TGIFF - Pincushion and Needle Minder

You may recall that I mentioned I went to Sewtopia Boston back in November.  One of the activities was a make and take session.  Deborah Fisher from Fish Museum and Circus was on site and offered two projects.

The first project was a strawberry pincushion.  Mine ended up being tall, rather than short and plump.  If you squint, it looks like a strawberry.  😂

The second project was a needle minder.  I've never had one, and I love it.

It was a fun activity; although I didn't finish either project at Sewtopia.

Edit:  The yellow centre is the magnet; the white petal is foam; and it's on a pin.  Here's a better photo.

So it's great to stick in the sofa or a pin cushion, but if you're not near those things, it won't work.  Hmmm....maybe remove the pin and just let it lie flat.

I like a pincushion that lies flat, so I likely won't use the strawberry.  But I'll definitely use the needle minder.

If you have a finish this week, consider sharing it at:

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ Kathy Kwilts and More

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Brag About Your Beauties @ From Bolt to Beauty

✔ Day 14 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

Playing with Curves

I'm almost to the halfway point of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

I've been enjoying sewing with curves in recent months (see here and here).  These were left over from a block I recently made, but I just realized that I didn't take a photo of the block, and it has now been sent with my application to become an Island Batik Ambassador.

These are 4-inch blocks.

This layout doesn't impress me much.

So I think I'm going with this layout, just like my Potter's Wheel pillow (but those were smaller blocks).

✔ Day 13 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

WIP Wednesday - Stellar Stars BOM

It's Day 12 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

I am so far behind in my Stellar Stars BOM.  I'm still working on April's blocks.

There were 16 small flying geese blocks.  And when I took this photo, I saw that I trimmed one of the blocks on the sew line, not the cut line.  Drat......

I finished one of the large flying geese blocks.  Only 15 more to go.

And there's still a 12.5-inch paper pieced block to do.  All but the small yellow block were paper pieced.

I think it's safe to say that I will not finish this BOM before the end of the year.

Classic Meets Modern BOM

I'm on the home stretch to finishing my Classic Meets Modern BOM hosted by Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation.

The quilt top is pieced in six sections.  I have four of the sections pieced together.

All my blocks are made with Kona:  White, Steel, Turquoise, Berry, Pool, Parrot, and Royal.

I'm hoping to get the entire quilt top pieced this weekend.


✔ Day 11 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

Another Hexie Coaster

It's Day 10 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  I am surprised and so happy that I've made it this far.  And it hasn't been hard like I thought it would be.

You may have seen the first hexie coaster I made yesterday.  Here's the tutorial if you want to give it a try.  Here's the second one.

I decided to time myself making the second one to see if it does live up to its name of 5-minute hexie coaster.  It took me:

• 5 minutes, 30 seconds to cut the hexies
• 1 minute to iron the hexies in half
• 1 minute, 30 seconds to lay out the hexies
• 1 minute to sew around the hexies
• 1 minute, 30 minutes to flip inside out and iron flat

Since the tutorial uses pre-cut hexies, this is definitely a 5-minute project.  I see a new addiction brewing.

Here are the two of them together.

Now to find some coordinating fabric and make a few sets of four or six to use as gifts.

Sunday Sewing - Hexie Coasters

Not a lot of time for sewing today as I need to do some housework and an hour or two of work (and I'm so thankful that I can work from home and not have to go into the office).  So I needed something quick and easy to sew.  I remembered a tutorial that Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl shared last month for hexie coasters.  You can see Yvonne's coasters here, and this is the original tutorial.

I don't have hexie/honeycomb precuts, but I had a small charm pack (can't remember where I got it).  The prints more or less went together.

So I pulled out my Hex N More ruler by Jaybird Quilts and started making hexies.  I was able to get a 4.5-inch hexie from each 5-inch charm.

It really is an easy project -- lay out the pieces, sew around the edges, and turn inside out.  And ta da...you're finished.

I don't know what size a hexie precut is, but this size seems to work -- my glass had plenty of room.

Time to get the laundry out of the dryer and do some work.  And then I plan to make more hexie coasters this evening.


✔ Day 9 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

Saturday Sewing

Not a lot of sewing happening today as I get ready for our family Christmas get-together tonight.

Our guild is having our Christmas meeting/potluck on Wednesday, and there is an ornament exchange.  So off I went to Pinterest and found a tutorial for a Christmas tree.

It's amazing that a tree can be made from a circle.

And voilà...a tree.

I just need to sew on some ribbon.  It was a quick project, but it took me some time to get the folds done correctly.

And with this post, I've made it to Day 8 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

TGIFF - Northern Woods Pattern Testing

Back in the spring, I tested a pattern for Leanne @ Devoted Quilter.  She created the Northern Woods pattern for her monthly Island Batik Ambassador challenge.

Life got the better of me, and I just now got around to quilting this.  It finishes approximately 52 x 59 inches -- I skipped the border.

I was able to use up 9 Kona colours:  Carrot, Cedar, Yarrow, Curry, Chocolate, Earth, Lime, Juniper, and Evergreen.  A lot of earthy colours that I don't normally use.

I needed a quick gift so didn't have time to be creative with quilting -- a quick stipple in variegated thread.

I used minky for the backing.  I think I pulled it a little too tight on the frame, as the edges don't lie flat.  I've used minky before but didn't have that problem, so I'll have to be mindful of that next time.

In an attempt to find a good spot to take decent indoor photos at work, I found two spots with decent lighting.

And both spots had a wing-back chair, which is convenient for draping quilts.

If you have a finish this week, consider sharing it at:

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ What a Hoot Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Brag About Your Beauties @ From Bolt to Beauty

I made it to Day 7 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

OMG - December Goal

It's the final OMG goal setting for 2018.  One Monthly Goal is hosted by Patty @ Elm Street Quilts, and there are prizes!  It's a great monthly motivator to help you move forward and make progress on projects.

It's so easy to get sidetracked with life and other projects...can you say, squirrel!!!  😊  My December goal is simple:  piece all my blocks for the Classic Meets Modern BOM.   I had hoped to get that done in November, but....well...you know how it is.

Here are a few of my favourite blocks:

Click here if you want to see all my blocks.  Or you can wait until I reveal the pieced quilt top.

✔ Day 6 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

WIP Wednesday - Hand Piecing QAL

Have you seen that Patty @ Elm Street Quilts is co-hosting Hand Pieced - A Quilt Along?  I've decided to play along and learn some new skills.

The QAL starts in January, and you can get all the details here.

I pulled some 3-inch squares from my stash -- received them in a guild swap some time ago.  I love the colours and prints, but I never knew what to do with them.

I was on the road for work for two days, so this was a great project to work on in the hotel last night -- a little practice before the QAL starts.

My stitch length is not consistent, but the pieces are sewn together.

Linking up with:

Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

Yin and Yang Blocks

It's Day 4 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

Back in June, I won some Art Gallery fabric on Twitter.  It was a black and white collection of fat quarters called "Yin and Yang."

I made a decision to use a tutorial by Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation -- called 2-4-6.  Kelly was gracious enough to figure out the math so I could maximize the fat quarters.  I had mentioned that I was going to modify her dimensions, and before I could do the math, she had done it for me.

I began sewing at our August guild sew in.  Chain piecing is a good choice for sew ins because I often get sidetracked socializing.  😊

Now to find some time to lay out all the blocks and get them pieced together.

My goal is to make it to seven days in a row for this challenge.  And then I'll strive for another seven days, and hopefully, I'll make it the full 31 days.