Britches and #quiltvsquilter on IG

#quiltvsquilter

If you're on Instagram you may have seen the posts for #quiltvsquilter where makers share a mosaic of their recent work and/or describe their style and include a photo of themselves.  Putting a face to a name is always something I enjoy and discovering new people to follow a bonus.

One maker you won't find on IG and other than a hashtag #pamrocco created to help credit and find her work is my guild mate and mentor Pam.  She generously offered a mini-workshop demo at our last Sew Day and did a demo and trunk show of her Britches Quilts.

The local thrift store does a 50% off everything on Thursdays so I made a quick trip just before and was thrilled (and surprised) to find a full palette including the floral.

Pam Rocco

Finding 98% or 100% cotton made for leaving behind some great colors in the pants that were poly or too stretchy.  Shorts and also kid pants came in great shades but didn't provide enough yardage. The idea of a quilt being durable because it's already been worn interests me.

Pam Rocco's Britches Quilts

I love the way the fading of fabric creates a natural ombre effect and the "restrictions" of size is a nice limitation.  Originally I brought a block design that required a square but quickly realized legs are more rectangle friendly!

Excited to get back at my start from class but other deadlines loom and I'm also having shoulder surgery next week which will no doubt put a damper on production!

Happy Stitching .

2018 FAL Q2 Goal Setting - My Nine

Making Prints out of Solids

Hello There and Welcome! 

If you're looking for the Online Book Tour Blog/IG Hop for Stacey Day's newly released "Child's Play Quilts" and see Butterfly Kisses revealed, you can find it HERE.  

If you're looking for the 2018 FAL Q2 Linky Proposed Goal Party you can find it HERE.

If you want to read all about what my next quarter goals are, stick around.

Stretch:  Many of these BeeSewcial 2016 blocks were hand delivered to me in Pasadena at QuiltCon two years ago. With a cohesive limited palette I thought the prompt would be easier to compose into a quilt but have been quite puzzled by the puzzling when attempted many times so far including two full days of the recent March retreat. (Roll over from Q1).

Eyes: These gorgeous BeeSewcial 2017 blocks have been staring at me begging to become the quilt they are meant to be. Top of the goals as I have come pretty close on the layout and love, love them. (Roll over from Q1)

Ultra Violet Pantone challenge: I’ve ditched the granny blocks and will make an Improv Abstraction Log Cabin class sample for a workshop being developed .(modified Roll over from Q1)

MQG Riley Blake fabric challenge: Link up is a few weeks away so this one will hopefully happen quickly. (new since Q1)

Bits Play Composition: The partially completed top from the Maria Shell workshop last weekend has the strongest pull and it has been difficult to set it aside due to other deadlines (new since Q1)

Ocean Improv: Birthday of a friend who I'm just beginning to make a quilt for. Fortunately he likes batik and improv and it will be fun to sew from stash and scraps. no real deadline (Roll over from Q1)

Color Study Bar Quilt: Tara Faughnan’s workshop. I was on a roll with many more strips already cut. I’ve raided some strips for other use so they have already contributed to finishes but is no closer to being done. (Roll over from Q1)

Nosey Kitten Quilt: Blocks and layout are decided. Jen Carlton Bailey workshop. (new since Q1)

Psychedelic: Katie Pedersen’s workshop. More fabric arrived yesterday so I can repeat similar blocks. (new since Q1)

Not officially on the list but on my radar are three Secret sewing projects:
Quilt (an absolute must)
Quilt (really should do)
Zipper pouch swap (due June)

Well last quarter I only got one checked off the list so you'll notice quite a few rolling over to the next quarter and that's OK because quite a lot of other stuff got started and finished so I'm happy.  

Linking up to the Proposed Goals linky party that is open now HERE- Won't you join me?!?  

Find out all the details by visiting the permanent FAL tab at the top of the page.  In a nut shell: Write up your Q2 FAL Goal list on a blog or on Instagram, post a picture and Link up (Just once, not individually like you did for the finishes). The countdown clock at the bottom of the linky party will show you how much time is left before it closes.  

GIVEAWAY Reminder:  

You can enter to win a copy of Stacey's new book Child's Play Quilts on IG simply by regramming a photo of the Butterfly Kisses quilt from my feed HERE, follow and tag @staceyinstitches and myself @capitolaquilter and she'll pick a winner on April 21st. 

For another chance, my blog followers can comment on her post HERE simply let her know you're popping into say after seeing my post. Simple! 

Happy Stitching, Karen

Child's Play Quilts Blog Hop - Butterfly Kisses

Butterfly Kisses

Welcome to my turn on the Child's Play Quilts Blog Hop.  I was thrilled to be invited to by author Stacey Day of Stacey in Stitches (a fellow QDADer) to participate and get an advance peak at her newly released book from C & T Publishing.  I have loved her designs and admired her talent for years. (edit: If you're looking for the 2018 FAL Q2 Linky Party it is HERE)

For a chance to win your own copy of Child's Play Quilts,follow these three easy steps! The winner will be drawn on April 21st. 

1. Follow me here on my blog 2. Follow Stacey Day on her blog 3. Comment on Stacey's blog post HERE

You can purchase a copy in her Etsy shop or at Amazon. 

Butterfly Kisses, Photo courtesy of C&T Publishing 

The book includes not only 20 Stash-Building patterns for kids but is packed full of wonderful information about Color and Fabric, Tools and Techniques as well as Maintaining your Stash.   I especially love that examples of each pattern is shown in both a cool and warm color palette. 

With so many choices on what to make including 10 Appliqué projects, I decided on Butterly Kisses.  The illustrations and step by step photos throughout the book are so helpful for visual learners like me.

Organizing parts

Because I really enjoy the step of pairing up fabric combinations, I chose to make a mine using a layer cake of Cotton & Steel Tokyo Train Ride.  Isn't it fun how different the same blocks look? Sewing late at night did not give much opportunity for process shots along the way but here are a couple.  

Blocks On the Design Wall 

For the background, I used both the right and wrong side of a blender fabric and strategically placed them to give a subtle secondary pattern for added interest and play.  I also added background around the blocks and used a four by four layout instead for a square quilt finishing at about 60".   

FMQing on a Longarm

Stacey's book is really fantastic for all skill levels too.  Did I mention the awesome section on color?  Such a great resource!  I had a great time making the quilt and can't wait to see what everyone else will be revealing throughout the next week and a half (links below). 

More Butterfly Kisses Glamour Shots

Yesterday on my way home I just had to stop for another photo shoot. The sky was blue and the temp mid-70's, my personal sweet-spot for weather. The view of New Brighton State Beach was so pretty and I did a clever positioning of the drape to edit out the many visitors here on Spring Break. 

Close Up Detail

Be sure to check out more pictures on THIS Instagram post and enter to win a copy by regramming your favorite of the five that I've shared there.  Just use hashtag #childsplayquiltsgiveaway, follow and tag both Stacey and I when you do . If I had to pick one it would be this final shot below.  

Check out the amazing Blog/IG lineup and it's only just begun.  Thanks Stacey for including me in your book hop!  

Online Book Tour Schedule:
Stacey Day @staceyinstitches April 9th  

Brett Lewis @naturalbornquilter April 9th

Cheryl Brickey @MeadowMistDesigns April 9th

Karen Foster@CapitolaQuilter April 10th (That's Me)

Cathy Mackay @cathysmithmackay April 10th

Fiona Kelly @tangledblossom April 11th

Jackie White @jackiesartquilts April 11th

Jean Jones @sew_catstudio April 12th

Reece Montgomery @reecemontgomery April 12th

Carl Hentsch @3dogdesignco April 13th

Brooke Sellmann @sillymamaquilts April 13th

Kaitlyn Howell @knotandthread April 14th
Amy Gunson @badskirt April 14th

Kelly Bowser @kelbysews April 15th

Karis Hess @themodernsewist April 15th

Sara Lawson @sewsweetness April 16th

Leslie Meltzer @lelliebunny April 16th

Pamela Morgan @sweetlittlestitches April 16th

Amy Garro @13spools April 17th

Stephanie Perrins @stitchandbobbin April 17th

Chelsea @Pinkdoorfabrics April 18th

Michelle Wilke @ml_wilkie April 18th

Tiffany Sepulveda @sewtiffany April 19th

Rachael Riechmann @sewilearned April 19th

Pamela Lincoln @mamaspark59 April 20th

Kate Maryon @katydidklm April 20th

Happy Stitching, Karen

2018 Finish Along Q2 Goal Link Up

Its time to link up your list of unfinished projects that you propose to finish in Q2 of the Finish-A-Long. We are hoping that the FAL community will inspire you to work on your unfinished projects this quarter (and throughout the remainder of the year) and to get them finished!

The 2018 FAL is hosted by a community of bloggers across the world. Our hosts are:

• Marci - Marci Girl Designs - USA

• Sandra (also Social Media Director) - Studio Sew of Course - Ireland

• Leanne - She Can Quilt  - Canada 

• Ella - Throw a Wench in the Works - USA

• Felicity - Felicity Quilts - Canada

• Karen - Capitola Quilter - USA

• Izzy - Dizzy Quilts - Canada

• Lynne - Tinking Along - USA

For those of you who are new to the FAL, it is a place to find motivation and encouragement to complete those unfinished projects that are hanging around. At the start of the quarter you post and link up a list of projects you hope to finish in the next three months, and then at the end of the quarter you link up each successful finish from your original list.

Each linked up finish is an entry into the draw for wonderful prizes from our sponsors. There is no penalty for not finishing a listed project, so feel free to make your list as long or short as you wish. The 2018 Schedule and Rules for the FAL are on my permanent 2018 FAL page, let me know if you have any questions.

Here are the fantastic and generous sponsors for Q2 of the Finish-A-Long. you can see each of their prizes listed under their logo. Please think about visiting them and saying thank you for their support of the FAL.

$50 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

$25 Gift Certificate

2 PDF Patterns

$20 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

3 Six Month Subscr.

$25 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

A Minikins Bundle

$50 Gift Certificate

2 PDF Patterns

$30 Gift Certificate

$40 Gift Certificate

So now it is time to round up those projects that you want to finish over the next three months! Take a photo of each one and make your list. Please ensure that you have at least started your projects - pulled fabric with a pattern is considered a UFO - and remember it is only finished projects that will get you an entry toward the above listed prizes. So while we love to see your bee blocks, the "finish" is when they are a completed, usable project.

If posting on social media (Flickr, Facebook & Instagram), it will be very helpful if you tag your list with #2018FALQ2yourname (where yourname is unique to you). Using the same hashtag over the quarter when sharing project progress or finishes helps the host to make the connection to your original list quickly and easily.
IMPORTANT: Don't forget to link up your finishes when the quarter closes!

The 2018 Q2 list for your list of proposed finishes is now open, below, on my blog and each of the hosting blogs. You need only link your list once, on one host blog and the link will show up on all the host blogs. If you are using Facebook, Flickr or Instagram, post a mosaic of your projects and put your list in the description. Don't forget to include your unique hashtag. Katy of The Littlest Thistle has a great tutorial on how to link up if you need it.

We also ask that you become part of the FAL community. Please check out the links of others - visit and comment on their lists. We all need encouragement to get those finishes done, so please share some of your own too.

If you want you can follow us on Facebook, Finish-A-Long and/or on Instagram, @finishalong, too. We'll post encouragement during the quarter and reminders when the finishes link up opens at the end of the quarter.

When creating your list there is one thing to remember - No deductions for not completing something so - Aim High! Nothing to lose!! Well now, get those list together and get linked up.

Feel free to use and share the FAL button above and this one too:

The Q2 proposed finish linky party will stay open until 11 pm EST, Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - as we are global, you might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link (you can also see how much time is left below the linked up images on the right.)

Remember: you only need to link up at ONE hosting blog and it will automatically show up on all hosting blogs.

An InLinkz Link-up

2018 FAL Q1 - Link Up Reminder

Popping in today for a quick reminder that the Quarter 1 Link Up for all your finishes closes on Monday, April 9, 2018, 11 pm EST. So you still have a few more days to finish a project or two and link them up to be eligible for prizes. The link up can be found HERE or on the blog of any of our current hosts.

A few reminders for linking up:

• Please only one finished project for each post that you link up, so that each finish can be an entry in the (random) prize draw. 
• Please include a link to your original list in each post of your finishes (on Instagram the link is the unique tag #2018FALQ1yourname to be used in the Q1 list post, and in any Q1 finish post).
• Please visit some of the other participants and leave a friendly comment, we all love to get those!

If you didn't have a chance to visit the tutorials that were posted as part of Finish-A-Long Tutorials Week, here is the schedule once more:

• April 3, 2018 - Marci of Marci Girl Designs - How to Link Up Your Instagram Photos to Inlinkz Via Your Computer

• April 4, 2018 - Sandra of Studio Sew of Course and Marci of Marci Girl Designs - They will be sharing a round-up of last year's fantastic tutorials.

• April 5, 2018 - Lynne of Tinking Along - Ripstop Nylon Packing Bags Tutorial

 They are well worth a visit!

Finally, we hope you will be joining us for Quarter 2 to do it all over again!! So get your List ready, the link up for Q2 Lists will open on April 10, 2018.

BFF B'Day Gifts - Kid Collaboration

Collaboration Quilt 42"x42" gifted

Well we really stepped it up a notch this time!  My granddaughter has a genuine interest in quilting and we have dabbled in projects together before.  This was the first time that she actually got to sew using my machine and I let her lead completely rather than guided when it came to designing as well.

She was going to her good friends birthday party and I asked if she wanted to make a doll as a gift.  I knew it would be quick and simple with the pre-printed fabric I had in my stash.  Usually I do the machine sewing and she does the other tasks but now that she's 4 1/2 we decided it was time to graduate to an advanced level in the process.

Serious Business

I'm lucky that she pays way more attention to where I store my notions and knew exactly where to find the stuffing.   It turned out really cute and would have been a perfectly thoughtful present BUT she wanted the doll to have a quilt.  So - I pulled out a bag of UFO parts that I had started during a QAL.  We found a center that she liked and the precuts to go with it. 

Finished Doll Quilt

It was fun to listen to her explain why she was choosing the strips, because her friend likes cats, birds, and to paint (the blue looks brush strokes).  My favorite is the binding ocean waves fabric to represent their time at the beach together. 

Designing together

With a finished doll and doll quilt we could have stopped there, BUT she wanted a quilt for her friend so we kept going!  Not only did she choose the fabrics but thanks to the roller I discovered another step that she could master and take pride in.

Did I mention the party was the very next day?  Yup.  We worked side by side the entire time.   Her enthusiasm and endurance never faltered.  Proof of that can be seen in this next picture where she literally had to hug the quilt when we found the butterfly fabric to add for a border.

Hugs and Happiness

FMQing the mini

I'm a little out of practice FMQing on my home machine now that I have use of my friends long arm but I knew I could handle the mini.

FMQing the big quilt

I used my new Juki 2200QVP for the first time for the bigger quilt and it was a dream.  I love a no-fuss machine. 

New Machine March 2018

At the party she was excited to have her friend open the present and it was adorable to watch. 

Gifting - A special handmade 

The backing needed pieced which was perfect since the aqua fabric was the first FQ she had pulled from the stash to use.   She was able to gift the large quilt during a play date the next week because it wasn't done in time for the party.

Backing, binding 

I like this shot of all the parts in relation to one another.  I didn't get a good photo of it all together but the memory of the marathon day of creating will not be forgotten by either of us.  

2018 FAL - Tutorial Week

Today kicks off "Tutorial Week," which has been part of the Finish-A-Long since it's inception.  While the link up for Finishes is open, we share some tutorials for you all to enjoy. They are varied, interesting, and usually helpful, so take some time to investigate and visit the blogs below on their scheduled day!

• April 3, 2018 - Marci of Marci Girl Designs - How to Link Up Your Instagram Photos to Inlinkz Via Your Computer

• April 4, 2018 - Sandra of Studio Sew of Course and Marci of Marci Girl Designs - They will be sharing a round-up of last year's fantastic tutorials.

• April 5, 2018 - Lynne of Tinking Along - Ripstop Nylon Packing Bags Tutorial

The Quarter 1 Finishes link up opened yesterday, you can find the link up HERE or on any of the hosting blogs. There is still plenty of time to link up or finish those projects as the link up does not close until April 9, 2018, 11 pm EST.

And whether you had a lot of finishes, or none at all this quarter, or you missed Finish-A-Long Q1 altogether, you can always join in for Quarter 2 which is taking off on April 10th, with the link up opening for your List of Proposed Finishes. We hope you will join us!

Happy Stitching, Karen

2018 FAL Q1 - Link Up Your Finishes

Can you believe it, we have made it to the end of the first quarter of the 2018 Finish-A-Long and it's time to link up your Q1 finishes.  We hope you have used the first three months of 2018 to complete a bunch of those UFOs on your lists!

The 2018 FAL has a community of bloggers across the world jointly hosting and this year's hosts are:

• Marci - Marci Girl Designs - USA

• Sandra (also Social Media Director) - Studio Sew of Course - Ireland

• Leanne - She Can Quilt - Canada

• Ella - Throw a Wench in the Works - USA

• Felicity - Felicity Quilts - Canada

• Karen - Capitola Quilter - USA

• Izzy - Dizzy Quilts - Canada

• Lynne - Tinking Along - USA

Before the link up, let's give a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors:

$50 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

$25 Gift Certificate

2 PDF Patterns

$20 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

3 Six Month Subscr.

$25 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

A Minikins Bundle

$50 Gift Certificate

2 PDF Patterns

$30 Gift Certificate

$40 Gift Certificate

For the 2018 FAL, we continue tutorial week.  Here is the schedule for this quarter so you can visit them all:

• April 3 - Marci of Marci Girl Designs

• April 4 - Sandra of Studio of Course and Marci of Marci Girl Designs

• April 5 - Lynne of Tinking Along

The 2018 Quarter 1 link for your finishes is now open below on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs - you only need to link on one blog for your finish to appear on all host blogs.

Link-up "Rules":

Add one link for each finish.  If you want to link a round up post of all your finishes, use that link to enter one of your finishes and then link the rest of your finishes separately.  Please, only one link per finish, as your link is an entry into the randomly drawn prize draws. 

Please ensure that the photo or blog post you link up contains a link or reference back to your original list so that we can verify your entry (make sure it is from the appropriate quarter, too). On Instagram, tag your photos with #2018FALQ1yourname (where yourname is unique to you), this makes it easier for us to match your finishes with your list, which also should have this tag.

Please become part of the FAL community.  Check out the links of others and leave a comment. We all need encouragement so let's applaud each other.  The 2018 FAL Facebook page is HERE and you can follow us on Instagram @finishalong.

Our hosts will also link up their finishes to share in the community but they are not eligible for any of the prizes.

The Q1 Finishes link will stay open from now thru 11 pm, EST, Monday April 9, 2018 - as we are global, you might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link (you can also see how much time is left below the linked up images on the right).  It is best to link up your finishes early and if you have a last minute one, add that one later so you don't miss out.  The prizes will be awarded as soon as we can verify all the entries and do the drawings.  We will post the winners on each host's blog.

Lastly, don't forget to start making your Q2 list as the Q2 list link opens on April 10, 2018.

2018 Q1 Finishes Link Up: