Peas In A Pod

Patriotic Palette Blog Hop: Modern Flags

HI Everyone!

Well, it's been a while since I blogged.  So sorry. But I'm back...at least for a moment!  (Please make sure you read to the end of the post for a giveaway opportunity!)

I was recently invited to participate in a blog hop with Paint Brush Studios fabric.  I was really excited, because I love their solids.

I don't know if you have tried their solids yet, but if you haven't, you should!  They have a very nice hand, kind of silky.  I really like how they feel, cut, and sew.  Therefore, I was delighted to participate in the blog hop.

These are the fabrics I received:

The colors are:  French Blue, River, Patriot,Tomato, Claret, Crimson, and White.

Hmmm....so, now, what to make?

I have been working on trying to sew some of the patterns I already own or to sew from books I own.  I recently purchased this book:

There are so many patterns in this book that I want to try, and they all pretty much use solids.  If you are wanting to give solids a try, this would be a great source of inspiration for you.

Inside this book is this pattern:

The pattern is called Sweden, by Brigitte Heitland.  I love it.  I decided I would make a smaller version of this quilt with the fabrics Paint Brush Studios sent me.  I decided I'd do all red stripes, but throw in a blue stripe in each block, placed randomly in the block somewhere.

 And here is my completed quilt:

I'm calling it Modern Flags.  I had a lot of fun piecing it.  I quilted it with lots of straight lines in the white spaces.  It was really hard to quilt long straight lines on my longarm.  I started by by using my channel locks so my longarm would only move horizontally. This was  great for making a perfectly straight line, but if your sewing wasn't perfectly straight (and believe it or not, mine wasn't...lol), it was very obvious.  So, I switched to using rulers instead.  I had a hard time keeping those straight, too.  My ruler kept sliding on me.  So, my lines are not perfectly straight or perfectly spaced.  I just gave up on that and let it be very imperfect.  I decided it looks okay, as long as you are riding by on a fast horse.  LOL!

My neighbor was gracious enough to allow me to use her beautiful fences and chicken coop to do the photo shoot. I did a scrappy binding.  It is mostly the darkest blue, but with shots of the medium red thrown in.  In part, that was because I didn't have enough blue, but also because I wanted to have shots of red in the binding.

I am not sure if you can tell from the photo, but I joined the red binding to the blue with a straight seam rather than a diagonal seam, like you usually do when joining binding strips.  I did that because I thought it would be more in keeping with all the other straight lines in the quilt.  I thought a diagonal line would be very out-of-place on this quilt.

We share a driveway with our neighbors, and I love the bunting my neighbor hung on our gate.  I had to get a photo of the quilt there, too.  I'm using this quilt as a decoration right inside my front door.  It gives a nice patriotic feel to the house as soon as folks walk in, which is great, because we have out-of-town guests arriving today for the holiday.  We are so excited to see them.

I hope you like what I did!  Thank you to Brigitte Heitland for writing such an awesome pattern, and thank you to Paint Brush Studios for allowing me to play with their fabrics.  I just love them.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

This wouldn't be any fun without a giveaway, now, would it?!  How would you like to win a set of 7 fat quarters from Paint Brush Studios?  They have been so gracious to provide a set of these 7 fat quarters as a giveaway.  If you'd like to win your own red, white, and blue fabrics to work with, please leave a comment here on my blog telling me what your favorite way to celebrate the 4th of July is.  Leave your comment by midnight on July 6, 2017.  I'll draw a name on Friday, July 7, 2017 and announce it here on my blog as well as on my Instagram account.  (Check out my account....you'll find me @stephiepeterson.  You don't have to follow me to win.  I don't like giveaways that require that, myself.  I only want you to follow me if you like what you see.  If you do, I'd love it if you followed me.)

EDIT:  THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  THE WINNER WAS KATHY H!  CONGRATULATIONS, KATHY!  I'VE SENT YOU AN EMAIL.  PLEASE SEND ME YOUR MAILING INFORMATION SO I CAN MAKE SURE YOUR PRIZE GETS SENT OUT TO YOU!

Good luck, and Happy 4th of July!  I love America...I love all her strengths and warts alike.  We live in a great country, and I'm proud to be an American!

Until next time,

Stephanie (AKA Mama Pea)

Love My Scarf Blog Tour--Giveaway Time!

HI Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I am so pleased and honored to be part of the Love My Scarf Blog Tour!  If this is the first time you have visited my blog, thanks for coming by, and I hope you take a moment to look around a bit!  If you're one of my frequent readers, it's great to see you again!

(Keep reading for information on the giveaway!)

As I said, I'm really excited to be part of this blog tour.  A little bit about it....This blog tour is aimed at encouraging others to participate in the Love My Scarf Challenge.  Designs in Machine Embroidery is sponsoring this blog tour, and they are trying to collect 10,000 headscarves for women who are going through cancer treatment and have lost their hair.  I know many of you have been touched by cancer, and many of you know that my mother, aunt, and cousin have all had breast cancer and are survivors.  This project is near and dear to my heart.  Please consider participating in this challenge!

Look for these boxes at your local sewing center, where you can donate a scarf.  If you can't find a box, you can mail them to:

Love My Scarf

c/o Designs in Machine Embroidery

2517 Manana Dr.

Dallas, TX 75220

Are you ready to see what I made?

I decided to use The Quilted Fish's new pattern called Make It Snappy:  Pramada Scarf (click the link to get a copy for yourself).  I thought this would be a good one, because it would have multiple uses...as a head scarf and as a scarf later on.  Also, it's lightweight and might be good for warmer climates.

I really enjoyed making it, and I liked wearing it, myself!  The Quilted Fish's new Make it Snappy line of patterns is cool, because they are quick and easy to make.  I made this one in 40 minutes (after I had the fabric cut out, which only took another 10 minutes).  The pattern includes this scarf, as well as one with a ruffle around the edge.  I didn't put the ruffle on this one, but I'm going to make another with a ruffle.  Come back later to see that!  This pattern was super easy to follow, has clear diagrams, and had very clear instructions.  A great project for a beginning sewist!

I was thinking this quick project would make a wonderful hostess gift for someone.  This one's going in my quick, but effective, gift pattern collection!

Here it is worn as a scarf.  Also very pretty.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out!

I wanted to try something new when I made this, and I wanted it to be very drapey.  I decided to use some cotton voile, because I had never tried it before.  I used this Notting Hill line from Joel Dewberry.  (I'm not sure whose fabric the purple fabric is...sorry!)  I love it!  The fabric is so silky, but was still easy to sew.

I'm excited to send this off to this wonderful cause.  I hope the recipient likes it.

Well, how about some giveaways?!

Here is what I have to give away:

Designs in Machine Embroidery has donated TWO CD's full of embroidery designs that are called "Embroidery for a Cure."  They are all "cancer cure" themed.  Very nice for making gifts for loved ones who are in the middle of the fight.  You need a sewing machine that does machine embroidery to use these designs.

(Photo courtesy of Amanda Herring, The Quilted Fish.  Used with permission.)

And Amanda Herring, The Quilted Fish, loved this cause so much, she is providng FOUR patterns for this scarf AND FOUR FABRIC KITS to make the scarf!  (Your fabric will be different from mine.  It will come from one of Amanda's fabric lines.)

So, that's SIX GIVEAWAYS!

If you'd like to be in on the giveaway, here is what I ask you to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post pledging to make and donate a headscarf to this wonderful cause.  (You're on your honor to actually do it.)
2. Let me know if you're interested in the embroidery designs, scarf kits, or both.  I'll try to honor your request when I draw names.  Each person will only win one prize, but let me know if you can or can't do machine embroidery, given what kind of machine you own.
3. Be sure I have a way to contact you (i.e., leave your email address in the space for it on the comment form).  If you don't, I won't have a way to contact you to let you know you won.

That's it!  I'll draw six names and post them on Monday, September 2 (Labor Day!).  Some come back and check in then!  (EDIT:  I'M LEAVING THIS OPEN UNTIL SEPTEMBER 4, TO GO THROUGH THE END OF THE BLOG TOUR)

There are lots of other stops on this blog hop.  Please stop by the other blogger's sites to see the other scarves they are making and for more opportunities to win!

LOVE MY SCARF BLOG TOUR

August 28th	Eileen Roche	www.dzgns.com/blog
August 29th	Peas in a Pod That's me!  You're here!	http://peasinapod.typepad.com
August 30th	Riley Blake Designs	http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/blog/
August 31st	Nancy Zieman	http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/
September 1st	We All Sew	www.weallsew.com
September 2nd	Stitched by Crystal	http://www.stitchedbycrystal.com/
September 3rd	Totally Stitchin	http://totallystitchin.net/
September 4th	Eileen Roche	www.dzgns.com

Again, thank you SO MUCH to Eileen Roche and Designs in Machine Embroidery for inviting me to be on this tour.  I'm so trilled to be a part of it wit so many people I admire.  Also, thank you to Designs in Machine Embroidery for providing the embroidery design giveaway.

A huge thank you to Amanda Herring of The Quilted Fish for providing me with a copy of the pattern and for providing the kits for the giveaway.  So very sweet of you!

Thanks again for stopping by!  I hope you had a great visit and that you will come back soon.  More importantly, I hope you will join in on this wonderful cause.

Until next time,

Triple Zip Sew Along

The other day, Lynn did a blog post saying she was going to do the Triple Zip Along. 

I thought it sounded like fun....and it's another completely doable project for me right now.  If you want to see the completed project, you can look here (and the tutorial for making it is there, too).   If you look at the related posts at the bottom of this post, you'll see the sample pouch as well.  The zip along is being hosted by Debbie over at A Quilter's Table.

Our first task was to pick our fabrics.  I pulled the three fabrics on the left as my starting point.  I picked these up on a whim when I was in Grand Rapids a few weeks ago.  I adore them.  I went through my stash to see what I had that went with it.  I found the fabrics on the right in my stash.  They are Bella from Lotta Jansdotter.  I got this fabric from Marmalade a while back (see/click button on my sidebar to visit this awesome fabric shop).  I love them and haven't had the courage to cut into them yet.  I pulled some zippers that would coordinate....the one on the bottom is a dark gray (charcoal).  I feel like my zipper supply is depleted from all my earbud pouch sewing for Christmas.  Gah!  I have like 15 zippers left, but not the right colors.  I wanted orange to go along with the grays.  I guess it's time for another Zipit order!  Poor me.  :-)

We were also supposed to start cutting out.  Haven't gotten that far yet.  I have a hard time sewing during the week, unless it's by hand.  So, I may not get my pouch made up until this weekend.

I'm not even sure which of the fabrics above I'll use yet.  I really need to try not to overthink this, though.  It's just a little zipper pouch, for Pete's sake!

I was thinking this (in other fabric) would make a good iPod case that could hold the earphones and charging cord for a certain little girl I know.  :-)

If you want to join in, you can find the first post about what to do right here.  :-)

Oh, and if you are following the Peace Quilt blog hop, I had my friend Doris' website wrong.  She moved blog services, and I forgot to change it.  The correct blog site is:  www.madebyabrunnette.com  You should go check it out and see her version of the Peace quilt.  (She's giving away a copy of the pattern, too!)  She added borders and applique, and she made the background the focus fabric and the peace sign solids.  It's really cool.

Only a couple of days left to get in on my giveaway of a copy of the Peace pattern.  If you haven't entered yet, go to this blog post and leave a comment (not here).  The drawing is on Friday!

After all that great snow we got last week, it was 55 degrees and thunderstorms here today!  Pretty weird weather!  It's supposed to be back down to 18 degrees by Thursday.

Until next time,

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Earbud Pouches--Pattern Review

Three zippers in one pouch

Zipper pouch tutorial...new and detailed!

Pinwheels + Pooches = Peace--PATTERN GIVEAWAY!

Triple Zip Along!

Pinwheels + Pooches = Peace--PATTERN GIVEAWAY!

Hi Everyone!  It's my turn today on Rene's (of Rene' Creates) blog hop for her new Peace quilt pattern.  The photo above is the cover photo for Rene's quilt.  Rene' does such a great job of taking her quilts on field trips for the purpose of photo shoots.  Amazing photos.

I first met Rene' (in the foreground in the photo above) at my Gruber's retreat.  I think Rene' is so neat.  She has the coolest style--great design sense, great color sense, great personality.  I love the quilt top she's working on in the photo above, and I'm totally going to plagiarize it (with her permission).  She is so kind and generous, she even sent me some fabric I need to plagiarize her.  I just really, really like Rene'.  I am so happy to have her as a friend.  And, she's about the cutest thing ever.

As I said in my previous post about this blog hop, the Peace pattern has a baby size, throw size, and a full-size pattern.  Sweet Pea is totally into peace signs, so I thought I'd make this for her.  When I showed her the pattern to ask her what she wanted, she looked at the pattern, smiled, and said, "Really?!  For me?!"  It was awfully cute.  The two smaller versions use solid squares in the peace sign.  The largest version uses pinwheels for the peace sign.  I was hoping she'd pick one of the small ones, given my limited time to get this done.  But no, she really adored the pinwheel version (pictured above in Rene's cover photo).  Of course she did!  You saw that one coming, didn't you?!  She loved the pinwheels (just like her mom does!).  I asked her what else she wanted for her quilt.  She said she loved the white background.  She also told me she'd love purple in her quilt.  Hmmmm.....

The pinwheels in this quilt can all be made with charm squares (5" squares).  (Actually, all the sizes are pre-cut friendly!)  So, I went through my charm packs (yay!  using something I already have!!!) to see which ones I had enough of.  There were a few choices.  I presented them to Sweet Pea, and she chose these, which I've had in my stash  FOR.  EVAH.  I was really surprised she chose 1930's fabrics, but I guess the dogs hooked her.  I was trying to figure out how I would incorporate purple, because I didn't think it would go with these charms.  But, then I found this lavender in the 1930's section at The Attic Window, and it looked really nice with the fabrics.  I was surprised at that.  I paired it with Kona Snow.....Perfect!

One thing that bugs me about precuts is that they are not always cut accurately.  And it's hard to know where to line up your stitches on the pinked edges.  Rene' uses a fun method for making your half-square triangles, where you sew around the edge of the square and then cut in an X.  I cut my purple 5" squares and used those edges to line everything up and ignored the pinked edges of the precut.  You can see here how off some of those pinked edges are!  Where the pinked edges were off, I just lined up to the nicely cut edge.

 

I owe a huge debt of thanks to my good friend Caroll for helping me finish this quilt.  I have a confession...I goofed on what the deadline was and didn't start until 2 weeks before I needed to have it finished.  EEEK!  I had a Saturday Sew Day with Caroll up in Grand Rapids, and she sewed all the squares for me.  I cut them and sewed them into pinwheels.  I managed to get all the pinwheels done in a day and a half as a result of Caroll's help.  Caroll, I love ya.  Thank you soooo much!

I love patterns like this, where the resulting blocks are a little too big, so you can trim to perfection.  It is such a huge help for a great finished product.  A tip for you if you make this...use a nice ruler with a 45-degree line on it to help you trim.  You can get those points lined up in the corners nicely.

Sweet Pea loved the resulting pinwheels. I gave her the pattern and asked her to lay it out for me.  (Notice her shirt has a peace sign on it!)  She loved doing this and got everything organized just so.  Now, if an 8-year-old can do this, so can you!  :-)  That goes to show you how well Rene' put together the instructions!

And here, my friends, is the finished quilt top.  Sweet Pea is totally thrilled about this.  I really like it, too.  Who'd-a-thunk the 1930's fabrics would look so good in a peace sign?!  (There were some black and white and red charms in the pack, too, but I pulled them out and didn't include them in this project.  That was Buffie's suggestion, and it was a good suggestion.  Thank you, Buffie!  Love my Saturday Scrappers at The Attic Window!)

Keeping it real, and true confession time....I was sewing pretty fast to get this done on time, and not all my points are perfect on the edges (they look really good in the centers).  But, you know, I did not worry about it much, because this is going to be a well-used cuddle quilt for in front of the TV.  It will get washed, stuff spilled on it, etc.  Sweet Pea won't care or notice how neat my points are.  So, I just didn't worry about it.  :-)

I took Sweet Pea shopping to pick out a backing.  Because it will be something to cuddle with in front of the TV, I suggested minky-like fabric.  She picked out some pink minky fabric.  I just have to piece the back and drop it off with the quilter.  I am NOT going to attempt quilting with minky.  I'll show it to you again when it's quilted.

Rene's pattern is very well written and clear. Everything fits together perfect.  Very gratifying!  The quilt goes together fast....Obviously!  You guys know how long it usually takes me to complete a quilt top...Like a year or two!  haha!  And I got this one together in two weeks--and it's the full-sized one.  So, there you go!

The Peace sign is so popular these days, especially with young girls.

Here are links where you can buy Rene's pattern:

http://renecreates.bigcartel.com

http://www.etsy.com/shop/renecreates

RENE' HAS GRACIOUSLY AGREED TO GIVE A COPY OF HER PATTERN TO ONE OF MY READERS!  YIPPEE!  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ENTERED INTO THE GIVEAWAY, PLEASE JUST LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST BY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1,  AND MAKE SURE THERE IS A WAY FOR ME TO GET HOLD OF YOU. 

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  THE WINNER WAS CINDY SMITH!  Click here to see the blog post about the winner.

I will draw a name Friday night and pick the winner!  There are lots of other chances to win a pattern, too.  Check out all the other posts on this blog hop to see everyone else's versions and to get in on their giveaways.  It is so fun to see all the different versions and interpretations.  I-spy versions, solids, rainbows, Christmas, Kaffe....  Too fun!

• Monday, January 21 -  Katie at KT Quilts (http://ktquilts4fun.blogspot.com)
• Tuesday, January 22 - Michele at  Nostalgic Cafe (http://nostalgiccafe.blogspot.com)
• Wednesday, January 23 - Cindy at  Live a Colorful Life (http://aroundtheblockdesigns.blogspot.com)
• Thursday, January 24 - Michelle at  Frustrated Quilter (http://frustratedquilter.blogspot.com)
• Friday, January 25 - Stephanie at Peas in a Pod (http://peasinapod.typepad.com)     YOU ARE HERE!
• Monday, January 28 - Terri at Terri's Notebook (http://terrisnotebook.wordpress.com)
• Tuesday, January 29 - Doris at Made by a Brunnette (http://madebyabrunnette.typepad.com)
• Wednesday, January 30 - Mary at Mary on Lake Pulaski (http://maryonlakepulaski.blogspot.com)
• Thursday, January 31 - Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts (http://www.prairiemoonquilts.com)
• Friday, February 1 - back to Rene' at Rene' Creates (http://www.renecreates.com) for a give away

Have a great weekend!

Until next time,

Full Disclosure:  This pattern was given to me, free of charge, by Rene' to try out.  And, as I've mentioned, she is my friend.  However, everything I've said above is my honest opinion.  The pattern is just great.  If I'd have had any problems, I would have told Rene', who would have fixed them.  You'll notice how many people on the list above have tested this pattern.  :-)  Rene' is very thorough!

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saturday agenda change and WIP

Peace Quilt Blog Hop

Quilting by Jessica

Peace Quilt Blog Hop

Hi Everyone!

Recently I got to do some pattern testing for my friend Rene' of Rene' Creates blog, who has written her first pattern.  It's for her Peace Quilt!  It is so cute and wonderful!  Her pattern is for three different sizes...baby, lap, or full sized (75"x75").  A bunch of us tested the pattern for her, and we're holding a blog hop to feature the quilts (or quilt tops, as the case may be in some cases) we made using her pattern. 

And there are giveaways for the pattern at each blogger's website.

You'll want to stop by and check out the reviews and pattern.  Here is the schedule:

• Monday, January 21 -  Katie at KT Quilts (http://ktquilts4fun.blogspot.com)
• Tuesday, January 22 - Michele at  Nostalgic Cafe (http://nostalgiccafe.blogspot.com)
• Wednesday, January 23 - Cindy at  Live a Colorful Life (http://aroundtheblockdesigns.blogspot.com)
• Thursday, January 24 - Michelle at  Frustrated Quilter (http://frustratedquilter.blogspot.com)
• Friday, January 25 - Stephanie at Peas in a Pod (http://peasinapod.typepad.com)     THAT'S ME!
• Monday, January 28 - Terri at Terri's Notebook (http://terrisnotebook.wordpress.com)
• Tuesday, January 29 - Doris at Made by a Brunnette (http://madebyabrunnette.typepad.com)
• Wednesday, January 30 - Mary at Mary on Lake Pulaski (http://maryonlakepulaski.blogspot.com)
• Thursday, January 31 - Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts (http://www.prairiemoonquilts.com)
• Friday, February 1 - back to Rene' at Rene' Creates (http://www.renecreates.com) for a give away

As you can see, I'm up on Friday, January 25.  So, come back then and I'll show you mine.

Here's a sneak peek for you.  Yep, I sewed the whole thing on my featherweight!  (Never mind the mess behind my sewing machine!  LOL.)

I made the full-sized version, and I can't wait to show it to you.  So, plesae do visit me on Friday and get your name in for a giveaway of the pattern.  See you then!  In the meantime, check out the other blog posts.  It will be fun to see all the different color and fabric combinations!

If you can't wait and you want the pattern now, here are links where you can buy it:

http://renecreates.bigcartel.com

http://www.etsy.com/shop/renecreates

Until next time,