Happy Flower Quilts Blog Hop and Book Giveaway

Hello! I am SO happy to be a part of the Happy Flower Quilts blog hop! If you aren't familiar with Happy Flower Quilts it's a book written by the incredibly talented master quilter, fabric designer, pattern designer and author Atsuko Matsuyama. The original book has long been a favorite and highly sought after by many quilters and makers for years.

The wonderful people at Zakka Workshop  have reprinted an English version of the book which is so exciting to be able to finally get to see this beautiful book up close.

It was so hard to pick a project for this blog hop. I want to make everything in his book, twice :)! I decided to make the sewing kit and also the lunch tote!

I'll share the sewing kit first. Here are some progress pics I shared on Instagram. I hand-pieced most of the kit. These sweet little 2" spools were such a fun way to use the littlest bits of precious scraps.

 I enjoyed all the handwork this project offered. I find projects like this so satisfying.

I changed my mind about a million times throughout making this. You can see that I changed out the yellow fabric I had intended to use for this pink fabric. I just wasn't loving the yellow as much as I thought I would for this project even though it's one of my favorite prints. I'm really happy with the pink.

The outside of the kit has all of these sweet touches to it.... applique, embroidery, embellishments and quilting.

Every detail is pure joy for me! I'm learning to embrace all the flaws and just enjoy making.

The lining fabric is an older Lecien print. It reminds me of vintage wallpaper. Love, love, love!!!

Okay, now the inside! whoa, boy, do I love the inside! ( I missed ironing away a frixion pen line near the zipper in these pics and my zipper is a wobbly mess. okay moving on..)

The pincushion is so little and so cute! It's really interesting to see how all these little elements are constructed in the book.  

The next thing that took just a little extra time was the pouch But isn't it just the cutest little thing?! Fun embroidery stitches, hand quilting, cute fabric scraps. Good, good stuff! 

I crocheted a scalloped trim for the flap. Just to give it a little something special.

To hold them in the sewing kit I used magnetic snaps for both the pincushion and pouch.

I changed the position of the tape (trim) that holds the scissors and pen to fit my needs. 

I used the tiniest scraps to piece together the scissors holder. 

I added a few more goodies, the necessities... my needles and seam ripper which I used quite a bit while making this kit. I ripped the zipper and binding out a few times and you can probably tell. I'm heavy handed and tend to pull things tight when I'm hand sewing. I'm still very happy with it.

I saw Krystine had the cutest zipper pull on her sewing kit. I remembered my dear friend Elnora had given me this pretty zipper pull a couple of years ago. SO, I put it on my kit. More love!

Are you still with me? I hope so! Here's my second make from the book. Lecien generously sent me Atsuko Matsuyama's adorable strawberry fruit handle as well as the new Retro 30's fabrics! 

I just HAD to make the cute little lunch tote! I knew I wanted to use some yellow since I didn't end up using it in the sewing kit. I also knew I had to use those petite strawberry prints! of course! For the tape/trim accent I used a piece of vintage ribbon I've had for ages. I think it was a good match! The cording in both projects was from my daughter. It's pretty neat that she has a stash of crafting supplies.

I love the florals in the line and this one just tied all the colors together. I machine quilted the exterior panel pretty densely at less that 3/4" apart.

Here's one last shot. Seriously, these strawberry handles are so cute! I sewed mine on with 3 strands of matching floss using a back-stitch.

Whew! Now for some fun, Zakka Workshop is going to give a copy of Happy Flower Quilts to one of you! All you have to do is leave a comment below. 

And here is the list of other bloggers participating in the blog hop! Everything I have seen so far has been fabulous! I'm always blown away by the talent in this quilting community!
And there is a Happy Flower Quilts quilt along starting March 6th! Check out Krystine's (Pretty by Hand), Wynn's (zakkaart) or Melissa's ( ohhowsweetco )blogs for more details. (links below)

January

23	Krystine@prettybyhand	prettybyhand.com
25	Lisa	@aspoonfulsugar	aspoonfulofsugardesigns.com
27	Sarah	@Sarahedgarprettyfabrictrims	alittlehappyplace.blogspot.co.uk
30	Minki	@zeriano	minkikim.com
February
1	Heidi	@fabricmutt	fabricmutt.blogspot.com
3	Clara	@claralovestosew	Instagram Only
6	Ange	@alittlepatchwork	alittlepatchwork.wordpress.com
8	Erin	@whynotsewquilts	whynotsew.blogspot.com
10	Lauren	@transientart	transientart.com
13	Sedef	@downgrapevinelane	downgrapevinelane.com
15	Ayda	@cafenohut	cafenohut.blogspot.com
17	Renee	@sewnwithgrace	sewnwithgrace.com
20	Heather	@vintagegreyhandmade	vintagegreyhandmade.blogspot.com
22	Melissa	@ohhowsweetco	ohhowsweet.com
24	Greg	@greydogwoodstudio	greydogwoodstudio.com
27	Stacy	@stacyolsondesign	stacyolsondesign.com
March
1	Wynn	@zakkaart	zakkaart.blogspot.com