The Swatches! The Swatches!

Good morning! It's going to be another beautiful day here today, lots of sunshine for a happy day!    Exciting news, the swatches are up, the swatches are up!!! You can head over here to the LakeHouse site and see them!! I'm so excited! 

Now to take care of business... the winner of the Great Granny Squared book is Jan who said:

"Oh my! I am trying so hard to not do another Sew along, but this basket is really tempting me! So Dang Cute!I would love to win Loris latest book! Do you need it to sew along?
Thanks for the chance!
xo jan@ Sew and Sow Farm"


Jan, email me your address there at Sew and Sow Farm and I'll get that book in the mail to you!

Now if you like Pam Kitty Garden it would be awesome if you asked your local quilt shop to carry it!

Ok have a great day everybody! xo

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour!

Good morning!!! Welcome to the second day of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour!  I'm excited to be included  in this 9th issue of the magazine and my coffee is extra delicious today because of it!

 

This issue, like all the others, has great instructions for each block.  There is a designer's gallery that includes the quilts that will hang in the offices in Golden Colorado  for those of us who can't make it to see them.  There's a block tester's gallery for inspiration, full size templates, embroidery stitch instructions, quilting designs   and even a give away! It's a great magazine.

My block is #812 and is on page 31, Summer's Bouquet.   

 

I even had fun with a photoshopped version in  Pam Kitty Garden.

 

Quiltmaker is giving away a copy of the magazine  to one of my lucky readers.  Just leave a comment and I'll pick a winner on Friday! Now head over to the Quilty Pleasures Blog and check out all the other block designs on today's tour.   Thanks again to Quiltmaker for including me in this great publication! 

Monday

Good morning! How was your weekend?  I hope it was happy and you got to do some of the things you were hoping for, like some sewing maybe? Work in the garden? Absolutely nothing!  Sometimes that's just what you want at the end of the week.

 

I had a lot of sewing. There are just  5 more of the light blocks left to work on.. adding those top and bottom rows is a real challenge for me. I'm not that great of a piecer really.  I freely admit it.  And there is nothing harder than sewing for others,  this project is for a pattern that Holly is doing for Cut Loose Press. 

 

My seam ripper and I are fast friends. Luckily I had a lot of NCIS:LA on the DVR for viewing.  Like the original NCIS and Law and Order: Criminal Intent (and regular) it's excellent sewing tv.  I need to get this top ready for quilting asap, but need to take my time matching up those triangles.  OHMYGOSH I have the one that needs correction right on top.  SHOOT ME. I was just going to say gee, I already noticed half way though the pile  that I had one four patch turned around and there RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME  is another. HONESTLY. Well I'm keeping it real for you people. Sad, but real. You probably though all my seams nested perfectly and I barely need pins.  That would be Carrie.

 

Ok, guess I have my work cut out for me today.  Have a great week everybody! xo

Yikes

HELLO FRIDAY! It's been a busy week, what about where you are? We're closing in on market, and consequently there's a lot more activity.  Went to Holly's the other day to pick up some Sausalito Cottage yardage for a project. Shipping samples are just in, and that's always an exciting time.   This collection turned out even more amazing than it looked on paper or even on as the strike offs. The colors are so rich and vibrant.  I can see why people wanted the hydrangeas back again.  Holy cow. I was hanging out while on my own so I took the time to play around with piles of fabric. 

 

I love how modern this print is.  The colors are so rich. Even if you're not into the more traditional prints of this collection, these great textures go with anything. They have the tiniest bit of pearl, that will add interest to any quilt.



The greens.. I love green a lot and Holly makes a point of having a nice selections of greens with applique in mind.



I tried to capture the subtle bit of pearl that is on some of the prints.  It's really lovely.

It's a lovely collection. I'm sewing a market project with some of the periwinkle prints and really enjoying a bit of a change of pace.  So.. that's what I'm up to.  What about you?  Hope you have a happy weekend ahead! xo

 

Come Sew Along!

Woo hoo ! Today is the first day of the Great Granny Sew Along! Are your Alphabitties  at the ready? Do you have your fabric picked out!  As usual Fat Quarter Shop is hosting another super fun sew along with  Lori Holt to celebrate her cute new book Great Granny Squared!

 

Not long ago I got out my Alphabitties, my Great Granny Squared book , printed out the special pdf companion and got ready to SEW ALONG.  You can get started by downloading the cutting instructions for this special sew along yarn filled basket block by clicking  right here.

 

Adorable right?  I love the balls of yarn just waiting to be crocheted. Lori has such a cute way with things don't you think? 

 

Now be sure and leave a comment today, the Fat Quarter Shop has kindly provided me with a copy of Great Granny Squared for one of my blog readers! They're pretty great right?  Let me know if you're making Lori's or Kimberly's version of the sew along sampler. Then be sure and head over to the Jolly Jabber today, to Lori's and also to Erin's and Sherri's!  Once you get your block sewn, add it to the Great Granny Sew Along Flickr Group for a chance to win more prizes!

 

Now! I think I've covered all the bases here.  Time for me to get back to the extra block basket I cute out Thursday and get busy!  Have a great week everybody! xo

 

 

News Flash!

It's that time of year again, and finally I can give you all a little peek at what Holly and I have been up to!  The LakeHouse webpage is being updated with all the swatches in the next few days, but in the mean time you can get a taste of the collection on the splash page!

 

This year I'm excited to  tell you about my new collection Pam Kitty Garden. It's full of all the whimsy you'd expect from a Holly and Pam collaboration and I hope you're going to love it as much as I do. 

 

Holly has a lot of exciting news to share about LakeHouse at Spring Quilt Market this year. I'm excited about all of them but super excited about  Pam Kitty Garden. 

 

 

Break out those Alphabitties!

Shhh don't tell but I've already made one of my blocks and just couldn't wait to start another.  I just kept walking by my design wall (née flannel backed table cloth)  seeing some combos that I really liked so I got out some more fabric and got busy. 

 

What I should be doing is cleaning off my sewing table. I was out at Target on Tuesday and picked up this smaller tub to pack stuff into.  I mean who knows where all that stuff goes.   Well you can see how far I got with that.

 

Apparently when I give myself a threatening talk I don't really pay attention. #notnews

 

Happy Thursday people! It's almost the weekend. In case I don't get back here have a good one! xo

Wednesday

Hi there Happy Wednesday!  I know it's panic season but so far I feel pretty good! It almost seems a shame to break out the panic mug but it cracks me up and reminds me of Carrie so I like to use it a lot!

 

Are you getting ready to sew along with all of us again?  If you haven't seen the announcement head over to the Jolly Jabber and check it out! Don't forget to check out Lori's post as well! 

 

 

Perfect timing, right before my market sewing starts!  I guess that's when I'll be panicking!  Luckily my project isn't too big so it should go pretty fast.

 

Whats up with you guys?  I hope you're having a good week. Did you stay up to see the lunar eclipse? Pretty exciting stuff right? You can listen to this segment of Science Friday for a fun and informative segment.

Well that's all here.  Happy Wednesday! xo

 

Monday

Good Monday morning!  How was your weekend?  It was  nice here, lots of sunshine, perfect 70s weather.  Yesterday I worked on clearing some stuff off my sewing table. I'm horrible about my work area.  It's generally chaos, I am a person who just piles stuff  up.  Worry about it later.

I unearthed this little granny square top, that I wrote about first here.  Remember the original little granny square sew-along that started back around February 2012? 

 

I had one little border to stitch on, pitiful, something got piled on top and then another.. kind of sad, as even though it's wrinkly and kind of a mess, I still like it.  I don't think we're 'over' granny squares yet, that's for sure! So now it's piled up with other little quilt tops waiting for quilting some day!

 

Table still needs work, but it's better. I had some good crime fighting tv to watch and that helps me stick with it.  What did you do this weekend? 

 

I'm off to the studio today! Hope everyone has a great day! xo

Happy Friday

Well Happy Friday Friends!  So how did the week work out?  Pretty good I hope.  I had a nice sewing day yesterday.  This little house whipped up in no time.  Wouldn't it be cute with some little topiary trees next to it?  I might have to work on that.

 

This block had one little piecing challenge for me, matching the walkway to the door.  I took it out a couple of times but after it got worse instead of better, I decided to let it be.  I will keep trying to fix things 1. till it works 2. it gets too mangled to keep trying or 3.  I stop having fun.  Once I stop having fun, I've hit that point of sewing diminishing returns.  Time to move on. How do you feel about that? I'm always curious about other people's thoughts on perfection.

Edited to note: Jill pointed out that the upper left window is off, yikes, that row is all out of order. Good grief! I'll be taking a ripper to it later today!

 

I still might try again to fix it. But for now, it's good.

 

I hope you have a great weekend.  Happy sewing, happy spring!

Sew Happy

Hi there! Can you believe it's Thursday?  I've had a busy week at home catching up on stuff that needed doing.  You know the boring stuff I'm talking about.  But I've been having some sewing fun too.  I finished up  the last odds and ends of a couple of sewing projects for Holly, and I'm pacing myself till my next one comes in a week or so. Of course I finished my spring  pillow up, that was pretty fun and it's nice to have that safely tucked into the pillow vault now.  Where it's safe!

 

After a quick run to Target yesterday, I took a few minutes to cut out one of Lori's cute Home Sweet Home blocks, it's from Quiltmaker's 100 blocks issue 8. I caught a glimpse of some houses she was making on instagram, and just had to make one.  Like a compulsion. So I'll get busy on that today maybe. 

 

The weather has been absolutely glorious here the past few days. I'm really enjoying it.  Soon enough I'll be trapped inside with the air conditioner!  Happy day peoples!! xo

Good Day Sunshine

Spring is officially here in Livermore, lots of sunshine and the air is filled (with pollen) the scent of jasmine and lilacs.  It's pretty good!

 

I can't believe it was the end of February when I originally cut out my applique shapes.. well I think we're all well acquainted with how things are done around here.  Slowpoke style!   I had it ready for quilting but then set it aside for something else, the way that I do.  I think it took less than 2 hours to finish total.  I think it's pretty cheerful. Into the pillow vault.

 

What are you up to? Did you make an apron? Even if you didn't you should head over to the Me and My Sister blog to check out their apron post.  Seriously, they kill me.  So clever.

 

Anyway. Have a super great day! xo

Pockets and Pies

Hi there!  Welcome to Pockets and Pie Monday here at PKM!  Today I'm showing off my cute apron from the Pockets and Pie Apron pattern from Fat Quarter Shop!  It's a quick and easy pattern that just takes a kitchen towel and 1 yard of fabric, plus maybe an hour (or less!) to make.

I grabbed a cute hot pink towel from Target and got busy.  I measured and marked...

Folded over my edge and topstitched...

 

  Drew some lines with my clover white pencil and  I was practically done.  I opted for a coordinating tie and I was good to go!

You can download the pattern here, but really, all you need to do is watch this cute video of Kimberly making here version and you'll be set! I hope you give it a try. 

You know there a lot of cute videos over on the Fat Quarter Shop channel. I particularly love the Classic and Vintage video on the tiny baskets, ADORABLE! 

Happy Monday friends!  Have a great week! xo

Happy Friday

Good morning! I'm home today, and clearly taking it easy.  In spite of my sunny picture, it's a rainy day here.  I'll be tucked inside with some sewing, it will be good. 

 

My cousin Linda's husband Mark texted me some seriously snowy picture from Minnesota.  It's April! And their neighborhood is covered in a beautifully inconvenient blanket of snow.  I'm so sorry. It's particularly cruel to say it is forecasted to be 86 here by Tuesday. 

 

What have you been up to this week? Any big weekend plans? Hope it's fun! xop

Thursday

Good morning! How goes the week? We're closing in on the weekend!  I've had a couple of days at home and I've spent them catching up on stuff I can't show and then having some fun with sewing.  As you can see I got my little bag done.

My last scallop is cut off .. well it's there, under the bag.  I just couldn't make that little 1 inch  box corner, so mine is a little bigger, and that left a bit of those scallops under the bag. I'm cool with it, for the most part. Its a fun bag to make, and I'm glad that Camille made it into a pattern.

 

This month in the Sew Sweet Bee it's Heather's turn to request a block.  She chose a pinwheel, it's a great block to make.  I like to machine baste my pinwheel in the center before I sew it, do you?  I want those triangles to match, although as I can tell with the picture, that one in the lower left  might be off a smidge.   I also don't press my seams open, so that makes it harder to get a nice flat block like I see so many places. I started quilting back when most of the quilting was still by hand, so we pressed to the side so you could hand stitch along the seam without the bulk, and also so that you seam wouldn't split if you sat on your quilt.  No pressure just on the thread. Now I notice more and more people pressing seams open everywhere, I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I mean sure, sometimes it does make sense when you have a lot of bulk.  Anyway, these are the kinds of things I think about sometimes. 

 

We had a bit of sun yesterday after a bunch of stormy days, it was nice.  Big puffy blue sky clouds say we might not be done with the rain. Hope you are well! xo

 

 

 

 

Time Saver

I can always count on Alex to show me new ways to save time!  Today over at The Quilt Show, Alex has a blog post on a new machine quilting technique that I know is going to help me out! Just click here!

Have a great day!