September Sew-Along (part 1)

Here we go! I hope you all have fun.

Focus Fabric-Cut 3 6 1/2" strips. From strips cut 18 6 1/2" squares.

or

Fussy cut 18 6 1/2 " squares.

Fabric B-(this will frame the focus fabric) Cut 18 1 1/2" strips.

From strips cut 36 1 1/2"x 6 1/2" rectangles

and 36 1 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangles

We will be sewing on Thursday!

September Sew-Along Reminder

Tomorrow is the 1st day of the September Sew-Along. I hope that lots of you are ready to be a part of this online project! Here are the details:

The finished quilt will be 52"x68". A perfect size for kids, sofas, picnics, you name it.

You need 5 1 yard cuts of fabric. One focus fabric, and 4 coordinates. I am using flannel, so I have 1 1/8 yard cuts. And I prewashed my fabric.

3 1/2 yards for backing.

On Tuesdays I will post cutting instructions, and on Thursdays I will post sewing instructions. By the end of the month you will have your quilt top completed and ready to quilt. This could be the start of your Christmas sewing if you plan it right!

I hope you'll send pictures, and well have a great big show and tell at the end. Remember there will be prizes.

SHOW AND TELL

One of the great things about owning a quilt shop (or working in one) is all of the great projects we get to see. A couple of days ago someone brought in this wonderful soft sculpture ring stacker. The pattern is from Heather Bailey, and this one is made from the fabric collection, Sweet. It was just about the cutest toy ever! Thanks for sharing!

SUMMER IN MC CALL

I have just returned from a few days with my oldest son. He lives in a beautiful little (2,036) town high in the mountians of Idaho. The last 3 years we have stayed in a beautiful little hotel, Hotel McCall. It sits right on the shore of Payette Lake.

One of the great things about staying in this hotel, is the little quilt shop just down the block. Go to http://huckleberrypatches.com to see just how cute it is. They have lots of wool projects, and wonderful embroidery samples. I always come away with a few goodies.

Tonight, I hope to get to my sewing room to add the final borders to my Tea Time BOM. Noel and I are planning on hanging a few new samples tomorrow morning. I promise not to get the big ladder out!

At 10pm we will all be watching America's Next Top Chef. Ashley Merriman is a contestant from Seattle's Bronsino where my youngest son works. When he was in Culinary School, he did his internship at Tilth, in Wallingford. Ashley was the Sous Chef at the time, and took him under her wing. She has been a wonderful role model for him, as well as an excellent teacher. We are rooting for her! GO ASHLEY!

Photo's and Fabric

Last week I figured out how to save a photo from the web, (did you notice), and today I am hoping to publish a photo from my camera. A major achievement I must admit. I really need to do this. I have been watching a friends blog, rosebudscottage.typepad.com, she had a Sew-Along during the Minnesota Shop Hop, posting a block each day, and today she has pictures of her quilt being quilted! Go check it out.

If you are going to have a Sew-Along there needs to be photos! So, how about the fabrics that I will be using during my September-Sew-Along? Ok, here goes. Wow, It worked!! I will work on placement and size, I promise.

If you want to get started, this is going to be a 5-yard quilt. I chose flannel, so I acutally have 1 and 1/8yds of 5 fabrics. I have prewashed them, yes flannel does shrink. I think this will be fun, and there just might be prizes at the end.

I am off to Idaho to celebrate my 1st born's 30th birthday. Where did the time go?

Summer Time Quilting

I have always loved the romantic thought of quilting outdoors with other women in the summer. Thoughts of small children playing ring-around-the-rosie, older girls bringing glasses of lemonaide to the quilters. Boys in striped shirts riding bikes. The quilters sharing secrets and talking about what they are cooking for dinner. I don't know why this has such an appeal to me, but it does.

With my week at quilt camp, and sewing a couple of days on shop samples, I am thinking that I want it all. Including the romance of quilting. I hope some of you are out there sewing with friends, maybe taking a hand project to the pool or the park with your children. Maybe you are woking on a masterpiece like the one in the picture.

Whatever you are working on I hope you are enjoying the summer! J

Sunday Sewing

I love Sunday mornings, when I can put on a pair of sweats, make a cup of tea, pull my hair into a pony tail and dream in my sewing room. It has become such a mess, way to many projects to ever get to the finish line. However, I love it in there. It is all mine. I can just look thru books, play with fabric, watch an old movie and everyone thinks I am working.

Yesterday I cut out and started sewing one of the new Block of the Month projects for the shop. It is from Nancy Davis Murty, from Bee Creative Studios and the fabrics are Tea Time from Andover. It is going to be soooo beautiful, I can't wait to finish it and hang it in the shop. It has and elegant color-wash feel. It will be starting in September. Joyce's new Girl's Gang will be starting in September, also.

Home From Camp

I made it home from Quilt Camp, and as Noel would say, "I still have the jet-lag". After all of the Quilt Camp Fun, I drove back to Minneapolis and met up with my husband. We then spent 6 days exploring Lake Superior. It was really a wonderful vacation. I am ready and excited to work on new projects. Including a blog sew along in September. Watch for details!