My "Block-a-Palooza" quilt

Bloggers' Block-a-Palooza Quilt

Last year, I bought a fabric kit from Material Girls to do the Bloggers' Block-a-palooza Quilt Along.  I loved the fabric and it sounded like a lot of fun!  I went to each of the blogs and printed the instructions for each of the 16 blocks.  I was surprised at how much paper it took, then I cut each of the block's fabrics and put the instructions and the fabric for each individual block in a sheet protector.  It seemed like I was whizzing along...but as I soon discovered, it was pretty hard to follow directions written by 16 different people.  Some of my blocks turned out perfectly, others, not-so-much!  It really bothers me when my triangles have their corners cut off, yet with some of the instructions, even though I unpicked and re-sewed several times, the results were the same.  I can only think that much of the problem was faulty instructions (I can see some people rolling their eyes at me).  Anyhow, to make a long story short, (because this quilt really was a "long story"), I made 12 of the blocks before I crumpled in the mire that was instruction mayhem and gave up.  My friend Sue rescued me with her positive attitude and took over the project, finishing the final blocks, sashing and borders!  I LOVE YOU SUE!!  This is the result.  The quilt sits in a place of honor in front of my computer.  I quilted it really dense using Anne Bright's "Wildflower" design.

Wildflower edge to edge design from Anne Bright

Eagle Mountain Quilting SALE

During the months of January, February, and March, we had the Bring 2 quilts & Get 15% off the quilting sale...

I want to try something new,  During April, for every quilt you have quilted, you will get 5% off of a quilt during the month of June...So, if you're confused...  If you have 5 quilts done during April you can have 25% off of one quilt during June or 5% off of 5 quilts or, 20% off one quilt and 5% off 1 quilt etc... I hope that I have not confused you! Call or ask me at the shops if you don't under stand.

(BTW, I don't do sales for out of state quilts...so sorry...because I give them free shipping for orders over $50.00.  This is new too.  I use to do free shipping period, except that it has occured that I have ended up making nothing for a quilt becuase shipping took up all the income.  So, I think with a $50.00 or over order I should be safe from doing that to myself.  Also, if an out-of-state customer asks, I will do the sale for them, if they pay for return shipping, so they can choose which ever deal is best for them.)

APRIL GIVE-AWAY!

We will have a drawing for a "QuiltsMart" Smart Bag.  The winner will be drawn from the people who make comments on the blog...and yes, I'm going to be better at blogging!

This cute bag is great for toys and small books, lunches, hand sewing, etc....

I gave these to all my nieces and nephews for christmas and my sisters filled them up with goodies for each of the kids.  It was a real hit!

I hope you win!


IT'S BEEN TOO LONG

It's actually been a year since I updated my blog...I feel so ashamed!  So I'll catch you up with the year.

Big events that I can remember are:

December 24th, my husband had emergency Triple Heart Bypass surgery.

January 1st, Judy's mom passed away (not unexpectedly, but it was sad just the same).

December 1st, we started 'Drop-off/Pick-up' at a new shop called Whimsy Cottage.  We are there from 12:00 to 1:00 every Saturday.  We were originally there from 2:00 to 3:00, but I was spending an hour waiting in the parking lot for it to be time to go in.

My favorite movie has been digitally remaster and I got in on Blue-ray.  It's called "Pride & Prejudice" with Colin Firth.  Yes, it is 5 hours long, but worth every minute.  I got my copy at Amazon.com  just type in "Pride  and Prejudice (Restored Edition).

I made a lot of quilts, and when I have more time I will put some pictures up.

Getting Organized

I spent time this week getting organized.  So many things were getting piled up in corners, on my cutting table, on my ironing board, and of course on the floor.  My desk of course is a whole other mess in and of it's self.

My first order of business was getting all my projects sorted and put in containers.  I really like the 6.2 Qt. Sterilite containers from WalMart.  They are $4 each, cheaper than the 'Project Bags' I originally was keeping some of my projects in.  I'm pretty sure I bought out the WalMart in Saratoga Springs.  I think there were about 5 left when I was last there... So then I used my "P-Touch" label maker to identify the quilts inside each container.  I'm a little embarrassed to say that I have 48 projects that are in various stages of completion.

My next project was getting all of my bolts of fabric together.  Some were on different shelves on opposite sides of my room and I had 6 bolts of Minkie standing up against my shelves on the floor collecting dust bunnies.  Those all got put together on one shelf.  Then I spent time vacuuming all my shelves.  I don't think that I've truly dusted some of my upper shelves for the last three years (This is really confession time...I hope no-one thinks less of me :-(  ). You need to understand that my shop is my garage made over.  My ceilings are about 16 feet high. 

I had lots of bags of fabric from completed projects that I didn't know what to do with so I just put them in zip-lock bags.  They weren't doing any good to me there, so I sorted all the fabric into 'Darks,' Mediums,' and Lights.'  I folded them and put them in separate drawers of a 3 drawer plastic stand. (I'm not sure what they are called...sorry). 

My left-over batting from my old quilts somehow had taken over a corner of my floor.  Some of the batting was from mis-measuring for customer quilts and so was 96" wide, but unusable because it was not measured and labled, I cleared 3 shelves and they will contain the batting that will be folded and measured.  I love the new 'Batting Seam Tape.'  It is 10ft long and allows me to 'seam' two pieces of batting together to make two smaller pieces into something I can use for a larger quilt.  This will be useful with my batting all measured and where I can easily see it to decide which pieces together will make the size I need. 

As I went through everything I threw away a full trash can of old stuff that I will never use.  I feel really great when I look at my room now.  Everything has a place and now I can easily find what I'm looking for.  My cutting table is cleared and Ironing table is actually ready for use without having to remove anything from it.....

Now, the hard and not so fun project of re-organizing my office... I wonder if I can possibly find ANYTHING else I could do to procrastinate....Hmmm, well now I know of a few quilts that I would rather be working on....and I know just where to find them.

Location : 1768 Parkview Ln, Eagle Mountain, UT 84005,

NEW TWITTER ACCOUNT

Well...I've just signed up for Twitter.  Am I crazy?  I can hardly keep up with 'FaceBook' and my 'Blog'.  But they say that you can set it up so that you can do one entry and it will go to both sites (Twitter and FaceBook).  I have yet to figure that out. If you look to the top right of this blog, you will see me Twitter.

This past week I finally quilted my Buggy Barn Witches quilt (after it sat on a hanger for a year!) using Anne Brights 'Charlottes Web' design.  I have to bind it still. 

And Judy and I are making a Table Topper Sampler for Fall. It will have stitchery (done by Judy), needle turn applique, raw edge applique and blanket stitching.  We will quilt through it all as a sample of what it looks like.

I also finished blanket stitching around my quilt called 'Sanctuary' from Moda.  I bought the kit about 5 years ago, my friend Kari Ramsay of Fresh Cut Quilts pieced it for me and left the Blanket Stitching for me to do (It took a week for me to finish it!).  Thanks Kari!!  I'm going to custom quilt it this weekend...should be fun :-). 

FREDA'S FLOWERS QUILT by Freda's Hive

I have made so many friends though quilting.  One of them is Nannette Merrill of 'Freda's Hive.'  I covet most of the quilts that I quilt for her, but about a month ago I did one called 'Freda's Flowers Quilt' that I fell in love with.  I called her about 9:30 one evening while I was quilting it to express my utter envy of this quilt and to beg her to make me one (I don't make quilts anymore that take more than 5 hours to piece).  She told me that she needed to make another quilt using a 'Jelly Roll' for her pattern instructions and that she would make that one for me. She used '1933 Chloe's Closet from Moda for the 1930's prints and her border fabric was from 'Happy Trails.' These fabrics were bought from Material Girls in South Jordan, Utah. The rest of the fabric came from her stash. I have been on Cloud-Nine waiting for it and she gave it to me finished just yesterday.  (I did get it back so I could quilt it.  I used Anne Brights 'Geneleness' for the border and 'Gentleness e2e' for the edge to edge on the inside of the quilt. 

Close-up of the 'Gentleness' Border

'Freda's Flowers Quilt' by Freda's Hive

SAMPLE SALE!!

 I never thought that I would sell any of my quilts. But, since my Suburban died (I mean the deaths of all deaths) this past summer, I have had to purchase a new car. I LOVE IT! It's a Black Honda Element. It has all the room I need to tote the quilts that I pick up from the shops and Batting and it get GREAT gas mileage! I was spending 500.00 a month for gas on the Suburban and then another couple of hundred for repairs that always seemed to be needed. So, in order to help pay for the Honda I'm selling some of my samples. If you are interested please call or e-mail me.  The way I figured the price was $10.00/hour for my piecing time (Prudence and the Red & White were both done in 5 hours and the Zig-Zag took 10)  the rest of it is materials and the regular cost of quilting. If the prices seem high, know that I only use the very highest quality fabric and each quilt is extremely well made. Fabric (quilt top, batting and backing) for most quilts runs around $200.00.  If you have any questions PLEASE CALL.  I'd be more than happy to answer them.

My Dear Prudence was quilted with 'Oriental Flowers' by Designs by Vickie. It's quilted VERY dense. I used Cotton Batting and Cotton Satine for the backing.........................................................$375.00

54 x 63 'My Dear Prudence' by Abbey Lane

Rag Applique on 'My Dear Prudence'

76 x 100 - EMQ Design by Wendy

The next quilt is one of my own designs and yes I did a 'Humility Block' on purpose at the top center (there's a story if anyone wants to know).  It has a Pico' binding, Bamboo batting and is quilted very dense with 'AE Flower w/ Butterfly' from Designs by Deb.......................................$435.00

Close up of my ZigZag quilt

Last, but not least, I made this red and white On-Point cotton quilt.  This quilt is SO warm.  I used Tuscany Silk Batting.  It's a real treat.  The quilt is light weight but warmer than any fuzzy quilt that I've ever had.  It was after I made this quilt that I decided that all my personal quilts would have Silk batting in them!  Each of the Sashing strips and the posts are made from different red fabrics.  This quilt is quilted very dense too with a Poppy Design by Anne Bright that is no longer available.  The back is pieced with different red and white fabrics.......................................................................................$365.00

<>

63 x 81 Red & White On-Point Quilt.  EMQ Design

Guitar Hero? Making a Very Special Quilt

Marty Miller and her Son Eric with his 'Guitar Hero'

I love quilting for my customers!  I love to hear the stories of why a quilt is made and who it's for.  Sometimes a very special quilt will come to me with a story that touches my heart.  It gives me a feeling of privilege to be a part of a customers special quilt.  One such customer is Marty Miller. I think many of us have kids that love to play video games to pass their time.  But Marty's son Eric took his love of the game Guitar Hero to levels that most of us won't see our kids go to.  In August 2008, Eric found himself at the Aerosmith Guitar Hero Contest in Boston, after several local and national competitions.  To Marty's surprise and pleasure, Eric won that contest.  He also won a really cool motorcycle.  Marty designed and made this quilt to show her love for her son to celebrate his special day in a way that only a Quilter could conceive of! 

Thanks Marty for sharing your story!

Eric with Steven Tyler of Aerosmith