Ticker Tape Mini

I made a Ticker Tape mini quilt! and I love it! and I want to make a hundred more!

Making this quilt was seriously fun because I got to use some small scraps that I just can't part with. Not as small as a scrap I shared on IG but fairly small. I have a lot of them, too, so I probably could make a hundred more.

I added a cross-stitch strawberry square I had tossed in the scrap basket. It turned out to be my favorite part.

This quilt totally validates my crazy tiny scrap saving. The thinnest piece is less than 1/2". It's the red/pink DS barbells up there in the left hand corner. I mean, how could you throw that away?

I'm linking up today with Crazy Mom Quilts (who thought up this super fun quilt) for Finish It Up Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Fall 2014

It's that time of year again! Amy is hosting another wonderful Blogger's Quilt Festival. It's always so much fun. I love seeing all of the gorgeous quilts that are entered!

I thought about what to enter and I decided to go with one of my favorites! I'm entering my Honey Bee quilt in the large quilts category.

I made the quilt for Benartex as part of a blog hop they had last year. I have tutorial for it HERE. The colors were so appealing to me because I made the quilt when everything was so drab outside.

The bee parts are appliqued by machine.

And I love the patchwork border! I really need to incorporate this into more of my quilts. It's more time consuming but I think it's worth the extra effort.

Thanks for reading! I'm off to enjoy the other quilts in the festival!

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

Embroidery ~ How to Make the Curved Text

I shared this embroidery I made last week on Instagram but I wanted to share it here and give some of the details about it. I was asked if I had a pattern for it and I don't but this is what I did.

I chose a font that I liked in MS Word. Typed out the words I wanted and then chose the insert tab, clicked on word art, chose one of these and then chose text effects. I then printed it out, centered it onto my fabric where I wanted the text, traced it onto the fabric. Easy Peasy. The rest I did free hand. I drew some stems but didn't stitch on all of them. This is why I LOVE the Frixion pens. I just ironed out the lines I didn't like.

The circular leaves and flowers are free hand, as I am sure you can tell, haha! but I enjoy embroidering this way. The French knot on my center flower is popping out. I hastily snipped a thread to close on the back. I think I am going to try the Colonial knot instead of French knots on my next project to see how that looks.

This embroidery was inspired by my little Echinacea plant. I left a beautiful Echinacea plant back in PA. So when we moved I started some plants from seeds. They sprouted and started to grow and then a storm blew the pot off the porch. So I salvaged what I could. Eventually, I had 3 puny little plants that were ready to be planted. I planted them next my porch. They grew some before the winter, so I was hopeful. In the spring they came back! I was really happy about that. This summer my father in law helped my husband build a roof over our porch and as hard as I tried my plants were trampled but I was getting a roof on my porch so I wasn't too upset. But then, one little plant was alive, a little battered but alive!!! It has grown to about 3 feet now and just bloomed too! You go, little Echinacea plant!!!

I hope that was somewhat helpful as a simple way to get the curved text. Of course you could just use a round object, trace the curves line and use your own writing on it. My handwriting is atrocious so, no, I don't do that. I don't have Photoshop which I think you can make a curved text using. I'm sure there are many options. This is just what worked for me.

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

:: Girly Mini Quilt ::

Have you seen Heather's art work? Besides quilting she is an awesome artist. She paints the cutest custom pictures of children. Check out her shop HERE! and her instagram HERE. Well, when I saw some of her paintings I immediately asked her if she would be able to paint me a picture I could use for my blog header.

She painted the picture that is my header now and I made her this mini for her little girls room. I stalked her Pinterest and saw that she had a Polaroid quilt pinned and I thought that would be really fun to make.

I used the idea but just came up with my own measurements for the blocks. The fussy cut centers are always fun. I stippled around each picture and then hand quilted each Polaroid.

Then I bound it with a favorite Liberty of London print. It's funny because while I was making the quilt I was thinking of stripes for the binding but my daughter suggested the Liberty and it was perfect.

I love my header! All of the details, the blue bird and strawberries, just perfect!!!! Thanks so much, Heather!

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

Fallish Things in the Appalachia

We've been enjoying the beautiful fall weather around here. The scenery isn't too shabby either. Along with taking pictures of the quilt barns I've been really interested in the old abandoned buildings in our area. I love this church. It still has the outhouses nearby. I kind of imagine people congregating here on a beautiful and bright Sunday morning and then those people get together to picnic nearby and eat fried chicken and other "down home" good foods. While smiling and enjoying each other's company, little kids running around laughing and playing. I think I watch too much Little House.

Here's an old farmhouse that I like too. It fits in just right with it's surroundings. I'm happy that these old buildings are still here and dot the landscape as we explore. I think it's the part of me that gets sad when old buildings are torn down to make new ones or worse yet, a parking lot ( I know, I sound like a Joni Mitchell song). These are allowed to just be. They're a little piece of someone's history. Maybe it was good, maybe it was bad. I don't know. I always imagine it good though.

This is what most of the roads look like. Seriously... just ask my mother in law. A GPS will not take you to most places around here and if you aren't from here, don't have a map or a good sense of direction you will get lost. My husband has a great sense of direction but sometimes we like to get lost on purpose.

There are hills and hollers galore. I wish my pictures could do it justice. God is good! His creation is beautiful.

Oh, yeah, did anyone lose a goat or five?

Happy Sewing (and exploring)!
xo Erin

:: The Featherweight ::

I thought for a few minutes about what to title this post... The Cutest Machine Ever, Me and My Featherweight, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways, The Only Sewing Machine I'll Ever Want For the Rest of My Life... finally I just went with The Featherweight.

I got my little 1964 "Pale Turquoise" ( aka white, sometimes celery) 221K Singer Featherweight over the summer. I've been wanting to share about her here since then but haven't been able to get the greatest pictures. I thought I'd share what I have anyway so please forgive the color variances.

I had wanted a Featherweight for years and the first time I saw a white FW was in Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing book in 2009. I fell in love. It's taken some time for everything to work just right to be able to get one i.e. money, the right machine, agreeable hubby, etc. I am so glad it finally did!!!

I "researched" these machines for a couple of years. Meaning every time it seemed like I might be able to get one I'd read all I could about them and what to look for when buying one. I searched google, ebay, craigslist and etsy. I saw one on ebay over the summer that was in great condition. It had all of the attachment, manual and case. I bid on that one and lost at the last minute. I had a max. bid and was not going to go over it. Now, I have purchased fabric from ebay using the buy now option but I have never bid on anything. Using the max bid option was a good idea to keep from going over your limit. Needless to say I was pretty bummed out.

I thought I'd lost my chance for sure. But my husband is full of surprises!!! We found my machine shortly after (still on ebay). She was beautiful. The only scratches she had were on the motor casing. She came with a case but no extra attachments nor a manual. I was fine with that. The manual can be download free on-line and a few attachments I have for my 99K fit her (I have free-motion quilted with her already ♥). She went for much less than the first one I had bid on which made me (and my husband) very happy!

I really am very happy with this little machine. Although, I do have her case I had to dress her up with a cute cover! I found the free pattern for this featherweight tote HERE.

The machine fits perfectly into the tote and then fits perfectly into the machine's hard case. It's a fun and pretty way to protect it from scratches and wear & tear.

I'd like to share some tips and resources I've come across that have been helpful both in selection and maintenance of my machine. I have to get a some better pictures with the case also. Maybe some up close pictures of the machines parts. I hope that's not too boring for some of you. It's just that I found posts like that so helpful for reference when learning about these machines. So I'm not sure if it will be my next post but soon I will have an informative FW post.

Another thing I want to mention while I'm here is I am not getting many of my blog comment notifications anymore so I'll be checking in here and answering questions and replying in the comments. Plus I think that answering questions openly like that benefit other readers. If you need or want to talk with me privately feel free to continue to email. Thanks!

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

ETA: I made a flickr group to celebrate the Singer Featherweight! If you want to add a picture of your machine go HERE!!!

Quilty Fun's 1st Birthday Party!!!

We are having a party! Today Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet and Fat Quarter Shop are celebrating the 1st birthday of Lori's fabulous first book Quilty Fun.

Lori has created this super cute birthday block for the occasion. You can download the instructions for the block HERE!

I had fun picking fabrics for the block. Of course, I had to use some of Lori's fabrics! My daughter kept commenting how cute the block was when I was making it. She just had a birthday and she got a mandolin. I am going to turn the block into a little tote bag for her to keep some of her guitar and mandolin accessories.

I also pulled some fabric to finally get started on this adorable Apple-licious quilt from Quilty Fun! I love this quilt and can't wait to get started on it!

Be sure to check out the other birthday blocks and download the free pattern HERE!
And the book is available for purchase HERE!

Have a great day!

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

Christmas Keepsakes Blog Tour and a Giveaway!

 

Hi there! Today is my stop on Shabby Fabric's Christmas Keepsakes blog tour. Christmas Keepsakes is the newest Block of the Month quilt from Shabby Fabrics. The quilt measures 36" x 36" and features nine Christmas applique blocks. They offer a choice of traditional or laser cut  and pre-fused applique kits with the border, backing and all of the embellishments are included for this 10 month program. Christmas Keepsakes begins in January 2015 and runs through October 2015, giving you time to complete it before Christmas!     

Shabby Fabrics asked if I'd like to make a couple blocks from the quilt. I was more than willing when I saw the quilt! The blocks are adorable. I have made a few Christmas quilts over the years but they have always been gifts for someone. I think I'm going to make the whole BOM and have this as my family's Christmas quilt. Honestly, I was so excited when the package for the blocks came I didn't even snap a picture of all of the elements in the package. I opened mine up and started making them right away.

I love the swirly lollipop! Isn't it the cutest thing?!

And the candy cane is just as cute!
I've done a lot of applique but never with the pre fused laser cut pieces like this. I really loved using them. It was so nice to not have to trace and cut everything first. I had my blocks fused to the backgrounds in no time.

I taped my paper and block to my light box (a.k.a. my window) to trace the embroidery lines. Then I sat down to stitch everything.

I started by using my machine using a straight stitch. I think it looked good but after embroidering the little lines I wanted to hand stitch all of the block. I used 3 strands of embroidery floss for mine. I absolutely love them!!!

Make sure to stop by each of the blogs below for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Shabby Fabrics!!! Then stop by Shabby Fabrics blog tomorrow the 10th for a chance to win too! So leave a coment below for a chance to win!!! and visit the other too!!!

Here is a list of the other ladies on the blog tour:

 

Tuesday, October 7th

Paula @ The Sassy Quilter

Erin @ Stay at Home Mummy

Karin @ Leigh Laurel Studios

Wednesday, October 8th

Melissa @ Happy Quilting

Kristyne @ Pretty by Hand

Thursday, October 9th

Erin @ Why Not Sew?

Caroline @ SewCanShe

Happy Sewing!!
xo Erin

Indian Summer Maple Leaf Quilt and a Giveaway!

Today I am participating in the Benartex Feels Like Fall blog hop. Check out my tutorial for this Maple Leaves Quilt on their blog Sew in Love {with Fabric} using their Indian Summer and Burlap fabric. Don't forget to comment here to enter to win a fat quarter bundle of the fabric!!!

Be sure to check out the other great projects by these talented folks on the blog tour!!!

Day 1: Kelly from My Quilt Infatuation featuring the Harvest Song collection
Day 2: Christina from Sometimes Crafter featuring the Spooktacular collection
Day 3: Melissa from My Fabric Relish featuring the Daily Zen collection
Day 4: Benartex blog design team featuring the Fall Festival collection
Day 5: Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts featuring the Spooktacular collection
Day 6: Erin from Why Not Sew featuring the Indian Summer collection


Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

Fun Things Going On...

I hope you will join me this week for a couple of fun blog hops I'm participating in.

Tomorrow October 8th, I'll have a tutorial posted on Benartex's Sew in Love {with Fabric} blog with a fat quarter bundle giveaway on my blog.

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Thursday October 9th, I'll have some super cute blocks to show you for the Christmas Keepsakes Blog Tour for Shabby Fabrics and a $25 gift certificate giveaway.

I also wanted to mention Fat Quarter Shops new 2015 Quilt-Along. The Snapshots Quilt-Along will be benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Their Quilt Along has 12 traditionally pieced picturesque (novelty) blocks that capture and celebrate moments of happiness in our lives.

The Quilt Along officially starts January 15^th, 2015 and they will release the first block pattern on the 15^th of each month for the rest of 2015. All they ask from the participants is to donate to St. Jude every time they download their patterns.Fat Quarter Shop and Moda Fabrics will match up to $10,000 from our donations for a total of $20,000. To read more about this quilt along, please visit their blog:
http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/2014/09/meet-our-2015-quilt-along.html

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a wonderful organization. It's one that I try to donate to whenever possible. So I am loving the idea behind this Quilt-Along.

I hope to "see" you this week for some fun sewing projects! I also want to catch up soon and show you my new baby... she's a featherweight!  Hope all is well where you are. Have a good night!

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin