The Book That Might Have Been

First, let me say . . . thank you.

I wish I could put more into those two words. They don't even begin to convey how full my heart is after reading all the beautiful comments you left on my blog and Instagram account over the past week. I had no idea -- truly, none -- that I would receive so much love and encouragement from so many people. It was really helpful to listen to you talk about your own struggles with finding balance (Isn't it always such a relief to know that we're not alone?), and hearing how much my stories and patterns and books have touched your lives just meant the world to me. I wish I could take each one of you out for a nice long chat with coffee and cupcakes and all the hugs. You are such a blessing to me!

I took my last dose of antibiotics this morning, and it looks like my body is slowly returning to normal after getting pummeled so badly for the last two weeks. Scaling back on all my commitments will, I hope, keep it that way. I've been dealing with massive fatigue, partly due to the medicine, but my energy is starting to come back again. This means, of course, that my typical instincts are kicking in to go-go-go, and I have to keep reminding myself that that's not the way we do things around here anymore. I feel utterly ridiculous trying to explain to people that resting is hard for me, but it really is. The guilt, the restlessness, the crazy way my mind can't seem to get off the hamster wheel when I'm lying in bed at night -- it's hard to break those habits when I've been doing life this way for so many years. A friend of mine was telling me yesterday how excited he was for me to have this chance to slow down. And I said that I'm happy about it too, only I feel like I don't quite remember how to do it. It's like trying to get on a bicycle again when you haven't been riding for twenty years. You're pretty sure you remember how this works, but you feel pretty foolish when you first get started. For so long I've felt like a slacker if I'm not being productive every single second of the day. So learning that it's okay to, say, enjoy a movie with my kids without feeling compelled to keep my hands busy with another sewing sample while we watch it is kind of a big deal for me.

I promised that I'd tell you more about the book that might have been, the one that I've been working on for most of the last year. It was going to be called Carnival of Patchwork, and I've been living with it for such a long time that it's still hard to believe that it isn't going to happen. But if you all don't mind, I'd love to share a good bit of the finished content here on my blog over the next few months. It won't be as pretty as it would have been in print, but it will be something fun for you and me to enjoy together. The book was going to be all about playing with patchwork. I wanted to give you tips for playing with patterns, fabric, and thread along with some organizational ideas for your sewing room. And then there were the projects. I probably have at least a third of them done and several in process like the EPP blocks you see in the photos above which are destined to become a pillow. I'll be sharing these with you here and there and maybe giving you the gift of a tutorial once in a while. I would love to see some of these patterns come to life, even if it isn't in the way I'd originally planned.

One of my favorite parts of the design process is pulling inspiration from Pinterest to explain the style and feel that I want for a book. Here and here are the boards I had put together for Carnival of Patchwork. I'm just crazy about these colors and design elements, and they make me so happy every time I scroll through them. When I was on there today, I actually found a whole slew of secret boards leftover from when I was mulling over potential themes for fabric collections several years back. I've now made them all public, so be sure to drop by my Pinterest page to see all the new stuff if that's something you enjoy.

Well, I've got a small stack of papers to grade on my desk, so I'd better get to it before we have our evening TV hour with the kids. Right now we're going through episodes of The Phil Silvers Show (also known as Sgt. Bilko), and it's so much fun to hear my girls giggling like crazy over an old black-and-white show like this one. I hope your week is off to a lovely start, friends!

Bluebirds on Roses Breakfast Placemats

It's not an exaggeration to say that I mark my calendar whenever I see that my dear friend Elea Lutz is releasing a new fabric collection. I've been collecting her prints for years now, and they're some of my favorites in my entire stash.

Her latest release is called Bluebirds on Roses, and it's absolutely beautiful.

See what I mean? It makes me SO happy just looking at it!

I've been going through a hexagon phase lately, so I decided to make EPP hexagon flowers which I appliqued to small round placemats that my girls can use underneath their breakfast cereal bowls in the morning. Won't these beautiful prints be a lovely way to start the day?!

I love to do hand sewing in the evenings while my husband and I relax in front of the television after a long day, and these hexagons were such fun to work on as we laughed together over a favorite show.

The colors are just perfect, and I especially love the tiny details that Elea has sprinkled throughout each print: bluebirds, kitty cats, strawberries, cherries, and of course, flowers galore. Her designs are such a beautiful cross between traditional and modern, and they always make me smile.

Bluebirds on Roses is appearing in stores everywhere now, but I have a feeling that it won't be around for long. I've already bought a little extra to have on hand...you know, just in case...

Tiny Toffee Blog Hop

My friend Susi has been making the most unbelievable paper pieced hexagons for a while now. Some of her patterns are offered free on her blog, while others are sold in pattern sets in her Tiny Toffee Designs Etsy shop right here. She's hosting a blog hop to celebrate the release of her newest set (find all the participants on this post), and I'm so happy to be a part of it today.

The Dream Big Collection includes the adorable elephant above, a swan, a pencil, flying geese, mountains, a star, and a heart. The detail in these is absolutely incredible. I love them so much!

My assigned hexagon was this little trio of flying geese. I decided to pull out my small stash of Liberty prints for this one. Each of the triangles are made from the same floral print, though I highlighted different elements of the design in every one. Making these paper pieced hexies is both harder and easier than it looks. You have to be careful because if your fabrics shift even 1/8'', it can radically change the design, but on the other hand, it's still just standard paper piecing. And the beauty of it is, you don't need much fabric to do it!

I pulled another 6 squares of Liberty for the surrounding hexagons, creating a traditional flower pattern. Between you and me, I noticed a mistake on my center hexagon after I had sewed all these together, so I made another center and just stitched it down on top of the first one, giving the finished center an almost 3-D effect when you see it in person. The entire flower was stitched down onto a square of yarn-dyed linen. I added a crochet lace border using a treasured bit of trim that I received in a birthday package from my dear friend Annabel, and backed the mug rug in another piece of Liberty.

I love this little project. It's sweet and romantic and will look oh so pretty on my sewing table. And I enjoyed working with her pattern so much that I'm scoping out Susi's shop for another set. This one is probably going to be next on my list...just in time for spring.

Mini Double-Zip Clutch: the EPP Kit

Back when I first developed the Double-Zip Clutch for my book, Sew Organized for the Busy Girl, I remember thinking, "Someday I need to try making a miniature one of these." Well, today was the day...and wow, do I love it.

For those of you who might want to try one of these, I simply cut all the measurements in half. This smaller version finishes at 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" closed, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" open. I also switched out fusible interfacing for cotton batting which I attached with adhesive basting spray. I found that I didn't need to even use the batting to reinforce the lining on the end zipper pockets; the smaller version holds up quite nicely without it.

This clutch couldn't be a more perfect size to use as an English paper piecing kit for basting hexagons. All the fabrics you see here are from Amy Sinbaldi's charming new collection Paperie for Art Gallery Fabrics, which features plenty of delicate small scale prints as well as a vintage book theme -- two of my very favorite things. These sweet prints will definitely be showing up in future projects.

This was my first time trying metal snaps as a closure, and I'm definitely a fan. I also added leather zipper pulls and trimmed it with a bit of twill tape covered in French handwriting as a final touch. There are pockets here for everything: paper pieces, basted shapes, needles, thread, scissors, and fabric. It all zips and folds up into an easily hand held package. Best of all, it only took me a few hours this afternoon to sew this up between helping the girls with their classes.

And we all lived happily ever after...

The Square Box

Every now and then I get to test a pattern for a friend, and it's always such an honor. My friend Amber has been turning out a series of unbelievably clever little boxes that are sewn completely by hand using English Paper Piecing methods. I got the chance to test out her new Square Box last week, and I absolutely love how it turned out.

My version is slightly smaller than the original pattern, finishing at just 7" square, but it's still very roomy. I didn't have fusible Pellon 71F on hand, but I made do with Pellon Peltex 70 and some adhesive basting spray which worked quite nicely. The combination of firm interfacing, hand sewing, and linen fabrics makes this an incredibly sturdy little box. I can tell that it's going to hold up well with use.

I've been needing a bigger container to hold my button collection, which had outgrown the little tin pail I was using. This box not only gives me plenty of space, but it looks just plain adorable sitting on the shelf in my sewing room. Visit Amber's pattern store on Craftsy to make one of your own!

Busy Girl Sews: Charm About You

I am absolutely giddy about Lucy's take on the Dotty Hexagon Pillow over at Charm About You this week! Instead of solids, she went with a mixture of unbelivably adorable prints, and if she lived any closer to me, I would be stopping by her house every week just to stare at it. Lucy was kind enough to share a few tips with us too about how she stays organized at her place, even in the midst of making the gorgeous patchwork projects that she sews each month. Is it any wonder why I love this girl? Be sure to stop by her blog today for a peek!

Saying Goodbye

Every year I look forward to the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition. It's not about the prizes really. It's about the challenge of taking these little leftover pieces of fabric and turning them into something new. Working with scraps is always a welcome reminder that the ragged pieces of my life can become something beautiful if I let them, but I had no idea how personal this year's project would turn out to be.

My husband woke me on Wednesday morning to say that my grandmother's assisted living home had called with the news that Grandma was unresponsive. Paramedics arrived, found that her heart had stopped, and resuscitated her. We ended up sitting beside her in a hospital room where she was unconscious and breathing heavily, not knowing whether she would last the next hour or another six months. Mom and I decided that we would spend the night with her, so I went home to pack a bag. I had decided to try a hexagon project this year with my Umbrella Prints trimmings, and it seemed like a good idea to tuck them into a sewing kit and bring them along to keep my hands busy.

I will always remember April 2, 2014 as one of the longest nights of my life. Mom and I sat together in that dimly lit hospital room, keeping a quiet vigil over my grandmother, and it felt as though we lived through a week instead of just hours. We talked and cried, prayed and listened and cried some more. I read your sweet Instagram comments to my mother, and we were both encouraged (thank you, dear friends). I basted my hexagons, laid them out in a pattern, and spent at least an hour rearranging them over and over again on a little table in the corner of the room. Mom held Grandma's hand, reassuring her now and then that it was okay to let go, that we loved her. Through it all, we saw the signs that death was coming closer. As her seizures gave way to peaceful breathing and her heartbeat began to slow down, we set everything aside to focus on my grandmother, to love and pray her through the doorway between life and death. She drew her last breath shortly after noon on April 3rd.

It took me several days to be able to pick up this project again. The feelings from that night were still so raw that I almost couldn't bear opening my sewing kit and staring them in the face. In the end, I decided that finishing this pillow might just be my own way of finding some healing and closure. I added two hexagons made from Japanese prints to the ones from my trimmings packet -- one including the word "life." It seemed appropriate. The hexagons were sewn together by hand and stitched down onto a background of chocolate brown linen by machine. I added one hexagon to the back of the pillow which reminds me slightly of a sun coming up over the horizon. The pillow now sits on the loveseat in my parents' room, a gift to my dear mother who has been amazing through all of this.

As many of you know, my grandmother moved into a nearby assisted living home this past December and quickly went downhill under the debilitating influence of dementia, but when I started sewing and blogging several years ago, she was one of my biggest cheerleaders. It was Grandma who often slipped some money into my hand when I came to visit her, insisting, "Buy yourself some new fabric, Heidi Jean!" (Have I mentioned that Grandma's first name was Jean?) She loved to send me pictures of quilts, asking if I could make the same thing for her, and she insisted on buying me a subscription to Mollie Makes so that I could keep up on the latest inspiration. I think she probably drove people crazy showing them printouts from my blog and pointing out my quilts which she had displayed all over her house. Her gifts and encouragement helped me keep this blog going, especially in those early days, and I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for her.

Goodbye for a little while, Grandma. We love you.

Directions

I was pretty happy when I found out that Rachel of Stitched in Color had selected me to be one of four participants in her latest Scrap Challenge sponsored by Julie at The Intrepid Thread. The task was to make a project using only this fat eighth bundle and one extra fabric if desired. I signed up to make an EPP mini quilt using hexagons and diamonds, and though I usually head down any number of rabbit trails during the creative process, I was able to stick to my original plan for once.

I knew that I wanted to use large hexagons and pairs of diamonds that pointed in opposite directions (hence the name), but it took me a long time to decide how I wanted to place these three rows together. After much shifting and turning and flipping around, I decided on the layout you see here.

Three of the prints were featured in large hexagons -- these have two and a quarter inch sides. I always love the way that you can draw attention to patterns within a pattern through fussy cutting, and it was fun to choose the parts I wanted to highlight in those hexagons.

For some reason I had a difficult time getting all of the quilting to show up in my photographs, but you can see it best on the back of the quilt. Please pretend that you don't see the wrinkles -- my iron kept trying, but it had trouble making headway on this stubborn piece of fabric. The background and backing of this mini is Robert Kaufman's Essex linen in natural. I thought about binding the quilt in linen as well, but I went with a scrappy binding instead, and I'm so glad that I did. It's nice to have that extra pop of color around the border.

This was the first project I've made using my new EPP case, and I'm completely in love with it. Having an organized place for every step of the process makes it so much easier to pick up a project whenever I have a free moment -- definitely a helpful feature for a mommy on the run!

I made a gift of this mini quilt to my mother tonight, and I'm so happy that she loves it. She and my dad have been incredibly supportive of my sewing. They read my blog faithfully, every post and comment, and are always such an encouragement to me. And did I mention that they just bought me a new sewing machine?! I'll have a post on that soon...

My thanks to Rachel and Julie for the opportunity to play with this lovely bundle of fabric. It was a pleasure indeed.

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday.

EPP Case

I am so excited about the project I'm sharing with you today. This block of hexagons has stumped me for weeks, as I tried to decide what I wanted to do with it. Well, I finally figured it out. Meet my new English Paper Piecing Case.

The retro library case that I made last year never got around to carrying books -- it was too perfect for holding my EPP projects on the go. But since there's only one pocket on the inside, I usually found myself stuffing all my pieces into various Ziploc bags. Efficient, but not very pretty to look at. This little organizer has been a long time coming, but I am absolutely thrilled with it.

Take a look, folks. There's a pocket for everything...everything -- paper pieces, basted pieces, scissors, thread, seam ripper, and fabric! I even zig-zag-stitched a tiny pincushion to the center of the case; I like to have a landing spot for my needle when I'm working on a project in the evenings since needles that get set down in my room have a way of disappearing and then reappearing in someone's foot. I used black yarn dyed Essex linen for the body of the case and sewed down the hexagon block on top of the outside. The inside features my new prints from Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt which I absolutely adore. I used another DS scrap for the flap and lined it with a fun Japanese print.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm going to tell you that the slot for the seam ripper was a happy accident. When I sewed the final seam around the case, I went to try out the flap and found that it was way too long. After a moment of panic, I found that by doubling it over and stitching along the same outside seam line for the case, the extra fabric made a perfect loop that exactly fit my seam ripper. (Insert giant sigh of relief here.)

If you're interested in making one for yourself, the design for this case is very similar to the Navigator's Clutch tutorial I posted last summer which you can find here on my tutorials page. There was quite a bit of bulk on the edges with the extra pocket and the extra layer of hexagons that I added for this version, so I had to go slowly and be patient. It was so worth it, though. This little case is going to be well used and well loved.

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday.

Travellin' Pic-Stitch Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Travellin' Pic-Stitch Blog Hop -- my thanks to Laura at Quokka Quilts and Katy at The Littlest Thistle for letting me play along!

While I enjoy sewing, my husband's passion is gardening, and there's nothing he loves more than a visit to one of the many garden spots we have here in Southern California. A few weeks ago we took the girls to the Fullerton Arboretum, and while they had fun inspecting a small grove of fruit trees, I wandered around taking pictures...

Near the Pond

Desert Garden

Turtle By the Waterfall

It was a hard decision, but I finally chose the waterfall, a sight you can see as you cross a little bridge into the park. Look closely at the rock in the middle of the water at the bottom -- there's a turtle sunning himself in the 107 degree heat that plagued us that afternoon. Needless to say, it wasn't a long visit that day...

Here's the color palette generated by the Palette Builder at Play Crafts -- a genius tool, if there ever was one. I love that combination of colors on the right...so restful.

I started out with a pretty large stack of prints, which I narrowed down to a smaller selection, and even one of these got tossed out by the time I was finished.

Katy's Spring Carnival block was the source of my pattern pieces, and after playing around with them for a few days, I came up with this design which I'm calling "Turtle Cove."

I like the way the center of the block suggests the shape of a turtle, and I love the text prints scattered throughout the entire piece. That bird cage at the top is one of my favorites.

A pillow cover seemed like the best place for this block to land, and I put one together a few days ago, after which it was quickly hijacked by my three daughters who insisted that they each get a turn to snuggle with it. Obviously I need to do this more often.

Do stop by Pins and Bobbins to see Chelsea's sweet tea towel design from yesterday, and visit Erin at Missy Mac Creations tomorrow for Donktober madness, this time with a Travellin' Pic-Stitch spin.

You can read up on all the details of the blog hop here, including the list of amazing sponsors who are making all this possible. Remember that you too can join in on the fun if you link up a block of your own on November 30th.

Enjoy your weekend!