Pedal's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

This Giveaway is now closed

One of my goals for 2017 is to revive my blog with a weekly post and the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day is a great way for me to get a jumpstart on this goal.

I have so much to share but I want to keep it short so I'm just going to touch on my recent obsession with the Storm at Sea block. I've only made two so far but I have plans for several more experiments with color placement.

My first two examples are an explosion of color but vary in placement of the background fabric. The right example may look haphazard but it actually reads warm on one diagonal and cool on the other. I was shocked when I stepped back to look at the finished block to see that the shape reads quite well.

My second example places black and taupe neutrals in the spaces that had color in the first example. This piece was made for the AugMQG's Secret Santa Swap and was delivered to it's owner at our Christmas party this week. It's made with Kona and Peppered Cottons. I think it's beautiful but it definitely doesn't read as strong as the first version.

I was able to use this great Carrie Bloomston print for the back that I recently received from a Giveaway I won from SewPsyched. Isn't it just a perfect compliment!

Here is how to enter to win these three adorable Cotton & Steel Charm Packs:

1. Leave a comment on this post.  Tell me if you have ever made a Storm at Sea quilt or even just a block.


2. Get a second entry by following PedalSewLightly on Bloglovin, Instagram, Facebook email or my Pinterest account. Leave a comment telling me how you follow.


3 Get a third entry by reposting my Instagram Giveaway notification on your Instagram feed with the links #pedalsewlightlygiveaway and @pedalsewlightly and leaving a comment here telling me that you reposted. 


The winners will be determined by a random drawing.


This Giveaway is open to US & Canadian entries only.


The drawing is open through Sunday, December 11 at 8pm EST (5pmPST)


The winner will be announced by Wednesday, December 14, and prizes will be shipped by Friday December 16.  


The winner will be notified by email and listed on the blog.  


It is the winner’s responsibility to respond with their mailing address by 11:59pm on Thursday, December 15 or another winner will be drawn. 


Good Luck and thanks for visiting! 

I Call It My RK Frappe

I have been playing along with the #100days100blocks sew-along on Instagram that kicked off on August 17th. So far I have made every required post! It was tough this weekend since we were camping and had hit-&-miss coverage. 

When I joined the AugustaMQG they were already mid-book in the City Sampler and I chose not to participate at the time. I was a bit envious when they would pull out their books for show & tell.

Now, I have my ever-growing book! I had my Tula Pink City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks book coil-bound at Office Max before I started. I requested the largest coil and so far it seems to be holding up to the growing pudge of blocks.

I have been working ahead and I move these post-it tabs as I go. They keep me on track with the major milestones of how far I have...pulled fabric, cut blocks and sewn blocks. It has been a very good system. 

I also glue 1/2" by 1" fabric swatches in my book to remind me of the fabric placement. This is especially helpful since I am not using Tula fabrics. 

My fabrics are a combo of Robert Kaufman products that consist of my large stash from Carolyn Friedlander accented with my tiny Elizabeth Hartman and Karen Lewis collections. For my solids I am using exclusively Kona Cottons.

All this fun has been organized by Angie, known as the Gnome Angel and you can find more information on her blog HERE. She has a full page of FAQs and links to shops where you can buy your own copy of the book. There are a lot of great sponsors too! 

Jump on Instagram and do a search for #100days100blocks and see what all the fun is about!

I see a lot of late comers to the fun every day so don't think it is too late to jump in!

Thanks for visiting!

Unofficial Q2 Finish-A-Long List

I missed the link-up deadline for the Q2 Finish-A-Long. It's been a rough couple of months and my quilting and social media accounts have been a bit neglected.

So, just for my own accountability, I'm going to post my list anyway.

QOV/Mystery at the Library:  
All quilted now and just needs to be trimmed, bound and labeled.

Three Flimsies from my MIL to finish and donate:
Pink, Yellow and Bright. The Juki is back in action piecing so these won't be touched until it gets installed on the Grace frame again. I do have all the backing, batting and binding in house so they are set to go.

Christmas Tree Pants:
Front and back set to go. I'm not very motivated now that my kids are grown and our house is no longer "Christmas Central." The baton has been passed to my nephew since his home is the one with all the family 'littles' so far. 

Lotta Baby Blocks:
Another project that isn't critical. It will be donated but my Guild's charity is quilt flush right now so it can sit until they call for more or we choose another group to donate to.

Cotton & Steel Basics Dog Gone Cute:
Still plugging away at these cuties. I've changed this from a mini to a child's quilt so it will be with me for a bit longer.

Melanie's Quilt:
No official deadline on this but I am shooting for a finish before September.

Christmas Pizza Box Pillow:
This is from a workshop I did with my traditional guild. I'm hoping to have two pillows done in time to gift this Christmas.

#Maythe4thMQS swap extra:

My actual mini is done. I even remembered to sigh it! This is a quickie project and I would say it sits at 1/3 complete as I type. I will most likely be mailing it tomorrow.

Oh Deer! by Shannon Brinkley:

I took her class last week so I can make a Top Secret project. I chose the Oh Deer pattern as my freebie so that I could test out the technique before I embark on the biggie. This will be sent as a 'Thank You' gift to the couple who hosted my son and DIL's wedding in their barn last summer. I was going to make a pieced barn mini but I think this will be much more casual elegant and fit their theme better. BTW, the class was very informative and fun!

Secret Project:

This was started to enter into a contest offered by the Augusta MQG and hosted at Branum's, our LQS. I had to abandon it when my sister and I had to spend a week in our home state due to a family emergency but it is also planned as a gift so it will get finished, eventually. Unofficial November deadline.

Tula True Colors Placemat:

Still in the bag and I have changed the back and binding out multiple times. I bought some more Tula while vacationing in the NC mountains during Master's Week so it will probably change again! 

Yeah, I signed up for this:

I need to order my solids. It will definitely be an eye popper!

AMQG Round Robin Blocks:

I would like to have the flimsy complete to share at our May meeting.

Shannon Brinkley Super Secret Project:

The book is ordered and tracking says it will be here tomorrow. I have all the materials and supplies to complete this project.

(No photo but, in the spirit of all the above projects including a photo I have added one of my #tulatruecolorsswap mini in action during our camping trip.)

April, May and June Nurture Circle do.Good Stitches blocks:

The photo is of the blocks I made for March.

The Finish-A-Long is hosted by Debbie at A Quilter's Table.

Thanks for visiting!

2016 1st QTR Finish-Along Link Up

Here is a recap of what I have been working on this year.

2016 1st QTR Goals w/ progress in Purple

Projects that are ready to quilt & bind:
QOV/Mystery at the Library-Quilted and ready to bind

Bagged with finished pillow case waiting for binding.

MIL's Pink
MIL's Yellow
MIL's Bright
Christmas Tree Pants

These blocks are ready to join:
Lotta Baby Blocks-Joined and ready to quilt

No photo but this is my retreat sewing space and where I joined the blocks.

Here's what I am currently piecing:
Cotton & Steel Basics Dog Gone Cute-one additional block added

Here are the other fabrics that I will be using for additional blocks. You can find this pattern at Sew Fresh Quilts.

Melanie's Quilt-HSTs sewn and trimmed

I think I'm settled on the Crosses & Losses pattern that was shared by Fresh Lemon Quilts not long ago.

Misc. Projects:
Christmas Pizza Box Pillow

Projects on deck:
4 Quilted baskets-FINISHED

Three of the four baskets I finished. Love this free pattern by The Sewing Chick.

3 Dish Drying Mats-FINISHED

Forgot to take a photo of the mats but here is a sample of what they look like.
Link to my Tutorial

4 Outdoor Pillow Covers-FINISHED

Here are some photos of our porch all ready for the Master's Golf Tournament guests that will be staying here next week.

I am really happy with the pillows that I made this year. The red pops against the white and black and I didn't have to put much thought into plants. Red geraniums and ferns seem like the perfect choice.

Some other projects I have worked on this year that were not on my 2016 1st QTR Finish-Along list:

Hexie handwork. It's about half done now.

Nurture Circle Do.Good Stitches for Feb.

Augusta MQG challenge project baby quilt. Finished!

I made 6 pillow cases for the Ronald McDonald House with my traditional guild, Pieceful Hearts, on World Wide Quilting Day.

The top for my #maythe4thmqs is done. Love the pattern by Quiet Play.

My first finished hexie project for the #skinnyminnyswap on IG. I used Modern Handcrafts Modern Hexie tutorial.

Participated in a Round-Robin Sew-in with the Augusta MQG in January and February. Branum's Sewing and Vacuum let's us meet in the shop. Stop by if you are ever in Augusta, GA.

My January Nurture Circle Do.Good Stitches block. Pattern by Shape Moth on Craftsy.

'Lancastered' WIP. Another project from the Augusta MQG Challenge.

Pot Holder/Trivet I made for a gift.

And on to next week:

I'm all packed to do some Airstream sewing while we are camping in the North Carolina mountains. I'll have plenty of time while Hubs is conquering mountains on his bicycle.

I have all of my Cotton & Steel stash packed so I can work on my Splendid Sampler.

My Tula Pink is kitted up to finish a placemat with blocks I received in the IG #truecolorsswap.

My Hexie project is in there for hand sewing.

My March Nurture blocks are on the list too.

Here's a sample of what my sewing room will look like next week.

I hope to get some open air sewing in too.

Well, that will do it.

Thanks for visiting!

Linking up with A Quilter's Table for the 2016 Finish-Along.

Traditional blocks into Modern Quilt

Let's play some catchup on one of the things I've been up to this year...

I just finished up a challenge with  the Augusta MQG. It started out as a giant stack of orphan blocks donated by Branum's, the LQS where we meet. They were distributed in paper bags and we did not know what we were getting. I got some real lovelies and most of them looked about like this...

I did get two Amish blocks, you can see them in the first photo, and one paper pieced Asian block, which I will share at the end of this post.

Our challenge was to make these mostly traditional blocks look modern and the resulting quilts would be donated to charity.

I started by slicing up my generic traditional blocks. These represent non-Amish communities.

I saved my two Amish blocks intact because I LOVE traditional Amish quilts. I placed them in the top and bottom rows.

The black patches with red and orange improv triangles represent Amish buggies with caution signs on the back traversing through the countryside.

I started out with  solid green patches but then I Googled Lancaster, PA and could not believe how similar my layout was representing the lay of the land with two large swaths of Amish areas divided by Lancaster. The big difference was the green on the satellite map was very striated. I then sliced up my greens to replicate that detail.

The rows of blues and purples represent Amish girls standing in rows. I am going to add a few more strips.

The gray strips are roads and I'm still on the fence as to how much to include.

So far, I have one and a half rows complete and the others are still in preview.

I plan to quilt the town area in criss-crossing straight lines to represent electrical wires and the green areas will be in channeled rows to give a sense of planted fields. 

I am calling this quilt Lancastered. 

My husband is crazy about this project and does not want me to donate it. I am with him, not because I am crazy about it. I want to keep it because I do not see this making a very comfortable quilt. It is better suited as a wall piece. I may have to see if I can work out a cash donation in lieu of this project with my guild.

Now, here's the finish...

But, I did create one quilt that I think fits the challenge.

I took my single Asian paper pieced block, which was beautiful on its own, and floated it in an asymmetrical background of Kona Snow.

I backed it in this cut I picked up at Jeff's, our other LQS. I found it on the sale rack and it's a Deb Strain pattern. I had a more pinky-peach piece that I was planning to use but it was a bit off so I was thrilled when I got this home and realized it was perfect!

I put it on my Grace frame and quilted it in this overlapping wavy line design. I love it and will be using this design again.

I finished it with a binding of Kona Snow to keep with a minimalist look.

We turned in our projects at our meeting last week and we voted on whose project best represented the challenge of re-making traditional into modern. We only had to turn in a complete top but mine was so simple I finished it. There were several finished projects but mostly tops were turned in. The winner will be announced at our next meeting. I'm on pins and needles.

Thanks for visiting!

Linked with Let's Bee Social #117

Quilt Fabrication's Midweek Makers #12