asimplelife Quilts: Blog Hop

Showing posts with label Blog Hop. Show all posts

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Pin It Blog Hop!

I have thoroughly enjoyed being inspired by all the of talented pincushion makers during this Blog Hop. Thanks so much to our amazing cheerleader Kristen and to Madame Samm for coming up with such wonderfully creative themes for these fun Hops!

Since moving into my new quilting room last May I have had a number of "handy projects" in mind to pretty up some of my tools so I jumped at the chance to upgrade my pincushions. Don't you think that these...

are much more fun (while still being functional) than these?

While I have several decorative pincushions on display and tucked into various drawers and bags these are the ones I actually use on a daily basis. The blue magnetized one is nice and solid and is usually found on my cutting table. The purple wristband keeps me from holding stray pins in my mouth (nasty habit!!), pinning them to my shirt or laying them in odd places. I love having a pincushion on my person as I'm a "move about" quilter... I sew, press and trim/assemble/pin at different workstations.

I found THIS tutorial on my Pinterest Quilting Room Board and got busy. The directions were very easy to follow... I think it look me longer to pick out the fabrics than it did to make it!

Last week I was admiring all of the pincushions made from re-purposed items when I remembered seeing this mini adirondack chair in a box somewhere in my old quilting room so I dug it out. It was unfinished wood so I decided to paint it red to make it stand out on my table. Then I made another cushion since the one for the wristband fit the chair perfectly.

While not magnetized, this pincushion fits my need for something solid that won't tip over or get easily buried under things on my cutting table.

I'd love to make YOU a wristband pincushion! Please leave a comment telling me your favorite color combination and I'll use Mr. Random to select TWO winners at the end of the Blog Hop. Make sure to include an email address if you are a no-reply blogger. I'll include the velcro tabs unattached so that you can fit it perfectly to your wrist.

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed and the winners have been emailed!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the bloggers that are participating today:

Asimplelife Quilts (you are here!)

Jane's Quilting

Quilt Doodle Doodles

Dancing Moon

Bloom Where I Am Planted

Busy Bee Free

Marpie's Sewing Projects

Thank you for stopping by and good luck in the giveaway!

Monday, April 8, 2013

April Showers!

When I started quilting again 6 months ago after my 3 year hiatus I had never heard of mug rugs, but it didn't take long to fall in love with them. I keep the first one I made next to Mr. Juki on my sewing table. I've also done a few mug rug exchanges and made some for gifts. Lots of quilty fun in a little rectangle!

When the April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hop was announced it was a quick "YES Please!!" for me. Then I thought... and thought... and thought some more about what to make. So many ideas - probably too many ideas!

I came across this line of fabric at Connecting Threads a few weeks ago and thought it would be fun to play with.

It was!

Here is the first mug rug I made. After looking through the fabrics I decided I wanted to show off the galoshes and the umbrella girls print. I didn't want to cut them too small so decided on this layout and added the border fabrics. I found a pretty light aqua Sulky rayon thread in my drawer and decided to try for a "driving rain" effect. We had a rain mixed with snow shower the day before here in Minnesota so I added the random lines of snowflakes.

Next I wanted to use the other colorway... I really like how the greens brightened it up! When I quilted it I was thinking of a light spring rain and thought the serpentine stitch would be fitting.

The rest of the collection was dark and stormy! We live on a lake facing west so we see bad weather coming in the form of big dark clouds across the lake and thunder in the distance. Next comes the lightning followed by the cooling rain and, finally, light skies on the horizon.

I sketched out a pattern and paper pieced the background to show the progression of our typical summer storm. I have been wanting to play with applique on my new Juki F600 aka Julia so I found my fusible and fussy cut the umbrella girls. Doesn't Julia have a pretty buttonhole stitch!

I used the umbrella girls print for the backing on all three.

I also took a picture of the pieces before I sewed the second mug rug together in case you'd like to use my simple pattern. It was at night so ignore the blah colors from the flash.

Center Fabric - cut a 3.5" square
Border #1 - cut (2) 1.25" x 3.5" strips and (2) 1.25" x 5" strips
Border #2 - cut (2) 1.25" x 5" strips and (2) 1.25" x 6.5" strips
Side Panel Fabric - cut a 3.5" x 6.5" rectangle

I love to collect coffee mugs and this is my current favorite. Be Happy just says it all!

How about a giveaway? I've got a layer cake of Soaked to send to one lucky reader and I'll also send you some of the fabric I used for binding and backing. ~~Just leave ONE comment telling me your favorite thing about spring or which mug rug is your favorite and I'll use Mr. Random to draw a winner on the last day of the Blog Hop.~~ Giveaway is now CLOSED.

Thanks so much to Madame Samm and Erin for their wonderful efforts putting this fun Hop together! Please take some time to visit these talented quilters who have created mug rugs for your viewing pleasure today.

TUESDAY, APRIL 9th

Gina @ Sew Much and More

Sharon @ Vroomans Quilts

Theresa @ Bumbleberry Stitches

Jennet @ The Feathered Nest Studio

Patti @ A Yankee in Queen Liz's Court

Gene @ Gene Black - Alabama Artist

Susan @ Susan's Scrappy Domain

Bente @ I Like to Quiltblog

Deb @ Quilting & Other Craft Therapy

Megan @ AnnieOak Designs

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

WIP Wednesday

It's been a roller coaster week for me with several highs surrounding a major quilting low that I'm not ready to blog about yet.

What's Finished:

Last week I participated in my first blog hop - Stitch Me Up Embroidery - and finished a nagging UFO - Christmas Stockings 2,3 & 4 - which were major highs!

I had so many wonderful comments about Woman in Red. I'm not one to work without a pattern so when it came time to frame her in the pillow (at the 11th hour of course!) I was stressing. Luckily these fabrics from my stash "told" me what to do and I sketched it out, recalculated umpteen times to make sure my math was right and got busy. The results were better than I'd expected and what a great feeling that is!

Speaking of great feelings... finally finishing a UFO that I've picked up, sewed a bit, put down WAY too many times feels fantastic! This was one of those "Dark Cloud" projects that just hangs over you. I hope that changing my focus to one UFO a week this month will help prevent this.

What's Hot!:

Green Crossroads blocks for RSC13 that I'll blog about on Saturday.
My UFO for the week is Bright Blue Strings and I'll be quilting it today.
April Showers Blog Hop projects (my day is May 9th!).
3 new projects I blogged about yesterday. Here's a peak at 2 of them.

What's Not:

NOTHING!! I'm giving myself full permission just to focus on What's Hot! and banish a Really Dark Cloud from my quilting room for now. I'll give you the quilty low down once things are settled with my LAQ.

Click on Lee's button to be inspired - it's certainly my favorite place to hang out on Wednesdays!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Stitch Me Up Embroidery Blog Hop

Today is the day I get to share my stitches on this wonderful Blog Hop! I'd like to thank Madame Samm for creating all of these fun adventures in BlogLand and Jane from Jane's Fabric & Quilts for being such a great cheerleader along the way. And, a big thank you as well to the talented pattern designers who gave us so many fantastic patterns to choose from - Debbie Martinez from Busy As Can Be, Cyndi from Bee Tree Designs and Madame Samm.

I'm a rookie Blog Hopper and have been so inspired by all of the beautiful stitching I've seen over the last two weeks! Embroidery was one of my early craft loves when I used to make stamped tea towels as a child. I had a revival of my interest in embroidery about 7 or 8 years ago when I discovered crazy quilting, but I hadn't done any stitching for the last 5 years until this Hop was announced so I was excited to jump in.

As soon as I saw this stylish & sassy girl by Madame Samm I knew I had to stitch her! She reminds me of my daughter who is our family fashionista and I finished the pillow to match her decor. I had never done redwork before and it seemed like a perfect way to test out the beautiful Presencia thread we received. I watched a few videos on Youtube and started stitching away... it didn't take long before I was loving every stitch.

I did an envelope backing with binding which is my favorite way to finish a pillow.

Yes, we really do have this much snow in Northern Minnesota at the end of March! Our front yard is fenced in by this wall of white.

Here is an indoor closeup shot of the quilting I did on the border fabrics.

I also stitched this lovely pattern from Debbie Martinez which gave me a chance to try some variegated Presencia threads I added to my stash. It was so much fun to stitch along and watch the colors change like magic! I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this exactly but I've pulled some fabrics and will wait for inspiration to strike. Rest assured that it will NOT become a part of my UFO Collection!