Poplun

Productive Tuesday!

2012-03-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

I managed to sneak in a little bit of sewing time between housework and playtime with Aiden, and used it to finish my fourth Swoon block.

Only 12 more blocks to go! Quilt progress charted here.

Opinion Needed!!

2012-03-05T15:46:00.001-08:00

Well, despite the gorgeous weather we're having today and having my hubby home for a three day weekend, I managed to make some progress on my Southern Belle quilt!

I just have a few borders to add and I need to tweak the instructions a bit, but the pattern should {hopefully} be ready in a few weeks. I only bought enough fabric to make a wallhanging, but as I'm looking at the photo, I'm starting to see a gorgeous bedspread. Might have to make another version soon! I'm linking up with Patchwork Times' Design Wall Monday, Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday and Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday. Be sure to visit and check out all the great WIPS!

I've spent most of my sewing time working on my English Paper Piecing - I'm loving how easily these Jewel Stars are going together, and California Girl is such a beautiful line!!! Now that I have about ten blocks assembled though, I find myself with a dilemma: how should these be assembled?

I'm planning on using my favorite white polka dot fabric as the connecting fabric, but I can't decide whether to put the blocks together using small diamonds, or large hexagons! Since I'm planning this as a summery throw blanket, right now I'm leaning towards using the larger hexies. The small diamonds almost seem like they'd be better suited for a smaller project, like a wallhanging or tablerunner. What do you think???

February AYOS finish

2012-02-29T19:30:00.002-08:00

This month's AYOS project was I.S.T.H. aka "Insert Snappy Title Here":

photo courtesy of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

Apparently, there's something about this quilt pattern that renders it un-namable, since I couldn't come up with a name either! So here's my "project":

I had such a hard time getting started this month that I gave up on the idea of making a full quilt, and just made a table runner instead. I opted to use four interior stars, rather than three, just to give it some extra length.

Because the runner is so skinny, I felt like there wasn't a ton of room at either end for a checkerboard pattern, so I went for solid borders, and used my light tonal prints for checkerboard setting and corner triangles.

I finished the runner with some echo quilting around the stars. I really wish I had planned this part better, though - when I started quilting, I didn't realize that the outer star tips would be touching, and as my hubby so sweetly pointed out, not all the tips match up. Thanks honey. It's not off enough that you could notice it from a galloping horse, as one of the gals in my quilting group says, so I'm not going to rip it out and re-sew it ... yet. We'll see if it {still} bothers me in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to swing by A Quilting Life and Pink Pincushion to see the rest of the parade!

OH! And I almost forgot - I didn't share Mom's AYOS picture today ... because she started her own blog! You can visit her at http://quiltingnona.blogspot.com/.

Happy Sewing!

Jewel Stars

2012-02-29T17:21:00.000-08:00

I'm fairly new to Flickr. I've been aware of it for awhile, but it wasn't until recently {thanks to lots of browsing while sitting on the couch, nursing} that I've really spent much time perusing! When I first decided to start working on an actual paper piecing project, I spent a lot of time looking at projects on Flickr and I was really drawn to this specific formation:

Source

I think part of my attraction to the piece was that the pattern is so retro and fun, but could really be stunning if the blocks were made with some soft, modern fabrics. The blocks aren't as complicated and time consuming as my Rose Star Blocks ...

... but not quite as mindless as the hexies ...

... and they look like they'll go together faster, since they don't have quite as many connecting pieces.

These blocks appear to go by a variety names (Texas Star, Star Flower, Irregular Pentagon, Jewel Flower, Jewel Star), but I couldn't find a template for any of them anywhere, which only left me a few construction choices:

I could purchase the pre-made templates from PaperPieces.com ... but I'd have to wait for them to be shipped, and even though they're fairly reasonable, I'd need a ton and have already blown my crafting budget {for the next few months} on new fabric.
I could purchase the e-files for the templates from InstantPiecing.com ... but the files include a 1/4" seam allowance. Again, since I need so many blocks, this potentially wastes
I could figure out how to make my own template.

I knew that I wanted to use a 1 inch hexagon as my flower center since this works well with a 2.5" scrap of fabric - perfect for my use with my charm packs - so I went to http://incompetech.com and made my own hexagonal graph paper. From there, using one of my quilting rulers, it was really easy to create my own template! Here's the result ....

... and here's the resulting block!

If you're interested in making your own jewel star, please join my brand new Flickr group: Jewel Stars - English Paper Piecing and share your finished blocks with us!

Just to make life easier, here is a full-scale copy of the template:

English Paper Piecing - Jewel Star Pattern

Just print this baby out on card stock -- making sure that the printing size option in Adobe Reader is "ACTUAL SIZE." -- carefully cut it apart, and then go to town! I'm hoping to have a tutorial posted some time in the next week, and have some other .pdf documents to share soon for mass production of the shapes. Can't wait to see some more finished blocks!

Oh! Almost forgot - I'm linking up over at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday. So many great projects out there!

Swoon Update

2012-02-27T22:30:00.002-08:00

Just popping in to share my latest Swoon Along block!

Sorry for the crummy photo! I had to snap it with my phone as my little one was just waking up from his afternoon nap. The block desperately needs to be pressed, but my iron needs to cool off and be cleaned before I dare use it on the front of such a light colored block! I have just one more white-centered block to make with red and blue accents and then I'll be 25% done - yay! I think this is my favorite so far! My progress is here (box #5).

Homemaking

2012-02-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

For the first time since high school, I'm not working - it's a little strange to not have to worry about work responsibilities or get up and dash out the door every morning, but so far I'm loving being a stay-at-home mom and wifey. Now that hubby and I have adapted to having our little munchkin around and said munchkin is starting to sort-of stick to a nice little schedule, I feel like I can finally start paying attention to keeping up with the household!

Photo source

Don't worry, we're not planning on starting our own little 1950's compound out here - we'd probably starve since the closest I've ever come to growing my own food is playing "Farmville" on facebook. :) - but I am going to start trying out some fun projects here on our homefront.

First up, I'm going to try making homemade laundry detergent and homemade dish soap this week. I found both recipes on Being Creative to Keep my Sanity blog and a friend has tried both with great success! Has anyone tried either of these "recipes" or have any pointers to share?

And ... just to be cheeky ...

... he he he ....

Spring Cleaning!

2012-02-23T14:09:00.000-08:00

I think that maybe one of the reasons I've been enjoying my handwork projects lately is that my work space (and desk, if we're being totally honesty) is completely overflowing with various projects in various stages of completion. It's a little overwhelming ... and avalanche-esque ... so I've decided to devote the rest of the week (I know ... two whole days ... whoppee!) to getting things whipped into shape.

First up, here are the latest numbers for my stash update. They're not pretty. Yup - about as small of a finish as anyone could get.

Stash Update: 1/18/12 - 1/26/12

Purchased: 7 yards including 3 Charm Packs each of California Girl and Papillon for my paper piecing, and some solids to be used in some upcoming projects. More on them soon!!
Used: 0.25 yards - for my measly little mug rug!

YTD: + 18.38 yards

* * * * *

Second up - I'm reinstating the 5 boxes rule for my own sanity! Several years ago, my sewing room was in a similar state of disarray, and so to save some poor archaeologist having to excavate my sewing table through hundreds of layers of fabric a thousand years in the future, I bought 5 little plastic boxes and {tried} to limit myself to only five projects going on at a single time. Well, when we moved last summer, I used those five little boxes to help transport my sewing room ... and never really got around to cleaning them since I hardly touched my sewing machine in the last half of my pregnancy. So, lately, instead of storing all my WIPs in those little boxes, I've been storing them in stacks! And looking at those stacks this afternoon, there are WAY more than five projects, so I'm starting fresh!

Just to keep myself honest - I'm creating a new page here on my blog to track everything. You can click on the link at the top of the page to see all my current projects, but here's the basic gist of the box contents.

The monthly Another Year of Schnibbles project.
My current handwork or paper piecing project.
An old WIP that needs to be finished.
A new project of my choice!
The Swoon Along project.

* * * * *

Third up - I'm starting another page to track all of my WIPs (including those that have been shelved), Floppy Tops, and Yearly Finishes, just for fun. Plus, I love lists and since my sewing space is about half the size as the one in our last house, I'm in some serious need of organization. I'm hoping that this will keep me motivated, curb my crafting ADD, and keep me on track for some record finishes in 2012.

How do you organize your current projects and curb your crafting ADD?

Adventures in English Paper Piecing

2012-02-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

It's official - I think I'm addicted English paper piecing! I spent yesterday's morning nap time pouring over pictures on the web, trying to find a couple of great handwork projects to use with some new fabric coming in the mail this week.

The first block I fell in love with was the Star Rose block. There's even a group dedicated to these beauties on Flickr and one of the members made a handy-dandy printable template so that impatient people like me can sit right down and get started. Here's my test block:

Fabric: Verna by Kate Spain

Once I got the hang of making the kite squares and the pentagons, this block went together really quickly. I think that these blocks definitely require a bit of planning, however. If I were to do this one over again, I would make the inner ring of pentagons all orange and the outer ring of pentagons all pink, rather thank alternating them. I'm glad that I took the time to make a practice block. Now I'm all ready for my Papillon fabric to get here! To bad the mailman never comes until dinner time!

The second block, which I haven't had the chance to test yet, is a Star Flower or Jewel Flower. I found this great picture on Flickr! Check it out! I'm still working on my own template, since I can't seem to find one on the web. Has anyone seen one? My plan is to use my California Girl charm packs and my favorite white polka dot for this one!

... And, because it's Tuesday, hop on over to Quilt Story to see some other fantastic fabricy projects.

Happy sewing!!

Hexi Love

2012-02-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love my little man, Aiden. He really is a great kid!

Sunny personality, fantastic eater, sleeps through the night more often than not, and is usually a great napper. This week, however, we've decided that short naps give us more play time with mom and dad ... and more opportunities to eat! My crafty time, however, has been practically non-existent, though. I mean, how much can I really get done in 15 minutes?

Yesterday, however, I was browsing through my favorite blogs and came across Pleasant Home's inspirational Wednesday photo gallery. Last week Jodi was featuring a bunch of beautiful Hexi projects! I seemed to remember playing around with paper piecing last spring, before our big move, so I did a little searching in my crafty closet, and lo and behold! One of my five boxes had a bunch of Aster Manor scraps and one finished hexi block!

So today, I used my mini-nap breaks to put together a few more hexis ... and I think I'm hooked!

Sorry for the glare ...

They're so quick to put together and I'm finding that the hand-work is very therapeutic and relaxing. I'm not sure what these are going to be yet, but I did have to order some more fabric from the line, just to have enough to play around with! I was lucky enough to find one single layer cake left on etsy, all the way from Canada. Can't wait to get it next week. In the meantime, though, we're off for a play-weekend with cousins. Have a great weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing all the great weekend finishes out there next week.

Happy sewing!

It's a "Mug Rug" kind of Monday

2012-02-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

It's a super gloomy Monday and I really should be using my little guy's long morning nap to get some things done around the house ... especially since I really didn't do anything productive all weekend ... or last week for that matter!

Instead, I spent the morning fiddling around with little scraps of fabric ...

... and have managed to make myself a little mug rug. Which probably means that the afternoon will be spent curled up with Aiden, a cup of my favorite tea, and a good book. Heaven!

How are you spending your Monday?

Well, despite my best efforts ...

2012-02-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

... I didn't get any sewing OR organizing done yesterday. I really have to blame it on all the wonderful blogs out there ... and pinterest. Do you have the same problem I do? Pinterest makes all the clocks in my house speed up 10x's! I mean, I sit down for 10 minutes to browse when little man goes down for his morning nap ... and before I know it, two hours have gone by. Holy cow!

I made a conscious effort to stay away from my computer (other than to flip on the newest Coldplay album for some groovy background music) and managed to complete five blocks for a new pattern I'm playing around with.

Sorry for the crummy picture - very cloudy out today and can't get my lighting right!

I've seen so many great Carpenter Star blocks out there in blog-land that I had to start playing around with my own. My original intention was to use only a brown palette for this wallhanging. Once I started cutting my fabrics, I decided that I needed a little bit of red thrown in, probably in the binding, to bring things together. Now that I have four of these blocks made, I've decided that I definitely need some red stars thrown in for contrast.

I love it when quilts and patterns just kind of evolve while you sew them! I'm hoping to have more progress to share soon. And, I'm liking this fabric combination so much that I might just use it for February's Schnibbles pattern!

Today is Fabric Tuesday over at Quilt Story. Hop on over and check out all the great projects!

Design Wall Monday!

2012-02-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday! Hoping you all had a nice weekend. Hubby, little man, and I enjoyed a weekend full of wonderful friends, awesome wine, and great food!

On Saturday, we hit the Placer Wine trail to try some new-to-us wineries.

We've always been big fans of the Amador and Fair Play wineries, but the last few times we've visited, it has seemed like the area was slowly being infiltrated with more commercialized wineries, and that the tasting rooms were really overcrowded with drunk chicks (who probably turned 21 about five minutes ago) on their bachelorette parties, pretending to enjoy wine, but really just looking for a quick way to get tossed for free. While I'm by no means a wine snob or sommolier, I do know a little bit about wine and really enjoy getting to know more about each vintner's history and how they like to make their wine.

To avoid the weekender crowds this weekend however, we met up with our best friends and hit the backroads of Placer County. First stop was Wise Villa Winery ...

Photo courtesy of http://placerwine.com

...followed by Mt. Vernon ...

Photo courtesy of http://placerwine.com

and finally Fortezza!

Photo courtesy of http://placerwine.com

The wines at all three places were very good and we came home with a nice variety of bottles to enjoy after our little guy's bedtime!

The highlight of the day, however, was dinner at La Fornaretta in Newcastle, CA. Oh my lord, the food was phenomenal! If you live within a 2 hour radius, you have to try this restaurant! Believe me, it's worth the drive!! The restaurant is small and rustic, but is so completely welcoming. The owner greets all the diners at the door and spends the evening wandering through the dining room making conversation with those that desire to. He kept coming over to our table to coo at Aiden and tell us what a good baby we had!

Every single person at our table was raving about how good the food was! I tried the Penne alla Norma, which was eggplant in a superb Sicilian-style tomato sauce over penne and smothered with fresh ricotta. I couldn't even tell you what the rest of the party had since I was so enthralled with my own plate. The only thing that looked better than my pasta was the amazing pizzas that kept passing by the table. We're already planning to go back next weekend to try them! So fantastic!!

* * * * *

With all the adventuring this weekend, though, I never even set foot in my sewing room. I'm hoping to finish up some projects that have been just sitting around for awhile so that I can start fresh with some ideas that have been brewing lately.

First on the list of {planned} finishes for the week is the checkerboard quilt made from the leftover scraps of my niece's birthday dress.

I'm hoping to have the top finished by tomorrow so that I don't have to feel quite as guilty about running out on Wednesday to get a few more coordinating prints for a couple of ideas I've had bouncing around in my head.

If you're like me and need some inspiration to get moving this morning, pop on over to Patchwork Times to see what's on our fellow quilters' design boards today!

Happy Friday!

2012-02-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! I'm spending my morning with a nice cup of coffee, a gaggle of flying geese units, a plethora of HSTs to square ...

... and Grey's Anatomy on Netflix! Pink Mist still gives me goosebumps!

I love Season Two ... but if I don't watch it all the way through, does Denny still die ...? Might need to add some kleenex to the above list ...

Happy Sewing!

Fun Stuff for a Thursday morning!

2012-02-02T09:05:00.000-08:00

The Another Year of Schnibbles parade over at Sherri's and Sinta's blogs from yesterday were great. I'm always amazed how we can all take the same pattern and put our own individual spins on them to come up with totally unique projects!

February's Schnibbles project is I.S.T.H:

Photo Courtesy of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co

Usually when I see a pattern, I can almost immediately see what fabric line I want to use and what my finished project will look like. For some reason, I'm having a really hard time with this one, though. What fabric line are all you other participants using?

* * * * *

If you're looking for a fun diversion this morning, hop on over to the Moda Bake Shop! They just announced yesterday that they'll be hosting their own fabric-y version of Chopped!

Check out the rules, requirements, and mystery box "ingredients" for audition project:

The Challenge? All audition submissions must be some sort of Office/Studio Accessory.
It can be anything that would be used on or at an Office or Studio setting.

Sewing Basket of Mystery Items:

Fabrics used must feature at least one type of Moda precut. Additional Moda fabrics may be used to complete your project.
Project must use at least one type of buckle. This can be any size, shape or color.
Project must also include Quilt Batting somewhere in or on the project.

All projects are due by 2/29/12 and the actual competition begins in March! Prizes will be announced on 2/14/12. We have a busy couple of weeks here on our homefront, so I don't think I'll be participating, but I can't wait to see all of the crafty submissions! Will you bet joining in?

Full House - January's AYOS Project

2012-01-31T13:55:00.000-08:00

Happy end of the month! While the month of January really seemed like it flew by, I was actually finished with my project two weeks ago! Here's my finish!

This month's pattern, called Full House, is a Schnibbles pattern by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

Photo courtesy of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

Here's my version! It uses prints from Sandy Gervais's last two fall fabric lines: Awesome and Grand Finale. I'm proud to say that 100% of the fabric, including the backing, came from my stash!

I'm calling it Fall House - I know SUPER LAME play on the title, but it's the best I could come up with!

I still think that my favorite block is my "Italiano" block. It reminds me of a great line of serving bowls from Crate and Barrel from years ago. I'm still wishing that I had bought them ...

And, as a little side project, I saved up all the trimmings from my roof blocks ...

... and made a little mug rug with all the leftovers!

I bullied my mom, Rene, into joining the Schnibbles group too! She made her project into a sweet 16" x 16" pillow:

She used a charm pack from Deb Strain's Makin New Friends line, along with some pieces from her stash. The embroidered part reads "All hearts come home for Christmas." Awesome job, Mom!

Be sure to check out all of the other participants' photos starting tomorrow! They're at Sinta Renee's Pink Pincushion and Sherri's A Quilting Life. Can't wait to see everyone's finishes and find out what pattern we're doing next month!

Oh! Almost forgot! Check out some other great Works in Progress over at the Freshly Pieced WIP-Wednesday link party!

Finishing up!

2012-01-31T11:14:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I haven't touched my sewing machine since last Thursday! We spent the whole weekend enjoying family visiting from out of town ... and then the little guy and I spent all day yesterday recuperating!

I did manage to sneak out Thursday afternoon and get some shots of Pretty in Pink since we had a beautifully sunny afternoon.

It's hard to tell up against the fence, but I decided to use a chocolately-brown fabric for the binding (and the backing!) to ground the quilt a bit. I didn't want it to be overwhelmingly pink! This is my first scrappy(-ish) quilt and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I tried really hard not to do any planning with my block placement so as to give the quilt a really random look. I finally opted to do some straight-line quilting to frame the blocks in pink thread.

Just for fun, I'm linking up at Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday, to celebrate the finish!

Be sure to check out all of the other yummy projects, including Heather & Megan's latest Moda Bake Shop table runner tutorial!

If you're interested in making your own version of my Pretty in Pink quilt, the pattern is now available in my etsy shop. You can still receive 50% off of all patterns by using the coupon code JAN2012 before the end of the day.

Fabric requirements are:

White-on-White Floral print: 2 yards
Various Pink and White Fat Quarters: at least 7 (sample used 12), or scraps totaling 1 + 3/4 yards
Brown and Pink Print (for Binding): 1/2 yards

The pattern includes step-by-step assembly instructions and color assembly diagrams!

I'm off to try and get some sewing done before my little one wakes up! Happy Sewing!

Leftovers!

2012-01-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about yesterday's post - mainly about why I haven't sewn more clothing, and I think a big part of the reason why I don't is because there is so much wasted fabric when sewing from a clothes pattern. Granted, it really is leftover fabric, but they're usually in odd shapes and require a little bit of extra work to get into nice, workable squares. Once I had finished my niece's dress, though, rather than set the odd leftovers aside, I cut all of the fabric scraps into 2.5" squares - not sure why I picked that size, other than it seems to be my go-to size that works well with almost everything!

I actually scrapped anything less than 2.5" and then I played around in EQ6 to come up with a small on-point checkerboard quilt that used up as many of my leftover squares as possible, along with squares of my go-to white floral print that I always keep on hand in bulk.

Here is the math for my WIP (12 x 12 squares) and several other basic projects, in case you're interested ...

"Fabric A" would be the blue squares below, while "Fabric B" is the pink. If you're going for more of a scrappy look, as long as you had enough squares to equal A+B in the table above, you're set.

Here's an example of a 10 x 10 layout:

To save time, rather than cutting individual setting and corner triangles, I pieced my project in diagonal strips, and just used a whole white square at the end of each diagonal row. Once I've sewn all the rows together, I'll just cut off the white edges (making sure to leave a 1/4" margin for binding) to square up the quilt!

It's a rather gloomy Thursday ...

2012-01-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

... and I'm really in the mood to curl up with Aiden, a good book and a cup of tea! I have a feeling that it's going to be one of those days where I'm just not going to get a whole lot accomplished!

Yesterday, Aiden had his weekly "Grammy Date" so we decided to venture out to explore a new-to-me quilt shop here in Sacramento:

Shirley, aka "The Knot-y Embroidery Lady" and the gals there are so much fun and their shop looks fantastic! Of course, we didn't make it out of the store without some new goodies! I was so thrilled to find Robot Factory by Caleb Gray for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. I had pinned this fabric last fall but didn't order it from the Fat Quarter Shop before they ran out, so I was thrilled to find them in the shop!

While we were there, the Lately Arrived from London line by Barbara Brackman for Moda really caught my eye. I'm not sure whether I was attracted to the name or the colors more -- I'm definitely not a Civil War prints kind of gal -- but two charm packs and a couple of fat quarters made their way home with me. I can't wait to find out what next month's Schnibbles pattern will be to see if the fabric will work!

I have been able to get a little bit of sewing done here, despite have a really busy week! I was able to finish up two of my Swoon Along blocks -- and I've decided to break my rule of only counting finished projects for my weekly stash update for the Swoon blocks only. Since it's going to take several months to finish this quilt, I figured that I deserved to show some stash progress each week!

My favorite finish of the week has to be this cute summery dress for my niece's first birthday!

The fabric is Lovely by Sandy Gervais - forgot how beautiful this whole line is!! - with a coordinating lemony batik. I haven't really ventured much into the realm of sewing clothing, but I found this great free pattern from Oliver + S called "Popover Sundress" ...

Photo from Oliver + S

... and had to try it out. This is a great pattern (available in sizes 2-7) and is definitely beginner friendly! And as a bonus - there was enough fabric leftover to make a cheery little on-point checkerboard!

My little man just went down for a nap, so I'm off to de-clutter my sewing table and finish up some more projects! Before I forget, though, here is my stash update:

Stash Update: 1/18/12 - 1/26/12

Purchased: 11.75 yards including my Flurry fat quarter stash for the Swoon Along, 2 yards of Robot Factory, and 2.75 yards of Lately Arrived from London
Used: 2.25 yards - 1.5 yards for the Birthday dress, and .375 yards each for my two swoon blocks

YTD: + 11.63 yards

Wow! If I hadn't done any shopping this week, I would have been breaking even. Oh well - I promised the hubby I'd lay off the fabric acquisitions for a little while, so maybe I'll be able to report a smaller number next week.

Happy Sewing!!

Well, it only took me four days ...

2012-01-23T16:44:00.000-08:00

... but I've finally finished my first Swoon Along block!

Pattern: Swoon by Thimble Blossoms
Fabric: Flurry by Kate Spain for Moda
Pin It

After making my first block with four different colorways, I decided that four was just too many ... so I ripped it apart (before remembering to take a picture) and reassembled it using just three prints/colorways. I'm rather happy with the results and think that a solid red sashing is going to do a lot to anchor the quilt. Unfortunately several days of rain have prevented better pictures.

How many soon blocks have you made so far? I'm wondering if my little guy will nap long enough for me to make another one!!

***UPDATE***
Here is block #2:


Pin It

To be honest, I'm not really thrilled with this block at all. I'm really hoping that it will look better once it's surrounded by prettier squares. Since I've already pulled recycled most of these squares from my first, failed attempt, I'm worried that pulling them apart a second time will render them too warped to use again.

What do you do with your "ugly duckling" blocks? Do you leave them in your quilts to add character, set them aside and see if you have enough patience and/or fabric to replace them when you're done with the rest of the blocks, or do you just scrap them and move on?

I'm about to SWOON!

2012-01-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

The mailman finally brought my fabric!

Flurry by Kate Spain for Moda Fabrics

Thanks to the Madsens @ Green Fairy Quilts for the great deal on the fat quarter stack and the super quick shipping! There's still plenty of time to join the Swoon-Along. Just sign up with the Flickr group to post your progress and see all the great blocks our fellow Swooners are coming up with. For more information about the group, you can visit Katy @ I'm A Ginger Monkey.

Waiting for the fabric has given me quite a lot of time to think about how I'm going to approach this project - after all, I'm anticipating family snuggle time under this quilt at Christmas time for many years to come ... so I had better like it!!

My first thought is that instead of using two main colors plus a background color for each block, I'm going to use four colors + background, like these inspiring blocks ...

1. that's better!, 2. swoon front, 3. Swoon Block # 3, 4. Swoon 3 of 4

If the blocks were smaller, than I think {for me} using two colors would make more sense so as not to make the blocks too busy. Because the blocks finish so big, though, I feel like more colors will make the blocks interesting. Plus, I'm using my go-to white-on-white polka dot print for the background -- you know how I love that fabric!! - so hopefully the four-color-scheme, plus a solid red sashing will help keep things balanced.

Secondly, Flurry has four colorways: red, white, green, and blue ... so I can use each colorway in each block. With that in mind, I think I'm going to make the quilt using a 4x4 grid, rather than a 3x3 grid. With the four colorways, the larger grid just makes sense. Plus I really want this to be a BIG blanket.

I don't want the blanket to be too gargantuan, however, so I am going to scale the blocks down to 20" rather than 24". I was toying around with the idea of making the block as a 64-square grid, as Lynne from Lily's Quilt's has opted to do. I like the idea of keeping the square-ed-ness to the block construction ... and to be honest, I really am not a fan of flying geese blocks ... but my fabric line has some fantastic larger prints that it would just be a shame to cut these up more than I have to.

Finally, since it's going to finishing over 90" square this quilt is going to be a beast to quilt! Rather than spend my precious sewing budget on sending this bad boy to a long arm quilter, I think I'm going to experiment with a "quilt as you go" type technique, and then attach the finished squares to each other with the sashing and french seems. That's the plan right now. We'll see what materializes towards the end.

Introducing ... the Spring Zing Table Runner pattern by Poplun Designs

2012-01-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

Have a serious case of spring fever? Add some zing to dinner time with our latest table runner pattern!

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The .pdf pattern is now available in the Poplun Etsy shop for almost instant gratification! And, it's a fat-quarter-friendly pattern. Use the coupon code JAN2012 through 1/31/12 to get all patterns at 50% off!

A Wednesday WIP

2012-01-18T17:14:00.000-08:00

So, thanks to a great day of shopping and lunch out with Grammy, Aiden is thoroughly exhausted and has just settled down to what will hopefully be a very long nap ... which means I get a date night with these lovelies ...

On the left is some yardage from Lovely by Sandy Gervais plus a beautiful yellow batik (a stretch for me, but I think I'm going to like it!) and on the right are my recent acquisitions from Butterscotch & Roses by Fig Tree & Co. Just can't wait to cut into them - it's really one of my favorite parts of the whole process!

How are you spending your Wednesday night?

Stash Update

2012-01-17T20:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to include my stash update, especially since I did really, really well this week. Yipee!!

Stash Update: 1/9/12 - 1/17/12

Purchased: 2.75 yards of Butterscotch & Roses for a double Irish chain quilt that I'm getting ready to cut into in about five minutes.
Used: 8.75 yards - Holy Cow! My Full House quilt and mug rug are done for our January Schnibbles assignment and I just finished the quilt for my little niece. The new pattern, called Pretty in Pink, will be available next week and I'll share pictures soon!

YTD: + 2.13 yards

It's a good thing that I had two big finishes this week ... because I have a whole fat quarter stack coming in next week ... because I joined another quilt-a-long.

Katy at I'm A Ginger Monkey is hosting a "Swoon-Along." We're all making the Camille Roskelley Thimble Blossoms quilt, SWOON! I'm loving this group because the goal is to just work at your own pace and upload pictures as you finish.

If you'd like to see everyone's progress so far -- there are more than 400 participants!! -- click the button below or on my sidebar to view our Flickr group.

For more information on how to join in the fun, just visit Katy's blog.

2012 Goals and the like

2012-01-16T13:51:00.000-08:00

I know that we're already halfway through the month of January, but to be honest, this post has been several weeks in the making. So many of my favorite bloggers announced out their word for the year on January 1st, but it has taken me two weeks to come up with mine, probably because 2012 is going to be a very different year for me. My biggest change for the year is my transition from working full time in a very high-stress position to being at home full time. I feel like I finally have the opportunity to stop and smell the proverbial roses and so I decided to pick a bit of a selfish word for 2012:

ENJOY!

I'm going to enjoy watching Aiden grown and learn ... I know that we have so many "firsts" this year that will be gone before we know it. I'm going to enjoy my new little family and all of the adventures we have ahead of us. I'm going to enjoy being a stay at home wife and mother. I going to enjoy good wine and even better friends. I'm going to enjoy my creative processes and not rush through them or simplify my projects just to finish on a deadline. I'm going to enjoy sewing - not only my own designs, but your designs too, so that I can continue practice and growing in my craft. I'm going to enjoy buying a little bit of new fabric, but also spending time re-discovering all the beauties I have in my stash! Lastly, I'm going to enjoy all the trips and side-trips, rather than focusing on the destinations.

So, with that being said, here is a very fluid list of goals for the year. Now, my hubby will be the first to tell you that I always make bigger, more complicated goals than I can ever hope to accomplish in the time I give myself. Maybe a better way to describe this list is as a list of hopes for 2012! I know right now that I won't finish 100% of these, but when I'm looking to start a new project, this will be a great jumping off point.

Make a Christmas quilt for my family to snuggle under and enjoy. I'm thinking maybe Swoon made with Kate Spain's Flurry collection
Finish my 2011 Designer Christmas BOM blocks ... all three sets ... and then actually sew them together into quilts
Publish at least 12 patterns in 2012
Make a quilt for ME!
Make a quilt for the four (so far!) little souls coming into the world this year: one in April, one in June, and two in July!
Finish the quilt I started for my mother-in-law TWO Christmases ago
Make a quilt for my sweet little cousin who is turning 16 this April!! -- Boy do I feel old! When Aiden was born she was only one year old than I was when she was born!
Have some fun with some little projects like mug rugs and such
Make some nice handmade Christmas gifts for friends and family

What is your word for 2012 and what are some projects you're hoping to accomplish?

Some more bloggy favorites ...

2012-01-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

As I'm sitting here spending a quiet evening with google reader (do I really have 414 unread posts????), I realized that my favorite blog list over there to the left is very short compared to the huge number of blogs that I'm actually following, so here are a few more of my favorites!

First up are Sherri from A Quilting Life and Sinta Renee from The Pink Pincushion. Aside from being fabulous quilters and publishing some great projects, these ladies host the monthly Schnibbles project parades. Be sure to check their blogs out the first of every month to see everyone's fabulous finishes!

Next up is Nicole of Sister's Choice Quilts. She finishes so many beautiful quilts so quickly that I'm always amazed. We have some similar tastes in color palettes, so I really enjoy seeing her projects. Plus, she's also a fellow Carrie Nelson enthusiast!!

Speaking of Carrie Nelson, of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co - be sure to visit her blog over at La Vie En Rosie. In addition to sharing her latest creations and their companion projects, she shares funny little anecdotes that are sure to make you smile!!

Hope you enjoy these ladies as much as I do!

Waste not, want not ...

2012-01-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

... or how to use every last scrap of fabric while making your Full House quilt for the January Schnibbles project.

I don't know about you, but I'm one of those quilters who absolutely hates to throw any scrap of fabric away unless it's less than 1/2" wide or is damaged somehow. I know that sometimes, especially when trying to tailor block construction to be charm-square friendly, scraps are inevitable ... so what to do with the leftovers? And once you've finished a quilt, do you really want to go through and sew together a million little triangles left over from those flying geese blocks to actually make something, or are you much happier just saving those bits for a rainy day that might never come?

So ... why not make two projects at once? Thus ... the "Lumber Scraps" mug rug was born out of the scraps of my Full House quilt!

When I was constructing my flying geese blocks, I drew two lines on the back of my "sky" square. The first (in blue below) was from corner to corner and was the line I sewed along per the construction instructions. The second line (in red below) was drawn 1/4" away from the blue line. I stitched a seam a 1/4" away from the far side of the line.

After sewing both seams, I cut the block along the red line ....

... and then pressed the blocks open before repeating for the second side.

That way, once I was done with all of my flying geese blocks, I had 36 - 2" half square triangles already assembled! I laid them out in a pinwheel pattern ....

... sewed the blocks into columns, and then sewed the columns together and ended up with a 9.5" mini-quilt.

After a little bit of straight-line quilting ...

... and some binding ....

... I had made myself a little mug rug! I suppose you could also hang it on your wall as a little mini-quilt, or use it as a little place mat for when you eat your lunch at your desk ... or you could even use it as a little Barbie doll quilt!

The best part was that because I had pre-assembled the little half square triangles as I was working on my Schnibbles quilt, I was able to finish this little project in one nap-time, and I;ll be able to add 1/4 yard to my list of busted fabrics for the week! It's a good thing too, since that might be my only bust of the week!

Happy Sewing. :)

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Tool Time!

2012-01-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

Several of my favorite blogs have been talking about tools this week, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and share a few of mine with you.

First up is my favorite pair of scissors: my Fiskars Softouch Micro-Tip Scissors.

(available at Joann's)

When we moved into our current house last summer, I was about five months pregnant. While I was able to help a little bit with our packing, my dear sweet hubby did the majority of the work. In the process my favorite small pair of scissors got misplaced, and when I couldn't find the same pair in the stores, I bought these as what I thought would be a sub-par replacement. HOWEVER, I've grown to love these things. The handles are more comfortable and ergonomically correct, which makes cutting apart hundreds of chain-pieced blocks a much easier task. The blades are so sharp that they can easily and neatly cut through fabric, which means that sometimes I can use them instead of moving over to the rotary cutter. Also, the tips are so fine and sharp that I can use these as a seam ripper too. I had know idea when I bought them that they'd be so versatile.

As far as rotary rulers go, I have several specialty rulers that I love, but if I could only keep three, I would keep my ....

#1 - Fiskars 6" x 24" ruler:

(available at Joann's)

This was the first rotary ruler I bought when I started quilting in 2008 and I use it with every single quilt I make. I like that it is just tall enough to cut lengths of fabric from the bolt (while the fabric is still folded in half) with just an inch at the bottom and the top to keep things square. I also love that it has the 30, 45, and 60 degree angles marked on it, and marked on both sides. Very useful!

#2 - Wright's EZ Square Jr 6.5" x 6.5" square:

(available at Joann's)

I know that many people prefer to use a 12" x 12" square, but this little guy is my favorite. I think it's the perfect size for cutting smaller blocks, and the 45 degree angles make trimming half-square triangles and square blocks a sinch!! By the way, if I could pick four rulers, #4 would be Wright's EZ 6.5" Angle...

#3 - June Taylor's 12" x 12" Shape Cut:

(available at Walmart)

I love, love, love this ruler! It makes cutting multiple strips and hundreds of squares just fly by! Plus, I find that my squares end up so much more accurate when I use this ruler. I'm just starting off on a new Full-Sized Double Irish Chain quilt that uses 2.5" squares, so this tool is going to save me HOURS!!

Speaking of cutting, I have not one, but two favorite rotary cutting mats, as well. My first is my ...

OLFA 24" x 70" Rotary Mat

I got mine at Joann's several years ago for Christmas, but I'm not finding it right now. The mat almost covers my sewing table, so that no matter where I'm working, I have a rotary mat underneath me - so handy!!

My other favorite mat is my ...

OLFA 17" Spinning Rotary Mat:

(available at Joann's)

I held off on purchasing this one for quite awhile, as I wasn't sure how much I'd actually use it. And while I don't use it too often, when I have projects that require trimming multiple blocks or squaring squares, etc., this mat is invaluable! It is so much easier to lay a block out once, trim two sides and then rotate the cutting mat to trim the other sides, rather than re-positioning each block with each cut. This saves hours too!!

I haven't really purchased many quilty gadgets lately, though, and would love to know, what are your favorite tools?

Just popping in ...

2012-01-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

... during nap time to share a photo of my favorite Full House block thus far.

I went shopping in my stash and decided to use scraps from Sandy Gervais's Awesome and Grand Finale lines. I really love the purple and turquoise colorways in Grand Finale, and love how well the two lines incorporate with one another so well.

I've got six more houses to make and then I'm on to the checkerboard pattern. If my little man cooperates, I'll probably be able to pull of a finish this week ... which will be great for my Stash Update since I forgot that I did a bunch of online shopping last week, and have several packages of fabric showing up on my porch this week!

Happy Sewing!!

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I did it ...

2012-01-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

I signed up for "Another Year of Schnibbles" with Sherri @ A Quilting Life and Sinta Renee @ Pink Pincushion.

For those of you not familiar with the club, each month these ladies pick out a fabulous Schnibbles pattern by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.. You can make the pattern with any fabric you like, and some people even turn their quilts into table runners, or pillows, etc. Then, you just need to email them pictures of your finished project (or at least finished quilt top) by the end of the month, and then check back for a parade of all the finished projects the following day.

This month's project is "Full House" ...

I'm not sure why, but I'm seeing fall colors for my version. I'm off to go shopping in my stash!

Oh! And speaking of stashes, I'm re-instating my weekly(-ish) stash update! Here are this week's numbers:

Stash Update: 1/1/12 - 1/8/12

Purchased: 8.05 yards for a new pattern and some more on my favorite polka dot background fabric (I seem to be using this in almost all of my new quilts!)
Used: 0.00 yards since I'm only counting fabric as busted once it has either been given away, sold, or used in a COMPLETED project. Now, if I can only I get the quilting done on two quilts this week, I'll actually have a negative number for next week!!

YTD: + 8.05 yards

Poplun's 100th post!

2012-01-07T22:26:00.000-08:00

Greetings! Today, I'm celebrating my 100th post. Can't tell you how much fun I've had sharing my love of quilting, fabric, and all sorts of other fun distractions!

My intention was to have a little giveaway to mark this milestone, but my little guy got his two month shots this past week. Since he's been running a little fever and seems to be feeling a little miserable, I spent most of my free time snuggling. So, we'll have a "just because" giveaway soon, but in the meantime, with the theme of coziness and comfort in mind, I'd like to share one of my favorite new recipes with you: Chicken Pot Pie. Since we've been doing a lot of "do-it-ahead-of-time" cooking in our house, and have been dropping quite a few dinners off for friends and families with new little bundles of joy, this has quickly become my go-to recipe. Not only is it very tasty, but it's easy to make ahead of time, freezer-meal-friendly, and can be made in stages throughout the day.

Chicken Pot Pie
(adapted from Joy of Cooking, 1997)

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thighs, or combination of the two
3 cups chicken stock
4 TBSP unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup lowfat milk
1/2 cup lowfat sour cream
black pepper to taste
your favorite no-salt seasoning, to taste
1 Pepperridge Farms sheet of puff pastry, thawed.

2 TBSP olive oil
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup frozen peas
3 TBSP minced fresh parsley
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cook chicken in boiling chicken stock; remove from stock and shred when cool enough to handle. Strain chicken stock and reserve 2 cups.

3. In a medium pot, put potatoes on to boil.

4. Melt butter in a medium saucepan; add half cup of flour and whisk over medium heat for 1 minute. Add 2 cups of reserved chicken stock and whisk until smooth. Whisk in 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup sour cream. Bring mixture just to a simmer while whisking constantly. Stir in cooked chicken along with pepper and seasonings.

5. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook onions, carrots, and celery until just barely tender. Stir in boiled potatoes, peas, parsley, and re-season to taste. Stir in chicken mixture.

6. Pour filing into 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Lay the thawed puff pastry over the top, tucking the edges in around the sides. Brush top with egg wash and bake for about 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Note - this is a great recipe for clearing out root vegetables from your fridge, so feel free to substitute or add any of your favorites. Because the puff pastry sheets are sold in pairs, double the recipe to have one to take to a friend, or freeze the filing only in a foil baking dish; defrost completely and add puff pastry before baking as directed.

Enjoy and happy cooking!!

Introducing ... Granny's Quilt, by Poplun Designs

2012-01-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot when I wrote yesterday's post that I actually have two new quilt patterns that I'm releasing this month!

My first pattern, called "Pretty in Pink," should be releasing in the next couple of days. I just need to finish quilting and binding the sample. I'm a little stuck at the quilting part, however. I've decided to use a pink and brown print for the backing and the binding. I think it does a nice job of toning down the "pinkness" of the quilt -- which is a good thing, since the sample quilt is actually a gift for my brother's daughter, who was born on 12/31/11, My brother is already a little overwhelmed by the "pinkness" of the onesies, tutu, and ballerina slippers little Samantha received from her Auntie Shelley.

Could you offer your opinions?? If you were doing the quilting (straight lines 1/4" in from the edges of the squares) what color thread would you use? I feel like white is too boring. I'm really leaning towards using a brown thread to match the binding ... but would pink be better? Please let me know what you think!

The second is called "Granny's Quilt" and has made it's debut in my etsy shop this morning!

Some of you may remember this quilt from my post on my 2009 Christmas Gifts. The sample was made using Glace by 3 Sisters for Moda as a Christmas gift for my Granny. One of my favorite things about this quilt is that it lives on my Granny's guest bed, so that anytime we visit her, we get to sleep underneath it. Believe it or not, this is the only quilt I've ever made that I've gotten to use!

The quilt finishes at 70" square and uses a Layer Cake, plus some yardage. The pattern is currently for sale at my etsy shop at $7.99 -- but remember that I'm giving my blog readers a 50% discount on all Poplun Patterns. Just use the coupon code JAN2012 through 1/31/12 when you check out.

Poplun Tutorials

2012-01-01T15:29:00.000-08:00

Since I took a little bit of a break from pattern writing for a few months, I found that when I sat down to finish next week's releases, I was a bit foggy on some of my quilt block formulas. To make life a little easier, I've assembled these cheat sheets for quick reference. Enjoy!

Have any requests? Just leave me a message and I'll do my best to oblige!!

Flying Geese Tutorial

Half Square Triangle Unit Tutorial

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012! I can't believe that the new year is already upon us! 2011 was a very eventful year and our family welcomed quite a few new little souls, including the birth of two new little nieces and the birth of our own son, Aiden Matthew.

He was born on 11/1/11, weighing in at 8 lbs 11 oz, and measuring 20" long. While he took almost four days to make his debut, he was well worth the wait. Daddy, Mommy, and both sides of the family are totally and completely smitten. I'm thoroughly enjoying my new job as a stay-at-home mom and can't believe how much fun we're having with our little man. He is a most expressive little guy and usually has us in hysterics with his facial expressions!

Aiden has been keeping us quite busy, so all my crafty projects have been a bit neglected. Rather than try and catch up with posts on my meager finishes from the last few months, I've decided to just start fresh from here -- that's what the New Year is for, right?

I have a new quilt pattern ...

... and a new table runner pattern that should be releasing next week, so to celebrate, I'm having a sale on my patterns this month -- 50% off of all patterns! Please visit my etsy shop at www.poplun.etsy.com and enter the coupon code JAN2012. I'll be featuring some of my favorite patterns here during the month of January as well.

Happy New Year and Happy Sewing!!

Great Summer Reads

2011-07-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to have to re-name this "Which book is on my NOOK?" Now, I will always be a bibliophile - there is nothing like a book: the smell, the weight of it, the excitement of turning the pages late into the night ...

But that being said, I LOVE MY NOOK. It is so great being able to access new books in a heartbeat, and our local library has a great selection of lendable e-Books that really helps keep costs down. Here are some of my favorites so far.

I love, love, loved this book! I just stumbled upon it on Barnes & Nobles's top 100 list and it sounded right up my alley: Scotland, castles, an authoress writing, a love story .... all in all it sounded like a great summer read.

It was absolutely fantastic!! I think I read the whole thing in under 48 hours just because I couldn't put it down. I think one of the things that I loved the best was how the heroine's novel-in-progress was woven into the heroine's story, so that half the time you were reading her book, and half the time you were reading her story. The book was extremely well written, engaging, and I was completely enthralled. I can't wait to read Susanna Kearsley's other books, which unfortunately are not available as digital files yet.

Hope you have the chance to enjoy it too - if you only have time to read one book this summer, make it this one.

* * * * * * *

I'm a big fan of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series - the inspiration behind HBO's True Blood series, which I also love.

Unfortunately, this book left me a little "high-n-dry." Don't get me wrong - the storyline is still good ... but this book almost seemed like in the rush to get it published, the author stopped in the middle of things, leaving a whole bunch of loose ends without making a whole lot of progress on the storyline. I think that if you're a true fan, you'll still read the book, but don't make the same mistake I made, and rush out and buy the hardcover edition. Wait for the paperback .... or better yet, try and find it at the library!

* * * * * * *

I'm a big fan of the Pink Carnation series too. In case you haven't notice, I'm a HUGE sucker for series. I seem to get sucked into them, but have this completely anal issue of having to read all the books in the series in order, and if a new book comes out and it's been awhile since I've read the previous books, I have to re-read all the previous books in order, before starting the latest book. (You can only imagine why I've had to give up on the Outlander series. As much as I absolutely adore them, I haven't even tried to start the last book, because I don't remember enough of her extensive characters and twisty plots to start it without re-reading the 60,000 pages that come before it. And yes, I own all of the audio books too, but really ... they're 45 hours long EACH. I could practically finish at least one quilt per book!!!)

Ok - sorry for that tangent. I keep reading this series - I mean, for heaven's sake, they're books about Eloise, a grad student's doing her doctoral dissertation (in HISTORY of all subjects) research in London, and each book tells the story of Edwardian characters she encounters along the way, along with her "real-life" encounters namely with a hunky Englishman named Colin (again ... what's not to love ... see here and here if you need to be convinced) - because I love the evolving romance between Eloise and Colin. The historical story lines ... at least in this book, and the previous book ... have been leaving me completely flat.

Will I read the next two books in the series? Probably, but I'll wait for the e-Book version from my library, rather than waste my precious book allowance on another one ...

* * * * * * *

Now this next book, I really have mixed feelings about recommending, but because I couldn't put it down, I'm going to go ahead and add it to the list anyways.

If you're uncomfortable with riskee topics, or are particularly in love with either the original Alice in Wonderland book by Lewis Carrol, or are obsessed with the Disney movie, I think it's best that we part ways HERE for the evening. Trust me.

If you're intrigued, but a little unsure, let me set the tone. This book is the story of the real life little girl that was supposedly the inspiration behind Carroll's book. If you don't know anything about Lewis Carrol, or the allegations against him recently brought to light, might I suggest reading up on his life (great wikipedia.org article here - see the section on Alice or on Controversies and Myths especially) before trying the book.

So when I first downloaded this book from the library, I knew NOTHING about Carroll's life, and honestly didn't really pick up on the allegations or what the author was hinting at right away. It really started making me feel a little uncomfortable reading it, but I had a morbid curiosity to finish the book to see how it ended and what happened to all the characters. I'm glad that I did - it was an interesting read and a great fictionalized story of actual historical figures and happenings. If you're looking for something different to read, and I haven't scared you off yet, this is a good book.

* * * * * * *

My last recommendation came to me at the recommendation of a co-worker. She basically told me that she hates historical fiction, doesn't usually enjoy the fantasy, mystical-type stories involving time-travel or previous lives, and can't stand reading books that {usually rather poorly} try to take take several seemingly unrelated story yarns and weave them together into one cohesive tapestry.

That being said ... she LOVED this book. And so did I! The story's narrator is a guy who lived a very colorful life before waking up in his hospital's burn unit as a result of crashing his car during a cocaine binge. While recovering, he encounters Marianne, a sculptor of grotesques, who befriends him, and tells him fantastical stories about their life together in medieval Germany, when they fell in love for the first time.

This book was great! It was laugh-out-loud funny - at least to my twelve-year-old-boy sense of humor - a bit crass, endearing, and surprising. This was definitely #2 on my list of favorites. Hope you enjoy it too!

* * * * * * *

So - I'm on the hunt for my next e-books. Any recommendations that you can share?

Hello Old Friends

2011-07-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well ... little did I know that my little four week hiatus would turn into a four month extended vacation! But ... you see ... I really do have a reasonable excuse: our little family of two will soon be a family of THREE!

Introducing ...

... our sweet baby boy, scheduled to arrive at the end of October.

Hubby and I have finally decided on a name (we think ...), but have also decided to be poor sports and not share with the rest of the world until the little man makes his debut. In the meantime, Hubby has taken to calling him, "Voltron, Defender of the Uterus." Gotta love us 80's babies.

My side of the family, which includes hardly any 80's babies, has taken to calling him "Blaze," after St. Blasius, the patron saint of Dubrovnik, Croatia - one of the favorite stops on our large family vacation several years ago ... and the favorite topic of conversation of our squirrely male tour guide, Andrea, whose monologue mainly consisted of fabulous nuggets of information in the following format: "This is St. Blasius. He was a saint and his name was Blasius..."

My father-in-law would prefer a strong, Spanish name for his little soccer-playing grandson. I suggested "David Villa," but he didn't think that was too funny. Anyone know where I can order a Spanish soccer jersey onesie with a number "7" on the back?

So ... as you can imagine, I haven't really gotten a whole lot done on the crafty front lately. I pretty much spent the first four months of my pregnancy sleeping, and the next three months flew by so quickly that I don't even know that I could tell you what we were up to - only that it seemed that we were constantly busy. We finally finished up with our move to the next town over (literally 2.5 miles down the road from our old neighborhood) into a great, kid-friendly, ONE-STORY, home with a fantastic backyard - and let me tell you, I don't miss climbing those stairs at our last place at all! I think our favorite part is spending the cooler evenings outside, enjoying the delta breeze and watching our pups patrol the yard, trying to keep all the bugs and birds at bay.

I'm finally getting started on some crafty projects for the baby, plus some fun stuff on the home front, and should have some pictures to share soon. Don't worry, the blog isn't turning into a "kiddie-gear" blog - but considering I can't sit at my sewing machine for very long before Voltron starts kicking in protest over being squished as I lean forward to cut or use the machine, I do have to warn you that the majority of my projects will probably be baby-related. Be back soon, I promise!!

Greetings!

2011-03-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings from blustery Sacramento!!

As you've probably noticed, I've been a little absent lately. Please know that all is well, but that I've decided to take a little break from my blog just for a couple more weeks. I'm really enjoying watching everyone's progress on their Eventide quilts, and have definitely been enjoying the monthly Le Petite parades, even though I haven't been getting much accomplished myself.

Thanks for visiting, and I promise I'll be back soon!

Tuesday Eventide Update

2011-03-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it's probably a very good thing that the Eventide Sew Along isn't a race, because I'm definitely getting off to a very slow start! Granted, I was a little late in ordering my pattern, and then once it arrived, I realized that I didn't have quite as much in my Martinique stash as I thought I did ... so I had to find a quilt shop that still carried enough of the line that I could get what I needed, and not have to pay a fortune in shipping. Luckily, Lonestar Quilting, LLC still had a great selection and speedy shipping, so when I was finally ready to sit down and start cutting ... I found that I couldn't quite commit to a specific color scheme.

As I mentioned in my last Eventide post, this is the first quilt I've made with the intention of keeping it in my house. I've already decided that it will live at the foot of my bed. However, I really picked really girlie fabric, and the other occupant in my bed isn't really too crazy about pale blues and pinks, which meant that my original plan to feature these colorways in my large stars just wasn't going to be a great option. Luckily, Nicole shared her own color-choice-crisis with the rest of us, which inspired me to play around with my own color choices.

After much indecision, I finally committed (last night) to a matching inner red square, with brown star-tips in alternating prints.

While it took a while to get here, I think I'll be happy with the final product! The good news, is that while I was trying to make my decision, I got all of the tiny border hourglass squares finished. Phew!

I'm officially an EVIL GENIUS!!

2011-03-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

I blame my husband ... really. Not only is it his fault that I'm addicted to Dilbert, but thanks to him, my laptop, which died about a year ago, has been resurrected. I really am thankful, don't get me wrong. Now I can {theoretically} blog and work on patterns from anywhere in the house, and can multi-task in the evenings by watching my daily dose of CSI (don't judge ... we enjoy a good evidence montage at our house and like to play the "count the cheesy lines" game ... which is way too easy with CSI: Miami!!) while playing my favorite mind-numbly-pointless-yet-addicting-time-sucking-clicky-games AT THE SAME TIME!!

Another big perk is that I can take a break from my Audible audio books and watch some Netflix while sewing. Last night, however, as I was settling down to work on Eventide and watch some Grey's Anatomy, Season 2, I noticed that my laptop screen was a little small ... which resulted in some scrounging around in hubby's closet of spare computer parts, which resulted in ...

... the creation of my very own evil genius lair! When hubby got back from his evening run and saw what I had done, he laughed ... and then brought in the sub-woofer that goes with the computer speaker system, just "to make the set-up complete."

So, I have big plans to spend the evening in my "man cave" with Eventide, and Denny and the rest of the group at Seattle Grace.

BU-WA-HAHA!

{Warning} MEGA-blog-post ahead!

2011-02-21T16:04:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure why, but I've had a mega case of "blogger's block" over the last couple of weeks. While I seem to have manged to write and re-write my growing list of things I wanted to share with you, I haven't managed to write a single word here.

So, when I read Rachel's post over at p.s. i quilt about "indecisive blogging" this afternoon, I decided to take her advice and "just do it" already! Without further ado, here's what's been going on in Poplun-land lately.

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A little bit of shopping ....

Stash Update: February 1 - February 17, 2011

Purchased: 13.5 yards including a Lollipop fat-eighths bundle for this month's Le Petite Project, and a whole bolt of my favorite white-on-white polka dot fabric.
Used: Zip. Unfortunately, no finished projects in the last two weeks.

YTD: + 18 yards

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A little bit of sewing ...

So, I've finally been able to clean up my sewing room and have organized my works-in-progress back into their five little boxes. This month, I've been working on:

Box #1: The February Le Petite project, "Sweet Spot," a Schnibbles Pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

We have three baby boys expected in the (extended) family between May and June, so I've been on the lookout for boy friendly patterns and fabrics lately. When Burgundy Buttons, one of my new favorite online quilt shops, had a great sale on Lollipop fabric bundles, I poked that "purchase" button like lightening and immediately cut it up for this pattern.

I'm really happy with my progress, so far, but also know that I need to get my butt in gear if I'm actually going to finish before the 28th! I'm not sure why, but for some reason I made the HST border blocks first, and then started on the center stars. Maybe I was inspired by my "Lemon Taffy" quilt ... who knows!

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Tangent Warning!!

I just realized that I never posted pictures of my "Lemon Taffy" quilt. Yikes! So, since this is a "just go with it" post, I'd better share them now ... because at the rate I've been blogging lately, if I don't, it might be next October before I remember.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

... and back to the 5 Boxes update ...

Box #2 contains another Miss Rosie's Quilt Co pattern called "Eventide" and my stash of Martinique leftover from last August's "Twin Quilts".

Ever since I purchased my sewing machine almost 4 years ago, I've either sold or gifted every quilt I've made. I have been wanting to take the time to make a quilt for myself to keep at home and share with my family for awhile now, but haven't been able to find a pattern I was in love one, and hadn't taken the time to design one.

When I started the "Twin Quilts" last August, I went ahead and splurged on a whole Fat Quarter stack just so that would have enough fabric left over to make a quilt for me too. I happened to stumble across the Eventide pattern around Christmas time over on Thelma's blog, but a couple of days ago, I saw that Thelma is hosting an Eventide Quilt-Along! Since I'm already waaaaaayyyyyy behind on my prospective projects for the year, I initially had some reservations about committing to the project ... but as you might have guessed, I decided to say "What the Heck!" and signed up to participate.

If you're interested in joining up, there's still time! Just hop on over to Thelma's blog to let her know that you want to sign up, and post your quilt progress every Tuesday!

Box #3: is breaking the rules this week. I'm 95% done with last month's Le Petite project - embarrassing, I know! I really only have to put on the final outer border and then that baby is done!! However, I ended up with an awkward number of leftover 2.5" squares, so technically, this box is also holding my first forays into Hexagon English Paper Piecing. I have to tell you, I think I'm addicted! I totally understand why they're so popular! I've found that it's really nice to have some hand-work to do in front of the TV.

If you're interested in giving it a try, I found my templates here. For me, the 1" hexie works great with a 2.5" square of fabric.

Boxes #4 & #5: contain my two spring patterns. I'm hoping to having them available in my etsy shop soon, but in the meantime, here's a quick sneak peak!!

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And {finally} a little bit of knitting!

I've finally finished the first of my Embossed Leaves socks. Hooray! The pattern is a great one by Mona Schmidt in Favorite Socks and it's really easy to follow ... but I'm the world's SLOWEST knitter ... so they're taking forever. Let's hope that the second one doesn't take quite as long as the first one took me!!

Love is in the Air ...

2011-02-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

... and to celebrate, I'm having a little sale over in my Etsy shop!

To celebrate St. Valentine's Day next, several of my patterns are on sale for $1.49! Regular retail price is $8.00.

Happy Sewing!!

Kit Builder Contest at Connecting Threads

2011-02-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

If you haven't visited before,

is a great online fabric company that produces its own fabric at very reasonable prices.

This week, Connecting Threads is introducing their Kit Builder Tool - a great tool that lets you play around with fabric combinations to create custom kits for several CT patterns. All you have to do is choose your fabric and drag it over the pattern layout to instantly see how your fabric choices will look as a finished project.

Here is a table runner kit and a quilt kit I designed this morning

This week, CT is have a contest to celebrate! Head on over to their website, build and save your kit, feature it on your blog or discussion board, and submit your final design by 2/9/11. Three winners will receive CT gift cards. Hooray!

Stash Update

2011-02-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

Yikes! I just realized that I haven't done my weekly Stash Update at all for 2011!

Stash Update: January 1 - January 31, 2011

Purchased: 10.75 yards for a new pattern, a shower gift, and a great sale on my favorite polka dot background fabric.
Used: 6.25 yards on my "Lemon Taffy" quilt

YTD: + 4.5 yards

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Project photos are coming soon, and I'll post my 5 Boxes update as soon as I find out what the February Le Petite project for February will be ... and mange to clean up my work space to actually find the boxes ...

... In the meantime, as no blog post should be picture-less, I leave you with photos of my babies enjoying their favorite treats. Happy sewing!!

Luigi chomping down ...

Lily, practicing her best "Disney Princess" eyes - tink, tink

January Le Petite {un}FINISH{ed}

2011-02-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

January's Le Petite project was Mon Ami by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co ...

Despite hitting a brick wall with my first fabric choice (1974 by Moda), I was making great progress with my quilt once I decided to switch over to Aston Manor by Moda.

This is another fabulous Carrie Nelson pattern ... however ... it requires about 400 little half-square-triangle units With my niece arriving early and my iron deciding to crap out on me Sunday night, I just couldn't pull off a finish this month.

I'm really excited to have this one finished to hang in my dining room in time for Valentine's Day, and with the beautiful colors in this line, I think I'll be able to leave it there all the way through Easter.

I'm hoping to be able to finish sometime this week and will post pictures soon, but in the meantime, head over to The Pink Pincushion and A Quilting Life later today to check out the parade of finishers. Can't wait to see all the projects!

Pattern Review: Saltwater Taffy by Fig Tree & Co.

2011-01-31T16:36:00.000-08:00

Yay! I finally managed to finish my Lemon Taffy quilt (more pictures are coming) just in time for my sister-in-law's baby shower last Saturday. I was really happy with the way it turned out and I'm so glad that I was able to make the push to finish it last week ... as my niece decided that she was going to make her debut into the world the day after her shower ... 6 1/2 weeks early! Mama and Baby are doing great and we're so excited over the newest little member of the family.

I'm still in the process of downloading and editing pictures from the weekend, but in the meantime I wanted to share my pattern review with you, before I forgot the details.

Pattern: “Saltwater Taffy” by JoAnna Figueroa, of Fig Tree & Co.

(JoAnna's Version)

Quality of Pattern: This was the first pattern I tried from JoAnna @ Fig Tree & Co. One of the things that struck me almost immediately was that the full pattern was entirely in color. Now, don't get me wrong - there is absolutely nothing wrong with black and white patterns, but this one was very visually appealing, and with multiple steps in the block construction process, full color definitely was a bonus.

I felt that the directions were well written - especially since the steps for block construction were involved - but they definitely required several readings. I made the mistake of only reading through once before piecing (and of sewing at 1:00AM), and ended up having to pull apart corners from about 25 squares. Arg.

Difficulty Level and Technique: While there was nothing I can specifically pinpoint that made this quilt tricky, this is definitely not one to try for those quilters who aren't feeling really comfortable with some of the basic quilting skills, ie: trimming with templates, accurately piecing pinwheel blocks, squaring/trimming blocks, working with pieces that were cut on the bias, pressing instead of ironing (!!!!!!), etc.

None of these are really difficult on their own, but this quilt pattern layers these techniques (and more!) on top of each other, and repeats them over a number of steps in the block construction process. The blocks turn out beautifully, but require a lot of dedication and care (and the willingness to re-piece, as necessary) to put together.

Adaptability: Aside from leaving a row off, I made my quilt true to the pattern. I would imagine that you could change the block size as needed, but it would require a bit of math. It really wouldn't be that difficult to do, but the pattern yields such good-sized blocks already (just about 8") that I don't know if I'm personally willing to burn off the brain cells to re-size it.

Speed: This quilt is definitely not a weekend project. There are a number of steps involved in block construction (with lots of trimming and re-trimming), and extreme accuracy is a must ... but it's totally worth the time. This is definitely more of an "enjoy the process of sewing and construction" quilt, rather than an "I love the gratification of finishing quickly" quilt.

Would I make this pattern again?: I'd definitely like to try this one again, but I'll probably wait for awhile. Next time around, I might play with making some of my setting triangles a bit larger, so that the blocks trim up more smoothly, and I think that rather than having my colors match in the "X-intersection," I think it would be fun to match colors within the octagon instead. It would definitely take quite a bit of planning ... but that's what our design boards are for, right?

Happy Quilting!!

Poplun is rockin' a new logo!

2011-01-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Ginger over at Ginger Studio Etsy Shop, Poplun is rockin' a brand new logo!!

If you're in the market for a custom design project, be sure to check her out!! Her turn around time is super quick and she's fantastic to work with.

{giggles}

2011-01-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

So, I've noticed that my blog has been a bit whiny and gloomy lately - my apologies!! Maybe it's been the gazillion days of cold, overcast weather in a row we've been having here, or maybe I'm just cranky about going back to work after a cushy, two week holiday break.

Regardless, things are looking up in the Poplun sewing studio! My lemony-yellow Saltwater Taffy blocks have been reassembled correctly and the quilt is progressing beautifully, my Le Petite project is still making me smile, I have a new logo to unveil this weekend ...

... and I found this [new-to-me] blog: Megan's The Bitchy Stitcher

She is freakin' hilarious. Megan is a writer, a quilter, and has a humor column in Quilter's Home Magazine. I really have been cracking up reading her posts all morning! She has a fantastic, snarky sense of humor, a great voice for storytelling, and isn't afraid to use profanity. Throw in her love of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series and her new-found addiction to the Outlander series, and it's a match made in heaven!

And, as if it couldn't get any better ... she has a store too! I mean, check out this tee shirt:

Photo Copyright: The Bitchy Stitcher

She has a matching coffee mug too, which I suspect will be finding a new home in my sewing room soon. I hope you enjoy Megan @ The Bitchy Stitcher as much as I have been!

Check It Out!

2011-01-11T19:21:00.001-08:00

Want to automatically get Poplun blog updates by email? Sign up on the right hand side of my blog, under the followers section.

Why sewing at 1:00AM isn't the greatest idea ...

2011-01-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for listening to my whining last week. I'm happy to say that the Urban Chiks blocks have been retired, hopefully for re-purposing in the not-too-distant future. I'm also happy to say that the new Mon Ami blocks made with Aster Manor are turning out very well!

While I love the colors in this line, this quilt is definitely looking too grown up to be a baby quilt, as I had originally intended. Luckily, however, my dining room is done in shades of brown and red ... and has a big, empty wall where this quilt would look great, just in time for spring!

I decided over the weekend to switch gears a bit and work on a project I started over the Christmas break. While at the Pacific International Quilt Show last fall, I stopped by the Fig Tree & Co and purchased Joanna's Salt Water Taffy quilt pattern ...

(Pattern and Photo Copyright: Joann Figueroa, Fig Tree & Co.)

... and over the Christmas break I decided to use some of the FQ's from my big "Black Friday" purchase to try the pattern out. Her quilts are GORGEOUS, but this pattern has a ton of steps and unfortunately a great deal of unusable trimmings. Despite this, however, I'm really enjoying the process of putting it together, and Saturday afternoon I blazed through all of the pinwheel blocks for the body before hubby and I had to leave for our brother-in-law's birthday dinner.

{Tangent: BTW: We ate at Aioli Bodega Espanola in midtown Sacramento. If you live in the Sacramento area, I highly recommend it! The ambiance is fantastic and the food is terrific. Their entrees are a little bit on the pricier side, but their Tapas (Spanish Appetizers meant to share as a group) are the best I've had in town, and you can definitely make a full meal off them alone. You also can't been the great sangria and assortment of Spanish wines they offer, not to mention the great live Flamenco Guitarist who played throughout the evening!}

We had a great meal, but I'm fairly certain that the decaf espresso I order after dinner really wasn't. I ended up sewing until about 1:00AM and managed to finish all the interior blocks. I pinned them up on my design wall, snapped a couple of pictures, and went to sleep happy!

I spent Sunday morning piecing all the border blocks, and 'lo and behold ... when I to pin them on the design board, I realized that I had pieced ALL of the inner blocks incorrectly!! Rather than sewing the white corner blocks to the printed side of my pinwheels, I had just matched the white fabrics together and sewn away.

I really feel like I've been batting 1,000 lately!!!! Luckily, there was a CSI marathon on TV Sunday afternoon for me to watch and two puppies to curled up at my feet to keep me company while I pulled all the corner triangles off. I tried to be as careful as I could, with the hopes of reusing them, but I'm thinking that starting with brand new blocks will yield the best result.

Long story short ... my Weekend-WIP photo is really just an empty border. :)

Moral of the story: Sewing in the wee small hours of the morning ... even when heavily caffeinated ... is never a good idea ...

{Raspberry Noises}

2011-01-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

So, Saturday morning I was all excited to unveil my new posting strategy for 2011 - my Weekend-WIP, or "Weekend Work-In-Progress." In an effort to spend more time working on my Process Pledge this year, I'm trying to make a weekly effort to take a picture of whatever is on my new design board (thanks hubby!!).

First project of the year was the January Le Petite Project: Mon Ami (Schnibbles patter by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co).

To be 100% honest, this isn't a pattern I would have chosen to make on my own, but part of the whole point of joining a club like Le Petite is to branch out and try new patterns, methods, and fabrics. I had a Moda 1974 by Urban Chiks jelly roll in my stash ...

... and since I love the colors and they have some great coordinating light and dark prints, I thought I'd do some early stash busting and use it for this quilt. Before even untying that precious "Moda" band from the jelly roll, I took the time to plan everything out in EQ6 and even went so far as to order two matching prints off Ebay for the border and binding ...

... I'm sure you can see where this is going. I spent a lot of time on Saturday and Sunday putting together about 15 blocks in four of the six color-ways ...

... and I HATE it! I've tried most of my usual tricks: walking away for the evening and starting with "fresh eyes" in the morning, playing around with the color combinations, making a few more blocks to see if it makes a difference ...

I just plain old don't like it. I think that the colors appeared softer in the EQ6 mock up, but on the board the lights and darks blend together and the quilt is just too ... noisy.

After sitting and staring at it for probably a half hour, I even asked my hubby who stopped in my sewing room to iron a shirt. He suggested that rather than staggering the colors to just have rows with all the same colors ...

... so I rearranged the blocks for the 100th time (PS - hubby says I exaggerate all the time, so he takes any number I tell him and either multiples or divides by three. I guess in all honesty you could say that I rearranged the blocks for the 33.33rd time) ... slept on it again last night, didn't even look at it before I went back to work this morning, came home hoping to see it with "fresh eyes" ... and still HATE it.

I really hate doing this, but I think I'm going to scrap the project and start fresh, or at least put the blocks aside to be pulled apart later and used for something else. What do you think? Is is salvageable? Would you scrap it? Would you do as hubby suggested while I was complaining about it earlier and re-purpose them as individual mug rugs so as not to waste anything? What would you do?

For now, I have to put them away 'cuz I can't stand to look at them. After playing around in EQ6, I came up with this design, using Moda's Aster Manor by 3 Sisters, which I already have in my stash.

I'm thinking it's a much better alternative, and it definitely looks a lot more like something I'd do, but at the same time, I'm disappointed because the 1974 line was a different color palette and I was hoping to love it ...

{Raspberries, again}

Ok - thanks for listening to me whine. :)

Happy 2011!

2011-01-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

Well, after five different Christmas celebrations this year, with various branches of our family, hubby and I are pooped! We had a great time, but have definitely enjoyed a couple of days of relaxing and practicing the art of doing nothing. With how busy we were during the months of November and December, I didn't have time to make as many hand made gifts as I had initially hoped, but I'm really pleased with how my two gifts turned out.

First up was a handmade gift for my hubby. While he's always more than willing to give me his opinion (when I ask) on which color combination or block pattern looks better for a work-in-progress, and has even been willing to accompany me to a quilt show or two, quilting is just not really his thing. He has been known, however, to enjoy the occasional video game and really gets a kick out of "vintage" Nintendo stuff from when we were kids. A couple of years ago, he realized that since the 8-bit images from the original Nintendo games that he loved as a kid were nothing more than a series of colored boxes ....

... that they would translate REALLY well into a quilt pattern. So, he decided that I was going to make him a Mario pillow and promptly dragged me off to JoAnn's (I KNOW!!!!) to get some solid-colored fabric so that I could get started. Unfortunately, we purchased some fabric on sale that shrunk when ironed - even after pre-washing - which made the task of sewing together 256 squares into a 1" grid really unpleasant and impractical ... and the project was shelved.

I began playing around with the idea of the pillow again, after I stumbled across a tutorial by Elizabeth from Oh! Fransson on Sew, Mama, Sew's website. Elizabeth started by drawing a grid on a square of super lightweight fusible interface, and then used the lines as guides to place her individual squares. She ironed them in place and the seamed the back, and voila! ... she made a perfect mini-quilt without having to individual piece together a bunch of tiny squares. (Check out the tutorial for some great pictures and more complete directions)

I tried her method with some higher-quality solid fabric for my pillow and was absolutely thrilled with the result!! The grid on the front was so precise and the whole pillow front was done in less than two hours!!

Hubby was thrilled with it too! He's dubbed it his video-game pillow and has already asked for a second one (specifically the green 1-UP mushroom) to take into his office at work.

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My second handmade gift this year was for my mom, aka "my fabric-shopping partner in crime." Over the summer we took an embroidery class at one of our local quilt shops (which sadly went out of business this month. I'm so bummed!!). I knew after we finished the class that I wanted to make her a Christmas quilt that incorporated embroidery.

Every Christmas, my mom has this great collection of snowmen that she displays on the wall behind the kitchen table, so I decided to make her a quilt that matched. I used Bird Brain Designs' Redwork Snowmen pattern ....

... along with Mom's favorite snowman fabric line, Makin' New Friends by Deb Strain for Moda, and Carrie Nelson's (Miss Rosie's Quilt Co) Hot Cross Schnibbles pattern ...

So sorry for the crummy picture quality! We've had weeks of rain in Sacramento, so it was hard to get pictures with decent lighting. Here are some close-ups of the Snow-Peeps ...

Mom loved her quilt, and it's now happily living on the back of the living room sofa ... just waiting for someone to come by and take advantage of the dreary weather with a good book!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So, with those two finishes, I'd like to present the FINAL status of my 2010 stash.

Purchased: 3.0 yards for the Mario Pillow

Used: 6.12 yards as follows:

3.58 yards for Mom's Snowman quilt
0.75 yard for three new mug rugs to be listed in the Etsy shop soon ...
0.69 yard for the Mario pillow
1.10 yards for the December Le Petite project

Grand Total for 2010: +90.78 yards

A bit higher than I had hoped ... but as of today, the numbers all roll back to 0. Let's see if I can start the next update off with a negative number!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T17:20:00.000-08:00

I hope all of you enjoyed a fantastic holiday season with family and friends! We've had a busy couple of weeks here, but have loved every minute of it!

The December Le Petite parade will be happening over at the Pink Pincushion and A Quilting Life tomorrow. Be sure to swing by and check out all of the fabulous projects. This month, our project was Moda Bake Shop's Prairie Point Christmas wall hanging:

(The original by Cara of CaraQuilts)

After purchasing so much fabric recently (and getting a bit of a light-hearted scolding from my hubby about my growing stash), I was bound and determined to make December's project using only what I had on hand. After some hemming and hawing, I finally chose to use some fabric from one of Debbie Mumm's Christmas lines from a few years back. I had to use a smaller square for my prairie points so that I didn't run out of fabric, and unfortunately that resulted a very squat tree.

I half-way considered mixing in some other prints and adding some rows to make the tree a little taller and even things out a bit, but it grew on me over the holidays and I decided to leave it as it was.

As always, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's projects tomorrow morning, and I'm hoping to have the rest of my holiday project photos upload to share tomorrow as well.

Hope you have a great New Year's Eve and that your New Year is filled with wonderful family and friends, much happiness, good health, great wine ... and lots of fabric! HAPPY 2011!!

Holiday Crafts

2010-12-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

Every year my hubby's office hosts a Holiday handmade gift fair, where employees (or their families) donate handmade gifts that are sold at the fair, and then all the proceeds are used to purchase Christmas gifts for the homeless or foster kids in need.

I had originally planned on just donating this winter table runner ...

... but when I came across Jennifer's (from That Girl, That Quilt) tutorial over at Stash Manicure for a Mug Rug with a tea pocket, I decided to give to make a couple of extra gifts to donate as well.

I've been seeing these "mug rugs" around blogland for awhile now, and after making two of them, I understand why they're so popular! I mean, what's not to love about using those scraps from your favorite projects (that probably were too small to save for anything "practical" but were too beautiful to throw away) to make such cute little mini-quilt-coasters that can be completely finished in an hour flat!! Plus, I'm finding that it's a great way to use batting scraps too! I always feel so wasteful throwing away all my quilt sandwich trimmings, so I love having a new use for them.

Besides working on these three little holiday projects, not a whole lot of sewing has been going on in my little crafting room. I did, however, take advantage of some crazy good "Black Friday" sales going on over at Connecting Threads and Burgundy Buttons. I guess I went a little overboard ... as in 26 yards, plus a jelly roll, plus a layer cake ...

It's a beautiful sight to me, but hubby wanted to know if I actually was planning on using any of the fabric I already have. I guess they just don't understand. :) Needless to say, however, my stash for the year is WAY out of control. I think it's best just to accept them and get ready to do much better in 2011!

Since I did have some small finishes this week, here is my current stash update:

Stash Update: November 4th - December 9th:
Used: 1.5 yards ... whoop-dee-doo.
Bought: 34.34 yards ... yikes! (biggest purchase of the year, btw)
YTD: +93.9 yards

Le Petit Project for November

2010-12-01T14:06:00.000-08:00

Hooray!! Today is the Novemeber Le Petite Parade over at The Pink Pincushion and A Quilting Life. As always, everyone did a beautiful job. I love seeing all of the different results that come from the same pattern.

This month's pattern was Butter Churn by This and That Patterns:

I really liked the "Greek Square" and ribbon ends blocks, but for some reason, I just wasn't feeling the HST blocks around the border. After playing around with the blocks in Electric-Quilts-6, here is my take on the quilt:

I just mirrored what were the "Ribbon V's" so that were "X's" instead, and then added a couple of extra Greek Square blocks so that everything was symmetrical.

I had originally planned to use the cream color background print in the middle of the Greek Square units again, but my Awesome layer cake came with so many great cream prints that I decided to include a few to offset the squares and break up the white a bit.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to quilt and bind it before today's submission deadline ... (hopefully this isn't going to become a habit with all of my Le Petite projects!!!!), so I can't count it towards my stash busting. Bummer! Especially since my stash report is about to get out of control with all the post-Thanksgiving-Day sale fabric that is headed my way this week.

I'm taking a little break from my sewing machine this weekend, before I have to hunker down and finish all my super-secret Christmas gifts, but I'm hoping to start a new knitting project today (or two ... darn Ravelry has way too many cute projects!!!!), so maybe I'll have some new pictures to share soon. Until then, happy sewing!

Free Holiday Cards at Shutterfly.com!

2010-11-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

Hi fellow bloggers!

I know it's a little bit scary that I've mentioned the holidays and the end of the year in at least my last four posts. I guess it's time for me to admit that the holidays are truly right around the corner!

Now, if you're like some of my friends and family, your Christmas cards have already been written, stamped, and are ready for the post office the day after Thanksgiving ... but if you're more like me, you're probably realizing that you really should get busy!!

This year I've found my favorite Christmas cards at Shutterfly.com. I really enjoy the fact that they have modern, elegant cards with lots of photo placement (and editing!!!) options. My favorites are here, here, and here.

They have some really great personalizable gifts like calendars and photo books as well! I definitely have some Christmas gift ideas!

While most of the Christmas products are currently on sale, Shutterfly.com is giving bloggers 50 holiday cards for free, in exchange for a write-up or review of their Holiday Cards on your blog. Details can be found on their website. Hope you can take advantage of this great deal too! Thank you to Poppy Seed Fabrics for posting the info on their blog!

2010 Projects

2010-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been on a huge cleaning kick lately. I've decided, while I'm at it, to clean up my blog a bit. As 2010 is drawing to a close, I've decided to change all the individual headings of my major finished projects this year to "2010 Projects." Here is a list of finishes this year that now "live" under this heading.

Puppy Dog Tails:

Cherish:

Haunted Home:

Modern Haunts:

Autumn Daisies:

Eva Striped Runner:

Falling Leaves Table Runner:

Martinique Twin Quilts:

(only surviving picture ... bummer!!)

Incognito

In the Jungle:

Allspice Quilt:

Northern Solitudes Table Runner:

Grandma's Birthday Quilt:

Valentine Disappearing Nine-Patch:

(Any other finishes for the year will go here)

I have to say, it's been a great year so far! I think this is my largest number of finishes to date. Yipee!

What's New?

2010-11-22T13:03:00.000-08:00

Fall is my absolute favorite season, and I'm happy to say that it is finally hitting the Sacramento region! While most of our trees have been picking up a little bit of color since mid-October, we've been having some unseasonably warm days lately, making it a little difficult to get into the autumnal spirit of things. As of Saturday, however, the temperatures have dropped back down to where they should be, and we've some great, gloomy, rainy days -- and even some snow as low as 1500 ft! Yay!

While this time of year is usually my favorite to either snuggle in with two puppies and a great book, or to hunker down in my craft room for some quality sewing time, lately, I seem to be off my groove. Hubby and I are making some changes on the homefront, so we've spent most of the last week and a half in a frenzy of Spring-Cleaning-like activies. I spent a good couple of evenings cleaning up my craft room, ironing and putting fabric away ... and I even tackled my crazy "shove" closet. Everything is all neat and organized now ... but other than that not much has been going on, craft-wise.

I did happen across a stash of fat quarters that I purchase along with my sewing machine back in 2007, along with my first attempts at "quilting." I had to laugh, because the blocks were really awful! I hadn't invested in a rotary cutter or rulers yet, so I traced the shapes onto the FQ's (with no idea that grain direction made a {BIG} difference), and cut them out with scissors! I hadn't quite figured out the whole 1/4" seam bit on my machine, so those first blocks were incredibly wonky, none of my seams matched up, and most of the blocks were about 3/4" (or more) smaller than they were supposed to be!

Unfortunately, I didn't stop long enough to take pictures ... I was really in "purge" mode at the moment ... but my first blocks really did make me smile and appreciate how far I've come! I also have to say a big THANK YOU to all of you fellow bloggers - I've learned so much and been so inspired by your shared creativity!

While no significant new sewing has been going on, I have decided to use some of these scraps from my first blocks in a new quilt I'm working on. My plan for 2011 is to do a series of quilt patterns using modern fabric with traditional quilt blocks. The first pattern in the series should hopefully be releasing in the first part of January ... provided that I can be a good girl and finish all of my Christmas sewing in a timely matter.

Unfortunately, my super secret Christmas projects haven't received any love, which is scary since Christmas is only like 5 weeks away. Yikes! I have several open evenings this week, and a 3 day weekend following all of the Thanksgiving festivities, so I have no excuses for not having some sneak peak pictures ready soon!

I have made some progress on this month's Le Petite pattern (Butter Churn by This and That Patterns ...

... but after playing around with some of the square blocks and the little "ribbon" squares, I decided to make my piece a little bit bigger and completely re-worked the outter border, so that the finished project is about 40" square, instead of the 20-something" square shown in the pattern. Leave it to me to make a project more complicated, especially when I'm on a tight time frame with other projects! Oh well, it'll all work out. It always does.

Happy Sewing!!

Fun with Wordle

2010-11-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

Have you discovered Wordle yet? All you have to do is enter in a series of words and phrases, or even just a web address, it it creates these fantastic word art pictures. Just for fun, I plugged in my blog address and came up with this!

I love it!! Especially, how the biggest words kinda reads like a Nike commercial ... "JUST QUILT!"

Wouldn't this make a great gift for a loved one in your life! How special would it be to have all the kids and grandkids in your family brainstorm words and phrases describing thier parents/grandparents and then have the wordle printed and nicely framed! Hmmm ... might have to add that to my Christmas gift list!

Stash and "5 Boxes" update

2010-11-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize how long it's been since I've posted my stash update and the status of my 5 little boxes - yikes!

Stash Update: Sept. 18th through Nov. 4th, 2010
Used: 10.96 yards on Puppy Dog Tails, Cherish, and an autumny wall-hanging with matching table runner to be revealed soon!

Purchased: 18.78 yards, of which 12.5 will be used on super secret Christmas gifts and 4 yards was already used on Puppy Dog Tails.

YTD: + 61.06 yards ... good thing we get to start over in January!!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

5 Boxes Update

Boxes # 1 and #2: Sorry to disappoint, but these two boxes contain super-secret Christmas WIP's. I may post some sneak peaks over the next few weeks as the projects, but that's all the detail I can divulge at the moment!

Box #3 has been dedicated to my month Le Petite projects. While October's Le Petite hasn't been bound yet (and thus, can't be counted as a bust yet), it's time to move on. November's pattern is Butter Churn by This and That Patterns. I've decided to make this into a wall hanging, but I can't decide whether to continue destashing (like I did for October's project) or to order that Awesome by Sandy Gervais layer cake. We'll see

Box #4 still holds the pieces to my Country Inn quilt. I've made absolutely no progress on it whatsoever, but I love it and can't put in on the shelf just yet.

Box #5 is currently empty. Technically, it should be holding the 4 or so unfinished Fat Quarter Shop BOM shipments that really need to be completed ... but I'm going to leave it empty in case any surprise inspiriation comes my way!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Don't forget to check out the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side to check out all the beautiful quilt submissions!!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2010

2010-11-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

Amy's Creative Side is hosting a fantastic Blogger's Quilt Festival showcasing the many talents of our fellow quilty bloggers. I was so inspired after looking at all the beautiful quilts that I decided to add my latest finish to the parade.

If you're interested in participating as well, Amy is accepting submission through Friday, November 5th. All the details are here!

Our family and friends have been blessed with an abundance of babies lately! Last count, we have 7 babies who are happily on the way or who have just been born. As my absolute favorite gifts to give at baby showers are baby quilts, there have been a number that have left my sewing room over the past couple of months. While I've loved them all ... this latest quilt is turning out to be my absolutely favorite!

This quilt is for a little guy who should be making his debut in just a couple of weeks. I knew that the mommy-to-be was planning her nursery in shades of blue and brown, so I seized the opportunity to get my hands on that Pure layer cake and matching brown polka dot yardage I'd had my eye on for awhile. I had been finishing up my Cherish quilt when I ordered the fabric online, so it wasn't until I actually had it in hand that I began to get an idea in my head of what I actually wanted to do with it.

I've really had a thing for quilts with a crisp, white background as of late, so I knew that I wanted to use my favorite white-on-white polka dot print behind some sort of a pinwheel-ish block. After seeing all the 10" blocks laid out side-by-side in their colorways, I decided to pair up the blue/white prints and the brown/cream prints into two-tone double pinwheels. With a little bit of chain piecing, the blocks for this quilt really flew together!!

One new-to-me technique that I used while piecing the blocks was directional seam pressing, as opposed to my normally favored method of just pressing the seams open. I know that there is a lot of debate out there over these two methods and that there are pros and cons to both. I've always personally just pressed my seams open because I felt like it gave me more control over precisely aligning my seams. After having given the "other" method a shot, though, I have to say that I was very happy with the results and will probably (occasionally) use the method again.

In my mind, I had originally planned to set the blocks with white polka dot sashing and only use the brown polka dot print for the interesting squares at the corners. Once I had all the blocks finished and laid out, the white was a bit over powering and almost made the quilt a bit feminine. I set the blocks against the brown polka dot sashing instead and that was it - I was in love!

I've named this quilt Puppy Dog Tails, not only because "... that's what boys are made of ..." but also because when my little pups are happy, their tails wag a-mile-a-minute, kinda like pinwheels.

Luigi

Lily

Thanks so much for stopping by on your Blogger's Quilt Festival parade!

If you're interested in making your own version of Puppy Dog Tails, please visit my etsy shop or my bigcartel shop to purchase the pattern. Right now, it's on sale for $4.49!

Le Petite - October 2010

2010-11-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

Today was the first Le Petite parade. You can view all the submission at The Pink Pincushion or at A Quilting Life. It was so much to see all the different interpretations and fabric choices come together from a single pattern. We all started with Carrie Nelson's Paganini Schnibbles pattern.

The pattern included directions for four different piecing options, but I had had my eye on the pattern cover quilt for quite awhile, so that's what I opted to make, myself. There was just something about that scalloped border!!

I purchased two Eden charm packs last spring and they seemed to be just the thing for this particular quilt. I used the pink, yellow, purple, and white colorways, along with my favorite white-on-white floral background and came up with this:

I love how the brightly colored charm squares make the white background POP!

My initial plan for this quilt was to add a scalloped border, in white, just like Carrie's ... but once I had all the squares put together, I suddenly was having a hard time picturing the curvy border, but kept seeing a square, white border instead ... possibly with some multi-colored embroidered daisy-like flowers with a scrolly greenish vine -- perhaps a fantastic variegated matching thread? This is just a really basic mock-up, but I think you get the jist of it.

I'm still playing around with ideas ... so this quilt top may go into hibernation for awhile until I'm sure of exactly how to finish it.

November's Le Petite project is Butter Churn by This and That Patterns. I'm think of using Awesome by Sandy Gervais to make a cheerful autumn wall hanging. Please click on the Le Petite button on my side bar if you're interested in joining up in time fore the next parade. Quilt pictures have to be submitted no later than November 30th.

Paganini pattern review, stash and 5 boxes update, plus new patterns should all be posted soon!!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Hubby and I had a great day with my family. We carved pumpkins together, stuffed ourselves with homemade goodies made by Mom (Thanks Mom!!) and celebrated our nephew's first Halloween. Hubby's pumpkin was Baby Stewie from the Family Guy and I gave myself carpal tunnel carving out a witch sitting in her cauldron.

(We couldn't get Luigi out of the picture ... poor little guy just wanted to lick the pumpkins)

Hope your Halloween was just as great!!

Don't forget! Today is the last day to submit your Le Petite quilts for October to either http://pinkpincushion.blogspot.com/ or http://www.aquiltinglife.com/. Can't wait to see the parade of quilts tomorrow. Here's a little sneak peak of mine!

Pacific International Quilt Festival Favorites, Part II

2010-10-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite parts of going to quilt or trade shows is getting to discover new (or at least new-to-me) fabric and pattern designers, so I thought I'd share my favorite new-to-me designer from PIQF: Verna Mosquera from the Vintage Spool. Her applique quilt patterns are absolutely to die for! To be honest, I would have to say that Halloween is probably my least favorite holiday - so I was really surprised that my favorite Vintage Spool patterns were BOTH Halloween pieces. But, if Halloween isn't really your thing either, she has some gorgeous Christmas and Valentine patterns too!

Pattern #1 is a Block-Of-The-Month project aptly named "EEEK!" All the blocks are so adorable!

(Pattern and Photo Copyright: Verna Mosquera, The Vintage Spool)

Pattern #2 is another beautiful Block-Of-The-Month project called "Happy Hauntings."

(Pattern and Photo Copyright: Verna Mosquera, The Vintage Spool)

For more yummy pictures (including close-ups of the blocks) or to order a pattern, visit the Vintage Spool website.

Etsy Treasuries ...

2010-10-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever checked out the Treasury section on Etsy? It's a great place for Etsians to showcase their (themed) favorites from fellow Etsians. Up until recently, Etsy only allowed a certain number of treasuries to be in rotation at any given moment, so it was really difficult to create your own ... but lo' and behold, for some reason, I was able to create today! Check it out -- I hope you enjoy!!

Mr. Darcy's Girl

Dreaming in Blue

Introducing - Cherish: A Quilt Pattern

2010-10-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to (finally) be releasing this quilt pattern! The quilt finishes at 40" square and features square and diamond checkboards offset by sleek, brown polka dot borders. One of the things I really love about this pattern is that it works equally well either using fabric yardage or 5" Charm Squares (my fav!!) -- instructions for both methods are included.

Fabric requirements are as follows:
Brown Print: 1/2 yard or 24 - 5” Charm Squares
Blue Print: 1/2 yard or23 - 5” Charm Squares
Green Print: 1/2 yard or 23 - 5” Charm Squares*
Brown Polka Dot Print: 1/2 yard
Cream Print: 1/2 yard
Batting: 44” x 44” piece
Backing: 44” x 44” piece or 1 1/2 yards

Note for using Charm Packs: There are typically about 42 charm squares per Charm Pack. I used 3 Charm Packs in Cherish Nature by Deb Strain for Moda Fabrics for the sample As different lines have different numbers of blocks per colorway, you'll probably need 2 - 3 Charm Packs to finish your version ... and you'll have some leftovers. Feel free to use fat quarters or yardage to augment you supply of charm squares if you find that you're still a little short.

The sample quilt is off to welcome a sweet, little girl who's ready to make her debut any day now, but if you'd like to make the quilt to welcome your little one, you can purchase the .pdf pattern at either my etsy shop or my bigcartel shop.

Pacific International Quilt Festival Favorites, Part I

2010-10-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

Yikes! I've been slacking on my blog posts! I have a number of finishes (actually with pictures!!!) to share, ~~two~~ make that THREE new patterns to release, an update on the status of my five little boxes, and a stash update! These will all be posted over the next couple of days, but to hold you over until then, I thought I'd share some of my favorite quilts from the Pacific Internation Quilt Festival (PQIF) that was at the Santa Clara convention center last weekend.

A big thank you to my wonderful hubby for being my "date" to the show and for taking these pictures! I know there were SOOOOOOOOOO many things you would have rather been doing. :)

By far, my absolute favorite quilt from the show was quilt #1086: "Natural Wonders," an original design created by Kathy McNeil from Tulalip, WA.

The quilt won first runner up for the entire show and seems to be quite the favorite among my fellow bloggers.

The finished quilt measures only 63" x 60" and was hand appliqued and machine quilted.

Kathy, the artist, describes the quilt as, "All about the simple magic of discovery. 103 different fabrics were hand appliqued together to create the seascape. For now it exists in my mind, but I expect to find it someday."

* * * * * * * *

Another quilt that really caught my eye was quilt # 1024: "Pandora," an original design by Vicki David and Terry Breazeale of Santa Rosa, CA.

The quilt is exquisite and the autumn-y fabric choices were fantastic!!

* * * * * * * *

Another favorite quilt was #1048: "Wedding Birds," and original design by Sue Green of Pioneer, CA, made as a wedding gift for her step-son and his wife.

I love how the lovebirds come together to form a heart in the center and the quilting is so beautiful!

Stay tuned! More PQIF pictures and all my promised updates are coming soon!!

Pattern Review: "Hot Cross" by Carrie Nelson

2010-10-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

Pattern: “Hot Cross” in Schnibbles Times Two, by Carrie Nelson, of Miss Rosie’s Quilt Co.

(Carrie Nelson's Version)

Quality of Pattern: As mentioned with the “X-Rated” and “Plan-C” reviews, I’m a big fan of Carrie Nelson’s patterns. They’re straightforward and concise – no extra fluff, which is nice. It’s inspired me to go back and re-work a couple of my own patterns.

Difficulty Level & Technique: I feel that I can classify most of the patterns I write and the other designers’ patterns I try somewhere in the range of “Confident Beginner to Early Intermediate.” I feel like this baby is more firmly in the Intermediate range. Perhaps I was a little cocky in thinking this was a super easy pattern that was going to go together really quickly – and don’t get me wrong … the blocks just fly together. The re-sizing and assembly, however, were a bit tricky.

I figured that based on the instructions, I could just measure 3.5” from the center of the block to the edge, trim, and I would be ready to put the squares together. Um … nay nay. Now, perhaps this is because maybe I wasn’t as careful or meticulous while I was putting the blocks together, or I wasn’t super-careful while I trimmed the first two blocks, but my corner-stripes were nowhere near the centered right angles they were supposed be. I had to scrap those first two. For the remaining blocks, I used my water-soluble marker to draw lines down the center of each X, and then used those lines, plus my measurement from the center to correctly square the block. I was much happier with the results.

Adaptability: Because I was using fat quarters, rather than layer-cake squares I opted to start with 9” squares to make better use of my stash, rather than the 10” squares the pattern called for. I left all the other measurements the same and just trimmed off the extra fabric.

As with my “Plan C” quilt, I also opted to skip the piano-key border. I wanted this quilt to be more of a lap-sized quilt, so I kept the cream middle border, and added just a top and bottom famed checkerboard border so that it was more rectangular.

Speed: This blocks in this quilt go together really quickly, but accurately trimming the squares takes some time, especially if you use my method of marking the centers of the “X” before cutting. Still, without Carrie’s border, my quilt top went together in about a week.

Would I make this pattern again?: Despite the problems I had with trimming my first couple of squares, I definitely think I’ll be revisiting this quilt soon. I’m planning a red-white-and-black quilt as a Christmas gift that might be super cute with this pattern, and I have an idea inspired by this pattern for more of a latticed type quilt floating around in my head as well … so we’ll see!

Pattern Review: "Plan C" by Carrie Nelson

2010-10-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm so disappointed!! I've been putting off posting my two Schnibbles quilts reviews because I couldn't find the photos we took of the finished quilts. After searching every computer, zip drive, and camera card in the house, I think I just have to accept the pictures were accidentally deleted somewhere along the line. I can't tell you how bummed I am because I was so pleased with the way the turned out. So, here are my pattern reviews anyways, and if by some miracle, I can find the original pictures, I'll post those too.

Pattern: “Plan C” in Schnibbles Times Two, by Carrie Nelson, of Miss Rosie’s Quilt Co.

(Carrie Nelson's version)

Quality of Pattern: I was just as happy with this pattern as I was with the “X-Rated” pattern – everything was clear and concise. I really only used the cutting instructions and then referenced the assembly diagram to lay everything out on my floor. I did have to do some planning before I cut into my stash so I could create a bit of a pattern

Difficulty Level & Technique: This pattern is fairly easy, although much like “X-Rated,” I would say that it’s better suited to quilters who have a little bit of experience under their belts.

From this pattern, I learned a new technique for assembling the flying geese blocks 4 at a time – the process is also outlined on this great blog. This method requires some prep-work, but works great – however … you have to be very careful to reshape and straighten your flying geese units as you press them to make sure that the fabric doesn’t bow out of shape. I obviously wasn’t paying very close attention as I ironed, as I had a bit of problems with wonky blocks. I was able to get them to work with a bit of steam and some starch, but I would have been a bit happier if I had just done things better from the get-go.

Adaptability: I didn’t really change very much on my version of this pattern. Because I unexpectedly had to go out of town for a couple of days, I opted to leave off the piano-key border and used the time for some free motion quilting instead.

You could easily replace the piano-key border with a pattern of your own choosing, thanks to the middle “white” border between the body of the quilt and the border. With a little math, the middle border could be increased or decreased to the specifications of your new border.

Speed: Like the “X-rated” quilt, I feel like this one took me awhile. The quilt is assembled row by row, rather than block by block, so maybe that’s why it feels like it takes quite awhile. I also worked on various stages of this quilt while starting and completing a bunch of other projects, so maybe it just seemed like this one took forever, when in reality, I only worked on bits and pieces here and there.

That being said, this pattern is more of a “commitment” pattern than a quick “weekend” pattern.

Would I make this pattern again?: Probably some day, but not any time soon. I absolutely adore the way this quilt turned out and I love the Martinique line, but I’m not in any hurry to do it again (at least right now).

I joined "Le Petite!"

2010-10-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite quilt clubs last years was "A Year of Schnibbles," hosted by Sinta of Pink Pincushion and Sherri of A Quilting Life. While my schedule was way too hectic to join in the fun, I enjoyed the monthly parade of beautiful Schnibbles quilts - wow, are you ladies talented!!

Well, September was the last of the Schnibbles months ... but Sinta and Sherri are starting right back up in the month of October with a new club: Le Petite: A Year of Small Projects. The first project of the month is ... The Paganini Schnibble. I've had my eye on this pattern ever since it came out ... so I'm thinking that this must be a sign from the heavens that I should join Le Petite! Plus, since the number of expected babies among my friends and family has just risen to 6, I'm in need of lots of little handmade gifts!

If you're interested in joining too, sign up with either Sinta or Sherri first, then grab your Paganini pattern and have pictures of the completed project submitted no later than October 31st -- you still have almost three full weeks, so it's not too late!

If you haven't noticed yet, I'm a big fan of Carrie Nelson's patterns and am really excited to start Paganini. One of the beautiful things about this pattern is that it is really four-patterns-in-one, so it may take me a little while to choose which one to make!

Version #1 (shown belown) was made with Figtree & Co's Fresh Cotton and has a beautifuly delicate scalloped border. I'm also a fan of quilts that use my favorite fabrics offset by a crisp, white background, so right now, this is the forerunner for me!

... Version #2 is very similar to #1, but made with solids and squared borders ...

...Version #3 uses quarter-wheels instead of eighth-wheels ...

... and Version #4 has more of an "X" shape, rather than the wheel, and has that great scalloped border over a square one. Love it!

Are you participating in Le Petite too? If so, which pattern did you choose? I can't wait to see everyone's results!!

New Poplun shop available!

2010-10-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to announce that Poplun has jumped on the BigCartel bandwagon.

Our new shop can be found at http://www.poplun.bigcartel.com/ and will feature Poplun's top five patterns. Patterns and other goodies will still be available through our etsy shop as well.

Table Runner Palooza - Saturday, October 2nd

2010-10-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

Today's Table Runner Palooza showcase is all about some fall favorites.

First up ... remember this picture?

Well after many hours for trimming squares and squaring half-square-triangles, I'm so happy to introduce my latest pattern: the Haunted Home table topper, made with Sanae's Haunted Mansion fabric for Moda.

The finished project measures 33" squares, which makes it perfect either as a table topper, or as a wall hanging. The .pdf pattern is currently available in my etsy shop at an introductory of $4.49.

If you love the topper/wall hanging, but don't have time to make one for yourself before Halloween, the sample is also available for sale in my etsy shop as well.

Next table topper, Modern Haunts, was also created using Haunted Mansion by Sanae:

This is more of a modern piece, featuring 5" circle-in-squares that have been "loose-edge" appliqued, so fter a few washings, the edges will start to fray.

This topper is currently available for purchase in my etsy shop.

The last featured table runner today is my Autumn Daisies table runner. It was inspired by my embroidery class with Shirley at Bearpaws and Hollyhocks in Sacramento. I had been playing around with a daisy pattern, mentioned in this post, but once I had finished the embroidery, I was kind of at a loss as to how to finish it, so I set it aside for awhile. Several months later, I had stumbled across a fat quarter pack at JoAnn's and the colors and daisy print made it seem like they were meant to go together.

The finished runner measures 32" x 16" and is currently for sale in my etsy shop.

Table Runner Palooza - Sunday, September 19th

2010-09-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

Today, there are three new listings for Table Runner Palooza!

~~First up, is a cheerful, springy table runner made with my favorite Heather Bailey Fresh Cut print, off set by a green polka dot print and a peachy solid.~~ SOLD!

This runner is the product of my first forays in free motion quilting on my home machine and I absolutely love the way it turned out.

It's currently available for purchase in my etsy shop for half off of it's original purchase price.

~~Next up is a patchwork table runner made from one of my favorite Clothworks fabric lines ever: Sew Much Love by Diane Knott.~~ SOLD!

When I started making this table runner, I initially had some sort of a nine-patch pattern in mind. While I was playing around with my 2.5" squares, however, and this was the design that eventually evolved. It is also available in my etsy shop for a discount rate. Hope you enjoy!

Last up for today is my Eva Stripe Table Runner, made with a great quilt-as-you go tutorial.

As a special bonus for Table Runner Palooza, I'm currently offering free shipping for any of the Table Runners and Toppers in my Etsy shop for my blog followers only. If you purchase a runner or topper, please mention in the "Notes to Seller" section of your purchase that you follow my blog and I'll refund your shipping cost!

(Please note - free shipping is not being offered on any of my printed patterns or quilts at this time).

Table Runner Palooza

2010-09-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy making table runners. They're quick weekend projects that equally feed my love of design and finish projects. I was looking through my closet the other day and began to count the number of runners I've made, but never sold and I was so surprised! Way too many!

So, rather than list them a few at a time, season by season, I decided to celebrate my runners with Table Runner Palooza - a giant table runner and pattern sale! Over the next few weeks, I'll be introducing my runners and patterns and sharing my design process here on the blog as I list them for sale in my etsy shop. I hope you enjoy!

First up is my Two-Fat-Quarter-Table-Topper:

Back in 2009, when my mom and I went on our first shop hop, I won two fat quarters from Moda's Allspice Tapestry line from one of the local quilt shops. I really liked these prints, but didn't have enough money in shop-hop-budget to purchase coordinating pieces. These sat on my shelf for a couple of months until I was looking for a weekend project and decided to sit down and figure out how to make the biggest table topper -- including binding -- possible, using solely these two fat quarters. The finished piece measures 21.5" square.

The table topper is on sale for $16.50 (regularly $32.99) in my etsy shop. And just in case I forgot, I wrote down the directions so I didn't have to figure out all the math again. The pattern is also now available for sale in my etsy shop ... in case you don't want to have to figure out the math either.

No Longer MIA ...

2010-09-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that we're over half-way through September! I feel like I just flipped the page on my calendar from July to August. As you've probably noticed, I've been MIA lately ... but for good reasons, I promise! Over the last six weeks or so, hubby and I have attended a wedding, a funeral, a bridal shower, a party for two very chic 80-year-old twin grandmas, hosted his-n-hers bachelor and bachelorette parties, gone camping, and travelled from California to Missouri and back again. PHEWWWWWWW!

And while I didn't find time to blog very much, I still managed to (completely) finish two large Schnibbles quilts, two good sized table toppers (about 40" square), and a new Halloween table topper pattern.

... and now I need a nap ...

(Check out my new "trimmings trash can" - it's a 9" tall plant plot shaped like a THIMBLE!! Love it - especially since it was on clearance at JoAnn's! It's full of the trimmings from my 4 August projects)

I'll be posting my two Schnibbles photos and reviews over the weekend, along with the new pattern and toppers, and a "little boxes" update. I'll also be rolling out the details for Table Topper Palooza. Check back for the scoop soon!!

In the meantime, here are my stats. Thank goodness for Microsoft Excel to help with the calculations!!

Stash Update: (Aug. 16th through Sept. 17th, 2010)

Used: 14.418 ... biggest monthly stash-bust this year!! Here's the breakdown:

1.86 yards for the potholder giveaway
1.16 yards for my Modern Haunted House table topper (pics and etsy listing coming soon!)
3.016 yards for my Haunted Home table topper (pics, pattern, and etsy listing coming soon!)
3.213 yards for Tita Ita's birthday quilt (Hot Cross)
5.169 yards for Mama's birthday quilt (Plan C)

Purchased: 7.5 yards -- all miscellaneous Fat Quarters on sale at JoAnn's

YTD: 53.244 ... yup! that's the first drop in my YTD numbers all year. nice.

Check it out!

2010-08-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'll be back a little later today to (hopefully) show you pictures of my completed Plan-C quilt, but while you're eagerly waiting, hop on over to the Freckled Whimsey blog, where KerrieLyne is giving away an AccuQuilt Go! cutter.

And, as if one giveaway wasn't enough, there 's a second AccuQuilt Go! giveaway going on at A La Mode Fabric. Check it out!!

Fall Knits

2010-08-19T16:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about this time of year, but something makes me want to pick up the knitting needles I abandoned the previous January or February. Hubby and I are headed back east in a couple of weeks, so -- after many hours of searching on Ravelry -- I'm trying to decide which of these patterns I want to work on during the numbers of hours we'll be stuck on a plane and in a car.

First up: European Mezza Socks by Sara Morris

I absolutely adore this colorway! I ordered some beautiful Peruvian Highland Wool yarn from knitpicks.com in the just about the same colors. The number of colors in this line is AMAZING! Even if you're not in the market for yarn right now, go check it out anyways!

I'm hoping these socks will go together fairly quickly -- they're cuff-down socks and the pattern seems to use mostly knit stitches. I've never tried "Fair Isle" knitting (alternately knitting with two or more colors/strands at the same time, without breaking the yarn), but I've been watching a lot of youtube videos and checking out some blogs, and I'm hoping that it will be a fairly easy technique to pick up.

Next up: Garden Gate Socks by Emily Johnson

I think these socks are super cute (although, I'm not sure that my version will be knee-highs). What I think I love just as much as these socks, though, is that Emily's ravelry name is Emily Starr, as in my ultimate, all time favorite Lucy Maud Montgomery character, of "white night" fame. I can't tell you home many hundreds of times I've read these books as a kid ... and now I have a sudden yearning to go home and read them again! Perhaps this sock pattern and I are meant to be "kindred spirits?"

I do have to admit, I have some reservations about this one. The pattern calls for toe-up knitting and a split heel, both of which I've never done before. I get super frustrated very quickly with knitting, so we'll have to see how these go. I did start the toes last night with some heather-grey bamboo yarn, and they look OK, so maybe there's hope after all.

Choice #3 is a tie between: Tea and Scandal Socks by verybusymonkey (in yellow) and River Rapids Sock by Sock bug (in blue). I'm not quite sure which pattern will win out, but I like the name of the first.

Are there any other summer sock knitters out there? What's on your needles right now?

Introducing - Falling Leaves Table Runner

2010-08-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

I’m so excited to introduce to you this cheery fall table runner pattern, "Falling Leaves." This table runner uses basic machine appliqué and quick piecing to create a runner that will look great on your table from now until Thanksgiving!

Here are the stats!
Finished Runner Measurements: 12.5" x 42.5"

Fabric Requirements:
White-on-Cream print: 1/4 yard
Dark Brown Leaves print: 1/3 yard
Orange Leaves print: 1 Fat Quarter
Dark Green print: 1 Fat Quarter
Brown and Red print: 1 Fat Quarter
Gold print: 1 Fat Quarter
Red print: 1 Fat Quarter

This table runner pattern is being offered at a debut special of 50% off the regular asking price ($8.99) in my etsy shop!

Weekend Update

2010-08-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

***Please pardon the poor picture quality. I'm not sure what happened with my uploads, but will fix them as soon as I get home***

I'm so excited!! Look what came in the mail this weekend!!

Two of the cutest Christmas projects from Cinderberry Stitches! I've had my eye on these patterns for quite a while now, and a great sale at Burgundy Buttons gave me the (little) incentive that I needed to finally purchase them. I have all sorts of Christmas gifts in mind now!!!

However ... I have a number of projects that need to be finished before I can even start thinking about Christmas -- it is only the middle of August, for goodness sake! First, however, here's my latest stash update.

Stash Update (August 1st, 2010 through August 15th, 2010):
Used: 1.86 yards went to the fabulous winners of my first giveaway.
Purchased: 4.38 yards, including a couple of charm packs and fat quarters of Haunted Mansion by Sanae for Moda Fabrics for a jaunty little table topper -- more on this in a minute!
YTD: 58.30

A stash updated wouldn't be completed without an update on the status of my five little boxes -- a system, which has been working GREAT for me so far!

Box #1:
Pattern: Cherish (Poplun Patterns)
Fabric: Cherish Nature by Moda

This quilt is coming along slowly, but surely. I've been working on it mainly at my Thursday night sewing group, but don't have any new pictures to share this week. The middle checker-board border is done, and the outer border is almost ready to put on. Yipee!!

Box #2:
Pattern: Plan C from Schnibbles Times Two
Fabric: Martinique by 3 Sisters for Moda Fabrics

This pattern calls for a bunch of piecing, and will showcase 25 little 6" stars showcasing this great fabric line! I can't wait to show you the finished project soon. The pattern should be available for sale right around the beginning of September in my etsy shop. Stay tuned for more sneak peaks!!

This quilt is HUGE! It's finished size is a whopping 80" x 80" - which is GIANT when compared to the baby blankets I've been working lately. I've finished and attached 3 of 5 rows, and made quite a lot of progress on piecing the 4th row tonight. I can't wait to see the whole thing pieced.

The pattern calls for a piano keys border, which I'm not quite crazy about, so we'll see how it will actually finish up.
Boxes #3 and #4 still have Country Inn, and Candy Stripes Table Runner. Both of these projects are on hold until September.

Last week, Box #5 had the pieces for my upcoming pattern, Autumn Ohio Star Table Topper. With the purchase of my Haunted Mansion charm packs, however, Autumn has been temporarily sidelined for a new Halloween table topper pattern. Here's a sneak peak at all of the pieces!

2010-08-16T21:27:00.000-07:00

This week's how-to article at examiner.com gives some helpful hints for sewing machine maintenance at home.

What are some of your favorite maintenance tips?

PS: Check back at the examiner.com site this weekend for an interview with Shirley, the Knot-y Embroidery Lady, showcasing her upcoming class at Bearpaws and Hollyhocks, called "Grown Women Coloring on Fabric." Can't wait!!

Something Wicked This Way Comes ...

2010-08-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

(photo courtesy of Fat Quarter Shop)

... probably in the form of a brand new wall-hanging/table-topper.

Sneak peaks + stash & boxes update + new autumn table runner pattern coming this weekend.

Announcing ... The Potholder Giveaway Winners!

2010-08-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

Thank you so very much for entering my first giveaway! I was thrilled with the number of responses and so happy to come into contact with some many fabulously creative people!

Congratulations to my two FIRST PLACE WINNERS!

You'll be receiving the potholder kit of your choice, plus the batting and Insul-Bright Squares. Please send me your mailing address to Poplun(at)gmail(dot)com.

Congratulations to my four SECOND PLACE WINNERS!

You'll be receiving the potholder fabric kit of your choice. Please send me your mailing address to Poplun(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thank you again to everyone who participated and Congratulations to the winners!