Mini-Series Monday #9

Ok, first things first.

The random number generator found my winners for Anne Sutton's patterns and the adorable Miss Henrietta Squirrel.  (I've already notified the winners so if you see your name, check your email ...)

#1. Allie the Scottie Dog - Andrea

#2. Baby Bear - Karen H

#3. Henrietta the Squirrel - Louise

#4. Lollipop the Lamb - Richla

#5. Scooter Pie the Cat - Chris

#6. Snickerdoodles the Bunny - Katie

#7. Finished Henrietta - Becky

Congratulations Ladies!  And thank you everyone so much for entering!  I know it sounds cliche to say I wish you could all win, but I really do feel that way. 

This giveaway was so much fun, I just might have another one coming up soon ... stay tuned, kay? ;)

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And now for the last episode of Project Simplify, the Mini-Series.

Dream Big - or Little (15.5" x 17.5"), as the case may be.

As with the big one, this quiltlet (love that name!) is borderless.  I had just enough scraps to eke out this little one.

Because it's so small, I didn't scrap the binding like I did on the big one.  But my stash didn't let me down and I found a perfectly cute polka dot cream from another Fig Tree line - Mill House Inn - that was perfect for the job.

And I'm totally digging this teeny tiny flower / swirly twirly FMQing that I've done on 2 other quiltlets here and here.  I think it's my favorite FMQ design.

Big and little.

And once again a little back fun. :)

Ok people, stick a fork in me I'm done.  I'm pretty sure this is it for Project Simplify.  It's time to draw the curtains and turn off the lights for this ... wonderful thing that has been so much fun for me and hopefully for you.

Thanks again to all of you who commented throught the process of me sewing my way through Camille's book - twice.  You've inspired me, encouraged me, taught me and best of all, made me laugh.  Seriously, you guys are hilarious. :)

Ok wait.  This sorta sounds like I'm quitting my blog ... I'M NOT!  Wild horses couldn't drag me away from my sewing machine & computer.  I'm just saying good bye to Project Simplify.  Kay?  I'll be back tomorrow with more FW blocks.  Promise.  As long as at least one person out there in Inter-Web-Landia has a decidedly inexplicable taste for my silliness, I'll be here.

Besides, since one of my best bloggy friends (who has an amazingly beautiful blog) just taught me how to make these very cool photo mosaics, I need an excuse to make more. ;)

Mini-Series Monday #8

All In The Family

Omg this was fun to make.  (Oh who am I kidding, these are ALL fun!)

This one seemed to have particularly little pieces.

Of all the quiltlets, this one really felt like a doll quilt to me.  I did one pass of the cross-hatch and it wasn't enough.  So I did a second round and it is fabulously tiny.  It really accentuates the diminutive size of this quilt - 16" x 18.5".  The grid lines are just under 1/2" apart.  (I love little!)

It's going to be the perfect Christmas decoration this year.  My traditional Christmas colors are silver and white with bits of blue. 

I think that's why I went with the blue print for the border.  It's the same print as on the big one, just a different color.

I had a bit of wonky fun with the back again too.  I even included a block leftover from the big quilt. (Top left corner - it got chopped off a bit.)

Next week is the finale episode of Project Simplify - the Mini-Series. 

I know.  Me too.  :(

Mini-Series Monday #7

Happy Halloween everyone!

My original plan for today's quiltlet - Happy-Go-Lucky - was to copy the same fabrics as the big one.

But when I realized this episode was going to "air" on Halloween, of course I had to make it in Halloween colors, right?  I mean, what self-respecting quilt blogger would pass up the opportunity to have some holiday fun with a color palette?  Not me!

Now I'm not an over-the-top-crazy-in-love-with-Halloween type of person.  Prob'ly 'cause there's no pink in traditional Fall colors.  Too bad.  ;)  (Unless you've just been to Quilt Market and saw Verna Mosquera's breathtakingly beautiful new pattern made with her new line called "October Skies"!)  But, not to worry.  I have a perfectly fantastic selection of earth tone Japanese fabrics.  So I put together what I think is a nice little grouping of greens, grays & creams with a little smattering of yellows & a kiss of orange.

But then how do I put all these together for this quilt design?  I've made enough mistakes to know that an ounce of prevention ...  And my type of prevention simply involves a little fun with a few sheets of graph paper and a handful of pencil crayons.  :)

Here's my first idea, with all the darks as the main blocks and the yellows & oranges as the block middles.

Hmm, not sure.  Not exactly what I had in mind.  I was going for a "twinkly" effect but this looks surprisingly modern to me.  Let's try something different - more scrappy.

I didn't have to finish coloring this one to know it made my heart happy.

And here's how it turned out.

Perfect.  Halloweeny?  For sure.  But not I'M-ALL-UP-IN-YOUR-FACE-WITH-VAMPIRES-AND-COBWEBS-AND-WITCHES Halloweeny.  (Not that there's anything WRONG with that ... I've made some absolutely gorgeous Halloween quilts that are just that!)  But I can see me enjoying this quiltlet as a nice home decor accent on a wall in my house for a month or so, even though I have an undiagnosed allergy to burnt orange and dark green. ;)

The inner border gave me pause.  At first I thought it would be very dark - maybe even black.  But as I played around with my darks, it just seemed too ... AAAGH, you know?  So I did a 180 and went so quiet and neutral that the fabric all but disappears.  As soon as I laid out the quilt with this print, I knew it was perfect.

And then there was the whole FMQing business.  Sigh.  I really should do rocks.  I'm awesome at rocks.  And rocks are sorta Halloweeny, aren't they?  But I don't FEEL like doing rocks!  It's gonna take forEVER.  "Oh, stop your whining, you Smokin' Hot Quilter Chick and just get on with it."  ;)

So I did. 

And I'm so very happy I took the 2-1/2 hours to do it.

I omitted the outer border AGAIN, like I did on the big one. 

This quiltlet had already grown to 15" x 17" and I just didn't want it to be any bigger.

All right, the second last episode is up for next week.

We're going straight from Halloween to Christmas!

Mini-Series Monday #6

Sugar Rush.  YUM! 

And may I just say what a lovely coincidence it is that this post follows my Sugar Sugar Market Bag post!  One might even accuse me of planning it that way. ;)  (Actually, it really was a coincidence.)

Ok.  Truth?  I pieced this 14" x 19-1/2" quiltlet top together ...

BEFORE I made this bag. 

In fact, it was the quiltlet that gave me the IDEA for the bag.

These stripes are 5/8" wide, finished.

But I waited until I could do some seriously cute flower FMQing to finish it.  I kinda felt like I was making eyelet with those tiny little flower!  Love them.

However, life wasn't all sweet with this quiltlet.  While working on my newly acquired FMQing I decided to use a "washable" - in quotation marks - fabric pen to help me sew a nicely proportioned flower.  Well, that disappearing ink pen did NOT live up to it's end of the bargain.  It left a blue mark right in the middle of the flower.  (It looks worse in real life.)

No worries, though.  I just cut out another flower center and appliqued it right on top!  You can't keep this quilter down for long. ;)

The back was almost as fun as the front - albeit a little bit wonky-doodley.

Next Monday is Halloween so I have a "Holiday Special" of sorts planned for you.

Boo!

Mini-Series Monday #5

Gee you guys, thanks so very much for all the tutorial love!   I'm so thrilled you like it and that it may have inspired some of you to give it a try ... dreaded zipper and all! :) 

I'm sorry I didn't get to replying to you all these past few days ... I've been laid up with a nasty head cold.  For the first time in 15 years of marriage, my husband and I have been sick at the same time.  We usually "tag" each other with our germs.  Haha!  Actually, more like hack hack, snork snork, please pass the Kleenex & Tylenol and "Honey, I'll pay you a million dollars to fix dinner for the children" ... he did it for free. ;)

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Ok.  I'm fairly certain that if you don't already think I'm a special kind of crazy in the quilting department, this post will convince you FOR SURE.

Original "Spot-On" ...

Mini "Spot On" ...

Love it.

I'm particularly proud of the scalloped top-stitching around the border.

But at 19" square - and finished blocks at 3" - I just kept thinking, "Not small enough."

Soooooooo,

I kinda sorta accidentally went and made another one.

Itty-Bitty "Spot On" ...

I know! Even CUTER, right?!  She's only 14" x 17-1/2".

And the blocks are 2" (finished).

I decided to omit top-stitching altogether for this one.  (Except for around the inner border, just to keep everything together.)

Omg I can hardly STAND the cuteness of it all. 

(Is it ok for me to say that about my own stuff?  Does it sound obnoxious?)

Hope you enjoyed today's double-feature. ;)

Up next week?

Gimme some sugar ... lots and lots of sugar!  :)

Mini-Series Monday #4

I had to make this week's mini-quilt (or rather "quiltlet") in fabrics OTHER than the original 'cause I didn't have enough leftover charm squares and I didn't want to cut into my big FQ bundle of Scarborough Fair by Robyn Pandolph.  (You know you wouldn't do it either ... !)

So I scrounged around in my stash and found a little stack of leftovers from Moda's Sandy Gervais' "Whispers in the Wind" line (from a few years back).

This block is 2" square unfinished.

You know, I like purple well enough ...  

'Cept for here.  LOVE it here!

This quiltlet (12-1/4" square) was too small for me to comfortably copy the same FMQing as on the big one. 

So I ... you know ...

And if this quilt doesn't make you think of Easter, you are dead inside. 

Just sayin'.
Tune in next time for "Spot On". 

Rumor has it there's a double feature next week ... wink wink, nudge, nudge!

Mini-Series Monday #3

Tee hee!  Isn't this just the cutest little block EVER?

She's 1-3/4".  Unfinished.

I love this "quiltlet" version if Sweet Pea - 15" square.  It just might be my favorite ...

... scalloped edge and all!

Here's the big version.  Both were made with scraps from my unruly scrap bin.

I did have a little oopsies with this one, though.

Kay.  You know how you need to clean your iron sometimes?  (I use a lot of fusible batting & fusible interfacing so my iron gets gummed up regularly.) 

But you never remember it's dirty until AFTER you've turned it on and it's hot.  So you tell yourself you'll clean it when it cools down and you go ahead and use it ... 'cause, you know ... you hate waiting.  And then forget to clean it later.  Vicious cycle ensues and the iron gets dirtier and dirtier.

Yeah.  That's what happened here.  And I paid for it ... dearly.  See the ugly black marks on the ribbon?  They look worse in real life.

Ugh.

But I'm also a scrapbooker.  And scrapbookers know "there are no mistakes, only opportunities for embellishing."  Ladies, am I right? 

Lucky me, this quilt includes a sweet little bow detail.  And it just so happens to hide (most of) the stain.

Yay!  (But if you're familiar with this pattern, just you never mind that the bow is supposed to be on the OTHER side.  It took me a while to come to terms with this ... necessary modification.)

And check out the itty-bitty FMQ flowers!

Eeeep! :)  AND I have a clean iron now too ... for a few days.

Teaser ...

Mini-Series Monday #2

Happy Mini-Monday everyone!

Remember Little Lady? 

Well, here she is all LITTLE little ... 11" x 15".

A block measures 4" x 4".

I repeated the same FMQ design from the big version seen here...

Cute, huh?

And I even added the ric rac.

This detail wasn't part of the original pattern in the book.

But I got the idea from other quilts designed by Camille like this one and this one. :)

Used up more scraps on the back ...

Again ... this is NOT a placemat, people.  (Could you even IMAGINE letting someone spill spaghetti sauce on this?!)

Next week ...

Project Simplify - THE MINI SERIES!

Howdy y'all!

I'm very excited because today is the first of nine "Mini-Series Mondays" here at Pretty by Hand!

That's right, you heard me.  But not the same kind of mini-series I watched on tv during my babysitting days in the 80s like "Shogun" & "Thorn Birds".  This mini-series doesn't include forbidden love with a priest or anything like that.

My love of little things inspired me to come up with this Project Simplify encore ... a series of mini quilts!  (Get it?  Mini Quilts = Mini Series?  I know, I'm witty beyond belief.)

This lil' cutie is 2-3/4".

Back in April when I was making the first quilt, I had some scraps that were just BEGGING to be made into something.  And when I wasn't allowed to do any work on the quilt while my helper was in school, I HAD to find SOMETHING to do with my time ... because, you know, housework is over-rated.

And plus I started thinking that since I didn't know which quilts I'd be donating, it would be nice to have a little souvenier of each project. 

Ok, that sounds TOTALLY lame right now as I'm typing this - souvenier quilt of a quilt?  For real??  That's just taking fabric hoarding to a whole other level.  But it seemed like a good idea at the time ...

I wasn't confident enough with my FMQing back then so I chickened out and did simple straight lines.

This miniature version of Square One measures 13 1/2" x 16 1/2".   (Don't even THINK about calling it a placemat!  You can ask my husband what will happen if you do ... )

So for the next 8 weeks, I'll be bringing you Mini-Series Mondays - all the quilts from Camille's book  Simplify miniaturzed.  Nothing like milking a good idea 'til it's dead, right?

FWQAL is temporarily rescheduled for Tuesdays because let's face it ... we all love a good alliteration, don't we?  Mini-Series Mondays just sounds way better than Mini-Series Tuesdays.  :)

And what would a Mini-Series be without a teaser for the next episode?

Sorry ladies, no Richard Chamberlain ... I asked ... he doesn't do quilt blogs ;)