That girl... That quilt

Hard at work

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 29 May 2012 15:10:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a great long weekend! Chaney and I spent some time sewing on Sunday. She loves her art teacher and she wanted to make her an end of the year present.

I've been using some of my Habitat stash for my drunk flowers quilt so guess which fabrics she eyed. Yep... the drop cloth ones. Perfect for an art teacher! Tough for mom to part with some of her favorite fabrics so you know it's love when you let your kid use some of your beloved stash. ;)

Chaney wanted to make a wall hanging to look like paintings hanging on a wall. I think that's a great concept! I decided it was time to teach her strip piecing so we cut light and dark strips to make 9 patch blocks.

I cut the long strips and she stitched them together. I pressed the strips and I supervised her very closely and let her rotary cut the strips into the units to make the 9 patch blocks. She did great... the cuts were a tad wonky but it works great with her design.

I showed her how to butt the seams up against each other and pin. Then I taught her how to chain piece. Her response... why didn't you teach me this trick a long time ago?!?

While she was busy chain piecing, I cut the sashing strips. I pressed the 9 patch blocks and she took over and added the sashing to the blocks without me showing her what to do. She's a quilting genius! LOL

I pressed the blocks and because the 9 patch blocks ended up a bit wonky, I decided to square the blocks up wonky too. Chaney loved the look and was arranging the blocks and stitching them together to make the top before I could even say anything about making the seams match then sewing the rows together.

I thought that I might be the one quilting the hanging but she's begging to do it because she already knows how. Her Janome doesn't have a walking foot so I'm thinking straight organic lines using my machine should be OK with my supervision.

The one thing she is making me do... binding the quilt. And that's fine with me because it's one of my favorite parts of making a quilt!

Chaney and I will hire our quilt photographer {Steve} to take the final pictures and I'll let her blog about the finished product. She is begging for a blog of her own but I think she's too young. Hopefully sharing here will keep her happy for the next few years...

Liberty!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:50:00 +0000

Image from PickClickSew

I finally gave in. I have been eyeing the Liberty fabrics for a long time now. I've picked up a few pieces here and there but I have really been wanting to make a quilt for myself out of these gorgeous prints.

I caved yesterday when I stumbled across PickClickSew on Etsy. She has a great selection and reasonable prices. Because I wanted the biggest selection of Tana Lawn as possible, I decided to go with a scrap bag with 48 pieces ranging between 2" x 5" to 4.5" x 5.5" in size.

I also think it will be fun to design a quilt using every precious scrap of varying sizes. I'm planning on pairing the prints with Essex linen in natural. I'm thinking that the contrasting textures will give the quilt some extra depth since the blocks themselves will be fairly straightforward.

As I've been reading the quilt market posts, I've noticed several bloggers talking about how Liberty is coming out with a quilting cotton line. When those prints hit, I bet there will be a huge frenzy around them!

Have you ever worked with Liberty fabric? I'm interested to hear what you thought and any tips you might have!

{Instagram}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Do you Instagram? It's quickly becoming a new favorite of mine. It's so easy! Steve gave me a new piece of Le Creuset to add to my collection for our anniversary... I took a cool picture and uploaded it to Instagram, Facebook and Flickr all at the same time.

I gave Steve an iron griddle for our anniversary and same thing... cool picture taken and it's posted.

Looks like we will be doing a lot of cooking!

I'm new on Instagram and I'm looking for more people to follow. If you happen to be on there and you want to, just click here or on the little camera next to the Facebook button on my page to follow me. If you follow me, I promise to follow you back. We'll have lots of fun together! :)

PS: my Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway is still going on! click here to enter.

Add another ring...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:22:00 +0000

Today is our sixth anniversary!

Last year the traditional gift was wood so I made an embroidered tree ring to hang in our hallway. Had I really thought it through, I would have left room to add more rings. Maybe I'll make another one at 10 years. :)

The traditional gift for six years is iron. Oh, what fun it was to buy this gift and lug it through the store! Steve and I are just hoping we didn't buy each other the same thing... we'll see.

How are we celebrating? We will be coaching Chaney's softball game tonight in Middleofnowhere, TX. Unless we want to dine at Dairy Queen, we are better off waiting to go out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate.

8U softball isn't very romantic but then, we've never been a conventional couple... our first date was a blind date on December 3rd, 2005. Steve proposed on February 14th, 2006. We signed a contract to build our house on February 28th, 2006. On May 22nd, 2006 we got married at the courthouse, just the two of us, in flip flops, shorts and a sundress. Don't worry, I was the one wearing the sundress.

I wouldn't change a thing about these six years together because they have made us the couple that we are today. Here's to many more with my best friend and love of my life!

If you are looking for the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway please click here.

Giveaway Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:39:00 +0000

It's that time again! Giveaway Day hosted by Sew Mama Sew starts today. This is always such a fun event and a great way to discover new blogs and maybe even win something.

I'm giving away my Bookmarks table runner. I designed it for a Blogger's Challenge over at Sew Lux Fabric & Gifts and now one lucky reader gets to take it home... well, the mailman will take it to your home. ;)

The runner measures 18" x 50" and is full of summer colors from the California Girl line by Fig Tree Quilts.

Please note: I won't be able to ship the runner internationally but I don't want to leave my international friends out either! One international winner will receive all 3 of my patterns via PDF.

To win, please leave a comment and tell me which color combination is your favorite right now.

If you are an international friend, please note that in your comment as well.

This giveaway will close on May 25th at 5 PM CST

{you can also make your own Bookmarks runner using my tutorial found here}

Blogger's Quilt Festival!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 19 May 2012 22:02:00 +0000

It's that time again... time to show off my current "favorite" quilt.

Right now it's my Reunion quilt. Super simple with some hourglass blocks sprinkled in to break up the squares. I made this quilt in less than 24 hours. For real. :)

I made this quilt for someone I had never met. I have since met him and it was so cool to meet this person and see his eyes light up when I was introduced to him and told that I'm the one who made his quilt.

It was my shortest commission turnaround ever... not to mention the fastest I have ever made a quilt. I was asked and gladly volunteered on Friday night, I started it Saturday afternoon, took a break to go to church Saturday evening, and then I finally went to bed Sunday morning around 5:30am.

I set my alarm for 8am to get up and finish the last little bit of the binding that I couldn't see straight enough to finish without at least a few hours of sleep. I finished the binding and managed to get a few pictures right before it was picked it up from me at 9am, Sunday morning. Phew!!

It's not my story to tell but from the name of the quilt and the importance for me to finish it overnight, you can probably guess that that Sunday was a meeting a long time in the making. I'm not one to think that quilts fix everything but I still like to believe that they can convey feelings of love, warmth, comfort, security and assurance. I cherished every moment of making this quilt.

I used a mix of charms from Sweetwater's Reunion line {how appropriate is that?!}, some of my favorite Pez prints, a tiny grey houndstooth print and some random hourglass blocks. I haven't made that many quilts from just squares and I think part of that reason is because it starts to feel so busy to me.

I set out to make this one with just 5" squares but ran into that same "busy" feeling. My solution was to add some hourglass blocks made from Kona Coal and Kona Snow. I randomly added them to the rows and I like how those blocks give the eye a place to rest. Also, this quilt was for a man so adding those blocks made it a bit more masculine... according to Steve. :)

I quilted it with straight vertical lines running on each side of the seams. After that, I still wanted more quilting so I did some organic diagonal lines. I didn't mark the quilt at all and I like the randomness.

I did rounded corners... I guess because I like the balance of all the squares and straight lines against the curves. I cut the binding strips at 4am and had to refer back to my own tutorial for folding the fabric to cut the bias strips... and you only thought my tutorials were for everyone else! ;)

Thanks for visiting today! Be sure to head over to Amy's Creative Side to see all the other beautiful quilts. This is one of my favorite events in the blogging community because I always find new-to-me blogs with tons of inspiration.

{Fearless}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Chaney's workspace looks an awful lot like mine...

It was a wonderful weekend! Chaney gave me her Mother's Day presents... a card and a coupon book full of fun gifts like a "free" cream cheese bagel, "free" bed made, "free" kiss & hug, etc. I hope she never outgrows these handmade gifts because they are my absolute favorite. Well, a new Pandora charm also makes me pretty darn happy too...

After cashing in my bagel coupon yesterday, Chaney and I headed upstairs to sew. I love how she jumps right in and starts sewing; she's fearless! She doesn't stress about colors or even much over design. She has become quite proficient with her sewing machine... she can thread it, wind the bobbins, put the bobbin in the bobbin case, and she always starts with her needle down. :) She keeps asking to be able to sew without me in the room but I'm just not ready for that and probably won't be for a few more years. That and well, it gives me a reason to always be sewing right along with her.

While Chaney worked on a pillow with a pocket {her design} I got brave and tackled piecing with curves. I've wanted to make a variation of a drunkard's path quilt for a long time now but the curves always scared me. I cut my pieces on my Accuquilt cutter and went to work. I started out using pins but that got tedious really fast. It also wasn't working all that well.

I consulted The Internet and found Nova's tutorial on piecing curves without pins. It's a video and it is fantastic. After watching it, I was piecing my blocks without pins and fairly fast I might add. It's definitely not speedy but it is faster than pinning. I'm now a fearless quilter when it comes to piecing curves!

I really like my flowers and I'm doing some experimenting with low contrast background fabrics. We'll see...

Oh, and I had my allergy testing this morning. What food am I allergic to??

Nothing. I'm not allergic to any one food by itself. The good thing about that is that I can start eating Mexican food again. And any other foods as well. I'm not quite fearless but I'm getting better.

The bad part is that I'm allergic to something environmental that cross-reacts with a food. It could be something as simple as a common fungus on a vegetable touching an avocado in a kitchen. How do you order your dinner around something like that?? I also have a certain cell that is responsible for anaphylaxis and I have 3x's as many of those cells as a "normal" person.

The short of it is that I could spontaneously combust at any time. I joke... I joke ;)

I'll go back for environmental tests in a few weeks but the best thing I can do long term is relax a little and always be prepared by carrying my Epipens. So we are celebrating no food allergies tonight with Mexican food. I'll be that girl with a margarita in one hand and an Epipen in the other...

Thanks for all your well wishes, information, advice and assurance about allergies; it has meant a lot to me. I'm terribly behind on emails but I'll get there. If you have emailed me in the past few weeks and you are worried that I've missed it, feel free to forward it to me and I promise to get to it this time around.

Checking in...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:42:00 +0000

Just a quick note to let ya'll know that I'm still OK. :)

It's been an interesting few weeks and I would be lying if I said that I haven't had lots of anxiety lately. Fortunately I go back to the allergist on Monday to do all the allergy testing.

I'm hoping and praying that the tests show what I'm allergic to so I can eat a meal without feeling a surge of panic with even the slightest itch anywhere near my mouth.

I haven't been able to take any kind of allergy medication since Tuesday because antihistamines interfere with allergy testing. If you know anything about springtime allergies in Texas then I'm sure you know what I'm referring to when I say that the inside of my head it itching.

Maybe if I'm not sneezing like crazy, I'll be able to do a little sewing this weekend. I hope ya'll have a wonderful weekend and a happy Mother's Day on Sunday!

Wednesday Words {accessories}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:09:00 +0000

image from Pillow Sew Cute

Thank you all so much for your comments on my last post! I helps a lot to know that I'm not the only one who has had a freak allergic reaction. It was also fun to have my theory confirmed about all firemen and paramedics being cute. ;)

I'm still not feeling great so there's nothing going on in my sewing room. I did see an allergist yesterday but because my body is still reacting to whatever the heck I ate; he couldn't do the full blown allergy tests. He did do some blood work and I'll go back in two weeks for the other tests but until then, I get to wait.

At my appointment I did get some good information on what to do if it happens again. When I was discharged from the hospital, I was given a prescription for two Epipens. Steve got the prescription filled, we read the instructions, practiced with the "practice" injection, and I put them in my purses.

I also purchased two pouches {one pictured above} from Pillow Sew Cute on Etsy. Karen is not only super helpful... she also has great taste in fabric! I thought about making my own pouch but I really liked her clear labeling and design. It makes better sense to have something easily identified just in case someone else needs to find the pouch for me.

I did kind of wonder why they gave me two Epipens so I asked the doctor about it yesterday.

The Doctor: how many pens do you have in that purse with you?

Me: One.

The Doctor: let me guess, you thought that one was for your black purse and the second one was for your brown purse.

Me: well, something like that...

The Doctor: {smiling} no dear, these are not for your accessories.

So not only did I find a good allergist... he's also got jokes.

BTW, if you are wondering, they give you two Epipens because you are supposed to carry both of them {or at least I am}. One injection lasts about 10 minutes so having two gives you 20 minutes to get help. It's also a good idea to have two just in case you mess up the first one. Now having two makes a lot more sense. ;)

I'm trying to find the humor in this but I am having some anxiety as well. It's hard not knowing what I'm allergic to and what to avoid. For example... a tray of fruit was brought in to my office yesterday. Along with my other co workers, I started to get a plate but then I stopped myself. I realized that I didn't know how that fruit had been handled or if I'm even allergic to the actual fruit.

It's definitely going to be a big lifestyle change and I am so fortunate that Steve is completely on board. That definitely makes this easier. :)

Napping on a roller coaster

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:43:00 +0000

an ICU room with a view... I see a quilt

So reading my post from Friday is laughable now.

I was well on my way towards relaxing... we went to dinner at a Mexican food restaurant on Friday night after the softball game just like we always do. I had the same food and same everything but my body decided that it was allergic to something.

My lips started feeling a little funny on the way home. Five minutes later we got home and I went into the bathroom to see that my upper lip was really puffy. Huh.

I ran into Steve in the hallway and he promptly pulled me into the light and his eyes got huge. He was a paramedic for 8 years so you know it's not good when he calls 911.

He told me to sit down on the couch and that the paramedics were coming to give me some medicine. Notice the distinct absence of a ride in the ambulance mentioned?

Why are firemen and paramedics always cute? And remember I'm married to a former one so I feel I have a little more latitude to talk about looks here. ;)

So in walk the firemen and paramedics. I wish I could say that I had that nice bee-sting quality to my lips that lots of women pay for. I did not though. I know this because I could see, out of my puffy eyes, my own lips protruding from my face. I also couldn't talk by this point because my tongue was so swollen and my throat was closing so I couldn't even greet the men in my living room.

They start working on me and I hear Steve ask when they were going to "roll". Roll what? I'm thinking. Turns out that's code for leaving in the ambulance.

The next several hours were a blur of needles, IV's, injections, breathing treatments, meds, doctors, nurses... and Steve asking if he could take a picture. He was totally kidding of course!

Nothing was really working so that's when the doctor decided to admit me "upstairs". I eventually got settled in a room with glass walls. That should have been my first clue that I was in ICU but I didn't figure that out until the nurse kept coming in every 30 minutes and I complimented her on her attentiveness. She said something about that's what they do in the ICU. Oh. But she really was awesome too.

Throughout the night she kept coming in along with someone else giving breathing treatments. She gave me Benadryl and other stuff while the other person was giving me epinephrine. That combo of medications makes you feel like you are trying to take a nap on a roller coaster. I pretty much sat straight up in bed all night. Had I not been tethered by IVs in each arm, I would have put my hands in the air. It was that fun.

I got to go home on Saturday and I am the proud owner of two Epipens. I have an appointment with an allergist to figure out what I'm allergic to. My face is pretty much back to normal and I can almost sleep normally. Needless to say, this episode scared me and pretty much everyone around me. And in all seriousness, I'm really thankful for a husband who is calm and knows that to do in an emergency and of course all the people who helped me along the way. I knew I was in good hands and that made a huge difference for me.

hospital curtain inspiration

While waiting on Saturday to be released I was still a bundle of jittery energy so I took note of my surroundings. You really can find quilt inspiration anywhere. ;)

So. How was your weekend??

Friday {Photos}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:50:00 +0000

I have done zero sewing this week. It's been one of those weeks. I did stumble on a very cool quilt yesterday at our local courthouse. Look, it's a granny square quilt... from the 1900's.

And look at the rounded corners... it's true, they really aren't that modern!

Have you discovered Instagram? I kept seeing all of Cindy's cool photos pop up on Facebook and decided to jump on board. It's the coolest thing! I've been using the app all week.

Chaney's first violin concert was last night and she did a wonderful job. We could not have been prouder. We have had some ups and downs in regards to practicing throughout this year but once she figured out that there was a concert which of course needs a new dress; she was all about the violin!

She is asking to take private lessons this summer so I am pretty sure we are off to a good long term appreciation of the violin and music in general.

One last thing pending for the week is facing our arch rival in softball tonight... after that I'm definitely relaxing!

Have a wonderful weekend. :)

Sew {Along}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:41:00 +0000

My friend Randi is hosting monthly sew alongs all year long. She has had some really fun projects so far!

In May her sew along is making a quilt. I was so flattered when she emailed me about using my Whimsy Time pattern.

As a part of the sew along, Randi and I will both be accessible via chat sessions for questions and help along the way. This really is a beginner friendly pattern so if you have never made a quilt and want to sew with friends and even make some new friends, I hope you will join in on the fun!

On the Road to Spring quilt

Randi is a fabulous teacher and always does a wonderful job with her sew alongs. I learned a ton about quilting when I participated in her On the Road to Spring quilt along. It was the first quilt along I ever did and I still credit Randi as the one who taught me and gave me the confidence to free motion quilt. To this day, it's still one of my very favorite quilts!

You can find all the details here... I hope you will join us!

Wednesday Words {lest you think}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:22:00 +0000

that my sewing studio...

...always looks...

...like this.

It does not.

Steve is flying today so I figured it was a good day to post these pictures. :) He won't see the post until tonight and then by that point, there will be comments telling me that your rooms look the same way sometimes. Right??

No more projects for me until I get re-organized. It's driving me nuts! This is a stressful and super busy week so it's probably a good thing that I am just able to clean and organize. My sewing mishaps always seem to occur when I'm stressed out... ;)

PS... for those who commented, emailed, and called me about last Wednesday's post, thank you. Your encouragement meant so much to me and was actually why I took the post down. I don't like negativity and having such positive friends around me reminded me that I am always better off directing my energy towards creating. There will always be meanies out there and I can't help that. What I can help though, is to be the bigger person, move on, and focus on trying to make something awesome.

After cleaning my room.

Bookmarks

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:48:00 +0000

Today over at Sew Lux Fabric & Gifts, I'm taking part in their Blogger Challenge. Six fat quarters of California Girl was what I had to work with and they were beautiful prints and colors to create with!

Head on over to see the tutorial for my Bookmarks runner. It's the perfect project for teacher appreciation week or an end of the year thank you...

You can also purchase the fat quarter bundle I selected on sale here!

Linking up for Fabric Tuesday & Finish it up Friday...

Friday {Fabric}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:44:00 +0000

I'm going to my happy place this weekend to finish up a project with this pretty stack of fabric from Sew Lux Fabric & Gifts.

I typically enjoy my weekdays but this is one week where I am really glad that it's Friday!

Have a great weekend!

Blog {Hop}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:58:00 +0000

I've never done a blog hop so I'm super excited to be a part of this Table Topper Blog hop put together by the fabulous Madame Samm. She has a full schedule of bloggers so this will be a lot of fun!

I always end up with little orphan quilt blocks... maybe they didn't turn out just right... didn't fit in with the rest of the quilt...etc. This particular block was a larger one with very wavy edges. So I squared it up to a 6" block...

quilted it...

...and bound it.

The table topper comes from Ackfeldwire where they have an abundance of stands, screens and hangers to display your big quilts and little quilts.

My kitchen has lots of black in it {note: black granite is not a good idea; it shows everything!}. I also have a lot of bright colors in there so I had fun choosing this block and then going out of my comfort zone with the chartreuse binding.

This will definitely not be my last topper and I love that this stand lets me change out my mini quilts for holidays or even just for fun!

Thanks for stopping by today! Please make sure to stop by my fellow hoppers:

Leslie

Karen

& Katherine

New Pattern + Kits

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:37:00 +0000

I got a lot of requests for a pattern of my Whimsy Time quilt. So here is the instant PDF download on Craftsy!

This is a beginner friendly quilt with lots of hints and details that will help you to improve your overall quilting skills. All materials and fabric requirements are included in the pattern link to view prior to purchase. :)

Short on time to pick your fabric, cut your fabric, and piece your blocks?

I have 5 kits available in my shop to make your life easier! I'm offering free shipping as well...

Included in the kit:

die cut triangles ready for piecing your hourglass blocks
die cut squares for the rest of your quilt
custom binding made and ready to go! {your choice of color}
complete pattern with amended instructions for piecing your pre-cut triangles {since we are skipping two whole steps!}

I did a trial run and using this kit will reduce your time, start to finish, by at least 30%. Not bad!

The triangles have notches on them which makes lining them up and piecing a breeze. These notches also eliminate those pesky dog ears you have to trim when working with triangles.

All you have to supply is fabric for the backing, batting, & the other typical notions. And of course, I am always available by email if you have any questions while making your quilt.

Happy Sewing!!

Reunion {quilt}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:52:00 +0000

I made a quilt this weekend for someone I've never met. My shortest commission turnaround ever! I was asked and gladly volunteered on Friday night, I started it Saturday afternoon, took a break to go to church Saturday evening, and then I finally went to bed Sunday morning around 5:30am.

I set my alarm for 8am to get up and finish the last little bit of the binding that I couldn't see straight enough to finish without at least a few hours of sleep. I finished the binding and managed to get a few pictures right before it was picked it up from me at 9am, Sunday morning. Phew!!

It's not my story to tell but from the name of the quilt and the importance for me to finish it overnight, you can probably guess that Sunday was a meeting a long time in the making. I'm not one to think that quilts fix everything but I still like to believe that they can convey feelings of love, warmth, comfort, security and assurance. I cherished every moment of making this quilt.

It was a busy weekend but losing a few hours of sleep was well worth it. And the best part... I get to meet the recipient of this quilt very soon!

Linking for Fabric Tuesday on Quiltstory

Odds & Ends

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:22:00 +0000

I love finding new blogs and Quilting Mumma is a new-to-me blog. Ally is an Aussie quilter and not only is she talented; she often signs her emails with "have a brilliant day!". How can you not love getting emails like that??

Anyways... Ally is hosting a mug rug swap and the sign-ups have opened up and will close on Monday, April 16th. You can find all the details here. I'm definitely joining in on the fun!

What's that you say? Who won the fat quarter set of the Pezzy Prints from The Quilt Asylum??

The Random Number Generator said that Toni, #70 wins!! Congrats, Toni. And BTW, if you haven't seen her work, go check her out. She has a fun blog with lots of great projects.

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! It was a lot of fun to read everyone's all-time favorite fabric lines. I didn't keep an official tally but there were lots of Anna Maria Horner, Sweetwater, and Kate Spain picks... lots of others as well. It's nice to know that I keep company with all kinds of quilting friends, all with excellent taste in fabric!

Have a brilliant day! Just imagine me saying that in my Texas accent and try not to laugh too hard... ;)

Wednesday Words {history}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:11:00 +0000

In a continuation of last week's Wednesday Words, I thought I would write a bit more about the history part of quilting. Several of the comments on that post really caused me to pause and think about how we, as today's quilters, present ourselves and our work.

Barbara Brackman is a well known quilt historian, designer, etc and has a blog that I have read off and on since I began quilting almost 5 years ago. The other day she posted about quilt bindings and how that was one way to determine what era the quilt was made in. I had no idea!

I love rounded quilt corners but it turns out that there's nothing modern about them. Rounded corners date back to the late 1800's.

The quilt-as-you-go method that was really popular in the past few years or so... it also dates back to the late 1800's.

Now I'm certainly not saying that quilters from our generation are intentionally ripping off old ideas because I don't believe that at all. I just find it interesting that what we sometimes see as new is actually nothing new at all.

In the past, I know that I've thought that I've designed a thoroughly modern and original block and/or quilt only to see it pop up in a historical quilt book or website. I still love the quilts I have made but I am beginning to wish that I had done a little more research to see how my quilt fits in with history. It's certainly not too late to do that and I plan on adding the historical element to my posts whenever I can.

Is it always possible to know that a design is actually and old one? Not always. But sometimes I think that we get so caught up in the must-have creativity of quilting that we forget that we probably weren't the first to come up with an idea. I think it would be interesting, instead of sweeping history under the rug in the name of originality, to do some research and share a little more about a quilt's historical design roots.

I also think it would be refreshing to read after all the copyright madness that has been swirling around as of late... it's kind of hard to bicker about the copyright of a design that is a hundred years old. ;)

There was a big push towards sharing the quilting process a few years ago and I think this history piece could also fit in well. I know it's awfully big picture but I think it would be sad to lose some of the history of our craft in the name of trying to be innovative and "first". Serious painters, musicians, authors, and even athletes are generally pretty well versed in their field's history so I don't see why quilting should be much different.

propeller block

It still takes skill to refine a technique and then fit modern colors and fabrics into the traditional mold to make something aesthetically pleasing for today's modern eye. So why not be proud of that adaptation while helping to pass the history on?

It makes sense to me and it is something I'm going to focus on more as I continue making quilts and blogging about them.

Just something to ponder... :)

Whimsy Time

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I love this quilt! And that says a lot coming from someone who doesn't really care for pink. I have a few pink-ish shirts that I wear to work sometimes and I always get asked if I'm feeling alright when I wear pink instead of my typical and more conservative darker colors.

This quilt just screams spring to me... the ducks... the sheep

The bunnies...

l carefully cut to avoid any unfortunate fussy-cut beheading incidents. ;)

Each print comes from Laurie Wisbrun's Modern Whimsy line. She graciously sent me each print in the line to play with. And my goodness... sewing with organic cotton is amazing! It also quilts beautifully and crinkles up and is super soft.

I quilted it with a simple stipple with my new sewing machine. It quilts wonderfully... it was so much fun and I usually don't say that about stippling! Now that I've got a good handle on how the machine quilts, I'm excited to branch out and start trying some other free motion techniques.

I backed it with a vintage sheet that I've been holding on to for a long time. I think it's perfect and so soft.

I think I'm returning to pin basting. I love how easy it is to quilt without removing pins but I don't like how basting gums up my needle {even though it says that it doesn't}. If it does that to my needle then I'm worried about what it could do to the rest of my machine. Surprisingly enough, it didn't take that long to pin and I didn't end up with any wrinkles in the backing either.

It's bound with the green circles from Whimsy and I'm really pleased with the green against the pink. I think it's a nice contrast and keeps the quilt from going over-the-top-pink. I hand stitched the binding to the back which is still one of my favorite parts of making a quilt.

The blocks are traditional hourglass blocks which have roots in "quilt code". Basically, a quilt with hourglass blocks would be hung in the window indicating that it was safe to travel and the color of the block told which time of day was the safest. I know there's some controversy over whether this code actually existed but it's still a fascinating story. Edited to add: in keeping with wanting to learn more about the history of quilting, I'll be including more snippets of info as I research the quilt designs I'm using.

Things I learned:
- I hate to pin when I piece but I made myself do it and was reminded that it's well worth it
- I despise basting with pins but I'm going to go back to this method. Pinning didn't take that long...
- I love my new Juki sewing machine. It makes quilting so much easier!
- I still prefer hand stitching my binding.
- I learned a little bit about the history of the quilt code.
- I love working with organic fabric! It can be pricey but it's worth it!

Quilt stats:
- Measures 44"x 52"
- Prints are from Laurie Wisbrun's Modern Whimsy line
- The batting is bamboo
- Solid is Kona Medium Pink

This adorable quilt is for sale here and would make the perfect spring baby quilt. I'd hold on to it myself but all the babies due around us are boys...

Linking up for Fabric Tuesday & Finish it up Friday!

Pezzy Print {giveaway}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

For those of us who missed the original Pezzy Prints line... aren't you glad we are getting a second chance to get our hands on such a versatile print?

Today I'd like to introduce my own local quilt shop and my first local quilt store sponsor, The Quilt Asylum! Isn't their name the best? I also love the intro on their site:

I opened The Quilt Asylum with a vision of having the "Cheers" of quilt shops. We want to get to know you, assist you with your quilting and sewing projects, and provide a community where you can just come, hang out, and sniff some lint! The word “asylum” can have two different meanings: a) a place for crazy people or b) a place of refuge or sanctuary. As a long-time quilter, I certainly can appreciate both definitions! We hope that you, too, can see that we are eager to represent both definitions to our friends and customers. We do our best to bring you the most up-to-date fabrics, books, notions, Blocks of the Month, quilt kits, and sewing and quilting classes. We hope to inspire your creativity through numerous samples located throughout our store.

Sometimes it seems hard to find a good brick & mortar shop that caters to a wide range of quilters. So I am thrilled to have found The Quilt Asylum because they do a wonderful job of embracing all kinds of quilters. And even if you aren't local, their online shop is fabulous!

As a brand new sponsor, The Quilt Asylum has graciously offered a fat quarter pack of all 12 of the Pezzy Prints to a lucky reader!

How do you win?

It's simple... leave a comment telling me what your all-time favorite fabric line is. I can't wait to hear your answers!

For a second entry... be or become a new follower of my blog and leave a separate comment letting me know.

This giveaway will close Wednesday, April 11 @ 10pm CST. Please make sure that I am able to contact you if you win!

*The Quilt Asylum is a sponsor of That Girl... That Quilt and is sponsoring this giveaway*

Happy Easter {early}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:16:00 +0000

fabric scrap decoupage eggs

Other than church and getting together with family, and some sewing, it's looking like a fairly laid back weekend. With softball starting and everything just being busy in general, I'm thrilled to have a few days of quiet {mostly}.

Remember this book? I wrote about it a few months ago and decided that I loved it enough to read the next one in the series. The author, Marisa De Los Santos, is a really good writer and I'm pretty picky about that! Her writing has an almost lyrical tone to it; that's the best way I can describe it.

In this second book, her characters are so well developed and it stands alone without having to read and rely on the first book in the series... but I still highly recommend the first book too.

With time being short, I've resorted to audio books lately. I really do enjoy driving and "reading"; it's a nice way to break up my day and unwind before I get home. So when I got Belong to Me through iTunes, I was excited.

But what do you do when the reader's voice annoys the heck out of you?? I have found myself even cringing at times as she tries to do male character voices, children's voices, and the worst... a dying woman's voice. Nails on a chalkboard.

And then again, it might just be me... ;)

My solution has been to turn off the audio when I can't take it anymore and start reading the book from where I left off. Kinda defeats the purpose of getting an audio book in the first place but oh, well. I'll probably just finish reading the Kindle version this weekend because reading is probably better than quilting myself to a quilt because I'm so distracted listening to the reader on the audio book.

I hope ya'll have a wonderful and blessed Easter!

Wednesday Words {on Thursday}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:43:00 +0000

First things first! Random Number Generator says that the winner of the organic bundle from Fabricworm is #125, Scody! Congrats!!

Thank you for all your comments and welcome to my new readers. With 613 comments, I couldn't respond to all of them but I did read and appreciate each one.

And BTW, If you have emailed me in the past few days, because I have each comment emailed to me, your email was probably temporarily lost in the shuffle. Give me today to weed through the giveaway comments and find your email and I will respond!

Now on to my musings... ;)

I woke up the other night wondering {with a hint of worry} if all the good quilts have already been made. I know; waking up thinking about quilting is definitely strange.

What got me going on this was getting EQ7. As I was scrolling through the block library, I saw block after block that could easily be a modern and original design but turned out to be an old traditional block.

In the grand scheme of things I haven't been quilting that long but I guess I've been quilting long enough to see some of the trends come and go... and observe some others come from the past and into the present.

What used to be wonky has, in many ways, come back around to straight or even curvy.

Stippling has become "easy" and intricate patterns or straight lines have become more popular.

image from Charleston Museum

What used to be an old, traditional block has morphed and become all the rage with a different name... and I really like the new version!

image credit

Gee's Bend has become improv.

Amish style quilts are now quilts made from Kona solids.

And maybe the funniest to me, what used to be a zig-zag quilt is now a chevron quilt.

What's old is new again.

With my mind often spinning with designs, I'm starting to realize that there are only so many shapes which is pretty much what quilting is. Shapes & colors. So are there only a finite number of designs before we just start repeating the same ones with different twists?

Perhaps I'm over-thinking this and maybe this is nothing new to those who have been quilting longer than I have. But it does make me wonder about and smile at the whole modern vs. traditional discussion of last year because we seem to have come full circle in many ways. And personally, I like it!

What originally made me fall in love with quilting was combining modern fabrics with traditional blocks... it's such a pleasant balance of design. So I'm happy to see such beautiful patterns like Swoon that strike that balance perfectly.

But that takes me back to the beginning of my post... what if all the good quilts have already been made?? And by made, I guess I mean designed. And because I love the design process just as much as the quilting process, I can't help but stop and think about it. Anyone who designs much of anything wants to be original and creative.

But when it wakes me up at night, that might be considered a problem. So I found it interesting to read that historically, spring was when quilters used to hang their quilts to air out and that was the time where other quilters gathered new inspiration. These days all we have to do is go online or even on an iPhone and the amount of inspiration out there can be overwhelming. Maybe they were on to something in unveiling new designs less often.

I certainly don't want to go back to seeing everyone's quilts once each spring but maybe I'm at the point right now where I need to stop thinking about it, stop obsessing over every piece of inspiration I see out there, and just make some quilts that I love.

Have you ever gotten to this over saturated point before? I wonder what would happen to our quilting trends if we took in less and made more...

Kitchen {organizer}

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Is your kitchen a catch-all for almost everything? Mine definitely is!

April is kitchen month over at Sew We Quilt and I'm over there today with a guest tutorial showing how to make a fashionable and functional wall organizer for the kitchen.

Go check it out and make one for yourself. Hanging this one up in my kitchen has transformed the place!

And the best part... no more lost Starbucks cards, school notes, or stray coupons!

P.S... don't forget to enter the giveaway for the bundle of organic fabric from Fabricworm. You still have time!