Bag central

It's been a productive couple of weeks, mostly thanks to my quilt guild retreat last weekend in Rockford.
I made yet another Late Bloomer Sweet Simple Tote for Ashley's birthday (which I gave to her that night, so I don't have a photo. I'll have to have her send one to me).
I love that pattern so much that I've been cranking them out. I love how beautifully it show cases larger print fabrics. I made two chocolate themed, a fantastic black/white/hot pink from the Michael Miller Dress Forms fabric and am in process of a purple glittery bag made from MM's Antiquity collection.

The inside pockets:

The inside w/pockets

 

I also finished 2 king size and one regular pillow case from some of the Moda Chocolat wovens, which are amazing. If you have never had the chance to pet the Moda wovens, I recommend doing so immediately! They are sooooo soft and silky. I just love them. I have a really poofy pillow, and the cases I made fit them so very much better. I can actually get them on and off with out a major wrestling match with my pillows!

I also finished a Terry Atkinson Happy Holidays table centerpiecehttp://www.atkinsondesigns.com/patterns/ which seriously only took me a total of two evenings, start to finish! I used a combo of Anna Griffin's Georgette Christmas, MM Fairy frost and a random paisley that we had at Tammy Tadds.  I quilted it with holly leaves and berries in metallic thread. Since I can't draw, I just blow up the fabric motif on the copier then use my handy dandy non-marking technique to quilt it. It's a sample for the shop as well as a Christmas present for Mom!

I've also spent some time working on the look of the blog, what does everyone think?

Busy-ness

Why no updates in such a long time?

This is why:

See those calendar entries? That's my April. Crazy, huh? Add to that my full time day job and my Sat quilt shop job, and I'm buzzzzyyy.

I finished the Lady Bug Hug quilt top a couple of weeks ago and can't wait to see it quilted. It's a shop sample for Tammy Tadd Designs. I'll see it all done for the first time tonight at the Rosemont quilt show. The most talented Nan at TTD quilted it. Can't wait!

The pattern and fabric are designed by Quilt Soup. Both are ridiculously cute and happy.

Look at those ladybugs!!! Could they be any cuter?

And that darling ladybug face. Too freaking cute! The only problem is that it's black thread on black fabric, so you can't see if very well. I think I'd do grey or something that shows up better the next time around.

Last weekend I had my quilt retreat at the Evergreen Retreat in Janesville. Remember my post about my first visit back in January in order to see if it would be a good fit for us? Well, it certainly was!!!

I think I would not be remiss in saying that we all had a fantastic time!

We ate, we drank, we sewed and we ate some more until the wee hours of the morning (Jennie and I went to bed at 5am Sat night/ Sun morning). The beds were comfy as all get out, and Kathy, the owner, literally thought of everything to make a quilter's stay fantastic!

Here's a few photos from our weekend, check out Jennie's blog for more about the fun.

What do you get when you cross the gorgeous Lantern Bloom fabric line by Laura Gunn for Michael Miller fabrics:

with some fabulous solidy types of batiks and what nots:

Then add the Slide Show Pattern by extremely talented Terry Atkinson:

Aren't they amazing? I'm in love. The photos don't even do it justice! Now I just have to figure out how to quilt it.

Pattie made these fabulous baskets:

Carol finished up the last 4 or 5 borders on this beauty. I totally give her credit. I would have lost interest a loooonnnngg time ago on this quilt. But that Carol, she's a perseverer.

DiscoJen finished 2 quilt tops, 500 bags and God only knows what else. I can't keep track. I feel like I get nothing done campared to her and Jennie. Jennie actually said "I'm so glad I brought this extra quilt with to make, I wasn't going to, but I finished everything else, so it's good I did!" Me, I  brought 4 projects and only finished one, and that was by the hair of my teeth!

Here's what you can do with your scraps from your fabric and bag handles that you shorten, as modeled by DiscoJen:

Well, it's off to Rosemont for the last quilt show in Chicago. I'm so bummed. It's a yearly tradition for DiscoJen and I to go every year and have lunch at the Sofitel. We are so upset that it's moving to Cincinnati next year thanks to the ridiculous fees for the venue and the obscene sales tax in Rosemont. 

Creative Endeavors

I have been very busy lately with various retreats, working, creating all manner of items out of fabric, and capturing a dog that I haven't had much time to update the blog. The Christmas crunch is on, and I'm starting to panic, even though it's only October!
Here are some of the things I have been working on lately:

All of these are pins execept the hoopy one. That's either an earring or a wine glass marker. Could go either way. I couldn't believe how fast these came together. I whipped them all up in an evening, and not a solid one at that. I took a couple hours off for dinner and such. The orange flower has a vintage clip earring in the middle. I got the template for the holly and oak leaves out of a couple of applique books. I used pre-cut felt flowers and circles as well as the pre-made felt beads from Handbehg Felts that I got at Tammy Tadd Designs (needless to say, since I work there.) I free cut the leaves behind the flowers.
I was inspired by a couple of different blogs, Betz White and Felt-o-Rama. Both blogs have fabulous tutorials and links to wonderful other tutorials. And really, if I can hand sew these babies, anyone can. You can also use general Aleene's Tacky Glue and glue them together as well. Important Note: Only use the original gold bottle, not the silver quick dry, the quick dry left some schmootz on my felt, but the gold one didn't.
The turtle was the inspiration of my friend Debbie. We were playing with the flower parts at our quilting guild meeting and Debbie pointed out that if you folded two opposite flower petals under, it looked like a turtle. I handed her a needle and thread and told her to have at it! The shell is another of the vintage earrings I had.I thought the wine glass markers would be a great gift to have on hand. You can make a ton in an evening w/just a packet of beads and pre-formed earring hoops all from your local craft store. Display 6 or 8 of them on a nice piece of card stock, wrap in cellophane and keep on hand for that last minute party or hostess gift. Get yourself a nice bottle of wine and the glass markers and you have yourself a nice and thoughtful gift (for those that drink that is).The acorns were made w/two of the beads and small circles of felt glued to the top. I used a seed bead for the little doohicky on the bottom and larger beads for the top stems. It's a toss up between the acorns and the pea pod as to which I like better.
I also made this quilt top:

I put this together at my guild retreat in September. I wanted it to be a large sized throw to give as a gift. Even though I had added 2 rows to the side and 4 to the bottom, it ended up being almost square! I had not taken into account at the time that the cream in-between blocks were really rectangles. It also ended up being almost a queen sized quilt. Once I got the borders on, the ladies at the retreat convinced me that it was too large and way too excellent to give away. I must say that I was easily convinced.

The pattern is Pie Crust by Terry Atkinson, the colored fabrics are from the Moda Bistro line by Deb Strain, the cream is from Riley Blake's Just Dreamy line.

Sophie started playing with the corners that I cut off when mitering and noticed that you could make a pillow out of the corner remnants. Now that's a bonus, miter your corners and get 2 pillows to boot!

Party and retreating

Well, the party at Tammy Tadd Designs was a lot of fun. I got to see a lot of my favorite quilters and eat a piece, yes just one piece, of Sweet Dreams cake.
Terry Atkinson was really nice, and of course the quilts always look better in person. She showed an interesting machine applique technique that didn't use any fusible webbing of any kind. Once you see it, you say "duh! why didn't I think of that?" Jennie pointed out that if we had, then we would be the ones with the quilting books on the mass market.
People often ask me how I work 2 jobs. My response is that while they are vastly different, I really like both of my jobs, but the quilting job is really not work for me. It's fun. What better time can you have then picking out fabrics all day, listening to fun music, and working with fabulous ladies. It's very inspiring. My non-quilting job is very different, but I work with the greatest people and learn a ton every day. Many of my good friends are ones that I met at my non-quilting job. Some of them I've even turned into quilters!
Here are some pictures from the party. How could you not be happy working in a place this bright, cheery and surrounded by colorful fabrics?

This is a pattern that Terry debuted at the party.

This is my favorite part of the store. I love the satisfying thwack that the screen door makes when you go through it. And yes, that is a pink Weber grill!Terry Atkinson (left) and Tammy Tadd (right). The blue and green quilt on the table was also debuted at the party.
Laura goofy posing in front of Terry's quilts. I don't think she realises that I have this picture. We have a great time working together.

"Sweet, Simple Tote" pattern by Late Bloomer Quilts , fabric by Paula Prass for Michael Miller. Made by Me! I have about 3 more of these bags planned.

I have my quilt guild retreat this weekend, and have to decide which projects to bring. I have several ladies trying out my folding grocery bag pattern to see if it's ready to publish. I'm really, really hoping to get that done ASAP! Jennie told me I shouldn't bring my whole quilting room this weekend, but what if I change my mind about what projects to work on, then what am I supposed to do? Go to one of shops nearby and get a new one? Hmmmmm......