Wednesday, February 29, 2012

random

So, I got me a new camera - not the one that I am dying to have, I still can't justify spending a ton on a camera that I could (well probably) lose and one that doesn't fit in Clint's pocket when we travel. Who wants to wear a camera around their neck wherever they go? Apparently everyone else but me because they have dang awesome pictures! Anyway - a cool feature on the cheaper camera, I can pick out a color in any scene and make that the focal point of the picture - cool huh? I thought green would be an appropriate color for me ;-)

What am I thinking about right now is how the heck I am going to get people to go over to my group pool on flickr and post pictures of the quilts they have made out of my patterns. I don't even know if I have set it up right, but if you have a quilt you have made using one of my patterns - then please, please head on over, join my group and post a picture of it.

I keep thinking that I am out of the loop with the whole twitter, pinterest thing - do I need to dive in or am I going to get way less done if I add those to my world of distractions? Facebook and blogging have me pretty much preoccupied - so what are your thoughts? Yea or nay on the whole twitter, pinterest thing?

One more thing, I may or may not be finishing up the instructions to a super, super cute quilt I just did up - seriously, so cute! It's a revamp of an older pattern and I can not wait to show you! I am battling a little tinge of guilt because I quilted an allover swirl pattern on it. Clint reminded me that I am trying to show off the design of the quilt, and not the quilting. It's really a tough call for me when it comes to my designs. I just hope you like it when I show it in the next couple days - or tomorrow if things go right!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Lindsay's Art Quilt revealed....

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Okay - there is a first time for everything when it comes to quilting. Lindsay contacted me and asked me to do this quilt for her, I was a little intimidated at first because I haven't quilted an art quilt before. We discussed and figured out what would work for this quilt. I really hope she is happy with what I came up with. I used two layers of Hobbs 80/20 batting, So Fine and Highlights by Superior Thread were my threads of choice.

Here is Lindsay's description of her quilt:

"As for a little background, this is the first art quilt I have done. I took a class at Asilomar last year at an Empty Spools retreat. My teacher was Ruth McDowell who has been creating quilts like this for 30+ years and is an institution in the quilting world. I grew up in Michigan and my Grandparents owned the cottage. We spent many summers there swimming, boating, fishing, playing in the sandbox, etc. Most of my favorite childhood memories were created there. My grandparents made it very special for the grandkids and in a way, I wanted to thank them and also honor the great memories we had by creating this quilt. The cottage was not fancy but we had a lot of fun laughing, eating yummy summer food and spending time with our cousins and grandpa and grandma.

It was quite a challenge for me to create this quilt because I am a traditional piecer. I needed to push myself to break out and try something new and this was the perfect inspiration. It was particularly challenging to make sure the scale and value were correct – more important than other characteristics of a traditional quilt."

I think that Lindsay did a beautiful job and it is so neat to have a quilt that represents a special memory for her.

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This is my attempt at making the blue look like a stream of water. It was fun and whimsical quilting - all free motion and no marking.


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I wanted the trees to be showcased - these little beauties took a long time. I did mark the branches in the quilt, but free motion quilted the rest.

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I can't get enough of these trees!

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The sky was fun - free motion quilting with some dragonflies every now and again. The big swirls are supposed to be clouds.

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I wanted the cabin to look like it was 3D - so a lot of simple straight lines.

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The grass areas were filled with a ton of small quilting that I hoped make it look like a field of grass.

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Here's a closeup of the trees on the back.

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I love how the back paints its own picture.

This quilt pushed me to try new things, sometimes it is easier just to stick with what I am comfortable with. I found that when you have an art quilt - simple yet detailed quilting will just add to it and hopefully make it just right!

Oh, and in case you are wondering - it took me 10 hours to quilt :)

Well, on to the next project!



Thursday, February 23, 2012

QAL fabrics

Clint was good enough to let me go and get my fix on some new fabric yardage. I hit a couple stores yesterday and this is what I came home with - I love it! I am going to be using the fabrics for my QAL blocks with Jenny over at Sew Kind of Wonderful.
These fabrics are not the typical color range that I go with, but I wanted to make a little more of a modern quilt and this quilt will be mine, all mine - just for fun! The fabrics are from Michael Miller fabrics. Should be fun! In the mean time I am finishing up the art quilt - it's looking fabulous!


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Giveaway for a Fat Eighth Bundle!!!

Hello everyone, we are sponsoring a giveaway on Kimberly's blog at
My Brown Bag Studio for a Fat Eighth Bundle,
so head on over and enter to win!!




Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Sign of a good time.............

sign of a good time

I got a lot done today - so I treated myself to a little piecing, I love this kind of mess!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

On the racks.....

I have to apologize for the picture - my camera is missing!! It was either swiped or I just completely lost it while on vacation last week, so I used my not so cool camera on my phone to take this picture. Anyway, my first art quilt is on the racks - I have the thread picked out and have the permission to have fun with it. I am a little intimidated since this is my first time quilting an art quilt - not to mention it is a very special quilt for the client - but, come Monday when I start this baby I am sure I will know what I am doing - let's hope I do! :-)

In the meantime - I have to check the web for a new camera, figure out how to use my new smart phone and pray I will get some sleep tonight because the kiddos are sick - poor things! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - what's left of it anyway.

One more thing - all our charm packs are on sale for $6.95 until Monday night - check it out here!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Directional Compass quilting block tutorial

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Okay - here is how I drew out my directional compass quilting block from my latest quilt. I hope this tutorial is helpful to you all and I hope you can try it out soon!

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The block is a 7" square - so I will show you how to draw the guidelines according to that size. First draw a line from the top to bottom of the square, then from the left side to the right side. After you have drawn those lines - draw two more lines as shown in the picture. Use the center of the lines as a guide and draw 8 markings, 1 inch away from the center.

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Use the markings from the center as a guide to draw 8 lines as shown above.

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Use the remaining markings as a guideline for the smaller lines. See the picture below.

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Half way there - I know, there is a lot of marking - but it is worth it!

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You need to mark 4 more guide markings. Take a ruler and measure 3 1/2 inches away from the center and make a mark on the four center perpendicular lines.

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Now - make a line from the smaller triangle points to the markings you just made. These lines are just a guideline and will not be quilted. See the picture below.

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This is how it will look.

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You will need to make a straight line in the center of the triangles you made from the previous step. Use your ruler to help make sure you have a straight, perpendicular line.

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This is how it will look with all the lines drawn.

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Use the first 8 markings as a guideline for the last lines to be drawn to make the shape of the directional compass.

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Hopefully these pictures are helpful enough.

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Now you have the basic shape of the compass and you are more than welcome to stop. All you more detailed quilters can continue on to the next steps.

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To give the directional compass more movement I added a center line in each left triangle section going in a clockwise direction. Then I added a line about 1/8 inch away from the outside lines to create a barrier between the filler (pebbling) and the compass.

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So, just quilt on the lines and use a filler if you want it to really pop!


Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Okay - it has been a long stretch since I have written a post. I have been getting things done, working on some - I can't show you stuff - so sadly I have neglected my blog. Forgive me please?!? And I just wanted to share with you one of my new favorite things - seriously so good!
I have caught the bug - the Downton Abbey bug. My mom introduced me to this series when I went to the Cabin retreat with her and I was going crazy because I had to wait for season 2 to come out. It's been a tough wait, but Clint and I have faithfully been watching this season every Sunday night on PBS when the kids are in bed - he won't admit that he likes it, but at least he will watch it with me. So, if you haven't been watching it - you should and I found it on Amazon for $19.99. Have a great week everyone!