sewtakeahike

The Paper Pieced Home blog tour!

 

Good (Mon)day to you! I hope you all had a great weekend. The weekend here was full of bike rides, sewing and I had the good fortune to take a class with Carolyn Friedlander yesterday in our very own Loveland.

 

 

We even managed to have a picnic with Carolyn thanks to Joelle's forethought and organization! It was the perfect day for a picnic!

It's no secret that hand sewing is not my favorite. However, after taking Carolyn's excellent class and learning a few basic hand applique techniques from her, my confidence has grown, which has made my heart grow a bit fonder. It's a miracle!!

I'm also very excited to share with you all that today is the first day of a fantastic line up for a blog tour for my book The Paper Pieced Home.

Thank you to the one and only Tommy at F&W who works miracles on a daily basis and set the tour up. xoxo!

Before we begin, have you all seen this? THE Mark Lipinksi reviewed my book a few months ago (you have to scroll down a bit)! And he liked it!!

And then make sure and check out this interview and post my friend Angela wrote up (thank you Ang!)! Make sure and hop over to her post and leave a comment now! She is giving away a copy of my book! And then have you checked out her book A Quilter's Mixology? ::Bonus! It's on sale for about $20 right now if you don't have your copy yet. I'm just sayin::

Anyway, I'll be doing a project out of it soon, it's a fab book!

Ok, so on to the tour!

Today, we start out at McCall's Quilting blog. They have done an excellent version of my sewing machine block! You'll want to make sure and head over there to check it out and leave a comment on their post, they have three copies of my book to give away.

 

 

 

The Paper-Pieced Home

Blog Tour Schedule 

3/16       McCall’s Quilting / Sewing Machine Block

3/17       Love of Quilting / Review

3/17       Sandi Sawa Hazlewood  of Crafty Planner / Watering Can Block

3/18       Quilty Pleasure (Quiltmaker blog) / Review

3/18       Imagine Gnats / Rotary Phone Block

3/20       Verykerryberry / Lion Block

3/21       Artisania / Cast-Iron Skillet Block

3/23       Where the Orchids Grow / Lamp Block

3/24       Katie Blakesley of Swim Bike Quilt / Layer Cake Block

3/24       House on Hill Road / Oven Mitt Block

3/24       Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced / BBQ Grill Block

3/26       Pink Penguin / Allie-Gator Block

3/26       A Happy Stitch / Giraffe Block

3/27       Bijou Lovely / Jar Block

3/27       Two Little Banshees / Saucepan Block

3/27       Charise Creates / Espresso Mug Block

3/30       Karen Lewis Textiles / Couch Block

3/31       Poppyprint / Clawfoot Tub Block

3/31       One Shabby Chick / Stack of Books Block

3/31       During Quiet Time / Sleeveless Dress Block

4/06       Pat Sloan The Voice of Quilting / Author Podcast Interview

 

I'm so excited to see the blocks everyone makes!!!

xo,

Penny

 

 

More from P&B textiles!

 

P&B textiles loves you!

They recently came out with more collections and asked me to choose one to offer up to you! My choice was Color Weave Medley. It's an eclectic collection of prints with a woven look.

To enter the giveaway of a fat quarter set of Color Weave Medley, leave a comment telling me what your favorite line is of all the P&B collections I linked to in this post! I'll choose a winner on Monday the 19th.

As I was scouting out P&B's website, I came across the line Fresh Pick, aren't they awesome?? The peas are adorable, and I love the monochromatic veggies and tomatos!

And I'm really liking the colors in the Zenith line!

 

How about this pigeon stoop print from the Port City line? So cool! I've used it as a bag lining here.

 

 

And then this Fantasy Garden print is just so pretty!

 

 

Good luck!

xo, Penny

Popover poncho

 

 

 

 

This winter I have been enjoying working with wool in a few projects.

From this wool blanket I made for L-man for Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

To my April Rhodes popover poncho that I finished this weekend at our Fort Collins MQG retreat.

 

 

 

 

 

I used boiled wool, Italian shirting, and a premade wool hem binding from Elfriede's in Boulder. It is such a pleasure to shop there as everyone is extremely helpful and friendly!

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of traditional seams, I used flat felled seams.

 

 

 

The pattern is easy to follow and I'll most likely make another one in lighter weight fabrics for the spring and summer.

 

For this winter version, I lengthened the poncho by 2-3 inches so it covers my upper thigh and my hands when they are at my sides.

 

To finish it off, I've used the hemtape as a drawstring for the cowl but I didn't add that until after I took these photos.

 

 

 

 

I love it when I make something and L-man says it's the most professional looking thing I've ever made. And I love that he says that most every time, I never get tired of hearing it!

 

 

Happy Monday to you!

Penny

 

Benartex Manly quilt tutorial

 

 

I am most definitely a child of the 70's. I love the clothing styles from then, and the quilts from that time frame were so charming! Thick, lofty(polyester) batting and acrylic ties were the thing. Or if the quilt wasn't tied, it was loosely quilted so the quilt was still mega puffy. And heck, even the quilt top might have been polyester or a poly blend. Do you remember those double knit polys?! I have a pillow made from some squares of it my dad sent me several years ago!

 

 

For the Manly quilt, I am paying tribute to the 70's, giving it a modern day twist, using natural fibre. The batting is a lofty wool, and the ties are spun wool.  The quilt is approximately 63"X71". 

 

 

I used fabric from three different Benartex lines:

 

                           

The sashiko prints from Bellissimo in the lower right corner (for the center of the patchwork and the binding), plaid taupe from Paintbox/Shadows (for the backing) and all 24 colors available of Burlap (for the outside edges of the patchwork).

 

 

You will also need wool batting, wool yarn, and a tapestry needle.

For the main patchwork, I used my Go! cutter and 5" die to cut 224 5" squares. The Go! cutter made light work of this step which I was pleased with since cutting is my least favorite part.

 

Here is a diagram of my layout:

 

Blues on the left, tans on the bottom, purples/reds on the right, greens on the top, and blacks/dark grays in the center.

Once the you have the top assembled to your liking, make a quilt sandwich with your top, batting and backing and baste it with pins in every other center of each square to prep it for tying.

 

To tie your quilt, use your tapestry needle and wool yarn to stitch a running stitch through all layers of your sandwich, diagonally through the center of each unpinned square.

 

 

 

Once all the unpinned squares are stitched, cut the yarn where the four squares come to a point (half way between each stitch)

 

 

and then use a sewer's knot to tie each piece of yarn. Trim the knotted yarn to the length of your liking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now remove the pins and stitch and tie the remaining squares.

 

 

Tying your quilt in this manner will give a clean finish to the backing. All the stitches will be straight and the stitch pattern on the back will have an orderly appearance.

 

 

 

Once you have tied your quilt, bind it and you are finished.

I want to thank Benartex for sending the lovely fabric, this project was a joy to work on. And what has made it even more fun is L-man has said several times this is his favorite quilt! I am pleased I hit the mark with the Manly quilt!

 

 

I am also excited that because of Benartex's generosity, I have enough remaining fabric for a second quilt top and part of a backing. If you would like to make a manly quilt of your own, leave a comment on this post telling me who you would make a Manly quilt for if you win, and I will chose a winner on this Friday. (US entries only please due to shipping costs)

 

 

Good luck to you and Happy New Year!!!

xo,

Penny

 

FabricCadabra!!

 

Today I am so excited to introduce you all to FabricCadabra!

They are a fabric loving sister duo (Lastenia and Mayka) who exude love for their (rather large!) families.

Here's a bit about them!

We are two sisters who love fabric and love to sew. Lastenia is the oldest and wisest of our family of 7 children and I (Mayka) am the 5th. Combined, we have 13 children who are rambunctious, rowdy, and amazing. Lastenia started sewing as a young girl making all our Cabbage Patch doll clothes thanks to 4H, eventually making all our wedding dresses. While she was honing her mad dress-making skills, I was running around in wheat fields pretending to be an Indian princess. Eventually I learned how to sew enough to where I could decorate my room. Since then we’ve become level 37 sewing ninjas turning out everything from doll clothes, dresses, even bow ties, pillows, and curtains. When we’re not running around to 5 different soccer teams or 12 music lessons between our two families, we create things with our handy-dandy sewing machines. Fabric makes us happy, so it seemed only natural to open a fabric shop. Our goal is to make something out of every fabric we sell in our shop, which won’t be hard since we create with each other, and love it.

Here are a few of their joint ventures:

 

 

Now for some really exciting news! FabricCadabra is generously offering you 15% off all the bundles in their shop from today through next Friday Nov 21. Use the code BONANZA15 when checking out for your discount!

 

Also, they are giving away this beautiful Melody Miller "Mustang" bundle!  Leave a comment on this post to enter. I'll choose a winner on Wednesday Nov 19!

 

Make sure you keep in touch with FabricCadabra by following them:

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FabricCadabra1?ref=tn_tnmn

Instagram: http://instagram.com/fabriccadabra

Web Page/Blog: www.fabriccadabra.com

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lasteniabowman/

 

Thank you so much FabricCadabra!!!

xo, Penny