Snow Day {Quilted Potholders &. Trivets}

Tomorrow has been declared a SNOW DAY!!!

It’s really just a “the ice is going to be really bad, so stay home, because it’s the south and we don’t know how to take care of the roads…ya hear?!?” day around these parts. 

Either way? This school nurse is as giddy as her students!

As I was making a warm meal as the temperatures dropped tonight, I realized I never shared my snowflake trivets and potholders that I finished awhile back.

I was part of a row by row blog hop, many moons ago, where I was asked to design an EPP row. I came up with these fun snowflakes for the Winter Wonderland quilt.

A few months ago, I came to the conclusion I was never going to finish the other rows, since I obviously never started them.  I knew that my husband would make fun of my Xmas potholders, as he usually does, when January hit.  I thought they would make great “winter” gear for the kitchen!

The hexie shaped trivets work well for all kinds of shapes and sizes of hot items and I always love making, what I call, pocket potholders to protect the back of my hands (see second photo). And I used up stash!

I can’t wait to have my coffee at my leisure tomorrow morning and surprise our puppy when he realizes I’m not going to work. And of course, a little time in the studio…

Quilting on the Go....English Paper Piecing {Book}

 

When Sharon Burgess asked me if I would participate in a book tour of her new book, I couldn't contain my glee.  We "met" early on in my blogging years and I've was extremely lucky to receive a creation of hers during a swap, a beautiful hoop piece.  Her work is impeccable and her recent patterns she has published have been stunning!

When the book arrived on my doorstep from Tuva Publishing, I opened it up and had a moment of "which ONE am I going to do".  I started to be greedy and had the idea of making a BUNCH of them for the tour.  But alas, summer is wrecking havoc and I only completed one of the projects in her book.

When I settled on the Summer Star Table Runner, it was because the colors of hers reminded me of the need for some Fourth of July pillows in my family room.  I have pillows that I have covered in the past for Halloween and Valentine's, but not for the American holiday.

I am one to make my own papers.  It is something I enjoy, but if you are looking for some paper kits, Paper Pieces have some available!

I also don't glue baste, so it probably takes me a tad longer than most to get an EPP project completed quickly, but I sure do enjoy the process.

I won't pretend that I'm a perfect EPP quilter either! Just one that loves to do it!

I loved the way Sharon quilted her runner, but I really like doing matchstick for my throw pillows when I can. I haven't had the guts to do it on a large quilt yet, so I take advantage when I have smaller projects like this.

And really? It makes it easier for me to run a vacuum over them when my pugs get their hair all over them. Haha!

I love the final product!!

I love how the star changes when you change the placement of color. 
They are similar, but the eye gets drawn different ways.

I still have to finish the binding on the second pillow cover...

I'm telling you, the summer is KILLING me!

Next project?  I can't decide.  The Clam Shell Dilly bag?

Or the Zipper Pouch?

Yes.  The projects in the book are THAT good!

 If you want to see more projects and the different variations...

hurry up onto Sharon's blog Lillabelle Lane.  

Some amazing variations like the zipper pouch above are being done!!

Sew Together Bag

 For some time, I saw a ton of traffic online about the Sew Together Bag and I just didn't get the hype.

Until I went to Quiltcon and saw them along with the Bionic Gear Bag in action. 

I loved how neat everyone had their stuff next to their sewing machines, all organized. 

I thought I would give the Sew Together Bag a try.

The pattern is from Sew Demented and can be purchased HERE.

I think I was even more eager to try it over the Bionic Gear Bag because Quilt Barn had a wonderful Sew-a-long to help guide you through the steps.

 I love it. 

It is my EPP dream! The zippered parts can hold all of my papers, paperclips and various notions.  

It's also wonderful for packing up things to sew on the go.

Definitely more are in my plans for the future.

January 2015: A Year of Lovely Finishes

Ever KNOW that your coming new year is going to be filled with change and adventure?  

I certainly do!

2015 is a big year for our family. I made up #my2015quiltlist the other day and realize I have a lot of quilt obligations, a few quilt goals, and a lot of quilt hopes. 

In order to keep on track, I am going to do my darnedest to keep up with the gals, Melissa of Sew Bitter Designs & Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts that organized A Year of Lovey Finishes at #AYOLF. 

 They have a lot of great incentives to win from their sponsors if you need that kind of encouragement.  I'm also hoping it just gets me to blog some more again. I miss it. 

Come join us!

A Lovely Year of Finishes: January 2015

My January Project this year is my oldest son's quilt, the Argyle quilt.

I actually finished the hexes quite awhile ago (I'm pretending to misremember the date)

 I finally took some time and faced the fact that it needed to be finishes BEFORE he leaves the house for college in the fall...and actually maybe use it and enjoy it?  I spent a day making the pieced borders and then took two days appliquéing the hexes onto the background.  Adding the skinny grey border was a breeze after that.

I pinned the backing onto the leaders over the holidays while chatting with my family...however, when I went to velcro it on my rails, I realized that I put it on crooked. 

 So my task this month is to reload it and then quilt it.

The binding is also all prepped and ready to go as soon as I'm done.  A full quilt by the end of January?  I really hope this makes the linkup for a lovely finish at the end of the month.

  I'm already skating at the end of the day to post this.  

Wish me luck!  I'm wishing all others luck too!

Nosegays {Quilt}

By some might be said of me that here I have but gathered a nosegay of strange flowers, and have put nothing of mine unto it but the thread to bind them.

I eyed and eyed this lovely stack of reproduction 30s prints in my catalog for over a year.

I finally pulled the trigger and was so excited when they arrived on my doorstep.

But it was short lived.  I was stuck on what I would actually do with them. I knew the quilt would be just for me, but what kind of pattern?  I spent an extensive time looking at vintage 30s quilts.  The same ones popped up that intrigued me.  But the nosegay won the competition. 

Then I had to really think about what the process was. How vintage did I want to actually go?

I decided to go more than vintage.   English paper piecing.   I knew we had a trip coming up and my Hex on the Beach quilt is getting too big to take along.  It seemed like a marriage made in heaven.

Fast forward to our return.  I couldn't help myself and decided to piece a few of the basted shapes to make sure I made good choices for my fabric selections.

I could not be more pleased at the moment.

I can't decide which one I like more.

I wouldn't say I love every single print and combo, but I wanted to make sure I spread out and represented each color.

I need to slow down on the piecing of blocks because I just recently was able to cut background for basting those shapes, so there is still quite a ways to go.

But certainly a project that I am really enjoying!

Sew on the Go

I finally did it!  This bag has been the product of my imagination for at least a year.  On paper for months. But now it is real!

    

I've wanted a bag that zipped closed and could store my Engish Paper piecing Projects or any smaller hand project I might have. 

I've used picked which work nicely but tend to be small. I've used baskets which tend to get knocked over in my car and just aren't convenient in a plane.   I've used plastic storage and they just aren't flexible enough when you are stuffing one carry on bag to go through security. 

It actually ended up a bit deeper than I planned. About 4" to the zipper.  

However, it is perfect for my next EPP project that has larger templates. 

I also managed to make a pocket. 

Upside down.  Whoops

But, hey. I'm always a work in progress. I definitely plan on making another that is less deep for my normal 1" side hexies. 

But for now, I'm just happy to be able to take this along during the summer months. Quite a bit if traveling. 

What's your favorite EPP to-go solution?