Author Archives: Jennifer Ofenstein

About Jennifer Ofenstein

Owner of sewhooked.com and fandominstitches.com. #quiltforgood advocate. Quilt designer, instructor, Talk to Me Tuesday founder & contributor, cat mom, and craft enabler.

TTMT #267 – Gab Fest

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Two posts in one day? No way!

Looking for Paper Piecing Vintage? You can find all PPV posts here.

Visit Fandom In Stitches for The Summer of Stitching!

Have orphan blocks or would you like to contribute to Stars for Linus? More info here!

Want to join the Talk to Me Tuesday Livejournal Community? We’d love to see your crafty videos!

Share your Paper Piecing Vintage photos with the Sewhooked flickr group for a chance to win fun prizes all year long. The June prize is a free PDF copy of my original pattern, Poppies from the Past! Winner to be announced the first week of July.

Need some help with paper piecing? Check out my FREE full-length workshop.

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Featured Pattern: Topsy-Turvy Trees, just $7 on Craftsy!

Paper Piecing Vintage – July

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July is here and we are now seven months into our Block of the Month!

Today is, of course, is the day we enjoy the new Paper Piecing Vintage pattern!

This month, we celebrate a very traditional block that is usually created with applique, Lily of the Valley.

As with all the blocks from PPV, Lily of the Valley is entirely paper pieced and both 6″ and 12″ patterns are included.

Lily of the Valley, by Jennifer Ofenstein (sewhooked.com)

Already registered? Download your updated BOM file now!

Like many of the PPV blocks, the pieces for Lily of the Valley are easy to pre-cut with a little measuring before you start.

Save some time by following these bonus directions:

Lily of the Valley includes patterns for two flowers that are mirror image (four flowers make the block). You will need two copies of each.
For the 12″ pattern, circle or highlight the letters that go with one flower (A, B, C) using the 6″ pattern as a reference.
Save time by chain piecing like pattern pieces.
Have fun!

Thanks to your generosity, I have already received many wonderful 6″ signature block for the Paper Piecing Vintage Signature Quilt!

If you have not yet shared yours, I will be accepting Signature Blocks until December 31, 2014. See your pattern for details and check out our Facebook Group for photos of blocks received so far!

Haven’t signed up for Paper Piecing Vintage yet? Registration for the entire year is just $12. That’s 12 patterns in two sizes (plus the occasional bonus!), entirely paper pieced for one awesome price! All patterns for the year to date are included when you download. Upcoming patterns will be added for you to download the first of each month in 2014.

Sign up for Paper Piecing Vintage now!

Join the Paper Piecing Vintage Facebook Group for exclusive content and to sew with friends!

Need some help with paper piecing? Check out my FREE full-length workshop.

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Featured Pattern: Topsy-Turvy Trees, just $7 on Craftsy!

TTMT #266 – It’s A Vacation

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This video comes to you from the past while I’m out of town enjoying the company of a very dear friend! More on that next week. 😉

In this video:

Summer of Stitching 2014, A Design Invitational on fandominstitches.com

Need some help with paper piecing? Check out my FREE full-length workshop.

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Featured Pattern: Topsy-Turvy Trees, just $7 on Craftsy!

Another finish for ’14 – Mustachio Quilt

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It’s been quite some time since I mentioned (or touched!) my 2014 UFO To Do List! These are projects that have been in progress or that I’ve been meaning to start. Most of them have been on my list for multiple years. Eek!

My Mustachio blocks are finally a quilt, with fmq & binding complete at last! This fun quilt now lives at the top of my stairs!

Get the Mustachio block pattern set on Craftsy!

2014 UFO To Do List (updated!)

HP Swap Quilt
Vintage Quilt Top
Churn Dash Quilt
~~10 Minute Block Quilt~~ – Completed & donated to The Linus Connection
~~PoD Signature Quilt~~ – Done!
TABABOM Signature Quilt
Embroidered Flower Quilt
Topsy Turvy Trees
Australia Quilt – fabric measured and organized
~~Flannel orphan blocks~~ – Completed & donated to The Linus Connection
~~Mustachio~~ – done!
~~Misc. Blocks (orphan, blog hops, etc.)~~ – Five quilts completed & donated to The Linus Connection
~~Garden Party blocks~~ – Completed & donated to The Linus Connection
~~NAWWAL~~ – putting this on hold. May pick up again in 2015.
~~Wedding Quilt Orphan Blocks~~ – Completed & donated to The Linus Connection
80s T-Shirts

Need some help with paper piecing? Check out my FREE full-length workshop.

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Featured Pattern: Topsy-Turvy Trees, just $7 on Craftsy!

Paranoia stitched!

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Dresden Files Paranoid Quote

from The Dresden Files: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

7″ embroidered

One of the best part of running Fandom In Stitches is that I get to plan fun events for our quilting community!

Summer of Stitching 2014, A Design Invitational on fandominstitches.com

The Summer of Stitching is an open invitation to anyone that might like to design quilt patterns in one of 12 themes presented through August and into September.

I have given myself the goal to create a new pattern for each theme. Patterns can be any technique: paper pieced, embroidered, applique, etc.

The first theme was Sherlock Holmes. You can see my pattern here.

The second theme was Sci-Fi & Fantasy. I decided to go with Fantasy and create a hand embroidered pattern featuring the above quote from The Dresden Files. It’s one of those projects that’s been on my “to do” list for quite some time. I’m a big fan of Jim Butcher’s urban fantasy series and Harry Dresden is a fantastically quotable character! This particular quote is from Storm Front.

I hope you enjoy this free pattern and visit Fandom In Stitches for more fun summer stitching!

The next theme? Monty Python, and I can’t wait to get started!!

Need some help with paper piecing? Check out my FREE full-length workshop.

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Featured Pattern: Topsy-Turvy Trees, just $7 on Craftsy!

TTMT #265 – Some Things

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Thank you, everyone, for all the kind words. There are some crafty bits in this week’s video, despite the recent sadness.

Need some help with paper piecing? Check out my FREE full-length workshop.

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Featured Pattern: Topsy-Turvy Trees, just $7 on Craftsy!

Another Furry Goodbye

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On Saturday, we said goodbye to our furry boy, and the eldest of our kitties, Merlin.

I won’t go into details here, only know that he suffers no more.

Almost exactly a year after we said goodbye to our other old furry boy, Tackett (the TTMT kitty), we let our Merlin go.

We miss him so much already.

Tackett & Merlin, 2010, both of them fat & happy.

We adopted Merlin in March 2001, when he was 3 years old. We found him at the Austin Humane Society, where he had been for quite sometime. He was a big boy, 13 pounds when he was skin & bones, and no one wanted him because he was a black cat.

They don’t know what they were missing. He had the sweetest temperament, just low key and loveable. He and Tackett were companions and buddies for over a decade.

He was such a special part of our lives that in October 2002 my daughter decided that there would be nothing better to be for Halloween! It’s hard to see in this photo, but her tag says “Merlin” and she’s sporting a long black tail. 🙂

We are very lucky to still have our two beautiful girls, the new: Rose (left) and Marie (right). Marie was the baby when we still had our Kitty Herd. The girls aren’t quite getting along yet, but we’re working on it and hope that they will have a long, happy life together.

To those of you that follow me elsewhere online and sent your condolences over the weekend, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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TTMT #264 – One Take. No Cuts.

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Need some help with paper piecing? Check out my FREE full-length workshop.

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Featured Pattern: Topsy-Turvy Trees, just $7 on Craftsy!

Indulging the #tfios Fangirl

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It’s been a super stressful and sad week around here.

Yesterday, we lost a beloved family member, my own wonderful Aunt Colleen. Tomorrow, one of my kiddos is having surgery (routine wisdom teeth extraction, but still). I’ve just generally been feeling pushed and pulled in every direction.

Several weeks ago, I bought tickets to see The Fault in Our Stars (#tfios, if you’re a fan) for my 19 year old daughter and myself. The move is tonight, a day before the general release and we have decided that in spite of everything going on, we’re going to take those couple of hours to enjoy one of our favorite stories by one of our favorite authors.

Preparation includes the “Okay” bracelets you see at the top of the post (pony beads, alphabet beads and stretchy cording) as well as my TFiOS backpack from DFTBA stuffed with packets of travel tissues. I already anticipate tears, but now I expect even more. I’m a champion cryer, and I might breaking a record or two tonight.

It’s not all sadness around there, though the stress has been quite abundant. OK!Magazine featured my #tfios Okay? Okay. embroidery and my phone went a bit crazy with tweets! You can get the free embroidery pattern here.

It’ll be a few days until my next post. Take care of each other and take a moment for yourself today.

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Holmes Has A Look

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Holmes Has A Look
a free pattern to hand embroider
7″ finished using backstitch and stem stitch

One of the best parts of running a fandom website is getting to indulge in the things I love best! I’m a huge fan of Jeremy Brett in the 1980s version of Sherlock Holmes.

This summer, Fandom In Stitches is hosting The Summer of Stitching and encouraging our quilting community to contribute designs in a variety of themes.

First up is Sherlock Holmes, which is what inspired today’s design. The first installment for The Summer of Stitching is June 11, 2014 on Fandom In Stitches, so be sure to stop by!

While I’m not eligible for the prize (it doesn’t make much sense to give it to myself!), I couldn’t resist participating and hope to design at least one new pattern for each theme over the next few months.