My Color Inspiration posts have been less consistent this summer, but not for a lack of color. I’ve been focusing on sewing and having quality family time outside, and with an infant, it’s a lot trickier to carry a camera around with me to capture the color all around us. But it’s still there, oh–it’s there! Last week we had a full, full house with my entire family visiting (minus one brother-in-law)–my parents, two brothers, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, and two cousins; it was a full house! This week I’ll be sharing some colorful flowers seen during forays into town, turned into color palettes with Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1.
Corresponding solids from left to right: Kona Titanium, Bella Nautical Blue, Bella Magenta, Bella Peony, Bella Petal Pink, Bella Leaf
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right: 2606 – Mist 1310 – Med Blue Grey 2455 – Med Carmine Red 2479 – Med Orchid 2566 – Wisteria 2887 – Olive
Purple cone flower, or echinacea, is one of my favorite summer flowers. The color, the shape, the wild nature–I love it all. These were spotted along the Belfast waterfront, beautifying the view of the harbor.
Corresponding solids from left to right: Kona Grapemist, Kona Amethyst, Kona Lavender, Kona Blueberry, Bella Sapphire, Kona Blue Jay
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right: 2770 – V Lt Delft 2720 – Light Delft 2725 – Lt Wedgewood 2560 – Iris 2775 – Steel Blue 4140 – Wedgewood
Hydrangea. Honestly, it took me a while to fully appreciate this flower. The color of course is hard to be topped, but the giant fluffball style just isn’t my thing. When seen close up, however, the beauty of the color and the detail of each individual petal wins over the goofy fluff. My daughter, on the other hand, LOVES these flowers. The bigger the better, in her opinion. Me, I’d opt for the delicate forget-me-not over the voluptuous (yes, I just called a flower voluptuous) hydrangea any day. But I’ll take the color anywhere I can!
One of the perks of quilting retreats and other social sewing is that little tips are tossed around. Today I’m going to share a very simple yet important tip about using the thread you cut from a spool during hand stitching. As a self-taught sewist, these are the bits of knowledge that I miss, since rarely are there blog posts about the bare basics of sewing. While basting our needle-turn applique projects around the table at the Slow Stitching Retreat, I caught this important tip:
Use the thread in the same direction it comes off the spool. The tail end that you pull to unravel your length of thread should be the side you thread through your needle. The end that you cut should be the knot end. This way, you are pulling the thread through the fabric in the intended direction, which works with the ply of the thread instead of against. Using the thread in the proper direction significantly decreases tangles and twists while stitching. Simple, right?!
I never knew that it mattered which end was which, so I didn’t pay attention while cutting my thread lengths. Now, when I’m pre-threading a bunch of needles for a good binding or hand stitching session, I thread each needle as the thread is cut instead of accumulating a nice pile of threads and then grabbing any which end to thread through the needle.
Stephanie’s Tips and Tutorials link ups from previous weeks are filled to the brim with great time savers, tricks, and how-to’s. I’d definitely recommend browsing them with your Pinning finger ready. One of my favorites from last week was this tutorial by Veni Vidi Vicky on how to make your own sewing tags (which could easily be adapted to making your own quilt labels!). She gives great step by step instructions on how to use Spoonflower, which is something I’ve been tempted to do but have yet to try.
Now it’s your turn! Do you have any little tips or great tutorials to share this week? If you do, please link up below!
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Once again, your comments were my absolute favorite part about the giveaway. To enter the giveaway, I asked you to share what you think of when you hear “summer nights”. Many of you immediately thought of the song from Grease, which honestly had not even entered my mind. Here is just a tiny sampling of some of the other gorgeous images you shared. Honestly, you’re poets!:
starry skies and campfires, s’mores and songs – Jenn
a glass of wine in the garden in the evening looking at the moon, with my husband sitting beside me – Helen
A cold drink and good conversation on the patio with friends. Staying up late, talking late into the night. – Amanda
Star gazing and fireflies – Monique B.
I remember back when we used to arrive at the beach after dark and you could hear and smell the ocean, but not see the waves washing up on the shore. It held the promise of warm days on the sand and wading in the water to cool off. Happy times. – Amelia V,
Summer nights… trees, black silhouettes against deepening dark blues of the sky… Soft breezes bringing a cool freshening, chasing the day’s heat… A cacophony of frogs, joined by the insistent chirping of crickets… Mystical, magical periodic blinking of fireflies (“lightening bugs”)… The scent of summer blossoms and growing, ripening gardens all around, lulling and delighting with every breath taken… “Day’s end, and all is right”, now, in this moment of time… – Pat T.
and finally, my favorite, which really should be published somewhere awesome:
Summer nights of my long ago childhood includes the wonderful memories of visiting my cousins in rural South Eastern Oklahoma. We would be playing as dusk started settling in. Dinner would have been enjoyed by the crowd of extended family. Always enough, always super tasty, never fancy. Then the adults would settle into their metal lawn chairs as we children raced around the yard. I can remember the low buzzing of their conversation as we played. They were talking about times before us and so we went about creating our own memories, not really sharing theirs. The light would fade and fade until it was almost completely dark around us, the porch light left on, but it’s beam barely reaching into the darkness. Beyond its beam, hidden in the dusk the adults would still carry on with their reminiscing, the murmuring and occasional sound of laughter a constant backdrop to our continued play. And this is when the magic happened. The magic of fireflies. First just a few, then finally a full chorus of them in the dark. Somehow jars would magically appear in our hands. The game was on! Cousins and I dashed as we tried to catch the elusive insects, nothing like the brash ugly insects bashing themselves around the back light porch! These were silent and graceful, taking all your skill to try to catch one as its light flickered on and off and on and off, teasing us to catch it.
So, that’s what I think of when summer nights are mentioned. I hope there are children still out there chasing fireflies and letting them go, barely hearing the history of their people as it’s murmured from lawn chairs that still sit under the clump of trees. It has been years and years since I have seen a firefly. Are they still out there? – magistra13
You probably want to know who won, though, right? Mr. Random chose number 74, which was Linda.
Congratulations, Linda! Your bundle will be mailed out tomorrow. Enjoy stitching with watermelon juice running down your chin! For those of you who didn’t win this one, you can buy this bundle from Fiddlehead Artisan Supply’s online shop (or in person) until they sell out!
It’s a big stash building day, since not only am I bolstering Linda’s stash, but I am also sharing a few new fabric bits that I bought at Maine Quilts for my own English Paper Piecing (EPP) stash. I love tone on tones, but meticulous cutting (also known as fussy cutting) is best with busier prints with lots going on.
Here is my full haul, from windswept kids to flowers (what!? I bought floral prints!?) to awesome sloths.
These first three fabrics were purchased from Alewives Fabrics, and are intended to work together in a currently unplanned future EPP project. From top to bottom, I bought:
1/2 yard of Zephyr by Rashida Coleman Hale for Cotton & Steel
1/4 yard of Picnic by Melody Miller for Cotton & Steel
1 yard of Moon Shine by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics
I typically don’t buy (or like, for that matter) floral prints, but that Moon Shine just drew me in and made me say uncle. I think the bold black background with the bright red, lime green, and turquoise combo just begs to be cut up and sewn back together in a fun geometric EPP way. I decided to add in a bit of the red Picnic and a generous splash of the limey green Zephyr, and there we have a solid beginning to a new project.
I also bought 1/2 yard of this Floral Bazzar in Orchid by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit Fabrics. Again, it’s far more floral than I typically buy, but the diverse and detailed print just begs to be meticulously cut and pieced back together. I loved the color combination of the bright navy blue, coral, magenta, and grey and so bought this as a feature fabric for yet another not-yet-planned future EPP project. Just look at all of the variation in this one print!
Same fabric, different perspective, and an entirely new look, which means this will be FUN to chop!
Finally, these sloths!! Seriously, how could I NOT buy some of this fabric?! This is the epic sloth fabric, Sketches & Memories from Costa Rica from Honeymoon by Sarah Watts for Cotton & Steel. I bought 1/2 yard of this fabric from Fiddlehead Artisan Supply‘s booth at Maine Quilts. I don’t know what I’m going to make with it yet, but I just couldn’t resist. I surely will need to buy more, and might make a sloth bag just so that I can tote these guys around everywhere.
Did you know that I have a degree in Environmental science and saw sloths in Costa Rica while there for a Tropical Biology class? It wasn’t my honeymoon–maybe we should have gone to Costa Rica–but it sure is a memory, and I’m pretty sure I have a sketch (or at least a photograph) somewhere!
Does fabric ever talk to you, grab your wrist, and refuse to let you go without buying some? And then snuggle you the whole way home? Okay, good. I’m not weird.
I’m linking up with Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash, where he shows us the finer points of the not-so-floral Liberty prints.
You’re probably familiar with the pinkalicious quilt I made for my sister in law a few months back. The heart in a speech bubble I designed for that quilt was begging to be made into a mini of its own, and I’m excited to announce that it’s ready for release!
I named this pattern Hello, Love! , which I, well… love! The mini quilt finishes at 20″x20″ and would also be perfect for a pillow or as part of a larger quilt. The pattern is my first publicly available traditionally pieced pattern (that’s right–it’s not paper pieced! *gasp*) and is fat quarter friendly. There are clear instructions for cutting and piecing, including diagrams and tips. The pattern also includes diagrams showing how to make two half square triangles (HST) at a time.
This pattern is a great way to showcase your favorite fabrics, or show your love for anyone or anything. The heart is a great place to applique anything under the sun, be it the name of your bestie, your kiddos, your fur babies, or a picture of a unicorn, camera, or kale (don’t we all love kale?). Note that applique details are not included in the pattern.
Hello, Love! is available in my Craftsy store (and Payhip for those of you in the EU) and will be on sale for only $5 for the first week, after which it return to its normal price of $8.
Many thanks to my testers, who provided helpful feedback and spotted my late night typos. You may have seen a few of these minis around the Instagram world already, and can see more by checking out the tag #hellolovequilt. When you make your version, please tag #hellolovequilt and @nightquilter so that I can see!
I’m linking up my flimsy and pattern finish with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday. I bought a new sewing machine, so I’m waiting until it arrives before I quilt this mini, but I just couldn’t wait to share the pattern! Enjoy, and I can’t wait to see what you create.
While that first month seemed to last so long, with days and nights filled with slow baby snuggles, the second month flew by as we returned to our daily routine. My baby is two months old! With a bit over 20 minutes of sewing time (#sewtake20!) his second monthly quilt block is finished.
They are both growing!
I decided to make another teal block since I still have a lot of teal scraps. I think rather than my usual rainbow, I’m going to stick with a simple color scheme for this quilt: teal and black & white. I really need to sketch out a firm plan, so I’ll make that a goal for month three.
He is so alert and interested in the world around him.
I am blessed beyond belief with this boy. He has such a peaceful demeanor, and as soon as he hit one month old, he was all smiles. He is so very interested in the world around him, and I love having “conversations” with him. After three children, I have mastered the art of the one-sided conversation, and I truly love the baby babble and expressions I get in return.
He’s telling me all about it.
Perhaps the best part about growing our family is the love between siblings. Maddie and Max love their little brother almost as much as he loves them, and seeing the sweet exchanges is heart warming, even on a crazy day.
I’m excited to see this quilt grow with my little guy, and the one-block-per-month requirement still feels more than doable (even if I did make this block last night).
A few weeks ago, I received an email inviting me to join the Sizzix Design Team as their English Paper Piecing (EPP) blogger. I was excited at the offer since I love EPP, but I had never used a Sizzix die cutting machine before (affiliate link), though I’ve heard many good things about them. For those of you who don’t know, the Sizzix is a die cutting machine that has the ability to cut fabric (or paper and other materials) quickly, easily, and accurately with the use of stainless steel dies (basically like cookie cutters in a foam protective layer) rolled through a pressing machine. Sizzix sent me a Sizzix Fabi Starter Kit (affiliate link) and a few dies to try out, and I figured if it was as helpful, safe, and time saving as I’d heard, I would happily sign on as a Design Team member.
It didn’t take me long to be convinced at how big of a time saving tool the Sizzix machine was. It cuts eight (8!) perfectly even pieces of fabric at a time, including “fussy cut” shapes–of course I had to try to meticulously cut with the Fabi before agreeing to join as an EPP-focused Design Team member! While the meticulous cutting takes a bit more preparation to get lined up, it surely is faster than hand tracing and scissor-cutting, not to mention perfectly accurate in size and shape.
The biggest selling point for me was the safety of using the Fabi die cutting machine (affiliate link). As a mom of little ones, I can do all of the necessary cutting for a quilt with my kids around, even my very busy three year old son. In fact, my kids can even (eagerly) help turn the crank to cut the dies (with my direct supervision of course). There’s no way I would rotary cut fabric around my son and even scissors disappear off the table if my hawk watch falters, but the Fabi is definitely doable. Not only will I get more accomplished, but perhaps this will inspire my kiddos to try more fabric crafts as well.
A fabric pull for some Sizzix EPP playtime.
So, it’s official: I’m a member of the 2015 Sizzix Design team! I’m excited to be joining the team, and will be sharing posts and projects soon. (Who doesn’t love an excuse to start new projects!?) In the meantime, I’m playing around with my Fabi, starting a few projects, learning the ropes of die cutting, and experimenting with ways to use the Sizzix with EPP. I can’t wait to show you what I’m making! Here’s a tiny little peek to hold you over:
Do you use a Sizzix or other die cutting machine to help speed up your quilting process? What’s your favorite aspect?
It’s time to share another color scavenger hunt! Today’s inspiration comes from the findings of the red-orange-yellow scavenger hunt around our July gardens and fields in rural Maine. Color palettes are made using Play Crafts’ Palette Builder 2.1 and my photographs. Flowers were found by my five and three year old kiddos.
Corresponding solids from left to right: Bella Lead, Bella Cayenne, Bella Clementine, Kona Grellow, Bella Acid Green, Kona Mint
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right: 1158 – Med Grey
2395 Pumpkin Spice 2390 – Cinnamon Toast 2975 – Brass 2120 – Canary 2886 – Lt Avocado
This was a very fun scavenger hunt, since the yellow flowers just kept multiplying. It was great to look at each new flower and try to decide whether it was one we already had, or if it was a different species. The environmental scientist in me was thrilled to see my daughter reason through similarities and differences in the flowers, and of course the quilter in me was thrilled to play with flower arranging layout once we retreated to the cool porch.
Corresponding solids from left to right: Kona Steel, Kona Sunflower, Bella Sunflower, Kona Citrus, Bella Orange, Kona Gold
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right: 2625 – Arctic Ice
2125 – Wheat 1135 – Pale Yellow 2120 – Canary 2975 – Brass 2155 – Cinnamon
Oh, these yellows! I will never cease to be amazed by the varied textures within flowers. It’s like a whole new world within the center of this tiny, dime-sized flower. Want to explore? Me, too!
Corresponding solids from left to right: Kona Pewter, Kona Nectarine, Kona Cayenne, Bella Clementine, Kona Persimmon, Bella Golden Wheat
Corresponding Aurifil thread from left to right: 2620 – Stainless Steel
2215 – Peach 2395 – Pumpkin Spice 2350 – Copper 2150 – Pumpkin 6010 – Toast
The woman who originally planted our gardens LOVED lillies. There are such a wide variety of colors and species of lily, it’s impossible to capture them all. We chose two different flowers as a sampling, and this vibrant orange daylily is like a fiery volcano (you can thank my three year old son for that comparison; he’s all about hot lava these days). So gorgeous!
I’m thinking I should rename my blog “Babies on Quilts” these days. Babies abound in these parts (seriously, don’t drink the water if you don’t want to join in the new baby snuggles), so many quilts are being created for these new little members of our world. I’ve written about how wonderful it feels to give a quilt to a brand new baby, with wishes that the quilt will accompany the child on his/her grand journey through life. Today I get to write about the immense joy of receiving such a quilt from some dear friends.
I received the sweetest package from my dear quilty friends Stephanie and Michelle (from Late Night Quilter–we are sewing soul sisters half a country apart). They made a gorgeous Delectable Mountain quilt for Finn and included some sweet additions for mommy–a teething necklace and magnetic hexie puff, both in my favorite color!–as well an adorable applique bird onesie for Finn. Finnian loves the quilt already, and clearly the sleepy magic is in it. The first three times I put him on the quilt, he settled right down to sleep!
Some big baby laughs before settling down to sleep.Babies on quilts–I just can’t get enough!
This quilt is the perfect size to take with us everywhere. It fits right in my bag, and will be making memories with us daily, even if that means mostly diaper changes and spit up-filled tummy time in the beginning. Thank you so very much, Stephanie & Michelle. Your love is clearly in this quilt, and it makes me so happy to see it be a part of our daily lives.
This gift is just one example of the wonderful community of quilters of which I’m blessed to be a part. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of my quilting blogging community, and I not only enjoy conversing with many of you via blog comments and resulting email conversations, but I find myself calling many of you friends. I want to extend a special thanks to Nancy–your care package with such well thought gifts for the entire family is cherished and still appreciate daily in our home. Just yesterday, Maddie made a very special spirograph flower for me to hang on our bedroom door. ❤
Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl, another dear friend in our blogging community, wrote a wonderful reflective post about community and what it takes to cultivate relationships with people you know purely through blogging. It’s all about authentic connection. I love that her final tip on how to cultivate community is to be you. That’s part of what I love about blogging–I’m free to be me, and share the parts of life and my creative process that inspire me. Amazingly, by doing that, I in turn inspire you, or at least inspire the spark of conversation that begins a relationship. It was just such a spark that began my conversation with Stephanie and Michelle over a year ago, and since then we’ve not only become friends, but we’ve also roomed together at Quilt Con, worked together on many projects, and provided daily support and encouragement to each other from a far.
Thank you, Stephanie and Michelle. Thank you, Nancy. Thank you, Yvonne. And many, many thanks to all of you readers, many of whom I’m now blessed to call friends.
It all started as a joke. Sitting around the breakfast table on the morning of Finn’s one month “birthday”, I jokingly said to my husband, “So what stuffed animal should we use in Finn’s one month photo shoot? What outfit should he wear?” I know that it’s all the rage to buy those monthly milestone stickers and find a cute stuffie and a big chair in which to take photos of your baby each month, but Finn is the third child. I didn’t make it past 4 months with Max, my second, and didn’t even plan to attempt this time around. We take lots of pictures day to day, so the memories will be made.
My husband, joking right back, said, “Didn’t you whip up a quilt block for his one month photos?” But instead of laughing and enjoying a mutual “poor third child” joke, I gaped. What a great idea! Now this idea of a quilt block per month was stuck in my head. How long could it really take to sew up a quick simple block? There was no turning back.
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of making time to sew, and how a simple 20 minutes per day can add up to progress. I decided to put this to the test, set a timer for 20 minutes, and use whatever block resulted from my timer sewing endeavor. I opted for a simple log cabin block, inspired by the recent log cabin blocks made by Kim at My Go-Go Life and the epic log cabin quilts made by Luke Haynes. It was also the perfect choice since I could use scraps and just sew whatever strips fit without too much thought.
Ta da! The project was a slam dunk (get it? Finn is slam dunking… kind of?). I had to pause the 20 minute timer once for a baby nursing break, and I ultimately decided to hit snooze and sew for 30 minutes, since I had the opportunity, but it worked! Making the goal to sit down and sew for 20 minutes got me at my machine and resulted in a 12+” block.
My friends Stephanie at Late Night Quilter and Mandy at Mandalei Quilts and I are going to try out a goal of sewing (or making other sewing-related progress) at least 20 minutes each day. We are all busy moms with full plates, but setting a small, attainable goal will help us make sewing progress, too, without stress. We will be sure to post about our experiences on our blogs as well as on Instagram using hashtag #sewtake20. My first #sewtake20 trial run was a success and resulted in a great start to a new project, documenting how a quilt can grow along with my baby with only 20 minutes per month.
They are both getting soooo big!
I’m linking up with Freshly Pieced’s Work in Progress Wednesday, and will be posting more about my #sewtake20 progress on Instagram. If you feel like you need a little boost to get sewing daily, feel free to set a timer for yourself. Tag #sewtake20 so that Stephanie, Mandy, and I can see your progress and cheer you on!
I’m excited to introduce you to a new sponsor: Pile O’ Fabric. Many of you may be familiar with Pile O’ Fabric, an independently run modern sewing shop and blog by Alyssa Lichner. It is rare for me to find a shop in which I love ALL of the stocked fabric, but Pile O’ Fabric just may be such a shop.
Here are just a few of the great shop features that keep me coming back:
You know me and color. I play with color palettes every week, so when I visit Pile O’ Fabric and see that the curated bundles include not only coordinating color palettes with matching solids, but ALSO a bundle of said coordinating solids, I swoon.
Easy fabric search-abilitybased on different characteristics like color family, scale, and material in addition to manufacturer, designer and collection. For example, you can search for all fabrics in a specific color family, including fun unique colors like pickle and persimmon, or you can browse only fabrics with large scale prints. This definitely makes it easier to find the perfect fabric for your project.
The Pile O’ Fabric blog also provides a great resource full of tutorials, patterns and inspiration. I’m thrilled to be partnering with Alyssa and Pile O’ Fabric, and definitely recommend checking out all her shop has to offer.
+++++++++ Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be helpful or enjoyable for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I grab a needle and thread once the kids are in bed
Corresponding solids from left to right:
Corresponding solids from left to right:
Night Quilter 