Serendipity Blog Tour

 

  

Minki Kim is one of the most talented and lovely people I've met her in our online quilting/sewing community.  I admired her work for years and was so happy to finally connect with her personally a few years ago. 

I was really excited when she asked me to show you her latest fabric Serendipity.  Soooooo super cute and just so Minki.

Her adorable hand sketches are her trademark and Serenditpity is full of these sweet, naive illustrations tha tug on your heartstrings and spark your imagination.  When I started playing with the fabric, I was immediately drawn to the large motif of two girls playing and decided on a little medallion quilt.

Thank you for designing such lovely, unique fabric Minki! xo k

happy flower qal week 49

Oh my gosh.  Can you believe it?  Today is the last "official" day of the Happy Flower QAL.  But that doesn't mean you can't still make your blocks and show them off :)

This block was easy.  Fun.  What can I say that I haven't said already?  Scrappy?  LOL!

I adore holly as a motif .... as a decoration ... as a name for my daughter ;) and these sprigs are just so cute ... especially all done up in First Romance ;)

And last, but definitely not least, a nice bright jazzy patchwork.

And that is all folks!  Holy cow was this ever a fun and rewarding project.  And I super enjoyed all the company so thank you for sewing along with me.  I've been so inspired by all the blocks on IG under #happyflowerqal.

If you're not finished, please please please keep plugging away at it.  I promise you'll be so happy with your Happy Flower quilt when it's done. 

And now for the big layout task.  Wish me luck!  You know me, I'm going to make it as complicated on my self as humanly possible with all my silly rules and stuff.  Pretty sure there will be few more block remakes in the process too ;)   xo k

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.

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.)

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.

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

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. ;)

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

happy flower qal week 44

Quick reminder:  My pattern sale (40% off) ends tonite!

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Classic basket.  With fussy cut strawberries.

Ok.  Am I the only one who sees a dancing Snoopy on the original block?  I saw it the very first time and now I can never un-see it.  Please tell me you see it too! lol

"makers gonna make"

Truer words were never spoken ... or immortalized on a super cute enamel pin.  I got these pins from Maker Valley and I just love them.  The sewing machine is all kinds of adorable! :)

If you want to start or add to your pin collection click here to check them out!

PS:  My pattern sale is still on - 40% off!  Use code BOXINGWEEK40.

new pattern and a boxing week sale!

Happy Boxing Day!  Hope you had a lovely Christmas.

Ok, so I made this quilt months ago, but my sweet longarmer ran into some technical troubles with her machine so I didn't get the quilt back from her until a few weeks ago - at exactly the time when I didn't HAVE any time to get the pattern ready for you.

But my glass-half-full side said, "That's ok, this pattern will just be incredibly EARLY for next Christmas! LOL!"

Of course you don't need to use red, white, and green.  It's just that I was in a holiday mood with I designed this quilt.

SO.  Here she is, all decked out in First Romance fabrics and the cutest little blocks.  My favourite thing about this quilt is how the corner trinagles on each block form little "butterflies" where they meet.  They're small, but super cute, and they make the quilt sparkle.

In addition to my new pattern, and as a thank you to all of your wonderful support, I'm also having a Boxing Week sale!  All patterns in my shop are 40% off.  Discount code is BOXINGWEEK40.  Sale ends New Year's Eve! :)

happy flower qal week 43

This easy 9-patch was a welcomed task.  Not much in the way of thinking, planning, or executing.

More happy flowers for my Happy Flower quilt :)

 

happy flower qal week 42

Love yellow and lilac together :)

My favourite thing about this block is that it's D.O.N.E!  This is the second version.  I only got about half way done the first one ... picked the wrong green for the leaf and, um, let's just say the center points of my petals wouldn't even qualify for the "Well, you gave it a nice try" award lol! But I'm really happy with the final result and I think it's going to be one of those blocks that catch your eye in the final quilt. :)

 

happy flower qal week 41

Simple shapes, simply lovely.

Another simple design, equally stunning. (Anyone else hear Clint Eastwood in their head with this block?  "Feel lucky, punk?"  No?  Just me? tee hee)

happy flower qal week 40

The original block has the most adorable fussy cut little farmer boy whistling a happy tune.  I have no such adorable print so I did the best I could with romantic floral cameos. :)

There's a noticeable lack of purple in the original quilt.  I think this is the only block with it. It's definitely one of my favourites.  Do you think it's a pansy or a johnny jump up?  I can't decide.

UPDATE: Something wasn't sitting right about that block with me so I redid it ... love this.

happy flower qal week 39

Love the colour placement in this block ... blues/greens on top and pinks on the bottom.  :)

The aqua prints are from First Romance.  And the buttons are just laid on for now.  I'll stitch them on permanently after the quilt has been quilted.

happy flower qal week 38

This is only the second time I've used a solid fabric for this quilt. But it's going to be so super busy I'm sure a little resting spot will be welcomed to the eye. ;)

Also, I used my handy dandy little applique trick for the top middle of each heart to avoid inset seams.  Can you tell?  Be honest. :)

Lot and lots and lots of petals for this one!  I just hunkered down with Netflix and time flew.

happy flower qal week 37

 So if you didn't know that I am Canadian, you'd swear I was going all star spangled banner with this one.  I really like it.  Super bright and classic, with just a wee bit of mismatching to make it interesting and unique. :)

If you are looking ahead, the applique block next week is another flower with lots of yellow petals, so I went with this pretty pastel lime green.  I'm rethinking the busy print for the flower center - may switch it for a solid or check.  Or possibly go with orange.  Maybe.  We'll see.

This block also gave me a bit of trouble.  There was to big a space between the second and third petal (from the left) so I unpicked and repositioned both the first and second petals.  But the space was still too big and I didn't feel like doing that rework again.  So I added an extra petal instead.  Now it looks a bit crowded, but I think it's better than the weird space. ;)

 

UPDATE:  Ok, ok, ok.  I pulled up my big girl pants and just got to it.  Sooooo much happier with it now :) Also, amazing how different daylight affects colour!)

happy flower qal week 36

I was trying really hard to just make a normal, regular block with no "make do" or "ad lib" scraps thrown in here and there.  I was mostly successful, if you don't count the strawberry square in the corner (tee hee).

This flower reminds me of a morning glory (minus the fabulous vine) so I went with blue fabric for my blossom.  I love morning glories.

happy flower qal week 35

Another block with inset seams that is just sooooo worth the effort.  I made this 100% by machine.  And it went together quick and easy.  The trick is accuracy - accurate cutting of both template and fabric, accurate marking of the 1/4" seam starts and stops, and then shortening your stitch length (I go from 2.3 to 1.5) to help you hit that 1/4" mark exactly at the end of every seam.

There is a block near the end of this quilt with holly berries, so I decided to make these berries hot pink. Gosh do I ever love a pretty little sprig!