Purple Panda Quilts

Snow Day

2012-02-19T20:56:00.000-05:00

It is finally snowing. Therefore, I will be taking a much anticipated snow day, thank you very much.

Mail Love!

2012-02-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

As many of you are aware, my third love (behind my husband and quilting) is reading. So obviously I was over the moon when I discovered the Quilting Book Club over on Flickr. Combining two of my favorite things? Sign me up!

To make a long story short, I won a giveaway as part of being a member of the Quilting Book Club. Look at all the awesome goodies that were waiting for me in my mailbox:

Why yes, that's a copy of the pattern On a Whim by Thimble Blossoms, fat quarters of Moraccan Mirage by Anthology, some super cute scissors and a tape measure that even is magnetic!

Wahoo! I now will go dance a jig.

Quilts for Cancer: Octagonal Orb Block

2012-02-10T17:38:00.005-05:00

I may or may not have over booked myself quilting wise this month. Does anyone else ever have this problem?

Anyway, during a few free moments this week I decided to work on my first ever block for the Quilts for Cancer Bee I'm a part of. I love the idea of making quilts for people affected by cancer...sadly it's such a widespread disease in the world, that almost everyone knows someone who is fighting (or fought) a battle with cancer.

Marta (who just started up her own blog by the way -- From Marta with Love -- be sure to go leave her some love!) kicked the bee off with an excellent choice -- Elizabeth Hartmen's octagonal orb block. I've been itching to try this block out, so to say I was excited might be an understatement.

I've noticed that people sure are loving the spring green/aqua/gray color combo these days (we all know how I feel about gray!) and Marta is no exception. I especially like how she wanted to use quilter's linen in place of a traditional solid. I think linen adds so much texture to a quilt, and am planning on using it extensively in a future project.

Elizabeth's instructions were easy to understand (as always), and I love that it made such a large block - finished at 16.75 inches by 16.75 inches. The blocks were a bit time consuming to make but are an excellent use of scraps and I imagine an entire quilt with these might be in my somewhat distant future. If you want to make your own Octagonal Orb (and you know you do) check out the instructions here.

Modern Heart Mini

2012-02-09T09:30:00.000-05:00

I'm super excited to be guest posting today over at Sew BitterSweet Designs as part of the Valentine's Day Showcase.

What's the Valentine's Day Showcase you ask?

Wellll from Feb 1- 14 a variety of bloggers (including me today yay!) will post a tutorial for a Valentine's Day themed project.

And did I mention that on Feb 15 there is a chance for you to link up your own projects inspired by Cupid's favorite day of the year?

Oh, and did I also tell you that you can win prizes...including free fabric?

You best check it out...and head on over to find all the 411 on how to make my awesome Modern Heart Mini Quilt.

For the Love of Solids

2012-02-06T22:13:00.000-05:00

I'm participating in the For the Love of Solids Swap going on over at Flickr. It is great fun - everyone is assigned a partner for whom you have to make one large item (think mini quilt, sewing machine cover, placemats, laptop case, etc.) and one small item -- using only solids. I adore solids so this is perfect for me. Also, our partners remain a secret until you get the package in the mail. What fun!

I've been fiddling around in Illustrator coming up with some designs for my super awesome secret partner and so far this is what I've come up with.

Ideas/suggestions?

Quilting Journey

2012-02-04T21:53:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking about my quilting journey over the past few days. It seems like it was just yesterday that I first got my lovely sewing machine, Nina.

Back in the beginning of 2008, I casually mentioned to my husband that I'd like a sewing machine. This seemed to be a rather unusual request coming from me, but I said that I wanted to learn how to quilt. For some reason I was intrigued by the idea of designing with fabric. I love working with color and designing projects, and my dashing husband knew it, so it wasn't long before I came home one day with this lovely box!

The first night I had Nina, I ran out to the local fabric shop and bought some fabric to make a quilt. This is what I "whipped up" over the next few hours:

We affectionally call it the swastika quilt. Apparently I didn't see the swastika in the design when I put it together. Oops. I guess I was too excited to be sewing to pay attention to details like that.

I've come a long way since then.

I love the entire quilting process - choosing fabrics, playing with shapes, colors, lines, and scale to create something unique and eye catching. And boy do I love turning the ideas in my head into realities.

How did you start your quilting journey? I'd love to know!

Curves, Curves, Curves

2012-02-02T21:41:00.001-05:00

This year one of my sewing goals is to master the curve. I like to create my own patterns and not being able to successfully sew a curve has put a major damper on my pattern/quilt making. The ideas are in my head but are unable to be realized on fabric. Luckily for me, Rachel over at Stitched in Color is hosting a month long Curves Class.

It starts this week and I'm super excited!

Just look at a few of the projects Rachel has put together for us to try:

I can't wait to get started.

You bet I'm going to try to master those curves!

I had big plans to blog about the awesome curves class earlier, but due to Sam's demise I had to wait. I'm sure you can still check it out and register today here. It is a super great deal when you think about all the hard work she has put into it -- it's a month long and you're bound to learn a few things!

Stay tuned to see my curve sewing in action within the next few weeks! =)

**All pictures are via Rachel's awesome blog...you know to keep it real around here.**

New Bees in the New Year (a month late)

2012-01-31T11:53:00.004-05:00

One of the best things about quilting, in my opinion, is the chance to participate in a variety of bees. Sites such as twitter and flickr are excellent places to find other like-minded quilting people with whom to start a bee. It's great fun because quite often you meet new friends in the process.

So I thought I'd share with you a few bees that are happening this year.

3x6 Bee.

I love this bee. In fact, I with a handful of awesome ladies help run this bee and make it a success. It's quite fun and rather low key. Basically, you get paired up with a group of 6 other people and you make 1 block for each person in whatever colors they specify. You have 3 months to do this. So theoretically, if you participate for 3 or 4 quarters you will have enough blocks to make yourself a nice sized quilt. One of the reasons why I like it so much is because you get to meet a lot of talented people in a short amount of time. Sign ups are going on right now for Quarter 1 (Feb 1 - April 15) so check it out here.

Here are a few of the awesome blocks I've been given so far:

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee.

It is basically the same concept as the 3x6 bee, only you make 5 blocks instead of 6 in the three month period. I'm not sure if their sign ups have closed or not yet but I participated in it for the first time over Christmas and it was great fun. All the ladies in my group were extremely talented! Check out their webpage here for more info.

Here are the blocks I got the first round -- enough to allow me to finish up a sampler quilt I've been working on from the 3x6 Bee.

Quilts for Cancer.

This is a new bee starting up where each person makes a quilt that they give to someone they know that has cancer. I like this idea because not only are you helping to give people some comfort during a trying time, but it also uses your stash fabric so there is no mailing necessary except for the blocks. There are still a few spaces left so you can check it out here.

Do.good.Stitches.

This bee is the brain child of Rachel from Stitched in Color (seriously if you have not read her blog go do it) I love this bee and have been part of it for about a year now. I love that we quilt for charity, that we use our own fabric, and that we rotate who designs each quilt. I also lucked out and have the best group of people ever in my circle. Seriously, they are all super talented and super creative. For more info check out the Do.good.Stitches flickr page.

Here's a small sampling of some of the quilts that the Inspire Circle has finished:

Citrus Sails Quilt

Bijou Lovely's Herringbone Quilt.

Also new bees are starting up all the time. Be sure to check out the Quilting Bee Blocks group on flickr that often has a list of bees looking for participants.

Are you going to participate in any bees this year? If so, which ones?

Sam.

2012-01-18T01:04:00.000-05:00

This is Sam.

He is a beautiful, albeit old, macbook pro I got when I graduated college.....oh about five and a half years ago. I love him very much. He has always been there when I needed him (well except that one time when he "accidently" erased my portfolio, but that's water under the bridge) Whether it was late night press releases, client changes to ads that were on their way to printers, or even simply opening presents with the family on Christmas morning - I could usually solve a problem with Sam's help.

That is until tonight.

When he just up and decided to not work anymore, knowing full well that I have 2 major design deadlines coming up.

What a jerk.

So I did what anyone in my position would do (throw a fit and call Sam names, obviously) and THEN I went and cheered myself up via fabric...because buying fabric when you probably have to spend THOUSANDS of dollars unexpectedly makes perfect sense.

And while I love my new collection of Citron Gray fabric (how can you not) I am still pissed at Sam.

Valentine's Day Showcase!

2012-01-09T11:58:00.000-05:00

I know, if you know me it is a bit strange for me to posting about valentine's day....in January...let alone at all because I've never been a huge fan of the "day of love"

But my heart has been turned! Bring on the flowers, the candy, the hallmark cards, the decadent dinners large romantic gestures, and of course the decorating.

My awesome friend Melissa is hosting a Valentine's Day Showcase this year which I am super excited about. It runs from Feb 1 to the 14th. There will even be a tutorial by yours truly offered during that time (yes it will be valentines-y...see previous paragraph on new found love for valentines day).

Now, I don't want to rain on her parade or anything so I'll just give you a few hints: lots of tutorials, linky party, prizes. So go check out her blog for all the details!

And as a side note, if you have any ideas for what you get the medical-student-who-has-no-time-for-anything-fun for Valentine's Day let me know. =)

Creativity.

2012-01-05T22:27:00.003-05:00

In my previous life I was an art director.

I went to college where I got a degree in advertising and design. Yup, while my friends were busy spending hours in a lab mixing chemicals together in the hopes of blowing something up, I got to draw, watch movies, go to parties, take photos, play on the computer and basically have a grand time with some awesome people. And it was all in the name of creativity. See, being a "creative" in the advertising world can be stressful - you must always be ahead of the curve and ready to spot the next trend.

But I loved every second of it (okay maybe not the second that my entire portfolio got erased an hour before it was due...)

I loved going to work at odd hours of the day.
I loved that going to concerts, movies, art galleries, and watching television were all part of my job description.
I loved traveling to various places in the name of work.
I loved that the tools of my trade included Primsacolors, a MacBook, a Nikon Camera, sketchbooks and lots of books.

Basically I loved being creative.

When I started quilting, many of my close friends were not surprised and saw it as another outlet for me to "express myself." I love taking my inspirations from my travels, nature, architecture, and pop culture and translating them into quilts. I think this is why I design all my own patterns.

So I have a question for you - what inspires you? How do you plan on staying creative this year?

For some ideas check out this video:

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Fat Quarter Shop Bloggers Choice Bundle

2012-01-05T13:32:00.000-05:00

Now if you were to know one thing about me it would be that I love pandas.

But if you were to know two things about me it would be that I love pandas AND I love fabric shopping/choosing what fabrics to use for my next projects.

One of my favorite shops to buy fabric at is the Fat Quarter Shop. Not only are they online (hello, buying fabric in my pajamas!) but they offer TONS of different fabrics from all sorts of my favorite designers. One of the best features of the shop is their Blogger's Choice Bundles. I love it because different bloggers put together a bundle of their favorite fabrics which the FQS then lets people like us sell. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I secretly really really want to contribute my own bundle to the FQS. In fact, I dare say if I get to do that it would be the highlight of my year.

So imagine my excitement when I learned that Quokka Quilts has teamed up with the Fat Quarter Shop to offer this awesome contest to design your own fabric bundle. The winner not only gets all the fabrics in their bundle BUT also gets to have it featured at the FQS. Swoon!

Of course I needed to start brainstorming ideas for what fabrics to choose. I immediately knew I wanted to create a fun, bright quilt with a feeling of spring/summer to it. (Perhaps I'm longing for the warmer weather to get here already). Anyway. My thoughts first went to tangerine paired with a lime green. Then of course I wanted to contrast that with my favorite neutral gray. So with that in mind here's the bundle I created:

Fabric selections from top left to right:

1. Bella Solids Pistachio
2. Crazy Daisy Citron Tile
3. Bright Owl Lime Swirl
4. Yard Sale Grass Confetti Dots
5. Babysaurus Green Tiny Stripe
6. Mimosa Orange Chevron
7. Mimosa Light Orange Basketweave
8. Remix Tangerine Scatter Dots
9. Meet me at Sunset Orange Stained Glass
10. Bella Solids Amelia Orange
11. Remix Steel Argyle Plaid
12. Tuxedo Collection Gray Stripes
13. Citron Gray Dot n' Square
14. Citron Gray Quarter Dot
15. Bella Solids Etchings Slate

Now I will go cross my fingers and toes that I can win a set of these lovely fabrics in order to make a quilt out of them...otherwise I just might have to buy them and I have already used up my quilting money for the next few months...gotta love those after xmas sales! =)

Confidence in 2012

2012-01-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Sure I'm a few days late, but I've been busy enjoying every last second my lovely husband and I had together before he had to go back to school (a lame but sadly necessary part of becoming a doctor...wouldn't want someone operating on your heart if they didn't know how your heart works I guess) Anyway I digress.

I know it seems a sort of must do for quilt bloggers to list their quilting related goals for the year. Not to be outdone here are my quilting goals for 2012 (and also because lets face it, if I am held somewhat accountable then the chance of these being accomplished increases exponentially)

* Finish wedding quilt
* Quilt & Bind cathedral window quilt (seriously it's been pieced for about six months now)
* Organize my sewing room
* Write at least 2 new patterns
* Master curves

In other sort of related but not really news, after much deliberation my family and I have finally settled on our word for the year. Yes we have a word we focus on each year. So what. Go ahead and laugh. But at the end of the year we'll see who is the one left laughing.

Anyway our word this year is *drumroll please* Confidence. We will have confidence in our choices (school, work, and otherwise) and stop second guessing ourselves. We will have confidence while taking life-altering tests (Boards/Grad School Tests) and we will have the confidence necessary to follow our dreams and make things happen this year.

I'm excited. Do you have a word for the year? Or any quilting goals? Or perhaps both?

an unexpected year

2011-12-31T22:29:00.000-05:00

If I were to summarize 2011 into one word, I think I'd choose unexpected.

It was unexpected that I'd face so many trials and yet come out of them for the better

It was unexpected that I'd prefer a part-time job to a full-time real-world 60 hour a week gig. (I am a known workaholic)

It was unexpected that I'd yearn to move back to the West Coast (I guess I really am a California girl at heart)

It was unexpected to go snorkeling in the Florida Keys and even more unexpected that I enjoyed it and can't wait to go again (I have an irrational fear of the deep ocean)

It was unexpected that my super-smart husband spent even more time studying (I didn't realize how easy the first year of medical school really was)

It was unexpected that I was able to travel so often (I went to almost 20 different states this year alone)

It was unexpected that I managed to finish more than half a dozen quilts for near and dear friends (I've only been quilting off and on for a few years)

It was unexpected that I received such a generous response to the stocking drive I organized for the local foster children (I was so blown away that people all over the world helped me quadruple my goal)

It was unexpected how many friends I've made because of my quilting - both online and in person. (I've never had friends that quilted before - it's quite nice!)

And it certainly was unexpected how nice and welcoming the online community has been to a new blogger like myself.

Here's hoping 2011 had a few unexpected surprises and 2012 is full of even more!

Sneak Peek!

2011-12-28T18:21:00.000-05:00

I've been working on many secret projects that I am so excited to share with you guys...I can't wait anymore so here's a sneak peek of one...full reveal coming to a blog near you soon!! =)

Happy Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T09:30:00.000-05:00

Today is one of my favorite days of the entire year -- we decorate our Christmas Tree, put up the stockings, make cookies, and enjoy some quality family time. It's a time of the year that's so full of traditions and makes me appreciate my family. This year, especially, my thoughts are with those people who don't have families to share the holidays with...people like the foster children I've been working with this year.

I am so thankful for the outpouring of support from people all over the world who participated in the Stockings for Kids drive. I received over 250 stockings from all corners of the globe -- my husband was quite excited when a package arrived from Turkey -- for the foster children in Central Virginia. Due to the generosity of local businesses, churches, community service groups, and people like you, we were able to stuff the stockings and tomorrow morning many children will get to open a Christmas stocking.

A snapshot of some of the many stockings we got this year.

Toys ready to be divided up into the stockings

Just some of the many games ready to be divided up into the stockings.

Thank you again for your love and generosity this holiday season!

Zig-Zag Quilt: A Wordless Post

2011-12-22T17:18:00.000-05:00

Plus Quilt

2011-12-22T16:15:00.000-05:00

The other day I realized I never shared this quilt with you. Back in August, I really wanted to make a plus quilt and when I learned that some of my good friends were expecting their first child this year, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a try. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Quilt Stats:

Fabrics: Assorted blue, yellow, pinks, and kona white from my stash.

Quilting: stitch in the ditch around each plus.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

2011-12-16T22:46:00.001-05:00

So I recently hosted a giveaway of some purple fat quarters in conjunction with sew mama sews giveaway day (week). This allowed me to do some "market research" if you will. See, I was curious to see what colors people were sewing with these days.

And according to my completely scientific approach (i.e. tally sheet of color combos) it appears that most of you enjoy sewing with gray in almost any combo but especially gray and yellow and gray and purple. A lot of you also love orange. I have to say I haven't gotten on the orange band wagon yet, but I'm thinking about hitching a ride!

I am so amazed by how many of you guys entered my sew mama sew giveaway -- almost 400!! But after some tough deliberating by my friend Mr. Random, Gill was lucky number 86 and won the awesome fat quarters. Yay Gill!!

gill said...

I love turquoise and grey!

12/12/2011 4:22 PM

**I haven't figured out how to successfully copy and paste my random number generator thingy. If you want to give me a suggestion that would be appreciated.**

It's giveaway day! Yay!

2011-12-12T10:29:00.000-05:00

If you are here from Sew Mama Sew, then welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere! I do hope you'll take a few moments to make yourself comfortable and look around...and maybe even come back from time to time to visit and say hi.

Today is the official start of the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway day where tons of blogs out there in blogland are hosting giveaways this week. Back before I had a blog, I stumbled across this and thought it would be a blast to be able to participate. I love it because you can find new blogs to follow AND win some cool stuff.

So here's what I'm offering this year:

A fat quarter bundle of some of my favorite Kona purples! We've got Pansy, Magenta, Dark Violet, and Hibiscus. They are even more gorgeous in person. I also will most likely throw in some fun quilting tools/other purple fabrics.

My giveaway is open to readers ALL OVER THE WORLD! =)

Also it will close Friday, December 16 at 5PM PST.

To enter all you have to do is:

1. Tell me what your favorite color combo for sewing/crafty projects is. (Mine is dark purple+gray)

If you feel so inclined you may do the following for bonus entries:

1. Follow my blog
2. Tweet about winning some awesome purple fabric from PurplePandaQuilts!

Thanks for entering and good luck! Also don't forget to check out some other awesome blogs and see what they are giving away here!

EDITED TO ADD:

I have gotten many comments from no-reply bloggers. PLEASE be sure to leave me a way to get back in touch with you (i.e. your email address) if you are a no-reply blogger so I can let you know if you win. Also please put your email address in this form: purplepandaquilts (at) gmail (dot) com so we can avoid spam. If I can't get in touch with you, I will put your name on my blog for a few days and if you don't respond then I will be forced to draw another winner.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!

The winner was # 86 Gill who said:

gill said...

I love turquoise and grey!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

December is my favorite time of the year. I love Christmas and everything that it stands for -- family, celebration, giving, love, etc. Many of my favorite memories as a kid are from my families Christmas traditions -- going to Disneyland, baking dozens of cookies, shopping for stocking stuffers, ice skating downtown, Hotel Del Christmas trees, sticky buns in the early morning, getting a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, and more.

We finally got our fresh Christmas tree up and decorated.

What are your holiday traditions? I'd love to know!

Stockings for Kids Giveaway Winners!

2011-12-03T12:33:00.001-05:00

First off a GIANT thank you to everyone who participated in the first ever Stockings for Kids drive. I am very grateful to our awesome sponsors (go show them some love this holiday season please!) and to people who have sent in stockings from all over the world. As of this morning I have, wait for it...

219 stockings

I am seriously floored. That's more than four times the amount of stockings I was hoping to get. You guys rock! I never imagined that so many people from around the world would be willing to help make stockings for the foster kids. Not only have you made stockings, but some of you have donated money and even gifts to put in the stockings. Your generosity astounds me. I know it is because of you that these children will have a brighter holiday season.

Because I received so many stockings, I had to quickly figure out where the extras were going to go (my foster center doesn't need 200 stockings!) Most of them will be going to the foster children I work with and the rest will be distributed to other foster care centers in the central virginia area. I also will be taking a few to the hospital my husband works at where they will be given to kids who have to stay overnight on Christmas Eve. We are having a stocking stuffing party this next week so look for pictures of that soon!

Now on to the giveaway. Again another plug to go visit my awesome sponsors who have made this such a fun event. I used my friend Mr. Random Number Generator because my usual go to guy is very busy studying for an exam about how people breathe (apparently knowing that information is important). I thought I had saved the images of the random number but apparently I did not do that properly so you'll just have to take my word for it! =)

$50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop goes to Ella

The countdown to christmas charm pack from Sweetwater fabrics goes to Joyce C.

The fat quarter pack donated by Tallgrass Prairie Studio goes to Melissa

The "Mystery" red and green fabric bundle donated by Pink Castle Fabrics goes to Jessica!

Happy Early Christmas to our winners and again THANK YOU to everyone who participated.

Quilters rock!

Holiday Wish List

2011-12-01T10:57:00.001-05:00

Happy December everyone! It is now the official start of the holiday season!

It is also the last day to mail in any stockings you have made for the Stockings for Kids drive. I have so many stockings right now and I am very appreciative of everyone who has contributed.

Also, don't forget to enter the giveaway that ends tomorrow at midnight EST for lots of fun prizes from our sponsors (lots and lots of fabric!)

Anyway with the beginning of December, I know many of us are struggling to finish up our holiday shopping (or perhaps finishing up our handmade gifts as the case may be) and so thought I'd share what sewing/quilting things are at the top of my wish list this year...who knows maybe it will inspire you (or your loved ones) in their holiday shopping...and hopefully you can share what you want so it can inspire me in my holiday shopping!

Ly's Sewing Wish List 2011

1. A binding foot for Nina (the Bernina) because that would speed up my quilt making process - and with a busted wrist it sure is difficult to hand sew those bindings on.

2. A fat quarter/half yard/yard/however much santa sees fit to give me set of Lotta Jansdotter's new fabric line Echo (loving those grays and blues and purples right now):

3. The new Modern Blocks book. A lot of people I know have contributed to this book and I am excited to see all the different blocks in it.

4. Block Party. I've heard nothing but good things about this book and think it would make an excellent addition to my sewing library.

So, what's on your holiday crafty wish list this year?

Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday: Tutorial Round-up

2011-11-29T09:54:00.001-05:00

Well friends, the time has come for the last edition of Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday. I am so grateful for everyone who has participated in the drive. The stockings have been rolling in. In fact, the post man has resorted to delivering my mail in special, fancy boxes.

Also, don't forget to enter the stockings for kids giveaway! It ends at midnight on Friday December 2nd and is such a great opportunity to win some awesome prizes from our sponsors. And here's a friendly reminder that all stockings need to be mailed on Thursday December 1st!

Stocking Tutorial Round-up

Super Simple Stocking Tutorial

Lined Stocking with a Cuff (presented by Cluck Cluck Sew)

Confetti Christmas Stocking (featuring Kate Spain fabrics)

Appliqued Stocking (presented by FunThreads)

Striped Stocking Tutorial (presented by In Color Order)

Reversible Stocking with Pockets (presented by Sew BitterSweet Designs)

Photo Stocking (presented by Sew Sarah Sews)

Herringbone Stocking (presented by Swim, Bike, Quilt)

Felt Garland Stocking (presented by Bijou Lovely)

I hope that you have enjoyed these tutorials as much as I have. Please don't forget to post a picture of any stockings you've made in the Stockings for Kids Flickr group so we can admire all your beautiful work.

F is for Friendship

2011-11-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

It is no secret that I have 3 major loves in my life: books, quilting, and of course my husband.

I grew up on books - my mother doesn't believe in watching television, so my childhood revolved around book characters rather than television characters. My room had floor to ceiling bookshelves and books were piled on every surface imaginable. To say that my sister and I adore reading is an understatement - in fact our punishment when we got in trouble was that we weren't "allowed" to read for a certain amount of time. Yes, while my other friends got their phone or driving privileges revoked, I got my reading privileges revoked. It was a tough life.

Anyway, armed with that knowledge, imagine my delight when a package arrived at my door the other day containing none other than a book about quilting! Now I know you're probably thinking that it isn't that exciting because we all have read pattern books and various other quilting books. But no ladies (and gentlemen) this book is a child's picture book.

Now this book is fantastic. Not just because it is literally the ABC's of quilting,

or because it is chalk full of information about quilting - historical facts from how the sewing machine was invented, or what a quilting bee is, or even the effect the internet has on quilting -

but also because it has gorgeous illustrations.

I highly suggest that everyone out there who loves quilting or books - or even both - go out and get F is for Friendship: A Quilt Alphabet written by Helen L Wilbur and Illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen.

And while it is a picture book meant for kids, I think you will enjoy it too.

Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday (on a Friday): Felt Garland Stocking

2011-11-26T09:52:00.000-05:00

Hi gang. Today's edition of Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday is brought to you by seriously one of my favorite people in blogland -- Holly of Bijou Lovely. And yes, I realize it is not a Tuesday but I figure with the deadline coming up I'd post her stocking tutorial early so we all have a chance to try it out before December 1. When I first started quilting and looking at blogs, hers was one where I found myself looking at over and over again. If her blog isn't on your google reader, add it - trust me you'll be glad you did!

Oh and don't forget to enter the Stockings for Kids giveaway to win all sorts of cool prizes from the sponsors of the drive!

Anyway here is her adorable felt garland stocking.

Felt garland stocking tutorial

Materials- Old stocking for tracing or there is a template available for free HERE (printed on 11x17 paper)
- 1/3 yard of outer fabric
- 3/4 yard of lining fabric (will be enough for 2 stockings)
- 1/3 yd quilt batting
- 1/4 yard of cuff fabric- 1/8 yard of felt- 6" length of ribbon or bias tape for hanging loop1.

First, either trace a stocking that you already have, or use the template stocking to make your pattern pieces. For this stocking, make sure the width of the opening of your stocking is at least 8" so you can fit the stocking around the arm of your sewing machine later in the tutorial. You can always modify your stocking pattern to make it wider if the stocking you are tracing is skinnier than 8".

2. Cut your pattern pieces.
a. You'll need 2 outer fabric pieces. If you're using a print, make sure the fabric is folded in half to cut your pieces out, as you'll actually need the pieces to be a mirror images of each other so the print will shown on both sides of your stocking.

b. Cut two pieces of fabric for the outer cuff (which won't actually show when it's folded over), that are 6.5" x the width of your stocking.

c. Cut two pieces of fabric for your inner cuff (which will show when the cuff is folded over), that are 4" x the width of your stocking.

2. Next, trace your outer stocking fabrics from 1a onto your two lining pieces, adding an extra 3" to the top of the lining pieces (this will be the part of the lining that shows on the outside once you fold over the cuff). If you're outer stocking pieces are as tall as the width of your outer fabric, you will probably need to cut along the length of your fabric for the lining.

a. Trace your outer stocking piece onto two layers of quilt batting, adding an additional 6.5" to the top of the stocking.

3. Sew the outer cuff to the outer stocking pieces, right sides together, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Press seam allowances open.

4. Sew inner cuff to inner stocking pieces, right sides together, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Press seam allowances open.5. Baste outer stocking pieces to batting pieces (I used spray baste).

6. Cut about 15 small felt circles (mine were a little over 1" in diameter).

7. Arrange the felt circles on the outer stocking piece that you want to be the front. It might be easier to draw on the garland lines with a disappearing fabric pen before placing your circles. Then pin the felt to the stocking.

8. Using a walking foot, sew along your traced garland lines in contrasting thread. I actually sewed along each line three times to make the stitching stand out a little bit more.

9. Quilt the cuff of the stocking and the back outer stocking piece however you'd like. I used random straight lines.

10. If you want to add decorative stitching along the seam where the lining meets the inner cuff, add it now.

11. Pin your outer stocking pieces right sides together. Trim any excess length of the quilt batting along the top of the cuff so it matches your outer stocking fabric. Sew along the sides and bottom of the stocking using a 3/8" seam allowance. Do not sew the top edge of the stocking.

12. Pin your inner stocking pieces right sides together.

13. Cut a 6" piece of ribbon or bias tape to make a loop to hang your stocking from. Fold it in half lengthwise and pin it into the side of the lining on the heel side of the stocking, 3" down from the seam where your lining and inner cuff meet. The edges of your ribbon/bias tape should be along the edge of your fabrics, as shown here, with the loop part in the middle of the stocking (I pulled it out of my seam a bit here, you can align the edges with the edges of your lining).

14. Sew along the sides and bottom of the lining using a 3/8" seam allowance, leaving a 3"opening on one of the sides for turning. Do not sew the top edge of the lining.15. Clip the curves of your outer stocking and lining pieces.

16. Insert the outer stocking into the lining, right sides together. Match up the seams and pin along the top edge of the stocking.

17. Sew along the top edge of the stocking, using a 1/2" seam allowance.

18. Turn the stocking right side out through the opening in the lining. Slip stitch the opening closed, press the stocking, and topstitch along the top edge of the stocking.

19. Fold down the cuff and hang your new stocking!

Thanksgiving Wishes

2011-11-24T18:15:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving dear readers! I hope that your day has been full of great food and great company.

This year I am lucky enough to spend some much needed quality time with close friends eating all sorts of deliciousness including cookies, ice cream and yummy pie. Oh and turkey too.

Are you celebrating thanksgiving this year? If so what's your favorite part of the holiday?

Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday: Herringbone Stocking

2011-11-22T09:29:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! Crazy to think that November is almost over and with it the Stockings for Kids drive! I am so appreciative of everyone who has participated and I have got a lot of stockings so far. You still have plenty of time to make some stockings and send them my way -- don't forget all stockings need to be mailed by December 1 to give me enough time to stuff them and send them out to the kids before Christmas.

Also, here's a friendly reminder about the awesome giveaway from our sponsors that you should go check out. It ends at midnight on December 2nd.

Without further ado here's Katie's awesome tutorial which is perfect for a teenager and is seriously one of my favorite designs right now because I LOVE working with solids. And most people know how much I am obsessed with gray at the moment. In fact I think I am going to go make one of these stockings right now!

Herringbone Stocking Tutorial

My name is Katie Blakesley, and I blog at Swim, Bike, Quilt. I am happy to be sharing a stocking tutorial at Purple Panda Quilts today. I think Lyanna's Stocking for Kids drive is brilliant, and I will be sending her two stockings in the next few days. Knowing that you only have a week to make and send her a stocking before the deadline, and guessing that there are a lot of stockings made for the 5 and under set, I am sharing my simple Fit for a Teen Stocking Tutorial today.

Supplies:
Favorite stocking (optional, for tracing) 1/3 yard solid fabric (Kona charcoal) assorted solid fabrics: gray, blue, and teal charm squares or scraps small strips of feature print 1/3 yard lining fabric (Kona white) 1/3 yard fusible fleece 2 strips of paper, 3 1/2'' x 11'' washable glue stick

Tracing Your Stocking
1. Trace your favorite stocking onto a large sheet of paper, or use Lyanna's template here. If tracing a stocking, add 1/4'' seam allowance around the entire stocking and cut out the paper template.

2. Fold the fabric for the outside of the stocking in half. Place the template on top of two layers of fabric, and pin. Using a rotary cutter (and ruler, where applicable) cut out 2 stocking pieces.3. Fold fabric for stocking lining in half. Place template on top of two layers of fabric, and pin. Using a rotary cutter (and ruler, where applicable) cut out 2 stocking pieces. Set aside.

Making the Herringbone Blocks
The herringbone blocks are made from skinny string blocks. I cut strips no smaller than 1'' and no bigger than 2 1/4''. You can cut them as small as 1'' x 5'', but need to pay attention when stitching them to paper. I recommend strips at least 6'' long.
1. Reduce your stitch length--I reduce my stitch length from 2 to just over 1. Choose a strip, and use the washable glue stick to glue it in the middle of one of the 3 1/2'' x 11'' pieces of paper.
2. Place a 2nd strip face down on the right side of the 1st strip, sew 1/4'' seam allowance along the edge. Open, press, and repeat, until you have covered half of the piece of paper.

3. Place a strip face down on the left side of the 1st strip, sew 1/4'' seam allowance along the edge. Open, press, and repeat, until you have covered the rest of the paper.

4. Place paper face down on cutting mat, and trim around the edges. Remove paper from back of block.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 with 2nd piece of paper. Make sure to place the 2nd strip angled differently as shown below, otherwise you will have diagonal stripes instead of a herringbone pattern.

6. Cut the herringbone strips into 3 1/2'' squares. Choose three squares, and sew them together, end to end.7. Place the herringbone strip over the stocking. When you are happy with placement, cut out a 3 1/2'' strip from the stocking. Sew the herringbone strip in it's place, and stitch.

Quilting the Stocking
I kept the quilting on this one simple, just a few sets of straight lines. I tried to picture the 12 and 14 year old boys that I know, and didn't think they would like anything too fussy.
1. Fold the fusible fleece in half. Trace your original stocking onto the fusible fleece, and cut out. Note: This will be 1/4'' smaller than your stocking. This is correct, that way the fleece isn't in the seam allowance.
2. Fuse the fleece to your 2 outer stocking pieces according to manufacturer's instructions.
3. Quilt the front and back as desired.

Assembling the Stocking
1. Place the outer stocking pieces right sides together. Using a 1/4'' seam allowance, stitch around the sides, leaving just the top open. Press seams. Clip the curves and turn the stocking inside out.
2. Using one of the strips, make a fabric tab (I took a 2 1/2'' x 5 strip, placed right sides together, and stitched a 1/4'' seam allowance along the side. I turned it right side out, folded it in half, and stitched along the sides and through the center). Line up the raw edge of the fabric tab with the top of the stocking, stitch 1/4'' seam allowance, back stitching several times.

3. Place the lining pieces right sides together. Using a 1/4'' seam allowance, stitch around the sides, leaving just the top open. Clip curves and keep lining inside out. Press seams.
4. Place the outside of the stocking inside the lining, right sides together. Stitch 1/2'' around the top of the stocking, leaving a 4 inch hole on the back. This is where you will turn the stocking right side out.

5. Turn the stocking right side out. Press top seam well. Either hand stitch the opening closed, or iron well and top stitch around the top of the stocking.

Congratulations! Your stocking is finished!

Admire it for a moment, tell your friends, and send it off to Lyanna!!!

My "Rebellious" Weekend

2011-11-21T13:28:00.001-05:00

This weekend my dashing husband spent most of his time studying for an endocrine exam. This left me lots of time to do whatever my heart desired. Of course I immediately wanted to spend some quality time with Nina (my sewing machine) who I have been neglecting as of late...so I did, despite being on my sewing hiatus.

Now before you get all upset about me ignoring doctors orders and the like, I promise I stopped whenever my wrists/hands started to hurt a lot. So it was somewhat slow going. But I did manage to complete a few projects.

First up I completed a quilt and it is easily one of my favorite quilts ever. I know I say that almost every time I make a new quilt, but I am seriously in love with it. I want to show you all so badly but can't reveal it yet. But here's a teaser shot:

Next up I conquered my fear of the zipper.

As you can see I made myself a little coin pouch with scraps from my previous quilting projects....I even lined it! It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be and I definitely see a few more projects involving zippers in my future.

What did you do this weekend? Were you at all a little bit rebellious?

PS - don't forget to enter the stockings for kids giveaway!

Stockings for Kids Giveaway!!

2011-11-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

It's giveaway time!

First off a massive thank you to everyone who has donated a stocking so far - my mailbox has been flooded with stockings and I'm sure my postal worker has been very appreciative of the extra packages she's had to deliver in the past month. Keep them coming! =) Also, don't forget all stockings need to be mailed to me no later than December 1!

Anyway to refresh your memory, here are the awesome prizes up for grabs:

$50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop.

The Fat Quarter Shop is one of my favorite places to buy fabric online - they have such a great collection of fabric and quilt kits. I highly recommend their bloggers choice series where different bloggers put together a fat quarter bundle of their favorite fabrics for you to purchase (so fun!). And the best part is you don't have to wait weeks for your newly purchased fabrics to arrive at your doorstep with their same day shipping policy.

Sweetwater fabrics have so generously donated a countdown to christmas charm pack.

This is sure to be a perfect addition to your holiday sewing. They produce such fun fabric - I love the way they incorporate typography into their designs.

One of my favorite quilting bloggers, Jacquie, who blogs at Tallgrass Prairie Studio has generously put together a fat quarter pack featuring 2 prints from Kate Spain's 12 days of Christmas line and 2 colors from the peas and carrots line.

Brenda at Pink Castle Fabrics has donated a "mystery" red and green fabric bundle. Her Etsy shop is full of beautiful fabrics - including to die for fabric bundles - and she is such a joy to work with.

Giveaway Details:

1. You MUST link up a picture of your stocking that you made (one picture per stocking)
2. An extra entry is given for helping to spread the word (tweet, blog, facebook, etc) and letting me know in the comments
3. An extra entry is given for being a follower of my blog

The giveaway ends at midnight on December 2. Winner will be announced December 3 on my blog.

November Quilting Bee Blocks

2011-11-19T17:23:00.001-05:00

This month I have managed to finish all my quilting bee blocks before they were actually due! Yay!

Do.good. Stitches:

This month we got to make some bottled rainbow blocks following Rachel's tutorial. I have been wanting to try this for ages so I was so super excited when Becky chose this as her block for the month. Here are my two blocks:

Kona Berry Block (dark purples)

Kona Raspberry Block (dark pinks)

I loved making these blocks and see more of them in my immediate future...and there is something to be said for the quilt-as-you-go method that these use.

Sew Bee Beautiful:

This month it was Ella's turn to send out fabric and she requested some wonky stars. At first I was a bit nervous to make these, having never made a wonky star but I am pretty pleased with how these turned out. I'm sure her quilt will be quite beautiful! Now please don't mind the severe lack of ironing in these photos, I'm still looking for an iron...

Mod Mosaic Charity Quilt

This isn't a "bee" parsay, but earlier this month Kelsey asked for some help in making mod mosaic quilt squares using gray, orange and blues for a family who has had one bad thing after another happen to them -- house fires, hospital stays, car accidents, etc. You can read more about her request for blocks (and sign up to make one) here. These blocks are super easy to make and are excellent for using up stash. I enjoyed making this block and wish that I had time to make more.

Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday: Photo Stocking

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hey friends! We are well into November (any one else stressed that Thanksgiving is next week?) and this week's tutorial is courtesy of Sarah from So Sarah Sews. She has a great blog with some excellent tutorials that should be on everyone's must read/must try list. If you like her stocking tutorial be sure to go show her some love on her blog.

I really like her idea of a photo holder for these stockings. A lot of the kids in the program only have a photo or two of their birth parents and would love the chance to get to place it in their stocking during the holiday season. I wish I had thought of this! =)

Check back later this week for info about entering the giveaways from the stocking for kids sponsors.

Photo Stocking Tutorial

I have a little tutorial on how to add a picture pocket to the stocking that I'm going to share with you today.

Start with a piece of clear plastic bought from the remnant bin at your local quilt shop.You can make yours whatever size you want. A picture is usually 3.5 x 5 inches or 4 x 6, but many pictures can be cut down to a smaller size.

Then take a piece of white (or whatever color you want) and make sure it is about 1/2 an inch longer than the top of your plastic piece. The width of the white should be one inch.

You will fold the one inch piece of white in half, like the picture shows, then iron. This will give you a good crease.

Use the crease that you just made as a guide. You will fold both sides of the crease into itself. See the picture below for an idea of what I mean. Line up the edge of the white to the center crease on both sides. Then press with an iron.

Once your piece of fabric looks like the picture above, fold it in half again. So now it is folded on the original crease that you made. And both sides of the fabric are folded so that they look like binding.

Next, place the plastic piece in between the white fold. This will be the top of the picture pocket.

This is what it should look like so far.

Next, place it where you want it. Pin it, and on the end of the white strip, where you have raw edges, just fold them over and pin under. You will not be able to see the raw edges if you do it this way.

Sew from the right end of the white strip, down to the bottom, turn your fabric. Go along the bottom, turn again, then go up to the left end of the white strip and back stitch to secure. DO NOT sew along the white strip again. That does not get sewn onto the stocking.And that's it! Then continue with sewing your two sides of the stocking together. Make sure you do not try to add the pocket after the stocking is sewn together...you'll be miserable ripping seams!

I'm so glad Lyanna is putting in so much time and effort into making this Christmas special for the children in foster care that she works with. And thank you for helping!

Saturday Morning Sewing

2011-11-12T11:47:00.001-05:00

I am spending the morning trimming down some squares to 4.5 inches...not too bad except I have 300 to trim.

How are you spending your saturday morning?

Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday: Reversible Stocking with Pockets

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Todays stocking tutorial is courtesy of the ever so talented Melissa who blogs over at Sew BitterSweet Designs. She has cleverly come up with a reversible stocking -- which is perfect for those of us (like myself) who are incapable of making a decision about what fabric to use on their projects.

I also want to take a second to say thank you to everyone who has sent in stockings so far. You guys rock and I seriously have been blown away by your generosity.

So without further ado -- here is her tutorial!

100% Reversible Stocking with Pockets

Materials (enough to make 2!):

- You will also need an old stocking or use Lyanna's pattern.

- 1 yard each of flannel (2 different designs)

- 1.5 yards of Pellon Fusible Fleece

Instructions:

1. Fold your PFF in half lengthwise and then in half again (per photograph). Place old stocking on top and cut around it using rotary cutter. You will end up with 2 sets of fusible stockings.

2. Next cut out stocking from flannel - fold flannel in half width wise. Place one of your PFF stockings on top, cut around with 1/4" extra on all sides - You will end up with 4 flannel stockings total.

3. You will also need to cut pockets out of the flannel and out of the PFF - Eyeball these based on the size of your pocket. Make the PFF pockets smaller than your flannel by 1/4". Cut 4 from the PFF and 4 from each of the flannels.

4. Fuse your PFF following the directions included with the PFF to the flannel (note it may take longer than usual).

5. Make your pockets. My pockets are also reversible so I layered one red square with one of the green squares that was fused with PFF. Sew 1/4" around three sides - leaving BOTTOM open, clip your corners

6. Make 4 pockets - Turn them right side out and press. Sew to stockings. Place right side up on stocking to determine placement, flip down and pin in place, using 1/4" seam sew across opening of pocket.

7. Flip the pocket up, pin in place and top stitch down 1/8" from edges.

8. Do this on all 4 stockings. Next sew the stockings together - place red stockings right sides together and green stockings right sides together. Sew around both stockings with 1/4" seam - leave tops open.

9. Next, make your handle. I cut a strip from each flannel - 1.5" x 8", and sewed them into a tube - turn tube right side out and attach to one of the stockings.

10. Time to make these 2 stockings into 1! With the green stocking inside out and the red stocking right side out. Place red stocking inside green stocking - pin side seams and around, leave 4 inch opening so you can turn stockings. Sew with 1/4" seam.

11. Reach inside the opening and pull red stocking out. Then pull green stocking right side out and place back inside the red stocking. Pin the opening closed and topstitch around the top of the stocking using an 1/8" seam. This will close the opening you used to turn the stocking and it will give it a nice finished look.

Congratulations! You have just made 2 stockings in one - and you should have enough fabric to make another reversible stocking too!

Happy stocking making!

List on a Monday morning

2011-11-07T10:31:00.001-05:00

Please excuse me while I go have an anxiety attack now.

A Visit from the Post Man

2011-11-03T11:42:00.000-04:00

This afternoon I was lucky enough to get a special visit from my neighborhood postal worker. I love getting mail -- it makes me feel so special.

About a week ago or so I placed an order for these delicious kona fabrics. I have been anxiously awaiting their arrival so I can get started on my special new project(s).

And now here they are in all of their glory - beckoning for me to cut into them and yet I am still on my sewing hiatus.

Kona colors: Lime, Pepper, Coal, Ash, Medium Gray, Berry and White.

Anyone want to come over and cut some 5 inch charm squares for me? =)

Early Bird Giveaway Winners!

2011-11-02T17:26:00.001-04:00

So today is the day to announce the winners of the early bird contest for the Stockings for Kids drive. I am so blown away by all you non-procrastinators who have sent in such beautiful stockings already. I know if we continue at this pace, we will be able to reach our goal of all 50 foster children getting stockings this year!

I decided to do the drawing the old fashioned way -- aka I pulled my husband away from his studying about leukemia long enough to draw the winners. So let's get down to it shall we?

First prize:

A fat quarter bundle of Kate Spain's beautiful 12 days of Christmas Fabric goes to (drumroll please)

Pieces to Love! Yay, I hope that you enjoy playing with these yummy fabrics.

Second Prize:

This scrumptious advent calendar kit...and that goes to (drumroll again please)

Caren! (Your extra entry for sending it in early really paid off! Yay - hope you enjoy the advent calendar)

An email has been sent to the winners letting them know.

A very large thank you to everyone who has participated thus far. Don't forget we will be having a large drawing towards the end of the month where the rest of the prizes (including a $50 gift certificate to the fat quarter shop) will be up for grabs -- so keep your eyes peeled for more info on that soon! And if you are a person after my own heart who waits 'til the last minute to get things done, no worries the deadline isn't until Dec 1. =)

Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday: Striped Stocking

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

***Just a friendly reminder that the early bird giveaway ends tomorrow night at midnight EST!***

This week Jeni over at one of my favorite blogs, In Color Order, has graciously agreed to share this striped stocking tutorial. I have been so excited to see her tutorial because she is so creative and does awesome things with color. And her tutorial does not disappoint - I love that she made it with non christmas-y fabrics and yet it still has that holiday feel. I might have to make a few of these to use in my house this year!

Thank you for all your help with the stockings (check out the flickr group -- there are so many gorgeous stockings posted!) and be sure to come back next week for another tutorial from Melissa over at Sew Bitter Sweet Designs.

Striped Stocking Tutorial

Materials
- Old stocking for tracing or there is a template available for freeHERE(printed on 11x17 paper)
- Variety of scraps at least 12" in length
- 1/3 yard of stocking backing fabric
- 1/3 yard of lining fabric
- 1/3 yd fusible fleece
- 1/4 yard of cuff fabric

1. Choose your fabrics. For my stocking, I choose all differentshades of green.

2. Lay out your template (printed, or an existing stocking), andmeasure the widest part, usually near the foot. Add an inch, this isgoing to be how long you want to cut your strips. Mine was 11" wide,so I cut my strips 12".

3. Cut your strips a variety of widths. I cut mine between 2.25" and3.5". Once they're sewn together, you'll know if you need to cutmore!

4. Sew your strips together along the long sides, creating a bigrectangle until it is the size of your template. You may need to cuta few additional strips to make sure it's long enough. Press seamsopen.

5. Using your template, cut out your stocking piece. Cut the stockingback out as well. Don't forget to flip your template over beforecutting out your backing! You may choose to do both sides striped,but I used a solid for the back of mine!

6. Using your template, cut two pieces of fusible fleece, rememberingto flip your template for the second one. Trim your fusible fleecedown a 1/4" all the way around so it won't be in the seam allowance.Fuse by the manufacturer's instructions

7. Quilt the pieced front as desired, quilting through the front andfleece. I quilted mine using random diagonal lines with my walkingfoot.

8. I finished my stocking and added a cuff using Alison of Cluck Cluck Sew's LinedStocking with a Cuff tutorial shared last month here on PurplePanda Quilts!

Bloggers Quilt Festival: Citrus Sails!!

2011-10-30T22:27:00.000-04:00

I am so excited because it's time for the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side. Twice a year she hosts an awesome linky party where bloggers can link up a quilt of their choice. I have seriously been looking forward to this for quite sometime...and not just because I have something to share for the first time - but because there is always a ton of inspiration to be found.

Anyway so I put my thinking cap on and was trying to decide what quilt I wanted to share. I wanted it to be something I was really proud of and that would showcase who I am as a quilter/designer. I had one in mind that was almost finished (dang binding needs to be sewn on!), but due to my recent hand injury that would have to wait. So I decided to show the Citrus Sails Quilt. Yes, I know I recently blogged about it (in hindsight, I could have waited to post that until today but I was too excited to wait) but now you can read about it all over again! =)

I am seriously am in love with this quilt. I was lucky enough to have some help piecing it from my fellow uber talented members of the Inspire Circle of the do.good.stitches charity sewing bee. I think that this quilt reflects my quilting style - simple, bright, a bit different and incorporates the use of solids. When I first designed this quilt, I knew I wanted to feature triangles and at the time I was enamored with half square triangles and thought it would be a great bee quilt. Having spent many days in a hospital myself, I wanted to create a quilt that could bring some cheerfulness to an otherwise drab hospital room. I immediately thought of bright citrus colors paired with gray. The gals in the circle did an awesome job of helping make my vision into a reality.

As much as I love the front of this quilt, I almost love the back more. Originally I was going to use a solid gray back but since I had 3 leftover squares, I decided to highlight them in each of the colors and sew a strip down the back. I really like this effect. I am a fan of solid on the back because I think it showcases the quilting, which I quilted on my machine in straight lines on a diagonal to bring some dimension to the quilt.

I finished it up with a dark gray binding (kona pepper, I believe) which I think frames it nicely. After I washed it and took it out of the dryer I took it up to the mountains for a photo shoot. And as luck would have it the bright summer colors looked nice against the fall leaves. Yay.

Lest you think that this entire experience was a cakewalk - think again (lining up all those points was a nightmare!) I also chose this quilt to showcase because I learned a very important lesson: Sometimes it is the imperfections that make the quilt perfect. Yup that's right, who cares if the points don't all line up. It still looks great at the end!

Anyway I'm going to sit back with my Starbucks salted carmel hot chocolate (aka the best fall drink ever) and spend some quality time being inspired by the many quilts at the bloggers quilt festival. Join me. But first go get a salted carmel hot chocolate, you'll thank me later - trust me.

Quilting Injuries: Or how I spent my friday afternoon

2011-10-28T23:07:00.002-04:00

One thing nobody told me when I first got into quilting was that it could be a dangerous hobby.

Expensive? Yes.

Time intensive? Yes.

Invade your office/living room storage? Yes.

Dangerous? No.

Well let me tell you fellow quilters, quilting can be dangerous. And I'm not talking about the run of the mill oops I sewed through my finger kind of dangerous. I'm talking need to see a doctor right away because it hurts so bad get x-rays and then see more specialists type of dangerous.

Apparently quilting can give you carpal tunnel (I have conveniently linked you to webmd in case you are not fortunate enough to have a future doctor living with you) or maybe tendinitis or maybe some mysterious ailment that can as yet be identified due to the immense amount of inflammation in your wrist.

As of this moment I have been told to limit the use of my wrist for the next week or so which means that all the projects on my to finish list will remain yup, unfinished for the time being. In fact if my husband saw me typing he probably would get angry so I'm off to go take my medicine and watch movies.

So word to wise for all you quilters/sewers out there...be careful!

Celebrate Color: Fall Leaves

2011-10-26T12:08:00.002-04:00

Rachel, who blogs over at Stitched in Color, is hosting this awesome series called Celebrate Color. The basic idea is to make something inspired by fall colors and you can enter it in her contest to win some awesome prizes. The deadline for October has passed, but you can get your thinking cap on and start to plan something to enter in November. You should definitely check it out!

With this in mind, a few weeks ago I spent the weekend in the mountains with my dashing husband. It was gorgeous! We got up before sunrise every day to take some beautiful pictures and I was so inspired by the fall leaves. I think I took hundred of pictures of them. There was something about the reds, oranges, yellows, greens, and browns against the blue sky that spoke to me.

Nature really inspires me and I came home with a few new quilt ideas. Stay tuned for info about them in the next few weeks.

What inspires you?

**Don't forget to enter the Kate Spain fabric giveaway!**

Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday: Appliqued Stocking

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

** Looking for the Kate Spain giveaway? You can still enter here. **

Well it's that time of the week again - time for another stocking tutorial. Today's tutorial is brought to you by none other than the lovely Carol from her adorable blog FunThreads. Be sure to go show her some love if you like her tutorial!

Also don't forget to check back next Tuesday for another stocking tutorial from Jeni of In Color Order.

Fusible Applique Stocking Tutorial
**My stocking does not use batting but it is lined.**

If you are new to fusible applique you can find a detailed tutorial HERE.

Supplies:
Stocking pattern drawn on 11 x 14 paper (one is available for free HERE)
Applique pattern printed out (see below)
1/3 yard of stocking fabric
1/3 yard of lining fabric
1/4 yard of cuff fabric
Scraps of white (face & snowflake), orange (nose), green (scarf)
Scrap of ribbon for hang tag
2 large buttons
1 sheet of Steam-A-Seam 2 lite

Applique Pattern:
Save and print this pattern sheet. There is a 1-inch scale marked on it for correct sizing.

Directions:

Cut two stocking pieces and two lining pieces using your pattern and set aside.

Trace applique pieces on to the Steam-A-Seam. The pattern is already reversed and ready to trace.

Rough cut around the pieces to separate them.

Peel off the paper backing and fuse the pieces to the back of your selected fabrics.

Cut out the pieces and place them on the stocking fabric. Leave approx. 4 1/2 inches above the snowflakes for the stocking cuff.

Fuse the pieces in place according to package directions.

Trim the bottom of the snowman if he hangs past your stocking edge.

Stitch around the pieces using the method of your choice and add the button eyes. I used a shortened straight stitch.

The applique design is complete. Since there is exposed stitching on the back of the design I would suggest finishing the stocking following the Lined Stocking Tutorial found HERE.

If you have any questions just ask.

Enjoy!

R.I.P. Iron

2011-10-23T13:30:00.000-04:00

Well my iron died today. Sadness. How am I going to finish all the piles of quilting projects that are in my sewing room now?

I am currently taking suggestions for what type of iron I should now purchase.

Click here to sign up for the early bird giveaway

Stockings for Kids Early Bird Giveaway!

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm excited to announce the first round of giveaways for the Stockings for Kids campaign! I am so appreciative of everyone that has donated a stocking so far. As a reward, I've decided to do an early bird giveaway.

Here are the prizes up for grabs:

A Set of Fat Quarters donated by Kate Spain from her 12 Days of Christmas collection.

And a second lucky person will win an Advent Calendar Kit

More exciting prizes will be available in December!

To Enter:

1. Leave a link to your completed Stocking for Kids stocking (1 link per stocking you are donating).
2. Spread the word about the Stockings for Kids drive on your blog (link to your blog post in the comments)

Bonus Entry:

If I receive your stocking before Nov 2, then I will give you an extra entry.

Giveaway ends at midnight (EST) on November 2.

Winner will be announced on my blog November 3.

Citrus Sails Quilt

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

Front of Citrus Sails Quilt

Back of Citrus Sails Quilt

As part of the do.good.stitches charity bee, I've been quilting the top from my month. This entire project has been somewhat of a nightmare to be honest and I was about ready to throw in the towel on multiple occasions. Nevertheless, I persevered and I learned quite a few lessons along the way.

Lesson 1: Being a perfectionist isn't always perfect. My design involved many half square triangles and lining up the points gave me a headache. I spent hours sewing and unpicking blocks together in an attempt to get them to line up perfectly. Luckily, my husband intervened. He told me that the Native Americans intentionally put a mistake in any handmade thing they make to show that it is created with human hands and humans are imperfect -- acknowledging that only God is perfect. I thought that was a rather interesting way to look at things. So I decided to embrace my inner imperfections and sew together the blocks to the best of my ability.

The front of the quilt - you can't even tell that some of the points don't line up perfectly!

Lesson 2: Sometimes simple is better. When I went to quilt it, I had a complex plan in my head and ended up with some (okay a lot) of puckers on the back. I couldn't for the life of me quiet the perfectionist side of my brain and I spent the better half of a day unpicking the quilting. Then I redid it in much simpler way and I like it much better.

The quilting - diagonal straight lines.

Lesson 3: Machine binding a quilt isn't the worst thing. I've always been opposed to machine binding (mainly because I couldn't get it to look the way I wanted) and have spent hours hand sewing my bindings. But because I was so behind on the deadline for this quilt, I bit the bullet and bound it by machine. And ya know, it doesn't look half bad.

What lessons have you learned while quilting?

Stockings for Kids Tutorial Tuesday: Confetti Christmas Stocking

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday folks! Before I get down to the nitty gritty stocking tutorial info, I just wanted to say a giant thank you to everyone who has agreed to participate in the stocking drive so far. The kids will be so excited when they get their stockings!

Today's edition of tutorial Tuesday is sponsored by Kate Spain. She has generously donated some of her 12 Days of Christmas fabric for the stocking drive. I don't know about you, but I love Kate's designs and always look forward to her fabric lines. The Fat Quarter Shop has a wide selection of her fabric - go check it out, you won't regret it - trust me!

Also don't forget to check back next Tuesday for another stocking tutorial brought to you by none other than Heather from Olive & Ollie. Also keep your eyes peeled for more information about an upcoming giveaway for Stockings for Kids participants!

Confetti Christmas Stocking Tutorial

Materials:

- Stocking pattern (available for free HERE)

- 65 assorted pieces of fabric cut into 2.5x2.5 inch squares, for the patchwork on front of the stocking

- 1/3 yd fabric for back of stocking, cut into 1 11x17 inch piece

- 1/3 yd fabric for inside of stocking, cut into 2 11x17 inch pieces

- 1/3 yd low loft batting, cut into 2 11x17 inch pieces

- 1/4 yd fabric for cuff of stocking, cut into 2 5x7 inch pieces and a strip of fabric 1.75 x 5 for hanging tag

Instructions:

1. Cut your patchwork squares.

2. Arrange your squares randomly into a grid that is 9 rows of 7 squares each. You can move them around to find an arrangement that you like.

3. Sew the squares into rows. I recommend chain piecing them together to save time (and thread!)

5. Iron the rows and arrange them into a rectangle.

4. Sew the bottom 2 rows right sides together. Repeat this process until you have sewn all 9 rows together.

5. Now your patchwork front is complete. To finish, follow steps 2-12 of the Super Simple Stocking Tutorial. Or you can finish it with lining it using Allison's tutorial.

5. Voila! Now you have a finished confetti patchwork stocking.

As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Weekend Escape

2011-10-15T14:00:00.000-04:00

Well this weekend my husband and I will be bonding with nature, celebrating the end of renal, and enjoying the fall leaves in the ever so beautiful Shenandoah Mountains. I'm off to go enjoy the outdoors and hopefully see a bear or two. And who knows, maybe I'll even come back with a few new project ideas to share.

Also, don't forget to check back Tuesday for the next installment of Stocking for Kids Tutorial Tuesday featuring some of my most favorite holiday fabric ever!

So ta ta 'til Monday folks!

Mystery Fabric Love

2011-10-12T14:38:00.004-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, I came home to find a massive package waiting on my front porch. Imagine my surprise when I found all of this inside:

That is loads (yards and yards) of Christmas fabric donated for the Stockings for Kids Charity Drive. I was seriously so blown away, I didn't even know what to think.

I immediately sat down on my living room floor and began to sort through the various fabrics. I really like this snowman print - it's so cheerful and I think it will make adorable stockings.

I also love this happy santa print - he's so cheerful!

I like this print because it is a bit unexpected with the black background, but I think the teddy bears are super cute and I really like the bear playing with the trains.

And there has to be about 5 yards of this beautiful fabric that I think will be perfect for the lining of the stockings.

What? You want to see all that loot again? Well, if you insist.

So thank you mysterious fabric donator! You rock!

If anyone else would like to send any unused Holiday fabrics my way, I'd greatly appreciate it and promise that they will be made into beautiful holiday stockings.

Stocking for Kids Tutorial Tuesday: Lined Stocking with a Cuff

2011-10-11T08:00:00.027-04:00

Allison over at Cluck Cluck Sew has generously agreed to share her tutorial for a lined stocking with a cuff. So without further ado - here's Allison's tutorial. Go check out her blog for some more inspiration...and don't forget to post photos of your stockings to the flickr group.

----

Ok so this took me 2 days of staring at a stocking to figure out. My mind just doesn’t work in the turn it inside out then right side in then right side out and do the hokey pokey kind of way. So here’s a quickie tutorial mainly for my own sake so I remember how. If you want an actual pattern for the quilted parts, as well as templates for all the pieces, you can find a great pattern here.

Start with:

- the outside of the stocking, already sewn together with the back and turned right side out. (the front of my stocking is quilted with batting, the back has no batting)

- the lining of the stocking sewn together ( leave a 3” hole in the side for turning!) right sides in.

- fabric for the cuff

- a sewn tab of fabric for hanging tab

To figure out how wide to cut your cuff fabric….measure the width of the top of your stocking, double that number and add .5 inch for the seam allowance. For the length of the cuff I cut my fabric 9”…to give me a 4.25” finished folded cuff. So this piece was 9” x 16.5”

Sew together the 9” ends of the cuff piece, use a 1/4” seam allowance.

Turn the cuff right side out so its folded at the bottom and raw edges are at the top. It should make a tube you can stick the stocking in.

Stick the cuff on and around the top of the stocking, match the raw edges and pin. You can pin the tab onto the side now also.

Stick the whole thing into the lining. The stocking and lining should be right sides together.

Pin all of the raw edges together at the top (lining, 2 cuff edges, and stocking edges).

Sew all the way around the top. Make sure you catch all the layers (lining, cuff edges, stocking).

Turn the whole thing right side out using the hole left in the side of the lining.

Finish turning it inside out and sew up the hole in the side of the lining. Stuff the lining inside the stocking and fold the cuff down. Press the edges as needed.

When you’re done you’ll have a nicely lined cuff and stocking with no raw seams showing.

If you want to make these little double hourglass blocks I used my tutorial but changed the sizing of the template and the strips shown below:

Sew Bee Blissful - October

2011-10-10T17:55:00.003-04:00

Celynn, who blogs over at The Sunflower Patch, is one of my friends from the Sew Bee Blissful quilting bee that I am in. I love participating in this bee. For those of you who don't know, it is a group of 12 of us from all over the world who make 2 blocks for a quilts per month for a year. It's a load of fun.

Anyway this month, Celynn asked us to make these adorable owl blocks.

She sent us a bunch of excellent fabrics, including some of my favorites from DS Fairgrounds. I really enjoyed making these blocks and if you want to make them, I suggest checking out this blog for the instructions. The directions are really easy to understand and you can easily adjust the sizes for whatever size block you want.

Celynn asked everyone to include their favorite holiday recipe so I figured I'd share it all with you. Every year my mom bakes dozens and dozens of cookies of all different kinds for the holidays, and these oatmeal are some of my favorite. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cups of Shortening

1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup cinnamon chips (made by Hershey's...found in the baking aisle)

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups oatmeal

1 cup flour

dash nutmeg + cloves

Beat sugars and shortening together in a mixer. Add egg, water, and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl. Mix. Add to the egg mixture. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment papered cookie sheets. Bake in the oven at 350 F for 10 min (or until done). Store in an airtight container.

Also, don't forget to check back tomorrow for Stocking For Kids Tutorial Tuesday from none other than Cluck Cluck Sew!

My Non-Sewing Summit Weekend

2011-10-09T21:40:00.002-04:00

So this weekend was the sewing summit in Salt Lake City. And I didn't go but oh I wish I had gone. I was this close to hopping on a plane with the intention of crashing the party (good thing I still have lots of family/friends that live in SLC) but alas the price of a plane ticket was an arm, a leg and my first born child. That's what I get for not planning ahead. Procrastination...it's a killer.

Anywho in order to ease my sadness, I decided to take things into my own hands. On Sat I did what any girl in my position would do...go shopping. Of course I hit up my local quilt shop and just had to buy the following fabrics because they were on sale.

Then I couldn't resist picking up this jewel.

A circle attachment is a must have for every Bernina owner. Just think of all the circles you can sew with so much ease...Bubbles, balloons and polka dots galore. Can't wait to start sewing with this.

But of course I didn't stop there and hit up my next destination...the mall. With my friends Nordstroms and Ann Taylor Loft, I soon managed to forget about all the fun I was missing out on in Utah...that is until I got home and talked to a good friend who happens to live in Salt Lake City.

Luckily, my dashing husband declared that he was ahead in his studies and had some unexpected free time to spend with me so went to dinner, visited our favorite chocolate store (oh how well he knows me) and watched a few movies at home...so relaxing!

Of course the weekend didn't end on Saturday, and this afternoon I finished the binding on one of my many (let me emphasize that for you MANY) quilts that needs to be completed by the end of the year. I can count on all my fingers and toes and my neighbors fingers and toes the number of people I know with babies due before the year is out....that plus Christmas presents means I have a lot of bindings to finish up.

Which brings me to my next thought. Has anyone ever heard of the Bernina Binding Foot? Apparently it does everything for you in one shot - wraps the fabric around the binding and sews it all at once for an even seam on the front and back. What an AMAZING idea! If only it wasn't 300 bucks...before I shell out that kind of cash (I am, after all married to a medical student) I need to do some research on the benefits of such a device.

Finally, today I was blown away by the response my Stockings from Kids Charity Drive has got! Wow! That alone makes not going to sewing summit worth it. Thanks guys, you rock! If you haven't signed up yet, no worries, there's still plenty of time. =)

Well now you must excuse me as I am going to go finish making a massive amount of chocolate chip cookies.

Stocking for Kids: Sponsors and Prizes!!

2011-10-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Stocking for Kids charity drive is off to a great start. A giant thank you to all who have submitted stockings, told their friends and written blog posts about this service opportunity.

In case you needed another reason to make a stocking (besides the warm and fuzzy feeling you get knowing you helped bring cheer to a child's face), I am excited to finally announce the sponsors of this project and the following prizes.

Brenda at Pink Castle Fabrics has donated a "mystery" red and green fabric bundle. Her Etsy shop is full of beautiful fabrics - including to die for fabric bundles - and she is such a joy to work with.

To be entered to win one of these prizes you will need to donate a stocking - one entry per stocking you donate - and check back for the linky party which will be hosted here to enter on December 1. There also may or may not be a few surprise giveaways as well so keep checking back for more information!

Stocking for Kids Tutorial Tuesday: Super Simple Stocking Tutorial

2011-10-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm excited to officially kick off the Stocking for Kids Charity Drive with a super easy stocking tutorial. Please post any pictures of your stockings that you have made to the Stockings for Kids flickr group.

Also don't forget to check back next Tuesday for another stocking tutorial brought to you by Cluck Cluck Sew. Also keep your eyes peeled for more information about our sponsors and the great prizes I have lined up for our drawing December 1.

Super Simple Stocking Tutorial

Materials:

- Stocking pattern (available for free HERE)
- 1/3 yd of fabric for outside of stocking, cut into 2 11x17 inch pieces
- 1/3 yd fabric for inside of stocking, cut into 2 11x17 inch pieces
- 1/3 yd low loft batting, cut into 2 11x17 inch pieces
- 1/4 yd fabric for cuff of stocking, cut into 2 5x7 inch pieces and a strip of fabric 1.75 x 5 for hanging tag

Instructions:

1. Cut all your pieces. If you use a different pattern than my stocking template, you might need to adjust measurements. Note: My template is designed for 11x17 paper (you can print it for .25 at Kinkos)

2. Make a quilt sandwich by layering 1 piece of outside fabric, 1 piece of batting and 1 piece of inside fabric right sides out. Make another fabric sandwich with remaining fabric pieces.

3. Pin (or spray baste) and quilt as desired. I found that a walking foot is helpful if your plan on quilting using straight lines. Repeat with remaining fabric sandwich.

4. Cut out stocking pattern and lay it on top of the quilted piece with the toe of the boot pointing to the right, being sure that the quilted 11x17 inch piece is right side up. Pin in place and cut out. Repeat with other 11 x 17 inch piece, only this time flip the pattern so the toe of the boot faces left.

5. Cut out the 2 5x7 inch pieces of fabric for the cuff (if not using my template measure cuff by measuring across the stocking top for the width and adding .5 inches for seam allowance). Since my cuff is a dark material, I cut out a piece of white fabric 2x5 inches to sew onto the cuff so I can write the name of the child.

6. Applique the white square and any other decorative pieces onto the cuff. (Tip: lightly glue down your pieces and then sew with a small zig zag stitch). Sew the cuff to the top of the stocking with the right side of cuff facing the inside of the stocking using a quarter inch seam. Repeat for the other stocking piece.

7. Fold the bottom of your cuff 1.5 inches under (see picture) and iron flat.

8. Fold down the cuff so it lays nicely on the outside fabric. Iron. Sew along the fold using a decorative stitch. I used a blanket stitch. Repeat for the other stocking piece.

9. Cut a strip of fabric 1.75 x 5 inches for the hanging tag. Fold in half and iron. Sew the raw sides together and one of the ends using a .25 inch seam. (see picture). Pull fabric through the hole, turning inside out so the seams are on the inside. I found that a chopstick or pencil helps.

10. Place tag so raw edges face the outside seam of the stocking. Be sure to place at an upward angle as shown in the picture. Pin to the front of the stocking.

11. Pin stocking right sides together and sew with a .25 inch seam around the stocking, leaving the top open.

12. Turn stocking inside out through the top hole. Voila! You have finished your stocking! Super simple, right?

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Spread the word!

2011-10-03T14:09:00.000-04:00

Spread the word about the stocking for kids drive - grab a button and place it on your blog! More information to follow shortly.

<div align="center"><a href="http://purplepandaquilts.blogspot.com/p/stockings-for-kids.html" title="Stockings for Kids"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J9z4-vOZSoc/Ton5wPAuk3I/AAAAAAAAAIY/CIV_u72ILj8/s1600/stocking-blog-button.jpg" alt="Stockings for Kids" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Stockings for Kids

2011-09-30T15:58:00.000-04:00

When I'm not busy quilting I work with foster kids. I love it - they are always so happy and make me really appreciate the things I have in life. Anyway this year for the holidays the agency I work with would really like to give each child a homemade stocking - a nice one that they can keep and reuse for years to come that we would then fill with all sorts of goodies.

This is where you come in.

I am hosting a drive where you can donate a stocking. Our goal is to get 50 stockings.

Don't know how to make a stocking? No worries, I have you covered! From now until the end of November, there will be a free stocking tutorial posted every Tuesday. Some of your favorite bloggers have gathered together and agreed to contribute a unique stocking pattern, so be sure to check back on Tuesdays to see what it is!

And what's a charity drive without some awesome sponsors and prizes? There are a lot of great prizes lined up (hint: lots of fabric!) and even a $50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop! To be eligible all you have to do is send in a stocking and link up the linky party on December 1. You will get one entry per stocking you donate. Also be on the lookout for other "mystery" giveaways throughout the event.

This is very important. I need all stockings to be mailed to me by no later than December 1.

Finally, I've set up a flickr group - Stockings for Kids - where you can go to sign up to make stockings, post pictures of your stockings, and see what other people have made as well.

Please join in and help make a stocking for foster child this holiday season and give them something they can call their own!

Thank you so much!!

September Bee Blocks

2011-09-26T13:00:00.000-04:00

Yikes, it certainly has been a long time since I have updated this blog. I'll spare you the excuses/reasons why I have been so absent in the blogosphere recently (suffice it to say there are legit reasons, no the dog ate my homework here!)

Anyway I did get to do some awesome blocks for the September month of the do.good.stitches bee. Holly over at Bijou Lovely (an AWESOME blog by the way) requested square within a square blocks using orange, plum, gray and white. I loved making these blocks - it was quite freeing to piece a block together without a concrete plan...I definitely see a quilt in this style in my future. Also can I just mention how much I love dark purple/plum right now?

Sneak Peek

2011-09-08T21:44:00.000-04:00

I'll give you three guesses as to what I've been working on today but you'll only need one...

Charity catch up

2011-09-06T18:30:00.003-04:00

While I have a lot of quilts to work on, I found myself wanting to finish up a few projects I was in the middle of when the power went out. First up were my blocks for Sarah's quilts for foster kids:

Next up were my blocks for Caroline's cancer charity quilt. I made these in memory of my grandmother who died from lung cancer when I was a junior in high school.

Finally I had sketched out a million ideas for my block for the 3x6 Bee I'm participating in via Flickr. After much sketching and thinking, I think I finally decided on a block. What do you think?

Lessons learned in a hurricane

2011-09-06T17:30:00.048-04:00

Well after about a week, I finally got power back. Gotta love the efficiency of the power company servicing Richmond. Anyway I immediately did what anyone in my situation would do - turn on every light in the house, all the electronics (including my sewing machine) and took a nice hot shower. Then I proceeded to spend some quality time with Nina (my sewing machine).

Irene did a little bit of damage to our neighborhood, but luckily we escaped without any major problems. When my husband went to school later in that week, some of his classmates told stories of trees falling on their cars. Yikes! I'm glad that most of the trees by my house managed to stay standing. Sadly, some of my neighbors were not so lucky. Here are some photos I took while on a walk the day after.

So here's what I learned during my first ever hurricane experience:

1. Try your hardest to have a lot of hand quilting projects available...having your binding not machined stitched onto the five quilt tops you have lying around ready for binding would provide plenty to do for the many long non-power hours.

2. Also you may plan on reading a lot of books (and I did) but trust me it gets boring after a few hundred hours. And I love reading. Love to the point that when I was a child my punishment used to be no reading for a week and you would have thought my phone and weekend privileges were taken away by the amount of drama that ensued from that punishment.

3. Some people believe that a warm shower is a luxury...I have come to the realization that it is in fact, a necessity.

4. Getting to know your neighbors is a great idea. Especially because a situation might arise where they have power and you do not...and if you know them the probability that they will give you an extension cord for your fridge increases exponentially.

5. If your phone has been breaking and you hear that a hurricane might be hitting your area then it might be a good idea to get a new phone....one that doesn't drop calls randomly and holds a charge for longer than an hour and a half.

My friend Irene

2011-08-29T23:20:00.000-04:00

Due to my good friend, Hurricane Irene, there has been a significant lack of quilting/sewing/anything relating to the use of a plug in my house for the past three days. Seeing as how I am currently "borrowing" power at the local hospital (one of the few perks of being the wife of a medical student) I do not know when I will be able to post for real again.

So 'til then folks - hope you and your love ones are dry and enjoying the benefits of working appliances.

Quilting to Help Others

2011-08-23T11:10:00.000-04:00

One of the things I love about the online quilting community is the sense of generosity and the "give back" attitude of many people out in blogland. I love the idea that I can spend a few hours to make a quilt square or two and send it off to be made into a quilt to help so many people. There are quite a few projects going on right now that are for worthy causes that you should check out.

1. Sarah over at SoSarahSews is making two purple and pink quilts for two sisters in the foster care system. I know from working with foster children that having something to call your own is really special. The blocks that she chose are really simple and don't take much time to make at all. Head over to her blog to read about her project and sign up to make a block or two.

2. My friend Caroline blogs at serenity quilts and is in the process of making a quilt to help raise money for cancer research. You can read more about her story here. I know many of us have been affected in some way by cancer and it's nice to be able to give back and hopefully help find a way to beat it. She is making a Hearts Appeal quilt and is asking for blocks with hearts on them. Check out her blog for more information and to see what types of designs others have come up with.

3. Rachel at Stitched in Color has organized an online quilting bee that gives back to the communities called Do.good Stitches. It is through flickr and every month people make blocks that go into a quilt so essentially you are helping to make a quilt a month for an entire year. It is a great way to make friends, expand your quilting skills and help others in the process. Check out the flickr group for more information and to sign up. Even if you don't sign up it is still an excellent source for inspiration.

4. The DC Modern Quilt Guild is sponsoring 100 Quilts for Kids. This is a great idea - you donate a baby quilt to someone in your local area from September 15 - October 14. To encourage people to participate they are offering prizes to people who donate. Check out Kate's blog for more information.

Anyway I hope that you take a moment to check out all these great projects going on right now and if you know of any other ones let me know!

Manic Monday

2011-08-22T22:35:00.001-04:00

One of my good friends is having a baby girl soon and since I've been dying to make a plus quilt for awhile now, pushed all sensible thoughts out of my head (like how I have a ton of things to do the next few weeks) and got busy on this baby quilt. After sewing like mad this weekend while my husband studied, I managed to finally get this all ready to quilt today. Here are a few shots of the front and back...and here's hoping I manage to finish it before her shower this weekend (yikes!)

Now the question is, how to quilt it?

I'm linking up to Sew Modern Monday at Canoe Creations...be sure to go check out what everyone else has been up to

Do.Good Stitches August

2011-08-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

For this month, Lydia asked us to make 2 blocks for her colorful houndstooth quilt. You should check out her blog - she has some examples of excellent and meticulous piecing. For some reason this block gave me a little bit of trouble and I may or may not have made half a dozen blocks in an attempt to get it right...but all the trouble was worth it in the end because this is going to be such a stunning quilt!

Sew Bee Blissful

2011-08-18T11:15:00.001-04:00

This month is Jenna's month in the Sew Bee Blissful group that I am in. You should check out her awesome blog -- she has tons of great ideas and projects -- beware, you might lose track of time looking all all her stuff.

This is the first month of the bee and I've been so excited to start because it is full of quilters from all over the world and I love meeting new people.

Jenna asked for double pinwheel blocks following this tutorial. It is pretty straightforward...I didn't want to ruin her lovely fabric so I made a test block for myself first...good thing too because I discovered that I might want to cut my half square triangles a bit bigger and then trim them down for perfect points.

Anyway here are the blocks I made with her wonderful fabric -- I especially like the purple fabrics. She asked for some blocks for the back of the quilt if we had any fabric left over so I made a few of those too.

All in all, I'd say the first month of this bee was a success!

A Quilty Weekend

2011-08-17T23:20:00.001-04:00

On Friday my husband had a test in medical school which meant that he had a "free" weekend to spend lots of time with me. Of course I have a sewing to do list a mile long, so not knowing what to do with his free time (medical students don't really understand the concept of free time since they hardly have any) he offered to help me out.

First we went to the local quilt shop where we bought some beautiful fabric (efficiently I might add -- my dashing husband's idea of a perfect afternoon does not include spending hours at the quilt store)

Then we cut out of fabric while watching a movie...lots and lots of little fabric squares....

These lovely squares are then being sewn into fun blocks like so:

And then we laid out a variety of arrangements for another quilt I'm working on, and finally settled on a plan for it.

All in all it was a successful quilting weekend.

Sometimes I despise ironing

2011-08-11T23:37:00.000-04:00

Well I have this lovely stack of half square triangles that are in desperate need of ironing. And if you ask my husband you'll quickly discover my dislike of ironing. If anyone has any tips on how to make this lovely task more bearable, I'm all ears.

Now don't mind me, I'm off to tackle the triangles.

Sewing To Do List: Week 1

2011-08-10T15:04:00.000-04:00

I have quite a lot of quilting projects on my plate these days. Since I love lists, I thought I'd make a list of what I've been working on.

Summer Sampler Quilt. I've finished all my blocks and thanks to the advice I got from other online quilters I've finally settled on a final quilt top design. All that remains is to actually piece it, get it ready for quilting, quilt it and bind it. Yikes when I put it that way, it seems like it might be more work than anticipated.

Super Secret Quilt. I am so excited for this project and can give you a peek of my fabrics:

Citrus Sails Quilt. July was my month for the do.good.stitches inspire circle. I'm just waiting for a few final squares from my fellow bee members and then I need to piece the top, quilt it and do the binding this month so I can give it to our charity.

Do.Good.Stitches August Blocks. I've pulled my fabrics, started cutting and now need to sew them together. I made one block but it turned out a little small so now I need to redo it.

Sew Bee Blissful Blocks. I am beyond excited to be part of this international sewing bee. Jenna sent some great fabrics all the way from England (and a fun postcard from Bath!) and a straight forward tutorial for what type of blocks she want. I'm looking forward to making these blocks.

Wedding Quilt. I've been married for over four years now so it's about time I finish up our wedding quilt. (We used it in place of a guest book). I still need to finish the top (add the borders), quilt and bind it.

Super Secret Project # 2. This is a surprise but I'm almost finished - just need to quilt and bind it. No picture because it is a secret.

So that's my list for this week. What's on your sewing to do list?

linking up to freshly pieced for WIP Wednesday

Choices Choices

2011-08-09T13:59:00.000-04:00

Too many ideas are floating around my head as to how I want to sew together this dang summer sampler quilt top. It's driving me insane...I even dreamed about it last night. Using my trusty illustrator/photoshop skills (see my college degree wasn't for naught!) I made a few mock ups of potential quilt tops. Do you have a favorite? Or perhaps another idea that isn't even here yet?

I'm linking up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilstory

More Summer Sampler Fun

2011-08-08T18:22:00.000-04:00

Well I finally finished piecing all the summer sampler blocks. It certainly was time consuming but I am liking how they turned out. I have been playing around with layout ideas in my head and just need to decide what type of sashing to do. I'm leaning towards purple or gray sashing (does anyone else think it would be slightly strange since I don't have any purple in the quilt) but making my blocks different sizes and randomly placing them around the quilt. Haven't decided on that yet though.

Anyway here's a rundown of the blocks I finished up this weekend.

Block # 7: Six Pointed Star. Now no offense to anyone out there, but I hated making this block. Sewing all those triangles together annoyed me for some reason and I'm not sure I like how it looks with the solids. All in all, I'm not very happy with it and am seriously contemplating making a new one. Although I think I might make one that uses one inch string pieces like the Rocky Road to Kansas and maybe even uses paper piecing to avoid sewing all those triangles if I can figure out a template to use that avoids y seams. We'll see how ambitious I feel later.

Block # 8: Lucky Pieces. I had a hard time deciding on the colors for this block. I sat stumped for a little bit before deciding to create a mockup of this block in Illustrator and played around with the colors until I got to a combination I liked the best.

Block # 9: Minnesota. When I first saw this block I really struggled with the color placement because I was trying to go with an all white background for my squares and the original minnesota block has hourglasses instead of the diamonds on the sides. I finally decided to change it up a bit and after experimenting with different color placement, decided I liked this version a little better.

Block # 10: Evening Star. This is one of my favorite blocks in the entire series and one of the many reasons I decided to make this quilt in the first place. It was a breeze to put together and I think an entire quilt with a variation of this might be in my future

Block 11: Rocky Road to Kansas. Making this block was super easy...the hardest part was sewing all those one inch strips to the paper...luckily I had an episode or two of Mad Men to keep me company (Holy cow have you ever seen that show?! It's so good.) Maybe next time I'll choose strips that are a little wider and cut down on my work.

Block # 12: Kansas Dust Storm. Making the last block was quite exciting -- not only because it was the last block in the series but also because it involved a lot of thought (on my part) to get the colors arranged properly...I may or may not have accidently sewn an orange square to a blue square and had to unpick it...twice. Don Draper might have provided a distraction at the point though so who knows.

Linking this up to Sew Modern Monday

Sunday Sewing

2011-08-07T22:44:00.000-04:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

I've been a busy little sewing bee this weekend, although more on that later. I've finished piecing all of my summer sampler blocks and even have plans in motion for a new quilt. All that remains for the summer sampler quilt is to tear off the paper from the pieced blocks, stich up the quilt top and figure out a quilting plan. Since my busy husband has managed to tear himself away from the books for a few hours the plan is to watch Iron Man 2 while tearing paper off the backs of my blocks.

How are you spending your Sunday? Did you get any sewing accomplished this weekend?

Flickr Friday: Back to school

2011-08-05T10:11:00.000-04:00

This week a lot of stores have been having their back to school sales and I LOVE school supplies. Forty cents for crayons? [for a funny story ask me about the time my mom, sister, and I bought ten cent Crayola crayons] A dollar fifty for markers? Heck yes! Sign me up!

1. Calculator 2. Eraser 3. Lined Paper 4. Sharpies 5. Colored Pencils 6. Crayola Crayons

What is your favorite memory/part of getting ready to go back to school?

Summer Fair 2011: Brick Quilt

2011-08-01T10:04:00.000-04:00

Design: Based off Rachel's colorbrick quilt-a-long
Fabric: Various aqua/red prints from Just Wing it by Momo and other stash
Quilted: Machine quilted in the ditch
Completed: March 2011

I made this quilt for my sister's friend who had her first child. I thought this was a perfect quilt for a baby because it is so simple and cheerful. I chose to go with a simple stitch in the ditch style of quilting so it would emphasize the brick pattern on the back...and I adore how it came out. In fact the back might just be my favorite part.

I am linking this up to the gen x quilters summer quilt show.

Summer Fair 2011: Peach Pie

2011-08-01T09:57:00.001-04:00

genXquilts is hosting a virtual quilting and recipe show this week on their blog. I'm excited because it combines 2 things that I love - quilting and cooking. I spent a lot of time thinking about what summer recipe I was willing to share and finally settled on Peach Pie. There's nothing that says summer to me like a fresh peach pie. It seems like a lot of work but trust me it is totally worth it.

Fresh Peach Pie [adapted from the Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum]

Ingredients:
2 crust 9 inch pie crust (most people have their own recipes for this -- if you need one let me know and I'll post it)
6 cups (2 3/4 lbs) peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced into 16ths
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:
1. Put the pie crust into the 9-inch pie pan as follows -- roll the dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap until it's 1/8 inch thick or less and 12 inches in diameter (I usually use a bowl to check the size). Transfer it to the pie pan. Trim the edge almost even with the edge of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, no longer than 3 hours.
2. Place the sliced pieces in a large bowl and sprinkle them with the lemon juice. Sprinkle on the sugar and salt and toss gently to mix evenly. Allow them to macerate for at least 30 min but no longer than an hour.
3. Transfer the peaches and their juices to a colander suspended over a bowl to capture the liquid. The mixture will release almost 1 cup of juice.
4. In a small saucepan (nonstick works best) over medium-high heat, boil down this liquid to about 1/3 a cup or until syrupy and lightly caramelized. Swirl liquid but do not stir it. Meanwhile, transfer peaches to and toss them with the cornstarch until all traces of the cornstarch have disappeared.
5. Pour the syrup over the peaches, tossing gently. Transfer the mixture to the pie shell.
6. Roll out the top crust large enough to cut a 12-inch circle. Moisten the edges of the bottom crust with water and place the top crust over the fruit. Tuck the overhang under the bottom crust border and press down around to seal it. Make about 5 evenly spaced slices in the center of the crust about an inch from the center and radiating towards the edge.
7. Cover pie loosely with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for about an hour.
8. Preheat oven to 425 F. Put oven rack on lowest level and use a baking stone before preheating if possible. Also place a large piece of foil on top to catch any pieces that will fall through (this will save you from having to spend hours cleaning your oven...just ask me how I know that)
9. Put pie directly on the foil topped baking stone and bake 40-45 minutes or until juices bubble thickly through the slashes. After 30 minutes, protect the edges of the pie with some foil to help them not get burnt
10. Cool the pie on a rack at least 3 hours before cutting to allow juices to settle...trust me this part is important. Cut and serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Summer Sampler Quilt

2011-07-31T22:58:00.001-04:00

Well I decided to join in the summer sampler quilt along fun. I don't know how I managed to resist this long after looking at Faith's blog and seeing all the great blocks she had planned along with Kate and Lee. Anyway, I started a few days ago and have so far completed five blocks. It is a lot more time consuming than I had originally anticipated, but I am learning a ton! The seam ripper and I have become "friends" quite a few times but I have managed to conquer my fear of paper piecing so it's all worth it. Here are my blocks thus far! If you are looking for a new quilting project you should check it out -- it's not too late to start!

July Bee Blocks

2011-07-29T23:46:00.002-04:00

July do.Good Stitches inspire circle blocks

This month was my month for the do. Good Stitches bee. [Can I just pause for a second here and say how much I have enjoyed being a part of this bee? If you're looking for a group of great people and want to quilt for charity, you should check them out on flickr.]

It took me awhile to come up with a design for this month's quilt - I had tons of ideas swirling through my head and finally settled on a half square triangle quilt in citrus colors - orange, green and yellow with a gray background. My goal is to make a sunny, cheerful quilt that will make a child smile. The blocks are starting to roll in and I'm just waiting for the rest so I can get started on the quilt top.

Flickr Friday: Purple

2011-07-29T08:44:00.001-04:00

Here are some of my favorite photos from flickr this week. I've obviously had purple on the brain...check 'em out and come back next week for another installment of Flickr Friday.

1. Purple Koosh 2. Purple Haze 3. Purple Line 4. Purple January 5. Purple Flower 6. Purple 7. Purple Rain 8. Purple Haze 9. Purple

What color has been on your mind this week?

Me? A Quilter?

2011-07-26T16:45:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I look at my life and I am surprised that I am so into quilting. When I was younger, I had always balked against the idea of quilting or crocheting or knitting simply because I thought they were boring, lame crafts that only "old ladies" participated in. How very wrong I was! Luckily I grew up and have come to understand that quilting is a work of art and a way to really allow your creativity to shine.

My adventures with quilting started off as a side mention one day to my husband about how I though it would be interesting to learn how to quilt. And of course, being the great man that he is, my husband decided to surprise me with a sewing machine. The rest, as they say, is history.

Anyway welcome to Purple Panda Quilts - the place where I will share what it is like to be a quilter, designer, photographer and wife to a medical student all at the same time. I hope to use this blog to connect with all sorts of quilters that I know are out there, create some friendships, and bond over our love of fabric and creativity. In honor of starting my blog I would love to hear from you about how you started quilting.