Announcements & Catching Up

Hello Friends,  I hope you have been well.  We are settled back in our school routine.  Miss Baby is really bummed out she only has a limited amount of time after school before she heads to bed at 7:45pm!  And between the time she gets home from school and 7:45pm, she has to squeeze in snack, dinner, bath, homework from school, homework from Mom, music practices etc.  “But what about my stitching, my paper art, my reading, my marble game, my daydreaming…. my…..?”  Can you tell we sort of had a dose of rude awakening at our house?! :o)  Don’t worry, the rude awakening was tempered by a big ol’ Back to School cake – our family’s back to school tradition! :)  Cake definitely sweetens the deal of having to go back to school!

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Before I forget, please head on to Sew in Love {with Fabric} and find out about the cover I made for my day planner using Lemon Squeezy fabrics from Benartex.  There is a giveaway over there for some Lemon Squeezy fabrics!!!  Chance to enter ends tonight at 11:59EST.

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Meanwhile, I am SOOOO happy to receive pictures of your finished Quilting Treasures Harmony Summer Mystery Sew-Along quilt tops!  Some of you are being very creative in customizing your quilt with the leftover fabrics!  I was told I will receive by the end of this week a total of 3 FQ bundles from Quilting Treasures to go as part of the giveaway prizes.  As soon as I receive them, I will take a picture of the final giveaway prize!!! :)

Keep the pictures coming.  You have till Sept 9th to send me a picture of your completed quilt top.  My quilt is now quilted by my dear friend Darlene of Sew Graceful Quilting, and now I just have to bind it!!!  :)  Click here if you are unclear about the details of this giveaway.

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And here is a sneaky peek of one of the upcoming quilts… made with Windham’s Atlas fabrics.

That’s all for now, Friends.  I shall check in with you tomorrow.  Have a lovely rest of your week!

I am Wendy Sheppard, and…

… I endorse these fabrics,  because the I love the fabrics THAT much!!!  I just shipped out a quilt made with the Flower Pedals fabrics by Windham Fabrics.

I love all the prints in this collection.  These fabrics are 100% organic as well.  I am always happy to find organic fabrics – they just feel so smooth and nice!  You have to check out the fabrics here.  They are current in quilt stores right now.  So get them while you can.

I had previously designed a Tulips Quilt using the same fabrics.  You might have seen it displayed at Fall Market last year at Windham Fabrics’ booth.   Check out the house and the bicycle prints used in the quilt!!!!  The pattern is a free-to-use pattern – details to download pattern are here.  Kits are also available here (even if they misspelled my last name on the website!)

Alrightie, Friends.  I hope you keep enjoying your summer.  Meanwhile, if you happen to have an all-time favorite fabric line, I should dearly like to know which it is!  Till tomorrow.

Do you love mysteries?

I have to admit I am not a huge fan of mysteries.  Even when I read a book or watch a movie, I have to know the ending first before getting into it.  But…. I am collaborating with Quilting Treasures and hosting a Summer Mystery Sew-Along starting July 9.  Go figure!!!

We get to play with these beautiful fabrics!

I can promise you that the things we have to do aren’t going to be demanding — because it’s summer after all.  The instructions come in 6 installments (July 9, July 16, July 23, Aug 6, Aug 13, Aug 20) to make a 46″ x 66″ lap sized quilt.  I hope you will join me?

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Click here if you haven’t known about the incredible Harmony Line, newly released by Quilting Treasures.

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Below are the official participating shops where you can contact to purchase the supplies.  If you are customers of these shops, please tell them I thank them for being a part of this cooked up Mystery!

Candy’s Quiltworks, Northridge, CA

Nimble Thimble, Gilroy, CA

Blue Iris Quilt Shop, Palo Cedro, CA

The Quilt Corral, Willows, CA

Country Cloth Shop, Angels Camp, CA

Kathy’s Fabric Trunk, Del Norte, CO

Quilter’s Dream, Loveland, CO

Rossville Quilts, Rossville, IN

Sew Unique by Jackie, Granger IN

Sew What’s New, Las Cruces, NM

Patchwork Angels, Endicott, NY

Quilty Pleasures, Geneva, NY

Pinwheels & Posies, Dickinson, TX

Tea Time Quilting, Houston, TX

Sew Much More, Nederland, TX

Quilters Crossing, Tomball, TX

Quilter’s Apprentice, Terrell, TX

Sew Let’s Quilt It, Dallas, TX

Savvy Quilters, Savoy, TX

Patti’s Last Resort, Acton, TX

Rahrah’s Fabrics & Quilting, Lubbock, TX

Tomorrow’s Quilts, Waco, TX

Wimberly Stitch Studio, Wimberly, TX

Beefore It’s A Quilt, Port Lavaca, TX

Project Sneak Peek: Packages

Hello Friends, how are you all doing this Wednesday?  I hope you are well.  I am excited to show you this free-motion quilted Christmas motif I quilted on my most recently completed quilt!

The best machine quilting advice I can give anyone is to keep quilting because you WILL get better. :)  That’s all for now.  I have to get back to work…  Hugs to you all!

Merry Christmas 2015 continued, kind of…

Hello Friends, I hope you have had a blessed Christmas celebration with your loved ones.

We three retreated for a getaway, just to enjoy a slightly slower pace of things!  We had handmade gift tags (courtesy of Miss Baby – she was the official gift tag girl this year!).

Our Christmas this year was a bit gingerbread man-nish.  We had one of the outfits with matching hairbow,

and artwork showing the nativity scene.  The artist requested that the viewers take note of the “cascading light rays” (her words, not mine!) brought upon by the angels singing praises to God.

We also had amazing weather.  I was in sleeveless dresses, and we weren’t in the tropics or Florida!

I am back to work.  I actually worked right up till Christmas Eve this year.  I managed to eek out a quilt top for a 2016 editorial feature.  Darlene of Sew Graceful Quilting (my quilting angel) is quilting the quilt as we speak…

… while I work on another editorial feature using these really colorful Basically Patrick fabrics from RJR Fabrics.

Despite having to work, we are continuing with our Christmas celebration… after all, it’s only the 4th day of Christmas! :)

So, have you put up your Christmas things yet?  Or are you waiting till after the New Year, or after the 12th day of Christmas?  You could probably guess when we put up our Christmas things at the Ivory Spring household, haha! Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a lovely week!

The Little House On The Hill: Preview

Hello Friends,  I have been plagued by delayed flights in my recent trips.  I arrived home from Indiana after midnight on Monday. After catching a couple of hours of zzz’s, I went straight to work on a quilt that simply has to catch its flight to Australia. I stayed up most of last night working to make the quilt happen… and here is a very sneaky preview of another collaborative project with Lynette Anderson.

I have NEVER made yoyo’s this small (without using those nifty Clover yoyo makers) until this project.  It was not as scary as I had feared.  I found that starch-pressing the fabric first helped the process tremendously.

So tell me – do you like yoyo’s, and do you use them on your quilts?  I will be back tomorrow with a final post on Fall Quilt Market this year to round off our week.  Thank you for stopping by – I hope to catch up with your blogs and emails this weekend.

Constellation of Colors & Virtual Trunk Show #19: Sawtooth Star, Part 2

Happy Monday, Friends, I hope you have had a good weekend!  My quilting angels did it again… they were able to make yet another quilt happen for me.  I spent Friday night binding the quilt, and was able to ship off the following day Constellation of Colors!

You know I have a Sawtooth Star Block fanatic!  Click here to see my other Sawtooth Star quilts.  Today I am sharing with you the second installment on my Virtual Trunk Show of my Sawtooth Star Quilts! Click on the quilt names for more information on individual quilts.

1.  FRESH OFF THE PRESS – All That Glitters (American Patchwork & Quilting, December 2015)

“Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2015 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.”

2.  Get Happy (American Patchwork & Quilting Calendar 2015 for the month of March)

3.  Rising Stars (The Quilter, August/September 2015, Cover Quilt)

4.  Tutu Cute Twin Quilt and Floor Pillow, a free to use pattern for Quilting Treasures

5.  Star Struck, a free to use design for Benartex, Fan Favorite 2015

6.  Shimmery Constellations, a free to use pattern for Benartex

Thank you for stopping by.  I have exactly 10 days before I leave for Market.  It’s crunch time again… so, I shall run for now!

Easing back in…. Random this and that!

Hello Friends, I hope you have been well!  I am finally back in the land of living… sort of!  During my time away, autumn happened!  The following Autumn Comfort runner is featured in my upcoming Creative Quilts & Projects book.

I did manage to finish piecing my 30 blocks.  Here you see all the blocks all stacked up… you have seen my Iron Man quilt.  This current quilt sure feels like an Iron Man II quilt!!!  However, my husband really likes this current quilt – thus a masculine quilt alert!  Stay tuned for details.

I also finalized my travel arrangements to Fall Market next month!  I will be in Houston from Oct 22 to Oct 25!  Please email me if you want to meet up!  I will have a few events during my time there – details to come.  I will also be helping out at Sample Spree.  I have never been to Sample Spree in my past Market trips… so I am eager to see how craziness unfolds in real life at Sample Spree!  I have heard it’s a bit crazy, and that might even be an understatement!

And in the midst of the frenzy, this (THIS!) came in the mail — my Aurifil Subtle Strings thread pack!!!  I am making a quilt with the threads in my thread box!!  These thread boxes will be available after Fall Market in November.  I am quilting a quilt with these threads.  I will be able to share more about the quilt after Market!!  I am VERY excited about this thread box… and will be posting more about it and the threads in the future.  Miss Baby saw the box and asked, “Mom, why is your picture on the box?”

And of course, where would I be without my friends being my “eyes” out there looking for interesting things/links to send me?  Mary emailed me a few days ago to tell me my Yuki quilt design is kitted and sold by Cotton Club.  You can click here to purchase the quilt kits.

Before I forget, let’s take care of the ladies who will be receiving some Windham Chambray Rose fabrics from my post here.  I decided to share the love, and managed to make 2 little fabric piles from my magazine project leftovers.  So, the two ladies to be receiving the fabrics are: Sandy A in St. Louis, and Carol Hendrick.  Ladies, I have emailed you privately asking for your mailing address.  If you don’t receive the email, would you please email me your mailing address so that I can get the fabrics sent out to you in my next mail run?

So I get home from Fall Market, and will only have time to catch up with laundry and a little of housework before I leave again.  I am teaching at Annie’s Craft Festival at Fort Wayne in Indiana on Oct 30-Nov 1.  Will I see you there?  You may click here to sign up for classes with me.

I think that’s all for now, Dear Friends.  Happy Fall to my northern Hemisphere friends, and Happy Monday and Happy Week to ALL my friends!

p.s.  The above pictures show some of the fall projects I have worked on in the past.

Parade: Preview

Hello Friends,  earlier this week I showed you the Chambray Rose fabrics with which I have been playing…

The quilt is now completed and shipped, and here are a few sneaky peeks for you…

Now, I have to catch up on other things…. like laundry, housework etc.  Thus are glimpses of my very unglamorous life. :) Thank you for stopping by – I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.

Switch-a-roo!

So I took a quick look at the school papers Miss Baby brought home with her, and nothing really caught my eye.  I was on the verge of committing the school papers of the day to the trash can.  One can only keep that many papers, and Miss Baby has many more years of school left.  That’s when I heard…

Miss Baby:  Did you take a look at the other Bible paper (with the fish)?

Me: Yeah, you were supposed to draw a fish.  And… you drew a shark?

Miss Baby:  Oh, Mom – we could draw anything on there as long as it’s under water.

[Me looking at the picture, counting the number of sets of gills on that shark…]

Miss Baby:  Can you see that it’s a food chain?

My head was spinning – instruction says to draw a fish… who said anything about a food chain? I took a serious look at the picture for the first time.  FOOD CHAIN?

Sure enough, it’s a food chain, sort of…. I think.

Miss Baby:  See? Plankton are at the end of the food chain.  [See circled dot in picture].

Still spinning, my mind frantically scrolled through all the “scientific” p-words – platelet, plutonium, pulmonary, planet, pipe cleaner, panda, plankton?! …. Oh, plankton – that’s right, plankton!

Me:  Oh yes, plankton — the quintessential element of  the aquatic food chain!

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I am not a perfect Mom – that’s a fact.  I am a Mom who works too much.  And  I am painfully aware I am not the most patient Mom around.  BUT… I was reminded again to not blow off my child’s art work.

Thus a switch-a-roo on the fate of that particular school paper: Trash bin to Keepsake box.

p.s.  Oh, the knowledge out there waiting for us to learn about and explore including planktology here!

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Meanwhile, I have been playing with these fabrics.  They are Nancy Gere’s Chambray Rose from Windham.  These fabrics are gorgeous — they are like the perfect fusion of denim and floral. The focal print has the look of floral printed on denim.   They are a little different from the usual floral prints, but very pretty.  Click here to view the fabrics in case you are interested in getting some for yourself!  And… if blue/lavender aren’t your colors, check out Nancy’s Carmen red fabrics here.  I have some – and they are absolutely GORGEOUS!

I have a few Chambray Rose fabric pieces (focal print and coordinates) left from piecing my quilt — if you would like them, please leave a comment in the comment section.  One of you will be picked to receive the fabrics.

I spy with my own eyes…

Happy Monday, Friends!  I am exhausted, but I was most excited heading out to the Post Office this morning posting my two quilts to their respective destinations.

In one of my quilts, I spy with my own eyes….

… fabrics from Nancy Gere’s Low Country Indigo for Windham.   Read about Nancy’s fabrics here.

You know I love history, but the funny thing is that I really haven’t worked with any historic-themed fabrics until very recently.  I couldn’t be happier and excited about the prospect!!!  Stay tuned for some designs coming up I did using more reproduction lines — SO excited is all I can say.

So — curious mind wants to know if you like using reproduction fabrics in your quilts.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a lovely week ahead.  It’s time for me to catch up with laundry and housework… or, Miss Baby is going to say, “Mom, I don’t mean to nag, but I think you need to dust this lamp! I am seeing powdery dust on it.”  Yeah, about that… I shall get right on it!  Thus, the reason why my sister calls me the overqualified maid and underpaid chauffeur.

THE MACHINE THAT COULD #1 & Quilty THIS OR THAT #8

Happy Monday, Friends!  I hope you had a great weekend.  I worked (am still working) on this.  So far, I think I already have about 35 fabrics in it.  I was tempted to show you just how crazy my piles of fabric are for this project.  I decided against it because the sight is totally unappealing!

SO, a couple of Fridays ago, I mentioned about unpacking a huge box that has the machine. I am happy to tell you the machine which I have nicknamed The Machine That Could is a Bernina 770 QE!

One of the neat features that I love about the 7-series is their “eco” feature that acts as a power safe as well as child safety mode.  I like that the machine “locks” itself up when I am not at my machine because I do have a little one at home. Miss Baby was taught really young to have a healthy respect for my tools of trade, and we have never had any mishaps!  Nonetheless, the other kids that come through our door might not…

This machine is a little different from my Artista 640.  So, any chance I have before bed, whether it be midnight or 3am in the morning, I squeeze in time to read the manual, and marking the pertinent pages of information!

Now to my obsession of reading manuals — when I think on it, I can actually remember reading the manual of my Dad’s Casio semi-scientific calculator when I was a kid!  Fast forward to my former life in the research lab… Since safety was a big deal, and the equipment with which I worked could be potentially hazardous (like burning the eyeball out if I accidentally look in straight at a high-power laser beam – and I am NOT exaggerating), I would spend days reading and re-reading (out of fear!) the operation manual of the equipment before I even turned on the power switch.  That eventually became a habit that I have maintained till this day.  I am a manual reader – if something comes with a manual, I always read it first… just in case!

And I have read the section about oiling the machine about 5 times now — this is for Dan at Rogers Sewing Center.

So, our latest installment of Quilty THIS or THAT is… Manual Reading, or NOT?  Or only when that dumb thing still doesn’t work?  This curious cat is anxious to know your answers! Remember, there is no right or wrong answer in our THIS or THAT game! :)

Thank you for stopping by.  I will have much more to share about the Bernina B770 machine soon! Have a lovely rest of your week!

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Click here for Quilty THIS or THAT #1. Click here for Vicki’s follow up post.

Click here for Quilty THIS or THAT #2.

Click here for Quilty THIS or THAT #3.

Click here for Quilty THIS or THAT #5.

Click here for Quilty THIS or THAT #6.

Click here for Quilty THIS OR THAT #7.