Love Patchwork

I really do love patchwork. Thanks to one of our UK friends (Hi Maggie!) I found out about  Love Patchwork, an awesome UK bookazine! She was sweet enough to send me a copy as it is not yet available here in the US, but I hope that it hits the news stands soon because it is awesome!!

There is page after page of patchwork eye candy. There are projects by Camille Roskelley, Jane Brocket, Cath Kidston and more.  Quilts and pillows and bags. So many great ideas that I am anxious to try! Lots of tips and tricks and advice for both new and not so new quilters.

But this was the biggest surprise...Look! I am included on the list of inspiring blogs with some of my favorite bloggers! Helen Philipps, who I have to admit is one of my favorite crafty people ever! Rita at Red Pepper Quilts who inspired my love of straight quilting. Jessie at Messy Jesse who has the most adorable blog. Quilt Dad and During Quiet Time are new to me and I can't wait to pay them a visit! I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!

I want to say "hello" to all of you who may visiting here for the first time! And a ginormous thanks to all of you who left such sweet comments about the pillows!!  I love sharing what I make, and am always amazed that all of you stop by and share in the fun!

Pillowpalooza

It's a pillowpalooza here at Happy Little Cottage! I am trying to stock my shop with cute things in time for the holidays, PLUS I really wanted to try some different quilt blocks.

Subway Tile.  Easy and a switch from my beloved squares!

Chevron. Modern and fun, but LOTS of cutting and piecing!!

Log Cabin. I think this was the most fun to make!

I really like the way the modern fabric updates the traditional quilt designs.  I am anxious to play around with the Log Cabin block. I have seen so many variations and think all of them would make great pillows.

If you are new to patchwork and quilting, a pillow is the perfect place to start!!  If you don't sew and would love a cute pillow, all of these are in my shop!!

A Saturday Project

Happy Saturday! I was playing around in the sewing room, and decided to see what else I could do with a dresden plate.  I made a mini size one (this one is about 5" in diameter) and put it in an embroidery hoop! Extra cute!  

I think I am going to make these in different sizes, and in different fabric lines to hang on my wall above my sewing machine. Color inspiration whenever I need it!

An Ordinary Week

I have had an ordinary week.

I have been sewing

Dresden Plates

Bunting Banners

Pin Cushions

I have been organizing

a big drawer of scraps

becomes bags of squares that I use all the time.

I have been reading

A trip to the library, and a re-read of a favorite.  The Shell Seekers. I think I have read this book every year for the past 10 years. Do you re-read favorites? Or am I just weird? :)

And something not so ordinary

A rainbow. I live in the city so there are lots of rooftops and overhead wires. But isn't the church lovely?  It is illuminated at night and is breathtaking. And the bells are a constant reminder of ordinary and extraordinary days. Mass, school, noon, weddings and funerals. The bells have their own ring for each event and I never tire of hearing them.

I like ordinary.


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I wanted to give a shout out for Kathy's giveaway over at Kathy's Cottage. She has a pair of weekend tickets to The Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio.   I have already entered and you should too if you are within driving distance.

These are photos of my visit a few years ago, and it is worth the trip!!

Granny Marmalade

It's official. I am addicted to these adorable granny square blocks! A customer asked if I would make a granny square pillow with Marmalade and here is the result.

I went totally scrappy with both the block and the binding. When I first saw Marmalade I was disappointed when I saw the stripe, but then I thought, YAY!! Cool binding! What was I thinking?????

I love how it looks with the quilt, and am so happy with the quilting.

Lori over at Bee In My Bonnet has more cute projects for the granny block and I can hardly wait to get started!!

And admit it...did you start singing "hey sister soul sister soul sister soul sister" when you read the title of this post???

And The Bunting Goes To

Lois at Lois' Laughlines who said:

"Yes, I blog. I love reading blogs that inspire me. I am a new quilter and you make the most beautiful quilts I have ever seen. Your blog is full of cute things that are such fun to look and make me swoon.
Blessings to you." Why thank you Lois!!

Over the weekend I made a few more dresden plate pincushions and I loved reading all of your comments so much that I drew 2 more names and I will send one to:

Danette who said:

"Hello Debbie!
I love reading your blog! Happy Little Cottage makes my heart happy always! You know me from Tea Cups & Knitting Needles {my blog}. I love to blog and read blogs because I find so much inspiration out there. I am always amazed by the beauty others create. I love to see the color combinations other people come up with. It just makes me feel good all over to get a glimpse into the world of someone else and it makes my fingers tingle with anticipation for my next project. The wonderful world of Blog is always such a happy place!"  Thank you Danette!!

AND

Kay who said: "Congratulations!!! I hope you are going to have a cake and party too! I love to read blogs for inspiration and fun. This summer one of my aims is to make my first cathedral window pincushion, after seeing so many of yours which are just stunning I want to try it. Such a lovely giveaway too."  Thanks Kay!

YAY!!

Ladies, please email me at happylittlecottage at yahoo dot com with your address so I can get these in the mail lickety split!

Thanks so much for all the sweet comments and for visiting Happy Little Cottage!

Two And A Half Inch Squares

These little squares pack a lot of punch! It seems that lately I have been using hundreds of them and I love them!

Granny Square Blocks

Hexagons

and Prairie Points.

I love that I can either use up scraps from bunting banners, or I can be really lazy and use jelly roll strips. Why is it that anything mini is so much cuter? I just discovered that Moda makes a charm pack of these little cuties!! I am so tempted to order one just to have on my sewing table to make me extra happy while I am working!!

The bunting banner giveaway is now closed and I will announce the winner tomorrow!

A Simple Sunday Tip

Just popping in to share a little tip I found on Pinterest. Natural room fresheners! Also know as simmering potpourri! Or maybe this is how you make applesauce and I got it mixed up?  :)

Anyway, put a sliced apple, three cinnamon sticks and 1 teaspoon of vanilla in a small saucepan. Cover with water, put it on the back of the stove on low heat and let simmer. Top up with water as needed. I was also thinking I might grab one of the mini crock pots that I see all the time at the thrift stores to use just for this reason.  Your house will smell like cozy autumn wonderfulness!!

Just a reminder that tomorrow is anniversary day for Happy Little Cottage and I will be drawing the name for the vintage bunting banner!! Click here if you'd like to join in.

Happy Sunday!

This Is Why

I am loving reading all the comments that are coming in for the GIVEAWAY! One of the prevalent themes of why we blog is inspiration. No matter what our form of creativity is, blogs are such a wonderful resource. We post pictures of things we make and little do we know that we are inspiring someone else to pull out the sewing machine, pick up the crochet hook or knitting needles, and start to make something beautiful for themselves. Sometimes we even inspire someone to start their own blog. The pincushion above was inspired by this.

Some of you also mentioned motivation. And I was nodding my head up and down. My blog motivates me to finish projects, so that I have something to blog about!!  Even though I am always working on my etsy shop, I don't always have something new to show you, and that really keeps me motivated to find and make projects that I love and that I hope you will like too!

If you haven't left a comment yet, please do. I love getting to "meet" some of you who are new to the blog, or have never left a message! If you want to enter the giveaway, click HERE!

Give Away!!!

August 13th is the 2 year anniversary of Happy Little Cottage!  Little did I know on that muggy and hot August day how much I would love blogging and how wonderful it is to be part of a community of creative and supportive people! I appreciate so much all of you who visit and chat and encourage and share your ideas!

To celebrate, I am having a GIVE AWAY!!

Just leave a comment below to enter! If you are a blogger, tell me why you blog!! If you aren't a blogger, tell me why you love reading blogs!! For an additional entry, follow me on Facebook and come back and let me know that you did! Please make sure you include or link to your email address!

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED!!!

I will draw a name on August 13th and I will send the winner a one of a kind Vintage Fabric Bunting Banner!!

Thanks so much for being here!

Back To Basics

I could spend hours and hours on Pinterest and Blogland admiring gorgeous quilts that are full of intricate piecing and gorgeous quilting. But truth be told, I love making simple quilts. I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes from pulling a completed quilt from under the presser foot, and being able to actually use the quilt.

One of my favorite patterns is simple squares set into white sashing. I love being able to see the prints and colors of the fabric, and the way they "pop" off the white background. If you use charm squares, there is very little cutting, which makes the quilt come together that much faster! I am also a big fan of red and white polka dot binding. I seem to reach for this almost every time I bind a quilt.

When I get in creative rut, going back to basics always does the trick. What do you do when your quilting/knitting/crocheting mojo packs up and leaves?

A Thank You Note

Dear Lori, Jenny B and Trish,

Thank you so much for making blogland such a fun place to be! I have had such happy mail from blog give-aways and sweet blog friends.

Lori had a give-away for her Great Granny Along, and I was the super lucky winner! She sent a jelly roll of her awesome Millie's Closet AND the cutest pattern on the planet!! I love everything and have a fun idea for that cute pattern! Thanks Lori ♥

Jenny B at Allsorts had a give away a few months ago, and again, the random number generator picked me!!! I am going to stitch this cute bunting banner up and use it as a Christmas decoration!! Thanks Jenny ♥

Trish at Notes of Sincerity is possibly THE sweetest blogger on the planet. She sent this to me last fall and I know (hope) that I thanked her with an email, but never shared with you the super cute bracelet she made just for me. She knows how much I love Halloween (fun, kid friendly Halloween, not gory, scary Halloween) and this is what she made!! Isn't it perfect! I think I wore it every day last October!!Thanks Trish ♥

Stay tuned for another fun give-away story!!