Cool Caribbean Color

Hello Everyone,I am not sure what it is, all the snow, the cold icy roads, the icicles hanging off of our roof, but I have been thinking warmth. Sometimes when I think warmth, my mind wanders to the beautiful waters found in the Caribbean. Right now a trip to the Caribbean is very appealing!!But since I know that is not happening, I decided when I was at Victoria's this past weekend to buy more silks (surprise, surprise), but in a Caribbean water palette. Maybe by making a quilt with these colors, it will take me there in my minds eye.So...

Fun=NYC+Victoria

Hello Everyone,I had a fantastic weekend... courtesy of Victoria! A while back she had asked me to come to NYC to stay with her for the weekend. Some sew time, girl time, and shopping. For many of you who don't know me, I am not much of a city girl and I normally wouldn't travel into the city on my own. But with a little coaxing and a lot of courage, I landed in Grand Central Station and met with Victoria.On Saturday her NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild met in her place. What a fun bunch!! TONS of inspiration to...

BIG Art Gallery Fabric Winner

Hello Everyone,First, my apologies for getting the winners picked so late. But I really have a great excuse... I was visiting Victoria for a great girls weekend. (More about that later)Thank you to all who entered the giveaway. I know that the winners will love the fabric. Remember, if you didn't win, you can still find Art Gallery fabric in my shop!! Just click here.So we had 2 winners. The first winner will receive the above... Art Gallery Pure Elements.The second winner will receive the above... Paradise fabric.Now for the winners... drumroll please...Do you believe these numbers? Wow, just 2...

Brrrrr.... Baby It's Cold Outside!

Hello Everyone,As many of you know, much of the U.S. has been hit hard this year with wicked snow storms. Our little corner of the states, has been no exception. We have had record snowfall this year and boy could I use a little dose of spring!Here is what I see out of my studio window.Yes, BIG, really BIG icicles all over our house. In fact, all over everyone's houses. We keep knocking them off, but they reform. We also awoke one morning to a leaky roof.Here is a little dose of how big the snow piles are. This is...

My Very First

Hello Everyone,I thought that it would be kind of fun to show you around my very first patchwork project that I made waaaaay back in 6th grade Home Economics. Now it isn't even called that, it is called Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS).So come take the tour with me, all the way back to my younger days! (Much younger)Here it is in all it's faded glory! My first patchwork pillow. Not bad for my 1st attempt. Color selection was good. Although, I think the fabric is a poly/cotton blend. Not sure that I had too much of a choice back...

Lil' Twister Tutorial

Hello Everyone,As promised, I wanted to show you how to use the Lil' Twister Template to make the tessellating pinwheels. I hope you enjoy and will give this a try.First start with your selection of fabrics. I chose silk dupioni. If you use silks, I highly recommend that you back them with a very lightweight fusible interfacing. It helps to prevent fraying and any distortion by stabilizing the fabric.Then you will cut your fabric into 5" squares (perfect for the pre-cut charm packs) and arrange them in a pleasing manner. I arranged them in a 6 X 4 layout. You...

Art Gallery Fabric GIVEAWAY and Interview

Hello Everyone,By now many of you are familiar with Art Gallery fabrics. If you aren't, you definitely should be. They are designed beautifully with vibrant colors and are made from a beautifully soft cotton. I have been carrying them in my shop here and love them!But I would like you to become more familiar with their creator, designer, artist, quilter, sewist, and talented lady. Please take the time to read this wonderful interview, I am sure you will find some things about her and the design process that are enlightening.Also, at the end there will be a BIG giveaway! So...

A Winner and Randomness

Hello Everyone,Remember a little while ago, I had said that I had a new gig? Well, I have another blog post over here. Go ahead and check it out, I'll wait right here for you.Good you are back, now here is one other place you need to visit too. Check out this blog post, I'll wait for you again.Whew, hope you enjoyed that little cyber hop!New fabrics from Art Gallery in the shop!! Above is Paradise, simply gorgeous.Oval Elements are wonderful blenders and can be found here. You probably wonder why I am showing you these, other than it is...

Twisting the Weekend Away

Hello Everyone,Whew, what a great weekend I had!! My friend Victoria (a.k.a. Bumble Beans) came for the weekend with her daughter... B. We had a wonderful time sewing and chatting. I am looking forward to seeing her again in just a few short weeks! Anyway, here is a sneak peek at what I worked on...Yes, I finally got to play with all those silks that I bought a while back, a little twisting project. And I just love them. I think I need more.Here is Victoria working. Look at how fast she is sewing, you can barely see her one...

Choosing Asparagus or Denim??

Hello Everyone,I am planning a new project. With all the projects that I have in the works, why not pile one more into the mix, right? In reality, I have been wanting to make this particular project for some time now. So I thought that I would start gathering my fabrics.Here is what I have together so far. I love all the different colors and the sweet prints which are true to the 1930s reproductions. Many of you know how much I love these sweet little prints, even though I am a big brights fan!This is the project from a...

Book Review and Giveaway!

Hello Everyone,I was recently asked to review a brand new book that was created specifically for making quilts with your AccuQuilt Go!! Of course, I jumped at the chance being an owner of the Go! and the Studio Cutter.The book is entitled Mix & Match Quilts with the AccuQuilt Go! You can purchase this book by clicking here. It is quite comprehensive and has 12 quilts that can be made using your GO!The set up of the book is great and they have a Fabric Reference Chart. This chart is a very handy reference which shows you how to get...

Africa

Hello Everyone,I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Last year, I mentioned that I have quite and extensive collection of African fabrics. You can read about it in this post, this post, and this post.I actually have much more than that, but I just never took photos of them. I am hoping to do that soon. But in the meantime, I wanted to tell you about these...these fabrics are authentic African fabrics, straight from West Africa. Bold and bright prints. Because, I love African fabrics so much, I wanted to be able to share these with you. That...

2010 Project Finishes

Hello Everyone,I really wanted to see for myself how many projects, that I actually completed this past year. And to my surprise, it was quite a few!! So, I wanted to show you the recap...First up, the diaper bag for my nephew. This was made with Kaffe fabrics and an Izzy and Ivy pattern. My Ramblin Rose BOM quilt was finally complete and on my bed. It was promptly tested by my sweet Rolo, whom I miss immensely.If you remember, Stephanie had a No Strings Attached Challenge. I completed this little string bag. I really like it.Being one of Stephanie's...

Bright and Cheerful

Hello Everyone,First things first, a very warm and heartfelt thanks to ALL of you who sent e-mails and commented wishing us well over the last few days. It gives me great comfort to know that many of you understand what we are going through right now. Just know that I have read EVERY comment and e-mail, I appreciate every one.Our Rolo is no longer suffering and will always hold a special place in our hearts.So, with that said, I thought you might all like a pick me up blog post. I know that I need one. Do you remember this...

A Heavy Heart

Hello Everyone,Rolo2000-2011He brought us much joy. We loved him. We will miss him.Until Next Time...

A Terrific Method for Making HSTs

Hello Everyone,Since I have been making many Half Square Triangles (HSTs), of late, I thought it would be a great time to do a tutorial on one of my favorite ways to create these very versatile beauties. I know that there are many ways to make them, but I tend to like this one the best.So let's begin....First, you must have your two strips of fabrics that will make up each triangle in the HST. In this case, I cut my strips to a width of 4.5 inches wide and I have a solid and a print.The end result will...

Loftiness...

Hello Everyone,Once again, thank you for all your lovely and kind comments and e-mails on my little Rolo! He has been getting lots of love and attention. He seems to be feeling slightly better but it is hard to tell. I will keep you posted.In the meantime, I promised a quilty post and here it is...As many of you know, I am one of Stephanie's (of Loft Creations fame) Supremes! I really enjoy testing her patterns for her because it always leaves me with something gorgeous. This time was no different. I made her Loft Tote! This was a fun...

Kitty Update

Hello Everyone,First, I would like to thank each and everyone of you for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers for our Rolo. Not only has this been difficult for us, but our boy is not feeling well at all.So the update...After taking him to the vet on Monday, he had a set of x-rays which confirmed that he has an enlarged heart with fluid surrounding it and some fluid entering his lungs. Basically we caught him in the very early stages of Congestive Heart Failure. But with the medicines the vet gave us, we are hopeful that the fluids will...

Sick Kitty

Hello Everyone,If many of you are wondering why e-mails have gone unanswered and my presence commenting and visiting blogs has been so small in this last week, it is because we have been helping our very sick kitty, Rolo.For those of you who don't know Rolo, he is my sweet kitty who is not only large, but has a large and gentle personality. Rolo is 11 years old and has been with us since he was 7 weeks old.It all began this week, when I noticed little droplets of blood throughout the house. We needed to find which kitty was...

Ringing In The New Year With Triangles!

Hello Everyone,Happy 2011!! I hope that you all have a wonderful new year! I know that I have a TON of plans and new things coming up all year long. This year will prove to be an exciting one as well adventurous. You will be sure to be some of the first to know throughout the year, right here on my blog!Also, an apology for being slightly behind on my e-mails. When the entire family is home things tend to get put to the side. But rest assured, I have seen everyone and will answer them all when "regular" life...