Bee Blocks - December

This month's Impov Wonky X blocks for the Hope Circle of do. Good Stitches were familiar territory after my addition to Paula's Round Robin quilt. Ellen McKee requested orchid and teal similar to the colors in the Art Gallery Indelible line.

This month's Impov Wonky X blocks for the Hope Circle of do. Good Stitches were familiar territory after my addition to Paula's Round Robin quilt. Ellen McKee requested orchid and teal similar to the colors in the Art Gallery Indelible line.

Stephanie Palmer of Late Night Quilter instructed the New Quilt Blogger Bee to create Anna Maria Horner feathers in jewel tones. She asked us to include some white strips and a charcoal shaft. The background has been omitted since she plans to hand appliqué them to her quilt top.

Pam Wilde of Sewing Wilde offered an alternative tutorial. Meredith of Olivia Jane Handcrafted also has a tutorial to lessen fabric waste. If paper-piecing is more your style, Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts has taken the pattern that direction.

Personally, I cut the pattern pieces out of freezer paper, which I used as a foundation, as in paper-piecing. I cut the finished pieces 1/4" from the edge of the templates so I could turn the edge under using starch and my iron.

Have you made, or are you considering making, either of these blocks?

Today's Tidbits

Today, I figured I share with you some lovely things I found on the web that I would want to know about, if I were you.
If you are into paper piecing, the holiday spirit, and free patterns, I recommend this quilt along.

Speaking of free holiday patterns, check out these offerings from Craftsy:

Or, if your holiday sewing schedule is already overloaded, pick a year-round color scheme for these classic stars (also free).

Happy Holidays!

Sewing with Children

I have a confession; I have sewing minions. Not really. But I do have little ones who have their own options as to how a sewing machine should be used.

I heard the Fiber Arts Fiesta is going to have a children's exhibit, so I thought I'd help my five-year-old son turn his drawing of a princess into a quilt. I enlarged his drawing and traced it to paper-backed fusible and to clear vinyl using a permanent marker. P.S. Images need to be mirrored if you mind the final result being reversed. I bubble cut around the pieces and fused them to solid fabrics chosen by my son, Bryce. He cut out the pieces on the line with scissors and placed them on the background fabric using the clear vinyl as a guide.

I fused a piece of fusible batting 1/2" smaller than the top to the back of the quilt top. I placed this right sides together with the backing, and used a pillowcase method to deal with the edges of this quilt, as binding is not something I am prepared to accomplish with a preschooler. My son added some details with a fabric marker. For the love of your quilt, do not use permanent marker! I set my machine to a wide Aziz-zag with a minimal stitch length for my son to add the arms and wand. My son did straight-line stitching to quilt the quilt. Yes, I know they aren't technically straight. However, he's five, so I'm going to call it improv curves in the entry description, for his sake. In hindsight, I should have had him do before fusing down the pieces so he wouldn't have to start and stop to avoid sewing over her royal highness. He also insisted on the grass in the lower left.

Here's the artist.

Being the little sister, Linnea wants to do everything everybody else does. Below is evidence of her presence.

Ah ha! Crud, if you ask me, that little green button isn't the most convenient when you have a one-year-old.

But she looks so innocent!

Don't be fooled.

And never, ever leave the machine on!

Do you have minions of your own?

Round Robin - Paula's Quilt

Today I present to you my addition to Paula Lee's top. I decided to add two borders since the precious additions were asymmetrical, and, between you and me, adding two border was more likely to happen within the deadline than adding twice that many. I wanted to tie in the beige from the center blocks and L-shaped section, as well as add some lighten the overall value of the top.

I decided to do slice and insert. Where the inserts intersected, I discovered that, the more angled the insert, the more I needed to offset the pieces to make them look continuous. 

I originally planned to make the inserts meet at the same corner of the quilt, but I didn't like how it looked like the lines abruptly ended at the seam where the two borders touched. Instead, ended up putting them in their own corners.

There's no small amount of controversy about mixing modern prints with (Gasp!) batiks, but both are to be found in this collaborative project. What do you think? Should batiks and modern prints coexist, or stick to their own turf?

In case you're new around here, I'm going to give you a visual recap of the quilts that have come my way as part of the the New Quilt Blogger Round Robin. Click on any quilt to see the original post.

My Starter Block

Abby's Quilt

 Royalee's Quilt

 Lisa's Quilt

 Joy's Quilt

 Kathy's Quilt

Which is your favorite?

Giveaway Day

Welcome to anyone visiting from Giveaway Day at Sew Mama Sew. Please take a look around, as I have many quilting tutorials, free patterns, and inspiration.

If you are one of my regular readers, thank you. Also, I recommend checking out Giveaway Day. There are wonderful blogs to visit and fabulous prizes to win.

I aim to please, so I have assembled an incredible selection of prizes for Giveaway Day. 

The package one lucky winner will receive includes two Cuddle Charms, two packages of Blanket Binding, and the Cookie Cutter pattern.

Because one can never have too much fabric, I'm including a green metallic from Northcott, two mini charm packs of Poems From Pebbles by Moda and a fat quarter of Tim Holtz's Eclectic Elements.

Notions are fun too, so how about a sewing gauge, Nectar Pin Packet, some TrueGrips, a pack of Frostings pre-wound bobbins by Superior, a Sewline Glue Pen and a pack of Micron sigma pens?

An if that wasn't enough, I'm throwing in a charm pack of Wyndham's Cascade, a Patterworkz Design Studio pattern and Stack Four Runners.

While we at it, I'm going to sweeten the deal with three patterns by Painted Pony 'n Quilts.

Now that I've got your attention, go ahead and enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2015 Colors of the Year

Pantone chose Marsala, "a naturally robust and earthy wine red", as their 2015 Color of the Year. "This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors," said Leatrice Wiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute.

For more on the subject of Marsala, check out Adrianne's post at On the Windy Side. She has some fantastic ideas about how to incorporate the color into your color scheme for a quilt. She also has a feature on Sew Mama Sew post sharing how Marsala translates to fabric. This is useful information, especially if you are interested in joining in not the 2015 Pantone Quilt Challenge.

Giliford Green was selected as Benjamin Moore's Color of the Year. Ellen O'Neill, the Creative Director, describes it as a, "neutral that's natural. A silvery green that works with, well, everything. No worries. No second thoughts. Just a brush, dipped in a can, whoosed on a wall, and a whole lot of happily ever after."

The Sherwin-Williams Color of the Year is Coral Reef. The website describes it as an "upbeat and optimistic" "melange of pink, orange and red". Jackie Jordan, the Sherwin-Williams Director of Color Marketing says, "Its unexpected versatility brings life to a range of design aesthetics, whether traditional, vintage, cottage or contemporary."

So what do you think? Which is your favorite?