Saturday, September 28, 2013

This post brought to you by the word Instagram

 The hardest part about working on quilts that I can't share is just that - I can't share.  So, I have been busy.  Just not busy writing my blog, sorry about that! 

I just finished this quilt, it's gorgeous.  It is going to be in a book, but I don't know the title or when it will be out, so stayed tuned and I will let you know as soon as I know. 

So, I have been trying to be more in shape.  80 pounds of kid should help, right?  All of my pants don't fit and I refuse to buy pants, so I better get moving.  
 I would have to say that family time is the best time.  I have a lot to do, but it never comes before this.  Love, love, love my life.

  I also was able to sneak away to visit my parents. I love going home. 
And I was able to meet this cutie.  There is nothing quite like holding a sweet baby.  Add on top of that sweetness, handing said baby back to mommy ;-) (nope, I am not baby hungry)
Daddy sure knows how to take care of the kids while I am away.  

So, it is busy around here.  Life is good, I haven't forgotten about you and there is a lot I would like to share but can't right now.  Also, I am getting ready for our trip to Romania - thank you, thank you to all of you who have donated.  I am truly humbled to know that there are so many incredible people in this world.  Your giving hearts are such an example of love.  Thank you! 

Instagram @judiakagreenfairy



Saturday, September 21, 2013

Charity trip to Romania, here we come...

Hello everyone!  Clint received an e-mail last week from Gica in Romania who helps us coordinate our charity efforts in Bucharest.  Gica let us know that they are really in need of food right now and asked when we'd be able to come back.  Clint has booked our flights (I hate flying) and we are leaving in a couple weeks.  We are hoping to raise some money to buy food for the street orphans and those in need.  Of course Clint and I always pay 100% of our own travel expenses and we use 100% of your donations in Bucharest to buy food and other necessary supplies for those in need in Bucharest.  We have had some of you donate with your online orders which we appreciate.  For those who don't know, you can choose to add $1 or more to your cart for the charity when buying fabric from our site.  Here's a picture from a previous trip showing some of the food we purchased in Bucharest with your donations -
We visited street orphans living in underground utility holes, sewers, abandoned apartments etc and were able to give them each a couple weeks worth of food.  Thousands of Romanians live on less than $1 a day, and together we can make a huge difference.

We have chosen to not take quilts with us on this trip, and to focus only on buying and handing out food.  We hope to raise enough money to buy extra food to leave with Gica so he can continue to hand out food after we leave.

If you'd like to help, please visit our Charity page here and click on the donate button in the middle of the page.  You can also watch videos from our past 5 trips.  100% of your donation will go towards this cause.  You can also help buy sharing this page on your blog or facebook account.  Thank you so much everyone!!

(p.s. - an example of some of the food items your donation will purchase will include rice, beans, sugar, corn meal, potatoes, milk, bananas, yogurt, oranges, cheese, bread, meat, juice, chocolate bar, noodles and more.)

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Quilting day with my daughter....

1 
It is a rare day when I do not have a quilt on the racks on a Saturday, but this last Saturday I did.  Lili made a quilt using one layer cake during the summer for a surprise birthday gift for her brother, but we haven't gotten to the quilting until now.  So, it's going to be a Christmas present now.  Anyway, she was so excited to know that she was going to be quilting. So, I walked her through the whole process.  She put the quilt on the racks, pins and all.  I just watched and helped when she needed it.

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I lowered my table as low as I could and it was still a little reach for her. 

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I love her cute little determined face.

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It took her about 4 hours to quilt the whole quilt, by the end of her time quilting she told me her arms were sore.  Now she understands what I do - I love it!

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One quilt pieced and quilted by my 8 year old.  This is her first big quilt. 

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The best part of the day was spending time with her.  I am so happy that she has taken an interest in quilting and I am happy to share what I know with her.  I am going to make an effort to give her a little time on my machine every now and again so that she can develop her own talents. 

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Loops and more loops, she did a beautiful job for her first time quilting.

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I'm one proud mama!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Jan's quilt finished.

1 
Okay, I have had this quilt on the racks for a bit.  It's huge!  It is so beautiful though.  Jan did a beautiful job piecing this quilt top.  This is a pattern by Judy Martin and can be found in her book Stellar Quilts. I used a combo of 100% cotton and an 80/20 blend batting.  The top thread was Glide and the bobbin thread was So Fine.
 2
Here is Jan's description of her quilt in her own words: 
I always loved Barbara Brackman's Morris Workshop line; it is as close as I have gotten to buying any civil war type of prints.  I have made two smaller quilts from this line, by then I ordered Judy Martin's book on Stellar Quilts and fell in love with this Capistrano design and felt the Morris Workshop would give me the look I wanted.  I had run out of a large majority of the original fat quarters and had to search and search for stores who still had a few pieces of this line still in stock.  Working as a full time teacher, I only had time on vacations to quilt so this is a quilt 3 years in the making (besides, it is huge).  I was so surprised how easily the quilt went together as I was so worried that the star borders would not fit, but the pattern was perfect and I couldn't have been more pleased. 

Thanks Jan! 

 3
Jan asked for a little bit of feathering for the quilt and I decided to use my feather swirl for the filler design.  I love how it turned out.

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I wanted to use diamonds in the wide open spaces to mimic the diamonds found throughout the design.
 
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This is the center of the quilt and I wanted it to really be a focal point of the quilting design. 

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These feather motifs are free motion quilted, I had the path figured out after the third triangle block I quilted.

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I really love how these diamond block designs turned out.  It just gives it a great dimension.

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So, a close up of the feather swirl motif.  It really was fun to quilt.

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I quilted a double connecting curve in the diamonds and they give the quilting a soft look. 

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I wanted the design of the points to be showcased, so I quilted a straight line1/4 inch away from the points.  Yes, I marked each line and used my straight ruler to make sure the lines were straight.

 11
 The inside triangles were quilted differently than the outside triangles.  I really like how they turned out.

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Love.

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The points in this quilt are just amazing.

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As I was taking pictures of the quilt I realized that I missed one triangle.  So frustrating!  But, it has been fixed.  It's always a pain to add a quilt back on the racks though. 

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Thanks Jan for letting me work on your quilt.  It was really fun. 

Now on to the next project!


Thursday, September 5, 2013

On the frames...

After I finished piecing my Flower Patch quilt, I decided to clean off my sewing area.  It looks great for now and it is just sitting here looking pretty, waiting for me to come up with my next sewing project.  Believe me, I have a ton of ideas in my head, but lately haven't had the time to get to them.  We spent last weekend with family to see my brother get married and it was wonderful.  Sadly, I didn't finish the quilt I wanted to gift him and his bride because my brother decided to move the date up a month.  I promise to finish the project at some point and of course I will share my progress with you. 

So, this fun quilt is on the frames.  I am excited to get it finished, it's huge - like 108" huge and it's going to take me a while to finish it.  I hope to finish next week, so watch for that.  

I think it is working out nicely.  My favorite parts are the free motion feathers in the triangles.  The mirror image is just awesome!  So fun to quilt. 
One more thing, keep up with me on my teaching schedule here.  I will be adding a couple more shows in a couple weeks that I will be teaching at during 2014. 

Have a great week everyone!