Hands and Pot Holders

Hello, friends!

How's your summer?

Mine has been rather too eventful for my taste.

We've had some scary health issues in my family,

and yesterday I joined in the drama by breaking my left hand.

{Sad face}

Still, I'm counting my blessings:

1. There was no blood involved.

2. It isn't my dominant hand.

3. We had just returned from a fun vacation...

which is how I tripped over the suitcase and broke my hand,

while carrying a large basket of...

4. CLEAN laundry.

{Happy face}

l 

Now let's get back to some sewing news...

prior to the Laundry Accident I'd been busy making pot holders!

I really love the Pretty Little Potholder tutorial,

expertly written by Amy at nana Company blog.

I pulled some lime green and cheery red prints from my stash
and whipped up this set in no time.

Cherries make such a sweet kitchen theme, don't they?
I had a piece of fabric called Oh-Cherry-Oh from 
Me and My Sister for Moda.
Delicious!!!

The red and white binding fabric was from the same line.
I used it for the adorable ruffle, too.

The green plaid is from Sugar Hill by Tanya Whelan.
I often use a Frixion pen to mark my quilting lines,
but this diagonal plaid made it really easy to create a grid design.

Tags are fun to create,
especially if you have some fun Japanese ribbon for detail.

Here's the other tag.

The finished pot holders make a great gift
that is functional and fresh.

I love the way every set made from this tutorial looks so different.

Here's another pair I made for a new bride

with a country kitchen.

The fabrics are from Dandelion Girl, by Fig Tree Quilts.
I'm still enjoying the fat quarter bundle I bought to make this quilt.

I made the pair of pot holders similar, but different.
One features gingham, and the other has a pretty tonal leaf print.

The colors are soft and understated,
so I left out the tag detail.

The squishy quilting will make baking even more fun.

That ruffle detail adds romance and style.

Soon I'll be sharing more pot holders and other projects...
I can blog with one hand tied behind my back!

Be careful out there, everyone!

Social Butterfly Mini Quilt

Beautiful butterflies are one of the best parts of summertime!

They inspired me to stitch a new mini quilt

called "Social Butterfly".

This pattern was designed by Lella Boutique.

I first fell in love with this project

when I watched the YouTube video

hosted by Fat Quarter Shop,

which featured the full-size version of the quilt.

You can see that project and lots of other

inspiration on the Lella Boutique blog.

I was looking for instant gratification,

so I was super happy to see that the pattern

was available in the "mini" size,

in a downloadable PDF format.

I got started as soon as the file was delivered

to my email account!

I chose some favorite prints from a

Riley Blake line called The Cottage Garden,

created by The Quilted Fish.

I've used this fat quarter bundle a lot,

 most recently to make this little pincushion.

Before long, I had my pieces cut out for the block.

Usually I like to do my cutting in the evening,

then stitch my projects another day, when I have more time.

At first, I was a bit disappointed in myself,

for not choosing fabrics with lots of contrast.

Once my little butterfly was completely finished,

though, I learned to love her more each time I see her.

So...quilting is always a challenge, right?

"Quilt as desired," the patterns always say...

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Since this was a mini quilt,

I let myself go and tried something new...

free motion pebbles.

This was not within my comfort zone,

but I'm really glad I tried it for something I intend to keep.

I like to think I did an "okay" job with it...

my husband actually admires the rich texture.

I don't plan to do this pebble quilting any more, though.

Why? Two big reasons:

1 - I don't prefer heavily quilted projects,

because they interfere with the feel and drape of the fabric.

The thread can also sometimes interfere with the fabrics,

in my opinion.

2 - This. Took. Forever.

And it's only a MINI quilt!

My patience wore thin, and I was afraid

my circles would grow bigger and bigger,

 just so I could finish it.

{Note to self: try making bigger circles on even a smaller project.}

All the same,

I'm very happy with my pink and teal butterfly,

all bound in a tonal print from V and Co's Color Theory line for Moda.

Can you see my little faux pas?
I forgot to create a hanging sleeve!

In my rush to photograph,

I just used some Clover Wonder Clips to attach  my mini

to the cute little display frame.

I have a strip of binding left over that I'll add to the back,

to finish it off more professionally.

I loved making this pattern,

and I hope to use it again to make more pretty butterflies.

Mini quilts are great gifts...

if you can bear to part with them!