Coming right long

I have goal this year to make at least one quilt a month. I know some months are going to be crazier than others. but we will see how it goes.

Here is my quilt for January. It is a simple Jelly Roll quilt.

I make a blocks before December but Christmas happened and everything got shoved to the side. Here it is right before it got basted. I am thinking some straight lines and some pebbles or swirly lines on the border. What do you think?

My first Dresden Plate

 I love it!

I am following Craftsy's 2012 Block of the Month. This is July.  I am excited about all the fun stuff I am learning in this and in Quilt Guild. This is definitely a year when I learn a ton!

My design wall.

 For Christmas my hubby got me a portable design wall.

I have never heard of these and it is amazing that he got me something that was a complete surprise.  Usually I figure it out sometime before Christmas. But since I had no idea these existed it gave him an advantage this year.
It is basically on side of a tent made of flannel. My friend called it the giant flannel board. I can put my fabric pieces up there and rearrange them how I like. Usually I do that kind of stuff on the  floor and I have to battle the kids not to step on it of get their toys all over it.  Now the kids can play and color and watch Tangled and I can quilt all at the same time. Yea!

I never thought I would have a design wall. I mean a whole wall just for my quilts? That is crazy talk! I have heard that Anita Grossman uses the hallway outside of her New York apartment for a design wall and where she would baste her quilts together.  I don't think I am that brave.

See that quilt on there? It is almost done! More of that coming later!

A Finished Christmas Quilt

 Sorry about all the radio silence. Things have been quite crazy around here and I couldn't ruin the surprise! There was 3 boutiques to take care of, a 9 day trip to Tennessee, and of course Christmas!

One of the biggest thing was the annual Christmas Quilt. This is year 2 of making a quilt for one of the sets of parents. My husband's parents and my parents are all divorced and remarried. So that is 4 sets of parents. I don't think I could do it all in one year so I am taking them one at a time.

This year it was Grandma K's turn. I started it in about August with the goal to have it done before December. I had my 5 year old ask them what their favorite color was. I came out a lot more innocent than the question coming from me.

Each star is different fabrics and hues of blue. I quilted all the feathers on a long arm quilting machine and all of the cross hatch lines on my domestic Brother machine.

Merry Christmas Grandma K and Grandpa Bill!

Rag Quilt Continued!

Remember this?

I have finally listed it in my Etsy shop. Check it out here!

Fabric Hoarders Beware!

A recent study has indicated that fabric gives off certain pheromones, that actually hypnotize women and cause them to purchase ungodly amounts.

When stored in large quantities in enclosed spaces, the pheromones (in the fabric) cause memory loss and induce the nesting syndrome (similar to the ones squirrels have before the onset of winter, i.e. storing food) therefore perpetuating their species, and not having a population loss due to their kind being cut up into pieces and mixed with others.  Sound tests have also revealed that these fabrics emit a very high-pitched sound heard only by a select few of women known as customers.

When played backwards on an L.P., the sounds are heard as chants: “Buy Me”, “Cut Me”, “Sew Me”!  In order to overcome the so-called feeding frenzy effect that these fabrics cause, one must wear a face mask when entering a storage facility and use ear plugs to avoid being pulled into their grip.  (One must laugh, however, at the sight of customers in a fabric store, with WW2 army gas masks and headphones!)

Studies have also indicated that aliens have inhabited the earth, helping to spread the effect that these fabrics have on the human population.  They are called “Fabrics Store Clerks”.  It’s also been my experience that these same pheromones cause a pathological need to secret the fabric purchases away when taken home (or at least blend them into the existing stash) and when asked by a significant other if the fabric is new, the reply is “I’ve had it for a while”.

(Originally published in August 1997 in the Western North Caroline Quilters Guild Newsletter)
(I copied this from the My Sister Quilts Blog.)

American Flag Rag Quilt

So here is the not so short version of the story.

On September 11th I decided I should be somewhat patriotic so I got on Facebook and posted a picture of this flag quilt.

I got lots of comments asking if I had made it and one comment saying that they really wanted it! So I started the process of making my own pattern and in my study and research I found that it was already a pattern. So I purchased it to prevent any future copyright issues. While I was waiting for it to come through snail mail I continued working on what I had come up with.  I finished the stripes and couldn't figure out how to do the stars. I contacted the company to see if they could give me a hint while I waited for my package in the mail. They have super awesome customer service and emailed me back the same day with a PDF version of the whole pattern! Wow!  The bad news was that the stars on their quilt were printed on their fabric. They just did a little bit of applique edging to help it stand out. Well I was too far for that.

Lucky for me though I just joined a quilt guild and at the meeting that night I asked for their advice and they gave me a suggestion that I just loved!

I cut out two little squares of white fabric and pinned them to the blue over a grid I drew in chalk. Then I sewed them on using a tiny circle stitch. So when you turn the quilt over you see little white circles.

This is how it looks after washing!

I love it and I hope my customer loves it too!