Sunday, August 31, 2014

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Sew A Modern Home Quilt Book

 As I have mentioned in previous posts,
I have had an opportunity to get to know
Melissa Lunden 
this last year 
through working with her on a few quilt projects.
Melissa just published her first book
Quilts and More for Every Room
and asked me to participate in her Blog Tour
and Give Away
(which I was very happy to do)
Yesterday as I opened my mail
I received my very own copy
as a gift.
Thank You Melissa!
 There are so many fun projects in this book
I almost don't know which one I would like to make first.
But, probably my favorite,
which was chosen for the cover 
is
Dancing Chevrons
It looks fairly easy to construct
and could be made in any color pallet
to match a room.
Now on my To-Do list.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Kitschy Scissors

"Kitschy Scissors"
as opposed to 
"Kitchen Scissors"
*Austin, Texas
Definition of Kitschy (noun)
"Things (such as movies or works of art)
that are of low quality
and that many people
find amusing and enjoyable."
Well, If the scissors fit, 
wear them :)

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Those Mesa Ladies/ August

 Yesterday was my favorite day of the month
A day to quilt 
with 
Those Mesa Ladies
Amanda brought her latest Work In Progress
This month we met in the cultural hall of the church
while electrical work was being done
through out the building.
We each bring our own projects to work on.
Most bring
Show and Tell
Peg just got her Block of The Month quilt
back from the quilter.
Right away she threw it into the washer and dryer
making it nice and soft and cuddly.
Peg also just finished her
Quilty Fun Sampler
designed by Lori Holt/ Bee In My Bonnet
The back is as cute as the front.
Christine worked on binding her latest.
 The back is a soft Minky
Peg and Christine
I feel so honored to be part of this Mesa Quilt group.
The ladies are very generous and giving.
Peg brought us each a gift
of homemade 
"Blessing Bread"

 The message was so sweet
that it brought tears to our eyes.
We all have our challenges
and could use an extra Blessing.
A lot more than quilting 
goes on when we meet together.
 Each year on this day
As a family tradition,
Peg makes bread in honor of her mother's birthday.
A gift to offer
comfort, peace, love and hope 
to those who receive it.
Thank you Peg for always knowing how to 
be a friend.
And, as always
the luncheon was absolutely delicious.
Steph and Karen
provided
Hawaiian sliders * recipe HERE
Veggies and Dip
Watermelon
Homemade Salsa and Chips
Carmelitas (dessert)
and Lemonade.
The 11 (yes 11!) Electricians in the building came by
and mentioned how good the kitchen smelled.
Stephanie in her generosity
fed them all Hawaiian Sliders.
Can you see why I admire these ladies so much?

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild/ August

 It's been over a week since our
Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild 
meeting for August
and I just realized I haven't shown 
pictures from the event.
As a relatively new guild,
we are growing and 
our gatherings are 
becoming more and more fun.
Each month everyone is invited to participate in a swap.
For August the theme was
Mini Quilts
 Everyone seemed pleased with what they were
"gifted"
 Center photo is this years President
Michelle Hart
She and her staff really put a lot of effort into our guild,
and I for one, am very grateful.
 We often meet at 
ETC 
a local quilt store in Mesa
 For August we 
had a pot luck luncheon
followed by 
several mini-classes taught by very talented guild members
  • Johnie – fabric embellishment
  • Lisa – paper piecing
  • Alyssa – FMQ
  • Terry – faux piped binding
  • Ana – double flip hst method
  • Lora – EPP
  • Jen – Hawaiian appliqué
  • Becca – Bloc-locs 
I spent most of my time
learning Free Motion Quilting 
by the ever amazing
Alyssa Lichner (Pile O' Fabric)
She has the same Juki 2010Q machine
I recently purchased and it was
inspirational to see what Alyssa can do
on a domestic machine.
I came home with supplies
to start practicing
and to learn more about the capabilities of my machine.
I also really enjoyed learning
how easy it is to do a
Faux Piped Binding
taught by Terry
I can hardly wait to give this technique
a try on my next mini quilt.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Cut, Press, Sew by Lori Holt

 Last June 
when I went home to Utah
I had a chance to meet up with my girlfriend
Lori Holt
of Bee In My Bonnet
 Lori is always so kind to 
"gift"
something she knows I will love.
I was so happy to receive
her latest patterns
that was launched as a 
Sew Along on Lori's blog
in May
 Along with the pattern,
Lori included her own fabric lines
to complete the projects.
How lucky am I?
These little Mini's will be perfect for my sewing room wall  :)
I have had a few other quilt commitments
in the line up,
but plan to get started on these very soon :)
 I was especially happy to 
walk into my local quilt store
ETC in Mesa
and see their display of 
 I love their choice of  fussy cut Novelty fabrics.
As soon as I finish my daughter's 
wedding quilt,
Cut, Press, Sew
goes to the top of the list!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Sew A Modern Home Give Away Winner !!

 We have a winner for the
Sew A Modern Home e-book
Give Away!!
by Melissa Lunden
 Random Number Generator
picked #3
Congratulations Jennie  !
I am especially happy to see Jennie win.
She has been a dear friend to my daughter
for many years.
In fact, Jennie is a fantastic photographer
and will be coming here to Arizona
to photograph Aubrey's wedding in October.

Jennie, your name has been sent to 
Martingale Publishers
and they will be e-mailing you soon
with your book  !
**
Thank you to Melissa Lunden
for creating this wonderful quilt book
and for allowing me to 
share a copy with my readers.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Reminder of Give Away!!

Just wanted to remind you 
that today is the last day 
to place your name in the 
Give Away
for an
e-book copy of
Sew A Modern Home  !
Make sure to go over to my post on Monday 8/18
and leave a comment by midnight tonight.
Winner will be drawn tomorrow.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Mini Nail Polish Quilt

 I just finished my
Mini Nail Polish Quilt
Size 19 1/2" X 21 1/2"
 So easy to do.
This little Mini worked up fast.
The original quilt was presented  recently as a 
free tutorial on Fat Quarter Shop
My friend Lori Holt (Bee In My Bonnet)
scrunched it down to Mini Size
and provided a Free Tutorial 
on her web site too.
 It was fun to pick out scraps of fabric
that I thought would 
 "read"
as a nail polish color or image.
 Lori had a great suggestion:
For the accent on the lid,
simply use the backside of the fabric.
 I also followed the straight line stitching
Lori and the Fat Quarter shop show on their samples.
I used some inexpensive masking tape
from the dollar store.
Perfect because it's exactly 
one inch wide 
and
 has very little stick
which made it easy to move from spot to spot
on the fabric.
This is Lori's version in pink.
Know someone who loves nail polish?
This would make a fun little gift.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Sweet and Simple Table Runner

 My friend Lori Holt (Bee In My Bonnet)
has been designing the most fun
quilty type projects for summer.
She calls it her
Scrappy Summer Sew Along
and she has provided quite a few
Free Tutorials
Today I finished her
This was a fun way to use up some
leftover scrap fabrics.
 I have a lot of orange in my dining room
and wanted to accent with some aqua's and teal blues.
 I sure have loved my new Juki 2010Q
and have been practicing with some of the features.
This table runner was a perfect place to start.
I was able to do some simple straight stitches for the
machine quilting.
 This table runner can be adapted to any length.
I opted to make mine to fit the length of 
my dining room table.
Lori made her 
Sweet and Simple Table Runner
to fit the top of her piano.
For the free tutorial
you can visit
Bee In My Bonnet