Nametag swap

Last month at our Modern Guild meeting, we drew names to make each other new name tags. I was quite happy to choose Rachel, a friend and fellow board member. She requested teals & purples. Since I had a charm pack of grunge on hand, I pulled out all the colors that would work & made some EPP hexies. Because, well, hexies are my thing! 

A short time later, a little English paper piecing, a little hand embroidery... and this is how it turned out...

I even made her a lanyard using fabric scraps from my stash that matched her color request. I used Three Owls Handmade's tutorial for the lanyard, left off the hook and attached the name tag by sliding the attached loop onto the split ring. Easy peasy! I love wearing name tags on a lanyard, do you?

I received in return this beautiful name tag made by my friend Bettepat

The bright colors make me so happy!

bags from handwoven fabric

Ever since I started weaving, I have been saving scraps left over at the ends of my warps knowing eventually I would turn them into "something". Often these were the experiments, trying out different colors/weights of yarn to see what worked.  Always, they were too pretty to throw away!

The other day I bought a lime green jelly clip frame, not knowing what I would do with it. When I laid it next to my handwoven leftovers from my table runner, I knew they belonged together.

You might notice this is a tad wonky. sheesh! Turns out the handwoven is quite bulky and I had a difficult time jamming it into the frame! In fact I broke my purple-thang (insert cry here) let out quite a few not-nice words and basically got glue EVERYWHERE. Oh well, it's done.

I do love the yellow lining. Really, the materials are perfect together but I am a disaster when it comes to gluey projects. Lesson learned. Again.

Next I set out to make Sotak Handmade's Foldover pouch from another of my handwoven. This time....

Perfection! Of course Svetlana's pattern is perfect, as always. The fabric was bulky and the final turning was a challenge but it adds just the right bulk to this little bag. Yay!

I'll be making more of these for sure! Tips for working with handwoven fabric:

I traced my pattern pieces onto SF101 (my favorite interfacing), Ironed in onto the back of the fabric. Next I zigzagged just inside the cutting line to prevent my fabric from unravelling and cut the pieces out on the drawn line. 

Any time I needed to cut a piece of handwoven, I zigzagged on either side of the cutting line.

It worked out great! Now, what to try next....

ellyn's place makeover

After 2 years in our "new" house I've been reevaluating some of our spaces. One side of my studio space had a table & large bookcase that had become a huge pile-up spot. No matter how hard I tried, I could not keep the clutter straightened up. The table was basically useless. I realized what I really needed was more storage space!

Ikea to the rescue! Two KALLAX units later, I had regained floor space and cleaned up the mess!

Not only that, I managed to eliminate the ironing board that always seemed to be in the way. After seeing the pressing station on Sew Katie Did I knew that was the right solution for me too.

IKEA sells the wheels to fit the KALLAX units too! I followed Katie's directions and I adore my new pressing station. It fits perfectly against the wall, but can be rolled out if I need to iron something large. Perfect!

I used the rest of a vintage sheet to cover it, so it matches my mini ironing station that stays next to my machine. I have to admit, stripes were probably not the best choice as it was impossible to get them straight! Ah well, the way I destroy covers, I'll be making a new one before you know it. I think I will make removable covers from here on out, and just put them over the existing board.

This smaller unit gave me the perfect space to store many of my weaving supplies as well! I had been struggling to find a home for them.

Fingers crossed I can keep this space tidy more effectively now!

rainbows

We've had a fun week at the Z house. In addition to Father's Day today, hubby had a birthday and we will celebrate an anniversary this coming week. Lots to be happy about! For hubby's birthday I decided to make him a mini quilt with his word of the year on it. When I saw Quiet Play's paper pieced squirrel pattern I knew it was perfect!

I had so much fun making this! It's all done in grunge from my stash (I had won a charm pack of grunge at a guild meeting months ago and many of the squares were perfect for this project!)

It was a one day project, start to finish (well, except for hand sewing the binding! I finished that up at Crafty Tuesday the next day). The pattern is fantastic and a good "advanced beginner" paper piecing project.

While I was in rainbow mode, I whipped up several heart blocks for the Modern Quilt Guilds Quilts for Pulse. Our guild hopes to assemble at least one complete quilt to contribute to the effort to provide comforting quilts to survivors of the shooting along with families of the victims. When difficult things like this happen in the world, I always feel so helpless. I'm so glad to have a way to contribute to the healing process.

another finish

Horray! this is finish number three for me in the second quarter of the finish along. That means I only have one more.... I think I can!

This baby quilt is my variation of a pattern in the most recent issue of McCalls Quick Quilts. I had been hanging onto several fat quarters of Amy Sinabaldi's Paperie fabric waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them and this sweet baby quilt was it! I mixed in one Cotton and Steel print, bordered it all in a sweet polka dot & I love the result.

I even quilted it myself, using the serpentine stitch on my Janome.

I went with a scrappy binding, using all of the prints in the quilt. I hadn't done this in a long time!

This one will go off to a new baby later this summer.

#2016FAL linking up with A Quilter's Table
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Everyday Hipster Bag

Recently my friend Mahriam from Three Owls Handmade asked me to pattern test her newest pattern, the Everyday Hipster Bag. Ok, let's be honest, she didn't ask. I begged. I fell in love with her adorable bag and pretty much snatched her rough pattern instructions out of her hand before she had even had a chance to make them pretty. And very quickly (seriously, this bag can be whipped together in about an hour) I had this gem and was wearing it everywhere...

 Peppered cotton and Cotton and Steel prints

And then I started making little piles of fabric and dreaming about having a whole wardrobe of these sweet bags. Suddenly the linen and Liberty Lawn I had bought at Purl Soho turned into this...

And then my sister mentioned that she'd like a black one...

black Moda Weave and Cotton and Steel prints

You could say I'm smitten with this adorable bag pattern. My favorite part is the gusset, which I totally love fussy cutting from prints

The bag is so lightweight you can wear it everywhere & not even notice you have it on. It's just the right size for some cash and your cards and the front pocket is perfect for your phone. M included measurements to adapt the strap length for your favorite kiddo too. 

The pattern is now available for sale here. You're going to want to make one of these. Or two. Or twelve. Trust me!

Hattie's Dresden Class

On Saturday, I had a blast taking Lee Monroe's workshop on her Hattie's Dresden pattern. I can't believe in all my spaciness I forgot to get a selfie with Lee! Here she is with my buddy Stephanie, planning Stephanie's scrappy layout for her block....

Lee gave us so many awesome tips for her pattern (and many that can be applied elsewhere too). She took the time to walk around and talk through each person's fabric choices, how to best lay them out, etc. I learned so much in one day!

Unlike Stephanie, I took the easy way out and made my first Hattie's blocks from 2 fabrics each...

block one ready to sew

There were so many variations completed in class that day! Here are a few...

I went home and finished up my other 2 blocks the very next day...

ready to appliqué on my background

This little quilt is coming together quick.

Thanks so much for coming to see us Lee! I can't wait to make more of these dresdens. Maybe I'll even tackle a scrappy one..... stay tuned!

2nd quarter finish along plans

Today I am linking up on A Quilter's Table with my intended finishes for the 2nd quarter of 2016. 

First up, I want to finish my Lost Socks quilt.  I finished piecing it at my retreat in February. It just needs to be quilted and bound....

Second, the Modern Quilt Guild Riley Blake fabric challenge is due in May! That one NEEDS to get done. Though I am less than inspired by the assigned fabric, I do have a plan and have begun putting it in motion...

It seems all of my friend's children and many of my children's friends have decided to have babies this year! I need to finish up 2 baby girl quilts this quarter. Since I am attending Lee Monroe's Hattie's Dresden class on Saturday, I decided to use that pattern to make one of the baby quilts...

The other baby quilt is still an idea in my head. It MIGHT use scraps from my pink & purple bin. Or maybe I'll go fabric shopping? who knows...

So that's it. Four finishes for the second quarter. I think I can do it! What are your second quarter goals?

more from guild night

I thought you might like to see some more of the fun Moda challenges that were shared at the McKinney Modern Quilt guild the other night. I didn't even begin to get photos of them all! Many were put up after I took these pics. 

I love Lyssa's pixilated unicorn!

yup, that's mine, underneath Alice's prize winning falling star mini

Stephanie's waterfall (left) was inspired by her recent trip to Iceland

I'm hoping the guild photos will be posted too, so I can link them here and you can see them all!

The Moda challenge wasn't the only excitement we had on Tuesday night. We had a special guest come to speak....

That's right! Lee Monroe, aka May Chappell, was with us! Lee is a pattern designer, quilter, speaker... I had the great pleasure of having dinner with her, and other members of our board. What a delight she is!

Her program (tips & tricks) was so informative! Her trunk show was awesome and she had us all giggling all night long. I'm looking forward to taking a workshop with Lee on Saturday too.

time out for baseball

Sorry to disappear on you. As much as I love quilting, family always comes first! And if it's family, and Arizona in March, that means baseball! I grew up loving baseball..... well trained by my awesome parents!

It was great to have Mom & Dad join us for a couple of spring training games, along with our two oldest who share our passion for the game....

Truth be told, this was Leigh Anne's planned vacation to AZ, which we horned in on, but she didn't seem to mind!  We enjoyed games at three different stadiums, Surprise, Salt River, and Peoria, and saw some awesome baseball from six different teams! The weather was beautiful, the snow cones delicious and the company, outstanding.

Don't worry, I did talk hubby into taking me to a new quilt shop on one of our non-baseball days.

Modern Quilting is a great new shop in Paradise Valley.  The shop was sunny and cheerful, filled with things that made me smile (and yes, a few of them made it to the car!). The staff was friendly and helpful. I can't wait to go back again some time!

Play ball!

My Small World

Last summer, when everyone was making My Small World quilts (by Jen Kingwell) I searched high and low for the magazine with the pattern in it. No luck. When Jen released the pattern separately in the fall I jumped on it and bought one right away! Shortly after, Nicole  (aka @Saphre1964 on Instagram) announced that she would be leading a quilt along in the new year, and I jumped right on board!

Yesterday I finished up section one of My Small World....

I am having a BLAST making this quilt! Digging through my stash & adding fussy cut bits & bobs here & there has been so much fun. Here are some close ups of parts of section one....

 a ballet studio in honor of my girls! A baker with a gluten free birthday cake in honor of my upcoming birthday, Goldilocks & Mama bear on the top floor of the Happiness Hotel and festive bunting in the window.

And this colorful party on the bottom....

 I love the puppy parking his fancy car in the garage. Oh and look closely in that little red house.....

It's the big bad wolf! I pointed a big arrow right at him so he can't hide and cause trouble.

I can't wait to continue on this fun journey and plan to share more with you along the way. Check out the hashtag #mysmallworldqal2 on instagram for more happy inspiration.