Archive for Books

Mail call!

November 20, 2009 at 3:12 pm · Filed under Books, Fabric, Quilts, Treats!

Banner week in the mailbox department! You may recall that Cathy hosted a giveaway recently. Pinch me, I won this gorgeous set of stacking rings from the generous Louise:

Admit it, you wish you were me. I’m going to holler now: I LOVE THESE RINGS! I felt lucky that Cathy introduced me to Louise’s work, but then I won the rings and can’t believe how lucky I am! As you can see from my somewhat rough hewn hands, I am not a girly girl. Louise’s style suits me so well. You can often find me clicking on the items in her shop and dreaming. You MUST see more of Louise’s GORGEOUS work at her shop! Thank you, Cathy, for hosting the giveaway and THANK YOU, Louise! I really love the rings!!

Still can’t believe my luck!

The Royal Mail was busy with me today because some of Aneela’s adorable fabrics arrived as well:

Such cute designs!! Really sweet and playful! Aneela has been making some really fun things with her prints and with her collection of Heather Ross prints. Adorable!

A couple of new books hopped into my Amazon cart last week:

Wonderful books! Highly recommended!

A happy package also arrived from Australia:

This issue of Down Under Quilts contains Sarah Fielke and Sue Spargo’s collaborative design, Peacocks and Plumage. Not that you would know that by looking at my photo…which covers over that detail in the bottom right corner. Ooops! Sarah sent along some delicious fabrics for me to play with as well. Thanks, Sarah!

Many things going on around here this week besides checking the mail box. All of them half finished. Yesterday as I was quilting the Rouenneries spider web quilt, I RAN OUT OF THREAD. You would think I would have a suitable substitute for light beige quilting thread. Um, no, actually I don’t. I had been putting off a little mail ordering from Arizona. And look what happened. So, I got out a quilting hoop to work on a little “accent” quilting while I await the UPS truck:

The loopy part was done while I still had machine quilting thread…. See, I can find things to do while I wait.

Speaking of waiting, I’ve had a silly story to tell you ALL WEEK. But I have been waiting on Mr. Fed Ex Ground ALL WEEK so I can get to the story’s ending. Harumph. It even has a topical theme. But you’ll have to wait to hear it.

So, go find something to do while you wait! Enjoy the weekend!

Comments (15)

Flower power

September 18, 2009 at 10:55 am · Filed under Books, Everyday Things, Fabric, Quilts

In red and green.  No independent thinking here, copied straight from Quilt Romance:

flowerp

Fun and satisfying!

In my infinite wisdom and laziness, I whipped this off the bed a la pulling a tablecloth off the fully set dinner table. Only, the pillows were over the littlest bit of the outer border and managed to cause enough friction to ravel part of the outer border beyond the seam allowance. My disgust is in the fact that it took longer to add the loooonnnng horizontal pieces than it did to make the rest of the quilt. Of course. To be remedied another day when I have some more sashing/border fabric.

Why are new glasses exciting? OK, maybe they are only exciting to me? One reason I’m excited is that I managed to outrun the bifocal monster once again. Hurrah!

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These are not at all what I had in mind when I went shopping for new glasses. I am guessing that either my head is shrinking or people are making glasses that are way too wide for my face. At one point, I saw the optical person bringing me glasses from the KIDS’ section. I don’t know. I’ve never had this problem before.

I don’t know how to assure you that I am not selecting this brand simply based on their great glasses cases. The cases certainly don’t hurt though.

The old case:

oldcase

And the new more subtle but no less fun case:

newcase

Off to fold laundry and then to lunch. Have a wonderful weekend!

Comments (20)

Like a hole in the head

September 14, 2009 at 3:03 pm · Filed under Books, Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts

I needed to start a new project like I need a hole in my head.

But the cutting was so fast. And the piecing was so fast. Now I just need to put the sashing all around.

It’s like it never happened. Well, I might play around with the layout because I can’t quite get the pattern here, so that may take a tiny bit of extra time…

flowerppattern

redflowerp

I think this might qualify as my Christmas quilt for this year.

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Romancing the quilt

September 11, 2009 at 2:28 pm · Filed under Books, Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts

I am a lucky girl! Trying not to squeal so that you’ll hear me from way far away.

Witness:

quiltromance

Fresh from the mail carrier today! From the UK by way of Australia, this book has had quite the travels via Sarah. THANK YOU, SARAH!

It’s another delightful winner of a book a la Mr. Kaffe — and, look, if you are stateside, you can get yours now too!

Each of the quilts is wonderful — lots of fresh twists on the traditional, some providing a new way to look at the gorgeous Westminster fabrics. Lots of mmmmm… and aha! in this book.

OH, and also there is a wonderful profile of Kim McLean in the book too!

We had a once-through on the porch as soon as it was dropped off this morning. There is more quality coming later today and on into the future, I’m sure.

Along with this surprise, Sarah sent other lovelies.

Ooohhh, postcards from the V&A Museum exhibit:
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More great reading! The Seven Easy Pieces book is a charmer with such calming uses of shot cotton. Feels like a deep breath of fresh air.

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Thanks, again, Sarah!!!!

Comments (13)

Run, do not walk

September 1, 2009 at 8:12 am · Filed under Books, Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts

You’ll want to dash over and get a sneak peek of the quilts in the new Quilt Romance book. Glorious Color has them all kitted up ahead of the book’s October (?!?!?) U.S. release.

oooh, I like that one and that one and that one and …

LOVE that one...

You get the idea.

Comments (9)

August??

August 5, 2009 at 1:31 pm · Filed under Books, Everyday Things, Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts, Recycled Quilt-along, Shirt Stripes Quilt

It’s August, is it? The calendar is once again running roughshod over me. It seemed like July was never-ending, but now we are already well into August somehow.

Here’s another shocking realization that slapped me in the face today. Everyone in the house is now at least 48″ tall…thereby qualifying for full-price amusement park tickets:

stubs

What?! Mind you, it’s not the extra money that bothers me. It’s that the child is well into 48″. To have taken advantage of height cost savings, we should have been at the park at least three years ago, maybe four. Which I think we were, but above 48″ seemed so far into the future at that point.

Soon we’ll lose kids meal privileges too, I suppose. Which is probably just as well. At least there’s no age or height limit to Happy Meals…although we don’t buy those. But I do buy the toys from time to time. Cuz you can’t beat a Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz Flying Monkey toy….

Well, you saw some of the shirts for the Reclaimed/Recycled Clothing Quilt-along the other day. I have to say, “breaking down” shirts is somewhat satisfying. Although I think the people at tennis lessons might have been a tad nervous about the lady sitting in her car waving around some long scissors.

Yesterday, I started sewing. My favorite shirt of the bunch did not disappoint:

shirt1

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I made four large blocks from the back of the shirt.

Here are some of the others:

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shirt5

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So far, I have only cut into the backs of shirts. First I cut the required strip size, starting with the largest size first. Then I cut what I can from any odd shaped pieces or narrower strips. I’m using this handy tool:

comp angle

I’m also starching the shirt piece before I cut it. Better to have the fabric a little crispy when trying to cut straight stripes. I’ve also learned I need to “read” some of the stripes better before cutting strips — in some cases, I can trim off a little and thereby get a strip that is an exact match to a previous strip (this makes it easier to match up triangles later). But it will be fun to add in squares that are a little off or made up of oddball triangles (I am telling myself it will be fun…).

I thought I needed some more medium value blocks, so we made a quick stop at another local thrift store (much more reasonably priced than most of last week’s shirts):

moreshirts

Sadly, I left behind a nice shirt that had Snoopy on the pocket. I’m here to tell you that if you are inclined to want to make a shirt stripe quilt, there is NO shortage of blue/white striped shirts out there.

See, even dear daughter’s top is part of the stripey scene over here:

top

There are other great ideas in the book for using up any shirt stripe leftovers:

passpbook

This is one of my favorite Kaffe and Liza books (not that I don’t love them all) — rice bowls, hat boxes, dots, stripes. Rife with inspiration.

I’m so glad Anita suggested this quilt-along!! Thanks, Anita!

Oh, one last thing. Anyone else extremely excited about something like this in their email box:

suerossbom

I am!

No sewing tomorrow; we’ll be riding rides and amusing ourselves with amusement park food!

Comments (15)

Full house

July 24, 2009 at 2:53 pm · Filed under Books, Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts

For the last two weeks, some part or other of the family has been away from the premises. Dear husband was working away in San Francisco for 10 days. Dear daughter was visiting my parents. Do you know what that left me? Two dogs and the house to myself! I tried really hard to be diligent and keep my nose to the proverbial sewing grindstone. Another goal was to cook and clean up as little as possible (solved by a vat of gazpacho and a huge chunk of watermelon…). Ahhh… I just finished quilting the Art Gallery Fabrics Botanica quilt as my last “official” alone time activity.

botanica

I don’t think I mentioned, this stuff is heavenly to work with — a crisp hand (in a good way), presses and quilts up beautifully!

And now the house is full again — well, not right this minute since these same people are now off swimming with visiting cousins — and happily so. It is always nice to have a quiet routine, some clear and complete thoughts, and a sense of finishing some things. It is also nice to have the loved ones back at home.

While in San Francisco, hubby was working less than a mile from Urban Burp. The Other Mrs. Schmenkman waxes lyrical about the place, and I can almost hear the tear glistening in her eye when she speaks of it. So, hubby just had to get himself there. He is rather proud of his purchases:

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I appreciate that he would act as my personal shopper in a place that, I am sure, would overwhelm me with choices! Don’t you think he did a good job?

He also went to Kinokuniya in search of quilting reading material:

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Two mags showcasing the fantastic Island Style work of Kathy Mom, an IQA Founders Award winner. Beautiful and exciting things in these two.

And knowing the dear daughter and I like a good, cute Japanese stuffy book:

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Cute!

I’m afraid I have no travel photos of my own to share since the dogs and I saw pretty much the same things we see every day. Pixie, our canine tour guide will never let us stray from our regular path. So, sometimes Pepper and I leave her at home and venture a little further afield (hmmm, still nothing new to photograph…).

Instead, I will leave you with exciting fabric photos. Some new choices from the latest collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The new colors and prints are, of course, stellar!

persvases

sprays

buttons

::Sigh:: Besides, I’d rather look at the new fabrics and let my mind do the wandering!

Comments (15)

Leafy greens

July 21, 2009 at 2:25 pm · Filed under Books, Fabric, Quilts

Well, a girl has to do something while she waits for the new Kaffe fabric to come out.

leafblock

So, why not start the Leaves in the Breeze quilt from the new Piece O’ Cake book?

leavesbreeze

This is some of the most relaxing, least fret-about applique I’ve ever done. Easy to prep, only one point to tuck per leaf. Ahhhh… And the GREEN fabrics a girl gets to choose?!?! Say no more, I’m there.

leafblock2

For some fantastic hand applique tips, be sure to visit Cathy and Janet!

Comments (29)

Tops a’plenty

July 17, 2009 at 5:00 pm · Filed under Books, Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts

This week is apparently about quilt tops. Next week I think I have to have a visit with the other end of the sewing machine — the quilting end, so to speak.

I worked with some lovely Art Gallery Fabrics this week, from the Botanica grouping:

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It’s a bit of a variation, but Art Gallery offers a free pattern for this quilt. Seriously, done in one day. Don’t you love a good quick quilt?

I finally returned to the flannel animals:

animals

After I saw Katy’s FUN, BRIGHT version of this quilt, I wept and left my blocks in a pile for a while. This is from a free pattern over at the Michael Miller site — it’s called Giraffes, Hippos and Elephants, Oh My!

I do like my elephant’s polka dots:

flannelphant

So, that’s what I’ve been doing. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go sit on the porch with a yummy new book:

pieceoapplique

Heh heh heh. SQUEAL! This is an AWESOME book! I like every project in it.

Comments (14)

Zauberball!

July 15, 2009 at 12:43 pm · Filed under Books, Everyday Things

zauber1

Zauberball! I met the Zauberball at the local yarn store yesterday. It’s magic. Kind of like the Gelato ombre fabrics. And I like saying it: Zauberball! I went again today to visit the Zauberballs. I want to make a Zauberball scarf of some sort.

zauber2

I like the slightly rustic nature of the winding too. Zauberball!

I have lost my mind.

But here’s something you might want to know about. I found this at Borders today:

jbolton

Patchwork Folk Art by Janet Bolton is just out in paperback in the U.S. I believe this is a reprint of the 1995 hardcover of the same name. It is extremely charming and now easy to get! Visit Janet Bolton’s web site here.

Zauberball!

Comments (13)

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