line of fabric.

I, of course, thought of a pillow right away–you know me! =p

My girls are always looking for little projects to work on while I am sewing–so I try to think up little things they can make–usually utilizing my scrap bin, various threads, fabric glue, you get the picture.  The pillow I designed for today’s tutorial was inspired by a little project that my girls made earlier this year.

They made these little heart door knob hangers–nothing fancy–but so much fun for little fingers–equally fun, digging around in mama’s scrap bin and cutting bits of fabric.  It looked fun enough I wanted to give it a whirl myself…hence, the Shabby Heart Pillow.

Shabby Heart Pillow

Supplies:

• 1 Always and Forever Charm Pack
• 1/2 yard background fabric, cut into a 12.5″ square, a 13″ square, and a 9.5″ x 12.5″ rectangle (this will be the pillow top background, pillow top backing, and a portion of the pillow backing
• 1/4 yard lightweight fusible web (I use heat n bond lite)
• 13″ square low loft batting
• 12″ pillow form
• coordinating thread(s)
• fusible spray adhesive

Begin by cutting out a heart shape from the fusible web.  I lightly folded a 9″ square in half and then cut out 1/2 of the heart (you know, the old school method of heart cutting) to keep the heart even.  Make sure not to press the fusible too tightly together when you fold it as it has a tendancy to stick together.

Cut {12} 2.25″ strips from 12 of the charm squares & set aside the strips.  These will be used for the scrappy binding.  This will be enough to bind a 12″ pillow–cut more strips for a larger pillow or wider strips if you prefer wider binding.

Now comes the fun part!  Lightly spray the fusible side of the heart cut-out with spray adhesive.  Cut small squares/rectangles of fabric from the charm squares and layer them onto the heart–because you have sprayed the heart with fusible they will stick in place.  You want the little bits of fabric to overlap slightly, but not too much.  Continue until you have completely filled the heart.

Once the heart is filled, iron into place.  I first pressed from the right side and once all of the fabrics were adhered, I flipped the heart over and gave it a press from the paper side.  When working with fusible web you want to make sure everything is securely adhered but you don’t want to over iron as the adhesive will lose it’s “stick”.

Trim away the fabrics that are hanging over the edge of the paper.  Peel away the paper backing.

Center and iron the heart onto the 12.5″ pillow background.  Layer the 13″ pillow top backing wrong side up, the 13″ batting, and the pillow top right side up.  Using spray adhesive, baste the layers together.  You are now ready to quilt the pillow.  Because of all the loose edges, I opted to do a small machine stipple to secure them.  After stippling, I machine quilted an outline around the heart using 8 wt. perle cotton.  When machine quilting with perle cotton I use regular thread in the bobbin and perle on top and set a longer stitch length.

The pillow top is now finished and you can now finish the pillow using your fave finishing method.  I opted to make an envelope back enclosure.

I used the 9.5″ x 12.5″ piece of backing fabric for 1/2 of the envelope enclosure.  For the other half, I sewed together 6 charm squares, trimmed that unit to 9.5″ x 12.5″.  I used this unit plus an additional 9.5″ x 12.5″ rectangle to make the other half of the envelope enclosure (place the two pieces right sides together and sew along one 12.5″ edge with a 1/4″ seam allowance–leave the other sides unsewn–flip right sides out, top stitch along the sewn edge and continue with the envelope enclosure).

I finished the pillow with a scrappy binding.

Shabby Heart Pillow

I hope you have enjoyed my Valentine’s tutorial!  I think this same technique would be so cute used to make an initial pillow for my girls.  Use the same idea but instead of a heart cut out a large letter–so fun!

Today as part of the blog hop, Julie, from Intrepid Threads, is giving away one lucky reader a $25 gift certificate to her shop!  Thanks so much Julie!–I know what would be coming to my house if I was the winner–some of those fab pezzy prints!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post about your fave Valentine’s Candy.  I’ll leave the giveaway open until Feb. 20 to give you plenty of time to enter.

Make sure to visit all of the stops on this blog hop if you haven’t already!–There are some great prizes along the way and wonderful tutorials.

February 1 – Melissa from Happy Quilting

February 2 – Heather from Quilt Story

February 3 – Melissa from Lilac Lane

February 6 – Angela from Cut to Pieces

February 7 – Amy from Diary of a Quilter

February 8 – Natalia from Piece N Quilt

February 9 – Jessica from Twin Fibers

February 10 – Katie from Swim, Bike, Quilt

February 11 – Jane from Want It, Need It, Quilt

February 13 – Corey from Little Miss Shabby

February 14–Happy Valentine’s Day and the Grand Prize Winner Announcement!

The Grand Prize winner will be announced on Melissa’s blog tommorrow–it’s a $200 Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop–you don’t want to miss out on that one!  Be sure to pop over to enter sometime today if you haven’t already!

Thank you Melissa for organising the hop and Judi, Julie, Leah and Kimberly for
being such generous sponsors!

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