Flower Patch

Okay - every now and again I want to highlight one of my patterns. This happens to be Flower Patch - it currently sits at #1 on my favorite patterns list. This is the quilt where when I show friends and family, they say "Can I have it?" I look at them and say, um no - I don't think I can part with this one, but I have a pattern! Then, most of them say "I don't quilt." Well, since I have more quilting friends out in the blog world, I figured you would appreciate how fun this quilt is to make. And, since it uses 1 layer cake and 1 jelly roll of the same fabric line - it sure makes it easy to pick out the fabrics to use for the pattern.

I quilted this quilt with my allover free motion flower swirl - this was quilted a couple years ago, so don't mind the mistakes - I have gotten better since then.

This is an all pieced quilt pattern and it is so fun to make! If I were to make it now I would use "Sophie" because the fabric is the current favorite of mine!

I couldn't highlight my quilt without draggin' this little munchkin outside with me. He is almost 10 months old - I can't believe how time flies. I just wish he would grow some hair!

He currently scoots everywhere - he has no desire to pull up on his knees and actually crawl. He loves bananas, or any food right now. He loves it when Daddy has ice cream because he sure gets his fill on that. He is my most ticklish kid and he laughs more than any of my other kids, but for most of the time he is quiet. He is just content to sit in my arms and still lets me cuddle him.

He just recently discovered how fun it is to make Daddy crazy by trying to pull down FQBundles from the inventory shelves and he has been attempting stairs! Oh - the other day he discovered he could pull himself up in his crib, so each morning he stands there waiting with a smile on his face for me to come and get him. Did I mention I love this little guy?

He's on the move and these little hands won't be so little for very long. Oh, how they grow too fast!

And his big little feet are still munchable!

So, to all of you out there still reading this post and just dying to make this fun pattern you can get it here on sale for $5.95 for a limited time.

It's our 3rd Anniversary - our gift to you is...

...a 30% OFF STORE WIDE SALE!!!! We have put everything in our store at 30% off, including all our new Moda and Riley Blake Precut releases, so come get your favorite fabrics before they're all gone!!!

Sale ends tomorrow night!

Texture

Okay - guilty as charged. I love the texture that quilting creates on quilts. I spend most of my time running my fingers over the quilting (not joking) and end up posting pictures of it when I should be quilting because the kids are asleep!

I just had to share!

Winners and some thoughts..........

Winners first! Just email me your addresses at judi(at)greenfairyquilts(dot)com and we will ship out your prizes asap:

FQBundle: Mary Grace McNamara

JellyRoll: Jenny

LayerCake: Patty D from NC

Thank you, Thank you!! to everyone who participated in my giveaway and especially to all of you who donated to our cause. Your money will be a huge help to the people in Romania. We will be leaving in about a week and will keep you up to date on what is going on.

Now for some of my thoughts:

Meet Jess - my sister! She is 7 years younger than me, but you wouldn't guess that. We get along so well, and we are kind of like twins. She has been living here with us for 5 weeks and let me tell you, it has been the best 5 weeks! She left today to go back up to Utah State for her final year of college. I can tell you I am so proud of her, but I am so sad that she is gone.

She taught me how to laugh more and to not take everything in life so seriously. She showed me that cooking can be fun. She showed me how you can find humor in any movie - I mean any movie - its been such a blessing to have her with us. I miss her already!

The school year is back in full swing and full days are here! My daughter was a little nervous about that, but she came home the first day from school telling me that school wasn't long enough. She is so grown up now, time really does fly - but I am so grateful for each moment.

So this little guy just turned 3! He is so grown up! His birthday is the same day as our business anniversary. Hard to believe it has been 3 years since we packed our bags and moved our family 300 miles away to Saint George. We moved 4 days after I gave birth and my first memory of moving into our home was a very large bug scurrying across the floor in the empty house. I looked at Clint in disgust and said "that's a cockroach, isn't it?" He told me not to worry about it and that it wasn't a cockroach - I had never seen one before - anyway, I learned real fast that the bug guy is my best friend and it was a cockroach and that Saint George is an amazing place to live. We plan on being here for a very long time.

So, in the past three years - Clint and I have learned to work together and be home together all the time. We have learned that hard work and persevering makes it possible to live out your dreams. We also learned that you need to keep your personal life and business life separate and that we need to date to keep the romance alive (another reason we are going to miss Jess, our built in babysitter!)

So, summer is pretty much over - life continues to go on, (reality will always be reality) kids grow up way too fast, but I will be focusing on enjoying the journey!

Well, if you are still reading this I wanted to let everyone know that I started a Flickr account and I would love it if you posted pictures of your quilts that you have made using Green Fairy Quilt patterns here.

Also - I am working on a little something that I am stumped on so I need your help. Okay - here it goes, just ask me what you would like to know about long arm quilting - leave a comment and that will help me out. I won't be able to answer these questions right away, but you will see the results of these questions at some point in the future!

A Quilting finish......

Before I talk about the quilting, here are the quilt facts:
Quilt made by Beth (she does beautiful applique work!)
Quilt pattern: "Flea Market" - it was a series last summer in Quilters Newsletter Magazine.
Batting used: Quilter's Dream Cotton
Thread used for top: Superior Threads "Antique Silver" Metallic #064
Bobbin thread: Superior Threads "White" So Fine #401

The TOWA gauge for the bobbin thread was set at 220 - I just played with the top thread tension.


Okay - I had so much fun quilting this quilt. I usually have fun - but I have to tell you that I always second guess my quilting until I pull the quilt off the frames - then I just love it.

The borders and center flower points were free motion straight quilting - no rulers, so it may not be perfect, but consistent hopefully.

I love this block!

I absolutely love the sash in this quilt. I mimicked the curve lines, then free motion quilted ovals, then went through each oval with connecting curves. This was really fun.

I love the pattern the quilting in the sash sections created at the points. It is just fun.

Here's the straight stitching and the simple swirl in the borders. The patterns on the fabrics are busy enough in the white/black borders that I decided on a simple quilt stitch because it wouldn't really be seen.

I absolutely love how the corners come together on this one. A new love - straight stitching!

Here's a close up - you can see the sparkle of the metallic silver thread. I just love it!

And - a close up of the sash - love, love love it! Now to the next quilt, also made by Beth! Pictures next week!

Oh - and I will announce the winner of my giveaway sometime soon, but there is still time to enter here.

Huge Charity Giveaway......

Okay - we are giving away a Fat Quarter Bundle with 38 fat quarters in it, a Jelly Roll and a Layer Cake. This is a giveaway to raise money for our charity, we will be going to Romania in 3 weeks and we have all the quilts we need, so THANK YOU to all of you who have sent in quilts for us to take. We are going to be getting school supplies for children in need (they start school a couple of days after we are there) and we will be filling up a soup kitchen with food that feeds a lot of homeless kids, and kids in need. Please know that you can enter this giveaway without donating, and you don't need to donate to win a prize, but we would like to raise money for our cause. Please know that 100% of your donations go to helping with the food and school supplies and that none of the donations go to Clint and me - we pay for our own plane tickets, food, and hotels with our own money.

So, read on for the details!

First thing up for grabs is a Jelly Roll called "Panier de Fleurs" by French General for Moda Fabrics.

Next, a Layer Cake called "Northcote Range" by Cabbage and Roses for Moda Fabrics.

And finally a Fat Quarter Bundle called "Coming Home" by Deb Strain for Moda Fabrics.

Here's how to enter -

Leave a comment telling us what you will make if you win.
(1 entry)
Help spread the word by blogging about our giveaway & leaving a comment telling us you did!
(2 extra entries)
Make a donation here of any amount and tell us you did.
(3 extra entries, 100% goes to the charity)

Thanks in advance everyone!

Charity Giveaway starts on Monday, but the fun starts today!

Hello everyone, we're leaving in 3 weeks to Romania to deliver all the wonderful quilts many of you have sent. If any of you would still like to help with this trip, you can donate money which will be used to buy school supplies and food for the orphans. We want you all to know that 100% of your donations will be used by us in Romania for this cause!

To get the fun started, all of our Moda Layer Cakes are $12 off, and for each Layer Cake ordered from now through Monday, a portion will be donated to the charity. Then on Monday we will start an awesome giveaway you won't want to miss!

Have a great weekend, and be sure to come back on Monday to check it out!

T-Shirt quilt..........

This quilt was for Danielle's son - he's off to college and she wanted a custom quilting job for this special quilt. I learned a few things about this quilt - I had to change out my needle and use a size 16 instead of the size 18 that I always use, and I couldn't quilt every block with as much detail as I wanted because some of the t-shirt graphics were more "gummy" if that's the right word. Anyway - it was fun - I am pleased with how it turned out.

Solution...

Okay - I was completely frustrated with this kids picking and because of you - Thank You! I figured it out! This kid is allergic to the band aids and his skin was too dry!


So - pirate hat - lots of Vaseline and lotion and he is healing nicely. I trimmed his nails short too! Thank you, Thank you to everyone who had a solution for me. I have come to realize that he gets his habits from me, hate to admit it, but I didn't realize it until I blogged about his picking problem.




Okay - my kids - I love these little people. I finally have a picture of them all together. I just haven't done that yet, and I am sad that I haven't. I spent a lot of time the last few months being so worried about getting my book projects done that I didn't spend as much time with them as I should have. I really regret that. I am now back on my schedule of only working while they sleep and it makes me so much happier. I need these little munchkins and I hope they know how much I love them!



The whole family - sometimes I can't believe that there are six of us - where does the time go?

Now, time to get a real photographer and get some real family pictures taken.

How do you stop a picker?

Okay - the problem is, this kid won't stop picking scabs. Now he's started making scabs because I cover up the ones he just made, it makes me crazy of course! Any remedies that have worked for any of you out there in blog land?


Here he is without the bandage - the picture below will tell you more about each scar.


A - started out as a very small scar. Okay let's say - more like a scrape - got it from his older brother throwing a car at him.
B - BandAid Rash - I had to keep him from picking A!
C - Other side of BandAid Rash - but now a full fledge picked on scab - that's why I had the gauze on him, to stop him from attaching this new scab and also A.
D - Small scar - not sure how he got it, but I can usually blame his older brother.
E - Couldn't get to A,B, or C so he started a new one! That happened last night.
F - Huge scar from last November - it took over a month to heal from the "band aid, don't touch, band aid, don't touch" routine.

Really - I am at my wits end - I have tried everything, but he does this at night when he is supposed to be sleeping.

This is only a phase right? He'll get over it I hope - but probably not before he totally ruins his cute little noggin.

What's going on here???

as Timon would say in the Lion King - anyway, I feel like I have been slacking in the blog department. A lot has been going on, first off with finishing my projects - so excited about that, but I am now finishing off the last few instructions to go along with the projects - have I ever told you I hate writing patterns? Well, now I have. Anyway...........


Girl's trip this last weekend to visit the family! Dad was off to Alaska, Joe came in from Missouri, and it was Mom's 60th Birthday. I didn't think I was going to be able to make it, but I did. I left the boys at home and took Lili and Jessie back home for the weekend. Why Jessie? - well, keep reading..........


Dad's garden - it is always so gorgeous! I love going home and just being in his massive yard, we always head for the berry bushes that seem to be everywhere.


So, why did Jess drive home with me, and why the heck is she here? Well, she is the reason I got my projects done. Let's call her my slave, if you will. We have this arrangement going on for the next month where she does whatever I ask and she gets new clothes in return, not a bad gig for me - and I hope she is having fun. But seriously, I haven't had so much fun in my life with her here - she is a breath of fresh air and keeps Clint and me laughing all the time. Oh, the coolest thing that I didn't know about her is that she loves to cook!- NO WAY, ju gotta be kidding me! (Nacho Libre)
So, according to Clint - Jess and I make the perfect woman - because she can cook and loves it - and I don't, but can do other things. He will never live down that comment.


Grandpa, my sweet Daddy is always so good to help the grandkids get their fill on the berries. The boysenberries were ripe for the picking as you can see from the picture with me and Jess - we made the most incredible pie from those babies.


Our trip couldn't have been complete without a trip to the Lehi Bakery - 7 grown adults in a minivan - it couldn't have been more fun. I love my brother's and sisters! Oh, the donuts weren't bad either, I mean - they are the best donuts in the world!


It was fun getting out of the van with our big boxes of donuts and Dad coming over to check it out, wearing his "Greatest Dad" shirt very appropriately. So left to right: Josh, Abby, me, Joe, Amy, Dad, Dig aka Jon - Jess is taking the picture. I love these people!!!! We stayed up way too late each night playing Pit and Phase 10 - Mom's favorite thing to do. What a weekend! I am so glad I was there.



Okay - now that things are starting to get back to normal with the quilts, I thought I would share the smallest of peeks form one of my secret projects. My favorite quilt in the group I think - so I hope you enjoy the peek! Right now I have a T-shirt quilt on the racks and will be catching up soon, so the quilting pictures http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwill be starting up again next week, I hope.

Another thing that is going on is that our Charity Trip is coming up. Clint has convinced me to go, so we have our trip booked and the babysitter's ready! I just wanted to let everyone know that we pay for our trip from our own money (airfare, hotel, food, etc..) and that all donations go towards the cause. We have reached our quilt goal, thanks to the amazing help from Sarah and everyone involved in Hands2Help. We have confirmed our arrival with the man we work with in Romania and we will be loading up his soup kitchen with food and helping kids in need for the new school year by getting them school supplies. So, if you would like to donate, please do so here.