Side Clasp Purse

 When Gina (Threaded Pear)

went to Quilt Market in Houston

she purchased the pattern and

hardware

for this darling

Side Clasp Purse

During our sew day, she whipped up

this little project in just a few hours.

With all of her quilting experience,

Gina said this is the first time she

has made a purse.

 Fun little bag with such 

unique hardware.

 Love the owl motif

on the side clasp.

Pattern and hardware can be found at

Studio Mio

out of Australia.

I spent a little time perusing

their web site.

They specialize in handbag supplies

and accessories.

Cool stuff.

For more information

you can also contact

Gina at Threaded Pear.



Gina of Threaded Pear

 Yesterday as I walked into the room

of our little quilt group in Mesa,

I saw all of these lovelies sitting on

a table.

Gina Halladay (The Threaded Pear)

has recently returned from

 Quilt Market in Houston

and brought some

newly released items

for us to see.

I'm always looking for new ways to use up scraps and

 Steam Punk by Jen Kingwell Designs

went right on top of my to-do list.

At first glance, the name didn't seem to

match this beautiful pattern.

As I looked the word steam punk up on Wikipedia,

it actually matches very well:

Steam Punk is a sub-genre of science fiction

that features (among other things)

 steam powered machinery.

I get it now :)

 Gina also brought the latest edition of McCall's Quilting magazine

 Where she wrote an article

highlighting the new trends

emerging forth in the quilting world.

 A very interesting article.

It's always so fun to see what new and exciting

things will be coming next.

Gina is a lot of fun to sit next to

and to hear her spin on

all things quilty.

Tomorrow I will show you

the cute little purse she made

during our sew day.

Starting the Lone Starburst Block

 Back  in January 2012

when I saw Anna Politzer's (Six White Horses)

Lone Starburst block

I knew this was a MUST

on my to-do list.

A great way to use up scraps and I love 

the geometric design.

But then, life got busy,

and the project got moved to my

someday pile.

Fast forward to today:

I'm a member of the

Bee's Knees

Quilting Bee

with 11 of the most

wonderful and talented ladies.

Each month one of the members sends us a pattern and

fabric for a block they would like us to make.



 Last month,

 April Rosenthal

of Prairie Grass Studios

 asked that we make her a

Lone Starburst block.

With mixed feelings, I was excited and intimidated all in the same moment.

 My paper piecing skills are somewhat elementary,

so for a month I have

stewed

and procrastinated

starting the block.

This is, after all, THE April R.

and I did not want to be the Bee Member

to ruin her beautiful fabrics.

 A fellow bee member, Trish (Notes of Sincerity) came up with a solution to ease my fears.

She suggested making a

PRACTICE

block

as a trial run.

So, I pulled out my scraps and have started putting together

my version of the block.

 Kind of like riding a bike,

paper piecing has come back to me.

 And I love how

this technique

makes all of the sections

line up 

exact

and

even.

My only complaint with paper piecing

is the waste of fabric.

I am now feeling much more confident

to get a start on April's block.

And I'm having so much fun,

I just may make a few more for myself :)

Row Along 7/ Leaves

 I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

This year we felt an

extra amount

of gratitude.

Not only have we enjoyed the company of our son here

for the last few weeks,

we were also very fortunate to have 

 our daughter and Son-In-Law

drive in from Salt Lake City

for the holiday.

How grateful we were to view

4 of our 5 children together

at the Thanksgiving table :)

Our son flies back to New York early tomorrow morning,

and I'm not ready to let him go :(

Amidst the holiday festivities,

and while the fam watched a movie,

 I was able to sneak

over to my machine

 and work on

Row #7 Leaves

from Bee In My Bonnet's

Row Along

 16 leaves are now all falling together

in one little row.

 Lori always comes up with the most wonderful designs.

I love the split formation for these leaves.

 The background fabric is once again varied from the other rows,

as I pulled from my stash basket.

And I found a perfect brown scrap for the stems.

 The leaves fit right in
 as they lay next to the

previous 6 rows.

The only real challenge I have found

in doing this

Row Along

is in trying to be patient

for the next 2 weeks

 in between

the big reveal for the next row.

What fun design will Lori

have us do next?

 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,

to the which also ye are called in one body;

and be ye thankful.

(Colossians 3:15)

Happy Thanksgiving

from

our family

to Yours!

Pat's Vintage Table Runner

 One of the things I love about

interacting with

Pat Roche

is seeing her vision

of mixing vintage

with modern

in quilting.

Pat's latest creation incorporates

three 

embroidered vintage hankies

that have been beautifully quilted

to the top of a

linen table runner.

 There is not a lot of contrast

between the white hankies and

white background,

but if you look closely

you can see three separate sections.

 In the center of each hankie there

is a beautiful motif of a bird

in flight

surrounded by flowers.

 Upclose

you can see the beautiful detailing

of stitches

that attach the

hankies to the base.

For my small part, I sewed the binding

around the outer edge.

B.J.'s Quilt

 During Show and Tell

of the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild

November meeting

B.J. shared her

bright and happy quilt.

The blocks are large.

I'm guessing

around 12-inches.

Loved the border, too.

A good way to use up scraps :)

Alissa Goes Modern Quilts

 Alissa brought a few of her

Modern quilts

for Show and Tell

on Saturday.

I love her use of solids

and color placement

on this

Triangle Quilt

 Alissa is one quilter

I watch very closely,

because I

seriously would

like to make

every quilt she makes.

 And she brought an example

for machine quilting

your own quilts

that I had never seen before.

She uses

 blue painter's tape

like a road map

for her quilting lines.

Great idea!!

Scarlet Serenade Quilt

 Yesterday was our

Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild

meeting.

One of the wonderful parts of this guild is the

vast amount of talent

within the membership.

Cristy Fincher brought her amazing

Scarlet Serenade

quilt that

she has been working on.

This technique combines

Quilting

With Your

Embroidery Machine

Stunning!



 Christy is the daughter of

award winning quilter

Sharon Schamber.

 Can you imagine all of the things

you would learn

growing up

while sitting at the feet of

Sharon Schamber?

 The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Christy is a teacher and designer

and has runs her own company

Purple Daisies

 The pattern for

Scarlet Serenade

can be found at

www.purpledaisiesllc.com

 And here in Phoenix

we get to sit

well, not at the feet,

but next to

the ladies

who are leading the

quilting industry

towards

new and very exciting

places.

And gather

from their

vast knowledge and experience.

Scissor's Dance

 It's been a wonderful week.

Our oldest son just graduated from
Sound Engineering School in

Manhatten, New York,

and is visiting for 2 weeks.

I'm a happy mama :)

Knowing his love of music,

one of the first things I wanted to take him to

was The "MIM"

Musical Instrument Museum

in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Absolutely AMAZING place

that I wrote about

HERE

and

HERE

The museum is state of the art and

 HUGE.

We spent 6 1/2 hours viewing displays from over 200 countries,

and even then only briefly saw many of the areas.

One that particularly caught my eye

was the

Scissor's Dance

from Peru 

 The Scissor's Dance is an enduring tradition practiced in Southeast Peru.

With origins from the 16th Century, the dance began as a form of insurrection against the Europeans bringing Christianity to the area. 

 "The dance takes the form of a Ritual Battle of endurance

between 2 specialists who perform

acrobatic feats"

while violin and harp

improvise a tune.

If that seems a little intense,

a more friendly version of

Scissors

was introduced this morning

by my friend Lori Holt

of Bee In My Bonnet

Make sure to run over and see

her latest pattern 

Sewing Scissors

and I'm going to be here,

taking a little time

with my boy

before he heads back to

New York

(and doing my best to subtlety influence him to

job hunt

here in Arizona :)