Holiday Memories - Janome to the rescue!

Holiday Memories

Janome to the rescue!

by Natalie Barnes of beyond the reef

The Holidays are for making Memories.

Just that.

You might be thinking, you don't have time to sew during the Holidays.

But I assure you, you do.

Just a few minutes a day, and you'll be ready for the Holiday family event.

Here's a simple project - and an idea for you.

Sprinkle some "albumn blocks" on your table, include Micron pens

and let your guests sign their name and leave a sentiment for the Holiday.

Everyone knows I love string blocks.

I've chosen them once again for this project, because they're achievable

and don't take a lot of quilting math!!  (smirk)

When you are done, you will be left with a stack of lovely blocks 

with the names and notes

from all of those that you love, and shared time with during the Holidays!!

Choose a color scheme - red and white, red and green and white, silver and blue.

Grab some fabrics from your stash.

Head to the hardware store and get some painters masking paper - 6".

You'll need lots of bobbin thread, so grab the Aurifil for this project - a neutral light grey.

You'll want a 6-1/2" square ruler, a cutting mat and rotary cutter, some snips

to one side of your Janome

and an ironing mat, and your Oliso travel iron sitting to the other side.

Because I sew on the HD-3300, I can set it up anywhere.  

So I set it up by the tree and turned on the lights

sewing to the sparkle!!!

Cut random width strips, trimming ends - between 1 - 2 inches.

Cut a stack of 6" squares from the masking paper - your foundation.

Place white, or the fabric you've chosen for the signature of the block, 9" strip,

in the center from point to point,

right sides up.

Select your first color strip, and trim it to a length just past the foundation paper.  

With right sides together, stitch together and give a quick press open with your iron.

Repeat until one side of the paper is covered.

Then cover the other side of the paper and you have completed your block!

Remember, you can chain piece the strips!!  

The Janome HD-3300 is fast, and makes quick work of this project!  (zoom zoom)

(the perfect setup!)

Give the blocks a good pressing, and trim to 6" square.

You are DONE!

And now for the magic.

Yup.  I buried the lead.

Sprinkle these blocks 

down the center of your table, 

making them part of the centerpiece!

Add some Micron pens, and ask your guests to sign while they are dining.

So, remember, Holidays are about the Memories.

Capture those memories with a quick stack of Albumn Blocks

easily string pieced

and ready for your Holiday Dinner or get together!

HappiestDays.

Natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

be.do.create

#SewPINK Initiative 2019 byAnnie.com

it's October.breast cancer awareness month.

and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of the initiative

created by 

byAnnie.com

to bring awareness to this special month

thank you

Annie!

in addition to the campaign, there is information about prizes, donations, 

and the blog hop schedule here:

https://www.byannie.com/2019-sewpink

we chose to make the byAnnie 

Zip It Up!

project

using

Windham Fabrics Collection

featuring fabrics and artists:

Woman's Wisdom by Carrie Bloomston

Celebrating Women by Maria Carluccio

Flower Power by Carolyn Gavin

with

Marcia Derse Palette accents

and thanks to Windham Fabrics

we'll be sending one lucky reader
(chosen from the comments below)

a stack of Palette and some of the designers' fabrics

please leave a comment to be entered
in the drawing for the fabrics
have you ever made a byAnnie.com bag or project?

I will be the first to admit it - I was intimidated by this project!!!
but who wouldn't jump in for such a great campaign....

the first part of the project prep was spent watching Annie's

GREAT

video tutorials about making zippers from her Zippers by the Yard

and her "how to" videos about installing zippers

the tutorials make it all so easy

byAnnie patterns are really specific and easy to follow
and I highly recommend jumping in and making any one of her projects

now that I've completed one of these great bags

(just don't look too closely....ahem....)

I think I'm ready to make a few more for girlfriends,

tucking in some of the information about 

Breast Cancer Awareness

and Annie's Sew Pink Initiative

and that means shopping for more supplies:

byAnnie's Soft and Stable

Mesh Fabric

Clear Vinyl

Handbag zippers

and

Clips

after all, byAnnie's is donating 30% - yes, 30% of profits

on SewPINK items

sold on their online shop

(see below)

thank you, Annie

for this wonderful month full of fun projects

inspiration from designers

and education and resources

for all

HappiestDays.

Natalie

be.do.create

The #SewPink Initiative was created by ByAnnie.com LLC to raise awareness for breast cancer during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. They have pledged to raise funds to donate to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation through sales and promote action through giveaways.

For more information please visit their official #SewPINK information page: https://www.byannie.com/2019-SewPINK

To donate directly visit: https://give.bcrf.org/give/31404/#!/donation/checkout

To see the calendar of events visit: https://www.byannie.com/2019-SewPINK#calendar

ByAnnie will be donating 30% of profits on all SewPINK items sold on their web store. You can search for SewPINK items on their website or see the list of items here: https://www.byannie.com/index.phproute=product/search&search=sewpink

Guest Designer for Anthology Fabrics!!

Guest Designer for Anthology Fabrics

(swoon)

I could not have been more excited

(insert poker face here)

when the Windham Fabrics team

asked me if I would be interested in being a

(insert giddy face here)

Guest Designer for Anthology Fabrics

it was absolutely an over the moon exciting moment

and a great opportunity to be able to work with

Myiesha

who is the 

most organized

most precise

most magical

when it comes to working with the team in Bali

and having patience with designers

and who can turn a vision of fabric design into a hand made piece of cloth

after Myiesha works her magic

and the makers in the Islands work their own magic

fabric arrives 

and the sample making begins

many friends, many hands, many hours

the samples are made, and the photos are taken

and the Look Book is created

and the sales team heads out to meet with the shop owners

but when it is all said and done

the quilts are carefully folded up and put in a safe place

until it is time to show them again

maybe they'll be admired at Market

or at a Trunk Show

or in a Class along the way

maybe they'll go on loan to a quilt shop

when the fabric starts shipping in July/August

but until that time

they are lovingly folded 

as the precision and determination and dedication

of each Maker

is admired

(insert tears of gratitude on my face here)

Deb, Jane, Kim, Nicole, Robin, Scott, Teresa, Tiffany, Zina

the Anthology Fabrics team
the Bali team

with gratitude....

Natalie.

beyondthereefpatterns.com

be.do.create

time to talk real life....again.

it's sunday.

time to talk real life.

some days bring us shadows

that is, to point out the obvious, a part of life

we all have faced it at one time or another in our lives

but it seems we're in a culture where we are more rewarded

for being stoic, staying productive

keeping our head high

staying positive and joyful and happy

and moving on

I want to suggest otherwise

I want to suggest it's okay to be sad every so often

(rather than angry)

I want to suggest it's okay to be, as my neighbor said the other day,

emotional

be kind to yourself

give yourself space

and allow yourself time to turn your grief

into great stories about the person that make you laugh

or reminds you of the sunshine

instead of the shadow

quilters do that so well

we comfort people with quilts

(see this video about Missouri Star Quilt Company)

we make pillowcases from happy fabrics

do something to honor that place of loss in your life

and give yourself a hug

that will be the best positive joyful happiest thing you can do

HappiestDays.

Natalie

beyondthereefpatterns.com

be.do.create

fly high, Pete

(look at it this way - you got an extra 30 years out of it - it was well worth the tradeoff)

Friends.....lessons from friends

friends.

lessons from friends

in the last few weeks

I have had the joy of spending time with friends

one of my friends

is my 90 year old neighbor, turned friend

(see more about this, here)

the biggest lesson I receive

from spending time with this 90 year old is this

everything is a

delight

this adult trike was hung with a small kids tricycle

an adult tricycle?!???

delight

dinner with friends

the simplest of a bbq filled with meats and veggies

flowers from friends as a thank you

delight

and carving time out of the day

to set up the chairs/table/kayaks

on the beach

for some time on the water

with people whose to do lists are longer than others'?

delight

let's remember to stop

and carve some time out of the day

prioritize our to do list

to include some

delight

have I made my point yet?

breathe.

take some time for yourself

and remember to learn from your friends

leave me a comment below - we'll give away some more

Marcia Derse

Palette fabrics

what did you do this weekend to delight someone else?

Finally, congratulations to Pamela and Delaine 

for leaving comments chosen by the Random Number Generator

look in your mail for your Marcia Derse fabric bundle!

HappiestDays.

Natalie

beyondthereefpatterns.com

be.do.create

ps - if it's labor day 2018 and you're reading this

we're having a Labor Day sale

in our Etsy shop

beyondthereefshop

20% off all goods listed in the shop

"LABORDAY"

is the special code

good until tomorrow at 6am pacific time

The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing....

lessons from A Quilter's Affair in Sisters, Oregon

and

Jenny Doan

I had the pleasure of speaking with Jenny Doan

of

Missouri Star Quilt Company

while I was teaching at A Quilter's Affair

What a pleasure, a privilege it is to just "chat"

And then.

Then she asked me.

"What's the next big thing you're doing?"

I froze.

What to say, what to say.

Told her about my upcoming fabric line with Windham Fabrics.

And we chatted about the upcoming event at Missouri Star,

The Birthday Bash.

As I was walking through the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show,

it hit me.

What my next big thing is for me, when I return home.

It is a visit with my neighbor and friend, Roger, 

who is turning a spry 90 years old this year.

THAT

is my next big thing.

We'll go for sour cabbage soup 

"it's only served on Tuesdays and Saturdays", he will remind me.

And then we'll take our weekly walk through Sam's Club

or Costco

We'll laugh and cry as we both tell stories about our pasts.

And we'll share wisdom of the ages.

He'll be polite and kind with my "energy".

He'll tell me to settle down a little bit

in the kindest way.

We'll joke about how much food we're both getting

and talk about the "best orange juice ever" 

from Sam's Club

(they squeeze it fresh for him)

And when I returned home

I realized also, what Jenny was telling me,

not asking me.

"What is the next big thing you're doing?"

She didn't want to know at all where I would be teaching

or if I was attending a show.

She didn't need to know where my travels would take me

or when my next fabric line was releasing.

She was coaching me, in the kindest of ways.

Same as my 90 year old friend.

Offering me some space to think about where my boat is pointed.

Where I'm headed.

The big picture.

Thank you, Jenny.

Thank you, Roger.

Thank you for taking time with me.

For asking.

And for gently guiding me along the way.

So, today, on this blog that is long overdue, I will ask you - 

What is your next big thing?

HappiestDays.

Natalie.

be.do.create

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

On your "not to do" list

On your "not to do" list...

shorten your list

it was a goal I made at the beginning of the year

to post something "thoughtful" every Sunday

it seemed like it was "do-able"

just one small post a week

on a quiet day

just one.

one.

(did you see how cool that was?  how the words made a flying geese?)

and in the course of two months, I have found a way to miss two weeks

of posts!

some times our to do list

becomes a big big thing

something we wake up to

and fall asleep thinking about

a big big thing

BIG.

but tonight, yes, Sunday, yes, I'm writing to all of you

I am giving you permission

to shorten your list

to make a "not to do" list

to be a little kinder and more gentle with yourselves

to wake up excited for the day, and to fall asleep with a smile on your face

knowing you did everything you could

that day

to make it the very best day you could possibly have

(without measuring it by your to do list)

because we only get one - one day - every day

and then it is gone

so forgive me a post here and there throughout the year

and please....forgive yourself

if there are still dishes in the sink

because you read three books to your grandkids this afternoon

because you planted spring bulbs

because you cleared the snow from your neighbors walkway

because you (gasp) took a nap with a book on your chest

it's all a matter of perspective

(did you see what I did there with the dump truck photos?)

there are lots and lots of books published right now

on simplifying

let's start with our to do list

and move some of those critical items to our 

'not to do'

list

please leave us a comment below - what will you put on your

'not to do'

list

HappiestDays.

Natalie.

be.do.create

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com