Hot off the Presses!

Have you seen the latest issue of Fat Quarterly? I just did and had to run straight to my sewing machine to make one of the projects -- the Spool Block Makeover by John Kubiniec. (hint: it is on page 81).

John's pattern was for a quilt, but my schedule today didn't permit for that big of an impulse-sew (is that a real thing?). I decided to make a placemat instead. My mom, she-who-can-never-have-enough-taberunners, has decided that she can not have enough placemats, either. OK, Mom, I got the hint. I decided to put a section of the border on one side of the block to make the placemat.

Is this not a great block? Will it not be a cute placemat?

Run to your computer and buy the Fat Quarterly, then run to your sewing machine and make this block. It is too cute to resist!

Just in Time

Several years ago at Quilt Festival, the Handi Quilter booth was across from the Cherrywood Fabrics booth. I wanted one of everything that I saw! That was one expensive quilt show for me. If you haven't seen (or touched!) Cherrywood Fabrics, then you haven't lived.

I bought as much fabric as my luggage could hold.

Recently, I was invited to a party and wanted to wear something different than my one black dress. I chose to wear my one black dress with a new colorful wrap made out of Cherrywood fabrics:

I finished this wrap at 6pm and had to leave for the party at 7pm. Why was I worried?

Oh the weather outside was frightful

This morning I was scheduled to teach a home-machine quilting class at the Quilt Basket. It was snowing and my students called to cancel. I found myself awake, showered, dressed and facing an unexpected full day at home.

What's a girl to do?

Wanting to squeeze as much as possible into my first snow day of the season (I was out of town for our big snowstorm last October), I:

• made French toast from my home-made wheat bread (no photos, but yum!)
• cleaned out the refrigerator and freezers
• made five dinners for the freezer for hubby to eat while I'm teaching out of town
• made Pho Bo (a Vietnamese soup) and veggies for lunch

• finished a present (photo will be on the blog after the gift is given)
• finished listening to Crossed by Ally Condie (meh)
• played with my sweet Sweet Sixteen

A simple overall leaf pattern will finish this quilt nicely:

I'm not a huge fan of winter, but I do love a snow day!

Orange You Glad?

Last fall I taught a tablerunner pattern online for Patchwork Posse. I chose bright and fun colors:

It was so much fun teaching for them. They have some other wonderful classes online that you should definitely check out.

As always, I had extra fabric from the tablerunner. I actually had a lot of extra fabric, so I decided to make matching cloth napkins:

After I was done with the cloth napkins, I still had some fabric left, so I decided to make some Potato Chip Bags and Wonder Wallets:

These have been gifted to some lovely young ladies. I hope they love them!

_________________

Weird fact about me: I love dishes. I constantly struggle to not buy dishes. I lost my battle when I saw these:

C'mon. You couldn't have resisted them either.

Design Wall Monday

I love winter! OK, I do hate being cold and I do miss the sun, but in the winter I don't travel much to teach quilting and have time to stay home and sew!

The proof is on my design wall:

The blocks on the left are from a Block-of-the-Month at the Quilt Basket.

The block on the right is a variation of Sugar Pop N Change from Moda Bake Shop. The variation is because I read the directions wrong.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

The Gift That Keeps On Giving!

Last summer, I made myself a Christmas bedspread and pillowcases and shockingly remembered to put them on my bed in December.

I had some fabric left over. Isn't that always the way?

Moda Bake Shop posted a pattern for a gym bag a while back. I made the bag, but used cotton instead of PUL.

It was a great pattern and I will definitely make another one.

But, I still had fabric left.

I pulled out my Potato Chip Bag pattern that I've been meaning to make for a few years:

While I was at it, I pulled out my Wonder Wallet pattern and made a matching wallet. How cute is that?

I have to put all of my Christmas fabric items away, but I can't wait to get them out to use again next December!

Just wow.

This morning, a friend let me know that I was on Quilt It! on QNNtv.com.

If you are a subscriber, the show can be viewed here. If you are not a subscriber, consider becoming one. There are so many wonderful quilting shows to watch!

Hurry! Hurry!

Make curry!

Curried Tofu with Rice, that is.

I'd invite you for leftovers, but there aren't any.

for Hannah

My blog has been sadly neglected for a while, so I am pleased to post a finished quilt:

And a scrappy back:

I started the quilt sometime last year, quilted it in November/December, and recently finished the binding. The quilt has been shipped off to baby Hannah (born last fall) and I hope she loves it!

Dear Isa

Isa, why did I ever doubt you?

When you told me that chick pea gravy could be "lick your plate" good, I scoffed.

It doesn't look like much, but that plate was CLEAN when I was done.

When you told me that TVP & mushroom burgers would become a household favorite and my children's friends would invite themselves to dinner if they smelled them, I chuckled.

Best. veggie. burger. EVER!

But when you told me that Jerk Seitan would have my family fighting over second helpings and the dinner conversation would center on "when will you make this again?" I would have called you a liar to your face.

Not one single drop was left. (The coconut jasmine rice was ah-ma-zing too, just like you said it would be.)

I am now a believer, Isa, and will listen to you from this moment forward.

________

Note: I try to eat like a vegan about 80% of the time. I try to eat like a vegetarian 95% of the time. The other 5% of the time, I indulge in bacon cheeseburgers. For me, food is not really about a philosophy; I simply feel better when I limit my meat and dairy intake. Oh, and I lose weight too. That is pretty fun.

What a difference a day makes

Where I was yesterday:

Where I am today:



There's no place like home, I guess, but today I'd still rather be in The Bahamas.

Expect more blog posts soon. I'll be spending the next several weeks hovered over my computer keyboard trying to stay warm.

Oh Baby!

I made a mistake. A serious mistake. I composed a list of gift quilts that I intended to give that I have not yet finished. Let us just say that it is a very long list. Apparently I know a lot of people who had babies.

I am in a hotel this week and have some time to sew in the evening. I overpacked terribly, but one of the projects I brought was a 8 year old bag of quilt blocks. I sashed them, sewed them into rows, and added borders.

This will make a nice baby quilt for someone. When I go to Patchwork Plus tomorrow, I will buy a backing for this. It will be completely ready to quilt when I get home.

One step closer to crossing a quilt from my gift quilt list!

Another productive evening

I am staying in another hotel this week, this time in Virginia. I will be teaching 11 classes at Patchwork Plus in Dayton, Virginia. Stop on by if you are in the area!

I got a little bit of sewing done tonight in my hotel room this evening:

I bought this kit several years ago and finished the top tonight. I will quilt it this winter and hopefully have it done in time for Mom's birthday. She definitely needs another tablerunner.

An exciting Friday night in New Hampshire

Last night, my foot pedal broke on my sewing machine. I have used this poor sewing machine for years and it owes me nothing more, but I packed a lot of sewing and now no machine. Nashua Sew and Vac to the rescue! Ruthie hooked me up with a new foot pedal and I'm back in business!

Look at what my new foot pedal accomplished tonight:

I finished a wedding quilt top for my sweet Alexis. She has been known to read my blog, so no photo. Sorry.

Another project started:



These are parts of a tablerunner from a kit I bought at least five years ago. Since I already have Mom's Christmas present (yay me for being early!), this may be for her birthday in the spring. I'm not afraid of a photo here: Mom doesn't go online... ever.

That's it for me tonight. Time for bed.

To help you dream quilty dreams, this is the carpet in my hotel hallway:

Wouldn't that make a great quilt?

It's always rainy in New Hampshire?

Yesterday afternoon, I drove to new Hampshire. I was last here in August, during Hurricane Irene. The heavy rains yesterday made it look as if I had never left!

Since it wasn't fit for man nor beast outdoors, I hunkered down in my hotel room last night to sew. I brought along a bag of well-aged quilt blocks (circa 2000). They are now pieced into a quilt center.

I'll find some border fabric the next time I'm home.

If you are near New Hampshire today, come visit me at Nashua Sew and Vac. I am teaching two classes there today.

Quilt Therapy

Do you ever have a day when you need to hide in the sewing room and just make something? I had one of those days this week.

I decided to try and thread paint the applique design from this quilt:

I grabbed some thread:

The threads are Accent, Konfetti and Tutti, all from WonderFil.

I sat down at my sweet Sweet Sixteen (my new sewing machine) and tensioned it to run multiple threads:



(I took the time to get it just right.)

I started filling in the shapes:



Suddenly, a flower appeared!



A short time later, the thread painting was complete:



Next it needed to be quilted:



(Now you know my secret: I watch Law & Order dvds on my laptop while machine quilting.)

The inner circle was quilted:



I added some simple quilting in the border and bound it:



This 14-inch square quilt was finished at the end of a day of quilt therapy.

I felt much better!

Design Wall Monday

I've just returned from a tour of North America:

• Quilting With Machines in Huron, OH (teaching 4 classes)
• Machine Quilters Exposition in Portland, OR (working for Handi Quilter)
• Central Sewing in Edmonton, AB (teaching 10 classes)
• International Quilt Festival

I loved being in all those different places and meeting all of the quilters, but I also couldn't wait to get home and start quilting something!

Last summer, I designed and made this quilt. The fabric is Blue Skies from Paintbrush Studios.

This quilt (and I) will be on Quilt It! on QNNtv.com in January. The quilt is currently touring Europe and Asia with WonderFil Threads.

I wanted to see what that same applique design would look like done in redwork (or green-work).

I stitched this from the back side of the fabric using a triple-stitch on my sewing machine. It's a little ragged, but it was fun to just play! Has anyone else done redwork on their sewing machine? Any tips to keep it smoother?

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Toonie or not toonie...

... that is the question.

I just finished teaching 10 quilting classes at Central Sewing in Edmonton, Alberta. I met so many amazing quilters and had a fantastic time here!

Since I am flying directly to Houston tomorrow, I asked at my hotel about laundry facilities. The desk clerk, Nicole, said, "It is coin operated, but we have loonies at the front desk." Um..... ok..... huh? There are likely loonies at the front desk of many hotels, but they don't proudly advertise that fact. After thinking for a while, I bravely asked, "Are loonies coins?"

We had a long conversation about American money and Canadian money. Apparently paper money in Canada starts with the five-dollar bill. They have a one-dollar coin called a "loonie" and a two-dollar coin called a "toonie." How did I not know this?

Thanks to one of my students, I am now the proud owner of a toonie:

Thanks Bill!

Nicole is the proud owner of an American dollar bill. She seems as excited as I am!



I'm a little sad to be leaving Edmonton, but I'm thrilled to be heading to the warm weather of Houston!

Finally Finished!

After a long break, welcome to part 9 of the Stop, Drop and Roll Quilt Along! I am hosting this for the Old Red Barn Co. Flickr group.

Week 1: We made our blocks.
Week 2: We assembled our quilt tops.
Week 3: We basted our quilts.
Week 4: We practiced some straight line quilting patterns.

Week 5: We practiced some C curve quilting patterns.

Week 6: We practiced some loopy quilting patterns.

Week 7: We practiced some S curve quilting patterns.

Week 8: We practiced some spiral based quilting patterns.

I finished the quilting last week, and last night I finished the binding. THE QUILT IS DONE!!!

The quilt will go to my son's brand-new niece. Welcome to the world, Lena.

For Kathy N.

At quilt guild tonight, Kathy N. was bugging me about not updating my blog enough so I promised I would post JUST FOR HER. Everyone who isn't named Kathy N., stop reading now!

Kathy,

On Sunday I flew from Portland, OR to Pittsburgh, PA to visit my family. I took my mom to the zoo on Monday and then had some serious binding to finish before I could drive home on Tuesday morning.

My sister's birthday was in May, so I made her the bottom tablerunner (the same one I made for my mom for Mother's Day). Yes, it is late.

My mom's anniversary was in June, so I made her the top tablerunner.

I finished binding them both in time to drive home on Tuesday morning. I was relieved.

I hope you liked your blog post.

Debby