Wednesday, March 31, 2010

New Look



The Easy to Sew Quilt Pattern is now available with a Bright NEW front page or with a more Traditional looking front page. It is the same pattern but has taken on a brighter look! The new photo was taken of the quilt made with the Dye Candy Fabrics from dyecandy.etsy.com

I made the baby quilt using only SIX - 12 inch blocks -- thus making a nice little baby quilt approximately 30" X 40". The pattern makes SIXTEEN - 12 inch blocks to make the 52" X 52" lap size quilt. Using the leftover ten blocks I could make another little baby quilt same size or make a square quilt using nine of the blocks -- 3 across and 3 down -- that would make a nice baby quilt too.

The possibilities are endless....

Watch for future entries with more ideas --- you can be Creative too and it is so simple!!

See Examples Page -- Easy Quilt at CraftySewing.com

whew . . . !

Really, it wasn't a long enough weekend! My mom & dad arrived from Corpus Christi, Texas, on Thursday evening. They'd spent a short week with my sister and her crew . . .

. . . which is a wild and wonderful bunch! My sister Laura certainly has her hands full! But they are all quite darling kids and my mom & dad had a blast with them.

They stayed with Joc & her hubby and I think they enjoyed getting to know Joc's husband, who's quite the fascinating technology person, better.

We had the opportunity to stop in on Joc during the school day . . . her first permanent classroom! See the curtains? I made those! LOL! So, we document everything with photos . . . a group shot of mom, daughter, and granddaughter. . .

Sawyer was happy with the whole weekend. I think he liked all the attention. He still is so darling! I guess that won't ever change for me, will it?? He's got just the hint of a smile in this one!

Four generations here . . .

And four generations here . . .

I am *so* incredibly blessed. It never ceases to amaze me! :)

There's three generations in this one; you can spot great-grandma and baby, but do you see the third generation hiding in there?!?!

My dad with his great-grandson; two very handsome men!

And here's a captured shot of the bandit that's been raiding our bird feeders and suet cages! He hung around a little later in the morning than he typically does, and I was able to sneak in a few shots, one of which was good!

What we didn't see this whole weekend were the deer! I guess having all the campers up here on Friday night scattered them. I saw a group early on Sunday morning; a doe and her two yearlings, I think, but then we never saw any others up at the site. My mom *so* wanted to see them and we were all so disappointed that they stayed away! Ah well, all the more reason for another visit in the near future, non?

So . . . life slowly returns to normal . . . and I suppose I'll find something quilty to do soon!

To family!

:)

Give Away!

It's that time again!
We've hit another milestone!
500 followers!
Thank you all!
Did you get to see our new tutorial over @ Moda Bake Shop?
With it still being so cold here in Utah this quilt certainly gives me hope that we may actually see spring!
So,
back to the giveaway.
Going with the new Moda Bake Shop tutorial I'm giving away a Frolic Charm Pack.
Also,
since I'm only giving one away
I'm giving everyone 25% off your total purchase today only!
 Use discount code 'blogger25'
not valid with any other discount codes or coupons.

So,
do you want to win?
Tomorrow, 4/1, no foolin here!
I will randomly select one follower to win!
Thanks for following!!!

Also,
did you know that you may be missing out.
If you're not following us on Facebook you may be missing out!

Lastly,
what is your favorite all time April Fools joke?
My husband likes to pull pranks so I'm looking for an idea to get him! :)

Don't miss our sale @ Piece N Quilt!
For more fun updates sign up for Piece N Quilts newsletter.
Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you.
~Natalia

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Easterly quilts

We've always had a soft spot for Easter, bunnies, and eggs. Judging from the fantastic variety of quilts we've found this spring, we're not alone! Cast your vote now for your favorites...

Also, we recently discovered that the images we upload are clickable. Click on an image to see a larger view (if available); then hit the back button to return to the blog.

Egg cups quilt, ~ 20 x 30, by Jean Loken




We came across the beautiful quilt, above, and were impressed not only by the 18 different Delft style egg cups, but also by the colorful, three-dimensional lattice work. The quilt was made by Jean Loken, who generously shared the story with us: "It was from a Dutch company, and friends of mine imported some of their fabulous fabrics and wondered if anyone they knew would tackle a quilt with instructions in Dutch... I found a Dutch lady who translated it for me. Then I had to change the centimeters into inches that I could cut with a rotary cutter. The diamond intersections were harder than I thought they would be, but we love the quilt." (And so do we!)

Garden Bunnies, 66 x 77, by Darcy Ashton



Darcy Ashton has created a series of wildly popular bunny patterns and quilts. The marvelous quilt above features ten hand-appliquéd bunnies set among log cabin blocks, done in the colors of spring. The patterns for all of the bunnies - and for eleven different quilts featuring them - are in Bunnies & More, a book by Ashton Publications.

Baltimore Bunnies,64 x 79, by Anne Sutton for Bunny Hill Designs




The beautiful Baltimore Bunnies Quilt by Bunny Hill Designs has twelve different appliquéd blocks, in the style of an heirloom Baltimore album quilt. Two of the ornate blocks, which feature bunnies framed by flower wreaths, are shown above. Also check out these classic Bunny Hill patterns: Garden Bunny, Sugar Bunnies, The Bunny Run, The French Rabbits, and Rabbits Prefer Chocolate.


Snuggly Bunnies, 33 x 43, as seen at Pipers Girls




These bunnies are all dressed up! The original design is by Bonnie Sullivan for All Through the Night. The quilt shown above was done in wool, with button and embroidery details. The pattern also contemplates cottons (we can imagine each bunny wearing a little plaid coat). The pattern is out of print, but a few hard-to-find copies are available at Pipers Quilt Shop. (If you happen to be in Salt Lake City, visit the real Pipers Quilts & Comforts).

Bunny Medallion Quilt, by Darcy Ashton



The bright pink cabbage roses, above, provide the perfect backdrop for the little white bunny. The bunny is from Darcy Ashton's original Grandma's Bunnies book. Although the book itself is out of print, the loose-leaf collection of 30 rabbit patterns is still available. To order, see Ashton Publications' patterns page.

Bunnies & Egg, 18 x 19.5, by Castilleja Cotton



Three bunnies and an egg: do the math. In this whimsical mini quilt, the white bunnies peer out from behind a giant egg, while pink and red butterflies... flutter by. The pattern is available at Castilleja Cotton. The design group at Castilleja Cotton has created nearly a dozen charming bunny and Easter patterns, so it was hard to pick a favorite. The Bargello Bunny with Butterflies quilt pattern was a close second.

Vintage Easter fabric blocks

We're amazed at the selection of colorful vintage postcard images that have been printed on 100% cotton fabric, ready for use in a quilt block, pillow, or fabric collage.


"Easter Greetings", with its colorful eggs and spring flowers, is available here.

Collaged crazy quilt block, 8x8, by Kim Howard & Jordan Howard



The clever crazy quilt block, above, was created with fine silks, decorative stitches, ribbon, velvet, vintage style buttons, and other embellishments. This and several other blocks are available at Hidden Treasures on Etsy.

Image credits and additional links:

Snuggly Bunnies, courtesy of Pipers Girls

Egg cup quilt, courtesy of Jean Loken

Baltimore Bunny, courtesy of Bunny Hill Designs.

Garden Bunnies and Bunny Medallion quilts, courtesy of Darcy Ashton and Ashton Publications

Bunnies & Egg, courtesy of Diane McGregor and Castilleja Cotton

Collaged crazy quilt block, courtesy of Kim Howard at at Hidden Treasures

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Flora


Today is reveal day on the Art Quilts Around the World Blog. The theme for this challenge is "Flora"

In February I had a chance to take a class with Beth Wheeler and Lori Marquette about Altered Photo Artistry. I learned SO MUCH about my Photoshop Elements program, which fabrics are good to print on, printers and inks. There was even a little bit about rust dyeing. I really enjoyed this class and plan to play with this technique again and again! The possibilities are endless.

I took this photo last summer at our farm in Southwestern Wisconsin (in the US). This is the nodding thistle or musk thistle. Although it is classified as a noxious weed in many states I always looks forward to seeing these flowers each summer. They are so complex and interesting. Click here to see all the other quilts from this challenge.



I Heart T Quilt Top

I guess in official quilt blog lingo this quilt top is a Work in Progress as it isn't completed yet, but I think it could more appropriately be referred to as a Work Stalled, or a Work in the Stack. I finished the top in late January, but haven't done anything with it since. Until today, that is. I measured it for backing and binding. I will have to get some appropriate fabric and soon move it towards completion. It is a twin-sized quilt per usual. I pretty much like how it turned out (a few things I probably could have thought out more, that I think I will be able to judge better as I gain experience).
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I do love a lot of the fabrics. I know the colours are a little iffy, but I really think it looks quite perky and pretty. The T in the middle is for my daughter Tess.

let your imagination bloom

It's tutorial time again!
Head on over to Moda Bake Shop to see the complete tutorial for this quilt!

I love it!
What do you think?

Don't miss our sale @ Piece N Quilt!
For more fun updates sign up for Piece N Quilts newsletter.
Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you.
~Natalia

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Monday, March 29, 2010

Delicate Intricacies: The Wholecloth Quilts of Cindy Needham

Cindy Needham is a renowned quilter, designer, writer, and teacher from California whose special interest is creating magnificent patterns on vintage linen (and occasionally on silk, as shown below). Quilting became Cindy's passion when her family was stationed in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, and she has now been quilting for over 38 years. The first 25 years of her quilting career were dedicated to hand quilting, but for the past 13 years she has focused on machine quilting.

Feathered Crystals



Feathered Crystals is an updated version of a wholecloth quilt, which was one of the earliest forms of quilting in the American colonies. This is not a patchwork, but one single piece of fabric covered with thousands of tiny, amazingly precise stitches, which create the raised pattern of interlocking rings. Our colonial ancestors often created quilted bed coverings from one large piece of woven flax and wool, known as "linsey-woolsy". However, Cindy's quilting, above, was done on a whole piece of green dupioni silk. We're dazzled by the design and by the exquisite luminescence of the silk. You can read about the creation of this quilt on Cindy's blog, here and here.

"Feathered Crystals" was recently displayed at the nationally renowned Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar, California, where Cindy taught Stepping Stones to Beautiful Quilting. To read about the Asilomar experience and see some wonderful photos of the beach - and the workshop - visit Cindy's blog. Also check out the schedule of Cindy's popular classes and upcoming retreats.

Quilting Stencils


For her fellow quilters, Cindy has created an extensive line of original quilting patterns for stencils (these are copyrighted). The patterns range from simple to ornate, and small to very large (very handy!) Her many charming designs include medallions, feathers, fans, circles, butterflies, and other motifs. To view the complete line, see Quilting Creations. We're showing a few of them, above: Butterfly Wreath, Whirligig, Feather & Lines Circles.

Wholecloth Linen Quilts



Cindy is also the author of the book, Wholecloth Linen Quilts: Patterns and Designs, which is available from the American Quilters Society. You can ogle the wholecloth quilts here, and read about designing and creating them. The pieces are often in miniature sizes and are frequently embellished with small pearls, transforming the quilts into bejeweled treasures.

Images are courtesy of Cindy Needham. For more information and to view a gallery of her work, please visit Cindy's website. For information on next year's Empty Spools Seminars, see the 2011 schedule here.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Something different.

I haven't touched my sewing machine or quilting machine since Friday.
I took a real weekend for myself.
I needed it.
As I mentioned on Friday my husband was getting ready to run a 1/2 marathon on Saturday.
He ran the race and did a great job.
I'm so proud of him.
I hope some day to have the drive to work out like he does.
This right here is the reason why I work hard.
The reason why I don't can't sleep in.
She's getting so big and so wild!
(As I type this she is in her bed yelling for Nemo, she likes to sleep with a stuffed nemo that is as big as her, and yes it's 11:00pm)
I love her.
Back to the quilting machine tomorrow.
I hope you had a happy weekend.
This week is quilt guild and I'm excited.
Also tomorrow I get to share my new Moda Bake Shop quilt.

It's going to be a great week!
Do you have any big plans for this week?

Don't miss our sale @ Piece N Quilt!
For more fun updates sign up for Piece N Quilts newsletter.
Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you.
~Natalia

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Template Challenge

Drum roll please (ha ha)...winner of the Template Challenge...the $5 goes to CruiseToScrap. Thank you for playing.

Big Log Cabin = Log Castle

Seems logical enough right? If a small square made of fabric "logs" is a cabin, then a whole quilt made of big "logs" must be a Log Castle! Anyway, that's what I decided to call this quilt-in-progress: Eli's Log Castle. (Eli is my son.) It was super easy, fast and fun to make. Once I calculated that the freehand letters in the middle were the right proportions to end up with a twin-sized quilt after they were surrounded with border after border after border, I was off!
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My son helped me pick out the fabrics and although there are a couple in there I wouldn't have chosen myself, I think they work well. All the fabrics are patterned in some way or other; none are solids. The dark borders are a lively multi-coloured polka dot print. (A close-up of the fabrics is in my blog title header photo.)
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I think this may be a method I use again. I was fortunate my son's name just has three letters as it makes a perfect rectangle to start with, but for those with longer names, their three initials would be perfect to use instead!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

I am Almost Back! Another Issue Now!



Hello Everyone!
It seems that I will not be getting a chance to have my life back as normal yet. My mom fell outside her house... chasing the puppy. She broke her foot and her ankle in two places. Yesterday they operated on her... and with all of the meds...she has lost her marbles. Talking crazy like. She is mean, as a snake... and she will not eat... we never have seen her like this before, and you can imagine just how upsetting this is for my dad.

Therefore after leaving the hospital yesterday, and returning home.... I find that I am going to have to move down to my parents to help out. She may be coming home today, and my dad cannot take care or lift her. Nor can I. Yet with both of us, helping I am sure we will work it out. (9Weeks she will have a cast on ubove her knee. I am sure things will get better with the fact she will be getting off those pain pills soon that make her someone else.

I have to move all of my oxygen stuff, and so much to move down there. My Husband will come there when he comes home this week to help us out too. I will not be on for a bit more due to my dad does not have a service for the net. I will have to try to get on by using another system. (If you do not see me... I could not get on.)
I am bringing down my hand quilting stuff. I am working on this Granny garden quilt, and I have plenty of appliquéing to do on that, which I can do down there. I hope that! My poor mom, she is so lost right now. Scared.... We are sure hoping she comes back to her normal state very soon. Any prayers please would be so grateful. I am sure in time all will smooth out.

Hugs to all of my quilting friends. Have fun piecing away! Hugs Morgan

Japanese Fabrics... Yum, Yum!!

I managed to jump off the hamster wheel this week long enough to attend a big quilt show. While I was a bit underwhelmed by the quilts on display, I was able to get some lovely fabrics...


such as these Japanese striped Yukata fabrics, which traditionally would be used to make a man's lightweight robe. They come in long rolls that are only 14" wide. I thought they would be perfect for making table runners.


Here's one that I just started... will probably add some patches to it, and then bind it and wash it up... I love the washing part as that's when all the texture emerges.

I also found these wonderful Japanese prints...


The texture is like bark cloth, and the fabrics have all these terrific hexagons in various prints, which I am hoping to cut apart and use for hexagon patches.


And just to note, I know I said that I would be listing a few more pincushions for sale at the end of this week, (which it is right now) but I've decided to hold off until I get some of these runners made up and hopefully some more various items as well, as it would be nice to offer a variety again... wish me luck that I can manage to keep my focus and stay off the hamster wheel!

gratuitous posting . . .

What a lovely visit I've had so far with my folks. Thursday night we met up at Joc's (where they're staying) and then headed over to dinner at Terranova's, a wonderful Italian restaurant in Huntsville. Sawyer & his mommy and daddy joined us too, so it was the whole crew! Luckily they'd put our party in the side room, because we tend to get rather . . . loud. Not in a bad way; we're just FUN!

From dinner we headed back to Joc's and passed Sawyer around, had dessert (cheesecake pie) & coffee (from the Keurig we'd gotten Joc for her birthday) and were entertained by Joc's cat. I did not get my camera out. What is wrong with me?!?!

Yesterday, Todd & I got up and headed back to Joc's house, where we were splitting into a girl's group and a boy's group. Joc had to work, so it was my mom and me that headed into town and had a lovely, leisurely lunch at Emma's Tea Room. In our last several visits--three weddings and a 70th birthday party--things have been so hectic with so many other people and focused around the event, mom & I have not had an opportunity to get together just the two of us. So I really enjoyed my "mommy & me" time!

After lunch, we headed up to Camp Macoba (via a few shops/stops) for my mom to get her first look at how and where we're living. The boys were meeting us up there. Both my folks were very impressed with the space of our RV! I may have mentioned that my dad's folks were long-term part timers, and they did a LOT of traveling in their travel trailer. Of course, that was thirty years ago. I think my mom and dad had envisioned us living in a travel trailer, similar to that which Pop and Grandma Willie had! I think they weren't just impressed, they were a little relieved! :)

They brought with them a *lovely* house warming gift . . .

Two bowls from my China, Lenox Kelly! I am *so* excited! I had decided to keep my China because it's so beautiful, we hardly used it living at the house, and I wanted to keep something pretty. I have six place settings, but no bowls. Since we're such big soup people, I knew it would be a bit of a problem, but we could just eat out of plastic until I got some. This was such a lovely surprise! We'll feel like royalty eating our oatmeal in the mornings . . . and I bet it makes everything taste better! :)

Todd brought home a surprise as well . . .

He was so enthralled with Joc's Keurig, he went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and purchased one for US! This is very exciting . . . oh the coffees, teas, and hot chocolates we will drink. LOL! I think my folks may be the next converts on the Keurig train!

We headed over to Sawyer's house for an evening of pizza, baby-holding, and socializing. Before we left the camp, a large group of fathers and sons were coming into the campground for an overnight camping even. Tents started popping up all over the place! It was lots of fun to watch. They had campfires going quickly--which was a good thing, because it was COLD last night!

Needless to say, our timing for heading out was good. There wasn't much bird- or wildlife once the tents came in! Well, let my re-think that . . . because there was *plenty* of wild things running around! It was actually fun to see; it's what this place was made for! :)

Sawyer was as alert and sociable as I've seen him since he was born! He had a doctor's appointment yesterday and he's doing great!

Here's a "great" combo . . . Great-grandma and great-grandson. :)

Todd got in his Sawyer holding time last night as the rest of us played Apples to Apples. It was a night full of laughter and fun and laughter. And more laughter. And periods of silence because people were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe! My dad and my two children are a *dangerous* comic combination!

What does today hold? I don't know, but I *will* have my camera and the weather *is* supposed to be BEAUTIFUL!

Ciao!

:)

Friday, March 26, 2010

Why my job is rewarding.

Being a stay at home mom, business owner, machine quilter, wife, bookkeeper, etc... isn't always glamorous. Somedays we're doing good to get dressed, some days I don't get make up on.
BUT.
Some days are very rewarding!
Some days I get to create treasures, well at least I think so.
Today was one of those days.
Well, it was one of those days that I didn't get any make up on.
I did however get to machine quilt this quilt.
and.....
I love it.
too bad I can't keep it!
Sometimes I think quilt backs can be almost as pretty as the top.
Do you like it?
BTW....
Yes, it's Friday night and I'm blogging,
my husband is preparing to run a half marathon tomorrow
so we're staying home,
watching March Madness
and
will probably be going to bed early.

Don't miss our sale @ Piece N Quilt!
For more fun updates sign up for Piece N Quilts newsletter.
Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you.
~Natalia

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