An Old UFO

During the summer months, I find I like to have some portable hand work available to work on.  I recently dug out an old English Paper Piecing project and made a bit of progress.

It appears I haven't worked on these since August of 2015!

I finished up another hexagon star.  This piece measures about 12" across.

So that means I now have a whopping 9 blocks finished.  I should probably come up with a better plan for color placement so I can assemble the blocks needed for completing the quilt.  And remember to put that plan in writing and place it in with the blocks.  I think my plan was to use the darkest gray blocks as an outside border with the orange stars in the center.

I have a long ways to go!

But maybe I can make a bit more progress this summer...

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A Cheering Up

No big finish this week but I do have a little finish that I thought I would share.

When I have a friend that is feeling blue, I like to be able to brighten their day with a little gift.  And because I hardly ever go shopping, I have to come up with a quick sewing project.

For this project, I just need an English paper pieced hexagon flower, a white cotton dishtowel and a bit of Best Press or starch.  (When I am in a store and I see white cotton dishtowels at a deep discount, I always bring them home with me.) 

It is hard to see in this photo but I press out the towel then iron in fold marks to aid in centering the flower.  I use Best Press to stiffen up the flower before I remove the papers.

Once I have the starched flower pinned to the towel, all I have to do is top stitch it down.  You can see the Best Press really keeps those edges folded under.  Another tip is to pull your bobbin thread up by taking a single stitch and then pulling on the top thread.  This will prevent those bird nests from happening in the back.

I think these make a cute little gift!

 And if a friend is feeling particularly blue, you can add a fun little matching potholder.

Happy Friday!

Linking Up:

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

TGIFF (Thank Goodness it is Friday Finish)

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish it up Friday)

Upcoming Events in Eugene Oregon

For all of you in the Eugene area, I just want to remind you that the Unbroken Thread annual quilt show hosted by the Pioneer Quilters is coming up soon.  The show will be held from April 5th through the 10th at the Lane County Historical Museum so be sure and mark your calendar.  

Now is the time to get in your entry information if you wish to show a quilt.  I am hoping you will be able to see my Pretty Gemstones quilt there. You may have seen it in the January McCall's Quilting magazine and I hope you get the chance to see it in person!.

And on Saturday March 19th, I will be teaching an English Paper Piecing class in Springfield at Our Sewing Room.  You can sign up for the class there or just contact me directly.  

It will be a fun afternoon so I hope you can join me!

Which reminds me, I really need to get back to this lovely EPP star block I am currently working on.  There is just not enough time......

Off to sew!

Taking Stock

I had some time this afternoon and rather than work on my scrap projects, I thought I would take stock in some of the other projects I have going on.

I have been staring at two empty design walls behind my longarm for weeks now.  They are a bit inconvenient to use as my sewing room is in another room but they are great for long term projects.  I thought putting up blocks from all my current projects would inspire me to work on them a bit more and maybe even complete a few of them!

I started by putting up the 10 blocks I have finished on my Park Bench quilt.  I only have 5 more blocks to go then it is on to the pieced backing.  This is one of those bucket list quilts and it is more important for me to finish it perfectly rather than quickly.  

This is my current leader/ender project.  It is just made from leftover charm squares and some bonus HSTs.  Not sure how many I will end up with or how I will set the blocks.  I am really loving the red in this one!

Out also came my english paper-pieced hexagon star blocks.   I have been so hot and exhausted each evening, I haven't worked on this all summer.  I see there is FINALLY rain in our forecast so maybe I will get in the mood to work on a block or two.

I also want to work on my basketweave paper pieced blocks again. (You can find the free pattern here.)  These blocks use tiny scraps, which I got tired of looking at so I cleaned them up.  I need to get them back out and get a few more blocks finished.

Unfortunately, I still have projects tucked away and I ran out of design wall!  And the two design walls in my sewingroom are full too.  Now I just need to decide what to work on!

At least I have a great view to look at while I am working!

Did I already say we might FINALLY get some rain?  I am really excited - we have not had any all summer and I miss it terribly!

Linking Up:

Patchwork Times

Blossom Heart Quilts

Sew Fresh Quilts
Freshly Pieced  

My Quilt Infatuation

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Some Slow Stitching

Sorry it has been a bit quiet around here...this has been a rough week for me.  By the time I get finished each day quilting on client quilts, there just hasn't been much energy left to sew on my own projects.  I really want to whine but I am the one who wrote my schedule!

Needless to say, I have been hitting the sofa in the evening and putting my feet up.  But in the little time that I have stayed awake, I have managed to finish up another english paper pieced hexagon star.

 Each block is fairly large - measuring 12" point to point.

With only 7 blocks finished to date, I still have a ways to go.  But it has been a nice project to have on hand when I need some nice hand stitching to relax with.

I hope to get back in my sewing room real soon!

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SewCanShe

Snowflakes on Christmas

For an entire year, there has been a finished quilt top sitting right next to my sewing machine and for an entire year I have worked around it.  In fact some of you may remember photos of the top I shared in June of 2013!  All it needed was to have the final papers pulled out, the sides trimmed and the edges stay-stitched.  But because it was a Christmas quilt, I felt I could always put it off for another day.  Exactly why I missed finishing it for last Christmas!

Well, a few days before this Christmas I finally got around to doing this 30 minute job and immediately got to quilting it up!.

Christmas Eve was spent cuddled under the quilt finishing up the last of the hand stitching on the binding.  (For the binding I simply used the excess backing - which is a great frosty feeling turquoise snowflake print.)

The quilt was all ready to relax with on Christmas day!

 Thankfully few of the fabrics in the quilt are Christmas themed so I can enjoy this quilt for the rest of the winter.  The colors will certainly brighten the gray rainy days we get here in Oregon.

 This quilt was english paper pieced using 2" hexagons so the top was all hand pieced.  I really enjoyed making all the separate snowflakes. Fitting them together to make the quilt top was like a big puzzle!

This quilt was the only item on my Q4 Finish Along list that I even spent any time on.  One of these years I am going to be on the ball and plan to finish my holiday projects earlier in the year.  In fact, maybe I should consider getting a few items on my Q1 list for the new year!


(A huge thanks to Katy at The Littlest Thistle for keeping me focused on finishing so many projects in 2014!)

 I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday filled with quilts and hugs to keep you warm!




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Confessions of a Fabric Addict

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Crazy Mom Quilts

The Littlest Thistle

Slow Progress

This month I am finding it harder and harder to find time to work on projects.  With lots of client quilts to finish before the holidays, classes to teach and household chores to finish up, I am lucky if I can get a couple hours of sewing in each week.

I did find some time to make a little progress on my alphabet blocks.  Even though letters up to "O" have been released, I am just getting around to finishing up the letter "J"

I was struck with some inspiration on how to finish up this set of blocks.  I decided to add a frame around each letter.  This meant I had to track down more scraps for the blocks I had already made.  Most of them I was able to locate but I am still searching for a few.  I might have to get a bit creative to get some blocks finished up!

.

I did finish up another of my english paper pieced stars.  Now I have a total of 6 finished...

and a whole lot more to go!

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Linking up:

Stitch by Stitch 

Patchwork Times

Freemotion by the River

Sew Fresh Quilts

Freshly Pieced 

Live a Colorful Life

Finish Along - Q4 Goals

I can't believe it is already time to get together my 4th quarter goals for Katie over at The Littlest Thistle for her Finish Along!  I really need to step it up this quarter.  I had only two finishes out of my list for last quarter.  And this quarter I need to add a few Christmas items on my list.

To make sure I can enjoy this english paper pieced snowflake quilt this winter, I still need to get this top trimmed and quilted up.  This has been laying around now for over a year.

 

 (sigh!) The curtains for my kitchen are still not sewn.  This project has been listed since the first quarter of this year.  It is one of the last items I need to finish for my kitchen.  I must really hate to sew curtains for them to take over a year to get to them!

And the last three items are some gifts I need to sew up.  I have no ideas on fabrics yet but I do know I want to make...

1.  A patchwork bathmat for a friend.  She just did a little remodel in her bathroom and I think it would make a cute gift with some matching towels.

2. My sister requested some batik placemats.  I think I will also make her some cloth napkins in some fun prints.

3. I want to make some sew together bags for some family members.  Okay...and maybe one for myself!

Well, that should keep me busy and out of trouble!.  I hope I can stay focused and complete all of these items this year so I can start the new year out with a clean slate!


(Thanks Katy at The Littlest Thistle for keeping me focused on finishing projects!)



If you are interested in more ways to follow me, you can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin', Feedly, Instagram, Google +, or get my blog sent right to your email inbox by entering your email address on the right sidebar!

Linking up:

Stitch by Stitch 

Patchwork Times

The Littlest Thistle

Mixing it up!

Lots of paper piecing to share today!

First, I finished up the 5th block of the Sew Kitschy series of paper piecing with Kristy over at Quiet Play.  My grandmother had one of these older mixer so I adore this block.  While her mixer was white,  I chose a fun swirling print for mine.

I have also been making progress on my English Paper Pieced stars.  Next I am going to make an orange star with a blue center to see if I want to sprinkle a few of them throughout the quilt top.  I think I am also going to use a slightly darker gray background in a few of the blocks just to add a bit of contrast.  What do you think?

 

...and I might have started another paper pieced project. (sigh...)  I somehow allowed myself to download this great Basketweave Star pattern by The ADD Crafter just to see what one tiny block would look like in jewel toned scraps.  I am now hooked and am working on more stars.  My plan is to make the gradation in each star different.

Hopefully these three projects will keep me occupied for a bit.  

I really don't need any more long term projects!

 

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Monday and Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday!!

 

And of course I am linking up with Kristy at Quiet Play.  If you think my mixer is cute, you should see some of the others!