Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

2022 Fairy Duo - Leticia and Jolean

Hi there! I am really excited to share with your the newest set of easypatchwork Paper Doll Fairy, Leticia and Jolean. This collection of fairies is made with 16" foundation paper pieced figures, a great size to get into paper piecing and create a throw pillow for a special person in your life.

The 2022 fairy, Leticia, was just too cute not to have her sister, Jolean, join in the celebration this year. Each one has her own style. You can even mix the heads, bodices and dresses from both figures to create more if you wish.


 

Leticia - 2022 Fairy of Joy

Allow us to introduce, Leticia, the 2022 Fairy of Joy. She is an English fairy princess who would like to guide you through the new year. May you entrust her to show you the simpler things in life. She is straight-forward, and elegant. You could also envision her as a garden fairy, a strawberry fairy, or forest fairy with her cute acorn-shaped cap.


You can sew her with a variety of different colorways such as monochromatic (shown above) or even in a rainbow color schemed shown in the lower right corner. I truly love using the dark background on the fairies with their soft creamy, blush skin tone. If you wish to create more contrast, use a variety of values such as light, medium and dark for the figure to stand out. Get creative with different hair and wing colors. Create a whole family of different rainbow-colored fairies. More design ideas as well as a coloring sheet are found in the pattern as well as step-by-step directions with illustrations.


 

Jolean - 2022 Fairy of Inspiration

Sister to Leticia, Jolean is a dazzling fairy of inspiration. May her spunky character and love of life inspire you in your creative endeavours. She is slightly more challenging with her cute hair buns and layered dress. She is very proud to sport her fairy-tipped ears. Her plunging neckline shows her high self-confidence and love of her own body.


She is also sewn in a monochromatic color scheme with creamy, blush skin. There so many more options to color her though. Just take a look below. More designs in the pattern as well as a coloring sheet and step-by-step illustrations with explanations.

This sister duo can be purchased together to mix and match and make even more figures. Here are some more ideas. Have fun and explore new ways to create by skipping over sewing lines or adding your own.

If you wish to make one or both of the 2022 fairies, you can purchase them on Etsy for a limited discount until January 2, 2022. Discount is already applied in the store - no need for more coupons. 

Have a happy and creative New Year 2022!

Monday, March 23, 2015

tula pink and the german qal


Greetings to everyone. Today, I am your guest blogger for the Tula Pink's, City Sampler - German QAL. I was asked by the very charming, Sandra from the Hohenbrunner Quilterin, to take over this Monday to host a couple of blocks. So, here I am, giving you some tips and advice, and my quirky opinion. We will look into the chapter called Haiku, blocks 88 and 89.

Hallo an alle! Heute bin ich Euer Gast-Bloggerin für Tula Pink's City Sampler QAL. Ich wurde von der sehr lieben Sandra von den Hohenbrunner Quliterin gebeten, diesen Montag ein paar Blocks zu übernehmen. So, hier bin ich nun um Euch ein paar Tips, Tricks und meine Erfahrung weiterzugeben. Wir werden uns das Kapitel "Haiku" mit den Blocks 88 und 89 ansehen.

First of all, I want to explain my relationship to Tula Pink and her book. When I first saw the book, I was intrigued. Then I ordered it and quickly thumbed through it when it arrived. Honestly, I thought the blocks were just too simple! I know my philosophy is "simple, easy, practical," but I wanted to "learn" something new, especially from a book I spent money on! I read the Introduction from Tula and started to understand where she was coming from and where she was headed. I liked it! She wanted to make a sampler...or rather present blocks that we could put together as randomly as we wanted without the hassle of learning new techniques or sewing complicated blocks. Let's face it, when we make a sampler, it is usually a collection of blocks with different and complex sewing layers to challenge our skills. I have made a couple of samplers...and I don't want to sew another one! Why? They are just too hard and too time consuming!! BUT, Tula presented simple and easy blocks that everyone could sew without the hassle of "perfecting" the technique or learning something new. It is sewing for peace, relaxation and tranquility! Sewing for FUN!

Als erstes würde ich gerne meine Verbindung zu Tula Pink und ihrem Buch erklären. Als ich das Buch das erste mal sah, war ich fasziniert. Dann habe ich es bestellt und nachdem es angekommen war sofort durchgeblättert. Ehrlich, zuerst dachte ich mir, dass die Blocks zu einfach waren! Meine Philosophie ist ja selbst "einfach, leicht, praktikabel", aber ich wollte ja selbst was neues lernen, erst recht, wenn ich schon dafür Geld ausgebe! Dann habe ich nochmal vorne angefangen und die Einleitung von Tula gelesen, verstanden, was sie sagen wollte. Und ich muss sagen: "Ich liebe es!" Sie wollte einen Sammlung machen, aus denen wir nach Lust und Laune aussuchen können ohne neue Nähtechniken zu lernen oder komplizierte Blöcke nähen zu müssen.Wenn wir ehrlich sind, dann bestehen Sampler, die wir machen, aus komplizierten Blöcken, die uns auf der einen Seite herausfordern aber auch gleichzeitig ewig dauern und bei Zeiten auf die Nerven gehen. Damit sind Sampler etwas, was man nicht allzu oft machen möchte. ABER hier kommt Tula mit ihrem Buch! Sie hat eine Zusammenstellung von leichten und einfachen Blöcken, die jeder meistern kann - und das in Ruhe, Entspannung und Frieden. Sewing for Fun!

What I really love about Tula's blocks and especially her fabric lines, is her sense of humor! As an experienced quilter, I like to make use of fussy cutting to bring more to a block. Tula not only designs this special type of fabric quilters love but makes use of it, in her self-designed sampler blocks! This is the challenge I see - make use of your fabric to create a second design or story. Okay, we usually use shades, tones, and contrast to tell the story in our blocks, but Tula promotes the use of fussy cutting to allow us think a bit more

Was ich wirklich an Tula's Blöcken und ihren Stoffen liebe, ist der Sinn für Humor! Als eine erfahrene Quilterin, nutze ich gerne "fussy cutting", um mehr aus einem Block zu machen. Und Tula entwirft diese speziellen Stoffmuster, die hierfür wie gemacht sind. Wir Quilter(innen) nutzen gerne Farbtöne und Kontraste um unseren Quilts eine Geschichte zu geben und Tula ermuntert uns geradezu mit ihren Stoffen mehr "fussy cutting" einzubauen.

On to the blocks - Block #88 and #89 are from the chapter called "Haiku." With that, I tried to incorporate this idea of "composition" into my design using images from a panel I wanted to use. First I looked for images that would not be caught within the seam allowance. I taped off the required size using some washi tape on my 6.5" ruler to make my "window."

Auf zu den Blöcken -  die Blöcke #88 und #89 sind aus dem Kapitel "Haiku". Hierbei versuchte ich die Idee der "Zusammenstellung" in mein Design zu übertragen und hierbei Bilder aus einem Stoffpaneel zu nutzen. Als Erstes habe ich nach Bilderausschnitten gesucht, die nicht in die Stoffzugabe reichen. Als Hilfe habe ich mit Klebeband das Fenster auf meinen 6,5'' Lineal markiert um den späteren Stoffausschnitt besser beurteilen zu können.


Then I looked for coordinating and contrasting fabric to see in which direction I wanted to go. I really liked the grays and the greens and thought this a strong possibility. I thought the purple, however, was a little too contrasty for me. The turquoise didn't seem to fit at all...at least not a fabric from my color stash. Gray and green it is!
Danach habe ich nach dazu passenden Stoffen mit schönen Kontrasten gesucht. Die Zusammenstellung von grau und grün hat mir von Beginn an gut gefallen. Das Lila war mir zu stark im Kontrast (zumindest was ich an Stoffen da hatte - haben wir nicht alle zu wenig Stoffe zuhause?) und das Türkis hat irgendwie gar nicht gepasst. Grün und Grau das war es also!


So the hardest part is over -  my color preference. After that, it was quick and easy to sew the block together - no hassles, no matching up seams! Here it is! Pure sewing enjoyment!
Das Schwerste war also geschafft - meine Farbzusammenstellung. Danach war es einfach die Blöcke zu nähen - kein Ärger, keine zusammenstoßenden Nähte. Hier sind sie! Pures Nähvergnügen.


On to block 89. This is a really fantastic block making use of a blazing tree and inverting one part of the same fabric in another part of the block. The block presented is also very tone-in-tone. I love it, but didn't want to recreate it...this is my block, not Tula's. She is allowing me to stray from the path as stated in the introduction. ;-) I wanted to use the same panel and found these cute little bunnies.
Auf zu Block #89. Dies ist ein wirklich toller Block, der einen leuchtenden Baum nutzt und einen Teil hieraus in einem anderen Teil des Blocks wieder auf nimmt. Die Abstimmung ist sehr Ton-in-Ton, was ich sehr mag, aber so nicht umsetzen wollte. Es soll ja auch mein Block werden und nicht Tula's. Sie erlaubt ja auch ausdrücklich in der Einleitung vom vorgeschlagenen Weg abzuweichen. Ich wollte bei meinem Paneel bleiben und habe diese zuckersüßen Häschen gefunden. 


I also wondered what I would use the blocks for later since I am not participating in the entire QAL. Do I want the two blocks to match or coordinate in any way? What can I do with them later? I didn't think the additional yellow was going to help the block in any way. I liked the green I used in the previous block and thought it could tie the two together...if you are going for this.

Ich habe dann weiter überlegt, was ich mit den beiden Blöcken später anfangen möchte, da ich nicht den ganzen QAL mitmache. Sollen die beiden Blöcke zusammenpassen, d.h. nebeneinander stehen? Ich dachte nicht, dass das zweite Gelb dem Ganzen wirklich hilft. Mir hat das Grün aus dem ersten Block gut gefallen und hilft die beiden Blöcke zu verbinden... und so habe ich es dann auch gemacht.

I had a little bit left over from the fussy cut rabbits section and tried it to make it fit for the corner segments. I tried out several scraps, but just wasn't coming up with something that appealed to me. I ended up using something completely different in the end.

Ich hatte noch ein paar Reste von den "fussy cut" Häschen und habe versucht hier etwas passendes für die like obere Ecke zu finden. Aber nichts wollte so recht passen. Zum Schluss habe ich mich dann doch für etwas ganz anderes entschieden.


My block looks completely different than Tula's block as far as the effect and colors, but all of the pieces are the same. I used two of the same fabrics from the previous block and added a matching fabric with yellow and gray.

Mein Block sieht im Vergleich zu Tula's Block komplett anders aus, im Bezug auf Ausstrahlung und Farben. Die Stoffzuschnitte sind allerdings die gleichen. Ich habe zwei Stoffe aus dem vorherigen Block wieder verwendet mit einem zusätzlichen Stoff mit dazu passendem Grau und Gelb.


And here are the two blocks together...my sister blocks #88 & #89. So my advice is to look for interesting fabrics that have fussy cut pictures...mix and match from panels or unusual fabrics. Try out matching and contrasting fabrics. Think about if the blocks will be next to each other or not. And most importantly, HAVE FUN WITH IT!

Und hier sind die beiden Blöcke zusammen ... meine Geschwisterblöcke #88 und #89. Meine Empfehlung hieraus ist es interessante Stoffe mit "fussy cut" Bildern zu nehmen und sie mit anderen Paneelen und ungewöhnlichen Stoffen abzustimmen. Versucht Euch ruhig mal mit der Zusammenstellung von Stoffen, die nicht augenscheinlich zusammen passen! Überlegt Euch ob die Blöcke später nebeneinander oder sonst farblich oder von Design her in Bezug stehen. Und am wichtigsten von Allem, HABT SPASS DABEI!

I am very curious to see how you interpret this chapter, especially these two blocks and would love to see your progress so far. Please leave a comment in the section below, so we all can see your blocks!


Please leave a comment below stating your favorite color scheme for the blocks. In one weeks time I will draw one of the commenters (meeting the above requirement) that will receive the matching mug rugs from the two blocks I made as a giveaway. A reply address is mandatory.

Ich bin sehr neugierig, wie ihr das Kapitel in euren Arbeiten interpretiert, speziell für diese beiden Blöcke. Ich würde gerne sehen, wie ihr hierbei voran kommt. Bitte hinterlasst unten einen Kommentar mit einem Link, damit wir alle ein Bild Eures Blocks bewundern können.

Hinterlass doch bitte einen Kommentar mit Deiner Lieblingsfarbzusammenstellung für diese beiden Blöcke. In einer Woche werde ich aus allen Kommentaren (mit genannter Lieblingsfarbe) einen ziehen, der die beiden Kaffeeuntersetzer geschenkt bekommt. Voraussetzung ist natürlich eine hinterlassene Antwortadresse.


The giveaway closes on Monday, March 30! Thanks for dropping by!
Die Geschenkaktion endet am 30. März! Danke fürs Vorbeischauen!

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

pillow swap four seasons - summer edition

Hello everyone! I was looking forward to a nice, quiet morning of sewing on my advanced sampler when I was reminded by my co-host, Sandra aka Hohenbrunnerquilterin, from Pillow Swap Four Seasons that sign-ups for the summer edition have opened! Yahoo!! Are you ready to join in the fun? Let's party on for summer!

I created a new blinkie size 240 x 240 pixels in gif format to paste on your blog or website to show your support. It will decrease to 150 x 150 pixels. Please use the html tag listed below to copy and paste onto your page:

<div align="center"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/groups/2730349@N24/" title="Pillow Swap Four Seasons"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaBd_UREW0e4w4tDyJ0PE5jjcE3Af4hvQmJzdArDxvKlj4mNzOa-xKsL8o0H0o8FVLbceTsuuzCL8kTTjw79ix3zHu-5OA7ZhqfxdFNcE04Fu_4K98URWsHQMiOhJd5s2LLXQyIsH5Vyy/s1600/pillowswap_blinkie_240.gif" alt="Pillow Swap Four Seasons" width="150" height="150" border="0" /></a></div>

What's the group about? We are an international group of patchworkers and sewists who love to make pillows according to the seasons. Our swap is "secret" so you don't know who your partner is - the person who sews for you. You, on the other hand, make a mosaic of pillows, colors, ideas that you like about summer. This will help your secret partner tailor to your expectations wishes!! Does it sound interesting?

For the complete "skivey" on information you can click on the Pillow Swap Four Seasons tab in the tab bar or go to the Flickr Group. Because this is solely a Flickr experience, we would like you to participate whole heartily with comments, opinions, ideas, questions....general support of each other. Please don't commit unless you are fully committed!! That way, you really receive a pillow according to your tastes, but still secretly! It is really loads of fun!

Please check out all of the wonderful pillows made by our participants! I honestly cannot pick ONE as a favorite, because they are all unique! There are some pillows that were extensively hand sewn with hexagons, Oma Tam, I am talking about you! and then there are others that are beautifully paper pieced with two totally differently designs on the front and back, greatbrittan66 - I mean you!! All of the pillows are GORGEOUS! AND I MEAN ALL OF THEM! I have yet to receive MY pillow, and I am sure that will be the most gorgeous of all!! There is such a high level of quality and creativity in the group, you must stop by!

And to show you what my interests for the summer swap are, here is my mosaic!

My Pillow Swap Four Seasons - Summer Inspiration - www.flickr.com/groups/2730349@N24/

1. Rollin' Along, 2. dqs7 quilt, 3. strawberries, 4. Pure Color, 5. Summer Cocktail for Tamiko, 6. Mermaid Pillow, 7. Quilted waves, 8. splash, 9. 'Vespa Scooter v.2' PP pattern (1), 10. Ice Cream Man Pillow, 11. Last Strawberry, 12. Beach, 13. Watermelons


Does are swap look intriguing to you? I hope it does!! I also hope you sign up for the next round. Registration started yesterday, March 2nd and runs through March March 12, 2015! Please take the time to read the rules and general guidelines before you register! ;-) Then, follow the link that will take you to a formula on Sandra's blog. Simply fill out the form! Then start looking for inspiration or ideas for your mosaic, create and upload to the group!!

I look forward to seeing all my old friends as well as lots of new faces! ;-)

Friday, October 31, 2014

halloween goody

Happy Halloween Everyone!! If you have little kids at home, I wish you loads of fun if you go trick or treating. If you don't, and you hand out candy, have fun looking at all of the creative costumes all those hard working mothers put together. If you are still in the spirit, here is a little goody for you. My Halloween Goody is a little paper piecing row of pumpkins finishing at 4" x 12".

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/home-decor/four-friendly-pumpkins/118891

My challenge to you - print out these paper pieced templates and make something with them by November 20th, 2014. Send me a picture of what you made using "Friendly Pumpkins" in the header. I will post all pictures online. One lucky Halloween (or sewing) enthusiast will randomly win this lovely handmade zippered pouch using Zen Chic fabrics. It is that simple!


You can jump on over to Craftsy to download the free pattern at my easypatchwork store. You can use the appliqué templates provided or you may create your own. Have fun with it. And if NO ONE makes something to show or share with us, I will be quite content, because I love my Zen Chic Zippered Sewing Pouch and really don't want to part with it!!

Have fun and Happy Halloween!

-Karen

Monday, November 25, 2013

the forgotten five mini quilt


Hello everyone! My new favorite pattern is now available at Moda Bake Shop! Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments and support. A warm and special thanks to Lisa Calle for planning and organizing the project and to Sarah Huetschtemann for sewing it all together! The Moda Weaves
Collection looks like real linens in fantastic modern colors.

The pattern has directions for one 12" mini quilt, one 4" pin cushion and one 15" (40 x 40cm) pillowcase.

I can't explain how much fun this pattern really is. Everyone thinks that it is really complicated and time consuming, but it goes together like a snap.

I know that some people are intimidated by little quilts or little blocks, but now that I am making more mini quilts, I try to find ways or use special techniques to simplify the block and quilt making, especially for you. It is really too bad that mini quilt magazines are no longer published, because they illustrated a lot of very useful techniques.

I think you can use just about any type of fabric to make this creation. I have used solids, brights and pastels. Everything works, even plaids. You might want to steer away from large scale prints though. Larger scale prints don't usually work in any miniature quilt.

Here are a few of my favorite Forgotten Five Minis:






Don't forgot to join the site. I will be drawing a name/number this Friday. The lucky viewer will receive a little package of goodies from me including a charm pack to make lots of Forgotten Five Minis!