fifth Saturday challenge

One of our local quilt shops, Not Your Mama's Quilt Store, where I host the Boast and Toast every month, has begun a fifth Saturday Challenge. On the last fifth Saturday (which was in July) I decided to purchase the mystery bag and join in the fun for September. Everyone who joins gets the same materials in their bag, and you can use it to make whatever you want. Fun!

This particular bag had a half yard of three different fabrics. One was this delightful print:

The second piece was a burgundy solid. I decided to English Paper Piece stars (mostly because I knew I was going to have a lot of travel time away from my machine!). It was amazing to me how many different fussy cut stars I could get out of a single print! I used the burgundy solid to set them off....

Confession: I did ad in the pink "dot" for the partial stars around the edges. But the others? All from that one print! pretty cool.

Oh, and the other fabric? A blue texture. hmmm. what to do with that?

onto the back it went, Haha. Oh and you can see my "far from perfect" grid that I quilted on my domestic machine. sigh.

I wonder what everyone else  has done?

Scout tee

Hubby and I snuck away for a fun vacation in California last week. The main focus of our trip was baseball (we saw games at 3 of the 5 MLB parks in CA), but I did manage to sneak in one quilt shop. Driving from San Diego to LA, we stopped at Needle in a Fabric Stash in Temecula. This adorable little shop is jam packed full of goodies, lots of modern fabrics (I picked up some Cotton & Steel basics for my stash), and fun patterns. The staff and the owner were super friendly and knowledgeable. The shop is featured in the latest issue of Quilt Sampler, so I'm sure they'll be busy for a long time!

I have been eyeing up Grainline Studio's Scout Tee pattern for quite a while. When I saw it at the shop, I decided to grab one... along with an add on variation pattern that the shop owner designed. I can't wait to play with that! For now, I decided to make up the pattern as is, to make sure the fit was right. What a great pattern! In one day I made not one, but TWO Scout Tees!

Both fabrics are inexpensive cotton from Joanns but the finished tops are totally wearable! The black print top is made exactly following the pattern directions (which are great).

And it fits perfectly!

The blue one, I added a coral contrast facing in the neckline and at the sleeve hems. I also took the time to do french seams, so all of the edges are neatly encased.

Hubby was so sweet to take about a hundred pictures of me wearing them, so that at least 2 would come out good!

I have tons of variations of this tee in my head... can't wait to try them all out. My new uniform for summer.... I highly recommend the Scout Tee!

weaving houndstooth

My poor loom has been sitting empty since October! While weaving is relaxing and fun, warping the loom is labor intensive and required more up and down, back and forth, than I was capable of just after my knee surgery. Until now! Last weekend, hubby helped me get everything set up and I warped the loom to try something new! I had been wanting to weave a houndstooth pattern for a while. I used this tutorial and found it to be simple, even though it looks complicated. Love that!

I ended up with two yards of 20 inch wide fabric when I took it off the loom

wow, this picture makes it look really blue!

And decided to make it into pillows

I was able to get two 14 inch square pillow covers out of the fabric. I really love the way they look (duh! AQUA!)

The back is bound in fabric envelope style, allowing a pillow form to be inserted

I am thinking about making a bunch of pillows like this and filling up my etsy shop. Poor little shop has been sitting empty for ages!

SWL mini quilt swap

I have really been enjoying the swaps held at one of my local quilt shops, Stitched With Love. This time around we swapped mini quilts. I received my friend Paula's name in the swap & was delighted to sew for her! Paula loves cool colors, blues and purples, and expressed an interest in a Sewing Machine Quilt, so that's the direction I went for her...

 

Of course I included some extra goodies in my swap package for her. Among them was this needle book that I made to match her quilt...

She seemed to really like them both.  I'm so glad!

I received  this WONDERFUL quilt from my friend Sarah....

I really hit the jackpot, didn't I? Sarah has so much talent and really puts her heart into everything she does. The quilt includes my favorite colors, aqua and red,  and also includes Sarah's favorite color, pink. She even fussy cut the two birds for the center, one red and one pink, to represent each of us. I can't wait to hang this gorgeous mini in my studio!

I really must show you all of the quilts that were swapped, hanging together on the Stitched with Love design wall...

Can you believe the talent represented here? I'm so lucky to be a part of this awesome group of quilters.

English Paper Pieced Arrow Pillow

Please tell me I'm not the only person who lays awake in the middle of the night designing things in her head. One night, earlier this month, the design in my head was so insistent that I had to get out of bed at 3AM & sketch it up on graph paper so I could go back to sleep! After some tweaking along the way, the end result were this English paper pieced arrow and bonus heart...

When I showed it to Lynn at Stitched With Love where I teach, she asked if I would make it into a pillow for the shop and create a pattern. Of course I would!

Kits for the pillow, all made of grunge fabrics just like mine, are now available at the shop. The finished cover fits a 16 inch pillow form. Oh, and that little heart....

I appliqued it onto the back of the pillow.

more hexies

I'm still working away on my New Hexagon hexies.  Here are numbers four through ten all done!

I did take time out to visit a couple more Ohio quilt shops with my pal Annie.....

The Craft Cupboard

Tiny Stitches

Tomorrow.... back to Texas! I'm pretty tired of winter and ready for some springtime sunshine.

The New Hexagon

My sweet friend Chantal has been leading a sew-along at Stitched With Love the last few months. The ladies are all making the hexagon blocks in Katja Marek's awesome book, The New Hexagon...

 Last week I got news that Chantal is moving away (boo...) and I was asked to step in and lead the sew-along beginning in April. Yes! I was thrilled and honored to be asked. I got my hands on the book and some fabric (thanks Joy!) and started working on blocks right away. I have some catching up to do!

I chose the Sun Prints line by Alison Glass for my fabric. Three blocks are done so far....

 I love how each block uses different shapes to make up a three inch hexagon. Here's block one, made up of hexies and diamonds....

Block two from triangles...

and block three, a hex, kites and triangles. This one was tricky!

Block four is ready to stitch today. These are so much fun! If you're local to the shop, I hope you'll consider joining us in this fun stitch-along!

NYC!

In the spring, my oldest daughter Leigh Anne moved to New York City. It's been her dream since she was a little girl, to be a journalist in the Big Apple, and this year she made her dream come true. I couldn't wait to visit her there, to see her awesome apartment in Brooklyn (which is bigger and more beautiful than I ever expected!) to share some good food and meet her new friends. So, last Thursday, my buddy Joellen and I hopped on a plane and went to New York to see Leigh Anne!

yes indeed, we do often dress alike without planning it. always have.

While we were there we figured we might as well hit up a few quilt shops! Of course we made a trip (ok, we made TWO trips) to The City Quilter in Manhattan. 

 We found lots of awesome treasures there & the staff was so friendly and helpful. This is a shop not to miss if you find yourself in New York City.

Another, that I had been dying to visit was Purl Soho. As luck would have it, the shop is right near where Leigh Anne works, so we met her for lunch one day then walked around the corner to Purl Soho. Wow! Another wonderful shop. The yarn & wool are colorful and oh so tempting. And yes, I left there with a bag full of treasures too.

 Joellen found another prospective stop on the internet. Brooklyn General Store looked like a place we needed to see, so after brunch on Sunday near Leigh Anne's apartment, the three of us hopped in a cab and ventured there. I'm so glad we did!

never mind the closed sign! It was indeed open

Beautiful fabric (including lots of Liberty), beautiful trims, yarn and oodles of notions. While we were there, there was a children's sewing class going on in the back room. It was a busy, friendly place!

 You guessed it. I left with another bag!

Three awesome fabric/yarn/craft stores that you should check out. I know I'll be back.

Texas Roadtrip QAL San Antonio!

Hello friends! Welcome to the ellyn's place stop on the Texas Roadtrip. I am blogging to you from Allen, TX which is just north of Dallas. But I am lucky enough to tell you about one of my favorite Texas cities, other than Allen of course, San Antonio. 

Our family first visited San Antonio in 2003 shortly after becoming residents of Texas. We went down Thanksgiving weekend and had such a wonderful time. Walking along the riverfront, especially with the Christmas Lights shining, was such a joy! We also purchased seats to sit along the river and watch the boat parade on the day after Thanksgiving. So beautiful!

While you are in San Antonio, you will want to visit the Historic Alamo (which is right in the center of the cit.! I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that), and maybe take a trip to nearby Sea World.

Nowadays we head down toward San Antonio fairly often. Our youngest, Ally, is about to start college at Texas State in San Marcos just north of San Antonio. Last time we were there, while she was at her orientation, I talked hubby into taking me to explore the local quilt shops.

At the north end of San Antonio, in Schertz, TX, we found The Scrappy Quilter. What a delightful shop! The ladies there were so friendly and helpful and I had a wonderful time exploring their awesome selection of fabric, patterns and notions. Even though it was not yet July, they shared with me their completed row for the Row by Row Experience. If you drop by the shop now (and I hope you will!) you can pick up the pattern for this stunning row....

Are you working on the Texas Roadtrip quilt? Here's your San Antonio block....

This block is called the Alamo Star (perfect for San Antonio don't you think?) This is a simple paper pieced block, perfect for newbies to foundation paper piecing like me! You will need to make four sections from this pattern....

 Stitch them into two pairs...

 and then stitch your two pairs together....

 Look! you have a star!

 Now put some wide borders on all four sides....

 And trim your block to 8 1/2 inches square, placing your ruler on an angle so you end up with a wonky setting (ok, you don't HAVE TO make your block wonky, but I highly recommend it!)

And guess what? The Texas Roadtrip sponsor, Aurifil, has offered up a fabulous giveaway for one visitor today. To win this great pack of Aurifil thread, leave a comment below. I will choose a winner this Friday, July 25....

Happy Travels friends! If you just found me today through the roadtrip, I hope you will come back and visit often. 

roadtrip

Yesterday, I went with my pals, Joellen and Marie, to a quilt show in Jefferson, TX. The drive was about 3 hours from Dallas, but it went by fast with these two. Lots of laughing and storytelling. We forgot to get a picture of the three of us until we were almost home and it was very dark, but here are Joellen and I taking a selfie at lunchtime...

 The quilt show was wonderful! There were so many beautiful quilts to look at and the few vendors that were there were all very good. I bought more than I probably should have. They also had the Hoffman Challenge quilts there to view. So beautiful! Here's a sampling of what we saw...

Marie had a booksigning and a talk to give. Have you read Marie's books? You really must! You can see them all on her website but I will say, her most recent novel, Between Heaven & Texas is my favorite. Marie's characters make you want to crawl inside the book and be their friend. And I'm not just saying that because Marie is MY friend! I can't wait for her new book to come out each spring (is it spring yet???)

While Marie was busy, Joellen and I had some time to wander into nearby shops and spend even more money. Jefferson is a quaint town with sweet antique stores, gift shops and even a general store. It was a lovely day which ended with Joellen and I watching a meteor shoot through the sky as we neared home. You just can't beat a good roadtrip now & then!

this and that...

My friend Diann and I went to Hobby Lobby looking for Valentine fabric and I came home with this....

An adorable little cabinet with four drawers to hold treasures. I just fell in love with it, and it was 50% off YAY! so it followed me home. I have no idea what I will keep in those little drawers? still thinking about that. Oh, by the way, the Valentine fabric at Hobby Lobby was, shall we say, unattractive? We didn't buy any. Luckily, on my recent trip to Phoenix Mom and I spent some time at Arizona Quilts and I found ADORABLE Valentine fabric. Which soon turned into a mug rug to swap at our next Modern Guild meeting. You'll have to wait to see that I'm afraid. But I can show you my painted letters!

My word of the year is painted and propped up in my sewing room where I will see it every day. Do you think I should paint letters for my past words? I am thinking they would be awesome hanging around the ceiling in my room? hmmmm this could happen...

shop update

In anticipation of the holidays (they're coming fast whether we like it or not!) I have stocked the ellyn's place etsy shop with fun bracelets made by me and my buddy Trae! 

 These fabric bangles with a bohemian flare are fun worn alone, or stacked in groups. We've used lots of repurposed materials and new and vintage beads and baubles to create one of a kind bracelets that would make great gifts for all of your girlfriends, the teens in your life, teachers, your mom (hi mom!). Well, you get the picture!

Here are some of my favorites....

 These two just look like a day at the beach to me....

 I hope you'll swing by the shop and check them all out! There are lots of different styles... something for everyone.

The holidays will be here before we know it!