Blue Patchwork Quilt: Finished


The patchwork quilt for my dad is finally finished. Yay! I took advantage of the long weekend and instead going shopping I stayed home and played with some fabrics and my sewing machine. I had finished the quilt last week. But I still needed to do the binding. So on Friday I cuddled up in front of the TV, did some hand stitching and watched a few old movies. 
The quilt measures approximately 72X54 inches; perfect for a lap quilt. The quilt is now washed, wrapped and waiting for Christmas to arrive so it can go to its new home.

Martha.

Sunday Sewing


Today I made a lot of progress on my blue patchwork quilt. It was a bit chilly (typical fall weather), which made it perfect to stay inside and and have some fun sewing. 
All week I had been thinking about the backing for this quilt. I wanted to pull some of the colors from the top into the backing, but I was undecided about the design. I finally decided and made four Rail Fence blocks using leftover scraps from the quilt top. I placed the blocks on a vertical line running through the middle of the quilt. The quilt is basted and even started to do the quilting. It finally feels like it is almost finished. So close...

Have a wonderful week!

Martha

Giveaway Results :: Winner Announced



Thank you everyone who participated on this my second giveaway. I truly appreciate all of your lovely comments; they really brighten my day. 

The winner is #21 - Jocelyn!

*Jocelyn I just sent you an e-mail to let you know, I hope to hear from you soon*

Thank you again for your support. Have a wonderful day!

xx Martha

Giveaway!


*GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*
Time for another giveaway! I made this travel sewing kit for one lucky winner using the pattern from the book Zakka Style. The giveaway will be open through Thursday, November 8 until 9:00 pm PST. Then a winner will be chosen at random and announced on Friday November 9. I will be happy to ship internationally so anyone can participate.

If you would like to participate:

1. Leave a comment on this post. If you are a non-reply blogger or you are not sure, please leave me an e-mail address where I can reach you.
2. If you are a follower of my blog (old or new) you have a second chance to enter, just leave a comment that says "following."

Good Luck!

Martha

New On My Bookshelf


I received a very special package in the mail today: a copy of the amazing book Sunday Morning Quilts. Vicky @ Vicky K Creating hosted a giveaway of the book a few weeks ago and I was the lucky winner (I have been very lucky lately, I hope is doesn't stop). The book is signed by one of the authors! I'm a book hoarder collector and this is my first book signed by the author. This is my new little treasure. Vicky was so kind to also include in her package a pattern for a log cabin quilt, such a lovely surprise... I have to say, I spent a few hours today drooling over the beautiful projects in the book. I can't wait to start making something from it.
**Thank you Vicky for your lovely presents.**

Martha.

Slow Bloggers Linky Party

 

I'm very excited to be hosting this month's linky party for the Slow Bloggers organized by the very talented Catherine @ Knotted Cotton.
Knotted Cotton

Do you sometimes feel like the demands of your job, household chores or life in general keep you from sewing those beautiful creations you had envisioned? Juggling everyday life maintains you so occupied that you don't post in your blog as often as you would like? You are not alone, like us there are other bloggers out there that feel the same way. Come and join us on our Slow Bloggers movement and share with us what you have been up to this month. Weather you were very productive and you want to share all of your accomplishments or just want to tell us what has been keeping you away from your sewing machine, we'd love to hear.


This is what has been happening this month during my Weekend Doings: I finished a quilt (the pattern is call Jacob's Ladder), I finished the quilt top of the blue patchwork quilt that I wish to give to my dad for Christmas, tried my hand at English Paper Piecing (and loved it), and published my first tutorial. 

So for this month's Slow Bloggers meeting, link up your post telling us what your have been up to. Please include the Slow Bloggers button on your post, you can find it here, support others Slow Bloggers by leaving them a comment. The linky stays open for a week. 

Have a great week everyone!

Martha.




The Traveling PicStitch Blog Hop


Today is my stop on The Traveling PicStitch Blog Hop organized by Laura from Quokka Quilts and Katy from The Littlest Thistle. Laura and Katy are on a road trip around Arizona, Utah and Nevada and  they are getting inspiration from the beautiful scenery they get to experience on their trip to do some stitching along the way. And that is exactly the idea behind this blog hop: to use color from a photograph as inspiration to create an English Paper Pieced block.
The inspiration for my block is this picture I took last spring at the beach. I love the light and subtle blues and grays. I have never used a palette builder before so I decided to give it a try (I have to say: it is quite fun). I used the palette generator from Play Crafts and these are the results that I got:


Then I moved  on to the fun part: choosing the fabrics. I found in my fabric stash these fabrics that matched the color palette very well (or close enough) and as a bonus they have a nautical theme.  Perfect!


The design of my block is a variation of this star rose block. I started drawing the template with a star rose in mind, but halfway through I realized the pentagons in the center were larger than the original star rose I had seen, so I decided to keep going and call my design a happy accident.I haven't done much paper piecing before (a few months ago I haven't even heard of it) but I find this technique super fun. I'm already planning a large project involving paper piecing.


And this is my finished block. I guess I'm going to call it a star, it is going to become a pillow. I already appliqued it to a piece of natural linen and began  the quilting.  I will share it you once I finished it.



You can find more details about The Traveling PicStitch Blog Hop here, including the schedule with all the blogs participating, the sponsors, a Flickr group and information about a linky party a the end of November.
Please take some time to check out Monday's post from Beth @ Plum and June and Wednesday's turn is Nannette @ YeahImadethat (sorry the link on the schedule is broken, maybe when she sees this she will fix it so we can stop by her blog).
Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!

*Update: You can see the finished pillow using the star block here.*
Martha.