Entries from January 1, 2018 - January 31, 2018

Monday
Jan292018

happy flower qal week 48

I always love things set on point.  They're like ballerinas ... elegant and graceful. :) All the center fabrics came from the same cheater print.  No brainer.

Last no-sew block of the quilt! Yay! And I picked a print from my dear friend Elea Lutz from her Strawberry Biscuit collection.  So perfect.

Monday
Jan222018

happy flower qal week 47

It's getting so hard to choose fabrics now. Trying to make sure I use all my favourites, but don't want to duplicate any one too many times or have them too close together.  Think I'll be moving some blocks around for the final layout.

Triple lucky today.  Maybe it's a sign to buy a lottery ticket.  (I never buy them, by the way.  I don't have the constitution for gambling.)

Monday
Jan152018

happy flower qal week 46

Fun block.  Inset seams.  Super busy background.  We're on the home stretch!

Not sure how this brown will look with all the other blocks.  But I love it.  And I used a cameo from this print in a previous block so ... it should work. In theory. Fingers crossed.

Saturday
Jan132018

who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

(singing) "Sponge Bob Square Pants!" LOL!

That song was going through my head the entire time I was making this pineapple-themed pencil case for someone special.  You see, Miss Holly over at Maker Valley - who makes no secret about her love of this sweet tropical fruit - surprised me with some happy mail the other day and ... well, I simply had to reciprocate. :) 

This case is based on my Round Pencil Case pattern that I've made a million times now because it's my go-to make when I want to give something cute, useful, that I can customize for the recipient, and is quick to make. ;)  It requires a handful of fabric and batting scraps, and a zipper.  That's it.

This version is a bit different from the original, which has binding to cover the zipper, because I was having a zipper dilemma with this one - no green zipper at all in my stash (?!) and I wasn't happy with how the neutral ones looked with the green fabric.  I had a yellow zip, but not the right colour.  And I didn't want to leave the house for just a $2 notion when I had a drawer full, and - more to the point - when it was -30C outside. 

So I wondered what would happen if I omitted the binding.  To compensate, I used this fabulous metal zipper with a cute little tab. (I usually use plastic zippers and then cut them to size, but this worked well - just had to remove some teeth with needlenose pliers to make it the right length.)  I like how the bronze metal adds to the pineapple vibe.

But then I had another problem - without a green accent of some kind, this was just another yellow pencil case.

What to do?  Green finger tabs, of course!  The pattern does include this detail, but I thought maybe it wasn't going to be enough green.  Turns out it's the exact right amount of green - any more and it would have been too much.

I used a bunch of Moda yellows from different collections and they play so nicely together. I even threw in some strikeoffs from First Romance that didn't make the final cut.  To call them "rare" is an understatement! LOL!  And then I added the label and tiniest kiss of green with a ribbon tab to finish it all off.  :) xo k

Monday
Jan082018

happy flower qal week 45

Super crazy fun scrappiness.

Aaaah.  No work for this one.  Just chose a cheater print to make it LOOK like I worked. ;)

Monday
Jan012018

the letter k

Happy New Year everyone!  I'm really looking forward to 2018.

It's Week 13 of the Fat Quarter Shop's sew along for Lori Holt's book Spelling Bee, which means it's my turn.  I chose the letter "k" for obvious reasons, but what you probably didn't know is that maiden name is Karafil (which is Albanian, if you're interested .. and I couldn't look less Mediterranean if I tried LOL! ... so for many years my initials were KK :)

This block took me about an hour from the fabric pull (First Romance fabrics, of course) to hand stitching the binding.  I'm going to use my k as a mug rug at the office.  What a lovely idea for a quick, fun, useful, and personalized little gift?  xo k