A little more from Houston

We're just sitting back and relaxing over here at the moment. It's GREAT!

I thought I'd share a little more Houston loveliness.
This quilt is called "Don't Bug Me" and was made by Anna Faustino of North Arlington, NJ.

The little ladybugs are handpainted onto the quilt.

And this one's name is "Just Dandy".

Made by Ruth Powers of Carbondale,KS

I hope you are all enjoying the Holiday break.

Christmas Cards 2008

Sunday(uhm, Monday) Stash and Meme

An interesting meme that's been floating around:

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font


1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland/world
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the mona lisa in france
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen michelangelo's david in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistene chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies.
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a cheque
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in london
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person
96. swum in the great salt lake.
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

Where's that Zig Zag quilt?

Here!

The weather outside's been frightful, but I think this quilt is quite delightful...

It's 64" square.
The green polka dot triangles are repeated on each end.

I ended up not having quite enough fabric for another quilt top (and we don't really need another one), so I just incorporated all the leftover fabric into the back.

Here's what happens when you have exactly enough white fabric and you measure wrong.

Snow, snow, snow!

Yes, here in Seattle! Traffic is a nightmare because we're not really prepared for six inches of snow out here. This is a problem for last-minute Christmas shoppers like me. I'm in a slight panic since another storm is supposed to blow in tonight.

On a cheerier note, this just arrived in the store. It's from a discontinued line - On a Whim from Robert Kaufman - and I only managed to snag a couple of yards.

The tree is up!

This is a minor miracle this year. Things have just not been very organized.

Don't you just love these? My favorites, I think.

The top is done

It is, but as I was piecing together a back from the leftover scraps of fabric I realized that these could become a whole other quilt.
Soooooo...I have to go buy some backing fabric for this one and the new one.
Hopefully today if it doesn't start snowing.

Rainbow Jane

As most of you know I have another little blog. I'm kind of addicted to Dear Jane and, while I'm only 74 blocks into the original, I suddenly felt the urge to make a brightly rainbow colored Baby Jane.

I've decided to assemble Block of the Month kits for this one making it easier for anyone who's interested. They will include the fabrics as well as instructions for the blocks.
If you're thinking about joining in you can find more information over here in my store.

If you're wondering about the Christmas quilt, I'm making progress. Life is just getting in the way a little. It WILL be done by Christmas.

I'm making a Christmas quilt!

While I've definitely given up on the forest quilt for Christmas, I think I may be able to swing something a little simpler.

Of course, now that I'm really inspired to make this, I have a full Friday of hair appointments, shopping trips and Christmas parties scheduled.
I'm still hoping to finish this by the end of the weekend.

And the winner is...

Wow people! 387 comments!
I spent a LOT of time going through all the awesome blogs participating in Give-away Day yesterday and clearly so did you.

Random.org did its thing and the winner is...Natalie!

If you didn't win the little charm pack, I have more of them in the store for only $5.99 a piece.
And yardage too.
And this fat quarter pack:

OK, enough shameless plugging. It's time to act like Christmas is around the corner and crawl into the attic...

Give-away Day & Flying Geese

Firstly, today is Give-away Day over at Sew,Mama,Sew. I only found out about this yesterday when I read John's post about it, so I'm not sure I'm on their list, but hey, I'll give away something anyway (and so is John).

This:

It's a charm pack of Woodland Bloom fabric by Lila Tueller for Moda.
Leave a comment over here by 8am PST December 4th and I'll enter your name into a random drawing. (And if you don't win, you can always hop over to my store and buy yourself one. Everything's 20% off right now.)

And where are the flying geese you ask?

Between Amandajean and John(yes, him again) I couldn't resist. I'm joining in the flying geese madness. The inspiration was this quilt at the Tokyo International Quilt Festival. I drew up a little design on EQ5 tonight but I think the Christmas Spirit has bitten me and there's NO WAY this quilt will be done by Christmas. I may have to change the colors.
If you'd like to see what everyone's up to, go have a peek at the Tokyo's Triangles Flickr group.

Block Party

I can't begin to describe how wonderful it is to be sewing "freely" again. No more pillow covers, no more runners. Just my sewing machine and I free to do as we please.

I had some catching up to do yesterday.

Virtual Quilting Bee blocks.
For Alicia:

For Morgan:

And a "secret" block, the destination of which I can't divulge.

Another announcement!

After all the positive feedback I received after I made the Minnie Muu baby quilt, I decided to try my hand at pattern writing.

I bring you the very first twiddletails pattern!

I'm calling it "So Charming!". It's a charm square quilt. The pattern uses 35 charm squares, or you can cut 35 squares out of your favorite fabrics. I used a charm pack of Posh! fabric supplemented with some fabric from my stash. The finished quilt is 49"x66". You can buy the pattern over here.

Oh, and did I mention that everything in the store is 20% off between now and Christmas Day?

Announcement!

I think I'm ready to make an announcement. I don't know how you know when you're really ready. I could tweak and tweak this forever but I'm SO excited to share my new venture with you all!



This little store will be my opportunity to share my favorite quilt fabrics and supplies with you. I'll appreciate any feedback you may have after visiting.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

More Houston Inspiration

I Ain't No Spring Chicken by David Taylor from Steamboat Springs, CO.

Lovely applique and embroidery. I forgot to take a photo of who the quilter is and I didn't get a photo of the entire quilt either. I told you it was overwhelming...

Matching pillow

I seriously have plans to make something new and fresh this week...



In my Etsy store.

Yes, it's a runner

Installment 1 of the ones that didn't sell last weekend.
I actually really like them all, but I think there may be a limit to how many you can have.
It's in my Etsy store right now.

The fabrics are all Park Slope by Erin McMorris.

I know, I know...

The runner and pillow madness is over. Stay tuned for the ones that didn't sell in my Etsy store as soon as I can take some photos. I'll be sharing some very exciting news and new projects soon, but in the mean time, more from Houston.

I took a class from Pam Holland, a wonderful Australian artist/quilter. The class involved "painting with thread" and a method she calls "drapplique" - (drawing & applique in one).

The photos do not do any of this justice.






To learn more about Pam and her work, visit her website.

Houston again...

I'm buried in table runners over here, so I thought I'd share more of the wonders from Houston.

Indiana Starburst by Judy Laval Morton

Flower Power by Philippa Naylor from Beverley, East Yorkshire, UK


And this AMAZING quilt...
Seasonal Sisters by Gail Thomas, Annette M. Hendricks, and Helen Godden from Vernon, BC, Canada
If you look closely you can see them talking to the crowd and they look exactly like in the quilt!

More from Houston

On Wednesday I took a full day class from Jean Wells (yes THE Jean Wells!). For those of you who are not familiar with Jean, she owns The Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon with her daughter Valori Wells (the fabric designer). They put on the lovely outdoor quilt show in Sisters each year. She is also an amazing quilt artist.

It was a wonderful class! I'm so inspired.