nanaCompany

in between stitches...

In the midst of working on bigger projects, a little instant gratification is always nice.  The other day I took ten minutes out of my day to frame my Stitch Love Postcard with a fabric mat and a few buttons.  Like the look?  To make your own fabric mat, press your desired fabric onto medium weight fusible interfacing with a hot iron.  Trim to the size of the glass from your picture frame and then spray adhere it to the glass.  Insert the mat/glass into the frame.  Voila!  The buttons look like they were stitched on, but actually they're attached with double sided tape, just as I attached the postcard.

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After Valentine's Day, I received one more unexpected valentine: a little bundle of Maker fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics.  (Thanks AGF!!)  I love this line, especially the "I'm A Maker" print (note to self: need to buy yards when the line hits stores, any day now.)  And I knew exactly what I wanted to make with my Maker fabrics.  A Tessa Basket.

I kept my dimensions to about 17" x 18".  I used fusible fleece and a fairly sturdy stabilizer to make this bag strong.  I added linen dots to the bottom and Maureen Cracknell's Wild and Free arrows (another must-have print).  I lined the bag in Wild and Free 'Folk Plaid'.  This one is mine all mine and I absolutely love it.

Get the pattern here. 

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This past week I definitely felt 'in between stitches' ~ working on everything except what was on my calendar because I was waiting for fabric to arrive.  And what do you do then?  You pull out a long-lost wip from the bottom of the pile and finish it off!  What a great feeling!!  Do you remember this quilt I made for Robert Kaufman using their London Calling IV line?  That was over a year ago, and with the scraps I'd pieced a patchwork that I casually set aside.

It was such a pleasure to finish up.  I simply added the panels to either side of the patchwork, sandwiched it up, quilted it, bound it.  This quilt is 100% completely made of cotton lawn and the silky feel is pure heaven ~ I wish you could feel this.  So cool and luxe.  Perfect.

Love that London Calling selvedge, too.

Have a great week and see you soon!! 

xo amy

Valentine hearts | Stitch Love

Can I just say, there's nothing sweeter than receiving a real valentine in the mail, in the middle of a Valentines day photo "shoot".  Thank you Renee, for truly brightening my day!

And Happy Valentines day to all of you!

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Mollie Johanson over at Wild Olive has been celebrating Valentines Day all week during her Stitch Love Valentine Blog Hop.  Check out each of the stops along the blog hop to pick up free valentine critter patterns.  They're all adorable but I fell in love with this little guy...

Eek!  Sooo cute, right?  I embroidered this otter with two strands of thread.  After I'd finished the outline, I went back in and stitched at random to thicken parts of the line.  Whether you're embroidering with thread or floss, stitching a line with varied thickness vs. a uniformly even line will give you a subtle but noticeable difference.

And I love this guy so much, I decided he's going up on the wall in the girls' room.  Thank you, Mollie!

p.s. These are also the kind of fun stitchery patterns you'll find in Mollie's new book, Stitch Love.  (Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookdepository.com)

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Continuing on with Valentine goodness...

Seriously, I heart this block.  For Valentines day I stitched it up and planned to turn it into… something.  But as soon as the block was finished I realized I was in it for the long haul.  I'm going to make a BIG quilt in all the colors and I'm so excited to see the progress.  Get the candyHEARTS quilt pattern from EmilyAnnsKloset on Etsy.

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Today I have two winners to announce!!  Congratulations...

Congratulations to Susie, winner of the adorable doll quilt made by Marmalade Makings.  And if there was more than one Susie, it's the Susie who wrote, "How darling! I would give it to my granddaughter to help keep her bunny warm and snuggly!"  Thanks again to Teresa of Marmalade Makings for donating the quilt.

And, congratulations to Heidi Lyon, winner of the "Milk, Sugar & Flower" fat quarter bundle giveaway.  Thanks again to Fat Quarter Shop for that generous giveaway bundle!

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xoxo lots of love!

amy

the charm | Milk, Sugar & Flower fat quarter bundle Giveaway!

It's finally here!

Milk, Sugar & Flower by Elea Lutz for Penny Rose Fabrics has finally hit our favorite fabric shops and now you can start sewing with this sweet and charming line!

If you've been keeping up with me, you know I've sewn two doll quilts in hopes of making a pattern for a doll bedding set.  The first two quilts didn't work out for different reasons.  Well, it's true the third time is the charm.  I've finally done it!!

It's pretty and easy to sew.  And I made a pillow, too!  So, now I've got a complete doll bed set: mattress, doll quilt, and pillow.  Next up: write the pattern!

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You've asked and I've listened.  These needle books will be going in the shop.  But I'm not quite ready to hold a sale yet… gotta make some more :)

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Giveaway!!!  My awesome sponsor Fat Quarter Shop is generously offering to one of you, dear readers, this fat quarter bundle!

(If you really can't wait to get your hands on it, they currently have Elea's fabric in stock in every cut and bundle, 5" and 10" stackers, rolie polie rolls, plus yardage ~ any way you'd like it.)

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post telling me which print is your fave.  (By the way, please leave your comment here on the blog, any emailed responses will be discarded.)  The giveaway is open to all, comments will close Thursday, February 12th at midnight and a winner will be chosen randomly.  Good luck!

xo amy

Homespun

I love this month's cover of Homespun magazine.  That Kaffe Fasset block is just the tip of the iceberg on a quilt that (in completion) is really quite stunning.  And it's super cool that they featured my fabric stamps pic inside this issue...

Making these stamps was a lot of fun ~ going through favorite fabrics to pick out the cutest motifs and using up tiny fabric scraps, too.  In the end I used up pretty much all of the fabric stamps I'd made on this airmail mini for Mia ~ and I love how it turned out.  But of course the real genius behind all this stamp action is my friend Amy Morinaka of Chick Chick Sewing.  The stamps and the airmail mini that inspired mine are original projects in Amy's book, "Zakka Handmades" ~ I love this book! 

So, you see, it was truly Amy Morinaka's cute idea!

Do you remember this bag?  Probably one of the most favorite things I've ever made, seriously.  That was a project from Amy's book.  Zakka Handmades is so charming and clever with simple projects that are easy to sew ~ go get it!  

And Homespun magazine is just dang beautiful from cover to cover ~ it's at newsstands now.  International friends can order it from zinio.com

xo amy

quilt time | catch up

The quilt top for my girls is finished at last!!!  The pic above shows the quilt top when it was only about halfway complete.  (See that tiny sewing machine up there?  It sits on a shelf next to my sewing table and makes me giggle because I sometimes feel like that's what I'm sewing on ~  I am so slowww!!!)  I used this pattern and if you follow me on Instagram you've seen a lot of it already.  It's all half-square triangles and so cool.  Pinky promise I'll show it to you when it's quilted and bound.  These, here are the fabrics I used:

1 | Posy by Aneela Hoey 
2 | Madrona Road by Violet Craft for Michael Miller
3 | Squared Elements by Art Gallery Fabrics
4 | JoAnn design
5 | JoAnn design
6 | Cotton + Steel Basics, Spring 2014
7 | Yuwa Live Life
8 | Netorious by Alexia Marcelle Abegg, Cotton + Steel
9 | Patt # 237, Dear Stella
10 | BeBop Dots, Basics by Adorn it
11 | JoAnn design
12 | Juliana Horner, at JoAnn
13 | Symphony, Eclectic Elements by Tim Holtz
14 | Memoire a Paris, by Lecien
15 | Polka Dot Stitches by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Designs
16 | Precious Beginnings by Faye Burgos for Marcus Fabrics
17 | Playful by Melody Miller, Cotton + Steel
18 | Retro 30's Child Smile by Lecien
19 | Figures Numbers by Brigitte Heitland for Zen Chic for Moda
20 | Playful by Melody Miller, Cotton + Steel
21 | soft steel grey Gingham, purchased from Britex fabrics, San Francisco
22 | Littlest by Art Gallery Fabrics
23 | Dress Me, Wee Gallery by Dear Stella

Now I'm in need of a long arm quilter who can do it fast… any suggestions?

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Two things making me happy.  My sweet girl Olivia and the cutest happiest pear.  Ever.  (Made by Sedef.  Thank you dear!!)

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The spring 2015 edition of Quilts and More is out… have you seen it?  I love Sherri McConnell's Sparkling star quilt on the cover… and I'm so happy to be included in the Scrap Lab section, where three designers were given a layer cake and asked to make something fun.

I made potholders featuring my favorite motif of the moment… chickens!  Check 'em out in the mag ~ it's at newsstands now.

{ The two images above are used with permission from Quilts and More magazine. 2015 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. } 

And just so you know… I don't often make profound revelatory statements… but I made an exception for this magazine!  Lol.  (And now my husband is calling me Aristotle.)

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By the way, I also believe every mouse, doll, bear, and bunny in the house deserves a doll quilt.  Right?  This cute little red quilt (it's about 10 1/2" x 10 1/2") was made by Teresa of Marmalade Makings.  She sweetly sent this quilt and a package full of goodies for me and my girls.  Teresa and I would love to give the quilt away to one of you!

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post telling me what you'd do with this little cutie.  Comments will close Sunday, February 8th at midnight.  All may enter and a winner will be chosen randomly. Good luck and cheers!

xo amy