Little Clover

Happy Friday!  Hope you're doing well!  Another spring like week here in PamKittyVille.  Sunshine and rain both, very nice.  The dose of sun between storms has really helped.  So did a nice day sewing with friends.  I feel grateful when I am included.  Patty hosted and I she gave me a tour of her beautiful gardens, full of drought tolerant plants that have loved this rainy season.  Check out  the amazing  Banksia I posted over on Instagram.  I need to grab up one of these plants this season, it's so cool.

 

Did you see this cute little clover block over at The Splendid Sampler?  DYING OVER IT.  Designed by Jane its so darn cute I can't stand it.  You can click over here and grab your pattern.

 

I still need to add my log cabin style sides to it, but I just love how cute and small this is.  And green.. I'm in love with green these days. 

 

Hope you have a nice weekend friends!  xo

TGIF

Hi there, how was your week? 

 

This week I had a dentist appointment and drove out through the country to get there.  Everything is so green and lush, I haven't seen it like this in years.  During the drought especially, the hills would barely turn green at all, maybe just a hint and as fast as it came it was gone.  Driving through Clayton this lane filled with trees.. oh my.  All the plants and trees so happy with all our rain!  

 

Sorry they're just phone pictures... not as nice as a real camera but I wanted to capture how pretty it was and didn't have my camera.  Words I cannot even imagine saying 5 years ago.  How much our lives have changed.

 

Tried to recapture the HomeGoods feeling this week.  I guess now that I have a HomeGoods just a few freeway exists down it no longer holds the same thrill. Of course how much more stuff do I need?  I didn't even see one cute mug!   Still it was fun walking around. 

 

Hope you have a good weekend everyone!!! Happy St. Patricks Day ! xo

Monday

Morning! How was your weekend? So sunny and nice here.  Saturday we went for a drive in with the top down on Bret's car.  It was pleasant enough to just wear a light jacket!  Not unheard of for this time of year..it's mid-March!  I don't know where the time goes these days.

Took time to wash off the swing and get the cushion and canopy out.  No rain till the end of the week, so plenty of time for enjoying the backyard.

 

Sorry for the phone picture.  I was stitching along and grabbed this photo of my Big Foot.  I kept looking at it for a long time then realized I had a leftover large square.  DUH.  His left leg has some problems.  You can see him  in his corrected glory here.  When I started this project I didn't cut the sashing so I have some work to do before I get started. 

 

Hope you have a nice week!  xo

Sunshine

Hi there! I know it's been a while since we met here in this space.  What  have you been up to?  So many people are sewing away and I see so many great projects on Instagram and on Facebook.  Thanks for sharing your great PamKittyFabric projects, it really is so exciting to see so many of you diving into your stashes and cutting it up to make some lovely things. 

 

I haven't sewn much lately.  Not really sure why.  Well probably because I can't decide what to do. I have a lot of tops sitting around, so I pulled those out so I can determine what I have for backings.  As usual well laid plans  went awry and some backing fabrics became separated from the tops.  No surprise, I pile stuff up then dig back through it.  It's my own fault.  I did find my stripes for binding on the Two by Two quilt and have it sewn on.  Hand stitching next. 

 

Yesterday I was determined to sit down at the machine and get to work on the last block of my Legendary quilt. Here's as far as I got.  I couldn't help but head outside to putter around emptying pots and getting ready for some patio planting.  Even though we've had record rains I'm not sure I'm ready to get into any big garden project quite yet.  But I'm sure enjoying all the green everywhere.  The hills around town are so green and lush, so different than they have been in past winters. 

 

I hope you're well, as days go by and I don't bring my coffee here to join you I do think of you and wonder what you're doing. Happy weekend friends! xo

Fun Finds!

Wow it took longer than I thought to get back to testing out these Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers. I had great intentions but life and the addition of some sunny days around here pulled me away from the sewing room.  But yesterday I was back at it.  I know when I saw these trimmers on Kari's Instagram post that they were genius tools!

 

I made a couple of slightly oversized half square triangles.  I haven't always been a trimmer but I've come over to the trimming side.   I used my regular  ruler with the diagonal line, trim to sides then turn the block and trim again.  But sometimes my ruler would distort the center line, or I wouldn't use the right line.. nothing that I couldn't resolve but I felt a big frustrated.

 

So simple. There are two trimmers in the set, for half inch squares and full inch squares.  (for instance 2 1/2 inches OR 2 inches)  The rulers are on a plastic coated sheet with instructions on how to use them for your basic half square triangle units and then trimming methods for quarter square units, three piece triangle squares, and block cutting techniques for strips. Seriously it's so clever.  

 

To use it you line up your stitching on the dotted line and trim your two sides. Then slide your rotary cutter into the slots on either side and it will trim off those dog ears for you. 

 

As a right handed person I easily used the right slot, the left was reaching across myself, which was a tad awkward but says to me "Pam, buy yourself a rotating mat".   HOLY COW I LOVE THESE TRIMMERS SO MUCH.  And since the dog ears are off, once you're back at the iron the block is ready to use.  Again, genius.  It just seems so much easier than what I have been doing.  

 

Ta da. Perfect squares. They even ironed up nicer this way.  I don't know if that's because the dog ears are off and the tension on that seam is different or it's just my giddy perception of it.  One thing I do know for sure, this is a tool that won't languish in a drawer once the novelty has worn off.   Many thanks to Kari who sent it to me to try out. 

 

Ok that's it for me.  Tomorrow we expect more rain so I have to enjoy today's sunshine!  Have a great weekend friends. xo