Marathon of quilts

Well, here it is - the finished product.

I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. Note to self, though: Think long and hard before you to decide to do a quilt on a deadline that has blocks on the bias. Enough said. Moving on...

This one is a quick sample I whipped up out of the Willowberry Winter Lights collection. Very feminine. I don't usually voluntarily make blocks with flying geese in them, but with the help of the Eleanor Burns/Quilt in a Day flying geese ruler, I survived. I'm very pleased with the results. I love the way the checked print in the flying geese emphasizes the stars. The borders are a little overwhelming, but on a larger quilt they would look fantastic.

Are you ever at home of an evening and just get the urge to make a quilt? Not piece, not cut, not mark, just finish something for heaven's sake? Well, that's sort of what this was about.

I did this last night. I started at about 8:00 p.m. and finished about midnight, stopping only for a What Not to Wear/cookie break. And when I say I started at 8:00, I mean I started choosing fabrics. This is where I got the pattern. I just grabbed fabrics from my stash. It's funny how each one of them has a story - how I can remember when, where, and why they were purchased. At the time, I never dreamed they would all end up in the same project. It's a bit... um.... colorful, but I love it and will certainly use this pattern in the future.

Clueless DH

Well, here's what I've been up to for the last couple of weeks.

I finally finished piecing the blocks together yesterday, so now I'm trying to make a decision on borders. The pattern calls for a floral print in the outer border, but I just can't make up my mind. What do you think?

After I finished piecing it yesterday, my DH (dear husband) came over to check out my work. And what did he say? "Good job, honey" or "It looks really great, dear"? No, not my husband. He stretched out his arm, pointing at one section of the quilt (I'm not telling where), and asked, "Why is there a big bubble right there?"

I'll spare you the not-quite-G-rated details of my response. We'll just say he's still alive, although he almost lost his pointing finger. The poor thing still has a lot to learn about quilting, but we can add "Do not ask about or point out bubbles in your wife's piecing" to the list of lessons learned.

Treatment program for stash-aholics

Do you ever go on a fabric-buying binge?

Are you in denial? Do you swear you’re actually saving money by building up your stash before cotton prices rise?

Have you ever experienced a“blackout”—finding fabric in your stash you don’t remember buying?


If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you need Stash Pot Pie!

Stash Pot Pie is a new program we are starting at the shop to help all of you fabri-holics pare down that monstrous stash. Stash Pot Pie quilts are designed to use your stash... fat quarters, scraps, whatever you have. The pattern for each quilt gives yardage amounts for lights, mediums, and darks, allowing you to choose whatever color palette you would like. We can also help you out at the shop with your color choices. Each Stash Pot Pie workshop will be 7-8 hours and will be offered several times during a two month period. After two months, we will introduce a new Stash Pot Pie quilt. The April/May Stash Pot Pie quilt is pictured below. It's titled "Queen of Tarts."

We (okay, it was Cindy again, but I helped pick out the colors) chose to do ours in 1800's reproductions, but any combination of lights and darks will work. The pattern gives instructions and yardage amounts for a large lap-sized quilt, but we can help you figure amounts for any size quilt you would like to make.

And did I mention each quilt comes with a recipe? We'll even provide you with a cute little Stash Pot Pie recipe card to put it on. And if you're lucky, you'll be able to sample the recipe during the workshop!

The April/May Stash Pot Pie workshops are on Saturday, April 14, Wednesday, April 25, and Saturday, May 12. Contact the shop to sign up today!

What?

What is going on with the weather?

This was the view from my shop windows yesterday afternoon. Snow. In April. Just when I was beginning to think I could retire my socks and jackets until the fall, mother nature pulls a fast one on me. I suppose I shouldn't be complaining about a little snow shower after the winter we had, but I'm complaining anyway.

One nice thing about quilting is that it doesn't matter what the weather is like. So while mother nature does her thing outside, Cindy and I have been busy in the shop making quilts. Well, she mostly churns out the tops while I work on other projects. But between the two of us, we managed to get this one pieced and quilted.

Okay, so the binding's not done. But binding is one of those tasks I save for the couch, so there's a good possibility it might get done this weekend...especially since it's small.

Happy Easter everyone!

Cutting a rug

Now is the time for spring cleaning, and what better way to spruce up your home than with a new rug?

This is a toothbrush rug (a la Aunt Philly). This rug was my first attempt, so naturally there are some things I would do differently, but all in all I think it turned out pretty well. The rug has been in front of the register at the shop, so it's become a little misshapen from being stepped on and squished against the legs of the counter (not that it was a perfect oval to begin with). The technique is really pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

Here's another one I have in progress:

As you can see, totally different fabrics give it a different look. As far as shape goes, its coming out much more "oval" shaped than my first one. Practice makes perfect, as they say. The thing I love about these rugs is that there is NO SEWING involved. I saw Aunt Philly demonstrating these rugs at Quilt Market in Houston in October, and I knew they were something I wanted to try. Don't you just love learning new things? Even if it's something I know I never want to do again, I just get a good feeling from having the knowledge. Who knows how or if it might benefit you in the future? That's probably why I'm such an internet junkie... endless amounts of knowledge just waiting to be discovered.

Speaking of being an internet junkie, it's time for me to get away from my computer and go accomplish something in the real world. Which means I'm going to go piece. Oh, the hardships of working in a quilt shop... =)

Ex-Accountants

"People always ask me, 'Were you funny as a child?'

Well, no, I was an accountant. "

Ellen DeGeneres

I found this quote on this blog and laughed out loud. If (like me) you used to be an accountant, you can really relate to that statement.

I just love it when customers come into the shop to show me what they've created. A lady came in Saturday with this adorable little cowboy quilt. She even pieced a back!

We LOVE to see your finished projects! The next time you finish something, bring it into the shop and I'll snap a picture, or you can send me a pic of your own Send me a message that you have a picture for me and I'll e-mail you back with my address. This keeps me from getting too much spam). I'll post your pics on the blog, with your permission of course. So come on and strut your quilting stuff!

Just can't say no

What have I gotten myself into now...

This innocent looking little block is the first of twenty that I have to make in the next two weeks. Not to mention that I then have to assemble them, add borders, quilt the darn thing, and attach the binding. All before April 14. You see, I'm one of those people that has a hard time saying no...especially to good causes...so I find myself on a pretty tight deadline so that this quilt can be auctioned off at a benefit for our local community college.

This quilt is made from the Starlight and Favorite Things collections by Free Spirit. The pattern is Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs. I mixed flannel and regular quilting cotton (yes, you can do that), so the quilt has lots of yummy texture. Lucky for the as yet undecided little one who will eventually end up with it. Lucky little tyke.

I'm off to fold newsletters, so if you're signed up you can expect a delivery to your mailbox or inbox quite soon.

In the bag

Remember when I got this fabric in and was dreaming of all its possibilities? Well, here are just a couple of them.

I can't take credit - Cindy has been busy sewing up all kinds of things. She'll be teaching a class on the hobo bag (the pink one) in April, so keep an eye out for you newsletter or check our class schedule on our website.

Here are a couple of other things Cindy has whipped up in the last week or so.

These are for her granddaughter, so if you know her keep your lips zipped for a little while longer. A little machine applique here, some embellishments there, and she turned two plain t-shirts into what I'm guessing will become two of her granddaughter's favorite outfits. The pattern for these is called fun in the sun, by Caught Up In Stitches. This one will be available in the shop as well.

That's all for today. We're busy piecing and quilting away, so we'll have more to show you soon!

Blink

cars disney quilt
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/7266029@N06/.

It seems like every time I blink, completed quilts are showing up! It's great! The Cars quilt is for my nephew's 3rd birthday. He LOVES this movie. I think he thinks he is Lightning McQueen (or "Wightning" as he would say). So I'm sure he'll love this. Which is great for me, because there wasn't very much piecing involved with this one =) Just sew some wide strips on the top & bottom of this panel, and you're done. Now there's a quilt in a day for you!

Fresh start

Isn't this the most gorgeous pile of fabric you've ever seen? (Sorry for the extreme crooked-ness of this photo.)

These just say "spring" to me. They are part of Heather Bailey's new line from Free Spirit called Freshcut. Like the arrival of this fabric, the arrival of the beginnings of spring is renewing my energy and creativity. I've been drooling ever since the box came this afternoon just thinking about what I'm going to do with these. Can you say "flirty spring skirt"? Or "funky new tote bag" to replace the black leather behemoth I've been schlepping around all winter?

And this has been finished forever, but we just recently got it hung so I could take a picture.

It is from Judie Rothermel's Scrappy Dots collection from Marcus Brothers. You can't really get the full effect from the picture, but I really like the way it turned out. The pattern is Tricia Cribbs Turning Twenty (the original, not Again or Around the Block). You just can't hardly go wrong with fabric choice on this one.

And here is a sneak peak at my latest project. More on this later.

Well, the weather has cooled off quite a bit here (again), so I'm settling in for a weekend of solid sewing & quilting. With any luck, I'll have lots of projects to show off on Monday (but don't hold your breath).