She chose some pages with images she liked and went to lunch while I scanned and printed the pictures on fabric sheets. (I use the Electric Quilt sheets that you can put in your inkjet printer. I think the quality is a little better than Printed Treasures, plus you get one more sheet per package than Printed Treasures for the same price.) My favorite picture is the one of the beds - the "mama bear" bed has a quilt!
The lighting doesn't do them justice, but they came out adorable! She's going to use them in a baby quilt for her yet-to-arrive granddaughter. Too cute. Too. Cute. The vintage book is very cool, but you could use any book, including coloring books. Garage sales and the library would be a good place to find books also. I'm going to call my mom tonight and have her send me some of the old books she's kept. Even though my sister and I drove her crazy with them. Then I need to make a mental note to hang onto them and introduce them to my niece and nephew so they can drive my mom crazy all over again. It's the least I can do =).
And the other side.
I tried to get a good picture of the lining also. The fabric is white with different doctors and nurses. Plus we added a couple of pockets because, well, you just need pockets.
We have some kits available at the shop and online (just $11.50!). I just love that fabric - the nurses are so chic! And they have a little bit of attitude, which makes them that much more endearing. Because as anyone who is related to a nurse knows (hi mom!), nurses have definitely got a little attitude. I think it's a survival skill - they need it to get through the day (or night!).
In the quilt guild I belong to, we are doing Eleanor Burns's Underground Railroad book as a block of the month. These are the blocks I have finished so far.
The book calls for red, green, blue, and brown fabrics on tan backgrounds. As you can see, I decided to substitute purple for red. I didn't realize how much that changed the look of the quilt until I got all of the blocks up on the design wall. I like purple, so it will work out for me just fine. But I also like red, and kind of want to make another set of blocks in using red. But I also don't like purple and red together, so I couldn't use both sets of blocks to make one large quilt. And I'm also not too keen on the idea of making two practically identical quilts. I did buy some pink reproduction fabric last year when we started this project with the intent of making a set of block using pink instead of red. Then maybe I could mix those blocks with the purple ones? Hmmm. It's a dilemma I probably won't ever have to solve, because the chances that I will ever get around to making a second set of blocks is slim to none.
We (the quilt guild) are having a work weekend tonight and tomorrow to make donation quilts for victims of the recent flooding. Everyone was instructed to bring orphan blocks and fabric to donate, so it will be interesting to see what we come up with. I'll be sure and take lots of pictures... if I remember my camera!
It was designed for teachers by a teacher (Cindy). The fabrics are from the Cool School line by Loralie Designs. This is the same company that makes the adorable nurse fabric we carry (which reminds me - I've never blogged about the nurse bag! That'll be the next post...). This bag is large enough to carry a notebook (computer or otherwise), and there are pockets all along the outside of the bag to keep everything organized, from keys to cell phones to extra pencils. And when you add a panel of letters by Lakehouse Dry Goods, you can personalize the bag for your favorite teacher! We put "teacher" and "abcd" on ours to make it generic, but you could easily put "Mrs. Whoever," or "1st grade" - you get the idea. The letters were attached using Steam-a-Seam 2. Then she just top-stitched just inside the edge of the squares. This is also known as raw-edge applique.
My next bag would be perfect for either a teacher or student. I made this one for my sister who is in college studying to be a music teacher, so it will work either way.
She had mentioned that she liked this fabric (who doesn't?), so I made her a bag. It was supposed to be a Mother's Day present, but I'm obviously a little late. The start of a new school year seemed to be the perfect excuse to: a) get the bag done, and b) pretend that "back to school" was the reason I made the bag in the first place and not that I'm 3 months late with her Mother's Day present. This bag is also large enough for a notebook and school books. There are three pockets on the inside. I put some needlepoint canvas in the bottom to give it some shape. For the handle, I wanted something really strong that would hold up to carrying college textbooks. So, I went to my local discount store to the camping aisle and picked up a luggage strap. I can't remember how much it cost, but it wasn't much...less than $3.00. I cut it to the length I needed and covered it in fabric. It turned out really well, and it will be nice and strong.
Well, I haven't made much progress on my to-do list, but I'm going to work really hard on it this week. Maybe by the end of the month I'll be able to check off all those items and make a new list! That's the trouble with lists - by the time you finish one, it's time to make another and start on it.
...was magically transformed into this quilt! (The lighting in this photo is not so magical, but you get the general idea.)
Here's a little closer look at the panel and the pieced borders,
and an even closer look at the machine-appliqued moons. My machine-applique has come a long way if I don't say so myself. I'm really excited about it. 
I usually don't get much applique done because of the time involved. I enjoy the hand-stitching part - I find it very relaxing. What's not so relaxing is preparing the pieces to be appliqued. I'm still working on finding a technique that works well for me. But yesterday I discovered a new stitch on my little blue Kenmore sewing machines that works really well for applique (as long as you're not doing very small pieces. The stitch length and width on these machines is not adjustable). So thanks to Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 and an endless supply of thread colors, you may just see more applique from this quilter!
Well, combine it with two other fabrics (pulling the colors from this problem fabric), and viola!
I just put the borders on the other day, and decides the quilting couldn't wait any longer. Those striped strips along the bottom are going to be the binding. I know, I know, I should have cut it on the bias. But I'm too lazy, plus this way the stripes will be going the same direction as they are in the quilt. So there. That's my design justification for being too lazy to make bias binding.
This will be the center of a quilt from the Laps from Fats for Family & Friends book. The quilt in the picture is gold and blue, so Cindy's version will definitely demonstrate a different colorway.Okay, now my goals are written in stone, per se, and you can help keep me accountable. Good luck.
If there is room, and if I can convince my DH to help me with the shop, I'm going to participate in Saturday's class also! I don't plan to be in there the whole time, but I am very excited about the quilt and these fabrics that I picked out this afternoon! These fabrics might just be enought to keep my rear firmly planted in front of the sewing machine all day.
For those that have asked or silently wondered about the Random Access class on Saturday, Sept. 8, these pictures are just a portion of the Tony's finished quilt top. (It's absolutely humongous, but don't worry - you don't have to make yours that big.)
The general idea of the Random Access quilt is that you start with one fat quarter for each block you want to make (if you want 20 blocks, you need 20 fat quarters). You cut them all up and put the pieces in bags. As you sew, you blindly (this is the random part) pull pieces from different bags. The rule is that if you haven't already used the fabric you pull out in your current block, you have to use it. I know some of you may be feeling faint at the idea of not painstakingly matching the fabric for each block as you sew. But that's exactly why you should take the class. Fabrics don't have to match perfectly, and this quilt will be a good exercise in letting go of your control just a bit and letting the quilt take over.
And just in case you might wondering if I even make quilts anymore, here's my proof.
Well, it's not a whole quilt, but it's the third block for the Rosebud Lane block of the month. I think this is my favorite one so far! My goal is to have the whole quilt top finished by the third Saturday in August. Now that I've put that goal in writing, maybe I'll be more inclined to stick to it.
Call or e-mail us at the shop to sign up!
Views from the top of the lighthouse, which you access by climbing a very curvy, very steep, very tall set of stairs.
Imagine my excitement when I discovered quilts at the lighthouse! These pictures are from the caretaker's residence. I had to take pictures through the glass since the house wasn't open to the public.
Remember this quilt? Well, I finally got it all assembled and snuck it on the quilt machine thinking I would get it done pretty fast. I should have known better. It's been on the machine for the better part of a week, and it has to come off so I can quilt a couple of things before I leave.
You may just see a sample of this one in the shop, Christmas in July or not, because I don't know how long I'm going to be able to stay away from this one. I'm a sucker for samplers... what can I say.Have a lovely holiday, everyone! We'll see you next week!
This is the beginning of the dog bone- shaped toothbrush rug. I think this is a very clever idea.
Here is another wall hanging I did right after I opened the shop.
Right now it hangs in the entryway to the shop. It's done in blue and brown 1800's reproductions with reproduction shirting prints for the white. Each piece is just 1" wide. It took longer than I thought it would b/c of the small pieces, but it still went pretty quickly by using strip piecing. The pattern is called "Martin's Pennies." It's a good way to use up scraps in case you're one of those people that has extra fabric lying around =)
attached the binding to this,
started crocheting this (from 