Wow. I’ve done it again. Made a block to mail off that I like so much I don’t want to send it…. The last one was Tine’s Sew Connected 2 block. This one is being sent to Victoria in NYC for her Pixie Dust Gather charity quilt.
That is what I made last night. Love the lime green, and this is some great quality fabric. I’m also enjoying my birthday present that came in the big brown truck this week:
A new accessory for Pfannie the Pfaff. It’s a Dreamworld Sew Steady Table, 18″ x 24″ that gives me a large, level surface to hold what I’m sewing on while it moves through the presser feet. I can’t wait to try it while free-motion quilting!
Happy Sewing, friends!
Monthly Archives: July 2009
A Dancing Frog in Deer Valley
Wow, if that post title doesn’t pique your curiousity, nothing will. My brother sent me these photos of my niece, Matti’s (age 5) dancing frog. How could I not share them?!
Yes, it is a real frog. And, yes, it is still alive. Apparently it had a date, but he escaped before Matti could force him to dance. The “girl frog” danced the afternoon away on a miniature parquet dance floor—nothing but the best for our Iowa frogs—in a skirt borrowed from Polly Pocket. I can just picture Matti working to get that skirt on him/her. You might think Matti has no actual toys, but I assure you that is not the case. Just a very unique and active imagination… as my brother puts it, “she is somethin’ else.”
And now for the Deer Valley, a block I made for Emily in my Sew Connected 2 group…the design inspired by the motifs in the fabric line…
Miranda Squared
When I listed my UFOs last year, two of them included handbags made from Lazy Girl’s Miranda Day Bag pattern. I inished them both, and showed them to the world here. And here. This is the one I made for myself. 
It gets a lot of attention, and I’ve been asked by many people to make a bag for them after seeing this one. I made one as a store sample for the shop I worked at part-time:
It turned out really cute and is made from In the Beginning fabrics. I even had the chance to practice my stipple quilting on it…
And my Mom picked out fabric for a bag of her own…
The Moda fabric that makes up the main part of this bag was her inspiration, it is not my style, but I had fun quilting the design (sorry, no good photos of the quilting but it follows the clamshell shape and the paisley pattern).
This is a great bag pattern, it also comes in a Mini-Miranda size. I make mine “mini” by just reducing the pattern as I go. So of the four that I’ve made, each is slightly different in size and shape ’cause I make it up as I go. I could probably make these blindfolded by now. But I suppose using the rotary cutter blindfolded might be a little dangerous…
You’ve Gotta Have Fri-e-nds….
I hope you read that title in the tune of the Bette Midler song that I’m borrowing it from…anyway, I have a new stitching friend, another fabulous Australian crafter, Jan, who was my partner in the F-R-I-E-N-D-S Swap. The idea was to send an item (or two or three) that represented each letter of the word “friends” to a new swap/blog/internet friend that you were matched up with. Psst….in case you couldn’t tell, I made a great match! ;->
This is what I received this week from Jan:
Lovely gift wrapping with a handmade tag on each one…(My birthday came a few days early!)
And all the lovely loot…
F is for Fat Quarter Bag in green batik (made from the free Buttercup Bag pattern) and Fabric. I don’t think Jan knew how much I’ve been coveting the Emperor’s Garden “Day in the Country” fabric (the pink one) that is not available in the states, so I was elated to see a piece of that! She also included a floral fabric of the Waratah Flower that grows in the bush of New South Wales. The card she sent also had this same waratah flowers on it. Like no flower I’ve ever seen!
R is for Reading, she sent me a collection of bookmarks and a Reusable tote from the library she works for. We share a love of reading.
I is for Indulgence (the chocolate!) and a Inspiration in the form of the Prints Charming bird panel (I love bird designs!) And it’s in aqua, one of my favorite colors!
E is for Easy Peasy Stitching Purse…again in the lovely A Day in the Country fabric! My little ginghers scissors will fit perfectly in there. This is going directly into my hand sewing/embroidery bag that get’s taken along everywhere!
N is for your Nose, she made a green batik tissue cozy for my new purse (above!) and sent a lovely lace trimmed soft cotton hanky. I must have commented about my sinus problems here sometime or she just has a sixth sense and knows I go nowhere without my tissues!
D is for Drink coasters made with a fun flip-flop fabric, which she told me are called jandals in New Zealand (See I even learned a few things with thise gift!) and S is for Scarf, and absolutely lovely, soft, delicious, GREEN, fun and funky scarf that its’ far too warm to enjoy right now but will be an everyday staple of my wardrobe this Winter!
See, didn’t she do well?
This is what I sent to Jan:
A Fat Quarter of Novelty Notions Fabric…Red Ric-Rac tied with a Red Ribbon…Inspiration and Ideas in an Iowa-born quilting publication (It’s published less than five miles from my house!)…Mary Engelbriet Recipe for Friendship charm pack…Extra Notions for use with her new pincushion…a Dress Form Doll Quilt…and a Sweet Slice Pincushion...
This was so much fun, and I feel I have a new long distance friend for life…
you, Jan, oh so much!
Let Them Eat Cake
July is my birthday month, and it’s also the birthday of three of my Quilt Guild Small Group friends, my younger brother, two first cousins, my Brother-in-law, one of my best friends from graduate school, my boss…and probably another handful of friends and family who I’m not recalling right now.
Mine is this week, and it is a biggie…with a 4 in it. Anyhoo, what better time to whip up some sweetness, and share a slice of birthday cake with some of these sweet people… And, since I’m eating healthy, why not share a calorie free slice of cake?
This pattern was in a recent issue of Quilts & More magazine, it’s called the Sweet Slice Pincushion. Cute, huh? 
I’ve made five of these so far this month for gifts. It took me about the same amount of time to make four of them in assembly line fashion as it did to make the first one by itself. So, it was just a matter of getting used to the pattern.
I can already tell I’m going to have to make more of these throughout the year…and I haven’t made one for myself…
Just looking at them sort of makes me hungry for something sweet…
Go ahead, help yourself to a piece of cake…and have a sweet day!
Haunted Hexagons
One might get the impression I’ve become a little obsessed with hexagons, but the truth is, this project was suggested to me, and done as a sample for the shop. Thus the Halloween project post on the heels of Independence Day.
This is the full shot of the sneak peek I shared with you following last weekend’s retreat…
It is a LARGE table runner (24″ x 56″) made from this book from Anka’s Treasures:
Instead of using 2.5″ strips, I used the striped fabric from this line for Lyndhurst Studios by Northcott. It’s called Trick or Treat Street and is by designer Sheri Beary.
There is a lot of variety in the stripe coordinate I used, so each block is very different…
I adore these silly little ghosts with their names running along the edge of the stripe.
The orange gingham style fabric I used for the accent blocks is actually from a civil war reproduction line…not sure what line or company it is, but it was a perfect orange for the “tangerine flavored” oranges in the striped fabric.
This is what I used for the backing, from my stash purchased sometime last fall. I love Halloween color combinations and imagery. The quilting was done with a black/grey/white variegated thread…just a simple outline around the pieced hexagons, and a spider web in the orange accent blocks. I’m pretty happy with the way this one turned out. Only now, I need a larger table to display it, my table is a small drop-leaf vintage table that only extends to maybe 42″ x 42″ at it’s largest…I’m sure I can find another way to display this though! Or, maybe I need to make a smaller one and give the big one away as a gift….
