Busy, busy . . .

Last weekend I was able to make a small bit of headway with some of my projects and it feels sooooooooooo good!

First off though – there was the Friday mail which just happened to be the wonderful Martinique collection by 3 Sisters – gorgeous colors.  Another little stack of fat quarters to add to the ever growing collection that is just begging to be cut into.

I finished the last bit of sewing on the first block in the Home Sweet Home (self-imposed BOM) by Blackbird Designs – these blocks are huge.

Finally decided to use this little block for an exchange that is going on . . .  love those pumpkins - final reveal in May!

Also finally made a decision as to what fabric I was going to use for the Autumn Houses BOM (also self-imposed).  It seemed so obvious once I had made the decision.

I now have four blocks already planned out and various pieces traced and cut – I love the Bunny Hill patterns!  Also have all the Snowbound blocks from Bunny Hill at the final embroidery stage so I’m feeling pretty good about that also.

I was also able to get two PhD (see side bar) quilts spray basted and I’m ready to start quilting them.  All in all it’s been a very productive weekend and few days around this house.  Things will all come to an end this weekend – heading to the big City again for four days of convention, so other taking along some handwork or sketching materials for the evening, there won’t be much productive stuff happening.

Newsflash! - I just discovered the “Cutting Corners College” over at Riley Blake Designs and wanted to let everyone know about this fabric company – it’s new to me . . . may have been around for quite some time and I’m just now discovering it!

If you click on the Riley Blake logo at the top of the page will take you to their home page where you will also find a tab called notions that has a link to some of their free quilt patterns – also worth a look.

Also check out their fabric lines – there are some really nice collections in there that I’ll have to watch for.

Enjoy your day,

Spring has sprung!

What a wonderful sight to see when I got to work this morning!

Made for a little cheerier start to a Monday – a little yellow brightness never hurts.

Have a great week everyone,

Quilt Show Shopping Spree . . .

I love fabric shopping and what better time to participate in this wonderful past-time than at a quilt show where there is such a diverse group of shops put together for our viewing and shopping pleasure.

First off is Shirley’s Sewing Room from Moosomin – Shirley has supported my little business right from the very beginning.  I believe she was actually one of the first orders that I put together when I first started out.  As you can see with that little elevator in the photo, Shirley is still supporting me!  Thanks Shirley.

The gals at the Quilter’s Haven in Moose Jaw have also supported my business endeavors and have taken a trunk show of my quilts on the road with them in the past.  They have done the little elevator in reds and golds – thanks girls!

I was very surprised to see Hamel’s Fabrics in Manitoba as they are from Chilliwack, BC – what a drive they had!  All the vendors were very busy while we there, but this one was really, really busy with their $1.99 fat quarters for sale – and what a selection they had!  I must say that the 12 fat quarters I brought home were much appreciated in my sewing stash.  I remember when I first started designing patterns that I would go to the Hamel’s website and scour the sale pages looking for affordable fabrics to test my designs with – I certainly have placed quite a few orders with Hamel’s.  Don’t you love that pumpkin quilt on their display wall?  It’s a block of the month you know!

     

The Quilt Patch from Moose Jaw is always original and I love checking out their new designs and their use of color.  Last year I participated in their Summer Baskets BOM – I really need to get that quilted up and get displayed somewhere in the house – it turned out wonderful.

 

Here are my fat quarters that I purchased – I’m thinking some Christmas gifts are in order for these and I already have these set out with the book – sure hope I can get a few projects marked off my list this weekend so that I can start some new projects.  That list just keeps growing!

I also bought an “Eva” charm pack by Basic Grey and some 6” squares of purple and creams from The Quilt Patch – they will work into some appliqué projects quite nicely I think.

I also purchased a wedge ruler from Shirley’s Sewing Room to go with a book I had previously purchased and a Quilter’s Connection magazine at another booth.

Simply Sewing from Killarney and Kickass Country Store were also booths that I stopped at and either bought a thing or two or had a visit - (it’s only been a week or so since I stopped into Killarney and spent a few dollars).  What a lot of product these vendors brought with them to this show – it was a shopper’s heaven.  Of course there were more booths than I mentioned, but these were the one’s that were familiar to me – there were thread suppliers, a quilting system booth, and other fabric vendors that were too many to remember.

This was the first time that I have had the opportunity to attend this show and I would most definitely recommend heading out again the next time around – every year or every two years? – I’ll have to find that out.

Have a great week!

Quilt Reflections Show

Some of the Undercover Strippers hit the road bright and early on Saturday morning to head for the big City.  We had arranged quite some time ago to do a road trip for the Manitoba Quilt Reflections Show – what a fantastic idea that was!

The quilts, as you will see, were spectacular - as were the vendors.  There were vendors from Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and BC . . . if I missed someone from Alberta I’m very sorry, but I didn’t see you.

The quilt above is something that my scraps are just calling out for me to do with them . . . wouldn’t this look amazing on a bed in your house?

And so would this one!  These two quilts were huge and used every color imaginable.

And who can resist these circles of color just exploding over this entire quilt surface?  If this was hanging on my wall I don’t know if I’d notice anything going on around me . . . very intriguing.

This quilt is made using a wedge ruler and is something that I will hopefully get around to before the end of this year – I have the book and the ruler now, so there really is no excuse other than the time thing!

Not too sure if this is a Judy Neimeyer design or not, but is something very close – always spectacular.

This quilt really caught my eye as the color panels almost seem to be receding behind the white – creates an illusion of sorts, don’t you think?

 

This one was my choice for Viewer’s Choice – the quilt maker’s husband had passed away in 2008 and she collected all of his ties and some from other family members and completed this mourning quilt.  The colors and the border were wonderful – a real quilt with real meaning for the family – I like that!

 

And just in case you are saving all your half-square tiny triangles and looking for something to make with them – here’s what you need to do.  Very striking.

Of course there were many more that I can’t possibly include but they were all spectacular – great job ladies!

We had a wonderful time and a very windy trip to and from Winnipeg, but it was so worthwhile and fun.  Next post I’ll show you some of the vendors and a few of my purchases.

April Happenings . . .

First off – I love tulips!

They are so cheerful and colorful and brighten up any room . . . these are in my daughter’s kitchen - she figured that she needed flowers since she was hosting the Easter supper on the weekend.  Nice addition to the kitchen area I thought.

 

Our bathroom re-do is coming closer and closer to being finished . . . we bought the mirror and drawer/door handles on the weekend and just need to find a few minutes to get that all fixed up – love my sink and taps!

The tiling in the bathroom turned out great!  Hubby was a first-timer at this particular chore and I think he did an excellent job.  Still need to seal the grout but it’s almost there.

Now don’t spit up in your coffee - - - - - YES that is my green tub AND IT’S GOING TO LOOK FABULOUS!  I hope.  I’m now on the hunt for green accessories – candles, baskets, a couple of pictures maybe, towels, shower curtain, etc, etc, . . . anything that will have just a touch of that green that will compliment the entire room.  This tub is in such great shape . . . it’s really big and has the seat in the one corner – we would have had to take out walls to get this thing out of there and I’m still convinced that at the end of the day – IT’S GOING TO WORK!  And if it doesn’t – we’ll paint it.

 

Here is Mysty and “the other cat” out sitting on the bench watching the BBQ – at least that was what she was supposed to have been doing.  It looks like the two of them maybe had some words and now she is just a bit miffed at whatever was said.  Can you feel that cold shoulder?  What’s the saying:  “For a man to truly understand rejection, he must first be ignored by a cat”.

  

Candace also splurged and gave the cats an Emery Scratch Pad for Easter.  As you can see the box has some pretty great appeal and so does the cat nip in the one corner of the scratch pad.  Unfortunately I haven’t seen either go back to sharpen their claws on it – wonder if it works????

 

And like I said before – “I love tulips!”

Have a great week,

Bits of This & That . . .

and a bit of Whimsy by Fig Tree . . .

How gorgeous are these colors???? I’ve already got most of my 12 little blocks done and hope to finish off the little bits tonight. Didn’t want this little collection to gather any dust – love that light green print. Actually I’m not even using these fat quarters yet – found myself some little 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch bake shop pieces and I’ve been happily sewing away. Can’t wait to get this one quilted up!

Stopped in at Simply Sewing, a little quilt shop over in Killarney, Manitoba last week and was able to find the one piece that I was looking for a table runner that I hope to get made before Fall. This is a group project . . . so whenever the group gets organized and quits going on so many road trips, this will be the project that gets worked on. The Undercover Strippers went to Plumas to Kickass Country Store for their March get-together and the plan is to take another road trip in April to the Quilt Reflections Show put on by the Manitoba Prairie Quilters group. So really we won’t be back together to work on any projects until June and we’ve already decided to work on fabric dyeing as the group’s windup for the 2009/2010 season.

I guess the table runner will be the first project (I hope!) to kick off the 2010/2011 list of dates. This little stack of fabric may have some dust on it before it gets cut up!

Of course I couldn’t stop at just one piece of fabric . . . I also found a package of fat 1/8’s in a collection of white-on-white (great for snowmen!) and also found some more little buttons. I’m starting to get quite the collection of buttons started here . . . love the teeny, tiny ones and all the bright ones too – guess I should have been a magpie!

My quilt made it’s way back to me last week and I got all the binding on – it is now all parceled up again and on it’s way to another destination . . . can’t wait to see what happens to it next.

Off and away for the weekend again! I need to get a portable sewing machine that I can use in the car . . . anyone ever do such a weird thing? Battery operated machines, ehm! They have battery operated cars, so maybe sewing machines should be the next big thing . . . not those cheapie 1970’s ones, but one that really works - maybe should market that idea! Nah, don’t think that would be a seller – I better stick to handwork in the car.

Oh, well, movin’ on – have a great Easter weekend everyone.

Quilt Group Night

Finally on Monday night I was able to make it to one of the Peace by Piece quilt nights in Brandon.  Seems like forever ago that I had been in for one of these meetings – it was great to catch up on what’s been going on and to chat with some gals I haven’t seen in a couple of months.

 

This is a wall hanging from one of the workshops that they had (which I also missed!).  Love the tropical feel of this one – the colors and the palm tree are very creative.

 

You may remember I mentioned quite some time ago that this group has decided to have a group block of the month program.  Each member is to take a turn at designing their own block, make two blocks and then circulate her pattern to the rest of the group so that they can make a block for their quilt.  The extra block gets put into a pile that will eventually get made into a donation quilt.  So far there are the birdhouses . . .

and attic windows block that each person can decide what they want to put in their own windows (love the dragonflies!) . . .

 

the country angel and all her flowers . . .

 

the bright sunflower and the bee buttons . . .

 

and the tubby little lady with all her “puff” flowers.

There was also a watering can and an angel block that I think I had posted about earlier (those are the only two I have done so far!).  All my blocks of the month projects have taken a back seat to everything else going on, but I hope to spend a weekend really soon just working on them and my PhDs.

I learned some very interesting news that was just released today . . . Anne over at Bunny Hill Designs has just announced that her newest line of fabric will be available for Spring Market and that she is now designing for MODA!  Way to go Anne!  I’ll have my VISA at the ready to pick up a pack of the new fabrics.

I haven’t been too busy sewing this past week but I did get a pattern design emailed out this morning (FINALLY!) and I got the binding sewn on the quilt that just got back from the machine quilter.  What a gorgeous quilting job – can’t wait to show it off!

Oh . . . I also finished off my income tax stuff and got it shipped off to the wonderful lady who will try and make sense of it - that feels good too!

Princess and the Pea

I should have snuck a little pea under this stack to see if the Princess would really have noticed!

Still not any sewing going on here . . . lots of meetings this week (which are sooooooooooo draining) and trying to get the cat hair off each and every quilt in this stack.  Mysty hasn’t been on every quilt in the stack but there always seems to be tons of loose threads or fuzzes of some kind or other that migrate to quilts.

Quite a good chunk of this stack is going to a nearby arts center for a one month display and I need to get them ready to travel.

It’s also getting to be tax time here in Manitoba, so I’ve been busy pulling out receipts and trying to make sense of all this paperwork.  BUT I’m hoping that this weekend I can get back to my machine and also finish writing one of my patterns that I drafted last weekend on my trip.

I’ve also had a chance to pop over to The Pattern Basket  . . . Margot has some wonderful new designs just coming out.  I love the fresh, crisp prints that she is using . . . very Springy!  Pop over and have a drool!

Have a great Friday . . .

A Little Retail Therapy . . .

and, I really do mean little!

Every place we go I check to see if there is a quilt shop in town.

Unfortunately I usually overlook and pass by shops that say “fabric centers” as I immediately picture satins, polyester and corduroy.  Well this weekend we were in Weyburn, Saskatchewan and I did pop into a “Fabric Center” and they actually did have a Quilter’s Corner (lesson learned here!).

 

I really didn’t have a list of any kind with me, but grabbed up three fat quarters that caught my eye and also some tiny buttons – I have a thing for tiny buttons right now and you’ll see more in May.  There was a lovely selection of batiks and quite a large selection of quilter’s cottons as well – I will be adding this site to my “must stop and look around again” list.

Did you know that this Saturday, March 20th is National Quilt Day?  I was just over at the Moda  website and they have an awesome word search for all of us quilters to try our hand at . . . pop over and get a copy for yourself or for your group (right click and print picture).

Have fun!

Another week . . .

GONE!!!!

Just like that . . . you blink and POOF! it’s all gone.

Not too many things have happened  in the past week.  I don’t think I even turned on my sewing machine once – that hurts me terribly.  I have to keep walking past it to get to the computer and I would love to detour over and work on one of my PhD’s or heaven forbid! – something new.

I have one pattern written for using these tiny little squares.  I asked a good friend to give it a proofread to make sure that it made sense and I now understand that she is part way through MAKING the darn thing!  Can’t wait to see what hers looks like.  This particular pattern is going to be used for a class I’m currently scheduled to be teaching at the end of April, so I can’t show it just yet – but I’m thinking that I may post it as a little tutorial on here sometime around the beginning of May.  Could be fun!

 

  So far I’ve only used one little packet out of the Sampler Box, but I couldn’t resist taking another one apart and playing with the little squares.  I have another plan for one of these packages, but I need to stick to writing patterns right now – not creating new ones - sure is fun to play with the squares though!

This partly put together appliquéd block is sitting next to my sewing machine and I would LOVE to get back to finishing it.  Unfortunately, we’re off on another road trip to visit family and these things will just have to wait.  I will at least be able to take my pattern files with me and put them into draft format during the six hours travelling we will be doing – I don’t think the battery on my old laptop would stay alive that long to let me get them into the system, but more concise notes would be progress!

My red and cream quilt has been sent off to a machine quilter and this super lady and I spent an hour on the phone the other night discussing what designs could be used where . . . I’m so nervous to see how it’s going to turn out!  I’m not used to sending my quilts off to be quilted, but this one needs done and needs done better than I would be able to do it on my Pfaff.  Once it gets back to me it will quickly get the binding put on and then shipped off again – this quilt will have a few miles on it before it returns back home to me!

Did you notice the new background?  What do you think – is it too much?  Distracting?  Just right?  I’ve been so long with a plain white background that having something pop up there now seems weird to me – what’s your reaction?  I’d love to hear from you.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Another one down!

  

I LOVE this one!

I think it is the bright colors on the crisp white background – everything just seems to pop.

My job today is to sit down and write the instructions for this one and another one.  New patterns are coming very soon and will be popping up here and there.  Let me know if there is anything that catches your eye and I’ll do my best to get the pattern to you.

This week has been a hoar frost wonderland . . . every morning there is a new scene to greet me on my way to work.

 

Time to get moving here . . . I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

One down . . . five to go!

 

Finally . . . all the threads are darned in and all the little details are complete.

Including the little beads I used on the Scottie’s collar . . .

and the teeny, tiny buttons that I found for the baskets . . . 

This is one of my favorite blocks in the quilt and now I can officially say that I’m “hopping” on to the next project.

One PhD done (see sidebar) and I almost have the next one ready to post.

Stay tuned . . .