Quilt Fun Sew Along!

Good morning!!! How was your weekend?  Nice sunny weekend here! We're closing in on Christmas right?  I hope you're not in crisis mode! 

Enough of that kind of talk, it's The Quilty Fun Sew Along and Blog Tour day and it's my stop!!!

Of course we're making

Makes sense right?  For Lori these are cocoa cups, but for me, of course they're coffee cups! You can find instructions for the cups on page twenty eight of Quilty Fun. You can head over here and get the cutting instructions for our two sew along  cup blocks.

I love Lori's big cups.. that's how I like my cups of coffee, the bigger the better!  She has a very clever way of constructing those handles.. well she has lots of clever ways for assembly and you can find them in the Quilty Fun book! 

 

Are you sewing along?  You know you can win some excellent prizes like this stiletto.  If you've never tried using one, you can see one Lori's fun video tutorials about it here.

There's also a seam ripper, and I think we're all familiar with those! What I like about the Clover seam ripper is the thin sharp blade, it can slide under those small stitches making unsewing less painful!

 

 

 

Last but certainly not least is Alphabitties! They sure make piecing those parts together much easier! How do you enter? Upload your completed cute cups to the Quilty Fun Sew Along Flickr page and cross your fingers!

I think I'm done! I hope you have a wonderful day packed with some sewing fun! xo

Happy Weeeknd

Hi there, welcome to Friday!  I just wanted to pop in and remind you I'll be at Prairie Queens Quilt Shop on Saturday! THAT'S TOMORROW!  I'll be there having a Pam Kitty Morning with them till about 1pm.  I would love it if you had a chance to stop by and say HI!

 

14922 Camden Avenue
San Jose, CA 95124
(408) 559-6735

 

Ok, that's about it. I'm here with some elves working on my last Christmas project! What are your plans?  I hope something fun! xo

Wednesday

Hi there Wednesday!  How is the week treating you?  I've been chugging away, finished my bindings and reading a book that Melissa sent me.  We both love Agent Pendergast, and she generously shared her copy with me. I normally listen while driving around in the car, but I'm not driving around as much as I used to, although honestly with it being so chilly here sitting in the car with the seat heaters is a treat. 

 

I know it's totally kid stuff for people who get snow, but it's been pretty cold here. California Cold sure, it was in the mid-20s this morning. I braved the weather  in my pjs to grab a picture.. of course you can't see the steam rising off the coffee and you can barely tell there's a layer of frost on the chair, you can see where it's melting away under the cup.  Everything, my swing, the chairs, the roof tops, the lawn all covered in a layer of white. And it lasted till after 9am which is a surprise, usually it melts away by  8am.

 

I had company, this squirrel stood there the whole time, then scampered away when I headed back into the house.  Show's over.

 

Speaking of show.. thanks for the nice comments and emails about the ClubHouse! Do you know you can catch it on You Tube as well, just click here. I love those Accuquilt dies.

 

Ok, that's about it for today. What's on your agenda for the rest of the week? xo

Christmas ClubHouse

Hi there! I'm excited to say that the Christmas ClubHouse meeting is up!  You can head over to The Quilt Show and check it out here. The ClubHouse is part of the free content on The Quilt Show website so I hope you'll sign up, sign in and watch it!

 

So far this is my favorite project. I love the swag die from Accuquilt, I think it's a great addition to your die collection.  And it's Go! Baby friendly.. which seems like a shocker since it's so big! Every time I get that die cutter out I want to go die-cutting-crazy.

 

Ok, that' s it for today!!! xo

 

 

Happy Monday!

So how was the weekend?  I had a great one starting off with Friday's trip out with Holly to Wendy Addison's Theatre of Dreams.  As you can see it was wonderful.   In case you're local-ish it's open Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday's till Christmas.  Holly and I had a lovely time chatting with Wendy. You can see my instagram photos here, Holly's here and this is Wendy's account here.

 

It was really a fun time. I'm not sure that Holly and I have gotten together for a fun girls day in ages, mostly it's mixed in with a work day, so it was extra good. We topped it off with a late lunch/early dinner and it was great.

 

So what's on this week's agenda? Today is the week 6 post for the Quilty Fun Sew Along! My day is MONDAY NEXT WEEK!!  Also on this week's agenda is finishing up some binding for quilts to take to the PKM Open House at Prairie Queens Quilt Shop!  Holy cow!  I better get busy! Have a good day peoples! xo

Friday

How are you all this morning?  I'm off on an exciting adventure with Holly today!  We're headed over to Wendy Addison's open house.   I've been there once before with Elizabeth, and you can read about it here.

 

I follow Wendy on Instagram, you can see her feed here.  I loved my last visit there. The town brings back a lot of childhood memories for me and I love a ride.  As far as I know, that part of Contra Costa County hasn't changed as much over the years.. or maybe it has, holy cow it's been 7 years since I went???? Well who knows what's happened in 7 years. (it doesn't seem like that long ago,  Honestly, I should go back and look over my blog again for things I might be missing. And after 7 years how sick of me are you guys?)

 

ANYWAY.. it should be a fun day! Hope you guys have a great weekend!  See you back here next week! xo

 

 

Strip-Smart Quilts II

Hi there hoppers, welcome to my day on Kathy's Strip-Smart-Quilts II book tour!  Holy cow I am following some tremendous people, far more entertaining than me!  Like Carrie.  Did you read her post?  Yeah, you should do that. And then come back!  Then there was Barb and Mary. More great reading, more great photos and another great block!  Yesterday was Pat Sloan, she really went to town on the Mall quilt block! Lots of great in progress pictures. 

 

Like everyone so far on the list, and like Pat, who will be on deck tomorrow, one thing we share is our friendship with Kathy and our admiration of work!  This is Kathy's second Strip Smart book, and I was lucky enough to make a quilt in the first book, so I'm familiar with that really cool ruler. 

It's hard to pick a favorite quilt in the book, I'm drawn to all brightly colored quilts. The photography and staged shots are really so nice.  I also really like reading the inspiration behind the quilt, particularly The Mall, pictured below. 

 

Kathy shares lots of anecdotes along the way, and I think it makes the quilts even more special.  Of course the instructions are wonderful, Kathy knocks it out of the park. 

 

Like everyone else, I had to get out some fabric and get reacquainted with that ruler!  I happen to have some fabric laying around!

I cut my strips and got started on a block from Calm Before the Storm. Kathy's instructions had me back in business in no time!

 

And before too long I had a nice block!  (with my incorrect center I know.. I'm not perfect by any means!)

 

Kathy is awarding a grand prize, so be sure and leave a comment here for a  chance to win! I've already won, I have a great friend in Kathy!! 

 

I hope you're all having a great week! xo

 

Have a Pam Kitty Morning with me!

Hi  there, how's the week going so far?   I'm having a busy but fun week, later today I'll be heading over to Alex's house to tape  my ClubHouse segment for Christmas.  Feeling excited and nervous at the same time! I'm not the greatest at it, but it's fun. 

 

Something else is making me excited and nervous!!!  I'm going to be at  Prairie Queens on December 14th for a  Pam Kitty Morning!  It's going to be low key, just hanging out, meeting and greeting!!  If you're local, I believe Prairie Queens is the only close-to-me quilt shop carrying Pam Kitty Picnic, and it's the perfect opportunity to see it in person, and hey, hang out with me!   I hope you'll consider heading down there  to say Hi!

 

Prairie Queens is located in San Jose at 14922 Camden Avenue!  I'll be there at 10am, so please don't leave me hanging out on my own! 

Tuesday

Hi there Tuesday! I haven't sat down to my sewing machine in days it seems like, but I do have things ready to sew.  I have those deer  all ready for blanket stitching, and I did manage to cut out some baskets for the Quilty Fun Sew Along... sure I'm behind, I know.  I saw Kristyne's adorable flying geese, did you? I would love a pretty book of her photos, all the sweet details.  Did you see that little spool of thread with the pretty matching label? And what was in that Hello Kitty box?  Anyway moving on..

 

 

Have you seen these little Alphabitties?  I think they're not only cute but really handy for cutting out all those Quilty Fun pieces. Just put your alphabet tile with the corresponding pile of cut pieces and carry them to the sewing machine. Extra perfect if you have made yourself one of Lori's Mini Design Boards.

 

I think they're pretty fun not to mention adorable!   Now all I need is some time to sit and stitch these up!

 

Ok, better refill my coffee and get busy. This week I'm taping my third ClubHouse installment, can't wait to share what I've made! Have a great day! xo

Monday Morning

How was your weekend?  We had a fun busy time here.  Yesterday I woke up with a start thinking OMG! I didn't finish my blog post.. raced out, made coffee (duh, first things first) then came back to the computer to get it finished.  It was then I realized, it was only Sunday!  Good gravy! But it got me up and running, so that's good right? 

 

 

It's that time of year, time to collect up the names of shops that carry Pam Kitty Picnic! It's starting to pop up in stores so the time is right! Here's my list so far:

Daisy Cottage Quilting
Donna's Lavender Nest
Farm Road Quilts
Fat Quarter Shop
Lemon Tree Fabrics
Marie-Madeline Studio
Pink Castle Fabrics
Prairie Queens Quilts
Quilt Play
Sew and Quilt Co.
Shabby Fabrics
Skye Reve Fabrics
Spun Sugar Quilts
Stitch Craft Boca
Strawberry Patches
Whimsy Quilts

If your shop, or a shop that you know of, carry's Pam Kitty Picnic, please let me know. I hope that I have a nice big list for people to use as a resource!

Ok, have a great week everybody!  Tell me what you did this weekend, dying to know about shopping!  We didn't go out much, hardware store, pet food store, grocers.  What about you?

Friday

Woo hoo, Friday! Are your people home or back to work.  My people have the day off to recover from the turkey coma.  Our holiday is pretty simple with a limited menu and so it makes for an easy cooking day.  I have enjoyed everyone's wonderful food photos!  So many beautiful and elaborate dishes.  I hope it was awesome.

 

Are you shopping today?  Good luck to those who are, and extra good luck to those who are working.  I feel  sorry for all those people working on Thanksgiving. I hope they have nothing but happy customers, because wouldn't it just be the worst to work when everyone coming is a grouch?

 

Ok, enough of that.  I have my deer all ready for blanket stitching. Thought I'd get around to it yesterday during down time but didn't, so maybe later today.  Hope you guys have an awesome weekend!

 

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Designer Tidbits!

Grab your coffee and head over to the Jolly Jabber!!!  I get to talk a bit about Pam Kitty Picnic, working with Holly and cool stuff like that.

 

Meow! Another day when I feel like the luckiest person ever!

Monday!

Ohh did you have a good weekend?  I did a lot of stuff, nothing ready for pictures of course. I have a ton of deer parts and a plan, but that's as far as I got with that.  Oh and I have a turkey.  Important this week.

 

Today is another day of the Quilty Fun Sew Along hop.  Check out Nanette's blocks over on her blog.  I know they'll be adorable, and I'll want to copy-cat her!  Be sure and check out the flickr group as well, so many pretty blocks and the photography! I'll be stepping up my game for sure.

 

Busy week for a lot of us for sure!!! Tell me your plans!

And, Friday.

Well here we are at Friday! Phew, thank goodness.  I had a rather exciting day yesterday, I went out to pick up a few things at Target and my car key battery died.  I had put all my stuff in the trunk, naturally I had frozen food, and then the battery gave up the ghost and wouldn't let me in.    I did manage to free the actual key from the little case, whatever that's called... but of course the car was alarmed and to be honest I was afraid that it would lock up if I used the key and didn't disarm it. Frankie came and saved me with the spare key and a latte. I could have worse problems, for sure and waiting in the parking lot gave me that extra dose of Vitamin D I'm sure I needed.

 

So after all that I got home to some really sweet mail!  My friend Sharon sent me the cutest package! She's been sending me the special Holiday Junior Mints since forever! She knows I love red and she sent me the most adorable red stork scissors and the sweetest little needle minder to match!  That little stork comes with a magnet and you stick the magnet behind your fabric and the stork on top to hold your needle in place.  I'm dying over them they're so cute.  So what a cheerful day! I feel so lucky to have a great friend like Sharon!  Now I just need to get in and put those scissors to work!

 

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!! I'm hoping to get more sewing in! What about you?

 

 

p.s. here's the link to the scissors just in case you're like me and need these kinds of things!

Thursday

Hi there!  What did you do yesterday? It was a cozy day here, lots of rain rain rain! We've had a pretty dry summer and fall, so the rain is a welcome sight.   And we all know a rainy day is a good sewing day.  Just turn on some crime solving tv and get busy!

 

I have my cute courthouse steps blocks done as well, but it was pretty dark around here, so no photographs.  Maybe tomorrow.  Are you working on the Quilt Fun Sew Along blocks? The flickr group is chock full of blocks and I love to see them. It especially makes me happy to see blocks with Pam Kitty fabrics! 

 

Ok, hope the week is treating you well. I better get to work! xo

Tic Tac Tulip

Good morning, happy Wednesday!  Hope your week is progressing along nicely.  We had a fun day with Frankie yesterday.  I'm sure like most parents, we're often caught of guard over how much time has flown by. How in the world could we  have a 26 year old daughter?

Pam Kitty Picnic has show up in stores, so now is the perfect time to make the Tick Tac Tulip pattern available! You'll see I've added the icon to the side bar and all you need do is click and you'll be whisked away to pdf-land! I hope to see some tulip quilts out there soon!

Ok, that's it for today! xo 

Monday

Hi there, how was the weekend?  I had a good one, busy with all kinds of stuff, but good.  The weather was sunny but it's sure feeling cool at night.  I love it.

 

Back in the day when I used to sew for Elizabeth a  lot, she'd make up little kits for me to work on.  All the pieces cut out and piled up really nice.  I could just sit down and sew, and that always seemed like a dream. So I cut myself a kit. I had seen a version of Kathy Brown's Bread and Butter quilt over on Pinterest and suddenly had to make it! I have an appointment with the quilter this morning and thought it only made sense to bring one more along with me. It's my first finished Pam Kitty Picnic quilt. And that little project does sew up in just a few episodes of Longmire. (or as I like to call it, Justified: The Golden Years) I'll show you a picture when I get it back from Diana.  I LOVE HOW IT TURNED OUT SO MUCH. It's such a simple quilt but just one of those that will look so lovely quilted.  Cozy and soft.

 

In the mean time I have several things in progress, I need to turn back to them, like my baskets and the deer.  I also want to make a block for Pat's birthday. Are you making one?  I think it sounds fun and one of those immediate gratification kinds of things.  What else?

 

Most important this week, tomorrow is Frankie's birthday! Love that girl and we're devoting the day to celebration.   What are your plans for this week?  Sewing, Thanksgiving planning? TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT! xo

TGIF

Good morning! It's been cozy here in the morning, a little bit of fog has slipped into the valley and it makes it the perfect time to stay inside and get things done. Or sit and drink coffee and stare out the windows.  Either one.

 

I've had a couple of days that seem productive.  I mean not like other people's productive, but productive for me.  Of course each little accomplishment has been tempered with a bit of  inconvenience, like not having enough of something to finish your project..but then being lucky to get that last pack of little red buttons.. so I guess it all evens out, right? And what about the skipped stitches in the blanket stitching project?  User error after all my worries that my sewing machine had some problems.  Turns out that increasing my needle size one more time did the trick.  Each thing was followed by a huge sigh of relief and it's all worked out in the end.

 

ANYWAY. You want to know the winner! It's Quilt Monkey!  She said:

 

 "So excited for the magazine - I have them all so far! Wonderful block - looks great as a pillow. Yes, I think I would have pegged it as yours without seeing the name! Thanks for the chance"

 

So my dear, email me your address so the generous folks at Quiltmaker can send you along a magazine! 

 

Now, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! xo

Wonderful Wednesday!

Hi there!  First off I want to thank you all for the kind words on my block and pillow! It's quite an honor to be included in the magazine with so many talented people and I'm quite thrilled about it.  I appreciate your support so much!

 

Now, what have I been up to you ask?  Well I've been busy.  So much to done!  Elizabeth has a new pattern coming out, Be a Deer, it's adorable, and that deer is part of it.  You've probably seen it on Facebook, and loved it just as much as I did. And because we're pals she sent me the deer applique shapes so I can get ready.  Of course I was traumatized over the selections of buttons for the nose, so I have some options, pink and gray.. black seemed a little severe for a pink deer.  But who knows how it will all turn out? Maybe I'll applique a circle but no matter what I do I'll over think it for days while I work on stuff that needs to be done first!

 

And what comes before the deer?  My ClubHouse project!!! I'm in just about done with it and then I'll head over to Alex's to tape it!  Pom Poms!  I think it's the most fun so far.. but then I probably say that about everything right?  In the meantime if you haven't seen the fall version head on over and watch the segment on making a tea towel or embellishing some napkins, it's hostess gift season. 

 

Last but not least some of you have emailed me about Tic Tac Tulip! I put the little icon for the pattern on flickr in preparation for making the pattern available.  I just need to check that yardage one more time then I'll post it.   It won't be long till Pam Kitty Picnic hits shops!

 

Phew.  That seems like a lot.  But I'm plugging away at it!  I really hope to see a ton of that little tulip quilt out there.  I love it so much! 

 

So, that' s it for today. I better get busy.  Hope you're doing well! xo

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Volume 8!

Good morning! How was your weekend?  I hope it was great.  I'm excited today as it's the first day of the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks blog hop!  Can you believe there are 800 blocks so far! This last batch is wonderful. 

Here's my block Summer Posies before I sent it off in hopes of being selected. I used my Pam Kitty Love collection to make it. I think most of you know that I love that red, white and pink combination, so my regular people probably could have picked my block out without looking at the name!

 

Because I loved the block so much, I recreated it for a pillow.  (I might have a pillow problem.) This time I used my Pam Kitty Picnic fabric, that should be in stores soon.  I extended the woven rick rack handle farther above the basket  to accommodate the larger background piece.. I wanted to use a 14 inch pillow form and the block originally is 12 inch.

I think what I like best is the dimensional pieces!  What? 3-D? You didn't notice?

 

Quiltmaker did a great job at explaining how to put this block together, especially with the space constraints!  I hope you give it a try. It seems like such a cheerful block to me. 

 

Thanks to Quiltmaker for including Summer Posies in this edition! 

 

Now lucky for you, Quiltmaker is giving away an issue to one of my blog  readers!  Just leave a comment for a chance to win  and I'll pick a lucky winner  on Friday! Now be sure and click over to The Quilty Pleasures blog to see who else is on the hop today!

Friday!

So overall, how was the week?  Busy week here, but really good!  One thing I got done was binding this quilt!  I 'found' it on the shelf recently, all folded nicely backside out.  I couldn't figure out what quilt it was and was surprised when I opened it up! It's my Sweet Susan quilt from way back at this post. EMBARRASSING! 

 

Diana quilted it so nicely with her signature feathers, and I love how it turned out, I can't believe I set it aside and forgot about it. Well it's all bound now!

 

I did have a laugh when I looked at it again, I notice all my hour glass blocks are going the same way except one.. I never noticed that before.  Of course when I looked back at the photo it's there large as life.  Oh well, that's the kind of thing that makes it fun right? 

 

Next week kicks off the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour!  My day is Monday so I'll see you back here for it! I can't believe this is the 8th Edition!  And I'm in all 8! 

 

I really love my block and I can't wait to show you!  Have a great weekend, I hope you have some fun things in store!  See you back here on Monday!

 

Wednesday!

So yesterday was a happy day around here. Bret worked at home because it was his birthday!  Nice to have him around the house, although we had to really keep the noise level down because of all the meetings! And meetings where people can see you, no cheating and working in your pj's! OMG!

I'm working on things.. not all can be shown. But soon I'll be able to share what this might turn into!  I can't wait because it's one of my favorite projects!!! In the meantime, did you make some apples for the Quilty Fun Sew Along? I've seen an orchard of apples over on the flickr group page!All so cute and colorful!

Ok, gotta grab some coffee and get to work! Have a great day people! xo

Monday

Hey there, Happy Monday!  How was the weekend?  Did you do any sewing? Now that it's November are we in the panic zone for Christmas yet?  Luckily, I don't have too much to panic about these days so maybe that's why I have some Christmas on my mind. 

 

Last year I had so much fun with my stuffed  candy canes, I couldn't stop thinking about them and what I could do this year.  I   think my cute stripe fabric is Christmas perfect, even though it's not traditional Christmas fabric.

 

I also was thinking about my ornament from last years Aurifil blog hop, and how cute the vintage holly looked along with it. I happen to have that cute Go! Holiday Medley die with the holly leaves and berries to use in my upcoming Christmas ClubHouse meeting!

 

 

So far it's a work in progress.  I'm thinking taller candy canes might sort out my issues, so I'll work on that.  And any pieces left over can be put to good use on some tea towels or maybe a table runner.

 

Who knows what will happen.  Maybe nothing, maybe something great! Only time will tell!  So tell me what you're up to.  Now that market is over I'm feeling relaxed and ready to get sewing!  My large pieces of yardage should be coming and I can really go to town! Lets all have a fun week! xo

Friday Fun

Good morning and happy Friday!  Looking forward to Bret being home, hopefully we can plant up some fall pots or have a nice drive out to enjoy some California style fall color.   I'd say sweep the back patio of all the pretty fall leaves but that doesn't seem fun. Lots of wind brought down a ton of my Liquid Amber leaves, and they're so pretty.  What's not in any way pretty are those horrible seed pods it sheds.  I'm sure if you have a tree in the Sweet Gum family you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyway, exciting announcement  over on the Jolly Jabber blog today!  Have you heard the news? You'd better go check it out.  Lori and The Fat Quarter Shop are having a wonderful sew along I'm taking part!

 

It's going to be a lot of fun.  I hope you'll head over and check out the Jolly Jabber and read all about it. Then grab your Quilty Fun book and get ready!

 

Now that' s it for this week my wonderful friends!  I hope you have a great weekend ahead! See you back here next week! xo