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30 March 2014

Sunday Stash

Last week, I was showing off my quilted jacket, made from Charley Harper prints in the Blue colour way.

More Charley Harpers.  This time, in the Fall colour way.
And some Kona Cotton Solids in Mushroom.


Charley Harper from Birch Fabrics and Kona Solids in Mushroom


Octoberama


Love those little birdie faces peeking out from their holes.
Bank Swallow


And who can resist those sweet squirrels?
October Edibles


Psychedelic ladybugs!
Ladybugs


This woodpecker print is perfect for strip piecing.
Upside Downside


So is this print!
October Edibles


Dots, dots, dots!
Ladybugs


Upside Downside


Octoberama


When I showed my mom the new jacket I made....  She fell in love!
She cooed and ooooed and gooed about it.

These new prints are destined become a jacket for my mom.  After all she has done for me... It is a pleasure to be able to make something for her that I just know she will just LOVE!

I told her about who Charley Harper was.  Borrowed from the local library, Charley Harper - An Illustrated Life by Todd Oldham, came along with me yesterday to visit.  I think she not only fell in love with these prints...  She also fell in love with Charley.


Charley Harper from Birch Fabrics

The October Edibles and Kona Cotton Solids in Mushroom were ordered from Fabric Spot.
The remaining Charley Harper prints were all from Mad About Patchwork.

Linking up to Sunday Stash with the fabulous Molli Sparkles.


Molli Sparkles




Keep On Quilting On!
 

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27 March 2014

Equilateral Triangle Quilt Along

Warning: Equilateral Triangle Quilts are cute and addictive.

I completed my first Equilateral Triangle quilt on Valentines day - the Fox & Friends quilt.

Fox & Friends by me!

I wrote tutorials for cutting and piecing equilateral triangles.
You can find the tutorial for cutting the triangles here.
And the tutorial for piecing triangles here.


Linda bought my Fox & Friends quilt pattern and shared these photos with me!

Linda's Fox & Friends quilt!

I love the dark blue flannel backing she chose.
And that polka dot binding is adorable!

Linda's Raccoon peeking!


For this quilt along, I have decided on the following layout for my triangles.
There are 12 rows of 17 pieces each.
And I am leaving the sides, as is.........
I think!
Planned Layout - 39" x 45"

This will result in a 39" x 45" quilt using 204 triangles.
Which are all cut out, stacked and ready to piece!



Have you ever wanted to make an equilateral triangle quilt?


The Sassy Quilter

There is still time to sign up!
Paula has set up a Flickr group for sharing our progress pics.
And she has rounded up the most incredible prizes to keep you motivated!

I am linking up with Paula of The Sassy Quilter for Cutting week #2 of the Triangle Quilt Along.

Join us!!!!



http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=474895&u=817821&m=29190&urllink=&afftrack=

Don't miss out on Craftsy's Gone in a Flash Sale!


Limited supply, shop before it disappears!
Hurry, offer expires Friday, March 28th at 11:59pm MT 2014.


Keep On Quilting On!


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26 March 2014

Let's Bee Social #13

Welcome to this week's Social linky party!

Sew Fresh Quilts

What's new with you?
Here the snow is still hanging around and once again.....
It's coming down.  Sew sad.

Working on this secret summer time treat is helping me focus on sunnier days to come!!!
Sneak peek...



Announcing the winner of the Fat Quarter Shop giveaway....
CONGRATULATIONS Billie Bee!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Speaking of GIVEAWAYs....
Make your way over to Jacqui's Attic Treasures and help her to celebrate Mother's Day!
Her fat quarter bundle and pin cushion are looking for a sweet new home.
Simply leave a comment for a chance to win!







Keep On Quilting On!
 

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23 March 2014

Sunday Stash

Dear Spring,
Hurry up.

Everyone keeps asking.... 2nd piece is Floating Petals by Holly Holderman for Lakehouse Dry Goods.

Fabric pull for what is now a secret WIP.
Sweet Watermelon.
Yum, Yum.



Happy mail from my friend Jacqui of the Buzzing of Bees blog.
I consider this a very sweet birthday gift!
Thank you, Jacqui!


And from my mom.
There may be some of you who would not consider a chair to be stash.
But it is a FABRIC task chair.
So that counts in my opinion!


This stash of fat quarters are going to be showing off in a fun triangle quilt.


Using the AccuQuilt Cutter is fast and FUN!
And you can't beat the accuracy!

The Studio Cutter is now on sale...
     And the dies are 25% off!

http://www.accuquilt.com/?SSAID=817821

The Studio Cutter is regularly priced at $595 and is on sale for $395 for a limited time.
That's an incredible $200 savings!!!

 Don't these spring inspired triangles make you want to quilt along?

There's still time to sign up with Paula of The Sassy Quilter for the Triangle Quilt Along.
Paula has set up a Flickr group for sharing our progress pics.
And she has rounded up the most incredible prizes to keep you motivated!

The Sassy Quilter


Join us!!!!


Linking up to Sunday Stash with the fabulous Molli Sparkles.
Hosted this week by Kristel over at Work-in-Progress Girl.

Molli Sparkles


Keep On Quilting On!
 
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22 March 2014

Sewing for Me in March - Week #3

Yesterday I shared my completed Charley Harper quilted jacket for my Friday Finish.

Berry Barn DesignsThis project was part of the 30/30 Sewing Challenge hosted by Sarah of Berry Barn Designs.

Although I did share plenty of pictures for that post, I did not go into the details of my process, as I was hosting the TGIFF link up.

Now I would like to share a few things about what I learned from this project.

Cost:
Fabric - 4 yards (Including Discount, Taxes, and Shipping) ....................$69.15
Pattern and Zipper (Including Discount and Taxes)  ...............................$14.85
Backing & Batting from stash guestimated at approximately ...................$30.00
Thread for piecing guestimated at ............................................................$6.00
Thread for quilting (Sponsored by Superior Threads)
            Amount used gestimated at a cost of ...........................................$6.00
Total Cost:  ........................................................................................$127.00

Labour: (Complete guestimation here!)
Planning, making quilt, cutting pieces, sewing pieces about 7 straight days x 8 hrs ...... Priceless

Would I make jackets to sell expecting to make a profit?  No.  No way.

Now about that pattern.  It was my first time following a pattern.  For anything.
I had no garment making experience.

Yes, it was scary.  Yes, I was nervous.  Yes, I was afraid of screwing the whole thing up and being left with a messy pile of chopped up Charley Harpers.

There was a glossary of stitches.  Okay.
Now that I know what they are and the purpose for each.  Good to go!

The Easestitch is used at the tops of the shoulder pieces along the curves to adjust the sleeve to fit.  You are to pull on the thread ends to allow the fabric to bunch up a bit.  You would have to use some awfully strong thread to achieve this on quilted layers as used in this pattern.  I use polyester thread and it broke...  So, pinning worked better for me.  And I hate pinning.

As I went along, I got a better handle on just how the whole thing was to go together.  I gained confidence.

There were two portions of the construction that I did differently than what was laid out in the pattern.  One was for the sleeves and the other was for the zipper.

The shoulders and sides of the jacket, and the seam on the sleeves, were to be sewn up individually.  Then the sleeves were to be sewn into the arm holes of the jacket.  Picturing how it is to fit a square peg in a round hole, I did not think this would be easy.  Instead, I sewed only the shoulder seams on the jacket, not the sides.  Next I attached the curved parts of the top of the sleeves to the jacket.  And then I sewed up the side of the jacket and the seam of the sleeve all in one seam.




The zipper is contained between the outer shell and inner liner of the jacket.  Per the pattern instructions, they expected you to HAND sew the inner edge of that lining into the jacket before putting in the zipper.  Then turn in the edge of the outer shell and baste the zipper into place.  Then turn in the edge of the liner and baste it to the zipper.  What?!!!  Are you nuts!  Sew much HAND sewing!  And piddling around!

Instead I turned the outer shell and lining inside out.  Placed the zipper between those edges with the teeth facing in.  And sewed the zipper in.  Then turned it all right side out again.  Done.  Then I could later hand sew the inner edge of lining.

But first I tried it on.  And got really frustrated.  And wanted to cry.  Because even though the pattern comes with recommendations for what size to make according to your bust measurement....  This thing was WAY TOO BIG!  Let me tell you.  Having your children try to console you by saying, "You'll grow into it.", is not what you want to hear.  Those vertical stripes were not going to help this thing look sleek.  No. Way.

But I don't give up that easily.  Tenacious, I tell ya.

So, I undid the topstitching along MOST of the two back seams.  And resewed the two back seams and the side seams, including the sleeves.  And then chopped off the excess.  Shortened the sleeve length.  Hemmed them up.  And redid the topstitching along the back seams.

Much better.  No more crying in frustration.  Happy face.

Then I finished all the hand sewing for the lining.

Would I do this again?  Absolutely!

The three most important things I learned were....
It is scary fun to try new things.
I gained new skills, experience, confidence and a really fine jacket.
And I am so happy to have made something for me!

Since I had no idea how long it would take to make this project, I did not outline any other goals.  But I would definitely like to continue to participate in the last remaining week of the challenge.

I do have some leftover Charley Harper fabric pieces.  Maybe I can whip up a little something else for me?


I am linking up with everyone at Sarah's for Week 3 Progress.

Come on over and see how everyone else is doing with their goals!


P.S.  Be sure to enter my GIVEAWAY, sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop, going on NOW!



Keep On Quilting On!

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20 March 2014

TGIFF! Charley Harper meets Superior Threads

Welcome to this week's TGIFF!

Today I am showing off my birthday suit!
So glad you could make it!

For the past three weeks, I have been participating in the 30/30 challenge hosted by Sarah of Berry Barn Designs.  The challenge is to find 30 minutes of me sewing time for 30 days in March.  This was perfect timing.  My birthday was just this past Wednesday!
 

Made using a few pieces from the Charley Harper collection for Birch Fabrics, my finish this week started out looking very much like a long narrow quilt.


The threads used for quilting this project were kindly sponsored by Superior Threads.

Keeping it simple, I straight line quilted with my walking foot along the seam lines.

The quilting was completed using my variegated blue Fantastico #5006 Niagra and my yellow/orange Fantastico #5005 October.



Shine on, Fantastico!  Shine on!



When the quilting was finished, I laid out all my pattern pieces and began cutting up that long quilt.



This is my first time making any kind of garment.  There were a few new terms to learn.
And a few instructions that were modified.




I did have to do some unsewing and resewing and some chopping and resewing.
The first fitting was a little big incredibly HUGE!  But better too big than too small.




But I managed to get through.




And am looking forward to showing off my birthday suit this Sunday at church!




What do you think?  The teal pants or the black?






Now it's your turn!  Can't wait to see what you got!






Be sure to enter my GIVEAWAY, sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop, going on NOW!



Keep On Quilting On!


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