Canton Village Quilt Works

Batik Fat Quarter Giveaway

2012-01-26T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

As many of you noticed, I have been doing a month's worth of weekly fabric giveaways! This will wrap it up for this month. Each week it has been a different type of fabric that I carry in my shop.

I hope you all have enjoyed it! This won't be the last ever though. You will just have to keep on visiting me to see if I do more in the future.

This week's feature fabric is Batiks!!

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I love batiks for many reasons, color being one of them.

So I have chosen 7 fat quarters in blues, greens and purple/magentas for you. But to enter the giveaway you will need to visit my friend Amy at Amy's Creative Side. If you have never been to her blog you are in for a treat. If you absolutely can't wait to have these batiks you can find them in my shop by clicking here. You will find them amongst TONS of other batiks.

Good luck in the giveaway!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Dont' forget to pick up Month 5 of the Blogger's BOM, just click here.

Until Next Time...

Blogger's BOM Month 5

2012-01-25T05:45:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Welcome back to Month 5!!

I am so excited for this month! We have had the following blocks so far...

Sherri's Month 1.

Vicki's Month 2.

Stephanie's Month 3.

Pat's Month 4.

All have been fabulous! I hope you are enjoying playing along because this month we have a super block from my very talented friend...

John Adams, A.K.A. Quilt Dad. Wait until you see his block... oh, that's right you don't have to wait any longer, just click here to see the block and get the tutorial right now!!

Don't forget to post your block to the Flickr group. If you haven't seen some of the blocks there, you just have to check them out!!

Don't forget to come back here next month for Block 5, but I would love to hear from you before then too!

Enjoy!

Until Next Time...

The LeMoyne Star Made Easy

2012-01-22T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

A little while ago, my friend Deb Tucker asked me if I wanted to "test drive" her newest ruler for her. Of course, I jumped at the chance! Unfortunately, I haven't posted this until now. I tested it for her last year in April and she introduced her LeMoyne Star Ruler at Quilt Market in May 2011! I do carry them in the shop, just click here.

Now to show you the magic of of this somewhat difficult block and how nicely it comes together.

This first photo shows how little waste there actually is when you are done squaring up the block.

You can see how nicely the points all come together.

Here is the completed block all trimmed. All the points come together without having to set any seams in at all. This block is all strip pieced!

You can see just a wee bit of trimming and you have that perfect quarter inch from the edge of the block. No worries about losing the point of the star.

The back even looks pretty. The nice thing about Deb's patterns is that her instructions are some of the best in the business. The graphics and explanations are impeccable. No stone left unturned. She tells you how to make this block in many different sizes and how to press the seams all along the way so that these points always match.

I don't think that I would make this block any other way. So far, I have made two different sizes and am using my scraps to make a yellow and red quilt. All Kaffe Fassett too!

This is the fabulous ruler, comes complete with instructions! If you ever wanted to try this block, this is definitely the way to go, just click here.

Don't forget tomorrow is the last day to enter my Kaffe Fassett Spot Giveaway! Just click here for all the details.

Until Next Time...

Totally Forgot to Post These Snowballs....

2012-01-20T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

December's Two's Company Bee Blocks were for Helen. I did finish them in December, as well as sent them to her and posted on the Two's Company Blog. But totally forgot to post it here for all of you to see.

Helen requested scrappy whites and reds in the snowball block. To my surprise, I actually had quite a few white on white prints in my stash. I think I had purchased them years ago, but they were totally perfect for these blocks.

How many of you purchase fabric that you totally forget about?? It seems to be a like a little present to yourself when they are rediscovered.

So these four little blocks were sent off to Helen and she really liked them and boy and I glad! Now her snowball fight can begin!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for 8 great Fat Quarters!! Just click here.

Until Next Time...

Spot The Giveaway!

2012-01-18T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Are you ready for another giveaway?? I wanted to share with you some spots, to be more specific Spots from Kaffe Fassett's Collection.

This giveaway consists of 8 fat quarters...

Colors include: Magenta, Sapphire, Green, Yellow, Red, Gold, Ice, and Midnight.

They all can be found in my shop by clicking here should you need them immediately... ;)

If not, and you want to enter the giveaway, you will need to visit my friend Allison at Cluck, Cluck, Sew! She is hosting my giveaway. If you have not visited her blog you will love it! She is also one of the designers for the Blogger's BOM.

So, please visit and enter the giveaway and tell her I said hello!

Click here to enter the giveaway!!

Until Next Time...

Paper Piecing Class - Part Deux, The KM Unit

2012-01-16T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Saturday marked the 2nd day of my teaching the Judy Niemeyer's Total Eclipse Class. When I came in and saw what all the ladies had accomplished over the week, I was ecstatic!! Mostly everyone completed their H units. Those units are the quarter circles. Here they are in all their glory...

Joan's jewel tone beauties.

Barbara L.'s warm batiks. She may have more on her blog too!

Maria's warm batiks too, but she varied the spikes. Gorgeous!

Kathy's autumn like colors (on left) and Sharon's bright batiks (on right).

Rita's Caribbean like colors. I just love the chartreuse batik.

Elisa was working with Kaffe Fassett fabrics and Australian Aboriginal fabrics. I love the combos!! She also has done a blog post with TONS of photos.

Those units were last week's assignment. This class we concentrated on the KM units and then some curved piecing.

Rita's lovely chartreuse and deep blue combo. Love the swirls.

Sally went to town and completed several KM units and we had fun pairing them with the quadrants. You can see more on Sally's blog.

This is Joan's KM unit where I demonstrated how to do a "cut out". You can see we added a second quadrant to the KM unit. There are several of these in the layout of the quilt, but not all.

I believe this one is Maria's. Gorgeous!

Also, Maria's... another great combo!

And Sally holding her block completely pieced together!!

You can also view more photos from the class by clicking here.

Another great day, I am having so much fun! A terrific group of ladies and all quite talented. I am so looking forward to the next class.

If you are interested in the pattern...

it is Total Eclipse and is available in my shop here along with many other Judy Niemeyer patterns. Just click here.

Until Next Time...

Designing A Quilt On A Mac - Lesson 3

2012-01-15T08:31:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all having a great weekend! I wanted to do a quick post with the next lesson in the series on Designing A Quilt On A Mac! I hope you have been enjoying them and that they have been helpful to you.

Without further adieu, here is Lesson 3!

Lesson 4 is done and I just have to do a little editing and then that will be posted soon. You can always find them on my You Tube Channel by clicking here and they will always be posted on my sidebar under tutorials!

Tomorrow, the continuation of my Total Eclipse Class! Wait until you see what all my students have done!! All I can say is... FANTASTIC! See you tomorrow!

Until Next Time...

Lilac, Lavender... Purple!

2012-01-14T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

No matter which term you use to describe the color, it is definitely a shade of purple. That is what I am working with now. I am using a Bali Pop from my shop. Hey, that rhymes!

I am creating little coin sections.

They are going from light to dark.

Cute aren't they? It is for a little project that will be revealed in a few months.

But I normally don't work with just one color family, but I loved these and it fit the project quite nicely. Plus with batiks there is always that variation in color that makes them so interesting. It gives the quilt more of a scrappy look. don't you think?

Anyway, more on this project at a later date. Don't forget that the Blogger's BOM is coming up this month and my friend John from Quilt Dad is the designer. Just wait until you see this block!

Until Next Time...

Good Reads

2012-01-12T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Like many of you, I love to read! I don't use an e-reader though. I have toyed with getting one, most likely (because I am a MacoPhile), but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it as I love the feel of being able to turn a page in a book!

All these books are on my to read list this year.

Currently I am reading Steve Jobs' biography, the big book near the bottom. I am about halfway through it and am finding it really fascinating. However, reading does take me longer than probably your average person as I read when I go to bed and it takes me all of 20 minutes for me to start dozing off. Then that is it for the night. If I am lucky I finish about a chapter.

Does this happen to any of you? I just wish I had more time to read.

You will notice just under Steve Jobs' book is a magazine.

It is Quilt Almanac, just into the shop. It is a yearly publication put out by the editors of Quilt Magazine. Lots of great quilty projects inside for inspiration. But I wanted to draw your attention to one in particular....

My good friend Victoria of Bumble Beans has been published!! Her gorgeous quilt Festive Cheers is highlighted.

Isn't it fantastic? If you haven't seen the magazine and you want a copy you can find it here in my shop.

Another book that is just fabulous is ...

Lone Star III. It is the third installment in this series of books. I mean just look at the cover... WOW! I was able to see some of these quilts up close and personal in Houston this fall. They were fabulous. If you would like a great historical chronology of quilts, this is a great one! You can find it on Amazon by clicking here.

What is on your reading list?

By the way...

Just thought you might like to see that the boys are getting along!! Pavi doesn't seem to mind that Watson lays on him and they enjoy playing together.

Until Next Time...

Kaffe Fassett Fat Quarter Giveaway!!

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

As you know, I am a BIG Kaffe Fassett fanatic! That is why I not only quilt with his fabrics, but sell a boat load in my shop!

One of his most popular collections is Paperweight.

These are fabulous and can be used right along many other fabrics.

I would like to share this selection of 10 fat quarters with you!!

My friend Rita at Red Pepper Quilts is hosting this giveaway. If you don't know Rita, head over there now and check out her blog and then make sure you enter the giveaway, it is only open for 2 days! Tell her I said hello!

Click Here To Enter The Giveaway!

Until Next Time...

Paper Piecing Class

2012-01-08T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday marked the first session of a Judy Niemeyer Paper Piecing Class that I am teaching here in CT. The pattern we are making is Total Eclipse and can be found here. We had a good time and I wanted to share with you!

Everyone came prepared with some of the pre-class prep work...

Barbara S. came prepared with a color layout of how she envisions her final quilt to look. We will compare when the "real" quilt is done.

Rita has some pretty batiks... love the chartreuse background!

Elisa (a blogging friend) is preparing her pieces. Most likely you can read more about the class on her blog by clicking here.

Sharon is lining up her pieces in the color order that she envisions. Nice and bright!

Kathy is doing a wonderful fall like version. Love the spike colors!

Maria completed 4 of Unit H. You can see that she created a "star" in the center.

Love Joan's cool blues.

Elisa's is coming along... she is using a combo of Kaffe Fassett and Australian Aboriginals.

Sharon's is progressing... lots of her batiks can be found here.

Kathy's fall version is turning out well!

Barbara (another blogging friend) is also using bright batiks!

Sally (who is also another blogging friend) was there, but somehow I didn't get any photos of her block in progress. So I swiped this from her blog post (hope that is okay, Sally). They were completed when she returned home. She has some wonderful bright batiks!

All in all a very productive day, a bit of homework for everyone. I can't wait to see what they come back with next week. Soon they will look like this...

Find the pattern in my shop by clicking here.

In the meantime, don't forget to enter my Fat Quarter Giveaway going on now by clicking here!

Until Next Time...

Winging It

2012-01-06T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

For a long time now, I have been wanting to make an airplane quilt. There are couple of reasons why, first and foremost my hubby flies as his hobby, I think they are pretty cool quilts, and they were popular in the WWII era. There is definitely history in these quilts.

My hubby has always been very supportive of my hobby and actually was the one who got me started, and guess what, I did the same for him... yes, I got him started flying years ago. It has it's advantages too... we can go places a lot faster than driving.

Today I made my test block. I always like making one block first to see how it is constructed and the if I like to color combos. As you can see this will be a red, white, and blue quilt. I used batiks and Kaffe Fassett fabrics from my shop.

I began but cutting all the components. There were quite a few pieces, but I really do love the finished block. It is 12.5 inches.

I used this book, by Eleanor Burns. Eleanor Burns in my mind is a legend in the quilting world. My first quilt in 1992 was from one of her books. Clear and concise instructions are always present.

The book is fabulous and has many different blocks that were present in the 1940s.

This is the block.

Here it is paired with the Propeller block.

Here is an actual quilt from the 1940s made from this block. I like this version for its historical significance.

The above book is one that I own and also am lucky enough to know the author as she lives here in Connecticut. She does go around the country and lectures and does trunk shows. You can find her book on Amazon by clicking here and you can go directly to her website by clicking here.

Do you love historical quilts? Imagine that the quilts that we are creating today will be a part of history... that just really blows my mind. Make sure you have those labels on your quilts for good documentation!!

Oh yes, I had to throw in this photo of little Watson making himself right at home on my sewing chair. He is definitely becoming a fabric/quilt lover! I am teaching him well.

If you haven't entered my Fat Quarter Giveaway, click here now to see the details.

Until Next Time...

Ringing In The New Year With A Fabric Giveaway

2012-01-04T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! I thought that I would like to get the new year off to a great start. So I have paired up with The Cottage Mama, Lindsay of The Cottage Home to do this giveaway!

I am giving away 8 fat quarters of Art Gallery fabric! These are some of the softest most fabulous fabrics in the industry. Four fat quarters of Oval Elements...

and four fat quarters of Lace Elements. You can find these in my shop (by clicking here) along with many other of Art Gallery's collections. But in the meantime, if you haven't ever visited Lindsay at The Cottage Home... you must!

Visit for several reasons, she such a talented woman, very crafty, and has a super fabulous blog with lots of tutorials too! Also, you MUST visit her to enter the drawing for the fabric giveaway.

Tell Lindsay, I said hello...

Now, Click Here to Enter the Giveaway!

Until Next Time...

It's Elementary My Dear...

2012-01-02T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Meet our newest addition to our family, Watson! Yes, as in Dr. Watson from Sherlock Holmes. We are fans of both the kitty, the characters, and BBC show.

If you are regular readers of my blog you know that 2 of our kitties passed in 2011 and we had our dearest Pavi as the only kitty left.

We really thought that Pavi would be our last kitty, but the hubs thought that Pavi would really like a little brother.

All of us loved the idea! We called the local shelter and they actually had 3 kittens at our own vet. So we went a few days after Christmas and spent an hour with all three. Such a difficult decision, because we knew we could only take one. We would have loved all of them.

We decided on Watson, who is playful, sweet, has a very timid meow, and loves to sit in your lap. He is 9 weeks old so he has a lot of growing to do to catch up to his big brother Pavi. Right now they are getting used to each other.

By the way, his name was Spice when we picked him up and knew it had to be changed.

Hmmm... it looks like Watson might just like fabric too!

Until Next Time...

Pat Bravo + Art Gallery Fabrics = One Great Podcast

2011-12-31T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

If you don't know Art Gallery Fabrics, now is the time to find out a little bit more.

Aside from my shop carrying a wide array of Art Gallery Fabrics, and also having pieced and quilted this design...

for the Dec/Jan 2012 issue of Quilt Magazine, as designed by Pat Bravo, you will learn so much more.

The above quilt contains all fabrics from Pat's Bohemian Soul line of fabrics. The kit and the fabrics can be found here on my site. The fabrics are glorious and feel like silk! I mean it!!

Pat has a keen eye for design and it really shows in all of her fabrics. She has some new lines coming out...

They will also be found in my shop, coming soon!

But, I had the opportunity to sit down with my friend Pat at Quilt Market and it was a fabulous time.

We laughed and even cried a bit. We both would like to invite you to listen into this fabulous interview and learn a little bit more about this dynamic lady and friend. And find out more about her fabulous company, might I add family run!

You can find the podcast by clicking here and listening in from your computer, or...

You can go to the iTunes store and search Jackie's Quilting Chronicles and download Episode 32. As always they are FREE! Enjoy!

While you are at it you may want to visit these links to learn a little more about Pat:

1. Facebook

2. Blog

3. Website

4. Newsletter

Please tell her I said hello! I would also love to hear your feedback on this podcast, so leave a comment!

In celebration of this podcast... ALL Art Gallery Fabrics are marked down to $7.50 per yard through January 1, 2012. Just click here to start shopping. Help us make room for the NEW collections.

Until Next Time...

Gifted Quilt Equals Happy Son!

2011-12-29T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

It was wonderful to spend Christmas with family and withdrawal from the computer a little bit. I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday, I certainly did! One of the highlights was giving the Jelly Roll Race Quilt that I blogged about here and here, to my son for Christmas.

I finished it just in time too! I quilted it with a very modern design that I thought was "man" friendly. I had also done this design on Stephanie's quilt she had made for her son. You can see his quilt here.

I added a beautiful batik for the border, which can be found in the shop here along with the Bali Pops that I used for the quilt. The Bali Pops can be found by clicking here.

I thought that the browns, blues, and creams made for a great manly color scheme. Although it does remind me of blueberry pie.

I forgot to measure the entire quilt but it is big! My son is about 6' 3".

The backing was also a beautiful dyed batik (found here) and I used a brown batik for the binding.

Here is my happy guy! He was being funny and asked me if I used a "high quality batting" to keep him extra warm. I replied that no skimping was involved in the making of this quilt.

I love him and was happy making it for him and to see the smile on his face!

If you didn't get the Blogger's BOM #4, just click here.

Until Next Time...

Blogger's BOM Month 4

2011-12-27T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Can you believe, it is Month 4 already? So here is the recap...

Sherri designed the block for Month 1.

Vicki designed the block for Month 2.

Stephanie designed the block for Month 3.

And this month's block will be brought to you by...

the infamous Pat Sloan. She has her tutorial all set! So just click here for the reveal and the instructions!

If you haven't joined in yet, you can at any time! It is free! Just click here for all the details. And then make sure you go to the Flickr group to check out all the awesome blocks that have been made.

Enjoy!

Until Next Time...

Visions of Christmas

2011-12-24T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I thought I would share with you some of our Christmas decorations...

Wishing you all a peaceful Christmas filled with all the joy and blessings that this wonderful holiday brings us.

Until Next Time...

Designing a Quilt On A Mac - Lesson 2

2011-12-22T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Thank you to everyone who took the time to watch my first video tutorial of designing a quilt on a Mac. Tons of great feedback too! The next lesson is ready for you to view. Hopefully you have all been tap, tap, tapping away on your keyboards!

You can click on it and watch from here or...

You can go to YouTube and watch by clicking here.

Let me know what you think and how you make out with the second lessons! Suggestions, comments and feedback are welcome.

Don't forget, the Blogger's BOM Month #4 will be ready on the 27th this month, due to Christmas. This month's block is presented by the infamous... Pat Sloan.

Until Next Time...

Certifiable! ... and winners...

2011-12-20T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I know that you have seen all the following quilts on my blog at one point or another, but do you know what they all have in common?

A Touch Of Spring

Summer Solstice

A Garden For My Wedding Ring

Fourth of July

Seasonal Table Runner

Golden Harvest

And Total Eclipse.

Do you know yet? Well, they are all paper pieced, and Judy Niemeyer patterns, I made them all. But the most important and exciting thing to me besides the fact that I so enjoyed making them... They were my portfolio which helped me to become accepted into Judy Niemeyer's National Teacher Certification program!!

I am besides myself with excitement. I love her methods and her patterns that is why I stock many in my shop (click here to see)! I will be heading back to Montana in July of 2012 to get more training in teaching her techniques with 9 other new teachers. I will be a part of a very small grouping of teachers that are Certified to teach her methods and classes within their regions.

I already have some lectures/trunk shows and workshops scheduled with guilds and shops into 2013! If you are or know of anyone who is interested in having me come to do any of the above, leave a comment or send me an e-mail! I would love to come! I believe I will be covering some of these areas, CT, RI, MA, NY, Northern NJ, and Eastern PA.

SIDE NOTE: Don't forget to return here for the Blogger's BOM, but it will be delayed until the 27th due to the holiday.

Our two winners from the Art Gallery Fabric Giveaway were:

Marjorie of Marjorie's Busy Corner

and

Sunnybec of Living the Dream

Congratulations!!

Until Next Time...

Raspberry Roll

2011-12-18T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Have you ever seen a Raspberry... Roll? Well, this could be your first time.

This quilt was designed by me for Quilt Magazine and I have to say it is quick and fun!

Using 2.5 pre-cut strips in batiks, gives this quilt a great scrappy look.

The entire top and binding were created from 2.5 inch strips. The only yardage needed was for the backing.

I quilted it with a pattern called Feathered Truffles. I love how it turned out.

Since it was nice out the other day, I had taken it outside for a photo shoot. All the above photos were taken by me. It was great to have a 50 degree day in December!! Plus the lighting is waaaay better outside.

This above photo was also taken by me outside. Yes, the grass looks pretty green still doesn't it? It is on the southern side of the house that could be why. But I love the contrast of the colors of the quilt against the grass.

This is one of Quilt Magazine's photos. Love it on the sofa!

This is their flat shot. Their photographers always do a great job.

You can find it in the current (Feb/March 2012) issue. If you want another quick, easy, and fun quilt to make this could be it!

You can find the magazine by clicking here.

You can find the kit to make this quilt by clicking here.

For today only ALL batiks are on sale for $7.95 per yard in my shop. Click here to start shopping.

Don't forget, today is the last day to enter the Fat Quarter Giveaway!! Click here to find out the details.

Until Next Time...

Aussie Maze

2011-12-16T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for all the wonderful feedback on my video tutorial from my last post! I am so glad that I have helped give many of you another avenue to design quilts.

Speaking of designing quilts.... I wanted to introduce to you Aussie Maze.

This is a quilt that I designed for the current issue of Quilt Magazine. It is made all from Australian Aboriginal fabrics, which can be found in my shop.

Light and bright, almost springlike, with a touch of Christmas too!

Very easy and quick to piece... gotta love that!

I decided to quilt ribbons on the quilt. The picture above shows some detail, but if you click on the photo above that to enlarge you will see it even better.

Here is my photo shoot above and...

Quilt Magazine's flat shot. And...

Their stylized photo in the magazine.

This is the issue it can be found in. It is currently available in my shop, along with KITS to make this fun, quick, and easy quilt. (They are selling quickly!!! Just click here to find yours) Thanks to my friends at Quilt Magazine for allowing me to play again!

Just as a side note, if you have never worked with these fabrics, they are some of the softest fabrics and have a wonderful drape.

PS. Don't forget to enter my fabric giveaway here! There is still time!

Until Next Time...

Fabulous Fabric Giveaway!

2011-12-14T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I know how much you all love fabric, right?

Take a look at these lovelies...

and...

To find out all the details on the giveaway and to enter...

You MUST CLICK HERE.

Until Next Time...

Designing A Quilt On A Mac - Lesson 1

2011-12-12T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

If you remember back on this blog post (click here) I spoke about designing quilts using several different mediums. One of which I talked about was designing on a Mac.

There was a fantastic response to that, and many of you asked me to do a tutorial on it. What I decided to do was a series of lessons that I will be posting here and on YouTube. We will create a quilt together!

Your feedback will be important, as I hope to tailor some of the lessons to what you want. This is the first lesson in the series. Please take the time to view it (if you are interested) and then please either leave a comment with feedback or send me an e-mail.

I will have them listed on my blog on the left sidebar under tutorials for future reference and you can also access them on my newly created YouTube channel by clicking here.

I am having fun making them and hope that they are helpful to you and bring out your inner designer!

Enjoy!

Until Next Time...

Do You Know Generation Q??

2011-12-10T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

If you don't know Generation Q here is your chance!

Generation Q is a new online quilting magazine. It is fun and has tons of wonderful articles daily!

When I was at Quilt Market I had the opportunity to sit down with two of the editors and have a chat.

Meet Jake Finch and

Melissa Thomson Maher.

They are both fun and talented ladies and it was a pleasure interviewing them both.

You can now listen to this in depth interview on my Podcast Episode 31. You can click either here or here to listen directly from your computer or you can go to the iTunes store and download it to your iPod or MP3 player by searching for Jackie's Quilting Chronicles. As always they are free!

In the meantime, you can visit Generation Q by clicking here. Please stop by and tell them I sent you to say hello!

If you haven't yet entered my giveaway for 11 fat quarters of Kaffe Fassett Aboriginal dots, click here to enter... there is still time!!

Enjoy!

Until Next Time...

The Makings of A Mug Rug and a Celebration Giveaway!!!!

2011-12-08T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Today was a good day! I got the urge to do some paper piecing, a small project, a mug rug.

So I dug into my scrap bin and pulled these fabrics out.

Some brights with white on black fabric. A bold and bright combination! Just my style.

Grabbed Unit J. This is a paper foundation from Cappucino a Judy Niemeyer pattern. The pattern can be found here.

I then lined up the fabric in the order that I wanted to see them appear on Unit J.

Pieced them in place.

Put batting and backing on and then quilted it with simple straight lines. Mind you I usually quilt on a long arm, so don't look too closely at the quilting as this was done on my domestic machine.

Then bound it, by machine with more white on black. Then VOILA!!

Tea is served! This was a fun little project and took just about 1 hour.

You read the title of this post correctly, there is a giveaway!!

I am giving away 11 fat quarters of Kaffe Fassett's Aboriginal Dot fabric. You can find this fabric in my shop by clicking here.

Why the giveaway? My daughter turns 18 today and I wanted to share our celebration with you!

To enter the giveaway you must visit my friend Sherri at A Quilting Life. Just click here and tell her that I sent you!

Hurry, the giveaway is open through Sunday night!

Until Next Time...

Oh The Possibilities...

2011-12-06T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Many of you who know me, know that I love SILK!! So what I am about to show you is something that I just could not pass up...

Let me introduce to you Radiance. This fabric is a silk and cotton blend made just for quilters! The color palette above is Harvest. Of course, when I was at Quilt Market... Miss Amy twisted my arm ever so slightly to purchase it for my shop so that all of you can give it a try too! You can find it by clicking here, in other color ways too! They are 1/2 yard bundles.

But that is not all...

I also purchased Kaffe Fassett ribbons for all of us to try too! Aren't they gorgeous? You can find them by clicking here.

But look at this...

Ribbon #1... Fabulous!

Ribbon #2... looks great with the fabrics too.

As does ribbon #3!

And ribbon #4!

Are you in the Christmas spirit? Add a little green.

Then I saw this table runner done in the silks with ribbon... Hmm... a project in the making, I think. This pattern I don't have in the shop yet. Hopefully soon. But if you can't wait....

Just click here.

Tell me your thoughts on this fabric and ribbon. I think it is elegant looking and so soft and silky to the touch. I wish you could just feel it through the computer. All I can say is YUM, I feel a new project coming on!

What would you do with Radiance and Ribbon?

Until Next Time...

Quilt Flashback

2011-12-04T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

This weekend I am having a little quilt flashback! I am at my parents home and decided to document the quilts that I have made over the years and have given to them. Come along with me for the ride...

First up is Winning Hand otherwise known as Card Trick.

This was made for my Mom in 1995. She loves these colors. I used Eleanor Burns' Quilt In A Day book, Winning Hand. Her method was quick and easy.

Mom uses this at the foot of the bed and it looks quite nice in the room.

The next quilt is a King Size and is a Courthouse Steps. This was made for my parents in more "manly" colors. This one was also made by using Eleanor Burn's book Courthouse Steps.

I completed it in 1996.

This is the quilt that drove me to long arm quilting. It was big and cumbersome to put through my little domestic machine.

The quilting was very basic stitch in the ditch and simple straight line quilting.This was the last quilt that I quilted on my domestic machine. I could dress it up a bit and take it back to do some more quilting. Maybe just maybe!

The next quilt was made for my dad in 2002. I had seen this great golf fabric. Both my parents love to golf! So, I had to purchase some fabrics that played well with the golf fabric.

I used Terry Atkinson's pattern Yellow Brick Road and created this quick little lap quilt for Dad.

This is a great pattern for a gift, quick easy, and very practical.

When I saw the fabrics and this quilt pattern, I knew I had to make this for Mom. It was a quilt kit, but perfect for her and her decor.

This is just a log cabin pattern, but because of the fabrics and how they are placed, you get a color wash effect.

Again, this is a perfect quilt for my Mom and graces their sofa in the family room. I completed this one in 2003.

In order to take these photos in good light, I needed to take the quilts outdoors onto the deck. But look what I had to battle....

This little guy was waiting by the door for some nuts. So of course, I had to wait too. But it was worth it, I really wanted to share with you these quilts from "back in the day" as my kids would say.

Until Next Time...

Celebrating 22!

2011-12-02T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

22 years ago today, I married the love of my life! We have laughed, cried, grown, loved, and learned more together than I had ever dreamed.

We have had fun too! (Note: this is not our car, but it belongs to a very good friend who entrusted us to have a little fun)

Here is to AT LEAST 22 more years! I love you!

Until Next Time...

In The Nick of Time...

2011-12-01T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Whew! I made it and with no time left to spare. I finished up my November block for the Two's Company Bee last night! It will be on its way to Jessica today. Luckily she lives only one state away, so she may have it by Saturday!!

Jessica, so sorry it took so long, but after all it took me almost two months to complete Shelly's block...

Anyway, Jessica's two color quilt is brown and blue and made up by starting with...

a pile of these... HST's! I used my own method for which I have a tutorial. You can find the tutorial by clicking here.

These HST's came out to 4.5 inches unfinished. Now to trim and do the layout.

This looks like a good layout.

Joined together and spritzed with a little bit of Mary Ellen's Best Press so it lays nice and flat... Voila! I hope you like the fabrics that I chose, Jessica. This is going to be a fabulous quilt! Enjoy!

Until Next Time...

I Did It!!

2011-11-29T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Many thanks to Shelly, I stepped a little bit out of my comfort zone and did some needle turn applique! It took me a while, (one month late) but I did the best that I could and think that it turned out pretty well. Plus it is on its way to you, Shelly.

I used Kaffe Fassett fabrics and Australian Aboriginals.

All the handwork was done on various airplane flights, so it definitely kept me from getting bored like I do on flights... kept me busy and entertained.

The only thing that I am not too happy with is the way the center meets up. Shelly if you don't like it please feel free to rip them out and redo the center leaves. I am sure you will do what is right for you and I totally will not be offended. Extra leaves were sent along to you, just in case.

Oh, by the way, this block is part of the Two's Company Bee.

Don't forget to pick up the third block for the Blogger's BOM. Find out the information here.

Until Next Time...

Come Take A Class With Me!

2011-11-27T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Have you ever wanted to learn paper piecing? Would you like to become fluent in curved piecing? Have you been intrigued with Judy Niemeyer patterns and would like to learn HER techniques?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this is the class for you!!

You can learn all the above and more! I will be teaching Judy Niemeyer's Total Eclipse Pattern in January on 3 Saturdays from 1-4!

If you live in Connecticut or nearby, I would love to see you there. This is a class for an advanced beginner as there are only two paper pieced units in this quilt.

They are fun and fast techniques to make this beautiful quilt. So if you are interested, you can send me an e-mail for the details or you can click on this link and get the details and phone to register.

But hurry so you can get your supply list and pattern to start planning this quilt!

Until Next Time...

Blogger's BOM Month 3!!

2011-11-25T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the Blogger's BOM! There are some very beautiful blocks that have been made and contributed to the Flickr group! Go take a look by clicking here.

So you have seen and completed...

Month 2 designed by Vicki Welsh of Field Trips in Fiber. If not, click here to get the instructions.

You have seen and completed Month 1 designed by Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life. If not, click here to the get the instructions.

Now it is time for Month 3!!

The designer this month is the a very good blogging friend and extremely talented Stephanie Dunphy of Loft Creations! She has a fabulous block ready for you to piece.

So click here to go and get her tutorial! Then make sure that you add it to the Flickr Group when you are done, by clicking here.

Also, if you have a blog don't forget to link up below, so we can all go to your blog and check out your gorgeous block!

I know you are all stuffed from Thanksgiving dinner and really need to get away from the kitchen, so go and rev up those sewing machines and have a blast!

Also, as a Black Friday special, there have been TONS of fabrics moved to the Clearance section of the shop! YES, that includes ALL of the 1930s repros and more. Just click here to take a peek.

Until Next Time...

Interview With Deb Hearn... Editor of Quilt Magazine

2011-11-23T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

This is the second in my quilt market series of interviews. I had the pleasure to sit down and speak with Deb Hearn, Editor of Quilt Magazine.

I am sure you are familiar with this wonderful publication. The above is the current issue and can be found in my shop here. I have 3 quilts in this issue and they are all available as kits, just click here to see them.

Quilt Magazine also has two sister publications, Simple Quilts and Sewing. The above is the current issue. I also have one quilt in this magazine. Simple Quilts can be found in my shop by clicking here.

Quilt Almanac is their other publication that is out once per year and they have one that is due out very soon!!

But I would like you to meet Deb Hearn. She is a fantastic and talented lady.

Down to earth and easy to work with, but better yet she gives you a little glimpse into her quilty life and a "behind the scenes" look at the making of Quilt Magazine!! Fun!!

I am sure that you would like to hear what she has to say, right? You can do so! My Podcast Episode 30 is now up and ready for your listening pleasure. You can click here to listen in directly from your computer or you can go to iTunes and download it for free by searching for Jackie's Quilting Chronicles.

Don't forget to check out Quilt Magazine's website for lots of little goodies, just click here for fun and tons of free patterns. Also, you can find them on Facebook by clicking here.

Don't forget to come back here on Friday for the 3rd installment of the Blogger's Block of the Month!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Until Next Time...

Easy Flying Geese Tutorial

2011-11-21T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello,

Lately, I have been making many flying geese and I thought that I would share with you the method that I use to make accurate flying geese.

You can click on the images to supersize them to see more detail.

This tutorial will yield 4 - 3.5" X 6.5" unfinished flying geese.

1. Cut 4 small squares, at 4" square. These are the background.

2. Cut 1 large square, at 7.5" square. This makes the geese.

Layer 2 small squares in the corners of the large square, right sides together. Aligning the corners carefully.

Take your Magic Wand Tool (you can find it here) on the diagonal and then draw two lines on either side.

It will look like the above. Or you can draw one line down the center from corner to corner.

Pin the squares in place on either side of the lines.

Now sew directly on the line on one side.

Turn it around and then sew down the opposite side.

Your block will look like this. You may want to press it now so it lays flat.

Then take a ruler and cut it directly down the middle between the stitching lines for a perfect 1/4" seam.

Press the small background squares open so that the seams are pressed towards the small squares.

Now take the remaining 2 small squares and place them in the lower corner of the geese fabric. Right sides together. Aligning the corners carefully.

Take your Magic Wand Tool (you can find it here) and place it on the diagonal into the corners of the small square.

Draw two lines on either side of the magic wand.

Pin the small square on either side of the lines.

Sew directly on the line on one side.

Turn block around and sew down the opposite side directly on the line.

It will now look like this, you may want to give it a press so it is laying flat.

Take your ruler and cut it on the diagonal between the 2 stitched lines.

Your pieces will look like the above. Take all four pieces and press the background fabric open so that the seams are pressed towards the background fabric.

You now have four flying geese that are not quite complete. They will need a tiny amount of trimming.

Take the Wing Clipper Tool (you can find it here) and align it with the correct dimensions and trim the right and top sides.

As you can see there is very little waste.

Now turn the geese unit a complete 1/2 turn and then align the ruler with the correct lines and dimensions and trim away the right and the top sides

You now have 4 very accurate 6.5 X 3.5 inch flying geese.

The nice thing about trimming down instead of trying to get the correct dimensions on the first try is that you ALWAYS have the size that you need and it is accurate.

The Wing Clipper Tool allows you to accurately cut flying geese from as small a 1/2" X 1" up to 5" X 10".

You can find both the Magic Wand and Wing Clipper Tools in my shop along with some companion patterns as well. Just click here.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.

Don't forget to return here on the 25th to get Block number 3 of the Blogger's Block of the Month!

Until Next Time...

Serengeti Serenade... The Story Behind The Quilt

2011-11-19T08:16:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Many of you have seen this little preview of the quilt that I made on my recent retreat. So I thought I would give you a little background.

This is truly an African quilt from my heart. Let's start from the beginning. In January, 2005 my husband, my brother and three friends went to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was a dream of his and a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Here they are at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. My husband is on the far right in the black. My brother is holding the American flag. He fulfilled a dream he had. It was exciting and difficult all at the same time.

Here is their view from above the clouds. Simply magnificent! I admire him and everyone who went.

Following the week long summit adventure they went on a safari. Another opportunity of a lifetime. Of course, I had to share some wonderful kitty photos with you.

Don't you just love a mama and her cubs?

How beautiful is this mama lion?

So what does this have to do with fabric and a quilt? When my husband left he asked if there was anything that I would like him to bring back from his trip? Of course I said fabric.

He brought these two pieces of fabric home for me. About a total of 6 yards. I was ecstatic! Then began my journey of collecting authentic African fabric for the next six years. My intention was to collect enough fabric to make a quilt for my husband to commemorate his trip to Tanzania.

In the process, I fell in love with the fabric. I always had a particular design in mind, but then my issue of McCall's Quilting Jan, 2011 came and this pattern captured my eye.

It is all done with 2.5 inch strips and in batiks, but I thought "WOW, wouldn't that look great in the African fabrics?" Just perfect!

This became the year of the African Quilt!

When I went on retreat last week, the cutting and sewing began.

And the smiles got bigger. Lots of love went into the making of this quilt from the first day that my husband brought me home those two lovely fabrics straight from Tanzania.

I used one of the fabrics, the yellow and black, for the four highlighted pieces in the borders. I also used strips of both of the fabrics throughout the quilt. The larger pieces that were left of the fabrics my husband gave to me, will become part of the backing.

Let me introduce you to Serengeti Serenade...

I will be quilting this over the next few weeks and giving this to my husband for Christmas. I hope that he loves it as much as I do and that will remind him of his trip to Africa.

I am so glad that my husband doesn't read my blog, so if you know him... shhhh! Don't tell him about his gift... Thanks!

Until Next Time...

It Is That Kind Of Morning

2011-11-17T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

As you may know, a few weeks ago I was in Houston at International Quilt Market. While there I recorded a series of Podcasts with some very popular and interesting quilters.

Get ready for some fabulous chats with some fabulous people.

For the first podcast, I sat down with my longtime blogging friend, Pam Viera McGinnis, otherwise known as Pam Kitty Morning!

She is a very talented designer, quilter, and blogger.

It is very apparent in her new fabric line, just too sweet!

But so is she!

If you are not familiar with PKM, you must listen in on the podcast. Just two quilting gals sitting down talking about all things quilty.

To listen in from your computer, just click here. Or you can download Jackie's Quilting Chronicles from iTunes directly to your MP3 player. As always they are FREE!

Then let us know what you think! Make sure you visit Pam by clicking here to see what kind of good stuff she has cooking up.

Thought you might like to know that yesterday I was busy adding TONS of stuff to the clearance section of the shop!! There are a lot of great deals. So just click here to take a look, maybe you will find that perfect backing fabric!

Enjoy!

Until Next Time...

The Round Up

2011-11-15T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

After six wonderful days at our annual quilt retreat, there were tons of great projects started and finished. Here is a peek at the last two days.

Lynn finished this lovely gradated quilt.

Deb did a demo of these three dimensional flowers.

Justine took my little snippets of African fabric and made some mug rugs.

Brenda completed this Halloween quilt. I will be quilting this for Brenda.

Sue finished this repro quilt... tons of work, but totally worth it!

Our newest quilter of the group, Sharon, completed her second quilt!! This quilt is City Harbor from the City Quilts book and can be found as a kit in my shop. Just click here.

Shirley's Lil' Twister quilt. You can find the Lil' Twister here.

Jane made this beautiful bag!

Really loving Robin's free form solids quilt.

Maria finished her Christmas Celebration Tree Skirt. The pattern can be found here.

Darlene finished this gorgeous batik quilt. I will be quilting this for her!

Joan finished this wonderful Lil' Twister Christmas tree. Just gorgeous!

There are many more photos that you can see from the retreat on my Flickr set by clicking here. I hope you have enjoyed all the photos from the retreat and have been inspired.

Until Next Time...

So Many Finishes!!

2011-11-14T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Day 5 of the retreat was a great one lots of finishes and also show and tell.

My quilting buddy Pam finished her wonderful Kaffe Diamonds quilt for her daughter. She used all Kaffe Fabric (you can find them here) and did a fantastic job. If her daughter doesn't love it, I know where it can live.... ;)

Show and tell featured many quilts, but this one from Sharon has special meaning. At last year's retreat we were all asked to submit a block using the same fabric as everyone else (they dubbed it the ugly fabric) and then add our own. We all voted on the best one and then the winner's block received all of them!

Sharon was the winner and put this quilt together, I quilted it and then 7 friends bound it. Truly a group quilt and ugly no more!

Jane made this wonderful Judy Niemeyer Crown of Thorns quilt. Just gorgeous!

Justine's Beach quilt. I also quilted this one complete with palm trees and flamingos.

My Mountain Getaway quilt that was featured in the current issue of Quilt Magazine. (Kit available here.)

Diane made this lovely architectural mini.

I just loved Lynne's fabulous beach girls.

Poppy is truly talented. She lived in Hawaii for 33 years and does some awesome Hawaiian quilting. All hand sewn and quilted. This one is in the process of being quilted.

Wait a second, what is this.... Pam is knitting at a quilting retreat? She looks like she is having fun though and quite relaxed.

Justine's quilt is now complete! It is no longer a forest but is a Christmas forest. The lights bring it to life. It is an Alex Anderson pattern and can be found here.

Shirley and Deb holding Shirley's completed quilt. Way to go Shirley!

Sharon and Betsey with their Strip tease quilts doing their best Wilson impressions. Now the borders.

I began a new project... Cappuccino, A Party for Four. It is a table runner and placemat set. The pattern can be found here.

Many more photos on the Flicker set here. Tons of show and tell!

Until Next Time...

On The Fourth Day...

2011-11-13T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Here it is, I finished my African Quilt on fourth day!!

And I love it!!

Maria is getting close to finishing her Christmas Tree Skirt.

Carol came with a top already complete. I think that might qualify as cheating?

Shirley, our massage therapist who is also a quilter, finished this quilt top!

Sue gave a demo on creating snowflake ornaments.

Justine is getting closer to finishing her forest!

Sharon and Betsy are working on their Strip Tease Quilts.

Poppy is making this fabulous sampler.

Betsy's strip tease quilt... Although that is Joan helping make the arrangement.

Kathy finished this fabulous snowman... as tall as her.

Tons more photos here on Flickr.

Also, we are having a SALE at the shop, but only through tomorrow. Check out the details by clicking here.

Come back tomorrow for more updates on the retreat!

Until Next Time...

The Third Day

2011-11-12T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have been enjoying the chronicling of my annual quilt retreat in Vermont. Here are some more progress photos from the third day!

Maria's Christmas Celebration Tree Skirt... Looking good!!

Sue's mini Pineapple.

I took a little break in the middle of the day to visit my friend Frances Holladay Alford at her Embellishment Studio. These few photos are from there. Love the above button embellished pieces.

Very fun and colorful art quilt!

Close up of a bee on one of her art quilts. You can see more of her work by visiting her website here.

Justine has made a paper pieced forest! Still more to come on this one.

My African quilt in progress.

Deb and Shirley (mother and daughter) laying out a quilt on the design floor.

Lots more photos to come tomorrow. But if you can't wait, check them out in my Flickr set by clicking here. Tons of great photos!

Until Next Time...

Progress All Around

2011-11-11T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Back for Day 2 of our quilt retreat. We were treated to having a quilt appraiser stop by for the day and several of the ladies took advantage of her services. She also spoke to us for a little while and we really learned quite a bit.

This quilt was definitely one of the ones I wanted to show you. This quilt has won multiple ribbons, most recently at the Vermont Quilt Festival. So the quilter really wanted it appraised. Not sure what the value was, but I am sure it was fabulous!

This little quilt was made by Robin. It was a challenge in thread painting. I loved it because it was so unique.

Let's hear a BIG HOORAY for Sharon, this is Sharon holding her very first quilt she has ever made!! Fantastic! I was so glad to be there for it too.

I began to work on my African fabrics and really went to town. You can find some here.

Remember yesterday's blog post... well Pam has made a ton of progress. Isn't it fabulous?

Joan finished up a Lil' Twister quilt. You can find the template here.

Sharon finished her Autumn BOM quilt.

Just loving Darlene's Batik quilt.

Another BIG hooray for Maria!! Her very first Judy Niemeyer quilt. This is the Christmas Celebration Tree Skirt. You can find the pattern here.

My African quilt is shaping up!

Stephanie finished another pinwheel quilt.

Justine is making tons of little trees!

Stay tuned for the next installment on the quilt retreat progress.

Until Next Time...

I Just Love A Good Retreat

2011-11-10T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I am very fortunate to be able to attend two quilting retreats each year and I am currently on the second one. This is a time to reconnect with friends that you may not have seen in a while, make new friends and most of all sew!!

Day one was spent finishing up projects that had already been started and begin new ones as well.

Here you can see I have finished my Jelly Roll Race quilt for my son that I blogged about previously here. I decided to add two borders. The results are pleasing to me and I think that he will like the finished quilt as well.

My friend Pam is sort of starting a new project. She had cut all the diamonds prior to arriving, although they have been cut for a while now. It was definitely time to begin her project.

Here is a sneak peek. It is all Kaffe Fassett fabrics and also one of his patterns too! What until you see how it looks now!

Prior to coming to the retreat we were all sent a this above pattern and instructions to construct this block. These are some of the results. They will be voted on and the person who made the winning block receives all of them to make their own quilt.

Sadly, I must say that I did not participate in this one... too many irons in the fire right now. But here are some of my favorites!

Loved some of the embellishments on them!

Julee is showing off one of her completed projects. It is a McKenna Ryan design.

Shirley finished up this lovely baby quilt.

Stephanie made this wonderful pinwheel quilt.

Her mom Lynn made this great quilt with fabrics that she hand dyed!!

Stay tuned for more from the retreat!

Until Next Time...

I Bet You Didn't Know I Could Do This....

2011-11-07T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Finally things are starting to normalize at home, power is on, laundry is in process, candles put away, orders are all packed, labeled and ready to ship tomorrow!!

So I thought I might share something that I am working on... Applique!! This is definitely something that you don't see me doing much of on this blog. But yes, contrary to popular belief, I can do it! Maybe not as well as some, but I can.

This block is one that I am working on for Shelly and our Two's Company Bee.

It is all leaves and I am using Kaffe fabrics and Australian fabrics all in red.

Don't look too close, the stitches may not be too perfect. But I do like how it is coming along. Almost done!

And to prove I have done it before here is one that I should actually finish up into something.

I really do like this one, but not sure what to finish up as...

Should I continue to build on it and make it a small quilt, or...

Should I just stop there and make it a pillow?

What do you think?

This was done from a class that I took with Becky Goldsmith of Piece O'Cake Designs. Fun!

This one you can see is in progress and another Piece O'Cake Design. Still lots to go!

There you have it, a bit of applique from little old me.

If you haven't picked up your Blogger's BOM, just click here for the tutorial.

Now I have to go pack for a long awaited quilting retreat!

Until Next Time...

Quilt Market Highlights... Etc.

2011-11-04T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

Most of you know that I was at Quilt Market last week. Since then I returned to Connecticut to absolutely no power. The power company has been slow to respond and it looks like a tornado blew through instead of a snow storm.

With no power comes no internet, so I have been unable to post anything to my blog or ship any orders from the shop, which I deeply apologize for and they will be shipping on Monday, November 7!

I am now at a place where I have internet access so I wanted to share some highlights from Quilt Market!! I appreciate your patience in waiting for this post. So here we go...

Jane Sassaman's Beautiful quilt from her new fabric line.

Look at this fabulous dress that she made with the fabric! I would so wear it!!

My friend Karen Eckmeier, The Quilted Lizard, doing a demo at schoolhouse.

A beautiful Artisan Batik Quilt.

Quilts by Karla Alexander.

A quilt made by Anita Grossman Solomon with Jan Krentz's new fabric line.

The view from our window of the convention center.

Beautiful booth for a beautiful new fabric line.

Jacqueline DeJonge and her beautiful quilt.

Another beautiful quilt of hers.

My quilt hanging in Quilt Magazine's booth.

Becky, The Quilting Book Lady and me!

Pat Wys of The Silver Thimble Quilt Company and me.

Jan Krentz, Me, and Anita Solomon Grossman.

Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design and me.

Pat Bravo of Art Gallery Fabrics and me.

The fabulous PKM, Pam Viera McGinnis of Pam Kitty Morning fame.

Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side and me, we finally meet after so many years!! Such a pleasure!

If you would like to see more photos and TONS of the quilts from the show, just click here to go to the Flicker set for Quilt Market.

Until Next Time...

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2011

2011-10-29T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

I just finished my first day at Quilt Market and I do have some great photos! But you will have to wait until the next post to see them as I wanted to do my Blogger's Quilt Festival post... Sorry! But thank you to Amy for hosting this great event again. You can see more quilts from other people here.

I hope you are not disappointed though because I chose a quilt that I just recently had shown. For those of you who are new to my blog hopefully it will be a treat!

This is the quilt that I call "I Am Not Afraid of Color". It was born out of my love of Kaffe Fassett fabrics and Judy Niemeyer patterns. This pattern is called Summer Solstice. I love to combine the two!

I had posted about it previously here and here and here. I created it at a recent Judy Niemeyer retreat that I had been on. I know it is not quite a quilt and still a top. But I promise, it will become a quilt soon. I just need to get back from Quilt Market, although I am having a great time!

So hopefully the next time that you see this quilt it will be quilted. Cheer me on to give me that extra motivation that I will need before the holidays, or maybe I should just wait for January??

The next post... Quilt Market!!

Don't forget to get your next Blogger's BOM... Month 2 is ready, just click here.

Until Next Time...

Bounce

2011-10-27T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

How many of you use dryer sheets? I do, and tend to use a lot. Not only do I have quite a bit of laundry to do, but I am also a BIG pre-washer of fabric.

So when I was sent this Bounce Dryer Bar to try, I was very curious.

It says that it will last for 3 months. In this house that is a ton of dryer sheets.

All you have to do is stick it to the inside of your dyer and leave it there. Sounds simple enough, right?

Then put in all your ~~laundry~~, precious fabrics from the washing machine. These are all my African fabrics all wet and ready to be dried.

Give them a whirl in the dryer and voila! They are now all dry and no static and smell nice. The dryer bar does collect a little bit of lint. If you click on the photo you can see the remnant of lint.

Since these photos, I have washed tons of fabric and clothing and it is working really well. A wee bit more linty, but still doing it's thing. Plus, I haven't used one dryer sheet!!

How many of you use dryer sheets? How many of you use the Bounce dryer bar? What do you think?

As you read this post, I am on my way to Quilt Market... very excited!! I will be giving frequent updates via Facebook and will also be blogging too. So stay tuned!

Don't forget to pick up Block #2 of the Blogger's Block of the Month by clicking here.

Until Next Time...

Blogger's Block of The Month... Block # 2

2011-10-25T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

First I would like to say that there are some phenomenal first blocks on the Flickr group! If you haven't seen them just click here. You can always post your blocks here too!

But right now it is that time again, block #2 is now available from the talented Vicki of Field Trips in Fiber. This one is a beauty.

Just click here to go to her blog and follow the tutorial for the second block.

You can also, link up below with the linky tool to show us your block on your blog! And of course, don't forget to post them on the Flickr group too!

Have fun! I am off to Quilt Market in two days, gotta go get ready!!

Until Next Time...

We're Off To The Races!!

2011-10-24T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

On Saturday our guild had a little workshop day. It was a fun one too! We all made Jelly Roll Race Quilts! We were off and running with our jelly rolls (2.5 inch strips) and we had prizes too for the first ones to finish.

We all went home with a top, borders were the only things that still need to be applied.

The day started off with a bang. My friend Justine went to town and joined all her strips and ended up with flags! Now to cut them apart.

Roberta was very organized and very happy to be there. She is always smiling and delightful.

Wanda was the over achiever in the group. She finished her top in just about 1.5 hours! Her machine was humming along... Go Wanda!!

This was a tough crowd too, no bathroom breaks... LOL!! (only kidding)

Our fearless leaders Pam and Sue inspect Wanda's quilt to make sure that it is complete... Looks good!

Justine did her quilt in all bright strips, fabulous!

I kept chugging along (aerial view).

Justine had the back part of mine going directly into her bag in hopes that she could take it home... no way, sorry Justine!

Here is mine all done... for my son. Now for some stacked borders.

Don't you just love it in black and white?

You can see more of these beauties that were completed in this Flickr set.

If you want to know how to make one of these little quickies, just click here for instructions and a video!

Also, don't forget two things:

1. Come back here tomorrow for the Block #2 of the Blogger's Block of The Month.

2. This is the last day that all Westminster and Batik fabrics will be marked down to $7.95 per yard. Click here to start shopping.

Until Next Time...

A Gaggle of Geese

2011-10-22T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

The past couple of weeks I have been whittling away at a gaggle of paper pieced geese. They are for my Glacier Star quilt that I posted about here.

These are all paper pieced from Judy Niemeyer's pattern. As many of you know, I adore paper piecing and her patterns! These are fun because they are curved.

They are then joined to these quarter circles.

Like so and...

like so. I am in love! These will be inset in the main "lone star" portion of the quilt. You can see the main portion in this post here.

Look at what they look like in a circle, very cool!

If you like Judy's patterns you can find many of them in my shop by clicking here.

P.S. For 3 days only ALL Westminster Fabrics and Batiks are on sale for $7.95 per yard. We are going to market this week and need to make room for all the new fabric that we will come back with.

Click here to begin shopping!

Until Next Time...

Choosing Color... A Guide

2011-10-20T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

Over the years, I have had many questions on how I choose color for my quilts, and more so once I have chosen color how do I choose the fabric? Another BIG question is how do you use those wonderful prints, I just don't know how to use them or cut them up?

Sometimes there is no easy answer or they may be multiple answers. I am going to do my best to give you some answers, at least as I see them.

To many of my readers the above block may look familiar. I just profiled it this week in my blog post here. This block is from a quilt that I made for Quilt Magazine called Soul Flower. I wanted to show you a completely different color option, so I made the block above with colors that are vibrant and non expectant.

The above photo show the quilt from the magazine and as you can see the block looks totally different, right? So this is that example of using those wonderful prints and cutting them up to use in a block. The prints in the first photo are mostly larger scale prints than in the second photo.

Here is my rule of thumb for larger scale prints. I like to look at it as one color. Choose the dominant color and see it as that. The print is the texture. Are you following? If you do this, you have a whole new outlook on how to use those prints. I made the block in the first photo saying to myself that I wanted a hot pink and green block with some accent colors of purple and yellow. Then I went to my stash and started pulling fabric with colors that worked together.

I think it was successful. Now in the second photo the colors also work together because there are common colors in each fabric so they draw from one another giving it a cohesive look. That is what makes this work.

Also, in a recent blog post, I featured my quilt Paradise Island. In that post, I showed you two color options. But the good folks over at Quilt Magazine have been kind enough to provide a FREE download for you. It is a line drawing of my design so that you can take out those colored pencils and make you own color way!!

Click here to get the download.

You can see above that I did the download and started coloring in the lines. This is a great way to choose color for your quilt. It doesn't involve cutting into any fabric and gives you a relatively quick way to see what it might look like.

You can order the magazine by clicking here.

If you don't have a line drawing of your quilt, easy, get some graph paper and start to doodle, draft your quilt make copies of your line drawing and then color each one in different color ways!

For those of you who use computers to design your quilts, there are specific programs out there like EQ. But for those of you who don't have it here is another option. I have a Mac and use their Numbers program to design all my quilts. Numbers is the equivalent to Microsoft Excel.

It is a great way to use the actual fabrics! Yes, you can use the images of the fabrics that you want to use in the quilt by either scanning or using the jpegs from the websites.

In the photos above and below you can see how I came up with the two different color ways for Paradise Island.

Using this program might be a great lesson for anyone wanting to learn. If you have a Mac and are interested in learning let me know. If I have enough interested, I just might consider doing several tutorial posts.

Above is another example of coloring in a design to see what it might look like. I had posted about this one here.

These are the fabrics that I chose for the quilt pattern.

Here you can see the cover sheet quilt and it's colors next to my line drawing and fabrics.

You can order the pattern by clicking here.

Her is the finished quilt. As you know, I named it "I Am Not Afraid Of Color".

I hope after reading this post you are now not afraid of color and start to play with it yourselves. I know that this will be a great exercise for you, but give it a try. Be fearless and go with your instincts. I know this will open up more discussion and that is terrific!

Don't forget 5 more days until block number 2 for the Blogger's Block of Month is released! Don't forget to come back here for the link, I know you will love this one, it is beautiful!!

Until Next Time...

It Is Quilt Show Season

2011-10-18T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to two quilt shows but was only able to attend one. So I thought I would share some of my favorite quilts from the show with you....

If you are still with me, don't forget to read my newest blog post on Quilt Magazine's site and leave me a comment with your opinion. It is all about the upcoming Quilt Market. Just click here to read the post.

Until Next Time...

New Winner!

2011-10-16T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

I never heard from the third winner of the Judy Niemeyer pattern giveaway. Therefore, I drew a new winner!!

The winner of Three Ducks in A Row is...

Commenter Number 136...

Rebecca!! Congratulations!! I sent you an e-mail, just send me your snail mail and the pattern will be in the mail.

Until Next Time...

Have You Ever Seen A Soul Flower??

2011-10-15T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

Yes, I have been a busy little quilter this year. And I can't believe that I was able to keep it all under wraps until now, given the way that I can talk!

Earlier this year, Pat Bravo (owner and designer extraordinaire of Art Gallery Fabrics) and I were e-mailing designs back and forth for her Bohemian Soul Collection. I had done a few as did she. We finally settled on her fabulous design!

She asked me to piece it and quilt it for Quilt Magazine! Yes, a third one in the current issue. Let me introduce you to Soul Flower...

A wonderful octagonal design using both color palettes from Bohemian Soul.

Also using three colors from her Lace Elements collection.

This one I decided to custom quilt even though some of the fabric is busy, the quilting really showed up well. I used Superior's Rainbow line of thread.

The backing and the binding.

The quilt is fabulous and really not that difficult to piece. Looks hard, but not too bad.

Here is the magazine spread and there is my pic again.

The current issue can be found in my shop by clicking here.

Again, I just love Quilt Magazine's photographers, they do such a fabulous job, don't they?

And of course, if you would like to make Soul Flower you can find the complete kit in my shop by clicking here. Or should you just want some of this fabulous fabric, click here for the complete collection!

Sad to say this is the final quilt of mine in this current issue. No more completed quilts to show for now, but I will definitely be updating you on my Glacier Star next post. I have been doing tons of flying geese!! I dream about them now.

Also, I will draw a new winner of the Judy Niemeyer pattern as well.

***Special note... I have a new blog post up on Quilt Magazine's site, it is about Quilt Market! I would love to hear your thoughts. Click here to read and leave me a comment! Thanks!***

Until Next Time...

How About A Mountain Getaway?

2011-10-13T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

I have taken you to Paradise Island, now how about a Mountain Getaway?

Since I just returned from Montana where there are many mountains, I can assure you that a Mountain Getaway is a fabulous time. But this one is great for the quilter in you.

I designed a quilt using Australian Fabrics for Quilt Magazine, once again I did not name it... I am bad at that... but I love the name they gave the quilt!!

The fabrics were fussy cut to come up with this design. The quilting I did was curls to add texture.

A fun and quick quilt to piece with almost a holiday feel.

Mountain Getaway is a terrific quilt for a bed or a gift for that special someone.

I used Bush Tucker Black for the backing fabric and bound it in red.

Here it is in the current issue and there is me!

You can find the current issue in my shop along with quilt kits to make this fabulous quilt. Just click here.

If you have never used the Australian fabrics they are just fabulous to work with and have a glorious silky feel.

I am in love with Quilt Magazine's photographers. They make the quilts just look spectacular!! Thank you again Quilt for working with me.

***I still have not yet heard from the third winner of the Judy Niemeyer Pattern Giveaway, Mommy Hearts Family. If I do not hear from her by Saturday, I will draw a new winner.***

Until Next Time....