one shabby chick

Vinage Quilt Revival

I'm sure you all have heard of this book right?

It's soooo good! And authored by three of my favorite quilters:

Swim, Bike, Quilt - Katie

Freshly Pieced - Lee

Fresh Lemons Quilts - Faith

I had the pleasure of making a block for a charity quilt using one of the patterns from the book.

I chose the Wheel of Fortune block and made it low volume/scrappy.

The best part about this blog hop was we all made blocks and sent them to Faith, Lee and Katie and they are making them into charity quilts! Isn't that awesome?! I can't wait to see how they turn out!

This book is laid out so well and gives you great ideas for each block. All the templates are very clear and it comes with a cd (which I LOVE) so you can print the templates right out.

I'm thrilled with how they took traditional blocks and gave them a modern twist.

It really is such a great encyclopedia/workbook to have on hand. I have a few more blocks from the book that I really want to use to make full quilts.

Plus they have pillows, zip pouches and mini quilt projects along with a bunch of full sized quilts.

There's a big group of us that joined in on this blog hop:

January 13th (Monday):

Crazy Mom Quilts - Amanda Jean

Don’t Call Me Betsy - Elizabeth

Film in the Fridge - Ashley

Happy Quilting - Melissa

Noodlehead - Anna

January 14th (Tuesday):

I’m A Ginger Monkey - Katy

Quilting Is My Therapy - Angela

A Quilting Life - Sherri

Sew Mama Sew - Kristin

Tall Grass Prairie Studio - Jacquie

January 15th (Wednesday):

Christa Quilts - Christa

Diary of a Quilter - Amy

Quilting Gallery - Michele

Sew Take a Hike - Penny

V and Co. - Vanessa

West Coast Crafty - Susan

January 16th (Thursday):

Bijou Lovely - Holly

Don’t You Know Who I Am - Sukie

Lily’s Quilts - Lynne

One Shabby Chick - Amber

January 17th (Friday):

Swim, Bike, Quilt - Katie

Freshly Pieced - Lee

Fresh Lemons Quilts - Faith

So go check out all the blocks everyone made and then tomorrow the finished quilts will be revealed!

I'm baaackkk.....

I feel horrible for neglecting this space so badly these last couple months.

It was not my intention but just sorta happened.

But I am back and will try and post more regularly. I'm still sewing (quite a lot actually) and always have things to share.

It's just so easy to post it on Instagram now but I love having a story to go along with the pictures too and that's what this space is for.

These are all pictures of things I've made or finished recently.

This is going to be a short post as hubby and I are leaving in a few hours on a VACATION!

I'm so excited!! We are going to a youth leader's conference in CA and are going a few days early to just spend some time together.

Lots of good things in store this year I know it!!

Thanks for sticking around with me!

Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love

I am so excited to be a part of the blog hop for Kerry's book, Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love.

This book is so sweet (just like the author) and it was so fun trying to decide which project to make first!

**I totally stole a couple pics off Kerry's website :-)

I have loved getting to know Kerry through this book hop - she is the sweetest!

And we got the BEST goodie box ever from all these amazing sponsors:

Fiskars, Dritz, Fairfield, Bosal and Free Spirit

Thanks so much to all the sponsors!

They sure came in handy too! I think I used every single item (except the fabric - which I saved to give away to one of you) while making my project.

OK so on to the project I chose.

I just HAD to choose Casco the Dolphin. I mean, I live in Hawaii...how could I not?!

Dolphin in Hawaiian is Nai'a - that sounds like such a pretty name for this mama and her baby.

And oh my goodness....they turned out so cute! I love them!!

We went down to the beach for a little photo shoot.....

Mama and baby on the rocks:

Sunning his tummy:

Nai'a looking out to the ocean, dreaming of swimming away:

and a few more:

The whole week is filled with fun stops and cute projects from the book. Check them out here:

MONDAY: Nov 4th
Mollie Johanson – Wild Olive
Jessica Fediw – Happy Together
Abby Glassenberg – While She Naps
Jennet Jones-Rau – Feathered Nest Studio

TUESDAY: Nov 5th
Sabra Gubler – Sew a Straight Line
Amber Carillo – One Shabby Chick
Caroline Hulse – Sew Caroline
Amy Friend – During Quiet Time

WEDNESDAY: Nov 6th
Miranda Anderson – One Little Minute
Andrea Taddicken – Knitty Bitties Sews
Kristi McDonough – Schnitzel & Boo
Terri Harlan – Sew Fantastic

THURSDAY: Nov 7th
Shari Butler – Doo Hikey Designs
Jodie Carleton – RicRac
Jen Goode – 100 Directions
Justine Henshaw – Sew Justine Sew

FRIDAY: Nov 8th
Emily Levey – Strawberry Patch Ramblings
Nicke Cutler – Kiss Kiss Quilt
Cathe Holden – Just Something I Made
Kate Henderson – Two Little Banshees

Kerry did such a great job with this book - my daughter has picked out a few projects she wants me to sew  for her. I love how much imagination went in to each project and how much kids will be able to use their imagination when they play with these lovely toys too.

Now...for your chance to win 4 FQ's of Heather Bailey's new Lottie Da fabric, go check out Kerry's book on Amazon or her blog and let me know your favorite project from the book.

I'll pick a winner on Friday! Good luck! Comments are now closed!

Middle of September already?

Wow - how is that possible?!

I have a ton to share with you - two amazing hikes here on Oahu, a bunch of things I've been sewing up and something very exciting happening today:

I'll be on the radio later today with Pat Sloan - listen in if you have time! It will be available to listen to after the show as well!

OK I'm off to write about the hikes now...

Alison Glass blog tour

 

I was completely thrilled when Alison emailed me about being part of her blog tour for her amazing new line.

 

(I mean, they are GENIUS designs - serious must haves!)

I met her in Portland at Quilt Market (you may not know this about her but she is hilarious). And really down-to-earth and fun.

Of course I was thrilled when I saw she was coming out with all these amazing designs - in all different colors!

And texts - you know how I love text fabrics. And this one is SO great!

I chose to use the eggplant color and as I was looking over the poetry/story on the design, this line popped out at me.

So I had to use it in a word pillow.

I used the feather print on the back too!

The designs are just so versatile and easy to mix and match - great staples to have in your stash.

I can't wait to use the white on white text instead of a solid for a quilt!

The best part is there's a couple of chances to win some of this great fabric.

Comment here and let me know which design is your favorite and you will be entered to win a fat quarter set of a few of the fabrics and also an embroidery pattern of your choice (the three choices are in the picture below).

You can also enter to win the HUGE prize at the end of the tour on Alison's blog here - go enter! It's a great prize!!

The blog tour is going to be so fun and there are so many chances to win along the way. Check out each stop and all the wonderful ways everyone has used these fabrics.

 

Group 1 – Feathers, Text, Party Streamer

8.19.13 - Olivia Jane Handcrafted

8.21.13 - One Shabby Chick

8.23.13 - Silly Mama Quilts

8.26.13 - Threadbias

8.28.13 - KD Quilts

8.30.13 - April Rhodes

Group 2 – Feathers Quilt Pattern

9.2.13 - The ADD Crafter

9.4.13 - Sew Sweetness

9.6.13 - I’m A Ginger Monkey

9.9.13 - Ellison Lane Quilts

9.11.13 - Olivia Jane Handcrafted

9.13.13 - Imagine Gnats

Group 3 – Clover Sunshine

9.16.13 - Crafty Fox

9.18.13 - One Girl Circus

9.20.13 - Sew Sweetness

9.23.13 - There and Back

9.25.13 - J.M.B.

9.27.13 - Modern Maven

Group 4 – Corsage, Bike Path, X & +

9.30.13 - Gen X Quilters

10.2.13 - Don’t Call Me Betsy

10.4.13 - Canoe Ridge Creations

10.7.13 - Jacey Craft

10.9.13 - Bijou Lovely 

10.11.13 - Fresh Lemons Quilts

Giveaway is now closed!

 

6 years

So I totally missed my 6 year blog-versary.  But it was just the other day so I'm still close.

Wow - 6 years! That's a long time to have my voice out in blogland!

As I look back at my first posts, I have definitely grown as a quilter, blogger and just as a person too.

Which I know is good!

I do have some fun goodies in store for this month (as it's my birthday month too) so I think I'll save the big giveways for then.

But I can't let this anniversary go by without some sort of giveaway right?!

So....how about a fun package filled with handmade goodies and lots of fabric?

 

(these are by Mo Bedell and remind me of Hawaii so much)

Leave me a comment telling me how long you've been blogging (or if you don't blog, how long you've been reading blogs).

I'll pick a winner next week sometime.

Finding Your Personal Quilting Style

Finding your Personal Quilting Style: a Quilting Happiness Blog Hop

Diane Gilleland and Christina Lane are the creative minds behind the new book, Quilting Happiness.

The book will be available August 27th and is a collection of 16 quilts and 4 small projects, interspersed with creative exercises, quizzes, tools and stories to help you explore your delight in quilting.

One of the creative exercises from the book is to make a collage to help you define your quilting style.

I loved this whole process....it was so fun! It made me so happy and I am thrilled with how my collage came out.

I made myself a fizzy drink with club soda and homemade strawberry balsamic syrup, put on Pandora's Mumford and Sons station and went to work sorting through magazines.

Cutting out all my images and pasting them (I used washi tape) to my board was very easy for me. I could have filled a few boards!  The hard part was translating it into words.

I looked at my board and just jotted down some words as they popped into my mind - words I would use to describe the over-all feel of my collage.

It helped me see what I gravitate towards - what fabrics I choose and why. I love things that are sunny and bright. Happy, cheerful, full of color, bold, vibrant. I love using lots of different fabrics in my designs. I think I prefer large scale items as opposed to smaller-scale ones. The washi tape added fun pops of color all over the board which makes me pretty happy.

I also love using text in my quilts and projects. So I found some words that jumped out at me or had meaning. I'm not a big fan of templates so that saying in the left corner kinda felt like an inside joke for myself.

It may look wild and disorganzied to some but to me it looks exactly like my quilting style...this board defines me as a quilter really well.

I can't remember the last time I sat down and did a creative exercise like this and it was so much fun - really helps focus you if you are not feeling inspired or creative. It's like giving yourself a little shot of creativity :-)

And it makes you happy which is the title of the book!

You can pre-order the book on Amazon here.

And take a look at the other amazing design boards on the blog hop:

Monday – Diane of CraftyPod & Christina of SometimesCrafter
Tuesday – Jennifer of JC Handmade
Wednesday – Krista of Krista Withers Quilting
Thursday – Me :-)
Friday – Karyn of Make Something (aka The Workroom)

Home again, home again (and very tired)

What a fun trip!

I can't believe all the people I finally got to meet (and I'm bummed I wasn't better about taking pictures with everyone)!

Jacquie (we've been friends on-line for so long so it was so nice to finally meet her).

Rossie (another longtime on-line friend) - we ran into each other on one of the aisles and talked forever (I loved it)! This picture is not the greatest of the two of us but oh well....

Melody Miller - eep! Total fan girl moment here - and she is just so sweet!

And I'm going to apologize in advance mid-post cause if you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen ALL these pictures.

But my phone was the only camera I took so they are all I got.

Peg (from Sew Fresh Fabrics - and Becca too but somehow I spaced on getting a pic of the three of us)!

I had such a fun time. Heather was so generous in letting me crash at her house - thanks again, Heather!

I had never been to Market before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Besides seeing all the amazing booths, my favorite part was just running into people on every aisle and just chatting away!

I saw so many friends that I had met at Sewing Summit.

And of course my trio of sweet friends from Seattle (Katie, Krista and Sandie).

Loved getting to know them better this trip.

I hung out with Laura and John a bunch (he's just as sweet in person as he is on-line). And Laura is just the best - they are both so mellow and easy to talk to. We even went to a Cold War Kids concert (I felt really old at that one - lol)!

(I stole this one from Laura who I think stole it from John)

And the booths!!

Violet's quilt from her new line - it's AH-mazing! It's called Waterfront Park.

Jeni's booth - her new line is SO good! Love the colors and patterns! She is such a sweetie. She witnessed my fan girl moment with Melody Miller - lol!

Mo Bedell's booth - she won first place too - it was gorgeous! So bummed I didn't get a pic of Mo, Monica and I :(

Patty Young's new line:

how cute is this outfit?

Rashida's booth - again, can't wait for this line!

Tula Pink (who is hilarious). And her new line is amazing!

And Melody Miller - of course I LOVE her new line! :-)

And the new Echino/Kokka lines - I'm dying - those scooters are SO good! And the cameras!

Fun parties, good food, staying up super late - no wonder I'm tired now!

I have some production sewing to do in the next few days. Knife cases for my dad and some clutches for a wholesale order. Better find a good book to listen to.

We also have a jiu jitsu tournament this weekend - life doesn't slow down for you just cause you are tired, does it?!

That's ok - I'm happy to be home and itching to sew up a few quilts that are in process! Hopefully soon!

His and Hers microMod Sew Along

Hi there - welcome to the second to last stop on the microMod Sew Along!

I have loved seeing everyone's ideas for this gorgeous fabric line.

And getting to know a little bit more about Alexia and Rob.

I loved how Kelly asked them a question ala  The Newlywed Game so I did the same thing.

Question: 

What would you say is your spouse's favorite tv show and what actually is your favorite show?

Answers:

Alexia: I think Rob's favorite TV show would have to be Seinfeld! It's even where we got the name for our dog Soda. 

My favorite show is Mad Men, I have a couple of other longtime favorites (like the X-files) but Mad Men has definitely moved into favorite status!

Rob: Alexia's all time favorite has to be the X-files. 

My favorite show is Seinfeld.

Looks like they both got that one right!

I had been trying to decide what to make with microMod and then my dad asked me to make him some more knife pouches for a recent knife show. What could be more manly than that, right?!

So I made a bunch. The fabrics were so fun to mix and match (there are a couple Tula Pink prints in there as well).

These fabrics are such a fun pop of color and can make an ordinary item, like a knife pouch, really stand out.

I hope you have been sewing along on this fun blog hop and adding your pictures to the microMod Flickr group , the Cloud9 FB page or the Green Bee Patterns FB page.

Here's a list of all the stops so far (and the big grand prize stop tomorrow):

 

April 2 - Alexia & Rob Green Bee

April 3 - Kelly at Kelbysews

April 5 - Amanda at the Craft Junky

April 6 - Rachael at Imagine Gnats

April 8 - Heather at alamode

April 10 - Holly at Bijou lovely

April 13 - Alexia, Michelle & Rob Green Bee  

April 17 - Faith at Fresh Lemons

April 18 - Katie at Swim Bike Quilt

April 19 - Deborah at Whipstitch

April 20 - Jacey at Jaceycraft

April 24 - Jenny at the Southern Institute

April 25 - Amy from sukie don't ya know

April 26 - Jen from Betty Crocker Ass

April 27 - Sara from Sew Sweetness

April 28 - Krista at Krista Withers Quilting

April 29 - Katy from I'm a Ginger Monkey

April 30 - Me :-)

May 1 - Alexia & Rob Green Bee GRAND PRIZE

 

I also have a bundle of microMod and a fun Green Bee Pattern to giveaway:

Leave a comment telling me your favorite tv show at the moment and I'll pick a winner next Tuesday, May 7th.

Winner will be picked shortly!

Sew Fresh Fabrics

 

So Peg has some exciting news.....

 

 

She's opening SEWFRESHFABRICS.com!!!

 

The site will launch on April 1st so mark your calendars!

Plus there are some goodies you are going to want to get in on:

* First 50 customers get a 25% off gift certificate good at the new site

* “A Hundred for a Hundred” - A $100 Gift Certificate will be awarded to one of the first 100 customers, winner drawn randomly