Spring Street

Every so often I make something I love. That makes me smile. That reminds me why I love to sew.

This is one of them.

Doesn't it look right at home on the chair with all the other "happy projects"?

I made this little pillow a while ago, but I knew I wanted to write instructions to share and that took a while.

The fabric is "Spring Street" by Carolyn Gavin for P&B Textiles. The focus fabric contains many little scenes but I wanted to make a rectangular pillow, which is why I chose this particular one.

I had lots of fun quilting little details.(Excuse the photo quality. Natural light is still kind of iffy around here.)

You can find a free pattern, including fabric requirements over here in the "Free Patterns" section in the store.

Or, if you don't feel like figuring it out yourself, I did make up a couple of kits, which contain everything but the pillow form.

(I will announce the winners of the giveaway tomorrow. I got a little carried away by the pillow this morning.)

Oh and the flower in yesterday's post was supposed to be a camellia. I don't think it matters though.  As long as it's pretty.

Worth it?

This took me a day and a night to figure out.

What do you think?

And a question: What flower do you think this is supposed to be?

(Don't forget that the giveaway ends at midnight.)

Update: I'm getting a lot of "pansy", which is what I was worried about. How about this one? Just squint and ignore all the seam lines.)

100!

That's how many 1930's reproduction fabrics I now have in the store!

I've spent the last week or so frantically scanning in fabric. Every fabric in my store is scanned in by me. This way I can ensure the most accurate color representation and scale.

Anyhow, you're probably thinking, "Why is she telling me this?".
Just thought I'd give you something to read before I got to the important part.

To celebrate this milestone, I'm giving away FOUR 1930's Charm Collections. These are little charm packs I custom-created - each consisting of 30 different 1930's fabrics.

Pefect for SO many projects, I think.

The exact fabrics in each charm collection:

So what do you do to be in the running?
One of three things (or all three). You get one entry for each one.

1. Visit the store Facebook page and "like" us (http://www.facebook.com/twiddletails) then come back here and let me know in a comment. If you already like us over there, just leave a comment telling me. If the name that shows up in your comments is different from your Facebook name, let me know.
2. Do a blog post about this giveaway then come back here and let me know in a comment, including your blog url.
3. Visit the store and find your favorite 1930's fabric. Leave a comment telling me which one it is.

This giveaway ends at midnight PST on Sunday, May 22nd and I will announce the winners on Monday.

Pink

Most people know that pink is my favorite color.

30's fabrics are my new love.

Today I needed a little pink fix.

Thank you for indulging me.

Finish #2 - A Garden Tea Party

I'm on a roll! I actually did the quilting on this one at a retreat a couple of weeks ago, but I struggled with the hanging sleeve and finished the binding a couple of days ago.
This is also the first quilt I've hung on a wall. And I did it without making holes in the wall. Totally removable without a trace. Stay tuned for details on that.

I had lots of fun quilting in the little details.

All in all, a happy little project.

(The pattern is by Lauren & Jessie Jung.  I'm all sold out of them, but I have made a couple of pre-orders available, if you'd like your own little tea party in your house.)

A Finished Project!

My first for 2011. Can you believe it? I hope to be more productive from now on.

The pattern is in the Summer 2011 issue of Quilts and More Magazine.

(Please excuse the photo quality. It was early and (surprise!) cloudy.)

If you'd like to make one and not be bothered with picking or shopping for fabrics, I do have a couple of kits in the store, with or without the magazine.

Hanging Sleeve %&&*#!

Stay tuned for clear instructions on how to attach a hanging sleeve to a quilt.

It took me a couple of hours to figure out after following the incorrect instructions on the pattern with disastrous results.

On totally different note, aren't you glad you're not in high school any more?

(The fabric in the quilt project is Hideaway from Moda. Lovely stuff.)

Binding time!

I know this may not seem like a great moment to most of you, but I can't remember when last I had a project at the binding stage.

I use Heather Bailey's binding tutorial.

Yearning for Summer

I hope Spring/Summer arrives over here at some point.
In the mean time I'm working on a summer-y project.

Ready for Spring

Spring still hasn't really sprung in Seattle but hope springs eternal. (Great pun, right?)

Doesn't this bring a little smile to your face?

It's called "Spring Street" and is from P&B Textiles.

(You can find it here, of course.)

On my way back

My crazy life is getting itself sorted out.
I'm hoping to be back here soon.
I miss blogging.

In the mean time, a little more inspiration from back in November in Houston.

Jill's Geranium

by Jean K. Smith

Venice, FL

Yo-yo Wow!

Just in case you thought I had dropped off the face of the earth...

The Houston International Quilt Festival is an amazing place. Thought I'd share these from way back in November.

Thought yo-yo's were boring?

Think again.


Let's step back a little further:

Wow, right?

(If you know who made this quilt, let me know because I'd like to give him/her credit.)
Quilt info: 'Grace' by Shin-hee Chin of McPherson, Kansas

A New Obsession

Darn it if my ADHD didn't kick in again this weekend. And make me cheat on my own rules. Kind of. Since the previous project is under the sewing machine, it's not in a box any more, is it?

I promise I'll work on it today. Promise.

Working on the WIPs

While I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new project, I figured I should try to empty some of my project boxes.
You may remember that back in January, when I reorganized the sewing room, I limited myself to 10 WIPs at a time.
If the new one is going to have a home, I'll have to empty a box...

Inspiration

Visited the QA Show in Monroe, WA yesterday.
It's always fun to see what other quilters are up to.

First my favorite, favorite, favorite quilt of the day.



I found a lot of inspiration and ideas for using my scraps.



Even though this is not something I would make, it was very, very impressive and quite beautiful.

How does anyone get their satin stitches this perfect? Even around corners?

Lovely!!

What would a quilt show be without Jane?

And now I think I'll sew a little.