Quilters Party!

What a fun day! I hosted our guild's December meeting/Christmas social today. We visited and ate wonderful food (quilters really are excellent cooks!).

Several members participated in our quilt challenge. The quilt had to have a tree on it. Here are a few of the entries.

We did a "Mug Rug" exchange. Boy were they cute!
And we couldn't skip the "Show and Tell". Nice start to the Holiday Party Season!!

Read More

I heart aqua...

My laundry room color needed a little pick-me-up. I decided to paint it one of my current favorites ~ aqua.

Then I added my red and aqua wall quilt...

Definitely picked things up!

Read More

While you were shopping...

Instead of experiencing the crowds, I was sewing on Black Friday. A Christmas pillow case for my favorite three-year-old.

I can only show you a "sneak peek" of my project for the STLMQG "Brown Bag Exchange".

Some "Mug Rugs".

Two are gifts.

And one will be for Bound Together Quilt Guild's gift exchange.
Really, I didn't miss the crowds!

Read More

Winner!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I have much to be thankful for. A wonderful family, great friends and a little fabric to play with every day. Makes my heart smile!

The winner of the Fandango layer cake is commenter #7 ~ Anita. Congratulations! I'll just need your address, Anita.

Two of my favorite designers have just released new lines and I couldn't resist. This is Patty Young's new line Sanctuary. I think I've dabbled with a bit of every one of her lines, including Flora and Fauna to make this wall hanging.

And this is Parisville by Tula Pink. Another super talented designer, the line is so colorful and yummy!
See, I do have a lot to be thankful for. Have a blessed holiday!

Read More

Blooms and Bowties

My little wall quilt just hit the news stands in McCall's Quilting. It's simple, fun and you could have it done before the tulips really start popping through the ground.

It's featured in the January/February issue!

Read More

Give Away!

Sometimes I feel a little nutty with what's happening in my corner of the quilting world. I certainly can't focus on one thing, but flit around from project to project, fabric to fabric and idea to idea. What's happening this week? This one is bound and hung!

I'm playing with a simple version of my block inspired by Martha Stewart's magazine cover with those cute pillows. Grays, whites, blacks and golds.

I can't wait to make this "Birdbath" pattern using colors inspired by my dining room curtain fabric, from The Practical Guide to Patchwork.

More progress on the Zig Zag quilt.

And I cut up my "Modern Meadow" to make simple square in a square blocks.

I want to thank you all for hanging out with me in my nutty little corner of the internet. I'm a big fan of Kate Spain fabric (in fact someone has nominated me president of her fan club!!) and would like to share some of the gorgeousness. Next Wed. I'll draw from the comments on this post for a Fandango layer cake. Thanks for being here!!

Read More

Weekends...

This weekend I got to attend my first meeting of the Saint Louis Modern Quilt Guild. This is turning into a wonderful group of quilters filled with talent and enthusiasm. So many of us start quilting because we love the craft, but find the friendships it creates are more valuable than the quilting. I'm so excited after quilting for so many years to make new friends, get inspired and learn something new. I'm following all the blogs of our STL Modern Quilt Guild members. You'll find them here if you'd like to also.

I also finished up the quilting on my Root Beer Float this weekend. I used 2 of my favorite and easy marking methods. The first is painter's masking tape. It comes in several widths and is perfect for marking straight lines. I used the 1 1/2" width to make straight lines on the outer border. (Use a walking foot or a dual feed).

I have widths from 3/4" to 2". I love the look of parallel lines unevenly spaced. Having different widths is perfect for marking that.

I used my Quilt Pounce (aka Swipe) to mark a design in the small stars. You can make your own templates using Golden Threads paper. After drawing the design on the paper, perforate the paper by stitching it with no thread in the machine. Lay the paper rough side up on the quilt and slide the Pounce over it. The Pounce is filled with chalk that will iron off when you're done. It's so quick! Love it!
The block quilted:

Read More