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Do you have a feeling of ZEST or a ZESTFUL approach to life? What is zest? I found this in Wikipedia, with Zest described in positive psychology: "Zest is a positive trait reflecting a person's approach to life with anticipation, energy, enthusiasm and excitement." (Peterson, C.; Park, N.; Hall, N.; Seligman, M. E. P. (2009). "Zest and work". Journal of Organizational Behavior. 30 (2): 161–172). That sounds pretty great to me!  How perfect to have a heart to describe this feeling of excitement, energy and positive attitude! I liked the simplicity of this block and thought it would be perfect to add a little patchwork mix of colors into the shape. With Thatched basics I used crimson, fuschia, tangerine, rose and one of the pinks from Abby Rose in 2 1/2" squares (2" finished size). I made the patchwork sides, then added the stitch and flip corners, then joined them together.  The scrappy version has the same Thatched crimson, fuschia, and rose fabrics plus cranberry. I wanted one of the darker shades to offset the dark red in the houndstooth check. And I loved putting in some of this Bonnie and Camille measuring tape fabric. What a fun way to "measure my love" of sewing! The curving lines in the background corner pieces is one of the coordinates of Abby Rose.  Between Brigitte's (zen chic) LOVE block and this ZEST heart, I'm really feeling the the warmth of good feelings lately!  You can get the pattern from Lissa Alexander at http://modalissa.com/2020/02/blockheads-zest.html/ . She also has some sweet pictures of little combinations of the block plus plans for a heart within a heart block. Its precious! Oh, yes, also Lissa is doing a giveaway on her blog so check it out!
Visit other Moda Blockheads designers for their take on this week's block! 1.15 - Corey Yoder - https://corianderquilts.com/ 1.22 - Sherri McConnell - https://www.aquiltinglife.com/ 1.29 - Betsy Chutchian - http://betsysbestquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/ 2.5 - Jan Patek - http://janpatek.blogspot.com/ 2.12 - Brigitte Heitland - https://www.brigitteheitland.de/blog 2.19 - Lisa Bongean - https://lisabongean.com/ 2.26 - Lissa Alexander - http://modalissa.com/ 3.4 - Laurie Simpson - http://minickandsimpson.blogspot.com/ 3.11 - Vanessa Goertzen - https://lellaboutique.blogspot.com/ 3.18 - Stacy Iest Hsu - https://www.stacyiesthsu.com/blog/ 3.25 - Robin Pickens - https://www.robinpickens.com/ 4.1 - Janet Clare - http://janetclare.co.uk/blog/ 4.8 - Jen Kingwell - www.jenkingwelldesigns.com/blog 4.15 - Joanna Figueroa - https://blog.figtreeandcompany.com/
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 I expect small pieces from Lisa Bongean and a learning opportunity! A few things about this block...triangle paper -yes. 7/8th ruler - yes. Lisa’s wisdom - yes.  I have this ruler that Lisa Bongean designed for Creative Grids. It has 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 markings in white and the 8th markings in black. I used the angle to line up and cut my squares into triangles as well. It is easier to keep track of those 3/8ths, 7/8ths, etc with this ruler.   Pay attention to those diagrams and instructions. Lisa recommends you starch your fabrics before cutting. I didn’t do that my first time through making these blocks and I should have. I say “first time” when it was really the second time since I made a mistake on joining my centers the first time and started over. Yes, I’ve made these more than once. My third go-round was doing the Thatched and prints mixed block (vs all Thatched). Then Lisa Bongean saw my blocks at Road to California and gave me some constructive criticism. 1. I should have starched my fabrics. 2. I should have shortened my stitch length and 3. I used the wrong thread color and it showed (cream thread with dark burgundy fabric= no, no). I appreciate honest feedback and I believe it when she says “I just want you to be the best you can be and improve.” I want that too. SO I made my block...again.   This image below shows old seams vs new, starched and dark thread seams. You can see the little light threads in the old one. I still probably needed to shorten the stitch length even more but I’ll save that change for my next Moda Blockhead Lisa Bongean pattern.  I also made the coral pink inside the block middle a little lighter. Tweaks. I keep learning.... Thanks Lisa for your wisdom and for sharing that knowledge! I appreciate it.  Follow along with the other Blockhead designers:
1.15 - Corey Yoder - https://corianderquilts.com/ 1.22 - Sherri McConnell - https://www.aquiltinglife.com/ 1.29 - Betsy Chutchian - http://betsysbestquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/ 2.5 - Jan Patek - http://janpatek.blogspot.com/ 2.12 - Brigitte Heitland - https://www.brigitteheitland.de/blog 2.19 - Lisa Bongean - https://lisabongean.com/ 2.26 - Lissa Alexander - http://modalissa.com/ 3.4 - Laurie Simpson - http://minickandsimpson.blogspot.com/ 3.11 - Vanessa Goertzen - https://lellaboutique.blogspot.com/ 3.18 - Stacy Iest Hsu - https://www.stacyiesthsu.com/blog/ 3.25 - Robin Pickens - https://www.robinpickens.com/ 4.1 - Janet Clare - http://janetclare.co.uk/blog/ 4.8 - Jen Kingwell - www.jenkingwelldesigns.com/blog 4.15 - Joanna Figueroa - https://blog.figtreeandcompany.com/ Jenelle Kent has a charming new book out with Martingale, Farmhouse Fresh. The projects are absolutely lovely! They use 16" wide toweling, which Jenelle has with Moda Fabrics.  This Rock Pool Toweling in the seafoam color is such a fun combination with Abby Rose! The modern farmhouse look of the toweling works so well with the cabbage roses and pink, green, orange and seafoam colors in Abby Rose.  The ends are made with patchwork squares that add such a nice mixture of colors. My friend Susan, the Felted Pear (@thefeltedpear on IG), had the lovely idea to add some applique and a label and I think it is such a nice touch! Jenelle has numerous applique projects in the book and her needle-turn work looks so good on the toweling. I usually do fusible raw edge applique and I think that works well on this fabric as well.  This cover ends up being a perfect size for my Juki TL2200 sewing machine! Its my main piecing machine so its always out and definitely deserves a pretty cover.  I also like the way this side patchwork looks from the end of my work space.  If you are interested in winning a digital copy of Farmhouse Fresh by Jenelle Kent, head over to my instagram feed and enter! I'll be drawing a winner from people who follow me @robinpickens, Jenelle @piecestotreasure and Martingale @martingaletpp on Instagram and enter on my IG sweepstakes post in my feed. Jenelle will notify winners on February 25th of the IG book tour!  Other IG posting peeps to check out for the IG book tour: @piecestotreasure @martingaletpp @modalissa @gailpandesigns @robinpickens @quiltedmoose @karenatsomerset @janeteclare @helen_stubbings @debbie_maddy @justcarrieintexas @corianderquilts Happy sewing!!   Are you ready to celebrate Valentines Day and LOVE? Well, Brigitte Heitland's LOVE block is a perfect fun way to spread some cheery feeling. Here is the Thatched and Abby Rose version. Abby Rose will be shipping to shops at the beginning of March! Those roses are perfect for a love theme.  I am fortunate to have my mother visiting this week. Talk about LOVE. She has been my biggest cheerleader and is a wonderful example of love. Not only that, but she made this weeks blocks for me!! Yes, when Mom visits, she gets right into the mix of fabric fun and sews along. She is also sewing along in Blockheads this time to make a quilt.  Foundation paper piecing is a newer thing for me. I've done a few blocks with it and I know the tip to shorten the stitch length is very important. I know because I've forgotten to do that in the past and it is a lot harder to rip the paper out and not tear seams. With a shorter stitch length its SO much easier! I also like that I can mark the colors of the fabrics on the back paper so I can follow my plan as adding the pieces.  Just a thought...these L O V E pieces would look good added side by side into a rectangle as well as in the stacked square.  Thank you, Brigitte, for this fun and happy block of love! Visit Zen Chic for the pattern with template sizes at https://www.brigitteheitland.de/blog and check out the other Moda Blockheads 3 designers to see their progress: 1.15 - Corey Yoder - https://corianderquilts.com/ 1.22 - Sherri McConnell - https://www.aquiltinglife.com/ 1.29 - Betsy Chutchian - http://betsysbestquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/ 2.5 - Jan Patek - http://janpatek.blogspot.com/ 2.12 - Brigitte Heitland - https://www.brigitteheitland.de/blog 2.19 - Lisa Bongean - https://lisabongean.com/ 2.26 - Lissa Alexander - http://modalissa.com/ 3.4 - Laurie Simpson - http://minickandsimpson.blogspot.com/ 3.11 - Vanessa Goertzen - https://lellaboutique.blogspot.com/ 3.18 - Stacy Iest Hsu - https://www.stacyiesthsu.com/blog/ 3.25 - Robin Pickens - https://www.robinpickens.com/ 4.1 - Janet Clare - http://janetclare.co.uk/blog/ 4.8 - Jen Kingwell - www.jenkingwelldesigns.com/blog 4.15 - Joanna Figueroa - https://blog.figtreeandcompany.com/   Cotton Cuts is starting a new Puzzle Mystery Quilt and I'm joining 8 other quilters - Crystal Manning, Kate Spain, Karen Lewis, Heather Black, Elea Lutz, Jen Allyson, Hilary Jordan, Sheila Christensen Quilts and Kim Moos with providing fun clues in the mystery pieces for one of the months! My month will be APRIL so be sure to check back then if you are playing along!  What is a Puzzle Mystery Quilt? You can find more information here: www.cottoncuts.com/about-pmq and www.mysteryquilter.com This is a program that runs for 10 months where each month you get PRE-CUT pieces of fabric and instructions to turn those pieces into puzzle pieces. By the tenth month you'll receive the key to putting the puzzle together into a beautiful quilt top. There are numerous fabrics and colorways for you to choose from for your mystery quilt (shown above). For the designers participating in this blog hop, we will each be doing a block one month that goes into a quilt that solves that same mystery. There is a raffle for the quilt made from our blocks. The money raised from the raffle goes to Valley Industries which is a sheltered workshop for disabled individuals. Quilt making, solving puzzles AND helping a great charity- talk about a win-win!  Want to know more about the quilt the quilters in the blog hop are participating in? Well, I'll give you this preview...we are using the Home Run colorway using Bramble by Gingiber so if you want a chance to win this colorway quilt, make sure you enter the raffle. Visit the RAFFLE LINK HERE!  Be sure to check out the progress each month from:
February- Crystal Manning - https://crystalmanningart.com/blogs/blog https://www.instagram.com/cmanningsews/ March – Kate Spain - https://www.instagram.com/katespain/ April (ME!)– Robin Pickens https://robinpickens.com and https://www.instagram.com/robinpickens/ May – Karen Lewis - karenlewistextiles.com and https://www.instagram.com/karenlewistextiles/ June – Heather Black - quiltachusetts.com and https://www.instagram.com/quiltachusetts/ July – Elea Lutz - https://www.instagram.com/elealutz August – Jen Allyson - https://www.instagram.com/jen.allyson/ September – Hilary Jordan - http://byhilaryjordan.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/byhilaryjordan/ OctoberSheila Christensen Quilts and Kim Moos – Cotton Cuts - https://www.instagram.com/cotton_cuts/ and https://www.cottoncuts.com/blog Jan Patek's BIRDHOUSE block this week for Moda Blockheads 3 is an appliqué design. Last year I did the pieced blocks instead of any appliqué but this year I thought I'd jump into the appliqué spirit! I'm really a patchwork piecing kind of person but it's good to stretch yourself.  I've tried to do needle turn appliqué but I'm not very good at it (I know, I know...I'd get better with practice). But fusible raw edge appliqué is a little more my speed. I'm still a bit rough at it but it IS fun to do something completely different and out of my norm. One thing I enjoy while doing this is getting out one of my other sewing machines. My daily machine is a straight stitch Juki so anytime I need to do decorative stitches, overlock, blanket stitch, zig zag, etc, I bring out my little Bernina or my Juki HZL computerized machine. For the first block, I did my ALL Thatched. But this birdie wanted a fancier house, something with birdhouse wallpaper and and a polka dot roof.  I like how Thatched still plays well as a background when other prints are showing off. Leaves, leaves and more leaves in this one. I guess I can call the birdhouse a GREENHOUSE BIRDHOUSE.  As for fusible appliqué tips, I've got two suggestions. One is to let that iron get really hot and really press your fusible or it sometimes peels unevenly. I often don't press it enough to get that good bond. The other tip is one I learned from Anna Maria Horner in a class I took from her. Take a pin and run it over the paper backing to score a little cut line in the paper before you tear it off. You can separate it more easily and peel from that cut line to remove the paper. I had been struggling with the edges of fusible on fabric to separate them and the pin line works much better than my fingernails to start it!  The other thing that always surprises me about appliqué...the mess on my desk! They are happy little cuttings and pieces though.  Thank you, Jan, for this fun block and for stretching me to do new things! Visit Jan Patek for the pattern at http://janpatek.blogspot.com/
and check out the other Moda Blockheads 3 designers to see their progress: 1.15 - Corey Yoder - https://corianderquilts.com/ 1.22 - Sherri McConnell - https://www.aquiltinglife.com/ 1.29 - Betsy Chutchian - http://betsysbestquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/ 2.5 - Jan Patek - http://janpatek.blogspot.com/ 2.12 - Brigitte Heitland - https://www.brigitteheitland.de/blog 2.19 - Lisa Bongean - https://lisabongean.com/ 2.26 - Lissa Alexander - http://modalissa.com/ 3.4 - Laurie Simpson - http://minickandsimpson.blogspot.com/ 3.11 - Vanessa Goertzen - https://lellaboutique.blogspot.com/ 3.18 - Stacy Iest Hsu - https://www.stacyiesthsu.com/blog/ 3.25 - Robin Pickens - https://www.robinpickens.com/ 4.1 - Janet Clare - http://janetclare.co.uk/blog/ 4.8 - Jen Kingwell - www.jenkingwelldesigns.com/blog 4.15 - Joanna Figueroa - https://blog.figtreeandcompany.com/ |
About ROBINDesigner of colorful florals for Moda fabrics. Modern to transitional quilt designer. Illustrator, sewist, crafter. I am proud to be a designer for Moda Fabrics!
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