Fat Quarter Folding Party

January 14, 2012March 19, 2013Leave a comment

My mom came over for a visit yesterday so I put her to work! She’s a fellow fabric-aholic like me which means she loves to fondle fabric just as much as I do. My daughter wanted to get in on the act, too – so we set up an assembly line of folding, stuffing and labeling hundreds of individual Fat Quarter Singles.

To protect and organize the fat quarters, we bagged each one individually. Now they are ready to pop into the mail for the next customer who wants them. Don’t they look yummy?

My work is done for today – now I can go play!

Amy Butler Roman Shade

September 3, 2011August 31, 2011Leave a comment

I have such talented friends! And I love it when they let me share pictures of what they’ve made using my fabrics. My friend Alexis recently made a Roman shade from some Amy Butler fabric: Temple Tulips in the Cinnamon color from the Soul Blossoms collection.

Here’s a picture of her finished shade and a link to her blog Persia Lou to read all about it!

Mother-Daughter Sewing Team

August 31, 2011March 19, 20134 Comments

The last time I blogged about a mother and daughter sew-in, it was about my daughter.

Last week my mom came for a visit and this time I was the daughter! She needed to whip up a couple of quilted ditty bags to store some fishing poles for an upcoming trip.

(Notice our matching necklaces and bracelets – totally unplanned by the way – like mother/like daughter!!)

I was all too eager to help! After all, my mom taught me to sew, but I taught her to quilt.

I stipple quilted for her while she & my daughter did some on-line toy shopping.

Then it was my mom’s turn to take the quilted piece of novelty material..

Trim it up, sew the edges together..

And turn it into a couple of useful utility bags. Way to go, mom!

It just dawned on me that now we have 3 generations of sewists in our family!

Charm Pack Table Runners

August 6, 2011August 9, 20112 Comments

A fellow guild-member named Judy sent me a picture of two table runners that she recently made from charm packs. Here’s what she had to say about them, “They are from the book ‘Fast & Furious quilting as you go’ by Gudrun Erla. The runner is called Lucky Charms. It only takes 5 light and 17 medium to dark charms (backing, binding and batting extra). The size is 8 1/2″ X 26 1/2″. A really quick and easy runner that can be made for all occasions. Everyone that has made this has said it is very addicting and lots of fun!”

I met Judy recently when I took an all-day sewing class sponsored by my guild. (You can read about that in an earlier post). During the class we chatted about how fun charm packs are to work with and the possibilities are almost endless.

We also took a break with a few other sewing buddies to go visit a fun little quilt shop in the area that had just opened up. You know you are having fun while attending a quilting class and a shop hop breaks out! Isn’t this place cute? The owner is super friendly and is a mom with young kids, just like me!! This is exactly the type of shop I would want to run if I owned a “brick and mortar” store rather than my on-line shop.

Dr. Seuss Quilt, Thing 1 and 2 Costumes

August 3, 2011August 3, 20112 Comments

I was so taken with the introduction of Dr. Seuss fabric that I just had to get some! Here’s a picture of Jason and me dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Halloween last year.

I found the wigs at the store and just knew they were perfect for these costumes. I bought the blue and red spotted fabric at a local quilt shop (now I’m carrying the entire line). I used a super easy sewing pattern to make the pants, then appliqued the letters and circles to the front of red T-shirts. It still cracks me up seeing us dressed like this but it was fun and we got quite a few comments on our outfits.

Here’s a quick and easy strippy quilt my friend Jessica made with Cat in the Hat fabric and coordinating yellow dots. I love how she cut the black and white striped fabric on the bias for the binding. What a perfect gift for her child’s school teacher!

Why You Should Join a Quilting Guild

August 1, 2011July 30, 20111 Comment

I have “sew” much fun in my quilting guild that I wanted to encourage you to join one if you haven’t already. My large guild of over 300 members has several smaller groups that meet once a month, called quilting circles. Here’s a report of Rainbow group’s July meeting:

We had a demo on binding and how to finish the ends so that they are neat and tidy.

We also had a book report on two fabulous scrappy quilt books that use jelly roll strips. They are called Scrap Basket Sensations and Scrap Basket Surprises. Our guild president, Bobbi has already made a few quilts from the book.

I liked them so much that I ordered several copies to sell on my website and it will be available the middle of August. I can’t wait!

The best part of our meeting, by far, is the show and tell. We have some absolutely talented ladies and it’s such a treat to see their work.

One of our members, Karen, won a weekend retreat with Ricky Tims and we were all jealous!! She dyed her own fabrics and designed a unique Rhapsody Quilt.

After such a fun and uplifting meeting I was inspired to go home and sew. That’s the point, right?

Fabric Shopping Spree

July 28, 2011July 28, 20113 Comments

Ok, so it’s a different sort of shopping spree I had this morning – one of my fabric sale reps came by to pay a visit today bringing loads of new fabric samples and paper-mockups of new lines coming out this fall.

Here’s Ron from Westminster showing me the latest and greatest new fabrics from Kaffe Fassett, due out this fall. I scooped up a few geometric-looking lines and ordered a bunch of precuts. Westminster is getting on the bandwagon with that, much to everyone’s delight!

Next, I got to see paper printouts of Amy Butler‘s newest collection, Lark, coming in October. First the company prints the designs to scale on paper, then produces them on fabric after enough orders have been taken. I’m sure this one will be very popular!

I’ll be going to my next wholesale trade show in September but it’s nice that many of my sales reps will also make house calls. Now, I just have to be patient and wait for the good stuff to arrive!

Charm Pack Quilts – Sew Easy Even a Child Can Do It!

July 14, 2011March 19, 20137 Comments

Jenna completed her Charm Pack quilt top!

By Wednesday she was comfortable putting the squares together and sewing the rows all by herself. She had to watch out for those sticky pins and I helped guide her to keep accurate quarter-inch seam allowances.

Each time she finished a row, it reminded me of my own excitement when I finished my first quilt.

The key to success I believe was choosing a pre-cut charm pack so we didn’t even have to worry about sharp rotary cutters or scissors. Jenna chose City Weekend by Oliver + S for her first masterpiece. Isn’t it beautiful?

Watch for part 2 of our mother/daughter sew-in where we’ll baste, quilt and bind!

Mother & Daughter Summer Sew-In!

July 11, 2011March 19, 20131 Comment

My boys are attending tennis camp this week so I thought I’d have a little quilt camp with my daughter while they are gone. Jenna has been wanting to make a quilt so I let her pick her out any charm pack she wanted to make a quilt. I thought that would be pretty simple since the squares are already cut. She chose City Weekend by Oliver + S because it had lots of pink along with fun pastel colors.

We actually got quite a bit done in just an hour of sewing this morning.

First we practiced with a few scraps so that she could get comfortable guiding the fabric. I worked the pedal while she sat on my lap. She was “sew” proud of her first finished strip! She wanted to lay out all the squares and sew them in just the right order. It’s nice to have someone who shares my passion for sewing!

Lily Ashbury Summer House

July 6, 2011July 5, 20111 Comment

I’m so excited for the new collection I just ordered from Moda, Lily Ashbury’s Summerhouse. Below is a picture of the precuts along with a sampling of the entire color scheme. I ordered the entire line, so the yardage should be arriving shortly.

I just love the spring-filled color-scheme and I’ve already set aside one of the charm packs to sew a baby girl’s quilt. I don’t know who I’ll make it for yet but I have plenty of friends who are expecting, so one of them will be the lucky recipient!