Happy Autumn!

Happy Autumn & Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians. Cozy up in your comfy chair with your favourite quilt, a cup of tea, and a piece of pumpkin pie while raindrops tap on the windows.

I baked pumpkin pies yesterday. Pumpkin is my favourite pie but I rarely get to enjoy them. Guess what I ate for breakfast today?!

These ones are made with almond milk! For the crust, I used 3-2-1 Pie Crust; measuring by cups, omitting the salt & sugar and using Vegan Becel as the fat. You can find the pie filling recipe at the bottom of this post.

I love Autumn! I love the colours and the smell, and the cooler weather. I love the sound of leaves crunching as I walk. I love leaves in general... all year long but mostly in Autumn when the colors burn to a warm flame! I will be making a pattern for this little Autumn Trivet introducing the technique of cut-away appliqué.

This beautiful wool felt bird has been standing guard over my little egg basket of twine for more than 8 years! I cherish my bird & oak leaf, as well as my pear & felted acorns. Check out all of Lisa’s wool creations at Lil Fish Studios!

I am looking forward to using this stash of wool that I have been coveting for years. Perhaps the leaves will inspire me? I updated the look of my SHOP recently. Pop on over to check it out... there is still time to sew some Pumpkin Coasters!

I hope you are all enjoying this time of year as much as I am. Stay warm & cozy, and join me for tea, pie & crafting!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

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{PUMPKIN PIE}
makes 1 large deep dish pie or 2 regular shallow pies

3 cups pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp mace
3/4 cup almond milk

(This recipe uses more pumpkin & spices, and less sugar than most.)

Whisk together and pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake 425F for 15 min & 350F for 45 min or until filling is firm. Thin pies will be ready sooner. Serve with coconut whipped cream!

I use 3-2-1 pie crust recipe made with Vegan Becel. It’s a soft dough that doesn’t shrink. Add flour to make cut-outs. Bake cut-outs until lightly browned and place on pie once filling has firmed.

A Magic Jar of Tea

Last week I made this mugrug as a practice patchwork block to get me back into the swing of things.

I was inspired by the colours of my Japanese jelly beans. I dove into my scrap baskets and embroidery floss to find matching greens & pinks. Inspiration soon struck, and a little teacup needed to be added! I decided to make a log cabin centered around this cute bunny fabric I found.

I spent a day or two trying to decide how to quilt it. I knew I wanted steam but steam everywhere would have looked a bit strange. I decided to turn it into a drawing a free-motion quilt a background image around the teacup appliqué. Not trusting my rusty free-motion skills, I drew the images on thin tracing paper first, pinned it in place, and quilted right through the paper. It was easy to follow the lines, I could see clearly, and I wasn't distracted by busy fabrics.

I love details...

I try to add a little bit of ribbon, buttons or embroidery to everything I make. I usually add embroidery after quilting rather than before. I started with the steam and just kept going and going but I had to force myself to stop before I went overboard! I added a touch of this lovely Tea Time ribbon that my friend Anna made.

"Loving the « invisible » tea jar!! Brilliant"

My friend Sonia left the above comment on my instagram. Depending on the light, the jar and all other quilting disappears and reappears making this a truly magic Jar of Tea!

Where did it go?!

My blog posts tend to be a bit behind. To keep up to date with what I am working on, follow me on instagram and facebook.

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Kitty Potholder pattern

Kitty Potholder digital pattern booklet is now available in my SHOP.

Kitty Potholder pattern adds a simple fusible web appliqué and varying strip widths to an otherwise traditional log cabin block to create a playful modern design. Makes a 10-1/2" square potholder or a 10" square block.

Small projects are perfect for practicing your free-motion quilting. Use an overall design or practice a different one in each section.

Make a potholder or two, or create an entire quilt using this block. This is a fantastic way to use up all those fabric scraps. Perfect for all those cat lovers out there! Read more about Kitty Potholders in this post.

Download this digital PDF pattern, print it out, assemble it into a little pattern booklet, and have fun sewing! PatchworkPottery patterns include metric conversion chart, stitches & terms section, illustrated step-by-step instructions, and full size templates.

Buy a digital pattern and start sewing today!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Kitty Potholders

I love little projects! In our busy lives, there's always time to quilt something small. I also love log cabin quilt blocks. I have never designed anything using this simple block until now... enter the Kitty!

I wanted a quick & easy project that would use up some of my fabric scraps, that I could sew multiples and not get tired of it, that I could practice some free-motion quilting and not feel pressured, and that my family would love. My family members seemed to have one thing in common... they all love their cats!

I used fusible web for the cat and nose appliques, and the block is quilted entirely by machine... even the cat's face.

My favourite was the black cat for which I used a warm black plaid wool. Yummy!

The white cat was for my Mom. Unlike the others, I used an overall free-motion quilting design on this one.

The beige cat was for my brother. I had fun practicing different free-motion quilting designs in each section.

And the orange cat was for my daughter who loves our large orange Maine Coon. His whiskers swoop up at the ends and he is always purring... very loudly! She is an illustrator and has been working on her Copic marker collection which is why I chose the colour chart fabric for the back. That and it matched perfectly!

Everyone loved their kitty Potholders, and on Facebook they received lots of comments and pattern requests so keep your eyes open for this this one :o)

*I forgot to mention that my label tutorial can be found HERE.

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)