Happy New Year

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2015!

Snapshots Quilt Along with Fat Quarter Shop

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Mine was just wonderful and relaxing. I can't believe the new year is just around the corner. I've been mulling over some quilts I want to finish and start in the 2015. I'm excited to start sewing along with Fat Quarter Shop and their Snapshots quilt. The quilt looks so cute and they are using Daysail by Bonnie and Camille which I am so excited to see in person. There is more info on the QAL HERE with pictures of all of the month's adorable blocks. Basically, For this QAL, Fat Quarter Shop is releasing the first pattern and video tutorial on January 15^th, 2015, and all the other patterns and videos on the 15^th of every month.

Although the pattern download is free every month they are encouraging everyone to donate at least $5 to St. Jude’s, here is the donation link:

http://www.fatquartershop.com/donate-to-st-jude

 If you've read my blog for a long time I've mentioned how close St. Jude's is to my heart. I am so happy that the donations from this QAL are going to such a wonderful place. Moda is going to match up to $10,000 in donations raised too!!! That's awesome!

I watched the introduction video with Kimberly, Bonnie and Camille and I started balling like a baby. Hearing Bonnie speak really touched me. HERE is the link for the video if you'd like to watch it.

Fat Quarter Shop is currently taking pre-orders for Quilt Kits and Backing sets. These kits will ship early February.http://www.fatquartershop.com/moda-fabric/daysail-bonnie-cammille-moda-fabrics/ 

So are you participating in the QAL? What fabric are you going to use? If you are sewing along you can share on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or you blog of your Work in Progress and finished blocks on every 15^th of the month as well.  Don’t forget to use the hashtag #fqssnapshots for your posts so that people can find them!

_{Here is a list of quilty people who are going to be sharing their blocks every month!} 

Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms

Bonnie Olaveson of Cotton Way
Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet

Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life

Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting

Thelma Childers of Cupcakes N' Daisies

Pam Viera-McGinnis of Pam Kitty Morning

Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs
Stephanie Kendron of The Modern Sewciety

Natalia Bonner of Piece N Quilt
Greg Jones of Grey Dogwood Studios
Jessie Fincham of Messy Jesse

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing all the blocks being made.

 

Happy Sewing!

xo Erin

Merry Christmas

I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

xo
Erin

My Book Cover

Good Morning!!! Today I'm so excited that I get to share with you all the cover of my book! Isn't it cute? Wow, this has been such a surreal experience for me, so far, and I am sure the feeling will continue through out the rest of this adventure. I can't wait to be able to share more details with you. I absolutely will as soon as I can.  I do know my book will be released July 2015. PINCH ME!!! 

Making Christmas Presents ~ Dandelion Doe

So, I've had a little break for Instagram recently, but not really by choice. It seems as though a mouse (I hope it's a mouse) ate through the cords on our wireless router. I've ordered a new one but it is just taking it's sweet time getting here. Ya know, mice are really cute, in say, stuffed animal form or Beatrix Potter books, but in real life... yeah, not so much.  In the meantime I've been making Christmas presents!!!  I made Dandelion Doe from Alicia Paulson's pattern to go with the Maggie Rabbit I made last year.

My daughter knitted the head scarf for me. Although I can knit I just don't enjoy it much as crocheting and definitely not as much as sewing :) I have a few more things to make and wrap up.
I wanted to pop in and say HI!!! I'll be back soon with some exciting news and some fun giveaways!!!
Hope all is well with you.

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

:: Heart's Content Fat Eighth Bundle Giveaway from Green Fairy Quilts ::

Hey there!!! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Today I have a super fun giveaway from Green Fairy Quilts! They are going to giveaway a fat eighth bundle of Heart's Content from Laundry Basket Quilts.

Edyta Sitar is the talent behind Laundry basket Quilts. Are you familiar with her? I love her quilts. The are so beautiful, detailed and traditional. If you ever watch her speak her enthusiasm is catchy. I love that! 

To enter sign-up for Green Fairy Quilts newsletter HERE (the link will open in a new window)! and then leave a comment below. I'll pick a winner using RNG next Tuesday, November 18th!

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin

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