sewtakeahike

It's a beautiful day

 

It really is a beauty of day out there today.  A little chilly, but so pretty.  So to stick with the theme of pretty, here are a few things that I think are super pretty.

First, some new business cards, ordered from vistaprint.

 

 

I checked out a few places to order cards from and Vistaprint seemed to have the best value for what I was looking for.  I'm also super excited that they have several other products (t-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets) that they can put my logo onto.

And I received one of my label orders from spoonflower, these tags.  They turned out perfect! 

 

 

I designed them to cut along the solid line, fold them in half and then sew into a seam.

 

And lastly, have you checked out Superbuzzy's sale section lately??

 

 

Kelly has some really great fabrics in there!  I found several Suzuko and Yoshiko fabrics for 12-13$/ yard!!  And then of course, I had to fit a few of Suzuko's newer fabrics in there as well. :)

 

Happy Saturday to you!

xo,

Penny

labels and spoonflower

I've been in a label rut lately.  I had been doing so good keeping up with making and using labels in the past, but this year has been an exception. 

I think part of it was the feeling I had that I had to do it all from treating the fabric to making the design then printing it, retreating the fabric, and cutting them out and so on. 

And then two days ago a lightbulb went off and I decided to do it through spoonflower.  Brilliant!!  So all I needed was the design, which I came up with by using photoshop. 

 

The label above is for quilts.  I'm super excited to be able to just cut them out, press the edges under, embroider (by machine or hand) the details and hand sew them down.

And this label design is for other sewing projects. 

 

 

It's way smaller and I'll cut them out along the solid lines to be folded in half and the long raw edges will be sewn in the seam of a project.

I've only just ordered a yard of each design, so I haven't received it yet.  I hope they turn out close to these pics though, especially since I was so impatient and didn't want to order a swatch and wait to inspect it only to order more.  I guess if it doesn't turn out, I'll use them for purse linings maybe?  

xo,

Penny 

autumn sky

Granny quilts have been going around for a bit and until now, I've been sitting on the sidelines knowing that eventually I'd get to it.

When the fine folks at Connecting Threads contacted me about doing a project with their Maple Skies line, I got super excited to do my granny quilt.  It's actually a "great granny", and I'm calling it "autumn sky".

 

 

I decided on 4.5" squares and used 2.5" sashing in between the blocks and 4" sashing around the edges.

 

It ended up at 62"X83". 

 

A couple of tips if you decide to make a granny or "great granny":

• sew all the squares for each block together before pressing.
• When sewing the rows of squares together, use fork pins, they really work to keep the seams put so you get perfect seam matches.

 

 

xo,

Penny

Zakka Style Sew-Along: belated

I didn't break any speed records getting my Zakka Style Sew-Along project finished.  However, I did finish it before the sew-along ended, so I'm happy about that.

 

I had no fear when I couldn't complete it on time though, because Lindsey had my back.

 

The Patchwork Potholder is by Kim at Retro Mama and is in the book Zakka Style.  Kim's correction post for the pattern is here.

I didn't follow the pattern to piece the front, but just kind of did my own thing (and I forgot to do any quilting on it at all!)

 

I used some brown linen and a new Connecting Threads fabric called Hello Sunshine.  Isn't it so bright and cheery???!  It makes me smile!

 

Which, by the way, I did a retro-active giveaway for one of these fq bundles.  Meaning, I chose a winner for it from the comments that were left on one of my last three posts and the winner is:  Suzanne!!  Yay!  I'll email you to get your mailing info Suzanne.

 

 

Alrighty!  I hope you had a great Labor day weekend!

xo,

Penny

 

Cosmic Burst

 

A few days ago I had a little playtime. 

Mark Cesarik sent me some samples of his line Cosmic Burst back in February (or maybe March?), and what I thought was going to be a new pillow for L-man, is looking mighty darn cool on the floor as a rug instead. 

 

 

 

I'm still trying to decide what to back it with.  I'd like it to be nonslip. 

For other rugs I've made, I've cut and layed out that nonslip drawer liner to put under them, but that stuff constantly shifts around and I'd like something that stays put better. 

Any ideas?  I'd appreciate your help!

Happy happy Friday!!

Penny