Thinking of Renee....
so many words on my heart and in my head and yet I can't get any of it out to say anything worthy of such a special person.
loved and missed by all who knew her.
with love and gratitude.
xo Erin
Monday, July 17, 2017
Friday, April 28, 2017
No Scrap Left Behind Blog Tour and Giveaway
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Good morning! I'm so happy and honored to be a part of the blog tour for my friend Amanda Jean Nyberg's (Crazy Mom Quilts) new book No Scrap Left Behind. The book is full of quilts and projects that use all sizes of scraps. Down to the last little bits.
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I turned my Mini Nines into a pillow for my youngest girl. I added a little pom pom trim to the edges.
Those little nine patches are adorable! The individual squares measure 1/2 inch!!! The book has great tips for accuracy and how to make these tiny blocks easily.
I would love to make a larger version of the pattern. Maybe a long term scrap project the way Amanda Jean tackled it in the book. These blocks are perfect for scrap busting.
Since Amanda Jean is the queen of awesome pieced quilt backs I thought I would make a cute back for this pillow using my leftover blocks. I love how it turned out and I had so much fun with this project. It always feels good to use up some scraps.
We are sharing some tips for scrap organization and usage on this tour which I am always interested in hearing how others work their scraps. My system is always changing. I have such limited space. I went through my scraps a while ago and gave a lot away to my mom. Then I took everything and organized it by color into small rectangular containers. I organized it further by keeping larger pieces on one side of the container, strips in the middle and squares that are already a specific size on the other side. I have a smaller basket I keep my Japanese fabric in because I use them in a lot of small projects and they tend to be my favorites. I also always keep a basket next to my work area and that's where I put my scraps for my current project to be organized later. It usually takes a few projects before it's full and needs put away. So, that's how I take care of my scraps.
To win a copy of No Scrap Left Behind leave a comment here. If you have an scrap organizing tips you love you can leave them below or just say hi! That's fine too :)
Here is a list of the other bloggers on the blog tour so you can see the fun things they are making from the book!
Monday, April 24th Mary Kolb
Friday, May 5, Amy Smart
I would love to make a larger version of the pattern. Maybe a long term scrap project the way Amanda Jean tackled it in the book. These blocks are perfect for scrap busting.
Since Amanda Jean is the queen of awesome pieced quilt backs I thought I would make a cute back for this pillow using my leftover blocks. I love how it turned out and I had so much fun with this project. It always feels good to use up some scraps.
We are sharing some tips for scrap organization and usage on this tour which I am always interested in hearing how others work their scraps. My system is always changing. I have such limited space. I went through my scraps a while ago and gave a lot away to my mom. Then I took everything and organized it by color into small rectangular containers. I organized it further by keeping larger pieces on one side of the container, strips in the middle and squares that are already a specific size on the other side. I have a smaller basket I keep my Japanese fabric in because I use them in a lot of small projects and they tend to be my favorites. I also always keep a basket next to my work area and that's where I put my scraps for my current project to be organized later. It usually takes a few projects before it's full and needs put away. So, that's how I take care of my scraps.
To win a copy of No Scrap Left Behind leave a comment here. If you have an scrap organizing tips you love you can leave them below or just say hi! That's fine too :)
Here is a list of the other bloggers on the blog tour so you can see the fun things they are making from the book!
Monday, April 24th Mary Kolb
Tuesday, April 25, Lee Monroe
Wednesday, April 26, Sandi Hazlewood
Thursday, April 27, Bernie Kringel
Friday, April 28, Erin Cox
Monday, May 1, Katherine Greaves
Tuesday, May 2, Tracy Mooney
Wednesday, May 3, Cheryl Arkison
Thursday, May 4, Debbie Jeske
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Happy Sewing!
xo Erin
xo Erin
Friday, March 24, 2017
Lily Scrappy Double Irish Chain
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It's such a pretty line with different shades of mint, pink and yellow with subtle hints of grey and red. It's light and fresh. Such a fun palette to be working with as winter is ending and spring begins.
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The more I worked with this fabric the more I loved it! I still have to quilt it.
I plan on making another twin size just like it and giving them to my 2 youngest girls. I just love the colors and pattern together.
It's such a sweet mixture of polka dots, plaids, and florals. Lily is available this month. I'll be sure to share my finished quilts with you! I'm hoping to do some pretty quilting in that negative space on the alternate blocks. Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Sewing!
xo Erin
Friday, March 10, 2017
Simple Placemats
Hello! Today I wanted to share with you these cute placemats I made using by Annie Soft and Stable Project Pack.
The pattern is inside the package. It's a sew as you go pattern. They were so quick to sew up!
Fat Quarter Shop has a video tutorial HERE.
I used some strips of Gooseberry fabric for mine. I love how they turned out. I had to take a quick picture with my vintage Gooseberry Pyrex. That makes me pretty happy!
Hope you have a lovely weekend!
Happy Sewing!
xo Erin
Friday, February 17, 2017
Scrappy Project Planner Sew Along :: Patchwork Tulip
Good morning! Have you been following along with the Scrappy Project Planner Sew Along? It's a sew along with Lori Holt and Fat Quarter Shop where every week one pattern from the Scrappy Project Planner is featured. As always it's been fun seeing what other people are making. I really love Lori's planner. It took me a little bit to work up the nerve to write in it because it's so cute! I love the section on scrap organization!
I made 4 blocks for a wall quilt. I used my favorite Lori Holt/Bee in My Bonnet fabrics! Lots of Sew Cherry1 & 2 in there. I used this pretty green Sew Cherry print for the border but I just wasn't settled on it. I let it sit overnight and decided to take the borders off and use the red gingham from Sew Cherry instead.
I think it would have looked good both ways.
But this red gingham and blue with cherries combo has me really happy right now. Where are my heart eye emoji's? :)
Lori's patterns are always so clever and easy to follow. The planner and accessories have been really special for me because I am a list maker but have never had a planner. It's really nice to have all my quilt lists in one place and have a plan for them. The patterns included in the planner are all scrappy and fun!
Check out what the other bloggers are making for the sew along! Thanks so much to Fat Quarter Shop for including me.
February 3rd
February 10th
February 17th
February 24th
March 3
March 10
Happy Sewing!
xo Erin
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
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.
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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.
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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!
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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 |