Cutting room floor

Here is what I am working on this week. I searched a long time to find fabrics to go with this cat print and now I'm going to make use of them!

Fabric selection

This pattern is for either a wall hanging or table runner but in my case it will end up being a wall hanging. I haven't worked with this pattern company before so I will let you all know how it goes :)

Have a great rest of the week....Friday is coming soon!

Angela

Motivation Monday

My flowers finally look alive again! This intense heat has not been kind to them but they are sure perking up now. I can't wait for the nice temperatures that fall will bring :)

Today was one of those days.....I needed a pep talk and BAM these flowers knew just what to say. Since they are snapdragons they probably roared but whatever. Either way I love these flowers and I think playing with them is about the most fun you can have. 

Happy Monday!!

Angela

Fall Wall Hanging...Binding

I got this amazing quilt back from my longarm gal a few weeks ago. I have been working on other things and finally got back to it today. I am in LOVE with the quilting on the piece. I have never sent anything out to be quilted so I was really nervous but this turned out perfect! I am just in love with this fabric from Sandy Gervais and I can't wait to hang it up in the house somewhere.

Close-up of the leaf design

 

I did my binding by machine as usual. I begin by attaching the binding to the front of the quilt. From there I fold the binding to the back and either use these awesome little clips or just pins. I should have used more since a few areas didn't get 'caught' while I was stitching in the ditch. Wonder Clips seriously are wonderful though - so much easier than pins. 

Binding by machine

 The Wonder Clips left on the hanging are indicators of where the binding didn't get caught. Most of the areas are very small so i plan on trying to machine the areas with invisible thread and seeing how that goes.

Full view

 If you are interested in this fabric I suggest visiting River City Quilts in Mankato, MN. They still appear to have a large selection of this line even though it is from last year. I visited the shop while on the MN Shop Hop a few weeks ago and they still had charm packs!!. This fabric line is also featured on the cover of the new Quilts and More Fall 2012.

I am really looking forward to a 3 day weekend coming up. I have a few projects in my sewing room that I would really like to tackle but time has just not been on my side lately - especially since I started reading those darn Hunger Games books! I should be finishing the last book early this week though and then things can get back to normal :)

If you are here from the Blog Hop I hope you are having a great time and I hope to see you again! 

If you have been here before --- Thank You!!

Angela

Quilting by: Mary at The Quilt Den - Sioux Falls, SD
Fabric: Grand Finale by Sandy Gervais

Blog Hop Party with a Give-away!! ***CLOSED***

Give-away time!

I have joined the Blog Hop Party that is being hosted by the Quilting Gallery. Blog hops are a great way to see new blogs and find some new favorites!

For more details of the Blog Hop Party and a full list of participating blogs please visit them here. The list of bloggers will be available starting Sunday morning, August 26, shortly after midnight Eastern time. 

And now the details on my give-away -- I will not ship internationally(US only) and the give-away will close at noon Central on September 3. In order to enter the contest, please answer the following question and put your response in the comments. Please make sure you are a "reply blogger" or leave me your e-mail and name with your comment so I can contact you if you are one of the winners!

What blog posts catch your attention? 

Examples: Quilts in progress, the fabric selections,
finished quilts or something else?

And now for the important part.....the prizes!! I will be giving away 2 prizes. 

Prize 1: A kit to make this wall hanging(pattern included)

Prize 2: A kit to make this wall hanging(pattern included)

Have a great time blog hopping and I hope to hear from you soon!


Angela

Quick Projects

I made a few self binding baby blankets last week that both turned out really great.The pink cuddle was leftover from a large cuddle quilt that I made. The video tutorial that I watched regarding these blankets suggests using flannel pieces that at 30x30 and 40x40. The pieces of cuddle that I had were a bit smaller so I used a 27x27 piece of cuddle and a 36x36 piece of cotton. These are going to make great baby gifts once I add a few more items :)

The video tutorial can be found here. 

 

Something else I worked with this week was the Double Diamond ruler. I used 3 different 1/3 yard cuts of fabrics to come up with these fun pieces. I think that these are going to end up being a table runner or topper of some sort. 

  

I'm trying to enjoy these last moments of summer while I can but I'm sure I'll still be in the sewing room this week to show you more great stuff.

Have a great week!

Angela

Pink Chalk Studio Mail Sack

While out of vacation I found some amazing fabrics and this purse pattern. Here are a few pictures of the finished product. The fabric is from Tula Pink's collection called 'The Birds and the Bees'.

The only alteration that I made to the bag was to add a magnet closure since I feel more secure about a purse that way. I think that the strap may be a bit short even for me but I'm going to use the purse for a bit before making changes.

The pattern includes two sizes and what I made is the mini. I really liked how easy the bag was to put together so I will definitely be making a large bag soon with some of the fabric I picked up while shop hopping in Minnesota. 

All finished!

See the pretty birds hiding in the pink/purple fabric? Then check the flowers on the right - they are bees!

The bag in action!

Thanks for looking!

Angela

Quilts and Vines Photos

Here are some pictures from the Quilts and Vines event. A few of my quilts made it up on the barn since they had sleeves :) even though I was scared about putting them on it definitely paid off. Seeing my quilts up on the barn was just awesome! I saw a lot of beautiful quilts today that definitely inspired me and I also got to hear my husband's thoughts on different quilts which is always interesting.

 

   

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Angela

Quilts and Vines 2012 - My Quilts

Quilts and Vines is tomorrow!! It looks like we are going to have some great weather for being outside.

I had quite a bit of self doubt about putting my quilts in Quilts and Vines since they are not very professional looking. I have since come to my senses and even though the quilts don't look quite as nice as I would like, I think quilt shows need entries from newbies like me so that other people can be encouraged :) This is not a judged show and is more for fun than anything....I guess if I hear negative comments about my hard work at least there will be wine nearby!! I showed off both the 'Trick or Treat' and 'The Cat' quilts at my guild meeting last night and they went very over well so that helped my heart :)

The Lorax - original design

Trick or Treat - adapted Deb Strain pattern

The Cat - Winterberry Singles

Fall Leaves - Heirloom Creations Make and Take Project

Heirloom Creations Sampler

I hope that you are all able to make it to the show. Please see the below link for more information about the show.

Quilts and Vines 

 Have a great weekend!

Angela

Getting caught back up - QAL

Last night I spent some time working on my blocks for the Beginner's Quilt-Along. I had three blocks to finish and I'll be getting a new block today so I figured I'd better get going! So here they are...

Block 7 - Hour Glass

Block 8 - Spool

Block 9 - Split 9 Patch

All together now!

 So far I am really loving this QAL. There are only 12 block(13 blocks if you want to set the quilt on points) so we only have a few weeks left. I am thinking that these blocks will be turning into doll quilts instead of a large quilt but we'll see. I am starting to run low on a few colors so the next few blocks will be a challenge in that sense. 

This weekend I am hoping to get caught up on my Craftsy BOM blocks since I have both July and August to work on :)

Have a great rest of the week!!

Angela 

Southwest Minnesota Shop Hop

This bus tour was a blast!

I had never been on a bus tour before so I wasn't sure quite what to expect but I had a great time. There were less than 40 other people on the tour so it was easy to get to know people and what kinds of things they were looking for in shops.

For complete information on the Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop 2012 please visit them here. If you want to know exactly what shops I stopped at visit here. 

The SW section offered a prize of 13 fat quarters and a cookbook/pattern book for shophoppers that visit all 10 shops in their section. This book includes patterns from each shop using the fabric that we received. It also includes recipes from some of the treats that shops make for us. I did make quite a few purchases from different shops and here is a peek at a few of my favorites.

Section Prize

Fabric to make a 5 yard quilt

 

New patterns and a quilt as you go book.

 
 While on the hop I heard a lot of gals talking about winter. It seems that most take this trip as a time to stock up for holiday sewing projects and to get a good stash built before the weather turns on us. This tour was a lot of fun and a great way to see new shops that I may not have found or traveled to on my own. 

If you have any shop hopping questions let me know and I'll do my best to answer. What I can tell you for sure is that I will definitely be doing another one at some point in time! 

Have a great week!

Angela