Free E-Book!

Several weeks ago, Fons and Porter magazine contacted me and asked me to review an e-book. Well of course I said, “Yes!”

The old adage “You get what you pay for” does NOT hold true in this case. This is an excellent book.  Three different styles of log cabin are presented (traditional, courthouse steps, and chevron) and for each style there are great directions, including directions for cutting different block sizes.

The directions are straight forward and the book has great pictures and diagrams. There areextra hints that you can use for making quilts in general. I especially like the directions for putting on a binding.

If you are interested in getting this book, here is the link:

I double checked the link-if it doesn’t work let me know. Or you can go to Fons and Porter and click on free patterns.  The link for the book is on the right side.  The featured freebie changes-just refresh until you get to the book. Enjoy!

Let’s Dust this Thing Off…

Why do I find it so difficult to blog?  One reason is that I have been keeping busy. I went to N. Carolina to visit with Mimi; I have taught a couple times at Mission Rose and have subbed at the Y; I have been sewing and knitting. Is that my excuse?  No, my excuse is that I get too lazy to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer.

Is it difficult? Not at all!

So today I loaded a bunch of pictures and over the next few days I will post my adventures, completions and works in progress.

But today….

Look at these beauties:

Oh my goodness, I love these shoes! And they are soooo comfortable!  Karmen from A Quilter Awakens turned me on to Alegria shoes and I am sorry it took me so long to buy a pair!

I may have a new addiction….

New Projects- and Finishes

I have actually been very busy-just lazy about posting.

Here is a new product at the shop.  The idea is old-in fact, this was my second project as a new quilter.  I am sure anyone who quilted in the 80’s made at least one of these:

Only I made this:

The pattern is neat-very similar to paper piecing:

I will definitely be making more of these!

I also made a sample for Mission Rose.  It is called the Izzy Bag. 

It has a cute pocket for your cell phone-and I even put a zipper in it!

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It uses just 4 fat quarters and even comes with the swivel hooks for the straps.

It is a great purse for a busy day of fabric shopping!

Welcome Spring!

I am getting a bike. After researching for a few days, I picked out this one.  Barb, at work calls it a Jessica Fletcher bike but the real name is a cruiser.  It is good for old ladies with big butts, just like me!

Katie wants to put her trailer on it so I can take Dylan.  I have not been on a bike in over 30 years.  Maybe I had better practice first…

The Latest from Japan

As many of you know, I have a love affair going with Japanese books and fabric. 

This is my latest book:

Not much from the cover, but look inside….

It is a book on reversible quilted projects.  Of course they are all completed by hand although I suppose that it could be adapted to machine sewing.  Here is my first project:

It is (to me, at least) the cutest little pouch made from just 3 hexagons! I just love it! It took me an evening to HAND SEW it all together.  The folding took me longer-the first hexie took 45 minutes but then it got much easier.

This is the next project I want to make:

The purse is on the left.  The two bigger pictures show the piece before sewing it into shape.

The book also shows cathedral window shapes-but oh, the twist that has been put on them!  I will post more on that later…

Kitty Cover

I don’t think I will keep the foot pedal in the pocket but I do like the way the cover turned out!

By the way, I did some test sewing on the machine and it really works well!  The 1/4” foot works well and while the stitch options are limited they are great for piecing and even some applique work.  I think that we will be great friends!

Recent Purchases

I went to four quilt shops while visiting Adrienne and Joe-and I squeezed in a trip to Ikea!  I bought over 20 yards of fabric. Yeah.  That is a lot of fabric.  I seriously have to stop buying fabric.  I just have to convince myself it is OK to use the fabric.

(Do you do that? Save fabric for that “special” project?  How special does it have to be???)

Anyway, here are some pictures of my goodies.The bag was a nice gift from the Seminole Sampler in Catonsville. The manager said that Adrienne and I were very entertaining! Please go visit if you are in the area!

It’s Here!

My Hello Kitty machine arrived and it is too cute!  I only played with it for a few minutes.  I ordered a quarter-inch foot and metal bobbins for it so when I get back from Baltimore (going to see Adrienne and her family) I will try some sewing. 

This actually works out well.  I brought my Bernina in for a tune up-it has been 3 years!-so I can play with the Janome for a few days.

And in other news, our guild hosted a purse making workshop with the Gypsy Quilter.  I made the Lily design from Lazy Gals. I used fat quarters from the Giddy line at the shop. I really like the way it turned out.

So tomorrow I am off to Baltimore and you know what that means: quilt and yarn shops and LOTS of pictures of Lenny!

See you soon!

Hello Kitty!

Have you seen this?  I have wanted a Hello Kitty sewing machine for the longest time!  The machine is made by Janome and is a 3/4 machine and weighs about 11 pounds.  Almost every review I have read has been positive; metal bobbins are suggested for better sewing.

So I finally ordered one from Target.  I can’t wait for it to get here!  I am hoping that it will work out as a travel machine; my Bernina and Viking are just too heavy to lug around. I will let you all know how it runs after I give it a good workout!

Happy Birthday…to Me!

Friday the 13th was my birthday-but I won’t tell you which one-and it was very nice!  The gorgeous flowers are from my very good friend Mimi.  It was extra special because Adrienne and Joe came up for the weekend.  Adrienne made me these:

They are keeping my feet very warm!

Katie and Lauren remembered that I had loved these at Williams and Sonoma:

I will make the cake mix for Thanksgiving!

My husband got me my new Juki a couple months ago, but he still remembered the day with a beautiful card.

I got myself (I am so bad!) a few things from the quilt shop:

And this book from Barnes and Noble:

 

I love these Matryoshka Dolls:

The weekend was also special because today is our 30th Wedding Anniversary!  Katie put a nice write up and picture in the Sunday paper and we all went out to dinner on Sunday night.  This is exactly how I wanted to celebrate.  Thank you girls!

Shopping: Part 2

OK. Recently I went to New York City so of course I had to visit The City Quilter. It is a quilting gem in Midtown! Every time I go I find lots of new fabrics, books and other goodies. My love of Japanese quilt books began here.

Here are a few of the items that had to come home with me. I actually bought a few more things but they have been made into gifts for friends and family.

Don't these treats look delicious?



They are made from felt!! The pictures from this book are beautiful-and mouth watering!


These are photo transfers made from old postcards of NYC. Each is about 4" x 6".

The City Quilter has a great selection of NY themed fabrics so I picked up these fat quarters. I want to make a wall hanging using the fabric and the postcards from above.


The ladies at the shop are friendly and helpful. If you go to New York, you must visit!

Shopping: Part 1

I visited Mimi in Courtland for 5 days last month and I had a wonderful time. Mimi and her husband John are very gracious hosts-even when my plane was almost 8 hours late! (I sat in La Guardia all afternoon and evening due to high winds.) They took me to North Carolina for a great dinner and even to Virginia Beach to visit a quilt store and to get ice cream. My favorite meal was "chicken from the gas station"! LOL! Actually, the mini mart at the gas station had a small restaurant that makes the best fried chicken. On the way back to the airport we stopped at a 5 Guys hamburger place. At least I think that was the name. Can you tell that I ate well??

We went out fabric shopping twice and then did a LOT of sewing. Mimi is just learning to quilt but is GREAT at buying fabric! She kept up well with a seasoned shopper (me!). But this time I packed more efficiently than my last trip. I packed my carry-on with the bare essentials so that I could place my purchases in it on the way home:


The bag weighed 20 pounds more on the way home!! And here is some of what I got:

Lots of patterns! I think I bought about half the patterns that Patchalot Patterns had at the shop, including the kit for the Williamsburg Medallion:


I love this color palette; I want to redo my living room around these colors:


These patterns from Bella Fabrics include the chipboard to complete the projects. Love it!


It was Valentine's Day! How could I resist?


Fabrics for my Civil War Love Letters Quilt:


At Quilt with Me we found the mother-lode of Eleanor Burns fabrics and patterns. I am sure I could find them locally, but here they were just calling me!


Mimi found this fruit fabric and fell in love with it. We cut it into squares and we are going to have a mini quilt challenge. I will post these quilts this summer when we get back together again. Update: Mimi informs me that she has since purchased some vegetable fabric and may make a reversible quilt!

I did buy some other goodies but they are for gifts(can't spoil the surprise!) or already put together (my strippy quilt).

And a confession. For Lent I gave up buying fabric and patterns. This little buying spree was my Mardi Gras. I should give up for the rest of the year-I certainly have enough to keep me busy!!