Forget Me Not Show-n-Tell Part Three

Are you ready for Christmas yet?  Not me!  The house is decorated, but I still have about a third of my shopping left to do.  Presents are being wrapped slowly but surely.  My daughter, Nicki, has begun making Christmas cookies.  I used to love to bake them,  usually making 15-17 different kinds of cookies, but I no longer have the time, and she wanted to carry on the tradition.  Win, win!!  It's been very warm here in Chicagoland.  Last week, on December 4th, it was 70 degrees!   It's nice, but my body clock says it's time for chilly, snowy weather.  Christmas just isn't the same without snow!  I hope your holiday preparations are coming along nicely for you. 

Let's take a peek at the last of the Forget Me Not quilts.......

Marilyn from Idaho

Martha from Minnesota

Mary from North Carolina

Nancy from Indiana

Patti from Texas

Patty from Illinois

Sara from Italy



Sheri from Illinois

Sue from Michigan

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in my Forget Me Not Sew~Along!  Isn't it much more fun to sew with friends?!!  I hope you enjoyed all the quilts as much as I did.  My next sew along begins in just a few short weeks.  And.....I'm already planning one for spring time that will be a bit different from the others!  More fun in the works!!

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I know many of you are addressing your Christmas cards right about now and I wanted to encourage you to remember our "Wounded Warriors" recovering from their injuries in the VA hospital.  I'm sure they would love to receive a card of well wishes and holiday greetings from your family.   If you'd like to, you can send a card here:

 

A Recovering American Soldier

c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center

6900 Georgia Avenue

NW Washington, DC  20307-5001

 

Thanks so much for visiting with me today!

 

Pam

Forget Me Not Show-n-Tell Part Two

This week, I'm immersed in creating two new fabric lines.  I tell ya...it's exciting and I'm already wishing I had the fabric to sew with.  It will be many months in production, but well worth the wait!  Coming much sooner will be two fabric lines already well into production.  One is a new wovens line and the other all cotton.  Did you know that wovens and/or homespuns are becoming very popular again?  I wanted to do a wovens line because they are prominent in so many early American quilts.
I'll be blogging about that very soon, with a bit of show-n-tell from my pile of antique quilts!

Speaking of show-n-tell......let's get started on the next batch of beauties from the Forget Me Not Sew~Along.....

Jan from Utah

Joyce from IL

Joyce S.

Judi from Illinois

Karen S. from Illinois

Kathy from Indiana

Kerry from Australia

Leanne B.

Lesley from Canada

Louise from Washington

Lynn from New York

 The next few photos are all from Jennifer G from Texas.  Jennifer sent me this photo of her Forget Me Not quilt....

Jennifer G from Texas

She added some fun things to her quilt, like this.....

 

Jennifer G from Texas



She played with several design elements and this is how her quilt turned out.......

Jennifer G from Texas

Just lovely....don't you agree??  Well....a little while later, I received another email from Jennifer that she just wasn't satisfied with the way the quilt looked....saying it needed a little something more.  So, using the scraps from her kit, she added a touch of applique, and sent me another photo......

Jennifer G from Texas

Jennifer...I think you were right!  You're intuition was spot on and your Forget Me Not quilt is lovely and unique....and you!!  Everyone did a great job and I've enjoyed each and every photo.  I hope you did, too.  More quilts in my next post. 

Enjoy your day.....

 

 Pam

Forget Me Not Show-n-Tell Part One

It's finally time to begin posting the Show-n-Tell photos from my last Sew~Along....

Forget Me Not

 

I have tell you all how I thoroughly enjoyed hosting and sewing along with each of you.  My heartfelt thanks to all whom participated, sent me comments, and to each person who took the time to email me the photos you're about to enjoy.

It makes me crazy happy to know that not only did we sew along with quilters from all over the United States, we had quilters sewing along from around the world!  How cool is that?

As you scroll thru the photos, not only did we have a nice variety of fabric palettes, but many quilters chose to set their blocks differently, added borders, and some added applique! 

I L O V E that!!

The show-n-tell will take place over three posts, and these wonderful photos don't need any commentary from me as they speak very nicely for themselves.  


 

Betsy from Illinois

Beatrice from France

Carol from Nebraska

Celtic Rose from Arizona

Christi Jo from Indiana

Dale from California

Deb from South Carolina

Debbie (on the left) from New York

Diane from Illinois



Doniene from Texas

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

Pam

 

Forget Me Not Sewalong ~ Part Fourteen

It's finally here!!  The big reveal!!  So......what do you think? 

I chose a simple setting to really showcase the sampler blocks.  The blocks are almost in the order that you made them, except block 11 is second in the quilt.  For me, it was always second, however, I didn't want you to make it as the second block because I wanted you to use up scraps for the HST's.  I wanted to balance the colors evenly throughout the quilt, didn't want all the HST clumped together, and liked the Forget Me Not block as the last block.  But...that's just me.

You have my permission (you certainly do not need it!) to arrange your blocks in any pleasing order you want.  Play with the setting triangles, too!  There's a couple of ways you can use them.  Make the quilt your own.

With my last sewalong, Busy Work, we had a show-n-tell about two months after the last post, and I thoroughly enjoyed that!  I think all of you did, too.....so let's do it again!!

 

Send me a photo of your completed quilt top.

 

Your quilt does not have to be quilted or bound!!  Please take a photo showing your quilt flat against a wall or the floor.  Include your name and the state or country where you live.  I will have a give-away to go along with the show-n-tell!  Email your photo to me no later than Friday, November 30th.

 

I'm working on the design for another sew-along, coming soon!

 

I can't tell you how much I loved sewing along with each and every one of you! 

Your comments and block photos were a joy each week. 

I hope you had fun, and love this little quilt as much as I do.

I won't be forgetting the experience any time soon!

 

Until next time....happy stitching!

 

Pam

 

Forget Me Not Sewalong ~ Part Thirteen

I can hardly believe that we've been sewing together six weeks already!  Time sure does fly by when we're having fun.  This week's sewing is easy, breezy.  You'll have this done in half an hour!

Here's your cutting and sewing instructions for Part Thirteen:

Pink Print
*Cut (6) 5 3/8" squares for HST

Blue Print
*Cut (6) 5 3/8" squares for HST

Directions:

In the usual manner, draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the pink squares.  Match with a blue square, and sew 1/4 inch on each side of the drawn line.  Cut apart and press to the blue.

Yup...you're all done!  I bet you're wondering how this will all come together, aren't you?  The wait is almost over.  Next Friday will be the big REVEAL.....I can hardly wait!  I've been keeping this a secret for a lonnnnnggg time, and I so want to share the quilt with you. 

 

Tomorrow, I'm picking up my BFF, Lynn M., and we're heading to

one of our favorite folk art shows of the season! 

Hopefully, I'll have some good pictures to share with you.

Hope you're doing fun things with your weekend....

I'll bet you'll be spending some time with your sewing machine!

 

Have fun....Pam



Journey Four is Finished!!

 

Yippee!!! I'm doing a dance of J.O.Y. because Journey Four is completely

finished!!  Each Journey is jam-packed with so much information that I feel like

I've written a dissertation, and now I'm out for summer vacation!

 

I know loads of Prairie Women all over the world have been waiting for

Journey Four to be ready....and ready it is!!

 

 

I had the best time choosing the subjects for the six historic stories.   So fun!

My, the good people who lived on the prairie in the 1800's sure had a life full of

lots of work.  I can't imagine they had much down time.  Hhmmm....seems we

can say that now as well....except whether we have enough to eat during the

snowy winter doesn't depend on what we do now during harvest time!

We have it much easier!! 

 

The front cover shows the one throw sized quilt in the collection, and the

back cover shows the remaining five do-able, affordable smaller projects.

There are two bonus projects in Journey Four as well.

 

The Prairie Women's Sewing Circle is available only through participating

quilt shops!  Email me if you'd like a list of participating shops in your state,

or a referral to a shop offering membership-by-mail! 

 

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Forget Me Not Sewalong 

 

In my last post, I gave you the last two blocks in the sewalong, and asked for comments

about which blocks were your favs, and which ones were not.  A lot of you really

liked blocks 7 & 8.  I happen to like them all and don't really have a favorite. 

I just love a sampler quilt for that reason. 

 

The winner of the contest is......

 

Grannie Smith...who wrote....I have loved loved loved making all the blocks. I can't pick a favorite but I love the fact that block 12 will be my label AND it will be on the front...I won't have to make a separate label for the back. Laurie in Utah

 

Laurie...please email your snail mail address and choose a Heartspun Quilts pattern prize!

 

You know...the Forget Me Not sewalong isn't over yet!!  There are still

two parts coming.  This Friday, you'll receive the piecing instructions for the setting,

with the BIG REVEAL of the finished quilt coming Friday, Sept 28th!!

 

Many of you have emailed me to ask if I will have another sewalong....and the answer is....

 

Yes!

 

It will be a couple of months yet....so stay tuned!

 

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The Heirloom scissors are now back in stock, and a limited number of

Fat Quarter and Fat Eighth bundles of my Heart of the Prairie fabric collection

should be back in stock next week. 

 

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I want to start sharing bits and pieces of 1800's trivia with you.  I adore

early American history, and while I'm researching stories for the

Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club, I often find tid-bits that are

fun, and I thought you'd enjoy them too!

 

My friend and fellow Prairie woman, Cheryl B, brought a bit of  personal nostalgia 

to a recent PWSC meeting.  Her mother collected thimbles, and kept index cards

with notes about the thimbles she had, what family member they belonged to, and some thimble history.  I asked her if I could share the information with all of you, and she was happy to share.

 

Cheryl's mother, Winifred, wrote....

 

Once upon a time every little girl was given a thimble for children were taught to sew and stitch a sampler at a very early age.  Most of these thimbles when found are in good condition as little fingers outgrew the thimble.  Also, girls on confirmation received as a gift a thimble -

so that she might get started on her hope chest. 

 

I have a "pudding" thimble.  It was put into a Christmas pudding in England,

and the person who got it was supposed to have the best luck all year.

 

Thimbles, or thumb-bells (originally they were worn on the thumb) date back to antiquity.  No one knows for sure who invented the first one, but it was probably someone who sewed and said "Ouch".

 

Thimbles come in all mediums: aluminum,bone, china, brass, copper, cut glass, gold, horn, ivory-scrimshaw, leather, pewter, plastic, porcelain, steel, sterling, stone, etc.

 

They are: carved, embossed, enameled, engraved, filigree, filleting (bands), gadroon(a series of raised decorative curves as adornments), hand painted, jeweled, moulded, stamped, and two-toned.

 

There are thimbles with jeweled tops, magnetic tops, open tops, razor on the side for cutting thread, needle threaders on the side and looped.

 

Wow...who knew so much could be done to something so tiny?

 

Until next time.....

 

Pam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forget Me Not Sewalong ~ Parts Eleven & Twelve

Can you believe it?  We've made ten blocks together already, and we're about to make the last two!  My, the time has gone by quickly.  I purposefully held these two blocks for last because they are scrappy....meaning that you can use some of the scraps you have to complete them.  Always fun, I think!

Important Note:  For these last two blocks, you will be making your Half Square Triangles just a bit differently.  Normally, I ask you to draw a diagonal line and sew 1/4 inch on both sides of the drawn line.  This yields two identical HST.  For these blocks, we won't need two identical HST....we will only need one HST.  Therefore, to save on fabric, please carefully follow the directions for each block. 

Truth be told, this is a nice technique to know should you ever find yourself in the same spot needing only one HST.  The math formula is: finished size + 1/2 inch.  Just remember to sew "on the line",  not on both sides of the line. 

So....let's get busy sewing.......

Here's your cutting and sewing instructions for Part 11:

Light Prints:

*Cut (9)  2" squares from assorted light prints for HST.

Blue, Pink & Green Prints:

*Cut (3) 2" squares from each assorted blue, pink & green prints for HST.


Directions:

*Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of all (9) light print squares.

*Pair each with a blue, pink, or green square.

*Sew (scant) on the drawn line.  Notice in the photo that my seam is a thread or so next to the line.  This is the same as sewing a "scant" 1/4 inch seam. 
 
*Trim 1/4" seam allowance.

*Press seams open.  Make (9) HST that should measure 2" unfinished.

*Arrange the HST units for the block as shown.  Pay specific attention to color placement of the blue, pink, and green prints.

*Sew units into rows; press seams open.  Sew rows together; press seams open.  Make (1) block that should measure 5" unfinished.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Here's your cutting and sewing instructions for Part 12:

From assorted scraps for HST
*Cut (2) blue, (1) green, and (1) pink print 2 3/4" squares.

From light print:
*Cut (1) 2 3/4" x 5" rectangle for FG unit.

From blue & pink print
*Cut (2) 2 3/4" squares for FG unit.

Directions:
*Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the (2) blue print 2 3/4" squares.  Pair each with a pink
and green print.  Sew on the drawn line. Press to the blue print, trim 1/4 seam allowance. Make (2) HST that should measure 2 3/4" unfinished.

*Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the (2) blue & pink print 2 3/4" Connector Corner squares.
Make (1) Flying Geese unit that should measure 2 3/4" x 5" unfinished.

*Arrange the units for the block as shown.  Sew together into rows; press.  Sew rows together and press.  Make (1) block that should measure 5" unfinished.

*For an added touch, use a permanent marker, such as a Pigma Micron pen, and write:

Forget Me Not

Your name or initials

The year

 

If you're lucky enough to be artistic, (as clearly I am not!), you can draw other lovely design motifs as well.

 

 

Now that we're finished with all twelve blocks, I'd love to hear your

comments about them.  Which are your favorites?  Was there one or two

you didn't enjoy making?   

 

Leave me a comment by midnight Saturday, September 15th.

 

The winner will receive the Heartspun Quilts pattern of your choice!

(Sorry, Prairie Women's Sewing Circle patterns not included)



 

Happy sewing everyone!
Pam

 



 

 



 

Forget Me Not Sewalong ~ Parts Nine & Ten

Well....we're just cruising thru the sampler of blocks, aren't we?  Hope you're having fun with them so far!!

Did you cast your vote on my last blog poll?  I asked you to tell me....what is the smallest finished size Nine Patch block are you were willing to make?  I found it very interesting that the majority of you (47%) said you would make a 1 1/2" finished block, with a 3" finished coming in second place (28%).
Hhmmm....I'll be keeping that in mind for future projects!  My thanks to all who participated in my poll!!  It's fun!

I've been busy traveling a bit, giving lectures and workshops, which allow me to meet some really great quilters....I love that!!  I also met with a bunch of my own Prairie Women Wednesday evening for a pillowcase sew-in at my favorite local quilt shop, The Quilt Merchant, where we teamed up, and made several dozen pillowcases for our local charity.  Do visit my blog again on September 13th when it's my turn to post as part of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine's blog hop all this month, all about making pillowcases for charity.  Perhaps you can take a short break from stitching your next two Forget Me Not blocks and click over to many of the other participating designers for AP&Q's blog hop.  Simply scroll down to my last post to see the list and click on the links!!

Here's your cutting and sewing instructions for Part Nine:

Light Print #1 ~ opposing corners of the block
*Cut (2) 2" squares

Light Print #2
*Cut (3) 2 3/8" squares for HST.

Blue Print
*Cut (2) 2 3/8" squares for HST.

Pink Print
*Cut (1) 2 3/8" square for HST.
*Cut (1) 2" square.

Directions:
*Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the (3) 2 3/8" Light Print #2 squares.  Match with the (2) blue print and (1) pink print 2 3/8" squares to make HST.  Make (4) blue and (2) pink HST that should measure 2" unfinished.

*Arrange the units for the block as shown. 

*Sew units together in rows; press to create opposing seams.  Sew rows together; press.  Your block should measure 5" unfinished.

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Here's your cutting and sewing instructions for Part Ten:

Light Print
*Cut (2) 2 3/8" squares for HST.
*Cut (4) 1 1/4" x 2" rectangles.

Green Print
*Cut (2) 2 3/8" squares for HST.
*Cut (4) 1 1/4" x 2" rectangles.

Pink Print
*Cut (1) 2" square.

Directions:
*Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the (2) 2 3/8" Light Print squares. Match with the (2) green print 2 3/8" squares to make HST. Make (4) green HST that should measure 2" unfinished.

*Sew (1) light print and (1) green print 1 1/4 x 2" rectangles together; press to the green.  Repeat to make (4) strip sets that should measure 2" unfinished.

*Arrange the units for the block as shown. 

*Sew the units together into rows: press to the strip sets for opposing seams.  Sew rows together: press.  Your block should measure 5" unfinished.

 

Hope you like these blocks as much as I do!  I can't believe that next Friday,

you'll receive your last two sampler blocks! 

 

Have fun stitching.....Pam



 

Forget Me Not Sewalong ~ Parts Seven & Eight

Well...I'm back from my adventures to the Pacific Northwest, and while it's so very nice to travel, it's oh so nice to be home!  I've finally unpacked all of my stuff, and I sure hope to get some time to sew over this long holiday weekend!  You, too??  Well....here are your next two blocks, just in time for those extra days off.

Here's your cutting instructions for Part Seven:

Light Print
*Cut (8) 2" Connector Corner squares

Pink Print
*Cut (1) 2" square

Blue Print
*Cut (4) 2" x 3 1/2" rectangles

Directions:

Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of all (8) 2" light print Connector Corner squares.  Pair with the (4) 2" x 3 1/2" rectangles to make (4) Flying Geese that should measure 2" x 3 1/2" unfinished.

Arrange the units for the block as shown.  The construction for this type of block is a bit different than usual, but not difficult at all. 

With right sides together, sew a Flying Geese unit to the center pink square.  Sew a seam only 1" in length, then stop.  Finger press to the Flying Geese unit.

Sew a Flying Geese unit to the top of the previous unit.  In all cases, press to the Flying Geese.

Continue in the same manner, sewing the third and fourth Flying Geese units to the pink center square.

Fold the first Flying Geese unit right sides together, and align the raw edges, to sew and complete the seam, and finish the block.  Your block should measure 5" unfinished.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Here's your cutting instructions for Part Eight:

Light Print #1 ~ for block center only
*Cut (4) 1" Connector Corner squares

Light Print #2
*Cut (8) 1 5/8" squares for Connector Corners & block corner squares
*Cut (2) 2" squares for HST

Pink Print
*Cut (2) 2" squares for HST

Blue Print
*Cut (4) 1 5/8" x 2 3/4" rectangles

Directions:

*Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of (2) 2" light print #2 squares.  Match with the (2) 2" pink print squares to make HST that should measure 1 5/8" unfinished.

*Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of (4) 1" Light print #1 squares, and (4) 1 5/8" Light print #2 squares.  All will be used as Connector Corners.

*Sew Connector Corners to the blue rectangle as shown: Make (4) that should measure
1 5/8" x 2 3/4".  (left side of photo)

*Pair a HST with a 1 5/8" Light Print #2 square as shown: Make (4) that should measure
 1 5/8" x 2 3/4" as shown.  (right side of photo)

*Sew the two units together.  Make (4) units that should measure 2 3/4" unfinished.

 

 

*Arrange the units for the block as shown.  Sew together into rows; press.  Sew rows together; press.

 

 

 

Your block should measure 5" unfinished.

 

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend! 

 

Until next time.....Pam