Farewell to January

In January I made some bee blocks, a Triple-Zip Pouch and some lovely travelling bags for my quilts that have now arrived in Texas.

It seemed like I was sewing more than that and when I checked I had been. I worked on a swap item that I cannot show you until mid February, and I worked on my 4 in Art quilt which I will show you tomorrow, which is the challenge reveal day.



I quilted and quilted and quilted my Mod Pop and made its binding. I should be able to trim this king size quilt and sew on the binding over the weekend.

 

I also quilted my scrappy trip along quilt. I expect I can make it a scrappy binding, trim the quilt and sew on the binding soon too. So I will, hopefully, have two finished quilts to show you in February, both of which are on my Finish-A-Long list.

Thank you to everyone for the kind words about my dog. He is finally coming home this afternoon. He likes to sleep beside me while I sew and although he is clearly on the mend, he has a ways to go before he will be fully better. I expect that I will have to sew a lot so he can sleep a lot this weekend. Right?

Tomorrow I will link up with Fresh Sewing Day, hosted by the lovely Lynne at Lily's Quilts and when I am not sewing on the weekend, I will be checking out all the beautiful things everyone else made in January. You should link and visit too.

Best,

Leanne

3ZAL and this and that

Are you making a Triple-Zip Pouch in Debbie from A Quilter's Table's  Triple Zip Along?

You know I love making this pattern and so last night I made one. I took photos as I went and put them on Instagram. If you are not on Instagram, you can see my pictures at this link (without having to join).



I ordered a fat quarter bundle of Comma, which is the new line by Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic from Green Fairy Quilts and it arrived a little while ago. I have been itching to use this stunning fabric, and this was the perfect chance. I adore this fabric. I will be ordering lots of yardage and I am already plotting a quilt, and some bags.



I did make the whole triple-zip pouch last night, start to finish, including picking and cutting fabrics, and  having to rip the final step totally apart and redo it - this was user error, I have now made this pattern 4 times and knew better. It is going to hold my phone, charger, ear buds, and other miscellaneous electronics, usb sticks, etc. that live in my purse.



That is the binding for my Mod Pop. It looks pretty cool in a roll but hopefully soon it will be on the quilt.



There is an Instagram photo of the Mod Pop with its quilting all finished. I have to say that this quilt was challenging to quilt. It is heavy from all the seams and heavier now with all the thread. I hope to get it trimmed and the binding on soon. I am going to machine stitch the binding, it is just too big to contemplate handstitching, and that goes with my urban industrial quilting theme anyway. I found that the quilt shifted and lurched a bit so the quilting is "rugged" or "industrial" and I am sure all that will disappear in the wash, but we shall see.



Over a week ago, I basted my Scrappy Trip Along. It looks so smooth and lovely there, just before the pins went in.



Here is a picture of the quilting so far. I am about 2/3 done. I decided that I needed to sew a lot of lines on Sunday. My lovely dog suddenly developed pneumonia and went into the ICU at the vet hospital. Sewing a lot of nice lines helped. I visited him this morning (well and twice on Sunday and twice yesterday - I seem to have become a bit of a crazy dog lady) and he is doing better. Not out of the woods but definitely recovering. The quilting of the simple lines was so much better than biting my fingernails and pacing.

I hope you are well today, we are back in the deep freeze. It is -28C here (-18F for those of you in the USA), and I pulled the cord off my block heater this morning, so the car is in the shop. There is no way it will start tomorrow without the heater.

Best,

Leanne

New Leaf Bee Block Blog Hop - Ohio Star in Star

I was so surprised and flattered when Jan invited me to participate in the Daisy Janie Bee Block Blog Hop. I have been a long standing fan of Jan's beautiful fabrics which she sells under the Daisy Janie label - I have owned every line I think, and still have some of most. Daisy Janie fabrics are not just stunning, they are made from 100% GOTS certified organic fabrics. You can go here to read about the cotton industry and the benefits of supporting organic cotton - I highly recommend that you do.



Jan asked us to consider the concepts of turning over a new leaf, renewal, refresh, growth, change in direction for inspiration and to make a block with the fabrics she sent. Well, since I love stars and always see the stars as inspiring me to grow, to dream, to stretch and to be all that I can be, I made a star - this one is an Ohio Star. And I thought that having a star in star suggested even more growth and renewal too.

I did not have any organic solid fabrics on hand and realized I could not get any by online order in time. So I pulled out the Dapple Dot print from Jan's Shades of Grey line to pair with these beautiful bright New Leaf prints. I can already see these prints shining on a low volume background, maybe made of several scrappy low volume prints - can you?

Here is how you make this block which will finish as a 12" square (12.5" unfinished).



 The Ohio Star is a 9 patch block which uses quarter square triangle units (QSTs). For the large star you will need four 4.5" square background pieces, two 5.25" squares of the star point fabrics - you will see I made the star points from floret lemon and rhapsody lemon, one 5.25" square of the triangle inset fabric - I used floret raspberry, and one 5.25" square of background fabric. If you were not putting a star in the centre, then your centre would be a 4.5" square.



Pair one of the star point 5.25" square fabrics with the 5.25" square triangle inset fabric and the other with the 5.25" square background fabric with right sides together. Draw a line from corner to corner and then stitch 1/4" on either side of the line for each pair. Cut along the line and press. I pressed the seams towards the star point (yellow) fabrics.



You will have the above set of  half square triangles (HSTs).



Pair the HSTs right sides together so that the triangle point fabrics are kitty corner to each other and the seams line up with each other. Nest the seams so that they match nicely.



Draw a line from corner to corner, perpendicular to the seam line. Stitch 1/4" on either side of the line. Cut along the line and press open. I press this seam open.



The resulting four quarter square triangle (QST) units look like this. Take a minute at this point to trim them, if need be, to 4.5" square.



Lay out your Ohio Star as shown. The triangle inset fabrics are placed toward the centre square.


To make another Ohio Star to go in the centre of our large star, you repeat the steps above. Use four 1.5" squares of background fabric - I used fantail lemon, one 1.5" square for the centre square - I used floret lemon, two  2.25" squares of star point fabric - I used fantail raspberry, one 2.25" square of triangle inset fabric - I used foret raspberry, and one 2.25" square of background fabric. Make four QST units using the 2.25" squares in the same way as the large star. Trim those units to 1.5" squares, press and lay out the small Ohio Star.

And by this time you will have noticed the formula to make QSTs - add 1.25" to the finished size of unit you want to have - so for units that finish at 1" we start with 2.25" squares, for units that finished at 4" we started with 5.25" squares.



Sew together the three units of each row. Press. You can see I press the top and the bottom rows so the seams point to the outside edge and the centre row so the seams point toward the centre. Match the rows, nest the seams. and sew them together. Press. I press these seams open.



Here is your small star, at this point it is a 3.5" square.



Frame the centre star with 1" strips - I used more of the floret lemon. Press and then trim this unit down to be a 4.5" square.



Add the centre star to the perviously laid out big star and sew the rows. Press as for the small star and join the rows. Press again.



Admire your beautiful Ohio Star in Star block. I love how full of rich colour the New Leaf fabrics are.

Jan sent us a piece of each of the eight fabrics in the New Leaf line. Since I had only managed to use five of the prints for the Ohio star in star, I made one more block that used them all - an improv but not wonky log cabin with a beautiful fussy cut flower in the centre.



I hope you will have time to check out all the beautiful blocks made in the blog hop. The schedule is:

New Leaf Bee Block Blog Hop Schedule
Mon, 1/14 - Becky Moyer, My Fabric Obsession
Tues, 1/15 - Lynn Harris, The Little Red Hen
Wed, 1/16 - Candy Glendening, Candied Fabrics
Thurs, 1/17 - Holly DeGroot, Bijou Lovely
Fri, 1/18 - Melanie Thornton, Melanie Dramatic

Mon, 1/21 - Emily Cier, Carolina Patchworks
Tues, 1/22 - Rachael Gander, Imagine Gnats
Wed, 1/23 - Maureen Cracknell, Maureen Cracknell Handmade
Thurs, 1/24 - Leanne, She Can Quilt
Fri, 1/25 - Cindy Wiens, Live a Colorful Life

Mon 1/28 - Cheryl Arkison, Dining Room Empire
Tues, 1/29 - Jacquie Gering, Tallgrass Prairie Studio
Wed, 1/30 - Shanna Bailey, Fiber of All Sorts
Thurs, 1/31 - Katy Jones, Monkey Do

And for those of you doing the Fat Quarter scramble - if you have not been, go back to the previous stops on the blog hop, see the blocks and get the letters, and unscramble them so you can enter to win a fat quarter bundle of the New Leaf fabrics - my FQ scramble letter is E.

Best,

Leanne

Quilting, thread, blocks and a winner

That was my sewing day yesterday - quilting the king size Mod Pop. I take frequent breaks, managing all of this in my smallish sewing space is a challenge even with my large throat Janome Horizon. I so wish for a long arm machine and the space to put one. And that is my picture from Instagram - yes, I am putting up pictures and people even like them too, it's fun, even if they are iphone pictures.



This morning I am taking artsy pictures of my threads for this quilt. I thought many different colours, brands, and weights would make it more fun. It seems I am easily amused.



Trudi from Quilting Prolifically said she pre-winds her  bobbins. But with all the colours, I am just using one bobbin per spool or I get too mixed up. Also I need to buy more empty bobbins too. I think this quilt will use about 10 million bobbins - at least it feels that way. More quilting is on the list for today. I have to return to the curvy chains as the background red bits are all finished.



Thank you to everyone who entered my Celebrate giveaway and shared so many moments to celebrate with me (if you want to be cheered and have a couple of laughs, go and read the comments), and welcome to the new followers who nudged the number over 700 even though they did not have to. The winner of the stunning hand made seam ripper by Amy from During Quiet Time's husband, is Tiina who blogs at Tilkunviilaaja and makes lovely quilts. Tiina I have emailed you for your address.



That is an improv block made for Toni in the Always Bee Learning Bee. She asked us to improv with the left overs from the herringbone block which we also made.



This is the herringbone block made with this clever tutorial by Holly at Bijou Lovely. I am always learning in this bee, this week I learned to read the instructions, not just have a quick look at the picture. One must use a 6.5" ruler, not a 6" ruler or one's block will be too small and they will have to find all the fabrics in their cupboard and make a new one for one's bee mate. Ask me how I know.



That is a Quatrefoil Block for Jennie in the Modern Stitching Bee. We used the version in the Modern Blocks Book at page 150 by Solidia Hubbard, although I have seen other tutorials for this block too.

I have a stack of Summersville, and a stack of Mama Said Sew, and these are two lines I totally love, but have not really been sure how to use well. Look at them together - they work so well. I am hatching plans already - the startitis is acting up but I am still quilting Mod Pop which is on my FAL list as I plan.

By the way, I have been working slowly through all the Finish-A-Long Q1 linked posts, and will continue until I get to the end - there are 176 links. What a lot of excellent projects have been stuffed in closets and drawers! I think we are going to have some beautiful finishes, feel free to post your progress and finishes as you go in the flickr group so we can cheer you on over the quarter.



This is Jennie's second block. This fabric combination also makes me smile - bikes, daisies, ladybugs, birds and flowers. (Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt, The Birds and the Bees by Tula Pink and Children at Play by Sarah Jane). I had a lot of fun pulling fabrics for both these blocks.

Well, I am back to quilting, which is a good thing as we are in the deep freeze, - 21C which is -8F, and staying in is a good idea. Tomorrow it is supposed to warm up enough to snow and continue through to Thursday.

Oh, and there is virtually no chance our schools or offices will close, this is our normal winter; just saying.

Best,

Leanne

New Leaf Bee Block Blog Hop

Just a quick note to let you know that the Bee Block Blog Hop from Daisy Janie started this week. The blog hop will introduce us all to the kinds of blocks one might make from her beautiful new organic fabric line, New Leaf. You can read more about the blog hop on Jan's blog here, including how you can enter to win the FQ scramble and a fat quarter bundle of these stunning fabrics.

Besides learning the letters for the scramble, you will want to visit the daily blog posts to see the blocks made with this wonderful fabric and learn how to make them - the blocks from earlier this week are lovely, I recommend catching up. Here is the schedule. As you can see, my day in the blog hop is January 24.

New Leaf Bee Block Blog Hop Schedule
Mon, 1/14 - Becky Moyer, My Fabric Obsession
Tues, 1/15 - Lynn Harris, The Little Red Hen
Wed, 1/16 - Candy Glendening, Candied Fabrics
Thurs, 1/17 - Holly DeGroot, Bijou Lovely
Fri, 1/18 - Melanie Thornton, Melanie Dramatic

Mon, 1/21 - Emily Cier, Carolina Patchworks
Tues, 1/22 - Rachael Gander, Imagine Gnats
Wed, 1/23 - Maureen Cracknell, Maureen Cracknell Handmade
Thurs, 1/24 - Leanne, She Can Quilt
Fri, 1/25 - Cindy Wiens, Live a Colorful Life

Mon 1/28 - Cheryl Arkison, Dining Room Empire
Tues, 1/29 - Jacquie Gering, Tallgrass Prairie Studio
Wed, 1/30 - Shanna Bailey, Fiber of All Sorts
Thurs, 1/31 - Katy Jones, Monkey Do

If you are looking for the beautiful seam ripper giveaway, it is here. Enjoy your day, I did send that package yesterday, thanks so much for all your support on it.

Best,

Leanne

Stuck, but finally past it.

Shattered and Noise are in their new drawstring bags - a drawstring bag is required. I used some Echino and Melody Miller special fabrics, even with sparkles and sunglasses, oh and scooters too. Noise got a last minute wash when I noticed a tiny spot - gone now. They have hanging sleeves, as required (I used this wonderful tutorial from Jacquie at Tall Grass Prairie Studio). The quilts are labeled and the drawstring bags are labeled, as directed. Today I will make them a custom box, add the requisite forms and box labels and take them to Purolator - I don't trust the mail to get there in time. And I am late, the suggested mailing date was this past Monday. They will be off to QuiltCon.

 

But the purpose of this post is to be real. I have put these tasks of for two full weeks. Every day I was supposed to do this and get them out but I was stalled, stuck, worried. I sorted out the FAL, I organized a giveaway, I made a few scrappy trip along blocks. But I really could not do any other quilting or sewing either, because these things had to get done. So last night I tried to figure out why and to finally get this stuff done.

Although I did not set out to put quilts in a show, I thought this one would be a lark, people who make quilts like mine, would be entering - I would be with "my people". At my work, I do hard stuff which is judged, well, by judges, most days - I have a healthy supply of self esteem and confidence. I have already "won" in my own eyes, just getting to have quilts hung in the show is an honour enough for me.

So why the difficulty? I guess maybe it is trying something new, putting myself out there, wondering if people will be thinking "this quilt does not really belong here - who does she think she is", or just bringing attention to myself with this greater group of people - I am not sure.

Today I though maybe I would share that - I really do try to keep this blog to cheerful sharing and sometimes it is helpful for me and for you to share my challenges too. This is my big progress for the last two weeks, two cute, simple drawstring bags, two hanging sleeves, and four labels. Do you ever get stuck on the easy parts too?

Oh, and if you have not entered that giveaway, it is here, has no hoops, is for a beautiful thing and the comments are full of stories that will make you smile - they have been making me smile for sure.

Best,

Leanne

Celebrate!

How many songs come into your head when you read "Celebrate!" - a couple start singing in mine. Check out this one or this one - go on, I'll wait, they will make you smile - do you have other songs?

I am giving away that beautiful hand crafted seam ripper to one of you. Isn't it stunning? It was hand made by Amy from During Quiet Time's husband. Sometimes he makes them and she lists them in her shop - you have to be quick to get one.



So we are celebrating for a number of reasons. It is January and everyone who lives near me needs something to give them a lift in the darkness of January (those of you in the sunny southern hemisphere can feel for those of us in the cold dark north), if I cross my fingers there will be over 700 followers by the time this giveaway closes, people are joining the Finish-A-Long even though it is not at Rhonda's, it will be Valentine's Day in a month, it is the first year of this century were all the numbers in the year are different, tomorrow is 13 - 1 - 13, you name it, there are reasons to Celebrate.

To win, leave me just one comment. Tell me what is making you smile today or this week or this month, or share a quilting tip or tell me a funny story. I will leave this draw open until Friday night January 18 and will share the winner of the random draw next Saturday.



In case you were worried that I was giving away something I should keep, those two beauties are mine. The sparkly purple one I got a while ago, and the turquoise beauty was in my stocking this year. They both are taking turns helping me make my scrappy trip along blocks.



There are the scrappy trip along blocks. I think I will make one more row and then decide if I want it to be 20 blocks (4 x 5) or 25 blocks (5 x 5). Next time, I promise, I will take a daytime photo so you can see the real colours.

Have you joined us for Q1 of the 2013 FAL yet? You know you want to. You have until the end of tomorrow, that is 13 - 1 - 13 at midnight MST - link up your Q1 list here. 

Best,

Leanne

Some quilting and thank you to another FAL Sponsor

Here is my scrappy trip along quilt so far - 12 blocks. I think I will make this one smallish, either 16 or 25 blocks in a square. It is fun to make these blocks and then post a picture on Instagram (where I have more followers now, thank you everyone) where people "like" your picture from time to time. There is no "dislike" button, which I am good with too. The tutorial at Quiltville Custom Quilting for making these blocks is here.

I am not normally drawn to make quilts this scrappy, I am a fan of the negative space of modern quilts. Too much scrappy is hard for me to look at, as I don't know where to focus. However, this block, once placed together with others, has just enough pattern, while still being random and not symmetrical or predictable, for me to really enjoy them. I might be making more from time to time - I am going to get a box just for collecting strips for this purpose.

£25 gift certificate from the Organic Stitch Co.

Jo from the Organic Stitch Co. has jumped aboard to be a sponsor for Q1 of the Finish-A-Long too. She sells a beautiful selection of Liberty of London tana lawn prints in various sizes and also custom bundles. Jo sponsored the Liberty Scrap Challenge last year with Nova at a cuppa and a catch up where you can find several cute ideas and tutorials for using Liberty, and other, scraps. I can also tell you that Jo has excellent service, including to those of us far away from her. Thank you Jo, I love Liberty fabrics and am so glad to have you aboard to sponsor the FAL. 

There is still plenty of time to round up the UFOs that you want to finish in the first quarter of 2013 and join Q1 of the 2013 FAL by linking up here (p.s. a camera phone picture is fine, you know, if getting a photo of the project is holding you back). A full list of our sponsors is here. Our flickr group is here. It looks like we have a great group of folks finishing along!

By the way, I have been noticing that the follower number for this blog has been nosing up for a long while and it is getting to be time to celebrate. I have a couple of wonderful items to give away too. Maybe I will set that up tomorrow, I need to take some pictures during the daylight. You might want to check back.

Today I am home waiting for the internet repair guy - it seems upgrading the internet has taken hours and hours of trouble shooting, phone calls and this is repair guy #2. So I am going to do some work, put a pot on to make more homemade soup and later I have to make some quilt hanging sleeves and storage bags. I need to get those quilts off to Texas on Monday.

Best,

Leanne

Q1 2013 FAL - Thank you to our Sponsors!

Today I am going to tell you about the wonderful sponsors who have volunteered to supply prizes for the first quarter of the 2013 Finish-A-Long. As this is an international group, I set out to find sponsors from around the globe, and I hope to continue that for the other quarters. 

I have shopped at almost all of these stores myself and will be placing orders at the ones that are new to me. These shops  are excellent in every way and are run by the nicest people. I hope you will support them while you participate in the FAL or even just send them a quick email to thank them for sponsoring Q1 of the FAL.

I personally thank each and every one of our sponsors for their generous support. Let me tell you a bit about each of them.

$75 Gift Certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop

I am guessing you all know about the Fat Quarter Shop, but if you don't you need to. The selection is huge - they sell pretty much everything you can imagine needing for quilting, including patterns, threads, rulers, notions and the like. This American shop is quick to stock a large range of the newest fabrics and their service is impecable. It is always a pleasure to shop at the Fat Quarter Shop.

$50 Gift Certificate from Green Fairy Quilts

Green Fairy Quilts is a wonderful little treasure. It stocks a carefully chosen selection of pre-cuts, and also provides the opportunity to pre-order the upcoming fabric lines, all at excellent prices with frequent sales. This American family business is friendly, helpful and quick to get your order into your hands.

£20 Gift Certificate from Avery Homestore

The Avery Homestore is both an online and a bricks and mortar store in Edinburgh, Scotland, and I so wish I could visit it in person. There is a beautiful selection of fabric, yarn, craft supplies of all kinds, homewares, prints, and other beautiful things. You can purchase many of those online too, where you will receive lovely service, even if you live far away. Jo also runs a nice selection of classes at the store too. 

£20 Gift Certificate from Simply Solids

Simply Solids is an excellent UK source for solids in cotton, linen, cross weaves, etc. Justine has been thoughtfully adding to the collection lately too. I met Justine in London and she is so nice, has the cutest baby and my sources tell me she provides excellent service. I am going to sign up for the Sew Solids Crew Stash Club, which is a lovely way to expand your solids collection, one colour a month.

Fat Quarter Bundle of The Birds and The Bees by Tula Pink in 

colourway of your choice (forest, sunset or mist) from Fabric Spot

Fabric Spot is a wonderful Canadian online store with excellent service. Karen has set out to make  organic fabrics widely available at reasonable prices. She also has a huge range of popular quilting solids, including almost all of the Kona colours. Fabric Spot has an expanding selection of designer quilting fabrics, patterns and books.

Full kit to make Tea Time Clutch (TM) bag and bonus Reversible Patchwork Bag pattern from While Baby Naps 

While Baby Naps is an Etsy store that is new to me. They sell really lovely classic frames, chains and glue to make frame purses and clutches, as well as complete kits, including tutorials and patterns, to make a clutch. There is even a kit packaged for international shipping leaving out the glue that is difficult to sell over the borders. Rhonda orders her purse frames from While Baby Naps and speaks highly of the service and the products, so I am going to be placing my own order this week. 

€20 Gift Certificate from Fluffy Sheep Quilting

I met Cindy in London at the Fat Quarterly Retreat. She is fun, interesting, generous and smart and I consider her a friend. Her Irish online shop focuses on providing a well curated selection of modern quilting fabrics and threads. Her newsletter includes guest tutorials - she even included one of mine last fall. Cindy's personalized service makes shopping with her a dream.

$25 Gift Certificate from Knotted Threads

Jennifer has a lovely shop and blog but recently she is probably better known for her call to the internet quilters for help making blocks to make a couple of quilts for family who had been hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Jennifer was going to be seeing them at Christmas and wanted to bring the quilts. The response to Jennifer's request was overwhelming. The quilts, and several more, were made - people across the globe sent blocks, Jennifer and other people quilted, and Jennifer took those quilts and delivered them as promised, and she told us all about it on her blog. She is a gem and her little shop is excellent too.

Surprise Package from Rhonda at Quilter in the Gap

I am not sure what to tell you about Rhonda. She is funny, friendly, kind and helpful. Rhonda often digresses onto some other thing, but she usually has a good reason to do so. The Finish-A-Long is her brianchild and it worked brilliantly for all of us last year. I am just hoping I can live up to her legacy in hosting this year and thank you to  Rhonda for all the help she continues to give me this year. She is just the best. Oh, and she has a great podcast, feel free to remind her that we want more episodes.

The prizes from each of these sponsors will be awarded at the end of Q1 of the 2013 FAL. Each qualifying finish will qualify as one entry in the random draws.

There is still plenty of time to sign up for Q1 of the FAL. Go to this post and enter your link before midnight, MST, Sunday January 13, 2013, if you have not yet done so. You can also join the FAL flickr group which is here. I hope you will join us and get some of those UFOs out of the sewing room and into use.

p.s. I will be making it to each and every linked post, but give me a few more days to catch up. First week back to school and to work, broken internet requiring several hours on the phone, one repair guy and another coming, and the usual hustle and bustle of life have been taking more than their fair share of my time. I am hoping some semblance of routine will resume shortly. I am excited to see all the projects that have been linked up.

Best,
Leanne