I was on my way to lunch with Friend Julie when they closed the road and she couldn’t get through. I was near Los Altos, so I stopped at the gluten free bakery and then went to Needles Studio.
Superbloom for Auntie
I wanted to quickly see if they had some fabric I could use for the zipper tabs for one of the Superblooms on which I am working.
The iris fabric (right) is the lining fabric because my aunt loves LOVES Loves irises. I don’t want to use it for the zipper tabs, because most the design will not be visible and I think it will look chaotic. I could use a blue, but kept thinking of that ochre color in more of a tone-on-tone design.
Needles fabrics – March 2025
I found something that work and few other fabrics as well.
The blue fruit (lemon?) fabric will be an Atlas portfolio. I have no need to make another, but the fabric is pretty.
Needles was part of a shop hop (10 shops in 3 days – Yikes!). Though I wasn’t doing the shop hop, they gave me a free FQ, a free measuring tape and a pattern for some fabric buckets. I thought that was nice.
Remember a few weeks ago I said I won a prize from Freespirit? Well, the real prize showed up on the Friday before my birthday and it was good! I feel like the timing was set to coincide with my birthday. The prize came with a lovely note that makes me like FreeSpirit even more than I already did.
FreeSprit prize prints 1
When I opened the prize, I thought it was a bundle of Tula Untamed, but it was more than that! It looks like they selected fabrics that I like from their current line, because there were also some Kaffes, a couple of Anna Marias, a Brandon Mably, a couple of flower prints from my man, Phil, and a bring and happy flower print by a designer whose name was cut off. Most of the cuts are fat quarters, but there was one half yard. I am going to share a couple of the FQs with the guild. Share the wealth, right?
FreeSprit prize prints 2
I’ll definitely use the flower prints somewhere. That Garden party print (above, lower right) is awesome. I have to find some great pattern with which to use it.
I feel so fortunate! This was such an unexpected surprise. Thanks, FreeSpirit!
I went on to Instagram the other night and had an unexpected message from Free Spirit Fabrics. I won a prize! Yes, I checked to make sure it was the real Free Spirit and not some scam.
I don’t know what it is. Fabric, I am guessing. I’ll definitely let you know.
This excitement made me go and look at the Free Spirit website. There is a lot there. First, I checked what designers they represented beyond Kaffe, Tula, Philip Jacobs and Martha Negley. Jane Sassaman and Mary Engelbreit both work with Free Spirit. Mary Engelbreit has a new line of Christmas fabric and a Halloween line coming out. There is also a very strong projects section – lots of quilts, but also a few bags, an apron, a table topper and at least one pillow pattern.
Well, I am excited to see what is coming. Stay tuned!
I went out the other day and encountered some random quilt stuff. I wanted to share some things with you.
On-the-go-snack-case
First, at the Granary, I saw some interesting patterns. I have Organizational items on the mind as that might be the theme of the guild’s next swap. (N.B. Click the ‘join here‘ button so you can participate, too!). I saw a couple of interesting ideas. I thought they would be a little different than the Desktop Cube type project I made recently. One was a pouch for reusable silverware. I saw the larger one made up and it is a little on the large size, but the small size might be really useful.
Pockets to Go
Next, was the Atkinson Designs Pockets to Go** pattern. As you can see in the pattern, there are two sizes. The larger size looks like it would be great for a car trip or to corral personal items in a hotel room. Obviously, this would work very well for Sew Day. It is a little like a purse organizer for things other than purses.
The smaller size would fit very well on desks and next to sewing machines.
This is more like the Desktop Cube type project I made recently, but the handles and pockets make them a little more useful .
The larger size reminds me of the Oslo Tote I made for a swap several years ago.
Madelyn Bag panel
Second, also at the Granary, Julie pointed out a tote bag kit where the fabric is a printed panel. The various pieces of the bag are printed on the panel and labeled. For example the long strips at the top are labeled ‘straps’. Sadly, there was no picture of the finished bag on this package. Still, this is a great idea for new bag makers or if you want to make a quick bag as a gift.
I had to go out and do some research to see if I could find out more about this product. I found the Quilt Trends site. On it was the following description “a 36” panel featuring Lazy Girl’s popular Runaround Bag pattern, you’ll be able to make two bags with this versatile panel. The pieces are printed, just cut them out. Basic directions are printed on this panel. If you would like a more complete pattern, the LGD Runaround Bag Pattern is available on this site.”
I also found out that the panel is part of the ‘Madelyn’ line of fabric from Joan Hawley. The site describes this fabric as “Madelyn is Joan’s latest collection for QT Fabrics. The Madelyn Collection is anchored by a Jacobean print in Joan’s 11 piece collection done in her signature colors of aqua and purple. Supporting fabrics contain florals, scallops, tossed leaves, geometrics and a stripe.”
Well, I am impressed that Joan or QT Fabrics thought a great panel to include would be a bag. Good work!
Axe Yamazaki sewing machine
Third, from the MOMA is a fun little sewing machine called the Axe Yamazaki. I don’t think it is really that useful, but it is cute and I would love to take it for a test drive.
Again, I wandered around the Web and found the Axe Yamazaki website, which has better pictures of the machine. “This lightweight, only 4.6 Pounds,
cordless machine can be used anywhere.” The machine’s size is given as 4.5″D x 11.5″W x 10.4″H. Cost is $168 and the machine comes with a cell phone stand.
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I spent some time last week finding fabrics for my last group of Pantone blocks.
I don’t have any greens as dark as Deep Forest, so in the end, I just chose a black.
Most of the others I selected from older fabrics that I haven’t even looked at in awhile. I have one more fabric to select, but I have already cut the 4.5 inch squares. I have also started to make the blocks and will show those soon.
I talked about this group of fabric a few years ago. I really can’t stop thinking about this group of fabrics. I like it a lot, but I know that it doesn’t have enough fabrics for most of the quilts I make. Either I have to find a simple, but interesting pattern or I need to add more fabrics.
I was going through my phone the other night and found this great picture of the group of fabrics I used for Scrappy Celebration. I am glad, because I forgot to take a picture before I started making blocks.
I thought I bought them in Mt. Vernon, but I don’t see them in the photo. Who knows?
I decided that I would try to make the Metro Twist larger.I have a possible recipient for this quilt and I want it to, at least be lap sized.
I have plenty of foreground fabrics, even though most are fat quarters. I needed to find more of the background fabric. It is always a challenge with solids. Since I buy limited solid brands, I thought it was doable.
Normally, I write the brand and color in Sharpie on the selvedge, but the grey I used for Metro Twist didn’t have it. Either I cut it off and tossed it or never wrote it down.
I also didn’t have a picture of the grey with other purchases. Usually, I photograph my purchases so I have some hope of finding fabric and supplies again.
Austin Sewing Pure Elements Ash + mesh
I looked at my color cards and thought the background might be from Pure Elements. I bought some Pure Elements Ash first, but when it arrived, I could see that it wasn’t quite right. I can use it for something else, but disappointing nonetheless.
Back to the color cards. This time I pulled them all out, but immediately put back the Kona color card. I very rarely buy Kona and I knew this wasn’t it. I have the American Made Brands color card. Bingo! I bought some of one of their Gray. I am pretty sure that is the right fabric. I suppose I’ll see when it arrives.
I haven’t worked on the Metro Twist for a few weeks as I tried to catch up on Scrappy Celebration and The Pantone Project. I was able to make some progress this past weekend with the background pieces I have already cut. I have a bit of the background left and want to save it until the reinforcements arrive in case I need it and can’t find the right solid.
I had a stack of fabric from a recent purchase sitting on my sewing table. As I sewed, I would look over at it and at one point, I realized that I had a nice group of fabric for a quilt or bag.
I am not sure what to make and am pretty sure I would need to add some additional fabrics, but maybe not. It looks pretty good as is.
The next Sew Day will be a Super Sew Day/Meeting combination. As mentioned, I will be assisting Amy to teach the Metro Twist pattern.
Metro Twist Fabric Pull
One thing I did was look through the fabric pulls that I had saved. I chose one with a large number of prints to use.
A lot of these are Art Gallery fabrics. I may not use all of the grid fabrics and I may change out the focus fabric (4th from left, top row), which I added quickly before I took these to Sew Day. There is already a lot of green in this quilt and that might send it over the edge. Still, maybe not, we’ll have to see as I cut and start putting blocks together.
The dots were really different than I have seen before. I think it was the colors, because the Tula Tiny Beasts dots are similar in size.
I love that chocolate fabric and have used it for Sweet Dreams pillowcases before. The fabric above is a little different from the ones I have bought before, but similar. It is just fun fabric and makes great pillowcases.
I ordered some Everglow and had to wait for it to be released before it could be sent. I received it the other day from Stash Fabrics. One of the reasons I wanted this fabric was to make an EPPic bag.
The EPPic Bag is an EPP case. You can buy the PDF downloadable pattern from Chasing Tigers. I actually bought the EPPic bundle, mostly because it wasn’t that much more and I thought the smaller bags might be useful. Keep in mind that I have not made this pattern so I can’t comment on the directions. I do know that it is simply a pattern. Unlike the Sew Sweetness patterns it does not come with SVG files, however there is a video referenced in the pattern to help with part of the construction.
Everglow
All of this is to say that I bought some Everglow in order to make one of these. I was planning to buy some anyway. The project and the inspiration spurred me on. I am not going to use the same fabric in the same places in the pattern. I may, actually, use some of my Philip Jacobs flowers for the exterior and Everglow on the inside. We’ll have to see.
I was also selective about the fabrics I bought. I didn’t buy the whole line. I only bought the prints I thought I would use.
You can see at the bottom two new Heather Bailey fabrics as well. They will probably go on my shelf of backing fabrics.
Restocking supplies is a nice way of saying I bought some fabric and a few other things.
Square in a Square book and ruler
First, was the Square in a Square ruler and book. I thought I talked about this book in a post about a guild meeting, but I can’t find the post now. I thought I had this ruler, but, again, I looked in my ruler storage area and didn’t find it.
The presentation was a monumental sales pitch, but I liked the idea of just using strips and squares to make square in a square blocks. I want to make the YM a quilt with his Boy Scout patches and the square in a square blocks will work really well to contain those patches.
Amethyst Bag elastic
Elastic from PennySupplies
Next, I needed some clips and elastic for the Amethyst Project Bag. I found some sites on Etsy where I got some nice 1″ elastic. White and black elastic seem like they belong in underwear not in bags made from Tula Pink fabric. The elastic in the photo above (left) uses the perfect colors for the Amethyst Project Bag. I couldn’t believe my luck. That is not a color combination I would normally select, but it goes perfectly with the Ka-Bloom fabric from Tula Pink’s Moon Garden line.
Various buckles
I looked for different colored parachute clips and ended up getting two different kinds from Amazon. One is just white plastic, which is what I used for the Amethyst Project Bag. The other is metal and came nicely packaged. They are however a little hard to open, so I may have to use them as decorative buckles, not buckles I need to use frequently. I would get too annoyed.
The Dritz Iron off** is THE BEST. It works quickly and well for cleaning your iron.
The other elastic came in great colors (photo right), but isn’t quite as stretchy as the elastic referenced above. Still, I am sure I’ll be able to use it.
Sew Hungry Hippie (April 2023)
I needed to replenish my stock of vinyl. I have been going through it at an alarming rate, especially because I have been making so many I Spy pouches.
I decided to get some of the Tula Pink tent stripes to use in Stay Tuned. Whenever I place an order with Sew Hungry Hippie, I also get some of the Riley Blake black and white stripes (photo above). They are great for bindings and I go through a lot of it. Especially lately, I have been using quite a bit of it for bag bindings.
I decided to level up to get free shipping and bought some more glitter webbing. I plan to use the blue for another Essential Tote. I don’t know what I’ll use the black for, but probably another Essential Tote. I am determined to change my machine needles more often, thus the needles.
Material Girl fabrics (April 2023)
I want to make some pillowcases for my Dad for Father’s Day, so I went looking for fish fabric. He is a passionate fisherman. I was pleased to find that Martha Negley has put vegetables aside and has a recent collection with a fish print.
I couldn’t stay away from some additional Philip Jacob prints. I don’t have plans for most of them, but I keep thinking about a new version of “He Tried to Make It Up to Her.” The Philip Jacobs fabrics would be perfect for some of the broderie perse on that style of quilt.
**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I wanted to get ahead of the ‘pillowcase for the college nephews project’, so I stocked up on some themed fabrics. The Valentine’s fabric was backordered, which was a huge disappointment. I sent them cards and socks. I ended up buying some chili pepper fabric, which I think will work for the Valentine’s pillowcases. I didn’t have a chance to make them yet, though. I might do it and send them late. We’ll see. I don’t need a yard and a half of chili pepper fabric hanging around.
The Granary – January 2023
On my birthday, I went to the Granary and found some fabric for April and May. For April, I will make Easter pillowcases and the May pillowcases will be ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ pillowcases.
You can see that I bought a few other items as well.
I didn’t want the Easter pillowcases to be boring, so I chose some dancing rabbits. These might be on the edge of Easter, but I think they will work for my nephews.
I think the ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ pillowcases will be fun. I didn’t know what to do for May and I think these will be perfect. I could have done Cinco de Mayo. The ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ theme will be perfect for 19 year olds.
St. Patrick’s fabric – March 2023
I also got some St. Patrick’s fabric for March. This isn’t great fabric, but I think it will be ok for the boys.
I am just back from Portland where I went for a few days to relax and see friends. I also went to my favorite quilts shops and stocked up a bit. Mostly, I bought fabrics for future projects and some gifts.
Cool Cottons 2023
After having lunch with my friend Amanda, I went to Cool Cottons. It is a small store, but I wanted to take a look. I can often find good fabrics there. I just like looking. That store has fabric stuffed in every corner even though it is a small store.
The fabrics are all on the dark side. The bottom two on the left are for Stay Tuned. Yes, I switched gears on that one and got some different fabrics for the alternating squares and the borders.
I will make some gifts from the typewriter fabrics and bind quilts with the grey stripes and the black and white stripes. Only two are on ‘spec.
Pioneer Quilts 2023
I made a huge effort to visit Pioneer Quilts. I love that store and always like to visit. I got some gifts for people and really enjoyed looking at their fabric.
I didn’t buy a lot there, but I did look at all of their wool felt patterns and fabrics. I have bought wool felt there in the past and wanted to get a pattern or something to do something with it. I finally decided to get inspiration from the book and do my own thing AFTER La Passacaglia and the Half Hexie Star quilts are finished. I bought that book, Wild Wool and Colorful Cotton Quilts**
I have used Chenille needles for hand stitching for a long time. They have big eyes and are sharp. I was finally able to look at a variety of sizes. The 22 or 24 sizes are the ones that are perfect for me. I bought two packs.
Sunshine Quilts 2023
We went to Sunshine Quilts in Medford, which used to be Cottage Quilts. I am glad they stayed open. It is a nice space and there is a lot of potential for more fabric and supplies. At the moment it was a little light on fabric and notions, but I think they will get more based on the amount of space they have.
The packet on the right is filled with ruler stickers. You can outline where you need to cut then peel off the stickers with no residue. Interesting, right?
I am going to make another Cha Cha Cha table runner from the charm pack. I am not sure what I’ll use for the border. Maybe pink.
A good time was had by all.
**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
