Happy Zombie

Super lucky us, Jen and I got to be beta testers for Elizabeth’s new Refrigerator Magnets Quilt Blocks Pattern. Not only am I lucky enough to be able to participate, Elizabeth even gave us each a gorgeous bundle of fabric to play with PLUS a package of printable freezer paper sheets (which is freaking brilliant and works fantastic)! I knew right away what I was going to make with the letters…

the phrase Treat Yo Self from Parks and Rec from the episode “Pawnee Rangers” (season 4, ep 4). I LOVE Treat Yo Self. Love.

(if the embedded video fails, click here. You can also watch a deleted scene from Aziz Ansari’s tumblr here.)

Elizabeth’s patterns come in lower and upper case letters, punctuation and numbers - and in 3 different sizes. HOLY COW! Each letter, number and punctuation also comes with a “how to” assembly page. I’m so visual, so this was right up my alley. While I was making my letters, I 400%’d the pdf so I could do a quick lookie look at what as I was supposed to be doing.

I love this block pattern pack. Crazy, madly love. And not just the patterns themselves, but I love Elizabeth’s instructions and I learned how to do Freezer Paper Applique. I had the same kind of feeling when I learned how to drive a car - something new, something liberating and something that I’m going to love doing. Another thing I like about Elizabeth’s freezer paper applique pattens, is that you can press open your seams and your blocks lay nice and flat, and with less bulk than traditional foundation piecing.

(I have since removed the periods)

Treat

Yo

Self

Treat Yo Self: Bretzles from Costco

(Violet & Griffin)

Treat Yo Self: Fly wine


(Elizabeth)

Treat Yo Self: The Walking Quilted

(the walking quilted)

Treat Yo Self: Serious cuteness

(Leon Sugar and Cannon, Violet’s daughter)

Treat Yo Self: Portland summer sunshine

Treat Yo Self: Babies!

(Amber and Christina)

Treat Yo Self: Photo bombing

(Amber, Jen and Christina)

Treat Yo Self: Baby kicks

(Jen and Christina)

Treat Yo Self: Awkward moments

(Amber, Jen and Christina)

Treat Yo Self: PMQG Show & Tell with rockemsockem quilt model

(Bill, me)

Treat Yo Self: Refrigerator Magnets Quilt Blocks Pattern

Treat Yo Self: To a big, heaping spoonful of Ron Swanson sugar - coming soon on my blog! (silent squeal)

The SLMQG is hosting the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild EZ Dresden Challenge - projects, prizes, inspiration, fun… all using Darlene Zimmerman’s EZ Quilting Easy Dresden.  Holy cow, it’s the 20th anniversary of Darlene’s rulers! I love Darlene, and I love her rulers. I have every EZ ruler ever made with her name on it.  Love.  Them. Love. Darlene. Much of what I know about quilting I know because of Darlene. Did I mention I love her?

A few years ago I made Elizabeth’s New Wave quilt using the EZ Dresden ruler - step into my wayback time-machine.

I have nothing to do with this event, other than I’m so excited about it, and think it’s awesome and want to pass it on + I got to recycle a blog post + a whole new world of genius ideas are going to be/being blogged to use the ruler for.  The Easy Dresden Ruler: not just for breakfast anymore.

I’m so excited to be a part of Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen’s Quilting Modern book party!   Jacquie and Katie are two women who I so greatly admire and am in awe of.  Both of them in their own way have sparked a flame in me like only a few others have (like the Gee’s Bend ladies and Denyse Schmidt for example).  I shouldn’t say flame, it’s more like a torch.  When I think there’s nothing else that can be done with pieces of cut up fabric sewn back together again - Jacquie and Katie find a way to.  And they make me want to drop everything and do it, too.

When I first got a copy of Quilting Modern, my dilemma was not which project to make - but which one to start first. I want to make EVERY project in this book. And not just the projects I’m in love with, but Jacquie and Katie write in a such gentle, easy and loving way that’s such a joy to read. Especially since I rarely read words and only do pictures. Yeah, they got me to read it’s that good.

My first project I started with the Swirling Medallion Quilt. I made mine a little smaller to make it into a pillow. What I really like about this project is that it feeds the part of my soul that likes measurement, order, accuracy - and it also feeds the part of my soul that likes whimsey, improv and rebellion. This project is a perfect marriage of quilt happiness to me.

I liked the color choices from the book, so I kinda followed suit. For the yellow I used a fabric from my Happy Mochi Yum Yum collection, some Kaufman solids, and some weird-unknown-to-me cotton budget fabric (that I actually like) from JoAnn’s that looks linen but it’s not.  It’s fine Corinthian Linen.

Bam.  Two hands.  I love my new el cheapo “quilting gloves” from Harbor Freight (hubs’ LQS).

I quilted the top without a backing, this way the batting snuggles up to my pillow form and it keeps a nice shape. I discovered this trick on accident, and will always do my “pillow quilts” this way from now on.

Sew on the back pieces to make it pillow and then I’m done. So fun, so fast.

Bam. Pillow.

Bam. Dog. My ham dog loves her photo taken and HAS to get in every shot possible.

Bam.  My other ham. My pets are the Kardashian’s of the animal kingdom.

I hope you’ll join in on the big Quilting Modern celebration this weekend (Queen Elizabeth isn’t the only party girl this weekend), and pop in see what the other parties goers are up. Twitter and Instagram, I’ve seen lots of us via have been making projects from the book, plus I heard [knowhatimsaying] there might be a few give-aways of Quilting Modern, so be sure to check out everyone who’s at the party.

Our hostesses:
Tall Grassprairie Studio – Jacquie Gering

Sew Katie Did - Katie Pedersen

The partiers:
A Stitch in Dye – Malka Dubrawsky

Fat Quarterly blog - Tacha Bruecher

Film in the Fridge – Ashley Newcomb

Generation Q – Jake Finch

Handmade by Alissa – Alissa Haight Carlton

Happy Zombie – Monica Solorio-Snow

i heart linen – Rashida Coleman-Hale

Oh, Fransson! – Elizabeth Hartman

One Shabby Chick – Amber Carrillo

Pink Chalk Studio – Kathy Mack

Quilting is my Therapy – Angela Waters

Red Pepper Quilts – Rita Hodge

Sew, Mama, Sew! - Kristin Link

Sew Take a Hike – Penny Layman

West Coast Crafty – Susan Beal

Whip Up – Kathreen Ricketson

Wise Craft - Blair Stocker

There’s also a Quilting Modern flickr group, and it’s so much fun to see what everyone is making from the book.  I already have my next project figured out, Tunnel Vision - because I have a tiny 3″x 6″ piece of Heather Ross mermaid fabric, and now I know how to build a quilt around it.  Thank you, Jacquie and Katie!

This is not a cry for help. I repeat, this is not a cry for help. At least not for now at this very moment.

Starting back when Lori and I did our iPhone sew-along (Lori’s, mine) with Ayumi’s Lunch bag (purse) pattern, I have not been able to stop making them or stop thinking about making them.   I see fabric and all I want to do it harvest a small collection that would make for a cute lunch bag (or as I lovingly call them now:  Ayumi Purses).

This last Saturday I made two more.  I couldn’t decide which Suzy Ultman Appleville brown or Appleville white to use, so I made both.  BOTH!  Paired with some of Tula’s Prince Charming and Robert Kaufman’s “ring” fabric - it would have been criminal not to make both.

It was a sewing-day with the Portland Modern Quilt Guild, and if I hadn’t spent so much time proclaiming (proclaiming = When Harry Met Sally deli scene) how cute the pattern and the fabrics were together, I might have even been able to crank out an additional bag.  That’s Susan waving hi - she’s so dang squeezably cute! And that unusual bright light emanating from the window in the top right of the photo - that’s sunshine people. Sun. Shine.  Dispelling all rumors that Oregonian’s are Mole People. Fact.

I’m playing with making the lunch bag bigger, so I decided to go all Scarlett O’Hara ish and use the (Darlene Zimmerman Mama’s Kitchen) fabric that was once my sewing room’s closet curtains at my previous house.

I love how Lecien’s red check from their Color Basic’s collection goes with Darlene’s fabric! Cutting and sewing next up (and fingers crossed my upsizing hacks work out).

As soon as I got wind that Michael Miller flipped the switch on the way-back time machine and was bringing back Patty’s Andalucia  - I flew over to the Fat Quarter Shop and ordered me some of the Andalucia II.

It’s not an addiction if everybody joins in with me, right? And now on to the next harvesting of lunch bag fabrics… what ever they may be… re-Flea Market Fancy…

Edited in 13 Feb 2013:
The pattern Patio (known as Taking Turns in the 2012 Quilts & More issue) is available in my PDF pattern shop!

+ my shop + Patio pattern + Patio on Pinterest

ORIGINAL POST, March 17, 2012:

Whoo whoo - I’ve got another quilt pattern in Quilts and More!   Ok, so the Spring 2012 issue has been out for a while - but I do like to wait until I actually see the issue on the newsstand before I blog about it.  And here in teenie little Astoria, magazines and mail apparently arrive by pony. If I can find an issue here, I know it’ll be available everywhere and it’s safe to blog about it.

Photo credit: Better Homes & Gardens, used with permission
In this Quilts and More issue, is a special “All About White” section devoted to quilts made with prints and white fabric.  Three quilts, four designers.  Oh yeah, the best part of seeing another one of my patterns published by Quilts and More (which is a thrill on it’s own) - was seeing who else was featured in the All About White feature: Aneela with her Picnic Play quilt, and Team Amazing’s Kate and Sherri with their Double the Fun quilt, and my quilt Taking Turns.  Also in the issue is some more project sweetness by more sweeties - Camille, Joanna and Vanessa. BAM, what an issue!

My Taking Turns quilt:

Photo credit: Better Homes & Gardens, used with permission
A very fat quarter friendly quilt that’s also large scale fabric friendly.  Sometimes I just cringe cutting into fabric, and this pattern is my little way alleviating some of the shear fear I’m constantly stricken with.

Sew Modern has made up a Happy Mochi Yum Yum Taking Turns kit for sale (gotta hurry, I hear they’re almost sold out!), and the BEST FREAKING PART is that you get to DIY your background color from Sew Modern’s complete collection of Robert Kaufman Kona’s.  This is like going to a U-pick orchard - but better because it’s quilty and you won’t get mud on your shoes or fall off a rickety ladder.  I gasped when I saw Lauren’s (Sew Modern’s awesome momma) blog with the shop sample.  I smiled so hard my face hurt.  Talk about an OMG moment.  All the photos MUST be seen.  Go look and then come back.  I’ll wait for you.

Photo credit: Sew Modern, used with permission

Here’s a pic I took of my quilt. Sucky photo, so I played around and made it even suckier. Sucky, but it was fun to play around with the settings in iPhoto. And this is why I don’t get stuff done.

I played around with my pattern, and downsized the measurements by half and made a little baby quilt for a cute little Turtle.

The other night at guild, Elsa showed a baby version she made of it, too. A super thrill for me, especially since she made it in Aneela’s fabric.

Also at guild, and this has nothing to do with anything - but look how cute Megan and I were sitting next to each other.

I’m not even going to pretend I’m not begging, so if anyone makes the Taking Turns pattern or uses it to insire their own version like Elsa did - I’d love for (“I’d love for” is code for “I’m begging for”) anyone’s photos to be added to my Happy Zombie HQ flickr group.

Edited in 13 Feb 2013:
The pattern Patio (known as Taking Turns in the Quilts & More issue) is now available in my shop!

+ my shop

+ Patio pattern

+ Patio on Pinterest

+ Happy Zombie HQ pool on flickr

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My friend Jane recently asked me to participate in her Desperate Housewife’s Quilt project. 50 of Jane’s blocks, 50 from guest bloggers, and all over a period of 50 weeks - holy S-balls, that’s a 100 blocks!  I did not even hesitate to give her a big, fat yes.   Plus it got me off my bum and working on my modified Wrench block I did last summer in the Farmer’s Wife Quilt-a-long.

I’ve asked around, I’ve google’d… and I still have no clear idea what the difference is between a Churn Dash block and Wrench/Monkey Wrench block. Oh well, it’s a good excuse to give my version it’s own name, Funky Wrench.

A very dear friend of mine sent me the most amazing gift - a bundle of Moda’s Half Moon Modern by MoMo. I love my friend and this fabric so much I weep little hearts from my eyes.

All my favorite colors in whole world. So crisp, so clean and so happy.

I had shaky hands when I untied the twill tape and released the loveliness from it’s bundled pillar of happiness.

I don’t know that I’ll ever tire of red and aqua. Both red & aqua and orange & aqua are so vintage + so modern. My favorite thing now is to have these combos have a ménage à trois with grey. [fanning myself feverishly]

Composing myself. Ok. I love charms. Love, love, LOVE them. And Funky Wrench uses four (5″) charms plus some white from a 3″ strip to make one Nut and one Bolt block. Two blocks, I love that! It’s like getting a free box of cereal inside a box of cereal.

Layout is key, and working in a 9-patch is a must. All seams are a ¼”. Starting with the Nut block:

Join units into rows, then join rows:

Next, the Bolt block:

Join units into rows, then join rows:

Sometimes you feel like a Nut

Sometimes you Bolt

Turns out all the blocks in Jane’s series are 8″ finished. Mine are 6″ finished. Whoops. But hey, if you put Nut and Bolt together I think I may have over-achieved a little on the square inch-age. Maybe I can redeem myself and give bonus measurements. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d give yardage measurements too. But I’m too lazy.

Bam! Bonus Half Moon Modern shot.

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A while back ago I saw my friend Megan sporting the cuuuuuu-test little bag she made. And when I say saw - I mean I was formulating a plan on how to swipe it from her.  But it turns out, Meg tells me - is my friend Ayumi of Pink Penguin has a tutorial for the Lunchbox bag and I could make one myself. So excited to be able to make one too, though I still toyed with The Great Lunchbox Bag Heist of 2010.

>>> fast forward sound >>>

So I’m putzing around Pinterest. And when I say putzing, I mean I’m on Pinterest for my 3rd or 4th time that day… and I spot a Lunchbox bag made by Erin and immediately show Lori (or maybe Lori saw my pin or I tagged her on the pin, I can’t remember - it was all very exciting + plus I’m forgetful), and the next thing we know we’re swapping fabric! Lori sends me some of her Sew Cherry, and I send her some of my Happy Mochi Yum Yum.  And then I GO TO TOWN and start on a Lunchbox bag making frenzy!  Lori, in Utah, and I in Oregon - we were sewing together via our iPhones - texting each other and sending pics as we’re sewing.  It was the next best thing to being actually together.  Sometimes I marvel at how technology, in all it’s high techness - can be all about friendship, and goodness, and being the closest we can get to beaming ourselves places.

Lori and I said we’d send each other 5 fat quarters, but she went all Oprah on me and sent me a package-full-o-goodies! Sew Cherry fat quarters, an apron kit with her Sew Cherry and apron pattern, a tomato pincushion kit (her tutorial here) and one of her signature Big Cherry candies… it was all so weepy cute and generous.

Lori even made me a needlebook!

The lunchbox bag in Lori’s Sew Cherry fabric:

In Denyse Schmidt’s fabric (for Joann’s). One thing Lori and I did different from Ayumi’s pattern was to do our straps in one fabric vs two. A bee flew in my bonnet, and I got an idea to put the twill tape that’s wrapped around the Moda pre-cuts inside my handles to make them beefy.  I LOVE my handles with the twill tape inside!  Now all my bags will have a little Moda happiness inside each bag.  I have been saving this twill tape over the years and have amassed quite a large volume of it. Which is scary to think I’ve used, acquired and bought that much fabric Yay, good for me that I’ve sewn so much!

Here’s one in Pam Kitty Morning fabric. Turns out Lori and I made the same one! Probably because we love Pam so much and we were channeling her.  I did make my PKM bag a little smaller - I was playing around with different sizes.  Because I love to nest stuff - my self diagnosed Matryoshka-itis.

Here’s one in my Happy Mochi Yum Yum fabric.  So to drag everyone into our web of Lunchbox bag making frenzy goodness - Lori and I are both doing a giveaway of a 5pk fat quarter bundle (plenty to make a Lunchbox bag), plus I’ve added my new signature candy - a box of Botan Rice Candy (mochi candy) and a pack of Doublemint gum (WTH?).

I’ve loved Botan Rice Candy ever since I was kid (our class had gone on a field trip to San Francisco’s Japan Town for the day), especially since you can eat the “Saran Wrap” paper wrapper that’s outside the candy. There’s also a pack of Doublmint gum - you can hop over to Lori’s blog and read about it’s meaning.

To enter, leave a comment (maybe you’d like to share what your signature candy is?) just before Midnight-ish Monday (2/20/12 PST), and I’ll announce the winner Tuesday morning. And by morning I mean around lunch-time. Be sure to hop over to Lori’s blog for a chance to win a Sew Cherry bundle (and candy) from her!  Happy Lunchboxing!!

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February 21, 2012 Edited in:
Winner, winner! The fat quarter bundle of HMYY give-away has now ended. Thank you all for joining in on the give-away! Using random.org for comments 1-551, the winner of the bundle is: #415 (which ironically is the area code for San Francisco) - Robyn!

Thank you everyone for your kinds words (and making me hungry for candy!) and playing along with Lori and me. And thank you most of all to Ayumi - sweet, sweet Ayumi, for sharing her beautiful pattern with us. I got a lot of comments about the Botan Rice Candy, and I don’t know if this is a West Coast thing - but you can find it in the Asian section of your local grocery store. Even in my teenie little Scandinavian town of Astoria - I can find it at my local Safeway and Fred Meyer. Oh Lewis & Clark, you came 200 years too soon and missed out.

I made a feast for dinner last night - 22 lb. turkey, stuffing, cranny cran crans, mashed potatoes, gravy and yams.
Just the three of us.
No greens.
No veggies.
No pies.
Pretty much just the meat n potatoes (and the yams just for me).

And then it dawned on me… I basically made a huge cache of sandwich fixin’s for the week. Gawd I love being a grown-up.

Turkey pattern by my friend Vanessa and can be found here.

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Shortly before I started “crafty blogging” (my blog has a past), one of the blogs that inspired me to make the switch was WhipUp.Net. WhipUp was one of the handful of sparks that made me want to taste the crafting rainbow from my own blog. Fast-forward to 5+ years later, and my rock-star idol and inspire-er Kathreen of WhipUp.Net asks ME if I want to take part in HER Kids’ Crafternoon Felting book. Not only was I incredibly flattered and honored, but I also had a holy crap moment!   And that moment is still lingering.

So here it is, Kids’ Crafternoon Felting, published by Hardie Grant. The last of the four Kids’ Crafternoon series. WHAT an amazing book filled with great projects for kids. Great kids stuff that adults will like too. Dang cute stuff. Fun stuff for kids to make, fun stuff for adults to make for kids.  Don’t let the title fool you - it’s for all ages.  Just freaking cute projects, like the Zombie Critter Charms by Lisa Tilse:

Dachshund Moneybox by Timothy Haugen:

Who Loves Ewe by Cate Holst:

Cute’n Cup Cozy by me!

One style for sweet tastes…

… one style for savory tastes.

There’s so much more to see and read about Kids’ Crafternoon Felting, so be sure to stop by the other AMAZING blogs on the blog party tour.

14 Nov:  Lisa Tilse from The Red Thread
15 Nov:  Suzie Fry from soozs
16 Nov:  Larissa Holland from mmmcrafts
17 Nov:  Pascale Mestdagh from Between the Lines
18 Nov:  Christine Chitnis from Christine Chitnis
19 Nov:  Holly Keller from Chez Beeper Bebe
20 Nov:  Monica Solorio-Snow from Happy Zombie
21 Nov:  Cate Holst from Go Make Me
22 Nov:  Shannon Cook from Luvinthemommyhood
23 Nov:  Jennifer Casa from JCHandmade
24 Nov:  Kate from Picklebums
25 Nov:  Steph Morgan from Modern Parents Messy Kids
26 Nov:  Kara Fleck from Simple Kids
27 Nov:  Maddie from Li’l Magoolie
28 Nov:  Jackie Boucher from Oh Dee Doh
29 Nov:  Bianca from Sadie and Lance
30 Nov:  Tricia Hogbin from Little Eco Footprints
01 Dec:  Lisa Siebert guest posting at Poppytalk

Hardie Grant has kindly given me a copy of Kids’ Crafternoon Felting to give away to one lucky winner.  Leave a comment and I’ll use random.org to pick a winner on this coming Thursday noon-ish, PST.  If you have a memorable craft project you made as a kid - share it in your comment if you like.  To start things rolling, my most memorable craft is the butt fugly felt gingerbread man I made in Brownies (in the 3rd grade, I think).  My mom scoffed at me for calling him ugly, and said that one day I would love him like she did.  Today I think he (Mr. B. Fugly) is beautiful and he hangs on my design wall and I smile at him every day.  And Mr. Fugly smiles back.

November 25, 2011 Edited in:
Winner, winner! The Kids’ Crafternoon Blog Party book give-away has now ended. Thank you all for joining in on the give-away! Using random.org for comments 1-90, the winner of the Kids’ Crafternoon Felting book is smack dab in the middle (shout out to Jan Brady!): Comment #45 - Kim!

A few weekends ago I went with my girlfriends for a weekend of sewing (YamCamp Winter ‘11) in Manzanita, Oregon - and some how, some way… I was productive.  I keep checking my body for probe marks, for I’m certain I had been abducted and replaced with an decoy.  Only problem was that my decoy was efficient, focused and productive - a dead giveaway that it wasn’t me.

One of my projects was my Manzanita Star quilt top.  I scored some delicious Echo fat eighth fatties, and I went to town.  No real plan, I just winged it.  Fresh off my Tree Pants project, I was in the mood for some more stars.  With every star I made - I professed my love more and more for Lotta Jansdotter’s Echo line. I LOVE this fabric SO MUCH.

Echo fills my Swedish cup of love as well as my Japanese cup.  Swedinese bliss.  Come to read about Lotta - turns out she lived in Japan for a time.

Luckily I brought some yardage of Kona Coal, Pepper, Med. Gray and White - and I was able to make my top.  I love my model, Violet - she’s always so eager and helpful.   And even though Violet can’t be seen… she’s so damn cute, too.

I used what I had with me, I took no notes, no tutorial to share.  I just had the pure pleasure of sewing a quilt top for nothing other than for fun and a one-day finished quilt.  I’ve been getting request for my measurements, so I’m happy to share my measurements for my block.  Block assembly is the same as the block here.  I used a fat eighth of each Echo print - and I’m thinking I could make a companion quilt… a bigger one - double my blocks and double my quilt’s size buy using fat quarters or 1/4 yard cuts. From a small 4×5 block quilt to a 5×8 block quilt.

Echo is now available at Sew, Mama, Sew! - and there’s a 99.9% chance if you order Echo from SMS… your order will be filled from one of my girlfriends who was at YamCamp.  Meaning… one of those people could have been the one who abducted me and programed me to be productive and efficient.  And maybe it can happen to you too.   SewMamaOsmosis.  Just saying.

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