Westwood Acres New Year's Sale

Honestly, really, truly - I have been trying not to buy any more fabric!  I have enough fabric to keep me busy for the rest of my days.  And, I often worry that my fabric stash will not be respected when I'm dead and gone - that whoever is stuck cleaning out my house will simply pass judgement on me for still having unused fabric on the day of my death.

But, I could not resist Westwood Acre's New Year's Day sale!  Their prices are already so reasonable, and when they dangled the 35% off sale in front of me, my resolve disappeared.  I'm glad it did, because I LOVE what I purchased:

This lovely fat eighth bundle of Lecien's Flower Sugar fabrics.  I've been collecting them for my Farmer's Wife quilt.

This fabulous "Type" FQ bundle.

This sweet Windemere jelly roll.  I kept eyeing it at my favorite local quilt shop, but couldn't justify buying it until now.

And this dear, dear, dear Vintage Market panel by Tasha Noel.  I so wanted to buy a fat quarter bundle of the entire line last fall when it was released, but I resisted, and now I kind of regret it....

OK, I need to get away from the keyboard and head to the sewing room!  :)

Liz's Lovely Quilt

I had the lovely privilege of machine quilting this quilt for a customer.  

All it needed was a simple stipple so the fabrics and pattern could take the main stage.

Love it, Liz!!

Stats:

58x88"

Batting:  Warm & White

Thread:  Aurifil 50 wt, color #2610

A Quilter's Christmas

I LOVE getting quilting books for Christmas.  It's such a wonderful thing....   During the rest of the year if I purchase a quilting book, it feels extravagant and somewhat irresponsible.  But at Christmas, there are no guilty feelings involved whatsover - it's pure joy!!

Here are the books I received/purchased with Christmas money this year:

All Points Patchwork by Diane Gilleland - My sister Renee bought this for me last July at the Quilt Odyssey quilt show in Hershey.  She refused to let me have it until Christmas.  She hauled it home to CO, wrapped it up, then shipped it back to me in December.  I tried to convince it would be cheaper and easier for her to just give it to me then, but she didn't bite.  I've been eagerly waiting to get my hands on this book!  It's an outstanding resource for English Paper Piecing (EPP) which I am becoming more and  more addicted to.

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt -  I already have the original Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book and love it, so was eager for this 1930's version.  The letters from farm wives are so endearing.

Quilting on the Go by Jessica Alexandrakis - This is a great book on portable quilting projects and is where I first heard the term "quilting in public" - don't you love it?!  In fact, it makes me want to gather some friends together and meet in public to stitch together for the next "World Wide Quilting in Public Day" on June 20 (I think that's the date!).

Sara Feilke's Quilting from Little Things -  I love Sara Fielke....  I love her approach to quilting - to slow down and do more hand stitching, to savor the process vs. rushing through it.  I had the chance to meet her last summer at the Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show and see several of the quilts in person that are featured in the book.  So, this book immediately was placed on my Christmas Wish List when I got home.  :)

Sara was kind enough to let me snap a picture of her at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters.  I celebrity stalked her for a while before I worked up the courage to ask her if I could take a picture of her.  :)

This is one of her quilts that is featured in the book.

Isn't her detail work fabulous?!

Also, my younger sister gave me...

...a gift certificate to The Old Country Store in Intercourse, my favorite local quilt shop.  I love everything about that store!

And last,

... this charm pack of Jen Kingwell's Gardenvale from my dear friend Kathy O. of Stitch by Stitch.  She knows me well enough to know what fabrics I love - that's a dear friend indeed!

Aaaaahhhh, I love this year's Christmas quilting goodies!

 

It's that time of year!

Nothing like a pillowcase to help get me into the Christmas spirit,

... especially when it's made out of such fun fabric!

:)

Machine Quilting Sampler Quilt

I just read Crazy Mom Quilts blog post announcing her 9th blogging anniversary where she requested photos of projects inspired by her blog or patterns, etc.  So, I raced outside to snap a few photos of this Machine Quilting Sampler Quilt that I finished in time for the Etown fair in August.  It was totally inspired by the two very similar quilts that she completed.  I am so grateful for her blog and her generosity in sharing her work with the quilting community.  It has inspired hundreds of quilters like me.  

Here are a few close ups of the individual squares.  I'll write more details about the process soon, but I wanted to at least get this blog post loaded so I can link to her anniversary giveaway!  :)

Manheim Farm Show Results

I'm so glad I made the effort to enter my quilts in the Manheim Farm Show this year, but it's just not the same experience when it's not in your own town!  (And, no fun when you're taking your own pictures!!)  Half the fun for me is looking at the exhibits of people I know and looking at them with friends or family; that just wasn't the case here.

Anyway, it was a good experience.  I met up with another fellow competitor, and we enjoyed admiring the quilts together.  Here's my assortment of entries:

Wish I hadn't been too lazy to carry my camera into the exhibit hall with me; a cell phone just doesn't capture the quilting details very well...

Funny thing, "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" most definitely applied in this case - almost all my quilts had the exact opposite results from the Etown fair - ha!  So, my competition strategy remains the same as always - take any and all quilts and hope for the best!

I thoroughly enjoyed examining this "Metro Rings" quilt that got Best of Show.  I happened to be in line when the exhibitor was dropping it off on Sunday and had the good fortune to chat with her about it.  I was thrilled, as I'm just getting ready to piece the exact same pattern for a customer.  It uses the Quick Curve ruler.  

I thought her quilting was spectacular.

Can't wait to get started!

Manheim Farm Show Newbie

I'm heading off the the Manheim Farm Show with this stack of quilts - a first for me.  

Wish me luck!

:)