Gnome and bags

As Christmas is coming fast, I have found a wonderfull and easy pattern for a great bag, very professionally made (I mean all the details of the bag are perfects and the pattern is very well illustrated and clear). So I have made 3 for gifts plus 1 for me :-) The design is also perfect for a man bag and I have made one for my husband ( I do not put this picture now as I do not want him to spy before Xmas!).

This bag pattern named "Two Zip Hipster" is designed by  Erin Erickson and you can buy it here and visit her blog there.

I have used one of my pattern, the little gnome, for the front of my bag. This is the great thing with this pattern: you can mix several prints in one bag and also use nice paper pieced block or appliqué for the front and this way customize your bag easily. My gnome pattern is available here or there.

You still have time to sew several before Christmas, few hours are enough to make one! (I have spent approx. 2 evenings on each one).

I hope you will enjoy! 

Halloween Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Today is my day on the Halloween Blog Hop 'Something Whicked This Way Comes' hosted by Soma.
I first though about some laughing pumpkins as I love this vegetable so much - beautiful shapes and colors and so delicious particularly in soup... But I have changed my mind. I finally designed a haunted house (I like designing house blocks, I already have several in my collection and I will probably design more, I dream about a "village quilt"). I hope you will enjoy sewing this one, as much as I did!

You can download the pattern here and there.

And to complete this good day (but today is always a good day!), I add a giveaway. I offer those 2 books:
- Bundles of Fun by Karen Snyder, Krause publications
- Log Cabin Quilts with Attitude by Sharon Rotz, Krause publications

Those quilting books are particularly suitable for beginners.

To enter:
Leave a comment on this post telling me what will be your next sewing/quilting project. Make sure to leave a valid address on your entry.

Additional Entries:
Share this giveaway on any of the social networking site and leave a comment here that you did.

This giveaway ends at 11:59pm PDT on Saturday, November 10, 2012. Open worldwide. The winner will be selected by random.org and will have 4 days to answer my notification email before another winner is selected.

GOOD LUCK!

................................and the winner is...........Robin!   Congratulations!

A colored winter scarf

Scarfs are tipically the kind of clothes that have to be colorful, specially if it is a winter scarf. I had some 5" charm squares that I wanted to use for me (Matsuri collection from Connectingthreads + few other fabrics from the same shop), but you know what it is, you always sew and quilt for others. So for the first time I have decided to quilt something for me. With the end of the year coming so fast, I thought about a scarf.

I have used 32 charm squares. When pieced in triangle, your squares measure 4" at the end, so the scarf is 8" large and 64" long (enough to make a complete turn arround the neck with both ends on the chest).

A FREE PDF PATTERN FOR THIS PROJECT IS AVAILABLE HERE and THERE.

I have hesitated between flanel, fleece and cotton for the back. Finally I have used usual cotton fabric. I was not sure about the batting choice too, then I have used cotton instead of wool. Now the scarf is finished and I am pretty sure that it is warm enough. It looks like my usual quilts and I like that. It is a quick and fun project, perfect for christmas gifts. So I want to make more! For my next scarf, I think I will add a paper pieced block on each ends. This would make a more customized gift.

DIY play kitchen

How to upcycle an old night stand in a brand new play kitchen? It is more easy than it seems! This is the one I have just made for my 2 years old son.

1- Go to the flea market or in a second hand store to find an old night stand (I have found this one for $10). Also look for an old faucet, a bowl and all the other accessories. I had to buy the faucet new ($25) and I couldn't use paint from home as my son wanted his kitchen yellow and I did not have this color. So I have spent $20 more for the paint. My total budget was $70.
2- Clean the night stand and remove all the unecessary parts of it. (about 1 h)

3- Cut the holes for the sink and the oven door, and drill all the holes you will need, then sand and only after paint. (you could damage the paint by cuting or drilling after) (about 3 hours)
4- Assemble all the parts together, glue the sink, screw all the other parts and do not forget to sew a little curtain. (about 3 hours)

Et voilà! After 7 to 8 hours of fun, you have a cute little kitchen, reallly nicer and cheaper than those you can find in shops. And your little one is just happy!

You can check the numerous examples from the web (a lot of cute ones in pinterest), and also this great site that inspired me a lot: http://www.k-collection-shop.com/

Halloween Blog Hop

Another exciting event for October: The Halloween Paper Pieced blog Hop 2012 hosted by Soma Acharya. I will participate with 30 other designers. Every designer will create a free block for each day of October. I will post mine on the 27th. This is a great opportunity to sew a wonderful Halloween quilt, to participate to giveaways and to discover great designers. So much fun to come! To know more and follow this event, visit Soma's Blog Hop page !

My customers busy summer!

I come back after several silent but busy weeks. I have left Vancouver Island and moved to the continent to join the great community of Squamish near Vancouver. We are now well installed in our new house and ready for all our projects. Next month, I will participate to a great Halloween blog hop (will tell you more about it soon), and I have other exciting projects... You can learn more about those in the interview I have recently made for Craftsy here. But for now I would like to show you my customer's work. I have received many pictures those past months and will try to publish all. For today, here are some of the great blocks YOU have sewn. Thanks to all for the feed back you sent me, I really appreciate!

This is a lovely block sewn by Sewperstitious using my Coffee Time pattern.

I just love her fabric choice!

Debbra's blocks for her Farm Quilt. She used the farm set and add the Duck block.

Few other blocks, very often the first paper pieced experience. Good job ladies!

This is a great interpretation of my One Star americana mini quilt pattern, by Sarah Cooper. It is her 1st paper piecing quilt! Isn't it a wonderful job? You can learn more about her quilt on her blog.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your work!

Do not disturb...

I have let this blog without post for a while but I have the perfect excuse: I have been totally exhausted because I am pregnant! And to make things easier, my young son wakes up 4 to 5 times/night and do not sleep before 10:30pm (I guess he follows the sun... Well, I only have to wait for the winter :-)
So, no time to write, few time to sew, few new patterns but a HUGE need to sleep every afternoons and evenings too...
I am in the 10's week and hope to have more energy soon to sew more, to work on all the new patterns I have in my head and tell you about it!
Untill then, please do not disturb... Thanks for your understanding!

5 winners!!!

Thanks for all the participants, your messages are very kind and uplifting! I have decided not to have 1 winner but 5! So here are the five names selected by a random number generator. Each of you will receive a Goldilocks Set very soon by email.

1- Crafty Tokyo Mama

2- Huesei

3- Ullhärvan

4- Kathy (QQQ)

5- Valerie

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

May 21-25, Giveaway day(s)!

To celebrate the great Giveaway Day organized by Sew Mama Sew, I am happy to participate with my last Tale set of pattern (pdf file). (visit the Sew mama Sew blog to see all the wonderfull giveaways!)

Here is the pattern Set you can win:

Goldilocks and 3 Bears set of 6 paper pieced blocks pattern:

The size of each block is 10", but my pattern includes a size chart to reduce or enlarge each block to 8" or 12 ".

And I add my pine tree block pattern too, so you can sew the complete quilt as shown here:

And for those who has never sewn a paper pieced block, it is really easier than it seems so do not be afraid! I have also had a great video tuto + useful tips on my blog: here!

To enter, it's easy:

1- Just leave a comment below.
2- For another enter, let another comment telling me what is your favorite pattern in my shop

3- For a third chance to win, if you are a follower (new or old), just leave me another comment telling me so!

Please make sure you leave a email address or than an email address is available on your profile!

Winners will be drawn on May 25 at 5pm (pacific time)!!

Hello again! Thanks for all the participants, your messages are very kind and uplifting! I have decided not to have 1 winner but 5! So here are the five names selected by a random number generator. Each of you will receive a Goldilocks Set very soon by email.

1- Crafty Tokyo Mama
2- Huesei
3- Ullhärvan
4- Kathy (QQQ)
5- Valerie
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Sun Star and Cross Star

I wanted to create some abstract blocks that could produce diferent effects depending on the fabric used. I love stars so I worked with stars in my mind.

For the Cross Star, I wanted a quick and easy block that would create a lot of diferent pattern depending of the layout. I only show some of them here, you can see more on my shop. I could have named this block Pinwheel Star instead of Cross Star, as it porduce a pinwheel layout too. I like its versatility.

This "Sun Star" is designed to make various stars using scraps fabric.

Bright colors on black background produce a stunning effect, while soft colors with different colors of stars produce a more romantic or modern style. Note that the sides of the block can be "erased" using the same color as the background (like in the black block) or they can build 4 point stars between the main design like in the picture below.

A sister for Olga!

Let me introduce you to my lovely dutch doll Anneke. She is the young sister of Olga, my matryoshka doll, who is celebrating her first birthday. I wanted a cute sister for this celebration, and I think Anneke is quite cute, isn't she? It is a 10" block that can be enlarged to 12" or reduced to 8", and the pattern is available in my craftsy shop . Thanks to Julie Phillips who proposed a dutch doll as new pattern in my last month giveaway.

Happy Birthday Olga!

Giveaway Result

I hope everyone have had a nice week-end! Today I am pleased to announce 4 winners.
First of all I would like to thanks all the participants. The blocks suggestions are great and I have already worked on severl of those.
Then I would like to say that I have made a small change in the rules: I previously thought I would use a random number generator for the first price winner and choose by myself the 3 other winners. But it was too difficult to make a choice for the 3 additional winners as nocriteria was better than another...
So I have used the number generator for the 4 winners.
And before giving the names, I would like to thank Jennifer and all the designers who took part of the garden party blog hop, it was fun and exciting! It has been an opportunity for to appreciate the work of great designers that I didn't know before, and to see some wonderful designs. I hope we will have another creative event soon! May be I will set up one...
Anyway, you are very patient and I won't be longer (this post is supposed to talk about some winners, isn't it?)
So the winners are.........
.......
..........
1- Alli (B. Yazoo) - has won 7 paper pieced blocks of her choice
2- Kathy (Kathy's Quilting blog) - has won 2 paper pieced blocks of her choice
3- Cindy (Quilt Doodle doodles)- has won 2 paper pieced blocks of her choice
4- Deb (Two Cheeky Monkeys)- has won 2 paper pieced blocks of her choice

Congratulations!

Goldilocks & the 3 bears

What about a yummy poridge and a good nap?

Almost 2 months have been necessary for this new tale Set. I wanted a 6 blocks set (instead of 4 or 5 for my other tale's sets) and I have often change my mind for those blocks... should I make a block for each Bear or a family portrait in 1 block? Should I include a house or not? and many other questions... And here are my 6 blocks: the 3 Bears, Goldilocks, the house, the 3 bowls of yummy poridge, the 3 chairs with a coo coo clock on the wall, and the 3 beds. (Goldilocks and the house are available separately). Trees are also a good ingredient for this tale, and as I have already created 3 different tree blocks (for my other tales), I thought it would be better to use one of those: the pine tree. Here is my layout suggestion for Goldilocks. Isn't it a nice quilt for a baby stroller or chilren room?

I add some pict of each block separated. I hope you will enjoy!

Paper piecing tutorial and tips

A lot of sewer who have not tried foundation paper piecing think it is difficult. It is what it seems but actually it is quite easy: it requires only basic sewing knowledge like sewing a straight line. Nothing more! Here is a great tutorial made by Karen Johnson (Connecting threads). You can find many good tutorials online for foundation piecing, in movie or pictures, I think this one is the best.

I have seen several people (blogs, tuto, etc) who cut each piece of the pattern then sew in order. This is not the proper way to paper piece. It is longer plus this way the piecing is not accurate anymore. One of the great thing with paper piecing is that it allows small details almost impossible to sew otherwise, and it allows also very neat and precise piecing with crisp details. You can achieve this only by sewing through the paper.

Here are few tips and advises that I would like to add:

- Use foundation paper instead of usual printer paper: it is easier to remove without damaging the stitches.
- A small stitch make easier to remove the paper at the end, a large stitch make easier if you need to use your seam ripper. It is why I prefer a medium stitch size.
- When you choose your fabrics, the background should be contrasting with all the other fabrics of the design. If not, a part of the drawing might merge with the background and "disappear". It is the most common mistake, but when you know that, it's easy to avoid!

- Always follow the numbers (1,2,3,4...)

- When you precut your shape accurately, it is sometime dificult to be correctly adjusted to the pattern once you unfold the fabric, particularly for triangle shapes. tip: Larger pieces of fabric make it easier: they correctly cover the shapes, plus it's quicker!

- Always use large piece of fabric for the tiny shapes: it is easier to sew and you trim it later.

- For your very first paper pieced block, choose a simple pattern with larges pieces. (ex. matryoshka, barn or sweet heart from my shop are very easy)

- A cup of tea and few chocolates are a good help.

- Always have fun!

cathedral window pincussion

Few days ago, I have found this great tutorial (click here) for a cute pincussion. I had often seen those little pincussions here and there on the web and I was glad to find the tuto (Thanks Kim!). And it is really more simple, quick and easy than it seems for someone like me who never sewn a cathedral window. So this morning I have made one for my mom (but my young son has decided it belongs to him now! so...) I will make another one for my mom...and another one for me... and maybe few others for the fun!

Oh, and I forgot to show you my barn with a cute racoon on the roof! Here it is:

Garden Party Blog Hop

I am happy to share with you my contribution to the Garden Party Blog Hop, with a 0 calorie Yummy Cupcake and a giveaway! I have had a lot of pleasure to create and to sew it. The different textures (cream, cake, cup) allow many possibilities of fabrics and embelishments too. Try it and have fun! You can download this free pattern here.

Few tips for this pattern:

- a striped fabric is more realistic for the cup

- you can enhance the 3D effect of the cream by using fade color fabric or 2 fabrics (like I did in my block, see pict. below).

And if you really, really love cupcakes, what about sewing a cupcakes wall hanging with different flavors?

And to celebrate this wonderful Blog Hop, I have set up a giveaway for 13 patterns from my shop.

To enter, please go to my giveaway post here, or click the giveaway button on the right.

And visit the Jennifer's Blog to enjoy all this event and the wonderful blocks that have been designed for this Garden Pary. Have fun!

Sister, Dad and Little Iris quilts

This is a part of the last month work (other quilts are waiting for binding or batting).

The first is a quilt for my sister. She has selected the fabric to match her bedroom. It's the Hickory House collection in red by Faye Burgos (for Marcus Brothers Fabrics). This fabric is also lovely in black and white.

I wanted to sew some tumbling cubes for a while but I had no opportunity for it. Then I have decided to sew a seed pillow for my dad. You know, those pillow you heat in the microwave. Mmmmm!!!! I need one too :-) So, cubes appeared to be just perfect for him. I have used 2 miscellany prints by Julia Rothman for Cloud 9, mixed with some FQ bought in my local shop and few solid colors.

And I had a birth to celebrate! I just love sewing for babies :-)

My school friends Eva and Etienne have had their 2nd child arrived in february. A girl named Iris. I love the name! I had some Michael Miller 1930's-50's reproductions in my shelves and I have made this sweet quilt following the same pattern than for my sister's quilt. I have also used this pattern for the aviary quilt (Joel Dewberry) shown in a previous post. It's a very simple pattern, easy to do with FQ and I love the final result, whatever the fabric style used.

I do not get used to label my quilts but I did it for the first time (I wanted to add a message for this baby) and I think I will do it again. I thought labels diminish the esthetic result, I have changed my mind...



This is a part of the last month work (other quilts are waiting for binding or batting).

The first is a quilt for my sister. She choose the fabric to match her bedroom. It's the Hickory House collection in red by Faye Burgos (for Marcus Brothers Fabrics). The size of this quilt is about 40" x 70", it is a "bottom bed" quilt.

A Barn for my Farm

I am lucky enough to write this post from Mexico where the sun is shinning and the ocean just enough warm for me... and where I am still working! I can't stop designing and drawing blocks and here is a glimpse of the next set. I leave Mexico tonight - I can't stay too long far from my sewing machine:-) and I think I will sew this one tomorrow. It's a barn that I will add in a future "Farm set". Animals like cow and pig will follow and this should answer some customers requests. The Farm Set will be available soon in my shops, but the barn is already available alone (as will be the other blocks).

I am also working on a "Goldilocks and 3 bears Set" that will include 6 blocks. I just love puting a tale in pictures for quilting blocks. When I work on this kind of design, I am just leaving reallity to live inside the tale, sharing good time with the caracters in their world. It's so much fun! This tale set should be finished in about 10 days.

If you want to see a special block in my shop, you can make a suggestion here, or better in my giveaway (previous post). And you might win some blocks of your choice!

GIVEAWAY: 3 good reasons to run it!

To celebrate the Jennifer Blog Hop (see previous post) organised in April (her birthday month), and to celebrate my mother's birthday and my husband's birthday during this same month, I have decided to organize my FIRST EVER giveaway! HOW EXCITING!

Soooooo…… This wonderful giveaway is for a total of 13 paper piecing quilt bock patterns from my shop : a big prize of 7 patterns for a winner selected randomly, and 2 patterns each for the 3 participants of my choice. All the winners will receive the patterns of their choice.

TO ENTER:

You must:

1. Go to Bubblestitch Etsy shop, then comment below on your 2 favorite patterns, and suggest me a pattern design you would like to find in my shop! (1 entry)

(Optional) For additional chances:

2. Blog about this giveaway and post a link to your blog post in the comments below. (2 extra entries)

Giveaway open to everyone and will close on 30st of April. The winners will be announced the 1rst of May, at the bottom of this post.

1- Alli (B. Yazoo) - has won 7 paper pieced blocks of her choice

2- Kathy (Kathy's Quilting blog) - has won 2 paper pieced blocks of her choice

3- Cindy (Quilt Doodle doodles)- has won 2 paper pieced blocks of her choice

4- Deb (Two Cheeky Monkeys)- has won 2 paper pieced blocks of her choice

Congratulations!