Minions and Pixies

So a few weeks ago I had the wonderful opportunity of being introduced to Quilting Treasures fabric company.    I had heard of Quilting Treasures before but had never really known what kind of fabrics they produced, so I thought why not check it out ;)  I was pleasantly surprised to find that they mainly focus on wonderfully fun novelty fabrics and coordinating prints to go with them.

While I was surfing around looking at their current fabrics, my son starting jumping up and down behind me and exclaiming, " Minions, they have Minions . . . Will you please make me something in Minions!!!!"  And how can you say no to that :)   So, I am starting a new little Something a la Minions and I am super excited for it, especially because my son is so excited.  And of course, it will come in the form of a fun little project tutorial next month!!!

And in working with the wonderful folks at Quilting Treasures on the Minion project, they mentioned their sister company Ink & Arrow Fabrics that it is more contemporary and has fun hidden motifs in all their fabrics ;)   I fell in love with these little Pixies basic that are the blenders for most of their lines.  And if you have been around here for a bit, you know I make quilts for my Alma Mater ;)  So ya, I am starting another fun  Red, White, and Black quilt and you know it will also come in the form of another quilt tutorial heading your way next month!!  So fun!!!

And a little side note before I sign off today . . . I never cease to be amazed at how fantastic the process of creating in this industry is.  Here I am sharing some beautiful fabrics all fresh off the bolts . . . and over the next little bit they are going to be cut up, pressed, sewn, quilted and overall, put back together into something totally new.  Isn't it just so incredible and wonderful to be able to spend a little of each day seeing projects take shape and in the end making something new!!  I just love it and am so grateful to be able to share the journey here ;) 

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 Fat Eighth Bundle of  Just a Speck from Fat Quarter Shop is . . .   Number #118 . . . Congrats JanetD!!   I have emailed you :) 

    

  

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Happy Quilting!!!  Yup, little ole me today ;)    One lucky winner will be receiving their choice of 3 Happy Quilting PDF Patterns.   And yes, you can include my Moroccan Lullaby I shared Friday, because I really hope to have the pattern done by this Friday ;)  

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 telling me you favorite lullaby, either one that you like to sing or used to sing, or a favorite lullaby that was sung to you.  (my children like me to sing Stay Awake from Mary Poppins :)  

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Happy Quilting love. You can follow Happy Quilting on Bloglovin, Email Updates, or RSS to get daily updates.  Or you can like Happy Quilting on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Flickr.   Any one way will do . . . Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Happy Quilting Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, April 5th, when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Salt Lake City Bound!!!

Guess what came in the mail this weekend!!!  Yippee, my International Quilt Market Badge!!  I am so excited that quilt market is in Salt Lake this year. I can actually drive to Quilt Market and you know what that means . . . no suitcase restrictions on how much I can grab at Sample Spree, tee hee hee ;)   I just love Quilt Market, there is just nothing like being surrounded by people who share your love for such an amazing industry.  So excited!!!  Only 51 days to go!!!

 But before Market, I get to take another trip to Salt Lake City!!!  I was thrilled to be invited by the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild to come and share my Trunk Show!!!!   I will be in Salt Lake on April 16th at 10 am, so if you are in the area, or passing through, I would love it if you could come!!!!

And I wanted to say Thank You for all of the wonderful love you showed my new Moroccan Lullaby quilt I shared on Friday.   The weekend was all about Easter Family Time so I haven't had a chance to write back to all of your comments, but know that I have seen them and so appreciate them ;)  

Have a Happy Quilting Monday ;) 

Moroccan Lullaby - A New Finish

This morning I a so very excited to share with you my newest finish and it's a big one!!!!  I call it Moroccan Lullaby and I so love it!!!!  This will be one of my newest patterns and I am hoping to get to teach it soon as well.   I was planning on having the pattern ready for today, but life happened, so watch for it coming soon ;)

I had so much fun making these giant blocks!!!    They really are fun to put together and are not as difficult as they look.   And I just love the wonderful geometric shapes with the intertwining design and all of the negative space that gives the quilt a beautiful modern flair.

My prints are Grunge Basics by BasicGrey for Moda.   I know I have said it before, but I love Grunge fabrics!!!  It is just so great to get the crisp look of a solid, but to still have the wonderful added texture of the Grunge print.   Love it!!!

So, a little confession.  This quilt top has been done for about 8 months and has been waiting for me to get up the courage to quilt it.  Ya, I will admit, I was pretty intimidated by all of that beautiful white space and the fact that I knew I wanted to do some serious ruler work on it, and I had yet to feel like I could use the ruler proficiently on the long arm.  I am so glad I finally just went for it.

I quilted some of my favorite designs all mixed together in pretty small scale (for me) in the "inside" of the blocks.  There are swirls, paisleys, curls, and pebbles.  I just love all of the beautiful flowing lines to go with all of the sharp angles of the piecing.  So fun!!!  

And on the "outside" of the blocks, I quilted 1/4" lines and I am so happy to say, I conquered my ruler anxiety with this quilt!!!   If you remember, the last time I was using a ruler I had a bad needle strike which broke my ruler.  But a new ruler that I loved (Judi's Favorite) and some helpful forum and video research and I was on my way.   And the great thing about a king size quilt, by the time you get to the end, (think 18 hours later)  you feel pretty confident!!

I didn't do any quilting on the print fabrics, just stitched around the ditch.  I love the way it makes them pop up and really highlights the overall design of the quilt. And ya, the back looks pretty cool as well ;)

And of course, with all of that fun little quilting, there is lots and lots of yummy quilting texture.  I am super happy with the outcome and feel like I did good by all that white space.  Yippee!!

And totally random final thought, yes, I did happen to take pictures in a place other than my backyard.  (It's hard to get out to a "photo shoot" when you are dragging little ones in tow and I am not much of a photographer to begin with :)  This quilt is 100 x 100 and was to large to hang off  my deck.  So I went to the Adam's Memorial Theater and took these fun shots.  This wonderful house of the Utah Shakespearn Festival will be torn down soon as a new theater is being built, and so I thought this would be kind of special :)

And that is Moroccan Lullaby, and I so hope you love it every bit as much as I do.     As I said earlier, I am hoping to get the Pattern finished soon, and like all my patterns, it will include several size options :)  And hopefully soon like as in soon soon, and not 8 more months soon, tee hee hee ;)

Thank you so much for stopping by today and every day.  I am just so very grateful to be able to share my passion for quilting with each of you and so happy that you are joining me in this wonderful journey.

Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking this finish to Amanda's and Sarah's ;)

When Do You Make Your Binding Strip??

So, I realized something a little funny yesterday.  As many of you know, I am not much of a hand stitcher, so all of my bindings are either machine done, or my wonderful MIL, Barbara tacks my bindings down when it needs to be done by hand.   So no, I haven't found the joy in sitting and hand stitching a binding down yet . . . However, I sure do love making the Binding Strip!!!

I realized this yesterday when I was cutting out my Ruby Jubilee Braided Irish Chain quilt.  As soon as I was finished cutting, I immediately grabbed my strips for the binding and stitched them into a binding strip.  I just love making the strip and thinking about how it will finish off my quilt!!! I pressed the strip last night and this morning checked it off of my little Quilt List Spreadsheet and realized that "Binding Made" was more at the end of the quilt making process in the list.    This made me wonder if I am the only one that makes their bindings at the beginning instead of the end of the quilt making process???

I love having my binding all ready to go as soon as I take the quilt off the long arm.  And they look so pretty all stacked up ;)   They also have the added benefit of reminding me of a few WIP's that have been forgotten in a closet somewhere.  7 of those bindings are fairly recent and their quilts are being worked on in one stage or another, but 2 have been been sitting there far to long waiting for the quilt top to be quilted.   It's a good little reminder to squeeze them in at some point ;)

And just in case you are wondering, that scrappy binding on the bottom comes from here ;)   I keep all of my little leftover binding pieces and then when I finish a scrappy quilt I just pull from the basket to make a super scrappy binding.  So fun!!!

So back to my little process . . . I really am curious . . . When do you make your binding strip???  Are you like me and make it at the beginning, do you save it to the end, or do you squeeze it in somewhere in the middle.   Can't wait to hear when you make your binding strip ;)