sewtakeahike

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

 

Rooms of my heart: part 2

 

 

This weekend I spent a little time finishing up my quilt top "rooms of my heart".  I gathered several orphan blocks, like the one above, some fabrics that make me smile, and started sewing. 

 

 

This quilt top reminds me of so many people and the journeys I've been through in the last 2 years.  It has orphan blocks from projects for my mom, friends, scraps from friends, and also includes my first applique block (the tea kettle) and my first template pieced block (the house), and my first paper pieced blocks (the string blocks in the bottom corners.  Both the tea kettle and the house are designs from Nanette over at Freda's Hive.  Nanette was so encouraging to me as I started these two blocks, and can you believe that after piecing the house I emailed her and told her I didn't think I liked doing blocks that required so many pieces and told her I would probably never do anything like that again? 

My how things have changed. 

Case in point.  Here's my latest Ringo Pie block.

 

Ayumi's month was May.  The theme she chose was: letters and packages.  I was stumped.  Then my first idea didn't work out.  Finally, I chose to make a pattern out of one of her inspiration photos.  She loves chocolate, so I put a little chocolate label on the box (and made sure to include some pink in the background fabric since she has a thing for pink, too!). 

I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend, doing things that have filled the rooms of your hearts and for those of you in the US, Happy Independence day to you!!

~Penny

all kitchen aid bowls would be floral

 

if I had a say in the matter!

 

Wouldn't that be awesome??  Or floral kitchen aid mixers?  Or what if you could send in a pic of a pattern and they custom painted them for you? 

Until that happens, I guess I'll have to dream with fabric.

A month ago, I sketched out a kitchen aid, preparing for my month in Ringo Pie.  **By the way, how cool is it that my month for all three bees I'm in is in April??  How in the heck did that happen?  So I'm thinking when May rolls around and I start getting 33 little packages in the mail of fab blocks, my mailman's gonna think I'm somethin' special.  Seriously.**

Back to my story....

For my month in Ringo Pie, I am asking for "all things kitchen-y".  I've asked the members to make a block out of something in their kitchen that they love.  I don't care what, their floor, a rug, their window, a food container, food, appliances, hand tools, skillets, whatever.  And when I think of what I love in my kitchen, my kitchen aid is tops.  So I made a block out of it (and I'm NOT gonna put a bird on it!).

And to double the fun, this is one (of the many cool) blocks we will be going over how to design, from start to finish, at the retreat next month! 

So this is what I'm saying.  Please come to my retreat.  It'll be fun and Tara will be cooking and she's alot of fun and so am I and you'll be so happy you did because I'll be schooling you!  But if that doesn't excite you, just come because you'll get this cool kitchen aid pattern!

 

Oh, and last but not in anyway least, make sure you check out Lynne's quilt along! 

Lynne is an ah.mazing sewist, just amazing!!  And inspiring!! 

There are a few others Lynne has asked to guest post, like:

Cathy @ Cabbage Quilts

Victoria @ Bumble Beans

Mandy @ Simply Solids

Kerry @ Very Kerry Berry

Krista @ Poppyprint

Trudi @ Quilting Prolifically 

Angela @ Cuttopieces

and me!  I'll be doing a scrappy version of her QAL, and I'm waaaay excited about it! 

 

my funny little alien

 

Humble pie anyone?  Anyone?  It seems like I've been eating it a lot lately, and I just need to say no and put the leftovers into the freezer for another time.  You know, cause I'd hate to waste them!

 

Exhibit 1:

 

Lucinda asked for "spring beginnings" for her month in Ringo Pie.  She didn't want a lot of color, but just the beginnings.  So I made this purple iris shoot.  Only, the more I looked at it, the more it looked like an alien to me!

So I had the bright idea, "I'll applique' a couple of leaves onto it, that'll cheer it up!  Yeah.  That'll do it."

 

Exhibit 2:

 

So now tell me, what do you see?  Because now, according to my L-man, I have an alien praying mantis, and I have to agree with him.  Seriously?  

Ahhh, I can see it now.  Lucinda's wonderful spring quilt with an alien sitting amongst her lovely spring shoots, threatening to eat every.single.flower.  Sounds lovely, huh? 

Oh, and one more thing Lucinda asked for was no hexagons.  And so what does my second block for her look like?

Exhibit 3:

 

I promise, I wasn't trying to be mean!  I thought that she meant no hexagon shaped blocks.  So I cut hexagons out of a piece of linen, sewed them back together, and cut it into a square.  Makes sense, right?  Uh. No.  She literally meant, "NO HEXAGONS".   But being the gracious person Lucinda is, she says she loves them both (um, right.  Like parents say they love "all their children just the same".) 

Thank-you for trying to make me feel a little better anyway, Lucinda.  I seriously feel like the ugly step-child right now!

So tell me, what's the biggest faux pas you've made with a quilting bee block?  And please do tell me some good stories with blood and guts and everything because I really do want to feel better about the hot mess I've made out of Lucinda's blocks!

Sincerely,

Penny 

gargantuan tulip

 

scrappy quilts, scrappy quilts, why do I love thee? 

Let me count thy ways.

1. I could Gaze upon you for hours, examining each and every piece of material used
2. Each fabric in you has a story, which, when brought together, creates another beautiful Story to be told
3. you have endless Possibilities
4. you have No boundaries
5. you are Resourceful

scrappy quilts, you win with me every time.  Day or night, morning or evening, Friday or Saturday.