Pillow Talk {Swap} 9

I just participated in Pillow Talk {Swap} 9 on Flickr. I love this swap because you get something that you can actually use and the talent is SO amazing! The best part is just seeing all of the fabulous pillow designs.

   My partner this time around said that she loves Denise Schmidt fabric, so I basically went with that for fabric choices. I made a pattern design that I have been dying to try out. I love the way it made two different shapes in the design. I would like to make a larger quilt pattern out of it and make the border print white and the inside shapes a solid color just to change it up.

 For the quilting I did back and forth rows making the rounder shape go in one direction and the "x" shape another direction. I wanted the border design to pop out a bit more and that helped.

On the back of the pillow I just made a basic fold over using solid grey, and an orange DS pattern trimmed in aqua.

 For extra goodies I gave my partner an Anna Maria Horner "Field Study" charm pack, some cotton thread from Japan, a cupcake pin and a little tape measure. I hope she likes everything!

 Now I get to share with you the pillow I received! I LOVE it!! I have totally been digging hexies and know after making some myself how much work goes into them. So I really appreciate the work that went into making my pillow. Megan did an amazing job and look how cute it looks on my couch!

She also sent me a lovely journal, cool zipper and chocolate! I feel very spoiled and excited to receive such a wonderful package. Swaps are so awesome because you get to give and receive, the best of both worlds!
Thanks so much Megan, it makes me happy every time I see it!
Next swap is Doll Quilt Swap 13, here we go!

Winners and WIPs!

I would like to thank everyone who entered to win my mom's book. She was so happy reading every comment and appreciates the support! The grand prize winner (who will also receive a little fabric goody) is:
Kathy said...

What a wonderful idea! Somedays are so busy - just to have something like this - to pick up and read a quick story is awesome! My favorite holiday tradition was when we were kids. All the cousins got together and played with our Christmas gifts together. Now were all spread across the United States - oh how I wish we could go back just once more.

I would also like to tell you that my mom wants to give ALL of you that entered your own book! Yipee! She was so touched with your thoughts she felt each of you should have one. Merry Christmas! I will be in touch.

 If you missed the giveaway, no worries you can get your own copy at www.lettersfromhomethebook.com or at Amazon.com.

On the WIP side of things, I have a lot on my list!
I recently finished a pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap 9 that I will share with you soon. Here's a sneak peak:

 

And I made a couple of blocks for Tracey Jay. She is making a beautiful quilt for a friend in need and made a call out for blocks. These are two I made:

We will be heading to St. George to be with my family for Thanksgiving. Our kids have a week off of school, whoop! My beautiful cousin who also lives there recently had her firsts, a set of twins! A beautiful boy and girl after years of trying. We are so overjoyed for them and can't wait to meet Mac & Brizbyn! But I couldn't meet them empty handed. I have been working on a couple of chevron quilts for them.

Her nursery colors are pink, orange, aqua and green. So I made some twinner quilts. I also thought it would be fun to use the I Spy charm squares I got in a swap at Sewing Summit. So I'm also putting together an I Spy quilt for them. Three quilts in three days, can I do it???

I also have a new Oliver +S pattern, Family Reunion and fabric to make my little Charlotte a new dress.

And I need to finish my Granny Squares quilt! I have someone in mind for this and some special quilting to go along with it.

 My brother the tennis pro has been waiting a long time for his t-shirt quilt and I thought Christmas would be a great time to finally get that done for him. Anybody ever made one? Any great tricks? I have to admit it scares me a little.

Then there are the curtains for my family room ( the floral print), a chair to recover (the houndstooth), and a pillow to make (the green print).

 

I won't even mention that I also have a quilt that needs to be quilted and bound for a Moda Bake Shop tutorial, but I just can't seem to get to it! I guess it will have to be a January thing.

Hmmmm, this WIP list is getting long. We'll see how much I can finish before Christmas. I also need to decorate, shop, bake, organize and do a bunch of stuff for the Primary at church. Whew!
How is your WIP list coming? I always have grand aspirations, but reality usually kicks my behind. Good luck with yours!

A Special Book with a Giveaway!

Today I would like to share something very near and dear to my heart. My amazing mom has compiled a book. It is based on the most significant book in history--The Holy Bible. First let me tell you how this book came about.

 A couple of years ago my mom had a terrible accident at work that left her totally immobilized. You can read a little more about it here. As she struggled with what was happening, she longed to find comfort in her beloved scriptures, but wished it had been easier to quickly access her favorite verses. She searched for a book that could give her just that, but it was nowhere to be found. So with the time that her recuperation gave her, she wrote the book that she longed to have.

The book is compiled from the best-loved verses and stories in the King James version of the Bible. It's organized by the different roles our Father in Heaven has in our lives: Creator, Deliverer, Lawgiver, Father, Savior, Comforter, and Teacher. There is also an area where you can add your favorite scriptures to truly personalize it.

This book has been such a labor of love for my mom and we are all so excited about the outcome. So I would like to give one away to you! I might even sneak in some fabric treats for the lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment. Tell me your favorite holiday tradition, or if you have a favorite scripture, I'd love to hear it! Giveaway entries will be open until Fri. November 16th at midnight Pacific time and winner will be chosen through the Random Number Generator.

This book is the perfect little gift book for Christmas, birthdays, Mother's Day, Graduation, you name it! If you'd like to order your own copy(ies) you can do so on the website at www.lettersfromhomethebook.com or you can order directly through Amazon here. Thank you for your support and good luck!

Ornate Mini Quilt

One of the classes I took at Sewing Summit was a sewing curves class taught by Christina at Sometimes Crafter. It's something I've always wanted to learn and like most everything, easier than it seams! I was even sewing curves without pinning first. Pretty cool.

This was the project for the class, Ornate Mini Quilt designed by Christina. We each got a template and thorough pattern and she was a great teacher. But what we didn't have was enough time to finish it in class!  It was such a cozy (finally Fall!) day yesterday, I thought it was the perfect day to get it done.

 I used mainly Denise Schmidt fabrics with a polka dot thrown in of course. Oranges, greens, and greys. Not a normal palette for me, but actually kind of nice for Fall.

 I could not figure out what to do for the quilting. I wanted to try something new that I haven't done before. I'm trying to work on my free motion quilting skills, so I decided to take the cute little daisies from the center design and quilt that! First I made a bunch of little flowers in a stipple, but I didn't like how that looked on such a small quilt. So I drew a little daisy in the middle of each area, quilted it, and then just echo quilted the flower!

I am pretty happy with the way it turned out! If you have been wanting to try something new, try it! You'll never know if you can do it until you try. Now, should I hang it, use it as a table topper, or give it away? Hmmmm....

Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop!

Hello Hoppers! Welcome to my day on the Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop organized by Laura from Quokka Quilts and Katy from The Littlest Thistle! The idea of this hop is to use a picture of someplace you've traveled, grab the palette from the picture, use the colors to choose coordinating fabrics and make a project from them using English Paper Piecing! Sound complicated? Nah, but it was a lot of fun. Here's the project I made:

  And here's how I got there! I haven't done much traveling recently but I have taken the kids to Disneyland a few times. That's what's nice about living somewhere where people go on vacations. So much fun stuff to do right where we live! I took a few pictures and here are the palettes I got from them.

 Christmas decorations in New Orleans Square.

The mighty Matterhorn

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad   The palettes were all very interesting, but the one that spoke to me was the Matterhorn palette. Greens, blue and coral, beautiful!

Here are my fabric picks. I was able to use some scraps which is always good. I decided I wanted to make a finished product and a zipper pouch would be the perfect size to get it done.

The paper piecing design I decided on was the Chrysanthemum. It's a variation of a Dresden plate but with "jagged" edges. Kind of like the Matterhorn! It also resembles the flower which is always a bonus for me.

For the center of the chrysanthemum I decided to add a little embroidery! I love the way it turned out and kind of brings all of the colors together.
The "petals" were hand-stitched using paper piecing but then I machine stitched it onto the pouch for extra stability.

  I used a gray woven look fabric for the main part of my pouch and then added a contrast border on one side and a different border fabric on the back. The lining and tab were done in a blue print.

I  made the bottom of the pouch a box so it is extra roomy inside. I will probably use it for more English Paper Piecing project supplies. They are really addicting!  Hope you like my little project. It was interesting to be directed by a palette. I certainly don't think I would have chosen it otherwise, but love how it all came together.

Don't forget to visit all of the other paper piecing project ideas and wonderful travelogs. You can get all of the information here. Including how you can win some of these awesome prizes by travellin' along!   Happy Trails!