A Kitchen Stitches winner!!

The winner of my giveaway of the new Kitchen Stitches book is.... (drumroll, please...) Debbie!!!, who said, "Looks like a very useful book! Thanks."  I think you'll find that it truly is, Debbie!

You can read more about the book, and my contribution to it, here.

And if you didn't win, but would still like a copy of the book, you can always purchase a copy at your local bookstore, in the Martingale shop or through Amazon.

Happy stitching!

Double-Handed Pot Holder from Kitchen Stitches (and a giveaway!)

Here's a clue to which project I chose to stitch up for this week's Kitchen Stitches blog hop.  (Hint: Look in the upper left corner of this photo.)  **Also, I'm giving away a Kitchen Stitches book to one lucky winner today!  Info at the very bottom of this post.**

Yes, for several reasons, I decided to make the Double-Handed Pot Holder by Natalie Barnes.  First, I don't think it's possible to have too many pot holders... and I didn't yet have this double-handed type.  I also liked the opportunity this project provided to mix lots of print and solid fabrics, plus the pot holder is constructed using the quilt-as-you-go method, a technique I've been wanting to try.

Working with a Valetine's Day theme, I chose pink and red fabrics to start.  Then I added some oranges (My hands just naturally reach for them.  I can't really help it!).  I brought in a bright blue and citrus-y green, as well, to keep it from being too monochrome.  The radical part is the hot pink solid that I chose for the backing.  I'm not usually a pink person, but it just seemed right for this project.

The instructions were easy to follow, with clear diagrams.  The quilt-as-you-go technique was painless and quick.  Since I don't usually sew with hot pink and therefore didn't have any thread to match the backing, I decided to use a bright orange (I know, I know.) thread in the bobbin to provide a fun contrast with the pink.  For the top thread, I used an off-white.  The upper left photo shows the two thread colors.

Due to my own novice-ness at hand sewing bindings, and the many layers involved, I managed to stab myself several times with my needle during the process.  Twice, in fact, I had to spot clean drops of blood off the pot holder!!  Eventually, though, I got the hang of it, and the rest of the binding attachment went smoothly.  The many band-aids on my fingers may have also helped protect them (and the pot holder) from further injury!

Photo courtesy of Martingale Press.

Here's Natalie's lovely version from the book.  I love the idea of the casserole cozy, too.  That's on my future "to do" list.  I really think this is a wonderful book full of great gift ideas or a nice way to add some color and cheer to your own home.

Don't forget to follow along this week with all of the bloggers (many of them book contributors) participating this week:

2/3  Heather at The Sewing Loft
2/4  Becky at the Patchwork Posse and  Kim at My Go-Go life
2/5  Amy at FormWork Design and  Deby at So Sew Easy
2/6  Rebecca at Ruby Blue Quilts  and Jackie at Jabot Quilts
2/7  Melissa at Happy Melissa Quilting
2/8  Kari at Fresh Cut Quilts

Now, the giveaway -- thanks for being patient!  Simply leave a comment below for a chance to win one copy of Kitchen Stitches.  The giveaway is open until 5pm CST on Saturday, February 8, when I'll randomly choose a winner.  Please make sure your email is included in your comment, especially if it's not connected to your Blogger profile.

Good luck!

More Kitchen Stitches stitching

Getting this out a little late in the day... but I wanted to share some info about a fun little Kitchen Stitches blog hop I'm participating in this week.  Several of the book's contributing designers are stitching up projects from Kitchen Stitches -- with a Valentine's theme -- to share.  The fun twist is that we've chosen other projects in the book to sew, rather than our own.  I finished mine up late this afternoon, and will show and tell on Wednesday.  Can you guess from this snapshot of my work table just which project I made?

Here's the line up of participants this week.  Be sure to take a peek each day at what these lovely ladies have been up to.  I'm truly flattered to be in the company of such great designers!

2/3  Heather at The Sewing Loft
2/4  Becky at the Patchwork Posse and  Kim at My Go-Go life
2/5  Amy at FormWork Design and  Deby at So Sew Easy
2/6  Rebecca at Ruby Blue Quilts  and Jackie at Jabot Quilts
2/7  Melissa at Happy Melissa Quilting
2/8  Kari at Fresh Cut Quilts

And here's one more glance at some of the projects in the book.  I just love all that color!

Photo courtesy of Martingale Press.

Kitchen Stitches book release... and a giveaway!

Have you seen Kitchen Stitches yet?  I'm thrilled to be a contributor to this great new book by Martingale Press -- and now I can finally share some of the photos I took almost a year ago of the tea cozy and placemat set I designed!  But first, I'll tell you that if you are patient enough to read all the way to the end of this post, you can find out about Martingale's big giveaway to celebrate the release of Kitchen Stitches, a collection of fun and fuctional sewing projects for the kitchen and more!

I love pairing linen with pretty cotton prints, and I used the Circle Blooms design as a way to do just that.  Then I added a little hand embroidery for extra detail.  This was my first time experimenting with reverse applique, something I had wanted to try for a while.  That's one of the things I really enjoy about designing sewing projects/patterns -- it gives me a chance to try out new techniques and skills in order to achieve the look that I'm after.

I had my own little styling session in my dining room to take these photos.  Ha!  It could use a little work, I know.  I'm fascinated at how photos in books and magazines are styled, and I'd love to get better at this.

Also, I know I'm a nerd, but I like all the circles in this photo.  Hmmm...  Maybe I should've used a spoon instead of a fork for an even more "circular" look!

There are many wonderful (and colorful!) projects in this book that would make lovely hostess gifts, or a nice little something for your own home.  The basket liner and baguette tote by Natalie Barnes also pair linen with cotton prints, and are delightful.  The casserole cozy, also by Natalie Barnes, and the slow-cooker cozy by Rebecca Silbaugh are both colorful and fun -- besides, who doesn't love a "cozy"?  And I just love all the potholders (by Natalie Barnes, Jenifer Dick and Kim Niedzwiecki), as well as Lindsay Conner's super-simple, yet very clever, magnetic message board.  Now I'll stop and just tell you that you can get a peak at ALL of the book projects here, on Martingale's website.

And now, for the giveaway details!  You'll have to head over to Martingale's blog, Stitch This! to enter.  You have the chance to win one of 14 copies of the Kitchen Stitches ebook, or the grand prize of a $100 gift certificate to ShopMartingale.com.  You have from now until February 6 to enter.  

Again, here's the link... and good luck!

Finally, just for fun, I thought I'd include an early sketch of the little tea cozy that made it into this charming book.

Sew Gifts! is here!

A box full of these arrived in the mail yesterday!!

It feels like forever since I received an email from Martingale Press asking if I'd like to contribute to a publication of sewing patterns.  (I did, of course!  Once I got over the shock of being asked.)  I'm so happy with the way this book turned out.  Sew Gifts! is a charming book with clear instructions and illustrations, and a great variety of really lovely gifts to sew.  And it's just in time for the holidays, too!

Photo courtesy of Martingale Press.

Here's my contribution to the book, the Bird on a Branch pillow, photographed beautifully by Martingale/That Patchwork Place.  (I still can't quite believe it's in a book!)  And here are just a few of my favorite projects by other designers.

Photos courtesy of Martingale Press.

Clockwise from top left:  Triangular Knitting Needle Case by Josée Carrier; Travel Backgammon Set by Adrienne Smitke; Oilcloth Wallet by April Moffatt; Color-Block iPad Cover by Debbie Grifka

You can see photos of all the projects and read more about the book on Martingale's Stitch This! blog.

I know many of you are much more organized than me, but I also have to guess that I'm not the only sewer with grand plans to create handmade gifts for friends and family each holiday season... only to get started way too late to finish them all.  Let's rectify that with a Sew Gifts! giveaway, so you can get started on your gift making before it's too late!

Thanks to Martingale, I'm giving away one digital eBook of Sew Gifts!.  To win, simply leave a comment on this post below.  If you're not sure what to write, please share your own gift making plans for the holiday season or any upcoming special occasion.  For another chance to win, let me know in a second comment that you follow me -- either on facebook, through Bloglovin', RSS feed, or some other way.  The giveaway is open until 6 pm EST next Wednesday, October 23, when I will choose a winner at random.  Good luck!!

Or purchase a copy of Sew Gifts! at your local bookstore, in the Martingale shop or through Amazon.

Photo courtesy of Martingale Press.

A quilt collaboration

Last Spring I joined the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild in order to meet like-minded creative people and to be inspired.  As it turns out... it worked!  I've met some great people who are doing similar, and also different, things than myself.  And now I'm actually working on a quilt (in fact, I'm working on two at the moment)!!

Pictured here is about one quarter of a charity quilt that I'm collaborating on with three other CMQG members.  It's made up of scrappy log cabin blocks cut into quarters and then randomly re-pieced -- very similar to the Scrapper's Delight pattern from Sunday Morning Quilts.

I'm also finally putting the binding on my quilted Mondrian table runner which has been a work-in-progress for an embarrassing long time!  Since I volunteered to put the binding on our charity quilt and... ahem... haven't actually bound a quilt before... you know, where I have to turn corners and stuff... I decided I should practice!  I machine stitched the binding to the front of the quilt and am enjoying the somewhat meditative process of hand-stitching it to the back.  I'll post photos soon of that finished quilt.

In the meantime, I'm plotting a bit of selfish sewing this week.  This seriously could not be happening at a better time.  I've been pretty overwhelmed with a new, big volunteer job I've taken on at my kids' school this year.  I've been feeling absolutely sewing-deprived... and, now, the perfect excuse to sew (for myself, no less!) has come along.  Here's a peek at some of the fabrics I recently splurged on in anticipation of sewing for myself.  Yes, sewing... for me.  I won't feel guilty.  Nope, not at all.  Okay, maybe a little.  But I'll get over it when I put on my brand new sewn-by-me duds!

A Summer of Being (or Rationalizing Lazy!)

Last spring, when I was scheduling our summer and discussing options with the kids for camps and other things, my oldest told me that he didn't want to do too much this summer.  I think he specifically said, "I just want to relax."  Well, relax we did.

We also sewed, watched movies, spent time at our neighborhood pool, and hung out with friends...

Visited family, participated in a few summer camps and workshops, did more sewing, and went to a drive-in...

Made our own games, visited museums, swam, kayaked, sampled many kinds of ice cream, and slept in late...

Spent time with cousins, and more time with friends.  We had a fun-filled, but also a lazy summer.  Just the way it should be, I suppose.  Or at least that's what I told myself when I was feeling guilty for not updating the blog ALL summer.  These years of being able to really spend time with my kids are limited; I'm grateful for this time just being together.

I'm also ready for school to start again on Monday; for us all to be back on a schedule and to be able to accomplish my own tasks.  But, man, what a lovely, lazy summer!