Monday, March 31, 2014

Flags on a Stick

I have been so impressed with all of the wonderful flags so far. (Thank you Mdm Samm and Thearica for hosting this wonderful hop) All of the flags are so unique and fun! I would love to wave any on them at my home! I thought about what type of flag I would like to make. It was difficult to come up with what to do. But one morning, I'm talking two o'clock in the morning I came up with an idea! I will make a Halloween flag because I love Halloween. I know it's certainly not the right time of year, but oh well, when an idea hits you in the middle of the night, I have to run with it. So here is my flag on a stick.

I decided to use my witch paper piecing pattern for the main design.
This pattern can be found
free on my website and also on Craftsy.

I added some borders and rick rack. Prairie Points finish off the bottom edge.
I worked on this project while on a mini quilt retreat at mom's house. I'm holding
my finished flag on a dowel. It'll look really cute hanging on the flag stand at home.

The finished measurements are 12" x 18", perfect for
my garden flag holder at home.
I would not have thought to make a garden flag before. I am looking forward to putting this out for Halloween next year. After making this flag, it would be fun to make several for throughout the year. I was please with how quickly this project went together. Seeing everyone's projects has inspired me! Have fun hopping around.


I get to share today with all of these talented quilters;

April's Block 2014


I overbooked the Doodle blog for April 1st! So am posting this a little early since I will be doing another posting for the Flags blog hop. I need to pay more attention to these little details. Lets blame it on winter fog.
I am so thrilled that April is here! I am so tired of snow and cold weather. At least we are getting glimpses that spring is right around the corner. I've seen a robin, although I know the poor little birdies are confused with all of the snow that is still around. We've had some rain, and at this point I welcome the rain over snow! The days are getting longer and it's no longer dark when I drive to work in the morning. I am usually greeted with a beautiful sunrise as I drink my morning cup of coffee, spring is here. I just have to look a little harder to find it.
Onto this month's block... it's a strip or row of stars. It's quick and easy to do. I did not do mine scrappy but you certainly can make yours scrappy if you want to. The fun thing about this quilt is you can choose to do it scrappy or not scrappy, I'm doing a little of both. This month block is called 'Sparkling Stars'. A cozy cabin needs sparkling stars to light the winter sky.  One thing to keep in mind is to do the background the same or similar fabrics as you did for your Cozy Cabin block. This will also be true with the blocks for May and September. The 'Sparkling Stars' pattern can be found  HERE and on Craftsy. The pattern is free for the month of April. If you missed Chilly Silly Snowmen, Cozy Cabin or Big Tree, it's not too late to get the patterns. They can be found for a small fee on Etsy and Craftsy,.

My pieces are cut and and ready to sew...
My triangle squares are all ready to be ironed. Remember I am pairing together
2 1/2" squares and sewing corner to corner to make my triangle squares. I know
there's a little bit of waste, but I find this a quick and easy method since this quilt
is based on 2 1/2" squares and strips.
My blocks pieces are all lined up by my machine, it's time to
sew my stars together!
Next I will sew my stars together to form a row, placing 2 1/2" strips in between each block.


April's Block or Row
'Sparkling Stars'
Layout so far...

Remember to post your finished Sparkling Stars row onto the Flickr account for a chance to win the prize at the end of the month! If you blog about it, please email me a link so that I can attach it to the Pinterest Board I have going for the BOM 2014. I hope you have fun with this section of the mystery quilt. It can easily be done in an afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's stars! I'll be announcing the prize for this month's block around the 15th and the winner will be announced on May 1st, when the next section is out.

Happy Quilting,
Cindy

Congratulations!
There are two winners this month!!!

Sharon/vroomansquilts


Carlaincrestwoodky


This month's winners won an Aiming for Accuracy Booklet from Michele from Quilter's Gallery!

coverpage-1-w


Friday, March 28, 2014

My Corner of the World...



I have neglected my studio over the winter. When I say neglected, I mean no dusting, cleaning or straightening whats so ever. The creative mind is a messy one. I had puddles of fabric, piles of paper and loose threads everywhere. So in an attempted to gain more creative space, instead of cleaning my space, I spent a couple of days on 'Craigslist' looking for a desk, or cabinet or whatever struck my fancy to add to my space. Well, I found a fantastic desk, a beautiful white desk. It was perfect! It matched my cabinets in my room. It didn't take me long to realize, I needed to clean my room to make room for my fantastic desk.... so last night when I got home I tore my room apart, organizing this and that, wishing I was better at organizing my fabric and picking up.  I also owe my husband and son a huge Thank you for helping me pick up my desk in a slushy, wet snowstorm. As we drove home, my son held a tarp in place out the back window in the truck so that my desk stayed protected from the elements. Luckily we didn't have far to drive, he risked his bare hand and the cold for me. I should make some cookies or something like that for Thomas. 
So I took some pictures to share, proof that my room is somewhat organized from time to time. I did not take before pictures. I was too embarrassed to take before pics. Just take my word for it, my space was horrible. It was easier to pack my stuff up and go on retreat then to clean my space. How would I describe my corner of the world, well, it's more like organized chaos. So here are my after pictures.

I placed my new desk in the center of my room, forming a 'U' work space. On the right of my sewing machine is my drawing board, on the left is my new desk. I think I will like having the ironing board by the window. Having it by the window will force me to get up and move from my sewing machine.
I'm always looking for new ways to organize my supplies. I have labeled boxes and bins. I'm always looking for cute and functional ways to store things.
Does anyone have a good system to organize fabric? I'm up for suggestions...

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and find some time to quilt!
Happy quilting,



Friday, March 21, 2014

Quilt Retreat...

Oh how I wish I were still at quilt retreat. I always get so much done while I'm there. I am always amazed by how much I accomplish. I swear there's something magic in the water because I'm able to stay awake late too! I can be found still sewing pass midnight most nights. (At home, I'm snoring in my comfy chair by 8:30!) My to do list is long and I'm not as productive at home, or at least I haven't been since I've been back from retreat. One of my favorite projects that I worked on at retreat is my monkey quilt.... I am currently writing the pattern so if you are interested in testing this one out please email me. If you enjoy machine applique, this is a fun project. I have been walking around dreaming about this quilt so I'm thrilled to have it done. I'm in love with it, but then I'm also in love with sock monkeys and this is what it reminds me of. When I was little my grandpa called us 'little monkeyshines'. So I looked the word up in the dictionary while working on this post to be amazed that it's really a word! I always thought pa-pa made it up!

mon·key·shine  (mŭng′kē-shīn′)
n. Slang
A mischievous or playful trick; a prank.

Yup, pretty much sums up us kids when we were little. We were grandpa's little monkeyshines.

I laid the quilt out on the table to get it pinned for quilting and applique.


I decided to machine applique the monkeys after I layered the quilt with the batting and batting.
It was a bit of a challenge to maneuver the quilt while appliqueing but I like the results doing it this way.

These monkeys make me smile!
I had to have them hanging up side down too!
Here's a close-up of one of the monkeys.
I machine embroidered the eyes and I'm thinking of
machine embroidery some sort of 'buttons' on the  monkey too.
Monkeyshines Baby Quilt
Thank you Marcus Brothers for the awesome fabric!
I am hoping to have this pattern available for the Spring Quilt Market. So if you're interested in testing this one for me, feel free to email me and I will send you a PDF version of this pattern to test. (I'll drink lots of Mountain Dew tonight and try to get it all written...) 

Happy quilting,

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Happy National Quilting Day!

 Hope you are having a wonderful day quilting! Or doing something quilty.  I'm working on a new pattern today.... shhhhh it's for Camelot Fabrics, I'm hoping to be able to tell you all about it soon! It's so very exciting! I'm also spending the morning with one of my favorite quilting buddies.... my mom! I'm looking forward to seeing the quilt that she's been working on this week. I saw it all cut out last weekend at quilt retreat.

 Oh yeah! I was at quilt retreat last weekend, and what a fun weekend it was! So on this National Quilting Day, let me share with you some of my pictures from last weekend!

Oh my gosh, there is so much snow here in Minnesota! Last weekend, the snowbanks were taller than me! It's hatd to see here, but the banks are over five feet tall!
More snow, in front of Cozy Home Quilt Retreat. I still can't get over how much snow there was.
It made parking interesting since there were 13 of us at retreat this year! (and about that many vehicles) Well, maybe that's over exaggerating... but it felt like that many cars since it was hard to park.
Laura made a cute flannel blankie for David. Laura sat across from
me... 
Mom sat to the right of me! In this picture she was busy with the quilt I get to see this weekend. She took a tiny break to smile for the camera!
And here is me... all ready to sew.
I tested out my new gnome applique and made mom a new mug rug for on her desk at home.
I'm really loving the red, turquoise combo.
I also tested out this pattern. I made a bright version of my Summer Breeze quilt. 
Laura made the quilt is some softer toned fabrics... 
I then made one using batiks from Hoffman Fabrics. Isn't it fun. The quilt is quick and easy to do and depending on your fabric choices, it looks so different each time. I feel like this is a pretty versatile pattern. Laura and I sewed these up after dinner one night. Once the fabric is cut, it's a breeze to whip together! 
Last summer, I helped out at quilt camp. This is the picnic quilt I designed for the group. Colleen pulled her's out to show me the quilting she did on it. It turned out so nicely!
Here is one of the quilts that mom got done at retreat. I love it~
I have more pictures to share! So I will post the rest in a day or two. I hope that you have a fabulous National Quilting Day and hope you find something fun to work on! I'm going to make it a quilty weekend. 

Happy quilting,

Friday, March 14, 2014

Prize Announcement for March's Block

BOM 2014
 It's been enjoyable to see the trees sprout up this month. I love how each tree is a little different. March's block can still be found for free on Craftsy and also HERE. There's still time to download your free pattern and sew along with us this month. The prize this month has been donated to us by Quilters' Gallery ~ Michele from Quilters' Gallery is donating a copy of her Quilting for Accuracy quilt pattern to 2 lucky winners. All you have to do to win, is post a picture of your block in the flickr group for Quilt Doodle BOM 2014, or blog about the block of the month. If you blog about the BOM, make sure to email me a link so that I can check it out and pin it to my BOM group on Pinterest. 



2 lucky winners will win this pattern!
I will announce a winner April 1st when the new block comes out. No fooling! So here are just some of this month's wonderful blocks that have been posted so far. There are so many awesome blocks in the flickr group.  Everyone has done such a wonderful job so far!

Happy quilting,