Tea Time Pattern available in my Etsy and Craftsy shops

I just listed my new "Tea Time" pattern in my Etsy and Craftsy shops!

Looking forward to combining it with my other kitchen themed blocks -

I think I may be close to having enough blocks for a kitchen themed quilt : )

xo

Charise

Tea Time ~ Work in Progress Wednesday

Happy Wednesday to you!  Today I have been working on a quilt block for the Cocorico Online Quilting Bee on Flickr.  Kylie asked for tea themed blocks for her quilt. 

Kylie supplied some great images and I used one of them for the inspiration for this design.

I am happy with it overall but I think that next time I will make the spoon in a darker fabric so it "pops" a bit more.

I will be sure to share here on my blog when the pattern is in my shops for sale : )

I love the tea bag - that adorable tea pot motif is from a Japanese fabric I have had in my stash for ages and I love to use the motifs for paper pieced blocks.

Be sure to head on over to Freshly Pieced for more wonderful Works in Progress or search the hashtag #WIPWednesday on Instagram. : )

xo

Charise

Finding that pesky out of print & hard to find fabric!

Happy New Year!!  Hope your celebration was lovely!

I stayed up 'till midnight and all the boys - even my youngest of 6, made it to midnight!

Both were so tired they put themselves to bed tonight without a fuss : )

Recently, I received an email from a reader who wanted to make the Tea time Coasters from Stitch Winter 2013 magazine with the same fabrics.  When I designed the project I went right to my stash to find my favorite icy blue prints to go with the palette.  Well.....most of the prints were out of print  (oop ) fabrics.   I proceeded to identify the fabrics and give her a few tips for finding oop fabrics which I thought I would share with you.

My first method is to search etsy.  They often have out of print fabrics but you may have to pay a bit more than the original price.   Search the print name, manufacturer, and also the designer.

Ebay is another great resource!  I was able to locate the DS Quilts Meadow Lark print pictured above for a fair price.

Last resort is to search on Bing or Google.  A bit more work but I've had good results.

My advice,  if you find you love a fabric and tend to use it over and over again,  buy a few yards,  you will be glad you did!!!

Here is a sneak peek of a project I was busy working on today for Sew Mama Sew.  It is a first muslin but I think I like where it is going : )  I'll share the project next week!


xo
Charise

Tea Time Coasters - Stitch Winter '13

I love this time of year. The weather is starting to cool, a chill is in the air and I look forward to spending many a day inside sewing! I designed this project for Stitch Winter ' 13 with Fall and Winter in mind. These Tea cup coasters combine my passion for paper piecing and scrappy quilting projects.

Scrappy patchwork projects are so fun and a great way to use favorite scraps!

I combined some of my favorite fabrics from Suzuko koseki - Picture window, Francophile stripe, Marguerite Daisy and Newspaper Text print.  You can find the first two prints at sew me a song. 

 I also used some of my favorite stash fabrics - Moda 1974, Moda Sweet and Whitewash from Lecien.

 

Happy Sewing

xo

Charise

Tea Time

One of my New Years goals was to get caught up on projects.  Today I stitched together a Cocorico Bee block for Kylie.  Her month was September so I'm a wee bit behind : )

Her theme is "The Best of the British".  I have a collection of red and white transferware most of which are vintage from England.   I used my Tea Time paper piecing pattern and Lakehouse tea  fabric to give the tea pot and cup a Spode feeling.

You can find the fabric at Sew Me a Song.

 

 

A pic of some favorite pieces : )

 

Have a lovely day!

xo

Charise