What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Marilyn has done it again. This is a large (around 92×95″) appliqué quilt. Her work is just beautiful. Her appliqué is perfect. I am blessed to call her a friend.

Couldn’t get a picture of the entire quilt, so here are a couple of views

Most of the appliqué backgrounds are quilted with my version of McTavishing with feather flowers, feathers, and butterflies mixed in. The butterflies are the same butterfly in one of the blocks. Mosaic is quilted with crosshatching.

Here’s some of my favorite blocks.

In this block, I quilted McTavishing in the cream background ...

Recently, I had a chance to review a set of sewing/quilting related books from Taunton Press. I decided to group these together into one post for ease of reading. Some of the books didn’t translate well to Kindle format but they were formatted well enough for me to review. So, what fun books did I get a peek at?

First up was “Hand-Stitched Home” by Susan Beal.  This book is full of fun projects focusing on using Pendleton Wools.  If you’ve been living somewhere distant for the last hundred years or so, Pendleton Wools are a staple ...

So, I was working away on my baby quilt project for July. I’d busily made four-patches and then headed on to 1/2-square triangles. Unfortunately, I must have been somewhere else when I was cutting because my blocks ended up like this

Slight size difference.  I guess my mind was saying “2-inch strips” but my hands went right to 2.5″.  These two simply won’t play well together.  However, I am a quilter and there’s always a world of possibility in mistakes.  I already have a plan…stay tuned for an update!  Oh, and I realized that ...

I was recently contacted by U.S. Cellular asking if I’d want to work with them.  Part of the deal was that I would get a new phone for my efforts.  I jumped at the chance and ended up with a new Samsung Galaxy s5.  I LOVE the phone.  The 4G was a wonderful upgrade for me!

Previous to getting my new phone I could never figure out what the big attraction the kids had to their phones.   They would check Facebook, play games and use their phone just like a computer.  My old phone a Motorola Electrify wasn ...

Have you picked up your copy of the August/September 2014 Quilters Newsletter? It’s our 45th anniversary issue! You can find it at the Quilt & Sew Shop if you’ve not yet seen it. It’s full of all kinds of cool stuff – stories, products and beautiful quilt patterns like the one for our cover quilt, Bonnie’s Rocky Mountain Star, designed by QN founder Bonnie Leman’s daughter, Mary Leman Austin. There’s also the conclusion to our quilting technology series, in which ZJ Humbach writes about the die cutting and digital cutting technology available today.

Well, there ...

….of what our quilts mean to others. Whenever I’m frustrated with my quilting and ready to give up, I pull these out of my drawer… ….and read them all. They are from people who appreciated the work and love I … Continue reading →

It another beautiful Friday with the whole weekend ahead.  I hope you all have something fun to do this weekend!   I will be announcing the winner of the Farm to Fabric Challenge first thing Saturday morning so there’s still time for the rest of you to leave me a comment HERE to win the gorgeous AMB tote bag!  I wish there was one for everyone who leaves a comment but there alas, there is only one and it will be won by random drawing.

Let’s get to today’s great Finds.

1.   Do you hate to put zippers ...

Yes, it is a Craftsy sale! Don’t we love those? Craftsy’s Summer Supplies Clearance! (Note this is a sponsored post.) Did you know the Craftsy’s Summer Supplies Clearance is happening NOW? Shop and enjoy up to 75% off yarn, fabric … Continue reading →

Before I pack up and leave for my 3 week vacation in Europe (that’s right, I said it…where? Oh let me tell you…Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Budapest and Prague…I know!) I thought I’d share two zippered pouches I made with the Atkinson Design Zippy Strippy Pattern.

This one I am going to send off to my aunt. It’s Laurel Burch cat fabric and it just has my aunt written all over it. I even made my own piping. You know, that is so easy I will never buy premade piping again.

Then there is ...

Exciting news! One of my quilt sis featured in the fabulous new book from Martingale, Fun-Size Quilts.

I received my copy a couple of weeks go and have had so much fun perusing the fun, whimsical, adorable designs in there. All 17 patterns are made using fat quarters as backing, so they’re great small projects for giving as gifts, experimenting with different techniques, or stash busting. For my details about the book, check out this post. And here’s my contribution, “Stalagstripes.”

More good news: Martingale is giving away 16 free eBook copies! For a chance to win, leave ...

Last week I have shown you how I was tackling meals lately cooking many things at once, storing them in the refrigerator and popping them in the over as we needed them.  (if you missed that it’s here.)  One of the recipes was called Overnite Casserole.

I started making it a few years ago when we had the chickens.  We always had so many eggs and this recipe uses four so it was great for that.  What I like now is the simplicity of making it the day before and having it the next day.

It’s not a ...

I just got an email saying I was one of four winners to receive an AMB Fat Quarter Bundle.

Aren’t those colors fabulous?  I’m very excited to receive these beautiful, totally American Made Brand fabrics – fabrics that were made from cotton grown here in the United States and processed here in the United States!   Fantabulous!!!

Thanks to Clothworks for this great gift.  I’m looking forward to seeing them in person.

That reminds me, Readers.   The drawing for the AMB tote bag is tomorrow at the close of day.   You DO NOT have to enter the Farm to ...

So I’m teaching a class on ho to make these at work! I think are just some of the cutest potholders I’ve ever made! I cannot wait to show people how to make these at the class next Tuesday. I’ve always liked owls, so these are just too cute to pass up!

The Latest in a series of Dissapearing Nine Patch Experiments.

A Completly Different Look just by making ...

You know you are a fabric artist when your husband hands you an odd-shaped piece of wood and asks you to determine the angle needed for the peak of the chicken coop he’s building!

Honestly, it happened to me yesterday.   I was assisting his coop building as our daughter and grandson (and SIL) were MIA due to work and summer camp  When the chicken owners are present, I get to spend my time watching and throwing balls for Penny Lane, the grand-dog.  Today was my day to assist.

Here’s the odd piece of wood I was handed.

And ...

A post from Kelli–

As you know, I was laid off from my office job last December and started going back to school for nursing.  In order to get onto the waitlist for the nursing program, I had to complete a few classes–Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Nutrition, and Dosage Calculations.  I was able to finish most of them this past semester, but enrolled in summer classes to complete Anatomy and Physiology II.  Once I have this class done, I’ll be able to be placed on the waitlist to get into the program.

The way that the ...

I ride my bike a lot. And I like to have my arms free, while keeping my valuables close to me (instead of having them in my bike basket). So I decided it’s time to bring the fannypack back into style!

I made myself a fun pouch using fabric scraps from my stash and some fusible interfacing. Here’s a rough step-by-step tutorial!

You will need:

• 2 pieces of fabric approximately 14″ by 20″ (one for the inside of the fanny pack, one for the outside)
• an 8″ square for the pocket.
• 1 yard of strap
• 1 buckle
• 1 ...

Have you ever heard of, or seen, a “Mini Classic” sewing machine?   I have.  I took a photo yesterday but it was through the window of a shop and you can see more of my reflection than you can the sewing machine so I apologize.

This “Mini” looks like a Singer Featherweight, right down to the black box it comes in.   I’ve looked up some information about it but even that has discrepancies.  One person said it was made in China; someone else on the Quilt Board say it was made in California.  Both agree they were made around ...