book review :: Nancy Zieman Quick Column Quilts

It's my stop on the blog tour and I am always happy to be a part of any new Nancy Zieman project! Be sure to check out the link at the end for Nancy's post and her awesome giveaway-which includes a new sewing machine!!

I've been feeling overwhelmed these days and when I got the email about this new book I thought, "oh no, how can I get a whole quilt done!?"

Then I looked at the preview of the book. Everything was beautifully illustrated and quick was in the title! So I said yes - I've got a couple of months...

And then we got home from vacation and school started. Oh the chaos!! Cue the sad music. 

I didn't want to just review the book, I wanted to make something (but there really are a lot of great patterns and techniques in there!!)!  so I took the quilt that stood out to me most and tweaked it. A bit. Or more than a bit. But I loved learning a new technique and can see how a quilt top from this pattern would work up very quickly! 

The quilt in the book is the Happy Go Lucky Chevron Column Quilt: 

Since I only have 4 solids in my stash and two of them are white and the other 2 shades of aqua/turquoise (!! shocker!!), I decided to dive into some large Amy Butler Love (and some Belle, Daisy Chain and Soul Blossoms...) scraps instead and use a more solid type print for the skinny pieces that work through the whole quilt.

One of the great things about this pattern in the pieces are big - so they show off nice big prints like these and a queen sized quilt will work up rather quickly! I followed the cutting instructions but only cut about 10 strips and cut the strips sets 1/2 the size to start with since I was going to do a smaller scale project.  

I followed the piecing instructions and then cut my strip sets in half to about 20" long.  

I had omitted the dark print in the chevron sets because I wasn't sure I wanted it to be so prominent in such a small piece - like I said the pieces are large. But then the vertical strips looked out of place. 

 So I decided to sew the strips up without the contrast. And for this project I think it works well.

I quilted the two panels. (19.5" x 21.5") in preparation for using them in a large tote bag.  I love straight line quilting a 1/4" or so on either side of the seam lines.  I think it always looks good! 

I haven't quite had time to finish the lining and the straps but I'm almost there.  And I have now affectionately named it the Go Big, Go Bold or Go Home Bag! 

I'm planning on a more detailed tutorial in another post if any one is interested - plus I need to show you what it looks like once I finish it!!

I loved the technique for stitching the chevrons and quickly piecing the columns. Everything was done in columns with out any finicky bias piecing for every block. I definitely think even I could make this quilt top pretty easily! It was fun to use the pattern in a different way as well-I might actually try reducing the size of the pieces to make a mini quilt. 

Update!!!:: I'm also giving away a copy of the book!  Go here and enter! Ends Saturday 9/20 at midnight!

This fun tour has been going on for a couple of weeks. Check out what the others have created from Nancy's book! And remember to check out this post to enter the giveaway!!

09/04/14 Nancy Zieman
09/05/14 Quilt Taffy and Simple Simon & Co.
09/06/14 Diary of a Quilter and Stitchin Jenny
09/07/14 A Woman a Day
09/08/14 Jina Barney Designz, Lilac Lane Patterns, and Totally Stitchin'
09/09/14 Esch House Quilts and The Cottage Mama
09/10/14 Designs in Machine Embroidery and Pat Sloan
09/12/14 Happy Valley Primitives, Doohikey Designs, and Quilt in a Day
09/13/14 Quilt Dad and Just Arting Around
09/14/14 Lazy Girl Designs and Marie-Madeline Studio
09/15/14 Always Expect Moore and Polka Dot Chair
09/16/14 Amy Lou Who Sews and Riley Blake Designs
09/17/14 Indygo Junction and Amy's Creative Side

craft book month 2014: a quilt made with love

It's Craft Book Month again over at Craft Buds!

Lindsay has put together another awesome month of encouragement and giveaways. Link a project made from a craft book to this post and you could win some amazing prizes!! You have all month to link up.

I was glad to sneak in a last minute spot to the party because I have a quilt to share that I haven't blogged about yet!!

Several months ago my friend Kim's son deployed.  Having been through multiple deployments  Rachel, Becky and I (fellow quilters and military wives) decided to make the deployment quilt - Look to the Stars - from Rachel's book, Quilts Made with Love.

We divided the quilt into sections, chose bright scraps for our own stashes, and then Rachel (who lives in Ohio) sent her work to me and Becky and we sewed up the top.

 And Becky worked it on her mid-arm quilting it so beautifully!

 And I love the way it turned out!!

photo courtesy My Go-Go Life

The best part of the story is that Rachel drove 8 hours here so we could all surprise Kim with a visit and the quilt!  It was awesome!!!! If you would like to read that part of the story from Kim's perspective you can HERE.  Rachel's is HERE. And Becky's, HERE. Besides, their stories are way more fun to read - this is like the reader's digest version!

I loved making this quilt because it really was made with love.  Rachel's book is full of simple and beautiful designs to give on occasions to show our love to each other!  And isn't that what we love to do as makers? Make things for people?  Tangible hugs they can take with them when we are not there to give one in person?

photo courtesy My Go-Go Life

fall is here! time for soup!! {craft book month}

Thanks again Lindsay for asking me to join you on the hop!!

As I said yesterday we've moved and I have been having some issues getting our internet set up!  It's been quite frustrating to feel so disconnected, but I'm hoping to re-connect as soon as we get up and running again!  I also need to start sewing.

I quickly perused the other posters so far along the hop to see what everyone was sharing. Lindsay gave us some freedom with what type of craft books we could post from and even suggested we could share a recipe!  Yay!! So since I haven't gotten my sewing room in order yet (I haven't sewn a stitch in 6 weeks! I KNOW!!!) and because I do have people to feed, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite recipes!  And maybe it will be a nice change from all the sewing? Maybe?

Since fall is upon us this recipe is perfect.  Soup and a hearty bread are some of my favorite cold weather dinners. It's Tortellini, White Bean, and Spinach soup from Cooking Light's 1998 Annual Recipes.

Don't you want to dive into that right now?!  You will find the recipe as written below, but I wanted to share some things I do differently.  As written the recipe is vegetarian using vegetable stock and no meat.  However, I don't always have vegetable stock on hand, so I often use chicken broth.  And since there may be someone in my house (ahem, Mr. Louwho) who thinks it's not a meal without meat - I usually add some shredded chicken to the soup as well.

It calls for red bell pepper but I often use frozen mixed peppers because I usually have them on hand. I've used the dried tortellini in place of the fresh and usually just add extra broth or water to compensate, or you can cook it before hand and then throw it in.  In this photo you can see I also added shredded carrots!  Why not?  That's the beauty of soups - you can make them what you want them to be.  Just add more water/stock to reach the desired consistency!

A note about leftovers: The tortellini continues to soak up the liquid and become soggy while the soup dries out.  Sometimes I will just add the tortellini to our individual bowls and pour the rest on top if I know there will be some left over.  It can also be frozen this way, adding the tortellini in fresh when you are ready to eat!

I love serving this soup with some crusty bread like the one from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day or this Rosemary Peasant Bread from Make and Takes (where I usually use oregano instead of rosemary).

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups coarsely chopped spinach
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 (16-ounce) can navy beans, drained
• 2 cups Fresh Vegetable Broth or 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can vegetable broth
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 1 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 (9-ounce) package uncooked fresh cheese tortellini
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, bell pepper, seasoning, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add spinach and next 5 ingredients (spinach through artichokes); bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 2 minutes. Add tortellini; cook until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bon Appétit!

I hope to be back soon with some more happenings!  Crossing my fingers we get hooked up with internet today!!  Be sure to check out this post with information on how to enter the giveaways!