I'm no fabric snob!

Let's get right to the point.  I'm doing a shout out today for a Local Quilt Shop.   Coffee Cup Quilting in Trafalgar Indiana.  First let me say I'm in no way affiliated with this shop.  I'm not getting paid or free fabric, I'll get nothing but the pleasure of sharing a my thoughts.  Alright, what makes this quilt shop so special?  It's very small and focuses on sharing the love of quilting and not overpriced fabric.  So she doesn't carry two of the top manufactures fabric lines.    I'm not going to drop their names in this post because this post is all about Claranna and her non traditional shop.  The picture below is the entire shop.  The only thing you can't see is the bathroom in the corner and her small office corner.  I was in the shop the day this picture was taken, but I'm not in the picture.  However I met several wonderful quilters.  These ladies are all volunteers, cutting donated fabrics for charity quilts.  What a wonderful bunch of gals!

Below is Claranna the shop owner standing in front of her magnificent postage stamp quilt.  She can tell you exactly how many tiny pieces are in the quilt.  I can't remember the number because my jaw dropped,  and her words bounced off my brain and right out my mouth.  You know the common CRS you get when you're in shock.  After regaining my senses Claranna made me feel right at home, like we had known each other for years. 

Now I'm going to be honest, on my first visit I expected to go into this quilt shop and recognize most of the fabric lines.  I didn't see one bolt of fabric I recognized.  But as you can see in the picture below there's plenty of fabrics in my pallet.  They are name brand fabrics, just not the most common brand names.  It's good quality fabric, a lot a blenders, novelty prints and flannels that are great for making baby quilts.  She also has a fairly large selection of wide quilt backs.

You gals know me, I'm no fabric snob.  If it can be stitched it can become a quilt.  Yes I love the so called "famous" more popular prints. The fabrics below match perfectly with a new line I just purchased last month.   I'm not dropping the name but I'll tell you it has roses in the title.  I couldn't resist these absolutely adorable prints at amazingly low prices.  Cheaper than Joann's and better quality!

So if your not a fabric snob, and you live in Indiana or plan on traveling through Central Indiana, stop by and tell her Podunk sent you.   And don't forget to hop over to the Coffee Cup Quilting on facebook and show Claranna a little of that quilty love to let her know some of us still love all fabric not just the brand names.   

~ Lea Anne ~

Sugar and Spice is Oh so Nice

 Whats not to love?  It has everything in a quilt that I love.  Pretty fabrics, flowers, applique and that level of cuteness that makes me smile everytime I look at the adorable blocks.  

You might remember in a earlier blog post my frustrations with this pattern/kit.  Well I found another issue.  It's not an error,  more of  a personal preference.  Let me explain.  In the block below you see the Dresden as it finishes before the yo-yo's are attached.  The pattern calls for a large circle to be placed over the hole.  The large circle is just big enough for the 16 yo-yo's to cover the edge.   After attaching the large center circle and yo-yo's I'm supposed to applique the Dresden to the background fabric that is the same print as the large center circle....what?  

So here was my pattern alteration(because I can never follow a pattern to a "T").  I sewed my yo-yo's together, then centered them on the Dresden and glue basted them in place.  Next was to do some seam ripping from the bottom of  the dresden wedge seam.  The extra fabric on the blades will be cut away before attaching the Dresden to the background fabric.  Wish I had made a test block before cutting and sewing all the Dresden wedges.  I learn something new with each quilt.  LESSON LEARNED: Always make a test block.  The little cut offs would have added up to some nice sized  scraps.

Here's another lesson learned quite by accident.  A few years ago started using Roxanne's glue-baste.(on the right) to hold applique in place instead of pins.    Well I read somewhere on the vast internet...."Roxanne's glue baste is nothing more than washable school glue."   So when my large bottle (on the left with the big brown glob) was empty I refilled with the school glue you see laying to the side.   The big brown glob is school glue.  Why is it brown?  I've no clue why it turned brown, but if it'll turn brown on the bottle when it sets for awhile, what's it going to do in my quilts!?   Now I know what your thinking....It's washable school glue, just wash it when you finish the quilt.  True..but what if the one quilt I use it in becomes a UFO, lays around for weeks,months or years?  LESSON LEARNED: Some internet quilt tips are actually bad advice, do your research.

 So back to those cute yo-yo's.  Remember I told you I stitched them together before attaching them with glue baste.  Well hold on to your hats....it's machine stitching holding those yo-yo's together.   A tiny little zigzag.  Can you see it?

Here lets zoom in and take a closer look, can you see the stitches?

Invisible!  This was so much quicker than  handwork.  Making the yo-yo's by hand has been a real chore(bore).  So anything to speed up this quilt is worth a try.

I know my loyal followers are tired of hearing about Superior Threads MonoPoly  thread but it really can't be beat when it comes to invisible thread.  It doesn't show on a quilt, it doesn't melt under a medium heat iron, and it won't melt in the dryer.  I've put this thread through several test and it holds up very well.  It can take more heat than suggested by the manufacturer.  It can also be used for the actual quilting.  If your making a quilt with darker fabrics it also comes in a Smoke color.    At about $10 a spool it won't cut into the quilt budget to bad.   I've made several quilts with this one spool and will probably be able to make one or two quilts with the same spool.   Let me also say my blog doesn't make money for suggesting a product.  My blog makes no money ever.  It's just me doing what I do...quilting.  

~ Lea Anne ~

Another UFO ~ Flag Quilt

 A few days ago the urge struck to start digging through some boxes stashed away in one of the Studio cabinets.  And look what I found.  That's right, another patriotic UFO.  After doing some digging on the blog it seems this one was started about 2 years ago.  You can find the original post here. 

It's my variation of the quilt pattern "Patriotic Rose" by Janet Miller.  

A few changes will make it my own.   I drafted the pattern in EQ7, but I'm sure you can find it by doing a google search if you'd like to make one.

The original plan was for hand applique. BAHAHA!  Change of plans.... In the picture above all the flowers have been turned edge, hand stitched except for the outer pink ring.   As you can see in the picture below I've started the raw edge machine applique on the stars.    Good thing the quilt police don't visit my blog because I'm breaking the unspoken quilty rule of only one type of applique per quilt. 

Now I bet your wondering why my star points are square.  In the picture below you can see the hand appliqued stars on the blue fabric.  Making perfect points was impossible for me, so they look kinda blunt.  I wanted my raw edge stars to look as close to the hand applique as possible, so off with there tips!  This will also keep the tips from fraying when stitched.  And hopefully the different method of applique won't be as noticeable.

~ Lea Anne ~

Podunk Pickin's #29 ~ The Little Prince~

Good Sunday Morning quilting friends!  It's so nice of you all to drop by my little spot in Podunk.  I don't have much time these days for blogging or quilting  but I'm still here lurking in the shadows via my phone.  Since I can't blog as  often as I would like I do spend a little more time on Instgram.  To be honest it's not my preferred method of social media but with my busier lifestyle(taking care of mom) it lets me stay up to date on what's happening in the quilting world as well as share what I'm working on at the moment.  So if you'd like to see what's going on in my world you can find my instgram feed here.  

Enough about me, lets see what everyone else has been up to during the last week.

The random number generator picks #8

Yanika@Finding Myself as an Artist shared this handsome fox.  This is amazing!  It looks so complicated so I had to go back through her blog to find out the pattern and how it was made.  Well she's a creative gal and came up with her own idea for making this Foxy Fox.  You can read more about it here on her blog.

Now it's your turn to link up anything you've been working on sewing or quilting related.  Old or new blog posts, tutorials, tips and tricks for sewing and crafting, basically anything you like.  You don't need a blog to link up, you can link from other social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and so on.  Feel free to share my linky party and copy my Podunk Pickin's image.  If you'd like to see the past Podunk Pickin's linky parties just click on the image on the right side of my blog.  Have fun and make sure you visit some of the other links, everyone loves visitors and comments!

An InLinkz Link-up

Podunk Pickin's # 28~ Table Runner

Thank you for stopping by today for Podunk Pickin's.  

Every Sunday I let the random number generator pick a link from the previous week to feature on my blog.  This weeks pick is #6, Vicki's Crafts and Quilting.

Vicki shared a quick and easy table runner she made with a free tutorial from a fellow blogger.  Click here to see her post and to get the information to make one of these in an afternoon. 

Now it's your turn to link up.  It can be anything quilting, sewing or crafty related.  Old or new posts are welcome.  Maybe you made something a year or two ago that you feel would inspire others....link it up here!  We love to be inspired.  It's all about having fun and sharing so don't forget to come back after you link up to visit some of the other links.  A quick reminder:  If you click on the Podunk Pickin's image in the sidebar of my blog it will take you to all previous Podunk Pickin's posts.  

An InLinkz Link-up

Flimsy Friday

Yeehaw!  Another quilt top complete!  Sure it would look nicer with some applique but I'm on a roll.  All the white space can be filled with custom quilting. And you never know I may eventually go back and add some applique.  For now she's folded and in the needs to be quilted pile.  The quilt pattern is my own, designed for the specific task of using up the leftover nine patches from another quilt idea.  She finishes at 73.50 square, a nice size for the back of the couch.

With such a gorgeous spring day I had to take an outside picture.  Oh how I wanted to  throw a quilt on the ground  and soak in the sun while taking a nap.  

The last picture is what happens when you think your faster than your sewing machine.  I'm one of those quilters that doesn't like to run over pins.  Instead I pull them out at the last second, right before the needle comes down, never slowing down.  It seems my cat like reflexes are only in my mind.

~ Lea Anne ~

Slow and steady ~ Sugar and Spice Quilt

Good Morning quilty Buds!  Spring has sprung in Podunk.  Everything is greening up and the flowers are starting to bloom.  It won't be long before we start harvesting our first crops of the year from our backyard gardens.  So the rush is on in the Studio to get as much done as I possibly can before that happens.  The past week I've worked on two different projects.  My daytime project is the Sugar and Spice quilt pattern.  You can read more about here on an early post.

The 240 yo-yo's are a great way to pass the time while I care for my mom everyday.  My goal was to make at least 20 yo-yo's a day.  Well time doesn't always allow me to meet my goal. 

To speed things up as much as possible I'm using a self threading needle.  It's much easier on my old eyes.  To thread it you just hold the thread taunt and pop it down into the eye.  If you look closely at this needle you'll see that it has to eyes.  The goal is to get the thread into the bottom eye.   This works great for most threads.  I also use this needle for burying my thread tales when quilting on the longarm.  A technique most longarmers don't use anymore.  They more often than not will tack stitch at the starts and stops.  I've tried it and don't like it, burying looks better and makes me feel more comfortable about how long that thread will stay in hidden.

  

In the evenings I've been working on another red white and blue quilt to use up those 48 nine patches.  You can read more about it here.  

Everything in the Studio is coming along at a much slower pace than  I like and to be honest it frustrates me at times.  But during this time of year I just can't help taking walks around the property to enjoy the glorious things that mother nature is doing.  There's so much beauty and inspiration.  So I encourage to take a few minutes everyday to get outside and enjoy the beauty(even if your on the other side of the world where it's cold and snowy).  

Thanks for stopping by my little spot in Podunk. 

Warm hugs and many blessings

~Lea Anne~

Podunk Pickin's #27 Tin boxes and a tip

Good Morning Sunday!  Let's get right down to business this morning with Podunk Pickin's.  If you're new to my weekly linky party the rules are simple.  You can link up anything sewing or quilting related.  It can be something you've been working on this week or an old post you'd like to rejuvenate.  Tutorials and tips are always welcome, as well as your own linking parties that you host on your blog.  The rules are pretty easy, just link up and have fun visiting the other link ups.  Then next week I'll let the Random Number Generator pick one link up from  this week to feature on Podunk Pickin's.  

Ok Mr. Random Number work your magic!

Lucky number 13 is Karen@MooseBayMuses.
Look her handwork!  Amazing!  I must say I admire handwork projects and those who can finish them.

Karen also shared these adorable little boxes.  I'm a sucker for anything with pretty little flowers on it, looks so shabby chic....Cute!  Psst....she tells you where you can get your own pretty boxes.

And you gals know how much I love tips and tricks for sewing.  This one was new to me and I've already put the tape on my shopping list, Thanks Karen.
 Hop on over to Karen's blog for the details and to see her lovely handwork projects.

Now it's your turn link up. And don't forget to visit the other link ups, everyone loves visitors and comments!

An InLinkz Link-up

Patriotic Picnic

Just popping in to share my quilt top "Patriotic Picnic".    

I designed this quilt so I could use up the 90 or so nine patch UFO blocks .  It's a large quilt, finishing at 90 inch square.

The low volume background was a real challenge since my go-to background is usually plain ole Kona White.  It takes a lot more planning and paying attention to detail when working with the many different background prints, but well worth the effort, don't you think?

Well I didn't use up all those nine patches.  48 more on the wall.  Another design challenge.  Make a quilt that uses exactly 48 nine patches.  It took a lot of trial and error but I came up with a plan using exactly 48.

How about a little peak at my design wall. Plenty of white space for applique or quilting, I'm leaning towards applique.

A close up of the border fabrics that were also leftover from the Patriotic Picnic quilt.  The navy blue is from my vintage stash and the red is brand spanking new.

Hope to see you in a few with another finished quilt top.

~ Lea Anne ~

Podunk Pickin's # 26 ~ Upcycling Jeans

Good Morning quilting Buds!  It's Podunk Pickin's time again. 

 My trusty friend the Random Number Generator has picked another inspiring quilting project from the last group of link ups.

It chose link up #1, which was this Jean quilt made from what else...old jeans.  You can find the tutorial for this quilt at Densyendehimmel blog.    What a great idea for up-cycling.  I made jean quilt years ago.  It's the most loved and used quilt I own.  It's warm and cozy, my kids say it feels like home.  

~ Lea Anne ~

An InLinkz Link-up