Will & Way!

Various body parts haven't been cooperating the last several months, so I'm officially proclaiming myself a "southpaw"!  I wouldn't go so far as to say I've mastered cutting fabrics left-handed, but I'm on my way.  Good tools help immensely!

Do you need to switch it up, too??  First of all, you may not need to purchase a new Rotary Cutter!  All I had to do was move the blade assemblage to the other side of my Olfa Rotary Cutter - voila!!  Thank you Margie for this money-saving tip!(http://www.firststitches.com/)   

Absolutely necessary:  The Klutz Glove, Fons & Porter - no need to explain further :)    
And, very helpful:  The Shape Cut, June Taylor - this is a thick plastic grid that helps keep the edge of the Rotary Cutter in the channel for accurate cutting.  I enjoyed this tool (again, thank you Margie) before switch-cutting & LOVE it now!  Very nice training for a new leftie :)
And, an easy pattern:  Instant gratification (well, almost)!  Used my 5-Yard Everyday Quilt Pattern to begin with - no triangles, certainly no curves!  lol  Will be doing machine binding very soon - not quite ready for the challenge of leftie hand stitching just yet .... but, soon ....  faith.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Me:      "What do you want for Mother's Day, mom?"
Mom:   "Children who listen!!"

I can't say ALL of us ever delivered on her request at the same exact time, but I'm sure we each had our moments :)  Happy Mother's Day!

P.S.  She asked for the same thing at Christmas, Valentine's Day, her birthday .... 

Wool Applique & an Old Friend

One of the neat things about the Expo is seeing what's new!  But, even better is running into old friends & catching up :)

Kathy Gaul - Meetinghouse Hill Designs - is a Wool Applique Artist.  Our paths crossed several years ago at a Pueblo Quilt & Stitch Expo - I loved her work (and her) from the start.  My favorite design is "Baking up Some Memories" - you can almost smell the cinnamon & cloves! 

Kathy's work is featured in the March/April/May 2014 issue of Rug Hooking magazine where she shows how to create dimensional dogwood blooms.  Wouldn't they be lovely attached to a purse, jacket or anything!!  And, since she's right up the road (Colorado Springs), you can check out some of her classes, too.  She's a great teacher (I can tell) & very passionate about her designs - pretty soon, you'll be an old friend, too!    faith.

 

Pueblo Quilt & Stitch Expo 2014

It's NOT too late to get over to the Pueblo Quilt & Stitch Expo still going on today!  I made the rounds yesterday & managed to get a few goodies - left a few things for you to buy though :)  As always, I'm amazed at the variety of styles, fabrics, kits, trims, tools available ...  Something new I spotted:  resin quilting jewelry - lovely & unique!! 

Be sure to stop by the Stitcher's Garden booth & take a peek at my new design:  
The "5-Yard Everyday Quilt" - just look at the possibilities (THANK YOU PJ & LINDA)!!!

 

Time to FIU!!

When I went to work at the KSC (Kennedy Space Center) a million years ago, the first thing they had me do was read a book of acronyms.  It was a BIG book - I read for 3 weeks.  I'm proud to say that I never fell asleep - although I came close!  Fortunately (although I didn't look at it that way at the time), I worked with five pranksters who kept me on my toes.  I wonder if any of them turned into QG's creating WOA's??  Oh, I hope so!  Now, forgive me - I MGBTW (substituted W=writing for the Q) - I have a pattern to finish!!

Here's the wonderful post that helped me write the above:
Easypatchwork: Acronyms in the Quilting World 

Be sure to add your own Acronyms in her Comments Section - how about MWT's (most wonderful Testers) - without them I could never say TGIF (well, almost)!! LOL  XOXO  faith.

I'm Back!!

Oh, it's been forever since I've posted, but I have an excuse reason for that - I discovered Facebook!  I know - I know - most of you have not only discovered it, you've UN-discovered it & moved on!  Well, what can I say - I'm just a late bloomer!  lol 

O.K., no new patterns to report - yet!  The Radiant Heart design is all written, but it's not quite ready.  I need blocks of time to finish & those are scarce right now :)  However, I am almost done with the "Everyday Quilt" Pattern - my first traditionally-pieced (strip cut) design!  It's sweet and simple .... so, stay tuned (if you haven't given up on me) ...  faith.

All Dogs go to Heaven - Quilting Gallery

WOW - summer really got away from me!  Mostly it was hot & dry too early with scary-close forest fires.  Lots of people lost homes & pets so it seems rather petty to complain about the heat.  With the recent (& unusual for August) rains, life seems almost back to normal.  And, the older I get, the more I realize that loss is a normal part of life.  And, it's what makes the in between time all the more precious.

Found a really great site called the Quilting Gallery - A Place for Quilters to have FUN!  I'm honored to be included in their Quilter Blog List - yaaa!!  Lots of free quilting projects, giveaways, swaps & competitions (friendly!) - so be sure to check them out!   

The theme for this week's Quilters Show & Tell is "Pet Quilts".  My entry is called:  "All Dogs go to Heaven"

You can win all sorts of goodies from the sponsor just for commenting/voting, so be sure to chose your favorites!  "All Dogs" has 45 votes so far!  

All YOU need to do to enter is submit a photo of your quilt that fits the theme & fill out a very short entry form.  Here's the list of previous winners, as well as future themes:  Quilting Gallery - Show & Tell

Looking ahead, I see "Little Things" is on the agenda very soon - Mug Rugs, Purses, etc.!  Geez, not sure where I can find a Mug Rug pattern with pizzaz!  lol  Happy Quilting!  Faith.

Montana - Helena Quilt Show

Just back from a trip to "Big Sky Country".  Managed to catch the Helena Quilters Guild Quilt Show entitled "Stars of the Big Sky".  Oh, yes, there were Stars!!  Here's a little sampling of what I saw:

I entered the lower level of the Helena Civic Center which had vendors around the outside perimeter & quilts hanging in the center area.  Looking up into the chandeliers, I noticed another level - WOW!  Chandeliers & quilts are lovely together - don't forget when designing next dream house!  lol

This quilt is called Sidelights - I just had to add a closeup shot of the Inspirational Words the quilter added - making the design her own:

I'm always on the lookout for needlework & quilting combinations.  Here's a lovely sample (quilt on left - one block closeup on right):

3-D Cacti

I'm in love with circles, spirals, saw blades & wheels ....

Absolutely prehistoric!

Snowy & Gray

Those are pieced PENCILS!!

Nice collection of work - I swear the Bear kept staring at me as I walked by :)

 

Critters & Coffee!!

             Very creative - I LOVE how the swing is tilting the center block - my favorite FUN piece of the show.

"Love Letters"

Great Use of Focus Fabric - love the tease of partial blocks as the outside border!

 

 

 

 

And, of course, this is a Judy Niemeyer quilt - the Helena Guild has a certified Judy teacher - how lucky are they??!!

 And, some more!

 OK, I ran out of time after that :)  There was much more to see & buy (although I managed to blow my budget anyway)!!  

It's hard to top a fantastic quilt show that happens once every two years.  But, the most wonderful thing about Montana isn't found indoors! 

  
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

 

--- Robert Frost

Bag Lady

I'm not really a purse lady - I'm kind of a bag lady - there's a big difference!  I've watched the purse-sewing craze from the sidelines over the past few years.  I have quilting friends that LOVE the latest designs, spending hours sewing exquisite works of art disguised as purses.  I've even bought a few purse patterns myself.  But, they tend to be patterns for Bucket Bags or Messenger Bags or even this one - called "The Poacher's Bag" by Charlie's Aunt - Vintage Inspired Sewing Patterns.  You can kind of tell that these are really bags disguised as purses :)  Don't get me wrong, they have lots of style, but function comes first!  And, no frilly stuff!

And, if you can recycle/reuse, that's even better.  One of my favorite books The Perfect Handmade Bag  inspired this one :

 Bag Front:

I splurged at the Pueblo Quilt & Stitch Expo & bought a panel print from the "Sewing Seeds" line by J. Wecker Frisch.  She's a wonderful illustrator & has several fabric lines through Quilting Treasures.

I need to get up to Na-La's Quilt Shoppe to see if they carry any of her other lines of fabric.

 Bag Back:

Found some bright fabrics with orange & green Spools of Thread called Cut & Sew by Robert Kaufman.  Combined with some Moda Solids I've been collecting & bright flower fabrics from First Stitches. 

Bag Bottom:

My favorite fabrics, though, ended up on the BOTTOM of the bag - big oops!  I forgot I was boxing in the bottom for maximum carrying capacity (quilting stuff, of course) & ended up with just a little of the bright flowers showing!  

 

Oh well, guess I need to make another :)  And, maybe a matching Keychain Clutch from Michelle Patterns.  Tiny and Functional - yaaa!!  Faith.

Happy Easter - Bring on Spring!

I've been quietly busy since the year started!  Taught a Beginning Paper Piecing (Traditional & Freezer Paper combo) class in February at a new shop in town.  It's a sweet little store called First Stitches located in the back of a used BOOK shop.  OMG!!  Sewing and multitudes of Books under the same roof - I'm in heaven :)

It was crazy fun & here's the proof:

Owner & admitted thread-aholic, Kim, posted some other photos (when we were actually working!) on her blog - check it out:  Paper-Piecing at First Stitches

We are SO fortunate to have TWO sewing & quilting destinations locally.  Our other well-established, well-named quilt store is Denise's Creative Cloth Closet  - you don't want to miss "First Saturday"!!  (or, any other Saturday for that matter!)

Some businessy-stuff had to get done in between the fun.  I finally got all my patterns converted to pdf downloads (now available in my etsy shop).  I also started selling a few patterns on Craftsy!  There are some lovely designs out there, as well as fantastic classes.  I've already signed up for a few & if you've ever had the slightest interest in Modern Quilting, the FREE Quiltcon Lecture Series is a wonderful treat.

I also do a little on-line shopping (don't tell anyone!) & picked up a lovely kit at a fellow Etsian shop - The Baily Girls.  The kit included 5 fat quarters, Minky backing & a PDF pattern at a great price.  It went together fast & I just love the sweet, optimistic colors:

And, of course, I couldn't pass up a new journal with it's eternal promise - for today & every day!!  Happy Easter - bring on spring - I'm ready!!  Love, faith.

Wondrous New Year!

I recently ran across photos of something called a "Star Trail".  They were magnificent.  So, I  looked up Star Trails on Wikipedia & sure enough, they're for real.  Due to the rotation of the earth, the motion of the stars can be captured in stunning, time-lapse photos!  Here's one that's in the public domain:

Star Trail

Is that fantastic or what??!!  Of course, I'm wondering how they did that.  Is it real or photo-shopped?  I have no idea, and I don't really care :)  In this New Year, I just plan to keep my eyes OPEN WIDE & enjoy all the wonder around me!!  I hope you do, too.  Faith.

Happy October!

Oh, I love it when the weather turns to fall.  It seems an exciting time to make changes - maybe it's the schoolgirl in me that just wants to try something new - whether it's a daring fabric combination or a recipe with lots of ingredients!  The fresh autumn air is invigorating - the colors in nature are deep & inspiring.  Here's a peek at some of my designs dressed for fall:

So, what does a cool snap inspire in you?  Faith.