sewtakeahike

Zakka Style sew along!

 

**Just a quick update on the Sewtakeahike weekend paper piecing workshop coming up in April! We only have 3 spots left, so make sure and contact Tara today if you are thinking of coming!

 

 

So have you seen Rashida’s new compilation book, Zakka Style, yet? I have and it's seriously chock full of great designs put together by some seriously awesome designers!

Lindsey and Amy have put together a sew along/blog hop that will include 24 fabulous bloggers and you!

There are 24 projects in the book and we will be sewing right through it from start to finish.

The sew along starts Monday April 2nd with the first project in the book and will continue through Monday September 10th with a new project introduced each Monday.

Each blogger will sew a different project and will be sharing their finished project and inspiration with you.

• April 2nd :: Zig Zag Tote with Sew Fantastic
• April 9th :: The House Pouch with During Quiet Time
• April 16th :: Zakka Pincushion with Pink Penguin
• April 23rd :: Sewing Kit with Monkey Do
• April 30th :: Patchwork Pencil Case with VeryKerryBerry
• May 7th :: Itty Bitty Quilt Block Magnets with Little Bluebell

• May 14th :: Raincloud Mug Rug with Quilt Dad
• May 21st :: Zakka Block Quilt with I like Orange
• May 28th :: Stem Messenger Bag with Sew Sweetness
• June 4th :: Zip Organizer with Spotted Stone
• June 11th :: Orchard Path Tweed Pouch with Don’t Call Me Betsy
• June 18th :: Happy Couple Handwarmers with A Cuppa and a Catchup

• June 25th :: Patchwork Potholder with Sew Take a Hike
• July 2nd :: Water Bottle Holder with One Shabby Chick
• July 9th :: Elephant Bookmark with Cut to Pieces
• July 16th :: Patchwork Ribbon with {House} of A la Mode
• July 23rd :: Delightful Linen Bag with Sukie
• July 30th :: Bread Basket with Patchwork Notes

• August 6th :: Sweet Sugar Cookie Sack with BettyCrockerAss
• August 13th :: Little Pocket Pillowcase with Freshly Pieced
• August 2oth :: Sweet Memories Photo Frame with Noodlehead
• August 27th :: Pleated Coin Purse with Shape Moth
• September 3rd :: Happy Garland Message Board with Maureen Cracknell Handmade
• September 10th :: Nesting Boxes with From the Blue Chair

There will be a week in between each project to give you time to sew along & I’ll be sewing along right beside you. I sure hope you’ll join in on the fun!

I’ll be sharing more soon, but wanted to give you a chance to prepare since you will need a copy of the book to participate.

I’ve compiled a list of some places you can purchase online and it also comes in e-book form too!

E-book:

• C&T Publishing
• Google Play
• Diesel E-Book

Paperback Book:

• Signed Copy directly from Rashida!
• Amazon
• Amazon UK
• Sew Mama Sew
• Overstock
• Barnes & Noble
• Create for Less

There will be some lovely prizes offered each week and we are so thankful to have the support of:

If you are interested in participating as a sponsor please email Amy, thank you!

Feel free to join in the flickr group and be sure to grab a button!

yoyo along- part 2

I'm almost embarrassed.

My well intentioned yoyo along grew stale with all the happenings of the last quarter of 2011, but thanks to a few nudging emails that have come in over the last few weeks, I decided to pick up the camera, turn on my machine, and get the next step of the yoyo along posted. So thank you to those of you who have been patiently waiting. I hope it will have been worth the wait for you once you start seeing your quilt come together.

For those of you who are newer to sewtakeahike, I posted the first part of the yoyo along here, just click the button and it will take you to the first step.

 

 

I have yet to finish my yoyo's myself, but I've given myself permission to take my time since I know this will be the one and only yoyo quilt I ever make this size!

 

Here we go!!

I'm not a huge fan of hand sewing, plus I want this quilt to be more durable, so I decided to teach you how to sew the yoyo's by machine.

My bernina has a stitch called the bar tack stitch. I like using the bar tack stitch because it automatically does a tie off stitch for me at the beginning and end of each bar tack. If your machine has this stitch, then great! If not, just set your zig-zag stitch to a zero length and it will achieve the same end goal.

My bar tack stitch is highlighted here, #25

 

 

I set the length to .4 and the width to 4.

 

Also, if you have access to an edge-stitch foot and some 50wt aurifil, that would be very helpful. I like using the 50 wt. aurifil to sew them together because it is strong, but thinner so the stitches aren't as noticeable.

 

 

Step 1.

Pull 16 yoyo's from your bag of 1008 and arrange them into blocks of 4X4. There are limitless ways you can arrange your yoyo's. By color, with stripes of different colors, with white based fabrics in the middle square or the outside edge, the same color for each point, and any other combo you can think of! For me, I like it best random and scrappy.

 

 

 

Step 2.

Using your bar tack stitch (or modified zig zag), sew your yoyo's into strands of 4, making sure to keep them in the order you like.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3.

Using the same technique as in step 2, sew the yoyo strands together so you have a block of 4X4 yoyo's. Trim your stray threads.

 

 

Once you've sewn all your 1008 yoyo's together, you should have 63 blocks consisting of 16 yoyo's each.

 

Step 4.

I don't have any photos for this step yet since I don't have all my yoyo's made, but basically, you will arrange your blocks so they are 7 blocks across and 9 down, and sew the blocks together in the same manner as you did the individual yoyo's and strips of yoyo's in steps 2 and 3. If you used the same number of yoyo's that I'm using (1008) and the same size yoyo maker (60mm), your yoyo quilt will measure approximately 63"X81".

 

So there you have it. I'm almost 50% done with my yoyo's and will try to keep you all updated with my progress. And if you can, please do post your photos of your yoyo quilt in progress, and completed, in my sewtakeahike flickr group!

 

Happy Friday, and Happy New Year. Here's to a spectacular 2012!

 

~Penny

yo, yo, yo! a quilt along update

 

 

As you've probably guessed, my original projection date of October to start sewing my yoyo's together was a bit ambitious.  I currently have 395 out of 1008 yoyo's, so about 100 shy of being half done! And since I know in my heart that I will only ever do one of these in my lifetime, I want to do it right! 

Hopefully you all don't mind, but I'm going to push out Part 2 of the yoyo along (how to sew them together by machine) until the middle of November instead of the beginning of October.  I only know of one person (hi Patty) that is probably on track with completing the yoyo making phase by October 1, or did I miss someone else that's that far along? 

So tell me, where are you all at with your yoyos?  Is this newly revised plan going to work for you?

Happy yoyo'ing!

Penny

p.s.  Make sure and check back on Monday, you won't want to miss it!! 

 

a slice of Ringo Pie

 

 

I'm finally servin' up my Ringo Pie dresden!  It's only been in the making since April and I'm so glad to have it finished.

I started it to go along with Lynne's dresden QAL and quickly fell behind.  Well, that's not hard to do, it's impossible to keep up with her!  I think she's started and finished two more QAL's since then.

Anyway, this last week I picked myself up and finished it.  It's a huge dresden, at 24" across, and I'll be adding it to my "all things kitcheny" quilt from the Ringo Pie bee.

These are some of my very most favorite fabrics, some given to me by friends and some purchased. 

So what fabulous projects have you picked back up lately and are happy you did? 

Happy Thursday to you!

~Penny

 

I'm not a farmer's wife

But, I'm joining in the QAL!  I ordered my book from Amazon eons ago and it finally arrived in the mail last week. 

I started my blocks a few days ago and I can't believe how addicting it has been to start another block once I finish one.

Here are the blocks I've completed, in order:

 

So have I convinced you to join in yet??  Come on, you know you want to!  It's fun!

Happy Saturday!

~Penny