Catching up.

Hi there friends! How was your week?  Seems like it's been an age since I was here chatting about things with you!  My trip was wonderful.  I made it thru Pumpernickel Valley both coming and going, thank goodness.  It did seem a creepy, especially since you can see for miles and there were no cars. The drive went fast, not just because the speed limits are higher in Nevada and Utah but the time just seems to go by faster when you're headed to visit friends. 

 

Alpine Utah is nestled at the foot of the Wasatch Range, and it was just my luck that Wednesday it snowed up at the higher elevations.  I could look out at those mountains for hours. Nanette and I went to a few quilt shops, Just Sew ,Broadbents ,  Provo Cotton Shop and  The Cornwagon.  That was super fun.  So nice to run into Amber at Just Sew and  Shannon at Cornwagon.   I have met so many wonderful people through social media and it's always so exciting to see them in real life.

 

Saturday Nanette and Dave, her husband, took me for a nice long ride around the Alpine Scenic Route. It's the beginning of the fall  leaf  peeping season, and it was really breathtaking. Lots of snow on the ground at the higher elevations, beautiful blue skies at times.  What a fantastic ride.  I have a ton of blurry car photos and this one.. that shows things mostly in focus! 

 

Of course there was plenty of time for sewing and chatting and hanging out.  I made all the tree units for my Legendary quilt.  Now that I am back home I'm working on getting them put together.

 

They were time consuming but pretty mindless once I got into the routine.  Just drawing a line and sewing away.  Nanette managed to get a ton done, and I hope she shows off the quilts soon.  I love the fall quilt she has up in her entry.  You can see it over here on instagram.

 

Well I think you're all caught up now!  Tell me what you've been up to! Have a good weekend. xo

 

P. S. how can it be OCTOBER tomorrow???

100 Blocks Sampler Sew Along

Good morning!  Hope the week is treating you well! Today  the 100 Blocks Sampler Sew Along is featuring the 6 inch version of Courtyard Square over on the Quilty Pleasures blog.  Did you know that this is from the very first edition of  Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Magazine and my very first published design?  It was so exciting, and even more exciting, I've had a block in every issue since then!  You can read about it here on my blog post from 2009!

 

You can see my block in the first row, third block on the red and white quilt. Even though we were well into the blogging days, I didn't have a photo of my block!  What kind of blogger was I???  This is photo is  from  Quiltmaker.  I loved this line of fabric from Moda, Sweet by the Urban Chiks. 

One of the most fun things was being next to Monica at Happy Zombie.  She wrote a fun post about being next to me in the magazine and she took our blocks and made the cutest quilt ! You can read about it here. 

 

But lets get back to the blog hop!  The 100 Blocks sew along is taking the original 12 inch blocks and making them 6 inch finished for this sampler quilt!        I made a small selection of blocks  in photoshop to have some fun!  

 

There's all kind of options to explore value and that center square is perfect for some fussy cutting in both the large and small blocks. 

And then I made some blocks. I really liked the idea of a darker background, so I put the gray in that postion.  

 

And here's how they'd look sewn together.   

I stitched up some more blocks in red and then put them together on point.

 

If you wanted to do that as well, you'd need 5 Courtyards Square blocks,  one 9 3/4" square cut twice diagonally for 4 setting triangles and two 5 1/8" inch squares cut diagonally (once) for 4 corner triangles. Then trim up and quilt as you like and bind.

You could always add borders.. I'm still thinking on that here.. Maybe a slim inner border of the plaid and then some kind of red outer border? Or should I just quilt it as is?  Share your thoughts if you like!

 

Thanks for stopping by today.. head over to the Quilty Pleasures blog to read about the blog hop, and if you're coming from Quilty Pleasures thanks for coming!  Have a great day friends!

 

Road Trippin'

Good morning!  I am up and out this morning, road tripping to visit a friend today!  I look forward to the drive, seeing the sunrise up towards Auburn and the Sierras and then driving across the wise expanse of Nevada.

 

I was thinking about all the landmarks along the way.. like Pumpernickel Valley, which I should NEVER HAVE GOOGLED before heading out.  OMG people, terrifying. 

 

Yet I've driven across that valley quite a few times unscathed so I'll risk it again.  I was curious about the mountain ranges that I cross in Nevada, not sure exactly which these are.. but they're beautiful covered in snow. (pictures from May 2016)

 

I have some audio books to keep me company and some regular spots to stop off for gas etc. And the excitement of a few visiting and  sewing  with Nanette!  It should be a great week!

 

Hope you have a good week ahead!! I'll see you soon! xo

 

 

Friday

Good morning, how was your week?  I had a happy week, ran some errands, did some sewing, you know, that kind of thing.  I'm working on borders and you can catch a glimpse over on my instagram if you're not already keeping up.

 

On to other things.  As long as I can remember, which admittedly isn't that long these days, I've been asking my mom for an old icebox cookie recipe she used to make.  She'd make these rolls of cookies and put them in the freezer in the garage and we  would go out and unwrap and cut off chunks like the wild animals we were.  Anyway, all these years she didn't know where it was, then suddenly a couple of weeks ago I mentioned and BAM!  Recipe! I don't pretend to know how these things happen but I'm sure someday in the future Frankie will ask me for that stupid tailor's ham and BAM. There it will be.

 

Anyway I wouldn't  be jumping on the pumpkin spice bandwagon, but you can see the recipe calls for pastry spice.  Of course McCormick's doesn't make pastry spice anymore, but I looked around and found old spice combinations here online.   Current day pumpkin pie spice mix contains the same ingredients, no idea if they're the same proportions or not.  (and notice the old pumpkin pie spice is different now) But I was trying for something authentic to my childhood and I hoped this would give it to me. Thanks to everyone on Facebook who helped me try and find information on pastry spice!

 

Back in the day we always used Fleishman's or Nucoa  for baking.  I have a lot of old recipes that call for the brand rather than the product.  ANYWAY.. this week I made the cookies.  I have to say it's pretty close to what I remember.  A little less crisp, but I think it's because eggs are so much bigger,  maybe next time I'll make them with just 2 eggs.  Or buy small eggs. But that will be in the distant future because this recipe makes a million cookies. 

 

My log making technique is stale but these little misshapen beauties were delicious.  And that first bite of dough transported me back to our garage in Clayton, where I ate my ill gotten gains.

 

It took longer than the 7 minutes, so either my mom's oven was an inferno or that was just an arbitrary number.  But hey, it's incidental.. the dough is delicious frozen.

 

Hope you have a sweet weekend!  xo

Monday

I'M IN LOVE WITH MY IRON AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOW'S IT!!! 

Seriously though  I AM.  I totally underestimated how bad my old iron had gotten, not that hot, definitely not very steamy.  Ironing with my new Reliable Velocity iron is  A DREAM. I can't wait for my pal Greg to get his next week so I can see what he thinks.  Holy cow people. My quilt is so flat.  I want to IRON ALL THE THINGS.  Ok, ok, lets not get carried away. Sorry.

Yesterday I put the borders on this quilt.  I love how it turned out.  I'm debating on centers for a few of the flowers, but I'm in no hurry.  Will I quilt it myself? Probably not, though it's not all that big.  But I know for a fact my attention span isn't what it used to be and I'd  probably be stitching along fine then just be OVER IT and do something stupid. 

So I won't risk it.  I'll add it to the pile of things to be quilted, which is getting pretty big.  I also might throw more centers on those flowers.. I tried them out when I was first fusing them all down and didn't like them, but maybe some different fabrics will help or some buttons or something. 

Details details.. I used my Sizzix Big shot, with this die, here's the link.  I also used this leaf die, several flower dies and this circle die. Anchor I cut out by hand (like a savage.)

Ok, hope you have a great week! xo

American Quilt Retailer

Happy Friday friends!  Hope the week was a good one.  Exciting times here in PamKittyVille!!! My American Quilt Retailer is here and I'M IN IT!

 

When I was at Spring Quilt Market I ran into Heidi Kaisand .  You probably know Heidi for a lot of things if you've been a quilter for a while, and now one of the many hats she's wearing is Publisher of American Quilt Retailer. AQR is the quilting industry's premier trade magazine, so it's not available to the general public.    She invited me to submit  a design for their Free-to Use Pattern program and when I did, she accepted it!

 

Although not necessarily intended as a fall mini quilt, My California Seasons is all about the changing leaves outside my window here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  You could make this quilt to reflect the leaves outside your own window.  But Pam, you say, how can we make this quilt if we can't get the magazine???  Well happily I have an answer for that, just ask for it at your local quilt shop.  They have access to the free pattern and downloadable pdf direct from AQR.   

 

You can also find Heidi at her shop, Hen and Chicks Studio. You can read about Heidi here,  and listen to her podcasts here or if you're near Marshalltown Iowa, listen on  Radio 1230am at 8:35am Wednesday mornings.

 

In other news, almost as exciting.. I bought a new iron!  Like so many quilters, I'm on a quest for the perfect iron. My Olisio was on it's last legs and at the end of last week it spilled it's guts all over my ironing board.  I was on the fence about what to get when I saw Doug Leko post about his new Reliable Velocity 200IR  iron and I thought why not? I've tried all the premium irons and the price is right in the same ballpark. 

 

Lets face it  irons are not an appliance that most people use everyday for hours on end, and so possibly we're just asking too much from them.  What do I want?  It want it to get hot, have a smooth sole plate  and have plenty of steam.  Well so far so good! For those who want to know, it does have auto shut off after 8 minutes BUT you can override it!  Best of both worlds.

 

If you're so inclined, you can see that iron in action over on instagram here. Yup, it's a nice fresh ironing  board cover too.  I'll keep you posted! 

 

Ok everyone, that's everything exciting with me!  Have a happy weekend! xo

Jolly Bar's for Breakfast

Morning friends!  Today is the Jolly Bar Book day here in PamKittyville.  Last month Fat Quarter Shop sent me a copy of  their new Jolly Bar Book and my choice of Jolly Bar and invited me to sew along with some friends using their exclusive Jolly Bar precut from Moda and their new Jolly Bar Book.  Be sure and head over to the Jolly Jabber to check out what they've sewn!

 

Seriously the book is the cutest, it's the same size as a Jolly Bar and it's packed with 20 different patterns for quilts that use one and sometimes 2 Jolly Bars along with a solid in either cut yardage or precut form. 

 

I didn't take long for me to choose a Little Ruby Jolly Bar and Camille's favorite Bella Solids Bleached White PFD, to get started.  I added in the red Little Lady print for backing and the Vintage Tonal Red Check from Vintage Picnic for binding.  I love a nice diagonal check!

 

It didn't take long to cut and stitch up the quilt at all.  You can always count on the Fat Quarter Shop to have nice instructions with good illustrations to get you through the project.  With my (mostly) cleared off sewing table I was able to machine quilt it myself.   I love to meander, and while I'm a bit out of practice, once this quilt is laundered you'll be none the wiser.  I'll work on those star points later.. still pondering them.  They look a little baggy here unquilted!

I chose to use the lighter fabric for the star centers, so they pop off the quilt a bit. I really love the design and seriously, it's a breeze to stitch up in an afternoon, maybe two if you're taking it easy. 
 

I think the Jolly Bar Book makes for a super gift, and I'm already thinking of Christmas.. a Jolly Bar, the book and maybe a spool of thread to decorate the package.. perfect for your sewing pals!  Thanks to Fat Quarter Shop for inviting me to play along!

There's lots to see so make sure you head to these sewing blogger to check out which quilts they made.. I think I saw a sneak peek of Tina's already..

There are plenty of fun bloggers on the Jolly Bar Book Tour! :

The FQS Team at The Jolly Jabber
Melissa from Happy Quilting
Tina from Emily Ann's Kloset
Amanda from Jedi Craft Girl
Connie from Free Motion by the River
Afton from Quilting Mod
Pam from Pam Kitty Morning
Heidi from Buttons and Butterflies
Renee from Sewn with Grace
Remona from The Stitching Scientist
Andy from A Bright Corner
Angie from Gnome Angel

Happy sewing peoples! xo

Labor Day

The mornings sure look like fall around here , I love the light this time of year, golden.   The mornings are beautiful and cool, even when the days heat up.   We've stayed close to home this weekend, catching up on chores around the house.   After seeing this guy and his 4 siblings and mom on the roof again last night... doing more than a little casual checking for entry points into the attic space.  They've been hanging around for a week now. 

I want to thank Fat Quarter Shop again for donating a wonderful bundle of ginghams for me to giveaway to a blog reader!  Ginghams  are such a staple in my quiltmaking.  The winner is Becky J who said  " I LOVE gingham. My first sewing project in school was the cross stitched gingham apron.I need to baste, quilt, and bind a baby quilt this weekend, and try to finish some WIPs". 

 

Becky please email me your snail mail  address so these can be shipped out to you (rocketqltr at yahoo dot com).    I appreciate everyone who took the time to tell me what they were up to!  Sounds like nice weekends all around! 

 

Now I better get to work on a project I'm machine quilting for later this week!  You can see a sneak peek at it here.  It's been a lot of fun! 

 

Have a great day everyone! xo

Hello September!

Good morning my fine friends! How are you?  It's the first of September and do you know what that means? It's International Sewing Month! (but really isn't every month a sewing month?) To help us celebrate Fat Quarter Shop has generously supplied a FQS Curated Bundle of Buffalo Check Carolina Gingham from Robert Kaufman as a prize to one of my fine blogging friends.   

Gingham!!!  It doesn't get any more my style than that. It's a staple, a basic, and this bundle is packing all the colors we love. 

 

For a chance to win leave a comment here .. I'd love to know what you're up to !  Then hop over and follow Fat Quarter Shop on Instagram! I'll check back with a winner on Tuesday.  It's a long weekend, will you be sewing? 

 

HAPPY SEWING !

****DRAWING IS NOW CLOSED- winner announced soon!****

Hello September!

Good morning my fine friends! How are you?  It's the first of September and do you know what that means? It's International Sewing Month! (but really isn't every month a sewing month?) To help us celebrate Fat Quarter Shop has generously supplied a FQS Curated Bundle of Buffalo Check Carolina Gingham from Robert Kaufman as a prize to one of my fine blogging friends.   

Gingham!!!  It doesn't get any more my style than that. It's a staple, a basic, and this bundle is packing all the colors we love. 

 

For a chance to win leave a comment here .. I'd love to know what you're up to !  Then hop over and follow Fat Quarter Shop on Instagram! I'll check back with a winner on Tuesday.  It's a long weekend, will you be sewing? 

 

HAPPY SEWING !

****DRAWING IS NOW CLOSED- winner announced soon!****

Monday

Good morning! How's your beverage of choice this morning?  My coffee is delicious especially when I take it out on the porch.  The weather was cooler this weekend, but I know there's plenty of warm days ahead.  The leaves are falling like crazy already.  It will be a long season of raking and sweeping for me.

 

Today's Splendid Sampler block is Dedication Rose by Lisa Bongean.  We're over the halfway mark, can you believe it? I find these small blocks fun to do, and I'm looking forward to putting my quilt together.  The Facebook group already has some finished quilt tops.. you should check it out!

 

Today I'm off to the dentist.  Hope everyone has a great week ahead! xo

You still can't touch this.

I remember a long time ago when Frankie was in elementary school and a friend I were talking about getting kids to clean up their rooms.  She told me, with great insight, that kids just are overwhelmed and can't figure out how attack it, they just see a room full of stuff and the can't even process it. 

 

I distinctly remember this feeling when I was maybe 5 or so, my dad had made me a bookshelf and I had pulled all the books off of it and they were piled up on the floor.  My mom probably wanted me to organize them and not just have them jammed willy nilly and not in an orderly fashion, like a library.  I was sitting on the floor with the book volcano all around me and was paralyzed. 

 

OMG PEOPLE I FEEL LIKE THAT RIGHT NOW.  Every where there is stuff and decisions waiting to be made. Keep it - throw it - donate it???? And the keep it stuff.  Seriously I have only scratched the surface of millinery flowers I have.   And doilies. I've cornered the market.  And pictures!!!  Does anyone even remember PRINTING PICTURES from websites that inspired us??? 

 

I'm having a laugh because I went back in time and looked at pictures here, where Nicole challenged us to show our sewing tables. One of the things on the table is a covered button kit.. JUST LIKE THE ONE THERE NOW!!!  Honestly, it's not the same one, Elizabeth and I went through a ton of those, I happened to find that one somewhere else and just set it there today, but still... OMG. 

 

You can see some pretty pictures of my studio here on Pat's website for my Aurifil block of the month.  And here back in 2008 when Bret put my counter up.  Right now it probably still looks like that, just under a bunch of other stuff piled on top!  Except for the mushroom lights, those have been moved.    

 

Anyway.. I'm still plugging away.  I had hoped to show off a picture of a table with just the normal sewing necessities on it, but so far I'm not there yet.  My greatest problem is where to put things. 

 

But the week ahead is a busy one, so no time to work on it right now.  I'll see you back here with a progress report next week. Or possibly a surrender flag... not sure how I'll feel by then. Happy week people!

 

 

 

 

It's a Splendid Day

Good morning!  I was a little worried that I'd have nothing to show for my week today, but thankfully there's a Splendid Sampler block that I've made, so phew.  I love Pat's coneflower, it was one of the first blocks I made just because I love coneflowers and never have had any luck growing them. 

 

But inside my sewing room I can have all the pretty coneflowers I want.  In all the colors!  This one looks pretty with all the blocks I've made so far.  I have 24 done, and I'm planning on a 5 x 5 layout so I just need one more block.  But the deciding, oh the deciding of which should be the last one.  Maybe I'll have to go another row. 

 

I'm still working on my clean up and out projects,  which really looks like me moving from room to room doing one thing and getting distracted and then doing something else.  Yesterday I spent time at my sewing table going through things.  I have stuff but what to do with it?  And all these little treasures, if I put them away will I remember I have them?   And why do I have so many lengths of ruffled fabric?  #allthemysteries

 

Ok, any big plans for the weekend?  Be safe people! xo

Time Traveling

Good morning!  Did you have a fun and productive weekend?  I tackled  my magazine problem.. well part of it.  Remember back in the olden days when magazines where how you found out anything that was going on in the quilting world.. well it was for me anyway.   I went through tons of them looking to see if I could figure out why I had saved them.  Lots of projects look very similar  to projects of today, just new fabrics and colors. 

 

Saw some friendly faces and places.  And remember how wonderful Countryside magazine was?  I found quite of few of those that I had saved just because they were so pretty.

 

Different times.  But still lots of the same faces we know and love now. 

 

I'm curious how we'll remember the things we love now and are pinning on Pinterest or saving on  hard drives.. will we still have those ideas like we have the magazines? And will we care?  Maybe that's old lady talk.  Still, it was a lot of fun going through them.  Happy week people! 

She put some mushrooms in a jar and you won't believe what happened next.

I have totally fallen for teasers like that over on Facebook, what about you?  Usually it's something ridiculous... JUST LIKE THIS. 

 

What did happen next was  me having realizing that I NEED MORE MUSHROOMS.  THESE ARE NOT ENOUGH. WHY DID I THINK 4 WAS THE APPROPRIATE NUMBER TO PURCHASE??????

 

Sadly these mushrooms are years old.  I bought them the first time I went to Paper Source.  The only other place you'll find this is at someone else's house hoarded for something special just like me.   They'll find that photo on flickr and loose their minds over wishing they had my 4.   If that's you, sorry.

 

I can't believe it's Thursday already.  Kind of  a boring week around here.  I was busy, but there's nothing to show for it.  Well except a jar with mushrooms that is.  And that's better than some weeks.  Hope you're doing well.  I'll wish you a happy weekend today!!!  xo