Good Times with Alex Anderson

Last week I had the pleasure of chatting with Alex Anderson about my books, quilts, non-obligation sewing and finding the pleasure in quilting and the craziness of life. This first bit includes a lot about how I like to slow down and sew, and how you can too. Not to mention some gorgeousness and advice from the book.

Check it out here! And stay tuned for the second part.

Cataloguing the Scraps

So I designed a quilt. It uses 36 fat quarters but there are some leftovers and scraps. Such pretty scraps. I know people hate to see waste and overly generous yardage requirements in patterns. I do too. When I made the quilt I made a point to keep and organize all the scraps. Here they are.

They could combine to do some really fun and beautiful things. Instead of using the extra blocks on the back I kept them aside and they will be used in a baby quilt. There are all those circles cut from the back of larger circles appliqués. They could be another small quilt if appliquéd on a background. Then there are strips and snippets and trimmings. The fabrics are this Vanity Fair bundle from Dear Stella plus a lot of additions from my stash. All pretty. All useful.

Oh the possibilities!

When the pattern comes out in the Spring issue of Quilter's Connection we can talk more about the scraps - how they came to be and what I may have even done with them by then.

A Month of Sundays in Use

Thank you for sharing the past Month of Sundays with me. I've quite enjoyed learning a bit more about each of you. And I'm very happy to discover so many tea drinkers amongst us! I put together a few giveaways and take aways from A Month of Sundays. 

First, the take aways.

A Month of Sundays is truly a unique quilting book. And I appreciate all your comments about how you are enjoying reading it. Especially when you say you pick it up again and again. And as much as I LOVED writing the book, remember that you can sew from it too. There are all the quilt, of course, but there are also the 8 sewing projects. Projects that are perfect for gift giving season...

Oh yes, simple, sweet projects that will be perfect for teachers, moms, kids, families, hosts. A project that will be perfect for spending some quiet Sunday mornings together with your little ones. Projects for little adventures. Projects for sewing together and giving together. Projects for throwing a little celebration. So, even if you don't want to read the book, there is a lot there to keep you sewing.

I do hope you will be inspired not just to take back your weekends, but to sew.

When you do sew, please share your projects! Send me photos. Blog, share on Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag #slowdownandsew all the time.

Now, for the giveaways. I've got four.

A complete kit for Crossword. All the charms cut and ready for use.

This goes to: Sarah! That first Sunday she was doing this:

I loved your first book so I'm sure I will enjoy your second! I actually prefer when pattern books have stories as well. I went to church Sunday morning, and then got busy doing housework. Nothing special on, but a nice day at home.

This lovely bundle of tea party inspired fabric.

This goes to: Miggsie! These were her Sunday dinner comments:

Your brisket looks yummy! We have dinner together as a family almost every night, and the favored topics are sharing what each of us did that day, and sharing all the cool stories we each heard on NPR that day.

And two books!

These go to: Susan

For me? Coffee, please. Loved the photos of your fabric pulls. Just delightful eye candy.

And Quilter Kathy

I like all hot beverages, tea, coffee and hot chocolate in that order!

I will email all winners. In the event that I can't get a hold of someone I will draw a new winner.

Thank you so much for joining me for this A Month of Sundays. I am toasting you this morning with my cup of tea. Take back your weekend.

Slabs Meet Low Volume

No doubt about it, scraps get overwhelming at times. And other times the scraps are so inspiring and excited. This time it is the latter.

When I was working on A Month of Sundays all my scraps ended up together in one large messy pile. Then that pile moved to a bag. And that bag moved around and was shoved in different corners. I'm not sure why I felt the need to keep these all together, but I'm glad I did.

Ever so slowly I've been sewing together slabs from the scraps. It is like both my books are colliding into a beautiful mess. I'm in love! I didn't, however, want to just make slabs. I wanted to be a bit more creative, experiment a little.

At some point I read Denyse Schmidt's Modern Quilts Traditional Inspirations. Her interpretation of Shoeman's Puzzle struck me the most of all the quilts. Without a moment's hesitation I started turning my slabs into Shorman's Puzzle blocks. She uses templates, as she usually does. Because of the slabs and the proliferation of bias edges I chose a different route. My blocks are paper pieced. Each block has three seams, about one of the easiest paper pieced options ever. It was a smart choice as it is keeping the blocks in check.

Now, to find the time to make more. I've got more slabs sitting there waiting. When I teach a slab class this is the demo fabric I use. I just need a bit more time and some freezer paper patterns. I made the blocks 10'' square which means I can't print them. So freeze paper it is.

Aren't they fun?