I Spy Hexie Quilt

I spy with my little eye... a tricycle, a monster, a fox, and a finished quilt!

Last week I read about Ali's contest the Festival of Hexagons and it was exactly the hot poker I needed to light a fire under me and get going on the I Spy quilt I've had on my to-do list forever.

I've been hoarding collecting a few Heather Ross fabrics (many thanks to my friends Courtney and Christine) and all of the other adorable prints came from the I Spy Fabric Swap and the Spoonflower Fabric swaps I participated in last year.

To make life easier for myself, I used my Accuquilt hexie die cut to cut out the paper hexagons. Cutting those out by hand is so tedious and frankly, I don't have time for that so using my Accuquilt die cutter was the way to go. I must admit I bought the hexie die exactly for this purpose!

I had originally planned for this to be a small wall hanging but the more hexies I made, the bigger the project became, and it seemed a quilt was the way to go.

I'm glad too because now the kids can lay down on the floor and play I Spy. If it was on the wall I am not sure it would actually get used very much.

I spy a scooter, a robot, a cupcake, an owl...

The hexies are machine appliqued and machine quilted in an echo pattern around the star. I was ever so thankful for my auto-lift-easy pivot function on my presser foot as I sewed all of these on.

For the back I used one of my all time favorite IKEA prints-  I'm in LOVE with text prints! Maybe a text print swap is in order next!

The quilt measures 46" x 52".

Thanks Ali for motivating me!

This is the first big contest I've entered so fingers crossed. There are some really great prizes up for grabs! Pop on over to check out all of the entries.

Wish me luck!

xo,
Jennifer

Hexa Go Go Book Review

Feeling hexie? If you've ever wondered what the buzz is about hexagons and English paper piecing, there is a great new book out you should definitely check out. 

Hexa Go Go by Tacha Bruecher is a colorful, modern, collection of projects centered around hexagons and it's absolutely delightful. 

If you are new to hexagons, this book is full of fabulous information. Want to know where to start, how to baste, how to sew them together? All in here.

Wondering how best to quilt with your hexies? Have questions or need help troubleshooting? Tacha covers that too.

Old hat at hexies? This book is full of creative and fresh takes on hexagons that will surely inspire you.

There are some really lovely projects in here.
I love the star pillow and and how cute are these placemats? 

I like how her hexagons compliment and play off each other and the colors work harmoniously together.

She has pillows, table runners, small projects and quilts (including a modern take on the grandmother's flower garden) all centered around hexagons.

In fact, all of these beautiful projects inspired my entry in the Festival of Hexagons.  Sneak peek below, full pics soon! 

I'm honored to be in such good company in this book tour blog hop. Be sure to check out each stop to learn more about the great projects in this book, read reviews and enter to win your own copy of Hexa Go Go.

8/24 Cabbage Quilts
8/27 Lilys Quilts
8/29 Ellison Lane
8/31 Cut to Pieces
9/3 In Color Order
9/5 A quilt is nice
9/7 Moda Lissa
9/10 The Last Piece
9/12 Michele Made Me
9/14 Fat Quarter Shop
9/17 Comfort Stitching
9/19 Quiltdad
9/21 Oh, Fransson!

In fact, just for stopping by today, you can enter to win your very own copy of Hexa Go Go! US residents will receive a hard copy and international readers will receive an ebook. 

To enter to win, simply leave a comment and be sure to include your email address so I can contact the winner.  The winner will be announced on Saturday.  This giveaway is now closed. Congrats Richard for winning! 

Good luck!

Hexie Overload

I saw that Ali over at A Squared W is having the Festival of Hexagons contest next week and it was just the motivation I needed to get going on an idea that has been simmering for a while.

Let me warn you, hexies are addictive!

This is all so timely because I've got a book review for you on Wednesday when I bring you my thoughts on the new book Hexa-Go-Go by Tacha Breucher.

Hope you have a great Monday!
xo,
Jennifer

Hair Drama

So I went BLONDE yesterday.
Blonde like I was as a child.
Blonde like Tori Spelling.
Blonde like I haven't been since 1988.

It's a bit of a shock because yesterday I was a brunette- a light brown.

Today I'm blonde.
And I am not sure if I like it.
One minute I like it.
The next I love it.
The next I don't.
The next I just not sure.
Then the next minute I like it again.

I do love being blonde again but I can't decide if this is the right shade. Blonde is A LOT of work! And money!

I've always highlighted my hair and have always been blonde but after having kids, my hair became darker- a really dark blonde that might as well be light brown. And let's be honest. It was a mousy, dishwater light brown- not so pretty. With kids and staying at home, high maintenance blonde hair was not in the cards so I tried to do the natural look. Tried to go with my natural color.

And last week, I took the plunge for the second time and colored it all brown.
And hated it. Again.
(Apparently doing it the first time two years ago wasn't enough for me to remember how much I didn't like having dark hair.- super stubborn me.) 

Well, I liked it for a minute but missed being blonde. It didn't feel like me. Who was this person in the mirror? "Yeah, who is that?" asked my husband.

Well, I lived with it for two weeks and then yesterday went bold.
All over color blonde.
Strong bring it on blonde.
My oh my.

I spent three hours at the salon yesterday and at one point, after taking out the brown, I was canary yellow. Seriously- Easter Peeps yellow. It was alarming. I was warned before I looked in the mirror that it was just the middle of the process but holy cow. It was a sight. I should have taken a picture but I wasn't sure I ever wanted anybody to see that again!

But back to super blonde. I'm still not sure. Seriously- I look in the mirror and love it one minute and am not so sure the next.
I just peeked again and right now I like it.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to my hair 6 years ago when I got married - it was a long bob- highlighted, natural color underneath but you know, no clock-reversal things over here.

With super short hair the way I have now, I wanted it to be more one color. Otherwise I look like Watts from Some Kind of Wonderful.
I didn't really want to be Watts.

So now I think I have to own it.
Work it.
See if I can pull this off.
I said I didn't want "mom" hair. That's why I went short. I want something with personality- style and a little bit of an edge.

We are going to spend the weekend with my parents in the mountains tomorrow and I know they'll like it better than brown. I'm just not sure about this blonde. All over blonde. Super blonde. Anna Kelly blonde. Me from 5th grade summer spent at the swimming pool blonde.

My husband seems to like it and he definitely likes blonde over brown on me for sure.

So we'll see.
At least I like the cut. I do love being super short.
Well, most days I do.

I know the only person I have to please truly is myself but my hair and I have a difficult relationship.
It's full of DRAMA.

I wish I could just get it right and stick with it.
Does this happen to you?


xo,
Jennifer

Winterkist Blog Hop & A Giveaway!

Have you seen the cute Winterkist holiday fabric by Lecien?

Katie of There and Back is hosting a Winterkist blog hop and Lecien graciously supplied the fabric for us to play with.  What to create? I got a wonderful rainbow assortment and today is my day to show you what I've made with this happy fabric.

PS: There's a great giveaway involved with this hop- many thanks to the Fat Quarter Shop!

Just leave a comment on this post and the posts this week in the hop for a chance to win your choice of a fat quarter bundle. That's right, your choice! Awesome!

Here are the stops from the hop. We are rounding out the last week so be sure to check out the previous posts.

Aug 6  Katie at There & Back
Aug 7  Rachael at imagine gnats
Aug 8  Jennie at Clover & Violet
Aug 9  Courtney at mon petit lyons
Aug 10  Sara at Sew Sweetness

Aug 13  Bianca at Sweet Diesel Designs
Aug 14 Chelsea at Pins & Bobbins
Aug 15  Rebecca at Sew Festive Handmade
Aug 16  Diane at from blank pages
Aug 17  Allegory at {sew} Allegorical

Aug 20  Kim at My Go-Go Life
Aug 21 Di at Random Thoughts...do or "di"
Aug 22 Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts (me!)
Aug 23 Jenelle at Echinops & Aster
Aug 24  Katie at There & Back

When Katie sent along this fabric, it just shouted "fussy cut" to me. Those little snow flakes just wanted to pop out on their own.

A few hexagons later and a mug rug came to be. I think a mug of hot chocolate and some powdered sugar donuts are in order pronto.

I've been digging hexies lately and will have a few more to show you soon.

In the meantime, be sure to visit Katie's blog and all the others for some fun Winterkist inspiration!

Thanks again Katie for including me!

xo,
Jennifer

Mini Quilt Winners

Happy Sunday! 

It's a lovely rainy day today. I don't mind the rain this morning one bit.

Hope your weekend has been great. I was totally blown away by your amazingly sweet comments on this giveaway post! Thank you. 

I am so lucky to have such great readers and friends like you.

Now, on to the winners. 

Out of 268 comments, Mr. Random.org chose 64 and 267!

Congrats to

#64

and #267

Remember that my comments are numbered but start over at #200 so this 67 is actually 267. 

Ladies, please send me your full names and mailing addresses and I'll send you your minis this week. 

And really, a big thanks to ALL of you for being you! 

xo, 

Jennifer

Update: 

Sadly, I never heard back from Kelli (267) after emailing her and a week has gone by so I am going to choose another winner. 

Random.org chose #33

Congrats Elizabeth! 

I've emailed you! 

Hello Gym, Remember Me?

Hello Gym.
It's been a while.
Forever actually.
OK, 6 years.
Long time no see.
:)

Today I worked out on the treadmill and the elliptical and oh it felt good.
Just as good as dropping off my kids at the gym child watch for an hour and doing something just for me.

I've never been very athletic but I used to love Pilates and did that twice a week when I was single. Then I met my husband, life got busy and well, that was that.

Source: health-girl.tumblr.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

But this is a new day. I need to do this for me. And you know what? All that talk about working out improving your mood- it's true! (I should know- my mood was not-so-hot-gotta-love-PMS before I went.)
:)
I even made an appointment with the trainer for Monday to show the ropes and help me work out a plan.

Now, I'm not going to become a runner or anything but I'd like to tighten up and be in good shape.

So here's to starting something new. Thanks to my sweet hubs for making this happen for our family.

Hope you've had a good day too!
xo,
Jennifer

Mini Quilt Giveaway- a Thank You

You guys have been so patient and supportive this summer. It's been crazy around her with the move and having two small kids and summertime- well, I am sure life is the same for you.
But I wanted to say THANKS.

Thanks for being such great friends and followers.
Thanks for supporting my blog and my creativity and for your interest in whatever it is I am dreaming up over here.
Thanks for your kind words and encouragement and thanks for for being you!

So, to say "thanks," I am offering two of my mini quilts as a token of my appreciation.

I made these two minis last year.

I'd love for one of them to brighten one of your sewing spaces as they did mine.

I'll be tucking in a few other surprises in there too.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment and be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win. I'll draw two winners on Sunday and ship them out next week.

Good luck and thanks!
xo,
Jennifer

Building a Design Wall: A Tutorial

Tell me, is this you?
Do you lay out your quilt blocks on the floor? Do your kids, cats or dogs step on them, mess them up, or shuffle them? Do you finally get your perfect layout only to have to scoop them up and put them away till you can sew again later?

OK people- then it is time for a design wall!

Now, you can have a design wall even if you don't have much space. All you really need is batting that you can pin to your wall. You could even install batting on command strips and roll it down and up as needed like a shade. Now that I think of it, that might have been a good idea for me but I digress. 

If you have more space and want something a little more finished, then I recommend using a piece of foam insulation board wrapped in batting. I found Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial helpful but here are my tips.

I picked mine up at Home Depot for $15.00 It was BIG too. Something like 96 x 46 x 1. I had high hopes it would fit in the mini van but not so much.  No worries, I had them cut it down the middle length wise and trim 12" off the end for me.

It's important to get the kind of insulation board that has a groove along the side because then you can put the tongue and groove parts together to fit the two cut pieces flush together and tape them up the middle.

the front side, seam taped with masking tape

Duck tape or masking tape works to tape the seams together. Then you need a piece of batting that is about 2.5" - 3" wider on all sides than your board. Lay your foam board on the batting with the writing side up. With your staple gun, pull the batting taught over the edges and staple it in place.

There is a lot of power in a staple gun- don't you love it?

Do all the sides and then the corners. I folded the batting in a triangle shape over the corner and trimmed off the point. Then pulling tightly, staple it in place as flat as you can make it.

Finally cover your staples with duck tape so your staples don't scratch or mark up your wall.

Now you have a fabulous design wall; one you can move about your sewing space or mount on the wall. It's light weight and should hold a lot of blocks!

To hang it on the wall, I attached 12 Command Velcro Strips to the back of the board along the top and down the sides. The bottom of the board rests on the chair railing in my sewing room so this helps hold it up too.

It's BIG but will fit a lot of blocks and I can't wait to fill it up! I haven't had much time to sew this summer so I am looking forward to cranking back up.

Do you have a design wall? Does this inspire you to make one?

xo,
Jennifer

Home Sweet New Home

We are finally settled in. Yay!
Thanks for being patient with me. I feel like I've been gone awhile.

I've still not perfected my sewing space and the house is not perfect yet but it is coming along. My type A personality doesn't want to show you the inside until it is "done" but I'll get my sewing space up and running to show you soon.

Until then, here's our new house. It's wonderful. Lots of natural light, more space, great yard, private back yard, and room for all the things we do:
room to sleep
room to play
room to eat together as a family
room to sew
room to work
It's so nice. We're all really happy here.

I've been sewing a bit this week but can't show the whole project just yet. Here's a sneak peek:

I do have some recent finishes (pre-move) that I will be showing you soon including a new paper piecing pattern. Yay!
Thanks for hanging in with me. I'll get back in my groove!
xo,
Jennifer

Still Here

I'm still here. 

We've moved.
Boxes are unpacked.
Things put away.
Pictures still to be hung.
Sewing space coming along.
Pictures soon I promise!

Till then check out my new kicks.

They've gotten lots of use this week. LOVE the pink!

XO
Jennifer

P.S.  I got a new phone (galaxy s iii) and am posting from my new blogger app. Love it so far!