Small Business Saturday

Well I did some Black Friday shopping yesterday, so today had to do a little SSB shopping!  My favorite small business?

The Country Loft, 4685 Date Avenue, La Mesa, California 91941; 619-466-5411; cloft.com. 

Well of course this is my favorite quilt

store and they have gifts and Christmas  ... Fun, fun!

Well I came out of there with less $$ in my pocket, but I sure did my bit to help business!

Look at this new line of fabric I discovered ... Atelier by 3sisters ... Reds, turquoise, purples, browns ... Looking for fabrics for a quilt for my dad and this is the color scheme ...

This fabric was made for it!!  Can't wait to start.  Bought 3 charm packs and a yard of neutral.  Not sure what I'm creating yet, but the inspiration is brewing!

Color is a little hard to see, but these are borders for my Christmas gift quilt that I've been working on .. All those 2 1/2" squares!  It is going to look wonderful!

I got some Christmas decorations and this adorable calendar for next year ...

They had several by this artist ... Her drawings are so cute!

My favorite is the bunny!!

Look at this adorable box of notecards by the same artist!

So cute!!!

They had several different sets to pick from.  If you need a great hostess gift or special gift that is different ... You will find it here!  I challenge you to walk into that store and not find something wonderful!  Ok, I know I am a little prejudiced since I worked there for years ... But you cannot find a nicer quilt store anywhere!  Stop in and see Sharon and Kathy, and tell them I sent you!!

Merry, merry!!!!

Longarming

Before I left for vacation I longarmed a couple of quilts.  This one is a lovely Christmas present ...

I hope I haven't already posted this ... So if it looks familiar, you'll know why!!  Isn't it scrumptious?

This was a stash class I taught a couple of months ago.  I love her colors; most of these fabrics are homespuns and the addition of the striped fabrics really make this quilt zing!!

I opted for a simple stipple; the quilt is for a man, and I love the texture a stipple gives a busy quilt.  Used my favorite Superior Omni thread in the Bronco color.  Next time I buy this color I am buying two cones ... One for the machine and one to wind bobbins!  I have said it before but I love this color and use it a lot ... It's a caramelly-brown color.

Love it!  Wouldn't this be super cute with another of the same on twin beds in a boys' bedroom?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The pies are made and I'm watching the Macy's parade ... 

So blessed to have a good family, wonderful friends and all of you!  May you have a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving ... I wish you love in your heart!

And from the cutest turkey ever ...

Stash Report - Week 47

Just home from my fun and responsible week as Granmama ... Mommy thinks Kylee is calling me Memaw, so I guess that's what I'm going to be ... Don't know how I feel about that name ... But I shall be honored to be called anything that to her means I am special!

No sewing since I have been gone.

Used this Week: 0 yards

Used year to Date: 128.25 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 77 3/4 yards

Net Used for 2014: 50.50 yards

I plan to do some longarming and sewing this week, so I'll have some different totals next week!

Snowy and Cold

A quick hi to let you know I am having a great time in Michigan although it is snowy and freezing!  Boy am I wishing I had my sewing machine and my projects!  This is great quilting weather!  I have some hand sewing that I am working on when the little one is sleeping.

This fabric is from a charm pack I bought over the summer.  I made these little hexies with the intention of using them on another project, but changed my mind.  So they are turning into ... Oh I don't know what yet.

We have been having lots of fun playing and getting to know each other.  It is hard to believe I last saw her when she was 4 mos old!  She is a sweetie and I am loving our time together ... Though I will say that the almost-two stage is very challenging!  It really makes me awe at the work that moms have .., I know I did it once, but looking back on it, it didn't seem that big of a deal ... I was mom, I loved my kids, and it was a lot of work, but that's what I wanted.  Now I can't imagine!  It is hard work and I'm looking forward to my vacation when I go back home!!  Haha ... Not really ... Being a grandma is hard work.

Stash Report - Week 46

Well I have been churning out little nine patches with my stash of brown and beige fabrics ... 

Woo hoo .., look at that ... It doubled in size!  I have made 120 nine patch blocks ... That means 1,080 2 1/2" squares ... Wow!  It doesn't feel like that many.  It really has been fun!  I only have about 48 more blocks to make!  Double woo hoo!! Right now my plan is 12 blocks across and 14 blocks down .... That will give me about a 72" x 84" quilt.  Then I am just going to add one border all around.  At least that is the plan now.  You never know what it will turn out like!  I still have to buy border fabric because I don't have enough of anything in my stash.

My favorite fabric is the light with the flower almost right in the center.  It was part of an old jelly roll, and I love the print and colors.  I also love that with so many small prints, this large one really stands out.

There are two spots just in this picture where I have the same two prints right adjoining each other!  Even though I carefully laid these out ... Ah well!  It happens a few more times, and does not bother me enough to rip out and move.

Used this Week: 3 yards

Used year to Date: 128.25 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 77 3/4 yards

Net Used for 2014: 50.50 yards

Love that I have used 128 1/4" yards out of my stash this year ... That is a whole lot of fabric!!

 

I have to put this aside for about a week. I am on my way tomorrow to visit and babysit my darling granddaughter, while her other grandmother goes on vacation.  I'm sure I'll post a few pictures from Michigan!

Another Finjsh

I have not kept up with my finished projects on my blog.  Somewhere at the bottom is a list of them, and I must update that.  In the meantime, here is my finished small halloween quilt.  Isn't it cute?  It was so fun to make and went together quickly.  Love the pattern especially since I have a 5" template for my accucut system.  So it makes for quick piecing.

I did a fun stipple with a pumpkin thrown in here and there.

This quilt was totally made from my GIGANTIC stash of Halloween fabric!

Perhaps my favorite print in here is the print on the middle right, white Boo Crew Moda fabric designed by the lovely Sweetwater ladies.  There is no line they design that I don't love, but I am a sucker for anything halloween.

Even the back was made with all stash fabric as well as a couple leftover blocks from the top.  I will have to go through the year and count the stash projects I have completed as I would love to list that achievement.

I used Glide thread in a lovely orange in top and bobbin and got a beautiful stitch on my Innova.  I got away from using Glide and have mostly been using Omni. The Glude thread is shiny and not everyone likes that look, also because of how it's made, if I am having a problem at all with fabric, or just those little gremlins that live in my sewing room, it will shred and cause me all kind of headaches.  The thread really performed nicely this time and it made me want to use it more.  I have quite a stash of it, and I am glad I did not get rid of it.

Don't you love how the border looks?  Those cute kitties crawling around the outside following each other!

Oh dear ... Haven't done this in a long time ... Short on my binding.

Not a problem ... I whipped out a piece that was left from the top ... That's why I always save good size scraps ...

See that small black piece on the bott right?  Done!  

Now all I have to do is handsew the binding to the back tonight while I'm watching a movie with my hubby and my sweet son.  Happy finish ... What is on your list?  Please share!!

A Peek

I do hate when I read a blog and someone keeps me dangling saying .. Sorry I can't show you this just yet!

So the squares I showed you yesterday have multiplied and morphed into

Then a little later in the day ...

32 nine patches

288 - 2 1/2" squares

144 light squares

144 dark squares

Four rows down

Eight rows across

Hmm ... Looking good, but this is what I still need:  Lots more squares!  Haha ... I want it to be around 70 x 90.  I'll keep you posted! I must be crazy ... I am doing this the slowest way possible .. I could strip piece and get a faster product, but there is something about the process of cutting each square and piecing it bit by bit.  I have about 72 nine patches done, and figure I need around 165!  I am almost halfway there!!

Stash Report - Week 45

Oh a good week for using fabric!  Made a backing for my small halloween quilt and binding.  Also started a quilt for a Christmas present ... It will be a great scrap buster!

Cute binding, huh?

I have a little basket where I tuck my bindings while they wait for the quilt!

Used this Week: 7 yards

Used year to Date: 125.25 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 77 3/4 yards

Net Used for 2014: 47.50 yards

Wait til you see what all these 2 1-2" squares are going to turn into!

This little girl is so excited ... She can't wait to see either!

A Halloween hug

My son went back to Michigan to visit Kylee as it has been way too long since he's seen her.  She was supposed to come several times with mommy, but that did not happen.

The first thing I thought of was that Kylee needed a quilt. I knew she had a Halloween costume, but I thought she needed something special from Granmama to dress up in.

This was the patten I started and what I thought it would look like

But the blocks were really a bit wild. So this is what I got

I also knew I wanted Kylee to have minke on the back to snuggle with.

Oh yes ... Here we go .. The best part ... Putting it on the longarm!  So excited when I get to quilt my own quilts

I took a lot of pics of this quilt because I wanted to talk about your quilt being square and the importance of proper seams, and proper adding of borders. When finding the size of your border, measure the quilt down the center and get the measurement and then you cut the border TO THAT measurement.  You do not just start sewing a strip of fabric on.  Do we all know that?  Let me explain why ... When you see even if you are accurate as you can be, your outside edges will be stretched ... Your true measurement is in the center.  Don't believe me?  Next time you are quilting, measure the outside edges of your quilt, then measure the center ... See what I mean?  When you cut your measurement by the center and add your borders on, they square up the quilt.  When you see a strip onto a block, do you just start sewing willy nilly, or do you have it cut

to a measurement and then sew, pinning at either end, and easing fullness in where needed?  No difference!   I can ALWAYS tell whether someone has added borders and pieced properly.  If they haven't, their quilt does not lay flat.  This is what it should look like when it is on my frame

All those little 2 3/4" squares could have really thrown my squareness off.  I sewed them together first, then got my measurement from the center of my quilt, cut the strip, and then attached it the way I always do -- pinning at either end, matching the centers, and easing in any fullness while stitching.

See how nice and even the left side is?

The bottom lays nice and straight and there is no bunching up and unevenness at the bottom as there would be if my border wasn't added properly.

You can even see unevenness in the middle of quilt if the piecing isn't done properly.

Don't know that I love this pattern. I used a darker thread so obviously it shows more, but I didn't love it like I thought I would.

How cute is this binding?

Spots and stripes!!  And look how much this little girl loved it!

I made her a little pillow out of the minke and mommy says she loves the pillow and Kylee carries it everywhere ... She's found it with her teddy, and on the floor of the bathroom!  Haha

Ok now she needs something to dress up in ...

A little three tiered skirt!  I had to model it on our teddy bear so you could see how cute it was.  Hope Kylee loves it .. I haven't seen it on her yet.