Juicy Bits

186: sew happy

I am feeling sew happy lately. Just doing a little playing around.  I've been shirking my actual work and making myself more familiar with my serger and coverstitch machine.  It's nice to step back and not be so focused on results and just play around. Seems appropriate for the start of summer.

This block is for my Busy Bee for Kathy Mack at Pink Chalk Fabrics. She sent the great fabrics and asked us to sew what "sew happy" means to us.  Mine is a big stack of fabrics, my machine, and a technique I've never tried before (mini zigzag quilt).

Anyway, I finally drew winners for the two giveaways...

The winner for prize #1 on post #184 (Inspired to Sew etc.) is comment #23 - Mary Beth

The winner for prize #2 on post #184 (Cut the Scraps etc.) is comment #24 - Lori Porten

The winner for prize #1 on post #185 (Fresh Fabric Treats etc.) is comment #44 - Patti

The winner for prize #2 on post #185 (Kona color card etc) is comment #46 - Ona

I'll be emailing the winners to get their addresses.

I have to say the travel suggestions were so fun. I totally could have started a conversation with each of you if only time permitted.  Some of you shared my favorite destinations and some opened my eyes to places I never would have thought of (like Croatia and South Africa).

This block was for Lucinda.  She requested windows and was very open about the fabrics.  I decided I really wanted to do something with perspective and I love the brights on the clothesline with the neutral background.

 

I'm so not a scrappy gal, but I'm getting more of a taste for it lately.  This block was for Penny. Her only direction was go crazy with the scrappy look.  It was lots of fun, but obviously I felt the need to bring some order to it.  I love how this came out and might even tweak the idea to do a quilt for myself.

I hope you're all gearing up for a great summer.  I know I am.  Last year was a total blur of work for the book, so I plan on savoring the juicy details this year.

JT

 

169: the buzz and a bee

New plan.

Get motivated.

Now that one be-lazy-at-home-enjoying-family holiday is behind us, it's clear the next is rapidly approaching.  And there is A LOT to get done before then.  So my new plan is to stop wasting time and be uber-productive for the next few weeks.

We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving.  We sure did.  But, now my need to get back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon is almost imperative.  At least if I plan on wearing a bikini in Hawaii this winter...

So, as you may or may not know, my sewing roots are in quilting (I've got to do a blog post on that sometime) and I've finally joined a virtual quilting bee.  I know....took me long enough.

I decided I need a smaller scale project to do just for fun.  I love the idea of doing something that's not actual work.  

Do you know how these work?  Somewhere around 12 sewists sign up for a year long commitment.  Each month it's someone's turn and they send out the fabric of their choice along with some directions for the type of block they're looking for.  Each member sews at least one block and sends it back.  And once during the year it gets to be your turn.  Love it!  And most have groups on flickr for everyone to see.

I was lucky enough to get into a bee already running: Busy Bees.  I took someone's place that had to leave.  It's a bunch of talented ladies and I'm so glad to be a part of it.

So these are my first blocks.  She wanted hexes and sent some Dolce and solid strips.  They're made up patterns that I paper-pieced.  I had a a lot of fun.  

Now we take a break for december, but I'll be back in the new year with more to share.  I'm happy to be doing a bit more quilting, and it's fun to have a specific challenge to work towards. 

I could totally see doing more of these so if you're a memeber of a cool modern bee (like say {Bee} Imaginative...) that is open to new members, please let me know!

 And on a side note, I'll be hosting the blog tour of Little Girls, Big Style by my friend Mary Abreu on Dec. 8th.  It's an awesome book that anyone sewing for a little girl should have on their resource shelf.  So if you want the chance to win a copy, stop back in a few days.

JT