Vote Mini Quilt

Early voting opens in North Carolina today! This mini was made with the free pattern from Carolyn Friedlander. I've been very interested in trying out her alphabet pattern and now that I've made a mini, I am certain I will purchase the full pattern. Just need to figure out what I want to say....

I've been busy finishing up my final quilt for submission to QuiltCon which has pushed other projects to the side. This mini was a fun quick finish.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Granny Square Adventures continue

A few weeks ago, I purchased a 32 pack of beautiful cotton yarn from Purl Soho. Each is 25 g and will make at least 5 granny squares. (There is yarn leftover of each color from which I might be able to squeak out another square or maybe combine them together into a single square for each colorway.)

I have been crocheting about one square a day and working my way through a specific 4 skein colorway. Just a few more to go from the blue package and then I'll move on to the greens.

There is no true plan here other than it will be a blanket of some size. I may by more of this mini bundles ... too soon to decide!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Sunny Blocks

One of the projects I brought to my recent retreat were blocks from Tara's Sunny pattern. I gathered together a stack of blue FQs with the intent of auditioning this pattern as a potential for a bed sized quilt.

I choose to print the fan blocks on FPP paper instead of using freezer paper just for the ease of sewing in a small space at retreat. After a few mishaps, I found that sewing the fan blocks was quite fun.

Adding that small quarter circle is another story. The curves in the block don't map to have of my drunkards path templates so I need to use paper templates which may be contributing to some slight cutting issues. I've had to resew each of these several times - glue basting helped tremendously but there are still issues to deal with. For my next batch, I will cut that quarter circle slightly larger and then trim.

This project will take a back burner for while as I've two others I want to finish first!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Retreat Sewing

I returned from a fun long weekend of sewing and friendship at the NC beach - it was a mini retreat for 6 friends. We all exchanged gifts. I made small notebook covers and also gave them mini magnetic pin bowls.

Gifts in return included several homemade items like this cork basket and awesome needlebook. The favorite for anyone was a two finger chopstick perfect for snacking while sewing!

I packed 6 projects and worked on 4 of the 6. I did get all my economy blocks done. There are 60 of each size - 3" and 3.75" finished size. (A few aren't in the photograph.) I had these all kitted up ahead of time and it was fun to see the sweet image as I sewed.

I've got a layout in mind but will be putting this project aside for a bit to get to work on some higher priority projects.

I also sewed up some blocks as part of the Sunny pattern plus made a small mini that needs to be quilted. I'll share more about those projects soon.

3 of the 6 projects I brought along were handwork. I managed to crochet 2 mini granny squares but that was it!

We had lovely weather, great food, so many laughs, daily walks on the beach... it really filled me up with joy.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Illusions Pattern Available

Earlier this year, I shared photos of my quilt Illusions and the pattern which debuted at QuiltCon 2024 in the booth from my local quilt store, Cary Quilting.

Illusions is a Foundation Paper Piecing Pattern (FPP). The quilt finishes at 30" x 30" and is perfect for a wall hanging. It is a two color quilt and requires just 1 yard of each color! My quilt was made using Kona Breakers Blue and Kona Jet Black.

I am pleased to (finally) announce that the pattern is now available digitally from my pattern shop.

You can order a printed version at Cary Quilting, my local quilt store. (If you order a paper version and would also like a pdf of the FPP patterns, please email me and I'd be happy to send it along.)

If you make a version of the quilt, please share it with me - I'd love to see it!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Art of Bending Fabric workshop

This past weekend, I took a all day workshop with Michelle Wilke @ml_wilke called The Art of Bending Fabric. Michelle's quilt Rails, exhibited in QuiltCon and elsewhere, is a beautiful example of this technique.

The theme for the class was "Let It Go" - frustrations, rules, fuss, even rulers! - and building up the quilt from the center was quite fun.

I brought a bunch of 1.5" strips in warm and cool tones and ended up using mainly blues with some pops of green and yellow. My vision of the quilt before I started was to have a lot more negative space but I realized I actually brought a single shade of white in what I thought was lots of different shades.

My piece is roughly 20" wide and 18" tall. It needs a really good starching and pressing or maybe even a blocking to get it flat. I have a plan on how to quilt it but will likely not get to it for awhile.

Michelle is a wonderful teacher should you ever get a chance to take a class with her.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Best Friends - The Puppy Quilt

Cuteness alert!!

Meet Bernadette, Edgar, Cookie and Jeff! These puppies were so much fun to put together. The pattern is Dog Park quilt by Elizabeth Hartman. I love using her patterns for baby quilts - I've made the Koala quilt a few times and the Delightful Desert.

For the quilting, I went with a 2" spaced cross hatch on the diagonal. When I started the quilting, I cringed when a quilting line crossed over an eye (ouch!) or was very visible against the fabric. Interestingly enough, all that "disappears" once all the quilting is done.

The quilt is a gift for my nephew and his wife for their first child. Baby shower is at the end of the month. I won't be able to attend in person but my sister - future grandmother! - will be sure to capture photos for me.

My youngest made this wonderful crocheted blanket for the new baby (pattern). I love it so much and wonder if I could hint for a mom sized version for myself! Their love of crochet is what got me excited to give it a try again. (See my crochet project.)

This little puppy is my favorite of the four!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Granny Square Adventures

I finished my first batch of 9 little granny squares. and then used this crochet as you go method to join the squares together. There are numerous issues with both the squares and the assembly together but it was all about learning and finding a new on the go project.

My square in about ~11" square. Not sure what the finished project will exactly be but look what arrived in the mail from Purl Soho!

Each of the balls is 25g (about 58 yards) of beautiful color. 

I started working with the warm maple colorway to see how many squares it would yield - 5 with some leftover! Each square is 3.5". I am getting better at recognizing my errors and then pulling back so everything gets corrected right away. Four of these were made during my guild meeting on Sunday!

I am going to work these bundle by bundle so the next sets of charm squares will come from those Cotton Chirps pictured.

My goal is a lap sized afghan. Oh, and just to have fun in the creative process!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Cute Economy Block update

I was happy to get my hands on a 10 years of Magic panel from Ruby Star. As soon as I saw it go by in my IG stream, I thought it would be perfect for a making a quilt using economy blocks.

I am using all Ruby Star fabrics for these blocks - I've got a lot of it! Once all the cute prints are turned into economy blocks, I will make more blocks by just using the fabric itself.

At this point, I have about 50 blocks and kits made for about 13 more. This covers the tiny cute squares which will finish at 3" by 3".

Oddly for me, I've not really planned this out. I've got larger squares to turn into larger economy blocks but I've not done the math (😲!) nor have I figured out how many blocks I will actually need.

I've a retreat coming up later this month and making these blocks will be my focus!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Granny Squares

Back when I was a teenager - many yesterdays ago - I crocheted a blanket. I still have that blanket stored somewhere in a box. (I will most certainly go search it out when I've the energy to tackle a closet!)

Looking for a fun portable project, I decided to try my hand at granny squares. After a few practice ones using scrap yarn, I found some cotton yarn in my stash and started making some squares during a recent long flight to and from Seattle. This was a really fun project. I wish I had kept track of which ones I did first so I could check out whether I really improved as I went!

I'm now seriously considering buying some very colorful yarn and attempting a blanket. I think it would be a fun project!

Have you made a granny square blanket? If yes, any tips for me?

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Colors of the Pacific Northwest

My nephew got married this past weekend and I gifted him and his bride a new quilt. They met in Seattle during the pandemic and have now relocated for a few years to California with hopes to return back to the Pacific Northwest.  I chose colors of that beautiful area for the quilt top (Paintbrush Studios in colors pale aqua, marine, gulf stream and gray) and this fun Alison Glass print for the back to capture the rainy weather.

This is a free pattern called Brushstrokes from Shiners View. It was a fun controlled improv sew and was perfect for sewing while I was at our annual family beach trip. The edge is edge pattern is called Belly Bop. The quilt finishes 63" x 70" - I made it slightly bigger than the pattern.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Embroidery and Sashiko Projects

Snuggly Monkey is a wonderful online shop which sells all sorts of supplies for needlework crafting. Once a month or so, they hold a open studio and allow people to come in and browse the shelves and shop. I had a great time wandering the aisles and came home with fun goodies for myself and my youngest.

The Star Map embroidery project was a tad expensive but I decided to treat myself for an early birthday present! First up is Ursa Major - the sweet bear. This will be a very fun and relaxing stitch!

I also grabbed a Sashiko project for some airport stitching.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Bernadette and Edgar

Meet Bernadette and Edgar! These are 2 of the 4 puppies that will adorn the front of a baby quilt I am making for my nephew's baby due later this year.

The pattern is Dog Park quilt by Elizabeth Hartman. I love using her patterns for baby quilts - I've made the Koala quilt a few times and the Delightful Desert.

Next up are two smaller dogs - Cookie and Jeff!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Lily - A Layer Cake Quilt

Fat Quarter Shop is releasing a new short cut quilt pattern today for this fun Lily quilt. (Download your free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop and check out the video tutorial!) I was very excited  when asked by FQS if I'd be interested in sewing up a quilt sample.

The hardest part of the whole quilt was decided what color I wanted to use and then the final layout of those pretty colors. The pattern is written for layer cake. I used yardage and went for a less scrappy look. Fat Quarter Shop has a kit available now!

The quilting is a wavy walking foot which has added some nice textured. The beautiful fabric is Speckled from Ruby Star with a gold print for binding. I pieced together the backing with blue and a bit of red solid fabric from stash. 

. The quilt finished 60" x 60". It will be donated to my guild's community giving project - we collect quilts for kids in the foster care system.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Cute Economy Blocks

I was happy to get my hands on a 10 years of Magic panel from Ruby Star. It is filled with adorable little pieces of art. I cut all the squares apart with the objective of making a quilt using economy blocks.

After making a few and dealing with the trimming steps and basic inaccuracy of my 1/4" seam (hah!), I decided to FPP my blocks. Trimming with confidence as I go is a much more comfortable step in the process for me.

These are just so cute!

So far, I'm using the squares that cut at 2" unfinished and 3" unfinished in these smaller economy blocks that will finish at 3". I've got lots of Ruby Start fabric on hand so will be making 'plain' economy blocks too. I've not done the math on this yet so not sure how big this project will be.

I've got a retreat in late September and making the 'plain' blocks will be a great sew activity.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Rainbows

I took a wonderful course with Jo Avery at QuiltCon on needle-turned applique rainbows - read about the class. My class project is now done and finishes at 17" x 17".

All steps of this project have been enjoyable. The applique finished up quickly and since then I've been slow stitching the hand quilting on my piece. It has been my go-to handwork project for guild meetings and coffee meetups. 

While I could certainly keep adding more quilting texture, I decided to call it done and shift my attention to a new version, done in colors of the trans flag.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

On My Cutting Table

Warning! This post is filled with beautiful fabric. 😉

I've been playing with some beautiful fabric in my sewing room. First up is the QuiltCon fabric challenge using Ruby & Bee solids in colorways slate, rain cloud, stormy, unicorn, turmeric, and poppy. These fabrics are so soft and wonderful to work with. My quilt top is in the works - here is a sneak peak of one of the blocks I was experimenting with.

I drew up a design for the quilt and then deviated from the specifics quite a bit. Its been a fun make and I look forward to sharing.

Next up is this beautiful rainbow of rich color - Speckled from Ruby Star. I'm working on a quilt for a Fat Quarter Shop pattern launch coming in August. 

The blocks have been fun to put together and I'll be donating the finished quilt to my guild's community giving project.

Since I'll have lots of scraps leftover, I've decided to pair them with this Ruby Star Ten Years of Magic panel and make lots of economy blocks.

These will be a really fun sew and I can't wait to get started.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Layered Legacies - NC Museum of Art Exhibit

I spent a delightful afternoon yesterday visiting the Layered Legacy exhibit at the NC Museum of Art. (The show closes later this month so check it out soon if you are local!) The quilts on exhibit, the majority of which were created in the early to mid-1800s, were on loan from Old Salem. 

The quilt above was the oldest in the exhibit and was dated as 1796 and from the household of Elizabeth Webster. The word household was used multiple times throughout the exhibit and there were posters on the wall to acknowledged that some of the family of some of these quilt holders owned slaves which may have contributed to the quilts but most certainly freed the quilt maker from daily domestic duties so they had time to create.

My favorite quilt in the exhibit is this blue and white quilt, created by a girl who died young and was preserved and treasured by her sister. Although hard to see in the photo, there was wonderful hand quilted motifs in the white areas.

I was most intrigued by all the hand quilting and the resulting texture. 

Outside the exhibit were 4 pieces of textile art from 3 different makers. The quilt is the work of my friend Michelle Wilke. The exhibit store had some of Michelle's work for sale plus books from my friend Frances Dowell. I have such talented friends!

In the main gift store, they had a repurposed cigarette machine which dispensed mini works of art for $5. So fun! I treated my daughter to a token and several people came up while we were having fun choosing and then went to buy their own tokens!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Happy July - 2024 goal check-in

Happy July! Didn't see fireworks this year but we did enjoy some ice cream sundaes at a friends house on the 4th - so yummy.

With the year half over, I decided to check in with my goals for 2024 and join Yvonne's planning party. I'm making good progress against most of these goals. See my 2024 goal post here.

Starting with my making and creativity related goals:

• From my making perspective, I am working on two quilts for QuiltCon submission - one was my Pantone challenge quilt Peachy Keen. About half of the quilting is done and it has been sitting in 'time out' while I decide how I want to add some hand quilting. (Goal: Make at least one quilt to submit to QuiltCon 2025)

• I've a lot of fabric in stash that could be put to good use as donation quilts for my guilds charity. This small quilt is finished and I've got two donation quilts underway right now, all from stash. My HST quilt and the Seattle BOM quilt. Next up for the HST quilt is to pull together backing and binding so it can get quilted. Feeling good about being on a path to exceed this goal. (Goal: Donate at least one quilt to our guild charity using only fabric from stash.)

• Important to me is a goal to just play. I am working with large curves in one of my (fingers-crossed) QuiltCon submissions. Plus I made a mini improv quilt (not yet blogged out) and started a 2 color improv. I hope to focus more on the play aspect for the second part of the year and I still want to tackle some garment sewing. I also made this bag just to get a complete before tacking other projects (Goal: Play! Lots of ideas for this - explore new color combinations, start two color improv, experiment with large curves, make more mini quilts, and give garment sewing a try.)

Then my general well being goals:

• I've been postponing a big fabric clear out but still hoping to get to it this summer. (Goal: Adopt the 'container' concept in my sewing room and donate or sell fabric I no longer want.)

• Blogging is important for me to record what I am working on and I've continued to blog at least once weekly. It is really helpful to have a record of when projects were started and finished. For my newsletter, I started including some book recommendations since reading daily is something I continue to prioritize and enjoy. (Goal: Blog 1-2 times weekly plus I want to revamp my monthly newsletter & I intend to continue to make reading a part of my day.) 
• Perhaps my most important achievement is that I started taking twice weekly sessions with a trainer to improve my overall strength and balance. I really enjoy how these sessions make me feel. (Goal: I hope to add weekly strength training to my daily walking or swimming exercise.)

In addition to those mentioned above, I've got a number of WIPs that I do hope to give some attention to:

• I'm working on a quilt for an upcoming Fat Quarter Shop pattern release. The quilt top is done but I've got to get backing together and get it quilted. (This will also be a donation quilt.) Pattern releases in August so I can't share until then.
• The Local pattern is something I working on with a group of friends. I've finished 5 houses and much of 6 and 7 but I'm thinking of just making a small mini with four houses. 

Lots accomplished so far and (hopefully) more fun and creativity ahead!

Have a wonderful day! Patty