Shannon's giveaway

I just had to do this quick post for my dear friend Shannon - she has a giveaway on her blog and even though I want to win, I want her to have more readers even more:) She makes the most gorgeous things, and is giving away what you see above (all hand-made by her!) if you become a follower of her blog. So stop by her blog and leave her a comment! There are only 3 comments right now, so your chances of winning are amazing! She really has some great ideas to share!

Edited to add...One of the people who commented, said that I didn't leave a link to Shannon's blog. I actually did leave two links! If you just click on the word 'blog' or the phrase 'stop by her blog' it will take you straight to her blog. Carolyn, I couldn't let you know this because your comments are set to no reply. Shannon's giveaway is over now, but her blog is still worth a look!

1 UFO down, countless to go...

Chances are if you are reading this blog, you know what a UFO is, but just in case you're not familiar with quilting terms, UFO stands for Un-Finished-Object!I started this wall hanging way back in January 2009. (Read about it here.) I can't believe it's been sitting in my quilt room that long just begging to be finished. Well today was the day. I couldn't stand to see it there laying limply on my shelves any longer!I did away with the idea of a border and just let the blocks speak for themselves with a simple binding....but lots and lots of quilting!It's happily up on the living room wall now, where it should have been a year ago. Sure feels good to have a UFO done:)My fingers are itching to do some applique now. I'm sure I can find an applique UFO around here somewhere....

Fabric in Vermont

We have been having a blast on our vacation here in Vermont. Swimming with the kids every day, factory tours, shopping, and today, finally, a quilt shop!

I had no idea about any quilt shops here in Burlington, so I got on my Droid and searched. Sure enough, there were several, but none of them sounded like they had the more modern fabrics I like. So I just picked the one with the best reviews, called Strawberry & Rhubarb, and off we went. It was only a couple of miles down the road, which was even better.

Turns out it was in an outdoor type of strip mall, so I dropped hubby and the kids at Best Buy and I went to the quilt store. As soon as I saw it, I KNEW it was my kind of store! I immediately called hubby and told him that he could take as long as he wanted in Best Buy, because I was in heaven! They ONLY carry modern fabrics, which was just perfect for me!

The teller, who was also the soon-to-be-owner helped me and was so lovely! We had a good long chat, and of course I had to buy some fabric!
Oh, you said you would rather have an artsy-fartsy shot?
When I was done, I asked if I could take some photos, because the store was just so charming, and I knew I wanted to blog about it, and she said of course, so I took out my camera, clicked, and nothing....I had left the memory card back at the hotel in my laptop! Aaargh! Never fear, I pulled out my phone and took photos, but of course they are never as good as a proper camera, but it's all I have.
I really wish I had decent photos so you could see the store in all it's glory - the colors were so gorgeous.

As for the quilting I brought with me to stitch in the hotel at night...well I haven't even touched it! I have been so tired at the end of each day that all I want to do is lie down and do nothing.

Our hotel is great - we got a 2 room suite so we can shut the doors on the kids! Hubby and I slept on the pull out couch in the living area the first night and let the kids have the nice beds in the bedroom, but that sure changed quickly! And we have hardly had to buy any food as the hotel puts on a full cooked breakfast and some nights a complimentary dinner. More money for fabric, I say!

And we're off...

Off to Vermont on vacation that is. So I thought I'd sneak a post in before we leave. Of course, one must take a hand quilting project when going on vacation, and I have been saving up my Joseph's Coat project for the occasion. It has been prepped and ready to needleturn for a couple of months now, and I even sewed down a few of the 'peels' before realizing how perfect it would be to take away with us.
I kept it on my bedside table, and I can't tell you how hard it's been to leave it alone and not stitch the rest of those peels down! Hopefully I will have time to get it done while we are away. The weather is meant to be nice though, so who knows?!

In other news, today I decided to give my big Juki 98q a rest, and pulled out my darling old Singer Featherweight.
My WONDERFUL mother-in-law (yes it is possible to snag a good one!) gave it to me about 8 years ago and it's been sitting in it's little bag unused since we moved to this house 3 years ago, so I thought it was time that she saw the light of day. Best news is, she still works! Yippee! I have had people see it in the past, and not being quilters, they screw up their noses and ask things like why would I use a machine that old, and I try to explain why, but you really have to be a quilter to understand the coolness of this machine!! My son saw it and said, "Wow Mom, that looks old. But it's so cool!" So there you have it. A quilter in training.

Clean room = Productivity

I have been hanging out in my nice clean quilt room of late and a girl just can't help but be creative in such an environment!

My Sampler quilt still needs to be backed, basted, and quilted, but I want to make the back different than just plain Kona, so I strip-pieced all the fabrics from the front into one long piece and will add that to the backing. I also made a new bag. I used some Anna-Maria Horner fabrics from my stash that I haven't wanted to touch, but I bit the bullet, and actually used them! After all, the more you use, the more room you have to fill with fancy new stuff, right?!! (Hope my hubby isn't reading this!)Lastly, I took a photo of my thread drawer that I mentioned I had cleaned. Since I don't have a 'before' photo, just imagine that it looked something like this...and now, so much better...

Clean up time

Every now and then (like you will see by clicking HERE) my quilt room gets to the point where I just can't stand the mess for one more day, and today was that day. I start off great, with it nice and clean, then as I do projects, it's easy to toss things to the side thinking that I'll put it away tomorrow...and of course tomorrow never comes. It had got pretty bad the last few weeks, and here I am, brave enough to show you before and after shots!

Before...(Why yes I did know that the quilt on the wall was crooked - it had fallen down one day and I couldn't reach over the mess to hang it up straight again!)
And after (ahhh the quilt is finally straight again!)


Before....

And after


Before....uuugh so awful...

And after

And finally, the actual sewing space...
Before...

And afterI did a lot of rearranging, and threw out A LOT of old stuff. I even emptied out the sewing machine desk drawers and did some serious purging. It feels great to have it done and I think I feel creative again!

Quilting suggestions please!

I finally have the sashings on this thing - I used a Kona Cotton (Tarragon) and the grey/white dot. It definitely needed the calming influence of the Kona! Now I just need to baste it and decide how to quilt it. Any ideas? I don't want to do any in-the-ditch quilting. I think something simple like just plain rows might work. Suggestions welcome!