Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Is it fall yet?

                         (Click here to find the August One Monthly Goal Finish link-up)

I'm really not in any hurry for fall to arrive.

I'm happy with summer.  I love my morning swim and I'm not excited to be approaching the end of the swimming season.

But I saw candy corn in Target*.  That means it is officially (almost) fall**.


I wanted to make a small table runner / mini quilt to celebrate Fall.  I do this every year.  I've quite the collection of pumpkin fabrics and a seemingly bottomless plastic bin of fall themed fabric.

I fashioned the pumpkins from my Harvest pattern.  The body of each pumpkin was made with a charm square.



Making a pumpkin quilt was the August challenge for Mini's and More hosted by Sherri and Michelle.



* I did not buy the candy corn.  This doesn't mean, however, that I won't buy the candy corn next time I go to Target.  And I usually go to Target weekly.

** The candy corn might have actually been available for a few weeks.  Despite the fact that I usually go weekly, I've been busy enjoying summer and haven't been shopping.

I'll be linking up my quilt with  Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, August 28, 2017

Bag It Schedule - the fun starts in 3 weeks


I am so excited to share the schedule and some more details for the Bag It 2017 event.  The fun starts in 3 weeks so it is time to start collecting your supplies and get ready to start your bag making!

Just to whet your appetite, here is the overall schedule (subject to change) for the Bag It event!

September
  • Sponsor Introduction - 9/11, 9/12 & 9/13 
  • Bag It officially begins - 9/18 - Bags made and shared on and after this date through December 15 are eligible and earn entries into the participant giveaway
  • Tips and popular tutorials - 9/25

                       October - Bags for your Sewing Space


  • Sewing Machine Cover (tutorial) - available October 2
  • Fat Quarter Pop-up designed by Fat Quarter Gypsy - featured October 9
  • FQ Basket (tutorial) - available October 16
  • Sew Together Bag designed by SewDemented - featured October 23
  • Project Bag (not pictured) (tutorial) - available October 30

                     
                       November - Bags for your Travels


  • Kismet Bag designed by Sew Sweetness - featured November 6
  • Mesh Travel Bag (tutorial) - available November 13
  • to be announced (tutorial) - available November 20
  • Get Out of Town Duffel designed by ByAnnie - featured November 27

December - Quick and Easy Bags
  • For the sewist (tutorial) - available December 4
  • For just anyone (tutorial) - available December 11

Any bags you make and share starting September 18 earn you an entry to win a prize from our generous Bag It sponsors.

  • Share via email (only if the other options are not available to you) 

More about these awesome sponsors soon.

For now, just know that these prizes are just amazing.  There is almost $1,000 worth of prizes to be given away to randomly chosen lucky participants.

For more information on sponsors, overall event guidelines, please visit the main event page and take a minute to read through the Bag It Participant Guidelines.

Grab a button for your blog!

Elm Street Quilts


Bag It 2017 is going to be amazing.  

Make one bag or make twenty.  I can't wait to see what you create!


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, August 25, 2017

One Monthly Goal August Finish LInk-up

Ready to link-up your August finishes?  And don't panic, link-up is open until 11:55 pm EDT on August 31!




New to One Monthly Goal?  Welcome!  You can read about the event and the rules on the main event page.
Sign up to receive email notifications when the One Monthly Goal linkup is open.  Think of it as a helpful reminder!
My goal for August was to assemble my Woodland animal blocks into a mini quilt.  



I'm going to hang the quilt in my sewing studio at a spot where I can see that cute otter.  He is my favorite!

Now it is your turn to link up - share your goal finish for August.

Please only link up if you finished your goal and if you also participated in the August Goal Setting Link-up.



There will be three winners this month - Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate, 
Clothworks is offering a 10" precut of Fresh Spectrum Fresh Batik and Amber Johnson of Gigi's Thimble is offering a $25 gift certificate to her pattern store.

Congratulations to Bonnie, Mary & Kat who are the lucky winners for August.
They were notified via email and have accepted their prizes!
(updated 9/1/17)



Visit the One Monthly Goal event page for the specific requirements for links and social tags. 

And remember, to be eligible for the prize(s) by random drawing you must linkup at both the goal setting and the accomplishment linkup in a given month. (August Goal Setting Link-up)


Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can follow where you are linking.   Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post:  







Thanks for linking up!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

100 Days, 100 Hexies

I'm new to the hexie craze.  In fact, outside of the hexies pictured in this post, I've probably made about 5 more!  But after finishing the 100 day block challenge (see my final quilt here), I jumped on another Instagram based challenge.  This one is hosted by Sew Foxy Mama.  It started Aug 14 but you can join at any time.

I'm using a stack of 84 mini charms (2 1/2'') of Painter's Palette Solids.  Since seeing a daily dose of hexies go by in different shades of blue isn't all that exciting, I've chosen to share mine along with a bit about my day or another project to keep it interesting.


I've an idea in mind of what I will do with this that will involve a low volume background fabric.  I may search for some that would give me an opportunity to fussy cut.


These are fun, addictive and portable.  Come join the fun.You can follow along at #100Hexies100Days2017.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, August 21, 2017

Colorful geese

  My favorite block has to be the flying geese block.  I've added them to many of my quilts.  Sometimes paper-pieced, sometimes improv and most often created with the no-waste method. (tutorial)


These were paper-pieced and made with these yummy colors of American Made Brand Solids.


While on vacation earlier this month, I made all the geese and used my seam ripper more times than I usually do.  (And that is saying a lot!)

I am working on assembling the quilt top - this is as far as I have gotten.  After measuring out the gray fabric multiple times before cutting, the first time I sewed it together - without pinning - it was too short.  Seam ripper was called into service again, everything was remeasured.  Measurements were cut correctly.  It was my lack of pinning that was the issue.


More geese yet to sew together but taking a break from this one for a few days in the hope that when I return, I'll be able to ignore that seam ripper!


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, August 18, 2017

Playful

100 blocks made and shared through Instagram in 100 days.


75 blocks all set together without sashing.  Yellows, grays, whites and elephants blending together.


Asymmetrically framed with a slate gray solid and backed with flannel.  Stitched with organic wavy lines.  The binding is slate gray except for a 18'' section (upper right) which is bound in scraps of yellow.


Looks perfect on my daughter's bed in her newly painted room.


(Although quilts on her bed rarely look this neat and are usually twisted around and pushed aside after she wakes in the morning.)

We took the quilt for a photo shoot at our neighborhood playground - a place she hadn't been too since she was ten.



For my quilt, I used this FQ bundle of Pastel Pop by Michael Miller which was sitting in my stash. 


Read more about the QAL here and follow along on Instagram with #100Days100Blocks2017.  You can find the 100 Modern Quilt Blocks book on Amazon.

http://amzn.to/2qJW0ph

I'll be linking up my quilt Playful with  Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

My Summer Vacation

Outer Banks Beach

I spent last week with my family on our annual beach vacation.  My son came home to join us so it was the five of us in a beautiful home with the beach right outside our window.

Pier in Duck, NC

There was more rain than I would have liked but still plenty of time to enjoy the beach and enjoy the family time.

I brought my new travel sewing machine along with me and three projects all prepped and ready to go.  Each year, I try to finish a quilt top while at the beach so I can grab some location photos.

This year, I spent all my time on the blocks for the first project.  Nothing got assembled but I did enjoy the process of making lots and lots of geese.  (There are a lot of them.)

Flying Geese

I decided to paper piece these geese pairs because I was striving for perfect points.  Did this happen?  Some of the time it did but not all of the time and I'm fine with that.  I'm using my favorite American Brand Solids for this quilt.

lighthouse staircase

I also focused some of my time on trying to capture some unique photos.  It was great fun.  Because of a recent photography class, I can take photos with my DSLR in manual mode.  (Go me!)

I also essentially took a social media and all things internet vacation.   I had blog posts written ahead of time and only logged into Instagram to post the block for the #100Day100Block2017 challenge.   It was wonderful!

Now I'm back home and happy to have had such a wonderful time.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, August 14, 2017

100 blocks, 100 Days

Drum roll...........finally able to share block 100


and the rest of the last ten blocks - 91 through 100.


I enjoyed this QAL much more than I had expected to.  These blocks were unique and it was nice to use fabrics which weren't my usual color choices.  Doing different things is a really good thing.

My daughter has claimed this quilt for her newly painted room.  75 of her favorite blocks are now joined together in a quilt.  I'll share that finish later this week.

Here are all 100 (it is hard to get a good photo of all of the blocks!)


And just because it is fun to share - here they all are one last time in groups of 20.

Blocks 1 to 20


blocks 21 through 40 -


Blocks 41 through 60


Blocks 61 through 80


Blocks 81 through 100


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, August 11, 2017

It's all about Harry

My daughter is a major fan of Harry Potter.  So I couldn't resist making her something for her birthday this week.

The front side - she is a Sllytherin, and proud of it.


And the back side.


The patterns representing each of the houses of Harry Potter were designed by Jennifer at Fandominstitchs.

They were fun to paper piece although each took a bit of time.  I framed them to make the size bag I wanted and the panels were 7 x 12'' before I sewed them into a bag.


I have never personally read Harry Potter or watched the movies.  (Shocked?)  So I googled to make sure I lined up the houses so I put the fierce rivals on the opposite side.

The zipper pull was from a necklace that she never wore anymore.


If you like to make bags, check out my announcement for the Bag It 2017 event which begins in about a month.  Fantastic sponsors and brand new tutorials.

I'll be linking up my bag with  Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

School Colors


My niece is off to her freshman year of college this fall and I wanted to send her off in style.  Her school colors blue and yellow-gold.  While the fabrics I choose don't really map to the proper shade of blue or yellow-gold, they make me happy when I look at them together.

And the gift made her happy too.


I love making this boxy bag for gifts.  See my post on tips for making these bags here and here.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, August 7, 2017

The Home Stretch

90 blocks to share.  (The rest are done but will be revealed later this month.)


I've really used up much of the FQ pack I started with.  There won't be much left once this is all done!

Blocks 1 to 20,


blocks 21 through 40,


blocks 41 - 60


and blocks 61-80!



For my project, I am using this FQ bundle of Pastel Pop by Michael Miller which was sitting in my stash. These fabrics are the ONLY yellow I've got in my stash other than a bit in a solid.



Read more about the QAL here and follow along on Instagram with #100Days100Blocks2017.  You can find the 100 Modern Quilt Blocks book on Amazon.

http://amzn.to/2qJW0ph
Photo credit to Angie






Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, August 4, 2017

Experimenting with Circles

I have a quilt design in my head which involves circles.

Lots of them, overlapping all over the quilt in many colors.  But before I tackled the project, I decide to make a smaller version to test out both my hand drawn templates as well as my true interest in creating a quilt with circles.


This mini finishes at 12'' square and used up scraps I had leftover from other projects.  The larger circles are pieced and the smaller ones are raw edge applique.

The last curved piecing project I did ended up with much bulk in the intersections so I redrew the template to reduce this bulk.  This new template solved that problem but didn't actually give me the look I wanted.  So back to the drawing board I go.

But I still have this wonderful mini with fabrics I really enjoy.


While I was enjoying all the wonderful quilts on display at QuiltCon, I saw many hanging without a binding - something I had not seen before.  My Experimental Circles mini was a perfect one to try the technique out on since a binding would end up chopping off parts of the circle.  This way, the circle just flows off the edge.

I found this post and this one to be helpful in learning how to face a quilt.  I fudged my way through the corners and found this video afterwards on handling the corners afterwards which would have been quite useful.

Now I need to attach a hanging sleeve so I can put it on the wall.



I'll be linking up my mini with  Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Skill Builder QAL - Large HST blocks



Hurrah!  It is month 7 in Fat Quarter Shop's Bella Skill Builder QAL.https://blog.fatquartershop.com/2017/08/bella-skillbuilder-quilt-month-7.html     You can find the pattern and a video tutorial for this month's Large HST blocks here.

                                     

I choose my favorite color combinations to make these large blocks.  Aren't they just wonderful?


The large one is 18 1/2 '' square, all from fun HST's!  I just love the star in the center of the 15 1/2 '' block.

I need to gather together all my blocks for a group photo - can't wait to see this quilt come together.


Until the group photo, you can see posts of the rest of my blocks by following the links below:
Lots of wonderful quilters are quilting along - check out all these wonderful versions -

Paula from The Sassy Quilter 
Leanne from She Can Quilt
Erin from Sew at Home Mummy
Erin from Why Not Sew
Lisa from In the Boon Docks
Marni from Haberdashery Fun
Natalia from Piece and Quilt
Julie from 627 Handworks
Kim from Persimon Dreams
me --> Patty from Elm Street Quilts
Denise from Pieced Brain Quilts
Kaye from Miss Print
Melissa from Happy Quilting Melissa
Charise from Charise Creates
Dana from Old Red Barn Co.
Kristen from Three in the Nest
Vickie from Spun Sugar Quilts


Have a wonderful day! Patty