Happy Zombie

I’m so excited to post that I have a tutorial and guest-blog post at Liberty of London’s craft blog.  Liberty of London.  That’s so thrilling for me to type, I think I’ll type it a third time.  Liberty of London.  Holy Coke Zero, I’m all Ja’mie-like super crazy excited over that!

I’ve made a really nifty needlebook based off one of my smaller needlebooks. The Liberty needlbook has a real book feel… like a storybook, but for sewests. A story-time needlebook. You can read my guest-post and see my tutorial here.

I used fabrics from Liberty’s Stile collection. Like all of the Liberty fabrics, this one is my fave. This one really is my fave. For real. Until the next Liberty collection comes out.

I made a second sample with fabrics from stash.

And then I got cheeky and decided to mix things up.  My friend Elizabeth has passed on many of her scraps to me, and I lovingly use the Elizascraps when ever I can. I think I think up things to make for the sole purpose of using her yummy scraps.   Note: the center cat fabric is Cocoland Cats by Kokka which I got from Pink Castle Fabrics.

And then there were more, plus the addition of Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed linen in Steel and in Olive.  I’m mad crushing over these new Essex colors.  I also found some seriously yummy sparlke cotton at my local JoAnn’s.

I got jiggy and tried out some pockets in the pockets. Just a few stitches made on top of D unit and E unit.  I also rounded my “pages” corners.

If anyone would like to make the scrappy version, the only thing different than the tutorial is the outer exterior unit.

If you make one, please consider submitting your finished project to my Happy Zombie flickr group, as well as tagging it #sewliberty, @happy_zombie and @libertylifestyle if you post on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

RESOURCES:
- Liberty Craft Blog - Needlebook tutorial and guest-post
- Liberty Craft Blog
- Liberty of London
- Liberty Lifestyle Twitter
- Liberty Lifestyle Instagram
- Tag your fabrics and projects with #sewliberty, @happy_zombie and @libertylifestyle

My ears always perk up when I hear the word kawaii (thank you Gwen Stefani!), and recently my eyes perked up when I read that Pink Castle Fabrics started a Kawaii Fabric Club. Like getting a monthly prescription for a wonderous addiction.

When my bundle of 8 fat eighths came, I had no real plans for the fabric other than for stash building (can I get an amen?). But I did want to use it, too. It’s just to damn cute to put in the cupboard. And then I had the bright idea to make my Small Treat Totes pattern that was in Quilts & More magazine a few years ago.

I often wonder what it would be like to be that really cool person who bakes trays of cookies or barrels of Chex Mix for the holidays. I’m lucky if I can crank out 5 cookies and a leftover bag of Alaska Airlines snack mix. Perfect to fit in the 2″ x 4″ x 4″ tiny tote.

The holidays really put me in the gift bag spirit. I just need that spirit to come help me in the kitchen.

To use a little fabric with big impact, I modified my Treat Totes pattern a little bit, and I used some white solid sparkly cotton fabric from JoAnn’s to complement the kawaii fabric. Here are the cutting measurements for the Tiny Kawaii Tote with solid handles.

Here are the cutting measurements for the Tiny Kawaii Tote with print handles.

Assembly instructions are here at AllPeopleQuilt.com.

Pink Castle Fabrics is generously going to give a Kawaii Fabric Club fat eighth bundle to one lucky winner on my blog. Just leave a comment (what would you put in the tiny tote?) by noon ish PST, Saturday Dec. 14th, 2013. I’ll draw one lucky winner via random.org and Brenda at Pink Castle will send you your bounty of kawaii awesomeness.

Edited in: The giveaway has now ended, and using random.org for comments 1-164, the winner is #61 by Darcy from Modern Cozy. Congratulations, Darcy!!

The lazy girls guide to Halloween decorating… let someone else do it.

—-> Click here for comments.

The Walking Foot…

The Walking Dead…

Photo credit: Andrew Kolb of kolbisneat.com, used with permission

The Walking Quilted…

The Walking Quilted flickr group…

I can NOT wait for Sunday night’s Season 4 Premiere of the The Walking Dead. Up top, Sheriff Rick.

—-> Click here for comments.

My new baby, Walter. He came dirty and grungy and I cleaned him up pretty. He’s almost pristine and sews like a dream! Best part - he doesn’t stink! Ways back I had to sell my black one because I couldn’t stand the smell. Thanks to friends on Instagram I found out the white (celery) ones don’t tend to smell… and it’s true!!

Totally cute, am I right? Up top.
—-> Click here for comments.

A few years ago my friend and fellow guild member, Christina Cameli, gave a presentation at guild on free-motion quilting on home machines. Christina’s presentation was my first lesson in FMQ on a home machine, and she was an amazing teacher and gave me my start on my FMQ journey. It came as no surprise to me when I found out Christina had authored a FMQ book! Now everyone can get Christina’s lessons!

I’m not a reader. Like NOT a reader. My friend Mo “Evelyn Wood” Bedell can read a book in days, and that same book that she loaned me has taken me 2+ years to get halfway through it. So in this weird “hey I like pictures” way, I was able to read ish Christina’s book and get sooo much out of it. THAT is a great book when an author can reach all kinds of readers, especially terrible ones like myself. FSTFMQ is filled with tips and tricks and all kinds great information. And to top that off, there’s a ton of crazy, great projects to make!

So using Christina’s quilting motifs, that range from super beginner to advanced, I set out to try them on some notebook covers I was making.

With the book next to my machine for reference, I gave it go. First on one notebook cover, and then on a second one. I’m totally digging this!



Oh hai, shameless plug.

Sometimes I blow my mind that I’m actually FMQ’ing. I’m still learning, and I’m certainly no where near to being good at this - but I love doing it, I love my continued learning and I’m most of all I’m happy with finishing a quilt in a few days vs a few months. (and by months I mean years)

Wanna see what others are saying ab out Christina’s fantastic book?  Follow along on the FSTFMQ Tour:
9/25 - Allison Rosen: Stash Books Blog
9/26 - Jessica Alexandrakis: Life Under Quilts
9/27 - Monica Solorio-Snow: Happy Zombie
9/28 - Susan Beal: West Coast Crafty
9/29 - Kathy Mack: Pink Chalk Studio
9/30 - Angela Walters: Quilting is my Therapy
10/1 - Amanda Jean Nyberg: Crazy Mom Quilts
10/2 - Megan Dye: Megs Monkey Beans
10/3 - Victoria Findlay Wolfe: Victoria Findlay Wolfe Quilts
10/4 - Katie Pedersen: Sew Katie Did
10/5 - Christina Cameli: A Few Scraps

Win a copy of First Steps to Free-Motion Quilting!  Leave a comment by Tuesday, October 1st by noon-ish PST and one lucky winner will be drawn via random.org.  A United States winner can choose either an eBook or a hard copy, and an international winner can win an eBook.

Edited in: The giveaway has now ended, and using random.org for comments 1-247, the winner is #79 by Nadra (of Germany!!) from ellisandhiggs. Congratulations, Nadra!!

It always boggles my mind that after only a few seconds after the auto shut-off has gone off on my iron, my iron immediately cools off. But when I’ve been out sewing with friends and it’s time to go home and pack up my iron - it stays endlessly hot after unplugging it. I have a nice bag I’ve made for my iron, but I still end up wrapping my iron in an old towel.  Thank goodness I have friends… friends that put up with my iron-woes… super talented friends like Elizabeth that has creative solutions and creates the Iron Cozy pattern.

After watching Violet make her seriously cute iron cozy (in her Waterfront Park) at PMQG sew day last Saturday, I was inspired to get started on mine.  Not only fun to make, but Elizabeth’s pattern is easy to read and understand, (and she’s got really great photos to follow along on because I sew-by-photo).

I used “I AM NINJA” from Robert Kaufman for the sides, and some pieces from my Winterkist collection for the bottom and strap.

I kinda want to make two so I can have a pair of slippers.  One never knows when they’ll come across a bed of hot coals.

A good (and simple) excuse to practice free motion quilting.

I need to work on Oliso iron #6… turns out #5 is a leaker. Maybe #six iron’s the charm.  Not gonna give up, I love that damn iron too much. 

This ninja fabric is so damn cute and makes the iron cozy so squeezably squeezable. And because Ninja is my secret nickname, especially in a blizzard.

Totally squeezable, am I right? Up top.

Ok, I’m in.

Breaking Bad x-stitch pattern by You Make Me So Happy on Etsy. (Thanks, Amber!)

Since I’m high on the x-stitch crack, thought I’d do a practice run and make my Ron Swanson quilt pattern into an x-stitch.   C’mon, you know you want to x-stitch Ron, too. Right? RIGHT.

I really have no idea what I’m doing.

Welcome to the Zakka Along 2 to celebrate Ayumi’s Patchwork Please! book! My turn on the Zakka Along is making the Happy Hexagon Trivet. My heart feels likes it’s squeezing as I look at all the beautiful photos of the projects in Ayumi’s book. Patchwork Please! is a smorgasbord of yummy projects for every taste, every occasion and every skill level. I love Ayumi and I love her all projects.  And of course I love Ayumi’s lunch bag pattern - it’s only a matter of weeks and I’ll be on my one dozen’th one.

For my Happy Hexagon trivet I chose some fabrics from a cute Kawaii roll I got from Bunny’s Designs and paired it with some Robert Kaufman’s Essex Yarn Dyed (in Flax). Like mac n cheese, the two play so beautifully together. But then E V E R Y T H I N G plays beautifully with Essex!  For the center piece I made my own pieced unit so I could use the little scrap of monkey I had.   I chose to use the freezer paper method (which I learned how to do when I made my Treat Yo Self quilt from the Refrigerator Magnets Quilt Blocks pattern by Elizabeth) to make the trivet.  By using the freezer paper, I was able to get my fussy cuts just perfect.  Iron over what I wanted visible, and then trim it ¼” past the paper’s edge.  Brilliant.

When I got to the Essex round, I stitched on large scraps, pressed…

…and then pressed on the freezer paper and lobbed off the fabric at  ¼” past the paper’s edge.

Next round I did the same thing - pressed my freezer paper on to my fabric to fussy cut, and then cut ¼” past the paper’s edge, and then joined it to the hexagon.

After the yellow round, I did the same method as the previous round with Essex - stitched on, press freezer paper on, and then trim.

Rinse. Lather. Repeat. Bind.

I finished the trivet with some hand quilting.

GIVEAWAY #1
I have some fabulous goodies for my giveaway furnished to me by Robert Kaufman, Form & Fabric, Pellon and Aurifil
Robert Kaufman: Four half-yards of Essex Yarn Dyed
Form & Fabric: Bundle of sunshiny fabrics plus some their signature kick-ass stickers
Pellon: Sampler “color cards” of their batting and interfacing products
Aurifil: Thread, thread, glorious thread

Just leave a comment below and I’ll have random.org draw a winner on Thursday, August 22, 2013 around noon ish PST.

GIVEAWAY #2
Want to join in on the Zakka Along 2? Want to win some cool stuff? Be sure to visit A Quilter’s Table for the Zakka Along 2 for the link-up info and to enter for a Kawaii roll from Bunny’s Designs and other great prizes.

Want to zakka along, too?  You can join in the fun at the Zakka Along 2 flickr group here.  Check out the Zakka Along 2 tour’s past, present and future:

.June 3: Penny of Sew Take a Hike –> Bell Pepper Coasters
.June 10:  Maureen of MC Handmade–> Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Towels
.June 17:  Anna of Noodlehead –> Lettered Tea Cozy & Teabag Pouch
.June 24:  Angela of Cut to Pieces –> Polka Dot Café Apron
.July 1:  Lynne of Lily’s Quilts –> Diamond Patchwork Placemat
.July 8:  Lindsey of LRstitched –> Yum Yum Apple Bib
.July 15:  Sukie of Sukie Don’t Ya Know –> Dino-Mite Hat
.July 22:  Jennifer of Ellison Lane –> Books for Baby Quilt
.July 29:  Krista of Poppyprint –> My Scrappy Box
.Aug 5:  Kerry of Very Kerry Berry –> Swedish Bloom Time Lap Quilt
.Aug 12:  Tamiko of Patchwork Notes –> You’ve Got Mail Wall Pocket
.Aug 19:  Monica of Happy Zombie –> Happy Hexagon Trivet
.Aug 26:  Krista of Spotted Stone Studio –> Piece of Cake Shopping Bag
.Sep 2:  Lori of Bee in My Bonnet –> Triangle Patchwork Box Pouch
.Sep 9:  Amy of During Quiet Time –> Vintage Pencil Case
.Sep 16:  Svetlana of SOTAK Handmade –> I Love My iPad Quilted Cover
.Sep 23:  Amber of One Shabby Chick –> Handy Market Tote
.Sep 30:  Debbie of A Quilter’s Table –> Sweet Trips Embroidery Pouch
.Oct 7:  Leila of Where the Orchids Grow –> Prettified Pincushion

RESOURCES:.
Patchwork Please! book
- Author: Ayumi Takahashi
Giveaways:.
- Giveaway #1 at Happy Zombie
- Giveaway #2 at A Quilter’s Table
Zakka Along 2.0 :: Patchwork, Please!.
- Flickr Group
- Hosts Lindsey and Debbie
Promotions.
- Robert Kaufman
- Bunny’s Designs
- Form & Fabric
- Pellon
- Aurifil

Edited in: The giveaway has now ended, and using random.org for comments 1-498, the winner is #212 by montse (of Spain!!) from Montse Cose Cose. Congratulations, Montseta!! This giveaway could not be more international (Japan, Italy, USA and Spain!) - I love that!!

Robin Thicke sings Blurred Lines with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots (with kiddie instruments!). Waiting for this version to appear on iTunes. Want it, and want it hard.