Pineapple Progress

I was able to play in my room for a short while this weekend.  I'm not sure where the time goes, but I haven't been able to do a lot of sewing lately.  Today I made another pineapple block.  That probably doesn't sound like progress to you, but my new goal is to make two or three blocks every month.  At least that's my goal today.  As you know, I have a short attention span.  Very short.

The blocks are looking a little muddy.  After looking at a black and white picture of the blocks, it looks like I'll need to work on the contrast a little more. 

Karen and I began making Pineapple blocks at the same time.  After we each made our first block, we were afraid we had jumped in over our heads.  We even discussed making giant potholders from the existing blocks and pretending like it never happened.  "What Pineapple blocks?"  Right after that conversation, I found this pattern by Debra Roberts in the August 2010 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting.

Pretty, huh?  Since I had all my bright fabrics handy from making the Pineapple blocks, I had to try this one using some of my scraps. 

Now what was I saying?  Oh, right.  Short attention span.

Have a great week!

Kim

Winner of Simple Style

 

Thanks so much for playing along in the Simple Style give-away.  I enjoyed reading all the comments, even though I haven't been able to respond to all of them yet.  I'm getting a little bored with the random number generator routine, so next time I'll try to come up with something a little more creative for choosing the winner.  (If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear about it.)  For now, though, the winning number is 4!  Carol, if you'll send me your mailing address, your new book will be on its way.

Happy stitching!

Kim

Simple Style

Stylish and simple -- it doesn't get better than that. Sara Diepersloot has made it easy to create beautiful quilts in a lot less time. She uses fabric to create the style, and large pieces for simplicity.

We don't always have time to make quilts using hundreds of tiny pieces, but we can still whip up beautiful quilts using large pieces if we let our fabrics do the work.

Sara has included 20 projects, including large quilts (up to 89" in length), lap quilts, baby quilts, and table runners.

Although some of the quilts have large triangles, most are made using only squares or rectangles.

All of these quilts are perfect for gifts.  You can personalize them with your own fabric choices. 

These are only a few of my favorite quilts from the book.  There are so many more!  You can see a gallery of more of the sample projects by clicking HERE. 

If you'd like to win your own copy of Sara's book, make sure you leave a comment here.  To make it more fun, tell me what you'll do with the extra time you'll have on your hands after you make one of these quilts. 

Hope you're having a good weekend.  I'll announce the winner on Wednesday -- see you then!

Kim

Happy Saturday!

Hopefully you've been more creative and productive than I've been lately.  In case you didn't notice, I re-designed my blog.  It was completely unintentional.  Have you ever selected the wrong option at the exact instant that you realized it was the wrong option? 

I really appreciate all the kind comments on my Blogger's Quilt Festival Post.  Hopefully you had a chance to check out all the wonderful quilts.  I still haven't finished visiting all the participants -- there are so many!  I'd like to share a beautiful post that I saw while I was visiting.  Just grab a tissue and go here. 

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend. 

Kim

706 West Bridge Street

I'm always the last to know stuff.  I opened Google Reader to visit my favorite blogs, and I saw oodles of these little buttons.  If you want to find out what this is all about, you'll have to go to Amy's blog.  And while you're there, you might as well play along. 

The quilt I'm sharing lives with my mother now.  My friend Karen and I went nuts when Moda announced its challenge in 2004.  (Remember the tin box full of the yummy neutral fabrics?)  We each made quilts to enter in separate categories.  Karen entered her quilt in the most creative category, and I went with the most Moda fabrics category.  I just knew there wasn't a person on the planet who owned more Moda fabric than me.  Turns out there are plenty!   

 

When I counted the fabrics I used in this quilt, there were 706.  The street number of my childhood home.  So I named it 706 West Bridge Street in honor of my mom who taught me to sew, and my dad who loved working in his garden. 

The half-square triangle units are two inches, and the squares in the checkerboard border are one inch.

I used freezer-paper applique' and stitched the motifs by hand.

This is the last quilt that I hand-quilted.

Hope you enjoyed your visit.  Now hurry on over to Amy's and tell us about one of your quilts!

Have a great weekend!

Kim

Bad Kim

I've been a little absent lately.  Way too many things going on all at once.  Finishing a new book, starting a new job (same firm, different position), visiting my mother and my mother-in-law, and slowly getting around to doing a little yard work.  This kind of yard work:

   
I've managed to squeeze in a few minutes for sewing.  My friend Karen asked me if I wanted to make a pineapple quilt.  I said, "Sure, whatever."  Only Karen thinks I said, "Yippee!  I've always wanted to make a pineapple quilt!  Can we start today?!"  (Okay, so Karen's recollection is a little more accurate.)  And now I'm knee-deep in brightly-colored strips.

Karen and I have been sharing strips since neither of us have tons of bright fabrics.   This is my first and only block, but I'm hoping to find a little free time soon.   Fingers crossed.

Hope all of you are doing well.  I'll be by to visit soon!

Kim

He Just Wants to Help

I'm loving this picture of my crazy cat.  I was packing quilts to ship away for a trunk show, and this little monkey was right in the middle of everything until I threw him out of the room and closed the door.  

Don't feel sorry for him -- he only looks sweet.  (I fell for it, too.)

I enjoyed reading all of your comments about A Baker's Dozen.  I'm so sorry I haven't had time to respond to all of them, but hopefully I can get around to doing that in the next few days. 

So here's the random winning number: 

 

A Quilter Awakens.  (That's her blog name, not something that happened to me.  At least not today.)

If you'll send me your mailing address, the book will be in your hands very soon!

Hope you all have a great week!

Kim

A Baker's Dozen

I'm thrilled to share this book with you. The wonderful staff of That Patchwork Place have outdone themselves with this collection of thirteen quilts made from pre-cut fabrics -- jelly rolls, layer cakes, honey buns, charm squares, and fat quarters. 

Don't have pre-cut fabrics? No problem. You can use your own fabrics if you refer to the "Stash Option" box provided for each project.

Aren't the quilts beautiful?  The directions are straightforward and easy to follow, and include tips for working with pre-cut fabrics, using fusible web, machine blanket stitching, freezer-paper applique', pieced binding, and pinked edges. 

I love the applique' designs on the quilts.  The applique' is a nice touch, and yet you won't need to spend a lot of time to achieve the magic that applique' can work on your quilt.  Nice, easy designs.  No sharp points or drastic curves! 

I really want to keep this book!  But since the nice people at Martingale & Company were kind enough to send it to me, I decided I should be at least as generous and share it with you.  So if you'd like to own this book, just leave a comment and tell me what you like about it.  I'll be back Tuesday evening for the drawing. 

Good luck!

Kim

It doesn't take much to make me happy.

And this makes me happy. 

Verna.  By Kate Spain. 

Machine Quilting

The biggest challenge when I'm machine quilting is thread tension.  To test my thread tension, I place scraps on the edge of my quilt on top of the batting, then quilt these little scraps while I adjust the tension. 

For the most part, I enjoy machine quilting on my home machine, but lately I've been thinking that I may be ready for a longarm machine.  Maybe.  I guess.  Who knows? 

Those machines are a little pricey unless you're planning to start a business.  Since I already have a job, I probably wouldn't want to commit to another one. 

Then I read the comments on Nicole's post.

And I think I may be ready.  Maybe.  I guess.  Who knows?

Hope you have a wonderful Easter!

Kim

Happy National Quilting Day!

Hope you're celebrating, too!

Psssst!

Do you wanna see the beautiful sample quilt for the Scrap-Basket Surprises Quilt Club?

 Click!

Who's the Winner?

Hi!  Just stopping by to let you know that 20 is the lucky number chosen by the random number generator.  (I tried to take a screen shot of the result, but then recalled that I don't know how to do that).  Anyway, if I've counted accurately, the winner of Four-Patch Frolic is Call Me Crazy.  If you'll send me your mailing address, your new book will be on its way!

Thanks to everyone for participating in the give-away.  Hope you'll play along next month!

Later.

Kim

Four-Patch Frolic

This book by Barbara Groves and Mary Jacobson (of Me and My Sister Designs) is full of the sweetest quilts you've ever seen.  The quilts are all based on simple four-patch units, made from 5" and 10" squares.  They've used their own whimsical fabrics that they designed for Moda, as well as fabrics from other Moda designers.  If you enjoy using all those beautiful pre-cut fabric collections, you'll have a lot of fun with this book!

The blocks in the quilt below are made from a layer cake, and instructions are provided for the scalloped border. 

You can almost smell the oranges when you see the Tangerine Tango quilt!

I agree with Barbara and Mary -- they believe that quilts should be "used and loved every day."

In addition to twelve different quilts, there are patterns for a table runner, pincushions and a pillowcase.  All of the patterns are easy to follow and quick to make. 

I'm itching to make some of these adorable pincushions.

Photography by Brent Kane

To see what else they've been up to, stop by and visit Barbara and Mary at Me and My Sister Designs.  And if you'd like to have your very own copy of Four-Patch Frolic, compliments of Martingale & Company, leave a comment here.  I'll do a random number drawing on Wednesday.  How about Wednesday night, say 8-ish? 

In the meantime, I'd love for you to meet my friend Karen.  She and I have been friends for about 14 years.  Karen is a super-talented quilter, and she recently joined the blogging community.  Please stop by and welcome her.  She'll be sharing lots of wonderful things that you won't want to miss. 

See you Wednesday!

Kim