Skinny Pinnie - Received!

We are closing out our 

Skinny Pinnie Pincushion Swap!

By now, everyone should be mailing

and receiving their finished pinnies.

As the "swap mama" I had the luxury

of choosing my partner,

and I selected the lovely and talented

Beverly, of golfingbev on Flickr.

Look what came in the mail for me,

courtesy of Beverly!

There is so much goodness in here,

starring the most adorable...

and petite...skinny pinnie,

composed of teeny tiny hexagons!

See that needle book in the background?

It's made to match the pinnie,

from a Nana Company tutorial

that I must try someday soon.

{Sigh...}

{Photo by golfingbev on Flickr}

There are little treasures I'd never seen before,

such as Japanese zippers...

with French sayings...

Or little cherry zip pulls!

There are Japanese sewing and crafting goodies galore

in this little stack of sweetness.

I love each one to bits!

{Everything was all bundled up with bits of Washi tape!}

There was something old...vintage feedsacks!

And something new...this handy Seam-Fix

seam ripper with a little thing on top

for picking up the snips of thread.

{Of course I may never need to try that tool, since I'm such a perfect stitcher. Ahem...}

There are more fabric samples, too...

little teapot prints I had admired on Bev's Flickr site...

and even a Glamping mini charm pack!

{Can you find it, among all of the treasures?}

And look at this darling little tag!

I first noticed Beverly's sewing talents

during the Zakka Along 2.0 Patchwork, Please sew along.

Beverly has a distinctive style,

mixing bits of fabric to create detailed treasures

that leave me breathless.

Check out her photostream, and you will see what I mean!

Beverly's Patchwork Please Apron - Polka Dot Cafe

Thank you, Beverly, for spoiling me rotten!

{I will be able to trace my new Japanese sewing fixation to this magic moment.}

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Prettified Pincushion

This week marks the grand finale

of the Patchwork Please Zakka 2.0 Sew Along.

Debbie from A Quilter's Table

has done a magnificent job of

hosting the last half of the sew along!

They say you can't judge a book by its cover,

but as soon as I saw those Prettified Pincushions

on the front of the book,

I knew I wanted to have a copy!

For my version,

I chose lots of sunny yellow prints

from my fabric stash.

I used linen, to mimic the samples in the book.

There is just something about the texture

of the linen, paired with

smooth quilting cottons...so touchable.

The neutral linen also serves

as a calming backdrop,

enhancing the brightness of the yellows...

so exciting!

I made my pincushion quite a while ago,

but I remembered to make some notes about

my progress,

for my "likes" and "dislikes" section.

Dislikes are always first...

If you haven't made your {first}

prettified pincushion already,

make sure you add a 1/2" for the seam allowance
{1/4" on each side}

to your template piece!!!

{This is just sooooo important. The finished pieced block will be 2 1/2" square.} 

The instructions don't say when to remove

the paper from the block.

I recommend waiting until all of the 4 blocks

have been stitched together.

One more criticism I have is regarding the 

size recommendations for the scraps

used in the paper piecing.

I am stone serious when I say that
I wrote in my journal,

"You will CRY, unless you cut the pieces LARGER

than the book recommends!"

I used pieces at least this size:

4 Prints: 2 1/2" x 3"

Background Linen:  (4) 1 1/4" x 2"

(4) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2"

(8) 1 3/4" x 2 3/4"

And now for my "likes"...

I really enjoy paper-piecing once in a while,

and this was really a rewarding project

to make with that technique.

I think it would be a great project

to make, even if you've never tried it before.

Another great thing about making this project

is that you end up with a

very functional and stylish item.

The size is just right,

and it is the perfect way to explain

what is meant by "zakka".

My greatest "like" is the finished result.

I mean...just look at how CUTE it is!

The covered button adds so much charm!

{And I'm not just talking about MINE...I haven't seen one I didn't love,

as they have popped up all over the internet and blogland.}

If you've got this book,

I guarantee you will be happy

with the pincushion you prettify

from this design.

 I think I'm going to have to prettify some more pincushions!

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Week #2 - Zakka 2.0 Let's Do Lunch!

All over blogland,

sweet peppers have been popping up,
thanks to the Patchwork, Please Zakka 2.0 sew along!

Even though this was a fairly straightforward project,

I was amazed at the variety and innovation
people put into it.

{Hop on over to Lindsey's blog, and then to the Flickr group, and you'll see what I mean!}

My photo even made Explore on Flickr!

I can't wait to see what happens this week,

with the Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner towels.

{Here's my contribution:  LUNCH!}

My sister Susie gifted me with a piece of cotton toweling

by Moda, finished off on the side edges

with a pretty vintage green stripe.

Source:  Quilter Studio

I just knew it was perfect for this project!

I chose some 30's repro scraps and a few other favorites

and went to work.

The pattern calls for enlarging the letters in the words,

but my toweling was only 16" wide,

so didn't enlarge any of the templates,

including the adorable salt and pepper shakers.

I followed the directions provided, with success.

When the salt and pepper shakers were done,

they looked a wee bit like girls in dresses, to me.

Luckily, I had some text prints on hand,

for the finishing touch!

{Ta-da!}

Now, you may know I love me some ricrac!

Ayumi added such a darling detail, using ricrac

for a little hanger up in the corner of the towel.

Instead, I decided to use a 2" x 6 1/2" scrap of

my precious sunshine yellow

Recipe for Friendship fabric,

to make my little hanger.

I used the same print for the towel binding.

I only had to finish the top and bottom edges of my towel,

so this was a really quick and fun project,

and it used minimal fabric.

Now for my likes and dislikes...dislikes are first:

Let me just reveal to you now that I'm a tightwad

when it comes to fabric...and everything else, I guess.

There is just no way I'm going to use

the amount of LINEN that is suggested,

for making even one towel.

{Much as I love the look, I just can't do that!}

Not only that,

I prefer using cotton tea towels, except for drying glassware.

If I hadn't had this awesome piece of Moda toweling,

I would have used one of the cotton towels

I like for my Stay-Put tea towels.

{They come in all different colors, and would be great 

for this project...and not so expensive.}

And my "likes" are numerous this week...

I just love this project in general, 

for its gift potential and versatility.  

I can visualize these vintage-style shapes decorating

lots of other kitchen items, too!

{How about some hot pads with the salt and pepper shakers?}

Fusible applique is such a fun and useful technique,

and I always feel a sense of success using this method,

even in shapes and letters with sharp curves.

The way these tiny scraps can add up to something so pretty

never ceases to amaze me.

I especially loved the method Ayumi described for attaching the binding.
I had no problems securing the edging neatly.

My new LUNCH towel is so sweet and sentimental.

It reminds me of all the special kitchens of my childhood...

all of my grandmas and my great-grandmother

were fabulous cooks.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to buy some more toweling

and finish the set!

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Bell Pepper Coasters...Zakka 2.0 Sew Along - Week 1

Have you joined yet?

The Zakka 2.0 Sew Along has begun!

All you need is a copy of Patchwork Please! by Ayumi Takahashi

and a desire to have fun, sewing cool projects!

I know, I know, I know...
I need another sew along like I need another yard of fabric.

{Well, not like that.  I legitimately always need another yard of fabric.}

I just could not resist joining Lindsey and Debbie,

since I have met so many amazing bloggers through the original

Zakka Style Sew Along!

Let's get going, with week #1's project:

Bell Pepper Coasters!

I am delighted to report that this project is quick and easy.

That didn't stop me from messing up the first pepper I made.

I forgot to put the batting inside, before I stitched the front and back

pieces together!!!

{It kind of looks more like an apple at this point...I think I'll do something with it later.  Watch for it!}

Anyway, I got it right the next try.

Look how cute the back looks, too!

{BTW...I used fusible fleece instead of regular batting.  No shifting or bunching while I stitched the layers together.}

Then I got smart, and made the other 3 coasters

all at the same time, assembly line style.

I cut all of my scrap pieces out,

and I used freezer paper to create my templates.

That way I could just stitch along the edges of the templates,

instead of drawing the patterns on the fabric.

I trimmed very near the edge,

and it was easy to press the pieces flat.

Here is a great tip to use, whenever you are leaving openings for turning:

In addition to backstitching at the starting and stopping points,

sew a few stitches from the seamline to the edge of the fabric.

{Backstitch those stitches, too.}

I used that tip to make a minor adjustment to the pepper instructions.

The pattern says to sew a seam to connect two of the prints,

then use a seam ripper to partially open the seam.

Instead, I just left part of the seam open, for turning later.

I enjoyed making a whole set of four coasters, one from each color:

red, orange, yellow and green.

I'm going to sum up my "likes" and "dislikes"

for each project I complete for the sew along:

Dislikes are first...

*I had some trouble understanding the very first step

of the instructions, possibly

because I didn't know what the goal was.

Once I realized that this technique was similar to one

used by Eleanor Burns, for applique,

I could picture what was supposed to happen.

A diagram would have been very helpful here.

{This comment may reappear in subsequent posts.}

*This is not truly a dislike,

but I found it easier to just make simple curves

for the templates.  The detailed lines in the pattern

were too fine to show up once the pieces were sewn and pressed.

And the likes...

*This project was perfect for small scraps!

In fact, I adjusted my cutting measurements

to be just a bit larger than the templates.

It's fun to use favorite bits of fabrics in small projects like this.

*I spent almost no time making the last three coasters.

As soon as I understood the process,

they practically made themselves.

*They are just as cute on the back as on the front,

if you ask me!

*The best like of all the "likes"...

if you head over to Penny's post at Sew Take A Hike,

she has easy directions to convert this project into

the most awesome matching hotpad!!!

I got busy and put my own hotpad together in no time.

It's just like a mommy to my little baby green coaster.

And the back shows a nice view of some Heather Bailey fabric.

I'm a bit worried that some of the other projects

 in the book will be much more involved.

At the pace of one project per week,

I'll just be joining in whenever it suits me.

{I'm so glad it suits me this week.}

No pressure.

Won't you join, too?

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