Wish Me Luck!

June 9, 2011March 19, 20133 Comments

This weekend I’m heading north to run the Utah Valley Marathon. My first marathon was in St. George in 2009 (pictured left) in which I “earned” a foot injury that took more than a year to recover from. This time around I’ve been much more careful during my training, and have taken better care of myself.

My goal will be to finish without injury and to have a good time. I’m a little slower and still a few pounds away from my goal weight but it’s been great getting back up to speed and running long distances again. Wish me luck!

Laurel Burch’s Holiday Celebrations

June 4, 2011June 4, 20111 Comment

I love fabric. I mean, don’t we all? But every now and then a really special fabric collection comes along. Now don’t get me wrong – I usually try to buy at least one to two new fabric lines each week so that I have something to list for my on-line quilt shop. However, I usually shy away from Christmas fabrics because they are seasonal and don’t really sell well all year long. But, boy, when I listed Laurel Burch’s Holiday Celebrations, I couldn’t believe the response! Here’s a sampling of just a few of the fabrics from the line:

I bought her previous Christmas collection and it didn’t sell well. So I’m not sure if the designs are better, or if there is just more demand for her fabrics; whatever the reason, I’ll take it! Cotton prices have been increasing and I felt bad that this was the first line that I had to list at the 9.95 price point, but that hasn’t seemed to matter (especially since I’ve seen it on-line for much higher). As soon as I could tell this was going to be a hot-seller I immediately called Clothworks, the manufacturer, to order more so I can try to keep up with demand.

Here are pictures of some of the glitter basics tonals. At first, I was a little worried because so-called “glitter” fabrics I’ve bought in the past from other fabric companies have usually been very messy. However, these are actually more like sparkling tone-on-tones where the metallic doesn’t rub off. That was a relief! (The glitter basics are just 9.5o per yard so that helps lower the average cost a bit.)

Finally, here’s the crowning jewel of the collection, the focus panel with wonderful whimsical winter motifs and plenty of metallic gold sparkle:

I can’t wait until my customers start sending me pictures of what they make with this line!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

June 1, 2011March 19, 20132 Comments

I spent this morning in my garden weeding, pruning and lovingly taking care of my produce that is starting to pop up. Both quilting and gardening are very therapeutic for me. I love to create something beautiful with just a few basic elements.

The grape vines remind me of a Hoffman grape leaf fabric I used to sell awhile back!

I planted grapes a few years ago and every spring I get tons of lush vines. However, my grapes have been small and bitter so a friend of mine gave me a tip. She said to cut the vines back so the plant can devote more energy to grape production. Now I have a garbage bag full of clippings to show for my efforts this morning (I hope it works). You can see the grape pods starting to grow now.

I planted a couple of tomato plants underneath the grape vines and was very pleased to see them starting to fruit.

We live in a very hot climate with lots of sun which can be hard on tomatoes. An unintended consequence is that they are being shaded by the grape leaves. You can see the vines beginning to curl around the tomato cage. What a great combo!

For part of his science project, my son is helping me with the garden. He planted some peas and was so thrilled that they actually grew. He enjoyed plucking them and eating them. He loved to pull apart the shells and eat the individual peas.

I just threw a handful of them in my mouth, pods and all. I think we will have to plant many more of those next season. What a delicious, healthy snack!

Finally, I’m cleaning out one of my garden beds. It’s amazing how many weeds can pop up when you aren’t looking!

My son was supposed to help with the weeding but got very interested in a big fat tomato worm instead. I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture of that yucky thing but it did keep him entertained for awhile so I can’t complain!

Off With Her Hair!

May 30, 2011May 28, 20116 Comments

I’ve been wanting to cut my hair short for quite some time and this weekend I finally did it! It was getting too hot to run with long hair, plus I’ve always wanted to grow my hair out long enough so I could donate it to Locks of Love (a charity that makes wigs for children undergoing radiation treatment). Here are the before pictures:

Now for the fun part! My friend Brakell is a hairstylist so I trusted her to make the cut! First she put it in a ponytail, then cut off the braid.

From the first cut I was loving it!

Even wet, I thought it looked cute. Brakell added some texture and then roundbrushed it with a hair dryer. I thought, This is going to be an easy style to maintain!

Here’s the after picture, looking cute and sassy and definitely happy with the new ‘do!

Rainbow Circle Quilt Meeting

May 27, 2011May 25, 20111 Comment

My quilting friend Stacy and I went to lunch this week before our monthly quilting meeting, the Rainbow Circle (named after the road where our group meets). This is a smaller group of about 20 of us who get together each month to share news about our larger quilting guild, swap blocks and show and tell our latest projects.

I am proud of Stacy. She’s finishing a pretty pink and brown quilt for a new granddaughter, and she did the quilting herself. It’s hard to see but she quilted some pretty flowers.

Last month I showed pictures of a star block swap we did in the group. This month, two of the gals brought back their finished quilt tops. We have some avid quilters amongst us!

This swap was led by Susan shown on the left with her quilt top. The blocks are called “Susie’s Star”. Hmm, I wonder if I’ll get to mine sometime this decade???

Bug Jar Blocks, Fruits & Veggies Fabric Exchange

May 25, 2011Leave a comment

I had my monthly quilting circle meeting today and it was “sew” much fun! I’ll tell you more about it in the next post, but for now I wanted to show you the adorable fabrics we exchanged.

Each person had to bring in three bug fabrics or fruits and veggies. These are my mine.

Then we got a variety of fabric pieces in return, one set for each participant. Here are the ones I received: Bugs and butterflies strips that I can use to make bug jar blocks.

And another group of fruits and vegetables that would be perfect for a kitchen jar quilt!

Bobbie, our guild president gave us each a pattern to make these cute bottle jar blocks. You start with a strip of fabric 5 1/2 inches wide by 9 inches long. Add small “snowball” corners to each side of the fabric and a 1 1/2 inch strip of brown at the top for the lids. Cute, huh?

Girls Night Out!

May 21, 20111 Comment

Last night my friend Jessica and I had a girls night out. Or really more like a girls night sew-in! Our husbands took our sons on a father and sons camp out so we decided to get together and have a play date with our daughters. It was “sew” fun!

Here are a couple of the girls in their fort that they made from toys, furniture and of course, quilts! By the way, this was taken about 11 pm and the girls were not tired at all!

I worked on an Amy Butler Sunday Sling bag. It took several hours to cut out all the pieces and fuse them with fleece for body and stabilizer for support. I loved every minute of it!

Jessica worked on a dress for one of her daughters. She learned what a “stay” was (what you sew the ruffles to) and how to line a dress with slick fabric.

We had such a good time that we decided we need to send the boys out a little more often!

Funky Monkey Quilt and More from Belgium

May 17, 20111 Comment

A regular customer of mine, Veerle from Belgium recently sent me pictures of three adorable quilts she just made. With her permission, here’s a photo of a Funky Monkey baby boy quilt made from large charm squares. Isn’t it just adorable? I love how she quilted it with a simple diagonal across the squares to keep the layers together. Her scrappy binding was a clever way to use leftover fabric pieces.

Next, take a look at her adorable cat and mouse crib quilt in pink for a little girl. Can you see the quilted cats? I think they are going to get the mice when she’s not looking!

And finally, she put the finishing touches on a beautifully appliqued marine animals quilt. Such creativity! I love it when my customers send me pictures of their finished work. It’s “sew’ fun to share!

Next on the Quilting Agenda…

May 13, 2011March 19, 2013Leave a comment

The next big project on my quilting agenda is a class I’ll be teaching this fall at my guild’s annual quilting retreat. I’ll be teaching with my good friend Stacy who attends the retreat with me each year. This is a picture of the quilt we’ll be making:

Isn’t it cute? (And no-I didn’t cut off my hair yet – it’s just in a ponytail!) The sample shown above was made by Teri Christopherson, author of the book “Patches and Posies”. With her permission, we borrowed the quilt to show around until our samples are finished.

Machine applique is my favorite technique, so I’ll be doing my quilt utilizing this method. And Stacy is the scrap queen so she’ll probably use a different fabric for each block! Now, I’ve just got to get started…

Finished Just in the Nick of Time!

May 10, 2011May 10, 20111 Comment

One of the programs I participate in with my quilting guild is a club called “12-4-12”. We have a goal to finish one project a month for 12 straight months. Everyone that completes this goal receives an award at the end of the year – a fabric shopping spree!

Here’s my latest project that I completed just in time for last month’s deadline. It’s a ric-rac baby blankie that I finished in under an hour (on the last day of the month).

I started with 1 yard each of two different flannel baby fabrics in blue and some coordinating brown ric-rac.

I sewed the ric-rac onto two opposite sides of the backing fabric face up. Then I pinned the top fabric right sides together and stitched around all sides, leaving a small opening to turn.

When I sewed the two pieces together I stitched just outside of the stitch-basted ric-rac so I wouldn’t have to pull out any stitches. The two pieces of fabric weren’t exactly the same size, so I trimmed off the excess after sewing. Then I turned the blankie to the correct side and fluffed the corners.

Finally, I top-stitched all the way around so I wouldn’t have to close the opening by hand. I used a decorative serpentine stitch in blue. Voila-a finished baby blanket in under an hour!