The Hazel Pouch Trio by Clover and Violet in the works

Between some muddy cross country meets this week........And I mean muddy.  I have seriously never seen or cleaned off so much mud from so many things in such a short period of time.......I have been pattern testing the soon to be released Hazel Pouch Trio for Clover and Violet.

It's a welcome relief from all of the mud and rain here, especially when you have been out in it!

I'm making the largest of the three bags in the pattern.

Jennie from Clover and Violet mentioned that this size makes a great take along sewing bag and that you can fit a small embroidery hoop in it.  I don't embroider, but for some reason putting an embroidery hoop in here sounded good to me so I went with it.

For the outside of the bag I chose the brand new line Prairie and the low volume print from the fabric line called Maker.

Prairie just arrived in my mailbox earlier in the week and I used it right away.  That's rare for me!  Usually I have to let it sit for awhile before I can bear to use it.

  

Now normally I would be opposed to a white bag.....if you are wondering why please refer to the first paragraph.....but once this combination entered my mind there was just no going back.

I've been trying not to overthink fabric choices lately.  

Thinking about fabrics too much has been holding me back.  Will a fabric be better off in this or that? Will I have enough left for whatever I'm not even planning on making yet?  Will I ever be able to get this fabric again if I NEED it?  

These are some of the things that go through my mind before starting a project, which I've been trying to ignore and just sew what I want to sew!

Fabric is meant to be used and to find a home in a great project, right?

Back to the bag.  It's amazing!

So far, quick and easy.  I enjoyed quilting all of the squares just beside the seam.  I'm going to have to try that on a quilt soon!  

Next, I need to cut the lining. 

I'm deciding between the white Maker fabric for the lining or a coral text font print that I have, and I need to make a decision and get on with it, because I'm ready to start using this bag from the Hazel Pouch Trio!

I'm off to make a decision and to start cutting. I'll be back and update my progress soon!

Some Minis and More winners and a bit of Farm Girl progress too!

I've been busy, but not busy with blogging!

Behind the scenes I've been doing some hand quilting on my Floret mini.  It's really enjoyable.  A great project for just sitting and relaxing.  I'm close to finished.  I think I keep putting off actually finishing because I like it so much.  I guess I'll just have to plan to start hand quilting something else.  I do have a 'few' quilt tops waiting to be quilted.....

Pulling fabrics for my Vintage Tulip Mini for Minis and More is on hold for a few days while I wait 'patiently' by my front door for the mailman to bring me my next fabric order.

In other news,  I'm going to be testing a pattern for the first time!  I'll let you in on that more later, once I've gotten started on it.

And of course I'm still sewing my way through the book Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt.  And I've got the pictures to prove it

When Lori's sew along started I thought I'd have no problem putting together two blocks a week.

 Well, I was wrong about that.  I have fallen a bit behind, but I prefer to think of it not as falling behind, but as doing the blocks on my own terms. HaHaHa!

I've just decided to enjoy Lori's posts on Farm Girl Fridays and do the blocks as I pick out the fabrics for them.  Some come together faster than others, so I'm just going with it.

And now the good part, the quarterly Minis and More winners! 

The randomly drawn lucky winners are Mary from the blog NeedledMom,  Sandy from the blog Loves To Quilt and Brenda!

If the winners will please email Sherri with their mailing information she will be sending out some fun prizes.

Sherri and I would like to thank everyone for participating last quarter and we look forward to receiving your pictures for next month's Minis and More Parade featuring Vintage Tulip Mini by Camille Roskelley!

Have a great weekend!

Minis and More Parade Day!

Hey everyone! 

Can you believe its September already?  I know I can't!

It seems like just yesterday I was wondering what we'd be doing this summer, and now its gone.

  My kids have gone back to school and everything!  I might even get my fall decorations out this week.  That might be pushing it when it's still so hot here in Florida, but I've got to make my own fall here, because we don't have much of it in this area and it's my favorite season.

Time to start the parade!

If you remember, the pattern we were working on in August was Mini Juniper by Joanna Figureoa of Fig Tree Quilts.  We have lots of quilters who have a head start on their holiday sewing!

Mindy made her's using beautiful, soft colored FigTree fabric for the blocks. The border is a bit wider on her quilt because she plans to do something different to finish it off.  I can't wait to see what it is!

Kansas Troubles fabric is what Nancy choose to make her Mini Juniper wall hanging with this month.  She picked Kansas Troubles so it would go with her other Christmas quilts. Nancy made her version with fewer blocks.  Beautiful mini Nancy!

Kristen from the blog Meadowbrook made this lovely version.  She had such a good time making her's she plans to make another using some lighter fabrics to change it up a bit.  Kristen may or may not add the outer border depending on if she finds the perfect fabric for it, because she is very happy with it right now. I love that the reds she used are so bright and cheery!

Christmas text fabric and tree fabric too!  Karen is happy to have a holiday project finished.  Her Mini Juniper is bound and ready to go.  I love the background she used here.  It makes her Junipers really stand out.

Here's mine!  I have to admit I was a little intimidated by the angles when I looked at the pattern for the first time, and I wasn't so sure I was going to enjoy making this one, but it turns out that I couldn't stop making those little trees! I even made extra trees! I loved it!  It was fun to have some challenging, but definitely doable sewing, in a cute little mini quilt.

Okay, drumroll please.......

The next pattern we'll be making is one from Camille Roskelley of Thimbleblossoms!

 Mini Vintage Tulips

A big thank you to Sherri for letting me use her photo of the pattern.

 I don't know about you, but I'm really excited about making one of Camille's mini quilts.

They are so little and sweet!

My guess is that you can find all the fabric you need somewhere in your stash.  You simply need a charm pack and a fat quarter of background fabric to make the quilt top.

I've only ever made one of Camille's minis so far, but that's certainly going to change this month!

Send your Mini Vintage Tulip pictures and your link, if you'd like one to be included, before October first to

Sherri if your first name starts with A-L

or to me if your first name starts with M-Z

so we can include you in next month's Parade.  We'd love to see your tulip mini quilt!

Don't forget to see the rest of the Parade, this is only half of it, on Sherri's blog A Quilting Life and be sure to stay tuned to hear about this quarter's Minis and More prize winners.

Happy sewing!

    

Mini Juniper

I'd love to say that I'm finished with all my holiday projects after completing this Mini Juniper quilt top, but truth be told I've got a long, long way to go! Even with this quilt top!

I do have the binding chosen, and the backing too, and that's a start.

I'm using a red fabric that goes with the sashing squares for the binding, and for the backing its going to be a Dear Santa text print that's been in my stash forever.

Maybe it wouldn't have been my choice for this mini if I didn't already have it, but at some point you've got to use the fabric you've got on something, right?

Speaking of using the fabric you've got, I'm pleased to say that all of this quilt top fabric was from my stash!

 Yes, you read that right.

Who says you have to use Christmas themed fabric in a Christmas quilt? 

I used a Road 15 fat eighth bundle that I've taken pieces from here and there for other things. 

  I was a bit concerned that when the right project of this bundle came along there wouldn't be enough of it left, but this worked out perfectly.

I did change the border in my Mini Juniper from the one in the pattern instructions.

Mine is scrappy, so I could use those fat eighths, and its much wider too.  Some of it may get trimmed off in the end, once I've definitely decided how I'm going to quilt it.

Right now I'm thinking some kind of straight line quilting in the sashing and in the border, and then maybe some big stitch hand quilting around the trees.

 I just started doing my first big stitch hand quilting, besides some practice, last night on my Sweetness Floret mini quilt top.  I love the way its going! I'll have to take some pictures and fill you in on that later.

By the way, this was one fun mini quilt to make!

If you are considering it, you should definitely give it a try at some point.  The angles and the trimming made it so much fun!  I gave a few tips for you, and for me, in my last post if you're interested.

 I still need to get to my extra trees.  Maybe for a festive table runner?

So, I may not be all ready for Christmas, but I am ready for the Minis and More Parade next week!

Christmas in August

Today I finished on my trees for the Mini Juniper quilt we're making for Minis and More.

It was so fun to work with angles again!

It's been awhile since I've done any cutting or sewing with angles, and although I admit I was a little hesitant at first, its turned out to be a blast!

 I'm so sad that I've made all nine trees, that I may have cut a few extra strips.

In fact, I'm enjoying this one so much I've actually cut enough extra strips that I can make nine more trees! It's truly addictive!

My first tree did not turn out as nice as my last one. 

Since I cut enough to make some extra trees, I'm saving the first one for another purpose, maybe a mug rug or even an ornament.

I learned a few things that helped me get more consistent, straight trees and more accurate space around the edges.

I'm writing these tips down for you, if you are interested in them, and for me so I can remember what I did when I go to make more trees later.

Tips for Mini Juniper

I found that trimming the pieced strips after I added the bottom dotted triangles really helped when the pieced strips were sewn together to form the tree.

Using my Fons and Porter 60 degree Triangle Ruler to trim the edges of the pieced tree made my tree much neater.  I lined up the center line on the ruler with the center line of the tree and trimmed the sides of the tree.

I also used the 60 degree Triangle Ruler to trim off the tree bottom to a quarter inch, after adding the background side pieces.  Again, lining up the center line of the ruler with the center line of the tree and making sure the line I was cutting was perpendicular to the center line of the tree.

Lastly, I used my Fit To Be Quarter Ruler to do the final trimming of the block.  I could quickly see where the quarter inch lines were on the ruler to ensure I had a quarter inch on the sides of my tree.

You could definitely use other rulers here, these are just what I had that worked best for me.

The first block was a little tricky, but now I don't want to stop making them!

But now I'm off to cut the sashing for this and put dinner in the oven.  Today was the first day of school here and surely the teenage boy is hungry!

Minis and More Parade on a Monday

It's time for the Minis and More Parade!

Sherri and I decided to do the Parade on Monday this year, if the first fell on the weekend.  The first happened to be on a weekend this month, and now its Monday, so here we go!

The pattern we used in this Parade was called Sweetness-A Trio Of Mini Quilts by Corey Yoder.

Its an amazing group of three mini quilt pattern all in one spot!

The Floret mini quilt pattern from Sweetness seemed to be a popular choice.

First up today is Mary from the blog NeedledMom.  She calls her mostly orange Floret mini quilt, 'Hot Summer Days'. Mary followed the color guidelines of a challenge she was involved in and did an awesome job of combining oranges, pinks, yellows, and even a bit of aqua too!  

Mindy used some Kansas Troubles fabrics she had to make the Floret design from the pattern into a tablerunner!  Putting the blocks on point gives them a totally different look.  It looks like Mindy will be ready for fall!

  

And if you saw the Parade last month, I'm sure you remember Hildy's wonderful bag she made with some of her Reunion scraps!  She incorporated last month's pattern, Summer Star Mini, with one of  this month's Sweetness patterns to make this really cute bag.

And here is another one of Hildy's!  She also made Gingersnap from the pattern trio!  The Kona solid Nautical background she used really makes her quilt pop, and she used some Scrumptious scraps too. Even in the binding!

This Floret mini was created by Nancy E. She is happy with the Kansas Troubles fabric she used to create her two block quilt. It looks wonderful!  Two blocks and a wider border is a fun change to this pattern. I may have to make another and put some blocks in this setting too.

Béa finished a cheerful Gingersnap mini with her Aurifil mini BOM leftovers.  Because her scraps were about the same size as the pattern, she used them as is and this changed the size of her finished quilt as a result. The orange and blue make a great combo!

And here's mine. I used Sherri and Chelsi's soon to be released fabric Bright Sun  and another 'coming to you soon line' Tucker Prairie by One Canoe Two.

I won both of these mini charm packs in a recent Moda giveaway and I was thrilled with how they look together in my Floret mini!

And of course, don't forget to see the other half of the Minis and More Parade today on Sherri's blog, A Quilting Life.

We hope you'll send in your picture for next month's parade on September 1st.

We'll be giving away Minis and More prizes this year!  They will be awarded quarterly.  Each project you've done in a quarter gives you one chance for the quarterly prize, so keep on sewing!



 The next pattern we'll be using is Mini Juniper by Fig Tree and Co. for the September Parade.  You'll be ready for the holidays!

Thanks for joining us!

Floret finished

I love, love, love this mini quilt!  Should I really say that about my own quilt?

I don't care if I should or not, I'm just going to say it anyway.  This has to be one of my favorites ever!

I'm not sure why exactly. It just sticks out as a fun one to me.

I especially love the fabrics! 

The Bright Sun and the Tucker Prairie fabrics play so nicely together, and unless you're new here you know how much I like using different lines of fabric mixed together in the same quilt.

This is an amazing pattern too.

It's one of three adorable mini quilts from the pattern Sweetness (A Trio of Mini Quilts) by Corey Yoder.

Simple, and yet there's lots to look at at the same time.  I loved that the cutting was quick and easy.

  That's my least favorite part of quilting, the cutting.  So I always appreciate when it can be done quickly!

I'm looking forward to starting another pattern from this Sweetness trio!

There are two other adorable mini quilts to choose from in the pattern.

Which one to choose is going to be the problem.


 Please join Sherri and I for the Minis and More Parade this Monday to see more quilts made with the Sweetness pattern.

Today is the first, usually the Parade day, but we decided to put the Parade on Monday this year if the first fell on a weekend.

That means you still have some time if you haven't sent your picture and link to us yet.

See you back here on Monday!