FABRIC TUESDAY #22 Seriously!

Hello again! Welcome back to fabric Tuesday!  

Megan told you about her brush with the stars. She forgot to tell you the best story.  About 7 years back, our parents lived in southern California. Megan and I were taking a little Hollywood vacation. It was a funny funny night. We ate pizza on a sidewalk 10 feet from a homeless man as we watched an ambulance take someone out from a club. We were hoping it was a star.  Then we thought we would go check out the Ivy because celebrities are always there.  I was infront of Megan and suddenly turned around and freaked out. I was giggling, and crossing my legs so I wouldn't pee (give me a break, I had just had a baby.) Megan was dying because I couldn't compose myself to talk. Finally I uttered the words " It is Dawson Leery"  from Dawson's creek. And yes, I did actually say Dawson Leery, and  not his real name James Vanderbeek.  Megan hurried past me to get a look. It was really funny and awesome!

 Okay, back to some relevant info. This is the quilt I made with Aunt Bea's fabric pile from a few weeks ago.
PS AUNT BEA IS HAVING A HUGE SALE!

 I made it for my niece Hannah. (I hope the other kids don't expect one, because I have 35 nieces and nephews. (on this side alone!)  She loves green and blues. And I think she loved this quilt.

I did an all over stipple I was happy with. It is the largest quilt I have quilted on my own.  I am really happy with it.

The sad news is Aunt Bea's fabric shop is closing.  The good news is 

AUNT BEA'S FABRIC SHOP IS ALL 30% OFF!!! HURRY AND GET THE GOOD STUFF!

edited to add: Megan posted on Fresh Poppy Design, a sneak peek at her kitchen re-do and one of our new patterns, so make sure to take a peek!

FABRIC TUESDAY!

Edition 22

Link up a recent craft project that uses fabric...if you're new don't be shy!  This is for everyone.  Click the button to add your link at the bottom and link up a recent blog post where you used fabric to create or enhance something. Below are a few "rules" to play.

Mention us in your post with either a link or make it easy and add the button to your blog sidebar and you won't have to remember each week. ***You can take either our blog or our Fabric Tuesday buttons on the sidebar.***
PLEASE READ ME:
Most everyone does this, but please actually mention that you are linking up to Quilt Story in your post...even if you have the button on the sidebar there needs to be mention in the post :)  We've just seen a couple where we can't see any button or link to us and then we scroll way way down and there's the button...we want to make sure everyone knows so everyone can play!  Thank you!!

You don't have to do this to link up, promise. However if you want to follow us, we follow back :) But please comment telling us you did so and we will hop right on over and make sure we're following too!

And how about we each take time to comment on the link just before yours, that's easy enough right? We'd love for this to be a linky party where everyone gets comments, so if you take the time to look, take a second to leave a comment!

What have you been up to?!?

Happy Monday!  Welcome to Quilt Story :)  Today we're featuring another one of our guest judges for the Block Party (what?? You haven't heard??  Well check this out so you can win tons of prizes!)  Sorry about that.  On to our guest judges, Twin Fibers!  It is no secret that we love Jennifer and Jessica and their amazing and creative work.  It seems as though every time we get on the computer they have another great quilt finish!  If you haven't been to their blog, you must.  Great tutorials, quilt finishes, the works.  

Now, get ready for some eye candy.

Love the colors here, and check out that darling crib!  Great photo!

I really love how this is paired with black, it's so dynamic.

They even give a tutorial for this darling quilt!  Added to my "to-do" list.

Stunning.

I love their unique style and design, the hand stitching looks fabulous here!

Thanks again girls!

See you tomorrow for Fabric Tuesday!

Block Party Judge Amylouwho...

Have you heard of Amylouwho? of course you have. She has a super cute blog happening over here. She also hosts a once a week linky party of Friday's (well it isn't happening for a few weeks, and she may make it a monthly link up. Read here for more info) Although she is reevaluating where she is going with her blog and sewing, (we all know how blogging and sewing can take over your life)  I am sure she will do a great job whatever direction she decides to go with her blog.



Here are some super cute pillows she  made with a great tutorial...



some yummy recipes and baking going on over there...



And of course some fun quilting and sewing projects...

Thanks Amy!

Heather and Megan loner block party...vote please !

Well Heather and I are just giggling like crazy.  You'll see why in a minute.  First, since we're having a really fun Block Party for ya'll, we decided we wanted to do a mini block party between us :)  We've each created a traditional quilt block this week and you get to vote on the sidebar for your favorite block.  We'll have the poll open for a week until we have next week's block, modern.

This poll is no longer open.

Heather's Block 

Megan's Block

See why we're laughing?!?  We made the same block!!! Of all the blocks in the world..seriously.  We've been chatting all week but decided not to tell what we're doing as to not influence the other.  We didn't discuss fabrics, colors, anything!  Ah we're funny people.

Quick Story. If you don't care to get to know us better, skip this paragraph :)  A few months after I had my second baby it was my birthday, so I went and bought a new dress (uh, from Walmart, it's seriously all that I had to shop at for two years).  You'd be surprised how cute Walmart clothes can look to you when you have no other choices.  Anyway, at church I got a compliment here and there about how nice I looked.  And then they kept coming, and coming.  And then I got downright angry.  Seriously??  I looked so awful for four months that now you see me showered and in a $15 dress and you can't stop saying how good I look??  Well I told this story to Heather and her husband Dallan.  Heather had a disturbed look on her face and was nodding right along with me.  Dallan, however, couldn't stop laughing at how similar Heather and I are.  She tried her best to convince him that each additional compliment was rude, but he never got on board. :)

Back to the parties!  So not only did we want to have this little challenge for fun for ourselves, but we wanted to give you guys ideas and inspiration to join the Block Party!  However, us each making the same block didn't really make that statement we had planned.  Below we've compiled a mosaic of blocks from Flickr that fall in one way our another into the traditional category.

1. Deanna's Block, 2. December Block for Kimmie -- Sweet Dreams Quilting Bee, 3. Test block for March, 4. Stash Busting Bee: February, 5. Dresden Block for November MLB, 6. Card Trick, 7. Modern Bee Quilt Block June, 8. Quilt Along Block 2, 9. Quilt Block Swap - May - For Debbie, 10. Quilting Divas block for Sandy, 11. The Euro Bee September - for Tacha, 12. rainbow around the block blue, 13. Jelly Roll Quilt Along Block 5, 14. Sweet Dreams Quilting Bee Blocks, 15. Sweet Dreams Quilting Bee Blocks, 16. Nettie's Block

A couple of people wondered if they could still enter the block party if they don't have a blog, and the answer is YES!  Check out our original post where I've edited to add that information.

Don't forget to vote for your favorite block (or color) on the sidebar! :)  Vote for me!!
This poll is no longer open.

PS Do you know a good poll widget that allows pictures?  I'd love to know :)

2nd Celebrity Block party Judge...Bev from Flamingo Toes...

We decided that the perfect way to round out our judges for our the Block Party was to add Bev from Flamingo toes.  (If you are in the dark about the block party where you can win hundreds of dollars in prizes, click here) 

Bev has a great sense of style and pairs fabric and colors together gorgeously.  Bev was a little surprised that we asked her, as she is not a quilter. But she has a great eye for style, and we thought a non quilting eye might be just what we need for our panel of expert judges. 

Bev makes tons of original projects, and she is a great copycat of anthropologie finds in decor and jewelry.

Look at this darling Valentine's project? I sorta really want to make it...

This is an anthropologie necklace knock off (hers is cuter) super fun easy tutorial...

Check out this darling very detailed apron tutorial...

Thank you Bev!

Fabric Tuesday!

Happy Fabric Tuesday everyone!

Did you all watch Oprah yesterday?

Let me fill you in.

She has a secret half sister!

{everyone staring blankly at the computer screen}

Okay okay, so none of us knew how many siblings Oprah did or didn't have.

But let me say, this lady found out a few years ago (2007) that she was Oprah's half sister, given up for adoption at birth.  Can you imagine that?!?

Want to know something else?

Heather and I went to see Oprah!!  We actually got tickets to be in her audience a little more than a year ago.  Heather flew into Chicago to meet me for less than 24 hours. leaving her 6 week old baby at home.  Totally worth it.  It was awesome.  She totally looked at us, she kept making eyes at me because I had a question for her...even though I never got to ask it, but that's a whole other story.

Heather and I also saw Bob Barker's head once on a guided tour of Hollywood.

I saw President Bush land on Air Force One.

I saw Joan Rivers in an airport terminal.

AND I saw Wayne, the big brother on the Wonder Years in the airport.  But not to be confused with the time I saw Joan Rivers.  Totally different.

Well if that wasn't a tangent...and for a very smooth transition...

Here's what I made my friend Sara aka SewSara for Christmas! :)

The girl LOVES red, cherries and bright and cheery fabric! I didn't give her specific instructions on it's usage (that's probably what she's thinking!).  I imagine it could be a wall hanging, or table topper...It's probably a 12 inch square in the middle where I appliqued the cherry.  I used scraps from my Spinning Coin Quilt to piece the border and used the same fabulous binding. I have one last little project where I used the rest of my fabric from the Fabric Shoppe that I'll share next week.

I straight line quilted it because it's all I know how to do it's really trendy and fit this piece perfectly!  Here is what Sara made for me.

Without more pointless blabbering...I give you:

FABRIC TUESDAY!

Edition 21

Link up a recent craft project that uses fabric...if you're new don't be shy!  This is for everyone.  Click the button to add your link at the bottom and link up a recent blog post where you used fabric to create or enhance something. Below are a few "rules" to play.

Mention us in your post with either a link or make it easy and add the button to your blog sidebar and you won't have to remember each week. ***You can take either our blog or our Fabric Tuesday buttons on the sidebar.***
PLEASE READ ME:
Most everyone does this, but please actually mention that you are linking up to Quilt Story in your post...even if you have the button on the sidebar there needs to be mention in the post :)  We've just seen a couple where we can't see any button or link to us and then we scroll way way down and there's the button...we want to make sure everyone knows so everyone can play!  Thank you!!

You don't have to do this to link up, promise. However if you want to follow us, we follow back :) But please comment telling us you did so and we will hop right on over and make sure we're following too!

And how about we each take time to comment on the link just before yours, that's easy enough right? We'd love for this to be a linky party where everyone gets comments, so if you take the time to look, take a second to leave a comment!

What have you been up to?!?

1st Celebrity Block Party Judge...Amy Smart Diary of a Quilter

Today we are featuring our first celebrity judge for our block party. If you don't know what I'm talking about, make sure you check it out...it's for everyone!  AND there is hundreds of dollars in prizes to be had...seriously!

Amy Smart from the popular blog Diary of a Quilter.  Amy has a wonderful blog full of gorgeous quilts and projects.  Can you guess from this first photo where she is from? Utah, where I live (Heather).  We have featured Amy twice, and already have another one of her quilts to feature, but I will save that for a later date.  

Amy has some fun tutorials, loads of them! Go have a look...

Amy's beginner quilting series. This is a great link if you are just getting started!

Amy's pattern shop. Amy sells a lot of her quilt patterns here in PDF format, so you can be impulsive and get started right away!

Here are some of her finishes...

Here is one of her gorgeous quilts, made for her sister. I LOVE these colors.

Wait, I LOVE these colors more!  Isn't this quilt sweet?

She just keeps sewing and sewing.  Loads of finished quilts!

Thanks for being our Judge Amy!

Heather and Megan feeling left out...

Hi. Megan and I have been feeling a little blue about this block party that we can't join. So we decided to do our own.  So we are going to have a block party between ourselves. We are going to post our blocks in the next few weeks for each category. We will post so you don't know who is who. That way people can't just vote for Megan because they like her better, (as they often do).  You will just have to vote for the block you like better.

Grand Prize:

2 yards of fabric from the others stash, one free week from posts and a custom pillow

We will put our first blocks up for voting this Thursday, traditional blocks.

Please join in on the fun and vote for your favorite Thursday!

Heather and Megan

Make a Difference by Quilting

Rene' from Rene' Creates is a very talented quilter we (and many of you)  have gotten to know through blogland! She recently sent us a link to a post of hers that she's very passionate about.  There is a charity called the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative that sells and auctions donated quilts to raise awareness and funding for research. Little did Rene know, our grandmother passed away 4 years ago this May with Alzheimer's.  And she was an avid quilter.  We each have quilts from her for our weddings and our babies.  She taught Heather how to knit.  We definitely get our crafty and creativity from that side of the family.  Quilting was probably the last hobby she was able to maintain.  So please read below to hear Rene's great thoughts and ideas to get us all motivated to help and check out AAQI for more information.  Thanks again Rene'.

Don't you just love the feeling you get with the promise of a new year....new goals....new challenges...new possibilities...especially when you're off to a great start in reaching those goals? 

AAQI #6342 Color Play

A major goal I set for myself this year was recommitting to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative by making Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts, and I am psyched to tell you that I completed two this weekend!

If you are not familiar with the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, go right now to their page to learn how this amazing organization "raises awareness and funds research through art." Just make sure you come back because I have more to say on the subject ;-)

Go ahead....I'll wait.......

Color Play is going in the mail today!

....pretty amazing organization, am I right?!  

Did you bid or buy any quilts while you were there?  {grins}

I recently purchased this quilt made by my good buddy Michele, and I have my eye on this one and this one made by fellow members of the Liberated Quilters Blog!!!

AAQI #6343 The Blues

I love making these quilts because it gives me an opportunity to try new techniques, practice my FMQ, and use my scraps, all while helping a worthy cause!  They are super quick as well, because the maximum size is 9 by 12 inches.

Would you like to make a Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt?  Anyone and everyone is welcome and encouraged to make one.  You don't have to be part of a guild or the liberated quilter's group.  Just go to the Make a Priority: Alzheimer's quilt donation page to find out how.

I noticed that other bloggers had set a goal to make Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts too, so I thought it would be fun to challenge and motivate one another to keep that resolution.  

The Blues is also being mailed out today.

Thank you Michele and Susan for brainstorming with me!  Here's the scoop: 

1) Make a Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt 

2) Register your quilt with the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative 

3) Repeat #1 and #2 as many times as you'd like ;-)

4) Tell all your artsy quilty friends to do the same

5) Consider adding your blog post to the AAQI Update blog

Edited to add:
The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative has come up with a way for us all to encourage our readers. Find out how by visiting the AAQI Update blog. [link to http://aaqiupdate.wordpress.com/get-ideas/] The AAQI will also be creating a button for our blogs soon.

On the last day of each month, come back and share the registration number(s) of the quilt(s) you made.  From those, we will have drawings for fun giveaways.  Maybe, we'll even have a Show and Tell so others will be inspired to make, bid and/or buy!

Sound like fun? {Please say yes!} 

If you are interested in playing, leave me a comment so I know I'm not doing this alone ;-)  Don't forget to tell all your bloggy friends.  Check back soon for further details.

I hope you are as excited as I am about this challenge!!!!!

Zig Zag Quilt from Hyacinth Quilt Designs

The past couple of days have been so fun! Thanks for all your support, Heather and I really love doing this blog.  We talk everyday about what's going on and the nice compliments we get.  We love you guys!!  Today we've got Cindy from Hyacinth Quilt Designs...let me tell you she is quite the talented quilter.  I really love this quilt top she just finished, I am smitten by anything gray these days.  Check out her 2010 round-up, such detailed quilts!  I'm amazed.  She's got a zig zag quilt (and tutorial) to share with us today, hooray!!  I have been dreaming, literally, of a zig zag quilt myself these days...however Heather has threatened me many times that my only goal and focus is Quilt Market in May.  Focus, focus, focus...


My Zig Zag quilt is done! I'm so happy with the results, especially the colors. Not a color combination I've tried before.

Gray, white, yellow and aqua...

And the back came out as pretty as the front. I used a gray Aurifil thread that had some subtle variegations in it. It was actually kind of an accident (or maybe a leap of faith), but the variegated thread created an interesting effect. I quilted each row in a "Feather Plume". The idea came from this Zig Zag quilt I found in my Zig Zag searching. The quilting was beautiful and she got the idea from this quilter.

Now for my little mishap story. I pin basted the whole quilt and as I added the LAST row of pins, I realized the backing was a little short at one end (I now think I had the quilt turned the wrong way on the backing). Not wanting to unpin and repin the whole quilt and knowing I had extra backing fabric, I decided that when I got to that end I would simply unpin a little and stitch another strip on to the backing. Of course when I was quilting and was almost done, in my haste I completely forgot to add the additional strip. My first thoughts were to unquilt (ugh!) or trim the quilt shorter (and ruin the design!). My easy solution was to take a strip of backing fabirc, turn under 1/4" on one long edge and applique it to the back. Voila! It worked (and actually looks like a sleeve). I hope you're never in that situation - but it seems like a good solution.

There are lots of ways to make a Zig Zag quilt. Here's my easy method. My quilt is 60" wide (10 triangles across) and 72" long (24 rows at 3" each).

From each fabric, cut a 7 1/4" strip. From the strip, cut 5 squares 7 1/4", cut twice diagonally and 1 square 3 7/8", cut once diagonally. You'll only need 19 of the large triangles.

Each row has 10 large triangles of one color and 9 large triangles plus 2 small triangles of another. Place them like this with one small triangle at one end...
and another small triangle at the other end.
Piecing these triangles is simple if you know the tricks. When sewing the small triangle on the ends, match up the 45 degree corners. On the opposite end you'll notice a corner hanging off also called the "dog ear" in quilting terms.
When you piece your large triangles together, you'll see that you have a "dog ear" on both ends. Line them up so that the inside of that little "V" that they form is 1/4" from the edge. When you first do this you may want to measure, but after you've done it for a while you can certainly eye-ball it.
Just keep making more and more rows and sew them together. You can use one set of triangles to split between the top and bottom rows.

Good luck! Let me know if you make one. I'm sleeping under mine tonight!

Fabric Tuesday number 20! Fun fun fun!

Hi all, First and foremost make sure to check out yesterdays post about the Quiltstory block party. Fun contest we are hosting with hundreds of dollars in prizes!!!

 A couple weeks I showed you this gorgeous pile from Aunt Bea's Fabric...here is my work in progress...

I cut them into 10" squares, and added a 6" border. 

Then I am rechopping it up again with my Twister tool... like this post...

 I should have it finished in a week or so to show you the final quilt. It is getting gorgeous!

I forgot to show you all this finish...I made this runner for my sister Amy. She loves pastel babyish colors (who doesn't) so I made her a Christmas runner in the cute pastel colors she loves...

 I tried straight line quilting for the first time, super fun! I can't wait to do that again!

Alright, your turn...

FABRIC TUESDAY

Edition 20

Link up a recent craft project that uses fabric...if you're new don't be shy!  This is for everyone.  Click the button to add your link at the bottom and link up a recent blog post where you used fabric to create or enhance something. Below are a few "rules" to play.

Mention us in your post with either a link or make it easy and add the button to your blog sidebar and you won't have to remember each week. ***You can take either our blog or our Fabric Tuesday buttons on the sidebar.***

You don't have to do this to link up, promise. However if you want to follow us, we follow back :) But please comment telling us you did so and we will hop right on over and make sure we're following too!

And how about we each take time to comment on the link just before yours, that's easy enough right? We'd love for this to be a linky party where everyone gets comments, so if you take the time to look, take a second to leave a comment!

Let's see those fabric creations!