Hello November??

Really? November already? Where has the time gone? I have not been blogging much due to the fact that I have not been sewing much. October has come and gone and aside from some Halloween costumes, I've barely gotten any sewing done. Hence the blog hiatus.


So you probably don't know that the Pillow talk Swap was on again, and today was actually our mailing deadline. This pillow has been a month or more in progress but it’s finally done and off to it’s new home. I hope you like it partner! It's kind of anthro-inspired. I had fun making it and I even got to try some creative paper piecing, a little hand embroidery (ok haven't done that in years)


EDITED 12/7
By now my partner John, QuiltDad has received his pillow and he likes foxes which is why I chose that theme. I used Sonja's (Artisania) paper pieced fox pattern to make the fox on the back of the pillow. You can find her patterns here.

Tumbling blocks with aqua and linen

Yet another tumbling blocks pillow, but this one will live in my house.

After the last pillow talk swap, the boys in the house were really loving the tumbling blocks design - they like everything that looks 3-D, so I decided to make another one.

This time I chose natural linen and aqua colors because they fit in well with the living room sofa and coordinate with the other existing pillows. I also used a gray linen and lots of different prints of aqua fabric.

I used 2" 60 degree triangles this time, so my blocks are a bit bigger. I also got to try out my new free motion quilting design which I've been practicing for the ORBC FMQ QAL ~ translation: Old Red Barn Company Free-motion Quilting Quilt-along led by Debbie Brown. ha! That's a mouthful! Here's a close-up...

And on a completely different note: I made key lime cupcakes using a recipe recommended by Emily of Crazy Old Lady quilts - I made cupcakes instead of a cake because we are on a cupcake kick at our house. OMG! So Yummy!! I modified the recipe by adding some lime zest to both the batter and the frosting oh and I used regular white cake mix because my store didn't carry lemon. Delish!! Try it out!

Happy Sewing and Baking!

Sunday Sewing ~ Riverbend

Another day, another pillow. Introducing Riverbend! ~ which is similar to the Earth and Sky pillow revamped back to my original color scheme.


I like this one a lot - probably the colors. This one will live happily on my living room sofa. It looks quite content in it's new home. Just in time for Turkey day company.

I decided to change up the pebble quilting using a contrasting thread - looks better like that. I also increased the gathers on the curved section, also improves the look to me.


Stay tuned for a little mini tutorial on how to make an stocking advent calendar wall hanging for the holidays ~ coming up this week!

Happy Sewing!

Hexie redux ~ Take 1

Hexagon shapes have hit, swept (and mopped up?) the online quilting world ~ they are everywhere these days. People, including yours truly, can't get enough of making these little paper-pieced shapes.

For me, they are a relaxing way to spend the evening with my family, much the same way as knitting used to occupy my time. But, as much as I enjoy making them, there is always the question of what to do with them in the end? Their classic use isn't for me - it's great, but not for me ~ too traditional.

So the question remains, what to do with all these little hexagons? I wanted something that would lend a modern feel and a fresh perspective? I have been thinking about this problem for a while now and have come up with a few answers to my own question. Here is the first one ~ a little hexie redux, Version 1.

You have already seen the beginnings of this project in this post. Here is the final version. All my hexies sewn up together and ready to be made into a pillow ~ the Walking in the rain pillow

Why a pillow? ~ Because I'm on a mission to redo all the toss pillows in our house. The Pillow talk swap was impetus enough to retire our boring plain pillows and come up with fabulous replacements. Reason two is because these are half inch hexies! That's a finished hexagon about 1" across and believe me, after hand-piecing 400 of these babies, I'm ready to be done. A pillow was about a big as this project was going to get.

It's black and white and grey as you can see, which is a "color" scheme I'm fond of in our house. Seems to be everywhere.

See?...

Fit's right in.

I threw in a little splash of color to stir things up a bit by appliqueing the little person walking in the rain and used some free-motion stitching to attach the applique.


Add some quilting and a back and it's a throw pillow!

Looks nice next to the Cathedral Mod pillow and the Mid Mod Quilt, no?

So there you have it! Hexie redux, part 1. Stayed tuned for part 2, coming in August.

Happy Sewing!