Merry Christmas and Yes I have Been Sewing!

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season!! I also wanted to share with you that I have been sewing. I have been working on a no brainer!! I had received the following quilt kit as a gift a few years ago. But the catch is that it was already pre-cut. So this one has been easy to work on. This is how far I am. It is all light and dark batiks and I am having so much fun. If you like this, it is called the Wheel of Mystery and can be purchased from John Flynn. He also has other pre-cut kits available too. It is really nice when you are looking for something you don't have to think about too much.

However, if you are more adventurous there is a great book which I have and offers a lot of options. It is truly a great quilting book. By the way, if you are a Jennifer Chiaverieni fan, her newest novel will be coming out in April, 2008. It happens to be called The Winding Ways Quilt. Don't miss this one. I have read all her novels, including her most recent holiday book The New Year's Quilt.

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season!! See you in the New Year.

Jackie

Merry Christmas and Yes I have Been Sewing!

A Very Traditional Basket Quilt

As I promised, I did go up to my studio and sewed last night for a little while. I don't have any pictures to show you what I am working on yet, but I will post some when I get a little further!!

However, I do have some pictures to show you of another customer's quilt. I had fun doing this quilt. This quilt belongs to a long time customer and I wanted to make it very traditional from the quilting part to go along with the traditional piecing. Check it out... this is a picture of the whole quilt. It is a small wall hanging and will fit nicely in her home.

The next picture is a close up of the quilting that I did on the quilt. I love how it works with the baskets.

I even have a closer picture to view. I hope that you all are enjoying these pictures and possibly having an inspirational moment or two when viewing them.

Well, I am off today to go out and see a movie with my son. See you soon!

Jackie

A Very Traditional Basket Quilt

A Cat and Fabric....

Today started off a little bit on the whimsical side. As my son and I were coming down the stairs he started to laugh at the sight that he saw. So of course I took out my camera and took a photo. This is one of our cats (Rolo). He is a 20 pounder and thinks that he can fit into anything...and I mean anything! Last week my daughter had her birthday and she was given a gift basket from her friends. She had emptied the basket of the gifts and left the basket by the Christmas tree. So, of course, Rolo thinks it is there just for him. We love this cat and all his antics, but he just can not fit into everything.

Anyway, my day continued on...the kids had a 2 hour delayed opening because of yesterday's 12 inches of snow. So after they went off to school, I went to work in my studio. I had another very productive day and completed another custom quilt on my new Gammill. It is a lot of fun!!

Later on I went to pick up my son from school and arrived home to a package...inside were 2 wonderful charm packs of Lakehouse Fabrics from Holly Holderman. These were from the contest she had on her blog!! Thanks again Holly...I can't wait to use them. I hope it will be soon and I will post a picture of the final product.

That's it for now, I am hoping to get a little sewing in tonight.

Jackie

A Cat and Fabric....

Another Happy Customer!!

Well, I am loving my Gammill Statler and I have a few more pictures to prove that I am coming along just fine. Here are some closeups of Kristy's quilt.

This one is of a feathered wreath that I set in on all the diamond blocks on her quilt. She loved it, as did I. Doing it the computerized way was much easier than sizing it the old way. This next image is a close up of the scallop on the border, the sashing and a triangle. Not bad!

This image is of the cornerstone, borders and sashing. I love it! It is a cinch to do....woohoo!!

The last image is of my happy customer Kristy! I believe this quilt is a gift for her mother in law for Christmas. I think that she is going to be one happy camper. I would love to receive something that is this thoughtful.

As promised, to Julie and Brian, I have added their website to my links on my left side bar. Check it out ...they are awesome!!

Well, right now we are buried in snow and the kids are outside shoveling and snow blowing. My husband has had a difficult night trying to get home from work, hopefully he will be home sometime soon...drive carefully honey!! So I think this might be a good time for me to go up to my studio and work on some quilting...

Bye for now!!

J

Another Happy Customer!!

Finally...My Statler is Here!!!!

First, I must apologize. I have not made a post in over a week, but I have been a very busy girl. My Gammill Statler Stitcher is here!!! So all of last week, I was training on the computer part. I have the longarm part down pat after doing it for 8 YEARS...Wow!! Here is a wonderful picture of my new machine, a wonderful sight to behold!

After playing a little bit, I did do a quilt on it and I have to say it came out pretty nice. It was a Chinese Coin quilt that I made up on my retreat just for the purpose of being the 1st to run on the Statler. Here it is.... and here is a picture of a close up as well.

I am really having fun with the machine. I was able to do a customer's quilt, a custom job after mine and it came out just lovely. I love the Statler's ability to resize a design without having to do it manually as I did before. Ahh, the freedom of it all!!

I can't wait to get more quilts done!! I have a few more customer's quilts to get out before Christmas and then during the holiday's I think that I will work on some of my own quilt tops that need to be quilted!! WooHoo! To think that those tops will become quilts!!

I also am officially a sales rep for Gammill, if I mentioned this before I am sorry, but I am excited. I have my first customer appointment on Monday. Yeah!! Wish me luck!!

By the way thanks, Julie, Brian, Holly, and Wayne...you are great!

Check back soon for some more pictures.

All my best, Jackie

PS. Don't forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Finally...My Statler is Here!!!!

Success and More......

Well, I had success in uploading the pictures to the previous post. But I also wanted to add one more. This one is how I used the smaller book case to hold my pantographs for my Gammill and some additional books.

I just used this one vertically instead of horizontal as I did under the window in my dormer. I hope that these pictures will help to inspire some of you who may need to organize better. I know I did and whew, boy do I feel better!!

Have a great weekend!

Jackie

Success and More......

Studio Pics and Stuff

Well, today is our wedding anniversary! I got up early wished my hubby a happy and came down to update my blog!! We did celebrate on Friday, by going to see Larry the Cable Guy at Mohegan Sun. After being married for 18 years you need to have some sense of humor. He was very funny! We were able to have a nice dinner and stayed overnight, as my parents came and stayed with the kids.

Now onto the quilting segment of this post! As I promised, here are some pictures of my newly organized studio. This first one shows how I utilized the Ikea cabinets to organize my fabric stash and my books. I can see everything now and really enjoy working in my studio. These cases fit perfectly in the one dormer. Here are 2 more pictures that show my stash a little better. I love the fact that I was able to group my stash in "categories".

I also have a photo here of a great way to hang your quilts. I just had my husband space out 4 decorative curtain rods on the wall and folded some quilts over them. I have to say that I am not the one who came up with this idea. Holly had this on her wall in her house and I loved it. So thanks Holly for a great idea.

One more thing that I thought you might all like. If you go to The Happy Zombie's blog she has a wonderful downloadable table runner pattern. The pattern is on her November 19th post and is called the Jingle Jolly table runner. It looks like a nice pattern to do on a snowy winter day.

Enjoy!

Jackie

Studio Pics and Stuff

Thought You Might Like to See!

Well, I just wanted to post some pictures of my studio! These are just little snippets. Can you tell I just love bright colors??? I have lots of fabric that I will just need to cut into, and I have lots of thread to sew it back together with as well as embellishment.

What should I do first? I have lots of patterns to choose from or should I design my own....decisions, decisions!! I love to get ideas from different websites, blogs, books, and magazines, etc. If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know.

I am also gearing up for the delivery of my new Statler Stitcher, it is coming next week and I just can't wait. I am counting the minutes until I can use it....woohoo!!

If anyone is in need of some quilting just let me know!! I am hoping that the quilts will keep rolling in and then out. In the meantime, keep checking back for more tidbits.

Oh, and by the way, I have a new and improved website being constructed at this time. You can view the old one at www.cvquiltworks.com
The new one will be the same address, but will not be up and running for a few weeks. I'll keep you informed.

Bye for now......Jackie

Thought You Might Like to See!

I Found the Article

I found the article by Holly Holderman

I had looked at Barnes and Noble and Borders, but low and behold it was at my local quilt shop, Gone Quilting!! So I picked it up! Here is a picture of me with the magazine and one opened to the article on blogs. Great article!!


Now I just have to figure out how to get it to Holly's blog!! Wish me luck!

Jackie

I Found the Article

What a Week!!

Hi Everyone,

Well I have had quite a week. I have spent (along with my husband) a lot of time setting up new cases in my quilting studio. Wow, what a difference! I was able to accommodate all of my fabric, projects, and books into a few cases. I owe a big thanks to Justine as she was my inspiration. The cases I purchased were from Ikea.

My daughter and I had never visited Ikea and we had a blast the cases were the perfect size and fit for my studio. Here is what they look like and they can be found on this link
They are just perfect. I also got 2 of the smaller units that are 2 cubbyholes by 4 cubbyholes.

Anyway, after working this hard for a few evenings we did go to my parents for Thanksgiving. It was great!! We had lots to eat and lots of friends and family to spend time with during the weekend.

I will post some pictures of my studio and our Thanksgiving feast over the next couple of days. I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday.

What a Week!!

The Best Lamp Ever!!

Yes... I am so sorry I forgot to let all my fellow retreaters know what kind of light I use in my quilting studio. So I am putting a picture of the table lamp (the one I have) and the floor lamp. Also, if you click on the word light, that will bring you to a website that sells them. They are really terrific lights and do help with seeing those tiny things us quilters all need to see.

Anyway, Happy Sewing and shopping!!
Jackie

The Best Lamp Ever!!

Yes...I am a Sales Rep!!

Hi all,

I just received some good news!! I am officially a Gammill Dealer Sales Rep!! So all you longarm wannabees, if you ever wanted to know what it was like to own a Gammill and quilt your own quilts, give me a buzz. My new Gammill Statler Stitcher will be delivered the 1st week of December and I can't wait to use it and show it off. This will be my 3rd Gammill in 7.5 years. Can you tell that I just love the product?

So get your quilts ready to be be quilted and let's go!!

Jackie

Yes...I am a Sales Rep!!

2008 Retreat Challenge Rules!!!

Hi all,

Well here they are the rules for the challenge due next year:

-You may use a minimum of 1/2 yard of the challenge fabric (you may use more if you like)

-You can add up to 6 additional fabrics, but no more

- It can not be any larger than 45 X 45 and no smaller than 25 X 25

- It must be quilted

That’s it so get ready, get set, go!!!

For those of you in cyber land who would like to try this, please do so. The fabric is at the left and can be found at Gone Quilting.

It is a Moda Pathways Batik Boysenberry Maple leaf. Have fun and I can't wait to see those finished projects.

Love,
Jackie

2008 Retreat Challenge Rules!!!

More Retreat Stuff!!

Back again for another post about my fabulous retreat. First, I want to talk about how much we ate, and ate, and ate....you get the picture! This fabulous ice cream sundae bar was all thanks to Erica. She looked after all of us and made sure that we all were fed, had the appropriate paraphernalia for quilting and made sure that we are booked into the year 2525 (ha, ha) for our retreat! She is truly the Mother Teresa of the Quilting Retreat.

Now onto what else we did while we were in between breakfast, lunch, dinner and the countless snacks and ice cream breaks. We actually did do some sewing. Some of us more than others. For example, Justine was very prolific in making neo-natal quilts for the preemies at the local hospital. But she was also very much into creating pillowcases for all her family, friends, and passerbys...only kidding. But the pillowcase fever took hold on almost everyone else as well. I believe that Justine made 10 or 11 ( don't quote me) over the weekend....here is a picture of her stack to prove it.

Now again if this was not enough, Julee got in the mix and had her own stack. Yes, it is smaller than Justine's, but none the less it is a stack. Erica even got in on the act, but I think she only made 2 or 3. But these were for her new grandson for the next 2 or 3 years. She is working on at least one for each birthday until he is at least 35. Here she is modeling one of the pillowcases. I do have to say it was very fun watching these gals make them and boy did they have fun!!

Now onto the remaining few, Eileen, Diane, Joan, Maria, and myself were a focused group. We came with projects to do and did not seem to be sidetracked by pillowcase mania. Although, we did get some Saturday night Dance fever. We were listening to a great station that had disco music and we couldn't help but catch the dancing bug. Here is the proof....

We also regularly did our neck and back exercises, because as we all know sitting down at sewing machine for countless hours is horrible for your body in an ergonomic sort of way.

When we weren't doing any dancing or exercising, we regularly hear "I'm done" in the far back corner. Of course, that was our Maria checking off the completion of another Christmas gift. She had a lot done and here is her stash of gifts... Wonderful!! Some lucky people are the recipients of these meticulously crafted items. I'm sorry the picture is sideways, I don't know how to turn it...oops!!

Joan, sat quietly most of the time, but completed a phenomenal quilt , of her own design. It was quite an undertaking, but truly a labor of love. Although, this was her biggest project she worked on some smaller ones and also did a fair amount of consultations with the rest of us when we needed a valued opinion. Thanks, Joan!! Here is her wonderful quilt!

Diane was also very productive during our retreat and we might refer to her as our artistic quilter. She worked on quilted journal pages that were truly works of art. I believe she was close to completing 4 of them as well as working on a queen size quilt for her bed from lots of scrap in her stash. Some the scraps were donated pieces from the retreat. Take a look at her journal pages.

Not to be forgotten or left for last was Eileen, although she did arrive last for the retreat, but we have forgiven her. Even though her arrival was late she became very productive at cutting and sewing a new quilt of which I coveted all of the fabric, especially the Michael Miller Gabriella print. Love, Love, Love it!! Found 4 yards on E-bay, woo hoo!! Anyway, here is a glimpse into the making of Eileen's quilt....

After all was said and done, the Stitchin' Sisters had another great year and we are looking forward to another next year, with a twist!! We are doing a challenge...keep your eye on the blog this week if you would like to see what the challenge is and maybe you could try it at home.
Until tomorrow, enjoy!! Jackie

More Retreat Stuff!!

Stitchin' Sisters Retreat!!

Hi Everyone,

Well what a weekend we had!! Lots of fun, work, food, food, food, and more food, whew!! We also were able to shop some. Our retreat center had a Fair Earth Bazaar and we did a little xmas shopping.

What a great place for our retreat, this is our 3 year there and we love to walk on the beach. We were able to do that and enjoy the sounds. Love, love, love, it!!

Now onto the quilting...first I wanted to share the 4, yes count them 4 projects that I was able to complete. The first one was a Chinese Coins top that I had started at International Quilt Market in a class with Linda Jenkins and Becky Goldsmith from Piece O' Cake Designs.

This can be found in their new book Piecing the Piece O' Cake Way, you can find this on their website by clicking on the link above. This was a fun and quick beginner quilt.

The next two quilts were also on my to do list. These are quilts for Emily and Jillian. They are from the magazine Quilts and More Fall 2007 issue. It is the cover quilt done in 2 different colors. They are so fun and modern. I think they will love them!!


I ironed, cut, pieced, and appliquéd both the quilts over this weekend. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. Essentially these were a start to finish project. I was very pleased that these 2 quilts were completed over this weekend, now just to quilt them.



Now, for the last quilt I completed... this quilt is called Diamond Twist and is from the Twisted Classics book. I just absolutely love this quilt. My Stitchin' Sister friend Justine helped me in picking my fabric for this one. I fell in love with the batik in the border and had to have lots of this fabric. We then took over an hour to choose the coordinating fabrics. The result is terrific!! I love the pink hues and I just love doing this block.



Last but not least, I did complete the two blocks for the block of the month that I am teaching at Gone Quilting.
They are from Marti Michell's Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown block of the month program. Love the colors.


It was definitely a productive weekend for me as well as my friends. Tomorrow, I will post what my friends were able to complete. Hint: Lot's and lot's of them were done over the weekend. Don't forget you can click on the pictures to enlarge the view.


See you tomorrow,

Jackie

Stitchin' Sisters Retreat!!

I'm Back From My Retreat

Well, I am back from my retreat!! What fun we all had. I was able to complete 4 of my quilting projects. Loads of fun, food, and peace by the shore!! Keep checking back for pictures and more details of our quilting escapades!

Bye for now!!,

Jackie

I'm Back From My Retreat

Packed and Ready to Go!!!!!

Today is the day, I am going on my yearly quilt retreat with my friends!!! Yahoooooo!!! As soon as my hubby gets home I am going. I have the GPS set and bags packed. I can't wait to get some quality quilting time in and projects complete.

As you can see my projects are in my box, I know that I have plenty to do and get done. What do you think, am I too optimistic in thinking that I will get all the projects I am bringing done during the course of the weekend? Remember it is non-stop sewing time. Well, we do break to eat or to walk on the beach. But not for long!! All I have to do now is go run some errands to get some goodies for my pals. I know they are going to bring some UNHEATHY snacks, so I thought I would get some fruit.

Everything else is set kids, hubby, cats, laundry, house....just waiting to go.

Talk to you Monday...hopefully with some pictures,

Jackie

PS. I posted another picture of one of my quilts on the left sidebar. Take a peek.

Packed and Ready to Go!!!!!