i'm sooooo excited

well, excited isn't nearly strong enough...i'm ecstatic!!! i will be teaching at a quilting retreat in Colorado in November! i am also going to be putting together a quilt (to be given away at the retreat) from the fabulous fabric shown above. more details about the retreat can be found here. i have to say, that when i started this little old blog i had no idea the opportunities that would come about. it's pretty amazing. and wonderful. :)

and....the winner of the oh cherry oh scraps is Sara. thanks to all of you for playing along!

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today is day 65 of the quilt along, in case you needed a little reminder. :)

scraps

thanks for all the sweet comments on my oh cherry oh quilt!

i can't believe that i'm going to say this, but i have too many fabric scraps. i really do. so i've decided to giving away my oh cherry oh scraps.

leave me a comment with your name, location and what you would do with the scraps if you were to win them.

here's an example: my name is amandajean and i live in wisconsin. if i were to use these scraps i would add them to my spiderweb quilt and would probably make a doll quilt or two.

one comment per person and please make sure that there is a way to contact you in the event that you win.

oh cherrry oh

my 20th quilt of the year is done!

this was my first time using a layer cake (precut squares that measure 10") and a jelly roll (precut strips that are 2.5" wide). it made the quilt top assembly very quick. i used the pattern patchwork rendezvous and the fabric is oh cherry oh from moda.

all the time i saved in assembling the qulit top i made up for quilting it. i used almost 18 bobbins of thread! i still can't believe that i did that much quilting on this baby, but it was so worth it. i love the texture! i was hoping that this might become my signature quilting design, but it's way too labor intensive for all my quilts. i think my arms would fall off.

i used a red polka dot from the sweet line (also from moda) for the binding. i can't get enough red polka dots. I love them!

the backing looks embossed, doesn't it? this fabric is from joann's.

the quilt measures 62" x 76" after washing. it's a nice lap size.

i am so very proud of this one!

the last 10

i finished my 9 patch blocks yesterday for the one a day quilt along!!!!

i haven't had time to lay out all 70 out yet,

so i'm a little nervous...i hope they all can get along. :)

i'm not sure that i should admit this, but i'm already planning my next one...

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today is day 58 of the quilt along.

peaches and cream

I think this quilt will be going to my friend Bonnie, if she wants it. :) I really, really need to become and unselfish quilter again.

For this quilt I pieced the batting using a zig zag stitch that many of your suggested after I posted this. (I have to say thank you for not laughing at me for hand piecing my batting!!!) Machine stitching it together is clearly the way to go. I think I used 9-10 pieces of long skinny batting strips in the process. It's so satisfying to make those ends into something useful. Reclaiming some closet storage space doesn't hurt, either.

I did a simple stipple in cream thread for the quilting. I love how it looks all quilted up.

And I finished it off with a wonderful green polka dot (from JoAnn's) for the backing and binding. I could use yards and yards of this fabric. I just love it.

The quilt measures 49" x 56".

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Edited to add: The pattern for this quilt was based on the snapshots pattern that is found in the book Happy Hour by Atkinson Designs. The block shown here is done at approximately 50% of the large block in the original pattern. (this one finishes at 7") Since this is a published pattern, I am not at liberty to share the measurements or a tutorial for this block.

The fabrics used in this quilt include a few thimbleberries prints, a tracy porter print and a few prints from moda...from the lines waters edge and urban indigo if i recall correctly. there is also one joel dewberry print and one unknown fabric.

oh, and bonnie loved the quilt. :) yay!

new to me quilting

after stumbling upon this post yesterday, i tried branching out-from stippling.

sometimes i shock myself!

i was so pleased with how this quilting looked on my practice piece that i started on my oh cherry oh quilt.

it's going to take awhile.

i have quilted 5 bobbins worth and have just completed 3 blocks.

but i'm loving it!!!

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today is day 53 of the quilt along. my total blocks made...still at 60. :)

summer pace

basting these two quilts was the extent of my quilting yesterday.
our summer vacation pace is going to take some getting used to.
thankfully, stippling is a stress reliever for me.
because boy oh boy do i need it.

happy go lucky

when i started making these scrappy blocks yesterday, i had no idea where i was going with the quilt. i knew i wanted to use mostly flea market fancy fabric scraps. i added in a few katie jump rope scraps and plenty of white muslin scraps, too. i made a 3 or 4 blocks yesterday and the rest today. once i had 7 blocks arranged on the floor (this morning), i knew exactly how to set them. i threw together 2 more blocks and set them off center in a white background. that layout has been in my head for months...maybe years. i guess today was the day...it finally rattled around in there long enough. :)

i

L

O

V

E

this quilt.

it's overcast today, so the photos aren't the best.

i tried hanging it in a tree...

and spread out on the ground...

and finally went to my old stand by spot after all.

it measures 69" x 88"

i tried to push myself to make the blocks a little wonkier than usual. and i tried to push myself out of my comfort zone in regards to color. i constructed the patch of 9 blocks differently than i normally would, too. i do love the results. so, so much.

this brings my total flimsies (quilt tops only) back up to 4. yikes!

and an aside...happy go lucky does not describe my personality in the least. i sure wish it did, though. :)

one a day quilt along, day 46

I have made 60-only 10 left to go!!!

How many blocks have you made?

bits and pieces of my week so far

I finished my quilt top for the old red barn co. quilt along. It's very girly and all from the stash. (yay!!) It is 72" x 88". I used 42 blocks (12" finished) and then I cut the leftovers from each strip into 4.5" lengths. I added those little pieces to the top and the bottom. They added just the right amount of length to make it fit my daughter's bed. I almost kept going and made this a king size.

My girl and I made a rhubarb pie yesterday. It was so much fun.

Today is the last day of school. I have mixed feelings about that. I sure love my boys. They made cards for their teachers before school. Adorable. In the photo they are playing rock, paper, scissors while waiting for the bus.

My dad is here visiting. He's on vacation and currently he's at a hay expo of some sort. It's funny what farmers consider entertainment. He asked if we (my daughter and I) wanted to go along, but we had to pass on that one. :) no photos here. my dad is shy.

I also received some lovely, lovely mail....

A quilt from Chen. I was her giveaway winner. Yipee! The quilt is gorgeous. I can't stop looking at it! It's been chilly here, so I've been using it, too. It's fun to have a quilt made by someone else in my collection.

And my daughter received this beautiful dress from Carol. Isn't it sweet? I just love it. I have to laugh that it matches my wall and the little quilt on the wall that Jacquie made for me. :)

I hope you are having a wonderful week!

red + white

After 13 months, my Virtual Quilting Bee quilt is complete. Hurray!

54" x 72"
Originally, I was going to quilt it in a diagonal grid pattern, but at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to stipple it. I'm so glad that I did! I had my fill of straight line quilting after the square dance quilt. (I know, imagine that!)

I pieced the back using red gingham and worked in the two blocks that I received after I had put the front together. Isn't that a fun back?

I'd like to say thank you to each of the lovely ladies that made a square and contributed to my quilt! I'm so very pleased with the results. You can click here and here to see the block credits.

mini happy hour quilt top

49" x 63"

this quilt was inspired by heather. (thanks friend!) last year when she made a Christmas tree skirt, she used a mini happy hour block rather than the log cabin block. i LOVED it and i just knew i would have to make a quilt using that idea someday. i like how the pattern is modern and the fabrics are soft and feminine. thanks to jessica for two of the fabrics that i won from her giveaway a few months ago. and thanks to beth for a yard of the tracy porter fabric that i received in a swap. it's fun to see my quilt tops come together and see how many friends have contributed to the final product. it makes my sappy heart happy. :)

now i had better get quilting before i get a back log of quilt tops hanging around here again. :)

9 patch update and misc.

why hello there! today is day 37 of the 9 patch quilt along. since i made 4 blocks tonight, my total is now at 41. i'm so thankful that you all are quilting along with me to keep me going!

i'm sure many of you have already seen that bee square fabrics is going out of business. boo-hoo! she's having a GREAT sale-more info here.

there is a placemat swap going on over on flickr hosted by sarah. (it's my first official swap ever! i'm a little nervous.)

also, I'M A QUILT WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo-hoo!!!!

one more random thing...if you have ever ordered from ProFlowers, you may want to check your credit card statements. My husband bought me flowers for Valentine's Day from ProFlowers. since that time, our credit card was being charged monthly by Easy Saver at 14.95 a month!!! my husband called Easy Saver today and they said that the charges will be credited-(we'll see about that)-but holy cow!!! watch your statements! we are not the only ones this has happened to. i'm just hoping that if this has happened to you, you can catch it sooner rather than later.

(sorry about the bazillion links!)

my square dance quilt is finished!

jacquie's spring to finish challenge was just the push i needed to get this baby finished. i was cross-eyed for the last several stitches, but i made it with about an hour to spare. nothing like cutting it close to the deadline! :) (this brings my spring to finish total to 3.)

i did an insane amount of quilting on this one, (8 lines of quilting on a 3" block!) but it was good to branch out from my usual stippling. i wish you could feel this quilt-the texture is incredible. when i washed and dried it, it didn't seem to shrink any more than usual. i was very relieved.

i pieced the back, using two different color ways of mendi fabric from fun quilts. it was a good match and it was on the sale rack at my LQS.

the binding is vintage fabric from my grandmother's house. i love how it finishes off the quilt.

after washing and drying, the quilt measures 62" x 80", so about a twin size.

i have to say, i'm very proud of this one.

(you can see a full photo of the quilt top here. and i talk more about the quilting in this post.)