a shabby pinwheel quilt

This month on !Sew WE Quilt! they have the theme "Tool Time". I'm a guest blogger tomorrow and will be sharing a simple tutorial of my favorite quilting tool, and can you guess what I chose!?! I'm sure you know what my favorite new tool is... the Lil' Twister (I'm out of them now in my shop, but you can find there here). Yep, I'm sure you were right!! :)

I had lots of fun making a fun little lap quilt with most all of Atsuko Matsuyama's fabrics...also a new favorite!! Oh, simply some of the prettiest fabrics, how can you not love them!! And, it was perfect timing as I got my first shipment of her fabrics for the shop!! Yep, I did say first, so there will be more soon.

I used 42, 5 inch squares, so this would be perfect for a charm pack!!

I did a few borders in some Moda Bella solids and the aqua is Astuko Matsuyama's Elegant Bouquet.

A close up of the quilting.

The binding is the new flower sugar, floral stripes in red, and the backing is a soft vintage sheet!!

I have to share one of my favorite, Hey Girls!! If you haven't seen them they are the funniest!! My hubby and I have had quite the laughs over them!! As I had my hubby holding the quilt up like usual this one came to mind as it is a favorite. :)

Make sure to stop by !Sew WE Quilt! tomorrow and say Hi to me!! :)

Hope you have a fabulous day, my friends!!

a little late

It has been a little quiet on my blog lately!! We've had lots of family in town the last little bit, and have enjoyed all the time we've had with my husband family and some of mine!!

I started this fun little pinwheel pillow back in November for the Savvy Seasons swap, but ended up going in another direction. I set it aside for awhile but got it done right before Christmas so we could still enjoy it. I really love how it turned out and how it has just a little touch of winter to it.

To make the pinwheel blocks I used the Lil' Twister tool!! It was sure a fun way to make them. All you do is use 5 inch charm squares (I cut my own), and then sew them as a patchwork. Then you take the tool and place it on the seams and rotary cut around it, and voila you have your blocks for the pinwheels.

I also got our Little Miss Winter all finished up right before Christmas too. I did a few adjustments to the pattern, but am thinking I need to do a few more before I post a tutorial. So hang in there...it will come. :)

I also added a cute little crochet flower and button as a little hair piece. I wish I would have thought of that for my first one. For the lace I used some vintage lace that came off a sheet!! :)

Now that we are back to a normal schedule, it will be nice to get more sewing done! At least I hope so. :)

Happy Tuesday, my friends!!

a start

This week-end I was able to start on my project for the Savvy Seasons swap. I've got the top pretty much done for either a pillow or maybe a mini quilt. I may add a little more if I do a mini quilt, but still trying to decide which direction to go. What do you think, a pillow, a mini, or another suggestion??

I really love this cute little twist on the pinwheel!! It is so scrappy and fun!! My partner asked for something that could be out through all winter so there are no real Christmas fabrics, just some fun snowflakes and then some pretty Ruby, polka dots and stripes. Can you tell, my partner also likes red and aqua!?!

I am working on another project for my sweet partner but I know if I show then it will be quite a giveaway to my partner that it is for her. So I'll be waiting to show you what else I'm working on, but I have to say...it is cute!! :)

Also, have you noticed I'm getting farther behind on my FMQA blocks!! I was doing so well with keeping up this summer, but fall has certainly made me "fall" behind!! Yikes!! I'm thinking definitely of doing a lap size now, so hopefully with a few more I'll be good to start putting it together soon. Here is my most recent block~

{53} Jackknife

I hope everyone is having a marvelous Monday!!

pinwheels!!

I got all my pinwheel blocks sewn for the Pinwheels in the Park Quilt! It was fun to work on such large blocks after sewing so many of my fwqa blocks that are really tiny!! The pinwheel blocks are 14 1/2 inch square...really big! Yeah for big blocks!! They also came together pretty quickly, which was great too!!

I think they turned out really cute!! I used Annie's Farm Stand, Lecien Old New, and Flower Sugar, the Sugar and Spice Stripes, and the Solid is Moda's Bella Solids in PFD White.

I also used some cute pinwheel fabric since I received my Sarah Jane, Children at Play fabric last week (they were holding it since the embroidery patterns hadn't come in yet). The cute red and aqua pinwheels were perfect for this quilt!!

The oh so pretty Annie's Farm Stand!!

Remember to let me know if you're making one too so I can cheer you along!! :) Next week we'll be adding the sashing and border to finish the quilt top!! I can't wait to see it all come together!!

I'm off to the beach with the kiddos! Trying to enjoy the sunny weather while we still have it. :)

ocean sewing

I just got back a couple days ago from a girls retreat to the Oregon coast! We went to Brookings, Oregon that is right on the border of California. It was such a peaceful 5 days!! One of my favorite things was waking up to the sounds of the waves! I even squeezed in some sewing, along with a fun little trip into the quant little beach town to visit the local quilt shop! It was so refreshing, but am happy to be home again too!!

Here are a few pictures of our trip~

Toes in the sand!!

At a little boutique/antique shop I found the sweetest little bundle of vintage fabrics and a cute little embroidery!! It was sure the highlight of my day and felt like I found that little needle in the haystack!!

Aren't they the sweetest ever!!

For sewing I worked on several projects!! For the Pinwheels in the Park, I got all my pieces cut.

All the triangles

I can't wait to start sewing the blocks now!! Make sure to let me know if you are sewing along! I'd love to follow your progress too. :)

I started working on my Heather Ross summer time quilt!! I've had this on my to do list for quite some time so it was fun to finally get started! I'm doing the pattern Shortcake by Alison of Cluck Cluck Sew. I had to cut all my strips so that took a bit of time as it normally calls for a jelly roll.



My week 10 blocks! I like doing a simple one and then one that is a bit more piecing to even it out.

{64} Piece & Plenty

{39} Friendship

I hope you are having a wonderful week!! I've been enjoying some sunny days and my sweet little ones since I've been back!! :)

pinwheels in the park

Oh, how I love pretty pinwheels!! When I saw this cute Pinwheels in the Park quilt and tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew! it went straight to my list of quilts to make. Andrea from Knitty Bitties and I are going to make the Pinwheels in the Park quilt during the month of August!! We'd love to have anyone who also wants to make one join us so we can cheer each other on and have a finished quilt by the end of August!! Here is the schedule we set for ourselves~

August 1-7 ~ Cut Fabric/Blocks
August 8-14 ~ Sew Blocks
August 15-21 ~ Finish up blocks & sew quilt top
August 22-31 ~ Quilt & Bind

Make sure to checkout the tutorial, it is super easy and gives step by step instructions. Andrea and I will post pictures of our progress during the month to cheer each other on!! Let us know if you'd like to join in too!! We'd love to have ya quilt along with us!! :)

Here are the 12 fat quarters I chose for my quilt! I went with 6 darker and 6 lighter fabrics.

Also, here are my week 9 blocks for the fwqa, Mothers Dream and Broken Dishes!!

{58} Mother's Dream

{11} Broken Dishes

I had fun making a cute shabby chic clothespin by painting, sanding and then adding a little fabric to it!! I saw one kind of like this on Etsy so had to make one!! Now to make some more and in different sizes!

I'm heading out of town tonight, for the rest of the week! I get to have a little girls retreat to the coast of Oregon! My hubby will be keeping up shop and I'll check in here and there. :)

See you when I get back!!

mini pinwheels...and tutorial!

Yesterday I worked on some mini pinwheel blocks, and really enjoyed the simple yet fun process. I love the way each one turned out being unique and so adorable!!

Using the cute pinwheels I bordered sweet little Polly Pinwheels, and am now working on a frame so I can have her all ready for my daughters birthday. I'll show you when she is all finished and framed. :)

To make the pinwheels, I used a simple method, that is so quick and easy!! Here is a quick little tutorial on how I made them~

Cut 2, two and a half inch squares.
(it would be really quick and easy to use charm squares or a layer cake if you want a larger pinwheel for a quilt.)
the pinwheel will end up the size that you cut your squares so you can cut any size you want!! :)

place right sides together and pin.

sew a 1/4 inch scant around the entire block.

cut with your rotary cutter and ruler diagonally from corner to corner, to create four triangles.

press seams open and then trim each corner

arrange your blocks to make a pinwheel and then sew all four blocks together.

sew the rest of your blocks using the method above. each block ended up 2 1/2 inch square! i told you, isn't that super easy!?! :)

the finished polly pinwheel block!!

Yesterday I also received Annie's Farm Stand!! I used a few of them for the pinwheels, and am already in LOVE with this lovely collection!! I even have a few more still coming so keep a look out!!

Better get back to more party planning as I only have till Saturday!!