Sewing for fun

I know it's crazy, so many posts in so few days, but I couldn't wait to show off this cute lunch bag I made for Nanette.  I had scored the cute Milky Peko Chan fabric for her, we're both fans of the hilarious urban legend about this  little girl character that is the mascot for the Fujiya candy company.  I wanted to make something fun but couldn't decide and just gave her the fabric.   She decided she wanted one of Ayumi's cute lunch bags so she sent me home with fabric from her stash and I've put off working on it since then.

 

It was so easy! Why did I wait so long?  It's adorable and holds a lot!  I love the covered opening, it makes this a perfect bag for anything, you know, including lunch. If you need a cute gift for someone I highly recommend it!

 

Have a great week friends! We're due for some rain! Our surrounding hills and fields are so green and lush, its a sight to behold!

Quilters Select Free Fuse

Hi there friends! How are you?  We're having a spring-sunshiney day here in PamKittyVille. I'm making the most of the weather, more rain is coming our way.  I'm grateful for it, but I'm LOVING THE SUNSHINE.  I've been in and out all morning, filling the feeders, checking on my potted plants, as well as all the indoor things,  like emptying the dishwasher which is my least favorite job. It can't be put off any longer though.  NO SILVERWARE.

 

Some of you might remember that I posted on Instagram about the Quilter's Select Free Fuse I ordered from The Quilt Show. I like to try new things, I normally use the spray fusible (505)  for small quilts and bag making.  No joke people...

 

I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS PRODUCT.



 

I first used it on my table runner and it was great. It was easy to shake on, and maybe the hardest part was seeing the product which is white, on my white batting.  My sewing room isn't bright.  In Alex's video, she mentions you need to determine your own temperature for ironing, depending on your iron, I ended up using it on high with steam, but I think it would have fused without the steam.  This is the video about it.

 

 

 

Since the runner, I've used on the little pouch I made, and just for fun fused a little piece of buckram to see how that would work. It's very nice to work with, no build up on your needle which I did periodically have with the spray fusible.  No fumes or over spray to deal with either. 

 

I believe this is a quilt shop product, but I found plenty of quilt shops to order it from if you don't have a local shop. 

 

Hope everything is good on your side of the screen! xop

Pin Pals

Hi there friends!  I just hopped on and saw that I hadn't shared my wealth of winnings from Carrie's give away on Instagram.  SO MANY wonderful items in my package.  Today I was on Instagram and saw that Fat Quarter Shop had a video with Carrie talking about embellishments and also about machine quilting the pin cushions.  Because I didn't pay close enough attention in the book, I was glad to see the information about 80 wt thread, and  those spools of thread make a lot more sense. 

 

This is one of my favorite photos of the book, Pin Pals, is this one with the jar of pin cushions. I love great staging and photography and this book has it all, you know like all Martingale books.  

 

I have some fabrics set aside to work on a new pincushion.  We've had some sunny days the past week or so and I feel so good.  I've enjoyed the rain and I know we need it, but that sunshine!  But I am NOT complaining about rain at all. Anyway my good mood has me back in the sewing room.  I've made some quilt backs and prepared some long time completed quilt backs for quilting.  FINALLY.    And I also  have some new projects in mind. 

 

Hope all is well with you friends! Happy Spring!

Dilly of a Day

Look at me posting at any random time.  Seems weird, I always thought if I didn't get that post out there first thing in the morning, my day would be ruined. But now, well, any old time is fine.  I do miss the old blog days, road trips, projects, shopping, all the ridiculous lunch pictures!  Yak yak yak.  I guess really we're doing the micro version of that on IG but somehow following the thread of people's lives  is harder. 

 

ANYWAY! Last week I had sew day with the Debbies!  I had a great time, always so lucky to be included.  Debbie hosted and Deb came up from San Louis Obsipo and we had a lovely time.  Debbie always makes a good lunch and we bring snacks and make a day of it.  I brought my dilly flowers to hand stitch.  I had one ready to sew together and 2 other sets of fabrics prepped.  I stitched together the pink one that I had ready left over from another sew day and then with their encouragement I managed to get two more complete!  SO SHOCKING.

 

I mean I get it, slow progress and a poor showing for real EPP people but for me it's huge, I generally don't have the attention span to keep at it.  I can't believe I have 6.  I really enjoyed it and felt like oh, maybe I could make something with them! #someday

In the mean time I'll hang them on my chunk of old fence that after years  I finally hung up.  It looked so moody on the last dark and stormy day I snapped a photo.  I don't know how many years I moved that fence around the house waiting to hang it up.

 

Everyone had one way back when I finally found my piece, but somehow I just couldn't find the perfect spot. Now when I walk down the hall I can see it out the corner of my eye and it always makes me happy. 

 

Hope all is well with you friends!

Treating myself to something fun

Morning friends!  How are you?  It's been chilly here in PamKittyVille and if you follow me on Instagram you saw that the surrounding foothills had snow!  Ok sure, for you people who get legit snow it's kid stuff but exciting for us here in the bay area.  Snow to 500 feet??? I'll take it!  

 

Anyway the chillier wet weather we've been having has me at the sewing machine.  I treated myself to a 12 inch  rotating Olfa mat,  and a BlueBirds on Roses charm pack, designed by the ever adorable Elea Lutz for Penny Rose Fabrics. 

 

I had a cute vintage bluebirds runner and I wanted to use it with this fabric but truth be told, the scale was a bit off for the small sweet designs and I couldn't bear to cut it up. 

 

But my idea to use this fabric with  embroidery  was firmly planted in my head, so I decided to see what kind of vintage embroidery designs I could find from Aunt Martha.  I'm not much of an embroiderer,  so I was looking for something cute and small in scale, and I came across these kittens.  I loved that little group of 3 faces there and the scale was perfect.

 

 

I wanted to make a  table runner/dresser scarf sized project with a curved edge so with the charm pack and  1/4 yard of a white solid this is what I came up with. I loved using my rotating mat to cut my charm pack pieces.  I look forward to using it with more projects. 

 

When I was stitching the kittens I thought about how when using a vintage piece, there might not be two  matching pieces, so I did some simple applique on the other end. If you didn't feel like embroidery you could  have applique on both ends, or just use the blocks. Those rail fence blocks are pretty fun to make.  (3inch finished)

 

 

The kittens are sweet and seeing them makes me tempted to stitch more of them. But also, unlikely to happen.  

 

So that's one of the things I've been up to.  It turned out just  as I imagined it.  Elea's collections is super cute, so I'm glad I picked up a couple of pieces of yardage.  I used the white focal print for the binding, I love how old fashioned it looks on that plain white.  (it's not actually white white, it's Riley Blake Confetti Cottons Off White)

 

That's the fun I've been having, what's up with you?

Olfa Quilt Along

Hi there friends!  You've probably heard the news by now, Olfa is celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Rotary Cutter.  To celebrate they've introduced a Ruby Red Rotary Cutter and you know how much I love red!!!  Do I use it? Do I hoard it???? ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!!

 

Olfa is also celebrating with a Quilt Along! You can read all about it over on the Olfa Blog, and today marks the start with a block by Beth Helfter.

 

 

My friend Roseann designed this quilt with all the blocks contributed and it was quilted by Marilyn Kidd. It turned out great.  I love how all those Splash colors pop against the snow in this photo. 

 

I hope you'll check it out, and quilt along with us!!!  Be sure and click over to the Olfa blog post to read all about it.  You can follow along over on the Olfa Instagram page and/or the Facebook page! 

 

 You can also see more by following these hashtags:

#olfa40

#olfacreates 

#olfaquiltalong

#olfaruby

 

Hope all is well with you friends!! xo

Pin Pals

Morning friends! How are you? It's a rainy week here in PamKittyVille and so I'm doing some reading.  I'm lucky to receive e-books from Martingale to read and review, and today I want to talk about Pin Pals.    I'm a long time fan of Carrie Nelson, you maybe know her as MissRosie.

 

Anyway I'm constantly inspired by her creativity.  This book chronicles  a moment in time when inspired by Amanda Jean Nyberg (aka Crazy Mom Quilts) she began a quest to make pincushion a day.

They're all cute.  I love the little color stories in each piece.  Of course I'm drawn to color combinations I love like this string pieced pinnie. 

The book has excellent instruction, tips and tricks, the works.  And the  styling and photography  is lovely, as in all Martingale books. 

I've included my favorites here. Right now on Instagram Carrie has a little challenge going, you can read about it on this post.

I even made a pin cushion myself. I love this little daisy pin cushion from the book, so I pulled out some fabrics and made it yesterday afternoon.  You can see it here.

 

True confession, one of my corners has a leak, but lets not tell anyone.  It's a little misshapen, but hey, it was my first try.  I love those long rectangles and I might try one of those.  Lets face it, there's plenty of scrap fabric laying around just waiting to be sewn into something pretty. 

 

All the above photos are by Brent Kane and used with permission from Martingale. They're pretty. And there's more like it in the book!  I received an e-copy of this book from Martingale but my review and delight with it is my honest opinion.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Good morning friends!  How are you?  I hope the new year is treating you well! I can hardly believe it's 2019. How has the time flown by? We've been meeting here for 13 years almost. Granted the pace has slowed, there's just not as much going on, but I still love coming here to chat with you. 

 

I was lucky to be invited to a couple of sew days last month.  Can anyone believe I'm doing handwork?  Yes, it's weird, but I like it. I can't believe I haven't mentioned it here, I'm using Elise and  Emilie's cute Dilly Flowers papers to make these blocks.  These are the medium sized papers I have the tiny ones but they just seem to small to work with for me.  I'm not as dexterous as I used to be.  I only have 4 flowers made and although I never may make a single thing out of them I love making them. 

Ha, how long ago did I start this Swell Christmas Quilt?  I sped thru the beginning, making the little units, 4 patches, the flowers.. then the assembly.  UGH. My attention span just isn't what it used to be.  We had a very stormy weekend here in PamKittyVille and Sunday was the perfect day to stay in and get those blocks done. 

 

My idea for making the flower centers turned out sort of cute, but I wish I'd really buckled down and made sure that there were no reds meeting up with them. Its looking a little sprocket-ish.  I also wish I'd gone a shade darker with the green.. too matchy and I'm not sure the chain will show up.  But that's ok, live and learn.  The pattern is from an old 2002 Love of Quilting magazine called Wild Irish Rose.  Anyway, maybe someday I'll sew them into rows finally? Before Christmas 2019??? Oh come on!

 

Last but not least here are the cute little set of bags that Elizabeth made me for Christmas.  I love those machine embroidery designs, so perfect with the fabrics.   And look at that vintage pillowcase trim she shared!  TREASURE.

 

Well that's a whole bunch for one day.  What are you working on?  There's so much inspiration out there.  Ok, time for another cup off coffee, see you later. xo

Good morning! Good Morning!

Good morning! Today is the day! We're up, Santa has arrived and we're heading out in a while to Grandma's house.  Sending love to you sweet friends.

 

Merry Christmas! 

Sew Day

Season's Greetings friends!!!  How are you faring this holiday season?   Ready or not it's soon upon us! 

I've been lucky to be invited to sewing group last week and again today!  I took the opportunity to make some apple coasters from Sharon's Apple Season free pattern. You might remember that I made one a while back.    I used the same technique I did earlier for the leaves, fusing two pieces of fabric wrong sides together and cutting the shape with my pinking shears.  I think it's a whimsical way of making a dimensional leaf.

 

It's so fun picking fabric combinations for these apples.

I just couldn't stop.  And I love my Dutch Label Company labels, they look so cute on the apples.  I stitched them on by machine but it would be cute to hand stitch them as well. 

I popped the apples into a cellophane bag with some chocolates and a couple of caramels and tied if off with the Dutch Label paper tags. 

 

No poison apples here... just cute little coasters. Wouldn't they be cute with a mug and some apple cider mix? Or just fun to make for the making.  I like that too.

 

Oh, before forget did you see Charise's Orchard Hot Pads and Apple Zipper Pouch???  Sew cute.   If you aren't familiar with Charise you can find her blog here and her IG account here

 

Ok friends, tell me what you're up to if you have time! xop

Perfect 10 Quilts "The Finale"

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS!!!  Today is the final post for the Perfect 10 Quilts Book Quilt Along!  It all went by so fast and it was sew much fun!  You can catch all the quilts tops over on the Jolly Jabber blog today.  Everyone's quilts are going to be so great!

 

Things here in PamKittyVille   have been kind of gloomy, or like picture day, way too bright with that weird winter glare.   I took my quilt on a whirlwind trip around town looking for some place inspiring, where there is a nice backdrop.  My normal side of this green space faces away from the sun but the grounds crew was there.  The other side is a little sunny, but it sure gives a quilt that stained glass look. 

It was a nice day out and about, if not just a tad breezy.  It's been cool here lately, not compared to places that really get cold, but California cool, late 40s early 50s.

 

The great thing about a sampler quilt is the chance to work on techniques, maybe pick up a new skill or refresh yourself on an old one.  And with a sew along, you can take your time with one block a week, no rush.  I like them because I am more motivated to be careful if I know someone is looking at the matching spots! 

I love the Flower Sacks collection, thanks Barb for getting the fabric to me. It has been so happy to work with.  Almost as good as sewing with you!

 

Thanks to Fat Quarter Shop for inviting me to quilt along!  What a great group to be sewing with.  Be sure and check out everyone's finish!

 

Cynthia of Dream Quilt Create

Gina of Thread Grafitti

Greg of Grey Dogwood Studio

Heidi of Buttons and Butterflies

Jennie of Porch Swing Quilts

Kim of Persimon Dreams

Melanie of A Bit of Scrap Stuff

Sinta of Pink Pincushion

Sondra of Out of the Blue Quilts

 

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for following along with me!

 

 

FriYay!

Hi there friends! Can you believe this is my third post this week!  Shocker.  It reminds me of the old blogging days. I don't know how we got away from those days, maybe it's the ease of Instagram .  Fast and easy. But I do miss the everydayness of blogs, coffee drinking, road trips, lunch! Blogging was very good to me, I made many lasting friendships.  I was reminded of this over the weekend when I received a box from Sharon.

 

 

It might of been 2007 or even before that when my first box arrived after seeing the seasonal Junior Mints on her blog.  I remember commenting that I hadn't seen them and then there they were in my mailbox. Every year since she's sent me a box, and it reminds me of my good fortune to have her as a friend. 

 

People take a lot of amazing photos with the phones, I rarely pick up my small camera and honestly I've taking maybe one or two with my DSLR and that's it.  I was thinking about it when working on my vacation pictures, none on my camera, all on my phone.  Technology has changed so much.  I remember back in the day you'd  have to ask about taking a photo in a shop, now people just do it.  Weird when you think about it right?

 

Moving on, some of you might have seen on Instagram that I was working on an apron.  I'm using Kwik Sew 3787 which is the same apron that Elizabeth made me. It's a cute shape and flattering for all sizes. I'm using some Anna Griffin fabric from way back when that I ordered from Sharon. (She says she has a small quantity left FYI)

My biggest concern using anything figural  is the head chopping, so I was careful with the layout.   These rooster motifs are pretty big, and while I did get one chopped off head, it's not obvious.  And I'm thrilled with the placement  of that top rooster.

 

 

 

 

Thinking of the camera vs the phone, the above photo is with my camera, the others are with my phone.  Honestly I'm not great with either, although the top photo shows the color more.  My phone has a lot of the same options for photography as both my other cameras, but honestly AUTO just seems the easiest.  

 

One of the fun things about making a gift is adding a PamKittyMorning label that I ordered from Dutch Label Shop.   It makes my apron looks so professional, so 'store bought', which growing up was the goal for everything we made.  I'm THRILLED with the look! Also I am still in love with that PKM recipe print.  Holly really is a genius with text prints.

 

 

I think this apron will make a cute hostess gift. Frankie's friend Pam has invited us to make tamales with her in a couple of weeks and I can't wait.  I've always wanted to learn now. 

 

So that's it for this week friends!  Hope you're all doing great. Thanks for checking in with me, happy weekending! xop

Catching up

Morning!  How are you?   I hope well and enjoying the holidays and not too caught up in the frenzy.  I know it can be a good time or a sad time or a just all kinds of time in between for people.  Crossing my fingers we can all find some peace during the season.

 

The end of the year is  birthday time here in PamKittyVille.  Bret and Frankie both have November birthdays, and this year we decided to revive the old tradition of going to Disneyland during the week between their birthdays, which back in the day held a convenient holiday and teacher work day.  

 

We started out the week heading to Universal Studios and spent a day there.  We hadn't been in years.  It was fun, although honestly those stinken escalators almost killed me.  Way too steep.  Had a chance to meet Hello Kitty, which was fun.  You can see it on Instagram here. 

 

Disneyland is my favorite though.  We had a blast in each part, California Adventure and Disneyland.  And most importantly my people did!

Christmas decorations were up, and they're always so pretty.  I fell in love with these colorful  garlands at the Rancho Del Zocalo. Everything at Disneyland is so over the top! 

 

It was lovely weather, no coats required!  ABC was in the park filming their Christmas Special and when Bret and Frankie went in after dinner they were able to see Gwen Stefani perform Feliz Navidad for the show. A fun end to the vacation for them. 

 

And now it's December in the blink of an eye. Yikes people, the time just flies by doesn't it.  Hope you're well. xop

Perfect 10 Quilts Blocks

Morning!  We have hit the last week of blocks here on the Perfect 10 Quilt's Book Quilt Along.  Back when I was first invited I thought that December sounded A LONG WAY OFF but of course all that time flew by.

 

This weeks blocks start off with Rainbow Sherbet.  There's two blocks here.   These blocks are biggies!  The book has a quilt for each block and I love the quilt made with these Rainbow Sherbet blocks.  You can check that out here.

The last block is Rocky Road.  Another big favorite of mine, the block and the candy.  This block is cute and has a lot of movement when used in  a quilt.

 

What a fun project this has been.  Next week I'll show you my finished quilt top.  THAT'S RIGHT I SAID FINISHED QUILT TOP!  Pretty shocking right?   What a fun project this has been. Thanks again to Barb from Me and My Sister for arranging for Moda to send me the their new Flower Sacks fabric.  It will be in stores February I believe. Thanks again to Fat Quarter Shop for asking me to join their quilt along and providing the book and ruler.  AND THANKS TO YOU for following along with me here! xop