Holiday Memories - Janome to the rescue!

Holiday Memories

Janome to the rescue!

by Natalie Barnes of beyond the reef

The Holidays are for making Memories.

Just that.

You might be thinking, you don't have time to sew during the Holidays.

But I assure you, you do.

Just a few minutes a day, and you'll be ready for the Holiday family event.

Here's a simple project - and an idea for you.

Sprinkle some "albumn blocks" on your table, include Micron pens

and let your guests sign their name and leave a sentiment for the Holiday.

Everyone knows I love string blocks.

I've chosen them once again for this project, because they're achievable

and don't take a lot of quilting math!!  (smirk)

When you are done, you will be left with a stack of lovely blocks 

with the names and notes

from all of those that you love, and shared time with during the Holidays!!

Choose a color scheme - red and white, red and green and white, silver and blue.

Grab some fabrics from your stash.

Head to the hardware store and get some painters masking paper - 6".

You'll need lots of bobbin thread, so grab the Aurifil for this project - a neutral light grey.

You'll want a 6-1/2" square ruler, a cutting mat and rotary cutter, some snips

to one side of your Janome

and an ironing mat, and your Oliso travel iron sitting to the other side.

Because I sew on the HD-3300, I can set it up anywhere.  

So I set it up by the tree and turned on the lights

sewing to the sparkle!!!

Cut random width strips, trimming ends - between 1 - 2 inches.

Cut a stack of 6" squares from the masking paper - your foundation.

Place white, or the fabric you've chosen for the signature of the block, 9" strip,

in the center from point to point,

right sides up.

Select your first color strip, and trim it to a length just past the foundation paper.  

With right sides together, stitch together and give a quick press open with your iron.

Repeat until one side of the paper is covered.

Then cover the other side of the paper and you have completed your block!

Remember, you can chain piece the strips!!  

The Janome HD-3300 is fast, and makes quick work of this project!  (zoom zoom)

(the perfect setup!)

Give the blocks a good pressing, and trim to 6" square.

You are DONE!

And now for the magic.

Yup.  I buried the lead.

Sprinkle these blocks 

down the center of your table, 

making them part of the centerpiece!

Add some Micron pens, and ask your guests to sign while they are dining.

So, remember, Holidays are about the Memories.

Capture those memories with a quick stack of Albumn Blocks

easily string pieced

and ready for your Holiday Dinner or get together!

HappiestDays.

Natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

be.do.create

#SewPINK Initiative 2019 byAnnie.com

it's October.breast cancer awareness month.

and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of the initiative

created by 

byAnnie.com

to bring awareness to this special month

thank you

Annie!

in addition to the campaign, there is information about prizes, donations, 

and the blog hop schedule here:

https://www.byannie.com/2019-sewpink

we chose to make the byAnnie 

Zip It Up!

project

using

Windham Fabrics Collection

featuring fabrics and artists:

Woman's Wisdom by Carrie Bloomston

Celebrating Women by Maria Carluccio

Flower Power by Carolyn Gavin

with

Marcia Derse Palette accents

and thanks to Windham Fabrics

we'll be sending one lucky reader
(chosen from the comments below)

a stack of Palette and some of the designers' fabrics

please leave a comment to be entered
in the drawing for the fabrics
have you ever made a byAnnie.com bag or project?

I will be the first to admit it - I was intimidated by this project!!!
but who wouldn't jump in for such a great campaign....

the first part of the project prep was spent watching Annie's

GREAT

video tutorials about making zippers from her Zippers by the Yard

and her "how to" videos about installing zippers

the tutorials make it all so easy

byAnnie patterns are really specific and easy to follow
and I highly recommend jumping in and making any one of her projects

now that I've completed one of these great bags

(just don't look too closely....ahem....)

I think I'm ready to make a few more for girlfriends,

tucking in some of the information about 

Breast Cancer Awareness

and Annie's Sew Pink Initiative

and that means shopping for more supplies:

byAnnie's Soft and Stable

Mesh Fabric

Clear Vinyl

Handbag zippers

and

Clips

after all, byAnnie's is donating 30% - yes, 30% of profits

on SewPINK items

sold on their online shop

(see below)

thank you, Annie

for this wonderful month full of fun projects

inspiration from designers

and education and resources

for all

HappiestDays.

Natalie

be.do.create

The #SewPink Initiative was created by ByAnnie.com LLC to raise awareness for breast cancer during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. They have pledged to raise funds to donate to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation through sales and promote action through giveaways.

For more information please visit their official #SewPINK information page: https://www.byannie.com/2019-SewPINK

To donate directly visit: https://give.bcrf.org/give/31404/#!/donation/checkout

To see the calendar of events visit: https://www.byannie.com/2019-SewPINK#calendar

ByAnnie will be donating 30% of profits on all SewPINK items sold on their web store. You can search for SewPINK items on their website or see the list of items here: https://www.byannie.com/index.phproute=product/search&search=sewpink

Shayla Wolf Good Vibes Only blog tour

"Summer-to-go!"

It's a great month!

It's time to celebrate with Shayla Wolf of Sassafras Lane Designs!!

It's time to take a look at this lovely Windham Fabrics line

with lots of color and prints that will make lots of different projects!  

There is a great blog tour happening right now.

And I couldn't be more excited to be a part fo the fun.

Let's celebrate together.

Leave a comment!

Each maker will be hosting a giveaway for a small bundle of Good Vibes Only. 

That is 19 opportunities to win! 

There will also be a big giveaway with the recap post on Sunday, June 23rd. 

The big prize will contain a fat-quarter bundle of Good Vibes Only and a pattern bundle.

It's summer.

Not only is it summer, but school is out, and that means kids are at home.

Well, only until they find the next place they want to go....

and then you're off to the races!

It's for this reason, I suggest a simple

"quilt-as-you-go"

project for this summer - it's these lovely, rich, cheery fabrics...

And, because, it's something you can work on

15 minutes at a time!!

These bright colors just say, "summer", to me, too!

"Summer-to-go!" mats and coasters

Mats

Place the first strip right side up, on the batting,

in the center of the 13"h x 16"w batting/backing rectangle.

(trim to 13" as you select each strip)

Quilt through the first strip.

Place the second strip right sides together on the first strip.

Sew together with an approximate 1/4" seam.

Flip open; quilt the second strip.

Repeat, across the left of the center, then the right of the center. 

Hint:  Piece some random strips together to form larger pieced strips.

Use these in your

"quilt-as-you-go" 

piecing.

Be sure to sew and quilt in opposing directions to keep your project square.

(up one side, down the other, and repeat)

don't you just love all of these patterns and colors???!?

Trim mats to 12 x 16, and coasters to 5-3/4" square.

Make 2-1/4" straight binding; attach to projects.

Color Recipe:

Use fat quarters of all of the colors to piece the mats and coasters.

Use the black to bind the coasters, the white to bind the mats.

The coaster backing is grey, and the mat backing is made from the whites.

(the rest of the details are below)

Coasters:

Piece them in a "loosely interpreted"

log cabin piecing technique.

Start with a square or strip in the center, then round and round you go,

quilting-as-you-go!

Who knows?

Maybe the kids will want to quilt with you, once they see these great colors!

Looking for a chance to win something?

Leave your comment below...and remember, each post

is another chance to win....

Details

(4) 6" squares grey for coaster backing

(4) 6" squares of InsulBright and lightweight batting

(4) 13" x 17" white/grey for mats backing

(4) 13" x 17" rectangles of batting for mats

(2) sets of 1-1/2" strips, and (2) sets of 2" strips

of all of the colors

(all of them!!! and yes, you'll have fabric remaining)

Schedule:

Monday, June 3rd: Shayla Wolf | Sassafras Lane Designs

Tuesday, June 4th: Emily Dennis | Quilty Love

Wednesday, June 5th: Nichole Vogelsinger | Wild Boho

Thursday, June 6th: Irene Sytema | Sugaridoo

Friday, June 7th: Sylvia Schaefer | Flying Parrot Quilts

Saturday, June 8th: Robin Long | Robin Ruth Design

Sunday, June 9th: Jessica VanDenburgh | Sew Many Creations

Monday, June 10th: Nicole Young | Lillyella

Tuesday, June 11th: Sherry Shish | Powered by Quilting

Wednesday, June 12th: Tara Curtis | Wefty Needle

Thursday, June 13th: Jo Westfoot | The Crafty Nomad

Friday, June 14th: Janet Nesbitt | One Sister Designs

Saturday, June 15th: Natalie Barnes | Beyond the Reef

Sunday, June 16th: Elisabeth Hardy | Elisabew Quilts

Monday, June 17th: Sarah Sharp | No Hats in the House

Tuesday, June 18th: Joanne Hart | Unicorn Harts

Wednesday, June 19th: Elise Baek | Elise & Emelie

Thursday, June 20th: Kaitlyn Howell | Knot and Thread Design

Friday, June 21st: Nicole Daksiewicz | Modern Handcraft

Saturday, June 22nd: Sarah Thomas | Sariditty

Sunday, June 23rd: Shayla Wolf | Recap

                                              
                                          

Guest Designer for Anthology Fabrics!!

Guest Designer for Anthology Fabrics

(swoon)

I could not have been more excited

(insert poker face here)

when the Windham Fabrics team

asked me if I would be interested in being a

(insert giddy face here)

Guest Designer for Anthology Fabrics

it was absolutely an over the moon exciting moment

and a great opportunity to be able to work with

Myiesha

who is the 

most organized

most precise

most magical

when it comes to working with the team in Bali

and having patience with designers

and who can turn a vision of fabric design into a hand made piece of cloth

after Myiesha works her magic

and the makers in the Islands work their own magic

fabric arrives 

and the sample making begins

many friends, many hands, many hours

the samples are made, and the photos are taken

and the Look Book is created

and the sales team heads out to meet with the shop owners

but when it is all said and done

the quilts are carefully folded up and put in a safe place

until it is time to show them again

maybe they'll be admired at Market

or at a Trunk Show

or in a Class along the way

maybe they'll go on loan to a quilt shop

when the fabric starts shipping in July/August

but until that time

they are lovingly folded 

as the precision and determination and dedication

of each Maker

is admired

(insert tears of gratitude on my face here)

Deb, Jane, Kim, Nicole, Robin, Scott, Teresa, Tiffany, Zina

the Anthology Fabrics team
the Bali team

with gratitude....

Natalie.

beyondthereefpatterns.com

be.do.create

time to talk real life....again.

it's sunday.

time to talk real life.

some days bring us shadows

that is, to point out the obvious, a part of life

we all have faced it at one time or another in our lives

but it seems we're in a culture where we are more rewarded

for being stoic, staying productive

keeping our head high

staying positive and joyful and happy

and moving on

I want to suggest otherwise

I want to suggest it's okay to be sad every so often

(rather than angry)

I want to suggest it's okay to be, as my neighbor said the other day,

emotional

be kind to yourself

give yourself space

and allow yourself time to turn your grief

into great stories about the person that make you laugh

or reminds you of the sunshine

instead of the shadow

quilters do that so well

we comfort people with quilts

(see this video about Missouri Star Quilt Company)

we make pillowcases from happy fabrics

do something to honor that place of loss in your life

and give yourself a hug

that will be the best positive joyful happiest thing you can do

HappiestDays.

Natalie

beyondthereefpatterns.com

be.do.create

fly high, Pete

(look at it this way - you got an extra 30 years out of it - it was well worth the tradeoff)

Friends.....lessons from friends

friends.

lessons from friends

in the last few weeks

I have had the joy of spending time with friends

one of my friends

is my 90 year old neighbor, turned friend

(see more about this, here)

the biggest lesson I receive

from spending time with this 90 year old is this

everything is a

delight

this adult trike was hung with a small kids tricycle

an adult tricycle?!???

delight

dinner with friends

the simplest of a bbq filled with meats and veggies

flowers from friends as a thank you

delight

and carving time out of the day

to set up the chairs/table/kayaks

on the beach

for some time on the water

with people whose to do lists are longer than others'?

delight

let's remember to stop

and carve some time out of the day

prioritize our to do list

to include some

delight

have I made my point yet?

breathe.

take some time for yourself

and remember to learn from your friends

leave me a comment below - we'll give away some more

Marcia Derse

Palette fabrics

what did you do this weekend to delight someone else?

Finally, congratulations to Pamela and Delaine 

for leaving comments chosen by the Random Number Generator

look in your mail for your Marcia Derse fabric bundle!

HappiestDays.

Natalie

beyondthereefpatterns.com

be.do.create

ps - if it's labor day 2018 and you're reading this

we're having a Labor Day sale

in our Etsy shop

beyondthereefshop

20% off all goods listed in the shop

"LABORDAY"

is the special code

good until tomorrow at 6am pacific time