TGIF

Happy Friday peeps!  Hope the week was good to you. It was a hot one here. I feel so grateful for A/C for sure. A power outage for a couple of hours yesterday reminded me of  this  and it was just the jolt I needed to get my thinking in line!

 

My Strawberry Social Mini is done.  Well you might notice it has no borders.  Oversight on my part.  The borders on the  pattern cover are slightly obscured by the pattern name, and the whole time I'm just stitching away  looking at the instructions, but when I got to the sashing I just stopped reading because that was the last diagram and I know how to apply sashing. 

 

So that was a mistake.  I went to staple the pattern together after I  finished machine quilting  and holy cow.  BORDERS.  Honestly I could have added them in a quilt as you go manner but I really liked it without borders.  (But of course you know deep inside I'm wishing I added some borders. Right?)  Word to the wise, DON'T BE LIKE ME and not really read all the instructions. 

 

It's a totally adorable pattern. Those strawberries big or small are the cutest around. I love their shape  and their cute little tops.  I really admire Margot's thinking, how she came up with that method.. well it's beyond my brain power.  So clever. Thanks to Margot again for sending me the pattern to try out!  I had a blast .  Now how cute would these small strawberries be in a pillow? 

 

These are the bigger strawberries that I made back in 2013.  You can see pictures of my full sized quilt (unquilted at that time) here.  I really love the pillow and the quilt. 

 

Ok, happy weekend everyone! Hope you're having fun! xo

Monday

Good morning!  How was your weekend? Crispy here, and looks like the week will be hovering around 100 degrees but then it will cool down.  Looks like that's our summer pattern.  I have my iced tea already brewing so I'll be ready when things start to heat up and the house will soon be on lock down. Hot weather requires a strict regimen of window opening and closing in the early morning to let in the cool morning air and make sure none of the hot.  Later in the afternoon the a/c will kick in to do it's job and I'm grateful for it!

 

At the end of last week Margot sent me a copy of her Strawberry Social Mini quilt!  She has so many cute new patterns I hope you go check them out.  Endless Summer and HoneyBee Farm couldn't be more charming. She has such a delightful way with fabric and pattern.  You can see her instagram feed here.  I love seeing everyone's work in progress on IG.  Maybe a lot of us are  in our own little sewing world and IG gives us a way to feel connected to like minded people that we don't have 'in real life'.  For me anyway.  

 

So you can see, I have my strawberries and leaves all ready for sewing today.  I have the background cut out as well, I'm using my little tossed garden tools on white. The scale is perfect for this project. I'm hoping for some good tv to go with it, but if it not I have some recorded tv to watch.  Can't wait to make a strawberry and since there are only 6 it should go fast. 

 

HAVE A GOOD WEEK FRIENDS!!! xoxo  

Nice try

Hi there friends, how are you?  Another lovely weather week here in PamKittyVille.  Haven't done much really, nothing all that blog worthy, but clearly that's not stopping me today! 

 

A couple of weeks ago Bret and I headed out on a drive.  Elizabeth had told me about the Red Door Antiques in Elk Grove, which is a little over and hour away.   We hadn't been to that area in quite a while, we used to go a lot when my mom lived in Rancho Cordova. 

 

The shop is great.  Big, lots to look at and nice displays.  I love good displays don't you? 

 

We came across this adorable little nook.  A quilt sticking out of a vintage shopping cart.  Loved the broken star with it's soft colors.  Probably  faded from use, it was very soft and I suspect those were maybe 30s prints.  Phone photos, I rarely bring out my real camera anymore, which hasn't helped at all with the blogging.  And remember the days when you'd ask to take a photo or try to be sly about. Now days we're all camera happy. 

 

But this got me thinking.  I have a vintage cart.  Back in 2007 (omg so long ago!) Elizabeth and I  went to Alameda Antiques and saw all the carts and we wanted one.  People had them all fixed up with liners and we were DYING  OVER THEM.  You can check some pinterest pins if you don't know what I'm talking about.. I'll wait, go!    Time passes and we went to drop off some patterns at Quilter's Paradise in Clovis and decided to hit some antique stores.  I was so jealous, she saw a perfect cart and snatched it up.  Consumed by jealousy I looked and looked for a cart.  Finally I found one, months and months later.   I'm sure I was with Elizabeth when I did, but now I can't remember where, I'm thinking Room with a Past on one of our adventures.  Who can remember these things. Not critical to this long long rambling story. 

 

Of course as is typical of me I didn't do a thing with mine and I'm sure it's much too fragile to actually shop with, the little rickety wheels don't look like they'd hold up to much.  So it's been sitting around my house since I bought it LIKE SO MANY THINGS, waiting for it's true purpose.  Of course I had a lot of stuff stored in it so I had to empty it out.  And then cram a quilt in it.  But I didn't have a cute corner to put it in, and the back yard photos were a mess, so I thought HEY WHY NOT TAKE A PICTURE OF IT BY A CUTE LITTLE STORE.  Hahaha, like we have one of those around here.  But we do have fruit stands and I have a strawberry quilt.. why not go take a picture of it at the fruit stand.  Well the stand was closed.

 

But after a drive around I found this cute sign tucked under a tree next to a very busy road but that didn't stop me.  And now you have seen the most ridiculous picture ever of a shopping cart, and sadly, your eyes can't unsee it. 

 

True story, the cart is still in the trunk of my car.  #nicetry

 

That's it for this week. Love you guys! xo

 

 

Doodling around

Whatcha up to?  I'm just doodling around. Which had nothing to do with doodling.  It's just something we always said for doing nothing in particular.   I tried to get some sewing in.  It's fun to work on small projects that don't have to turn into anything in particular. This is Pat's cute bumble bee applique that she designed for Fat Quarter Shop's Button Lover's  Club.  You can click on the links for information about downloading the free pattern and joining the club!  Like tons of people, I love bee themed things, so this seemed perfect. 

 

It's always fun to go through my stash and find pieces just right for the project. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with this, so for now it's just hanging out being a square. I'm still in love with that black fabric that is from Pam Kitty Love.  That print is so pretty in all the colors it came in and I don't have much left of any of them.

 

 

Speaking of going through stuff... found some hidden treasure yesterday. For many years if I saw some cute towels I'd buy them up but never use them, instead saving them for my would-be kitchen.  The one without the green tile that is.  Yesterday I was going through my little hall closet I found paydirt.  And trust me.. tip of the iceberg. Now I have some new towels for my pretty white kitchen!  Yay.

 

That little closet has lots of treasures in it.  Originally it was the utility closet, just a space for the vaccum and mop.. but I turned it into a little china closet, stored all my luncheon sets and fancy bowls and silverware.  It was pretty, and arranged .. not just crammed in willy nilly.  I loved it.  That was back in my "Martha Days" .. unlikely to be repeated even with the new kitchen.  Now the little closet is now crammed with little or no thought for display, mostly just for storage.  But I have fond memories of it. 

This was taken in June 1992.  I was born to be an instagrammer.  These are two of several photos. Of course over time things moved around, new things added.  Eventually I got a big hutch and dishes moved there and different things moved here. 

 

 

 

Fun to dig out the photo and see it again.  Because when I saw it yesterday it was crammed to the gills and not at all nicely arranged. 

 

Anyway I'm doodling around collecting up things that I don't use anymore. Lots of treasures that I'll send out to Goodwill for someone to find and be excited about!  What are you working on?

 

Friday

Hi there!  How was your week?  Not much exciting here this week, did some beginning of the week sewing to get my Popsicle mini runner done so I could pop it in the mail.  It was super fun to make, and I'm sure I'll make another one soon.  Choosing the fabrics was a blast! 

 

I'm thinking this would be a perfect pillow for summer, right?

I quilted it with a cross hatch.  Diana quilted Joanna's in a crosshatch on the background. Probably a smarter choice, those tipped popsicles with their funky angles almost bother me. But not quite. 

 

You can get the pattern from the Fig Tree Quilts website here. It's fast fun and easy. 

 

Ok, that's about it for me here today!  Hope you are having a fun summer! xo

Perfect for Summer

Good Monday Morning!  I had a nice weekend, starting with some Friday fun.   I had lunch with Holly and we went to Orchard Nursery in Lafayette then had the most delicious lunch at El Charro.  Orchard is a good halfway spot to meet, and it's  a gorgeous place. If you ever have a chance to visit there, do it.  And then go into downtown for lunch.  Bonus, there's a quilt shop on Brown Avenue, The Cotton Patch!  So a perfect day trip for a quilting gardener, or gardening quilter, which ever you are!

 

Worked a bit on my Popsicles this past weekend. 

I'm making a small five popsicle version so the main body is done, and I've got the pieces for the border all cut, and ready to work on today.  I hope to get to machine quilting it by the afternoon, providing I'm not distracted.  Which is a good possibility. It's been so pleasant this past week I need to thoroughly enjoy the remains as by Wednesday we're back in the 90s again.  The good weather has me feeling happy and revived. 

 

I hope you're already off to a great start this week!  Happy days peoples! xo

 

 

Friday

Short week!  And a wonderful one here, the weather has been in the high 70s, and believe me that's perfection.  Even today it's only going to be 80.. still porch weather in the morning and the late afternoon when the sun moves over the house and behind our big tree.   I even chatted on the phone with my mom outside at noon yesterday right up until that ruiner spider started dropping down on web towards me then I had to draw the line.  I hope he moves on.

 

Yesterday I started a new project. Who DIDN'T fall in love with Joanna's cute popsicle pattern?  I love her version in the wonderful sherbet colors... so cool and delicious looking.   Totally reminded me of the popsicles we'd get from the ice cream truck, pastel, kind of creamy, I would love one of those. Does anyone know, do they still make them?  I tried a variety of ways to ask the internet for a name with little luck. 

 

ANYWAY... I really wanted to make a Rocket Pop version  for summer, you know in Pam Kitty colors, and it just seemed like FUN.  Can't wait to see how this all works out.

 

Thanks for the nice pillow comments this week. I had a lot of fun making that cute gift pillow from Sherri's book Holiday Wishes.  There were so many cute projects and I'm looking forward to next week.  I'm also glad to finally have the rabbit pillow done and checked of my list. 

 

Ok that wraps up another week.   Hope that you have a fun weekend! xo

Holiday Wishes

Good morning friends!  Welcome to Christmas in July with the Fat Quarter Shop Holiday Wishes Blog Hop!  Holiday Wishes is Sherri Falls great new quilt book and it's chock full of large and small projects perfect for Christmas and projects that also translate well for all year round!

 

I chose some cute fabrics for my project.  My selections are two pieces from the Flower Sugar Christmas, the Cozy Christmas pink and red stripe and the Sunrise Studio red Polka Party dot.  They all work so well together!

 

The Merry Gifts quilt is a great quilt. Perfect to bring out after you as soon  there's a chill in the air. I knew when I opened that book that I wanted to make a Merry Gift Pillow.   The block is 14" x 18" so I needed to make a custom pillow form for it.  I went totally old school, using my pinking blade to rotary cut two pieces of fabric 15" x 19" and  sewed them with a half inch seam allowance  all around (wrong sides together)leaving a 4 inch opening.  I  used poly stuffing to fill it nice and tight, then machine stitched the opening closed.  The trick to getting a nice firm pillow is to stuff small bits in at a time, compacting as you go, so it's nice and full with no gaps. 

 

Now I have a pillow form the exact size of my pillow guaranteeing a perfect firm full  pillow! I made my block following along with the book, the instructions are great and the illustrations just what you need for an easy sewing experience.

I totally love it! 

 

Imagine how cute a whole bunch of these would be on the sofa at Christmas time!

 

The Holiday Wishes Blog Hop is every Wednesday in July!  Tons of super fun clever people participating and I'm excited to see all the projects. Thanks to Fat Quarter Shop for including me in on this blog hop!

 

 

Hop on over to these blogs for more Christmas in July!

 

Happy Quilting- Melissa Corry

Persimmon Dreams- Kim Lapacek

Zakka Art- Wynn Tan

Why Not Sew? - Erin Cox

FreeMotion by the River- Connie Campbell

 

Monday 4th of July!

Good morning! Fun to start the week with a holiday.  Bret took Friday off so we've had an extra long weekend.  I even worked in the tiniest big of sewing, finishing up this pillow.  I was soooo close.. I had some leftover binding from another project already prepared, all I needed was to cut the fabric for the envelope back.

 

But even if it was just another hour's work, it's a finish so why not just call it a win! I think it turned out pretty cute and it was made out of leftovers from the block to all the strips to make it square and add borders, and a left over pillow form! 

 

Looking forward to seeing some fireworks tonight!  Happy 4th of July friends! Play it safe! xo

Friday

Happy Friday! How did the week go?  I did a little of this and a little of that all week and have very little to show for it.  I always feel good when I can see even the smallest thing done so I feel quite satisfied.  Boring for the blog though.

 

Splendid Sampler is perking a long, did you make Thursday's block?  It's from Barb and Mary of Me and My Sister Designs and it's super cute.  I really enjoyed their story about their block, you should go read it on their blog here... and as usual you can download the instructions here on the Splendid Sampler website.

 

Coffee break reading was great this week!  My friend Sherri has a quilt in the Moda All-Stars Scraps made Simple and she sent me a copy to read and review.  Oh my gosh, what a great book.    This is Sherri's quilt, On the Grid. 

 

(photo by Brent Kane courtesy of Martingale Publishing)

 

What I really like about this book is the diversity of projects.  There's something for everyone, complicated triangle heavy projects (I'm talking to you Carrie!)  plus some easier squares and rectangles like this one by Sherri.  You can check them all out over at the Martingale site. In a book where there are a variety of designers you have  the opportunity to see how different people organize their work. I feel like my method always has room for improvement and with so many different people doing so many different styles you get a wide variety of project organizational techniques.   Additionally, with each designer there is a section on how they organize their scraps.  I've been a tosser and a hoarder when it comes to small pieces so I'm certainly open to what 'normal' people do and how I can apply that to my own situation.

 

One of the things that I really love about That Patchwork Place books is the great layout and photography.  For each project there are a series of closeups so you get a feel for the piecing and the quilting of the project, plus there is a great shot of the over all quilt.  Their instructions are clear and concise with just the right amount of words and illustrations. 

 

This book was compiled by Lissa Alexander.  Lissa  truly has her finger on the pulse of quilting! What I really like about a compilation book is the chance to discover new designers and get a taste of their style.  Some of these designers are new to me, and some, like Susan Ache, are Instagram quilting stars. Here's a link to her IG account.  Inspirational! I hope you check it out.

Ok, that's it for me today!  I hope you all have a safe holiday weekend!!!! xo