Tag Archives: oven mitts

Weekend finishes + April goals

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Plum and June

On Friday, I was super excited as I received my copy of “Patchwork Please! – Colorful Zakka projects to stitch and give” by Ayumi Takahashi.

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Photo from: ayumills.blogspot.com – Pink Penguins, Ayumi Takahashi

I have signed up to the Zakka Along 2.0 :: Patchwork, Please Flickr Group to join others who are making things from the book. As you will see below one of my April goals is to make a pin cushion and travel sewing kit. I decided to give the pin cushion on the front cover a go.

Size: 4 x 4 in.
Materials: Osnaburg Fabric (instead of linen but I used Pellon Shape Flex Interfacing to add thickness and stability), and Sew Stitchy by Aneela Hoey for Moda. I did not have the fabric button so I just used buttons I had in stock.
Technique: Paper Piecing

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I also managed to finish up a custom order for a set of my pot holders. Order was for a green, taupe and wine colored set.

Size: 8.5 x 8.5 in.
Materials: I used Taupe Essex Linen, the wine fabric was from JoAnn, and a Japanese cotton fabric with Vegetables (from Etsy). I used insul-bright as the filler to protect from the heat.

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Onto setting my goals for April, this month I wanted to make sure I set realistic goals. Not that I have been going terribly, I just have a lot going on and I have a whole week away at the end of the month – I am off to San Francisco for work.

My Button

I think, I can accomplish:

  1. Focus on stock for my Etsy Store.
    • Chair Bags (x2 sets)
    • Oven Mitts (x1 set)
    • Coffee Cup Sleeves (x2)
    • Pouches/ Cases (x2)
    • Set of place mats (x1 Stretch goal)
  2. Make a Pin cushion (from Patchwork Please) and a travel sewing pouch
  3. Make a travel baby quilt for charity  (~30x20in.)
  4. Madrona Road Challenge – Mini Quilt

I plan on trying to continue the quilting of my first quilt but realistically will not have it finished this month – targeting that larger project for May.

My General goals continue:

  1. Try to eat and exercise to plan
  2. Blog regularly using my new schedule

Small weekend finishes

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I managed to get a couple of small projects done this weekend in preparation for our modern quilt guild monthly meeting – nothing like having an incentive :-).  I showed my “four seasons in one day” quilt for the first time at our meeting.  It was funny how nervous I was, showing my quilt and other projects. I present on a daily basis and usually have no qualms…..but not this time – it was like the first time you ever present to a “large” audience. I got great feedback for my quilt though, its nice getting that validation.

The small projects I was able to complete include:

  • The second pot holder for our kitchen. This has been a fun project trying out different techniques and using new materials, for example, quilt as you go technique and using the insul-bright material.
  • A name tag for quilt guild meeting. This was the first time I have used hexagons which I can see can be addictive. I was able to sit down in front of the tv and hand-sew this together in an hour or so. I used leftovers scraps for the front and backed the name tag with felt, using fusible web for the adhesive (first time using fusible web as well), and then quilted on my sewing machine. For the name part, I followed the same process I use for my homemade labels. I thought it turned out cute 🙂
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  • I fixed my son’s monster I had made, some stitching had come loose and needed a quick fix (it only took me 4-6 weeks to get around to doing it)
  • Finally, quilted the first straight line for the “four seasons in one day quilt”.

I am hoping to start a couple of my other March goals this week – I think I am going to try the kiwi paper piecing from Tartankiwi and also cut the fabric for the triple zipper pouch.