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Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Make It Modern with Hobbs - Trig Play

The May challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is
Make it Modern with Hobbs.

Today is my day to show
Trig Play
with a new, to me, batting technique.


As Island Batik Ambassadors,
this month is our second industry partner spotlight challenge
and
we are to use any of the Hobbs Battings provided to create a Modern Quilt.


The biggest challenge this month for me was deciding which of the modern characteristics my quilt might include.
A modern quilt as defined by the Modern Quilt Guild (the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, Minimalism, expansive negative space, alternate grid work)



I chose an Island Batik Basic, Butternut, and the black and white fabrics from the ambassador fabrics that were provided.
I was going for minimalism with expansive negative space and designed a large triangle pattern.

Once the quilt top was finished, it was time to choose which Hobbs batting to use and black seemed to be the obvious choice.



But, I was concerned about the large white triangles looking grey with the black batting.
As luck would have it, I was able to visit with Steph in the Hobbs Batting booth during quilt market and fellow Island Batik ambassador, Jennifer - The Inquiring Quilter. was there too.


Steph suggested putting white Hobbs Thermore batting behind the white triangles to keep the white fabric from greying out with the black batting.


In order to do this, I simply cut triangles from the batting with the same pattern that the fabric triangles were cut from. As I quilted on my long arm, I placed the white batting pieces under the white fabric triangles and right on top of the black batting.


Next, I just placed the quilt top over the layers of batting and quilted as normal. The white batting stayed in place with no problem and I just love how the white stayed white and the quilting has so much texture.


I quilted with more triangles
and
for the quilting in the butternut triangles, I added a little sunshine and circles for a bit of quilting contrast.
The color of the butternut batik makes me think of Tuscany and the sun quilting seemed to fit.


The binding is black with 4 random stripes of the butternut to mark my 4th Island Batik Ambassador challenge and I thought it added a little modern touch to the binding.
Trig Play finished at 42" x 50".

You can find the full list of Island Batik ambassadors posting for the 
Make It Modern with Hobbs Challenge

by clicking HERE.


It was so fun to play with a new batting technique and I will definitely do it again!
Thanks, Hobbs!



Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Sugar and Joe - Food For Thought Sew Along

When dessert is served,
I like a nice cup of joe to go with it.

Today, I’m happy to be back over on the 
Thermoweb blog
 to share my 
created with the Thermoweb Food For Thought Sew Along Quilt Blocks



This runner will be perfect for a dessert table.
Combining patchwork with applique is one of my favorite ways to make quilts. 
So when it came time to put the designer blocks together, 
I designed a coffee cup quilt block to add to the patchwork border.



All of the block patterns and the free pattern for this quilted table runner
 can be found on the Thermoweb blog.


I used Hash Dot by Michael Miller fabrics
and Kona Cotton White.


Teaming up with other Thermoweb designers for the 
Food For Thought Sew Along
 has been so much fun! 


As a member of the designer group,
I shared this quilt block:




 I used HeatNBond EZ Print Lite to print the patterns right on the fusible adhesive to create all of the quilt blocks. 
 Just print, fuse, cut, bond, and stitch.  It's that easy.


Click HERE to find my free pattern in a special blog post over at Thermoweb.

Enjoy a little Sugar and Joe today!!

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Spring Quilt Market - Recap

I was so excited to attend my first International Quilt Market and have now fully recovered from the trip and catching up at my day job.




The spring quilt market was held in Kansas City this year which made it so easy for me to attend.
Add to that my friend Joyce just opened a quilt shop and was excited to check out market too.



International Quilt Market is a credentialed trade show and not open to the general public
although, most of the new fabrics and patterns seem to be shown on the internet before the market even starts so I don't really think anyone is missing out on the big reveals.

For me, quilt market was more about meeting internet friends and networking for future collaborations.

Before I set foot on the floor of the quilt market I met Tula Pink.
It didn't hurt that I had decided to wear my Moon Shine t-shirt that day.

I could have just dropped when she asked me if she could take an Instagram Street Spotting picture.
She was so sweet to let me take a picture too.
Her new fabric line Monkey Wrench made such a cute booth.


Our first day of International Quilt Market was Thursday and we attended the Schoolhouse Series.  It was a series of 15 - 30-minute presentations about what you could find in the booths in the upcoming days and educational classes about anything quilt related. 
 It really gave us a chance to see what to focus on at Quilt Market. 

One of my favorite Schoolhouse presentations was Kim's, from Go-Go Kim, social media class.  She joined the Island Batik team for several presentations and it was fun to meet the faces behind the names of all my Island Batik friends.


Island Batik has a new spring line by Kathy Engle called Freedom that is perfect for 
Quilts of Valor or any red, white, and blue quilt.
(I will have a quilt to show soon...)



 Later that day we attended Sample Spree.  I have to admit that Sample Spree was not my favorite thing we did.  It's a chance for buyers to purchase individual items from manufacturers.   I'm not a buyer and I do not like crowds or to stand in line for long periods of time.  I probably won't do that event again.  Although I did get to visit with a lot of like-minded people while I stood in line, I would rather do that over a cup of coffee.  lol

Friday was the first day the show floor opened
and
it was soooo overwhelming for a newbie.

My first stop was the Blend Fabrics booth to see my projects.
Through a partnership with Thermoweb, I made a few things for the Blend Fabrics booth.



These projects were for Anna Griffin's Lila fabric collection, the patterns for these projects are coming soon over at Thermoweb.

Thermoweb frequently partners with other industry companies for events and shows.
Michael Miller Fabrics has been super generous to the Thermoweb fabric project designers
and
I just had to visit their booth.
Rob Appell with Michael Miller conducted lots of interviews and it was fun to watch.


It was fun to meet Crystal in person too! 


She is the reason you will see a lot of my new projects for Thermoweb made with bright and fun Michael Miller Fabrics.

My first day of booth hopping finished with a visit to the Hobbs Batting booth and a visit with 
Steph and fellow Island Batik Ambassador, Jennifer - The Inquiring Quilter.


It was such a pleasure to meet both of these ladies and
I can't wait to share my May Island Batik Ambassador quilt for the Make it Modern with Hobbs Batting challenge. I tried a technique that was suggested by Steph and it worked brilliantly.Stay tuned for the reveal later this week.

Day 2 of booth hopping was quick and fun with meeting and connecting with more friends.

First stop - Riley Blake Designs to meet Cindy and connect with an old friend, J Wecker Frisch of Joy Studio.  Janet is the designer of the fabric, Handmaids, from one of the first blog hops I hosted, She Who Sews.  We had so much fun catching up and maybe some fun in the future too.  


Her booth was adorable.


Speaking of blog hops, I met another friend from years of blog hopping.


Doris from Cactus Queen Quilt Co. had a booth for her new endeavor, X-Blocks.

Another blog hop friend, Amanda of Amanda Murphy Design.


I finished my Quilt Market fun with a talk by Pat Sloan


and Quilt in a Day's, Eleanor Burns.


I heard more than once that this was a small quilt market but that the people attending were there to conduct business and it was a great success.


No matter what the outcome was for others, we had a blast and checked a lot of things off our lists.  It was fun to help my friend Joyce explore options for her quilt shop and I'm so excited to see the new things coming to 

And that's my first Quilt Market experience in a nutshell.
I don't know how it could get any better.




Thursday, May 16, 2019

May Pole - A Bonus Block for A Time For All Seasons

May is flying by
and
it's so fun to see all the block making progress
in the
A Time for All Seasons Block of the Month.

Our designer of the month of May is
Joan of Moosestash Quilting
and she has been generous enough to not only design 2 blocks,
but also give us a bonus block.


"May" Pole is paper pieced
and
you can find the pattern information from Joan
by clicking HERE.

by Thermoweb
made paper piecing the block
a piece of cake.
They are sturdy and see-through, yet easy to tear away.
They don't fall apart if you have to correct a mistake.
Ask me how I know...



You print the pieces of the quilt block directly on the quilt block sheets and get right to stitching.

Have you been keeping up with the blocks?




Joan has the May blocks available by clicking HERE.


You can find a list of the fabric requirements and more information about the
Block of the Month
by clicking HERE.



Join us.
 There are over 3000 friends on the Facebook group and we are having a blast.
Everyone is so encouraging and helpful.

Make the blocks and share them and win prizes from our great sponsors.

Now I'm off to Quilt Market for a weekend of fun.
Hope yours is as fun as mine is going to be.  ;)

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Food For Thought Sew Along - Strawberry Cake Quilt Block

Are you a foodie?
I think everyone that likes to eat may be one.
Today, we are going to the sweet side
with a tasty sew along.

I'm so excited to join the 
talented Thermoweb designers
 for the
Food For Thought Sew Along.

Today I am sharing this quilt block:

There are 4 quilt blocks and the patterns are all free.


The fabrics I'm using are from
and the thread I used to stitch around the applique is
Aurifil thread:  50wt #2692



I'm using
to print the patterns right on the fusible adhesive to create all of the quilt blocks. 
 Just print, fuse, cut, bond, and stitch.  It's that easy.



Head over to the Thermoweb Blog
to download the 4 FREE patterns
and
Quilt Along
 with us.


I'll have a project with all the blocks to share on May 30th over on the Thermoweb blog.
I've been having some yummy fun.


Sunday, May 12, 2019

The Big Tidy Up - Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop

Happy Mother's Day
and
Welcome to 
The Big Tidy Up 2019
at
Creatin' in the Sticks!

hosted for the 5th year by Cheryl Sleboda.


When I was little, my mom often read this book to me and it really was my absolute favorite.
It's about a little girl who has a very messy room.  


It's ironic that my day in the hop is on mother's day and I still need this kind of motivation to clean up my room.  Hopefully, my amazingly neat and spotless mom won't happen upon this post and be embarrassed that her grown daughter still can't keep her space clean.

So thank you Cheryl for the motivation to clean up my act before I leave for quilt market this week. 
 It will be so nice to come home to a neat and tidy studio after all the craziness of market preparation.

No judgment here, please.  Remember, I have had some pretty ugly deadlines
and
I joined this blog hop knowing I would need the motivation to clean up after the crazy.

First, the ugly.


Yes, this crazy is real. 
 My studio is above our detached garage and is large enough to have a 19' workbench with shelving along one wall and another 12' workbench with shelves on another wall.

The other end of the room has a sink and sitting area, but you can't see either one.
The sitting area is buried with quilts that are either waiting for work or finished and need labels.  The sink is covered with stuff at the end of the workbench.


So, let's go around the room and I'll show my improvements.

Because there are few straight walls in my studio, I put a design wall at the bottom of the stairs as you enter my space.  I just pinned a flannel backed table cloth to the wall and works in progress are the perfect welcome as I come up the stairs or as I leave.


Let's head upstairs to the studio.
This is where I hang minis or pillow tops not in use.


I purchased this sink cabinet at a school auction for 10 dollars and my hubby installed it for me.  It's so handy because there was no water in the studio before and I had to go to the house every time I needed to wash my hands or brushes or even fill my water mister.


I use plastic boxes for storage on the shelves of the benches.
Most of the boxes are labeled and large ones on the bottom shelves hold patterns, batting, interfacing, and other misc. items where the top shelves hold smaller shoe size boxes.


As a designer for Thermoweb, storing rolls of HeatNBond by my lightbox with tall terracotta pots I picked up at Hobby Lobby for 1 dollar a piece is perfect.


The smaller workbench is the perfect place for my new AccuQuilt. It's also where I keep some books and magazines.  I use old animal cracker bears for button storage.
The shelves underneath hold plastic boxes with smaller pieces of fabric sorted by color.


Larger fabric pieces and current projects are stored in this cabinet that is actually just pieces of closet organization units.  The middle hanging part is perfect for quilt tops ready to be quilted and clothes waiting to be mended.


Next to the fabric storage cabinet is my ironing surface and then instead of a sitting area that I never used, I have my grandmother's sewing machine and a few of the quilts I have left to finish.


To finish up The Big Tidy Up, I gave the biggest essential a little attention.
I like to clean the lint from my sewing machine between professional service times. 


Where does all that lint come from?
 I clean around the bobbin case weekly, but for occasions like spring cleaning, the bottom of the machine comes off and with a soft brush, the lint comes out. 

Visit the other Spring Cleaning Bloggers and get some great tips for organization:

  1. April 29 – Linda Bratten – http://lindabcreative.blogspot.com
  2. April 30 – Sandra Johnson – http://www.sandrajohnsondesigns.com
  3. May 1 – Jennifer Schifano Thomas – http://www.Curlicuecreations.com
  4. May 2 – Becca Fenstermaker – http://www.prettypiney.com
  5. May 3 – Sue Griffiths – http://www.duckcreekmountainquilting.com
  6. May 4 – Kate Starcher – http://katiemaequilts.com/blog
  7. May 5 – Jo Westfoot – http://www.thecraftynomad.co.uk/blog
  8. May 6 – Sam Hunter – https://www.huntersdesignstudio.com
  9. May 7 – Simone Fisher – http://simonequilts.com/blogs/news
  10. May 8 – Elisabeth DeMoo https://www.brownbirddesignsquilts.com
  11. May 9 – Sarah Myers –  http://www.quilted-diary.com/blog
  12. May 10 – Amy Bradley – http://www.purplepineapplestudio.com
  13. May 11 – Kathy Nutley – http://www.QuiltingsByKathy.com
  14. May 12 – Carla Henton – http://createinthesticks.blogspot.co
  15. May 13 – Sherry Shish – http://www.poweredbyquilting.com
  16. May 14 – Kate Colleran – http://www.seamslikeadream.com/blog
  17. May 15 – Pamela Boatright – https://www.pamelaquilts.com
  18. May 16 – Cathy McKillip – http://wishuponaquilt.com/blog
  19. May 17 – Cheryl Sleboda – http://blog.muppin.com


Full disclosure here, I couldn't have pulled off 
The Big Tidy Up 
without a little help.
Because my hubby gave me a few hours of his time
I was able to spend my Mother's Day Saturday playing with my daughter and  
granddaughter.


We played hard and wore her out. 
There's nothing better than holding a napping baby.

Happy Mother's Day!