sewtakeahike

let's celebrate Quilting Modern!

 

I'm so excited to be a part of Jacquie and Katie's Quilting Modern celebration weekend. 

Every.time. I've looked through this book I've felt a fresh wave of inspiration blow through me. 

One thing I've come across again and again when teaching others or just doing a casual sewing day, is that lots of people are (dare I say?) s.c.a.r.e.d or simply say they "don't know how" to do improv.  So if you've ever found yourself saying those words, this book would be a great addition to your sewing book library.  I love how they've taken improv and given some some basic instructions for how you can DIY. 

Their "slice and dice" technique was used to make this quilt

 

and their instructions for making the "pods" in this Sardinia table runner are so very simple and straightforward.

This is definitely a book I will be reaching for often!

I couldn't resist making my own version of the "add it up".  I've only gotten the top made at this point, but once I get to quilting it, I'm going to pretty much copy the quilting on Jacquie and Katie's quilt.

 

More Quilting Modern Blog Party Participants:
A Stitch in Dye – Malka Dubrawsky
Fat Quarterly blog – Tacha Bruecher
Film in the Fridge – Ashley Newcomb
Generation Q – Jake Finch
Handmade by Alissa – Alissa Haight Carlton
Happy Zombie – Monica Solorio-Snow
iheartlinen – Rashida Coleman-Hale
Oh Fransson! – Elizabeth Hartman
One Shabby Chick – Amber Carrillo
Pink Chalk Studio – Kathy Mack
Quilting is my Therapy – Angela Waters
Sew, Mama, Sew! – Kristin Link
Sew Take a Hike – Penny Layman
West Coast Crafty – Susan Beal
Whip Up – Kathreen Ricketson
Wise Craft – Blair Stocker

Happy Saturday to you!!

Penny

 

you're invited!

 

Happy Friday morning to you! 

It's a gorgeous day, the birds are singing their heads off (I really love this about mornings.  It makes my heart sing when I hear the birds starting at about 4:30. Usually the robins get going and then everyone else chimes in after.  Ahhhh!  And then, the other day I had the priveledge of seeing one of these guys!  My local bird expert says they are rare to see around here, so I feel very lucky!  It all started with me hearing him sing and since I had never heard his song before, I went searching and found him atop one of our cottonwoods.  And have you ever heard a meadowlark?  Well they sing my all time fav song (this link also has a creepy man breathing sound as well, sorry!  It was the best song link that included a great shot of the bird!).  I've even heard a couple of them lately here in the foothills.  It makes my heart melt everytime I hear one!!  How was that for a post interlude?)  and the sky is clear.

I wanted to invite you all to two things, so other than that long winded bird interruption, this should be a pretty quick post.

 

1.  I will be doing a wrap it up bag class at Mama Said Sew on June 22, so any of you who are in the area or plan on being here, please do sign up! 

 

2.  Today is the kickoff for Jacquie and Katie's Quilting Modern blog book tour and I'll be back tomorrow with a review and a few shots of a project I've been working on out of the book.  So please do come back tomorrow!

See you soon!

~Penny

A Joyful Soul Fabrics gc Winner!

 

But first, a few pics of some precious wildlife babies around our home!  Look at these little guys, such cuties!

Before I announce the winner, I need to say a huge thank you to all of you who took the time to leave a comment telling me something that put a smile on your face from last weekend.  Your comments brought joy to my heart and I thank you for that!  I couldn't reply to everyone in the comments like I have been because it would have messed up the comment count!  Just know I read each and every comment and they all made my heart and me smile!

Ok!  Now on to the winner!

Congratulations to #59,  CraftyGardenMom  who said...

Sitting outside in the sunshine put a smile on my face this weekend. The quilt is very pretty!

Tanesha, I'll pass along your email to Joy and Lindsey at A Joyful Soul Fabrics so they can send you your gc code! 

I hope you all have a great weekend (celebrating Memorial Day here in the US!  Thank you to all of you who have or are serving our country!) and to everyone else, I pray your weekend is filled with joy!

~Penny

p.s.  L-man and I have some family in town for a bit, so I may be taking a bit of a blog break for a spell.  See you all on the other side!

Rooms of my heart, and a Joyful Soul

(Back of "Rooms of My Heart")

Happy Monday to you!  Did you have a nice weekend?  I hope so! 

I took some time this weekend to familiarize myself with Julika a bit more and did a little crazy fmq'ing to finish off my Rooms of My Heart quilt.  (I know it looks kind of interesting and crazy fun, so click on the link to read more about it!)

I don't know if you can tell from the pic, but there are swirls, checks, diamonds, loopdy loos, outlines, and everything else you can imagine in the quilting.

(Front of "Rooms of My Heart")

In celebration of my completion of this quilt (well, not really, but it just sounded more fun that way!), the fine people at A Joyful Soul Fabrics are offering sewtakeahike readers the chance to win a $25 gc to their store.  Leave a comment telling me about something that put a smile on your face this last weekend and you'll be entered in the drawing.  I'll choose a winner on Thursday!

Three more things: 

shop anytime with A Joyful Soul Fabrics from now through May 25th this week and use the discount code HIKE15 and enjoy 15% off your purchase!

visit the folks at A Joyful Soul blog to enter a giveaway for a Kitchen Classics pattern set from Kerry and I's Sew-Ichigo!!

And lastly, have a great Monday, that's an order!

~Penny

annular eclipse

 

Is finished!  (Thank you Jane and Carmen for helping me name it!) 

These blocks are all from a year (four quarter rounds) of the 3X6 bee.  I put a flea market fancy gray bouquet border on it and then bound it with the same. 

Thank you to Rita for this machine binding tutorial, it looks just like it was hand bound on the front and I only had to go over a couple areas on the back where I missed the binding edge. 

Now I only have 5 more quilt tops in the closet to sandwich and quilt!

Happy Friday to you all!

~Penny