Quilting Favor and Giveaway Winner

This week, I returned a completed quilt to my mother who had pieced the top and bottom - beautifully, I might add. This was a trade - she makes so many lovely clothes for my daughter, I was happy to return a stitchy favor quilting this project for her.

The quilt is for a new baby boy in our family. She did an excellent job selecting boy-ish prints and mixing them with great geos. Taking her first dive into quilting patterns, she found a layout she liked and boldly modified it to meet her measurement and fabric requirements. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss in quilting. If you don't know the rules, you don't worry about playing by them. What freedom!

I did an all-over meandering quilting. Boring, yes. But that crinkled up look just can't be beat.

Look at these adorable applique patches she put on the back of the quilt!

I enjoyed the process of quilting someone else's top - getting the joy of finishing without the drudgery that sometimes comes with piecing and quilting one's own. Now this quilt is off to its rightful owner, and I can move on to some other projects. :-)

In other business... the winner of the 6 Fat Quarter Kumari Garden giveaway, via Random Number Generator, is Denise from PA! who said:

Denise in PA said...

It's all so beautiful, but I have to Marala in Pink in my favorite. What a great line - thanks so much for the giveaway! Love the pillow too - I'm becoming quite fond of Hexagons myself!

Denise, I'll get in touch to arrange mailing your prize. Congratulations!

episode 27: sugar, spice, and everything nice

Upcoming Events
International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati - April 7-10
Miamisburg Quilt Show - April 29 & 30

What I'm Working On
Quilted Flower Tutorial by Oh, Fransson!
Grandma's Flower Garden Pillow
Cream and Sugar Cowl by Never Not Knitting
Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Nursery

Latest Quilty Aquisition
Missouri Star Quilt Company's Half Hexi Ruler and Tumbler Ruler. Check out their great YouTube channel.

Top 10 Baby Items to Make
KNITTING
1. Layette
2. Booties
3. Shrug Cardi
SEWING
4. Burp Clothes
5. Receiving Blankets
6. Ruffle bloomers & coordinating applique onesies
7. Set of hooded towels and washcloths
8. Bibs
9. Name bunting or fabric covered letters for nursery wall
10. Quilt - Hexagon using Half Hexi ruler

Download episodes of Stash Resolution for free on iTunes. Thanks for listening! :-)

Tutorial Roundup: In the Kitchen - Misc.

There are so many possibilities for kitchen-themes, I had to do a catch-all week to end our series on tutorial on sewn items for this most important room - the heart of the home, no?

Shower Curtain Chair Cushion Tutorial by Spool

Patchwork Kitchen Mat by Sew, Mama, Sew!

Polk Dot Pot Holder by A Pretty Cool Life

Retro Fun: Fancy Border Tea Towels by Sew 4 Home

Whip up tutorial: Patchwork Potholder and Fabric Fruit Bowl

While I had intended on making a little item each week to go with the theme to spruce up my home, alas it did not happen. At all. *sigh* I'll get around to it. Eventually.

What about you? Did you make your kitchen spiffier in March?

Finito

After months and months of talk, I finally, FINALLY, finished Olivia's Helena Sweater.

 A free Knitty pattern, this was a very fun knit. A faster, more dedicated knitter could whip this up in no time, especially in a smaller size.

I used the recommended needle sizes in the pattern - US Sizes 6 and 2. The yarn was O-Wool in a delicious icy blue colorway. The wool is as soft as cotton, making it wearable for my sensitive toddler.

As you can see, I messed up on the lace. It was totally operator's error and nothing to do with the pattern, which was easy-peasy to read and follow. The only tricky part was doing the picot edges - I used You Tube tutorials to help me through the technique. All in all - a fun knit with fantastic yarn!

In other news, I postponed the podcast for 1 week for personal reasons. However, this puts me on a better recording schedule with upcoming quilt shows. SO, watch for a new episode next weekend. Thanks for your understanding!

Grandma's Flower Garden Pillow & Giveaway

I saw this Grandma's Flower Garden pillow tutorial by Heather on Sew, Mama, Sew! and had to make it. (Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, but I become obsessed with projects lately.)

In the mood for some spring colors, I chose Kumari Garden by Dena Designs in beautiful greens, blues, grays, and yellows and Bella Solids in Robin's Egg and Kelly Green. Using 2-1/4" hexagon English paper piecing templates, I made the main focal point of the piece - a flower with solid center and print outer.

I machine-stitched the completed flower to the background fabric. Then added an extra special touch with hand embroidery in the center and around the exterior of the flower.

This was the first pillow I added binding too and must say the effect is crisp and finished. I wish I would have chosen a different pattern for the binding rather than picking up the paper pieced fabric. But, it will do...

And here is the end result!

 
With an envelope back...

This fabric is so beautiful and the soft hand of the cotton makes it even better. I'd like to make a zig zag pillow out of it to coordinate on our family-room couch - inspired by this post by Elizabeth at Oh, Fransson.

Okay - now giveaway time! Kumari Garden is one of the latest lines I've added to my shop, Swell Cloth. It has a lovely range of spring-like colors that would make gorgeous pillows, quilts, table runners, placemats, napkins, pin cushions, mug rugs, bags, ruffle skirts, peasant tops, baby bloomers - you name it! 

For your chance to get a sampling of Kumari Garden - this 6 Fat Quarter bundle - leave a comment on this post with the name your favorite print in the line. You can view the list of available prints here.

The giveaway will end on Friday, April 1 (no fooling!) at midnight EST, and the winner announced next weekend. Good luck, and happy sewing!

Tutorial Roundup: In the Kitchen - Table Toppers

If you're a nerd like me, you may have pondered (even for just a second) about the difference between Table Toppers and Table Runners. Really - why split hairs? They both go on top of a table and run between people sitting around it. Right? Maybe it's just me.

In my mind, Table Toppers are more square in nature, while Table Runners are longer than they are wide. This is by no means an official definition - but just my observation over the last two years of quilting.

In any case, the roundup this week focuses on the more square variety of table fare. I'm itching to make a new one for spring with my Easter decorations now up. What about you?

Star Drops Table Topper by Spun Sugar Quilts for Moda's Bakeshop

Love on a Limb by Two Peas in a Pod

Table Topper Tutorial by A Quilting Life

Cherries and Blossoms Table Runner by Sheri Howard for Moda's Bakeshop

Sweet Sugar Swirls Tutorial by Jaybird Quilts

Faultless

I'm happy to report I finished the Bullseye Block Quilt! Well - okay - I finished the top. But that counts as a finish, right?

Using Tanya Whelan's lovely fabric line Delilah, this quilt only took 9 fat quarters, and I have plenty left to spare for a cute pieced back or another project.

The blocks came together fairly easily (once I cut the correct number of pieces!). I decided to try opening my seems to press and have decided I'm not a 100% fan of it. It certainly has it's place but found it made my seams weak. Perhaps I should have back stitched?

In any case, this pattern is fun and quick. The blocks give an overall dimensional effect with a lot to look at for such a simple pattern. I plan to baste this weekend and want to try this quilting technique.

Last weekend, I "splurged" on a new quilting supply - starch! Who knew this could be so much fun to use? I love how crisp the fabric is under its spell. Maybe it's my imagination, but I think it is making me a more accurate cutter?

Do you use starch? If so, what brand do you recommend? I bought this one for no particular reason except that I hoped the name "Faultless" would rub off on my quilting. Ha!

In more serious news, like you my heart and prayers go out to those in Japan who are affected by the terrible disasters that have occurred over the last week in their country. I read on Heather's blog today that a sewing charity is being assembled to benefit Japan. Be sure to check out her Flickr group - Modern Relief - to learn all the details on how you get involved.