Many secrets revealed (and a link party)

Several projects finished early this month are ready to be shared!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. the SK project - traced next 2 blocks
2. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - quilting done!! need binding
   (this will be my April project for a Lovely Year of Finishes)
3. SYS2015 future projects - half way done with second block for May project... cannot share but I am super excited about it!!
4. D wall hanging -  one little block done, central panel designed!
5. B quilt - one block designed
6. Block Swap Adventure - no news from my April partner... I guess I will skip this month
7. Sewing machine cover -  no progress

The EverythingElse List:

1. Embroidery calendar - no progress
2. Animal blocks for charity quilts - paused for a while
3. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - paused for a while
4. College Days Blog Hop blocks for tote/grocery bag -  no progress
5. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
6. As You Wish -  no progress
7. Happy Halloween wall hanging -  no progress
8. Crazy optical illusion -  no progress
9. Memory quilt 2 - no progress.

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Yesterday, in this post, I shared my entry for the Pantone Quilt Challenge for the Color of the Year.

This is my little Marsala wall hanging. If you want to read more about it, just check out the previous post!
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Last week Mary, my partner for the Spring Mug Rug Swap received the package so now I can share it with you!

Patterns by Jennifer (Sewhooked)

Tea cup: sewhooked.com/harry-potter/

Butterfly: sewhooked.com/free-quilt-patterns/ (in Perennial Pleasure pattern)

Mary told me she likes tea, patriotic themed projects and the ocean, so I tried to include all these elements in the little mug rug! This was my first time doing prairie points and of course I had to make my life difficult by choosing to make them super tiny (they finish probably less than 3/4 inches)! ;) I think they turned out pretty cute: and they are scrappy and irregular like the waves of the ocean!

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Another super secret project I made earlier this month was for the wonderful Jennifer (Sewhooked).
This is what I made for her.

Stained glass wall hanging (18''x23'')

The wall hanging was designed to reproduce a stained glass piece made by her mother-in-law (who passed away earlier this year).
Jennifer shared more pictures of both works (and very kind words) in her post on Sewhooked

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Another great news is that the package of row/round counters that I ordered from the amazing Terry (Snowie44) arrived!! And it didn't just have the 5 wonderful row/round counters that I ordered, but she was so kind to add some extra cute stitch markers for me and a little toy for my sewing helper!! :)

As you can see below, Pumpkin first read the little note Terry included and then she went completely nuts playing with Fred (the Fish).

Now I am looking forward to start another crochet/knitting project to use those great little tools!!
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Finally, the little stitching that I can share, is the first block for a wall hanging for my dad: he requested a decorative piece for our house in the mountains, so I will use many "nature" inspired fabric and patterns. This is the first block

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What are YOU going to link?

An InLinkz Link-up

Winning numbers!

Last couple of weeks were absolutely crazy for me... look at the numbers:

168	blogs in the Quilting Gallery, Blog hop with Giveaways: visited ALL and commented on most of them
1 (!!!)	giveaway woooooon!!! :) @Qreative Quilts
54	followers on GFC
19	followers on Bloglovin'
27	followers on Pinterest
13	followers on Craftsy
4	new Quilt-A-Long or similar on my 2014 list (more info on those to come)
93	comments on my Giveaway post
11	comments of no-reply-blogger that I didn't put in the drawing! sorry guys but I told you to leave me your address!!
44	comments on my Black Tie Boogie blog hop post
5 (!!!)	pillows completed for my list of Christmas presents!!!
1	wall-hanging for my Secret Santa Swap completed
1000000	inspiring new blogs to follow :)

Sorry if I didn't reply to all the Black Tie Boogie nice comments!!
But I replied to all the comments for the giveaway and I got kind of burned out in writing emails!! :)
But I love all your nice comments!!

And now some good news and some "bad" news...
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The good news:

The lucky number for my Blog Hop Party with Giveaways is: 53!
Sandy @ Kids and Sewing!
I will contact you soon to get your mailing address!

But I also had a Quilt&Stitch-Test-Along giveaway going on... and the winner for that is:
BillieBee!
I will contact you soon to get your mailing address!

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The "bad" news:
Even if I like to give away things, I realized that for my Quilt&Stitch-Test-Along nobody entered an actual tested project yet :( :( :(
so I am going to revise the rules for the last final giveaway.
Originally it was scheduled on Dec 14th, because I wanted to send it to the winner before Christmas, but since there are too few new entries (and none of them are actual tested blocks, but comments/share instead), I will move the deadline for the final drawing to February 1st, 2014, to give you all (and me too) the time to actually realize some of the blocks.

If you are in US: Happy Thanksgiving break!!
If you are not in US: Happy Week anyway :)

Hokie-Dokey - Black Tie Boogie, blog hop!

Welcome hoppers!!
If you are looking for the Blog Hop party with Giveaway post, check here!
If you are here for the Black Tie Boogie bloghop, here it is!!!!


Are you wondering what is a Hokie?? I am!! :)

Ok, maybe not anyone can understand this answer... so let's quote Wikipedia "The HokieBird is the official mascot of Virginia Tech. It has been named as one of the top college football mascots in the United States"... and guess what... it's a turkey-like figure :)

So for this Blog Hop, I knew that I had to do something Hokie-related... and recently I found out the tutorial for a cute Owl Sewing Cuddy... so starting from these two ideas...

... I designed and realized my my new best friend... let me introduce you: Hokie-dokey!

He is a cute helper, that always knows where my seam-ripper, scissors and pens are!
He is taking good care of them!!
And he doesn't mind if I put the needle that I am working with in his beak...
He told me "no problem, it's hokie-dokey" :)

I put together a little tutorial (my tutorial is available here and the pattern pieces here).
It is based on this tutorial for the owl sewing buddy... but I changed both the pattern and many intermediate steps (because I didn't have the supplies, I used different techniques to obtain similar results). I also added a little loop at the top of his head because I don't know about you, but I have very limited horizontal-flat-open space in my sewing room (also known as living-room :) ) so I had to find a way to hang my helper in a place where it's not in my way when I sew/cut... and for me that perfect space is under the ironing board :) so he is now flying too! :)

If you like this little helper, give it a try... it's a really easy and quick project (if you follow my instructions and learn from my mistakes ;) )
And if you realize one of those sewing buddy I would looooove to see it so, please, email me!!!

If you like my project, leave a comment below...
... and if you want to connect with me, follow my blog with Google friend or Bloglovin' (side bar)...
... or contact me on FB

... or follow me on Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/tweloq/)
... I would love to get in contact with many of you!!
If you are new to my blog, take a look around!! There are many free paper piecing patterns (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Alice in Wonderland, Snoopy and friends and much more) and there are QuiltAlongs with giveaways!!!

And now go and check all the other great projects of the blog-hop!!
Happy hopping from myself and from Hokie-Dokey! :)

November 26

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much?

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Bumbleberry Stitches
Words & Stitches
Quilting, paper piecing and crafts (you are HERE)

Blog Hop Party with Giveaways!

Welcome hoppers!
If it's your first time here, nice to meet you! :)
If you are already a follower, welcome back!! :)

I hope you enjoy this great Blog Hop Party at Quilting Gallery as much as I do!!

If you are new to my blog, take a look around!! There are many free paper piecing patterns (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Alice in Wonderland, Snoopy and friends and much more) and there are QuiltAlongs with giveaways!!! (many giveaways are better than one ;) )

But for todays Blog Hop Party I am offering this for a lucky reader:



The pincushion is my first experiment of these kind of objects!
I got the pattern in the Travelling Stash (pattern from Amy Bradley) and I thought it was super cute!
It's not perfect, but I think she will be happy to help you with your pins in your home! :) :)

Do you want a chance to win the Miss Pinny Pincushion and the other things in the picture?

Rules are simple:

1. leave a comment below answering one simple questions: what is your favorite cartoon character? or favorite animation movie from when you were a kid (or also today)? :)
2. for an extra entry, follow me through blogger (Google Friend button in the side bar), or become a friend on Facebook, or follow me on Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/tweloq/) ... or contact me on FB and add a comment below to tell me how you follow!

Important notes:

• this giveaway is open to readers in US only (sorry about that). But if you want to follow me anyway to be updated on my future pattern release, please do that!! And you can leave a comment below too if you want, just tell me that you are not in US so I won't use your comment in the drawing!
• comments are going to be moderated, so they will not be published immediately. But in 24h I promise that I will approve all the comments that are not spam :)
• if you are a no-reply blogger, please leave your email in the comment because I will NOT publish comments by no-reply bloggers without the email (I need a way to contact you if you win). If you are worried about spam, just type your email like "tweloq [space] at [space] gmail [dot] com" or similar :)
  !!! IMPORTANT !!!
  I received at least 4 comments from no-reply bloggers and I am not going to add them in the drawing (even if I appreciate the comment, I need a way to contact you if you win).
  So if you don't receive an email from me answering your comment, come back and put another comment with your email!!!  
• I will select a winner at random on November 27th, 12.01 pm EST and I will contact the winner directly through email. But come back on November 26th because that's my day for the Black Tie Boogie Blog Hop!! :)

Disney Mystery Quilt, block 14 and much more!!

Here we are with Block number 14 of the Mystery Quilt: Wizard's Duel.

You can find the pattern in the Free Patterns section.

Have fun, and post a comment below for any question/advice/comment!

And if you tried any of the blocks, please leave me a comment below, or send me a picture of the block or publish the block on the FiS Flickr Group (or all of them :) ). I would love to see your work!!

Few updates from my week and weekend:

• Secret Project 1 (Black Tie Boogie Blog Hop) -- my post is ready scheduled to appear on Nov 26th... but the blog hop will start tomorrow!! I will post about it every day so you can see everyone's great projects!!
• Secret Project 2 (Alice1) -- status: DONE! ready to be submitted (already started using it.... I am very happy about that... and very excited to share it here... wait for Dec 1st and you will be able to see it... squeeeeeeeeee :) )
• Secret Project 4 (FiS) -- designed and waiting for feedback :)
• Secret Santa Swap -- shopping done and handmade item designed!
• Block Swap -- 2 blocks ready to go in the mail tomorrow, pictures here soon!
• Baby quilt -- Pumpkin (our cat) is using it as her favorite quilt :) but I will send it away in a couple of weeks... and then I will share the pictures here!!
• Sew Mama Sew, Giveaway day (Dec 9th) -- I want to participate and I need to prepare my handmade present :) ... still nothing done about it...
• Christmas presents -- 1 pillow done, 9 still to go :) that's going to be my Christmas present for most of my friends :)

Except from that if you want to be updated on my progresses you can become my friend on FB :)

I will need your support/voting for the Secret Project 2 soon... so I will keep bothering you about that :)



And if you become my friend in FB you will also be updated about blog hops and giveaways that I am going to offer soon!!

Weekend projects and lessons

A lot of things happened last weekend! Let me try to summarize them :)

I tested the "Dazzle" pattern for Esther (ipatchandquilt.wordpress.com) and this is the result:

Beautiful eh? I tell it to myself :) I think I did a good job in matching many points :) and this are the few lessons I learned along the way:

1. The pattern is very nice but it required me some courage because it is based on the two things I fear the most in paper piecing: weird angles and matching points. :) I try to avoid/minimize them in my patterns because of this fear. But the only way to overcome a fear is to practice and to get good at it :) and in this case there was not much pressure in the sense that, yes, I was a tester, but the final block will make a pillow or similar for me and since in my house quilting police is banned, even if some points do not match perfectly, that's ok ;)

2. The trick to make this pattern work I think is in the color choices (if you are worried about the central point). My idea was to use the same dark color for the external border of the flower (so that the shape is easy to see) but use two "interlocking" colors for the petals inside... in this way the "flowing" of a petal in the another will trick the eyes to flow around the central point instead of focusing on it :) this is the reason why I picked two colors with some contrast (yellow and orange) but not too much contrast... in this way the human eyes is not going to notice imperfections in the center (I said "human eyes"... the quilting police eyes will still see that my center is not perfect, but as said before, the quilting police is not allowed to enter my house! ;) )

3. Listen to what the author of the patterns says :) There was a tip like "Please do not try to sew it all in one go!"... and I thought "come on, they are just 12 pieces, I can do it"... well... no :) don't try this at home! :) after 6 wedges I was going crazy :) there is nothing wrong in the pieces, but they require focus so I suggest you to listen to the advice and sew 3-4 wedges max and then take a break ;)

4. Since there are many pieces to match, I tried all the possible combinations to make the points match... and I think the strategy that worked best for me was to start from the center, going up half way (or a couple of matching points), check them (if not good, you have a shorter seam to unpick) and then start from the other side and go toward the center. Since there is not much fabric in the block, I never found a case in which the fabric built up in the center of the seam... and the half+half helped me matching things much better.  

I loved the pattern, and now I am less scared of angles and matching points: just give yourself some time and take some breaks... this will solve all the issues! :)

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My July Block Swap partner (Teresa) received my blocks so I can share them with you :)

She asked for a Cactus Pot block, so I made two as the one above, but then she said that she will send me some selvages for my selvage project so I wanted to add an extra block for her. However another identical block was kind of boring for me... so I start playing around with squares and triangles in Inkscape and I designed the block below (called: "Not all Cacti are created equal") :)

I think it's a pretty fun block that matches the other, but it has its own personality :) 

She likes it so I am pretty happy about that :)

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My boyfriend birthday is coming up this week so I finished a couple of presents for him.

The first one is this "Finger labyrinth":

I designed the embroidery pattern for this block and it is now available on Craftsy. In the pattern there are different design for the center. I thought the heart was a good choice for him, but I made a flower and circle center that can be used with the same external labyrinth.

I then quilted an echo on the external side and stitched also the heart in the center. So the back look like that:

I love that fabric and I love the final effect of the quilting.

BTW, it's important NOT to quilt around the path of the labyrinth itself. Otherwise the "height" of the embroidery walls will be flattened and the goal of the finger labyrinth may be lost (since it's going to be hard to "walk" the labyrinth wit your eyes closed... for people not familiar with what a finger labyrinth is and how it works, you can read about it here. Please note that the labyrinths on Craftsy has been designed by me, and they resemble other labyrinths available on the web. However these pattern were not built to fulfill any specific requirements about angles, systems of numbers, design, etc. They are my version of the finger labyrinth concept and they are designed to fit a small square block (10'')).

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Another part of the birthday present for my boyfriend is a Toothbrush travel kit. I found the tutorial here.
And my final result is the following:

I did few changes to the tutorial: this are my advice for you or for me next time:

1. you can skip to put the bias tape at the top of the internal pocket if you cut the pocket keeping the band on the side of the towel. That saves you the seam and the binding tape, plus it adds a perfect place to add a personalized embroidery message! Because what is better than a handmade toothbrush travel kit? a personalized handmade toothbrush travel kit ;) 

2. the project is suuuuper-fast... I cut my binding (I used a 1.5'' strip because I didn't read properly the instructions ;) but I think it worked out pretty good, and WOF was the perfect length), sew the seam in the middle to divide the pocket, sew the binding on, sew the button, done! :) super fast, super easy, super cute, super useful ;)

3. next time it would be better to sew the button on the pocket before sewing everything together. Because it was kind of hard to put the button especially because  there is a seam in the middle of the pocket so you have to put the button right next to it, putting your fingers inside... and it's not very easy... possible, but next time I will do it on the pocket before :)

4. as you see above, I didn't round the upper part of the kit... but it's a good idea to try that, because in my version the two corners kind of stick out when you close the kit with the ribbon (which is kind of centered). Next time I will try the round version... and if that does not close properly, I will add two little buttons and two ribbons, one for each corner. That should solve the issue.

If you have any question/comment about this, please write me below. I would love to hear from you.

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I also finished another couple of blocks that will be in the mail this week so I cannot show them because they are a secret.

And I also prepared 3 I-Spy blocks for Sharon (for her A quilt for Blake idea), but I forgot to take the picture of those :( Anyway they were very simple and with cute fabric :)

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Now the weekend is over so it's better that I go back on my week job :)