I’m Crazy for Wool…

…and who knows that better than my Wool Crazy friend, Claire!  Look at the sweet  bundle of wool that Claire gave me for my birthday!  The colours are wonderful and the texture is incredible… I wish you could stick your hand into the screen and give it a squeeze!  It is so incredibly soft…

Let me turn the bundle so that you can see all the colours…

…lovely, don’t you think…?

This wool will be perfect for the Autumn Quilt from Heart to Hand!

Claire also bought me this gorgeous scarf which I wore yesterday when I ran some errands…very Spring-y! I should have taken a picture of it then…as it doesn’t go very well with my bathrobe!

Thanks so much, Claire!!  So sweet of you!

On the QUILTING FRONT~

Renee Nanneman, designer and author for Andover Fabrics has been very busy…she has a new book coming out  called ‘Pumpkin Patch Threads’.  Many of the quilts in this book were made from Renee’s new line of 12 new wovens called— Pumpkin Patch Plaids!  They are now out and you can get a better look at them at the Quilt Crow’s Online Shop.  So lovely!  But it gets better… she is also releasing a new line of 18 woolen plaids- that will go with these wovens.

And look at what Lynette Anderson has designed…fabric to go with her Scandinavian Christmas!!  Very sweet!!

Lots of new fabric, books and patterns coming out…just in time for shows and market!  We quilters had better get busy so that we can use up the old…before the new hits the Quilt Shops!!

Have a SEWING Saturday and Happy Quilting!~P

And they lived Happily Ever After…

I am such a sucker for a Royal Wedding!  I eat it up…all the pomp and splendor and magic…thank goodness they only come along every 30 years or so. 

I set my alarm for 2:30am and was just in time to see Will and his brother arrive at the church…so handsome!  Diana would have been so proud!!

 

The wedding of Will and Kate was everything Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty would have wanted.  The groom was handsome in his red serge uniform and the bride was stunning in her classic lace dress.  The church was right out of the story books…and then to leave in a horse drawn carriage to the cheers of the adoring crowds…well…how could they not live happily ever after? 

Now we’re talking…sealing the deal with a Royal kiss…or TWO!! 

…sigh…think I’ll be sewing hearts onto my next quilt…

Have a FAIRY TALE Friday and Happy Quilting!~P

Just doing my HOMEWORK!!

Last Heritage Quilting day I signed up to make a Chubby Bag.  Barb, our instructor gave us our ‘homework’ list and told us to come back next Monday with everything on the list done.  YIKES!!

Well I have to CONFESS…I have NEVER made a bag before…NEVER made a purse…or anything like it!   I should have made one this Winter when I was at The Sands…remember EVERYONE was making those wonderful carpet bags… but I was busy with other projects…and I didn’t want to start something new.  I have been kicking myself ever since!

So when it was announced that Barb was going to run another Chubby Bag class I jumped right in!!

Here’s what the Chubby Bag looks like~ This is Carol’s Bag…she made this bag from Barb’s first class.  Isn’t it gorgeous!!

On Barb’s list you need 48 5” squares so I found two Charm Packs of Blackbird’s Wild Rose Fabric from my stash.  I started laying them out and sewing them together…read down the list ..yada yada…to where it said “FREE MOTION quilt, it doesn’t have to be fancy!” Well…what the hay…it’s my first bag, why not my first attempt at free motion quilting too!!  But first I need to practice!!

I need to share a Free Motion tip that I learned from my blogging pal, Marie.  (Thanks, Marie…blogging buddies are the best!!)  She told me about this trick and it really works!! 

Practice your Free Motion on paper towel…just accordion fold it 5 or 6 times to get the desired thickness and go for it!!  It is way more freeing than fabric as you’re not wasting fabric and batting.  And when you are finished, use your Free Motion Practice sheets as sponges…great for many, many spills!! :o)

You can also draw on the paper towel…form a grid..draw the roses…or design…whatever!  So a lot more practice sheets and I think I am going to put the pedal to the medal and go for the REAL thing!!

Wish me luck!!  Hey, I think the mojo is back!!  Yahoo!!

Have a thrilling Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P

It’s A Woolie Wednesday!

Well there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with Seattle Judy’s mojo!  She has just finished wool project number TWO!!  Yup she is definitely hooked on working with wool!!

And just look at the project…SEW dang cute!!  Very sweet…Judy bought this pattern at a booth at The Road to California Quilt Show…and it came complete with wool and flannels.

I think it’s a great idea to start off working with wool by purchasing a kit…stitch it up and see how you like it.  That way you won’t be stuck with a lot of left over wool and a huge start up cost.  If you find that you love working with wool then start the wool hunt by going to thrift shops and garage sales.  If you live down in the States JoAnn carries wool (great back ground pieces!!) and most of your Quilting Shops carry wool. (Lucky YOU!!)  Here on Vancouver Island none of the shops carry wool so I have to rely on On-Line shopping and Thrift Shops.

I thought you might like to revisit Judy’s first wool project…the one that HOOKED her…

I know…hard to believe it’s her FIRST wool project!!  Her stitching is gorgeous!!

So a Wool Star is born!!  Thanks Judy for sharing!  We’d love to see your next finished project…!

What about you?  Have YOU tried working with wool??  You might just like it!!  Go ahead…try it!!  I dare you!

Have a Woolie Wednesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Where’s the Mojo??

Do you ever feel like you just don’t have enough time to do everything…you have way too much to do…So instead you do NOTHING!  Just sit there…and when you do move it’s in slow motion?  That’s me this week…and NOTHING is getting done!

So while I work on getting my mojo going, let me show you the newest edition of Quiltmaker Magazine…it’s a good one!!

Love this quilt..called Water Lilies…the colours and the (planned) scrappiness of it!!  And Carol Beam, the designer, used the GO! Fabric Cutter and the isosceles triangles dies!  Another die to add to my Wish List!!  In the meantime…there is a template provided.

Bonnie Hunter is one of my favourite designers and she has an awesome blog to boot!  I really like this block…if you look closely there is a subtle pinwheel design…very nice…and only two blocks to make…a millions times over…Maybe this is the project to get my mojo back….??

AND then there is this Flower Basket quilt…!!  Why do I love basket quilts SEW much?  Whenever I see a quilt with baskets on it I come to a screeching halt!  I stare at the quilt for a long time…and wonder…could I make this one?  Should I make this one?  Hmmmm…

So in getting back my mojo…the question IS…should I start something NEW or should I finish something OLD?  This seems to be where I am right now…so what do I DO?  Why I sit and look at the latest Quiltmaker Magazine and dream of future quilts…so many project and so little time…

What to do?…What to do? 

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Summertime is back and on schedule…

Remember these blocks…the pattern is called Summertime…and I have been working on it forever! 

Yesterday I was showing my daughter, Maggie all the projects that I worked on while we were down south… I grabbed the black bag that I carry my Summertime blocks in BUT the folder that they were in was GONE!!

Last time I worked on it was on the Blackball Ferry coming home…where I completed block nine.  I even took a picture of it…on the yellow leather chair of the ferry!!

I turned my sewing room upside down…no Summertime.  I turned it over again!  I cleaned out the cab of the truck…nothing.  I tried phoning the Blackball Ferries but of course it was Easter Sunday so no one answered!

My plan was to phone the ferries this morning…hopefully they have a Lost and Found.  It’s in a yellow plastic folder…you know the kind with the little pockets and the built in elastic closure. I put the cover to the pattern in the front pocket.  Inside the folder are nine completed blocks and three little baggies containing the cut out pieces of wool for the rest of the blocks…HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO CARELESS!!! Hours and hours and hours of work down the drain…literally…somewhere between Port Angeles and Victoria…

Then I started tracing HOW my black bag made it’s way into the house…it was carted in with everything else and dumped on our bed.  I then sorted through the stuff and put everything away.  I remember tripping over the handle strap and the bag fell on the floor…where it stayed until I put it in my sewing room. Hhhmmmmm….dare I look? 

YUP…it was under my bed!!  (RELIEF!!)

This has taught me a valuable lesson!!  My stitchery cases are valuable to ME!!  I cart them around where ever I go just in case I might have a few minutes to work on them…WHY DON’T I HAVE MY PHONE NUMBER WRITTEN INSIDE??  This yellow case COULD have been left on the ferry…and with a phone number listed it could have found its own way home…

What about you?…do you have your phone number listed on your bag…just in case?  Just think of those hours of work…all those lovely blocks…gone??  YIKES!

From now on phone numbers go on everything…even if these thing land under the bed and get ‘lost’…maybe the Dust Bunnies will phone!

Have a marvellous Monday and Happy Quilting!~P

Busy Bees…

…that’s what the Heritage Quilters have been!

Will you look at this daisy quilt done in tones of browns…love it!!

The quilter wanted to make the flowers pop so she embroidered around each flower!  Now she is getting the quilt ready for quilting…

A sweet little pinwheel baby quilt!

A well thought out scrappy quilt…that’s not all that scrappy!

A very dramatic snowball quilt- gorgeous

A sixteen patch, in a box, turned on point…I’m sure it has a nicer name than that so let’s go with A Beauty!

Hey, it’s the chisel…and then some!!  WOW!

My personal favourite!  So perfect for Spring!!

Complete with tulips and butterflies!

Delores made a charity baby quilt …

..out of the cutest Raggedy Anne Fabric…so sweet!

…And look at the quilting!!  VERY nice!!

There were other quilts but my camera skills were lacking on Monday…must take my time!

We have been busy gardening…and cleaning out ponds…ONE of the worse jobs in the world…

While we were pumping the water out of the pond.. I am busy saving as many water snails as I can find.  They eat the algae on the walls…I should have fired them!! haha  There must have been a foot of mucky, smelly mud and water lily roots tangled on the bottom!!

But we got it all sparkling…well maybe NOT sparkling clean…but clean…NOW let those snails do their job!

It will look better too once the pond plants all grow back.

Speaking of looking better…I know, I know…a fashion beauty!! 

And let me tell you, I smelled worse than I looked!!  Enough said!

Hope you had a better day than I did!! 

Have a Super Easter Sunday and Happy Quilting!~P

Now here’s a Novel Idea…

I guess by now, you all know that Pat Sloan has a new book out called ‘What a Novel Idea’…

..and to help celebrate and promoter her new book she is having a blog hop and she’s giving away a book at each blog…WHAT??  You haven’t heard…?  Well then, you NEED to hustle your buns off to these blogs~

Wednesday  – 4/20/11
Victoria Findlay Wolfe – CUPCAKES & CONFECTIONS QUILT
bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/
Amy Ellis – A PAIR OF WINNERS QUILT
amyscreativeside.com/

Thursday – 4/21/11
Amanda Herring – ISLAND DREAMS QUILT
thequiltedfish.typepad.com/the-quilted-fish/
Barb and Mary at Me and My Sister – MONKEY BUSINESS QUILT
meandmysisterdesigns.com/blog/
Friday(TODAY!) – 4/22/11
Gudrun Erla – LET’S GO CAMPING QUILT
gudrun.typepad.com/
Erin Gilday – DOGGIE ADORATION QUILT
http://patchworkunderground.com/blog/

Remember to leave a comment at all the blogs…! 

It looks like a great book - all of the quilts in the book are all made from Novelty Fabrics….  Now, if you’re like me, you too have got a stash full of novelty prints that you don’t know what to do with!  Come on don’t look so innocent…you know the kind of fabric that I mean…SEW dang cute that you HAD to buy it…you got it home and looked at it and said… “yup, cute but what am I going to do with it?”  So you put it with the OTHER dang cute novelty prints and panels..  Well NOW’S our chance to put all that dang cute fabric to use…all you have to do is WIN the book!  Now THAT’S..A NOVEL IDEA!!

Hop on over…NOW!! AND…Good luck!!

In fact, I hope you have a Hoppy Easter!!

Couldn’t resist!

Have a Fun Easter Friday and Happy Quilting!~P

GO!ing… On the Hunt…

Yup, I’m on the hunt for a frame for my little Schoolhouse Quilt (see yesterday’s post if you missed it)….I thought you’d like to see a few pictures of where I was poking around yesterday…

Yes, it’s an Antique Mall in Langford (just north of Victoria)..

It’s chock full of neat, old ‘stuff’(…I won’t tell you what my husband calls it…)

Oh man…I would love to dig around in these old keys to find just the right one…BUT I’m not looking for keys and don’t need ‘the perfect key’…save that for another day..haha!  One day when my husband isn’t with me…!

Nope…don’t need an old stove but look at all those wonderful old kettles…

Ahhhh…maybe I can find something in here…yes I brought a measuring tape…

..but no cigar!!

But that’s OK…now I have a purpose to visit more shops just like this one…nothing I like better…maybe even a few thrift shops!!  AND the Garage Sales will be starting soon…I’m sure that by the end of summer I will have the perfect frame!!

On the Quilting Front~

Look at what I found in my mailbox!!  I love our mail lady- she just brought me THREE GO! Dies!!  INCREDIBLE!!!

But NO!!  It’s Accuquilt that I need to THANK!  Sew Cal Gal is organizing the ‘Bloggers with Accuquilt Products Team’ and as a result..Accuquilt has added our blogs to the list of official Accuquilt bloggers.   As part of the team we will have access to exclusive photos from major events that Accuquilt attends throughout the year which we will be posting  on our blogs.  As a result Accuquilt sent me three dies of my choice!  How SWEET IS THAT!!

…NOW talk about a difficult decision!! Sheesh!

Thank you Accuquilt and SEW CAL GAL!!  It was a tough choice but I went with….

…the GO! Chisels…they form incredible twirling star, a fence like border, braids and SEW much more!!  This is GO!ing to be a fun one to own!!

I also went with the GO! Equilateral Triangles!  Have you SEEN the incredible quilts out there in blogland made with Equilateral Triangles…and look the triangles come in THREE different sizes…LOOK at that itty bitty 1” triangle…LOVE IT!! 

Also if you team this die up with the GO! Hexagon die you can make incredible hexagon STARS!!  See the directions~ now turn that yellow point into a red point…do you see the star?  Pretty nifty hey…BUT wait turn the hexagon into a yellow print and you got a diamond quilt…GO! EASY!  I’m GO!ing to LOVE this die!!!

I saved the BEST for last…The GO! Bountiful Basket die!!  I have been lusting for this die FOREVER!  Can you see the pattern that Alex Andersen designed especially for this die?  Very NICE!!

Yup, we are GO!ing to be VERY happy together!!  Stay tuned for a review and tutorial on using these dies!!  Can’t wait to get GO!ing!!

Thank YOU SEW MUCH ACCUQUILT AND DARLENE…aka…SEW CAL GAL!!

Let me just take a few minutes to talk about Darlene and her blog…SEW CAL GAL…INCREDIBLE!!  She has turned Blogging into a full time job…the services she provides the Quilting Blogging Community is phenomenal!!  You learn something new everyday from her Blog…and she is ALWAYS  hosting something…whether it’s a Blog Hop, A Quilt Show or a Contest..and THEN there are her lists that are so resourceful and helpful…

Back in November of 2010 I wrote about SEW CAL GAL…check it out HERE!!  I can’t believe Darlene is still going STRONG!!  My BIG fear is that SEW CAL GAL will experience ‘burn-out’…and we CAN’T have that!!  So hurry over to HER BLOG…if you haven’t signed up to FOLLOW then what are you waiting for??  And MAKE HER DAY…leave a comment..and send some her way!!  She deserves it!!

Have a Thrilling Thursday and Happy Quilting!!~P