Thursday, February 11, 2010

Sew & Tell Friday: Pumpkin Seed Mania

It really was an illness, my obsession with the pumpkin seed pattern. It's a circle! It's a flower! I just really really liked it. (More on the past tense later.) So I made three table toppers and one table runner in one week - all with the same pumpkin seed block. The "seeds" are Moda's Nature's Chorus, which is impossible to find, I found. The dusty layer cake of Nature's Chorus on the top shelf in The Quilting Cottage should have been my first clue. Since I had all the fabric in the entire line, though, I made my table toppers color specific. The table runner is for my Mom and I mixed that one up. Let's start with it:

The "seeds" are made with Rob Pete interfacing from Quiltsmart. Once I sewed the interfacing to the fabric, I turned them (thanks to Super Bowl Sunday) and pressed them onto a 12"x12" square of fabric. The background fabric for Mom's table runner is left over from a giant piece of fabric I use for a table cloth (as you can see). Anyway, once the seeds were ironed to the background fabric, I did a zig zag stitch with invisible thread ("it's not a trick, it's an illusion") all the way around each seed. Sew the squares to each other, and a not-so-weird machine quilting job and TA DA. Done.

Hmmm. That went fast, maybe I'll make another one. Just greens this time:
I have a cute candy dish filled with Valentine's themed M & Ms. Who am I? My mother? :)

How about a pink one? Don't mind if I do:

I can feel my love for this pumpkin seed action fading... Better do the last one and be done with it for a while:
I can't resist including my favorite teapot from my teapot collection for one last shot:

So, yeah. Totally done with doing pumpkin seed stuff for a while. I decided to put a couple of these in my etsy shop. Happy Sew & Tell Friday, everyone! Can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to.

26 comments:

Kristina P. said...

These are so cute, Nicole! If I didn't hate children, I might buy one! :)

And yeah, 24 is meh. I hate the graituitous storyline. Good news, I have started wearing my hair to the side on my left shoulder.

And even Renee, who I loved, is annoying me.

melissa said...

What the? Is it just me or is Kristina kind of bonkers?

What a productive obsession you have. I think the blue one is my favorite. I'm not sure, though. I think the cute teapot may be clouding my judgement. Lovely.

Ashley said...

I wish I could come over, let the girls escape to princess land with Bridget, and get my craft on with you. Sigh... These are awesome, you are my sewing idol.

Mom said...

I absolutely love my new runner!! I had no idea it would be that gorgeous and perfect for my house! Now I'm really excited to get some Spring touches in my house. I also love the pumpkin seed pattern - sorry to see it go, but I do understand.

ktquilts said...

Sew pretty! I was just looking at a quilt verymuch like this on flickr and loving it...curved piecing...I don't know.....
Great finish!
Blessings,
KT

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

They are just perfect - all of them!
This interfacing, is it fusible?

QuiltyBee said...

A little obsessive, are we? I have the same problem, good thing it results in some great finishes! I particularly like the blue one.

Jill said...

Tah Dah it's done? You make it sound so easy! One thing's for sure, I can totally see why you love that pumpkin seed pattern. Adorable!

Day before Michelle said...

Beautiful work! I've now added pumkin seed blocks to my never ending to do list!

Mandy Noble said...

I love these! Never tried that pattern, they are so effective, particularly like the green one.

Anne at Film and Thread said...

Those are really pretty and thanks for sharing how you made them!

Carla said...

Wow you were on a roll! They all came out so pretty to. I'll have to admit and say the first one is my fave. Thanks for sharing!

Andrea @ TheTrainToCrazy.com said...

I love the colors on those! You've been busy!

Kimberly Tripp said...

HA, you're funny. They all look adorable. If they matched my house, I'd go to your shop & buy them all :)

Vicki @ DottyJane said...

I love them all! I think I might like to try that technique.

allyn said...

i'm in the mood for some pumpkin, too. i LOVE them all! the runner and the monochromatic. adorable. table toppers are starting to grow on me and make more sense than huge quilts. wish i had wanted to do them 10 years ago when we started mom's birthday quilt.

Kristen said...

Nice soft colors. I am getting inspired by all this curved piecing I am seeing today. Superbowl Sunday was productive for me too! :)

Nina... said...

Love the pumpkin seed! I know what it's like when you get on a roll, you just don't want to stop! Great job.

Karen said...

They look fantastic! What about a whole quilt made with the pumpkin seed pattern to really finish it off forever?

Kim said...

The runner is so pretty! I love the fabrics too.

Anonymous said...

Hi Nicole,

Thank you for visiting my sew and tell! My goodness - your pumpkin seed creations are LOVELY. If you ever get tired to them, I will gladly take them off your hands! :)

Have a great week.

koryn said...

OK - not a quilter but this pattern could inspire me to get involved! Just love the simple design that gives you a little nudge of pleasure looking at all finished and so symetrical.

BTW - we just finished up your delectable jams from Christmas. Parker wanted me to let you know that he LOVES the blackberry and I am now required to get going and make some of that next year. Thanks for sharing the bounty!

Leslie said...

these all look great. i am always a little afraid of doing too much of one pattern because i am afraid that i might get tired of it.

Miri said...

Great pumpkin seed table toppers and runner-really pretty! Love the pattern-its one I haven't thought of in a long time-thanks for the reminder!

Rene' said...

Nicole, these are all great. Love all of them, but am partial to the blue one. I like the pumpkin seed pattern. Might give that a try.

P.S. I do agree with Kristen that Renee on 24 is annoying this season...

susan said...

love them all!
if you ever need more natures chorus, the shop i work has still has bolts.