9/27/2018

Row Along Winner

I want to congratulate Susan G. 
She is the winner of the 
that was the giveaway on my blog during the 

Marian of Seams To Be Sew has emailed Susan G. 
to let her know of her win. 
I hope she enjoys making the lap quilt!


My Happy Place Row Along continues for 3 more days. 
You could be a giveaway winner, too. 
Here is the schedule of designers to visit in the next week:

Thursday September 27, 2018
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018

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9/25/2018

Fitting Quilting Into a Busy Week

The past week has been a busy one. 
I worked on cleaning the house for our visitors from Seattle. 
Our daughter, son-in-law and their 2 friends were coming to spend two nights. 

 Two weeks ago I bought paint. I had a coupon--buy one can, get one can free. Without much thought I began painting the walls in guest bathroom. I don't know what I was thinking! I had to patch the small marks in the drywall so the paint and walls looked really good. Then the towel racks were worn. I refinished them. It was a week-long project. I am very happy with it. I found that the small quilt I made for The Endeavourers Challenge group went well with the colors in the flooring and the newly painted towel racks! 

The guest bathroom is ready was ready for the visitors! 
I only need to hang a new shower curtain. 
The one I found online is sold out! 
But, I found fabric to make one. 
And I think I will like it even more! 

How did I fit quilting in this week? 
1. I dropped 3 quilts off to the quilter at her store. 
I saw fabric I knew would work for the shower curtains 
and bought it, so I didn't lose out like 
I did with purchasing the online curtain.
2. I used EQ to design a shower curtain. 
The details will be appliqued. 

3. I made two Halloween potholders for the visitors! 

Then my embroidery machine got a wad of thread wound up in it. 
That was time to STOP and it goes in to get fixed!



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9/23/2018

Thank You, Quilters!

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog 
on September 13, 2018. 

As of today, nearly 700 visitors have visited my blog in 10 days! Awesome!
I was appreciative of all the comments 
which showed me how well my row was received. 
I so enjoyed designing this row, and learned how many of you enjoy going to the theater 
or like the performing arts in general. 
If you sew my row, please send me a photo of your work. 
I'd love to see how you interpreted it. 
My row is still free to download HERE, 
if you didn't get it on September 13. 

I tried to reply by email to all the comments, 
but couldn't email if an email wasn't available. 

I am offering free downloads of my rows 
from the previous 3 years. 

Fence Row from 2015.
Thank you all, again for visiting 
and the positive feedback to my design this year. 


My Happy Place Row Along continues at these blogs: 


Tuesday September 25, 2018
Thursday September 27, 2018
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018

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9/13/2018

My Happy Place Pattern and Giveaway

Hey, hey,
Today's my day!

I am so happy you stopped to see my row. 
When Marian from Seam To Be Sew announced this year's row along, I quickly said, "Yes."
Marian organizes such a wonderful Row Along and I have participated for 4 years now.

I knew exactly what my happy place row would be: 
The Theater
I enjoy seeing live plays, musicals, and concerts. 
They tranport me to another place or time. 
I can relax as others tell the story.

My first theatre experience was in Toronto, Canada, watching The Sound of Music in 1973, while on our high school Senior class trip. 
The O'Keefe Centre was huge and splendid. 
There are some photos at the link showing the seating, the decor and the stage which bring back memories of that night's performance.

When working, I began going to local theater productions with a group of co-workers. We enjoyed dinner before the performance, saw all types of plays and musicals featuring local talent. I also go to our small-town local plays, which sometimes feature friends and former students.

I took my young daughters to musicals and ballets not too far from home in Grand Rapids. They developed an appreciation for theater. 

Here is my row, with a hint of Art Deco. 
I had fun designing this and hope you find it fun to sew. 
It is all paper pieced.
You can download the free pattern HERE.
I respectfully ask that you do not share the PDF with your quilting friends, either in digital or print format, instead please share the link to this blog which will include links to each of the designer’s rows as well as links to the giveaways.

I want to thank Northcott Fabrics for their wonderful support of this Row Along. They supplied each designer with a total of 1 yard of fabric (in measurement that we needed).
I ordered a half yard each of

Toscana 9020-520
and
Stonehenge #3941-56

 I found a deep blue with white spots (that made me think of stars) for the background at a local quilt shop.

 Be sure to visit today's other designer blog posts and get their patterns:
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Giveaway!
Each designer has a giveaway chance for those "rowing along."
Below, for my blog post, is a Rafflecopter Entry for the
Open & Sew Lap Quilt Kit 
from Hoffman Fabrics. 
The kit is valued at $75 (US) with Worldwide Shipping
Shipping Cost must be paid by winner.

 The Rafflecopter Entry for my blog will run from
September 13, 2018 and Ends September 20, 2018.
Rules and Guidelines, designers, and sponsors for the 
Row Along 2018 can be found HERE.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway


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9/09/2018

Cute Ways to Fold Fabrics

Recently I read Elizabeth's blog Occasional Piece--Quilt! She had some fat eights of fabric to send to a quilt guild and found a way to fold them into cute little triangle presentation bundles HERE. 

 I also found a great way to fold fat quarters HERE that keep the little 18" x 22" fabrics folded and not opening up to make a scrambled mess in my totes. I am not going to go through and refold my totes just yet; but, I am folding the new Fandangle fat quarter bundle I got from Christa Quilts.

I am going to use this box as a decorative storage place for them until I decide on a project.
I am repurposing the box. My husband and I attended the wedding of a good friend's son and those of us who stayed until the end were invited to take one of the center pieces from the tables. I put the flowers into a small vase to fit our table. The folded fat quarters fit nicely in the box with just an inch peeking out.

 I looked through Wanda's tips & tutorials tab at the top of her page and found some wonderful information. I am interested to read about using gross grain ribbon to stabilze quilts.

 Do you have a favorite way to fold your fat quarters? Leave a comment and tell us what it is.

 Here is the line up for My Happy Place Row Along for this week. 

With more free patterns and chances for more giveaways. And I do look forward to your visit to my blog on Thursday, Sept. 13!
Tuesday September 11, 2018
Thursday September 13, 2018
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9/07/2018

Fandangle Fat Quarters

The fat quarter bundle I ordered from Christa Watson
arrived today! She had a Labor Day sale 
that I didn't want to pass up.
Look at these fun, bright colors of Fandangle,
Christa's newest line of fabrics.


I am not sure what I am going to sew with these.
I'd like to make a quilt with the entire bundle.
Christa has a Quilt Along on her blog 
using her Dot 'n' Dash pattern HERE 
that would make a great quilt.
But some zipper bags for Christmas gifts would be nice.
Or perhaps some fun placemats. 

******I hope you get time to create something today.******

I invite you to join the Row Along called My Happy Place,
where 47 designers have a free pattern for you and
there are so many giveaway chances.

Below is a peek at part of the row I designed 
for my post date of September 13, 2018. 




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9/04/2018

My Happy Place Row Along News

It begins today! 

is hosting a row along called, "My Happy Place."

Each of the designers has a free pattern for you when you visit their sites. 
See the list below for the designers' links and their post dates.
My post date is September 13--be sure to come back!

Collect any or all of the patterns to make 
quilts, wallhangings, table runners, or anything else you can think of! 

You can enter for a chance at one of the many giveaways
being offered by so many wonderful companies. 

For all the details, visit Marian at Seams To Be Sew, HERE.

Tuesday September 4, 2018
Thursday September 6, 2018
Tuesday September 11, 2018
Thursday September 13, 2018
Tuesday September 18, 2018
Thursday September 20, 2018
Tuesday September 25, 2018
Thursday September 27, 2018
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018

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9/01/2018

Quilt Week in Grand Rapids

This past week was AQS Quilt Week in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 
It's the 5th year the show has been here; and the 5th year I have attended. 

 I stayed at the Marriot Hotel with my friend, Sally, who I have known since 9th grade. We keep in touch during the year via texts and card and letters, and try to visit each other every few years. This year we got together for the quilt show! I was surprised that the special rate for those attending the show was so reasonable. This worked well for both of us since we could walk from the DeVos Conference Center thru the skywalks and get to the hotel to rest or drop off class supplies! This freed our hands to take photos of the quilts and shop.

 I cut back on the number of classes I took this year. It was the first big outing since my foot surgery and I didn't want to over-do. My foot did well with the walking and the classes. The 3 classes I took were: 

 Designing Outside the Lines: Unlock Your Unique Creative Potential with Barbara Olson

 Barbara had an hour-long lecture and talked about how she began designing her quilts and some of the methods she uses. I enjoyed learning about another quilter's background. You can see her gallery HERE.

 Rock the Block, Album Style with Joe Cunningham

 You can see Joe Cunningham's workshop quilt HERE. This was a full-day class and we were busy. 
While we worked, Joe played his guitar and sang some few songs. He was a very good teacher. The concept of the class is to use 4 different fabrics, sew strips, cut, sew again, cut and arrange to our liking.
This is how my blocks were arranged at the workshop. I need to rearrange, make a few more blocks and take photos of arrangements to see what pleases me. I plan on making a table topper with the blocks. 

 They Aren't Weeds! Intro to Thread Sketching with Trisha Stuart

 This class was awesome! Trisha presented the technique in such a way that everyone in the class was able to thread sketch a great piece. I never thought this could be so easy! 
This is what I had sketched in the 3-hour class.
The mauve and yellow flowers are wool.

 After this Saturday class ended, I went to the vendor area to purchase some Fabrico Markers that Trisha recommended for adding coloring to our sketches. TSC Designs was the vendor. I watched a demonstration of how to marble with shaving cream. Joyce explained a few techniques that could be used with our thread sketchings using inks. When I got home I used the green marker to try coloring the leaves. 

 HERE is the link to Trisha's website.

 I'll have another post, soon, showing some of quilts from a special display from Taiwan.
REMEMBER THE ROW ALONG 
Starting September 4, 2018
See all the details at Seams To Be Sew.





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