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

Monday

Good morning friends!  How are things on your side of the internet?   Things are perking along over on my side.  Last week Bret had the week off, so we had some fun heading up to Twain Harte one day, and then visiting Frankie another day.   Of course Thanksgiving was thrown in there and we kept it seriously low key this year.  And now we're back to things as usual.    Today I'm off to Alex's to help out with a project she's got going and that will be a fun way to shake up my schedule.

 

But before I drink all the coffee and head out, I wanted to share my Splendid Sampler block Minnesota Maze!   This block is designed by my pal Roseann and it was very fun to make. 

 

 

 

Head over to Roseann's blog to read all about her inspiration for the block.  Roseann has had a very busy year this year and you can find out about it there. 

 

I guess I better get ready to go.  Hope you guys have a good week. Did you head out and join the crowds for Black Friday or did you stay home?   I admire all those brave souls out there braving the crowds!  Hibernation time for me. 

 

 

Monday

Hi there!  Hope you had a great weekend!  I always think of this coming week as the start of the holiday season, don't you? A lot of you have your Christmas trees up already...  some years it's hard to resist the siren call of the decorations I know. We just came off birthday celebrations for both Bret and Frankie so the timing is perfect. This year, Bret has the whole week off, and after a week long business trip it's a welcome chance to relax and unwind. 

While he was gone, I had a chance to try some new things.  The Fat Quarter Shop sent me one of their new 30° Starburst Ruler to try, so I pulled out my First Blush Block of the Month book and got busy.  I had some of Shari's pretty Wistful Winds floral in red and I paired it with some of Riley Blake's new Confetti Cottons in Peacock and used The Riley Blake Swiss Dots I had on hand in Aqua.

 

Using the ruler and book in tandem is a snap.  There are so many great blocks included in the block of the month program.  This is a fairly simple block.  I love how cute the book is with Elea's adorable illustrations as companions to the great diagrams and instructional material. 

 

The block went fast, and I feel like I had successful results.  They have tips for piecing and trimming so you get a nice  meeting of the points in the center.  I don't have the large square to trim it up yet, but I can easily make myself a template with ... you guessed it, template plastic.  I think if you were going to make the quilt the 12 1/2 inch ruler would be a great investment in convenience. 

 

My center isn't quite perfect, but perfect enough for me.   I'm using these blocks as an opportunity to try something new and to work on my basic skills like accurate cutting and piecing.  I tend to get lazy and then throw caution to the wind.  Time to focus think about it.  Plus I finally found a replacement bulb for my task lighting.  Wow.  SO MUCH BETTER.

 

Ok, hope you have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving super friends!! I am so thankful for your friendship these past TEN YEARS!!!!  xoxo

Pat's Mega Fun Book Tour

Good morning and happy Friday!  Welcome to PAT'S MEGA FUN BOOK TOUR!  I'm here today to tell you about Pat's new book Pat Sloan's Teach Me to Machine Quilt. 

 

First of all the photos today are courtesy of Martingale and they're fantastic.  That's something I like about Martingale books, lovely staged pictures as well as a great flat shot.  I may be old fashioned but I like seeing a photo of the whole quilt. 

While this is a technique book, which covers topics like  threads and tension, walking foot and free motion quilting, and of course my beloved spray basting shown here, there are also lots of great projects to utilize your skills. 

One bonus with  this book   are the  online instructional videos that add onto the information found in the book.  I love the additional content. 

 

As far as the projects go there are both  applique and pieced projects, and projects for every level. 

 

 

 

Now Visit Pat's Giveaway Page to enter to win one of the 5 copies of her 'Pat Sloan's Teach Me to Machine Quilt Book'!   

blog.patsloan.com/pats-mega-fun-book-tour/ 

Physical Copies for US residents, digital copies for all other winners. Be sure to enter by Midnight Dec 1 and then visit the others on her Mega Fun Tour to learn more about Pat's book, some have interviewed Pat, a few might have a giveaway, or have made a project... it's all listed on Pat's page!

Today's stops on the Mega Fun Book Tour are:

• Bonnie Hunter in Wallburg, North Carolina a suburb of Winston-Salem quiltville.blogspot.com/
• Alyce Blyth in Melbourne, Australia  www.blossomheartquilts.com/
• Kimberly Einmo in South of Washington DC in Virginia (my neighbor!) www.kimberlyeinmo.com/blog

Have fun following along, there are a lot of great people on the tour.  Thanks to Pat for inviting me and to Martingale for the digital copy of the book! HAPPY WEEKEND!

Quiltmaker Issue 14

Hi there friends! The latest Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine is out again!  This is Vol. 14, can you believe it?  As usual the magazine is chock full of great blocks  by a lot of your favorite designers, including me!  This is my 14th block for the magazine I'm excited to say. 

 

Here's my block, Summer Impatiens.  It's a combo of fusible applique and basic piecing.  Like a lot of the blocks I've done for Quiltmaker, it's floral inspired.

 

I appreciate a chance to participate in the publication!  It's a fun way to share my love of quilting.  You can read about other blocks and designers over on the Quilty Pleasures blog.  The blog hop is going strong, and there's magazines to be won!  Skedaddle on over check it out!

 

Thanks friends!

Friday

To say that's its been quite a week is undoubtedly an understatement at this point.   I'm glad we have our shared interest in sewing and quilting here as common ground. 

 

Iron update... STILL LOVE IT.

Scrappy project planner... still love it.  I dove in to the tulips this week.  For me sewing is the perfect way to gain  control of my brain's over activity.. focus in on the task at hand.  Sometimes housework does that, but lets face it, sewing is a lot more fun!

 

What do you use for task lighting in your sewing room?  I have an Ott desk lamp with a long arm, but now the bulb needs changing and I'm curious what other people use. My black desk lamp is not attractive but it sure does the job.  Why can't form and function meet more often. I want to have all the cute things. But also to see them.

 

These tulips are so cute.  I love their chunkiness.  I'm making them for the fun of it, with no plan or schedule.  I'm in love with chunky zinnia's in Lori's IG post here, and think it would be fun to have a garden of chunky flowers.  Next up maybe red. I'm going thru my admittedly disorganized baskets for the fabrics, so maybe red is up next, maybe aqua. Not sure.

 

Hope you have a great weekend!  xop

 

Hey P. S. Did you see they've announced the cover of the Splendid Sampler Book?  Check it out here on Facebook!  So excited to see it and be a part of this project!

 

 

 

 

Monday

Good morning!  I don't suppose you're quite acclimated to the time change, I'm not.  Sunday seemed like the day that lasted forever, although I don't really know why. It's just an hour, but it's like the hour that never ends!  I didn't notice the darkness so much Sunday, but today when it gets dark early the time will stretch on into eternity while I wait for Bret to get home for dinner. But luckily by the end of the week it will seem like the usual thing. 

 

Anyway, nice weekend.  It was Bret's birthday Saturday and Frankie came home to celebrate.  Always fun to spend time with her.  I didn't sew at all, but I did manage to get this Splendid Sampler block done Friday.  This block is by Jennifer Albaugh from Quiltique.

 

Super cute, and super easy which was what made it a no brainer choice for me. Early on I decided that I wanted to do 16 blocks out of the hundred. Then I upped the game to 25.  I've had 24 blocks done forever.  I chose mostly the easy ones and I'm cool with it.  I realize I have my limitations and I really wanted to finish this.  I truly believe that it's a great opportunity to try new things, like paper piecing or applique or embroidery. I'm JUST TOO LAZY TO DO IT. 

 

So that's done.  This week I've crossed off pick last Splendid Sampler block and make it from the list and added pick sashing and finish quilt.  Maybe I should have broken that into several steps so that I'd have the joy of crossing something off more often.  We'll see.. the list is in pencil and I have a nice eraser.   Hope you guys have a great week. 

 

 

Dear Deer

Happy Friday friends!  Did you have a good week?   We started out here with some rain and we're ending with a nice few sunny warm fall days.  Typical California. 

 

I had the pleasure of pattern testing for my IG friend Mariana. (@sewmariana)  I've been following her sewing adventures for quite a while,  if you're on IG take a look at her feed, lots of lovely projects. 

 

Anyway... her pattern is Dear Dear, and it's going to be available today. I'll have a link for you as soon as she puts it up.  The pattern is in full color and it's well done and easy to follow.  HERE'S THE LINK TO THE PATTERN!

For those of you curious, I LOVE MY IRON SO MUCH.  Never have my blocks been so nice and flat.  Honestly, best money spent.  Of course I know, I know... it could turn on me like all the others but I have a good feeling about this one!

 

That nose was just happenstance.. I didn't even realize it till someone pointed it out.  Serendipity.

 

What a fun pattern. Thanks for asking me to test out your pattern Mariana.  I really enjoyed it. It's adorable for sure.  Be sure and check out the #deardearquilt hastag to see more deer!

 

Happy weekend friends!!!

Quilts for Scrap Lovers Blog Hop

This morning is my day on the Quilts for Scrap Lovers Blog hop.  When Judy asked me to participate in her blog hop for her new book, I asked her to tell me a bit about it.  When she began to talk about her frustrations with leftovers pieces of fabric from  garments that were odd shaped, I thought of my own box full of pieces from clothes I had made for myself and for Frankie.  Odd ball armhole scraps was my first thought!

 

Reading Judy's introduction, I see that she's had a similar background growing up with parents raised in the depression, where saving something for later was pretty much an art form.  We never threw away old patterns or chunks of fabric, you might need a repair to your garment, collars from one pattern might look good combined with another.  And if you toss something, surely you'll need it later. 

Judy developed a system using templates to cut and save fabric.  She also shows you how to use your existing rulers to cut with her method.  And of course she has 16 projects in her book using her method.  She's showing you projects not made from precuts, but honest-to-goodness leftover scraps. Revolutionary!

 

There are several projects that caught my eye , including Snap Cracker Pop.  I whipped out a block using Judy's methods in a matter of a few minutes.  Here's my block using some Pam Kitty with the cute apples from Elea's Apple Farm fabric.

 

You can see more here at the C&T website.  It was fun to look at all the quilts and find bits and pieces of a sewing life well lived.  The more I go through my sewing stuff the more happy memories I see lurking among all the saved pieces.  Wouldn't it be fun to cut them up and actually use them?   Reading Judy's book will help you do that!

To follow along on the hop be sure to visit these friends and read what they have to say about Judy's book this week.  Thanks to Judy and C&T for my copy of the book to read and review!

*** Edited to add:  Leave a comment, C&T publishing is giving away a free e-book to one of my readers!  Let me know what you think about scrap quilting!

Nov 1 Christa Watson

Nov 2 PamKittyMorning

Nov 3 Mary Abreu

Nov 4 Diane Knott

Nov 5 Kim Lapacek