Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Work in Progress Wednesday

I'm linking up with

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Thanks to Quilts Ole, I have this beautiful fat quarter stack of Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda.


These luscious prints definitely want to be a house quilt. Bring on the inspiration...

 
 

Here's what I've worked up so far in EQ7. I think I'll scale the vehicles down to a more reasonable size and put their row somewhere other than the very top. I still have a bit of work to do, but it's a work in progress, after all.






Giveaway

What this page needs is a giveaway. Wouldn't you like to win some washi tape and Frixion pens? If you haven't tried the pens yet, I recommend you do. You can use their gel ink to write on fabric, and when you iron it, it vanishes. I especially like using them for marking the center line when making half square triangles.

Disclaimer: Sometimes there is faint, white shadowing where the pen marks used to be following removal. I've also heard marks can reappear in extreme cold, which I can't attest to here in Albuquerque.

I'm new to the washi tape fan club, but if you need some ideas about what to do with it, check out Pinterest. There are plenty of ideas including highlighting your calendar, adorning candles, gift wrapping, and restyling a headband.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Today's Trend - Scrappy Trip Along

If you can bear the thought of tossing your scraps, you're just the type of quilter that the ever-popular Scrappy Trip Along quilt would attract.

Here's one example from Kirsten of Gemini Stitches.


I love the interplay between the solids and the single, polka-dot fabric in Krista's, which can be found at Krista Stitched.

Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter is working on a holiday version that may inspire a use for my vast Christmas stash.

There's over 1,000 members in the Flickr group here.

If you want to make your own, see Bonnie Hunter's tutorial here.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

I linking up with the Small Blog Meet here.
Lily's Quilts

Today's Trend - Free Form Arrows

Don't these just look like fun?


The arrows above were made by Debbie of A Quilter's Table.

These beauties belong to Leanne at She Can Quilt.

Both of these creative gals are part of the Always Bee Learning Bee on Flickr here.


Friday, August 23, 2013

This Week...

I'm linking up with: 

1. Linnea, motivated by my laptop sitting on the floor, figures out how to crawl over to it so she can hit the keys. She also managed to do a somersault, by mistake, as a result of being up on her hands and feet. She claps.

2. Bryce wrote my name and his (Bryce & Afton).


3. Motivated by my husband inviting a coworker (who's wife was away on business) over for dinner, I bought ingredients and actually cooked. I tend to get carried away grocery shopping, so I'm now obligated to make quite a few more meals before the ingredient overflow rots. I recommend this recipe for cauliflower and this tilapia recipe.

4. My living room light filled with water and blew out the light bulbs. I don't know why, but that isn't good.

5. I put the finishing touches on a pattern for a quilt shop sample featuring Northcott's Peacock Paradise II. Here's a peek:

6. I sold $272 worth of raffle tickets for the guild fundraiser quilt during Shop Hop.

7. My garage sale finds included: a huge bucket of Legos, 25 alphabet Peek-A-Blocks (yep, 26 would have been better), a Geotrax airport, a bunch of wild animal-themed stuffed animals, plastic Tinker Toys, some museum souvenir quilt patterns, and a dinosaur costume for my son for Halloween even though he wants to wear the reindeer costume my folks got him for Christmas.

8. I'm working on a quilt for this contest.

9. Awana started back up.

10. I attended a Norwex party.  I like Pampered Chef parties better because eating is more fun than cleaning.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Today's Tutorial - Fussy Cutting

Heather from The Sewing Loft does a great job explaining the concept of "fussy cutting." Check out her clear tutorial here.


Monday, August 19, 2013

Recommended Quilt-Along - Star Surround


This Quilt-Along, featured on Happy Quilting by Melissa Corry, contains some great tips for precision piecing. It has a flavor that is both traditional and modern.


Recommend Quilt-Along - Bloom Bloom Pow

Bloom Bloom Pow
Lee of Freshly Pieced uses Pearl Bracelets fabrics in this lovely, colorful quilt-along.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Studio Spotlight

I'm linking up for Ellison Lane for their Studio Spotlight.


I am a hoarder of all things quilting, but my friends call me a collector. Yep, my friends are great. If I have fabrics I intend to put together in the same project, I lump them into the same plastic bin. I also have a bunch of wire baskets that are handy for smaller cuts of fabrics. I enjoy books, which I use more for inspiration than to follow an exact pattern.


Clothing items that need ironing go to my pressing (not ironing) board where they wait indefinitely, because it is easier to see much more interesting things to do in my studio than ironing boring ol' clothes. Besides, if I stay holed up stitching quilts, who's going to notice that I'm still wearing my robe?


I am a sucker for silent auctions. That's how I ended up with this coin rack that is serving quite well as a ruler holder. I also love those organizational caddies that are in Target's dollar section at the front of the store. It's uber-critical that I keep my rotary cutters far, far out of reach of my young kiddos. I love all their beautiful fingers and intend to do everything in my power to keep them attached.


To manage basting and quilting larger quilts with less drag, I have two plastic picnic tables that are the height of my drop-in sewing table that I bought at JoAnn's during Black Friday last year.

One can never have too much thread, or fabric for that matter.

Here's something, or rather someone, else that you can find in the studio, which is why I have it as well-stocked with toys as it is with fabric stash. As you can see, I am not the only spoiled one in the family.


Thursday, August 15, 2013

Really Random Thursday - Scary Sewing Machines

I'm linking up with Really Random Thursday at Live a Colorful Life.


This, I believe is the most random thing I've seen in a bit, or at least the strangest. This picture is from an eBay posting (linked to the picture). For just over eighty-six hundred dollars, you can be the proud owner of not one, not two, but three industrial strength hair extension sewing machines. You always wanted a Brother sewing machine. Right? Well, now is your chance! Then again, if you subscribe to the sentiment of, "Bald is beautiful," you can spare yourself almost nine grand. Besides, if I'm being perfectly honest, this looks really scary--like somebody leaned over their sewing machine just a little too far.


Today's Tutorial - Matched Binding

Debbie of A Quilter's Table, has a great tutorial that explains how to create binding that matches all the colors that touch the outside edge of your quilt. Check it out here. She also has lovely food pictures and recipes in case you're into cooking, or looking a beautiful food.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Recommend Quilt Along - Rainbow Row

Corey Yoder of Little Miss Shabby is running a Rainbow Rows Quilt Along. She features clear tutorials and teaches a variety of techniques. Her progress so far is shown below. You can check out the project here.


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Today's Trend and Tutorial - Spider Web Blocks

Lately I've noticed quite a few spider web blocks on modern quilting blogs. Surprisingly, this block has been around for decades.

Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studio created a selvage version. Shucks! I was a hoarder of epic proportions before I sighted this darling piece. Selvages were one of the few things I felt like I could throw away without fearing remorse. So much for that.

The Sew Mama Sew blog has a tutorial here.


I love Aneela Hoey's watercolor version, and not just because of her fabulous fabrics!


I've written some instructions, complete with pictures shown below, for your benefit. 

















Today's Trend - Swoon

Swoons, Swoons, everywhere! These generously-sized beauties keep cropping up wherever I look. It's no wonder. For those of us who keep collecting fat quarter bundles and appreciate the fact that the larger the block, the fewer of them you need to make, it's a great fit.

The pattern is here:

There's even a Quilt Along on Flickr here with over 1,200 members.

I love the fabrics selected by Melissa of Ms Midge.


Tula Pink's Salt Water collection is crush-worthy, so I can't resist the Swoon pictured on Everyday Fray.

Ah ha! I have made a discovery from the past thanks to the Little Miss Shabby blog. The swoon block is mighty similar to the historical Jewels in a Frame block here and the Star of Bethlehem blocks here and here.

There's even a Flickr group here.