Christmas Party Fun

After a long week of giveaways, it's time to get back to normal blogging again!  I had a lot of fun last week with the giveaways and plan on making it an annual event.  I learned a few things while it was in progress and plan on making a few changes for the next one!

This past Saturday was our annual guild holiday party.  It's packed with a pot luck spread like no other!  I totally over indulged on everything!  It was so good I couldn't help myself!

We also have a Secret Santa Swap.  It is always a treat to see the look on peoples faces when they find out who got their name and then open their gift.  The talent, thoughtfulness and generosity is amazing!  Today, I thought I would share what I made for my person, Jenny!



Jenny's list was very helpful to me, yet I was worried when she talked about bags and zippers! She is the queen of all things zippers and bag related!  Yikes!  How could I impress her?!  I swallowed my fear and got busy! 

The first item I made was a set of pot holders (also on her list).  This I knew I could handle! There I go again with my 'Star Thistle' block!  The background color is her all time favorite!  I aim to please! 



I used four different colors for the points, a copper accent and  a print from Anna Maria Horner's 'Fibs & Fables line.  Star Thistle makes the geometric dot-to-dot quilting so easy and I find myself going back to it time and time again!

  

I wasn't sure if Jenny was a 'hanger' person or not.  The majority of the time I do not add hangers, but this time I thought I'd try something different.  I added twill tape on the corners for the hanging option.  What do you think of that idea?  



Next up was the dreaded zipper project!  A scissor pouch was on the list and I knew exactly which one I was going to make!  The Scissor Cozy!  Check out the tutorial from Svetlana @SOTAK Handmade...it's pretty easy and pretty amazing!  



I decided to use my small stash of selvages for this one.  Another thing I know about Jenny is that she is a 'super fan' verging on stalking (kidding Jenny!) of all things Denyse Schmidt! First, I pieced two panels being mindful of where I wanted the most interesting part of the selvage to end up.  And then went about following the directions for complete it.



I wasn't sure what size her scissors were and prayed this pouch would work!  My scissors fit perfectly and come to find out...we both have the exact same ones!  Cozy just as the pattern title states!



For the final 'make' I scoured my stash for every stitch of Denyse Schmidt I could find.  I didn't need much, but I needed 18 different prints.  They say variety is the spice of life!  



Since it used paper piecing on one gift, selvages on another, it seemed fitting to use English Paper Piecing for the third!  You know...that variety saying and all!  



I think Jenny was pretty happy with her gift(s)!  It's always a nail biter when making something for someone you admire and inspire to be like!  

One thing is for sure, quilters love getting gifts from other quilters.  We know what goes into projects and can appreciate every single stitch!  

Next time I'll share my 'goodies' from the Secret Santa Swap!

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Needle & Thread

Diamonds, Triangles, Octagons...Oh My !

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times...I hate not having projects to keep me busy in the evenings.  I'm not much of a night quilter these days, so it's important for me to keep my hands (and mind) busy at night.

Finding something to fill the hours wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Enter EPP! I never thought I would love English Paper Piecing as much as I do.  I tried something new, and liked it.  So I'll say: 'try something new'...you just never know, you may like it!

26" x 26" x 26"

With enough Denyse Schmidt 'Florence' left over, diamond stars seemed like a good use of those scraps.  I printed 1" diamonds for the stars not really knowing where I was going or what I was wanting to accomplish.  It's all about keeping my hands busy, so it really didn't matter.   

Once I had the stars finished, I stitched them together.  It still needed more.  Did I want to keep it a hexagon?  Should I make it bigger?

Bigger it is!  I had pulled out more Denyse Schmidt (Hadley) for the corner stars, and kept making those diamonds!  Not only did I run out of prints, I ran out of brown.  I wanted to take the brown around the entire triangle, but I was six diamonds short!

It worked out in the end.  I love how it came together!  And how about that back?! I'm always amazed, maybe mesmerized with the back of paper pieced projects!  Plus, it's fun popping those papers out in the end.

The real test was yet to come.  I got it this far, what the heck am I going to do now?  I pulled grey, Kona Bone and orange fabric and hoped it would be obvious. It wasn't.  I was stuck. Instagram to the rescue!  I posted a picture with my dilemma, and the response was amazing! So much help and advice!  

What did I do?  This is the scary part!  For some reason mitered corners came to mind. Mitered corners!  I've tried it unsuccessfully one time, it was not my favorite technique.  But I was determined.  Besides, this is the year to learn more techniques and new things!  

The grey is 1/4" and the orange is 1/2", all mitered and semi-perfect!

When I got to this point the next real decision was do I leave it a triangle, as a mini quilt or build around it and make it square?  It didn't take but a second to decide. It's staying as is! I liked the idea of having it be a unique shape.  Something different to keep it interesting!  

I was excited when it came time to quilt this.  Perhaps one of the first times I didn't hesitate and think about it.  Were going straight line geometric all the way! 

If you were going to start a new EPP project, what would it be?  I'm looking for more ideas... 

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TGIFF

OH Scrap!
Fabric Frenzy Friday

A Stash For Seven Sundays!

How could I not?  When I saw this entire box full of a magical rainbow, my heart skipped a beat.  My mind said 'Don't Do It', then it said 'Do It'...over and over again.  

Good, Bad.  Yes, No.  

Modern Solid Fat Quarters.  Denyse Schmidt.  Yea, baby...I said yes!  

This was my first ever Mass Drop purchase.  I look every once in a while, but it has never gone any further than that.  I signed up to receive a notice if this particular box was going to be offered again. Eventually it was.  I still wasn't sure I was going to buy it, so after a couple days I went back to check on it.  Did you know you can commit to buy an item only if it hits the lowest price?!  I was happily surprised and decided to commit to it.  And yes, it hit the lowest price!  

Just what did I receive?  75, count 'em...75 Fat Quarters!  I do believe my solid stash is very well rounded now!

Break Down:
Cost:         $119.00
FQ Price:  $1.59
Per Yard:  $6.35
Yardage:  18 3/4

I'm sure there could be a better price per yard out there.  I thought it was very reasonable and did I tell you there are 75 Fat Quarters?!!

Naturally, I have to stare at the colors for a while.  Ooh and aww, touch and pet them.  What many of us do when we buy a collection and are to afraid to use it!  The obvious thing to do is make a rainbow quilt...way too obvious even for me!  We'll see.  I've only had it a couple days, barely enough time to take it all in!  

Quilters!!

On another note, I've been busy in the evenings making more EPP Plus blocks. (tutorial available @ Wild Olive Blog) 

  I used all the Loominous fabric!  Now what to do!  

I don't want to go much bigger, so I don't think I'll invest in more Loominous.  I'm playing with layout ideas and the more you play, the more I become unsure!

Solids on the outside, alternate solids or all mixed together?  I will have to make some partial blocks to fill in the gaps around the edges, and then maybe slap a border on it and call it done!  

I'm always open to suggestions!!  This is another episode of wanting to try something, but not having a plan!  Someone should smack me!

LINKING: 

Sunday Stash

Denyse Schmidt Quilt

This quilt has been sitting, staring and patiently waiting for me to have an epiphany of a quilting idea.  It took much longer than I expected, but maybe in reality...it didn't.  Quilting ideas don't usually flow freely in my mind, let alone on my machine! 

When I decided to get it done once and for all, ideas came and went.  Possibilities were there, my ability to execute those...well, not so much.  In the end, I went with simple. 

46 1/2" x 70"
Denyse Schmidt ~ Florence

I ended up marking lines vertically, horizontally and diagonally for quilting.  Making sure to focus the attention on the stars.  They are front and center after all!

With all the prints it's hard to see exactly how it was quilted.  That was one of the reasons I opted to keep it simple.  If you were able to get up close and personal with it, you would see the quilting created squares, rectangles and diamond shapes with all the intersecting of the lines.

In the end, I think it turned out pretty fine!  I find when I use prints (which is not very often), I tend to keep the quilting simple.  As opposed to solids, which I quilt the living hell out of!

The backing I ordered worked perfectly even though it was from a different line by Denyse Schmidt (Hadley).  

The mission when I started making this quilt:  Use my 'CASUAL LINK' block I designed to see if it would actually look good in a quilt.  And to use a fat quarter bundle of Denyse Schmidt ~ Florence I had for far too long.  Mission accomplished!

The back received every last usable piece I had left.  I wouldn't want any scraps hanging around!

With this one finally done, I can move on to other things!  Not that I haven't already!  I just won't have this one staring me down every day!

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TGIFF

Just The Basics Ma'am

As much as I would love to have a stack of 'knock your socks off' bright and bold fabrics to share...alas...it is not that!

It is however, the basics.  Basics are a must.  Yardage is a must.  Backings will be made from these and most likely a front or two!

The low down.

  

Good old basic every day must have colors!  I wonder how much grey thread I go through?! I picked this four pack up from Craftsy.  But you know, there is a story behind it.  

I bought a good bit of yardage from Craftsy a couple weeks ago.  Happy days!  When the package arrived, wouldn't you know it...it was open.  Freak out time!  All the fabric was accounted for.  Unfortunately, the thread bundle had slipped out and was never to be seen again.  I contacted Craftsy, and as always they were very quick to respond and to send out a replacement.

Denyse Schmidt 'Hadley' was a shot in the dark!  I needed a backing for this quilt:

  

and I though it would work.  It doesn't look like it from these pictures, but they actually match pretty well.  For some reason, which is not normal for me, I wanted to use a print on the back. We'll see.

To go with my Michael Miller Glitz Fabric bundle, 

I picked up a yard or soft white and black.  Both are Cotton Couture.  Raise your hand if you haven't a clue what you will make for the Quiltcon Challenge!  This is just in case.  

For years this fabric has haunted my dreams!  I've seen it everywhere...everywhere but with me!  Even after Ikea said 'no more', they really didn't mean that!!  

Every once in a while I check out #thegreatfabricdestash on Instagram.  I haven't had much luck finding 'me' stuff on there for a while...until this!  Someone in Texas bought up 4 or 5 bolts and happily shared her find.  I got four yards, which should be perfect for something! To me it was the deal of the century for only $6 a yard!!

The last and most 'Ho-Hum', no sun glasses needed stack...Kona Cotton.  I can tell you, I have lots of white now!!  (another 8 yards worth)  Let's give a mention to the beautiful Sandy Sand, Steel Grey, Basic Black, Deep Red, Terrific Teal, and Jazzy Jade Green!!  

Standing 'O', I don't think so!  A soft, and quick golf clap...and move on!

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Sunday Stash

Hexie Flower Update

I've been bitten by the EPP bug!  Oh boy!  While these little hexies for the Technicolor Galaxy BOM are pretty basic, I find myself perusing everywhere for inspiration.  I can't get enough, I'm infected!

These are the glue method from start to finish.  Indeed a sticky method for me!  But I love them.  The cute little hexies, the pretty rainbow of colors and the sweet flowers!   

I've picked the low volume background, placed them just right and will finish them up with some quilting after the next block is released.  

What I learned from making these:  Glue is sticky and messy.  You have to be very careful. I don't think I like the stabilizer hexagon templates very much.  They are meant to stay put, stay in the finished hexies.  Which made it harder to sew them together because of the thickness.  

I decided to try my hand at diamond stars one evening.  These were so much easier to stitch together without the stabilizer.  The needle went through only fabric making it glide smoothly.  I didn't have to fight it so much and in the end I feel that the stitches were better and less noticeable.  

These are small diamonds!  Small, small, small!  But big on fun!

    
I'm working on a new quilt!  Big surprise right?!  I've had this fabric, Denyse Schmidt ~ Florence, for far too long.  Longer than I want to tell you!  It sat and sat and sat and sat some more.  I am happy to say that I cut up every last piece of it for my newest design! Could I be turning over a new leaf?  Using my stash?  Maybe just this one time!

On Tuesday I will be sharing a block tutorial for Fabri-quilt New Block Blog Hop Challenge. There are 60+ participants lined up and it promises to be a fun and exciting time!  

After making my block I was concerned it wouldn't make sense at all.  Sometimes it's hard to imagine how one block would look in a quilt.  My block needs to be repeated in order to complete the 'vision'!  The secondary designs are the key, the star! 

Which is why I used that bundle of Denyse Schmidt!  I had to see if that block was worthy of a whole quilt.  Would it come together?  The answer is YES!  I couldn't be happier with the results!  I have 5 more blocks to piece before I can finish the top, but it's cool!  I can't wait to share it!

All the blocks in the New Block Hop will become charity quilts.  At least three will be made and donated!  How cool is that?!

I hope you join me and the rest of the 'cast of characters' for this hop!  It promises to be an epic event!