A Weekend Project: Playing with Pinwheels

This weekend I wanted to work on a quilt project, but was really not inspired to work on on anything I had on the table, so i looked around for a quick project. Usually, that means that I dig through my bin of Quiltsmart ZigZapps!, but this time I pulled out two Rambling Rose by Moda charms packs I'd gotten at their end og the year sale. It was just enough to do something new and small enough to finish.

I perused my quilt pins on Pinterest and decided to finally get over my (irrational) fear of triangles, so I decided to do a pinwheel table topper. I sorted through the teals, pinks, brown and tan 5-inch squares and matched them up to make pairs for the pinwheels. I paired each pink with a tan and each teal with a dark brown. I had two 5-inch squares of each fabric and matched the same fabrics together. 

I know that pinwheels are easy, but just in case you haven't made any, here is the simple method I used.

First, I flipped over one in each pair (the pink or the teal) and drew a diagonal like from top to bottom like this.

Then I pinned each marked square with its mate, right sides together, on either side of the line.

At the sewing machine, I used the line as a guide and sewed 1/4 inch on each side of the line. After each one was sewn on each side of the line I cut the pairs apart on the line, creating two half-square traingles, a little larger than 4 1/2 inches each. (Not shown.)

Afterwards, I had 4 half-square traingles of each of the fabric pairs.

I trimmed each one down to the next half-inch. Unfortunately, I was watching my little guy play in the back yard and cutting the squares in front of our big picture window and cut a few sets at 4-inches before realizing my mistake, so then I just made all of them 4-inch squares.

Once I had the sets of half-square triangles, I flipped them all sorts of ways to see what my choices were, but this time I stayed with my original plan and decided to make pinwheels. 

I sewed them together and soon had 16-pinwheels ready to be put together. 

I'll show you the finished tabletopper later. I am hoping to use it for a feature story I am writing for TEAinTEXAS' summer issue.

This was a quick and easy project. If it wasn't for our sewer line breaking, unexpected out of town family stopping by for a visit, vehicle maintenance and birthday dinner out with friends, I would have been able to finish it in one weekend!!

Until our next cup of tea,

The Heart of the Kitchen

OMG! We are only a few weeks away from Valentine's Day!! It's actually an exciting time for me because we recieved an early Valentine's Day present 5 years ago. Our Lil Monkey was born on Feb. 9, and then of course next week is my birthday so it's actually a bit of a whirlwind couple of months for us.

So of course, I'm getting an early start on pink projects!! 

On Saturday, I told you about an accidental project that I stumbled upon while making a mistake on this project. While I said I'd show the finished one of that one with this, I don't quite have it ready. Sorry, but hopefully, this makes up for it.

I wanted to make some quick projects and Quiltsmart ZigZapps! are the easiest way to do that, so I dug around in my stash and found some pink fabric and Sweetheart ZigZapps! A little stitching and flipping and I whipped up this kitchen towel!

A few friends have asked me if the Quiltsmart ZigZapps! are really as easy as I say. So let me walk you through how I do them.

First, I cut around the border of the ZigZapp! Then pin it to the right side of the fabric with the textured fusible side towards the fabric.

Then I stitch on the solid line.

I cut out the stitched piece on the dotted line, then carefully cut out the inset ZigZapp! if there is one. If there is a dotted line in the center, like the small heart, I cut on that line before sewing.

Then carefully flip the fabric so the rightside is facing out and the printed interfacing is on the back with the textured fusible side facing out.

I lay the turned piece on an Applique Pressing Sheet or Grip-n-Press by Bear Thread Designs with the interfacing on the craft sheet and iron it flat. This will prevent the fusible from transferring to my work surface.

Next I lay it on the background fabric and iron it down. The fusible will tack it down to the fabric, but depending on the fabric, like this textured towel I sometimes need to pin it.

Then stitch it stitch it down. Now, usually I stitch it to the background fabric with clear thread using a zigzag stitch, however this one I wanted to have a white stitched line show. The you finish your project as planned.

See, easy peasy! It took me less than an hour to make this, with 4 "life crisis" interruptions from a 4-year-old and taking pictures of each step. Now, it's your turn! Let me know when you try a project, I'd love to see it!

Until our next cup of tea ...

Happiness is Hexagons!!

This past weekend, I was able to spend a little time working on a project that I am using Quiltsmart Hexagon ZigZapps! to make it. While I won't be posting this project for a while, I have to say these Hexagon ZigZapps! are super easy and very fun!

They come in 3 sizes, 2-inch, 1.5-inch and 1-inch and i am overflowing with ideas as I sew these quick little hexes. I can assure you, I have looked at hexagon quilts for years and loved them. For years I have stressed about how hard triangles looked, so I didn't even want to think about these little six-sided bundles of potiental tears. 

The technique that Mattie at Quiltsmart has designed is simple, you place your printed interfacing on the right side of the fabric, sew around the sewing line, trim on the cutting line and then flip inside out (you cut a slit in center of interfacing - I do it before sewing so I don't cut my fabric.) It's literally as easy as turning my kid's socks right side out, and less smelly! Most of the Quiltsmart ZigZapps! use this technique or a version of it and I am addicted!  

I had a lot of fun and in no time, I had a pile of each of these sizes sitting there waiting to find their place in the project. (The pink is actually the above color, my phone flashed on the photos below.) I can honestly say, I will not do hexagons any other way! (Sits on hands to show my resolve and commitment!)

If you've wanted to try hexes but were too scared, or if you've given up after other techniques, take a deep breath and try these. You'll be happy you did!

Until our next cup of tea ...

An Accidental "Sweetheart" Project

Houston we've had a problem here ... Well, yes, but maybe it can be a good thing. Well, I'm sure that's not how the conversations went with the crew of Apollo 13 when they reported a technical problem back to their Houston base, but as a Houstonian, let's just go with it for the sake of the post. (A little histocial fact, they are often misquoted as saying "Houston, we have a problem" because of the Apollo 13 movie.)

Anyway, back to the post ... Last night I was working on some wreaths with a friend, Erin (more on that later.) After hubby came home and we have dinner, he offered to do dishes so I headed to the sewing room for a little relaxation and stress-relief after a hard day at work (production time at the magazine.)

After working on some pink wreaths, I was ready to get a jumpstart on some Valentine's Day projects, so I pulled out my trusty bin of Quiltsmart interfacing panels and dug around looking for some Sweetheart ZigZapps! I found a panel and a half as well as some pink fabric and a project was born within minutes.

I tuned into Netflix on my iPad (I'm currently binge-watching Heroes), while I pinned and sewed the fabric heart. It must have been a cliffhanger kind of moment because I had it all sewn and cut out before realizing I'd pinned it to the wrong side of the fabric. Oh, no!! Considering that usually I do a good amount of fusible applique, I'm surprised this is the first time I've done that.

I sat there looking at this perfectly cute heart, flipping it over back and forth (like that would fix it), bummed that turning the interfacing would leave it inside out and the back on this fabric didn't have anything showing through on the other side. 

I was thought, "If I leave it like this, it will be raw-edge ... what can I do with that?" The back didn't have a slit yet in the back since I was just going to cut the smaller heart off to reuse, so I thought maybe I could put it on an craft apron as a spoon pocket and only sew up the sides, leaving the top and bottom open for a pair of scissors. Then I thought, I could just sew up the "V" portion and put it as a little pocket on a back. While I liked both of those ideas, it required me starting a larger project and I had to put The Lil Monkey to bed in an hour. I needed something fast ... LIGHT BULB! A banner!!

I dug around and found my Quiltsmart banner panels and grabbed one with some white fabric and within minutes, I had made this adorable banner. Today, I have to run errands and added to my list to get some fabric for letters. I'll lad the work LOVE in between the hearts and add a ribbon across the top. I'll post a finished photo when I post the orginal project I had set out to make.

All in all the lesson here is, you never know where your mistakes will take you. If you just roll with the punches, sometimes falling down gives you a better view! 

Until our next cup of tea ... 

A Friend's Request

Military life comes with a certain degree of separation and a large portion of goodbyes. As a military family you learn to treasure friends when you find them because in a short time you're introductions turn to farewells. If you're lucky you'll stay in touch via social media and if you hit the lottery you may be stationed at the same location again with a good timeframe of overlapping between another move.

Sometimes you have the rare treasure of having a military friend who has family in the same location as you and the friendship can grow into one that will last weel into your golden years. George and I are that lucky. 

He and his friend, Michael, grew up in the same neighborhood and after highschool Mike headed to the Navy and George headed to college where he joined the Army. Eventually wives and children joined the mix and "coming home to visit" gave us more "family" to visit. Now that we are living back in the old neighborhood we've become part of the family their coordinate into those busy trips home.

Erin and I have a friendship that was born because of our husbands' history and grew fast because of the shared understanding of military life. It's hard to explain to those who don't live the daily life of a military family, but there are small daily things that you don't get if you don't live it. Today for example we talked about how even when you are unpacking from a new move you are taking notes on what to do differently when packing the next time, and how even putting away holiday decorations is extreme because you don't know if you will recieve orders to move before you open them again, so you have to pack with that knowledge.

That's not to say that we can't find comfort and support from those family and friends who are not military, but it's sort of an unspoken understanding.

During this visit, we've had a bit of time to get together with what has come to be known as "The Four Families", a group that includes two other friends from George's childhood in this neighborhood. With Mike and Erin staying down the street, we've also had some one-on-one time to visit and relax. Today was one of those days.

The Lil Monkey spent the day with my parents and I called Erin to see if she wanted to come over to sew. When their oldest was younger he recieved a lot of handmade gifts from family members, such as blankets, quilts, afghans, etc. In the 10 years between their oldest and youngest, many of those family members have passed away and Erin was sad that their second child wouldn't have some of the same heirlooms later. I offered to make a quilt and other little things earlier this year and she was excited but also expressed how she'd love to learn to sew as well. 

We were finally able to have a good amount of child-free time for both of us today, so she came over to help layout the quilt (I wanted her to have as much participation as possible) and to learn the sewing basics. After getting her comfortable with my sewing machine and showing her to basics, I pulled out the easiest projects to learn to sew on ... Quiltsmart ZigZapps and Wine Shades. She felt comfortable starting with the Wine Shades because of the straight lines. 

I sorted through my recently consolidated fabric stash pulled out some pink polka dot fabric that matched the quilt we'd been working on for her daughter's soon-to-be big girl room. She was a little hesitant at first, but when I explained that the wine shades were very forgiving as far as staying on the sitching lines and such, she started to feel a little more confident. 

She slowly stitched along, talking herself through the steps and buttons, while I organized my box of ZigZapps looking for some more Wine Shades. I'd recently given my roll of panels to my Mom who was short for a class she was teaching and was now regretting not keeping some. I soon got lucky, finding a few pre-cut wine shades interfacing panels as her confidence grew and she began chatting about making set for each holiday. I dug around in my fabric a little more and found fabric for her to use to make wine shades for 4th of July/Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving/Fall, and Halloween.  

A few hours after starting she had a stack of completed wine shades, the remaining panels I could find and a list of fabric to get at the store this week. I'm not sure of I should be proud like a Mama Bird whose chick learned to fly, or if I should worry that I have created a tornado that cannot be contained! But I guess I'll worry about that later because now I have to show her the ZiggZapp flowers, leaves and petals, stars and more!!!

It was truly an amazing day to be able to take a break from the realities of military life and the looming seperation and just get creative. Quiltsmart made it easy to get have fun while learning, and who knows what crafty craziness we try next!!

Until our next cup of tea ...

Inspiration is Everywhere

I'm having a bit of quilting withdrawals, though it partially for a good reason. Last week our little family joined my brother and his family, and my mom and stepfather for a 5-days cruise, so that's why the blog has been a little quiet. Our dear neighbors collected our mail and packages while we were away and brother them over when we got home. I went to tuck the "Santa" gifts and other things away in the craft room and the light blew when we went in there. So while the packages are safely tucked away, I cannot do any sewing until Hubby can fix the light (I am too short to reach even on a ladder because it is recessed lighting.)

I was even proactive, but cutting and sorting projects at the beginning of the month because our families are really big on making homemade gift baskets and I needed the cutting table to put them together. {sigh} I guess I'll just be happy I can work on some stitching projects.

Earlier today I was chatting with Quiltsmart Mattie via text about some inspiration that I saw on a quilt blog that would look great with the Quiltsmart Dahlia. It got to me thinking about the random photos I take because I think it would be a unique quilt pattern, or color combination or just because I was inspired in that moment. 

Take these tiles at Lowe's. I am coordinating my son's class's annual Art Auction project this year and I saw these and thought it would be fun to try a similar project using Quiltsmart's Hexagons.

I saw this pink rose when my husband and I snuck away for lunch one day and thought the pinks would be amazing in a Quiltsmart Lonestar. (Can you tell that this A Year of Quiltsmart project is not just a part of my creative time? I'm a little obsessed!) 

When we were on the cruise, my husband and I took my son to the Dr. Seuss "Green Eggs and Ham" Breakfast. I thought maybe I'd push myself out of my comfort zone one day and try a red and aqua/teal combo. That would be WAY outside my comfort zone, color-wise.

I hope that I never stop seeing creative "inspirations" in everyday life. Even if I never get to see all the ideas created, it still makes life "colorful" to imagine all the possiblities. 

Until our next cup of tea ...

I'm Dreaming of a French Christmas

I'm a bit of a dreamer. Growing up I knew I was a bit of "gumbo" when it came to ethnic background, French, Mexican, Spanish and somewhere there were rumors of a little Hawaiian in the mix, but that could've been a childhood misinterpretation. However, from early on, I romanticized it all. Especially the French part as I grew older ... Paris is link synonymously with romance and French is the language of love.  

 

A few years ago I found this beautiful pink rose fabric with a French theme. It has white watermarked Eiffel Towers and PARIS and other French wording. I held on to it because the pattern was so large with the roses and I was scared that using it for quilting would diminish the effect of the overall pattern.

 

Recently at the Houston Quilt Market, I met up with Mattie and the gang from Quiltsmart and one of the projects I added to my collection was The Christmas Stockings. When I got this project, I KNEW that this was something that I wanted to used the fabric for, if only a piece of it.

 

One of the best things about Quiltsmart is the ease and quickness of even some of the most traditionally difficult patterns. One thing I loved about the Christmas stocking was that it was a quick project.

 

Yesterday, I had a conversation with "Quiltsmart Mandy" who does much of the social media, marketing and stuff for Quiltsmart. Since we are nearly the same age and both mothers of young children many of our conversations are both professional and personal in nature.

 

Last night, I tried to get my little guy settled with dinner and a new game on his iPad and thought it was a good time to start this project, which traditionally would take about an hour. This is how my conversation with Mandy went ...

 

 

Seriously, we have every intention of actually finishing these projects we start. In our own minds we have created this amazing fantasy where we will come home, cook dinner, clean up a little and the kids will settle down with TV or books or toys and we'll be able to sit down and reward ourselves after a long day of working and caring for family, but them that bubble quickly dissipates with resounding **POP** as our husbands or children come to us in rapid succession with what they believe to be world crisis that the UN Summit would be scared to tackle. In reality they've just forgotten how to do the most basic tasks, like in my little one's case, he cannot go to the bathroom by himself.

 

So we've decided to make it easier for moms of small children, by creating a formula to help determine how much time will really be required ...

 

 

Well, I was finally able to finish the first stocking that I started last night. After I put my son to bed, warmed dinner for my husband (who has been studying for law school finals) and he went to wind down with some TV time. I was truly excited that once I was able to focus, it was done so quickly.

 

This was the first project that the light bulb didn't click when I read the directions through before starting. As I did each step, I was still thinking, "I'm not seeing how this is going to work", but then in one of the final steps it finally clicked and I was like, "That is truly amazing! I never would have thought of that!"

 

The completed project turned out even better than I imagined and I am already thinking of a million more ways to make stocking with themes and embellishments. The second one (there are two in a pack) I am doing with traditional Christmas fabric, but I may do more later because they were so quick and fun. I might even be willing to make them for Christmas presents next year (if I can let them go once I make them.)

 

 

So what do you think about this addition to my Pink Christmas collection?

 





 

I'm hoping to finish the second stocking tomorrow and I'll post once its done.

 

Until our next cup of tea ...

 

 

Editor's Note: This post is dedicated to Mandy, who doesn't sugar-coat my loss of sanity, just reminds me I'm not the only one on a fast train to Crazyville!

 

Here We Go Again ...

Hey, it's that time of year again ... the weather is getting cooler, the trees are changing colors and ... The Round Robin is starting again.

Now you may remember from my post completing my first Round Robin that it was a stressful activity for me. I don't do good trying to "guess" what other people may like, especially when it is people that I don't know and in some cases hadn't met, until the first meeting.

This year, I decided to do the Round Robin again with a twist ... literally and figuratively.

I ma participating again as an independent member of my mom's group. That means that I am part of the group, in structure alone, I am doing a quilt, but not passing it and taking another. My hope was that I could still learn from other quilters and get some guidance while also holding myself to a goal to finish a quilt. (Seriously, I have started so many but only have 4 completed to date.)

As I said earlier I am claiming it to be the "Year of Quiltsmart" so I am concentrating on working on some Quiltsmart projects I wanted to do. So here is my medallion ... Its the Princess Feather by Quiltsmart. I think it may be a retired pattern, but I've had it for a while. I love the way it actually looks like it is spinning!

I must say that I have been nervous to actually get the the point where you stitch things down and have quite a few small projects that are pinned down, but I was too nervous to stitch them for fear of doing it wrong. But for our 10th anniversary, my dear sweet husband replaced my small sewing machine (who was puffing out her last few stitches with great effort) with the Viking Husqvarna Opal 670 and really this machine is so exciting to get creative with that I have stitched right past a few fears and hesitant breaks.

Today we headed to our first meeting at Quilter's Cottage in Richmond, Texas. This quilt shop is a cute little cottage that is full of fun fabrics and inspiring quilts.

I'm already finished with my first border, which is good since the next meeting is October 19, the shortest time between two meetings. This was done to allow for more time between the last two exchanges which traditionally has quilters (in our group) are rushing to complete the final borders before the reveal, which is done at a 4-day retreat.

I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Until our next cup of tea ...