Friday, November 29, 2019

The Happiness Tree

Remember my tiny piecing project?


And my lines and lines of quilting?


The quilt is done!   And I named it The Happiness Tree.


It was really hard to capture the right color balance of the blue background - you might notice that it is different in each of these 3 photos.  The photo below is the best representation of color.  You can also see a closeup of my quilting and tiny piecing!


These stripes are roughly all less than 1/4'' - many of them truly measure 1/8''!  

The Happiness Tree is my entry for the QuiltCon stripes challenge.



Have a wonderful day! Patty

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Maui to Michigan



This summer, I used Fat Quarter Shop's new foundation papers (6'' finished block size) plus the  glorious colors from Zen Chic Spotted.  (For more information about the quilt construction, see my original post.)



I quilted with my walking foot and made a spiral started slightly off-center.  (Frankly, I had intended to start in the center but messed up.  Once I realized my error, I decided to embrace the off-centered spiral!)


When I start a spiral, I always mark a circle about 3'' in diameter and start my quilting at that point with my walking foot.  Once the entire quilt is done, I will mark the inner spiral and use my FMQ foot to finish things off.


The quilt was created as a gift for my sister and her family to celebrate their new home in Michigan.  I named the quilt Maui because it was based on the pineapple block and all those colors made it feel like warmth and sunshine.


Love you Sis!  Congratulations on your new home!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Sunday, November 24, 2019

One Monthly Goal November Finish Link-up

Ready to link up your November finishes?
Don't panic - this link-up is open until November 30 at 11:55 pm ET.




My goal for November was to stay current with the Mosaic Mystery QAL - I did it!



Now its your turn to link-up.

There will be three winners this month - Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate, Quilters Planner is offering a 2020 planner, and Barb Cherniwchan of Coach House Designs ioffering 3 digital (pdf) patterns of their choice!

Congratulations to Lyndsey, Nann, and Connie - our lucky winners!  (updated 12/4)



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. (November
 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:  


Sign up to receive email notifications when the One Monthly Goal linkup is open.  Think of it as a helpful reminder!  Joining the link-up from Instagram -see the tutorial.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter



Thanks for linking up!


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Mosaic Mystery QAL - November blocks

While most of the quilts I make are my original design, I still really love participating in QALs.  It is fun to be sewing along with other people.  Plus it is nice to just sit and sew without thinking too much!

The Mosaic Mystery QAL is being hosted by Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs.  I've done her mysteries in the past - in fact for this years quilt, I'm using the leftovers from the 2017 QAL (see that quilt)!


I'm also downsizing the quilt.  How?  I take the finished size of the block in the clue and make a block half that size.  For example, this month's units were to be 6 1/2'' unfinished or 6'' finished.  Therefore, I've made mine so they finish at 3'' or 3 1/2'' unfinished. 


I put together a quick paper pieced pattern to help with overall accuracy of those compound HST units - that FPP pattern is 2" square!  I did the same thing for last month's square in a square units.


I'm loving my blocks so far!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, November 18, 2019

My Next Hand Piecing Project

I love having handwork waiting for me when I want to sit and slow stitch.  I've learned that hand piecing is my favorite slow stitch past-time so I started a pillow size double wedding ring hand stitching project.


I'll need 4 of these blocks - each finishes at 10'' x 10''.



The fabric I'm using is all scraps from my tiny piecing project.  My first block is done but I think that dark purple really stands out (and not in a good way!)   I need to make sure I incorporate it quite of dark purple in the other blocks to balance things or unpick and insert another square in this first block..


I'm very happy to have a project at the ready when I want to sit and stitch!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Guild Bag Swap

Swap time in my local MQG guild!  We did a secret bag swap.  The ladies running the swap assigned everyone secret partners and only shared with you some information like their favorite colors.  You had absolutely no idea who would receive the bag you were making. 

For my unknown partner, I made a boxy bag (tutorial) using this absolutely yummy fabric.  I was really pleased with how it turned out and my swap partner loved it!


The fun part of this exchange was the person I made a bag for was the person making a bag for me.  I absolutely love mine!   It is a beautiful clutch and uses cork accents.  The bag was made by the lovely and talented Sara.



I really enjoy the ladies in my local Modern Quilt Guild and our meeting this past Sunday was so much fun.


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, November 11, 2019

Faux Needle Turned Applique

A few weekends ago, I had the opportunity to take a class with Ginny Robinson and made a one block version of her Fauchet quilt.


Ginny's quilt Fauchet won a ribbon in Quiltcon 2018.  The block design and the colors she chose were inspired by an aunt's crochet afghan.

Sourced from Modern Quilt Guild   - Fauchet by Ginny Robinson
Photo sourced from Modern Quilt Guild, quilt credit Ginny Robinson

The process itself was interesting.  We glued our fabric to the shape cut from a specific interfacing product.  


Then we cut the fabric around the glued shape with about 1/8 - 1/4 '' seam allowance and then wrapped and glued the edges down.  Then more glue to put your shape in the right spot.  The glue really held the shapes where you wanted them and was ideal if the project needed to be put away for awhile - you can do so confident everything will stay in place.


The final step involved zig-zag-ing the shapes using invisible thread on the top and a thread that matched your background fabric in the bobbin.  Ginny advised a zero tension setting and the smallest size stitch you could deal with.  I managed a 1.5 length and width.


The invisible thread worked great.  Although I had two spools in my stash, I don't recall every using it before.  It worked fine in my machine - the only hitch I had the thread got stuck on the spool itself a few times.  After some trail and error, I found that it worked fine if there was some slack between the spool and the first 'thing' it threads through on the machine. 

Once everything is secured with thread, you need to give your block a bath in cold water to dissolve away all that glue and soften up the interfacing.  I made sample shape block and left it overnight to test it out the soaking in water process - it came out great!

Next step is to soak my block and then quilt.  I am going to make a pillow.

I am generally not a fan of other applique techniques I've tried but Ginny's process of faux needle turned applique is definitely one I would do again.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

October Temperatures

Welcome November!  What a wild ride October was!

This is my second year making a temperature quilt.  When I started, I fully expected several days each year would reach over 100 degrees.  In reality, we had only one day and it was on October 3!  (To keep my quilt consistent, I use the high temperatures as recorded at the RDU airport and the 100 degrees lasted for 10-20 minutes but that was enough to count as a record breaking temperature for that day and for my quilt!)

October 31 was 85 degrees but the high on November 1 was 59!  Roller coaster!

(Please excuse the fact that this quilt top needs pressing!)


October 2019 was definitely warmer than 2018 with many more days this year in the 70 and 80s than last year.

Here is a mapping of the colors.


There are so many temperature quilts popping up and I love them.  I wrote up a tutorial on a temperature quilt if you are interested.  In addition, Anina is running a 2019 QAL!



Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, November 4, 2019

Linked - My Quilt in Make Modern Magazine


My quilt has been published in Make Modern Magazine!

I just loved working on this quilt, using all different shades of gray.  The width of the block remains constant but the height of the block gets smaller from top to bottom which creates a very interesting design.  To emphasize this, the quilting runs from top to bottom with overlapping organic wavy lines.


The block pattern popped into my head when studying the table top on our porch.

Linked finished at 63 '' x 72'' and is a foundation paper pieced pattern.



Linked uses the beautiful solids from Paintbrush Studios including Black (121-004), Smoke (121-040), Grey (121-014), Pewter (121-172), Silver (121-010), Pale Silver (121-016), Ash (121-105), Mist (121-011), Aluminum (121-104) and White (121-000).  I really love working with these solids - the colors are saturated and the feel of the fabric - the hand - is absolutely perfect.


Linked was created as a gift for my nephew and his bride in celebration of their marriage. The name Linked is both a metaphor for marriage and a nod to the quilt’s resemblance to a chain-link fence.


Each May, Raleigh has a large field of sunflowers open to the public and this made the perfect location for the photo. The sky was dark and thunder arrived as we finished up but the sunflowers were at peak color.  I found out later that sunflowers were the favorite flower of the newlyweds'!



The pattern for Linked along with several other amazing quilts can be found in issue 31 of Make Modern Magazine which is available today!  Make Modern Magazine is a digital magazine available in 6 month12 month subscription, and also via a All Access Subscription.  You can also purchase just issue 31 here.


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, November 1, 2019

One Monthly Goal November Link-up

Welcome to November!  We had 72 goals linked up for October - lets see what this month brings!  


New to One Monthly Goal?  Welcome!  To join, share a photo of your project, some words about what you want to accomplish in a blog post, an Instagram post (tutorial) or a post on Flickr and add that photo to the link-up.  Return at the end of the month and share your results.  You can read about the event and the rules on the main event page.


We have wonderful sponsors this month - three (3) winners will be randomly chosen from those that link up in both the goal and the finish event. 


Fat Quarter Shop offers a tremendous selection of fabric, notions, books and just about anything you will need for your project. Consider their Sew Sampler box to receive a monthly surprise delivery of fabric and fun.  Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate to one lucky participant.


The Quilters Planner has everything you need to organize and keep track of the work, personal and  quilting parts of your life to decrease your stress and increase your creativity.  The Quilter’s Planner also comes with a gorgeous magazine filled with inspirational quilting projects for you to sew.  New for 2020, are four different calendar formats and other options to optimize your planner.  The Quilter's Planner is offering one 2020 planner to a lucky participant.  (I've owned a Quilter's Planner for 3 years and have already ordered mine for 2020!)

I am very pleased to introduce our featured designer for November - Barb Cherniwchan of Coach House Designs.  

Barb has been designing quilt patterns for 11 years since the sale of her quilt shops in 2008. You can find over 300 patterns on her website coachhousedesigns.com. The majority of Barb’s patterns feature fabrics by Moda designers but she has recently also been working with Clothworks, Maywood Studio, Benartex, Hoffman and Free Spirit. Many of Barb’s patterns have appeared in Quiltmania magazine.

Barb has also developed a web-based app found at app.fabswitch.com which allows customers to switch out the fabrics in many of Barb’s patterns with either pre-loaded fabric swatches or fabrics you upload yourself. You can then print out a color copy of your version with updated fabric requirements. The possibilities are endless!



You can visit Barb Cherniwchan of Coach House Designs on Instagram, on Facebook, and in her Store.  Barb is offering one lucky winner 3 digital (pdf) patterns of their choice from her shop.

My goal for November is to stay current with the Mosaic Mystery QAL.  I've got other secret sewing going on and I don't want to get behind on the QAL.



Now it is your turn to link up - what is your goal for this month?  (A goal could be to finish a quilt but it could also be to attach a binding.  Whatever it takes to help you move forward and make progress on your projects!  And as long as the project involves making something with a needle and/or fabric, you can link up!)

Make sure you visit the One Monthly Goal event page for the specific requirements for links and social tags. 
 Your blog post (or Flickr post) must contain a photo of your project, a clearly stated goal and a link back to Elm Street Quilts.  Your Instagram post must include a photo of your project, a clearly stated goal and the tag #onemonthlygoal.  (Entries which don't contain the required information may be disqualified.)

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.   (The One Monthly Goal accomplishment linkup will be available on November 24.)

Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can find the OMG link-up from your blog.  Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post: 
 




Thanks for linking up!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter



Have a wonderful day! Patty