Do as I say...

...and not as I do as the old saying goes.  ALWAYS check the settings on your print job when printing out templates.  I know this lesson but I  was using my little Samsung tablet to print from and I never checked the settings, just printed and started sewing.

 

When it came time to stitch my points onto the rest of the flowers... they were too small.  Insert my sad face here.  I  did scale down the width  but should have spent the time to  change the proportions of everything so it would all be in scale.. but I didn't. My flowers are still so cute but now I have to recalculate everything as the blocks are no longer square and won't easily fit into that nice layout from the magazine. 

 

AND NOW I SEE ONE MY MY LEAF SETS IS UPSIDE DOWN.

 

More Pam Problems. I  am not winning with this project. 

 

I won't let it get me down.  I still love my little flowers and will do something with them.  Maybe not right away. I don't know.

 

Hope your weekend gets off to a good start! xo

 

 

 

Flower Power

Good morning!  How are things on your side of the screen?  I'm excited about my next project, this Flower Power tulip cushion from Love Patchwork and Quilting designed by Lindsay of Pen and Paper Patterns.  I love tulips blocks, there are so many ways to make them from applique to piecing and these chunky wide  tulips are great. I've seen so many great tulips lately, I wonder, are they suddenly more popular?

 

This pattern involves a row of paper pieced points, and that was a bit of a challenge to me.  I made a first pass and had complete failure, which you already know if you're following along on Instagram.  But I cut some bigger pieces and tried again with success, and in fact, the last two strips went really fast.  With more experience I would have had no trouble using the size pieces Lindsay has you cut and I appreciate the minimal waste they would provide. 

 

On a side note, the templates from the magazine are available on the website for easy printing! Genius idea. 

 

I can't wait to finish this up today.  I was just so thrilled with my little paper pieced wonders I had to share. I hope all is well with you friends. xo

Its summer.

Morning friends! Hope you're doing well. Summer is chugging along here in PamKittyVille and it's Capital H HOT!  Not a fan at all.  Luckily we live in a little valley and the fog from the coast creeps in between the hills and cools us off so most mornings are pretty nice.   Saturday morning I sat outside and read through Lori's new book Spelling Bee.  It's so, or make that sew CUTE.  What a clever idea, not only the alphabets and numbers, upper and lower case by the way, but also punctuation,  and fun new blocks, like the globe and telephone, new flowers a dog and butterfly.. just so many cute new things, and lots of cute ways to use them.  I'm not done  looking it over yet, but I got off to a good start.  Thanks so much Fat Quarter Shop for sending it to me.   Oh and also, lots of cute peeks into Lori's cute home, which I always love. 

 

Yesterday I finished sewing my rows together, finally.  I can't wait to show a better photo but it was just too darn hot yesterday.  I keep looking for pretty places to take pictures but right now every where you go it's brown and dry, not too picturesque.

 

These Jelly Roll Railway blocks are so fun to make.  With all these prints and the floral fabric for the background it's a Pam Kitty Mishmash but that's my favorite.  So much color and pattern in one place.  I'm loving the hourglass blocks that are a bonus design element created by using 2 prints, in each block.   You just make sure that you have your block oriented  with alternating prints. You could totally go wild and use many prints but for me that adds a level of complexity to the block layout my attention span can't handle. It was a very fun sew and I enjoyed it a lot. Best of all was enjoying the memories of that fun first collection using some of those prints brought back. 

 

Can you believe we're at the end of July already? Where does the time go? Hope you're having fun! xop

 

 

 

 

Catch Up

HI there how are you?   Hot?  Because its HOT people.  Capital letter hot once it heads into the 100 plus degree zone.  I don't care what Michaels is trying to tell me with all the fall foliage and faux pumpkins, it's summer and it feels like it's never going to end.  (probably because it lasts well into what most people thing of fall) BUT I DIGRESS. 

 

Since we met here last I spent a fun day with Frankie over the 4 day 4th of July holiday weekend.  I got up early and beat the traffic on the pass over the mountains.  Nothing made me happier than seeing all the fog creeping  among the redwood trees and the serious drop in temps in Santa Cruz.  We had a great time, finally went to The Buttery and also Gayles Bakery both places totally charming.  I loved the  way Gayles was decorated, lots of pretty vintage tablecloth valences  like the ones that Elizabeth made.  And oh the vintage plates.. it was all so cute.  It was cool out.  Here's the beach near where Frankie lives, this was midday, but by late afternoon it filled up as the sun came out.  But not packed, just perfect.   

 

 

I've also been doing some sewing.  Inspired by Fat Quarter Shop's Shortcut Quilt Jelly Roll Railway, I got busy cutting some strips.  It only took 24, and the hardest part is picking your fabrics.  While cruising around on Instagram I ran to Amanda's June Quilt Along quilt which is similar, different construction.  But her colors got me thinking.  Originally I'd been considering a red white and blue theme but then I got it in my head to actually use some of my very favorite floral for the background and these are the strips I cut to go with it.  I chose a bunch of my favorites from way back to my first line.  It just makes me happy looking at the prints and colors. 

And that version of the Pam Kitty Focal Floral is my favorite.   It took some serious will power to cut into the last of it, and now there's just maybe 1 yard left.   But I am making myself use what I love, it's not doing me any good in a box, right?

 

I changed the design just a bit, adding alternating corners so that the intersections will be hour glass blocks.  You can see an example of how it will look here on Instagram. I think it's a fun change.  I'll start assembly today I think, I have to pay attention  to make sure I alternate them correctly.  You could easily add to the variety by using 22 inch strips and cut twice as many.  If I worked in a shop I'd want to make kits and have sew ins using this pattern.  You could round up a bunch of pretty fabrics. What  about scrappy backgrounds?  Also very fun.  I think I saw that in one of the quilts on Instagram.  You can check out the Jelly Roll Railroad hastag here, and the Crazy Mom June QAL hash tag here. Lots of pretty quilts to see.  I can't wait to get it all put together and see if I want borders or no borders.. I know I don't have enough of the floral, but I have other whites with prints that might work.  Who knows.  I just know that it's been fun to make and I highly recommend it. 

That's it for me today.  I hope all is well with you.  xo