Beginner’s Guide to Free-Motion Quilting…

Last week JoAnn’s was having yet another SALE…so using my coupons, I bought this wonderful book, “Beginner’s Guide to Free-Motion Quilting” by Natalia Bonner!  And what a book it is!!  GREAT! 

First off, if you follow Natalia’s Blog then you KNOW what a talented quilter and Free Motion Quilter she is!  She is so good that that she does it for a living!  Her quilting takes your breath away!  So when she told us that she wrote this book I was a wee bit sceptical…I wondered if she could tone it down enough for us ‘beginners’?  You know, make it easy enough for a beginner…?

WELL…after flipping through this book it quickly went into my shopping cart!!  In a glance I could tell Natalia did a superb job at reaching all levels of FMQ…making it look very easy to boot!  I knew that it was just what I needed to improve my FMQ skills…or should I say LACK of skills!

Let me show you a couple of pages…Natalia talks a lot about filling an empty block…something that we all struggle with!  Love all of her suggestions and I love the way she breaks it down into easier steps!

And what to do with those small simple nine patch blocks…LOVE it and SEW do-able!…with practice!

I loved her section on letters…I would have never thought to incorporate names and letters into a quilt…and she makes it look quick and easy.  I can’t wait to try this!!

 

Yup…I’m loving this book!!…and I’m loving the price I paid for it!  My BFF, JoAnn, REALLY knows how to make a quilter feel welcome!

As I have said, Natalia has a great BLOG called Piece N Quilt !!  Go over and say HELLO…but be prepared to be in awe…mouth watering, delicious Free Motion Quilting…I’m hoping that if I hang out over at her blog long enough, some of it will rubs off on me!  Oh yeah…and there is that little thing called..practice…

I am up bright and early this morning…all dressed and raring to go to the annual Spring Fling Quilt Shop Hop…involving EIGHT Quilt Shops! These shops are all along the I-10 Freeway from Palm Desert to Corona in Southern California.  We have a truck and van going with a total of 11 fun loving quilters!!  YeeeHaw…first stop is my personal favourite …Stars and Scraps!  Oh yeahhhhh…bring it on!!

Have a thrilling THRIFTY Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P

The Beginnings of a Quilt…

I am making each of my daughters a quilt…

Daughter number three asked for a Chevron Quilt, in plain, solid fabric…no prints!…no homespuns or Civil War for her…!  She picked her colours and away I went…

I cut and cut some more…then I sewed and sewed some more…

Then I ironed and ironed some more…

And then last night I laid out some of the blocks….

It will of course be much bigger but this will give Hayley the idea of whether she will like it or not….

As for me, this is totally out of my comfort zone…fabrics and patterns that I would NEVER use!… But when all is said and done… I DO like it!…I think that once in awhile we should all take a walk on the wild side and go outside our box…

Having said that, I am SEW going to enjoy getting back to Civil Wars and Homespuns…ahhhh… it’ll be like going home!:o)

Have a Wickedly Wild Wednesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Let’s go to the HOP!

Yikes, I slept in…and I am flying out the door!  Another busy day planned…with no quilting in sight!

But before I go…I just wanted to remind you of the Moda Friendship Block Blog Hop happening RIGHT NOW!!…tons of great blocks, Free Patterns and Give Aways!!  Make sure you take some time to go visiting~

                 

Here’s the schedule and the links!  Have fun without me!

FEB 18th

Barbara Brackman
http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/

Basic Grey
http://blog.basicgrey.com/

Blackbird Designs

http://blackbird-designs.blogspot.com/

FEB 19th

Bonnie- Cotton Way
http://cottonway.blogspot.com/
Brigitte- Zen Chic

www.farbstoff-bridge.blogspot.com

Anne- Bunny Hill

http://bunnyhillblog.com/

FEB 20th

Camille- Thimbleblossoms
http://www.camilleroskelley.typepad.com/

Deb Strain

http://debstrain.blogspot.com/

Eric & Julie Comstock

http://cosmocricket.typepad.com/cosmo_cricket/

FEB 21st

Jan Patek
http://janpatek.blogspot.com/
Joanna-Fig Tree
http://figtreequilts.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Jenn Ski

http://jennskistudio.blogspot.com/

FEB 22nd

Kaari-French General
http://frenchgeneral.blogspot.com/
Lynne-Kansas Troubles
http://kansastroublesquilters-lynne.blogspot.com/
Kate Spain
http://katespaindesigns.blogspot.com/

You have the weekend to rest or sew these blocks.
We hope you are having fun collecting all these quilt blocks.
FEB 25th
Kathy Schmitz
http://kathyschmitzstudio.blogspot.com/
Edyta- Laundry Basket

http://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/blog/index.php

Lauren & Jessi Jung

http://laurenandjessiblog.com/
FEB 26th
Lisa- Primitive Gatherings

http://lisabongean.wordpress.com/

Malka Dubrawsky

http://stitchindye.blogspot.com/

Me & My Sister

http://meandmysisterdesigns.com/blog/

FEB 27th

Minick and Simpson

http://minickandsimpson.blogspot.com/

Pat Sloan

http://blog.patsloan.com/

Sandy Gervais

http://piecesfrommyheart-sgervais.blogspot.com/

FEB 28th

Sweetwater

http://sweetwater.typepad.com/makelifesweet/

Stephanie Ryan

http://www.stephanieryandesignstudio.com/

Vanessa Christenson

http://www.vanessachristenson.com/

March 1st

The Cutting Table
http://modafabrics.blogspot.com/

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Quilting!~P

‘Simply Put’ She is the BEST!

Let’s talk quilts…small, wee, dang cute quilts!

Let’s go back to my first ‘written’ history…2010.  I know that’s only three years ago but that’s when I started to write this blog.  So in January 2010 I took YOU to the Quilter’s Coop for the first time!  I had been to the Coop on two previous years…I just didn’t take you or my camera! 

So while at the Coop I noticed this wonderful display of wee quilts…a lot were in frames and some were quilted mats and runners…all were incredibly sweet!

Some had inspirational sayings, poems or verses…

I bought several…they were by ‘Simply Put’ and I was told a local quilter designed them.  Each year, I would visit the Coop and see what ‘Simply Put’ had designed for that year…

In 2011 more wee quilts had been added…

Well you get the idea…slowly ‘Simply Put’ patterns multiplied!  Unfortunately the Quilter’s Coop closed it’s doors just before Christmas 2012…

So imagine my surprise when I saw the ‘Simply Put Plus’ booth at the Hemet Quilt Show this year!!  My first thought was..YAY…she lives and continues to crank out these wonderful patterns!!

In fact, Laural the creator behind ‘Simply Put’ has hit the big time…one of her quilts is gracing the cover of Primitive Quilts Magazine…and is of course, one of my all time PG favourites!  It didn’t twig that this quilt was a ‘Simply Put’ pattern!!

It was a real thrill to meet Laural and to see all of her creations in one place…and it was wonderful to see that she has branched out on her own…she now has an ONLINE Shop and she has a booth in all Quilt Shows in the area!

I didn’t take any pictures of Laural’s booth but that’s alright because Laural did!!  Yes, Laural has her own BLOG…you can read about  and FOLLOW her blog HERE!!  (she is also working on a free pattern for US…so exciting!!)  This is a free pattern that she has already gifted!!

Yup…this sweet mat is FREE!!  If you missed getting this pattern then go HERE!!

As I was wandering throughout the Hemet Show I came across this stunning quilt!  L*O*V*E*D it!! 

And it had the sweetest verse going around the church…

Yup, you guessed it…made and designed by none other than Laural Arestad of ‘Simply Put Designs’…and the pattern for this quilt is FOR SALE!!

We have GOT to keep an eye on this designer…she is going places!  You might just want to take your coffee over to Laural’s Online Store… ‘Simply Put Plus’ but be warned…there are lots of goodies to be bought…things that you may not be able to resist!!  Just remember…I warned you!!

Oh…and I forgot to mention…Laural is SEW incredibly nice!!  It’s no wonder that she thinks up these sweet little saying on all her stitcheries!  That’s just the way she is! 

Have a Magical Monday and Happy Quilting!~P

SCORE!!

‘The Girls’ and I headed out the gates just after 8am yesterday for a little GSing…a bit late for me…but you have to go with the flow!  You know.. “when in Rome”…

And although I wouldn’t call the Garage Sales ‘HOT’ I did pick up some great buys…

My first good buy was this leaded glass lamp…very heavy and sturdy for $7!  Love it…and the colours are perfect!

For now it is going to sit on our table…and adds a nice warm glow to our eating area…very romantic, don’t you think!! 

My other great find was this long…6’ quilt hanger!  I NEEDED one of these but they are expensive new.  For this size I think they are over $50…I got it for $10. 

The lady who was selling it wanted $15 for it…when I asked if she was ‘FIRM’ on that price, she snorted and said she hasn’t been FIRM for many, many years…so we all had a chuckle…bonded a bit..and then came up with the $10 price!!  SCORE!!

I was happy with my finds…and so was hubby!  (When he saw the 6’ rails I said he should be lucky there wasn’t a cupboard or a long arm attached to it!!  Yup…he was a happy man!!)

Today is a day of REST…oh who am I kidding!  I have been doing so much running around lately that I have neglected my chores!!  Our 5th wheel is ready to explode with dirty laundry!!  It’s off to the laundromat for me!  Got to get ready for another week of adventures!  Not to mention… I do need clean undies for the Oscars tonight!

Have a SUNNY Sunday and Happy Quilting!~P

Thrifting and MORE!

Yesterday I went thrifting with the ‘girls’!  What fun!!  Thought you’d like to see some of the stuff that did and didn’t come home with me!

Nope…I didn’t buy this old ironing board…although I sure wanted to!  It flips back and turns into a step ladder/chair!  A real vintage find and for only $24 it was a bargoon! It brought back some childhood memories for me, as my best friend’s had one of these sitting in a corner of their kitchen!  (One day we took it outside as we were going to use it as a spring board to jump into her wading pool…we got busted before we could take the plunge…or get busted ourselves!)

Can’t you see this floating over a little girl’s bed?  She would either love it or grow up with some serious issues regarding angels and tulle!  YIKES!  What a dust collector!!

Love this sweet table…but didn’t buy it!

Cute but it didn’t do it for me….

Then there was this patchwork clock…WHAT??  A patchwork CLOCK??.

Yup you read that right…how could I pass this one up?  I mean really, what quilter wouldn’t  love to own this?!…and for less than $3!  She came home with me…and will look great in my sewing room!

And then there was THIS!! Ok…I read your thoughts…not anther chicken…but seriously can you REALLY have enough chickens?

See…the joy of thrifting is you just NEVER know what will be following you home!

And then you just don’t know what will be waiting for you when you do get home…

Remember I wrote about Melvina’s sale over at Hollyhock Hills Designs…LESS than a week ago!!  Well lookie at what that cute UPS man brought! Wool…lovely wool!!

I concentrated on buying off the bolt, light coloured wools so that I could do some dyeing!!  I am loving this wool!!  Melvina’s regular price is less than HALF what other shops sell it for!!  Got to love that!!  I see that Melvina’s been busy as Hollyhock Hills Designs has a whole NEW batch of hand dyed wools at those CRAZY good prices and wonderful colours!!  Sheesh…don’t look…don’t GO OVER THERE!!

This morning the ‘girls’ and I are off Garage Saling…with a stop at JoAnn’s…and of course we have a fist full of coupons!  Yeeehaw!

Good thing Hubby and I had a Friday night ‘date’ or he’d forget what I looked like!!:o) 

Have a Super Saturday and Happy Quilting!~P

Is it Spring…yet?

According to the NEWS on TV…most of North America has been under cloud cover…and getting precipitation in the form of SNOW or RAIN…heck, we even got a few sprinkles here!!  Some places got LOTS of SNOW!

Well this is for all of you snow people…just to remind you that SPRING is just around the corner…

This sweet mat was made by Heritage Judi…and is adorable!!

This mat just screams out SPRING…and warmer temps!

Just LOOK at that sweet face!  Ahhhdorable!

Hang in there…the sun’s a-coming! 

Thanks Heritage Judi!  We all needed a reminder that Spring is just around the corner…

PS….you can find the pattern HERE!!

Hey didja’know that…if you click HERE you can go to Aurifil’s Block Parties…all of their FREE blocks and patterns from their various Blog Hops are now in ONE place…and it’s going back to 2010!  Lots of good stuff all in one place!  Have fun poking around!

Have a FUN Friday and Happy Quilting!~P

From Baskets to Basket Case!

On Tuesday our weather took a turn for the bad…windy and a lot cooler…so WE stayed in.  I hauled out this little unfinished corner that I bought at the Hemet boutique for $1.00…and started to PLAY!

Hmmm?  What to do with these sweet blocks…?  I took them apart and started to rearrange…

And of course I had a helper…  “Yup…this looks good..Now can we go to the Park?”

“Nope…not that comfortable…when does the batting go in?”

“While I’m down here..how about a belly rub…Please, mom Pleeeeassssse?!”

“Here let me move this block over here…and then you can chase me!”

“Yup, looks good…I like this…NOW can we go??”

And this is what WE settled with…all stitched and starched and ironed…and ready for a walk!

Sure is great to have a little helper…isn’t it?  Yup…she turned me into a Basket Case…which is what I ended up calling this quilt!

I must say…I’m really liking the Basket Case and so does Rylie…or she will, once the batting is inside!

Have a Thrifty Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P

The Sands’ Quilt and Craft Show Continues…

On WITH THE SHOW…The Sands’ Quilt and Craft Show that is…

Yesterday we finished one side of the room, so now we are heading down the other side…I don’t want to miss anyone!

Up next is Calgary Judy…Judy is an incredible, very prolific quilter who turns out stunners on a regular basis…unfortunately she doesn’t like getting her picture taken…so I better be fast!!

Told you…gorgeous work…and tons of it!!  And her workmanship is stellar!  Sheer perfection!

Calgary Judy is currently working on this gorgeous red hexagon table topper…she took a class at Road to California and this was one of her projects.  Magnificent, isn’t it?!

 

Onto Anne’s section of the room…

Anne is another prolific quilter…lovely work!  Most of her work I have already shown you….but it is SEW worth a second look!

Anne finished her cone flowers  which she designed herself.  The stem and leaves are wool and the rest is cotton.  I hope you can see the wee seed beads in the middle of the flowers as they add a nice touch!

Do you remember the wool geraniums from last year…well she has it framed and it is just stunning!!  And she made this wool Christmas Wall hanging out of wool and cotton…very nice!

Throughout the whole show there were musicians playing and singing…providing a very festive backdrop to the event!

Onto Gwen and Seattle Judy’s section…

Seattle Judy finished her wool on cotton Sheep in the Willows quilt…LOVE IT!!  Judy did a wonderful job…now she is going to take it home for her friend, Kathy, to quilt!!  I hope she sends me pictures of the finished quilt!  (more on this quilt later!)

You may remember Judy sewing her little stars together last week…well now it’s finished!!  What a sweet table topper!

And the sweetest wool pumpkin mat…

And here is Judy’s Homespun Houses quilt…magnificent!!  I love this quilt!!

And here is her folded up Civil War Nine Patch (it’s huge!)…L*O*V*E this quilt top!

This is Roxanne’s long runner…it must be five or six feet long and it is STUNNING!!  Roxanne did a wonderful job…and I also love her Christmas table topper to the right…I took a close up of this quilt but it turned out blurry…darn!  It is so pretty and will look wonderful on any wall or table next Christmas!

Oh geeze…I better squeeze in the other Artists on the other side of the room…

More painting…lovely!!

Photography…WOW!!

Kelp and driftwood Art…interesting…

Wee kelp baskets…

Now back to the REAL show…haha…

Here’s Karen’s dish carrier.  We have a lot of dinners and pot lucks here at The Sands and you may need to take plates and cutlery to the clubhouse…while the rest of us use an old grocery bag, Karen will arrive in style!  Plates go inside and cutlery and napkins on the side!  Clever!

Here is Alice’s quilt that she whipped up last week…dang cute!!

Do you see how she made the flowers…overlapping circles!!  (Fire up that GO! ladies and crank out some circles!)  Very clever and sweet!

Here’s Pauline’s magnificent Waffle Quilt made out of batiks.  Isn’t it pretty!!

And there is my Autumn Quilt all snuggled up to it. 

Here are Pauline’s wonderful baby quilts…I apologize for these pictures!  I got so excited by how Pauline finished these quilts off that I didn’t take a full on shot!   BUT JUST LOOK at this quilting and the fuzzy stars and the minky like backing!!  Soft and extremely cozy!

Wonderful quilting and super soft flannel…perfect for a baby!

SWEET!

And I loved this bag also made by Pauline!

Yikes…I  cut off Phyllis’ lambs…made from wool and framed!  Good thing I have back-up pictures!!  :) Lovely!

Phyllis made this for a sweet baby gift!  Ahhhh…..

This is Gwen’s disappearing Nine Patch made out of yummy Rouenneries French General!!  Lovely…

BUT…look at the back!!  There is another quilt on the other side!!  This quilt is reversible!

And look at the quilting…stunning!!

So there you have it…that’s it folks…there ain’t no more!  Whew!!  That’s a wrap!

Hope you enjoyed The Sands’ Quilt and Craft Show as much as we did!!

Have a Wicked Wednesday and Happy Quilting!~P