Thursday, October 11, 2012

TNT - Have you tried Scrap Bags??

NOTE - If you are looking for the Sweet Celebrations Book Tour you will find it here :)
If you are looking for the Beginners Guide to Free Motion Quilting Book Tour you will find it here :)

So the other day I decided that I needed another twin quilt to match this one that is on my daughter bunk bed.  After debating back and forth for a while I came to the conclusion that I wanted to make the second quilt in the same prints (Sunkissed by Sweetwater)  as that first quilt.  But trying to find a popular line from almost 2 years ago.  Not easy!!!  I finally came across some scrap bags of Sunkissed and decided that since I was originally looking for a jelly roll they should work, fingers crossed, and ordered them.


This is my first time trying out a scrap bag and I have to say I was a little nervous if it would work out or not.  I was nervous there wasn't going to be a good mix of prints or they were going to be all different sizes.   But they arrived in the mail today and I am so excited!!  They are just what I needed!!!  Yippee Skippee!!!


And, they will have the added bonus of seriously padding my selvages drawer!!  I still have yet to use these in a project, but I sure love the way they look in others!  That will be something I need to try new in the future :)


So onto the pile of WIP these 2 scrap packs go!!  I am hoping to start this one in the near future, realistically around November-ish :)   And if the concept in my head works out you can count on a tutorial :)

EDIT - To answer the question - I found these on Ebay.  Just type in Moda Scrap Bag.  There are lots of stores that sell them and it is a great way to find older lines.  Like Bliss, Central Park, and Breakfast at Tiffany's :)

So . . . that's what I did new this week.  (Yup, I am counting shopping as TNT, tee hee hee),  What have you tried new.  Doesn't have to be anything huge, just link on up!!


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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Fit for an Irish King and Queen!!!


NOTE - If you are looking for the Sweet Celebrations Book Tour you will find it here :)
If you are looking for the Beginners Guide to Free Motion Quilting Book Tour you will find it here :)



The Queen Version!!

The fabrics are Hello Luscious from Basicgrey and Moda Bella Solid Off White


 The King Version!!

Fabrics are Reunion from Sweetwater and Moda Bella Solid Slate

I just love this Braided Irish Chain pattern!!  These 2 quilts are samples for the class I will be teaching come January.  I have rented time on a long arm tomorrow to get them all finished up.  (Hence, why I am finishing the tops today :)    The tutorial for this pattern is similar to these 2 quilts just a different size variation. The pattern is now available for instant download in my Pattern Shop.


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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

She caught the bug!

NOTE - If you are looking for the Sweet Celebrations Book Tour you will find it here :)
If you are looking for the Beginners Guide to Free Motion Quilting Book Tour you will find it here :)


This weekend my twin sister, Jennifer,  and my mom and dad visited.  It is so much fun to have family come and stay!!  Whenever my mom comes we always spend a few hours in my sewing room.  Good Times!!!  We  go through the new quilts I have made since she was here last, I tell her of  my new planned quilts and we ohh and ahh over the fabrics I will be cutting up soon.  And we even get in a bit of sewing :)  Jennifer joined my mother and I on this little sewing room escapade and after a while she asked, "Do you think I could make something like this??".  Absolutely!!!!!

We surfed through my archive and she decided on a quilt design.  It took her a little bit to narrow it down but in the end she decided to go with the Double Dresden idea only she will be adding the circles in the centers.   She plans to make a twin size bedspread for her cute little girl.  Once the design was chosen it was back to the sewing room for some fabric fun.  She played and played in my stash until she came up with this beautiful pile!!!


And then it was a crash course in cutting as she only had 2 hours until she had to head back to Salt Lake!!  She opted to have varying sizes of Dresden's so we cut some 8", 7", 6" and 5" blades.  I can't wait to see them put together!!!

And speaking of cutting, I am about to start cutting my own new project!!  Can I just say, I love Marmalade!!!  It has been on my shelf for about a month now, awaiting it's turn to be played with.  I am so excited to get going on it!!


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Sunday, October 7, 2012

Beginner's Guide to Free Motion Quilting - Book Review and Giveaway!!

I was so excited when Natalia asked me to be a part of the blog tour for her new book, Beginner's Guide to Free Motion Quilting!!  Natalia is an amazingly talented designer and quilter.  I love her quilts for their wonderful use of applique and stunning quilting!!  I mean, just look at the cover quilt, Fabulous!!!

Beginner's Guide to Free-Motion Quilting

Natalia's theme for this book tour is "It's A Family Affair".  And I couldn't agree with her more! 

My quilting journey started when I asked my mother to teach me to quilt right before I moved across the country with my husband for school.  I knew I was about to be in for some lonely days and nights and thought it would be fun to have a hobby.  (Who knew it would grow to this :)  My mother taught me all the in's and out's of quilting and I loved that time we had quilting together.

Now I find that I have the wonderful opportunity to teach my daughter to quilt.  Jessica is 7 and she is working on her first quilt.  It is a joy to now share this skill with her!!  (And if I am being honest, occasionally it is an exercise in patience:)  The rest of the gang at home are such a huge support of my quilting journey!  They inspire me daily and love me even when I am a little bit crazy!  I couldn't ask for more!  



My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com
Natalia's book is fabulous!!  I have gone through it cover to cover and have bookmarked so many pages!!  I love that the book begins with Machine Quilting Basics.  How helpful to have a complete rundown on batting, thread selection, basting, ect. all in one place! 
The book is then broken down into 5 sections on quilting :  Allover Quilting, Background Fillers, Borders and Sashings, Custom Quilted Blocks, and finally Quilting on Applique!!  This makes it so much easier to find the type of design you are looking for, especially when you want to do some custom quilting!!  I just finished up a quilt top this week and was so excited to flip through the pages of Natalia's book for lots of quilting inspiration and guidance!

I choose the Swirls from the Background Fillers section for the bulk of the quilt and am so happy to have finally figured out how to add the little swirl tips that allow you to travel easier!!   

I went with the Single Circles and Ovals from the Borders and Sashing sections for my borders.  My ovals aren't quite oval but they got  better as I went along :) 

I have so many of the flower design's marked to try out!!  They are so adorable but this was a boy quilt and flowers just didn't go so I will have to give those designs a whirl next time :)   I will be sure to show you when I do :) 

Oh, and Natalia added a bonus section at the end of her book that includes 6 stunning quilt patterns, including the cover quilt!!  That is so on my list of things to make!!!

Beginner's Guide to Free Motion Quilting is just that!!  A fabulous guide to walk you through, give you confidence, and then expand your free motion quilting horizons!  

GIVEAWAY!!!!

Thank you so much to Natalia for including me in this blog tour!!!  And, thank you for giving me the opportunity to giveaway a copy of your book!!!  

So would you like to win a copy of Natalia's book, Beginners Guide to Free Motion Quilting?  Just leave me a comment telling me where you are in the world of Free Motion Quilting . . . Have you tried it? Do you like it? Do you have some horror story of unpicking?  Do you just love it and can't wait to try new designs??  . . . You get the idea, anything along those lines :)  

Once comment per person please and a winner will be announced on October 20th :) 

For more chances to win this excellent book be sure to enter at all the stop's along the hop!!!

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Friday, October 5, 2012

A Super Surprising Sale on Schmidt!!!

**  Note - If you are looking for the Sweet Celebrations blog tour post you can find it here :)

I went to JoAnn's this morning to buy some needles (notions are all 50% off) and you could imagine how thrilled I was to find that there were several bolts of Denyse Schmidt's Daisy Mae and several bolts of  Sugar Creek and Winding Road in the clearance section.  As part of the Columbus Day sale, all of the clearance fabrics were an additional 50% off.  So these fabulous Denyse Schmidt prints were $3.00 a yard!!!   Yippee Skippee!!!   So if you have a minute today and a near by JoAnn's you might want to pop in and see if you can get your own Surprise Schmidt Sale :)


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