How I keep my fabric organized, weekly updates (and a link party)

So much to share this week!! This month I have been on a roll!

The Ongoing List:

1. the SK project - 3 blocks done!! (see below)
2. the Valentine's blocks - one block almost done (cannot share)
3. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - no progress
4. Black and White pillow - done!! (see below)
5. Secret projects - last 2 small blocks done (see below)
6. New project! Embroidery calendar - just downloaded all the files, ready to start!
7. Color of the Year challenge- 36/36 small blocks done, cannot share, 1 big block missing.
   The deadline for this project is mid April! So the project is back on my Ongoing List ;)

The EverythingElse List:

1. Animal blocks for charity quilts - no progress
2. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - no progress
3. Reversible sewing machine cover - 4/8 blocks done
4. College Days Blog Hop blocks for tote/grocery bag - 1 block done, no pattern picked for the bag, no idea how many blocks I will need
5. Alice in Wonderland quilt - 6/15 blocks done
6. As You Wish - 8/16 blocks done
7. Happy Halloween wall hanging - 13/32 blocks done
8. Crazy optical illusion - 1 "row" done
9. D wall hanging - collected some fabric and some ideas
10. B quilt - to be designed

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I finished the pillow for the Free motion quilt Challenge (January) (I choose to use option 2 and 3).
I described what I did for the heart side in a previous post. I then quilted just half of the Yin Yang block with meander patterns and that's it!

Size: 15'' x 20''

This pillow has been filled with fabric scraps (crumbles) and batting scraps... and since I think this method works great (at least for me) I wanted to share how I organize my fabric in general (because I don't throw away even a single itty bitty piece... not even threads ;) ).
So this is my process:

(click on the image to make it bigger)

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I am still working on secret projects (that I cannot share), but these few "additional" blocks can be shared since they are not going to reveal too much :)
In a couple of weeks I will show you the finished project! I really like it and I hope you are going to like it too!! :)

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And finally 3 new blocks for my SK project are ready.

Opening lines of "The Talisman", "Wizard and Glass" and "Song of Susannah"

You can find the patterns on my The SK Project page.

--

And now what are YOU going to link?

An InLinkz Link-up

My Tangle Thursday - Week 3 and 4

For this week, Jane shared two tangles: one for week 3 and one for week 4.

They were pretty challenging for different reasons and I learned a lot on what I like and what I don't like during the process.

Week 3 and Week 4- 52 tangles in 2015 - designed by Jane Monk, drawing by Alid@ (TweLoQ)

While Jane always shows the strings she uses, the first design was very challenging. The first try (the small one on the left) didn't end up with the right "plus pattern" in the center and other patterns are also not that great. But doing that allowed me to understand better the overall design and do better the second time (the big one on the right). I am very pleased about how that turned out!!

For the second one, I was happy that the string was not a big circle, however I realized I don't like too much empty space or just simple line filling, I really like using black to give a "checkerboard" effect, so I added a lot of that in my version compared to the original one by Jane. I am pleased of the result and I hope that next tangle will teach me even more things about myself :)

If you also like to make these kind of tangles, feel free to drop a comment below! 

I would love to see your work!!

SYS 2015 - General reminder

The time is coming! The time to start Stretching Your Skills!! :)

Today just a general reminder of the series that is going to start in ONE week!!!

Schedule: (first Wed of each month):

• Feb 4th: foundation paper piecing... coming soon!!!
• Mar 4th: quilting
• Apr 1st: crochet (1)
• May 6th: pixelated quilt
• June 3rd: crochet (2)
• July 1st: applique
• Aug 5th: cross stitching
• Sept 2nd: knitting
• Oct 7th: embroidery
• Nov 4th: english paper piecing

The amazing artists that are going to share their wisdom with you
(in alphabetical order)

• Alida - yours truly :) tweloquilting.blogspot.com
• Amber - ambers-originals.blogspot.com
• Bea - beaquilter.com
• Janeen - quiltartdesigns.blogspot.com
• Jordan - muffincostumes.livejournal.com
• Karen - theshtickido.blogspot.com
• Kat - katknapcrafts.blogspot.com
• Kristel - wipgirl.wordpress.com
• Lisa - squirrelystitcher.deviantart.com (facebook.com/SquirrelsCrafts)
• Susan - theboredzombie.com

Every month there are going to be prizes... and a link party (open all year long) for you to share your projects, get inspired, make new friends and encourage each other!!

If you are intrigued and you have not subscribed to our email list yet, feel free to

stop by the SYS 2015 page 

and leave your contact information (in the form at the end of the page)!

On the same page you will also find all the information I shared in the past about the series.

Are you ready? Are you excited?
Certainly hope so!! :)

A finish, few updates (and a link party)

Getting organized this week, but few finishes and a lot of progress too!!

I decided to put all the projects in my lists. But I know that my "sweet spot" is 6-7 active projects: more and I get into panic for too many things to do, less and I get bored and I don't make progress. So I divided the list into two, so that I can see all my projects but I will mainly work only on the first list :)

The Ongoing List:

1. Pumpkin's play mat - done!! so happy about the final look!!! (see below)
2. the SK project - 1 block done (see below)
3. the Valentine's blocks - designed (cannot share yet)
4. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - 1 block done (see below)
5. Black and White pillow - no progress
6. Secret projects - 2 small blocks done (see below)

The EverythingElse List:

1. Color of the Year challenge- 36/36 small blocks done, cannot share, 1 big block missing. Moved to the second list the challenge has not been announced yet, so no deadline = no pressure = moved to the other list :)
2. Animal blocks for charity quilts - Printed next block, picked the fabric
3. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - I will do some blocks here and there, no plans for this
4. Reversible sewing machine cover - 4/8 blocks done
5. College Days Blog Hop blocks for tote/grocery bag - 1 block done, no pattern picked for the bag, no idea how many blocks I will need
6. Alice in Wonderland quilt - 6/15 blocks done
7. As You Wish - 8/16 blocks done
8. Happy Halloween wall hanging - 13/32 blocks done
9. Crazy optical illusion - 1 "row" done
10. D wall hanging - collected some fabric and some ideas
11. B quilt - to be designed

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Let's start with some updates that are not from me :)
First, I received my blocks from Kerry, my January partner in the Block Swap Adventure. The blocks are amazing... plus I got some extra Aussie goodies that I absolutely love!! Aren't Australians just the best??

Second, a lovely lady (Mary @ needledmom.blogspot.com) tested not one but TWO of my Peanuts patterns!!

I designed Peppermint Patty recently because Bea asked me some additional patterns for her Peanuts QAL. Peppermint Patty is the block for the second month, but Mary worked ahead :) she is so ahead that she asked me if I could make a Pigpen pattern because her grandkids love him... could I say no to that? Of course not :) so now both patterns have been tested and they are available in my Free patterns page.

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This was a very challenging project... challenging just because my sewing helper (and recipient of the final product) couldn't really stay away. You can see below how she was "helping" with the binding ;)

Pumpkin's Playmat!

The story of this project the following: last December I made a quilt for my mom where I used a Mickey Mouse sheet set as background (the white fabric in the center of the mat above) and every single time I put the quilt on the floor, in about 2 milliseconds Pumpkin started jumping on the fabric, playing around, throwing her toys there, etc... so from this I realized that she really liked that fabric ;)

After the quilt was done (and left our home) I didn't want her to be sad :) so I took the few leftover strips, I sew them together, added a black border, a fun Mickey Mouse print (because this playmat is going to be our living room carpet so I wanted to be fun and cute for us too), added the red binding with the polka dots and that's it!! The mat is ready to be used and enjoyed! It's not perfect (especially because I didn't want to quilt it that much since I think she really like the softness and looseness of the fabric and I didn't want to lose that with the quilting). So there are wrinkles and imperfections... but she has been spending pretty much every moment in the living room on it, so I think it's fine!!

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I am still working on secret projects (that I cannot share), but these few "additional" blocks can be shared since they are not going to reveal too much :)

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I also made an extra block for my PPV wall hanging. 2 blocks are left from the BOM and then just two borders and I will be done!

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And finally another block for my SK project is ready.

Opening line of "The Tommyknockers"

You can find the pattern on my The SK Project page.

--

And now what are YOU going to link?

An InLinkz Link-up

My Tangle Thursday - Week 2.5

For this week, Jane didn't have the chance to share a full new tangle (life is busy for everybody), however she shared one single small pattern (Bulls Eye) so I worked with that. Since next week she is going to share both week 3 and week 4, I used pages in the past in my planner :)

So this is my third tangle.

Week 2.5 - 52 tangles in 2015 - designed by Jane Monk, drawing by Alid@ (TweLoQ)

If you also like to make these kind of tangles, feel free to drop a comment below! 

I would love to see your work!!

SYS 2015 - General reminder

The time is coming! The time to start Stretching Your Skills!! :)

Today just a general reminder of the series that is going to start in 2 weeks!!!

Schedule: (first Wed of each month):

• Feb 4th: foundation paper piecing... coming soon!!!
• Mar 4th: quilting
• Apr 1st: crochet (1)
• May 6th: pixelated quilt
• June 3rd: crochet (2)
• July 1st: applique
• Aug 5th: cross stitching
• Sept 2nd: knitting
• Oct 7th: embroidery
• Nov 4th: english paper piecing

The amazing artists that are going to share their wisdom with you
(in alphabetical order)

• Alida - yours truly :) tweloquilting.blogspot.com
• Amber - ambers-originals.blogspot.com
• Bea - beaquilter.com
• Janeen - quiltartdesigns.blogspot.com
• Jordan - muffincostumes.livejournal.com
• Karen - theshtickido.blogspot.com
• Kat - katknapcrafts.blogspot.com
• Kristel - wipgirl.wordpress.com
• Lisa - squirrelystitcher.deviantart.com (facebook.com/SquirrelsCrafts)
• Susan - theboredzombie.com

Every month there are going to be prizes... and a link party (open all year long) for you to share your projects, get inspired, make new friends and encourage each other!!

If you are intrigued and you have not subscribed to our email list yet, feel free to

stop by the SYS 2015 page 

and leave your contact information (in the form at the end of the page)!

On the same page you will also find all the information I shared in the past about the series.

Are you ready? Are you excited?
Certainly hope so!! :)

Happy Blogoversary to ME!!

Today is time to celebrate!!

I am TWO years blog-old!!

This second year has been amazing! I practiced many new things, learned a lot and accomplished enough to be pretty proud of myself.

Let's put it down in numbers and pictures!

Numbers:
- 140 posts (about 1 every 5 days!!)
- > 80000 pageviews
- 315 followers (between GFC, Blogloving and Pinterest)
- 104 original patterns created and shared for free on this blog (22 still untested!) - about 1 new pattern a week!!
- 1 pattern shop closed (issue with Craftsy)

So what did I made in this second year? Here are some pictures!
(click on the picture if you want to see it bigger!!)

If anyone is interested in pattern/instruction for a specific project, just drop me an email!! :)
All of them have been shared during the year, but sometimes it's hard to find things in blogs.

Color of the Year wall hanging, Cardinal pillow, Grocery bag, Music & Downton Abbey pillows, Xmas decorations, Bibs, Convertible bag, Evil Eye Wall hanging, Grocery bag 2, Dachshunds pot holder and pouch, Ties pillow, Convertible bag 2, Xmas coasters, Xmas table runner.

On the right - All the blocks received in my Block Swap Adventure.
On the left - blocks made for the Block Swap Adventure + 3 blocks (lower right corner) made for Jennifer @ Sewhooked for charity quilts.

Triangle QAL (baby quilt), Celtic Solstice + Celtic Sunrise (baby quilt), Topolino (twin size), Rainbow Starburst (twin size) & Message in a Quilt (twin size)

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And now let's stop looking at the past... and let's look at the future!!
I already posted the list of projects I have for 2015 (see the complete list here), but by now I already added several things to the list and I want to highlight few of the main projects I will focus my attentions on:

I will be running a monthly series of tutorial to learn new techniques or new tricks to known techniques ;) we have a pretty cool list of authors for the different tutorials.

Check out the SYS 2015 page for more information.

Bea @ beaquilter.com is hosting a Peanuts BOM with my patterns! I am not sewing more of them myself, but I designed new patterns because people seems interested in making bigger quilts with these characters! 

I will follow some QAL because I plan to collect animal blocks to make some quilt tops for charity. No specific plans for that, except that I want to use several orphan blocks that I have, so I need to make my collection larger!

I also run a weekly link party (MOP Monday) and I post every Thursday about my weekly Tangle (in the My Tangle Thursday series).

So yes, this following year will be busier than the previous one!!

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I want to conclude this post with an Happy Blogoversary to me... and a huge thank you to YOU ALL.
With your comments and support you fuel my passion for sewing and you gave me so much inspiration!! If you promise to keep the support going, I promise to keep sewing and sharing!!

Secret sewing, Test sewing (and a link party)

Again significant progress this week! I am on a roll!! :)

The List:

1. Pumpkin's play mat - general layout planned with the fabric I have left from the Mickey Mouse quilt!
2. the SK project - 1 block done (see below)
3. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - 2 blocks done (see below) 
4. Color of the Year challenge- 16/36 border mini-blocks done (cannot share)
5. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - second block done (see below)
6. Black and White pillow - second half done (see below)
7. Secret projects - 3 big + 2 small blocks done, 1 traced (cannot share the main ones, but the additional ones are shown below!)

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These are the latest blocks for the Tea Towel challenge/PPV BOM. They are the December blocks.
3 more blocks are missing and then border and the wall hanging top will be done! Very excited!!

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As mentioned last week, I have a new sewing machine... so I wanted to test the free motion quilting features that I didn't have in the previous machine (dropping feed dogs, larger quilting table, speed control). Since I don't like to make "useless" practice projects, I decided to join a Free Motion Quilting Challenge @ QuiltShopGal :)
There were many things I wanted to test with this project, so I adapted the project to my needs:

1. I wanted it to be a match with the Yin Yang pattern so I can make a pillow with it!
2. I wanted to use the pattern how variegated red thread looks on black and white fabric (I never used variegated thread before)
3. I wanted to see if I can do some FMQ without tracing. So I traced only the half of the heart on the white part, then mirroring the marked shapes
4. I needed to test the new setup (speed control, new space, etc) so I decided not to care at all if the stitches are not consistent or ugly :) just going with the flow and trying to enjoy the process was my goal.

So this is the result of my test:

I used the design that I saw on Joan's blog for the heart, and the one presented of 2012 challenge on quiltshopgal for the background. I really like the effect of the variegated thread both on the white and on the black. And I also like that the same color thread for the rest of the space: it adds texture without drawing the attention away from the center heart.

My FMQ skills need a lot of work, but I think I like the speed control of this new machine... still don't know how to use it properly but I have the feeling that in the long run it is going to be helpful! :)

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This is the second block from the QAL Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches!

POD 2015, week 2 (in my house colors)

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I started working on a secret project... and since it's secret I cannot share the main part of the project. But I needed some additional blocks to complement the main one, so I made these scrappy blocks. You will see how they are combined with the main block to create a fun finished object ;)
(Linking up at Oh, Scrap!)

(r and s pattern available at Fandom in Stitches)

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And finally another block for my SK project is ready.
Opening line of "The Waste Lands"

You can find the pattern on my The SK Project page.

--

And now what are YOU going to link?

An InLinkz Link-up

My Tangle Thursday - Week 2

Last week I shared the beginning of this new commitment (one tangle per week, similar to the ones Jane Monk shares at onetangle.blogspot.com).

This is my second tangle.

Week 2 - 52 tangles in 2015 - designed by Jane Monk, drawing by Alid@ (TweLoQ)

If you also like to make these kind of tangles, feel free to drop a comment below! 

I would love to see your work!!

SYS 2015 - Sneak Peek

Last time we learned more about link party and prizes for our series SYS2015!

Since the beginning is approaching, we have been working on preparing some great content and testing out some projects...

What is this mess? well... from the front it looks amazing, I promise :)

And what is this weird design for?

Well...in a couple of weeks you will know everything about them! :) :)

--

That's it for today!

If you are intrigued and you have not subscribed to our email list yet, feel free to

stop by the SYS 2015 page 

and leave your contact information!

On the same page you will also find all the past information I shared about the series (schedule, contributors, ...)

See you next week!

A super-week! (and a linky party)

So much progress this week!! Kudos to me :)

Last week I shared a "yearly" list, but this is the "weekly" list of progress to put projects from that long list in a less overwhelming group ;)

The List:

1. Xmas tree decoration for 2014 - done! (see below)
2. Pumpkin's play mat - no progress
3. the SK project - 1 block done, 3 other traced (see below)
4. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - 1 block done (see below) and printed all missing blocks
5. Bonnie's Hunter Grand Illusion - dropped (see below)
6. Color of the Year challenge- 2/36 border mini-blocks done (cannot share)
7. Zoo Animals BOM - done (see below)
8. Block Swap (January) - done! (see below)
9. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - first block done! (see below)

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Let's start with a block that is not mine!! ;) The wonderful Jan tested this Daisy and Donald pattern.

Pattern available in my MickeyM, DonaldD, Alice page

Aren't they super cute? And don't you love the choice of the wood floor? Perfect for the ballroom dancing!! :)

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I made my 2014 Xmas tree decoration using this great snow flake crochet pattern by Sarah @ sarahndipities. I slightly changed the pattern to add an extra row of single crochet around to make it more stable and then I used it to make a fabric template for the back: I think the snowflakes stands out more against the red background!
(this is my project for the "Lovely Year of Finishes - January")

Pattern by Sarah (sarahndipities)

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When I saw this fun BOM by Kristy @ QuietPlay I immediately decided to jump right it! Her patterns are always fun and I have already a Kangaroo that I tested and that is pretty lonely in the drawer :) so I decided that I will add all those friends and make one (or maybe two) quilts for charity! I have also several owls blocks and those would be perfect for this project!
My rules in doing these blocks are simple: 1) I will only use things from my stash (no new fabric... if I have to make a blue bear because I don't have the right fabric, so be it ;) ); 2) I will only use scraps from my small&weird scraps bags for the animals and I will touch the other big pieces of fabric only for the background (if necessary).
With these rules I ended up with a very fun Flamingo!

Doesn't that background print scream "flamingo!!" to you?

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I hope that you won't hate me... but I will say something that may rub people the wrong way...
I don't like this year mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter.
Ok, I said it! :) Sorry everyone!
There is nothing wrong with the design obviously... but I have very very specific likes/dislikes when it comes to scrappy quilts that uses traditional shapes (like HST, 4 patches, etc).
In order for me to be visually interesting, the overall pattern needs to make some kind of curves or circles; if the design makes just traditional stars, pinwheels and other linear things, for me, it's not interesting.
So last year mystery (the Celtic Solstice) was one of the best design I have ever seen! because it didn't just have "circles" but the circles were interlocking! And all done just with traditional and linear shapes (triangles, 4 patches, HST, ...).
So I was very excited about this year mystery, but I didn't have the chance to start it... and now I am happy about it because I would have been disappointed if I made all that effort and then didn't like the final layout! Now instead I've already seen 3 ideas on Pinterest that I will combine and I will make a quilt with "curves without curves" as I like it!
I will work on that idea later this year, but I wanted to mention the reason why the Grand Illusion mystery will be dropped from my list so soon :)

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Ok, another thing that may make you hate me... I don't like 12'' stars blocks!
Ok, I said this one too! Sorry everyone again! :)
Again it comes down to the fact that those big blocks, to me, don't make visually interesting quilts. They can be beautiful but too traditional for my tastes ;)
However I have been doing many traditional blocks for my Block Swap Adventure partners.
Luckily this month my partner told me that she is looking for star blocks but in 12'' or 6''.
I may be a weird person... but I really like 6'' stars ;) I don't know, they are cute!
So I decided to make her one 12'' star and four 6'' ones! All of them different and scrappy.

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While I cannot share the 2 mini blocks that I made for the Color of the Year wall hanging, I can show you the fabric I am going to use. It's going to be scrappy as usual... with the cream batik as background and the wine fabric as backing. The others are not all great representations of the Marsala color (one probably is) but since it's going to be scrappy, the approximated colors (with some more towards the red, and others more towards the orange) should make the overall wall hanging look "Marsala" :)

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Another of my "duplicate" blocks for the Tea Towel challenge/PPV BOM is done.

Points are not extremely perfect but I didn't want to use any pins and I didn't want to use the seam ripper either :) I think that in the overall design it wouldn't matter too much!!

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And I bought a new sewing machine!! Yeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
And to test it I made this block from the QAL Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches!

I am still playing around with the stitch length to find the perfect length to be good for both piecing and seam ripping ;)

--
Another block for my SK project is ready.
Opening line of "The Dark Half"

You can find the pattern on my The SK Project page.

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As a final last note, let me mention that I receive another (useless) email from Craftsy where they basically say that the only way to deal with the VAT issue is through Paypal, but that Paypal system doesn't work properly and that everything is outside Craftsy control. They suggest to either deal with the issue on our own or remove the patterns from the marketplace. Very very helpful! (sarcasm). Since that was just a "standard" email they sent to everybody, I replied that due to their inability to support small independent designers I already deleted all my patterns and that I was not planning to buy anything any more from their platform or even use it to share things for free. I then said that they didn't even answer to my initial question about what happens to people that bought my patterns once I delete them from my store. They answered that whoever bought the pattern will have it in their account and that's it... not even a "we are sorry that we couldn't help you" or "we are trying to work on the issue to give better answer" or "we are doing our best, and we are sorry to lose you as customer", nothing... wow, I guess that since they have so many people "hooked" with the "free platform" illusion, they really don't care if they lose some people/business. 

I guess many people chose the "blue pill"... I just took the "red pill" and now I see "how deep the rabbit hole goes" (citation) :)

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And now what are YOU going to link?

An InLinkz Link-up