Some Sewing.....

i have been sewing some these last couple of days.

i didn't really stop sewing when all of the chaos started in my life this past year.  i just didn't blog much.  so, i have a lot of stuff to share.  some of which i still can't share because not everyone has received their Christmas gifts from me yet.  once that has happened i will show you those as well.

i did get behind on bee blocks.

 

November's for Linda

 

December's for Shannon

 

finished my Fat Quarter Shop Mystery BOM top from 2010.

 

sewed up backings for 3 quilt tops.  this is the only one that has a little spunk to it.  its called being resourceful and using what you got.

 

all 3 quilts stacked neatly with their backs.  ready for batting and some quilting.

 

i even got the bindings ready as well.  yeah me.

 

now for something new.  there is a lot of chatter out in blogland about A Scrappy Trip Along.  i am jumping on board.  you can check out the flickr group as well.

 

happy sewing

Looking Back & Moving Forward

looking back

on January 1st of this year i did a blog post titled 'Resolutions'.  in that post i listed five things that i wanted to do this year.

1.  sell my house

going on the market shortly

2.  continue blogging

did so - so on this one

3.  spend more time with these monsters

i think i accomplished this

who wouldn't want to spend time with these two

4.  see DMB more then i did in 2011

i didn't make this one but priorities change

5.  (maybe) travel some

Houston, Chicago, Orlando, Seattle, Las Vegas

in that same blog post i also listed four resolutions that were mental or emotional things that i wanted to strive towards.

1.  to rise above the little things

2.  continue to live in the present

3.  spend my energy on the things that i can control

4.  live for myself

i do believe that i have been true to the four items listed above and i plan to stay on that path.  keeping those four things in mind helps me to realize just how small some problems/issues really are. 

the first part of 2012 was calm and quiet compared to the last half.  i long for calm and quiet again.  i know that it is somewhere in my future.

the passing of my grandfather in July was hard.  he was 98 and it was his time to go, but knowing that hasn't made it any easier.  shortly after that my family faced some challenges that we are still working through and will follow us into 2013.  

in October my dad unexpectedly passed away and changed all of our lives forever. i miss him every second, every minute, every day.

my post from January 1st 2012 said "i know that 2012 will also bring lots of changes as well as some challenges".  at the time i wrote that i never thought there would be so many tough times ahead for me.  for the past 6 months i have been overwhelmed with emotion from the changes in my life.  some days it takes everything I have just to get through it.

minute by minute
hour by hour
day by day
week by week

with each passing week i move forward into my new life not knowing the answers to a multitude of questions.  hoping and praying for the pain to lessen and for some sense of normalcy to return to my life.

moving forward

Blogger's Quilt Festival Quilt

i gave a lot of thought to which quilt i wanted to share on the Blogger's Quilt Festival this fall. i had a couple to pick from but one just kept coming back to my mind. it still is my favorite quilt that i have made to date.

i know you have seen it before but you get to see it again.

 

'The Oz Quilt'

i made this quilt by following a quilt along from Julie over at Jaybird Quilts.



 

Julie taught us how to make hexagon blocks without using 'Y' seams.

 

i used Neptune from Tula Pink for this quilt.  that was really when i first fell in love with her fabric.  its a layer cake with Kona Navy for the setting fabric.  i also used a honey bun for the postage stamp boarder.

i pieced the leftover honey bun strips into the back of the quilt.

 

i had one hexagon block left which i turned into a label and put it on the back of the quilt. 

 

the quilt measures 70"x90" and i quilted it myself.

i learned a lot from quilting this quilt. it took me some time to get around to doing it. i think because of its size. but, i just focused on it a section at a time and worked my way through it and it eventually got done.

 

so why the name?  The Oz Quilt?

i have never actually been to Australia a.k.a. Oz, but i have spent a lot of time there in my mind while reading a story someone wrote.  i fell in love with Australia through that story and in particular Port Douglas and Ten Mile Beach. 

 

i looked at the quilt when it was all done and that name came to me and i thought it was perfect for this quilt.  the colors remind me of the water.  the fabric is called Neptune.  but most of all i can see this quilt in my mind on Ten Mile Beach in Australia.

 

defiantly an item on my bucket list.

 

happy sewing.

 

details

quilt measures - 70"x90"

quilted - by Me

best category - Favorite Group or Bee Quilt

technique learned - hexagon blocks without Y seams

Some Bee Blocks

i have been sewing some Bee blocks.

 

this is a fun one that i did for Charlene
a great way to feature a design in the fabric that you like.

 

this block was fun to make as well.  it took me a bit to get it right in my head.  making sure that i didn't mix up any of the fabric placement.  i hope that Robyn likes them.

 

i made these two blocks for Sara.  i think i read the instructions about 5 times.  but i got them done.  the blocks are a mirror image of each other.

 

i like making bee blocks.  its fun sewing with fabric that are different from my style and its also challenging at times which expands my skill level.

 

these two blocks are for a project that i am helping with.  all applique.  yes the icky word that i am not a huge fan of in the world of quilting.  i can do it but its not my first choice.

 

so tell me.  are you a fan of applique? 

 

happy sewing

Weekend with Tula Pink part 3

here is the last post from my weekend with Tula Pink.

Saturday evening Tula did a lecture/talk about her design process that took us from idea to fabric.  as always i came away learning new things about Tula as well as the fabric industry.  it was great.

 

of course she brought some eye candy for us to see.

 

her Cartwheels pattern in The Birds and The Bees.

 

i took some up close pics of the quilting.

 

because i do have a Cartwheel quilt of my own to quilt.

 

Angela did an amazing job on this.

 

lots of inspiration to get me started on mine.

 

back of the quilt.

love it.

 

Snow Globes in Night Shade

 

love this line of fabric

 

again, a killer back

 

Alphabet quilt

 

with the Hairspray Can back

 

Space Dust from The Birds and The Bees

 

again, amazing quilting

 

again with the killer back

 

the quilting really shows on the back as well.

 

Tula was so kind that she passed around a book with some of her sketches in it.  we got a little tiny sneak peak at Salt Water which is coming out this FALL!!!!!  so i hope to see it soon.

 

a great weekend that was about 3 months ago but hey.  i got it all blogged.  it just took some time.

 

time.  something that we don't ever seem to have enough of lately.

 

happy sewing

Weekend with Tula Pink part 2

its been a month since my last post.

gesh.

i am not doing a good job at getting back to blogging.  i need to give myself a time out.  lol.  a time out with my sewing machine.

maybe that is not the best answer.  i think i have been in a time out since July.  i need to get off my butt and get back in the game.

so back in July when i took the class from Miss Pink i did some shopping at Stash the quilt shop that hosted the class in Walla Walla.

here are the goodies that i got.

a jelly roll of Salt Air along with some yardage.  i plan on making the Strip Search pattern with this.  

i also picked up some Night Shade while i was there.  just some fat quarters.  i have been cutting and sewing these.  sort of a design as you go quilt.

i got the tree pattern in laminate from The Birds and The Bees line of Tula's.  i am going to make a bag with it and the funky stripe for the lining of the bag.

i picked up some yardage of voile while i was there of these two print.  they will become pillow cases to go with my quilt.

i added two boarders to my Stacks quilt because i wanted it large enough for my bed.

i am going to use the funky stripe above as the binding.  i need to get it ready to be sent off to the quilter.  no way am i quilting this one.

i will try to get my next post done sooner rather then later.  it will be part 3 of this weekend with Tula.  she did a lecture on Saturday evening.  it was amazing.  but what else would you expect from her.

any words of encouragement that you have to share to keep me going would be greatly appreciated.  i would like to think that there are other people out in the world who have been stuck in time while the world continues to go on.

happy sewing

Weekend with Tula Pink part 1

a weekend with Tula Pink......

in 2011 at Sisters i took a class from Tula Pink. it was one of the best trip i had to Sisters. we did Tula's Cartwheel quilt in that class. so when i saw that Miss Pink was going to be near me this year it was an easy answer if i was going or not. pretty much nothing stood in the way of me taking another class from her.

the whole weekend (back in July) was put together by Stash which is a super cool quilt shop in Walla Walla, WA. if i had a quilt shop mine would look and feel like Stash. its full of fabric, patterns, notions, pre-cuts and much much more. everywhere i looked there was something i wanted. more on that later.

they had their front windows completely decorated up with everything made from Tula's fabric.  wall art, pillows, lamp shades, skirts and quilts.

Friday night was a meet and greet at Stash. Tula was there and she was signing books and chatting with all of us.  in talking with Tula we discovered that we both were staying at the same hotel.  so.... lucky me got to have breakfast with Tula.  i had a great time talking with her about various topics.  what you see in Tula's fabrics is her - fun, bright, whimsical and all with a bit of an edge to it.

 

side note: in my world of sewing hanging out with Tula Pink is at the top of my list and i have had the great pleasure of doing it a few times now. 

 

the class was held at a local hotel in Walla Walla that is top notch.  the staff at Stash did a great job in getting the room set up and ready for a quilting class.  there was several ironing stations as well as design boards for us to put our blocks on as we finished them.

 

at each spot there was a goody bag full of all sorts of fun things.  my bag had jelly beans, 3 fat quarters, fun buttons, thread, a pattern, a discount coupon to Stash and a super cool Tula Pink coffee cozy made by the ladies from Stash. 

 

the quilt we worked on was Stacks from Tula's book.  i picked her latest fabric collection to make the quilt out of and i picked the dark purple fabric for the background.

 

this was my view from my machine in the class room.  you can see the design walls lined up around the room.  i went to this class by myself but made a new quilting/blogland buddy.  Teresa who sat across from me.  she is a Tula fan just like me and even better she loves quilting and she is a long arm quilter as well.  Teresa blogs over at www.quiltingismybliss.blogspot.com - you all need to go and check her out.

 

once my Stacks quilt is done i am sending it to Teresa to have her add to the magic of the quilt with her stitches.  she has already done two Stacks quilts and they are both amazing.

 

so the day progressed and i had plans to take lots of pictures of the process of making the block.  however, Tula decided that there would be a prize for whoever had the most blocks done by the end of class.  the picture taking went by the wayside and the sewing took over.

 

there are a total of 20 blocks in this quilt.  i had a blast putting the blocks together.  Tula would come by and do a block count check every now and then.  good times were had.  when time was called i had 19 1/2 blocks done - one seam left to get to 20.  there was another gal who was about the same.  we each got a roll up of Tula's The Birds and The Bees fabric.

 

i got all of my blocks put together in class.  once home i pressed them all.  sorted them out and sewed together the top.  i am adding boarders to the quilt to make it bigger.  once i get that done i will post pictures of it.  

 

                                                    the pictures are not the greatest but i love, love, love the purple setting fabric with these colorways from The Birds and The Bees.  i am normally a green girl but lately i seem to be having a love affair with purple in all of its various shades.

 

me and Tula after my sewing marathon.  Tula was wearing Bernina red that day since now she is a Bernina gal herself.

 

since i had some help with the marathon from my machine i thought it was only fitting that Tula gave it some love as well.

 

there will be a couple more posts to come about this trip.  i did some shopping at Stash and Tula did a lecture after the class.  she shared her design process as well as some of her quilts.

 

i know that i haven't been posting regularly.  i am gradually getting back into it.  my life took a turn in July and has been a little out of sorts since then.  each day is a little better so i thank you for hanging in there with me.

 

happy sewing