On Making New Quilty Friends or How Instagram Made my Summer Even Better

I thought last weekend would never come. Now I can't believe it went so fast. Jules, Nicole, and I rented a house in the central California Coast town of Morro Bay.

We got together for a weekend of chatting, olives, cheese, homemade liqueur, zoku popsicles, french toast cake (I repeat: french. toast. cake.), lots of laughing, gorgeous views, and even a tiring amount of sewing.

It was wonderful.

At first I was hesitant about going. Would they like me? (I think so) Am I cooler online than in person? (emphatic yes!) Could I control my snorts? (sadly, no).

I'm so very glad I went and made new friends and learned new things. And I'm glad we decided to make it an annual getaway. I think it will be even more fun next time because we'll already know each other so I won't be so reserved (I'm not good the first time round :)

We decided to do a pillow swap and I scored! Nicole made me an awesome mendo pillow. I love the heath - it's the perfect blender! Jules thrilled me with a selvedge pillow. I adore her selvedge quilts. Adore. Don't worry, they were only on the ground for a second!

I'm just as enamored with the backs! Nicole's pillow is special because she gushed all weekend about how the dots are her favourite fabric. So now I think of her even more when I see the back (I don't have a large enough pillow form yet, so it's not filled out). I learned something great from the back of Jules' pillow - quilt the flap! It's sturdy and, well, brilliant!

I made Jules a stem pillow based on this pattern. I think my choice of a primarily white pillow shows that I don't have kids. The prints are from Salt Air. Jules made most of a beautiful tumblr quilt top out of Salt Air while we were there. It's SO pretty all together - beachy and fun.

For Nicole, I made a plus and x pillow but shrank the blocks down so that the pillow would finish at 16". I hated the blocks when I put them on my design wall and even decided to scrap the pillow all together. Luckily Darci (another awesome friend made through instagram) talked me into finishing it.  I'm SO glad that I did because it looked great after quilting.

On the sewing front, I cut and sewed almost a complete quilt top while we were there! What should have been a super quick sew was made painful due to this strange mathematical vortex in Morro Bay. Maybe you've been there and have experienced it?  The quilt ended up twin size instead of lap size. How, I will never know.  I'll blog the details soon.

That's pretty much it in a very brief nutshell. Here's to new friends!  They are the best.

Thanks for stopping by. 

2 Years in the Making

Around June, I resolved to clean out my huge pile of UFO's. The clean out process involved one of the BEST DECISIONS EVER for finishing UFO's, which might be obvious to all of you but was not obvious to me. Are you ready?

Send the quilts out to be long armed.

I hate basting quilts. HATE. I hate it enough to not finish quilts once the top is complete but I always thought about long arming as being for those huge quilts that I can't handle on my machine.

No no no. I think the best use of long arm services is for those quilts that make you want to shoot yourself in the foot!!

And so, I got to work on my pile. This quilt isn't my oldest, but it does date back to July 2010.  I won't lie, finishing this quilt top was akin to poking out my eyeball (Just one, I don't desire to lose my vision). But I finished. And I'm glad I did.

The quilting was performed by Emily of Emerson Quilting, who did an amazing and FAST job. I asked for the famous Denyse Schmidt quilt pattern and she executed it perfectly! Emily is just starting out and has fair prices, excellent customer service, and an astonishing turn around time. Seriously, she turned around two quilts in about a day and a half, I think. Her site doesn't show a lot of options but if there is something you want just ask. She is super easy to work with!

I took both the quilts on vacation with me but in ten days I only managed to find time to bind one of them :). I guess I was too busy floating down the river in one of these everyday.

This is also my first and only quilt with white! I know that I'm way late to the white bandwagon - I think it left the station a year or two ago, but - wow - white looks great in quilts!

I hope you are having the best summer. Thanks for stopping by!

Specs:
Finished Size: 60"x60"
Fabric: Kona White, various HR and DS scraps. 
Block: Dutch Windmill. It's just HST's. I copied this amazing quilt. It's the first one I had ever seen and still a favourite.

{Finally} And the winners are...

Ugh, I was able to turn off comments on Monday but then Blogger kicked me out and I haven't been able to get back in until now! Thank you for all of your bread suggestions! I think I responded to everyone, even all of you no-reply bloggers (I'm just learning about that. As I've said before, I'm totally not a savvy blogger).

I can't believe how many yummy suggestions there were. So many that I didn't feel right picking five so I used the random number generator instead. But the random number generator spat out 4 of you who are no-reply bloggers. So sad. I decided to revert back to my original plan to choose the winners. So here they are...

Heather - Her favourite is an apple cheddar scone from Smitten Kitchen. Sounds Delish!
Java Diva - Inside out Carrot Cake Muffin. HELLO! You had me at cream cheese frosting.
Strawberry Patch - Lemon Curd Muffins. Mmmm.
H20girl - Bread dipped in brewer's yeast. This just sounds strange to me. So it's a winner!
Diann - Cinnamon Buns. Who doesn't love a good gooey cinnamon bun?

Thanks for joining the zakka along. I hope you're having as much fun as I am. And if you haven't already, head on over to (one of my favourite people) BettyCrockerAss's blog to see her SUPER cute project for this week and enter her give away!!

New Quilt Top!

I'm back from vacation and even managed to sew the fastest quilt top I've ever made! I'm not thrilled with my fabric choice - Picnics and Fairgrounds by Denyse Schmidt. I think the line shines as small patchwork but I still like the top. And it only took a couple hours to sew a king size. Talk about instant gratification! The pattern is Turning Twenty and I highly recommend it for a fast quilt with big pieces. But I recommend using larger scale prints. I also bound a quilt, which I'll blog about later.

Thank you so much for all the bread suggestions and nice comments about the bread basket! I'm sorry that the pictures weren't fantastic. I didn't count on having no internet OR cell reception while I was gone and had a hard time getting everything uploaded. I also feel like a nob for not including the name of the bread basket designer! She is Rachel Roxburgh of Roxy Creations. I am so sorry, Rachel. Your pattern rocks!

I just want to remind everyone that I will be drawing names tomorrow for the zakka along give away so you still have a chance to win the best thread on earth (Aurifil), awesome yarn dyed Essex linen and a skein of Cosmo floss to sample! To enter, leave a comment on this post.

Zakka-along Week 18!

I'm so excited that my week (18 for those keeping track) has finally arrived in the zakka-along, hosted by Lyndsey and Sukie - two rad people, in case you were wondering.

My project is the Bread Basket and it is stinking cute! My only regret is that I classed down the picture by photographing hot dog buns in the basket!





It's still a cute and useful basket that easily holds a dozen cheap hot dog buns. I bet it would hold 8 large scones too.

But that's only a guess.

At 4"x9", the basket is almost perfect for a loaf! I think it would be super cute to gift your christmas baking in one of these. So consider getting a head start on your gift giving and make one this week. Then link it up to Lyndsey's blog, by Friday, to be eligible for amazing prizes!!


Specs:
Fabric - Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in flax, repro 30's prints, Carolina gingham in brown.
Thread - Aurifil (best!)
Interfacing - scraps from my bin
Floss - Cosmo (best!)
Modifications - ties instead of button.

Give Away
As a thank you for reading this long post, I am giving away 5 prizes! Each consists a five pack of Aurifil thread, 1 skein of Cosmo floss, and a fat 8 of Kaufman Yarn Dyed Essex Linen in flax.
All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me your favourite type of bread/loaf/muffin. I will choose 5 people on Monday August 6 based entirely on how yummy I think your bread sounds :) international welcome!

Could this be any cuter?

I about died when Ayumi sent me the pattern for her popsicle block that she made for Ringo Pie last year. The block has always been my most favourite design that she's made. As soon as I opened it, I knew it would be perfect for my PTS8 partner so I went to work turning her design into a pillow.

I love it. I hope my PTS partner loves it too.

The pillow measures 22.5"x13". I made 5 blocks (obvs) then added a 2.5 inch border on all sides. I bought the pillow form at Joann's in case anyone is inspired to make their own. I wish i took a picture before I stuffed the pillow because I think this would make the cutest place mats!

You can buy the block at Superbuzzy. It's the first in a series of "sweets" themed blocks for a monthly quilt along! You know it's going to be the cutest quilt ever so I highly recommend joining.

Hexagon Bag

Today I am guest blogging a review of the Hexagon Bag pattern from Natural Patchwork by Suzuko Koseki over at Sew Sweetness's blog. There are a ton of prizes for purse palooza so check it out.

Here is a picture of the books that have the pattern. I forgot to include the pic in my guest post.

And because I have arthritis, which makes it a pain to sew hexagons, here's one more gratuitous pic.

Purse Palooza continues all month and will include all of these amazing bloggers:

Pattern Review Schedule  
June 4 - Sara @ Sewsweetness (tutorial: bag interfacing)          
Kim @ My Go-Go Life (Urban Jungle Bag)  
June 5 - Meg @ Fashioned by Meg (Anna Maria Horner Art Student Tote) Lindsay @ Lindsay Sews (Posie Rosie Little Things Jane Market Bag)  
June 6 - Kaelin @ The Plaid Scottie (Oliver + S Day in the Park Backpack) Colleen @ The Busy Bean (something from Amy Butler's Style Stitches book)  
June 7 - Bree @ My Crafty Crap (Jenna Lou Designs Mabel Bag)            
Ayumi @ Pink Penguin (Signature Bag from Kumiko Fujita)  
June 8 - Tamiko @ Patchwork Notes (Hexagon Patchwork Bag from Playful Patchwork) Jessica @ A Little Gray (Pat Bravo Verona Bag)  
June 11 - Jessica @ Sew Crafty Jess (Amy Butler Spice Market Tote) Amy @ amylouwho? (V. and Co. Favorite Bag)  
June 12 - Sara @ The Pretty Pickle (Charlie's Aunt Casablanca Clutch) Lindsey @ LRStitched (Noodlehead Envelope Clutch)  
June 13 - Erin @ 2 More Seconds (Keyka Lou Bucket Bag) Caroline @ Sew Can She (V. and Co. Carry All Tote)
June 14 - Ali @ a squared w (bag from I Like Orange Too) Rachael @ Imagine Gnats (Jen Giddens Pocket Tote)  
June 15 - Holly @ Bijou Lovely (Noodlehead Go Anywhere Bag)           
Katie @ There and Back (Sweet Pea Pocket Purse)  
June 18 - Monique @ Sew Fun by Monique (Millie's Market Tote from Happy Home by JennifePaganelli) Katie @ Swim, Bike, Quilt! (Green Bee Scoop Tote)  
June 19 - Jennie @ Clover and Violet (Lunch Bag from Pink Penguin) Joanna @ Shape Moth (Emmaline Bag)  
June 20 - Jen @ Bettycrockerass (While Baby Naps Metal Clutch) Krista @ The Spotted Stone (The Sometimes Crafter Amanda's Knitting Bag)  
June 21 - Katy @ The Littlest Thistle (Noodlehead 2-4-1 Tote) Terri @ Sew-Fantastic (In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bag)  
June 22 - Elizabeth @ Don't Call Me Betsy (Amy Butler Weekender Bag) Sarah @ Fairy Face Designs (bag from the Bag Making Bible)  
June 25 - Amy @ Sukie Don't You Know Who I Am? (Amy Butler Sophia Bag) Heather @ {House} of a la Mode (Retro Mama Granny Bag)
June 26 - Julianna @ Jednoiglec (Charlie's Aunt Kitchen Garden Bag) Jeni @ In Color Order (Bari J. State Street Tote)  
June 27 - Kerry @ Very Kerry Berry (bag from Suzuko Koseki) Michelle @ I Like Orange Too (Left Bank Granny Bag)  
June 28 - Kay Whitt @ Sew Serendipity Studio (tutorial: adjustable strap with metal slider) Amy Barickman @ Indygo Junction (tutorial: installing grommets/magnetic snaps)
June 29 - Melissa @ Bittersweet Designs (Bella Nonna Boutique Shoulder Bag)