What solids coordinate with Poinsettia & Holly by Martha Negley?

Kona Cotton Lipstick
Moda Bella Solids Christmas Red
Kona Cotton Tomato
Kona Cotton Meringue
Kona Cotton Celery
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Green Tea
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Sage
Free Spirit Designer Solids Olive
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Olive
Kona Cotton Avocado
Kona Cotton Basil

Happy holiday sewing!
~Diana

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What solids coordinate with Paloma from Dear Stella?

Michael Miller Cotton Couture Straw
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Powder Blue
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Fog
Kona Cotton White (not shown)

Happy Sewing!
~Diana

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Cindy played with the Urban Nine Patch quilt pattern from Sew Kind of Wonderful. The pattern uses the Sew Kind of Wonderful Quick Curve Ruler to create the gentle curves. The curved blocks give the  traditional nine patch an up-to-date, contemporary look. Cindy found the curved shape easy to sew. The ruler makes it a breeze to cut out the shape.

Happy Quilting!
~Diana

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Becky made herself the Schoolhouse Tunic by Sew Liberated. The fabric chosen is a lightweight shirting called Diamond Floral in Navy. A dress and shirt length are both included in the pattern. The versatile pattern leaves a lot of room for embellishing with small details to make the finished Tunic your own design style.

The Alexander Henry Mecca For Modern Mercer Dot in Navy was chosen for the facing, cuffs and waist band. Becky added a strip of contrasting fabric to the waist band.

To finish the sleeve, Becky lined the cuff with a 2″ band of the Mercer Dot fabric.

The Schoolhouse Tunic is a summer essential that can be layered with a camisole. Wear it with leggings, jeans or as a dress, on a hot summer day.

Happy almost summer!
~Diana

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Lotta Jansdotter’s Glimma Collection inspired me to make a Note Taker by Pink Chalk Studio to take with me to Quilt Market in Portland.

I’m hoping all the pockets and full size note pad will keep me super organized.

2 different prints were used for the exterior Glimma Kulla Orange Nut and Glimma Kita Fog. The band of Glimma Solid Slate was stitched into the seam when I attached the upper and lower fabrics together. The snap closure finishes off the Note Taker to keep everything secure.

What a happy Note Taker!
~Diana

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Carrie and friends dreamed up the Money Bead Birthday Necklace for a certain someone here at Pink Chalk who just turned 50. Each bead is a rolled dollar bill, wrapped with paper then taped to secure each bill. Carrie added washi tape, for color, to a handful of beads.

The beads are strung using pearl cotton thread and button accents. Love the spool of thread thrown in as a focal point! The necklace is looped around 3 times and tied with a piece of salvage.

What a lucky girl to receive such a special gift on such a big day! Also a festive gift for a wedding, graduation, baby shower… Mother’s Day?

Happy birthday!
~Diana

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I’m excited to share the finished quilt back for the quilt top started in Denyse Schmidt’s Improvisational Patchwork class at Quiltcon. In the original blog post about the quilt top, you may remember, I selected all the solids to coordinate specifically with the Lucky Penny collection. All those great colors were in my bag at Quiltcon. Our instructions were to only use the fabric pulled out of the scrap bags. For the back, I used my coordinated solids to create an improv block using various sized scraps put together in much the same way as the front. This block became my jump off point for the whole back.

I often hear from friends that piece their quilt backs that they had more fun creating the back of their quilt. Some will say they like the back better that the front. Why is that? Could it be that we allow ourselves the freedom to create with out a preconceived plan or idea of what the back should be? I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you like to piece the back or use one fabric for the back?

Happy quilting!
~Diana

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Megan made the Pink Chalk Studio Mail Sack as a gift for her Mom’s birthday! The playful prints are from the Monaluna Modern Home Collection.

Love the big pockets to keep everything organized!

The handy zipper pocket keeps valuables safely tucked away.

What a lucky Mom!

Happy sewing!
Diana

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Jacqui’s spring wardrobe wouldn’t be complete with out the Violet Blouse from Colette Patterns. The cotton lawn from Lecien is Memoire a Paris in Dot Navy which Jacqui had in her stash. Any cotton lawn or voile would be beautiful in the Violet Blouse.

Version 1 has short gathered sleeves with a peter pan collar, bust darts and back yoke with centered gathering that gives a gentle loose fit to the blouse. The pattern is well written with easy to follow detailed instructions. Violet is a sweet beginner pattern that goes together quickly. The loose fit makes it easy to create a beautiful blouse successfully.

Jacqui would recommend any of the beginner patterns from Colette for a first time garment sewist.

Happy sewing!
~Diana

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What solids coordinate with Matilda by Alice Kennedy?

Michael Miller Cotton Couture Watermelon
Moda Cross Weave Pink Yellow
Free Spirit Designer Solids Pastel Grey
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Straw
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Grass
Kona Cotton Cappuccino
Free Spirit Designer Solids Arctic White

We have created a Fat Quarter Set with the Matilda Collection.

Happy sewing!
~Diana

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Tracy was in the gifting spirit and made up 2 Tag Along Totes by Atkinson Designs for a couple of special girls. The tote measures 7″ x 8″ x 2″, with an optional zipper closure for security . The perfect grab and go size for a phone and basic essentials.

The blue Tag Along Tote uses Kate Spain Honey Honey Lace in Violet. The pink accent fabric from Tracy’s stash is Michael Miller Holiday 2012 Swirly Gig Pink.

The front includes a pocket for a phone and a pocket, on the diagonal, for keys and such. Love the heart shaped button accents where the strap attaches to the bag.

Tracy found the bright pink floral organic cotton from Nancy Mims Pick A Bunch collection in her stash.

Happy spring!
~Diana

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Megan made the Toes In The Sand quilt top by Jaybird Quilts. Basic Grey’s PB&J was used for the quilt blocks and Basic Grey Grunge PB&J Creamy for the background. The finished size is 64″ x 84″ and uses 51 assorted fat eighths.

Toes In The Sand is a 37 page block of the month booklet using the Hex N More Ruler to cut all the shapes in the pattern. Paper templates are included with the pattern but Megan highly recommends using the Hex N More Ruler. The cutting will be easier and much quicker using the ruler.

The pattern calls for 24 blocks total. As a block of the month, the quilt is designed to complete 2 blocks each month. When planning blocks, Megan suggests using high contrast fabrics to get the full impact of the block shapes. With creative fabric placement your quilt will appear to have 24 different blocks.

Toes In The Sand is a well written pattern with lots of helpful pictures and detailed instructions.

Makes me want to head to a sandy beach just to get my toes in the sand.

Happy quilting!
~Diana

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What solids coordinate with Boho by Urban Chiks?

Moda Bella Solids Teal
Kona Cotton Dusty Blue
Kona Cotton Tomato
Michael MIller Cotton Couture Creamsicle
Michael MIller Cotton Couture Grass
Kona Cotton Amber
Free Spirit Designer Solids Camel
Kona Cotton Snow (not pictured)

Happy sewing!
~Diana

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Jacqui is at it again, sewing these amazing Jeans from Jalie Patterns #2908. This is the second pair of jeans Jacqui has made. She blew us all away with the beautifully detailed stitching. Love the pop of red in the waist and pocket lining. The fabrics all came from Jacqui’s stash.

Making your own jeans allows you to place the pocket in the most flattering location. That alone may convince me to give it a try.

Happy sewing!
~Diana

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Cindy made a Mitered Corner Receiving Blanket using Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Voile Coloring Garden in Citrus. The backing is Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannel Diamond Mine in Sweet from her stash. The pattern tutorial is posted in Utah State University’s Cooperative Extension.

Love the perfectly mitered corners. The pattern calls for, one 35″ square for the front and one 45 ” square for the back. This creates a 40 inch blanket with a 4 inch border. Cindy made the blanket with a smaller, 2 inch border, after discovering she had a yard of each fabric.

What a sweet gift for that special little bundle!

Happy sewing!
~Diana

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I began writing the Pink Chalk Studio blog 7 years ago. I remember installing the Akismet plugin for spam. It caught everything. Then it stopped working.

About a year ago I noticed that some older posts were getting bombarded with auto-generated type spam. My solution was to remove them all by hand and then close the comments on any posts over a year old.

Then the spam started creeping in to more recent posts. Last week we got hit on Diana’s post the day she published it. There was no way to keep up with manually monitoring what was getting through.

I did a little research on google and discovered the Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin for WordPress. When leaving a comment there’s now a checkbox to click that indicates you’re not a spam bot. I liked the simplicity of the solution – I can’t stand Captcha because for some reason I’m getting those letters and numbers wrong a lot these days! This solution eradicated our spam problem overnight. After a week nothing has gotten through.

I’m slowly going back to open posts over the past year and removing what already got in. Don’t even get me started on the subject of why in the world would you spend your life’s energy writing spam programs…

***

This was how our jackets were hung up on Wednesday. I smiled when I caught a glimpse of our Kona racks.

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Photo of fabrics for Mail Sack samples. Only 4 1/2 weeks till Quilt Market and the first ever Pink Chalk Studio pattern booth. Becky made these both up last weekend and they turned out beautifully.

I have a new pattern for a market tote bag. If you’re interested in being a tester send me an e-mail at kathy @ pinkchalkstudio.com. I would like to have feedback by next Friday, April 19. I also have a cross body bag that is nearing completion with a bit longer timeline (several weeks – ha, that’s longer right?!). Let me know if you want to test the tote, the cross body bag or both. Thank you!

I got quite a response tonight. If you absolutely want to be a tester go ahead and e-mail me. Sometimes people drop out and I will follow up with you if I end up needing additional help. Thank you!

***

The winner of the Handmade Hostess Book Giveaway is Debbie. Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who left a comment. Makes me want to throw a party!

Have a fabulous weekend of sewing! xo Kathy

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What solids coordinate with Glimma by Lotta Jansdotter? Lotta included 4 solids in her collection, making my job much easier. Thank you Lotta!

Free Spirit Designer Solids Freedom Blue
Lotta Jansdotter Glimma Solid Slate
Lotta Jansdotter Glimma Solid Flannel Grey
Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton Tangerine
Lotta Jansdotter Glimma Solid Fog
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Mermaid
Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Ash
Lotta Jansdotter Glimma Solid Dandelion
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Mauve

Fat Quarter sets for Glimma include Lotta’s coordinating solids.

There are also Fat Quarter in the Glimma Canvas.

Happy sewing!
~Diana

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Tracy pieced together the Come What May quilt top by Jaybird Quilts using Basic Greys’ Kissing Booth fabric from her stash. Careful placement of each block creates the woven design. The pattern is very detailed with clear color coded charts to help keep track of fabric placement.

Happy sewing!
~Diana

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What solids coordinate with Spring House by Stephanie Ryan?

Free Spirit Designer Solids Tango
Free Spirit Designer Solids Dark Coral
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Fuchsia
Kona Cotton Candy Green
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Pastille
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Turf
Free Spirit Designer Solids Olive
Robert Kaufman Essex Linen Lime
Michael Miller Cotton Couture Vanilla (not pictured)

Happy spring!
~Diana

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