FO: Spun pillow

When I spotted Maritza's Spun paper-piecing pattern, I instantly clicked the buy button.

The pattern, along with a pile of orange, pink, yellow and neutral fabrics, turned into Nicke's birthday pillow! Paper piecing is so fun and gratifying, and I especially loved piecing this, with alternating neutral and bright fabrics.
Lots of favorites in this one!

And since Nicke is a major fan of all things "hearts", I added some hearts into the larger neutral triangles. I minimally quilted the center section, since there are a lot of seams.

I added more hearts on the back, because why not? I used my very favorite zipper, (tutorial is here), although I now install it with glue instead of the fusible tape.

I have a feeling there will be another Spun in my future soon!

FO: Hoot

Oh, this sweater is cute.

I mean, aren't all baby sweaters? I think the owls make it extra cute, though. I can count four friends who have babies in the oven, so I decided to knit a few wee sweaters. Here's the first:

Olias is shown for scale (and added cuteness).

I knit the free Hoot Cardigan by Brenda Lotar, and used some stash KnitPicks Wool of the Andes (color is Iris Heather). I knit the 3 month size, and although ravelry tells me it took 3 months, the knitting went pretty quickly; I just procrastinated on the sleeves. Yes, even baby sleeves are boring to knit.

Up next, the Yoked Cardigan, by Knitbot.

A few bits

Here's a few things I've been working on recently:

Scrappy log cabin blocks for Natalie

The first (of many) Lucky Stars BOM paper pieced star. This is a collection of patterns that Don't Call Me Betsy designed. The block shown is from January 2013.
Clearly, I'm a little behind.

My Scrappy Hue Shift blanket is growing. I'm at thirty squares now. I've thoroughly enjoyed each square. My newest bundle of scraps is from Rue, which I've already started to use.

I've got a local retreat this weekend, and have been prepping a few projects to work on, so I'll have more to share on that shortly.

Winner!

Lisa Marie is the winner of the Emma's Garden fabric. I sent you an email!

Thanks to all who entered, and for your kind comments on the Datura blouse.

FO: Emma's Garden Datura

You wouldn't know (because there is little photographic evidence), but this is my third Datura blouse.
It took Patty asking me to make one from her new Emma's Garden fabric line (for Michael Miller) to get some pictures. There's no good excuse, because the pattern is lovely and wearable. But truth be told, this version may be my favorite.

I love the colors Patty used in this line, and I had trouble choosing two prints that I loved best. I thought Patty's bold colors and graphic elements would work well for garments, and Hilary made this beautiful dress for the tour as well.

So, a few thoughts on the Datura:
On all three versions I've made, I sewed up the back button panel, so that it's just a decorative element.

But I do love the buttons, from my grandmother's stash!
I didn't do a collar on this one, and it's such a a nice, simple look.

I also LOVE this ribbon I found in my grandmother's stash, which I used to finish the hem.

If you'd like to make your own Datura blouse, or something similar, Patty is sharing a little free fabric today!

You can win 2 yards of your favorite prints (two one-yard cuts, or one two-yard cut)!

Just leave a comment (only one!), and tell us your favorite ice cream flavor.
You can also tell us which print (or prints) you would pick! The link to the prints is here.
As always, if you are a no-reply commenter, please leave an email address for me to contact you! I'll pick a winner on Tuesday!

I'm near the end of the blog tour, but you should check out the other posts! You can still enter giveaways on some of them!

8/7 - Michael Miller's website  www.makingitfun.blogspot.com

8/8 - Hilary - youngtexanmama

8/9 - Karri - karriofberries

8/10 - Felice - sewscatterbrained

8/11 - Sally - sallysangelworks

8/12 - Liz - www.fatchickquilts

8/13 - Julia - starsandsunshine

8/14 - Jacey - jaceycraft.blogspot

8/15 - Sophie of C'est LaVie - lescrapdesoph

8/16 - Pam - pamquiltaholic

8/17 - Patty  beckandlundy

Thank you again, Patty, for inviting me to be a part of your party!

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FO: A quilt for Mom

If you don't follow me on Instagram, this quilt is new to you.

I haven't shared it here or on flickr, because my mom wanted to be surprised with this gift. She knew I was making her a quilt (I started earlier this year), but didn't want to know anything about it. No sneak peeks! I took pictures along the way, though, so I could share them here.

I gifted it to my mom this weekend, and she loves it. She's a purple lover, to the max. She's been patiently waiting for a quilt, and I wanted to make her something really special. I love a good log cabin, but I have never made a light and dark or "lights and furrows" version. It was fun to limit myself to just two colors on this project, and yet, it is still very scrappy.

Working with several eggplant and light gray fabrics from the stash (with a few additions over the months), I started making blocks.

I finished the top (approximately 60" square) in June and it sat for a few weeks while I contemplated quilting.

I finally decided to quilt it with two threads: a dark eggplant and a light gray. Quilting with two threads allowed me to maintain the contrast of the quilt blocks.
I love the density of the quilting, too.

I used a variety of purples for the back. My mom said she loves the back just as much as the front, so it worked out well. A scrappy back is always happy!

And even though there were no tears (a mark of a good mom gift), I know she truly loves it. And I love her.