Maybe I Need an Intervention...

My husband and I collect quite a few things... antique clocks, pottery, postcards, thimbles, majolica... to name a few.  It's something we have enjoyed since before we were married.  

 I also happen to love pincushions.  I never really thought of this as a obsession collection because I use them everyday.  As quilters, we know that stitching involves a lot of pins and needles.  And we also know that we need to have a receptacle for these items at our fingertips at all times.  So have pincushions in several locations throughout my studio and also other places throughout the house. 

It wasn't until I gathered them together for this post that I thought.. well maybe I have the teensy tiniest obsession....

Most of my pincushions I have made myself.  Here are the wool ones.  The strawberry on the lower right is one of my favorites and sits next to my sewing machine. 

Some have been given to me by friends.  Love the shoe fabric in the one on the left.  The one on the right was given to me by a girlfriend who went to England.  It is designed after an antique cushion from Cornwall and has a beautiful brocade fabric covering it. 

These two wonky patterns use bright modern fabrics.  The long narrow one on the right is great for small applique pins. (See, I really can justify having so many pincushions!)

Some are made with reproduction fabrics and vintage lace.  I hand quilted the mini hexagon cushion, it seemed appropriate.  The little courthouse steps cushion is great to tuck into a travel stitching bag since it is so small. 

This little chicken pincushion was made from batiks.  Her little tail has seen better days!

I even have a small collection of antique pin cushions.  That little red dog pin cushion was my maternal grandmother's.  She was an amazing seamstress, but not a quilter. 

So after seeing a beautiful dresden plate pincushion on Instagram made by Hilda at Every Stitch...well what do you think happened? 

By the way, Hilda is a phenomenal quilter from Australia.  You really should stop by her blog, her work is amazing. 

And when I couldn't decide on what color to make my dresden plate pincushion... I made a red one too...

Okay maybe an intervention is needed...

I will be slow stitching today on this sweet dresden plate which will eventually become another pin cushion... what can I say?  Send in the intervention team. 

So what do you collect?

If you would also like to make this little beauty you can find a tutorial over at Sunny Day Supply blog. 

Happy Stitching!

Deb

A Little Late to the Party - RSC ScrapHappy Party That Is!

So I am a little late to the RSC 2015 for July.  Yep, you guessed it - the color for July was RED.  Love red!!

After I had finished photographing my hexies this month, I realized these looked like lips.  Don't ya think?

We don't take a lot of road trips in the summer.  The beach condo is rented for the season, there is usually too much summer traffic on the weekends, and we just like to chill.  But this past weekend we took a trip to Connecticut to see my brother and his family.  (Sorry no pics).  I got to see some family I have not seen in awhile, in particular my eldest nephew, Sean, who happened to come home for a visit. 

But a road trip always means plenty of stitching time in the car.  This was a 3 1/2 hour trip going, and a 3 hour trip coming home on Sunday.  Lots of time for sewing.
Tell me, do you stitch on road trips?
And if so, what is your favorite thing to bring along to stitch?

Applique can be challenging on the bumpy roads through NY state.... but I made due and also worked on my hexies. 

I was able to finish my Assorted Bouquet block for the A Bountiful Life quilt. I love the way this block turned out.  Thanks to inspiration from Heather at The Happy Appliquer, I am trying to use more aqua in my quilts.  (Check out her blog - her work is incredible!)  I think the flower buds in this bouquet really add some nice color variation. 

I have started the next to last block for this quilt.  More on that later.....

Happy Stitching,

Deb

Linking up at So Scrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Stop by to see lots of interesting projects in progress! The new color for August is indigo.  I need to check my scrap bin!

Hexie Update - Rainbow Scrap Challenge - June is Light Blue

If you haven't heard around blogland.. the color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for June is Light Blue. 

I discovered that I don't have a lot of true light blue in my stash... who would have known?? :-)

But I got them done with some supervisory help from you know who....

In other hexie news... Awhile ago I found that Eileen over at RobinHill Quilts was also making hexies... BIG hexies, like I was, in Kaffe prints, like I was.   These are my hexies that measure 6" across.  You can see her large hexies here. 

I suggested that Eileen and I do a swap of some of our Kaffe hexies.  After all... variety is the spice of life... and in my opinion the spice of any quilt, and it seemed like we were both on the same wavelength!  Here are the hexies that she sent to me.

Aren't they gorgeous!??  Definitely colors and patterns that I did not have in my Kaffe stash.  It's always so much fun to incorporate other quilter's fabrics into your own.   I tend to by the same colors, etc. sometimes. This was great way to add some variety!  Thanks Eileen!  I hope you enjoyed the hexies that I sent as much as I am enjoying yours!

And a bit more of great mail recently.  Eileen (no a different Eileen) sent me two quilt labels she had in her stash.  They are so cute and I can't wait to add them to just the right quilt!  Lucy particularly liked them.. no surprise there!

Aren't quilters wonderful?

Linking up with other wonderful quilters at the RSC linky party at So Scrappy.  Check out the other light blue projects.  You won't be disappointed.. I've taken a peek already! <wink>

Happy Stitching!

Deb

RSC for May - Green - It's a Good Thing!

Green!  Fresh, renewal, growth, new life..... these are the things I think of when I think of green.  And that is how I am feeling!  I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I have had a chance to even look at a blog, never mind write one.  Work has been super busy, but now that I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from me (the project I have been working on is over)  and I can get back to my stitching and my blog friends. As Martha would say, "It's a Good Thing".

So, as I said, I have not had  a lot of time lately to do any stitching.  But on a recent trip to Philadelphia (I was not driving- LOL) I was able to get my green hexies made. 

They now join the other hexies already done for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2015.  I am loving  how this table runner is coming along.  It's not all pieced yet.. but some of it is!

In other hexie news...... I have also been working on some larger hexagon paper piecing.  

I am using primarily Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  They work beautifully with the large hexagons. 

These hexies are 3" on each side.  Which means they are 6 inches at their widest point. I am making them with precut paper pieces for English paper piecing by Paper Pieces.  Lots of fun and very portable. 

As I said, earlier this week I was in Philadelphia on a business trip.  Looks like Gracie wanted to come along.  She was a perfect fit in my suitcase! LOL

Even Lucy decided it was a good place to be once I was packed!

You don't have to pack your bags to head over to So Scrappy to check out all the other green creativity going on there!  Just sit back and enjoy the RSC 2015.

Happy Stitching!

Deb

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - March is Yellow!

It's been a really busy week, plus we were away last weekend.  So, not a lot of time in blogland.  I know I have missed some posts from my blog friends and I've really missed seeing what you all have been up to.  So I will try my best to catch up!

Working on my lap in the car.

Luckily I am able to stitch in the car, so I was able to get my hexies done last Saturday for the RSC this month.  It was hard to pick which yellow fabrics I wanted to use - there are so many pretty ones!

Since we were at the beach for the weekend, I decided to lay out the finished hexies in a sun shape and use some shells and beachy decos to enhance my photo. :-)

I took all of my hexies and put them on the coffee table just to see what they looked like together.  And while they are not in the order that they will be in the finished table runner, the sure look pretty together!

Spring has peeked out from behind her parka and mukluks this week and it hit 60 degrees on Wednesday.  Yay! 

Hopefully this scene last week from my kitchen window was the last for the winter of 2014/2015.

These hexies make me just feel like Spring!!

Happy Stitching,

Deb

Linking up at So Scrappy for the RSC2015 linky party. Check out all the yellow projects going on!

Happy Little Hexies! - RSC 2015

When Angela over at So Scrappy announced earlier in the week that the color for Feb would be pink... well I was tickled pink. LOL.  In fact, maybe a little too enthusiastic.. because I quickly cut out my hexies for the month of February.  After all... it was just a couple of days away, right?

Well, I haven't been sleeping well lately.. so I was up early this morning.  I decided to make a cup of coffee and quietly sit and do a few hexies.  Before I knew it I had a line of hexies lining the arm of the couch.  How did that happen?  In a little over an hour I was able to finish all 12 that I needed.

And I was done!  Now what am I going to do for the next 29 days???  :-)

I discovered this mystery bump on the bed this morning.....

Closer inspection was needed....

Someone thinks that the 10 degrees we have this morning is way too cold....

Or maybe she thinks she can teach that pesky groundhog a lesson and show him to stay inside and not see his shadow!!!

Happy Stitching!

Deb

Linking up at Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2015 at So Scrappy.