Because I keep putting my scissors down and not being able to find them, I made a scissors lanyard. Simple fix, really. Now I can just wear them around my neck. I used a strip of Liberty that was laying around, cut to 1.5" wide. I pressed it in half, opened it up, pressed the raw edges into the center crease, folded it closed and sewed it shut. Easy peasy and long overdue. Now I will not drop them between the seat of my car and the console while I'm stitching in the carpool line because they will be on my person. Look at me...I am brilliant!

And then, as these things happen, I decided that I need something in which to carry the threads and fabrics required for car sewing. Pouch, of course! I picked out the fabric based on the zipper colors I had on hand. A little hand sewing and some machine sewing and I am in applique-on-the-go business. Cooking with gas, I tell you! Said pouch is about 10" x 8", the exterior fabric is Hatbox by Alexia Abegg, the interior fabric is a coral dot I had in the stash, I used perle cotton to embroider a running stitch around Kentucky 3 times and a 12 inch zipper was cut to fit. Did I miss anything?

In all seriousness, it is killing me that I can't show you what I am working on (book!!!) so I am contriving small, satisfying sews to share here when time allows. And sometimes when time does not allow and I really should be doing something else, but I only have 40 minutes and that is not enough time to conquer the next logical book step. So, ta da! Lanyard and pouch! Which I will be putting to use in just ten minutes time as I head out the door to pick up my high schooler. (Yes, it's still weird when I stop and think about that.)

Happy making to you!

It's no secret that I love to play with fabric. Pulling different prints from my stash and mixing them together is very relaxing for me, but I don't do it often enough. And sometimes I do get caught up because I have too many choices. (Addicted to fabric, I admit!) At the moment, I am also working very steadily on my new book and you know what they say about all work and no play! For a change of pace and a little fun, I decided to challenge myself to pull 10 to 15 fabrics in a cohesive color palette in five minutes. Five minutes! This is what I came up with....

Left to right, collection names and designers:

Hatbox by Alexia Abegg, Catnap by Lizzy House, Meadow by Leah Duncan, Cotton and Steel Basics, Meadow by Leah Duncan, Moonlit by Rashida Coleman Hale, Cotton and Steel Basics, Catnap by Lizzy House, Meadow by Leah Duncan (3 prints in a row), Moonlit by Rashida Coleman Hale, Botanics by Carolyn Friedlander

I find this interesting. Orange, yellow and green are not necesarily colors that I would think of putting together immediately. I just love my greens and blues too much! That said, I really like this group and I can completely see making it into some kind of quilt.

I started with the Meadow print that is fourth from the right. It was easy to pull from my Cotton and Steel fabrics because they are still sitting in one pile. I think that is why I stayed in a few collections - they were all right at my fingertips. I did try a couple of yellow Denyse Schmidt prints, but the color was off. Still, for five minutes, I'm pretty pleased. So pleased that I plan on doing it again next week.

Unrelated, but still important:

-You still have time to enter to win a full fat quarter bundle of Tidal Lace by Kim Andersson. The giveaway goes until Sunday night.

-My book, Quilt Essential, is on deep discount over in the C&T store. If you have been wanting to buy it, now is a great time to get it at a great price. They have lots of other great titles on sale, too.

Have a great weekend!

Kim Andersson of I Adore Pattern has her first line of quilting cotton, Tidal Lace, debuting with Windham Fabrics this fall. I met Kim a few years back on a sewing weekend and our paths crossed again last fall at Quilt Market. I was incredibly flattered that she asked me to make something from her fabrics - what a treat!

The Tidal Lace collection is inspired by Kim's childhood experience in her grandmother's ballet shop, among trims and lace, along side her memories of tidal pools and the interesting bits of life they hold. The prints are whimisical and fresh, with soft color story that includes blues, greens, corals and soft golds. They vary in size from small scale to a larger border print - one which is printed in an ombre green on white. Gorgeous! There are a handful of solids that compliment the prints, as well, making them even more versatile to sew with.

When I saw the Tidal Lace collection, I knew that I wanted to make a quilt. I immediately thought of the traditional ocean wave block and could not get past it. Instead of making the quilt in the traditional manner, I decided to take my inspiration from that pattern and make something of my own. I played with smaller triangle on a larger wave, without the rigid structure of the traditional block. The result is the Tidal Wave quilt.

Made of all the prints and solids from Tidal Lace, the Tidal Wave quilt is made from half square triangles floating on a large, navy ground. Quilted with straight lines, it's very simple and straightforward. It's easy to put together and will be released as a free pattern by me in January. I used my Accuquilt Go! for a lot of the cutting and the instructions will include how to use it as well as traditional cutting instructions.

Be sure to check out all of the other goodies made from Tidal Lace in the collection's lookbook and on the rest of the stops of the blog hop:

Mon 15th Sept:
Windham Fabrics
Kim Andersson : I Adore Pattern

Tues 16th Sept:
Erin Harris : House on Hill Road
Amy Gunson : Badskirt
Cath Mosley on Instagram

Wed 17th Sept:
Anne Sullivan : Play Crafts
Stacey Day : Stacey In Stitches

Thurs 18th Sept:
Adrianne Ove : Little Bluebell
Terri Carpenter : The Quilted Fox

Friday 19th Sept:
See How We Sew
Amanda Hohnstreiter : My Sewcial Hour

Sat 20th Sept:
Ann Haley : Sew Messy
Madeleine Roberg : Domestic Strata

Sunday 21st Sept:
Cal Patch : Hodge Podge Farm
Rebecca Ringquist : Drop Cloth

Monday 22nd Sept:
Alicia Wietholter : Swoon Patterns
Stacey Sharman : Peppermint Pinwheels

Tuesday 23rd Sept:
Jen Carlton Bailly : Bettycrockerass
Miriam Blaich : The Berlin Quilter

AND....lucky you! Windham is generously offering a fat quarter bundle of Tidal Lace to one of my readers. This is open to US and International readers. Woot! To throw your name in the hat, please comment on this post and tell me what you would make with Tidal Lace. I'll close the comments on Sunday, September 21st at 5:00 p.m. EST. Good luck!

Still feeling quiet over here.

I haven't picked up my camera much in the last few weeks. Using the iphone is just too easy. When the golden, autumn light was streaming through the kitchen window last week, I started chasing it. There is nothing extraordinary about these photos, but they are my every day which, I guess, makes them special in an ordinary way. I am putting them up here to remind myself to notice the little things.

Also, I miss the old flickr.

xo. E.

I'm here. Feeling very quiet. School has started. 7th grade for Kate and high school for Jane. Different schools, different schedules. Taking my time to figure out what is what and how I am going to be in two places at one time. Or rather, how to make it work best for all of us without anyone losing their mind. Wish me luck.

I'm sewing. And reading. And trying to learn Illustrator a bit. I'm also teaching - my string quilt this weekend at Q First in Quilting in Lexington and basic sewing to 8th graders as part of our school's art electives. Both should be fun.

I'd like to start meditating. Does anyone have any good starting tips, apps, etc., that you would be willing to share?

Monday, it's back to work for me. Book #2 is my biggest work in progress. Coming at you Fall 2015.

Back soon.

I'm sure you have seen a good half dozen or more versions of these Purl Soho shorts by now. Here's another! They are a fast sew from a free dowloadable pattern so, really, you should make some. The come in kid and adult sizes so even if you don't wear shorts, maybe there is a little girl in your life who would like some. I lengthened my pair by 1.5" because this 43 year old does not rock the short shorts. Just saying.

I sewed the bias binding to the wrong side of the shorts and then folded it around to the front before topstitching them in place as a little extra insurance to make sure the raw edges got enclosed. I used some Robert Kaufman chambray left over from this skirt and the floral print is a Kokka design that I got from Frances at Miss Matatabi. This particular chambray is a little loosely woven. If I were to use it again, I would increase the back seam allowance to 1/2" and maybe even break out the serger because it's really embarrassing to be walking around with a hole in the back of your shorts where the seam didn't hold. Just saying.

Last week, I decided to copy Melissa and make myself a t-shirt.

People! This was fun to sew.

I had the navy Laguna knit in my stash. It was purchased as part of a kit for a dress that I never made. Use it or lose it, right? Right! I paired it with a fat quarter of an Anna Maria Horner voile from the stash. I'm tall with a long torso so I had to turn the fat quarter 90 degrees to get the length I needed, but this print works well in either direction. Plus it looks great with the solid navy.

I followed Melissa's directions, including using the Metro T-shirt pattern by Liesl & Co. I love the process of adjusting patterns. All the measuring, drawing, tracing - I always end up learning so much. This time I altered the pattern to bring the seams forward and create a hi-low hem as Liesl shows in her tutorial. Once I sewed it up and tried it on, I felt that it was way too long in the back, so I drew the hem a second time, taking 3 inches off the back of the tee and leaving the front where it was. In the end, my shirt ended up a little more than 2 inches longer in the back than the front center. (If you do not have a long torso, I think you would need to shorten the front piece as Liesl suggests.)

I've worn this tee a couple of times and I love it. Jane asked me yesterday whether I had made it - the girls were still away at camp when it was sewn up. After I answered yes, she asked where I bought the blue shirt to alter. When I explained that I had sewn the entire thing, she was a little surprised. But for me, that is the icing on the cake. I made a t-shirt that looks store bought! Even up close!

Win, win, win.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday sewing the improv blocks I made in 2008 at Denyse Schmidt's studio into a quilt top. It's mostly finished, just waiting for some "white" borders to make it a usable size.

Only after I took some photos and looked at them on my phone did I see the best bit of improv. Do you see it?

I seriously couldn't have made that happen any better if I had tried.