Heidi the dog

This is my dog, Heidi.











As you can see, she's weird, but we love her. We rescued her (I prefer "adopted") from our local animal shelter last February. The lady at the shelter told us she thought Heidi was some kind of lab mix. Probably shar pei (you know, the wrinkly dogs). But for the most part she just looks like a deranged lab runt.

Heidi has proven to be a good dog...never potties in the house, doesn't chew on furniture, etc. So, in order to reward her good behavior, I decided to make her this.

It's a pillowcase for the pillow that serves as a cushion in the bottom of her crate. (Get the pattern here). Her crate is next to our bed, and she spends about 12 hours a day napping in her crate whether my husband and I are sleeping or not. Until today, we had just thrown an old pillow in the crate with no pillowcase or cover on it. Naturally, the pillow is quite stained and disgusting looking in spite of my best efforts to bleach the you-know-what out of it. So for my sanity and just because it's cute, she now has a pillowcase for her pillow. Spoiled girl.

Mint chocolate treats

Okay, remember how I was telling you about wanting to make the bag from the new Terry Atkinson book? Well, what do you think?!

I love the way this turned out. I used 3 fat quarters and 1/2 yard of lining from the Metro Blue line of fabrics by Marcus Brothers. I followed the directions exactly, and it turned out great. She gives the best instructions. There are a couple of things I will change when (that's right, when, not if) I do another one, like adding a few pockets. But otherwise I won't change a thing. Doesn't it look like these bags? And to think, you can make your own for less than $15. I saw quite a few young girls carrying these bags when I visited my parents in Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. I saw several at the quilt show in Paducah, so I just assumed the women carrying them had made them. It wasn't until I talked to my sister (who's in college and knows a lot more about the latest trends than I do) that I found out the bags were store bought.

And doesn't this fabric make the cutest quilt? Once again, I can't take credit. Cindy pieced it, and the pattern is in the lastest issue of Quiltmaker. It's the alternate version of the Beatrix Potter baby quilt.

Now, this I can take credit for...

Here are some much improved pictures of the first and second blocks in the Rosebud Lane block of the month (which starts June 16 by the way....sign up now to make sure get in on this). I'm telling you, ladies, if I can do this, so can you. The instructions are very well written. As with any quilting project, the most time consuming part is the cutting. I love to piece, and these blocks let me do that while still doing something a little less conventional. Don't get me wrong...I love traditional quilts...but whoever thought you could piece a house?

And last but not least, here are the newest additions to our magazine inventory.

Lots of cute projects in these two. Check out Quilts and more for instructions on making a bag, pincushions, pillows, and several quilts, shown in fabrics ranging from trendy to traditional.

America Loves Scrap Quilts by McCalls Quilting is chock full of gorgeous scrap patterns (with instructions for how much yardage to buy if you don't plan to go the scrappy route). You'll especially love this magazine if (like me) you adore reproduction fabrics. I'm thinking of tackling the cover quilt, even though it has the A-word. Applique-ing perfect circles has proven to be a challenge for me in the past. Lord knows I've got enough reproduction fabrics to choose from though!

I've gone and made myself hungry by naming this post the way I did. I foresee a Braum's run in my near future!

Where's the %&!@* camera?

Well, my husband and I took our camera with us to Tennessee to visit my parents last weekend (with a very brief stopover at Paducah), and now I can't seem to find it. I'm sure it's somewhere in the luggage I still haven't unpacked. When I didn't see it after a quick look in the suitcase, I assumed I had already brought it to the store. Now that I'm at the store, I realize it must be at home.

Anyhow, here are some very poor substitutes that I took with my cell phone.

Here is the first block for the Rosebud Lane block of the month:

The picture is out of focus, and the lighting is terrible, but it gives you and idea of what the blocks will look like made out of our fabric. Plus you can see a little better how the block is pieced with just a little bit of fusible applique. Stop by the shop to see the block is it's full glory. For instance, in this block the only things that are appliqued are: the chimneys on top of the roof, the bushes on the side of the house, the darker part of the front door, and the bird bath. I used fusible applique, and I think I'll take it home with me tonight and hand blanket stitch it. I'm not fortunate enough to have a good blanket stitch on my sewing machine. Plus, I have tons of embroidery floss at home so I can match the colors better.

This is a portion of a quilt I am doing out of the Freshcut line of fabrics. You can download the pattern from the Quiltmaker website. The pattern had 16 blocks, but once I got it all arranged on my living room floor, I decided I wanted to make it big enough to go on the guest bed, so I had to put the project on hold while I cut out an additional 14 blocks. It takes one fat quarter for each block you want to make, and the blocks are 15 inches, so it's pretty easy to figure out how many blocks/fat quarters you need for any size quilt.

Here are couple of things that have arrived at the shop in the last few days. The first is Terry Atkinson's new book (ya know, the Terry Atkinson who designed the Yellow Brick Road pattern) called Happy Hour. I'm dying to make the bag and pillow projects which take just 3 fat quarters each.

And Quilt Sampler is awesome as always. I'm not sure if Wal-mart has this one yet or not. I think they ship to independent retailers first, so be the first to get your copy of Quilt Sampler!
I'll post more pictures when I find that %&!@* camera!

New! Block of the Month

We are proud to announce our very first block of the month!

The quilt is Rosebud Lane by the Quilt Company. It uses Maywood's Ramblin Rose and Willowberry Winter fabric lines. Each block is completely rotary cut and machine pieced with a few applique details. Can you believe it?! I thought for sure the designer would tell me this quilt was loaded with little templates, but she assured me such is not the case. Whew! Each house has its own theme, like "restful retreat" or "quilting retreat"...isn't that cute! And the icing on the cake is that picket fence border. Just irresistible. It makes me wonder, now why didn't I think of that!

The best part is, you don't have to live in the area to participate! You can sign up on our website, and we'll ship the block pattern & fabrics each month. This is a six month program, and we will begin distributing blocks the 3rd Saturday June. Space is limited, so sign up today!

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!