Pieced Brain

All about quilting, knitting, crochet, embroidery, free tutorials, quilting and crafting book reviews.

Archives for May 2012

Summer

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I don't know about you, but Summer officially starts the day my children get off school. I seem to enter a new world then. There is an unpredictability about my days which can be both invigorating and disconcerting, fun and exasperating, but the boys don't seem to care. They play video games before I wake up, so they can squeeze in more time than the one hour per day allowance, eat chips for breakfast [to my chagrin], and are bored by 9:45 am. No where in my job description or marriage … [Read more...] about Summer

New Old Love

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This pic looks too red. The colors are rose, mauve, etc. A few years ago I purchased a small kit from Quilts, Etc. in Sandy, Utah, for a scrappy heart wall hanging called Old Love. Last week, during our retreat, I pieced the heart. I just finished the wall hanging, which looks nothing like the kit, as I got creative as I worked on the project. For starters, the original pattern had scallops appliqued around the heart. Those were replaced by a few rows of this awesome ribbon I found at Hobby … [Read more...] about New Old Love

Black and White + Red = Table runner!

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Back in April I posted pictures of six black and white blocks I pieced during a block of the month project. I had no idea what to do with them, as I was not inclined to turn them into a quilt. Cathie wrote in her comment that I might think of using a color to add some 'pop' to the blocks. Well, I turned them into table runners and used a red and white fabric to liven things up. The first table runner is completed.  I used black rick-rack on the long sides, and decorated the ends with … [Read more...] about Black and White + Red = Table runner!

My dream tool: stitch zapper – GIVEAWAY!

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This post is for all of you inventors: I need a Stitch Zapper! Here is how I envision it: it would be as thin as a laser pen, and you point its zapping doohickey to stitches you want to undo (I don't like the word 'unpick' because to my foreign language thinking brain, it doesn't make sense! You pick out the stitches you don't like, but how do you 'unpick' stitches? Anyway...) Could you imagine how wonderful the stitch zapper would be when you need to undo quilting stitches? (I spent 40 minutes … [Read more...] about My dream tool: stitch zapper – GIVEAWAY!

Cool little bags

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A few weeks ago I won these fat quarters from Annie at Annie's Ruby Slipperz, and during our quilt retreat last week I finally had time to work with them. I turned them into awesome bags, using the Smart Bag product by QuiltSmart. Aren't they cute? They are easy and quick to make, and you can use all sorts of fun trims to decorate them: buttons, ric-rac, ribbons, fabric flowers... You sew the liner and the outer shell at the same time using two fat quarters per bag.That is it! I will fill them … [Read more...] about Cool little bags