Month: March 2022

Pink Peppercorns….

Peter Piper pieced a patch of pink peppercorns……

While I am NOT Peter Piper, I did piece a pink peppercorn block as part of the 2022 Color Challenge from PBJ (Pattern’s By Jen).

The first task was to find out what a pink peppercorn was…..

A pink peppercorn (baie rose, “pink berry”) is a dried berry of the shrub commonly known as the Peruvian Peppertree….. WOW…..MORE P’s!!

They are members of the Cashew family and have a peppery flavor. They are often blended with commercial pepper.

Even MORE interestingly, Wikipedia went on to say…… “In 1982, the Food and Drug Administration banned the import of Brazilian peppercorns from France into the United States, asserting that people who eat the berries risk an array of acute symptoms, such as swollen eyelids and indigestion, similar to poison ivy. In response, the Government of France maintained that the berries are safe to eat if grown in prescribed conditions. The United States later lifted the ban. “

WHO KNEW!!!

After this history lesson, I searched for a good photo……

….and then for fabric….

Remember that I am keeping the same background fabric for all of the blocks and had already cut it.

The first step was to draw a diagonal line on the back of the background fabric. This was made difficult by the dark color of the fabric…..

I accomplished the task by using one of my favorite marking tools…..

….the White Marking Pen from Clover.

The only “problem” with this pen is that the mark isn’t visible when it is first marked…..

but appears within a few seconds….

You HAVE to be patient!!

Once I had the pieces ready, it was a bit tricky to lay out the block…..

….but the final piecing was straightforward…..

Each month, Jen asked us to show our quilts of the same colorway but, frankly, I don’t have any pink quilts.

BUT, I DO have a pink mug rug that I made several years ago so let’s go with that……

This is the post that I wrote about making it…..

Happy Valentines!!!

It is good to have three of the color challenge blocks under my belt. Next month is “Nigella seeds”. I WILL have to do some research on this one!!!

On your mark…..get set…..

For the last month, I have been talking about my upcoming series…..

Twelve Ways to Quilt a Sawtooth Star

Remember that you can download the FREE pattern for the Sawtooth Star Quilt HERE

BUT….what if you want to participate in the challenge, but you don’t have time to whip up the quilt top?

DO NOT DESPAIR!!

There are lots of other ways that you can join in……

  • Each week I will provide a pdf of a Sawtooth Star block. You can print it out and draw your designs rather than quilt them.
  • You can trace the design onto fabric and quilt it that way. It is a simple block to draw out….only a few straight lines. If you don’t want to “waste” good fabric, you can use a cheap cotton blend fabric or even sheets that you buy at a thrift store. If you find a cheap blanket there, use it for the batting!! Remember, the point is to learn and try NEW designs…..not to create a piece of art!!
  • If you have a drawing program on your I-pad (such as Procreate), I will provide a jpg of the pattern and you can draw along.
  • As a worst case scenario, you can save the video links so that you can do this exercise on your own time!!!

As you can see, there is NO reason not to play along……remember……

We start next Friday, April 1st!!!!

Please email me if you have any questions!!

Charity Quilt Practice

Back in 1990, our guild decided to begin making quilts for the local battered women’s shelter. The idea was that the families often left home in a hurry, not able to bring any of their possessions with them. We decided to provide a stash of quilts for the safehouse so that the kids could pick a quilt that was theirs to KEEP…..FOREVER!!

I was SO excited about this opportunity and especially excited because it gave me a REASON to keep making quilts. You see, back then, I thought that I had to have a reason. Don’t worry, that idea has changed now!!

At the time, I was early in my quilting career and wanted to try some machine applique using a satin stitch. I found a cute pattern and WENT FOR IT……

It was one of the first quilts that we donated and I love to think about some scared and hurting child being comforted by this sweet quilt!!

Do you have a favorite charity that you make quilts for????

Distance Viewing….

Sometimes you are just too close to your work and need to step back and see it from a distance. The problem comes when your room is small and you can’t get far enough away!!

To fix this, you can use a “reducing glass”……

….which is basically a magnifying glass in reverse. Instead of making things appear closer, they look further away!!

However, instead of purchasing a glass made especially for quilting, how about visiting your local hardware store and buying a door peephole for much less money…..

It will work the same, is smaller to store and CHEAPER….can it get any better?

Now, let me end off with a funny story. Many years ago I used a peephole to design this quilt…..

…and honestly, it looked better thru the glass than it did in person. I threatened to hang the peephole to a string and tell people to look at it THRU the glass!!

That would have worked!!!

Did you know that many tools from your kitchen can move to your studio, making your quilting even more fun? To receive a free pdf featuring 5 such tools, please subscribe to my newsletter. You can sign-up in the top, right-hand column of this blog, or click HERE