i have to say...

it's so much easier...

...to eat right when the weather is nice and warm.  Fruits and veggies just sound good when the sun is shining.

I made this lovely salad a couple of days ago, and will be making it frequently this season.  So yummy and good for me!

Here are a couple of recipes that I want to try soon:

***Mediterranean Chicken Kebab Salad

***Skinny Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

***Chopped Salad with Creamy Vinaigrette Dressing

One more thing: Is anyone interested in taking Heather's Online Vegan Workshop?  She has a 2-for-1 special right now and I would love to sign up.  Anyone want to split the tuition with me?

Have a lovely day!

 

progress halted

You know, I love when things work right.

Things like the computer, my cell phone and, of course, my sewing-machine.

My machine has been giving me some trouble when I have tried to machine-quilt over the last couple of months. I keep thinking that the problem will go away (silly me!), but it's sticking around.  

My next step is a Janome walking foot.  Apparently the universal ones don't always do the trick.

If that doesn't work, the sewing-machine repair shop is in order, but they have a 2-3 week waiting list.

This means that this little mini will have to wait a little longer than I had planned.

And since this is next month's sew-along project, I might be a bit late in getting this one previewed and posted.

I will let you know the date of the sew-along as soon as I know.

Do you want to make any guesses as to what this is going to become?

we have a guest!: adrianne @ little bluebell

Hi, Friends!

I am happy to introduce our guest today: Adrianne @ Little Bluebell.

I started following Adrianne's blog a number of months ago after I saw her Habitat quilt for the MQG challenge.  Her interpretation of that fabric line within her quilt has just amazing, since the fabric line itself was quite unique in style and color. I thought her quilt was great!

Since then I have been inspired by Adrianne's unique color combinations.  She really has an eye for what belongs together in a quilt!

Adrianne is the member of 3, and the president of 1 MQG, soshe  has a few things to say about being a part of a quilt guild or sewing group in your area.  Here's Adrianne:

I was very excited when Randi asked me to be a guest.  While we’ve never met in person, we’ve bonded through our blogs over fabric and making pretty things.  I bump into her a lot online where we find so many of the same things to love… kindred spirits.  : )

My name is Adrianne and I have a confession.  I’m a member of three local modern quilt guilds.  Yes, three!  And I love them all!  Let me share with you my journey from quilting enthusiast to active modern quilt guild participant.

It all began two years ago when I decided to check out my local modern guild. After already being an active member of the online community I was curious about meeting local quilters. I remember nervously clutching a quilt to share and speed talking through my introduction, holding my breath and waiting for their reaction.  I was met with smiles, a friendly welcome and encouragement to share my quilt. We spent the afternoon in a sunny room, laughing, sharing and talking excitedly about fabric, thread and quilting. It was wonderful! After visiting the other guilds in the area I couldn’t stop going to meetings.

Fast forward a couple of years; I am now the President of the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild and members of both the East Bay Modern Quilt Guild and the South Bay Modern Quilt Guild.  If it weren’t for the two hour drive on a weeknight, I’d happily be a member of the new North Bay Modern Quilt Guild too. 

“Why join three guilds?” you’re asking yourself. The short answer is my friends are there. The longer answer is I LOVE these quilters and I love getting a chance to see them in person. While each guild is slightly different there is a common thread of excitement and inspiration surrounding modern quilting. Every single member brings something different to the conversation.  And to my surprise, there are a lot of modern quilters who don’t have blogs and don’t join Flickr discussions! 

If you aren’t already a member of a guild, I highly recommend it! Visit the main Modern Quilt Guild page for a complete list of current guilds.  If there isn’t already a guild in your area, start one!  Maybe I will come and visit!!  ; )

Thanks so much, Adrianne!  

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LEAVE COMMENTS FOR ADRIANNE IN THIS POST.

You can visit Adrianne on her blog, on Flickr, on Twitter and on Pinterest.

Have a lovely day!

***All photographs are Adrianne's and are used with her permisson.

 

 

and the winner is...

...Tammie @ Crafty Tammie!

Tammie, email your mailing address to me at freshsqueezedfabrics (at) gmail (dot) com and I will get the bundle of browns in the mail to you!

Be sure to visit Tammie's blog to see what crafty goodness she is up to!  And if you are in the market for some vintage linens for craft projects, check out her Etsy shop!

Have a good day!

it's fat 1/8 tuesday!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

It's that time again!   Fat 1/8 Tuesday!

Today's bundle is called "Ms. Brown is Back".  

I love brown tones.  In quilts, I like to use them as an alternative to grey for a background. It just seems to be a richer color to me.

To win this fat 1/8 bundle, simply leave a comment in this post.  The winner will be announced tomorrow morning.

Feel free to "like" my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, or sign up for the my newletter (it's low-volume).

This bundle is available in my shop.

Have a lovely day!

 

 

we got a little sunburned...

...but that is OK with  me!

The weekend was lovely.  Warm weather, sunshine and the outdoors.

We worked in the yard, took a hike, rode bikes and went out to breakfast.

Good times.

I am so happy the winter-y days are behind us (mostly!).

It's nice to be thinking of gardening and summer activities.

Sunshine on my face just feels right!

What about you?  How was your weekend?

sale of the week--a stitch in color!

This week Malka Dubrawsky's A Stitch in Color is on sale at 20% off!  This color-saturated line is bright, bold and lovely, and just waiting to be stitched up by you!

Have a great day!

shop notes: chevrons and dots

A bunch of chevrons and dots have arrived in the shop!

Riley Blake chevrons are perfect for all of your crafty sewing projects, and they are available in some great colors!

I also added some great Michael Miller Dumb Dots which are great as basics in any quilt!

Have a lovely weekend!

 

sew along with me!: zippered pouch (part four--patchwork)

Let's add some patchwork to your pouch!

This is my favorite variation!  And this is the pouch that I use now.  I take it on Tuesdays when I volunteer at a place that has no room for my purse anywhere, so I take my phone, keys and lip balm with me in my pouch.  It fits in the storage area.

With patchwork you can use a bunch of different prints (use quilting-weight cottons) or just a couple of your favorites. It's really up to you.  I gathered all the pinks, greens and browns from my stash basket and came up with quite a few different prints.

THE BASIC ZIPPERED-POUCH TUTORIAL IS HERE.

This is my pouch:

The most time consuming part of this variation is cutting your squares.  You will need eighty-four 1-3/4" squares to make this for the front and back of your pouch's exterior (you need two of these pieces):

First sew all of the rows together, left to right, using a scant 1/4" seam:  

Once you sew a row together you need to iron the seams in one direction on the back.  I alternated the ironing direction for the rows: row 1: left, row 2: right, row 3: left, etc.  This will help you to avoid bulky seams.

Once all of your rows are sewn, you will join them top to bottom, matching up the patchwork square seams.  A little bit of "stretching" will help if some of your seams don't match perfectly.  Also, machine-quilting helps to find little imperfections.

This is what you will end up with:

Once you have trimmed your threads, lay your patchwork exterior pieces on top of the batting or fleece and pin with safety pins:

Machine-quilt as desired.  I quilted a little less than 1/4" away on the right side of each seam.  I felt that more quilting would have been too much for the tiny pieces:

Finished front:

Finished back:

Now you proceed with the basic tutorial.

Happy sewing, friends!

sew along with me!: zippered pouch (part three--add a little applique)

So you want to add a little  bit of applique to your pouch?

Believe me, it's very simple!

I actually feel funny calling this a tutorial. It's more of a "this-is-how-I-did-it" post.  It took me just a few minutes of extra work to create a little picture from fabric, and then I resumed the tutorial as usual.

CLICK HERE FOR THE BASIC ZIPPERED-POUCH TUTORIAL.

Let me show you how!

 

First I found a house template that I liked (I initially cut it out to use for a pincushion), but I changed my mind when the pouch came along.  I cut out Jo's house front (see the 2nd photo down in the post) and I added my own windows and a door.  Ric-rac seemed fun for the roof line.

I pinned everything in place on top of the house:

And then I did some stitching.  As you can see this is spontaneous and imperfect, but I wasn't going for anything more than that:

Then you take your applique and pin it onto the exterior pouch front, which is on top of the batting or fleece:

And do some simple sewing around that to tack it down:

For the other exterior piece simply lay that on top of a piece of batting:

And sew a basting stitch all the way around, close to the edge (this is done in the basic tutorial also):

From here you simply continue on with the tutorial by adding the zipper.

You can use any shape for your applique.  Maybe some letters for someone's name, or circles for polka dots.  It's all up to you!

Please let me know if you have any questions!

And remember, there are other ways to do this.  I just wanted to show you what I did.

Happy sewing!