Happy Thanksgiving!!

May you enjoy the day spent with family and friends and reminisce on the wonderful blessings we all share.

The Even Shorter List :)

So the huge finish for me this week is Christmas.  I have never been a last minute shopper but this year my goal was to be completely done by Thanksgiving.  And as of yesterday, everything that needed to be shipped was shipped. Everything that needed to be delivered at our Thanksgiving festivities is wrapped and ready to go, and everything for my family here is hidden safely away into top of the closet.  

It's a good thing my kids aren't much into trying to find their presents because this is what I mean by hidden. Not to hard to realize there is candy in that bag for stockings and lots of something behind the bed skirt.  Oh ya, I am one tricky mom ;)

Now if only I was ready for Thanksgiving.  I have to get these piles of laundry put away so that I can turn around and pull it back out again to pack our bags ;)  And then tonight, I will be making 4 pies.  My husband loves pies!!!!

And I did get some quilting done this week as well!!  Nothing in the completed stage, but . . . this quilt that needed to be sashsed last week is all basted and ready to be quilted.  That's my after Thanksgiving project :)

And, this lovely stack of beauties was cut up, pieced together, and shipped off to Natalia to be quilted.  When it arrives back my wonderful Mom in law has said she will put the binding on for me and then off to the publishers it will go :)  Yippee Skippee for getting that almost crossed off the list.

So here's the rundown for the rest of the year :)  Yippee for short!!!

Designing Stage

• Circle Meets Square Quilt
• Scrunchy Stripes

Piecing Stage

• Jessi and Me Quilt 

Quilting Stage

• Solids Quilt for Free Motion
• Modern Blocks Quilt - Basted and ready to go
• Super Shabby Spin - Sent to Natalia

Completed Stage

Stacks

Where do you store your finished quilts that aren't gifts???  I find my stacks are growing lately, and having them sit on the shelf in my sewing room isn't the greatest "display" of them and it makes me sad because they don't get "used" either.  

In the past, I have pretty much given away most of my quilts. (and even sold a few, wish I could take that back but we were in school and every bit helped :)    Then I got this teaching gig in January and realized that I no longer had the quilt (one of those school sold ones) that I would be teaching.  So I had to make up new ones.  Not horrible, but it has made me realize that it is kind of nice to have a sample on hand.    (Although, I still have given away some of my pattern quilts, they just were given with the disclaimer that if I ever teach a class on them that I get to "borrow" the quilt for the weekend :)  P.S. These are my samples for my class in January, I am so excited!!

 And in general, I find that it is just getting harder to part with some of my quilts.  Like for instance, the ones that have been published.  They just seem special and hard to give away.  Probably crazy sentimental to get attached to a quilt, but there you have it.  And let's be honest, it's not like I don't need a lot of excuse to make a new quilt when ever there is a special occasion on the horizon.  I always have another idea in my head to try :)     And all of this leads to big stacks.  So what do I do with the stacks???

Turnovers - A New Pattern

Introducing Turnovers, my newest pattern  now available in my Pattern Shop :)    Turnovers is a wonderful geometric design that allows for lots of color.

 This pattern  is suitable for beginners and up.  The pattern includes 2 coloring pages as the color layout options are endless.

And it comes with size options!!!!  Turnovers has options for a Baby, Twin, Queen, and King size quilt.

This cover quilt is the Twin size and the fabrics are Marmalade by Bonnie & Camille for Moda.   I love this line, it has such a wonderful mixture of color in it along with great designs.

A little detail.  I used an all over free motion quilting design of daisies connected by loops and heart shaped leaves.  I made a video tutorial of this design that you can see here if you are interested :)

So, do you want to make one for yourself??  well then pop on over to Burgundy Buttons, where Leah has made up a Turnovers Quilt Kit featuring the same Marmalade prints that I used!!!!  The kit is for the Twin size.  The kit also includes the pattern for free and the fabric itself is at a major discount.  What a deal!!!  So pop on over and grab a kit for yourself so you can get going on your Turnovers quilt.

Wow, I can't believe this is my 5th pattern!!  Thank you to all of you great readers, there is no way I could be doing this without you!!!  Your the greatest and I am so happy I get to spend a bit of each day with you :)  Have a Happy Quilting weekend!!!

Everything In Between Quilt Show

Last Saturday I was able to attend the Everything In Between quilt show that was hosted at my Alma Mater, SUU.  I almost missed the show, attending the last day it was open.  Boy am I glad I made it!!  Here are some of my favorites!!

 This is a stunning about of applique!!  And I just loved the way the colors were used.  Doesn't it look like splashed paint :)

I absolutely loved this butterfly quilt.  (As did my daughter who visited earlier with her school class.)  The colors are so incredibly vibrant and the applique is just phenomenal.  I wonder how many pieces needed to be added to create this masterpiece.

Another stunning quilt.  The girl is made using turned edge applique.  Can you image creating all those curves with turned edge applique??    And I so love the vibrant colors.

And the quilting . . . blown away !!  I mean seriously, look at these feathers.  Amazing!!  I wish I would have taken a close up of the face.  It looked so realistic because of the lines created by quilting.

And lastly,  this was my favorite.  Doesn't it look more like a painting than a quilt!!  This quilt spoke to me on a personal note which is probably why it is my favorite ;)

All in all, a very inspiring and wonderful visit!!  I loved that I could get right up close to these amazing works of art to see how the quilters made each quilt.   It is just so fascinating and thrilling to me to be able to understand the process of their creation.  I mean, I could stare at a painting all day and still have no idea how it was done, but this, this I could really appreciate because I felt like I understood the process of creation and therefor appreciated all the more the beauty and talent they show.  I don't know if that makes any sense, does it??  Have you ever felt like you can appreciate something more because you know what it took to create it??

Edit -  I am sorry that I can't add the names of the quilters.  I was so enthralled with the quilts that I totally forgot to even look at the artist.  I didn't realize this until I went to write the blog posts and the show was closed then so I couldn't go back.   I know this is super insensitive and I feel horrible about it.  If anybody happens to know the quilters of each piece please let me know, I would love to add their names to their work.

The Short List

So it has been a little while since I have posted a WIP list and the list is getting much shorter!!  Yippee Skippee.  So why is the list so short??  Well for one, the holidays are coming so if it doesn't get done now, it won't get done soon.  Second,  I also recently decided to have surgery early next month that will have me out of action for a little while so I have tried to narrow down what I could take on.   So, if I am being honest, the list got short because I am putting things off to the new year.  Yup, come January the list will get long again, including a Starburst Quilt-A-Long :)

So what did I work on this week??  Well, I finished my Turnover quilt.  This will be a new pattern that I will be releasing on Friday :)  I am so excited.  And I tried something new with the binding.  I used a blanket stitch to attach it.  I really like the way it turned out ;)

I got my blocks for my Modern Blocks quilt all done.  Now I just need to sash them up and finish the quilt top.  I just love Simply Color!!  What a great debut line for Vanessa!!

And I meant to get to this stack all week.  But never fear, there is a good chuck of nap time set aside for this pile to get cut up :)

I also finished up my rewrite of my Summer Breeze pattern to include size options.  This was a huge accomplishment because it has been on my mind for some time!!!  I can't tell you how good it felt to finish ;)

So  . . . onto the super short list.  (Yes, it is sad that I consider this short ;)

Designing Stage

• Circle Meets Square Quilt
• Scrunchy Stripes

Piecing Stage

• Jessi and Me Quilt 
• Super Shabby Spin
• Modern Blocks Quilt

Quilting Stage

• Solids Quilt for Free Motion

Completed Stage

• Turnovers Quilt
• Braided Irish Chain - Queen and King 

Summer Breeze Remake

Summer Breeze was my very first pattern and will always be special to me because of that!!  And as expected, I have certainly learned a lot since writing it.  It has been in the back of my mind for some time to go back and remake this pattern to include size options as well as some trimming options to speed up the sewing process. 

And I finally did it yesterday!!!  So now, my Summer Breeze pattern is offered in 4 sizes :)  Yippee Skippee!!!  Here are the sizes you can make it in.  (I really want to make a baby one soon :)

I just love this quilt!!  I totally wish I would have originally written it with size and trimming options to begin with.  With that said . . .  If you have purchased a Summer Breeze Pattern from me, either in my etsy shop or  at Burgundy Buttons and would like a copy of the new PDF Summer Breeze pattern with the size and trimming options, please send me an email at happyquiltingmelissa (at) gmail (dot) com with the old pattern attached (just so I know you purchased it) and I would be happy to send you a copy of the new pattern for free.

Oh . . .  and I have been working on a new pattern as well :)   I am about half way done with the writing so hopefully it will be coming soon :)  It's nice that pattern writing is getting a little easier to do with each one.  I guess with everything in life, practice makes perfect.  (Well maybe not perfect, but at least easier :)

Loopy Daisy and Heart Leaf - A Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

Good morning all you free motion quilting enthusiast!  I have another little video for you today :)  This video walks you through the basics of creating a loopy daisy and a heart shaped leaf all over free motion quilt design.  This design is very beginner friendly.  The motion is quick to learn and flows very easily.   Hope you enjoy :)   And like all free motion quilting, practice makes perfect :)

Here is an example of the pattern :)

And here's the video :)

100 Blocks Winners

Thank you for all of the kind words on my Shabby Spin block!!!!  Now . . . Let's pick some winners!!

The 3 winners of a 100 Blocks Vol 6 Magazine

 and my Dreaming of Paris and Wonky Irish Chain Patterns are . . . 

Congrats to Michele, Judith, and Duff!!!  I will be contacting you shortly :)

It's snowing here so I am off to enjoy the day making a snowman ;)

So much better!!!

I loved the suggestion from several of you to fold my fat quarters to fit the size of the shelf.  I don't know why this didn't clue into me sooner as it is the same way I fold my yard cuts :)  Anyhow, I was totally inspired and now my shelf looks so much better!!  Thank you so much for the inspiration to just do this!!!

The first pile are my prints that I have kept in their particular "fabric line."  I don't want to mix them up because they are favorites and I plan (eventually) to make a project with them.  The remaining 3 piles are sorted by color.  Although, I am sure some are place "wrong".  Sometimes it is really hard to figure out where a color fits :)  But I have to say, all in all, it looks a million times better and I am loving it!!!  (It also helps me to see what I need more of, tee hee hee :)

Fabric Randomess

Yup, today is totally random!!  Just a few tidbits to share :)

First off, thanks to everyone who gave your Color Option preference!!  It really helped and in the end I  went with option 4 :)  Now to start cutting it out.

Second, I was at JoAnn's this morning to use my 60% off coupon to pick up a bunch of Kona White for an upcoming project.  While I was there I checked out the clearance sale hoping to find more Denyse Schmidt prints.  I didn't find that but I did get lucky with these beautiful tone on tone Heidi Grace prints!!  Perfect stash builders :)

And lastly, I really need to re-organize my Fat Quarter shelf.  It is driving me nuts!!!  I really dislike that it is stacked 2 deep because I can't see all of the prints.  Something for me to work on over the weekend, for sure.   Suggestions welcome :)

Congrats Barbara!!!

I have mentioned my wonderful mother-in-law, Barbara Corry, on this blog several times.  You know, the fabulous binding fairy that hand sews my bindings because I detest doing that!!  She was also my companion at Quilt Market and I can't begin to express how grateful I was that I wasn't all alone my first time.   She is always there for me in my quilting adventures and I love her for that!!

What I haven't mentioned, is that she has also been running for State School Board over the past few months.    And as of early this morning,  I am  happy to report that she won her race and is now a member of the Utah State School Board representing District 15 (aka Washington and Iron Counties).  CONGRATS MOM!!!!  I am so proud of you!!!!

So today is a celebration at the Corry households!!  So grab a piece of cake and celebrate with us!!

100 Blocks - Shabby Spin

I am so excited to have my block appear in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Volume 6!  This issue is jam packed with amazing blocks that will make you want to get your sewing on!!

And one of those blocks is my Shabby Spin block!!  This block combines applique and piecing, which I just had so much fun with. The Shabby part of the name comes from the raw edge applique, so fun when it gets a little ruff around the edges after washing.  

And the Spin part of the name . . . well the quilt layout show that off.  Don't you just love how it keeps your eye spinning around the quilt.  

I just love the way the block looks when joined together!  And there are endless design possibilities playing with color and layout.  In fact, I am currently playing  with my block layout using these prints and colors from P & B Textiles.  More to come :)

So that's Shabby Spin!  I hope you like it :)   Be sure to follow the 100 Blocks Blog Tour every day from Nov 5-9  at The Quiltmaker Blog Quilty Pleasures  to see all of the blocks and have a chance at lots and lots of  giveaways!

And speaking of Giveaways, lets have one!!!!

For 3 lucky readers, I have 3 copies of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol 6 and to each copy I will be adding my newest patterns, Wonky Irish Chain and Dreaming of Paris.

For a chance to win leave a comment on this post, any old comment will do :)

All followers of my blog, new and old, can have a bonus chance.  Just leave me a comment :)

And that's it.  Up to 2 comments per person.  International entries are welcome.  Mr. Random.Org will choose 3 lucky winners and announce them Saturday morning.  

So leave your comments and then enjoy your hopping!!!

Color Options

So this month for my Beejeebers group I have been asked to make a Cherie's Carpenter Star block.  I made one of these earlier this year for Cherie, who is in my other bee :)

But in the bee we are making it in now, we get to choose our own fabric. We were asked to use 2 different colors and to use brights.  So I went to my little fat quarter stash and tried to decide what qualified as "bright".  Here's what I cam up with.  Now . . .  I need your help, because I ca't decide.   What grouping do you like best??

1 - Denyse Schmidt's Sugar Creek and Winding Road mixed with some Daisy Mae

2 - A little Joel Dewberry's Heirloom mixed with some Kate Spain's Central Park

3 - Denyse's Good old Flea Market Fancy mixed with some Jenean Morrison's Power Pop

4 - My beloved Secret Garden from Sandi Henderson mixed with some Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket

5 - Some Katie Jump Rope from Denyse  mixed with some fun dots that sadly, I don't know how designed.

So help a girl out because having options can really stump me big time :)