I'm REALLY famous! The bib's on TV!!!

Oh, my gosh!!! I can't believe what I tripped over this morning! The baby bib I designed and sewed for publication in the June/July issue of "Simply Handmade" was featured on the Simply Handmade Blog (http://northridgemedia.net/blogs/simplyhandmade/?cat=12) and as a segment on Salt Lake City's KSL Studio 5 TV station (http://studio5.ksl.com/?nid=61&sid=6900661).

I'm FAMOUS! Baby Bib for June/July 2009 "Simply Handmade"

OH, WOW!!! I am so excited that the June/July issue of "Simply Handmade" came out last month. A baby bib that I designed and sewed was chosen for publication in that issue. I had to wait six (long) months to finally see it in print!

I wasn't allowed to post any pictures of it in my blog until after it was in print. Well (drum roll please!)... here it is!!!

They dedicated five pages to it: two feature pages, two pages with step-by-step directions on how to make the bib and one page with the template. That is WAAAAAYYYY cool!

The whole process was really kind of neat. I checked out their "call for submissions" website then e-mailed them a picture of the bib. The deadline came and went, and I never heard from them so I ALMOST pitched the thing in the trash. Really and truly... I don't know what stopped me from doing so.

Anyway, one day in January, I got an e-mail from Paige Evans at Northridge Media saying my bib had been selected for publication!!! I had to fill out a questionnaire with the types of products I used for the project. I also had to include all the details for how to make the bib. Then I packed it up and sent it in.

And then I waited... and waited... and waited... and six months later, I am tickled to death to find that the bib actually fits a baby (I wasn't sure since I don't have kids).

Check out my next post for even more really, really cool news about bibs!

artsymomma's block

Well! I finished artsymomma's quilt block! I used templates and did a crazy nine-patch. I had a little bit of waste from the angled cuts, but I used almost every last shred of fabric she sent me. The block is 11.5" square.

I don't feel it's a GREAT block, but it's definitely better than I expected considering how little fabric I had to work with.


I was also a little disappointed because I couldn't get one of the seams to align. I picked it out three or four times before I gave up on it. I don't know what the problem is with it (it's the top left seam below).


I kind of like the inner border. I wanted to do a solid green inner border, but I didn't have enough fabric (even a skinny stip like that) to make a solid green border. So, I miter-joined the green with a strip of tan. It's different, but I like it.

SewConnected Quilt Group

I'm in a virtual quilting bee called SewConnected. There are 15 of us. We each send out fabric during our assigned month and everybody works on a block for us and sends it back. So far, I've had alot of fun working on blocks for both myself and for other people. However... this month's fabric is VERY HARD to work with! The sender sent out 8 pieces of fabric which should be enough to work with, however, she wants a block no smaller than 10" (which means 10.5" unfinished). This wouldn't be a big deal except that she only sent out 9" x 5" pieces of fabric! I'm going to have to piece together the fabric to get it to 10.5"! Shesh! I don't even have a CLUE what I can make. I'm going to have to cut some of my fabric into 9x5 pieces and then try cutting those dimensions into a workable block. This is really challenging me, and it makes me very nervous. I hope I can come up with something nice for her.

Long-Arm Class!

Yesterday was my long-arm class! How much fun is that?!

First of all, they had me square up the backing by RIPPING it down the edges. They were pleased that I'd made the backing so much bigger (4" wider and 6" longer) than the top so I had plenty of room to rip. It was pretty square si the strips I ripped off were pretty small.

Next, I had to pin the fabric to the canvases. This was the "hardest" part of the whole process.

To start and stop, you have to tack the thread in place and pull up the bobbin thread. Then you roll the canvases to the next section, check that the design won't overlap the previous quilting, smooth out the layers with a yardstick and start all over again.

I initally wanted to do a stipple design, but they had a meandering loopy design already out, and I liked it so I used it instead. My loops are pretty good, though some of them are more square than circular because I wasn't so smooth with my movements.

And, speaking of movements. The stinking machine didn't have a stitch regulator! I can't believe that. If I spent that much on a machine, I'd expect it to have a regulator on it! Anyway, some of my stitches are VERY close together and some of the are VERY far apart when I couldn't keep moving at the same pace.

Also the lady picked out a verigated thread to use, and I really liked what that looked like (besides which, I have a spool of that same thread that I bought at Joann's when it was 50% off, and I can use it for sewing on the binding).

My quilt was 49 x 62, and I finished it in the alotted two hour class time. Hours beyond class time are $15/hour.

SewConnected Quilt Blocks

Here are my newest "Eclectic" blocks! The first one was inspired by the block that Jacquie G. from Tall Grass Prairie made for me. I really like that it's a rectangle within a square. I think that's unusual.

Second is a scrap block made from all the scraps people are returning to me.

Third is a block from the Japanese Quilt Blocks book that I have. I can't remember the name of the block, and the book is upstairs.

Fourth is a 45° angle block that I cut with my rotary cutter (rather than on the laser). It turned out nicely!

And finally, my favorite! It's a crazy nine-patch that I made with templates. I cut up a square out of paper then added 1/4" around all four sides (I got to use my new rotating mat, and I LOVE it!). I really like the little 1/4" brown border. It was only supposed to have the Kona bone as the outer border, but I miscalculated and ended up with an 11-1/2" block. I like the Surf and Sand border so it doesn't matter that I messed up a little! Anyway, another reason I like this block so much is because these are all 9 fabrics that are in the quilt.

Long Arm Lesson!

I'm so excited! I just signed up for my long arm lesson! It's not until December, but that's okay. It's $15 for a 2-hour lesson and then $15/hour after that! I seriously thought the lesson would be between $50-100 and then then rental was probably $30/hour so I am PLEASANTLY surprised to find the price is only $15! Lucky, lucky me! And, she says a queen-sized quilt can be done in about 4 hours. I've been paying $135+ per quilt to have them quilted across town. This will be a huge cost savings if I can do it myself!

Hancock's Remnant Quilt

The Hancock's Remnants Quilt is finished! It's supposed to have borders around it, but I don't like it well enough to add them!

This is a pattern from the book, Modern Art with Fabric. I like the pattern alot, I'm just not thrilled with the Amy Butler fabrics I used--and actually, I don't mind the brown print, it's the yellow with the circles that I don't like (it's too "straight"). That fabric is hard to see in the picture, but trust me, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but there are only four seams that should have lined up, and I didn't get a single one of them to align! And I'm talking about being WAY off! Ugh! I hate it when that happens!

So... what am I going to do with this top. I have lots of experiementing I intend to do, and this is a good candidate for all of that. I want to TRY basting and machine quilting on my machine (and I'm just talking about machine quilting with my walking foot--not free-motion quilting which I already know is too far out of my reach from having taken that class). Or... I could use this for the long arm class I intend to take. And, finally, I want to try sewing on the binding again.

The first time I tried sewing on binding was a total fiasco and I swore I would never ruin a quilt by doing that again. However, since then, I've bought a stitch-in-the-ditch foot, and I've picked up a few tips from the Sharon Schamber You Tube videos for GLUING on the binding first before sewing it down (no pins necessary!). I'm definitely intrigued and can't wait to try it out.

Hancock's Remnants Quilt

So... yesterday, I started on my Hancock's Remnant quilt (yes, that's what I'm REALLY going to name it).

I'm using a pattern from the book Modern Art with Fabric. Unfortunately, I'm not real thrilled with the Amy Butler fabrics (the two on the left-hand side). Those two are too tame or too symetrical for this quilt. I've already cut out my pieces and started assembling them so there's nothing I can do at this point except chalk it up to inexperience in selecting fabrics.

Eclectic Block

This block is from blondiespeaks. I have NO IDEA how in the heck she figured this one out, but I love it!

I read her blog, and it's NOT paper pieced! I can't believe it! I could NEVER do something like this unless it was paper pieced.

Eclectic Blocks

Here are two blocks that the SewConnected ladies have made for me. The first one is from luckyduckday. The second is from jacquieg. I love both of them. I thought my fabrics were kind of icky, but I'm SOOOO pleased with what everyone is making out of them.

Fabric Shopping at Joann's

So yesterday, I went fabric shopping at Joann's. All of their quilting fabric is 30% off, and then I had an extra 10% off coupon that I could use. I bought the M'Liss Rae and Heidi Grace fabrics that I scoped out last week. Plus, the Quilts with Style kits like I bought last week WEREN'T on sale this week so I used my 40% of coupon on another one of those.

Then I got home and checked out my receipt. Well guess what? Only one of the M'Liss Rae fabrics rang up at the sale price, and the other 7 I bought didn't! And, there was another $6.99 black and white fabric I bought that also didn't show up on sale.

I called the store, and the girl there was absolutely NO help at all--not that she was rude, but that she simply didn't know (so why do they have people who can't answer questions answering the phone?). She just kept saying, "there isn't a sign that says it's on sale..."

So... I went back today and caught the manager dude as he was walking in the door. I told him my problem, and he used me as a guinnea pig to show his assistant manager how to do a price adjustment. He didn't even double check that the fabric was on sale--he just trusted me. However, I was right because they #1. had to return the fabric at the price I paid for it and then #2. re-ring the sale at the sale price--only today it showed up with the sale price so they didn't have to override the price like they thought they were going to have to do.

They ALMOST forgot my additional 10% off, but we caught that at the last minute.

And BTW, there IS a sign that says the fabrics are on sale. It's very prominently displayed above the bolts.

So... it's sad but true: I spent another $30 on fabric today. This time I bought 3 yards of backing fabric for the kit I bought yesterday. And, I bought some Asian fabric to use on Cynthia's purse, and finally, I bought one more M'Liss Rae black and white that I thought I bought yesterday, but when I got home, realized I'd skipped it somehow.

X Stripe Variation

Here's that other block that requires 45­° cuts. I think it's called "X Stripe Variation" in EQ6. It looks simple, but I'm very proud of it.

One more Eclectic Block

This time, it's a 9" Rail Fence with a 1-1/2 border.

City Girl Quilt

I partially-finished my City Girl quilt top! I still have the borders to add to it, but I couldn't resist showing it off already!

I have a TON of scrap fabric to use for the backing. I'm debating on a couple of different things to do with it. I'll probably make some 4" or 6" wonky log cabin blocks, and I'm thinking about a full-length strip with just random widths of fabric sewn across it. Actually, that might be cool as a border...? Ummmm... oh, the possibilites!

I'm going to use a very large piece of Kona Cotton for the label--I'll describe the swap and then list all of the user names for the people who made me blocks. That's a good idea!

More quilt blocks for SewConnected

Yesterday, I made two more quilt blocks for my "Eclectic" quilt: Antique Tile and Hour Glass 2--both from Once More Around the Block by Judy Hopkins.

I'm not thrilled with the Antique Tile one because it's just too blah. Hour Glass 2 is better, but it's still not great. I do like the blue rick-rack in the middle of it, though. I've been using glue stick to hold down the rick-rack until I sew the pieces together.

Today I'm going to try one called Crayon Box from the same book. It's a very simple block to make, but I think it will look nice in my fabrics (at least I hope it will).

SewConnected Block for Myself

I finished the block for myself yesterday! I added rick-rack trim to the center square, and I really like how that looks. I used glue stick to hold the rick-rack in place before I sewed it, and that worked out well.

I think the bubble fabric at the tops of the "arms" looks out of place, but it's too late now!

This is called "Triple Stripe" from EQ6. Unfortunately, the measurements are off on the corner pieces! I was about 1/8" off (maybe more), and so it made very "shallow" seams when sewing on the borders.

I'm glad this is my block, because I would have been SOOOOOOO disappointed if I'd tried to make this block for someone else, and it was messed up on the back like this one is. I guess I need to make sample blocks out of my fabric before attempting blocks for others. That's what I did with the "City Girl" quilt, and it's why I was able to make such a large quilt.

I wish I'd added rick-rack trim all the way around the border, too. That would have been pretty neat. I'm NOT picking it out, though.

SewConnected Block

I'm so excited! Bubbachic posted my first block for the SewConnected quilt block swap! Talk about DYNAMIC! It is loud and wild, but I really like it!

Now I need to cut up my own fabric and make myself a block.

SewConnected Fabrics

Well... I decided to keep the remnant fabrics I bought at Hancock's of Paducah. I want to make a quilt out of it from a book I have called Modern Art with Fabric.

Because I'm keeping that fabric, I went fabric shopping again today. This is what I bought:

It's brown, blue and orange. It's a mix of Moda, Marcus Brothers, King's Road and Tracy Porter. I think I need one more blue so I'll hit the quilt store tomorrow and see what they have.

I bought a butt load because CraftWarehouse was having a sale: buy 2 yards, get 1 yard free! Can't beat that since the fabrics there are $9.50/yard.

The oranges are Tracy Porter fabrics from JoAnn Fabrics, and were $4.99/yard. They feel nice, and I think they compliment this mix pretty well.

Fabric Photos

Here are photos of the fabric I bought while I was at home visiting my mother. This first photo is stuff from Hancock's of Paducah. Most of it is from the remnant table, and I got it for $4.98/yard.

And here are four red, cream and blacks that I got at Backyard Fabrics in Farmington, KY for $4/yard! I bought 3 yards of each one.


Now I have to decide if I want to use the remnant mix for my block swap or the reds (plus a solid black Kona cotton that I already have). Or... if I should start all over with other fabrics...?

The dilemma is that I don't know if I have enough of the remnant mix to make a good-sized quilt. Plus, in my mind's eye, I have the vision of a really cool quilt I'd like to make with it. Second, I think I may want to make a quilt for my stepdad out of the reds (I hope he won't read this because if I don't make it, he'll be disappointed).

So... do I start all over with $9.50/yard fabric from the quilt stores around here (I'm leaning toward some orange Amy Butler I saw the other day) or do I go with what I bought while I was in KY? That is the question of the day!