PamKittyMorning

Friyay!

Morning... or is it afternoon in your world! It was so great catching up with you earlier this week. I loved your comments, Chris knows I always think of her when it comes to complaining about weather! Little Quiltsong is working away in her garden and sewing up projects like crazy, Annelies is back in Tennessee so probably living it up but missing sewing just a bit. And it's always nice to catch up with Suzanne. She's started a new blog and you should check it out. Coffee with friends, that's always how I have though about this blog.

Of course most of you probably knew I'd be making another strawberry with a ribbon ASAP! I couldn't help myself. It's tempting to make a whole series of fruit coasters, lemons would be so cute. I can see Suzanne making them and tying them onto gifts of coordinating beverages. I also felt like you could increase the size for a cute potholder.

I was on a happy sewing day so I pulled out my slotted trimmer and got to busy on half square triangles. I'm not the best piecer when it comes to triangles and this set of slotted trimmers really helps me out.

The Moda Blockheads 2 sew along started, they're on week 2 already. The piles of orphan blocks around here is huge but I couldn't resist the Me and My Sister's post about their block. It looked quick and fun, and it was!

I wasn't sure I'd even consider making more blocks, but then I was so happy sewing I had to make the first block. A bit more of a challenge. Not the best matching when it came to those green units and the squares they butt up to but I'm cool with it. There are so many great quilts out there, check out the hashtag here.

Sewing is my happy place, and I am looking forward to getting back at it. I don't mind sewing for the sheer fun of it, if I don't make another block or use these blocks I'm ok with it, they've already done their job. No matter how long I step away from the sewing I always find my way back.

Happy weekend friends! I hope you're in a happy place! I'm off on an adventure next week, so I'll catch up with you later! xop

Hello!

Hi there friends! What are you up to? Summer is heating up and I'm trying not to complain too much. It's going to be a challenge though. Just a warning!

I've been trying to get to some sewing lately. I'm working on a little blanket stitching for a project I hope to share soon. I had a bit of a false start with it, and ended up wadding it all up and throwing it in the trash, but yesterday I started up again and it seems to be working out a lot better. Crossing my fingers I didn't just jinx myself. The sewing gods have not been kind to me lately.

Did you see Nadra's cute strawberry coaster tutorial over on Amy's blog? So cute I had to make one asap. I forgot to add the little ribbon top in my excitement, but I'll make more of these they're adorable and perfect to catch all the condensation on my cold summer beverages!

I had a sew day with my friends "The Debbies" and it was awesome. Debbie finished her basket quilt and it's wonderful! It was great to see Deb and Debbie after such a long period of time.

You may have seen that I had a pretty pile of PamKitty fabrics on my cutting table recently. Or maybe not that recently. I've finally cut them into a kit for Nadra's charming Butterfly Dance quilt.

My mom was so happy that her little patio was a spot that butterflies visited on their migration path and often talked about them. This quilt reminded me of how the would flit around her tulip tree so it seemed the perfect quilt to work on right now. I'm channeling Elizabeth in cutting myself a little kit. Now I'm ready to sit down and get busy!

I hope you are well ! I'd love to hear from you! xop

Make Lemonade

Good morning! I'm trying to get back in the groove. If you follow me on Instagram you'll have seen that I have been oh so slowly working on a table runner from Sherri's book, Tablerunner Bliss.

I cut myself a little kit like Elizabeth used to make me. I fell in love with Brenda Walton's Limonella fabrics, particularly the lovely lemon focal print. I paired it with a green gingham print my friend Sharon sent me, and the blue PKM mini gingham.

I chose this runner with the large block centers, all the better to show off the focal fabric. Of course it was quick and easy as well, which makes it a great fun project.

I love how it turned out. Of course what always holds me up? FINISHING. I never know what to do, and I know my machine quilting attention span is pretty short. BUT!

I saw Miss Luella's wonderful log cabin quilt on Instagram and I think that wavy quilting would be perfect. I would only need to mark the first row, then use my walking foot with the guide on it to complete it.

We'll see how fast I get on that! I have some ideas for other projects percolating in my mind and I might want to work on those next. In the mean time, I saw these on a trip to Home Goods recently? Perfect right?

Hope things are going well for you ! xop

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day friends!

Coffee on the porch

Morning friends, how are you? The sun is shining here in PamKittyVille and all the roses are blooming up a storm. I've been dead heading like crazy and hoping for a speedy second bloom. You can't beat an Iceberg rose for the wow factor.

Monday morning I was using a cute little cup I brought home from mom's to have my coffee. It's old and stained with tea and I think she probably picked it up at an antique shop. It's a cute design and it made me happy to use it. ANYWAY... when I walked out I saw the squired hanging off the feeder.

I was sure it would run off while I tried to grab a picture. Nope. Then I went back in and got my camera, which turned out to be out of batteries, so I went back in and got my big camera, nearly out of battery so I went back out and got up close with my phone and that squirrel didn't bat an eye. Wow. I guess that's some excellent bird food.

I hope all is well with you! xo

Springtime Reading

Morning friends! The weather has been lovely here in PamKittyVille and I've been spending time outside on the patio. I don't have a fancy yard but I love sitting outside on my swing enjoying the fresh air and listening to my little frog fountain and seeing my pots of flowers. I have the feeders all filled up and there are lots of birds coming around. Spring is the best time of year. Sadly it's probably over in another 20 minutes or so and there will be nothing but relentless sunshine and high temperatures but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Yesterday I sat out back and read through Lissa's new book Oh, Scrap! ( I received a digital copy from Martingale to read and review, and the following photos are from their website. ) Lissa's scrap quilts are legendary. Oh, Scrap! reveals Lissa's secrets of fabric selection by showing swatch cards for the quilts and a bit about the fabrics on it.

Surrounded is my favorite quilt in the book. I've seen so many wonderful examples of this quilt made both scrappy and with two colors.

Of course I'm drawn to the cheerful colors of all the quilts. This is another quilt that says MAKE ME. The whole book is filled with them. Lissa's instructions are great, and the photography by Brent Kane and Adam Albright is wonderful.

The book is filled with inspiring projects and beautiful photographs, but it also provides lessons on color, scale, density and value , fabric storage with scrap quilts in mind, and that nudge you need to get started. The introduction by Barbara Brachman gives you a history of scrap quilts in America. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to Martingale for sending me the copy of this book! It's inspiring! Hope you guys have a great weekend. xop

An Apple a Day

Good Morning friends! How are you? Things are perking along here. Last week Bret, Frankie and I took a quick trip down to SoCal for a visit to Disneyland. We spent one day park hopping between Disneyland and California Adventure and it was a fun and exhausting day. I took hardly a picture the whole trip. On our second day we headed over to the City of Orange to my favorite antique shop Country Roads Antiques and Gardens. Then we headed over to Studio City to Bonjour Fete, a delightful little shop that Frankie had been following on Pinterest and Instagram for a while.

Back in PamKittyVille I'm still trying to get back in the groove. Yesterday we had a rainy day which was perfect for sewing. I've been unable to focus on a project but when I saw these scrappy apples on @abrightcorner 's Instagram feed I knew I had to make one.

They're so cheerful, so thanks Andy for the happy inspiration. The apples are from Lori's Spelling Bee Book, made scrappy by exchanging a solid print apple with 4 prints. So clever.

That's it for me, what are you up to?

Saturday Spelling Bee

Morning friends! It's Saturday Spelling Bee time again here in PamKittyVille !!! This sew along has been so much fun. I really admire Lori and how she manages to keep coming up with more and more adorable things for us!

My letter today is uppercase U! Like all the letters, U comes together quickly and instructions are available it two sizes. U won't be sorry you started this project.

Don't you love how this book lies flat. I'm not good about keeping my sewing area cleared off so being able to fold the book in half with my instructions next to my machine really is convenient.

The illustrations are perfect and make it easy to follow along with just a glance.

I sure had a good time with this sew along and I appreciate Fat Quarter Shop and Lori for including me. It was a lot of fun! Be sure and hop over and see what Charise is up to. She's making lower case u and I know everything Charise makes is amazing.

To see all the fun Spelling Bee sew along photos be sure and check out the hashtag on Instagram #sewingbeesaturday .

Something Cute!

Morning pals! How are the days treating you? We've had a lot of rainy days lately and it's been wonderful. Yesterday Bret and I went to the nursery and picked up some flowers for my wire basket on the back step. The sky was blue and filled with puffy white whipped cream clouds. He planted the basket up for me and put on a string of new fairy lights (on a dusk to dawn timer) so my back porch is sorted for now. It feels like spring, cheerful and fresh.

Speaking of cheerful, how cute is this pincushion kit from HollyHill Quilt Shoppe? I think it's SUPER CUTE. I follow HollyHill on Instagram and had seen the wonderful Mother's Day Celebration Brunch that included this cute project and was so envious of the attendees.

ENVY. But luck was with me and in January I saw that they were offering kits. I knew that I wouldn't be able to work on it immediately, but it would be something to stash away (but not too far away) to make later. (FYI Since Jan hand-paints the pitcher for you and the kits require time to prepare, it does not ship immediately.)

What a fun project. I loved making all the adorable pins. Each little pin is packaged separately so you don't need to worry about using the right beads for each pin. And it's all labeled to go with the great instructions.

It was so fun. It's a dainty little pitcher. Couldn't be sweeter.

I'm at the bottom of my coffee cup so time to start the day! If you feel so inclined, tell me what you're up to! Happy Monday friends! xop

Coffee time.

Morning friends! How are you? I'm trying to get back in the groove around here. I love this space to spend time with you. Its been a rough year for us, but we're slowly getting back to our regular routine.

I received a great treat in the mail, look at these great new Splash Olfa self healing mats and the new Splash rotary cutter. They're sure going to sewing a lot more cheerful. Thanks to Olfa for sending them to me.

Do you know Olfa has a blog? You can check it out here. They've started a brand Ambassador program and they have a new Design Team. Be sure and check them out . There should be a lot of great new content coming our way.

I hope to be back here on a more regular basis soon. I miss hanging out with you! Tell me how things are with you!!! xop

Sad times

Yesterday we said goodbye to mom. We're sure going to miss her.

Lorraine Vieira

1925-2018

Spelling Bee Saturday

Good Morning and welcome to Spelling Bee Saturday! Today is brought to you by the letter "N". Jody from Pleasant Home is showing off her uppercase N and I'm showing you my lower case N. We're both using Lori's cute Spelling Bee book to make our blocks. And are they ever cute!

N is for nice, and that's what this project is! The blocks come together in a snap and you'll be done before recess! I'm using the cute 30's Playtime by Moda that I had left over from my tablerunner project, these blocks are perfect for scraps.

Just in case you haven't been keeping up, here's a list of everyone stitching along with us! Happy Sewing friends! xo