Friday Finds ~ Paper Pieces

Someone on the Jo Morton Yahoo group posted about this little item the other day, and it made me think to show them. These are called Paper Pieces, I found them at a local quilt shop, but you can also find them on the Paper Pieces website and they have all kinds of shapes.

With the diamond shapes that I have, I'm making some 8 pointed stars using Jo charms and scraps. I'm probably going to applique mine onto a background fabric (mainly because I prefer applique to piecing). I'm thinking a brown background maybe...

These are thin card stock templates that you use the English Paper Piecing method with (this method is most often thought of using hexagon shapes). Pin the shape on your fabric, cut the fabric roughly a quarter inch larger than the paper template, and baste the seam allowance around to the back (I work from the front) using a large basting stitch.

Then with right sides together, whip stitch the pieces together. I used a neutral thread and small whip stitches, making sure to pick up just fabric and not sew into the paper templates. The templates can be used several times if you're careful with them and don't chew up the edges.

Additionally, if you are a person who loves to play with color and graph paper there is a link on the Paper Pieces website for Free Down-loadable Design Sheets in many of the shapes that they make (just click on Downloads at the top of the main page). That right there is worth the cost of admission :) Too much fun!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

And So the Adventure Begins...

This is what my kitchen looked like earlier this week. Actually it's looked pretty much like this for the past 20 years (note the wall border from the late 1980s). So we've decided it was time for a facelift. I've been packing, and packing (it's amazing how much stuff can fit in these cabinets).

And now it looks like this. New appliances and cabinets are on order, the floor installation is scheduled, and work is commencing. I'll still have my range and sink for another week or so, and then the real adventure begins. We're doing most of the work ourselves (actually my husband is doing most of it, but I'm a pretty darn good helper), but I have no idea how long this is going to take. There is yet more shopping to do, we have to pick out the sink and faucet, meet with the countertop people, and I'm still trying to decide on a wall color and curtains ~ so many choices, it's mind boggling but exciting! I'll try to get some sewing done in the midst of all of this, I think I'll need to escape to the sewing room for some sanity, and to get away from the drywall dust :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Jo Charms All Swapped and Heading to Their New Homes

Last week I was swimming in Jo Morton charm squares. This is a sampling of the 5" squares that came in during our Jo Morton charm swap. We had seven participants who sent in 61 sets of charms, so I swapped out a total of 488 charms. Everyone was mindful to send a variety of newer and older fabrics, so we had very few duplicate fabrics come in ~ which was amazing! Some have asked what we are doing with the charms, well...

Karen of Quiltsalot blog is making a traditional apple core quilt using the stamp from Cindy Blackburg to mark her fabrics (this picture is on Karen's blog of what she intends to do). Several of the gals in our shop's Jo Morton group indicated that they would like to make this quilt too. Instructions can be found in Jo's Vintage Journey book, and you can get the stamp and pattern from Cindy Blackburg's website. You can also find similar stamps for marking your fabric templates from Kate Ackley on her website ByKate. I can see that there will be enough fabric left from each charm to make up a nice piano key border for some little quilt too.

This is what I've done with some of my charm squares so far. I was inspired from Rita's quilt on Sunday to make a couple more Dear Jane blocks for my little collection. This is C-9 & B-13 made with Jo charm squares from our swap. 5" pieces are great for Dear Jane size blocks. Don't scrutinize the workmanship too carefully, because they are small and portable, I make most of my DJ blocks on the fly and not under "perfect" lighting and circumstances ~ maybe that will give them a more authentic appearance :) (looking on the bright side).

...And I'm making blocks for a quilt in the Nickel Quilts book by Pat Speth & Charlene Thode called Buffalo Ridge. I've joined in a block swap with two of my friends so we are each making three of each block and we'll trade them ~ this is a sneak peek at one of my blocks. A lot of my Jo charms will go into this quilt.

I mailed off the charms to the out of state ladies on October 28th, so they should be arriving, and the local girls can pick up their swaps anytime from the shop :) Let me know what you all do with charm squares!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Reproduction Eye Candy

I spent the afternoon yesterday meeting two great ladies who came with Dawn Burchett to our first Sunday of the month, Civil War Sunday sewing time. Joan brought her pieced quilt top to purchase some fabrics to go with it. She is mainly an appliquer and said that an all pieced quilt is unusual for her. I loved the green/brown combination in this.

For you Dear Jane lovers, Rita brought this beautiful Dear Jane top sashed and bordered in red. The colors just pop in this quilt. These gals have a Dear Jane group that meets and apparently both have Dear Jane quilts. Joan says she is working on quilting hers now, so I hope to see more of them in the future!

Dawn B. continued to work on her Civil War applique quilt top and I worked on making a couple more Jo Morton blocks for my Warm Wishes quilt. If you are in the vacinity of our shop on the first Sunday of the month, stop in between 1:00 - 3:00 to do a little stitching and see some nice reproduction show and tell!
Everyone is welcome and it's free :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Friday Finds

Some quilting tools have many uses. Take the Gypsy Gripper ~ Yes, it's a great handle to put on your rulers, and it's removable and can move to different rulers in your collection. It's especially nice when you are cutting fabric all day and can lean on the ruler a little differently to help with hand fatigue, not to mention keeping your fingers up safely away from the rotary blade...

...but did you know it makes a great telephone? (sorry for the grainy photo, it was snapped quickly on my daughter's phone camera) As soon a Elsie spotted the Gypsy Gripper when she came to visit me at the quilt shop, she immediately picked it up and started holding a conversation with her Uncle Bobby. I don't know why she was calling Uncle Bobby, but she kept saying, "Hello, Bobby, Hello...I can't hear you". I guess the calling network for Gypsy Grippers aren't quite as good as Verizon or Sprint :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

For These I Give Thanks...

I finished quilting a customer quilt this week. It is called Many Thanks from a book of that name by Nancy Halvorson of Art to Heart.

We had offered this little quilt as a block of the month in our shop a few years back. This customer did the fusible applique and stitched the words, but had me do the machine blanket stitch around all of the applique.

She must have liked my work, because she brought it back for me to do the quilting :)

I wanted to make sure that I got it finished for her in time for Thanksgiving. I think it's the perfect quilt to have around this time of year.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Patterns are Up at QuiltWoman.com!

Two of my quilt patterns are now available for purchase on QuiltWoman.com! You can click here to see the Spring Water Designs Quilts.

The first couple that have been picked up is my Rootin Tootin Cowboy quilt pattern...

That also includes bonus pillow patterns and the zippered toy/pj storage bag pattern.

And My Heart's Content quilt is now available. As of now, both of these patterns are listed on QuiltWoman's front page as New Items (exciting!). This is a great opportunity because wholesale orders can be placed for my patterns so much easier, and QuiltWoman has a relationship with major distributors. The people at QuiltWoman have been so wonderful to work with, they have a great website, and a very interesting blog that you can visit. Check it out...send all your friends...and your local quilt shop :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn