What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Have you heard any of these expressions?

     “If you can’t see it from a galloping horse, don’t worry about the mistake.”
     “If you aren’t wearing it to church, then don’t worry.”
     “It looks good from Texas!”
     “Quilters don’t make mistakes. We make variations.”

Or maybe you go by the 3-foot rule: Stand back 3 feet and if you can’t see the problem, it is okay.

Why do you make quilts? Is it a creative outlet? A fun way to spend time with friends? To make a special gift? To add some warmth or color ...

I am still clearing out the basket of old UFOs and now I am two projects closer to finishing. Right now it is hard to find time to quilt, so it is nice to finish a couple of things and feel somewhat productive. 

The newer (haha!) project is another from the weird Blitzen fabric line by Basic Grey. This fabric came out in 2012 so it has celebrated a few birthdays. I hope I don’t come across any more UFOs with this fabric. I probably had a fat quarter bundle and should have separated the fabrics into a whimsical ...

In my never-ending effort to declutter my sewing room I came across this String Spiderweb UFO. This project was started at a Bonnie Hunter retreat in 2017. I have never been a fan of string piecing but had loads of scraps left over from the 100 Days 100 Blocks project, so started piecing blocks at the retreat and got this far.

In December 2020, I made several more blocks and abandoned the project again. It’s a very slow process and messy to tear the paper off the back. I love scrap quilts, but this block is not my favorite ...

I worked on this right up until Monday, but was determined to finish it by Halloween–Halloween 2022! This quilt is from the Scaredy Cat quilt pattern by Jedi Craft Girl. I made the blocks last fall, but once Halloween was over it became a UFO and languished for about a year. The fabric is Moda’s Kitty Corn line by Urban Chiks and it is perfect for this quilt. I love the soft colors. They are not the screaming orange, green, and black you typically see for Halloween. The background is a coordinating Moda Grunge. 

Here is a picture ...

Sometimes I just don't feel like I've accomplished much when it comes to my quilting.  I have so many patterns laid out that I want to make, but I've been challenging myself to finish some of my old UFOs and flimsies first.  Then, I take a step back and look at what I did get done, and I don't feel so bad.  

The first UFO I got done this year was Christmas Ribbons.  You can bet I had it on the bed for the holidays!  I loved this fabric line.

 I was going to name this blog post "Lesson Learned".  When I first opened the shop in 2003, Jinny Beyer fabrics were a 'big thing'.  I ordered the entire fabric line.  The shop was smaller and the only wall space I had to hang samples was the distance between the top of the fabric racks and the ceiling.  I was scrambling to get samples made and found this pattern that showcased all of the fabrics in the line.  It was perfect and I was excited to get it made up and hung.

A group of ladies came in to scope ...

 Hello friends and beautiful people!  I pray you had a Merry Christmas!  Ours was full of faith, family and friends.  Thursday night we had our large family dinner with the kids and grands.  Friday night we had friends over for dinner before we all headed to church for our Christmas Eve service.  It was quite relaxing.

I did finish quilting and binding this quilt called "Fancy Baskets".  It is another older Thimbleberries pattern with Thimbleberries fabrics.  The fabric line was called Cottagewood and I really loved it - especially the plaids.  (We do have one pattern left on our website, and ...

 This one was waiting to be custom quilted.  I've always known how I wanted to quilt it.  So, I waited....I finished quilting it last week and got it bound last night.  I was originally going to bind it in the green.  After I quilted it, I felt like it needed a *pop* of color, so I grabbed a red!

Believe it or not, I am all caught up on my Christmas longarming.  All of my customer quilts that were needed for Christmas have either been picked up or mailed and business usually dies down for the rest of the year.  It's a time to get caught up and catch my breath before the first of the year.

I loaded more of our allover designs on the Facebook page and am getting ready to load some more fabric and patterns on the website.  Then, it will be time to start paperwork for the accountant.  I love year-end!  Truly I ...

One year.  That's how long it took me to quilt this quilt.  I don't call it my Lifetime Achievement Quilt because it is hard or anything special.  I call it my Lifetime Achievement because I am proud of myself for persevering.  This quilt has been on and off the longarm for one year.....  I would work on it for a bit.  A custom quilt would come in from a customer and I would take it off long enough to take care of the customer.  Then - back on the longarm it went.  

I like wholecloth quilts as a longarmer ...

In my quest to finish up more of the UFOs, I grabbed this little guy off the hanger.  He's been hanging out and beckoned to be ready for the holidays.  The name of this pattern is Straddlin Santa by The Wooden Bear.  

There are a lot of quilts hanging in the que that hang there for a long time.  I have it in my head that I want to custom quilt them.  I don't want to tie up the machine for that long because of customer quilts, so they just sit there.  I've always had it in my head that I wanted to custom quilt Eureka.  It told me it wanted lots of feathers.   Momma was in the shop about a month ago and was looking at it.  She thought it would look great in her lake house.  (That's ...

If you Google "Quilt the Seasons", you will see that a LOT of designers have coined a book with this name.  (I know it is hard to come up with something unique, and I get it.)  By far our most popular book was the Quilt the Seasons book by Pat Sloan.  We whipped up samples of a few of the projects to sell the books and sold out of books long before we even thought about getting them quilted.  Sadly, the book is no longer available.  I regret not grabbing one for myself.  :(

I've mentioned this before...we keep ...

Everyone who knows me well, knows that Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love the smells, the textures, the tastes....  putting the garden to bed (pardon the pun) is always bittersweet.  I've picked just about all I am going to pick.  I have canned, dehydrated and froze about all I am going to preserve.  Seeds are saved.  What I have not done is clean up the beds and prep them for Spring.  I choose to pick a few Saturdays where the air is crisp and my body feels the need to be out there.  If you ...

We are still in the process of remodeling....Hubs finished his bathroom and mine is gutted.  Tile is laid and grouted.  Putting the tile around my tub is next.  Our house hasn't been updated since it was built in the 70s.  EVERY house we have lived in - we have remodeled.  It seems like we just get them finished and we have had to move.  *sigh*  Between job transfers, Pops getting sick, etc. there has always been something.  This little farm is supposed to be our retirement home.  We started with the outside because that was important to us.  Through ...

I spent Saturday longarming in the shop.  Truth be told, I couldn't wait to get the quilt that was on the allover machine done so that I could put my Vacation Houses quilt on there.  I had an allover in mind.  I had been eyeing this allover for a while waiting for the 'right' quilt to put it on.  Finally I finished the beast of a quilt, got the customer invoice done and was ready to load my little quilt on there.  I just didn't want it to end up in the UFO pile for you to read ...

Today's pics aren't my best work - I'll just start off with that disclaimer.  Earlier this week I was on a Zoom call and saw our rural mail lady try to turn around in the neighbor's driveway.  She got stuck.  Totally distracted from my call, I watched as she kept revving the engine in her little jeep and burning the rubber off her tires trying to get out.  My call ended and I threw on a coat and boots.  In an effort to get there quicker, I started out across the yard rather than using the driveway ...

When April Cornell came out with the Poetry line of fabric, it was love at first sight!  What I wouldn't do to have some of those ticking fabrics right now.  Here's a little secret - ticking fabric is a weakness for me.  Look at this pic and you can see the 'feel' of the line.  (stolen from Google)

We made this as the lighter version of ...

I don't know how anyone can get excited about frayed edges on a quilt, but we do!  I love the way they came out on my Seasonal Table Runners.  They just add some 'depth'.  When it first became a "thing", I just shook my head.  

I have loved this Frayed Edge Pumpkin quilt since I made it.  I love the warmth and coziness it makes me feel.  Then again, I love fall!  I love the burning candles, the rustling leaves and the smell of wood burning in a campfire or stove.  I love the crispness of the air when ...

I still am of the opinion that Eleanor Burns (Quilt in a Day) has some of the easiest directions out there.  We've taught a lot of her classes and have had her trunk shows in the shop more than once.  While she does 'waste' some fabric, she makes it easy for a beginner quilter to accomplish intermediate construction.  I've met her at several shows and she is NOTHING like she is on her TV show.  She is the kindest, sweetest person ever, but she doesn't have that 'baby talk' voice in real life that sends my Hubs ...