Category Archives: Quilts & Quilting

College Days Blog Hop – GO TEAM!

Welcome, College Days blog hoppers! Enjoy the free pattern shared here today and make sure to read through to the end to find out how to win a free pattern set from my Craftsy shop!

Go Team - Finished Block

 Go Team! (free pattern)

or…get it on Craftsy (also free!)

a 10″ pattern to paper piece

The College Days blog hop comes at a time when we’re just a few weeks away from my own daughter returning to her university for her second full year of college studies.

We live in Texas, and the fall in Texas means football. I’m a high school marching band mom and I won’t lie, I’m not much of a sports fan…I attend games for the music!

Anyway, while thinking about how to tackle this pattern, one thing kept coming back to me: the university bunting I myself hung on my wall while in college. All universities have a team of some variety, whether it be football, baseball, rugby or quidditch!

Need some help with paper piecing?

Check out my FREE full-length paper piecing workshop!

Go Team - Close Up

Go Team in UNT Mean Green colors. Caw!

Go Team Sully Colors

 The are the colors of my alma mater, Sul Ross State University!

Go Team UT ColorsThis is for The University of Texas, my hubby’s favorite.

Go Team - Hogwarts Colors

My brilliant friend and faithful pattern tester, Amber, suggested that this design would be perfect in Hogwarts House colors. She is, of course, absolutely right!

As a special bonus, leave a comment letting me know your favorite university team or alma mater for a chance to win a free copy of my Holly Jolly pattern set! Already own Holly Jolly or would prefer something else? The winner can choose any other pattern or patterns of equivalent value from my Craftsy shop!

While you’re here, I’d like to invite you to  a couple of events going on right now!

 

Join me and lots of other quilters for Paper Piecing Vintage! 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.

 

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

On my fandom website, Fandom In Stitches, every Wednesday into September, we invite designers of all experience levels to join us to design patterns for a new theme and help bring fun, free, fandom-themed patterns to our quilting community!

 

Last, but not least, the chance to win another prize! This month, ALL photos of projects made from Sewhooked patterns, including Paper Piecing Vintage and College Days, that are shared with the Sewhooked flickr group will be entered to win a copy of my pattern Topsy-Turvy Trees!

 

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Featured Pattern: Wee Lil’ Penguin (2 sizes, paper pieced), just $2.95!

Paper Piecing Vintage – July

Paper Piecing Vintage - July

 

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 PPVLily of the Valley is entirely paper pieced and both 6″ and 12″ patterns are included.

Paper Piecing Vintage - July

 

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!

Paper Piecing Vintage Signature Block
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.

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 Monday, July 7.

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!

Okay, fandom? Okay.

Okay? Okay.

TFiOS Okay? Okay.  a free fandom pattern by Jennifer Ofenstein

Also on the Fiction & Literature page on Fandom In Stitches

I get a lot of emails from readers of both Sewhooked & Fandom in Stitches and one of the comments I receive more than any other is “why aren’t your fandom patterns on Sewhooked?”

Well, isn’t that a good question?

Back in 2012, I split Sewhooked in two when I established Fandom in Stitches. My collection of fandom patterns designed by myself and my friends had grown so huge that it was actually crashing my website. After a lot of rearranging, I eventually decided that those fandom patterns needed a home of their own.

Everything that was Harry Potter Paper Piecing, the Twilight Block of the Month (designed by Cat Magraith), and a slew of other fandom-themed patterns by both myself and my designer friends were the beginning of Fandom in Stitches.

When I split Sewhooked, I moved all those fandom patterns to make Sewhooked friendlier and easier to navigate. The unanticipated side effect is that you, my beloved and loyal readers, often don’t realize that I design for more than one website, so when I share a pattern like The Fault In Our Stars: Okay? Okay. (above), you may never see it.

10" TARDIS quilt block, paper pieced

10″ TARDIS

also on the Doctor Who page on Fandom In Stitches

So, by popular request, I have compiled my collection of fandom-themed patterns designed by me and put them together on their own page here on Sewhooked!

Each and every one is absolutely free for your personal & non-profit use.

HP Snitch

Harry Potter Patterns on Sewhooked

Find more Harry Potter on Fandom In Stitches

 

Find my free fandom patterns and many more by other excellent designers on fandominstitches.com. All patterns are absolutely free. All we ask in return is that you use them for personal & non-profit use only. We wouldn’t say no to sharing your photos either!

I'm a Craftsy Designer

I love to share free patterns and continue to do so by your generous support of my Craftsy shop. Thank you so much for shopping Sewhooked and supporting Indie Designers. 😀

May 2014 Flickr Prize

Share your Paper Piecing Vintage photos with the Sewhooked flickr group for a chance to win fun prizes all year long.  The May prize includes the bundle of fabric and two Sewhooked-themed pin back buttons above! Winner to be chosen Monday, June 2, 2014.

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

 

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Featured pattern: Runic Alphabet, now just $9 on Craftsy!

How to Add & Sell a Pattern on Craftsy

I'm a Craftsy Designer

Hi there Sewhooked friends!

As you probably know by now, I am an independant pattern designer, sharing patterns both here and on Fandom In Stitches,  selling on Etsy and Craftsy and with the occasional pattern published in a magazine.

While I started designing years before Craftsy existed, it is the existence of Craftsy that kicked my ability to design and share both my free and for sale patterns to a wider crafty audience.  What is most helpful to me as an indie designer with limited resources is that Craftsy is free for me to use. FREE. If you are a Designer, you know how hard it can be to scrape a living selling patterns. There are a million patterns online and many, many of them free. Making money in this industry is hard, but thanks to Craftsy, it’s a little bit easier and I can keep on doing what I love.

Without Craftsy, I would not had a venue for Paper Piecing Vintage, the 2014 Sewhooked Block of the Month, an event that I’ve not only loved creating but, here’s that word again, sharing!

Many of my readers are also Designers and I know at least a few of you lovely people that have indicated you would like to share your patterns but you don’t know where to start.  I have some super useful information directly from Craftsy that will help you get started!

Want to design, but don’t know where to start?

We have some great resources over on Fandom In Stitches to help get you going!

I’d like to add that you do not have to sell patterns on Craftsy to share patterns.  You can opt to share patterns for free. For my Designer friends that work on fandom patterns, FREE is always your best choice. Keep in mind the moment you start selling fandom-related patterns, you violate laws surrounding derivative work and risk copyright infringement.

Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which means I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through.

In addition to wonderful online courses and craft supplies, Craftsy also has an independent online pattern store that lets anyone upload and sell downloadable e-patterns with no fee!

How do you add a pattern to Craftsy and start your pattern store? It’s easy!

1. Make sure you have a Paypal account. All pattern transactions happen through Paypal, and Craftsy requires that you have a Student, Premier, or Business account in order to sell patterns.
2. Put your pattern in .pdf format. You can’t upload any patterns to the online pattern store unless they’re a .pdf file format, so if they’re currently saved as a Word doc, .jpg, or other file format, you must convert it to a .pdf before you upload it to Craftsy. (See Fandom In Stitches for some easy ways to do this.)
3. Include a photo. All patterns must have at least one photo to accompany them, but you can add up to five photos. Colorful, interesting photos tend to work the best for catching our members’ eyes!
4. Fill out the pattern description. We will ask you some basic questions around your pattern making it easier for Craftsy folk to find your pattern and know what your pattern is for. Make sure you have info about your pattern handy for this step.

For more information on how to sell a pattern through Craftsy, or to get started, visit Craftsy today!

Shop Indie Patterns

 

Be sure to stop by Sewhooked on April 30 for a sneak peek of my block in the upcoming Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks and for a chance to win fun prizes!

 

PPV Prize April 2014

Share your Paper Piecing Vintage photos with the Sewhooked flickr group in April and you’ll have a chance to win a copy of Quilts From 100 Blocks, Fall 2013 (includes a pattern designed by me!) as well as copies of my patterns Poppies from the Past and My Kitchen Window!

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Featured Pattern: Bluebonnet to Hand Embroider, just $2 on Craftsy!

Hey Peeps!

Spring must be in the air, because my Peeps pattern, first released spring of 2013, has been getting a lot of attention over on Craftsy!

Thank you to everyone that has downloaded this fun (and totally free!) pattern.

Need some Peeps? Get them here!

I'm a Craftsy Designer

Find all of my for sale patterns

(and many of my free ones!) 

on Craftsy,

including 72 single block designs

that will be $2 during March.

In April, all $2 patterns will be $2.95. 

sewhooked flickr prize march 2014
Share your Paper Piecing Vintage photos with the Sewhooked flickr group in March and you’ll have a chance to win Bonnie Hunter’s awesome book String Fling as well as a copy of my pattern Aces High!

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Sign up for Paper Piecing Vintage
and get a new pattern in two sizes each month during 2014!

That’s 24 patterns for just $12!

Pretty Pretty Pinwheel

Pretty Pretty Pinwheel!
As I’ve been working my through tidying up my Free Pattern page, it occured to me that it has been some time since I’ve shared a free non-fandom pattern.
Well, we can’t have that, now can we?
Here is a sweet little pattern that I’ve dubbed Pretty Pretty Pinwheel.  I think you’ll find fun and easy to piece.
Once the units are made, it goes together like a four-patch. If you chain piece the similar units, you’ll find it goes even faster!

Download the 6 inch Pretty Pretty Pinwheel for free from Google Drive!

The pattern is three colors plus a background fabric. Each color is indicated by a different texture. To make it piecing easy, I just penned in where the colors go.

♥ Jennifer O

Where did my retired patterns go? Read all about that here.

Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links to help cover the cost of my website. I thank you for your generous support. ♥

Big Linus Heart

Big Linus Heart Quilt via LinusConnection, free on Craftsy

There’s not a whole lot for a crafty sick girl like me to do besides hang out in bed with her laptop, drawing quilts.

In this case, the quilt was already drawn, it just needed a little bit of instruction added.

This Big Linus Heart quilt is free for you to download and make oodles of gloriously scrappy heart quilts for your favorite blanket charity!

Big Linus Heart Patchwork Quilt

Inspired by heart logo used by my own favorite blanket making charity, The Linus Connection, Big Linus Heart is the second variation of this patchy heart I’ve created.

The Linus Connection Heart via LinusConnection, free on Craftsy.

Do you sense a theme going on here? 😉

While the paper pieced version above is a mere 5″ finished, the patchwork quilt version makes a respectable 44″ x 49″ quilt, a great lap size quilt for a kid’s blanket!

So go, dig out your scraps and make a patchwork quilt for a charity (or kiddo) you love, with my compliments.

Stay well, and I’ll see you again when I’m back to my usual, bouncy self!

 

 

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Waiting for Rain, companion pattern for my STITCHED Workshop.

Just $4 on Craftsy!

Paper Piecing Art: Beginner and Beyond

STITCHED workshop - Paper Piecing Art, Beginner and Beyond

Way back in 2011, I was invited to be an instructor for STITCHED, a subscription-based online classroom community that offered workshops by experts in different craft-related areas. The entire shebang was conceived of and hosted an extraordinary artist, Alma Stoller.

STITCHED

My own workshop Paper Piecing Art: Beginner and Beyond, was geared to take students step-by-step through the paper piecing process.

I shared every tip and technique that I myself use when paper piecing. Now, over a year after the completion of the STITCHED 2012 Workshops, I offer my own class here, free for you.

If you’re already a paper piecer, you might pick up a trick or two; if you’re new to paper piecing or have tried before and it didn’t quite click, I hope this helps you on your paper piecing journey!

Jennifer’s Tools:

Paper Piecing Art uses Waiting for Rain, a pattern designed by myself especially for the workshop.

I'm a Craftsy Designer

You can find Waiting for Rain in my Craftsy shop for just $4.
Looking for a text-based tutorial? I have that here! Questions? Comments? I’m always happy to chat in comments!
Remember to stop back by tomorrow for the Paper Piecing Vintage February update! Have an extraordinarily happy Friday!

TTMT #244 – Finish It In ’14!

Sewhooked

Fandom In Stitches

Also in this video:

 

 

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Featured Pattern: Bicycle!, just $2 on Craftsy!

2013 To Do List…Recap (at last!)

sewhooked to do 2013 At the beginning of the last few years, I have recapped the UFO projects accumulated at the beginning of the previous year to see how much progress I made on each one. These lists do not include new projects that popped up over the year, though newbies often make an appearance on the following year’s list! When 2013 began, and I made my 2013 list, I was working full time outside of my home. After half a year of burning the candle not only at both ends, but in the middle too, I realized the life I was leading was not working for myself or for my family. When I left my full-time position, I fell right back into Sewhooked and, most importantly, back to my family.

Definitions of some initialisms used in this post:

UFO = UnFinished Object – a project that has been set aside and allowed to collect dust. Chances are it’s existence has been forgotten until it’s pulled out of whatever dark hole it was stuffed into. While there, it probably multiplied like Tribbles, leaving many more UFOs than you remember putting there in the first place.

USO = UnStarted Object – a project that has yet not made it out of it’s incubation period. Often comes in the shape of a stack of fat quarters, a jelly roll or other similarly delicious fabric apparition. Can also appear as a pattern or book with little hearts doodled on the cover. Hopes to be a…

WIP = Work In Progress  – Always in danger of becoming a UFO, a WIP is a project that is currently being worked on, and will hopefully become a…

FO = Finished Object – What all projects dream of being. The object of much blog activity and excitement and a good source of personal pride. The Ultimate Destination of a UFO and WIP.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – 2011 Five @ The Hive block of the month, designed by Sue Carter January 2013 – Need to add top & bottom border, quilt and bind.  Have border, backing and binding fabric.

2013 To Do - Done! 5 @ The Hive Quilt from 2011

Status – FO and Gifted! Discussed in this TTMT (6:40 or so). Quilted by my friend Osie and given to my in-laws last year.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Harry Potter Alphabet Quilt, designed by me. January 2013 – To be quilted & bound. Have back/binding fabric.

Harry Potter Title Font Alphabet Quilt

Status – FO! I talk about it in this TTMT. Quilted by Osie. She practiced pebbles on this and I LOVE the way it came out! I’m keeping this beauty for myself. I started designing and piecing the blocks in 2005 or 2006 and they sat in a shoebox for years.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Hand applique wreath. January 2013 –  Needs to be bound with green fabric (shown).

Hand Applique...finished at last!

Status – FO! Done and gifted to my best friend, Jewells! 2013 Project To Do List

Project – Harry Potter swap block quilts (1 & 2) January 2013 – Quilt 1 needs a border, back and binding. To be quilted & bound. Quilt 2 needs to be pieced, quilted & bound.

Harry Potter Swap Quilt

Status, HP Swap Quilt 1 – WIP. Border added. needs to be quilted and bound. Have batting & backing fabric. Donated to The Linus Connection April 2013

Status, HP Swap Quilt 2FO. These were blocks that didn’t quite fit the layout I worked out for the HP blocks. This one was pieced, free-motion quilted, bound and donated to The Linus Connection 2013 Project To Do List

Project – Vintage quilt top. January 2013 – To be quilted, possibly by hand. Needs a back & binding. I’m thinking muslin for the back. StatusUFO. No change. 😦

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Vintage churn dash & reproduction fabric snowball quilt top. January 2013 -Needs borders, back and to be quilted & bound.

Churn Dash Quilt

StatusWIP. Has borders, backing and batting. Needs to be quilted & bound. 2013 Project To Do List

Project – Green/Purple 10 minute block quilt. January 2013 – Needs borders and to be quilted and bound. To be saved for a baby gift.

10 Minute Block Green & Purple Quilt

StatusWIP. Borders added, have backing and batting. To be quilted/bound.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – There and Back Again signature blocks January 2013 – To be pieced into a top. Will need fabric for sashing and possible center piece. StatusUFO. No change. I’m missing a block from one of the designers, so I have put off working on this.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Misc  2 1/2″ & 4 1/2″ half-square triangles. January 2013 – To be pieced into a quilt top. Have taupe fabric for solid blocks to include in piecing.

Donated to The Linus Connection April 2013

Status – FO. 4 1/2″ half-square triangles pieced into quilt top. Free-motion quilted and bound, donated to The Linus Connection April 2013. Blogged about here. Still have lots of 2 1/2″ half-square triangles. 2013 Project To Do List

Project – There and Back Again (TABABOM). January 2013 – Needs a back and to be quilted, bound. TABABOM top

Status WIP-ish. Have backing, batting and binding. Not yet quilted.

2013 Project To Do List 2013 Project To Do List

Project – Project of Doom Signature Quilt January 2013 – Finish the hand embroidery in the border, needs a back and to be quilted & bound. Will read “The Project of Doom 2011 Participants.”

Project of Doom Signature Quilt

StatusWIP. Embroidery finished, quilted by Shannon Shaw of Rock Creek Quilts. Needs binding.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Embroidered block quilt top. January 2013 – Needs a border, back and to be quilted, bound. To be saved for a baby gift.

Hand embroidered flower quilt

StatusWIP. Borders added, have back & binding. To be quilted & bound.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Topsy Turvy Trees January 2013 – Needs a back and to be quilted, bound. Status – No change.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Orphan block collection (mine and many many collected from others) January 2013 – Make into a quilt (or several!) for The Linus Connection.

Donated to The Linus Connection April 2013 Orphan Block quilt for The Linus Connection And now it's a star again! #linusconnection

Status – FO/WIP – Finished one quilt and two quilt tops for donation to The Linus Connection and still have more orphan blocks! The second quilt needs a border, backing, quilting and binding. The third (star) quilt needs a backing, batting & binding.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Flannel quilt top (I have NO idea when I pieced this, most of these fabrics have been gone from my stash for years!) January 2013 – Needs a back and to be quilted, bound, to be donated to The Linus Connection.

Donated to The Linus Connection April 2013

Status – FO. Quilted & bound, donated to The Linus Connection. Blogged!

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Monkey fabric from Jewells January 2013 – NEW PROJECT – Make into a quilt for The Linus Connection.

Quilt top for The Linus Connection

Status – FO. Made into a quilt top during Retreat 2013 and donated to The Linus Connection. Donated to The Linus Connection. This is only ph0to of the top I could find and it’s on the wall at the very beginning of this TTMT. I won’t lie, watching this video brought on the tears. My beloved Tackett is giving me some serious snuggles at the beginning which reminded me of why I miss him so much every day.

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Australia fabric from Cat January 2013 – NEW PROJECT – Pick a pattern and make top, hopefully king size!

Australia Fabric Project

StatusUFO. (Actually, USO…UnStarted Object!). I’ve picked a pattern I like, and that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I need to find an accent fabric and cut this puppy out!

2013 Project To Do List

Project – Fabric collection from Kristel, won from one of her TTMT drawings. January 2013  NEW PROJECT – I would like to make this into a new bag for myself! Fancy that!

Status – Not even a UFO.  I picked a bag pattern and then changed my mind. I’m considering sharing the love and passing this on as a prize.

Summary – Not bad, not bad! That’s seven completed quilts, one quilt that just needs a binding, several completed tops and a couple of projects that just need to get a little closer to done. I’m always equally surprised by A) how much I finished and B) what I forgot completely about.

Now, to work on my 2014 list!

Feel like being challenged to work on your UFOs in 2014? Pren, from The Convivial Crafter, a long time crafty friend of mine, has started a crafty support group Facebook group for just that reason! Her goal: One finished UFO per month! Totally doable, right?! Join UFO Project 2014. There are drawings and stuff!

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Piece with me! Paper Piecing Vintage BOM, $12 on Craftsy!