There and Back Again . . .

What a whirlwind of a weekend!!!  Barbara and I spent the last 3 days at Quilt Market and we had such a wonderful time.  I can't believe how fast it all went!!  And this post is going up a little late as our flight home was delayed by several hours so we got in at 3am.  So I took a nap :)

I know, you have all seen tons and tons of Market photos on Instagram and I know can't show you any new fabrics or booths that you haven't already seen.   So rather I am going to share my Highlights from the weekend. I went because I had 2 compilation book signings and schoolhouses, and a few projects.  So here are some of the highlights from those ;)   I just love how each of these pics reminds me of how Happy I am to be a small part of such an amazing industry with such amazing people :)


So a favorite moment . . . Getting to do a Schoolhouse with just me and Angela Walters!!!    I can not tell you how much I admire Angela and what a wonderful friend she is!!!
Here we are before the schoolhouse, just having a good time ;)

Here we are just finding out that we are the only contributors to the book that were able to make it to market,  There was a bit of a mix-up and we found out right before it started that we were it and were running the show.  Eekkk!!!  I was ready to hyperventilate.  Can you see the wheels turning as we both smile but try to figure out what we are going to say.  Lucky for me, Angela is a seasoned pro and a master of  improv and we had a great time bouncing off one anothers remarks making it look like we totally knew what we were doing ;)

And this last pic is just for fun.  They wanted me to wear a headmic . . . I told them I had 5 kids and a mom voice, I was just fine without a mic,

For the rest of the weekend we were dubed the Dynamic Duo and argued over who was Batman and who was Robin :)  Crazy fun and a cherished memory!!!!   More on the book Optical Illusions that we were doing the school house for next week when we do a fun blog hop for it :)  And no, I wasn't sleeping, this is just the only shot I got of me holding the book, just think of it as my one with Optical Illusions image ;)

   

My favorite Schoolhouse . . . was the session that was the very  last one of the day.  We were all super tired but not Elanor Burns.  She had as laughing and rolling, even though the video wasn't working and everyone hadn't eaten all day.  You just couldn't help but smile along as she presented her Mystery Quilt in a Sherlock Holmes theme.  The more I get to see and be around this women at Market, the more I love and admire her!!  She truly is amazing!!!

A Favorite Share . . .  getting to show Bonnie Olaveson the quilt I made for the United Notions booth using her Smooth Sailing pattern and her and Camille's new Daysail fabric.  This quilt was so much fun to make and it was a real treat to get to share it with Bonnie :)  I will be sharing more about this quilt later this week for Bloggers Quilt Festival ;)

A Favorite Geek Out Moment . . . I got to take a picture with Denyse Schmidt and my Off Kilter quilt that I made using her solids ;)  She was so sweet and kind and had nothing but nice to say about my quilt. Ya, I was total permagrin for the rest of the day ;)

Favorite New Meets . . . Getting to do a Schoolhouse and book signing with this group of ladies was amazing!!!  Some I already knew and some were new to me, but we were instantly friends.  That is what I love about this industry ;)   We chatted, and signed, and chatted and laughed.   So much fun!!! In the schoolhouse we played 2 truths and a lie and everyone thought that I was color-blind rather than having 5 children ;)  What a hoot!!!  Fun Size Quilts is a compilation book from Martingale that is made of nothing but mini's!!  So fun!!!

  

Favorite slow down moment . . . walking around the festival of quilts.   The Market Floor is so fun, but there is something about taking a moment out and just slowing it down to enjoy the amazing beauty of the quilts on display there.  I am sure you have seen tons of pictures of the red and white quilts but seriously, they were stunning!!!!   I totally want to make a Dear Jane quilt after seeing so many of them in the show!!!  Oh, and I happened to stumble on this little ol one of mine too in the MQG section ;)  So fun!!

All in all, it was an amazing weekend!!!!  I can't believe how fast it went by and I am already looking forward to Spring Market ;)

Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

To Market!!!

So I finally got my bag packed this morning, and I think it is quite possibly the largest suitcase in the house ;)  I had a few little extra thins (2 quilts) to take along with my clothing so I needed a little more space ;)  But one of them won't be coming back so that will leave lots of room for fabric from Sample Spree, win-win :)

I will try to share some pics while I am at Market, but I am not as technologically advanced as most, so they will most likely come in the evening when I get back to the hotel ;)  Houston, here I come!!!!

Big Swirl, Little Swirl

So this morning I have been free motion quilting away.  (yes, I should be packing, but I will procrastinate that until tomorrow morning ;)  Anyhow, this morning I have been doing swirls ;)  When ever I start quilting swirls, I tend do automatically quilt a small (but not micro) swirl.  I think this is because it is how I learned.  When I was quilting swirls on my domestic machine I would do what was comfortable without having to move out of the range of my two hands, which automatically equalled a small swirl.

So after quilting some small swirls this morning, I decided it was time to play with the scale a bit.  These are a set of matching quilts and the larger of the 2 is going to get snuggled a lot, so I wanted it to stay soft and cozy to snuggle in . . . . so I needed to quilt Big Swirls.  I can't tell you how many times I had to remind myself Big, Big, you are quilting Big ;)  I just keep wanting to go back to that small swirl ;)

Side by side gives you a better idea of the difference of scale ;)  Fun huh!!!  It was a good reminder this morning to play with scale more often in my quilting.  It can really add such a fun dimension to your quilting and it is so fun to quilt ;)   I really need to incorporate it more often ;)  

And now, I am off to bind these 2 quilts and I promise to share more of them next week when I get back from market.   That is if I ever get packed to go ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day . . . let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!   The winner of the  a gorgeous Vintage Farm House Fat Quarter Bundle from Bear Creek Quilting Company  is . . .   Lucky number 4 . . . Congrats Debbie Rogowski!!!!  I have emailed you :)

    

  

      

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop.  Currently, Fat Quarter Shop has all of the Halloween Fabric marked down 40% and with their Fat Quarter Shop's new shipping rates you can get it to you for cheap :) 

And the Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for a gorgeous and just released Hearts Content Fat Quarter Bundle by Laundry Basket Quilts for Moda.   That's 32 beautiful Fat Quarters!!!!  I love me some fat quarter goodness ;)

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment that tells me what makes your Heart Content??

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Fat Quarter Shop love.   You can follow them on   Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, You Tube or at their Blog.  You can Sign up for their Newsletter which will ensure you catch all of their amazing sales, or you can visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Fat Quarter Shop Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, October 28th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Flowers

This morning I have been quilting :)  I always love putting a new quilt on the frames and going to town :)   And It is funny, because sometimes I can just stare at that quilt top and just have no idea how I want to quilt it.  And other times, I know how I want it quilted before I even finish piecing it ;)  This was one of those quilts where I knew.  As this is a sort of "postage stamp" quilt, I decided I wanted to quilt little "postage stamps"

This is a new design to me, so it is for sure getting better with practice.  My last row of postage borders will probably be just about spot on ;)

I am trying to do a different flower in each "stamp".  I am having to get a little creative as I run out of traditional flower designs ;)

Next week I will be doing a full reveal of this quilt along with a tutorial ;)  So fun!!

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!