A gift and a finish!

In January, I went away for a quilting weekend with my girls. As always, we ate, quilted, and laughed a lot. I love spending time with my quilting girls!

One of my friends, Isobel, made me a yummy quilted bag:

Tiffany blue!

Isobel probably has the highest level of technical sewing skills of anyone I know. The fact that she used those skills to bless me with this bag humbles me.

As I was looking at the bag, I kept thinking it looked familiar. She showed me the pattern and I realized that I own that one (Amanda's Purse).

After the retreat, I went to my box of patterns and it was not there. So I looked on my shelf of patterns and it was not there. Then I looked on my cutting table. And my bookcase. And every other surface in my sewing room. Nothing. Days later I was in a box checking out some half-done project and I found the pattern. Why it was there I do not know, but it is so exciting to find something that is lost!

I pulled out some lovely limey scraps from my stash and pieced up this purse. I decided to show my Sweet Sixteen some love, so I quilted the purse on my baby.

If you quilt your quilts by pushing fabric through a machine, you need Machingers Quilting Gloves. Yes, you really do!

I decided that lime green fabrics deserved some whacky quilting:

After installing a zipper, discovering that the zipper was broken, and then un-installing the zipper, I finally finished the purse (serious amounts of time elapsed):

I have different applique projects in my two lovely bags. I will think of my darling Isobel every time I touch either one.

Design Wall Monday

A bug is running through the internet quilting community. Have you caught it? I have.

It is the Dresden Plate bug. I caught it from The Old Red Barn Flickr group. Deb from Works in Progress has a great tutorial on how to make these blocks. If you check the date of the tutorial, you will see that this bug took several months to incubate. Now that it has caught me, though, I have a very serious case and may never recover:

Is that cute or what? I am just auditioning the 4-patch center; it may be replaced with a solid circle eventually.

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

BASICs

In February, I took a trip to New York City (PVSD -- sigh) to visit the NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild. Victoria, the hostess, was as lovely as ever and I met a bunch of other incredible quilters. I could practically taste the joy of quilting when I entered the meeting. Such a different guild experience for me.

Check out what they had to say about the meeting here. Read a few posts before and after, too, because there was too much wonderful quiltiness to be contained in a single blog post!

Victoria has a charity called Bumblebeans Basics. Consider making a quilt for this incredible cause. I made a quilt for them at my quilt retreat in January. It is based on a Moda Bake Shop pattern, but slightly different because I cut the first block wrong and decided I liked it that way.

A scrappy front:

And a scrappy back:

Victoria posted about this quilt and others here. (her photos of my quilt are much better than mine)

I machine bound this one at the recommendation of my real-life, in-person BFF Kim. She sent me a link to this tutorial and it worked!

Do you machine bind?

Design Wall Monday

Did you see the red and white quilt exhibit in New York City last year? I did not and I am still very sad about that.

I have one of the greatest jobs ever: I get to travel to different quilt shops and quilt shows all over North America. My travel season is from March until November, so I am packing my bags. Every year I tell myself I am going to make a memory quilt with fabric from each place I visit and each year I neglect to get organized and actually do it.

Not so this year! I am making a red and white quilt with fabric from each place I visit. I have already visited Sew Inspired in Simsbury, CT. If you have not yet been to their store, you must plan a trip soon!

I bought a lot of things at the shop, but I bought a fat quarter of red fabric and a fat quarter of white fabric. I made these two blocks:

Each block is labeled with the shop name and location:

I always remember to buy fabric wherever I go, but I hope I remember to specifically buy red and white fabrics at each shop and show so I have a great 2012 memory quilt!

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

Some days I really love my job

When I am not working at quilt shows or quilt shops, I am home quilting for customers. Some of my favorite customers/friends are the folks at Pinwheels. Have you seen them? You probably have. I am blown away by the number of quilt shows they vend at every year! They import Daiwabo fabrics and I get to touch them all. Be jealous! (I also own a bunch of them, but don't tell my husband.)

I just finished quilting a sample for them to take to the quilt show in Hampton, VA next week. Look for them there.

Just so I won't be accused of being a tease, here is a photo (used with permission) of the latest sample. The fabrics are so gorgeous you won't be able to resist when you see them in person:

For those of you who use Daiwabo fabrics or quilt for customers who do, consider using Quilter's Choice thread. They make so many different colors and some of them blend perfectly with taupe fabrics. I used 3025 Polished Pewter and 3019 Wicker Basket in this quilt.

I just put another customer quilt on the frame. The style is completely different and it's gorgeous too. I love my job!

My Design Wall

I am proud and excited to announce that I am current on my local quilt shop's block of the month!

This will probably be the last month I can announce my "up-to-date" status. I leave for the first quilt show of the season in fourteen days.

The quilt designer asked me to quilt the samples, but I think she only asked me because she knew I would fall in love and then have to make both quilts:

If you fell in love, too, check with the Quilt Basket to see if they have any kits left.

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

My sweet Sweet Sixteen

I declared Sunday a work-free day. That is rare for me.

What did I do on my day of non-work? I quilted, of course.

I found an old applique block made from the leftovers of my Hidden Star Sampler:

I showed this quilt when I appeared on Quilt It! Did you see that episode? I had so much fun filming with them and I love how the show turned out. They made me sound much smarter than I really am!

Back to my Sunday sewing: I pieced the appliqued block into a small quilt (approx. 20"x 20"). I layered it with cotton batting and wool batting. I went to my lovely Sweet Sixteen and fitted it with a super-fine needle to accommodate my 100-weight thread.

I did a little bit of this:

and a little bit of that:

Question: do those gloves make my hands look fat?

Answer: I do not really mind if they do since I would not quilt without them.

I did not finish the quilt, but here is the progress so far:

Can today be a non-work day, too, so I can keep working on this little quilt?

'fraid not.

A gift keeps on giving

Quite a long time ago, I made a quilt for my friend Marla. (She liked it.) I took all of the leftover fabric and put it in a box. In the spirit of finishing things this year, I pulled out the scraps and made a tablerunner:

Please do not tell Mom about this tablerunner, though, because it is not for her. It is for my friend Karen. I made a pink tablerunner for her before she moved away. Every time I visit her, the ladies at her church say, "Oh, you are the one who made that tablerunner. She puts that on the table for every coffee hour!" It sure sounds like Karen needed a second tablerunner, right?

So, I finished the tablerunner yet I still had scraps. I turned those scraps into a Potato Chip Bag and a Wonder Wallet just in time for my trip to New York City (PVSD -- sigh).

It was a great hands-free bag for vacation, and who doesn't love those colors?

The fabric is finally gone! What old project shall I dig out next?

PVSD explained

I just spent a weekend in New York City and had a fantastic time. That is good, but it is also bad because it has been known to cause PVSD, especially on a Monday. PVSD (Post Vacation Sadness Disorder) typically presents in patients on their first days at work after a fun holiday experience. Working at my desk was challenging this morning since only a few short hours ago I was doing fun(!) and exciting(!) things in Manhattan. Oh, the sadness that is today.

My trip highlights (short version):

• MOMA
• Korean BBQ
• NY Metro Mod Quilt Guild
• Jane
• Rockefeller Center
• Times Square
• Rent
• Ramen
• Dim Sum

Our trip motto could have been Veni. Vidi. Vittles. (translation: We came. We saw. We ate.)

I'll share more in future posts as I work my way through this dreaded PVSD.

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.