Day 3 of 7 days of quilts

Here is the quilt that I posted on Instagram for my day 3 of 7 days.  This is called Everlasting Wreath and was designed by Edyta Sitar.  I really enjoyed paper piecing the blocks - it was fun to use lots of fabrics, and the yellow in the center is my all-time favorite yellow fabric.  The trouble with this one is that when I went to sew it all together...not so fun!  I hate y-seams, and that's what it is.  Plus, the edges were not supposed to be straight, but I just couldn't deal with it, so I cut it all off.  Then I couldn't decide how I wanted to hand quilt it.  I remember asking the question on my blog and many people said Baptist fans.  That was a big fat NO to me.  In my opinion, Baptist fans are nice and they definitely have a place on some quilts, but I feel they are way over-used.  So...I ended up just quilting around the center triangle, then stitching a straight line out from each one of the triangle points.  It's really all this quilt needs - something simple to compliment the busyness of the pattern.

Speaking of busy patterns, that is what I'm working on - finishing up my pineapple quilt so that I can have the pattern ready for our next show, which is in Dallas, TX in March (click to go to their website).  YIKES!!!!  Just one month away!  I'm going to finish the binding today and try to get a decent picture - that is always the hardest part for me.

We also have lots of jewelry and ruler boxes to finish up before the show.  Here are a few that we finished over the weekend - some darks - earrings are 3/4" the pendants vary in size, with the largest being 1 1/2"

 And a few brights - these are 1 1/2" pendants

Here are some of the finished kitty pendants - all 1 1/4"

 And it hit me that I had the perfect fabric to cover the back of these (so you couldn't see my hand stitching threads)...a cute Judie Rothermel shirting.

Back to binding!

Shopping day (cont'd) and Day 2 of 7 days of quilts

Here are the fat quarters that I bought at The Woolen Needle (Williamsburg, IA) - aren't they pretty?  

 At Inspirations (Hills, IA), I found this cool bee fabric by French General.  Since my husband is a beekeeper I really want to start collecting some bee fabrics and this is my first one!  I don't want the cutesy bees, so this was just what I had in mind.  I hear there is one in red too, so I need to be on the lookout for it.

 This is my quilt for Day 2 of the challenge (on Instagram) by my friend Nancy.  I made this in 2004 - it's called Ancient Stars by Sue Garman. Isn't it a great pattern?  Right up my alley - lots of little pieces.  At the time, I really liked purple, and did not have a big stash, so I collected purple, green and tan fabrics for awhile before I could make this.

Hope you are having a great Monday!

Quilt a day challenge

My friend Nancy challenged me to post a quilt a day for seven days on Instagram.  Here is day #1...

 I know I've posted this on my blog before, but it's been awhile.  This is a section of one wall in my sewing room.  I made all of the quilts on the wall, except the pink one.  They are all hand quilted, except the star - I did a cross hatch by machine.  The corner chair came from my grandparent's house - it always sat inside their bedroom door.  I just love this chair.  The bear on the chair (haha) was made from one of my grandma's fur coats.  The lawyer's case also came from their house.  The quilts on the top shelf all came from family (though I'm not sure who made most of them) and the ones in the bottom are various quilts that I've bought at auctions.  My aunt gave me the crock on the floor - I have wanted a Red Wing crock forever.  It holds lots of scrap bags gifted from many different people.  There's just a mix of stuff on top of the cabinet - the jar holds bindings that are ready to sew on, the bowl is just scraps.  So that's day 1!

I skipped day 2 because I went to Hills, IA to pick up my pineapple quilt (which will soon be a pattern) from my quilter, Kym.  We met at Inspirations Quilt Shop in Hills, where I found these...

Then we went to Williamsburg to The Woolen Needle (yes...I'm lucky to be close to these 2 awesome shops!).  I've been thinking about starting the free BOM that Buttermilk Basin is offering. Have you seen it?  It's really cute - it will spell out Let It Snow and is all wool applique.  So far there is just one block released - the letter is red and it has a cute snowman on it.  I decided that I want to make my letters blue.  I had a nice blue in my wool stash that will be perfect, but I needed some "snow-like" colors, and also some backgrounds - something that will go with the blue and that you can still see the snow on.  Here is the wool that I found.  Love those grays - but that just looked boring, so I had to add the purple and blue to my pile!

I also ended up with a bunch of fat quarters that I didn't need, but I loved them, so I bought them anyway, but that picture isn't showing up on my computer yet.  DH gave me a new iphone for Christmas and sometimes the pictures load from my phone to my computer right away and other times they don't.  Maybe they will show up tomorrow and I will post it then.  

Stay tuned for the rest of my 7 days of quilts.  I love posting on Instagram (I know I tell you that almost every time I post!), but for this challenge, I wanted to give a little more detail on the quilts that I'm showing - so I will post them here as well.

Hope you are having a fun Superbowl Sunday!

Fabric and more kitties

I saw these fabrics online and knew they would be just perfect for my jewelry - aren't they pretty?  The line is called "Trinkets" by Kathy Hall.  I ordered mine from Fat Quarter Shop online.  And I cut into them yesterday so I got to pet them all individually - lol!

 I made more kitties and I think these are all sold already, so will need to get that fur fabric back out and make some more!

I was tagged on Instagram by my friend Nancy and challenged to post a quilt a day for 7 days.  You can go there to see my first post .

Have a great day!

Hearts and Kitties

I just sold the last kitty pendant that I had on hand, so that is what I'll be doing today!  They are 1 1/4".

I recently had a special order - matching heart pendant and earrings - with bling on all - fun!

Have a great day!

Hearts!

My birthday MONTH starts tomorrow! Woohoo! Can you believe I will be 29 (AGAIN)? And Valentine's Day will be here soon.  In honor of that I thought I would share some of the heart pendants that we have made.  You are going to have to turn your head sideways, because I can not get the picture to turn!

Next up I'm going to make a few hearts with a little bling on them.

Hope you have a great day!

Many pictures, few words!

I'm going to try to make this really quick!  Several people have asked why I haven't posted lately, and the truth is that I just don't get around to it.  It always takes a lot of time, and I just don't get it done (Instagram is much faster and I post there all the time - follow me there!).  So, this post will be unedited pictures with a short description - hopefully!  

This pineapple quilt will be my next published pattern.  It is about 32" x 40" - I would love to make it bigger, but again...NO TIME! These blocks are 4" finished, and really fun to make.

Here is Ozzie, just blending in with my piles of wool!

I started working on this recently.  It is called Blessed Bee by Wooden Spool Designs.  I signed up for a block of the month, but unfortunately I don't like a lot of the wool that they used. They are light/bright...just not me.  So, I'm trying to dirty them up a little and am just replacing some of them with wool I have on hand.  It's a really cute quilt, and since hubby raises bees, I thought it was appropriate!

Boomer and Bailey sitting in the snow.  I think their butts would be cold!

 Our business is usually somewhat slow between Christmas and New Years and I try to work on things that are not work related.  This is Home for the Holidays by Primitive Gatherings.  There is a group on Instagram who are working on this, so I decided to join in.  Didn't take long to prep the blocks, but I have discovered that I am not good at stitching the letters!  I love the wool for the candy canes.

This is a kit that I ordered from JJ Stitches, it's called Noel Garland - all French General fabrics.  My friend Nancy and I both bought it and Skype sewed it together.  The fabrics are so pretty.

Ozzie...just hanging out with the little quilts.

This is another quilt that I worked on over the holidays.  It's for my niece.  I was trying to lay it out and measure it so that I could piece the backing, but you can see how well that was working!  Ozzie is underneath, and Callie on the top!  Such fun...for them!

I'm in the process of sending out the newest charm for our Charming program, so it's off to the post office for me (and I won't get started on the USPS and their new price increases - it will cost me a ton of money this year...BOOOOOO).

Have a great week!

Quilts and Cats

Now that Christmas is almost here, business has slowed down a little, so it's time for me to do some sewing for fun!  I'm making a quilt for my niece (it's really her Christmas gift, but she might not get it until her birthday - in June!).  The pattern is called Diamond Double.  The blocks are fun and easy to make, and the instructions are really good, but it is a little confusing to lay out.  I took this picture of it and decided to look at it for a day or two to make sure all of the blocks are turned the right way.  Still need to make the setting triangles.

For the last couple of years I have wanted to make Home for the Holidays by Primitive Gatherings.  Of course, Aunt Nancy bought the kit and got hers FINISHED before I even thought of starting!  But there is a sew-along on Instagram that kicked me into gear.  I traced all of the pieces for the wool applique blocks on to Steam A Seam Lite 2, picked out some wool from my stash, and worked on some of the pieced blocks yesterday!  Business usually slows down at the end of the year, so I am taking advantage of it for the next few days.  Here are the pieced blocks - I have one fourth of them finished.

Here is another wall hanging that I finished fairly recently.  Actually, it's been done for awhile, but I just had it quilted and put the binding on it.  It is called Summertime, also from Primitive Gatherings.

I wasn't sure about the red binding, but now that it's finished, I like it.

And you know it's not a post, if there is not at least one cat involved!  Ozzie (or Mr. Adorbs as I like to call him) likes to lay on top of everything that I am trying to work on, but he's so cute that he gets away with it.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Boomer's Tree Farm

Just a quick post to tell you that I finished some cute new pin cushions.  I know Christmas is right around the corner, but you still have plenty of time to make these - they are quick and easy.  I named this pattern after our black lab, Boomer, because he loves to wander around out in the woods, finding treasures (some disgusting) along the way!

We also have a few snowman pins and pendants left, but not very many.  I don't have time to make more, so when they are gone, that will be it until next year!

I'm trying to pack up for a presentation and trunk show that I'm doing in Iowa City on Monday, but Ozzie is making it difficult!  Every time I add a quilt, he feels the need to jump in and lay on top.  Today I am thankful for lint rollers!

Have a great weekend!

The Merry Christmas Quilt

Do you remember last December when I posted about a couple of different Christmas quilts?  You can go back and read about it here.  I was hoping to do a sew-along with online friends, but no one else showed any interest in working on either one of these, so I chose The Merry Christmas Quilt by Heart to Hand, and was bound and determined to make it and get it done by this Christmas. I'm so happy and excited that I stuck with this and got it all finished and actually hung up before Christmas!  This was no small feat, as we have a huge, open wall over our stairway, and that is where we decided to hang it.  I ordered a curtain rod and hubby got it hung up this morning.  Luckily he has a ladder that can be set up on stairs, but it still was no small task.

This is the perfect spot for a larger quilt, and now I will have to be thinking about what I want to hang there next.  I don't have many (any?) seasonal quilts, so who knows what will go up next.

In my last post I showed our new ruler boxes...

We have sold tons of them (thanks, everyone!) - DH has been spending evenings and weekends working on them.  And I have a trunk show and presentation coming up in a week in Iowa City that we need some more jewelry for.  So, needless to say, we are busy elves around here!

Now to get my trees decorated!

Have a great weekend!