Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade - 2016

I love a good parade!!!

You may have noticed that I love a good pincushion, too.

It's time for the Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade,

and I'm joining up!

YOU can join, too!!!
There are lots of great prizes to be won,
and you'll get a chance to make new pinnie friends.

This would be a very long post indeed if I were to share

ALL of my pincushions,

but I'll showcase a few of my favorites.
If you click the links, you can see more details about each pinnie.

Here's one I made from the Zakka Style Sew Along.
I loved seeing how others used the same simple pattern,
creating dozens of beautiful interpretations.

In my opinion, the best pincushion tutorial ever written
was for the Cathedral Window Pincushion
by GoGo Kim. 

I made my first one from the puppy prints
of Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey for Moda.

I've made literally dozens of these,
usually in batches of 3 or 4.
This set was a favorite of mine, made this year.

I can't stop...they are like my "comfort" food.
I make them whenever I just need to create something pretty,
for my own happiness.

I like to give them as gifts,
and you may see them popping up in Blogland sometimes.

I also love to sell them in my shop on Etsy.
I LOVE making them as a custom order.

My Susan Branch pincushions are just as much fun to make.
This one is mine to keep and use.

I've made lots more to give and sell.

Before you ask...I don't have a source for any more of the
Susan Branch images. Maybe someday, she'll make more!
Wouldn't that be awesome?!?!?!?!?
They are truly amazing and add so much to a little pinnie.

Have you heard of the Skinny Pinnie???
I hosted a swap for these, and it was super fun!
Here's the one I received...so precious,
with teensy handstitched hexies in adorable prints!!!

And here's the one I sent to my partner.

Pinnies are one of my favorite gifts to receive.
My sister from Susie's Sunroom made this pincushion for me,
and I use it all the time, as one of my main pinnies.
I station 3 or 4 of them around the room while I sew.

I fully intend to make many more pincushions.
You can never have too many!

I hope you enjoyed my entry in the 
Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade.
Be sure to visit all of the other posts to see
some fabulous pinnies!
There's still time to link up to join the parade!

On a personal note...

As a proud band mom,

I get the chills as I see our high school band

marching down the hill toward the football stadium.

The drum cadence grabs everyone's attention,

and we watch 200 musicians and bandfront marching onto the field.

This year, one of our sons is a drum major,

which makes it super fun to be a band mom.

As another anniversary of September 11 passes,
I am so thankful that my sons have been able to participate
in lots of traditionally patriotic events like parades.
I hope the American flag will always hold meaning in their hearts,
and that they will always appreciate the freedom that it represents.

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Project Sweetwater - Solids - Part I

Hello, Friends!

 Earlier this summer I got a fun box in the mail,

from Project Sweetwater.

Even though I ordered it for myself,

it was very exciting to have it delivered.

Inside, I found all of the things that were promised,

and a few little fun surprises.

The star of the show was this amazing

bundle of solids, curated by the girls of Sweetwater.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of it...

this bundle looks so smart and inviting,

yet I hated to unwrap that pretty ribbon.

There was a project booklet filled with tempting blocks

that could be created from these awesome colors.

Oh, yes...I had to open the bundle and get started.

I love the simple graphic designs of the projects.

I'm taking my time, since my hand is still not strong,

but this is good therapy.

I'm sharpening my skills,

and next time I'll show you some things I've discovered

about sewing with accuracy.

Until then...

enjoy another pretty bundle photo!

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Reproduction of a Reproduction Quilt - Part 2

Hello, Friends!

Today I'll wrap up my story about my 

Aunt Grace Through the Year quilt.

Quilts, actually.

I loved this one so much that I made it twice.

You can read about the first quilt here,

and the second one here.

Do you love chain piecing?

{Thank you, Eleanor Burns, for teaching me how!

My mom doesn't even sew, but she went with me to a

Log Cabin Quilt in a Day class when I was in college.
To this day, I use lots of the information I learned from that class!}

Here's the heap of Dresden blades I made,

using chain piecing.

Never fear...here's how they look when they're untangled!

Here's my happy place...

stitching the prepared blades into pairs.

The plates look positively yummy in a stack.

They're super sweet when they're fanned out, too.

Each plate represented one calendar month.

Fortunately they don't take nearly a month to create!

I fussy cut the center circles, to show off the theme for each month.

My sewing machine has a great blanket stitch

for the applique step.

I chose to use neutral thread for every block.

I hope I'll make another Dresden quilt someday...

if only to take the glamour shots using a pretty cake plate!

I think that's my favorite subject to photograph!

If you liked this quilt, you might also enjoy

the post about my Winter Dresden Quilt being stitched together...

and the post about the finished Winter Dresden Quilt.

Stop by again any time!

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Reproduction of a Reproduction Quilt - Part 1

Hello, Friends!

Today I'm sharing a story

about a quilt I made a long time ago,

relatively speaking...back in 2003...

using reproduction fabrics called

Aunt Grace Through the Year.

I posted about my Aunt Grace quilt here,

and one of my readers contacted me to ask

if I could reproduce my own quilt for her.

She had all of the required fabrics...

she'd saved them with the intent of making her own quilt.

She decided she would love to have me create a new quilt for her, 

just like the one I'd shown on my blog.

I agreed to this arrangement,

because I really loved making this quilt the first time around.

Having those exact prints available

made it easy...no scavenger hunting to find OOP and rare fabrics.

This was an unusual challenge...

I had a few things to overcome, as I made this version.

1.

I didn't have a pattern for my first Aunt Grace quilt!

It took some "trial and error", but

eventually I was able to make my template

for the little Dresden plates,

so that they would finish at the proper size.

2.

My first quilt was hand-quilted...by me.

Initially, we had agreed that I would hand-quilt

this one as well.

Oh, boy...what a difference 13 years makes!

I tried to hand-quilt this, but I seem to have

lost my knack somehow!

I.Could.Not.Do.It.

I looked at the 2003 quilt and could barely

believe that I'd done all of that quilting by hand.

Now, in 2016...I couldn't seem to get that needle through all of the layers,

no matter what tools and needles I tried.

There had to be a solution...

here I was with this nice quilt top,

and it just cried out for me to machine quilt it.

We agreed to this drastic change in plans...

and in practically no time, 
I was finished with the machine quilting.

I have to say that I can't decide which one I love most.

The hand-quilted one is wonderful for sentimental reasons.

It reminds me of a place in my creativity where I used to be...

and will probably not be able to visit again,

except through projects like this one.

I get an equivalent sense of pride from the newer,

machine-quilted one.

Thirteen years ago, I could never have made THIS one.

I'm happy that my friend Kathy reached out to me,

to see if I might travel back in time

to recreate a quilt I've loved for a long time.

It was super sweet of her to let me

put a little bit of 2016 into this reproduction quilt, too!

I plan to put up another post soon,
with some photos of the making of the new version.
I think you'll enjoy them...here's a taste!

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Norway Mini Quilt

Hello, Friends!

While I'm waiting for my hand to mend,

I'd like to share a project that I had made earlier this summer.

It's a mini quilt,

made from the Thimbleblossoms pattern called Norway.

Photo credit: Thimbleblossoms Big Cartel shop

I purchased a kit for this project from Connecting Threads.

It came with everything I needed.

In fact, aside from the background, there was enough fabric

left over to make another one!

Photo credit: Connecting Threads website

This kit is still on sale, and if you need a little pick-me-up,

I highly recommend this fun kit.
I enjoyed practicing some free motion quilting.

All the small pieces present a bit of a challenge,

but that made it a great opportunity

to sharpen my sewing skills.

I love Nordic themed projects

that can be used for Christmastime

and beyond.

It feels great to have my Norway mini quilt

all ready for winter decorating!

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