LMS

I am happy to report that I have been drafted into the ranks of those busily preparing for quilt market. =)  No, not my own line of patterns…yet…but, I have designed a couple quilts for P&B Textiles which will be at quilt market this year…how fun!  That lovely stack of Color Weave fabrics arrived yesterday courtesy of P&B, and has since been whipped into a quilt top.

This little number was bound this past weekend and will soon be on it’s way to one of my new favorite magazines.  Oh how I love Bonnie and Camille’s Vintage Modern line of fabric….so fabulous!  And did you all see this:

Yes, indeed…it’s Bonnie & Camille’s line of fabric which will be debuting at quilt market in just a couple weeks.  It’ll be available for purchase this fall….I’m pretty sure I can’t wait that long…doesn’t someone going to quilt market want to take pity and pick some up for me…. =)

I’ve also added just a couple more items to my Etsy shop:

In between all of my other projects, one of my number one priorities is planning a 7 year birthday party for this gal:

May is totally going to zip on by!

Chloe and I had a fun little Antique-about this morning–we hit 3 local antique shops.  I didn’t find anything that I was looking for but, I was thrilled to find this vintage quilt in an old window for a whopping $29 bucks.

I brought it home and Ryan asked me if it was one of my quilts.  Yes, it is….I just happened to find a quilt I made at an antique mall….I am very old….I’m not sure how one of my quilts ended up in an antique mall..maybe I just don’t remember because I am so old…and also, apparently, I am excellent at hand piecing…and hand quilting.

When I told him no, I hadn’t made it, he couldn’t understand why I would want someone else’s quilt.

This is totally going above my fireplace mantle.  I love it!

Wow!–First off, thanks everyone for the positive response to my Triangle Toss quilt!  It’s been a crazy couple of weeks as I wrap my head around some new opportunities–hence, the lack of blogging.  Ever have too much to blog about so you just don’t?…that’s me right now. =)

Also, for those of you who might be making the Triangle Toss quilt, I noticed(thanks to a blog reader for pointing it out!) that there is an update to the cutting instructions here.

Now, on to something else fun!

On May 15, 2010 I sent out a starter block and journal to the first member in the Quilting Journey Round Robin Bee.  My block and journal have traveled from person to person around the world with each person adding a block and journaling and then sending the package onto the next person.

The block instructions were simple:  make a block in the same style as mine, using the multi polka dot fabric I included and add coordinating fabrics from your stash.

And, after almost 2 years, my blocks and journal have arrived safely at home.  I have an incredible journal–filled with stuff like this:

and this:

and:

And wonderful blocks from all around the world…Australia, Germany, Canada, & the US

Thanks so much Quilting Journey ladies!

Now, I need to decide how I want to put this bad boy together.  With all of the color and craziness it seems like it needs some kind of sashing–but, as soon as I put sashing in, it puts such a harsh border around each of the blocks which I don’t care for.  I might need to play around a little bit with sashwork color choices so the sashing doesn’t become such a focal point.

Any suggestions?

I am often asked about the specific fabrics that I used for my projects.  Recently, I was asked to name all of the fabrics used in my Joseph’s Coat pillow.  I thought I would share all of them here with you all.  If you are looking for a fun springy mix these fabrics are just perfect!

Heather Bailey, Pop Garden, Wallpaper Roses in Turquoise

Heather Bailey Pop Garden Zig Zag Stripe in Yellow/Pink/Green

Heather Bailey, Pop Garden, Peonies in Rose

Heather Bailey, Freshcut, Paisley

Heather Bailey, Freshcut, Floral Finery

Heather Bailey, Freshcut, Jelly Bean

Heather Bailey, Freshcut, Dotted Paisley in Turquoise

Heather Bailey, Freshcut, Cabbage Roses

Heather Bailey, Freshcut, Lollipop Flowers

Heather Bailey, Nicey Jane, Hello Roses

Heather Bailey, Nicey Jane, Welcome Road

Heather Bailey, Nicey Jane, Church Flowers

Heather Bailey, Nicey Jane, Slim Dandy

Heather Bailey, Bijoux, Tiled Primrose in Gold

Heather Bailey, Bijoux, Tiled Primrose Rose

Heather Bailey, Bijoux, Tiled Primrose Celery

Heather Bailey, Pop Garden, Wallpaper Rose Yellow

Amy Butler, Temple Flowers

Lecien, Antique Flower

Lecien Antique Flower

Lecien Antique Flower

Michael Miller Sea Ta Dot Polka Dots

Sandi Henderson, Farmer's Market, Henna Garden Yellow

Sandi Henderson, Farmers Market, Pink Medallion

Jennifer Paganelli, Dance with Me, Kayla in yellow

Jennifer Patanelli, Dance with Me, Kayla in Aqua

Lila Tueller, Santorini

Art Gallery Fabrics, Naturella

Paula Prass, Petite Garden

  I used Moda Summer in the City Plaid 31008 16 (I didn’t have a photo handy for this one).

And, I think that’s all of them!  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

the unknown tree

I am sure that I am not alone in doing less crafting lately and more enjoying the amazing weather!  80 degrees in March just doesn’t happen here in Ohio!  My trees are blooming–pear, weeping redbud, weeping peach, crabapple, “and some ornamental weird thing–per Ryan”–I think this may be the first time my logger husband hasn’t been able to identify a tree. =p  But, they are all in bloom–pinks, purples, and whites–I’m so hoping that it doesn’t get cold again quickly and freeze all my pretty flowers and buds off my trees!

I did whip up a “church bag” for Chloe on Saturday.  She’s been asking for a bag to carry her Bible, chapstick, pen, gum, etc. to church.  My LQS had a 20% off sale on Saturday if you wore green, so off we went.  I told Chloe she could pick out the fabrics she wanted with a little guidance from me.  This quickly went in an unexpected direction–I had no idea that my LQS had pillow pet fabric in primary colors, sparkly crown fabric, a myriad of sparkly fabrics in general, lizard fabric, and flip flop fabric.  All of which, according to Chloe, would look wonderful mixed together.

Luckily we were able to settle on fabrics that we both liked sans pillow pets and glitter.  She thought we needed to add a button to the pattern & picked out a large square white one.  I used the Lily Pocket Purse  pattern by Lazy Girl Designs which was the perfect size–it has a great little back pocket and some fun pockets on the inside.

back of bag

 The pattern was very easy to make–lots of detailed pictures and descriptions for this non-bag making gal, so it was a breeze to put together on Saturday afternoon.

Chloe is pretty happy about her bag and got to show it off at church on Sunday.

I’m thinking I might need to make a church bag of my own to carry all my misc. gear.  Do you have any favorite bag patterns?  Something pretty room but not too big with great pockets?

I have had such fun playing with Pat Bravo’s new Summerlove collection.  This summer-like week was the perfect time to work with these beautiful fabrics.  I moved my sewing machine beside my porch doors and opened them wide and all that fresh warm spring air breezed on by as I was sewing….cheesy, I know, but it really was a great sewing day. =)

I received this wonderful stack of fabric to play with from–the fabrics are Summerlove, new Pure Elements, new Oval Elements–all Art Gallery Fabrics.  This fabric:

along with the fabulous way Art Gallery Displays the pictures of their fabric lines was the basis for my quilt design.

I chose 12 of my favorite prints from Summerlove and added in two Oval Elements prints to make this quilt which features {12} 16″ appliqued blocks.

I used Superior MonoPoly invisible thread for the straight stitch raw edge applique.  This was the first time I used invisible thread for applique–I am happy with the results.  I opted not to use it in my bobbin–which worked fine–I found I didn’t even need to adjust my tension.

Summerlove should be hitting stores any day now–I noticed both Fat Quarter Shop & Hawthorne Threads will be getting in yardage of this line.

I have several new classes that I will be teaching at Country Craft Cupboard, one of them is a cute fabric bin.  On a side note, do you all remember this post about decorating?  Well, I have eyed the above fabric at Joanns everytime I went in the store for the last several months–hmmmm….coral, aqua, green, & yellow.  I was glad for an excuse to purchase it. =p

This tutorial for this bin is available here–which I followed for the most part, one of the changes I opted to make was in attaching the binding around the upper edge of the bin.  I just couldn’t resist doing it by hand with perle cotton–you know I love the cuteness a little hand stitching adds.

If you’re looking for a fun project I’d love to have you join us!

Last week I was contacted by Art Gallery Fabrics because they wanted to send me some goodies to play with–and then this lovely stack of fabrics arrived at my house on Saturday.  It includes Summerlove (available in March), new Pure Elements, and new Oval Elements.  All in all a fantastic bundle of fabric!  I had so much fun arranging them into a rainbow stack–and I haven’t even begun the fun part of making a quilt (other than finalizing a quilt design).

I also got a chance to work on my PTS7 pillow–the pillow top is finished and is awaiting quilting inspiration to strike.  I am really enjoying the way this one is turning out–as with all of the PTS pillows I make, this one is evolving as I go…it’ll be interesting to see the finished product!

If you haven’t had a chance to enter my giveaway from yesterday, scroll down one more post. =)

I’ve settled on my fabrics and have begun the task of sewing together teeny little squares.  It’s fun and has been coming together quickly.  Interestingly enough, I decided to press my seams open to make these–I’m a pretty firm side presser but I have found that when working with small pieces sometimes it works better to press the seams open–less bulk.

A tip for pressing seams open is to press them to one side as usual and then press them open–it works a whole lot better than trying to press open from the get go.

And another thing:

As many of you know, Google Friend Connect is being retired–I’m not sure if this applies to all blogs or only those not using blogger.  Either way, as of March 1, it will no longer be working on my blog as I don’t have a blogspot.com blog.  If you are currently following me via GFC, you might want to consider following via my RSS feed or via email subscription.  If you’re tired of my blathering on about fabric and such, that’s cool also….hubs and the kidders get tired of fabric blather as well. =)

As promised, my completed Brrr! mini quilt.  I have thoroughly enjoyed working with these fun fabrics.

After opening up my package from Robert Kaufman, I knew that I wanted to do some kind of embroidery project.  Laurie’s cute designs just lend themselves perfectly to embroidery!  Originally I had thought I would be going with a pillow but as I was working on it I decided to go with a mini quilt.  Would you believe this is my first mini quilt?  This gives my couch a much needed break from more pillows!

Jessica finished up a Brrr! baby quilt last week & her design incorporated rick rack–which I thought was a perfect touch.  I remembered seeing a quilt from Elizabeth of Oh Fransson which I thought was cool at the time that incorporated into the quilt blocks.  I thought this was a perfect option for my mini quilt.

This little quilt finishes at about 18″ square.  The embroidery is done using 8 weight Perle Cotton.  I straight line quilted just a bit around the borders and finished it off with a stripey binding.  I can’t get enough of striped binding and this line has two prints that work perfectly. =)

And here is the pdf embroidery pattern for you to enjoy as well! =)

The Polar Bear and The Penguin

The embroidery pattern finishes out at about 8″x10.5″.

Brrr! will be available in June.  There are more fun projects using Brrr! popping up around blogland if you can’t wait to see more until then:  Jessica’s baby quilt. Angela’s Swoon Blocks and pj’s, Molly’s Fabric Bags, Krista’s amazing Star Quilt.

I have another Brrr project up my sleeve–it’s just a lot of fun to work with!  Thanks again Laurie for sending such a fantastic package my way to play with! =)