Whimsical Projects

I took a personal day off from work last Friday after New Year’s, and enjoyed it so much! The sun was shining, lifting my spirits and providing wonderful natural light.  As a part of my resolution, I was quite focused and productive in my sewing workshop.

I started out with these adorable pin cushions made from none other than my favorite – chocolate lollipop fabrics. They have embellished felt leaves for a base.

Chocolate Lollipop Pin cushionsI used Kathy’s pattern featured on the cover of this issue of Sew Simple Volume 11 to make these.  She’s that great designer from Pink Chalk Studio.  This pattern was quite similar to making a fabric yo-yo but then you stuff it and embellish to your heart’s desire. Very easy and fun to make.

Next up are my sweet cottages made from three collections of fabric by Anna Maria Horner.

Three AMH CottagesI used Linda’s pattern featured in that same issue of the Sew Simple magazine.  Aren’t they sweet?  I just love them! The pattern was easy and these are my three favorite collections of fabric (Bohemian, Chocolate Lollipop and Garden Party).  It’s about time I start cutting into them, after spending a year hoarding, I mean admiring these precious fabrics on my shelves!

Finally, the grandest of all projects for the day – my new pin cushion caddy!

Pin Cushion Caddy in Garden Party…applause applause…  (thank you thank you)

I used Anna Maria’s pattern from her most wonderful Seams To Me book.  I have been admiring this project ever since a signed copy of the book arrived on my doorstep a couple months ago, but for some reason, I was a little intimidated.  No need for that cuz the pattern was easy to follow and fun to make.  I used big pieces of Garden Party fabrics that came in my scrap bag order.

Having an entire day to sew makes me giddy!  Now I’m off to cut fabric for the next line-up of projects – a few quilts. Thanks for stopping by today.

Dreaming of Small Quilts

I have owned this book, Little Quilts, for about ten years. I always love browsing through it, daydreaming about what to make next.

It was one of the first quilt books I ever bought, and a couple of my first quilt projects were these mini-quilts that have been on our nightstands for many years.

I loved the name of this little quilt so I just had to make it: “Stars in the Snow” I like to hang this one in my cubicle at work during the wintery season.

I recently bought this newer version of a small quilt projects, called Bits and Pieces, and I can’t wait to try a few quilts.

I want to make this one because it’s called Box of Chocolates-

I want to make this one because it reminds me of our garden, with the green grass and foliage dotted with splashes of color from the flowers. It’s called One Patch Garden.

I want to make this small quilt because it’s a great way to use up miscellaneous scraps. It’s called Waste Not, Want Not.

There are 18 patterns, organized by squares and rectangles, triangles, diamonds and curves. What another sweet book!

PS – The more I think about it, the more I realize these small quilt projects (average size is 16 x 20) would make great subject matter for a swap party. Anyone else interested?