sewvivor - {no} hats in the house - sarah

After finally sewing something this summer, I'm back to the arrow that started it all... The radiant one ;)  And since things didn't pan out for the pantone challenge with this little quilt, I figured I'd have a go at Rach of Family Ever After's Sewvivor auditions!  Because why not throw my name in the hat?  After all, it is quilter's edition this season! :o)

So I've had my heart set on handquilting this one for quite some time... I even handpicked an assortment of neutral anchor floss to complement the mismatched feedsack tones in the background:

But knowing any quilting would have to withstand quite a bit of washing (naptime quilts are weekly loads at our house!), I figured I should give myself a little bit of insurance by straight-line quilting on the machine before getting out my thimble.

The lines fall roughly every inch on the diagonal.

And in a surprising twist of preparedness, I have the perfect binding—a bluish/purple striped oakshott—all ready to go just as soon as I add all those handquilted stripes and echo stars.

...Make that almost ready to go thanks to my little helper.  ;o)  (I'm guessing the handquilting will be a much bigger task than rewinding that binding, anyhow.)

And with any luck I'll finish the pattern by the time I get this little cot quilt bound!  (Which would be quite the feat, as it's been on my list since teaching elements of this design back in April.  <<insert ashamed emoticon here>>)

Fingers crossed!

welcome and a winner! {SMS giveaway day}

First, I just wanted to say WELCOME(!) to all of you who've recently started following this hatless-ness optional house.  Glad to have you and hope to see more of you around these parts.

Second, to those of you who (1) "have never gotten around to doing paper-piecing" (2) get "bad frustrating results," (3) think it "wastes too much fabric", (4) are still "intimidated" by it, (5) "hate it," (6) "enjoy it," (7) "love it," or (8) "absolutely love it," I've got a little something for everyone up my sleeve.  I've still got lots of planning (and patterning) to do, but don't be surprised if—in a few month's time—you start to hear me blab about a "bootcamp" of sorts.  ;o)  Oh, and unless I lose my job or something inconvenient like that by then, it'll be on the house.

And now on to the real reason you clicked through this post to begin with—(and I hope *not* the reason you'll hit the "unfollow" button!)—the winner of the SMS giveaway goodies is no. 638 of 1235...

Afton of Quilting Mod!  Who, crazily enough, was the very first person to comment on my gradient fill layer cake sampler post that went up during the SMS giveaway week chaos.  Love it when the stars align :)

So glad to be sending this little stack of favorites southwest.  Truthfully I wish I could share it with all of you, but if history is any indication (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII) it's safe to assume there will be more where this came from.  Case in point?  Gypsy Wife quilt along participants already have another shot coming in November!

And for those of you who don't have any liberty en route to your corner of the world just yet, I have it on good authority that Massdrop will soon be offering not only the same liberty bundle as last time (FQ, F8, or half yard), but also a *new* mini-collection of 10 different prints.  (I may or may not have had a hand in selecting said second batch... so I may be a bit biased when I say they're pretty ultra.)

Anyway, if any of this has piqued your interest, head on over to the drop page to request a reminder for whenever the second round goes live (sometime next week, I think).

Till the next time... ;)

a few (more) of my favorite things {SMS giveaway day}

THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  Thanks to all who entered! Winner is 638/1235 (Afton W.)!

Somehow, half a year has gone by and once again it's time for Sew Mama Sew's semi-annual Giveaway Day Week!  (!)

Much like last time, I've grouped together another trio of favorites.  Think of it as a trifecta of sorts:  fat (or skinny) sixteenths+ of 21 jewel-toned liberty and oakshott fabrics, plus a miniature arsenal of neutral 50wt aurifil in 2024, 2021, 2000, and 2325 (that gracious Mr. Veronelli slipped in a few extras and I couldn't help but share my good fortune).

You might recognize some of those liberty tana lawns.  That's because I just gave away a FQ set on behalf of the lovely folks at Massdrop.  And guess what?  By popular demand, the classic 10-pack will be making a reappearance in a few weeks, along with a *new* assortment of 10 more prints.  Just go here to sign up for a reminder when that buy is back on :o)

Right.  So getting back to THIS giveaway.  You have three chances to win*:

1.  Leave a comment on this post.  Anything at all.  Need help?  Tell me your thoughts on paper-piecing.  I'd love to hear them ;o)

2.  Leave a second comment if you are a follower (old or new, just tell me how you follow:  Instagram?  Bloglovin'?  Feedly?  Email?) (optional second entry)

3.  Help spread the word!  Then leave a quick (third!) comment telling me how you did that. (Pinterest? Facebook?  Instagram? Tag me @nohatsquilts!) (optional third entry)

*International entries welcome.  Void where prohibited by law.  Because hats or not, we follow the law in (and out of) this house. :o)   

This giveaway will be open until 8 pm EST (5 pm PST) on Friday, May 16.  The winner will be notified by May 18.

Best of luck, and if you haven't already, be sure to check out all the other amazing goods up for grabs!

xo Sarah

shoot for the stars {radiant goals}

Note:  Edited to sprinkle some "stained glass"-esque shots throughout :)

I was really excited about the Pantone Quilt Challenge this year.  And not only because the talented twosome of Anne of Play Crafts and Adrianne of On The Windy Side were our new proud and fearless hosts.  But also because I've sort of been hoarding purple fabrics.  ...Since I started stashing.

So last month, I thought I was ahead of the game when I decided to sketch out a couple of concepts.  And then life happened, other projects took priority, and before I knew it, I had one week left and two stacks of uncut fabric pulls. (Ruh roh.)  And then, out of the blue, my friend Heather of Crimson Tate asked if I would be available to fill in for a guild speaker who had something come up at the last minute.  (Déjà vu?)  I happily obliged—even though it'd cost some pantone-purple sewing time—and quickly decided to demo my {free} paper-pieced arrow pattern for the (our) Indy Modern Quilt Guild.

Sidebar:  I extended the shaft section of the pattern to the height of the page (~11"), and added a few improv stripes and band.

When it came time to prep that weekend (there are things I plan for, folks!), I decided to cut into a few odd-shaped scraps from my liberty (and justice for all) DWR, some leftover oakshotts from this {sweet as honey} quilt, and of course—being a connoisseur of farm-to-stash feedsacks—, a cream-colored sack of Midwestern origin for the background.

As for the presentation itself, I was on cloud nine.  (I might be an attorney by trade, but I'm always up for some quality chats and collaboration with fellow creatives.  And I mean always.)  So much so, that when I got home and reality set in that radiant '(k)id and radiant {koi} couldn't possibly be completed (well) by the challenge deadline, I set my sights on something new.  And then noticed that my arrow-heart had the perfect touch of orchid-purple. 

Serendipity :)  So I just started piecing mini-stars from my liberty and oakshott scraps, drawing upon a few other feedsacks for the background (I've been hoarding a somewhat tattered collection for Tula's city sampler blocks, but thanks to addictive ebay habits there's still plenty where those came from).

So by Wednesday I found myself with a purply-blue arrow and twenty-some odd stars in various stages of completion.  Surprisingly, I knew early on (read: Tuesday) that I wanted—for perhaps the first time ever—to avoid a straightforward grid structure (gasp!).  So I scattered the stars across the floor, cut a host of 2" strips from the feedsacks to fill in the background (à la gypsy wife), and starting piecing them in the best way I thought possible:  at random.  The end result?  (As my IG peeps have already seen...)

"Shoot for the stars."  (It seemed to appropriately capture my sentiments about the events leading up to this design, what with the lofty daydreams of a wholeheartedly creative life and whatnot.)  It measures a somewhat obscure 40" x 61", but I suppose that's what happens when you (I) improvise.  ;o)

The only outstanding question?  How to quilt it.  (!)  My thoughts?
—Tight straight lines in Aurifil on a diagonal (like this other (pseudo) pantone shooting star design) or
—Chunky, organic hand quilting with perle 8 to complement the rustic background (like the other arrow quilt)

Feel free to share yours if you have ideas for me!  And go on and take a look at all the glorious quilts that are painting Play Crafts and On The Windy Side purple these days, or check out #pantonequilt over on IG.  Plenty of inspiration to go around!

xo

aurifil + oakshott + diamonds, oh my {giveaway day!}

When it came time to decide how to partake in Sew Mama Sew's semi-annual Giveaway Day Week this time around, you might say I was inspired by the sparkly liberty+oakshott+aurifil doozy I recently crossed off my list (…for now, anyway):

Since I already gave away some of my coveted liberty lawn in September, I'm thinking some other DWR-inspired faves are in order for the SMS wintertime giveaway extravaganza:  oakshotts, precious stones, and aurifil.

Specifically, one delectable F8 stack of oakshott elements {water}:

I don't know about you, but I'm seeing shimmers of aquamarine, emerald, sapphire, and blue topaz in this water :)

Two birthstone block paper-piecing e-patterns {princess + round}:

And three of my go-to Aurifil 50wts {2000, 2021, 2024}:

So let's cut to the chase.  In keeping with the trio theme, you have three chances to win*:

1.  Leave a comment on this post.  (Done and done.)

2.  Leave a second comment if you are a follower (old or new, just tell me how you follow:  Instagram? (@nohatsquilts has finally gotten with the program!)  Bloglovin'?  Feedly?  Email?) (optional second entry)

3.  Help spread the word!  Then leave a third comment telling me how you did that. (Pinterest? Instagram? Facebook?  Quick one-word explanations 100% okay by me!) (optional third entry)

*A word of warning to all "no-reply" bloggers:   I am not a PI, so please(!) include your email address in your comment so I can track you down :)

All entries welcome, near and far.  This giveaway will be open until 8 pm EST (5 pm PST) on Friday, December 13.  A winner will be announced and notified shortly thereafter.

Edited to add:  Thank you (truly) for all the entries.  The giveaway is now closed, and this bounty will be making its way to commenter 357/1204, Quilting Tangent.

Bon chance.  And be sure to check out all the other amazing giver-awayers's posts :)

-- Sarah