QuiltFest Jacksonville 2009 September 25, 2009

 

This week I am helping out my favorite shop Sew & Quilt Shop at the Jacksonville QuiltFest.  This is my first quilt show and I am really enjoying my time there.  Tomorrow is the last day and I can’t wait to tell you all about the stuff I’ve learned. 

Yesterday was the first time I played on a long-arm quilting machine.  My addiction has begun.  Now I need $10,000 to make my kick butt sewing room/business with great machines and a long-arm.  Using the machine was one of the easiest things that I have done and covered a lot of ground quickly.  I want this machine:

 

Okay Santa, my wishlist is made.  I will make sure I stay on the nice list. 

While I was on a break today from  the booth I went to look at the quilts entered in the show.  There were tons more and some are so intricate.  Here are some of the quilts that caught my eye. 

Close Up

Close up of great machine quilting

Can you tell I like bright colors and the non traditional quilts??  Can’t wait to update all of you tomorrow.

Wedding Bonanza September 22, 2009

What started as a group effort betwen my girlfriends and I has turned into something I love to do for my friends.  When KT got married we worked a quilt that included quotes about love, marriage and friendship.  When C-ann got married the following year we did another one that was very similar.

Then I moved to Florida.

Last year we attended Ben & Abby’s lovely wedding in Pataski, Michigan in August.  It was a great weekend.  They had a great colors and I had picked out material for their quilt back in January prior to our move.  I worked on the pieces all summer, but did not get the quilt finished.  Then other stuff happened and it just took forever.  Finally this summer I was determined to finish the quilt in order to be there for a their one year anniversary.

For this quilt I used a Disappearing Nine Patch pattern.  It is very easy to do and gives the quilt a nice random look.  With so many colors and different patterns, this is a great pattern to highlight each fabric.  These are the wedding colors of Ben & Abby as well.

One of the reasons Ben & Abby’s quilt was so late is because myself and two other girlfriends were all engaged within a two month period.  My girlfriends however were getting married a week apart in August.  I had six months to make their two quilts and finalize B & A’s as well.

Below is a picture of LeeAnne’s wedding quilt.  Her wedding colors were hot pink and black.  I can’t imagine a better combination for her.  I tried something new with her quilt…applique.  For my first try, it did not turn out too bad.

Lastly, I had Krista’s quilt to work on.  Krista chose great colors:  lemon, lime and orange.  I had to code all my projects early on so the girls wouldn’t know what I was really working on.  Hence, I called this the citrus quilt.  Below are pictures of the pieces of the quilt.  I have yet to finish the actual quilting.  I’m calling this one cascading colors.

September is National Sewing Month September 9, 2009

With everything going on in the world, no wonder this great month has not received much press time.  Okay, mayb it’s not important to most people.  Without sewing you wouldn’t have most of the stuff in your home.  Just think about it.  Most things are mass produced, but something around your house has be home made.  What is the one thing around your house that you treasure that was sewn by someone you know?? A shirt or maybe a blanket?  Leave below in the comments section.

For the month of September I have challenged myself to spend an average of 30 minutes a day sewing and creating.  I’ll post pictures of everything that I get accomplished.  Here are my goals to get done for the month, it’s ambitious, but I think obtainable.

• Gators baby quilt for Ryan
• Table runner for my parents updated family room
• Quiliting and binding of Krista’s wedding quilt

That’s a lot but the majority is done and ready to go.

Update:  I am teaching my neighbor’s daughter to sew.  She is currently working a tote bag.

Charm Pack of the Month…Gobble Gobble September 4, 2009

After a long day of work I arrived home to check my mailbox.  Inside was my monthly present to myself from FatQuarterWorld.  A new charm pack from Moda. 

I started this last month and received Birdie.  Still haven’t decided what I’m going to do with it, but I’m considering vintage looking potholders.  Hmmm…any ideas??  You can see most of the fabrics on FQW. 

This month though is Gobble Gobble.  I was pleasantly surprised that there are ZERO turkeys in this collection.  Instead, it is full of great fall colors and patterns.  I have some great accents already in my stash for this collection.  Potholders…here we come.  Or I might attempt my first table runner.  The ideas are running rampant. 

 

Anything that I make for the holidays tends to not be very traditional.  Something you can sit out in your house that will allow it to blend in, but still stay “It’s Holiday Time.”  My goal with the Charm Pack of the Month is to use it only, no additionally purchased fabric unless it is already in my stash. 

Let the creativity begin.  I’m anticipating what next month will bring.  Will I have a project completed with something from this month??

 

side note:  i used the photos from FQW, but if you click on the links, you will be taken to their page where you can purchase the charm pack. 

Attic Window

Overall quilt

I was asked to make my first quilt for someone that paid me.  Wow, Great.  NOW WHAT????

Once we moved to Florida and I had some free time and DVR space, I started recording Alex Anderson’s Simply Quilts show on HGTV.  I was impressed by this show and all the ideas.  Too bad the show has stopped.  One  showed that sparked my creativity was on Attic Windows.  Most of my quilts are special squares with some variation.  This allowed me to try a new affect. 

This is the method that I used for creating my simple Y-Seam Blocks.  I followed the instructions line by line and my project turned out great.  I will make another Attic Window quilt this way.  It does take some time and patience, but the result was worth it.

Close up of my Y-Seam block

The client was very happy with the end result as well and ordered a 2nd quilt.  My inspiration over all was shabby chic with a twist.  The material is Lakehouse Hydrangrea in pink.  I did not necessarily fussy cut the large buds, but instead tried to highlight them. 

Close up the borader using a Y-Seam as well.

September FabShopHop September 1, 2009

Are you looking for a Holiday project?  A specific material?  You should check out the FabShopHop during the month of September.  You can visit over 100 shops during this month’s Hop. 

Sign up to become a member and they will track how many sites you have successfully found the Bunny.  Look for this logo around each site. 

What did you find that you want to create??

Don’t forget this supports Project 95!!