*wipes tear*
I need to craft…and watch this trailer again. And again. And again…
Some of my Deathly Hallows offerings…
For free HP patterns, visit Harry Potter Paper Piecing and the Guest Designer page on Sewhooked.
Time to watch the trailer again!
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Free TARDIS paper pieced pattern, designed by me
and tested (as shown) by the ever awesome Shae.
Oh, fandom quilting, how do I love thee?
Bigger on the inside, that’s how!
In a fit of I Am A Fan, I made this a highly detailed TARDIS. I designed this pattern to be a 6″ block, but I would recommend enlarging it even bigger to work on, just for sanity’s sake. Shae made her’s 6″ and it worked out beautifully.
Why is the pattern purple? No idea. I drafted it back in May of 2009 and then it got lost amongst my files. When I unearthed it a couple of weeks ago, I realized it just needed numbering and separating. My guess is I had some really good wine and thought the purple was blue…
Need more Doctor Who?
How about a Dalek quilt block?
Sample pieced by Stephanie T
More hardcore fan, you say?
Need even more DW? Check out crafty_tardis on Livejournal and the Doctor Who crafts flickr group.
Happy crafting!
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Electric Amish, 55″ x 73″
Some days are better than others. The day I finish a big project is always a good day!
I pieced this top in early 2006. Then, in a moment of complete insanity, I decided to hand quilt it.
I’d only been quilting a couple of years and I thought, for reasons I can’t even explain myself, that I needed to hand quilt a project in order to be considered a “real quilter.” Do I believe that now? Absolutely not.
Had I ever hand quilted anything? No, no I had not. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, what kind of thread to use, needles, anything. I just jumped in with both feet and started stitching.
I picked up and packed away this project more times than I care to mention. Dozens of other projects (mostly paper pieced!) were completed while this one waited patiently in its big red bag. To put it in perspective, I lost a pair of glasses for a whole year because I accidentally put them away with this quilt. It’s been on vacation to New Mexico to visit my BFF, sat with me through many movies, lots of sci-fi and true crime shows. It collected cat hair sitting on the arm of my chair.
The pattern came from an old magazine that I still have floating around somewhere. It’s a Storm At Sea pattern, set on point. I had never made a quilt this complicated at the time and had no idea what “on point” really meant. Part of that experience was chopping off half the blocks all the way around. If I remember correctly, I almost had a panic attack when I made the first cut.
I kept all those cut blocks. Earlier this year, I turned them into a small quilt for The Linus Connection, which I dubbed Baby Storm. Finishing that quilt gave me the impetus I needed to get this project out again and get it finished! If you’ve been following for a while, you might remember this was on my UFO Round Up for 2010.
One of the most special things about this quilt for me is what it represents. All bright and batik fabrics were gifts to me from my Bee friends. I pieced this top on my very first quilt retreat with those same ladies. It’s my first hand quilting project and my first big project that made for myself start to finish. 4+ years (really, almost 5!) and it’s done. I could not be happier.
Electric Amish was named by my friend Linda when I first started piecing it. Linda, do you remember?!
Tackett, helping me quilt (obviously!)
The quilting isn’t anywhere near perfect, but as time passed, my stitching did improve.
I take a fabulous close up of one of the blaring errors! Still, I think it’s pretty.
Baby Storm, donated to The Linus Connection, August 2010
Happy crafting!
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Back in July, Katrina sent me the above image and told me she has a car enthusiast in the family.
Between my family, working, teaching, volunteering and designing patterns for my shop, my schedule has gotten pretty crazy. The result of that is that I don’t usually take many requests anymore unless it’s something I think others might be interested in making as well. Highly specialized requests fall under the category of “commission,” but from time to time, I still create freebies (like Contessa’s Canoe).
I mean, seriously, this is a tire! How many quilters out there might need a tire to throw into their auto enthusiasts quilt? At least a few is my thinking, and, Sewhooked started as a free website, and I like to keep the free content coming as much as possible.
I told Katrina about my crazy summer schedule and promised to get back to her. Last night, a glass of wine and I sat and worked it out. Thanks for your patience, Katrina, I hope the pattern works for you…and hopefully for a few of my other readers as well!
Happy Crafting!
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Now, that’s what I call fun!
The owls are fussy cut from the What A Hoot line of fabric. ❤ ❤ ❤ I’m probably give the little guy floating in the door a little branch when I quilt it. Flying with your wings down is just too exhausting!
I used the alternative piece and instructions included with A Little Haunted. Pieced in ~ 3 hours. So. Much. Fun!
A Little Haunted, original version
Happy Crafting!
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Once Upon A Time, I entered a Challenge. It was called The Little Tiny Challenge. I was beaten soundly by a tiny fast food meal made of real food, though I did come in second (even though second was hundreds of votes from first!).
Here’s my original post made on craftser way back in April of 2006.
The Pattern:
Sewing one of the center segments. Man that’s small!
Individual segments ready to be pieced:
The block is pieced! Photo from the back!
Finished block next to the original 5″ version (pattern available at sewhooked.org )
The finished block, front & center! All 1.5″ of it!
Happy Crafting!
Tomorrow is the monthly meeting of The Linus Connection, which means this is the day of the month where I gather all the things in my house that have been accumulating to take to Linus for donation. The quilt above made from the leftover pieces cut from a Storm At Sea quilt that was set on point. It’s the same quilt I call Electric Amish. I’ve been hand quilting it for an interminable number of years now, and I sometimes wonder if it will ever be finished. Completing this toddler version with the leftover pieces of Electric Amish is a small victory and it gives me hope to finish the mama quilt some day.
This next quilt I’ve dubbed Stash Monkey and is made from what I have left from the Log Cabins For Linus collection I held in the earlier part of 2010. There are still a few orphan blocks in my bag, and I hope inspiration will strike again and I will come up with a quilt that’s just as fun as this one! Made from orphan blocks and scraps from my own stash.
Brand new in my life this month are quilts quilted by me on a long arm machine! Dianne, the owner of Honey Bee Quilt Store, where I have my day job, very generously allowed us to use the store’s HandiQuilter to finish up some Linus quilts. Not bad for a beginner! I also quilted the Baby Storm At Sea.
This granny block ghan is made from the very last of the donations from Go Get Granny (the yarn half of Log Cabins For Linus). All of these blocks were donated. I joined them all together and wove in the ends. As you can see here, I’m experimenting with hanging afghans the way I do quilts. It works…sort of. I just love photos taken in natural light, but afghans are not a fan of being hung. Shared in this TTMT.
This gorgeous quilt was made from a top donated by the ever lovely Laci. She sent this to me some time ago and it ended up going to a professional long arm quilter that donates her skills to Linus. It’s all done now and the quilting is just lovely. It was featured in this Talk To Me Tuesday (sans binding), where you can see the beautiful quilting close up.
My very last offering this month is my final Carpool ‘Ghan for the 2009-2010 school year (also featured in the video linked above). Both of my kids are musicians and honor students, which simply means they carry a ridiculous amount of stuff to and from school. I drive them back and forth, as well as taking them to music lessons, rehearsals, etc. That leaves me sitting in my little car all by myself more time than I care to count. What’s a girl to do? Well, if she’s crafty, she brings something to work on! I make afghans for Linus when I’m waiting, keeping a bag of yarn and a crochet hooks in the car just for that purpose. You’d be amazed how much I can get done sitting in my car every day! It’s a good thing I finally finished this one, seeing as how the new school year for my kids starts on Tuesday!
The Linus Connection meets the third Saturday of every month at St. Phillip’s in Round Rock, Texas. Check out the website for more information.
Happy Crafting!
UPDATE: This pattern has been updated for 2013!
Click here to see the new version and to get the updated free pattern!
The following picture was posted by a friend on Facebook, along with a request for some help finding or figuring out the pattern. The photo poster, Contessa, states that she has it from a 1970s quilting magazine. She was looking for any information on the pattern, but most specifically, she really wanted to make it and didn’t know where to start!
Well, as these things sometimes do, it caught my fancy and it was a nice 15 minute project while I ate my breakfast. I took some liberties since I had no size or color information. My version makes a 6″ block, but the individual pieces would be easy to enlarge and I’m sure it’d make a gorgeous 12″ block.
Just for fun, a mock up how the pattern repeats.
Contessa’s Canoe – Free Paper Pieced Pattern
Unlike most of my patterns, this one does not include seam allowance. That was partly for time and partly so it will all fit on one page. I have a super easy way of adding seam allowance to any paper pieced pattern right here.
Huge thanks go out to Shae for testing the pattern and making the gorgeous block shown here. You rock!
Happy Crafting!
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One of my most rewarding past times is volunteering for The Linus Connection, so when a friend asked me to design a simple paper pieced kite that would be easy to incorporate into quilts for Linus, I eagerly accepted.
Of course, I couldn’t create just one pattern! Having more adds variety. When I was done, I had the Four Patch Kite and it’s reverse and the Simple Kite and it’s reverse. Each block prints at 6″ x 8″, so it’s easy to make a nice large block by adding sashing, or, keep it as is and sprinkle a kite here and there through your quilt!
Please do take print these patterns and use them for your own non-profit group, or make a sweet summer quilt for a child that you love!
Shop Sewhooked and help keep the free patterns free!
Add your Sewhooked-related photos (that includes my patterns posted to Fandom In Stitches!) to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!
Happy stitching!
The Floating Mariner, by Jennifer Ofenstein (hey, that’s me!)
It’s always fun for a quilt designer to play with a traditional block. I really enjoy stars and Mariner’s Compass is an all-time favorite for it’s striking geometric design.
A number of students in a class I taught earlier this year urged me to add a Mariner’s Compass to my class rotation. I loved the idea and decided that if I was going to include a Mariner’s Compass, I had to go all the way and create my own version to share with my students!
When I started drafting my pattern, I was unsure what direction I wanted to take with such a traditional block. After some trial and error, the Floating Mariner emerged. I love how the smaller stars echo the center motif. Taken singly, the block is a stunning 16″ wall-hanging. Combined with more Floating Mariners, a stunning quilt layout emerges.
Detail of Floating Mariner, with echo quilting…my favorite!
Use it as a single block for a wall hanging, or make multiple blocks for a breathtaking quilt!
The Floating Mariner is now available in the Sewhooked Shop for just $6 as an instant PDF download with PayPal payment – completely secure shopping through E-junkie!
4 blocks x 4 blocks, using The Floating Mariner
approximately 62″ x 62″
The PDF download includes paper pieced patterns and piecing instructions for the Floating Mariner block. The block is simple enough for an advanced beginner to tackle, but rewarding for quilters of all skill levels!
Now available through the Sewhooked Shop as an instant PDF download with PayPal payment (completely secure shopping through E-junkie!).
$6 – PDF Instant Download 
Want to learn to paper piece? Check out my free paper piecing resources and text tutorial!
Shop Sewhooked and help keep the free patterns free!
Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!
Happy crafting!
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