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

Hindsight

Hi there.  As promised, today is my little tip for working with the cool Orange Peel Templates that I received from Fat Quarter Shop.  If I had thought of this before I got started I would have ended up a with a much nicer finish.

 

Each of the template sizes in the group has a placement guide for the peel.  I laid each background piece over the little guide, and then placed my peel on top.  Lining up my fabric on the square was easy, but as you lay the peel onto the background, it's easy for it to shift slightly and you end up with intersections like I had, where the points are slightly off.   So while I was stitching away I got to thinking of how way way back in the day when I first started quilting in the back of the covered wagon I mean the late 80s,  we used to make little marking templates.  So I went about making myself a little marking template out of some template plastic.  If you don't have template plastic you could cut a square, mine is 2 inches in this case, out of some plastic packaging or maybe a clamshell berries come in... something rigid and clear is what you need.  Or I should say what works best for me.  You can see in the photo below that I've put my 2 inch square over my placement guide and with a fine point sharpie pen, marked a dot at the tip of the peel.  My template has a 90 degree corner and I lined it up exactly with the square, and that's important.  Lucky for me ALL the different sized peel placements in the Round Robin pattern are the exact same distance from the corner so one template works for all points!

 

I got out my million dollar 1/16" hole punch and punched a tiny hole there.  Back when I started there weren't the same variety of punches as there are now, and  I saved up for this one.  It makes the tiniest hole that allows for precision placement.

 

You might be able to see the hole in this close up.

 

Then I laid the template on my background fabric and made a mark with the temporary marker on both sides.

And the placed my peel.  Super cool.  Wish I had thought of it before I got started. 

 

Marking like this is good for Y seams as well.  Make a little template  with the 1/4" to use where you start and stop.  It's much quicker than marking with a ruler if you're marking a lot of pieces.  And as I said the hole is very small and this punch was made specifically for  this I believe. 

 

So that's my little tip. SO MANY WORDS. 

 

HAPPY WEEKEND PEOPLES. xo

Monday

Morning friends!  Believe it or not I'm back to stitching away on my Round Robin orange peel project.  You can find the Impressions Orange Peel templates and all the patterns to accompany them here.

 

Right now I have all the blocks sewn into rows and maybe 5 rows sewn together and I love the cheerful look of these Birds of Liberty fabrics. I used one of the half roll ups that I ordered from FQS and you can find that here. For my small quilt I used half the strip for my shapes. 

One of the things I don't like about my quilt is how some of those peels DON'T LINE UP. I was undoubtedly  casual about the marking  and there is a placement guide in the pattern but I wasn't all that careful.  So my future-tip maybe will help you if you're more like me.  The first two squares are perfect and it goes downhill from there. Don't worry though, it's not ruining the project for me, I love it...so charming.  And I'm glad that I saw the quilt on the FQS Instagram to inspire me to make it!

 

 

Next up on my agenda is testing out Kari's new Slotted Trimmers. I have known Kari for   while now and saw her photo on Instagram   using the trimmers and thought they were such a clever idea.  She very generously sent me the trimmers along with here Clearly Perfect Angles to try out.  So more on that when I get these rows sewn together.  

 

Ok, time to get busy!  See you later alligators! Have a great week!

Orange Peel

Hi there peeps! Not a ton of stitching progress since we last met.  I managed to get my orange peels blanket stitched finally.  I had been off to such a quick start then those last dozen peels took forever to complete.  Just too much going on.  But today I am back at it, sewing my rows together. 

 

This might be the worst photo ever of adorable orange peels but it's the best I can do today.  Stitching the blocks together will be a breeze but let me offer a tad of advice if you're working on this project.  Pin those blocks!  When you are at the end with the two points meeting, your machine may fight a bit skewing the block a bit. 

 

Is it a long weekend where you are?  Do you have plans?  We're expecting more rain which we love, although we're watching the Oroville dam like so many as we have family and friends up there in the area. 

 

HAPPY WEEKEND FRIENDS! xo

Splendid Sampler

Well like all good things, Pat and Jane published the 100th block of the Splendid Sampler yesterday bringing this year long project to a close!  At the onset of a journey like this you think it's going to last forever and then suddenly it's over.  I am so happy to be included in the project along side of really talented designers and I can't thank Pat and Jane enough for including me. 

 

Over at Martingale you can see a cover of the book and some blocks and quilt layouts featured.  These pictures come from the Martingale website.  I think the quilt below is my favorite of those shown, love the colors and the layout.. so cute.  It sure makes me wish I had stuck with a more controlled color palette.

 

It's hard not to be inspired by all the people who participated!!  Especially the people who tried all the techniques included even if they were new to them.  The quilts in the facebook group are wonderful.  Even if you don't ever plan on sewing a block it would be worth it to take a peek at some of the blocks people made.  It's a great community of quilters!

 

Thanks for following along! I guess I should get busy with my blocks!  Have a great week friends!

On a roll...

Hi there!  I'm on a roll here this week.. a half roll that is.  I fell in love with a quilt that Fat Quarter Shop shared on Instagram and decided that I would have to make it.  It uses their Orange Peel templates and their Round Robin Pattern.  I hopped online and ordered the Birds of Liberty Half Roll and as a special treat I picked up the adorable small Lori Holt Cute Cuts mat.  Just because.

 

For some reason, I had thought the half roll was half length strips, like 2 1/2" x 22, why?  No idea. It has 18 full width of fabric strips, and if I hadn't already traced my small template onto miles of Quilter's Select Appli-Web Plus I would have made it bigger. As it is, I  only used 22 inches of each strip to cut these 144 small orange peels.

 

I'm not sure which fabric I'll use for the background.  I need to check my stash of dots or maybe a white on white. Have you seen Nadra's version on Instagram? Precious. 

 

Well time to make some decisions.  I'm looking forward to a lot of blanket stitching.  A LOT!  Happy days!

Accomplishments

Good morning!  I can't believe we're on the second week of February already.  It seems like time picks up a lot more momentum the older you get.  Cliché I know.  But seriously, February.

You'll find it hard to believe that I turned this pile of fabrics into a finished quilt but I did. 

 

Here's the proof.  It's bound even, not a just a top, not unbound, DONE. At the onset of the project I couldn't quite imagine how I could turn a modern looking quilt into something that was PamKitty style, but reducing the blocks by half did the trick.  So there you have it, My American Patchwork and Quilting quilt along quilt.

 

I am happy it's done and I'll pop it on the table once I clear it off.  Go ahead, insert some maniacal laughter here.  A clean table.  I crack myself up. 
 

Hope you have a great week everyone!  You guys are the greatest. xo

#apqquiltalong

 

Thursday

Good morning!  I'm warning you, I'm full of surprises. My APQ quilt along quilt top is done.  That's right.   And here's photo proof.  Today I'm marking the first lines and starting the quilting.  Diagonal grid for the win!  I'll just mark the "X" thru the center and let my walking foot guide do the rest for me.  And at just 30 inches square it will go fast. I think it turned out pretty cheerful and I look forward to using it.

 

Yesterday my trees and my neighbors were filled with birds.  My neighbor has an enormous oak tree and it had Robin's and Cedar Waxwings all over it.  And the squawking, I could hear it inside my house, which is how I know so many birds were there.  My photos didn't do it justice, but I did catch this little gold finch in my yard.  Sweet. I know, not a great photo but I enjoy that little burst of yellow right in the center.

 

A few weeks ago I had tons of Mountain Bluebirds on my tree out front.  I honestly felt like it was a bit of a miracle.  I have seen them in great abundance at Alden Lane Nursery but never anywhere else. 

 

As long as the berries were on the tree they kept coming back, hanging out there or in our big fruitless mulberry.  And a lot of them.  Hard to catch a great photo of them either.  It was actually so gray and there was so much glare I wasn't even sure the first day that they were bluebirds.  I had to grab a photo to really see the color. 

 

It feels somewhat miraculous to suddenly have so many wonderful birds showing up. I've seen the Cedar Waxwings more than I have in years, usually they are around one day in their migration.  They must be finding great food choices around here if they're lingering.

 

Well enough bird talk.  I better get busy !  Have a great day! xo 

All People Quilt Along!

Falling on the heels of that completed pillow you'll be shocked to see I actually have a start on my quilt along quilt.   I've chosen the quilt from Quilts and More Magazine, Step by Step.  True confession, I just don't think I have it in me to patiently cut strips for that string quilt, even though I think it's tons of fun. 

 

Of course I have to make things Pam Kitty Style, and to do that I needed to look at the size of the pieces and the scale of my fabric.  The magazine version uses large scale prints with a modern look, and my fabrics are smaller scale, so I got out my calculator and got busy cutting the pattern down to size. 

 

 

Then I popped the design into Photoshop and got busy with a layout.  You can see my printout as a guide next to my stack of fabrics. My quilt will be half sized, and will be perfect for the top of a table.  As a bonus, easy to quilt.   I used the layout of the fabrics in the original quilt to guide me in fabric selection and placement, and I had a lot of fun going through all my boxes of fabric to find fabrics to use from all my collections. It really is a perfect stash quilt. 

 

If you're stitching along with all of us I hope you'll show off your progress on Instagram and on Facebook using the hashtag #APQquiltalong so we can look around and see what everyone is working on. 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  You guys are the best.  

 

 

Monday Monday

Welcome to another week! How was your weekend?  I managed to finish up that pillow. No one is more surprised than I am, trust me.  I've been good at starting things and not so good at finishing them.  I popped an 18 inch pillow form in there, but I might try and find a 16 inch.. I generally like a nice firm pillow but this might be cuter a little less puffy.

 

 

 

 I'll send it off to live with Frankie, it's perfect for her sofa. It's fun for right now, Valentine's Day season, but perfect and pink for everyday!

 

I've managed to get my APQ quilt along quilt cut out  But more on that later.  I don't want to scare you with too many things at once.  Too shocking.

 

Hope you have a great week! xo

 

 

Quilt Along

 Hi there, how are you?  I've been busy around here doing a little of this and a little of that, you know, the regular.  I'm looking forward to starting the American Patchwork and Quilting sew along.   

This quilt is from Quilts and More, and it's called Step by Step.  These pictures are courtesy of American Patchwork and Quilting. 

 

This quilt is String Theory and it's from American  Patchwork and Quilting.  I haven't decided which quilt to make yet, there's alternate versions of both, and I'll decide when I get the APQ April magazine to decide which I'll do. This would be a perfect scrap busting project, maybe it's time to get out those scrap baskets.  You can read more about others who are quilting along here.

 

 

 

My pink fabrics from last week have turned into some hearts.  These hearts will turn into a pillow.  I love smaller projects, they're perfect for my attention span lately.  Hope you have a nice weekend! xop

Hello...

Good morning!  How are you ? How was your week?  We've had so much rain here all  week.  Yesterday I met Holly for lunch in Walnut Creek and on the ride home I saw and abundance of  gorgeous rainbows.  Really beautiful intense colors.  Rainbows always make me feel so happy and hopeful. 

 

I have done some sewing, adding a red tulip to my collection.  I like just working a bit at a time.  Maybe a mixed up color tulip will be next.  Or aqua, or who knows. Are there aqua or blue tulips? Should that matter? 

 

Working on something pink.  Nothing too fancy.  But I enjoy laying out all the pretty pinks together. I'm enjoying small projects.  What are you working on? 

 

Happy weekend friends! xo

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Sew Along

Good morning!  It's my turn again to show another block for the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks sew along!  I'm starting the day drinking coffee from my Volume 4 mug, which is the magazine this block was featured in.  The super exciting thing about this volume was that my name was on the cover. I am still totally thrilled about it.  I've had so much fun dreaming up blocks and submitting them to Quiltmaker and I appreciate that I have had blocks in all the 100 Block magazines so far.

My block, Round Rosie, has spring tulips in a circle. Here's what I cut for my little runner of three blocks.  I'm ready for spring with these colors.

I made three blocks and set them on point for a small runner. I did some speedy grid quilting and bound it with a nice springy pink garden print.  I love it!  Perfect for these gloomy winter days. 

 

If you want to make this runner  you can make three 6 inch (finished) Round Rosie blocks, add 4 setting triangles  from a 9 3/4" square cut twice diagonally, and 4 corner triangles  from two  5 1/4" squares cut once diagonally. Binding just takes two 2 1/2" strips cut from the width of fabric.  Easy peasy.

 

You can read all about today's stop on the hop over at the Quilty Pleasures blog. Check out my original post about being in Volume 4 here!

TGIF

How was your week?  I had a nice week, some rainy days and some sunny days!  This week I received a surprise in the mail from Fat Quarter Shop! 

You might have read about these templates over on the Jolly Jabber.  The set includes 4 templates of the classic orange peel applique shape designed to fit on 3", 4", 5" and 6" finished squares.  I immediately fired up Photoshop to do some digital sewing. Right off I wondered about putting a peel on a four patch. I came up with these two blocks.

I tried each in a layout.

Dramatically different.

I even alternated the two blocks.

 Very fun!  But don't worry you don't have to go it alone with your templates, there are four patterns designed to use the templates! 

 

So clever! And check out this verion of Round Robin that I saw on Instagram! It's perfect! I love 30's fabrics and they're a perfect choice for the orange peel shape. 

 

Ok  that's it for this week!!!  Hope you have a great weekend! xop

 

 

 

2017

Good morning!  How is the year working out so far?  I feel like I'm still on vacation!  Today is Bret's last day of vacation, tomorrow we'll get back to our regular schedule. 

 

Sadly the regular schedule involves waking up early, and after more than a week of sleeping in.. even if it was just 7:30 or so... it's going to be painful.  Honestly though, I know I do a lot better that way. 

 

I have this little tulip cut out, and so I'll start to get back in the groove with this.  I am enjoying all the fresh new projects cropping up on Instagram and on Facebook.  And people are serious about the sewing room clean up! Holy cow Sharon is killing it with the clear out!  I have cleared out quite a bit lately, but my efforts are kids stuff compared to most!

 

Ok, time to fill up my coffee cup and get busy!  Have a great week peeps! xo

Friday

Good morning my sweet friends! I hope your days were merry!  I can't believe it's almost time to say goodbye (and good riddance) to 2016 and welcome a fresh new year full of possibilities.  Do you make resolutions? Pick a word?  I never do that myself, but I love to see what people are thinking about at this time of year. 

 

We've had some cold frosty mornings lately.  Typical fall and winter in California, we're raking frosty leaves till February around here.  The weeds are thriving with the rain so my yard is nice and green, looks more alive than it has all year! 

Are you doing any sew alongs this coming year?  The Splendid Sampler is only has a couple of more months to go.  I see that Pat has already started to work on something new, and you can follow along with her over at her new website I Love to Make Quilts.  Here's the link to the first post about this Solstice challenge so you can read all about it.  

Hope you have a happy and safe New Year's and I look forward to meeting up with you here for coffee next year.  Thank you so much for your friendship , lots for this PamKitty to be grateful for! xop

Friday

It's almost that time! 

Hoping you have a wonderful few days celebrating the season with friends and family! 

xopamkitty

Monday

Good morning friends! How are things with you?  I know you're all busy, I've seen evidence of all the Christmas spirit on Instagram and Facebook.  I enjoy everyone's photos so much. 

 

Late last week I got started on a little fun project.  I had this cute strawberry fabric that I couldn't resist (it's from Joanns) after I saw it on someone's Instagram post.   I didn't know what to make with it till I remembered two sweet little girls  that belong to a friend of mine.  I whipped these up using my tried and true little kids apron blank that I picked up at Joanns a couple of years ago.  I  used the shape to cut them out and then made miles of bias binding to finish off the edges.  I added a cute ruffle  on the top of these and monograms so these sweet sisters can tell their aprons apart.  It's not a hard project but top stitching the  bias around the neck and the ties is fiddly and it takes a ton of pins to get them ready to go.  I hope the girls like them.  

 

I haven't had much sewing mojo lately, I know I'm not the only one this happens too.  But yesterday I remembered I do have a sewing obligation for next month so it's the perfect time to begin.  It's a nice spring time project so  I can't wait to work on it and share it with you.

 

Hope you have a great week! Thanks for checking in here with me.  Your friendship means the world to me! xo

American Patchwork and Quilting

Good morning, how are things in your world?  We are having a couple of rainy days here in PamKittyVille and I love it.  The gloomy days are well worth it when there's some rain to show for it.  

This week had exciting news for me.  Lindsay Mayland from American Patchwork and Quilting emailed me to let me know she included my storage tip in the February issue article about the #honestsewingroom.  My quote is really more  cautionary  than advice but I sure stand by it.  I forget I have stuff and what I don't forget about I've lost, as most of your long time friends here know.  But to be included with so many people who do have great advice was awesome and I appreciate it!

In the mean time there's a million more packages of rick rack where those came from. 

I haven't been sewing, more like wandering around from room to room doing a little of this and that without anything to show for it.  But for the most part I'm cool with it.  I always come back to sewing and fabric, I can't help it. 

Hope you are enjoying whatever you are up to!  Happy Weekend! xo

Monday

Hi there friends!  How was your weekend?  Weather was lovely here Saturday and we went out in the convertible with the top down and got some fresh air and some sun on our faces! I'm just  getting over a bit of a cold, so it was nice change from being curled up in my chair under a quilt all week.  All that's left is the obnoxious cough.  I suspect that will hang on for a while.   

Recently Fat Quarter Shop sent me a copy of their Quilter's Patch BOM book by Edyta Sitar.  Edyta has designed a lovely quilt with many unique blocks to fill her garden! The first blocks begin with easy construction and as the months progress the blocks become more complex to challenge you.  I love that this quilt includes some applique and some embroidery.  What I really love are all the garden photographs sprinkled throughout the book.  I love flower gardens and this is the most water wise garden for me right now!

Feeling cooped up I wanted to make something fun so I chose the butterfly block, which   was fast and easy to make.  I used the opportunity to practice getting that perfect center... but even if I couldn't make it I knew is was going to split my block in half to add the butterfly body.  Cute.  It just needs some corners and a touch of embroidery to complete it. 

I hope you have a fantastic week friends!  I'm happy to feel good so I'll pour another cup of coffee and get busy!  xo