A fun bag

When I was on Facebook a while back I saw a new bag pattern that Kate Colleran of Seams Like  a Dream just introduced at Fall Market.  With 3 zippers I knew I wanted this bag for keeping things secure like my new smart phone.  Ever since I made a jacket with Island Batiks for one of our Island Batik blog hops I wanted a matching bag.  Perfect reason to purchase Kate's pattern called Carry This!  

Don't you just love the braided top on this purse- Kate has a special little template ruler to make it easy to do.  Now a lot of people don't care to put zippers in, but it really isn't that hard when you follow the directions.  There are two outside pockets and one inside pocket.   Kate uses metal rings for attaching the handle, but I didn't have any on hand and didn't want to go out and buy any so I just attached the handles right to the purse/zipper as I assembled it.

This would be a good way to use some of your scraps as there are not large pieces required.

Here is the back of the purse.  I used my purse for the first time yesterday and it is just the perfect size for me.  I even discovered I could carry a 16 oz. water bottle in the main zippered area.




















In case you are curious here is the jacket I made before with the Island Batik Olivera line.

And speaking of Island Batik the January blog hop has started you can find info HERE.  You can find links to all the ambassadors blogs and the day they are presenting their project using a bundle of fabric that was released at the last Fall Market.  Hop on board you don't want to miss all the inspiration and the giveaways!!   And be sure to come visit me on January 25th as I showcase my project right here.

Linking with MCM, Monday Making

What's coming

My grandson was over a few weeks ago to help me do some sewing.  He told his mom(my DD) that he wanted to come sew.  How awesome is that!  So we arranged a Sunday afternoon and he helped me work on my January Island Batik project!   First he lines up the pieces for me so I have fast sewing. Then he cuts the blocks apart and helped me arrange them on the design wall. Such a fun afternoon.  When we were done he said 'next time I want to sew something I want'.  I asked what and he told me a bigger pillow for his stuffed animals.  They outgrew the small one he did last year:)

January marks the end for the 2018 Island Batik Ambassadors.  Those that wanted to apply again did so and we are waiting to hear if we got in.   So January is the big blog hop, which means that our projects will be showcasing the fabrics that were released at Fall Quilt Market.  Oh they are so luscious you don't want to miss it.  Mark your calendars now, it all starts Jan 7th through Feb 1st.  You will be able to find all the info on the Island Batik blog then.

Happy New Year!!!!

Linking with Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the river

Catchall Cutie

A couple weeks ago I ran across a 'new to me' pattern designer with an Etsy shop called Grateful4joyNpeace.  Her little Catchall Cutie sewing caddy caught my eye.  I contacted her to see if she would be interested in swapping a pattern for a review.  Teresa accepted my offer. Thank you Teresa!

With a free afternoon on Friday I was able to cut and sew it up.  Isn't it just a cutie patootie!


Teresa gives not only good written instructions, but several pictures which is very helpful and some hints along the way.  As I was working on it I kept thinking how in the world did Teresa come up with this idea and how she executed the pattern.  It's not that it is hard if you follow her directions.  I admit I did have to unsew a few times, my fault entirely!!  And then all of a sudden I was down to the last step and bam it all came together just as it was supposed to.   I love it. 












You need a couple of zippers, fusible fleece, thread and of course fabric.  I used three different Island Batiks for my Catchall Cutie.



There are 6 inside pockets to keep lots of sewing supplies in.  Plus room in the main compartment to sit your little pincushion and some thread spools in.





Plus this zipper which has 2 pockets to hide some needles or perhaps a little candy;)














Here it is when you pull it up and are getting ready to head out to your retreat or just over to a friends house to sew.

















   And all zipped up ready to go.  Now I am thinking this would make a great caddy for makeup and perhaps some jewelry too.  Hmmm, I best make another one don't cha think!



The fabrics were provided by Island Batik for being an Ambassador for them.  This blue is from their Check It Out group.  Gotta love me some checks!!









Linking with Oh Scrap!

Wonky or Whimsical

We could choose between Wonky or Whimsical or both for the theme of our Island Batik Challenge for December.  Yes how in the world did it get to be December already-the year has just flown by!

I chose to be a bit wonky for my project.  In my foyer sits this cabinet with a skinny stop, it looks a bit naked without a runner.  It is a shame, to be in a quilters house and not have a runner on it!












My process to make this runner was simple really.  Once I picked out red and green Island Batik strips (leftover from other projects) to see how many  I had to work with.  I measured the top and well I needed a few more so I added in the gold ones and it came out just the right size.

The sewing is what makes them wonky.  I laid the first strip down and placed the other one on top at a skew and sewed.  Continuing down the length of the runner.  You can see in this close up how I alternated between a fat skew and a skinny skew on the top of each strip.

After sewing all the strips I squared it up then quilted it with squiggles all freehand and on my longarm. Hobbs Thermore was my batting of choice this time.  I love it for these small projects that I want flat.

                                          It was a quick but fun way to dress up this cabinet. A perfect place to display some of the snowmen I make for my local craft shows and Etsy shop.

As an Island Batik ambassador I have been given fabrics by Island Batik, batting from Hobbs and Aurifil thread for my monthly projects.  I love being an ambassador, it has helped me stretch my quilting methods and grow as a quilter.  Not to mention I get to use some of the greatest fabrics ever!! 

  Next month is our blog hop showcasing the fabric they released at fall Quilt Market, it is going to be so fun so don't miss it!!  If you don't already, you should follow Island Batik's blog, where you will receive all the info about the hop.  There is always prizes for the hops!!

Wishing all of you a wonderful, fun filled Holiday season.

Linking with Whoop Whoop, TGIFF, Foto Fun

Wool Pressing mat-review

A few weeks ago I was given a wool pressing mat from Precision Quilting to try out and do a review on.  The first time I ever heard of and saw a wool pressing mat was last spring at the AQS Paducah quilt show.  I really didn't know what the fuss was all about and so many were buying them.  But as time passed I kept seeing and hearing all these good things.

So you can imagine how excited I was to receive this 100% wool mat from Jon at Precision Quilting. These mats are made using premium wool from New Zealand and are 1/2" thick.  I have been using it to make these crazy tree runners.  You can see there are many seams.  And look how flat my block is!

There are several good points to these mats.  One is that your fabric doesn't slide around like on a regular ironing surface.  The other they help to make your block flat.  That happens because the wool kind of reflects the heat back up toward your block so it is like it is heating both sides of the block at the same time, therefore helping it to be flatter.  But the heat does not go through the bottom of the mat, therefore you can put it on any surface.  You can even pin into the mat if you need to block a small project.

I like that the mats are totally portable.  I can't wait to try it out in the camper next year since I won't have to be careful of heat going through it while pressing my fabric/blocks.

There seem to be a few different brands on the market.  Some I hear have quite an odor at first.  This one that I was given does not.  It comes sealed in a clear plastic, when I opened it I did not smell a thing, still haven't.  I really am enjoying using it.  Thanks Jon!

Linking with Linky Tuesday Wednesday Wait Loss, Let's Bee Social, WIPand Mid Week Makers.

Three winners...

The giveaway is closed and the winners were chosen.  What giveaway you ask...this one.  This morning I had the hubby choose 3 numbers from 1-24.  He picked 7, 14 and 21. I then counted the comments and the winners are Diann of Little Penguin Quilts blog,  Louise of Quilt Odyssey blog and Cheryl of  Cheryl's Teapots2quilting blog.  Congrats ladies!  They each receive one pattern of their choice from my Craftsy shop.

Keeping this post short, but I will be back with a review of a product on Wednesday!

Happy mail-winnings-working and give away

Remember the Starstruck runner tutorial I entered into the tips and tutorial festival at Meadow Mist Designs and Quilting Jetgirl a few weeks ago?  Well I was floored when Cheryl emailed me and told me I was one of the winners!!!!!! 

This was one of the prizes that arrived last week.  Perhaps you recognize the box?  My first ever Quilt Planner!  I had not seen one in person before so I was happy to explore its contents.  I already have a couple days blocked off for a project next year;)   OMG look how cute it is and even matches the flannel I covered my big ironing board with!

Here is a list of all the wonderful goodies I won-I am still shocked!! Thank you Cheryl and Yvonne and all the sponsors. 

And the thanks go to all of you that voted for me. I appreciate all of you that read my blog and leave comments!  I am going to have a give away to show that appreciation so hang in to the end of the post for info on that.  

So you want to know what the working part of this email subject is.  Well as followers you know that I do several craft shows each fall.  Last weekend was the last of them for the year. It's been fun, but I am glad they are over.  The local shows were all down some this year, however having some winter/Christmas items left wasn't all bad.  I am busy listing some of them on Etsy.  It's working as I have sold some already. I ave a few more to list this weekend.   I am still amazed that my Etsy shop is keeping me hopping and I love it.  At this time I am thinking I will drop one of my local shows next year.

As to what I have been making more of, are my snowman runners-I can't keep these in stock very long.  Pinch me!!

And Tree runners

And finishing up 5 turkey runners for an Etsy order.  Now you know why the blog has been rather quiet lately, just repeat ones you have already seen a gazillion times!

And the thanks go to all of you that voted for me. I appreciate all of you that read my blog and leave comments!  I am going to have a give away to show that appreciation so hang in to the end of the post for info on that.

Now what you have been waiting for-the giveaway!   I will be giving away one of my patterns(your choice) on Craftsy to THREE lucky people!  Just leave me a comment telling me your Christmas plans.  You don't have to be a follower but I would sure love it if you were.  Here is the important part, make sure I have your email address.  If I don't I won't be able to contact you if you are a winner.  I am not going to be able to take time to go hunting for it so please be sure to leave it if you think you might be a no reply blogger.  I have had several of you lately and I feel bad I can't respond to your comment. This giveaway will close Monday morning Dec 17th at 8 a.m.

Linking with Monday Making

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Island Batik November challenge

On Tuesday I teased you with my start of the November Island Batik challenge.  This month is log cabins.  Now I will be honest with you that log cabins are not my favorite blocks to make but I was up to the challenge nonetheless.

Some of you guessed I was making a tree with those blocks.  Well you would be wrong;)  After visiting Pinterest and gathering a ton of ideas for log cabin settings I settled on a wreath wall hanging.  After all it is the season for wreaths.

Next I turned to EQ8 to build the right size block that would work with the dark forest greens with metallic gold. I have three different green batiks and a neutral batik.

The greens were limited and I used almost every inch!  These were in their Stashbuilder rolls which are 5" wide x WOF.  I took several rolls apart to get what I needed. They are so rich and pretty, I only wish the camera could capture the true richness.

Here is a close up.  Now imagine the metallic gold shining up at you.  I guess by now you get the idea I love these fabrics!

 I wanted the fabrics to shine so I kept the quilting simple with the freehand all over hook swirl design.  After quilting I turned to EQ again to see if they had an applique bow and sure enough.  I just enlarged it a little and it worked perfectly. 

Normally Batiks look the same on both sides.  But these metallic ones had no design on the back, just a mottled look.  It was very hard for me to put those beautiful designs inside the binding.  

Yes, I used what we would normally think of the wrong side as my right side so I could have solid look binding.

And here it is on my wall.

 As an Island Batik Ambassador I am provided with fabrics from them.  Hobbs batting and Aurifil thread is also provided which I also used in this project. 

If you are interested in becoming an Island Batik Ambassador you can apply HERE

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my log cabin project this month. 

If you would like more log cabin inspiration visit my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors blogs.

Den Syende Himmel

Busy Hands Quilts

PamelaQuilts

Ark Angel Creations

Desert Bloom Quilting

Freemotion by the River

Yellow Cat Quilt Designs

Quilting Affection Designs 

Inquiring Quilter

Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Clever Chameleon

Sarah Goer Quilts

Mania for Quilts

Steph Jacobson

Inchworm Fabrics

Kauffman Designs

Moosestash Quilting 

BeaQuilter

Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Carole Lyles Shaw

Sally Manke

Mary Mack Made Mine

Kathleen McMusing

heARTs Creations

Sew Karen-ly Created

If These Threads Could Talk

The Quilt Rambler

Devoted Quilter

Slice of Pi Quilts

Creative Blonde

Vicki's Crafts and Quilting

Masterpiece Quilting

Patterns by Jen

Powered by Quilting

Quilt in a not-Shell

Dizzy Quilter

Curlicue Creations

Lizard Creek Quilts

Little Bunny Quilts

MMM Quilts

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Adventurous Applique and Quilting

Sweetgrass Designs

Living Water Quilter

Whispers of Yore

Linking with NTT,  Finished or Not Friday, Silly Mama, TGIFF and Can I get a Whoop Whoop 

Log Cabin time

I know a few of you are waiting to see my monthly Island Batik project.  It's coming together nicely. It will be done by Friday!  Here is my fabric pull.  A very rich forest green with yummy metalics.  A red batik for an accent, and a pretty creamy/beige background.

It is Log Cabin month.  Here is a sneak peak of some of the blocks.  Now see if you can figure out what my project will look like! 

My week is going to be very full, Cyber week has been very good in my shop. Therefore, I need to get cranking out more runners!  Luckily there is nothing else on my schedule besides my log cabins. 

Linking with: Linky Tuesday, Midweek Makers

New Christmas Tree

A Christmas tree table runner that is.  Friday, Wendy and I went to a quilt shop meeting in the Cities where I got to meet blog buddy Nancy.  It's always fun to meet a fellow blogger in person!  The shop Nancy works at had a meeting called the Quarter Inch Club.  We got to see new stuff from Market and show and tell, it was so fun.  The shop has gobs and gobs of samples hanging around, so much inspiration.  That is where I found the pattern for this Crazy Christmas Tree runner.

The pattern is from Karla Alexander at Saginaw Street Quilts published by Cut Loose Press.  Anyway the pattern was adorable and I had to get one made right away.  But in the process of wanting to use only red and green for the trees I messed up and didn't cut quit right and if I cut another set of them I could end up with 2 runners almost identical. So that is what I did, pieced two of them on Monday and quilted them this morning.  I put the binding on one of them right away, got photos and listed in my Etsy shop.  Within 15 minutes it sold!!!!  So I hurried and bound the other and got it listed. 

I chose to keep the quilting simple and get a great texture with my standby hook swirl. It was so refreshing to be making something so different and new to me!!   

I'll leave you with food for thought-pun intended!!  But seriously don't you think these guys should be hiding out and not right in front of my house!!  Ok I admit this was a couple weeks ago before we had snow on the ground.   HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of you.  I am so very thankful for all my blog readers and commenters!! 

Lining with: Mid Week Makers, Let's Bee Social and Wednesday Wait Loss

The cardinal panel is finished

I know some of you were anxious to see how I quilted the cardinal panel.  Last week was piecing it and the quilting and binding was finished over the weekend.  If you missed how I pieced it you can find it HERE.  

The tree and trunk received some wishbone quilting while the white background has a simple stipple. 

The red above the tree asked for holly leaves;)

The red border of the panel had these fan shapes so I followed the lines of them.  Anything else would have distracted from the fans or caused chaos within the border!  The center, of course I did my favorite all over design of hook swirl. 

As you can see the checkerboard received my favorite design for these squares-the Terry Twist design.  When it came to the black outer border I was stumped for a while.  And then I let the fabrics tell me what to do.  I made the fan shapes(from the red border) and added the swirl from the black fabric inside the fan. 

And the whole thing.

This week I need to decide what design to make for my November Island Batik project and then get the fabric pulled.  I always have so many ideas swimming around in my head that it is hard to settle on one!! 

Linking with MCM and Design Wall Monday

Tips and Tutorial Festival

Today begins voting for you favorite Tip or Tutorial over at Meadow Mist Designs or Quilting Jetgirl.  I entered my StarStruck tutorial-just saying, ya know, if you liked it I wouldn't mind you voting for me:0

You get 3 votes and voting is open now until 11:59 November 20th(Tuesday).   To vote you just click on the red heart in the upper right corner of the pic. You only need to vote on one site or the other, not both.





Have a fabulous weekend, I will be quilting most all of it!

Cardinals

As you know, I love the challenge of working with panels.  So many don't but I really enjoy creating different borders to add interest to the panel.  Tuesday I found myself needing to do something besides snowman table runners and snowmen.  So I dug went through my winter panels and decided to play with this cardinal one.  This is what it looked like when I began.  In order to get everything squared up and measured to where I needed it to be, I trimmed it right to the outer edge of the red border.

Then I went to my stash to find just the right fabrics in scale and color.  Yes I had to pull out a few of each in order to get just the ones I wanted, a red, a green and a white. And a black with gray swirls-it was the perfect match to the black with snowflakes behind the cardinals.   After I get it quilted I'll show you close ups of the fabrics.   Then off to EQ to mock it up.  I added a one inch(finished) border in black next to the panel red.  That will bring it up to the size I need to make the 2"(finished) checkerboard come out.   Or so I thought...if you look carefully at the very end of the checkerboard they are cut off:(  I just wasn't going to start over so I carried onward, it's not the end of the world!!! 

Here is why it didn't work out.  In EQ I mocked it up with the 1" black borders all around the panel. And then changed my mind when piecing it because if I left it that way the bottom would have another black 2" border in addition to the 1" already in place.  I didn't like that look, so off came the 1" black border. 

After making  2 1/2"  x 5 1/2"  flying geese and a trunk I had a tree.  And topped it off with a tone on tone red.  I might quilt some holly leaves in the red.  The final border is the back with grey swirls in a finished 2 inch.  In case you are curious what method I use to make flying geese, I love using the Fons and Porter geese ruler. 

Linking with NTT

Scrappy trees

Whenever I can make something with my scrappy strings I am just delighted!  We all have those leftover strips from projects be it from a binding or a sashing.  And I have a ton of them.   

A couple of years ago Heather Mulder Peterson was having a quilt a long using these tree blocks from her book Angles With Ease 2.  We were making scrappy trees-I used my strings in various widths.  

Sew the strips together, cut triangles using her special triangular ruler, add side half triangles and the trunk.  And you end up with tree blocks to make up this runner.  In the book it is a quilt, but for the quilt along she gave us the runner pattern.  I love making these! 

In the first photo you can see I quilted the trees with a wishbone design, and loops in the background.  And a version of loopy ribbon candy in the border.  

Thanks for looking at my scrappy trees!

Linking with Oh Scrap!