Mr. Raccoon Finally Has a Home!

It only took about 7 months but the Mr. Raccoon block is finally done. 

Allegory asked for a house block featuring him somewhere, anywhere.

Allegory really loves Halloween so I thought a trick or treating Raccoon was in order, after all, he did come with a mask ;)

I guess technically it's not his home, since he's trick or treating and all, but you know what I mean. 

Knowing Al, she needed a house that was a bit funky too. I hope she loves it!

April Lovely Year of Finishes goal, you are done!

Denyse Schmidt Doll Quilt Swap

Leona recently invited me to participate in a mini/doll quilt swap over on Flickr. The rules were to make a mini quilt, no bigger than 18", and to make it with Denyse Schmidt fabrics and coordinating solids. 

Now I realized as I was getting ready to post this, that I never showed any process pictures on this one. Bad blogger! The truth is, I waffled back and forth on what I was going to make, all the way up until the last minute, then I put it together over the course of my annual weekend at my friend Karen's house a couple of weeks ago. 

So here it is!

I went back and forth between so many different patterns before finally settling on this one. My partner really seemed to like geometric designs so I wanted to stick with something like that, as opposed to say, applique. 

My first plan was the Marcelle Medallion that's making the rounds. Well, the center part of it anyway.

But that involved buying the magazine or the book and my budget is tight. I was actually going to go for the magazine but couldn't find it in the stores when I looked. I knew it was due to hit the racks sometime in March but I was running out of time!

So then I thought, maybe I could do a Bloom Bloom Pow mini. But I was running out of time for that too as the instructions weren't scheduled to post before I had to mail it. 

So I went digging though EQ7 for some inspiration and happened upon the Storm at Sea block, it was love at first sight. I put four of them together, had the program print the paper piecing pattern, and voila!

The two inner rings are from Hope Valley, the three outer rings are from Flea Market Fancy and the dark print is from Greenfield Hill. It is also backed and bound in the dark print.

I printed a label onto some muslin and hand stitched it onto the back, then wrapped it up and sent it out!

I also included a little cross stitch that I made, my first one ever! The hoop is 3 inches, to give you an idea of scale.

That was quite fun and I will definitely be making more of those! 

I am very very happy to say that my partner loved the package I sent!

I'm still waiting on mine to arrive. I can't wait to find out what's in it, there are some serious beauties in the Flickr pool!!

Before I sign off, just a quick reminder that today is the last day to take advantage of the awesome coupon codes in my shop!

http://juliepickles.bigcartel.com/

TESTER10 gets you 10% when you order at least one item

TESTER20 gets you 20% off when you order at least 2 items

TESTER30 gets you 30% off when you order at least 3 items

Codes expire at midnight Pacific time on April 20th.

Buying 3 items almost gives you the third pattern for free! The pattern and template bundle ARE included in this sale!

Linking this up to Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

Testers Parade! (and a Coupon)

Today we are celebrating my most awesome pattern testers. You guys, these chicks totally rock. They all went above and beyond with their testing and made some really fabulous quilts!

Before I show you all of their awesome work, I wanted to show you the baby version of Wedge-ulous. The baby size turns out a tiny bit different than the larger lap size. It's still a work in progress, but it's at least a complete top, so you'll get the gist :)

Now for the tester's versions!

My super awesome friend Mali made this very beautiful, very feminine version.

And how gorgeous is that photo? I think I need to hire her to take all of my pictures for me!

Jennifer made a baby size, she left off the top and bottom borders and bound it on the wedges, which I thought was totally clever!

You all know Jennifer, right? She blogs over at Knotted Thread and has a fabulous little fabric shop. She also tested Mod Pop for me and is super sweet!

Bree was super tester, she just kept churning out the quilt tops! She had a fabulous idea of inverting the colors of Mind the Gap so that the prints were the "sashing" pieces.

Then she dreamed up this beauty.

I think she was out to prove that it looks good any way you can imagine!

Bree also tested Tunnel Vision. She said her son needed a carry around quilt and that he loves guitars.

I love that lone guitar arch. This one definitely screams boy and we know how hard it can be to make a quilt for a male. I do believe she nailed this one. 

My other awesome friend Dede was my other tester for Tunnel Vision. Hers is quite the opposite of Bree's in that it's totally feminine.

And look at that quilting! 

She also made this mini-mural on the back. See how she rounded the corners? Yet another great use for the Mod Pop templates!

Beautiful work all around ladies, thank you so much!!!

Now how about a coupon code for my shop to celebrate? 

In honor of my fabulous testers use the following codes to save big in my Big Cartel Shop!

http://juliepickles.bigcartel.com/

TESTER10 gets you 10% when you order at least one item

TESTER20 gets you 20% off when you order at least 2 items

TESTER30 gets you 30% off when you order at least 3 items

Codes expire at midnight Pacific time on April 20th.

Buying 3 items almost gives you the third pattern for free! The pattern and template bundle ARE included in this sale!

The sale only applies to my Big Cartel shop. Remember that I have to manually send the pdf files to you so don't panic if you don't have them right away. I will send them to your paypal address and usually get them sent pretty quickly, it just depends on how far away I am from my computer. And let's face it, I'm a stay at home mom, I'm usually not very far ;)

Thanks again for all of your support!

Finish-a-long Q1 Wrap Up and Q2 Goal Setting

Having managed to actually complete each of my goals for Quarter 1, I'm excited to set some new ones for Quarter 2! 

My Quarter 1 goals were to:

Finish the Prince Charming single wedding ring quilt - DONE!

Finish my Weekender bag - DONE!

and to Finish the Castle Peeps Wedge quilt - DONE!

I found that setting one goal per month was the best way to attain my goals, and not get overwhelmed or discouraged. Plus, it allows me some wiggle room to add spur of the moment projects and to allow me to go weeks without a sew-jo without falling behind. 

With that being said...on to Quarter 2 goal setting!!

This one is actually a bit hard for me to figure out because remember all of those things that I said I wanted to finish this year? I don't really feel like working on any of them. Yet, at the same time, I don't want to start on anything new! Quite a conundrum, right? Let's see if I can find a happy medium.

First off, as I mentioned in my April goal setting for the Lovely Year of Finishes, I want to finally make the raccoon block for Allegory. I know exactly what I want to do and will do it as soon as I find my sew jo.

Second, I'd like to finish my Cathedral Window Sampler. 

Did I ever tell you guys that I won 2nd prize in the random drawing for this quilt along? I did! I got a nice prize package from Pellon and a gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop! I think I'm going to turn this into a wall hanging, maybe even try to sell it? I haven't quite decided it's fate just yet.

And last, but not least, I would like to make myself a new purse. I know, I know, I was just making one about a month ago. Well, that one ended up not belonging to me in the end. I'll tell you more about it later. Right now I'm torn between doing the Emmaline bag again, which I loved, or making a fancy tote type of bag with this fabric I scored from Spoonflower. 

No, I didn't post that sideways, that's how it was designed so that's how it embedded from Spoonflower. Tilt your head please :)

And, I just remembered three more things...

Make an idea pouch for my mom

Make a baby quilt for my soon to be new niece

Make a console cover for my dad's new truck

Those all need to be done within this quarter, so on the list they go!

Ok, that's 6 things to do in the next three months. I can totally do this!

Introducing!

I am so excited to FINALLY announce the release of my newest patterns!

My testers and I have been very hard at work, I really hope you guys like them!

Wedge-ulous

First up is one that you guys have seen and seen often. I made this quilt in April of last year as part of the My Precious Quilt Along. It was the kick I needed to use my precious Castle Peeps bundle. I had such a great response to the design that I decided to go ahead and write it up for you guys!

Wedge-ulous is fat quarter friendly and utilizes templates. They're easy templates, nice straight lines that you can line up with your ruler for easy cutting.

The pattern includes instructions to make both a baby and a generous lap size. 




Mind the Gap

Mind the Gap is a pre-cut friendly pattern that is great for beginners. It sews together fast and is perfect for when you need a quick project. The pattern is written for both baby and lap sizes.

Tunnel Vision

Tunnel Vision was dreamed up in an effort to make the Mod Pop templates more useful. That's right, this pattern uses the same templates!! 

Tunnel Vision is also fat quarter friendly and is written for baby, lap and full/queen sizes.  The templates are available within the pattern and as always, acrylic templates are available for purchase in my shop. 

All patterns are now available in both my Craftsy and Big Cartel shops. Follow the links below to find out more information about each one, including fabric requirements.

Craftsy allows for instant downloads after purchase, you can find them here:

http://www.craftsy.com/user/118611/pattern-store

My Big Cartel shop is located here:

http://juliepickles.bigcartel.com/

You can find all of the patterns, plus the acrylic templates there. Remember that I offer discounts for purchasing both the templates and pattern together in a bundle!

Come back in the next couple of days, I'm going to show you all of the awesome versions of these patterns that my testers have come up with. You won't believe how fun all of the different versions are!

I would like to send an extra special thank you to a few people, they know who they are, for putting up with me and my craziness and indecisiveness the past couple of months while I prepared these patterns. Also, to my girl Bree for accepting the millions of emails that have been shot her way, she is the best sounding board! And to my awesome friend Fabric Donkey, for coming up with the best names ever for Tunnel Vision and Mind the Gap. You rock, my friends. 

As always, thank you all so much for your support, it means so much to me!!

A Lovely Year of Finishes-April Goal Setting

I'm going to give myself something a bit easy this month. 

Allegory entrusted the care of this creepy little guy to me...

...last August. 

I will be making a house block featuring Mr. Creepy Raccoon.

So it's going to be an easy month for goals, but LONG overdue.

I have a plan.

Plus, I have a bunch of stuff I'm trying to get done, and have spent far too much time these past few weeks being out of town, or planning for and recovering from being out of town, so I have lots to catching up to do this month. 

I also noticed that my numbers over there on the sidebar, the ones that say how many posts I've done each month, are pretty pitiful. It seems like I don't have much to say, which you would totally laugh at if you knew me in person because this chick likes to talk. 

So I'm going to set a goal to blog a bit more, because I definitely have plenty to share!

I also have some big news coming in the next couple of days so stay posted!

A Wedge-ulous Finish!

Holy Smokes you guys, it's finally done!! 

Ok, technically, it's been done for about a week now, but this past week has been a bit crazy and I totally, completely forgot to blog about it! I have about 3 hours left before the link up for the Lovely Year of Finishes closes for March, and since this is my March goal I'm going to squeak it in under the wire here. Me? Last minute on linking up? What else is new?

So here she is, in all her glory!!

I quilted lines echoing the shape of the wedges. I've really been loving the soft drape of quilts with minimal quilting lately.

Now, I do still love dense quilting too, but I really wanted the fabrics and colors to shine in this one.

I had a ton of fun with the back, creating more wedge shapes out of solids that coordinated with the colors of the front.

There she is, finally!! I love this quilt a lot, though there is a chance it won't be staying with me. I will share more on that with you later, when I have pictures to accompany the post! 

I'm going to hit post and get this linked up. You should come check out what everybody else has been working on!

This finish also completes my goals for Quarter 1 of the 2013 Finish A Long!

And linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Friday!