Anna Marie Horner Mini Quilt Swap & Slow Stiching Sunday

Earlier this year, I signed up for the Anna Marie Horner Mini Quilt Swap on Instagram. Kate Basti is hostessing, and past members had such nice things to say about her swaps. I'd never been in one of any kind, but AMH! I had to! She was one of the first designers whose style attracted me back to quilting. The past minis from other swaps were gorgeous. Wow! These were some talented sewists, and I was worried I wouldn't measure up.

I ordered a fat quarter package of 'Folk Song',
and pulled out my high tech design tools--a pencil and some paper. This was the original drawing I started with, and I kept true to it. I integrated a few Missouri Star Quilt Co. templates I had purchased, but never used. I have to tell you these weren't made to be used together, and I had to do some tweaking at the corner diamonds.

I have one last line of hand quilting to stitch with my Aurifil 50#, and I feel like the teal corners need a bit of the coral and pink pearl cottons. Then it's time for binding, and I have a print in mind already.

#annamariehornerminiquiltswap 

#teamhonorroll 

#katebasti

#pinkdoxies

You might remember my cell phone and camera sling bag was made with the same fabric line, and another AMH I had in my stash.

I brought my mini home to work on thinking some slow stitching would be a nice change. It's been a busy week, and there's something theraputic about working with your project on your lap instead of zipping it through a machine. You see your work differently.

I've also wanted to link up to the Slow Sunday Stitching for some time. Kathy is a Canadian quilter after my own heart. She is also a scrapaholic, and is involved in quilting for Mennonite Central Committee. 

I haven't made any quilts for the auction like she has, but the women at First Mennonite Church in Sugarcreek do. They are an inspiring group. They meet every week to hand quilt on frames, while others ladies make utility quilts. These are gathered together in one location, packed, and sent to areas of the world where there is need. I machine bound two for them, and they will soon be on their way to a family in need. The scrappy ladies make sure they are colorful, cheery, and warm.

Thunderstorm pounded our area today, and I unplugged all my machines to make sure they weren't hit. We've lost small appliances before, and I've started unplugging my multi-strips when I leave for the day. It only takes a moment.

I spent the time cleaning up, and finishing some Moda Modern Building Blocks. You can see I filled the center of the largest block here, but I'm not satisfied with the inside grey. I think I'll replace it with the hanging print. 

By all rights, I should have thought through the whole project before starting blocks, but I was so excited to just make something! Now I'm hitting a wall, and have second thoughts about the palette. I'm not sure I like the colors I'm using, but I've been trying to follow the recommended solids as closely as possible. I may need to tweak it.

The last picture to share is the new/old stash on my floor. I went to a friend's house last week for a little fabric swap. Oo-la-la!

I know these don't look like my typical picks, but there are some projects in the Quilt Lovely book that beg for some vintage fabric. 

I'm interested obsessed in blending my vintage and modern stashes, and need to prove to myself it will work in projects. Jen Kingwell does it, and I am looking forward to learning how. 'Mrs. Bannister's Stars' pillow project starts today.

What's your plan for the month of June? Are you having a holiday weekend now, and enjoying some well earned family time? Do you have an idea for a project to be ready for July 4th? Are you working on your finishes for A Lovely Year of Finishes? Or, perhaps, Q2 Finish-Along for On the Windy Side?

Leave a comment to inspire your fellow sewists to get active in their creative space, and Be Makers this month! I applaud you all.

Link up with the Pink Doxies' Pet Project Show until Monday at midnight, and show off your latest make.

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Linking up with~
Cooking Up Quilts
Hug-a-Bit Quilts
Show and Tell Monday
Molli Sparkles
Slow Stitching Sunday

Memorial Day and Pet Project Show #21

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for the 
men and women who have died in service. It is 
a day to pause, and remember freedom is not 
free. My heart goes out to all who are 
remembering family and friends today.

 This wall hanging was made from the same 

pattern I've been using from Jen Kingwell's

book, Quilt Lovely. I'm sure I've seen a heart

modified this way before, but not where.

The piecing is fairly tedious when the strips

are cut only 1" wide. Not all my strips 

were spot on so I made sure to square up

all the blocks before joining them.

I made sure to match the lowest horizontal

strip on the upper quadrants. At least it

gives the 'illusion' that it matches even if

the rest of the strips are a little off.

I had a batting scrap to use, and made my

backing twice as large so I had something to 

hold on to. There's nothing harder than trying

to FMQ an itty bitty piece. I started to FMQ in

the white area, and it didn't look right. I 

ripped out about 12" of stitching. Then I

started over, and just outlined the hearts

with Aurifil 50#. It was enough as the

blocks were already busy enough.

I attached my binding to the back, and 

then realized I hadn't trimmed the edges

quite enough. Would you believe that when 

I trimmed the edge I cut the corner off 

my binding? 

It doesn't pay to hurry, and, Yes, you 

can section binding, but it's not fun!

This binding warranted hand sewing, and 

I looked forward to a little t.v. time with

my daughter. One episode of "The Gilmore

Girls," and I was done.

I thought you would like to see the fabrics

close up. I think it's so interesting how blocks

look close up while we're picking out fabrics

and sewing vs. the whole finished effect.

Linking up with~
Show and Tell Tuesday
Monday Makers
Show and Tell with Bambi
Oh, Scrap!
Cooking Up Quilts
Hug-a-Bit Quilts
Sew She Can

Sew Many Ways

Woohoo, Doxie Girls!
It's Saturday, and time for the weekly 

Pink Doxies 

Pet Project Show. 

Add your link here every Saturday. 

Rules

Do we have to have rules? 

No worries! It's EASY.

1. Use the blue 'Add Your Link' button (below)
to upload a picture of something you've created 
in the past week. Any kind of handiwork--
share it now! It can be a work in progress, 
finally finished, or even your fab new fabric. 
Whatever it is that inspired you to create this 
week, we'd like to see it here. 

2. Please link to a specific post, and not just your
blog address. It makes it easy for anyone following 

your link to find the project.

3. Provide a backlink to Pink Doxies with a link in
your post, or pick up our Pet Project Show
button in the sidebar. Copy the code, then 
create a Pet Show widget with 'Add by HTML' 
on your Layout page.

-OR-

1. You can link up to your Instagram. 
Click on the Instagram icon at the bottom 
of the link up screen. The URL of your Instagram 
feed will be your link. 
Please hashtag #pinkdoxiespetproject

Either way you link up, remember it's a party
here, so schmooze with the crowd! Visit others 
who've linked up. Leave a comment so they 
know what you like about their work. 

Don't miss a post! 

Follow me on Bloglovin' or by email. 

The Linky Party starts now, and runs until
Monday, May 25th at midnight. 

Spread the word, and tell all your stitchy friends.

*The first Saturday party of each month will
feature several of the Doxies' and my
favorite link ups. 
By linking up, you are giving permission for me
to post your picture with a link back to your 

blog or Instagram account. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Modern Heart Zip Bag

I thought my little orphan block would be 

helped by framing.There were some darker strips 

that I’d decided were a bit too dark, but that 

was after I’d sewn it together.  I think the deep 

purple helped the colors pop, and the low 

volume background recede.  

To give it a little edgier look, I offset the border. 

This gave me both a solid color, and larger space 

to add some SLQ as an accent, and I had fun. 

It’s just a little pattern of crossing lines that 

ensures the sandwich is secure.

The backing was a diagonal print to start with,

and I marked every 1/2" with a chalk pencil.

I chose not to quilt every line, though, and 

picked a few here and there to keep it random. 

I used Aurifil #2309, my go-to 

off-white quilting thread in 50 wt.

I used a little contrasting fabric on each end of my 

zipper to get a good fit. I always use nylon zippers 

with bags! Metal zippers look very cool and hip, 

but those teeth can destroy your manicure in 

a heartbeat when you’re trying to get in and 

out of a bag--not that I have a mani, you know.

I chose to sew down the zipper on the inside

instead of finishing all the edges. Just the 

tiniest bit showed out from underneath.

The backing is a diagonal print from the ‘Elementary’ 

line from ‘Moda’. I like how it helps the bag 

from looking ‘too cute’.

I sewed front and back pieces wrong sides together 

in a scant ¼" seam. Then I added a Anna Marie 

Horner floral binding. It created contrast on the 

back, and picked up the heart fabrics in the front.

Tah-dah!

I wonder what I should do with it now?

I'm thankful for the rains this spring,

and our beautiful show of blooms.

The azaleas are in full bloom now,

and I'm awaiting my pink poppies.

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go outside and enjoy the sunshine

until the mosquitoes eat us up!

Linking up with~
Crazy Mom Quilts
Fort Worth Studio
Quilt Shop Gal
Confessions of a Fabric Addicit
TGIFF
WIP Be Gone LAFF
Quilting Jet Girl
My Quilt Infatuation
Freshly Pieced
Sew Fresh Quilts

Quilt Story

Quilt Lovely 'She Loves You' Blocks

Cleaning up the studio is always my priority

after finishing a big project. I couldn't bear 

sorting such a mess, and I decided I needed a 

color fix instead. Out came Jen Kingwell's 

new book Quilt Lovely: 15 Vibrant Projects 

Using Piecing and Applique, and I turned to 

this heart block I had been playing with for a

few days. Perfect for your tiniest scraps,

pieces ranges from 1" squares to 1"x4".

Although I am inspired by her designs in the

book, I am most intrigued by Kingwell's wide 

use of fabric variety. Most of us have both

vintage and modern fabrics in our stash, and 

if you're like me, it's mostly an Either/Or Thing.

Let's face it, our old dark green, navy, and 

maroon, are not easily blended with our

aqua and orange. Surprisingly, she does 

this a lot in the book, and it looks good!

Part of my book lovin' here is in breaking

down and analyzing how she blended

them so well. I already see a 'Daisy Do' 

in my near future.

My first block was totally botched. My 

mind was wandering to 'How was our Lucy

dog doing having 2 teeth removed?' to

'Did the new baby arrive yet?' You have to

keep your head in the game here.

I didn't view it as a total loss, though, when I 

saw the outer piecing needed to have more

contrast. Taking pictures helps me more than

anything. 

Next try below: The low-volume background 

needs to be more uniform. The khaki strips are 

a bit too dark in the block, I think.

I switched from the Anna Marie Horner scraps

to some strips of Amy Butler's new Violette.

Both warm and cool tones in the palette, I

looked for a background fabric to unify it.

The paisley is very traditional while the 

Butler line steps toward the modern side.

Very subtle contrast, but I'll try framing

it out today. A zipper bag in the making.

Even though I left yet another mess to deal

with tomorrow, it was time for a walk in the 

garden with the dogs. 

Lucy was home and recovered when I snapped

this picture of my orris root in bloom. It looks

like a common iris. Something moved across

my feet, and it wasn't a Doxie girl.

It was this not-so-little guy. Two dogs stepped 

right over it on the way to see me so

I felt safe.

Every year I think it's the last for my tree peony,

and every year the gnarly thing blooms.

Gorgeous, short-lived, giant blooms.

Today I'll be a slave to the house and yard,

but I'll be back Friday for the big reveal of

the QST quilt. I've been dragging it around

to local quilt groups playing Show and Tell.

Thank you all for bearing with me.

I hope you make time for yourself during 

this busy season, and better yet if it

includes time to sew.

Congratulations on a new baby boy in the

family to all the anxious relatives that 

awaited his arrival! Welcome!

Come on, Doxie girls.

I'll make up a thermos of tea,

and then let's go sew for just a bit.

Linking up with~
My Quilt Infatuation
Quilting Jet Girl
Freshly Pieced
Sew Fresh Quilts