Sunday Stash

I unabashedly added to my stash.

The Cottage Garden by the Quilted Fish

for Riley Blake Design

This is the fabric line that Riley Blake is using for it's Modern Quilt Guild 2015 Fabric Challenge. I one was one of the lucky members to get a free fat quarter bundle of 6 prints, but the project I have in mind is going to require more fabric. I also have a few of these prints already, and love them. (Okay, I love the pink, and the others are nice, too. Did I say the colorway that came is all grey and teal?) The full line surpassed my expectations, and I can't believe I was waffling.

I'm giving a call out to this Etsy shop for amazingly quick service and attention. I ordered this on June 4th, and it was here on the 6th. Woohoo! Simply Love Fabrics Rocks!

It was so fun when I opened it! Bonus goodies--a Riley Blake package of buttons, and wintergreen mints that made the whole package smell wonderful! (I already ate one.)

Check out this mother/daughter duo!

So what am I doing with the lovely fabric, you ask? A challenge for me. This book has been in my hands for weeks, and I've designed my own medallion for the Riley Blake contest. I'm waiting on a few other fabrics to get started, but I'm excited now that the fat quarter bundle arrived so quickly. I'll try to keep it all under wraps for a few weeks, but you know how excited I get to share with you! Soon! I promise.

The Modern Medallion Workbook

If you're thinking about a Craftsy class, there's a sale this weekend. Thank you for clicking through my links, and supporting Pink Doxies.

The Pet Project Show #23 is still open for you to link up. Everyone loves to see what you're doing with your creative time.

Until next time...

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Linking up with~
Show and Tell with Bambi
Cooking Up Quilts
Sew Many Ways
Molli Sparkles

Pet Project Show #23 Saturday Features

Do you ever know for sure why you like one quilt more than another? For me, it's often because there is a strong pattern, sometimes no pattern, or I like the fabric used. I imagine we're all like this. Maybe what we like changes over time. It does for me.  Or perhaps something about it speaks to us, and we smile a little. Sometimes the blog post explains the deeper meaning behind the quilt, and it changes how I see it completely. I am always led by my gut reaction. I like what I like.

 Linda @ kokaquilts
that perfect pattern



Iris at crazydutchbirdquilts

Susie's Sunroom
Low Volume Forest

Thank you to each one of you who link up with the Pet Project Show. I love to see your work here!

Come on, Doxie Girls.
It's Saturday, and time for the weekly 

Pink Doxies 

Pet Project Show. 

Add your link here every Saturday-Monday. 

Rules

Do we have to have rules? 

No worries! It's EASY.

1. Use the blue 'Add Your Link' button (below left)
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, June 8th 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. 



3 Day Weekend Sale!

An InLinkz Link-up

Bordering On a Finish

I snapped this picture yesterday while the sun was setting. A few of the borders are partially sewn together, but I still haven't decided how to join them together at the corners. Maybe cross them like shown, but a set in corner piece would look wonderful, Y-seams and all! There is no more fear of inset piecing, thanks to Mary Huey's dvd, but I can't tell if it will work yet. Each border will need to be together before I can make a decision. Not everyone feels good working this way, but I do.

The catch in this process is when you design-as-you-go. The center blocks came from the book, Quilt Lovely, by Jen Kingwell, but she completed the project as a pillow. I wanted something else. Let's look at it.

I rearranged the blocks from the way they were initially on the design wall like this--

...to the picture below. Can you see the difference? 

It looked fine to me in person until I took a picture, and uploaded it to my phone and computer. I saw the 2 blocks on the right were deeper in color, and would look more balanced if they were opposite each other. Then I turned the fan points so they looked less matchy-matchy. 

The idea of a border stuck with me, and I found this Mona Luna in my stash. Very modern. The gold is a very traditional print with roses. Using a border at all was a more traditional layout.

The gold border was on, and I realized I had slightly less brown print than was needed. No worries. I slashed off an inch on each side of the gold, and came in just under the wire. There wasn't enough fabric left unless I wanted to piece the borders, and I thought it might ruin it with the big print. The problem I was encountering with it becoming a big square quilt was solved, too.

The dark border separates and frames the stars, and the border color unifies the yellows. It falls right in the middle of the yellows color-wise, and helps the bright yellow tone down while lifting the palest yellow. You might not see it yet, but the brown borders will be different widths. Yet another method to stretch the limited brown fabric.

The overall size was still too small, and begged for another border. I made a new template that somewhat followed the size and dimension of the fan blades, and started through this new stash another quilter had given me. New as in 'new to me'! These pieces are from the 70's back to some feedsack scraps. I pulled out parts of clothing with seams attached, and creatively cut some pieces from them. That gave me a real sense of how past quilters gathered their fabrics. Rarely did a quilt come from new fabric off a bolt. It was made from fabric that had lived another life before it was made into a quilt.

This isn't everyone's thing, I know, to go through old stacks of fabric. Some of them are bitty pieces, but I can see the potential here for beautiful things, and it lifts my heart. Can I let you in on a secret? Some of these belonged to my husband's grandmother, were passed through households, and found their way back to us. Isn't it romantic that my children and future generations will enjoy them?

Today I will simply sew, and live in the moment. The project is taking on a life all its own. Maybe the quilt will beg for another border when this one is on. Maybe it will be a fabric that begs to be given new life. Who knows, but this is why I am a quilter. It feeds my soul.The Pet Project Show opens tonight at midnight, and will feature some of the Doxie girls' and my favorite link ups from the past month. Look for it in the next post. 

Until then...

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Linking up with~
Monday Makers
Show Off Saturday
Sew Stitching Cute
Crazy Mom Quilts
Quilt Shop Gal
A Quilting Reader's Garden
Quoka Quilts
Confessions of a Fabric Addict


3 Day Weekend Sale!

Pressing On with Mrs. Bannister's Stars

Four blocks done. The first one took a whole afternoon, but the following day I had 3 more done in about 4 hours. The more I hurried, the less focused I was, and the more mistakes I made. On the other hand, I figured out some tricks.

One time saver was using chain-piecing whenever I could. I will tell you that Mary Huey's method for chain-piecing Y-seams works wonders in zipping through repetivite pieces. She has a dvd showing how to consistantly piece Y-seams accurately. Love it!

There was a point on every block when I looked at it, and asked myself if the fabrics were 'working'. It was usually at this point, before I had the lighter backgrounds attached.

See how much more unified the block appears with a background fabric?

The direction the seams are pressed is important. I either moved clockwise or out from the center. Just to remind us all,

PRESS. Lift up. Press down. Don't iron. This block is a good example of what will stretch with all the bias seams. And remember that spray starch is your friend. Use it.

This is the first time I've ever gotten the little star in the center of my pressed back, and I was just tickled about it. Ta-dah!

This yellow dot did not look like a deep yellow when I chose it, but the other colors helped to deepen it. 

Here's a little trick that sometimes helps me get a truer color

with my photos. Include other colors nearby, and crop your photo with an editing program after you take it. It's surprising how much better the actual color is vs. using an all white background.

Now I have to make a decision whether to arrange these

blocks into a pillow, or if they might be better in a quilt. I'm thinking more toward a small quilt after all that effort. I feel like the blocks would benefit from a border or some additional piecing. Back to the stash stack I go!

I do hope you're finding time to stitch today, but if you haven't seen your stash in a while then block off some time for YOU this weekend. We're better at dealing with the crap stuff that comes at us when we've met some of our own needs. Creating makes me feel like I've filled my cup, and some of that love does run over. I'm just a nicer person to be around, and thankful to have it in my life.

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

If you're on Instagram and want some afternoon company while you stitch, post your pictures and tag me @pinkdoxies. I love to have people out there to trade ideas with!

Linking up with~
Quilty Thankful Thursday
My Quilt Infatuation