Monday, November 26, 2012

Randomness!!

Okay, this video has nothing to do with anything quilting, but I can't stop laughing at my sister's fear of ET. We had a wonderful weekend with family and Clint and I are currently working on orders, thanks to you lovely customers! So, watch this video if you want, or don't, it's up to you! Have a fabulous Monday - and for everyone out there, we have our in stock layer cakes on sale for $24.50, best price all year! And this price is only good for today! Take care!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving, almost....

2012 tree 
but then again, my Christmas tree is up already. Clint is ready to put Christmas up right after Halloween, so I just have to go with it and decorate the tree when he puts the tree up, luckily he gave me a couple weeks after Halloween before he put the tree up.  I promise we celebrate Thanksgiving over here, and for the most part I refuse to listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. Anyway - it feels like true confessions over here - like it matters what we do, right?  
What we love most about this time of year is the time we get to spend with family. My sister, her husband and their 5 children will be spending Thanksgiving with us and I am so excited! There is nothing better than eating total comfort food with the ones you love. There are so many things that I am grateful for and family is always priority number one.  So, I just wanted to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you are spending your day with the ones you love.
  
sneak 
I'm going to turn off the quilting machine and not turn it back on again for a few days. It will be a wonderful little break, but I am totally excited to get right back to this one....Take care!!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Beth and her excellent applique skills!

beth1 
So, first off - this quilt is Beth's. I have quilted several quilts for Beth and it is always a pleasure to quilt for her.  She makes me think that hand applique might eventually be fun to try ;-)  Her skills are just amazing.  This quilt pattern is called Stevie's Garden by Susan Smith and it has almost 650 applique pieces, WOW!!! I know it takes patience to quilt, but hand applique must take so much more patience.  I am always so impressed with quilts like this.  They are so beautiful!

beth2 
I have to apologize if the quilt looks a little blueish - the background is white fabric, but I took these pictures when the clouds were out and it changed the colors. I did my best to fix them. Anyway - the quilt took me 17 hours to quilt - my back aches, but it was so worth the pebbling. I used Magnifico #2003 for the top thread and So Fine #401 for the bobbin thread - the thread worked nicely together.

beth3 
Because there are a lot of circle applique shapes in this quilt, I wanted to add large quilted circles in the filler.
beth4 
It is always tricky to quilt around applique and time consuming to go in between each little leaf, but again - so worth the effort.
beth5 
Close up of the large circles with a swirl in every other one.  I love the look of the extra detail to the circles.

beth6 
Random swirls throughout gives the quilting more character - that is why I love free motion quilting!

beth7 
I just love this!

beth8 
More close ups of the circles.

beth9 
And, it is always tough to pick out a favorite section of my quilting when it comes to a random design. But, this swirl just worked out so perfectly that I think it is my favorite part of the quilting :-)

beth10 
And the back - love it! Because the border fabric was so busy - in a good way - I just did my free motion feather swirl. When you can not see the quilting, no sense in doing a custom quilting job in that area, right?

beth11 


beth12 
Some of you have asked for a video tutorial on this filler - I will do that, eventually.  Sorry, it is a little crazy right now so I will let you know when I get a chance to quilt this filler again.

beth13 
Last, but not least.  I love the texture difference between the border and the inside of the quilt. 
Thanks for letting me share!

Monday, November 12, 2012

2

n1 
Well, it is hard to believe this little monkey is 2!  It seems like yesterday I was in the hospital going through natural birth (I know, I am slightly crazy) to bring this little boy into the world. It was worth the pain, he has been such a joy and blessing to our family.
   
n2 
We could not get one good picture of this kid smiling, but I am ever so thankful to Clint for pulling this face - he tends to do this a lot - especially when I just want to get a good picture of us. So, I told him this time I would not hold back and this picture was going on the blog! Ha!

n3 
He was so cute blowing out his candles - and yes, I made his cake! Big step for me, I usually buy a cake - it turned out so yummy! Lucky for us we had family in town and were able to celebrate Noah's birthday with a big group.  It was so wonderful!

n4 
And we finished off the weekend with an incredible sunset. It is the small moments that help me remember just how much I love my family, each day with them is a gift!


PS - one more thing, the fabric line I am using for my baby quilt from the last post is called "Mischief" by Nancy Halvorsen.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

What I'm working on this week...

what I'm currently working on 
So, this week has been an adventure to say the least. Between cleaning the house, taking care of the kids, laundry, dinner - I am making time for a little fun sewing. Multitasking is always fun, isn't it? I think us moms/quilters are pretty good at it. This current project is a design in the works, after the pattern is finished and the quilt is done, the quilt will go to a friend having a baby. It's a surprise though, so I cannot wait to give this to her.  I imagine this quilt will be in the works for the next few months because I am sneaking little bits of time for it in between all the other tasks.  Quilting is always one of those tasks.....

what I'm currently working on 
This filler is fun and random and I can not wait to share the finished quilt! I hope to finish this week, fingers crossed!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

The past week

With all the positive comments that keep me going and the encouragement I get from you readers, I am always thankful to the people who make it interesting and keep it real.  You never know what you are going to get when you do a blog post and my last post was no different.  First off -  Wow!!  THANK YOU to all of the sweet comments you left me.  This blog started out as my business blog and in the beginning, it was boring to say the least.  As I have learned how to blog I have put more of myself into each post, turning this blog into more of a personal blog for me and not just a place to share sales on our pre-cuts or patterns.  I also share my quilting through my blog with a ton of pictures because I want to encourage new and seasoned quilters to improve their talents.

If you read up at the top header of my blog it says: "Green Fairy Quilts - Show and Tell, where it's okay to show off."  I don't want you to think that I am showing off or "patting myself on the back."  The reason I share so many pictures of my quilting is because I would have loved to have that inspiration available to me when I first started quilting.  It really is so hard to just get started quilting and I hope that through my blog I can help you new quilters get started along your own quilting journey.

This blog is my happy place, so party poopers stay away!  Life can be so hard sometimes and yes, I admit - I love it when you comment and tell me that you love my quilting - it makes it all worth it! The truth is I love quilting too, I love to share what I know - not because I think I am better at quilting than anyone else but because I believe that God gives us talents that should be shared.  So, when I say that I love how some of my quilting turned out - just know that I love what I do.  What would be the point of me quilting if I didn't love it, right?

I don't know why I feel like I have to explain myself, but if one person comments on how I am doing something wrong, then I start to think other people may think that too.  But, please don't worry - I am not wasting time worrying about it.  I have had a fabulous week with my family by celebrating my husbands birthday, going to Zion's National Park, and Trick or Treating with the kids.  Quilting is a huge part of my life, but it isn't my life - that being said, I will continue to share what I know with you and that includes lots of pictures of my quilting telling you how I love how something turned out.  No apologies ;-) So, I leave this post with a few pictures from the past week via Instagram - @judiakagreenfairy

 He's 32 and still the love of my life!
 Hiking in Zion's National Park with me is all Clint wanted for his birthday.
 It was the perfect day!
 The red against the cliff walls is just too amazing!
 Magnificent trees!
 Santa Clause and Halloween?  Add in ice cream cones and you have the perfect Trick or Treating night with the kids.
  The still mute, but growing kid.  This baby is almost 2!  I can hardly believe it!

Have a fabulous week!  Life is too short to be so concerned about what you think other people are doing wrong, just worry about yourself and learn to be happy for others and their successes!