Meeting Corey Yoder

 Once again, time seems to be spinning out of control, and I’ve lost track of the days. Maybe it’s because I turned 57 this week. Whatever the reason, here’s my sewing update a day late. The Iris Quilt? No progress to report. But honestly, who cares... I met Corey Yoder!

She did a trunk show at Love It Sew one of our local quilt shops.  Normally I would never pay to meet fabric designer.  But when I saw that she was going to be here the day after my birthday I said what the heck.  I almost always buy fabric for my birthday and had planned to buy from both of the local shops why not just go on the day that Corey is in town.  It was only $20 or in quilter cash one yard of wide quilt backing.  

I've been following Corey since around 2011 or 12.  Back then she was a Moda Bakeshop designer, that's how I found her.  She had posted a quilt pattern in the Moda Bakeshop website and there was a link to her blog at the end of the pattern post.  Here's a link to the Candy Scraps Quilt I remembered from way back then.  Why was it so memorable?  Linen!  That's right she used an unbleached linen in the quilt and I was in awe.  So I went straight to Joann's and bought some linen that looked like what she had but wasn't designer fabric.  I didn't use it for another year or two, you know how it is...SQUIRRELL!  

Anyway, back to Corey, she was in town for a trunk show featuring her new fabric line, Fruit Salad. I had already come across it online since I often browse manufacturer websites for upcoming collections.

Of course, she brought all the sample quilts for this line and a lot more from other lines.  

I took pictures of some of the quilts just for show and tell here on the blog.  But I didn't bother to write down the names of any of them.  So, if you like any of them here's a link to her pattern shop.  It's rare that I buy a pattern, but when I do I prefer to buy directly from the designer, if possible, they make more profit when you purchase from them.

She shared a good 20 to 30 really cute quilts.  This one below was my favorite.  Again, I have no clue what it's called.  It reminds me of the traditional quilt pattern called Grandmothers Flower Garden.  Y'all know I'm s sucker for posy quilts.  Did I buy the pattern?  No.  I forgot about this one when it came time to shop.

What did I get?  Let's start with the goodie bag put together by the quilt shop.  In the bag was 2 FQ's, scissors, a wristlet and 3 pieces of candy.  The candy is not pictured because...well...it was yummy chocolates. HAHA!   We also got to choose one Corey pattern free of charge.  The goodie bag more than paid for what we paid for the trunk show.  Let me just say I love this quilt shop, they carry all the pretty stuff I love.  Thank goodness it's about a 40 to 50 minute drive.  If it were closer, I'd be in big trouble with hubby all the time.

Of course, I bought a few things while at the shop.  Some half yards of the blue prints in the Fruit salad line and the black dot on white is also a Corey Yoder fabric but not from the current line. We'll talk more about that black dot fabric next week.  Some must have low volume prints came home with me because one can never have too many of those.  And last but not least Corey brought new patterns for her next line of fabric, Joysome, it will be in stores this fall. I chose a pattern that looked like it would be good for scrap busting small squares.

Corey had a YouTube Channel.  She posts a new video almost every Saturday.  Her channel isn't just for plugging her new lines of fabric and patterns, she also does Q&A, free block of the months and the occasional tutorial.  I watch it every week without fail.  Below is her video for the Fruit Salad line. Click on the image below to watch or click this link to watch it on YT and help her YT channel grow. 

 See you soon!  Monday is the plan, but you never know!

Pin It

The Iris Quilt

 Quilting the Iris quilt is moving at the speed of a snail, but at least it’s moving. Day one of quilting was nearly a total flop thanks to skipped stitches and a stitch regulator that decided to test my patience. By the time I solved both problems the sun was setting, so I stitched for about an hour before calling it quits for the day.  

The next day was a better day. I had a great time quilting the wave in the sashings with my new wave ruler. It would be wonderful if all longarm rulers had painted lines like this one.

The one inch piano key border gave me a bit of trouble for that very reason. Light fabric, light thread, and faint ruler lines don’t mix well with aging eyes and new bifocals.

I have several different rulers for straight lines and stitch in the ditch.  And every single one of them has etched/scratched hard to see lines. I know not everyone has this problem.  It's just a Granny Lea Anne problem.  All I can do is fix the problem since my new very expensive granny bifocals don't seem to be helping me in the slightest.

Can you see the etched lines on light fabrics?  Do you see the one darker line?

I fixed the problem with a fine tip Sharpie, which fits perfectly into the etched/scored line. I only marked the one inch line since it’s the only one I’m using for this quilt. 

While we're talking about hard to see lines...the preprinted quilting lines are easier to see now that the quilt has been sandwiched on the frame.  Am I concerned about these lines?  Nope. Not one bit.  This is pretty typical of older preprinted embroidery.  Sometimes the lines wash out sometimes they don't.  I know the recipient will love her with or without blemishes.

The good thing is they aren’t noticeable unless you're up close.  And I know the recipient is going to love it even with the blemishes.

This week there's a list as long as my arm of things to be done other than quilting on the frame.  So, the plan is to do what I can and quilt when I can.  See you on Friday!

Pin It

Embroidered Iris Quilt Top Finish ~ Quilting Plan

The Iris quilt top hung on the wall for a few days, while I tried to come up with the ultimate quilting plan. Then, last night in a burst genius, I decided to keep it simple with a 2 inch crosshatching through the embroidered blocks, arcs in the sashing and a piano key border. With that settled, onto the frame she went and the plan to start quilting first thing in the morning after my morning cup of decaf.

This morning, I walked past the sewing room and glanced at the quilt on the frame.  I found myself rethinking the quilting plan as I went through my morning wake up ritual.  Sigh...why can’t I just stick to the plan? Why do I make things harder for myself?  I didn't make these quilt blocks.  I’m not even keeping this quilt, and the recipient isn’t a quilter, they won’t care about the quilting. Yet there I was at 9 a.m. taking it off the frame so I could try out the different new quilting ideas.

 If you look closely at the image, you’ll see a large piece of plexiglass over the quilt block in the image below. Using dry erase markers, I experimented with the different ideas. 

Originally, I thought the crosshatching could go over the embroidery, now that idea doesn't feel right, it would push the embroidery into the background.

The new plan is to quilt around the outside of the Iris. It’s time consuming, but it will really make the Iris stand up and be the star of the show. 

The straight lines radiating from the center is common for this type of preprinted embroidered block.  However, it is not the preprinted quilting design on this block.  I can barely see the preprinted design but it's there and I hope it washes out.

The only quilting in the sashing will be a wavy line in the green gingham fabric, this will help frame each block and soften the harshness of the radiating straight lines around the Iris. 

The final lavender border will be kept simple with one-inch spaced piano keys.  

And that's it, no more changing my mind!

This last picture is a little eye candy of the all the fabrics and how they play together.  The border fabric is the one I planned to use in the sashing of the original plan that you can find here.

See y'all bright and early Monday morning with an update on the quilting.  Maybe I'll get it finished this weekend...HAHA!   Don't hold your breath!

Happy Stitching!

Pin It

2025 2 Bucks A Block Finish

 After nearly two months trapped on the quilt frame, she’s finally free. Now I adore her, but for those two long months, I was muttering curses like a sailor. She was innocent the whole time, it was me I was cursing.

My grand quilting vision for this quilt was crosshatching in the border triangles, fancy free motion feathers around each block, and a touch of free motion in the chain blocks. But somewhere along the way, I merrily crosshatched right through a few blocks, and rather than spend hours undoing my senior moment I decided the quilt clearly wanted to be almost entirely crosshatched.

The cursing ceased the moment she was off the frame. I adore simple quilting.  Sure, it took what seems like forever and left this old gal’s back hollering for mercy, but it suits the quilt perfectly. Let’s face it, simple quilting looks great on any quilt, while anything fancy is mostly just there for the big “WOW!” factor. Honestly, some of my favorite quilts are the tied ones with no quilting at all.

All three backing fabrics came from the yardage stash. The plaid is from Joann’s, the middle one is quilt shop quality though I can’t recall the manufacturer, and the bottom one is a Lori Holt Riley Blake.

The label was kept simple and sweet with no fabric framing.

For the binding, I decided to use the leftover scraps from the scrappy background fabrics in the quilt top. It wasn’t my original plan, since I usually love using ginghams or stripes for every quilt. But after going through all the gingham, plaid, and stripe options in my stash, none of them felt right. The white binding really let this quilt shine.

We all have our favorite aspects of quilting. For me, I enjoy designing quilts, but nothing compares to the satisfaction of hand stitching the binding to the back of the quilt.

It's exciting to finally be at the finishing stage of the quilt making process but at the same time it's relaxing and good for the soul.  

Pin It