Blue and Yellow Leaders and Enders

 The blocks for my current leaders and enders project are complete.  It took a little longer than expected to finish them.  For some reason I thought since it was a simple pattern with few pieces it would be farther along at this point.  In reality finishing it may take working on it during a couple more quilt tops.

Honestly this is the hardest part.  Waiting and waiting to put the rest of the quilt together.

They are staring at me and whispering "Come play with me" every time I walk in the room.  Oh the restraint it takes to stay on task.  They say it takes 12 times of doing something for it to become a habit.  Oh dear lord 12 more times.  Does this mean 12 days or 12 quilts?  Lets hope it 12 days.  

Maybe hanging them on the wall will curb the feeling to start making sashing.

At this point I realize I haven't cut the sashing.  Should I make it scrappy or use one print.

My plan is to make one of the quilts below.  The only difference between the two is one has yellow border.  The sashing and cornerstones are the same.  The blue corner units could be done in scrappy or one fabric.

And I could make the yellow in the sashing scrappy as well if I really wanted.  The large amount of white already gives the eye a place to land in this scrappy quilt.  Hmmm...I'm not sure but my comfort zone says one fabric for the blue and yellow.  Should I work outside my zone?  What do you think?

Did you know I'm an April Fool's baby?  Yep that's right.  My birthday day is April 1.  So I decided to have a my biggest sale of the year to celebrate my birthday.  

40% OFF  

No joke!  This is a great time to stock up.  I may have other sales throughout the year but none this large. No code needed the prices are reduced in shop.

Click here to go to my online shop

The leaders and enders quilt above is MOO-VING along nicely.  Most of the fabrics in this quilt are scraps from 2 other quilts.  If  new here and you're wonder what MOO-VE means to me, click the image below.  When the page opens scroll until you see the same image as below.

My Word of the Year

Take a Peak and Finding Red

Just a quick heads up about my pattern shop.  There was a user error on my part.  I put the wrong ending date.  The error has been corrected.  If you placed an order over the last couple of days you will receive a 40% refund.  

Now that we have that out of the way here's a peak at my newest quilt pattern being quilted.  It will be a couple of weeks before this one will be released in my shop.  The quilting is about half ruler work and half free motion.  Light and airy quilting, no quilting it to death.  Although, it would be the perfect quilt for tons of quilting with the large amount of wide open space in the background.

While waiting for the patterns for this quilt I'm taking a little time each day to look for bolts of backing fabric.   As you all know I'm a big fan of the color red.  It seems that my favorite shade of crayon red is not being made much anymore.   Most of the new lines have red but they are not so bright.  They look more raspberry or cranberry.  This makes online buying a no go.  Out of my last 4 online purchases only one was the crayon red.   Online photos can be very misleading.  All devices can show the colors differently.  When I look at them on my phone they look perfect.  On my computer they look muted.  So this means I will need to hold the fabric in my hands before purchasing any more reds.  Yellow has also been an issue.  They are leaning more towards an autumn yellow which has a bit more brown in them.

A couple of years ago I order some fabric swatches from a fabric distributor called Choice.  They have a couple basic lines of fabric that might be just what I need.  I've order from them in the past and it's good quilt shop quality fabric.  They are known for selling discontinued fabrics at very reasonable prices to quilt shops.  Below is the their line of basics called Treasures From The Attic.

They also have their own line of  Supreme Solids.  Look how well the Poppy Red matches my favorite piece of Lakehouse Drygoods!  We have a winner!  I can't tell you how tickled I am to find a bright red.  Maybe a new pattern for a red and white quilt will be in the near future.

Did you know I'm an April Fool's baby?  Yep that's right.  My birthday day is April 1.  So I decided to have a my biggest sale of the year to celebrate my birthday.  

40% OFF  

No joke!  This is a great time to stock up.  I may have other sales throughout the year but none this large. No code needed the prices are reduced in shop.

Click here to go to my online shop.

UFO...Digging Inside and Out

Spring has sprung here in Podunk.  Our daffodils are finally in full bloom and the trees are just starting to show signs of life with little green buds.  Of course the weeds are also in in full bloom but I'm okay with it, at least they have a color other than the dreary winter gray and brown.  

I'm not sure what my girlfriend and I were talking about that made me dig out this quilt top but I'm glad the topic came up.  This will be a good project for my word of the year, MOO-VE.  

You can read more about these large square blocks and the pattern used to make them here.  The link also has instructions for printing on fabric using a home printer and setting the ink when printing on fabric.

The original pattern called for 9 quilt blocks.  Well, it became a UFO and then it became a UFO I just wanted to finish up quickly.  The blocks were started in 2014 and I think I put them into a quilt top a year or two ago.  It's time to put this one at the top of the "needs to be quilted" pile.  I think the granddaughters will love cuddling up with the cute little girls.  

Oh! I forgot to mention where I found the images I used for the center.  A link to them can be found at the same link mention above or here if you don't want to scroll up.  There's about 20 or 30 images I have saved on a Pinterest board.  All of them super cute vintage girls and boys in bright and happy colors.

While I was digging in the UFO pile Mr. Podunk was digging in the back yard.  Doesn't look like as much fun as my digging.  He's putting up a fence to block my girl Khaleesi from getting her cable wrapped around a tree or two.  Her lead cable is about 50 foot long and attached to the back of the garage.  It extends into this wooded area about 10 -15 feet.  I've spent the last 2 years untangling her from this area several times a week.  I guess Mr. Podunk is tired of my whining.  We put up the green temporary fence hoping it would help and it did for about 2 weeks.  She quickly learned it was easy to chew through or jump over.  No way she can chew through this one and I'm hoping jumping it never crosses her mind.  Of course I have other plans in mind....Morning Glories and Cardinal Vines  and a new place for me to hang quilts!

Indiana is about half limestone and the other half is clay.  We have all varieties, gray clay, red clay and brown clay.  It makes digging and planting so much fun.(sarcasm).  Of course with it being spring time the holes are filling with water after he digs about a foot deep. This makes for a gooey stick mess of clay and a lot more muscle power.  I better find something else to do before he puts me to work.

Now is the perfect time to do some obedience work with Khaleesi.  This has become a daily routine.  We start out with a little training and then we go for a walk on the road. Our walks so far have only been about 3/4 ths.  of a mile.  Sometimes we'll do this in the morning and in the evening.  Before each walk we work on obedience commands.   The video below shows her newest trick.  She is still easily distracted and doesn't always preform perfectly but we're happy with her progress.

Did you know I'm an April Fool's baby?  Yep that's right.  My birthday day is April 1.  So I decided to have a my biggest sale of the year to celebrate my birthday.  

40% OFF  

No joke!  This is a great time to stock up.  I may have other sales throughout the year but none this large. No code needed the prices are reduced in shop.

Click here to go to my online shop.

My word of the year

 

Local Quilt Shop....Back Door Quilts

 Nothing recharges my quilting mojo like a trip to a real quilt shop.  Shopping online just doesn't have the same effect.  I'll admit 99% of my fabric purchases are online.  The reasons being is I collect out of print fabrics and the truth be told convenience plays a big role when you live out in the boonies.  It's a 30 minute drive to the local shop and I can't go to town in my jammies with my hair not brushed.  Well I could and I have, bug not to the quilt shop.   I'm sure if I lived in town I would spend more time in our local shop.  So much so they might tire of seeing me. 

 I'm convinced the fabric manufactures are adding pheromones to fabric dyes because as soon as I open the door to the shop my heart starts racing, I take a deep breathe and sigh like a school girl in love.....This is the dimension of imagination.  It's area we call The Twilight Zone.....  Before I know it an hour or two have passed and it feels like 20 minutes.

The picture below is what I saw when opening the door.  Stunning isn't she?  What's the pattern?  Who made it?  I was in such a daze I didn't even think to look for the answer to either of those questions.  I floated through the shop giddy like a kid in a candy shop.

The Back Door Quilts carries a little of everything.  Here's a little corner dedicated to Edyta Sitar.  

And some yummy new Flea Market by Lori Holt.  Her panel prints are a must have. I'll be going back for one or more of these little cuties soon.

They normally don't have any space left on the shelves for more fabric.  But our current pandemic has caused some shipping issues.  This 30's reproduction area used to be full of the cutest fabrics. 

Do you hear angels singing?  Isn't this gorgeous?  I need them all!

They have one of the largest selections of English paper piecing I've ever seen.  This isn't all of it there's more to the right of this picture.  I'm not a big fan of handwork but if I ever change my mind I know where to go.

The wool selection is also impressive.  I've been toying around with the idea of working with wool.  It's a new to me medium so before jumping in I'd like to do a bit more research.  The pretty blue wool on the right made my quilty wheels start turning.....these would make adorable little bluebirds.

The picture below was not taken by me.  I borrowed it from their Facebook page.  They recently did a little rearranging of fabrics and posted the results.  All of the reds caught my eye and I had to share the rainbow. 

I forgot to take a picture of the ENORMOUS selection of civil war prints.  The Back Door is known for its civil war reproductions and it's huge samples of quilts throughout the entire store.   Every nook and cranny of this shop has samples.  It's quite impressive, a must see if you visit Central Indiana.  I also failed to picture the huge classroom/longarm room.  Yes they quilt quilts in the back.  This really is a one stop shop for quilters.

This quilt shop has been in business for about 45 yrs.  They have been featured in quilting magazines and when things are normal they set up as vendors at quilt shows.  During normal times the shop will bring big named quilters for trunk shows and classes.  The one that stands out the most was Edyta Sitar.  I love Edyta's quilt designs.

I can't say enough good things about The Back Door Quilts.  One of my favorite things is how they always greet me as I come through the door.  A quick "Hello,  is there anything we can help you find today?"   

I like to look around without being followed or bothered.  They have a good sense of what every customer wants.  On this day they had a couple new quilters in the shop  needing tons of help so they had 2 different employees jumping through hoops to get these gals all they needed.  I loved watching the staff helping the gals to find just the right fabrics and tools.   You could tell they loved quilting and helping those who wanted and needed it. 

 As soon as I went to the cutting table another staff member popped out of nowhere ready to cut my fabrics.  A very pleasant experience every time.

In the past year they have also started doing more online.  Facebook and Instagram is a good way for shops to stay connected when we can't be in the shops.  Terry has a weekly Sunday video called Sewing in My Jammies.  Each week it's something different.  She has shared free projects, new projects in the shop, new tools or techniques.  Here's one of the free patterns she shared on Sewing in My Jammies.

The Back Door Quilts Facebook Page.

The Back Door Quilts Instagram Page.

They have an online store but like most brick and mortar shops it does not have all that they carry in the shop.  You can find it here.

Did you know I'm an April Fool's baby?  Yep that's right.  My birthday day is April 1.  So I decided to have a my biggest sale of the year to celebrate my birthday.  

40% OFF  

No joke!  This is a great time to stock up.  I may have other sales throughout the year but none this large. 

Click here to go to my online shop.

Walking Lightly

 The Notting Hill quilt is moving along at a fast pace due to the large amount of background.  However with all that background space the process may slow down once it's on the quilt frame.  White space = quilt it to death, right?  Only time will tell since I really don't have a quilting plan, I'm still in the quilt stare phase of the process.

Feather quilting makes my little ole heart go pitter pat but I'm trying to get out of the quilting comfort zone.  Should I go a little more artistic?  This would mean I would need to much more marking of the quilt design before loading the quilt on the frame.  Maybe a pantograph?  I've never used a panto on a quilt so that too might take a long time since I would need to learn a whole new way of quilting.

More quilt staring is needed before I take this girl off the wall.

Staring at the quilt made my brain feel like it's on a hamster wheel.  I need a break to let my mind reset and find inspiration on it's own.  I've found over the years my best ideas come when doing mundane tasks or sleeping.  This is a good time to get outside, soak up some some sun while walking and training my girl Khaleesi.  

Today is the first day of being barefoot in the grass after YEARS of never being outside without shoes.  The grass feels so good on my feet but its the things hiding in the grass that are of concern.  You know rocks, thorns and BUGS!  My feet are not used to being without shoes.  So I tread lightly and become quite vocal with each step.  OOh!  Ouch!  Ugg!  How did I ever run on a gravel driveway as a child.  This is going to be a long process of toughening up the feet.

When I look up at my girl she has this look on her face as if to say "What's the big deal? I go barefoot everyday.  Why are you making those weird sounds?"  

Humans are strange.

Did you know I'm an April Fool's baby?  Yep that's right.  My birthday day is April 1.  So I decided to have a my biggest sale of the year to celebrate my birthday.  

40% OFF  

No joke!  This is a great time to stock up.  I may have other sales throughout the year but none this large. 

Click here to go to my online shop.