sewtakeahike

"superstar"!

 

Is d.o.n.e!

 

And a gratuitous quilting shot:

 

Here are a few things I learned from making this quilt! 

one.  that I am pretty good a free motion quilting if I take my time.

two.  that I can sew squares together with matching seams and little or no wonkiness if I press the seams to the side for the rows, but then press the seams OPEN when sewing the rows together.

three.  when doing hst's, to cut the initial squares 3/8" larger than you want them to end up.

 

So what weekend finishes do you have?  Even if it was just unloading the dishwasher, I want to hear!

One more thing,

 

I'm working on this Brrr! bear paw and just might have a fat quarter set of it (courtesy of Laurie Wisbrun.  Brrr! should be hitting the stores in June I believe!) to give away later this week.  I'm just sayin'.

Happy Monday to you!!

~Penny

 

cheery made in cherry

 

I seem to be the last to find out about things lately.  I'm sure you've already seen the Made in Cherry pattern by Sarah Fielke?  I just found out about it 5-6 weeks ago and love it!

Right after that, someone asked me to make a baby quilt for her brother and SIL who are having their first baby (a girl!) in April.  She gave me free reign to make what I want, I love that!!  So I gathered some very special fabrics, lots of Heather Ross including ice cream trucks, Mendocino, lightening bugs, some lush dots, katie jump rope, pez, DS quilts fabrics, some older Amy Butler, and the prettiest, deepest blue solid I had and set to work. 

I scaled the pattern down so it finished at 40X40 and will be quilting and binding it today.  I'm so excited to see it finished and hope it is well loved and used!

Have a great Sunday!

~Penny

IKEA trip

 

 

Last fall, the first IKEA in the area opened up in Denver and I had been talking about wanting to go for 6 months before that. 

So for Valentines day, L-man remembered that little tidbit and made hotel reservations in Denver for us on Sunday night and Monday we finally had an IKEA experience.

I fell in love with these green cabinets right away and so we bought two.  But as L-man was putting them together and putting them in place in the dining area, I had this horrible sinking feeling that I didn't like them there and for that purpose.  Good grief, he was going to kill me!!! 

It was such a relief to find out he was struggling too when I finally told him I didn't know if I wanted them there.  So we decided to wait a couple of days and see if we changed our minds.  So I started putting my beloved Cathrinholm and favorite cookbooks in them and it made me feel better.  So then I got out my mom's china and arranged the pieces in the other cabinet and I was feeling even better.  And now, I've done a complete 180 and am in complete love with the cabinets. 

Has that ever happened to you?  Loving a piece of furniture in the store and getting it home only to find you might have made a huge mistake?  Please do tell!!

And happy, happy Friday to you!

~Penny

 

 

p.s.  For those of you that asked, I found out a couple days ago that my isosceles picnic quilt will be featured in the MBS on Saturday, March 3rd!! 

 

 

revisited

Jules, Leila and I have both tried to email you at the address you provided and it's not working, so will you please contact me with a different email so we can get your pattern to you?

 

Today, in honor of valentine's day month, Madame Samm has asked to repost my super easy continuous prairie point tut over at sewwequilt!

 

So if you not seen it, or just need a refresher, make sure and check it out!

There will be lots of sewing going on here in sewtakeahike land this weekend, so I should have lots to share soon!

 

~Penny

Grow

 

 

I've been feeling the beginnings of a growth spurt coming on for a while now. I'm not sure why now, or how it will come, all I know is I can feel it coming. Maybe it's because I've finished some long overdue projects and my "must do" list is getting very small and that in turn is leading to inspiration instead of a weight on my shoulders.

These blocks are currently on my wall in my sewing room. I'm a part of The Traveling Quilts, and this is what I've made so far for it. The traveling quilts was put together by Heather and John, and there are 11 of us total. The way it works is we all start our own quilt, however we like, with whatever kind of blocks we like. We then in turn mail the start to the next person on the list who will add to it. Then they mail it to the next person on the list and so on. So each month, we will each be adding some to one of the other member's quilts. During the last month, not only will we add to the last quilt we receive, but we will quilt, back, and bind it and then return it to the original person who started the quilt, so in the end, we all end up with a finished quilt.

None of us know how our quilts will end up and we are forbidden from posting more than sneak peeks as we sew on everyone's quilts. But that's the beauty of it all. In the end, we'll all have a surprise of a lovely quilt sewn by friends. I can hardly wait!

 

One more thing, there are only a couple spots left for the weekend paper piecing workshop I'm doing, so if you're planning on coming, make sure and reserve your spot now!

 

~Penny