Blog Hop Fun!

I would like to share a little about a couple of blog hops I will be participating in over the next few weeks. I hope you will join in!

I had been staring longingly at the Amy Butler Weekender Pattern for weeks, so when Lori of Lori H. Designs & Heidi of Fabric Mutt asked me to be part of their Long Weekend Blog Hop I knew it was meant to be. I absolutely had to have that bag in my collection!

I started cutting my fabric & interfacing yesterday and WOW. There are a lot of pieces! I am excited (and slightly nervous :D) to see how it will turn out. 

The hop is currently over at Plum & June. She has a great giveaway that is open through November 3! Here's the rest of the schedule:

© Amy Butler Design

October 15: Kick Off Day!! 

Lori Hartman at Lori H. Designs &  Heidi Staples at Fabric Mutt

October 22: Debbie Jeske at A Quilter's Table

October 29: Beth at Plum and June/Two assorted Fat Eighth Bundles - Pink Castle Fabrics

November 5: Jenelle at Echinops and Aster/$25 Fat Quarter Shop Giveaway

November 9: Jennifer @ Ellison Lane Quilts

November 10: Courtney @ Mon Petit Lyons

November 11: Sarah @ Bluprint Textiles

November12: Leanne @ She Can Quilt

November 13: Lori @ Lori H. Designs

November 14: Heidi @ Fabric Mutt

November 15: Taryn @ Pixels to Patchwork

November 16 - 18: Project Link-up at Lori H. Designs

November 19: Prize Drawings Announced

Pink Castle Fabrics has been so incredibly generous to offer 15% off anything in their shop when you use the code LONGWEEKEND15.  The code is good until November 19th, so start shopping now!

You can find more details at Lori H. Designs &  Fabric Mutt. Be sure to check back here on November 15th to see how my bag turned out!

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The very talented Kristy from Quiet Play & Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts have teamed up to host the Sew Seasonal Blog Hop! They have created 25 holiday-themed blocks (13 paper-pieced & 12 rotary cut). These patterns will be free for the duration of the blog hop. Use one ore more of the blocks to create a finished project and join in the fun!

The blog hop kicks off on November 1st. Each day on the blog hop will feature one paper-pieced block and one ornament, with ideas of what to use the blocks for.

1st November: Kristy from Quiet Play & Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts

2nd November: Marieka from Bespoke Bites & Jane from Where Jane Creates

3rd November: Susan from Patchwork N Play & Kelsey from Kelsey Sews

4th November: Janice from Better Off Thread & Erin from Missy Mac Creations

5th November: Lucy from Charm About You & Rebecca from Making Rebecca Lynn

6th November: Charlotte from Lawson and Lotti & Amy from Amy's Crafty Shenanigans

7th November: Jess from the Elven Garden & Cindy from Live a Colorful Life

8th November: Elaine from Dashasel Sews & Kelly from Jeliquilts

9th November: Beth from Plum and June & Fiona from Finding Fifth

10th November: Juliet from Tartan Kiwi & Fiona from Celtic Thistle Stitches

11th November: Taryn from Pixels to Patchwork & Anorina from Samelia's Mum

12th November: Megan from Jaffa Quilts & Jane from QuiltJane 

13th November: Gemma from Pretty Bobbins

30th November Project Link-Up 

There are lots of fabulous prizes!

Fat Quarter Shop - Awesome Launch Day giveaways at Blossom Heart Quilts and Quiet Play - check back November 1st! 2 x $10 vouchers

Intrepid Thread - Joy by Kate Spain - full fat quarter bundle + panel

Fabric Worm - 2 x $25 vouchers

Sew Lux Fabric and Gifts - 1 x $25 voucher

Stash Modern Fabric- $30 gift voucher

Blossom Heart Quilts - Japanese Christmas fabric - fat eighth bundle

Quiet Play - Charm pack

Are you needing some Christmas fabric supplies for the hop? Well, Chrissy from Sew Lux Fabrics has set up a special discount code on Christmas fabrics in her shop! So if you need supplies, be sure to check it out. The code is "sewseasonal10" and is for 10% off all Christmas fabric (Joy, Blitzen, and Sentiments) through November 18th. A charm pack or layer cake will work perfectly for Ornamental!

You can find more details at Quiet Play & Blossom Heart Quilts. Check back here on November 11th to see my holiday creation!

TGIFF: Quilted Christmas Stockings

*crossing fingers that Comcast connection stays up long enough for me to post this* I've had the worst internet connection the past few days!

Christmas Stockings | 11x17" | From L to R: Joy, Winterkist & Cherry Christmas.

It isn't even Halloween yet, but I have Christmas stockings for my family done! I love the holidays and the idea of cold weather :). I am so excited that the high is supposed to be 66°F tomorrow. My birthday wish came true!

These stockings ended up taking me *so* much less time and money than last year. 

• I used the Prudent Baby Stocking Template & the lining and cuff tutorial at Cluck Cluck Sew. I always set my printer at "Fit to Page" on the stocking template, for maximum candy-stuffing potential. The stocking shape curves slightly outward towards the top, so next time I make these I am going to straighten the template out for easier cuff fitting.
• I used 27 charm squares for each stocking. You could get away with 25 charm squares, since there is a portion that goes unused due to the shape of the stocking. For completely irrational reasons the empty space annoyed me last time I made these, so I went ahead and made a full rectangle. 

• Each stocking consists of two 12.5"x18.5"panels and each panel consists of 6-2.5" squares x 9-2.5" squares.
• I have a tendency to overdo it on certain colors (red is one of them!), so I divided the 2.5" square for each panel beforehand, so I wouldn't end up with a majority red on the front side and no red on the back!
• I started out by drawing my quilting lines with a marker, but my lines were actually much straighter when I lined up the square corners with the sewing machine foot and let the machine do its thing. I used light colored thread for quilting, since I wanted the quilting to show.
• I used leftover Kona Pear (Winterkist) and Kona Red (Joy & Cherry Christmas) for the lining/hanger.

Ooh, I had a tiny adventure while gathering supplies for these stockings. I went to a Hobby Lobby in the next community, because the Hobby Lobby next to my house was out of iron-on Ss. As I was at an intersection headed back home from the second Hobby Lobby with my Ss (yay!), all these sheriff cars start lining up in the turn lane next to me to cut in. Light turns green, they all race around me to surround the car front of me. THEN, they jump out of their cars with guns drawn and everything! I felt like a cast extra on The Shield. Everything was under control, but I was so glad to get out of there! I think I am going to do all my craft shopping online from now on...and I'm going to stop complaining about turning 30 tomorrow LOL!

Checklist
• Three Christmas Stockings  • Swoon Quilt • Bird Quilt • Children at Play Quilt • Wee Folks Quilt • Two Left Feet Quilt • Polaroid Quilt • Sister Quilt • Love Letters Quilt
(Not Urgent List)
• Christmas Table Runner • Quilt Patchwork Prism • Quilt Xs and Os • Quilt Sew.Happy.Quilt • Finish Super Mario Quilt Top • Finish Medallion Quilt Top

Last Year's stockings, photo taken in the bathroom :D

Linking Up with:
@ with Lynette at What a Hoot & Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

TGIFF: Sew Happy Quilt

Sew. Happy. Quilt. | Simon + Kabuki Juicy Blossoms | 51" x 51"

This is a fun quilt for me to look back on because it was my first quilt project of the 2012, the first "real" quilt I started and the quilt that started my addiction to QALs. Who knew how big the obsession would become? This is the longest I've kept up with any hobby! :D

I finished this quilt top way back in March, but was at a total loss about how to quilt it. It languished on my shelf for months, until this week I told myself "JUST DO IT!" I decided to make it easy on myself and quilt around the X in the center. You can see a little better in the backing picture.

I used a $5 Twin Sheet from Walmart for the backing. That probably doesn't bode too well for its longevity, but this quilt is just staying in my office so I am not too concerned. I like the feel of it! 

I used the cute little star print to bind it. I love how the star prints in this line add a bit of sparkle!

If you are interested in doing this quilt yourself, the tutorials for each block are over at Sew Happy Geek.

Checklist
• Three Christmas Stockings (Sewing done, just have some finishing touches to do)  • Swoon Quilt • Bird Quilt • Children at Play Quilt • Wee Folks Quilt • Two Left Feet Quilt • Polaroid Quilt • Sister Quilt • Love Letters Quilt

• Christmas Table Runner • Quilt Patchwork Prism • Quilt Xs and Os • Quilt Sew.Happy.Quilt • Finish Super Mario Quilt Top • Finish Medallion Quilt Top


Linking Up with:
@ Echinops & Aster & Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

The Log Cabin Addiction Continues

I was originally going to pass up the Scrappy Stash QAL, because my sewing to-do list is hundred tasks long. But as my pile of laundry got bigger and the reality of having to wash and fold clothes set in, I thought "Hmm, what's the harm in doing one block?"

One block turned into 12 and I am completely addicted. I was a little concerned about the individual blocks at first (wasn't sure if they looked OK), but once you start looking at them all together all the imperfections fade away! I spent this morning quilting them with the QAYG method (Tutorial over at Maureen Cracknell Handmade). I quilted straight lines 1/4" apart in white thread.

I am making 36 more, 6 of each remaining colors: red,  yellow, orange, pink, grey and purple. Those are going to be a harder to do, since I don't have a ton of scraps in those colors.  The only thing I don't like about these blocks is cleaning up all the scrap vomit after the fact. :D You've all seen how messy my sewing room gets!

Besides the scrappy log cabins, I have been working on my project for the Tula Pink Sew Along, the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery Block of the Month & absolutely nothing that actually needs to get done. But I'm having fun!

I'm pixelstopatchwork on Instagram. Do you have an Instagram account? Let me know your username!

Lastly, I'd like to thank :
Diane at from blank pages - I won a $20 gift certificate to Pink Chalk Fabrics at the Share Your 80's Photo Party. I ended up being responsible and buying $20 worth of white fabric. My husband was proud of me. I didn't tell him I added a charm pack to my order. :)
Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts - I won one of the scrap packs from Fabricworm, so excited!
I love lucky streaks!

Linking up with The Virtual Sewing Room at amylouhou, since #notgoingtosewingsummit! :( ;) 

Hustlin' Through My WIPs

This is a big post, because I've been HUSTLIN'!

Finished Projects: 

Salt Air Lattice  (Designed by Mommy by Day Crafter by Night) - I finished this one last month, but I don't have pictures yet. It was a twin-sized quilt with a Minky backing, so the quilting involved a lot of tears and general grumpiness. It was worth it though, because my mom loved it!
 
Patchwork Prism - Not exactly a completed quilt, but it is completed quilt top! Yes, after much foot dragging I finally finished sewing the top together. I want to get all fancy pants with the back, so it will probably be another 6 months before I quilt it :D.

Washi Dress - Using Duet Dot in Green from Chicopee by Denyse Schmidt. This one is getting it is own post once my assistant blog photographer/husband is back in town, but I have to say I LOVE THIS PATTERN! I'm making a tunic in another Chicopee print as we speak! [few more dress shots on Flickr]
Sunglasses Case - (Outside- Joel Dewberry Acorn Chain in Lake Inside- Dear Stella Tiny Diamonds in Navy) Everything went well until the gluing part...I am still scraping off glue. Still...I love it so much more than the generic case my sunglasses came with!

In Progress:

Swoon Quilt - When I recieved Verna Mosquera's Veranda in a Craftsy Mystery Box of Fabric, I had no clue what I would do with it. It's very pretty and pastel, but pretty and pastel isn't very 'me.' Fast forward a few months later, my husband decides that he really wants me to make a quilt for one of his aunts that I don't know very well. DING DING! Perfect opportunity to use it! I added some purple, because I felt like it needed a bold color. 9 blocks cut, 3 to go. I learned to sort my blocks in plastic baggies via Fabric Mutt. I feel so organized!

3 Christmas Stockings - Sewing all the patchwork panels together

Honeycomb Hat - I finished the hat, but I am not really feeling it. I am going to add a pompom and see if that helps.

Owl Pillow - I had a great opportunity to test out one of Kristy from Quiet Play's paper piecing patterns. If you haven't checked out her blog yet, you should! Her love of paper piecing is contagious! I need to make borders for this block so I can make it into a beautiful decorative pillow.

"Two Left Feet" Quilt (Echo) for Brother - (not pictured) Began Cutting

No Progress

• Quilt Baby Quilt (Children at Play) for Husband's Co-worker  (waiting on baby name) •  Love Letters Quilt (Etchings) • Christmas Table Runner  • Quilt Xs and Os • Quilt Sew.Happy.Quilt • Finish Super Mario Quilt Top • Finish Medallion Quilt Top

Haven't Started

• Start & Finish Baby Quilt (Wee Folks) for Friend • Polaroid Quilt for Other Brother  • Quilt for Sister (No clue) 

Linking up with: