Monday, September 29, 2014

Rush Hour Blog Hop

Welcome to my day on the
Rush Hour Blog Hop.
Such an appropriate hop for me...
I love everything Black, White & Red...
and I excel at
RUSH!

These days it seems we are always Rushing.
The Spouse and I have just finished a 3 day quilt show
(which of course included days and weeks of prep, packing & unpacking...twice)
To say we are exhausted is an understatement.
On Monday we will be rushing to unload the trailer and rearrange the shop...
ahhh...the glorious life of a quilt shop mom and pop.  

The theme for this years Jacksonville QuiltFest was
"It's Not All Black & White"
Members of the hosting guild hung quilts outside the entrance to the show.
What a wonderful surprise to find one of my designs hanging up.
My friend Donna Garnet made this in a class I taught.
Seems appropriate to share it here.


I started to make a sample for the show that would double as my entry here today.
(the two birds...one stone idea....)
Somehow the time got away from me as it normally does...
the sample was never finished...
which is probably just as well...
since I realized I'd included an extra color or two to boot....
so rather than RUSH to finish...
(I will be making placemats for our kitchen re-do)
I decided to fall back on one of my original thoughts.

I managed to eek out a few hours on Sunday
to make a cute little mug rug for the hop.
I love shapes that are odd...


I used the "Mini Hex N More" from JayBird Quilts
to form the twirly coffee cups
(my fav fab from the Rush Hour line from StudioE).


I thought it would be fun to include part of the
selvage so I would always remember the fabric used...
especially when there is such a cool looking logo.


Many moons ago when this hop was announced...
I immediately went out and found the perfect coffee cup.
I knew I would make a mug rug even then.
Love the little retro red button....
it will balance the perfect cookie...
to go along with my 'skinny yarn latte'!


Thanks again to the amazing Madam Samm 
and the equally astounding Carol for cheering us on!

Be sure to Rush now and visit the other amazing bloggers scheduled for today.
You don't want to miss out.

Monday, September 29
Thimblemouse and Spouse - You're here
Coeur d'Alene

Thanx for the visit!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

I SEE You....It's September! What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Yowza!
Where DID the summer go?
It can't possibly be September!
But alas, it is...and here we are... 
Day 1 of the 
See You In September Blog Hop!

It seemed like it was forEVER ago that we signed up to participate in this hop
sponsored by the wonderful as always
along with the help of Head Cheerleader
Be sure to visit them soon and give them a cyber-hug for all their hard work!

Summer may have started in June...
but for me it really began July 1st with the first ever
coast to coast
Row by Row Experience Shop Hop.
There was no summer vacation for the Spouse and this little Mouse!

All my summer sewing plans went pretty much by the wayside...
NOT that I wasn't sewing...
Oh My...I Never Stopped!

I completed 8 different samples of our shop row by row pattern
"All Tied Up With A Bow".
These are four themed kits we offered
Christmas
Sewing/Quilting
Florida
Dog & Cats Chrismas
(as I ran out of fabrics...new samples had to be made...but I'm only showing you 4)

We'll call this project ONE.

The Row by Row shop hop was a total summer success!

We might be in Florida...
but we definitely are not on the tourist route.
However the shop hop changed that this year....
and we are grateful...VERY grateful!

I spent every shop working day
cutting endless kits!
I can cut them in my sleep.
I can sew rows in my sleep.
Actually...I can't do either...but it sure would have been nice!
We had over 300 hoppers
Cut and sold over 250 kits!

Per the rules...the hop ended yesterday, Sept 2nd.
We can not make our designs available via internet/email or sell our patterns until November 1st.
So I invite you back at midnight on the first of November...
the pattern for our row as shown above
will be available here as a FREE download!
Mark your calendar!

Project 2
It's no secret...we've met and made some of the sweetest friends
by way of the local donut shop.
Alas...the shop closed last January...
but we kept in touch with an August-Bride-To-Be....
and of course...
nothing says "Make A Quilt"
like a wedding!

Their colors....
Yes...you see them above...
Lime Green and Shocking Pink!
I gave them their choice...
bed quilt or lap.
They chose a queen size quilt for their bed.
The only request our dear bride had...
was to include their initial...
in the center of the quilt.
Leighann came to the quilt shop....
I let her suggest fabrics...
she didn't care...
as long as it was pink and green...
but she did Love that plaid you see!

Here's the quilt done
Of all the fabrics, naturally the plaid had the least on the bolt.
Isn't that always the way?
But we made it work!

The bride and groom held their 'country wedding'
in a transformed working barn!
Yards and yards of pink, green and white tulle
was suspended from the rafters...
wrapped around poles...
hundreds of twinkling lights were strung up!


We were so touched that they included the quilt in their wedding decor!
It was a beautiful afternoon for a wonderful couple!

Project 3
YES...GINGHAM TIME!
When this hop was first announced...
I started making hexies with mini gingham check from Riley Blake.
I made oodles.
I had NO idea what I would do with them.
As it turned out....
they are still sitting safely in their little project tote...
waiting to grow up and be something.

BUT...
I had another idea to make a baby quilt of gingham.
I wanted it a little bit modern.
And then the row by row shop hop happened.
So the baby quilt...
shrank!

I love it even more!
I'm really into little quilts...
this makes me smile!
The 6" blocks shrank down to 3-1/2" finished.
I think I'm calling this
"Gingham Bubbles"

The blocks are very easy to make.
Choose your "bubble" fabric...
-cut 3" squares for each block
-cut 4 background squares at 1-1/4" for the 'corners' - attach, flip, press - (trim excess) - done.
-Sew background strips to two side as shown - sizes given are CUT size!
Easy peasy!

Here's how I laid them out - of course you can have fun arranging your bubbles any way you want!


Border (or not) as desired.
I added a scrappy of each color...my 'mod' touch.

The mini measures 18"x24".
It took me 6 hours and two full bobbins to quilt.
I did echo quilting with my walking foot.
I'm in love!

But wait!
There were SCRAPS!
And truth be told....
I love the scrappy projects
EVEN MORE!
(if that's possible)

I cut the left over gingham into 1-1/2" strips...
added 1-1/2" strips of the Riley Blake grey Shades...
(ok...the Shades wasn't really leftover...but we can just pretend...)

I made 2" Finished double rails...
TA-DA!
CHEVRON LOVE!!!!
MINI STYLE
7-1/2" tall x "not a clue wide" because I wrote it down wrong in my notes...
 and the quilt is at the shop...
I am not...Aaaaaack! 

No matter...you get the idea.

Quilting detail below

There were 4 rail blocks leftover...
so naturally....a pincushion was born.
Isn't it darling?

But wait...there were "ends" of the rail strips....
can't let them go to waste....
selvages and all!

Add a scrappy of binding fab from the quilt...
Voila!
Pincushion back!
I can't decide which side I like better!

So there you have it.
My summer sewing.
Rows and Rows...Quilts Big and Small...and a Pincushion!
I still can't believe it's September!

Be sure to visit these remarkable bloggers below...
they're sew excited to show you what they did this summer!

Thx for the visit!



 Wednesday, September 3
Sew Incredibly Crazy
Bumbleberry Cottage
u r here ->Thimblemouse and Spouse <-thx 4 the visit!
Mad Quilter's Disease
In The Boon Docks

Here's the rest of the show!

Don't forget to tune in each day!

Thursday, September 4
Grandmama's Stories

Thursday, September 11
Quiltscapes

Friday, September 12

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