Monday, June 24, 2013

Monday Morning Star Count

I've been talking to some friends about starting up a weekly EPP Tally to help us make a dent in those long-term hand piecing projects.  Lots and lots of people are very close to finishing quilt tops, and others have just started, but I think a little friendly encouragement in the form of a weekly linky will do us all some good.

I'm calling it the Monday Morning Star Count, but you don't have to be working on a diamond star quilt to join up.  If you want to play, just take a photo of your current EPP project and upload it to flickr or write a blog post about it, and link that url in the linky below.  Be sure to tally up how many units (stars, sprockets, flowers, Tanukis, etc.) you have done already and how many more you have to go. 
This month I've been slowly working away at my rain hexies and I have decided to make them into a zipper pouch like this one

I have 33 hexies and 4 half hexies joined already.  I also have a piece of 9 hexies joined that are ready to be added to the whole.  I need a total of 72 hexies and 10 half hexies.  So this means I've got 39 hexies and 6 half hexies to go~ 

When you make your tally, you can choose how you want to count things-- by row, by star, by flower, etc.  You choose if you want to count only what's added to the whole or count all of the units you've got ready.. you know me, I'm pretty free like that (not a fan of rules, hehe).  So, who's ready?


Friday, June 21, 2013

Moda Honeycombs for EPP

Have you seen the pre-cut hexagons in fabric shops?  Seeing as hexies are all the rage (and have been for some time now it seems), it really isn't surprising that manufacturers have started laser cutting them for our convenience.  Moda makes nice stacks called Honeycombs.  You get 40 per pack and they measure 3" per side.  They come with a piece of template plastic with holes to mark seam allowance, which is great if you plan to stitch them by machine, but I took one look and had other plans..

Moda was nice enough to send me some Honeycombs to play with and today I'm going to share a little tutorial for how to use the Honeycomb pre-cuts for English paper piecing.

A Honeycomb can be cut into the following EPP shapes and sizes:
2" equilateral triangles
2" 60-degree diamonds
1" (short side) kites
2" half hexagons

Depending on the seam allowance you prefer, you can change them up a bit to suit your comfort level.
I happen to be a huge fan of 60 degree diamonds, and if you cut up a Honeycomb, your diamonds come out to exactly 2 5/8" high-- perfect to baste around a 2" template.

So let's cut  some.
First, layer two print Honeycombs.

 Next, place the plastic hexie template (the one that comes with the fabric) so that 1/3 of the hexagon is covered.  Carefully align the corners.

 Here you've got two options-- either draw a line around the template and cut with scissors, or go at it with a rotary cutter (carefully though, a fresh blade can slice through the template plastic)


 Your cut may go a bit further than necessary, but that's not really a big deal.  Slide the cut diamonds out of the way, reposition the template, and cut again.

Now you have 6 cute diamonds, ready to baste to your EPP templates.

 The next step is to secure fabric to your templates with paper clips.

Fold in and baste around the edges with 5 backstitches, taking additional bites of fabric along each side.  Do not stitch through the template paper!

Whipstitch your diamonds into a star!

I'm going to turn these into a pillow.  What can you make with Moda Honeycombs and EPP?

Check out my book for more pattern ideas, and get ready to stitch outside this summer!

And so concludes the Quilting on the Go Blog tour.  Thanks to all the great bloggers who participated and thanks to you all for travel stitching with us~  If you haven't already, head over to Lucy's blog to enter the giveaway and don't forget to use the 20% off coupon UNDER20 at Paperpieces.com!

(p.s. this tutorial is cross posted at Moda's Cutting Table and Potter Craft's Crafternews, make sure to pop over there too and say hi~)

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Fabric

In the book I talk a lot about fabric because, as a quilter, I love fabric.  In fact, I don't know a single quilter who doesn't. 
For a looong time I have loved small print fabrics.  My stash is full of star prints and blenders.  Only recently have I started playing with solids, but though they are so beautiful in finished quilts, I still have a hard time buying them, or wanting to shop for them.. I am always drawn to prints.

Speaking of shopping.. the back of the book lists all of my favorite brick and mortar quilt shops (also available on my Recommended page here on the blog) as well as the online shops I usually buy from.  Today I am very happy to have Kathy of Pink Chalk Studio (my very favorite online quilt shop) as the next stop on the blog tour for Quilting on the Go. 

Oh, and if you are troubled by solids like I am, Pink Chalk Studio blog has a nice "What goes with what?" series that lists the coordinating solids with all the new fabric lines.  So helpful!!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Fitting EPP into a life with kids

Last week Christina asked how I manage to get sewing done when the kids are awake. Yesterday was a perfect example.

I set the kids about coloring stained glass pictures (markers on vellum) and once they were set, they barely noticed that I was stitching next to them.  We were able to chat and comment on each other's artwork and everyone was happy and occupied for a while.

I think the key here is to be prepared.  Not only do I keep my travel sewing kit in my bag, but I usually have a project or game for George to occupy himself with should we find ourselves with time to kill.  If I don't plan ahead and bring something for him, he usually gets to play Angry Birds on my phone, but it's much nicer if we can do something separately but still be together.  (Give him that phone and he zones out pretty bad).

The blog tour continues with Ara Jane today, make sure you pop in and tell her what you've been stitching~

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Beach sewing.

Finally!  the stars aligned, the baby was sleeping, and I got to relax and sew on the beach!  Now my vacation is perfect~
(the white thread is me holding the needle and the phone as I took the picture.  Had to act fast, it was windy..)

The blog tour is over at Katy's today, I hear she's got some music recommendations for us..

Hoping you get to do something that makes you happy today.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Birthday twins with Lucy of CharmAboutYou

Did you know that Lucy and I were in labor at the same time back in January?  Thanks to my internet addiction, I knew this and almost emailed her on my phone from my hospital bed to see if she had the baby yet.  So Jack and Lois are birthday twins and it has been really fun keeping up with Lois on Lucy's blog.  I wonder if we'll ever get the two of them together...
Jack at almost 5 months~
The tour continues at CharmAboutYou today with a fresh giveaway of Quilting on the Go.  Hurry over and comment to enter!!


Sunday, June 16, 2013

Posting from Paros~

I'm super happy the blog tour has been going so well.  Thank you so much for visiting my blog and all the others on the tour, and for talking about or buying my book!
I know it's crazy, but I'm not even at home to enjoy all this book tour madness this week, we're actually in Paros and this is how I'll be blogging for the next few days..
baby on my lap and everything.

I know I posted a picture of the ferry boat this morning,  but this is Paros:
 It is a small-ish island in the Aegean sea and it's really quite lovely.  We have been coming to the same resort (Anezina Village) for the past 3 years and not only does it have excellent food and beautiful beaches, but I always manage to get a lot of quilting done when I'm here.  A large part of the Travel Quilt was stitched here..
(We are lucky enough to be staying in the same bungalow again this year, which makes me very sentimental about the quilt and book and everything..)

Anyway, with the baby it has been harder to find sewing time this trip, but I'm determined.  He's gotta nap sometime, right?
Wishing you all lots of hand stitching time this summer~
Love from Paros,
Jess

Travel inspiration and Laura of Quokka Quilts

Last fall, Laura did this great blog hop where you took color inspiration from photographs and then made EPP projects from them. (you can see my post here)

I played around with a lot of photos to try to get colors I wanted to work with before cutting into my fabric (I think that's not what she intended, but it was fun anyway).. here is one from our trip to Paros last year:
  
 Greece has really great color inspiration, don't you think?  If only I had time to stitch all the quilts I'm inspired to make..

The blog tour continues over at Quokka Quilts today.  Hop over there to read more about how Laura travels with her EPP.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Cover Girl

Nicole sent me this photo earlier this week and gave me permission to share it.  This is the quilt Nicole is stitching on the cover of my book, and here it is all completed and it looks like it gets a lot of use too!  (I know, hard to focus on the quilt when there's such an adorable little girl sitting on it)

Is there anything better than seeing a picture of a quilt you made being used?  Actually becoming a part of someone else's daily life?  I once got a Christmas card with an entire family sitting on the couch and one of my quilts peaking out from beneath them at the corner.  Best. Card. Ever.

The Blog Tour continues over at Crazymomquilts today.  Hope you are enjoying all this talk about EPP, I know I am.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Blog Tour Day 4-- Victoria at BumbleBeans

When I die, I want to go live in Victoria's scrap bins.
George sure had fun in them at Victoria's retreat in 2011!

But until then I think I'll keep making scrap quilts and blogging about them.  (plenty of Victoria's scraps made it into projects in the book, btw.. p. 58, p. 63, p. 71...)

The tour continues over at Victoria's blog today.. if you haven't browsed around her site lately, take some time to do that-- there's loads of scrappy goodness over there.  And if you're looking for a way to harness your scraps (while unleashing your creativity), pick up a copy of V's book, 15 Minutes of Play.  Endless inspiration...

Ok, back to my own book tour:

June 11     Lesly at Stitch Literate           http://pickledish.blogspot.com
June 12     Clare at Selfsewn                  http://selfsewn.blogspot.com/
June 13     Christina at A Few Scraps      http://afewscraps.blogspot.com/
June 14     Victoria @ Bumblebeans        http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/
June 15     Amanda Jean at Crazymomquilts   http://www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/
June 16     Laura at Quokka Quilts                http://quokkaquilts.blogspot.com/
June 17     Lucy at Charm About You            http://www.charmaboutyou.com/
June 18     Katy at I'm A Ginger Monkey          http://www.imagingermonkey.blogspot.com/
June 19     Ara Jane at What Ara Jane Loves        http://whatarajaneloves.blogspot.com/
June 20     Kathy at Pink Chalk Studio Blog          http://www.pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/
June 21     Jessica at Life Under Quilts                http://lifeunderquilts.blogspot.com/

Have you used the paperpieces.com coupon yet?  20% off with the code UNDER20
If you buy something, leave me a comment telling me what shape/size templates you're going to try~

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Blog Tour Day 3-- Christina of A Few Scraps

Christina and I have been talking EPP for well over a year now.  We do it differently, but love it just the same.  Have you seen her  Sprocket QAL
Or her extensive information on Free Motion quilting?

Today she is posting a slightly ridiculous interview of me.. but go check it out anyway.


Follow the tour through all the stops:

June 11     Lesly at Stitch Literate           http://pickledish.blogspot.com
June 12     Clare at Selfsewn                  http://selfsewn.blogspot.com/
June 13     Christina at A Few Scraps      http://afewscraps.blogspot.com/
June 14     Victoria @ Bumblebeans        http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/
June 15     Amanda Jean at Crazymomquilts   http://www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/
June 16     Laura at Quokka Quilts                http://quokkaquilts.blogspot.com/
June 17     Lucy at Charm About You            http://www.charmaboutyou.com/
June 18     Katy at I'm A Ginger Monkey          http://www.imagingermonkey.blogspot.com/
June 19     Ara Jane at What Ara Jane Loves        http://whatarajaneloves.blogspot.com/
June 20     Kathy at Pink Chalk Studio Blog          http://www.pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/
June 21     Jessica at Life Under Quilts                http://lifeunderquilts.blogspot.com/



Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Clare of Selfsewn and some cookies~

If you have done any English paper piecing in the last 2 years, it's almost certain that you've heard of  Clare at Selfsewn, creator of so many beautiful quilts, and the Rose Star Block Party!!
I am super lucky to have Clare blogging on my virtual book tour today.  Please pop over to her blog and say hello.   Make sure you check out her fearless EPP style.. there is no shape that this quilter won't paper piece!
She also has a great flickr group to share photos of you quilting away from home.. check out Planet Patchwork and add your 'on the go' photos.

(You can see Clare's original Rose Star quilt on p. 48)
I have been trying to get some patchwork done this week, but the baby has been distracting me with his adorableness..
 We tested out his new beach tent in the living room.  He likes it.  Of course, so did George, so I wonder who will use it more on our vacation.

 I have basted a few hexagons with the new Rain fabric from Timeless Treasures.  It's sooo pretty.  I laid some out on the quilt because there is raindrop fabric in there as well and wanted to compare them, but Jack had other ideas.. Oh well.  I'll try again when he's sleeping.

 I did manage to try out a new recipe yesterday and thought I'd share it.
(I didn't know I could crack an egg one handed..)
 We are a little worried that Jack may have a milk allergy so I was searching for non-dairy cookie recipes and found this one from foodielovescompany.   I altered it with what I had on hand-- I only used brown sugar and used olive oil instead of canola oil.  I followed a suggestion from one of the comments and soaked my raisins in hot water before adding them at the end.
They came out of the oven a little flat and got quite brown so I worried that they might be burnt, but they were awesome.  I will definitely be making these again, even if Jack doesn't end up having an allergy.  The best part was that they were still soft the next morning (I stored them in tupperware).
At least I made something.  I wish it were quilt-related, but I'll keep trying.

Oh, and don't forget to leave a comment on Lesly's post here to be entered to win a copy of Quilting on the Go!
Drawing ends June 15th~

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Quilting on the Go --Blog Tour!

Today my book is finally on sale in the US and Canada!  To kick off the blog tour, Lesly of Stitch Literate  has one copy of the book to give away so hurry over there and leave a comment!
(you can see a photo of Lesly's 60-degree diamond star quilt on p. 12 with a close up on p. 26.)


She is also showing off her newly finished Rose Star quilt top which is truly amazing~

For the next week and a half you can follow the tour as it stops at these great blogs:


June 11     Lesly at Stitch Literate                http://pickledish.blogspot.com
June 12     Clare at Selfsewn                       http://selfsewn.blogspot.com/
June 13     Christina at A Few Scraps           http://afewscraps.blogspot.com/
June 14     Victoria @ Bumblebeans             http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/
June 15     Amanda Jean at Crazymomquilts   http://www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/
June 16     Laura at Quokka Quilts                http://quokkaquilts.blogspot.com/
June 17     Lucy at Charm About You            http://www.charmaboutyou.com/
June 18     Katy at I'm A Ginger Monkey          http://www.imagingermonkey.blogspot.com/
June 19     Ara Jane at What Ara Jane Loves    http://whatarajaneloves.blogspot.com/
June 20     Kathy at Pink Chalk Studio Blog      http://www.pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/
June 21     Jessica at Life Under Quilts (ME!)       http://lifeunderquilts.blogspot.com/
 
AND, Paperpieces.com is offering 20% off your entire shopping cart (no minimum purchase) with the coupon code: UNDER20

I'll be working on a few EPP projects during the tour, sharing my progress here and on instagram.  If you have been stitching anything or are starting something new, please leave a comment and let us check it out!

Free Zoom Quilt Class, October 20.

    Free Live Online Craft Class Learn to quilt with Jessica Wed., Sept. 9 Tues., Oct., 20, Nov. 9 7:00 – 8:00 pm Sign up now.   Take one or...