Flags on a Stick...

First things first,a Big Thank you to Madame Samm of Sew We quilt for all the behind the scenes hard work,as well as lining up the fabulous Sponsors for this hop.    Speaking of Sponsors they are... Flags on a Stick & Flag-outlet.com  Also Thank You to Thearica of Pig Tales and Quilts for being such a wonderful Cheerleader on this hop.

When thinking of what fabric to use for my new flag,I spotted a kit from a class at Fabric Fest last September.  The kit was from Sue Daley and featured the fabrics in the above hexie flowers.  In the class we learned how to make hexies.  I never really intended to make the wall hanging made up of a gazillion little 1/2" hexies,but I did want to learn how to make them...

So I used the fabrics from the kit to make my little flag.  I folded the white piece of fabric in half,sewed all around the edges,leaving a opening for turning.  Turned  the fabric,pressed,and stitched all around the edge again closing the opening.  I folded the top edge down 1 1/2 inches to the backside to make the opening for the flag pole.  (Measurements 18"x12 1/2" finished)

Sewed the three little hexie flowers,which took me a long time...The gathered piece of fabric between the  watering can and the pinwheel blocks was added from my stash.  I gathered it before attaching it to the flag.  Steam-A-Seam was used to attach the watering can to the background,then I used a zigzag stitch all around the outline.

I added a few more hexie's to make a mosaic on the watering can,and a butterfly on the handle.  Which you can just make out,because it blends in so well.  Although the snow is gone,we still do not have a speck of green here yet.  So the photos were taken at the edge of my rock garden,facing the street instead of facing the garden.  (I do live in the Rocky MT's,so rocks are rather appropriate I think)

A closer photo inside so you can see the butterfly and the gathered fabric (it has tiny red tulips on it).  I loosely followed a pattern from the Current Quilts & More magazine  for my flag.  Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the one in the magazine.

A little something for one of you lucky hoppers!  This is the project from the class,since I will not be making this I thought you might like it.  Of course the fabric is not included,but I will add in at least a couple of FQ's to go with the booklet.

Be sure to leave me a way to contact you if you are a "No Reply Blogger"

Okay,off you go to see what these other Talented Ladies have sewn up!

March 28th

How arT you?

Just Let Me Quilt

Robin's Fabric Nest

Patchouli Moon Studio

CeLynn's Sunflower Patch(you are here)

Ravelly1

In Stitches and Seams

Triangle QAL Week 1 (fabric picks)

Have you heard about the...

Paula over at The Sassy Quilter is hosting  it,and I have jumped in!  At the beginning of the year I was pretty good at limiting myself on projects.  But this month I have gone a bit over board with a bunch of new ones.  Yikes!!! I am blaming it on the lack of warmer "spring"weather ;)

My fabric pulled for the TQA is a bundle of Nordika and a bundle of coordinating solids.  I am 6 FQ's short though,so will have to either buy a few more FQ's or try to find some prints in my stash to go with...wish me luck!

Linking up here:
TQA Sign-ups and Fabric Selection

Selfish sewing week 3 (30/30 Challenge)

Week 3 just flew by!

This past week my "selfish" sewing project was my garden flag.  Yes,I did finish it,however since it is also my Flags on a Stick project (button at top of my side bar) I can not show it yet.  Sorry!

I can show you this little sneak peak though :)  These flowers took up most of my thirty minutes a day this past week.  Crazy right?  Since I do not usually hand sew,it is slow going when I do.  Each flower took me close to an hour to make.  You will have to stop back by on March 28th to see the completed flag...

Last evening I embellished a dish drying mat with some circles for my thirty minutes.  You can find the  tutorial in the post below this one if you would like to make up one for yourself!

Next week (week 4) is my Mystery project!  Have a great sewing week :)!

Circle Dish drying mat (a tutorial)

It has been quite a long time since I posted a tutorial,so this afternoon while embellishing a new dish drying mat,I took some photos along the way...

You could use most any dish drying mat,or even a plain ole kitchen towel would work.(I was going to do towels to match,but need to pick up a couple first)  This is the dish mat I like to use,they are a nice compact size 16x18,and are fast drying as well.

I am using my Circle Rulers by Lori Holt for this project,but you could use any round object that you can trace around.  Plates,cups,pill bottle caps...

This is a great scrap buster project,I am using the scraps left from making my Watermelon Twister Bag.

The center circle will be made up of two different fabrics,to do that you will need to sew four squares together like the photo above.  Make sure to use scraps large enough to accommodate your circle.  My center circle is 7" around,so my square needs to be at least an inch larger.

(I know this is actually my 5" circle,so just pretend it is the 7")
What you need to do is to center the circle evenly on the square.  This is where the ruler comes in handy as it has lines and a center dot to help you achieve this.

On the Wrong side of the fabric square center your circle and trace around it with a marking tool,I just used a pencil.

You will need something for the backing,I am re-cycling a used dryer sheet.  You could also use sew-in-interfacing(feather weight) or another lightweight fabric such as muslin.

Place the dryer sheet(or whatever you are using for the backing) on your work surface.  Place the fabric square Right Side Down on top of that.  Pin to hold the two pieces together.

Sew right on top of the traced line that you just drew.  Sew all the way around the traced circle,so that you have a sewn a complete circle.

I should have used a different colored thread so you could see it,sorry.  This is a photo of the stitched circle.

After sewing the circle,I use my pinking shears to trim the circle leaving a 1/4 inch all the way around.

Take your seam ripper and make a short slit in the backing material only,Not the fabric.

Take your scissors and carefully snip an opening for turning your circle.  I like to snip an x large enough to turn the circle right side out,but be careful not to get too close to your stitch line.

Carefully turn your circle right side out.  I run my finger around the inside at the seam to help shape the circle.

Once the circle is turned give it a quick press.  Pretty :)

For my dish mat I will be using one large circle and eight small circles.  Here are six of my eight small circles all stitched to the dryer sheet.  Also all of my smaller circles are a single print.  Make your's however you like.

Pin the circles to the dish mat in a pattern you like.  You can use an applique or other fancy stitch on your machine to attach the circles,or just use a straight stitch.

Now all I need is a few dishes to wash so I can use this sweet new mat!  Hope you enjoy,and make yourself a new dish mat too.

Pantone Challenge Mini

Did you join the Pantone Quilt Challenge this year?  This will be my first time,and I am pretty excited about it!  Purple is not one of the prevalent colors in my stash however,I managed to find enough to make a mini quilt for the challenge.

Since I am also participating in the 30/30 Sewing Challenge I used my "selfish sewing time" this past week to finish up this mini,killing two birds with one quilt ;)  At this stage the #Purple mini was just sewn together,without any quilting(just the top).

The quilting on this took me quite a bit longer than anticipated,but I am glad that I decided to quilt inside each part of the hashtag/number symbol.  As it just makes the symbols stand out off the quilt.  Although it was sunny today the wind did not play nice,so the outside shots had to be snapped off quickly between gusts!

It kind of amazes me the difference in color from one photo to the next today.  Although both the photo above and this one were taken within minutes of each other,with the only difference being that this one is a closer shot,it surprised me to see the color difference from one to the next!  In the first photo you can see the orchid color in the corner and center batik blocks much better,whereas in this one it blends into the other purple shades.

An inside shot,where you can see the orchid a lot better as well as the quilting,which has me loving this little quilt more and more.  Binding is always my least favorite part of quilting,and this time was not the exception.  After sewing the two ends together at least 7 times and ripping it right back out,I quit counting...somehow I always manage to twist or turn one end wrong.  Grrr!

Well,yes,at one point I did contemplate throwing it in the yard and stomping on it a few times... however on the last attempt both ends Miraculously ended up facing the correct direction,and this little gem was saved from the throwing and stomping :)

Of course I could not just have a plain jane backing,so two extra blocks and a couple scraps  later the back was also finished.  For the first time I made some little corner triangle hanging tabs,from a scrap of purple sunflower fabric.  My very last scrap of that print,which I had been holding onto,because there was bound to be the Perfect project for it!

Stats:
size ~ 23x23
batting ~ Soft & Bright
Kona Med Grey & various prints in shades of purple