Single Girl and Paper Piecing

I've been itching to do a Denyse Schmidt Single Girl quilt for some time so I bought the pattern this weekend.  Then the stars aligned and I found out on Monday that there is this nifty "Single Girl Support Group" quilt along that just started.  So now I've got a support network.

I decided to use paper piecing on my curves instead of cutting out 31 individual templates for each block, so i spent some time last night creating my new curve template.
First I tested out that my curve was the correct shape

Then I traced each of the template pieces into the curve.  I ended up with 4 curved pieces and they are essentially the same shapes as the individual templates in the pattern.

Let me know if this is helpful to you and your Single Girl efforts!

long lost blogger returning...kind of

Its been a long time since we talked.  But the holidays, guests, new carpet upstairs and the job have all stolen the show for the last month and a half.  I have missed blogging, but just because I haven't been writing doesn't mean I haven't been sewing. Over the next few weeks I'll (slowly) catch you up on some of my projects this month.

First up: Bee Blocks for Erin:

 Erin said "Work with Triangles" and sent a FQ of the black and white fabric and asked each of us to pick a color and use fabrics from our stash.

I went for green (of course) and this was my first time ever doing half-square triangles.

These were fun blocks to work with and I hope that Erin enjoys them.

Pillow Talk {Swap} - Round 4

This pillow and an extra (extra-large) mug rug are on their way to my swap partner.  Hope you like them! 

Where's Your Mama?

Ok, life got in the way of my best intentions to begin the "My Mamma Taught Me" series on Monday.  In the vein of not stressing too much and enjoying turkey day with my family we'll start "My Mamma" next week. 

It isn't too late to jot your favorite quilting tip learned from your mamma (or grandma or friend) and send it to me: katiesmodernnest@hotmail.com

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Planning for Pillow Talk 4

What do you think?  My partner likes dresdens.  For the Pillow Talk Swap I am toying with ideas on how to take a very traditional block and deconstruct it into something more contemporary.  Here are my doodles.  It is a saturday morning and because I have to keep an eye on my "into-everything-8-month old" I cannot actually cut or sew anything at the moment.  But I can plan...

By the way, I HATE the turkey idea...what was I thinking!  However I've given myself permission to try out dorky ideas, because if you are afraid to mess up, you prohibit yourself from pushing your designs into an interesting and new place.  No design boundaries!

How bout some help from my readers...which design should I pick?

Wordless Wednesday

Don't forget...send me "Your Mamma" stories today! katiesmodernnest@hotmail.com  

Weekend in San Fran {quilts are everywhere}

It was a beautiful weekend in San Francisco!  We packed up the whole family and headed to the bay area to visit my sister for her birthday.  Have you ever seen Alcatraz looking so...visible?  Usually there is a thick blanket of fog hiding it from view, but on Saturday it was out in all of its majesty.

After walking from embarcadero down to the Ghirardelli plaza, we did some wine tasting at Cellar 360.  I totally recommend it.  Because wine tasting in Napa is exquisite, but wine tasting in Napa after a 90 min drive with a screaming 8-month-old-baby is exhausting.  So we opted to stay in the city and drink some lovely boutique wines while enjoying views of the bay.  Fabulous!

Before returning home we grabbed brunch at a restaurant (and I cannot remember the name for the life of me) called Park Chow (thanks Claudia!) where we had lovely, locally grown organic dishes.  My brother-in-law opted for the small Thai salad...

While I decided to chow down on huevos rancheros (hey, I'm on vacation, no judging my choices....it's organic anyway, so that means its healthy right?)

And because I always have sewing on the brain to some extent, when I saw this funky-clashy color combination on a building, I had to snap a picture.  Can you see the quilt here?  A graphic design of bubble gum pinks juxtaposed with candy apple red and sashed in grey?   

Quilts are everywhere just waiting to be seen. 

When was the last time you "saw" a quilt around town?