Mini Me

I've been trying to convince Santa that this little one would LOVE a sewing machine for Christmas.

But Santa said "She doesn't even know how to use one"

To which I replied "If she had one, she could learn"

Then Santa gave me the look.

So I decided to start teaching her, little by little.

 This girl learns FAST!  One of her favrorite things to do is play "Quilt Shop".  It is very cute. I have to remind myself that she'll only be little once and soon she won't want to be in the same room as me. So I better take advantage of it now. :o)  

Kenny has a "Tortoise and the Hare" setting- which I LOVE for this purpose. I just slide the dial to the little turtle and the machine creeps along at a speed slow enough for her to maneuver. She's still learning the whole 'seam allowance' thing but is doing great! Now she wants to use the iron!

This is her block. I'm so proud. What a great little improv. quilter! She searches through my scraps and always asks "Can I cut this?" before she starts assembling her pieces.

I showed Santa her progress. Guess what he said?

"Why does she need her own machine when she can just use yours!?"

Let's just say it's a good thing Mrs. Clause has a little pull around here.  ;o)

Trunking

Wanna see pix from my trunk show!?  Amy just posted a wonderful re-cap over on her blog Diary of a Quilter. Check it out!

Stuffed

It's Monday and I'm trying to get back into my routine after the Thanksgiving break. Did you have a nice holiday? I sure hope so. Ours was very nice and low key. I cook for my little family, my brother and another brother and his wife. There was lots of laughter and of course, over eating. I still feel full.

During some of my down time- sitting on the couch too stuffed to move- I had the chance to go through this book in more depth. I told you I'd tell you about it and I can hardly wait!

 Honestly, I was excited to get this book because I won it- but I don't really make doll quilts. However once I peeked at this book I knew I was going to LOVE it. The techniques in the book are shown in doll quilt size- but you can make these 'blocks' in any size quilt. Which is just what I am itching to do.

 This was one of my favorites. I love how Lucinda incorporated so many different techniques. The crosses, flying geese and the 'bird-house'. Oh, and did you see the one side with the triangle edging? I LOVE that it's only one side. Totally my style. And of course the color palette is yummy. Remember my post here- wouldn't this fabric be PERFECT!? I better write to Santa.  :o)

 I have been dreaming of making a quilt like this ever since I saw Amanda Jean's. It is a bit overwhelming to me to imagine making a large quilt in this technique. I think starting small like Cathy did would be the key. Besides, it has such a fun color-wheel thing going on. LOVE that!

 I can't stop looking at this one. Now this one I can definately see in a large size. Who wants to make it for me!?  ;o) I love Penny's string piecing technique and the way its accented in the diamond shape. LOVE!!!!

There are SO MANY other cute ideas in this book. You should really go get it so you can tote it from room to room in your hosue wherever you go like I've been doing. :o)

I've been collecting some Christmas-y fabrics for a little over a year now. I have quite a fun bundle. I haven't been able to bring myself to cutting it because I needed the PERFECT project for it. Well, I found that project this weekend and I can't wait to show it to you!!!

Have you been sewing any Christmas-y projects?

Don't Forget!

Sale is going on thru

CYBER MONDAY

in my Etsy shop!

20% off

EVERYTHING!!

Use code

THANKS

"THANKS"

Have you noticed how my list of 'things-to-do' keeps growing and I keep getting further and further behind!?  I can't believe Thanksgiving is upon us. Like, TOMORROW!!! 

I mentioned a few days ago that I was going to have a cyber monday sale. Well, its going to run all weekend long from BLACK FRIDAY through CYBER MONDAY in my Etsy shop.

EVERYTHING is 20% OFF

with the coupon code

THANKS

It's my little way of saying 'Thanks' for being such great followers.You have to enter the coupon code to get the discount. EVERYTHING is included- even QUILTS like 'Tiger Lily' pictured above. PERFECT for that special gift! All quilts will be shipped the first week of December to ensure delivery by Christmas.

Ok, I better get back to cleaning this house and prepping the food for tomorrow. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. :o)

For a little added fun- check out this video on the Michael Miller website.

Rainy Days and Mondays

It's dreary today. Rainy and grey outside. Days like today make me NOT like the color grey so much. Good thing I have the weekend to think back on to bring a smile to my day.

Would you believe I didn't take my camera to the retreat? Of course you can. Good thing my friend Amy was there and snapped LOTS of awesome pix. I managed to get a couple pix today- but again, with the rainy day, the lighting wasn't too great. 

This is my Christmas wallhanging for this year (if I get it done). I made it for my husband since it's his favorite holiday saying. The majority of the fabrics I used for this are from Hall of Fame. I love how fun and festive the colors are together. Really, the combinations are endless with this collection.

I also managed to finish, er... work on some more...this project that I started at the Sewing Summit. I blogged a bit about it here. There was a class that I taught by Jess from Urban Patchwork on improv. piecing. LOVED that class! I'm going to work on this quilt just a little bit more and show you the completed project soon. (I hope)

Another cool thing from that class:

I won THIS book from Jess' drawing!  It came in the mail this weekend while I was at the retreat. I've thumbed through it and LOVE it. Tonight, after the kids are in bed, I have a date with this book. Cover to cover. (no, not reading word for word- but looking intently at all the pictures!) I'll tell you more about that TOMORROW!  :o)

BUSY-ness

Today is a BUSY day. But first, lets take care of business and announce some winners! THANK YOU to everyone who left comments. You are all so sweet and encouraging. I honestly wish I had enough fabric, time, and money to send ALL of you some. Luckily you'll be able to find it in a store near you towards the end of Jan/Feb!

The winners of the FQ bundles (10 fq's in each bundle) are:
303- Bree
152- Cathy
263- Lucy

I also chose winners to recieve one of my newest patterns:
126- Patricia (Pep Rally)
167- Carol (Out of Time)
30- JamieLee (Rock Star)
348- Rsisland (Full Court)
216- SusGus (On Target)
63- Amy B (Double Bubble)

Again, thanks so much for playing!!!

Now I have to get ready to head to the FrenchKnots retreat today!!!  I am so excited to get some real sewing done. Wish you could come too!

Did you know Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK!!!  How did it sneak up on my so fast this year? We're hosting at our new house. Yikes! I haven't bought any food or made any preperations yet. I've made a list for the hubs to do all the shopping while I'm off sewing all weekend. If he forgets the turkey, I guess we'll just have sanwiches!  :o)

Also, in honor of Cyber Monday I will be having a SUPER sale. Check back soon for details.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and an awesome week wherever you are!  *hugs!*

Patterns

I'm so excited to show you the patterns that I have released with the new Hall of Fame fabric collection. My goal was to design patterns that complimented the fabrics nicely but that weren't necessarily masculine patterns and could be used with many different fabrics.

 From the moment I designed the pennant fabric print I knew I wanted to make a pennant quilt. This pattern is NOT hard to do. I made sure that my instructions were clear with lots of pictures so ANYONE can sew these angles!  This pattern uses Fat Quarters and has instructions for 2 sizes.

Full court is a fun basic quilt. Perfect for beginners, but great for ALL quilters. The floating squares give it a fun modern look with just a little extra detail to add some interest. You can have some real fun with those floating frames!

One of my NEW favorites and a twist on an old classic- this pattern is super cool!  Blocks can be mixed and matched for an even scrappier look. Try this one with fun florals and modern prints like Lush by Patty Young for an unexpected treat that's sure to please!

 This is a revisit to an old favorite of mine. The circles are raw-edge appliqued for added texture. Soft to the touch but a rugged look for a more manly feeling quilt. Instructions are for 2 sizes and use 10" squares for construction. Think about stitching this one up in batiks- GORGEOUS!!!

 
 Perfect for anyone but especially so for your star player. Mix and match the numbers for your favorite jersey and a tribute to your all star. Or leave the numbers off all together for a modern twist. Uses 10" squares.

Add a little interest with this fun quilt that uses different piecing and applique techniques for each block. Great for classes and workshops or a project to do in a weekend. You'll be amazed at how quickly your entire quilt is finished. Uses Fat Quarters for easy fabric selection and kits.

Don't forget to leave a comment on yesterday's post for your chance to win some FQ's from Hall of Fame. And because I'm in that giving kind of mood- I'll be picking winners to recieve some of my new patterns, too!!  Leave your comments HERE to enter!
Winners announced TOMORROW- 11/18/11

Hall of Fame!

This post was planned to go live first thing this morning. But Blogger had other plans. Like, not letting me load pictures the way I wanted to. So instead, you have the 'official' inside view of my market brochure featuring:

HALL OF FAME

my newest collection for Michal Miller

There are so many things I want to tell you about this collection so I'm just going to dive right in. (If you get bored just skim over it!  :o)

First, I never intended for a rainbow, but as I was rearrnging the prints into a nice format the the brochure this is what happened and I love it. I have a fun 'retro' project I'm trying to figure out using several of the prints. It will most likely be a blog-only special. I'll probably show it sometime late winter when Hall of Fame is shipping to stores!

My inspiration for this collection came from vintage high school photos. I love the look and feel of these pictures. And although most were in black and white I could imagine what the colors were. I wanted to bring that feeling into a collection, yet have it feel modern all at the same time.

Obviously this collection has a more masculine feel- we need that in this industry. The colors, shades, and prints were all chosen to speak to a broad audience with a focus on the 8-30 male population. Colors can be mixed and matched to form almost any combination of 'team' colors.

There are a few focus prints that have a general sports theme. The pennants print is one of my FAVE's right now!

Of course I had to add some simple plaids and a fun multi-stripe. The 'sport spots' (or cheerios- as I often call them) are super playful and fun.

The ticking prints are reminiscent of those vintage sports but have a contemporary feel to them. I also designed some 'almost' solids with a slight tone-on-tone texture to mix and match with the rest.

Another of my favorite prints are the ones with numbers all over them. I'm a sucker for anything with type on them. LOVE these!

In the days to come I plan to show you the fun new patterns I've designed with the prints. They are so fun to work with. Want to see just how fun!? Leave a comment telling me your favorite print and you'll be entered to win a bundle of 10 fat quarters from this collection!!!  I'll pick winners (yes, more than one!) on friday 11/18.

Can't wait to hear your favorite!

A little too revealing

The STUDIO is as 'finished' as it's ever going to be. It's a work in progress, right? I'll contstantly be changing things around- that's half the fun. But it's functional right now and I'm loving it!

 This is the view down towards the front door so you can see the close proximity my studio has to an open front door. SCARY!!! Hence the need to keep it clean (yeah right! Like that's going to happen!)

 And a straight on view. I wanted to open the windows so you can get an idea of the amount of sunlight that comes in- even though it doesn't make for a great picture. Also, there's still things in boxes. The big one fron and center is overflowing with quilts.  The two big frames are leftovers from my market display in Minnesota (spring 2010). They are going to become my design walls once I find the staple-gun.  :o)

The view to the right: Thank you Closetmaid assemble myself furniture. It may be cheap, but hey, it's cheap!  I'm on a budget here. My main focuse was continuity. Oh, and to fit all my junk in this room nicely. :o) Wanna know what's behind door number 2? FABRIC!!!

View to the left: (before I opened the blinds- blech!) Corner table thanks to IKEA.  I took liberties with this one. Mixed and matched legs from a different desk set-up so I could have the top I wanted for the price I was willing to pay. So I had to pre-drill all my own holes- been there. done that. no biggie. Took me less than an hour from car to completely set up and I LOVE IT!!! There's room to do patterns on the left and on the right, sew. The corner gives me depth for extra quilt bulk when quilting. And there's room to store more boxes underneath! There's a little more minor construction/destruction that needs to be done when I can find my jig-saw. I'm going to notch out my table again so my machine sits flat. I did that in my old setup and it changed my life. Really.

This is my favorite nook so far. Behind the wall to the left is where I organized my shoes, um, I mean patterns! I have had several pattern organizational ideas over the years. Many attempted and just as many failed. But THIS is a winner. And of course, room for bolts underneath! A temporary spot for the ironing board- the hubs set this up yesterday to get church clothes ready for the kids. The iron is going to go atop the 9-cubby unit you can see in the photos above. I have a fairly large board on top that is going to double as my cutting area (so I don't have hunch over!!!) and my ironing area.

So there you have it!

If you have an eagle eye and can see past the glare there's a few goodies sitting out. More on those later. Oh yeah, and how about I tell you about my new quilt patterns and FABRIC collections. There just isn't enough time in the day. I'm asking Santa for a few extra hours... A DAY!!!  Whataya think of a 26, or even 30 hour day?  :o)

See you soon!

Tidbits

First of all, thanks for all your wondeful comments on my Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol. 4 block (whata mouthful!)  I'm in a hurry this morning so I just scrolled through the comments trying not to look too close and randomly picked one.

 I've already notified the winner but to the rest of you- the magazine hits newstands next week so keep a lookout!

And then there's the little matter of my studio. I was hoping for a BIG reveal today but that just hasn't happened. What with having sick kids and then a sick self this week and all. I did manage to make the trek to IKEA yesterday to pick up a few things but there's still more to do and I don't want to show anything until I can show it ALL.

Just for a little sneeky-peeky I'll give you the "before"

Boxes, cords, clothes etc. It's a mess. But you see those 2 big bright things? WINDOWS!  Lots of natural light in this room which I am SUPER excited about. I mean, I do a lot of sewing in the wee hours of the night but with light like this- who could stay away during the day!? Those big windows are the real reason I'm itching to get this room done. I just love going into that room just to stand and breathe in all the light. So lets all cross fingers that I have something to show for my efforts on Monday. :o)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programing for...

The STOMACH FLU!!!!

Seriously. My whole family. Started with my middle kid in which I thought it was just a fluke. A couple days later #1 and #3 got it. Not to mention several people that had been to my house in the last few days. Then yesterday the hubs and I fell victim. Luckily we're all feeling [almost] normal today.

I'm still planning a not-quite-finished reveal of my "studio" tomorrow but before that I just wanted to remind you of:

 the FrenchKnots Quilt Retreat coming up- November 18th & 19th.

There is lots of fun stuff planned and TONS of sewing time. And if you can't get away for both days, there is a one day option (Saturday is when I'll be doing my trunk show!)

So hurry on over and get your tickets and I'll see you there!!!

Building Blocks

I am excited to be working on my new "Studio". 

I'm calling it that because 'craftroom' just doesn't fit anymore.

Oh and because in this new house we moved (still moving) into the only space to put my business is in the front room. Yes, you heard me. FRONT ROOM. As in the front of the house, first room you see when you open the front door. YIKES!

 But I have a plan.

That plan included a trip to Target this morning. A stop at Lowe's on the way home. And entails a morning jaunt to IKEA tomorrow.

I've been working on a serious budget here- but I like where things are going.

The old house is mostly empty except 2 rooms: craftroom and garage. Mine and His. He said he wouldn't touch mine and there's no way in #3!! I'm touching his. :o) 

My goal is the end of the week. By the end of the week to be out of the old and into the new. House, that is.

At that point I hope to show off you YOU since I know you'll be back to see who has won the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol. 4 mag.! See you soon!

100 Blocks!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that a new mag. was coming out with one of my blocks in it. It was so fun to come home from Market to a surprise waiting in the mail for me!

    Today is the first day of the blog tour that runs through the 11th! I am so excited to be a part of it and to tell you a bit about my block.

This block was inspired by a geometric tile pattern I saw in a magazine. I grabbed some graph paper and started sketching. It just wasn't working the way I wanted it to. I finally decided to form it into more of a flower shape and LOVED the results...on paper. I think a whole minute-and-a-half went by before I was scanning my stash and pulling fabrics for the block. It didn't take long to throw it together. Introducing the SUNFLOWER!

After I made the block I didn't know what to do with it. I figure if it sat around for a few days a new pattern would spark in my subconscious and it would have it's place. But the next day I got an email looking for entries for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol.4 and I knew at once that this block had found it's purpose.  :o)

I changed the colors to red and gold for the magazine submission because the issue was being released in the fall and I liked the idea of a poinsettia. The border needed to be added to fit the size requirements for the magazine. But I think the blocks would look just as nice with a simple sashing between.

Another idea I had as I've been looking at this is to make a checked border by strip piecing 1 1/2" strips in alternating colors and cutting the border strips from that. Here's my "dream" of what it will look like when I get all my fabric and machine un-packed.  :o)

Another border of the alternating strips would add even more cuteness.

So, how much do you LOVE these 100 block magazine's from Quiltmaker? I know I do.

If you would like to win one for yourself- leave a comment (don't forget to make sure you're a follower!). A winner will be picked at the end of the blog tour. Don't forget to click on the button to the left for the whole list of blogs in the tour. I'm sure they're going to be fun to check out. And who knows, maybe extra chances to win your own mag. too!  :o)

Quilt Market Re-cap

You should be super jealous that I have a friend as AMAZING as Shannon. I just peeked over at her blog (before I unplug and pack up my computer) and got lost in her perfect posts about market. I knew there was a reason to bring her along. *wink!*

Time to get busy
Market Mayhem
Quilt Market is now open
Sunday Snippets

Check them out. She's a GREAT blogger.

(*Thanks Shannon for letting me piggy-back off of your blog!)

My List

I got home late last night

(from Houston)

(Quilt Market)

I went to a new home.

My husband began moving us

while I was gone.

He tried. Really.

The piles of STUFF are

overwhelming.

Not to mention

I came home to a crammed inbox.

If you placed an order-

it's coming. I promise.

As for my market re-cap...

It might have to wait.

But I think it'll be worth it.

I have LOADS of fun to share.

And between Sewing Summit,

Quilt Market, and

MOVING

I have LOTS to give to you.

Just give me a few days to

get settled.

Thanks.