Thursday, August 30, 2012

I've been busy....

sneak peek1 

Sadly, this is all I can show you what I have been working on. It may not look pleasing as far as my regular quilting, but it totally makes sense if you see the whole quilt and I happen to love it! You will be able to see the whole quilt in a magazine around February - I will keep you updated on that. In the mean time, have a fabulous day!

Monday, August 27, 2012

My first magazine article!!

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 I have been lucky enough to have some of my projects in magazines, but this would be my first written article explaining one of my customer quilts and the process I took in quilting it. So, needless to say I was super excited when this magazine showed up on my door step: Machine Quilting Unlimited - September/October 2012 issue, you can get your copy here.  I talked about Jan's quilt - Star Prancer, one of my favorite customer quilts to work on.

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Contributors page!

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The article starts on page 46 and it is a five page article!

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I am proud of this article and I am so grateful that I was asked to participate in this issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited. The best part of doing what I love is being able to share my process with all of you.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

M.I.A - my past week via Instagram


I have to say that I have felt bad that I have been absent in the blog world.  I had important family events to be to and I didn't bring my computer at all!  It was a nice break from regular working.  So, me and Jess and my little guy Jonah hit the road last week.  Clint and I only have one car because we don't need two since we both work at home, but on the rare occasion that I need to be somewhere and he needs the car we rent a car for me.  This was my view driving up to Salt Lake in a beautiful lipstick red Mustang.  Clint told me to promise to not fall in love with the car...why wouldn't I?


Isn't it gorgeous?  6 speed manual transmission and super fast, I had so much fun driving this baby.  I had to give it up this morning, so sad....


While I was at my parents I got to eat blackberries the size of plums.  They were amazing!!


My sister Jen, my mom and I went to Riley Blake Designs and had fun sifting through the flat fold tables.  I found some cute fabric to bundle up and put on our site.  I will let you know when I get those cute bundles put together.   


A trip to my parents isn't complete without a trip to the berry patch with Grandpa.  I am so happy that my kids get the chance to spend time with my parents.  


This little guy turned 4 while we were gone.  It took him about 10 blows to get the 24 candles out.  Why 24? It's more fun that way of course!  It's always fun to think of Jonah and his connection to our life now.  We moved to Saint George and started our business 4 days after he was born.  It was a crazy time for us, but looking back it was the best decision Clint and I have made.  So, we have our 30% off store wide sale going on in celebration of our business's 4th anniversary.  


This is the result of 10 minutes picking from my dad's garden.  He is amazing and his garden is gorgeous and very productive.  I can't tell you how yummy the tomatoes and peaches are.  So yummy! 


Grandma made a special bear for Jonah - he hasn't let it leave his sight since she gave it to him. 


Nothing sweeter than a sleeping boy.  I love those peaceful moments in my life where I can just think about how much my kids mean to me.  


Clint sent me this picture while I was gone, I missed Micah's first day of kindergarten.  Sad I missed it, but grateful for modern technology so I could see him! He got to ride the bus for the first time with his older sister. 


Me and my brother at his wedding reception.  It was a great celebration and I was so glad I was there with him and his new bride.  


I had to share this picture of my parents!  They have taught me everything I know and I will forever be grateful to them and their loving example of hard work and determination for everything in life.  


My mom made this gorgeous quilt for my brother and his wife.  The colors in the fabric are the same as the colors of their wedding.  


Me and my little man, I was so glad to have this week to spend just with him.  


He steals my heart!  


When I got home Clint surprised me with a painted wall and a new piano.  It's going to be great to start playing the piano again - might just be another noise maker when it comes to the kiddos though :) 

I got home to some great magazines sitting in my mail!  I am excited to share what I have been up to!  I will do that soon!  So, my Instagram name is judiakagreenfairy - follow me if you want.  It's more like a journal for me, quick and fast info to help me keep track of what goes on in my life. 

 

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

They grow up too fast!!!!


The summer really flew by and it is hard to believe it is over.  Today was the first day of school for my sweet girl.  She is in 2nd grade and I cannot believe it!  It seems like yesterday she was a little bundle that fit in my arms.  Next week we will have a kindergartener and a preschooler, two days a week for a couple of hours we will have 3 kids out of the house.  It is almost too much for me to handle! 


And, speaking of bundles - here is a rare moment nowadays - this little guy is pushing two years old and the last thing he wants to do is cuddle.  So, when he fell asleep in the car today, I took advantage of the situation and snuggled with him for 10 minutes - it.was.heaven!! So, when I think of what today was for me - the oldest heading out to school and my baby giving me one of the last snuggles I will probably get from him - I got a little emotional.  I don't want to forget how I felt today and I plan on cherishing every moment with these kiddos.


One little announcement - the winner of Angela's book giveaway is JudyQT!  Congrats go to her!! Please email me your address and I will forward it on to Angela to send out your copy of her book!  
  

 

Monday, August 13, 2012

Storm at Sea

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This incredibly awesome quilt was made by Jen! I think the colors in this quilt are fabulous and she did a beautiful job piecing it. She used this pattern for the quilt and I had so much fun quilting this. 

Quilt stats - 3 different colors of So Fine thread, two layers batting, 26 hours labor with a ton of straight lines, squiggles and circles went into making this quilt. Fabric used for the quilt is Origins by Basic Grey for Moda Fabrics.

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I have to admit, I love the final reveal of the quilts I work on. It is always so fun for me to pull a quilt off the racks and realize that my aching back has all been worth it.

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I did have to mark guidelines in the solid green fabric. I used the disappearing purple marker for this quilt and I had to work fast because it disappeared nicely, maybe a little too nicely :-)  So, I marked the block then quilted it and moved onto the next block repeating the process.  

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I started out thinking I would quilt the blocks all the same....

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but, I really love how the texture of two different quilting designs in the blocks give the quilt an amazing look.

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I used three different threads in this quilt. I quilted all the brown, then went back with the cream and finished with the green. I just love how the quilting turned out on this!

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I always have a hard time choosing which pictures to post, so I end up just posting all of them.

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As always, stitch in the ditch is a must for all my quilts.  It just looks better!
 
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I loved how the lighting on this picture is spot on! The quilting is really awesome in this picture - I didn't realize until after I decided to post this picture that there is lint in the brown fabric. Oh well, you can't always have it work out perfectly. Well, another finish and another one on the racks.  I am starting to get caught up and it feels great.  

Oh, and all you Instagram-ers out there, I decided to take the plunge. It won't affect my posting here, but it is a more relaxed fun way to show you what I am up to.  My user name is @ judiakagreenfairy - so come follow me!

You still have time to enter my giveaway, I will announce the winner in a couple days.  


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Book Review and Giveaway....

First off, thank you so much for all the love on my last post about my book coming out next year - you all make me feel so loved! I really can't tell you how much it means to have the support from all of you. 

Speaking of books... have you met Angela? I am sure you have since she is excellent at free motion quilting. Well, she has a book out and one coming out soon and it is all about free motion quilting.  As you know, free motion quilting is how I roll so this book is a happy addition to my quilting library.


I am happy to share this great book with you, Angela has been a great friend. We met back in 2011 at the Salt Lake Quilt Market - it was so awesome talking with her, especially since I had been happily following her blog for a while.  


I love that I have a signed copy!  


This book is absolutely full of awesome ways to quilt and I love her concentric circles the best.  Whenever I have seen a quilt with awesome quilting and this stitch, I have immediately known that it was Angela's quilt job.  This is going to be the first stitch I try out when I have one of my quilts on the racks.  


Another thing that I love about this book is the close ups of the quilting.  You really get a feel for what the stitch looks like and how you need to quilt it.  


The modern quilts in this book are all so fun.  I have had a great time reading through this book and I know you will enjoy reading it as much as I have.  So, do you want to win a copy?  Well, Angela has graciously allowed me to give away a copy of her book to one of my readers - pretty sure she will sign it too.  What do you need to do to win?  Check out the 7 new fabric lines that have come into our shop, then come back and leave a comment telling me your favorite new line.  Only one comment please!  

Good luck!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Bursting at the seams............

Remember when I was completely distraught and thought my quilting book idea was over and how I just didn't know if I would be able to move on with my idea? Well, I can hardly stand it, but I have to tell you the good news! Soon after my post about how my book idea was dropped, I was contacted by 5, yes 5 different publishers (still can't believe it). Wow, I didn't think it was possible - the sadness turned to excitement at the prospect of having options. Well, then of course it turned into a difficult situation trying to make the final decision on which publisher to go with, but in the end it was always AQS.

publisher 

It is still so surreal, but I have the go ahead from Andi (Executive Book Editor) that I can shout it to the world that I have a contract with AQS to publish my book with the working title "Wide Open Spaces" to come out sometime next year.  They just need my signature and the process will start.  
  So, it is looking up!  I know I have to wait just a little longer to have my book out, but in the end I am sure it will be worth the wait.  I will be sure to keep you up on when the book will be available.  

Friday, August 3, 2012

I pretty much love this, and it is all my own.....

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So, what do you get when you piece some jelly roll strips, free motion quilt the pieced strips, then do a video tutorial on the quilting? Add some cute yardage and some more sewing and you get yourself a new bag!
 
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I have had so much fun putting this bag together! My first attempt at a fabric flower, I now know how to make the flowers better next time around, but I would have to say that the flowers are not to shabby for my first attempt at making them. This bag is made from my "Carry All Tote" pattern, I used jelly rolls strips instead of honey bun strips and I replaced the applique for fabric flowers to give it a fun and different look.

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This is the back of the bag, I love how it turned out.  The original idea was to keep the whole thing green, but I am so glad I decided against that because the pop of color is so great!
 
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I love the quilting on this, I was going to do a more custom quilting job for this project, but sometimes (okay, all the time) I have to just get my projects done fast so I can get back to customer quilts. I was inspired by this post to not let my blog become boring by not posting projects I am working on, so thanks to Camille for the reminder and kick in the pants to not let my blog go by the wayside....and allow myself to do more of my own projects.

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This is the inside of the bag with four pockets and this super cute fabric. The fabric I used for the lining is called "Fresh Meadows" by Exclusively Quilters. I picked it up at my local quilt store - I brought the hubby with me and even though we are in this quilty business together, he was still telling me to hurry and choose my fabric... I guess he is like most men in a quilt store. I will go alone next time :-) But, I do have to admit I was a little excited at all the fabric choices and I was a little indecisive.....I am sure you know what I mean.

So, if you want to make a bag like mine and need the pattern, you can get it hereJelly Rolls are on sale for 30% off until Monday, so it's a great time to pick out the jelly roll you need to make a super cute bag! Well, I think that's it, back to quilting!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Video Tutorial



Okay, I had a little too much fun putting this video together. It is around 6 minutes, so hunker down and plan for that. By the end of the video you will either be dancing or thinking I am the biggest dork - either way I had fun putting this together. I hope you like it!