Thursday, September 21, 2017

~ Blogger's Quilt Festival~ Entry 2

Those of you that have followed me for awhile know I have a soft spot in my quilting for flowers.  So it will be no big surprise to find that my second entry for the Blogger Quilt Festival@Amycreativeside will also have flowers.  
The funny thing is.... it too is a crossing tulip design.  My "Promenading Tulips" was one of those quilts that was design as you go.   I first designed the crossing tulips using a tulip block designed by Lori Holt.  Her design is just one tulip, 2 leaves and a stem.  I had to figure out how to make them cross.  Once all the blocks were made I then needed a plan for setting them.  That took a few days of internet searches for inspiration before finally deciding on the scrappy sashings.
The plan after the sashing was to add a simple solid white border and colorful binding.  That was until inspiration hit again.  The 3 dimensional inner scalloped border was a technique I learned from a fellow quilter.   I later found that she had learned it from the book "Just around the corner".  It was tricky and hard to do on such a large scale but the finished product was worth every four letter word blurted out in frustration, and let me tell you there were many.  The quilting was also design as you go.  It was put on my quilt frame with no ideas of what I would quilt.  Once I started quilting it I realized it would be best to take it off the frame, mark the quilt and then put it back on the frame.  Design as you go isn't the most efficient way to quilt but it is often how I work.  I seem to work better under some type of pressure.

Thanks for stopping by my little spot in Podunk!

~ Lea Anne ~


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~ Blogger's Quilt Festival~ Entry 1

This will be my first entry ever in the Bloggers Quilt Festival hosted by Amy@Amycreativeside.  I must admit deciding what quilts to enter was difficult.  So the decision was made to add my most recent quilt finish for entry one and my all time most loved quilt for entry 2.
My quilt "Sweet Sixteen" was the last quilt to be quilted.  However I designed and made it well over a year ago.  The inspiration for this quilt came from the old fashion appliqued crossing tulips design.
The plan was for it to hang in my Studio for Valentines Day.  But the overall tradition feel of the quilt allows it to be displayed all year long.  Okay maybe it's just me and my love for the quilt...HAHA!
One of my favorite design elements of the quilt is the fussy cut hearts in the center of the stars and at the top of the hearts.
The reason why I waited so long before quilting it was because I simply didn't know what to quilt.  Then one day it became very clear that I needed to keep the heart motif going in the quilting.  It was well worth the wait.

Thanks for stopping by my little spot in Podunk!

~ Lea Anne ~
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Thursday, September 14, 2017

~ New ideas, projects, fabric and designers ~

Hi-diddly-O!  Happy quilters!  Just thought I'd take a few minutes to pop in and share with you what I've been up to lately.  The studio is a buzz with a few different projects... well lets be real it's a mess, but I'm only going to show you pretty pictures.  Below is the starts of a project that popped in my head one afternoon and I just HAD to make it right at that moment.
 And here I'm putting in the last few stitches.  It's OH SEW CUTE and I can't wait to share it with you in the next couple of weeks.
I've also been cutting up my own jelly roll strips for Moda's national jelly roll day this coming Saturday.  I've only purchased one jelly roll in my entire quilting life.  They're cute but I always think...I want more of that fabric than just a 2.5" strip.(fabric hoarders excuse #1).  Moda has lots of stuff planned for the big day and you can read more about here at there website Project Jelly Roll.  It sounds like there going to be some freebies!
Well I couldn't wait for this weekend to start sewing up my strips. This is going to be a cutie of a quilt!
While digging through the stash looking for just the right fabrics for the homemade jelly roll I noticed I was lacking in a few colors(fabric hoarders excuse #2).  A quick search on the ever famous Google and I was headed in the right direction.   It must have been my lucky day because found this discontinued Lakehouse print at an amazing price at Gray Hen Studio. Since it was a good deal I bought it all.(fabric hoarders excuse #3)  This was my first time buying from Cindy's Etsy shop but I'll definitely be shopping there again.  The shipping was fast and the packaging...CUTE!
 Over the last couple of years I've been trying to work from the stash as much as possible.  I've done fairly well staying within my budget but all that is going to come to an end next month.  The new Moda designer from the Pretty by Hand blog will have her first line of fabric called First Romance.  I've followed Kristyne Czepuryk blog for many years and when I saw she was coming out with her own line of fabric I knew it was going to be a must have, and I will have it! (fabric hoarders excuse #4) I'm saving my pennies, literally.  The picture below is just a tease you really need to see more of these on her blog.  You can find the pinks here, aqua here, yellows here, red and white here, and the green here.
The design ideas for First Romance are overwhelming.  Everyday my quilty brain comes up with a new quilt idea.  Some I draw in EQ and others I just jot down.   It's bordering on obsession.  Checking everyday to see if by some big miracle they've shipped early.  Dreaming that Kristyne would just send me a bundle...dream on sweetie!

So do you have a must have line of fabric?  Have you been saving your pennies for that special little bundle?  Do you share my love for this new line of fabric!?

Thanks for stopping by my little spot in Podunk!
~ Lea Anne ~

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Monday, September 4, 2017

~ Block 2, I Love Home BOM and GIVEAWAY

Happy Monday cute quilting friends!  I'm so excited to be sharing block 2 in the I Love Home BOM designed by Jacquelynne Steves.  


 For my blocks I chose to do freezer paper applique and invisible machine applique instead of the fusible raw edge applique.  Most of my fabric selection came from my stash of Pam Kitty by Lakehouse Fabrics.  There's a couple designer fabrics thrown in the mix also because Pam Kitty plays well with so many different fabrics.  


I'm using Monopoly thread by Superior to stitch my applique in place, it's invisible and very durable.  This thread holds up well to an iron and the heat from a dryer.  I've tested it at higher levels of heat than suggested and it doesn't melt.  This block was ironed after finishing using a cotton setting and the thread held up fine.  It comes in two colors clear and smoke for darker fabrics.  I'm using the clear thread with a teeny weeny little blanket stitch.  How tiny?  The picture below shows the thread and the tiny stitch.   Using a 70/10 needle also helps to hide the stitching.  


The Monopoly thread is barely visible.  Once the quilt is washed, it almost disappears completely, giving your quilt the look of hand applique without all the work.



The window sashing and the heart above the door were sewn using Aurifil thread and a double machine stitch.  


 Awe...my design wall is looking SEW cute!  Can't wait to share the rest of the quilt with you...I've a surprise finish!


If you'd like to join the I Love Home BOM there's still plenty of time to join in the fun.  Click here to go to Jacquelynnes blog where you will find information about this FREE block of the month and block 2.  


There's several block options for this block of the month.  Applique, embroidery, a plain center block and the newest idea a Wonky house block.  Information on the Wonky house block can be found by clicking here.


For more I Love Home BOM inspiration you can join the Facebook group or follow the Pinterest Group.  Lots of fun and creative ideas for sprucing up your blocks.  And don't forget to hop over to see all the bloggers in this blog hop.  By visiting and commenting on each blog you'll be entered to win this months giveaway.

Podunk Pretties (you are here)

The giveaway for this month is a fat quarter bundle of A Shout, A Whisper, A Text from Sarah J. Maxwell.  She also one of the bloggers in this hop.  

This giveaway is now **Closed**
To enter the giveaway here at Podunk Pretties all you need to do is leave a comment in by clicking on the word "comments" at the end of this blog post.  It's open to everyone, from anywhere in this big ole world!  Any comment will do.  And just to be on safe side leave your email address so I have a way to contact you if you win.  

Last months winner was....
Margie Adkins
 Congratulations Margie! 

Thanks for stopping by my little spot in Podunk

~ Lea Anne ~








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Friday, September 1, 2017

~ Cutting it Close, August Blocks ~

Happy Friday Friends!  I'm happy to say I'm keeping up with the Quilt Doodle Designs 2017 BOM, putting the last stitches in the August blocks yesterday.  The theme of this BOM is Grandma's house.   This months blocks really hit home.  Both of my grannies canned everything they could.  One of them even made her own ketchup and butter!  Ok the butter I liked but the ketchup...Heinz will do for me.


Once again I've made a few changes to the blocks.  Turned edge applique for the Ball label would have been impossible for my skill level.  The double machine stitch worked out great.   It was slow going but worth every minute in results.  


The little tomato stems were also way to tiny for turned edge applique so once again I just took my time, outlined the stem with the double machine stitch and then filled it in with more stitches.  This took about 45 minutes.  But I think it adds some nice texture to the block.  If you decide to try this for yourself I should tell you I did use a sticky tear away interfacing on the back of the block.


Up till now all the blocks in this quilt remind me of my Grannie.  It was nice to add a little touch of Gramps in the quilt also.  My Gramps had several tractors, most of them were red Farmalls, but a green Tractor seemed to fit my in my quilt a better.  I left out one of the stripes on the tractor simply because I didn't want to make another.


A little double stitch for the steering wheel and grass...


.... and the puff of smoke...too cute!  All of the applique was secured into place using a teeny tiny blanket stitch.  Lori Holt's line of Aurifil thread was used for the bright colors and Superior Threads Monopoly was used on the gray and brown fabrics.  The black thread is Gutermans. 


The new block for this month was just released this morning.  You can find it and  the details for the other blocks by clicking here.


Thanks for stopping by my little spot in Podunk!

~ Lea Anne ~


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