Picture Day Part 2

Today the light was perfect for photos!

I can only share a little peek here because I'm finalizing the pattern but I did want to share my successful attempt at attaching the binding by machine.

I found quite a few tutorials online but nothing that worked for me.
I'm not fond of the look you get when using a blanket stitch. And sewing the binding on from the back just left a little too much room for error (and too much seam ripper activity).
I will share the technique I came up with soon, but I thought I'd show some closeups.

The back:

The front (pretty cool - you can hardly see the stitching):

A corner (not perfect but I'm happy):

(The fabric I used for the binding is Michael Miller Play Dot in "Sea" and the background gray in the quilt is Moda Bella Solids 9900 83 Gray. It's a really nice, warm gray. I think I'll be using it a lot from now on. All Bella Solids are 20% off in the store right now and I just got a bolt of the gray.)

Edited 1/16/15: The pattern is now available in the Craftsy store!

Picture Day

Today is picture day for my first finish of 2015. I always have a hard time getting good photos.
Here I was standing on a step stool but the lighting is just not right.

Off to go try something else.

Books Read in 2014

Along with being more productive on the sewing front, I also got back into reading, which I love!

	Tom Ryan - Following Atticus
	Debbie Macomber - The Inn at Rose Harbor
	Oliver Pötzsch - The Hangman's Daughter
	Helen Bryan - War Brides
	Phil Doran - The Reluctant Tuscan
	Peter Mayle - A Good Year
	Catherine Ryan Hyde - When I Found You
	Lois Lowry - The Giver
	Lois Lowry - Gathering Blue
	Lois Lowry - Messenger
	Lois Lowry - Son
	Rich Curtin - Moonshadow Murder
	Rich Curtin - Trails of Deception
	Rich Curtin - February's Files
	Rich Curtin - Artifacts of Death
	Pat Conroy - The Great Santini

16 books! Not bad.

Goodbye 2014!

2014 was a busy year!
Amongst other things I moved not once, but twice! We did a lot of painting and renovating on the house. (You can read a little about my home projects on my much-neglected Nestkeeping Blog.) Hoping to dedicate a little more time to that one in 2015 if time allows.

But back to sewing and quilting and crafty stuff.
It's usually so much fun to look back at the projects completed throughout the year.
2013 was awful - not a single project! - so 2014 had no choice but to be a little better.

2014 Completed Projects (I just realized I have a couple I never took photos of, so stay tuned for an update!):

1. Skully, 2. Strippy Runner, 3. Boo! Runner, 4. The Tree Lot Mini Quilt, 5. Holiday Mug Rug, 6. Red & White Mini Baby Jane


I decided to spend more time on foundation pieced pattern design in late 2014 and this takes an enormous amount of time but the results are SO rewarding!

The Tree Lot Mini Quilt (larger pattern to follow in 2015)

Little Penguin Foundation Pieced Block (hopefully part of a whole winter block pattern collection)

Boo! Foundation Pieced Letters (plans for the whole alphabet)

Skully Foundation Pieced Block (a very popular one around Halloween)

(All the patterns are for sale in my Craftsy store.)

I'm looking forward to what 2015 will bring.
Happy New Year Everyone!

Large Print Scrap Busting

Start with some large print scraps and a couple of yards of Bella in a nice, warm gray.

Start making flying geese four at a time.

Get back to wrapping Christmas gifts because they're not going to wrap themselves!

Red & White Mini Baby Jane

Double posting this here and on the "That Quilt" blog.
I've been waiting since October for a nice day to take photos of this little quilt but it just hasn't happened. Winter in Seattle...
Today I decided to just go for it. Better photos can always be taken later.

The little quilt won 3rd place in the miniatures category in my local quilt guild's show. Pretty cool!
(For more information about the Dear Jane® quilt, visit the "That Quilt" blog or Google "Dear Jane Quilt".)

Zig Zag

Feeling pink this morning.

Thought I see if I can make the heart blocks from the Sweet Hearts pattern with zig zags instead of stripes.

(The fabrics are Surrounded by Love Chevrons in Passion Pink & Ziggy Chevron in Peony.)

Holiday Tree Mug Rug

Tired of trees yet?

I'm waiting for an Insul-Bright order to arrive so I can make a couple of pot holders but, in the mean time, I figured a new mug rug for my desk would come in handy.

I used scraps from the Tree Lot quilt. The block is my favorite block from the pattern.

The border is Small Le Creme Dots from Riley Blake in Red. I used a tone on tone white fabric from P&B Textiles for the background. A little more interesting than plain white, I think.

I bound it using Amanda Jean from Crazy Mom Quilts' technique for binding tiny things. It worked like a charm!

(The mug is from Pottery Barn. I've had the set for close to 15 years, but I just saw them in the store this weekend!)

The Tree Lot

Finally!
I'm happy to announce my latest pattern, "The Tree Lot".
This is the mini version. I'm working on a pattern for a full or lap size but I figured that would be an impossible-to-finish project for most of us at this point in the game. This one is doable at 27½” x 30½”.
The blocks are foundation pieced.

You can find the pattern as an instant download in my Craftsy store.
(More photos and detail to come in future posts. It's really dark and dreary in Seattle this week, making good photos an impossibility.)

(Also, if you're wondering about the polka dot border fabric, it's the Small Le Creme Dot from Riley Blake in Red.)

Wall Storage

If you're following Twiddletails on our brand new Instagram feed, you've already seen this, but I thought I'd share a little bit of detail on how we put it together.

I had been wracking my brain trying to come up with a storage solution for my everyday sewing supplies in my new, quite small, sewing room/office.
As so many times before, Pinterest came to the rescue! Solution: pegboard!

Since the standard size pegboard at Home Depot was smaller than my wall space, and I didn't want to "waste" it by covering some of the pegholes with thread storage, my sweetie came up with a solution.
We had a piece of melamine left over from another project. He cut it to fit the rest of the wall space and then put a frame around it all.

The frame is just plain old floor moulding from Home Depot. Less than $5 for 8 feet.
I painted it using a paint sample I had gotten when choosing colors for our guest bath. Since paint samples are flat and I wanted a little more "shine", I used some leftover polyurethane I found in the garage as a top coat.

It's around 3' x 4' in size.
Total cost - about $30.

Geese in the Forest Wow!

Earlier this week I received an email from Linda (click to see her blog), a customer who had purchased the Geese in the Forest pattern.
It included a photo of the quilt made by her group for a charity auction. I love the colors they chose. It sold for $2,500!

Here's what Linda wrote:
This quilt was made by a Lawrence, KS sewing group that calls itself "The City Sewers" (That's sew-ers, lol). Members are Georgann Eglinski, Carol Jones, Roseanne Smith, Deb Rowden, Linda Frost, Kathe Dougherty, Sara Chappell and Barbara Brackman. The quilt was donated to a charity auction and went for $2500(!).

(If you have made something using any of my patterns and would like me to feature it in a blog post, I would love to! Just send me an email. I will give you proper credit and link to your blog/Pinterest/Instagram.)

Trees, trees, trees

It's starting to feel like a forest over here!

Sewing Day!

Today is sewing day!

I have a new project/pattern design in the works that I'm REALLY excited about.

It's foundation pieced. And, as I mentioned before, trees.

I recently found a new supplier for freezer paper and I knew it was good stuff but my expectations have been exceeded.
I made four tree blocks using one freezer paper template and I'm pretty sure I could have made at least one or two more before exhausting the wax.

I'm planning to redo the freezer paper foundation piecing tutorial some day soon but, for now, you can find it here.
It's my favorite method. No sewing through paper, no removal of paper afterward and, last but not least, much less wasted fabric than the traditional method!

Ooh! Another thing! Twiddletails is now on Instagram!

Black Friday!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. There was way too much eating over here (of course), so today I think I'll burn a couple of calories sewing...
I don't post many store-related things over here, but I figured today could be an exception, since this is a great deal!

Scrap Time!

I know, I know. Many people claim that my scraps are not really scraps at all, but this is as small as I'm going right now.
In my mind, anything smaller than a fat quarter is a scrap. OK?

I have another tree project in the works.
Hopefully in time for the Holidays.

Little Penguin

Phew! After many revisions, it's out there in the world!

"Little Penguin"

I decided to try my favorite freezer paper foundation piecing technique on these tiny little sections and it worked like a dream. Lots of starching involved though. This block can stand up on its own.

I discovered a new freezer paper supplier and I really like the 54lb sheets. I love not having to pry pieces of paper out from in between my stitches!

("Little Penguin" is available as an instant download on both Craftsy and Etsy.)

A Sneak Peek

The new pattern is almost ready to be revealed!

Just one more round of testing.

The Holidays are Coming!

Between quilt retreat, Houston and catching up with orders, I haven't had much blogging time off late.
Working on a little design for the Holidays though. Stay tuned.

Retreat!

Off for some girl-time.

WIP Wednesday

I decided to go with the 3rd option in my quest to pick a border for the bright GFG. And I'm already questioning this decision.

Going forward with it though because I really, really, really, really want to get this quilt completed. So many other things to work on!