Wrapping up October

The month was a bit crazy but fun. Things are heating up at work with end of the year projects so I didn't get to complete everything on my initial list, but I did make a dent on my quilting and I got the chance to make a new top.

I finished baby quilts #2

And baby quilt #3

I also finished my October Schnibble

What I didn't get to was quilting the Red, White and Blue piece or finshed the Gooble Gooble quilt top. I also didn't get to quilt the Schnibble from September. :(

I guess, this will be something to move onto my November list.

Baby Quilt #3 is out the door... well almost.

This one was an extra baby quilt I made as a backup / birthday present when my Little Boy Blue quilt turned out to be a bit too white. I posted about it in September and put it aside to quilt in October.

All The Little Horseys was finished earlier in October but I had not bound it. Wrapped this one up a few days ago and threw it in the wash yesterday. Don't you love the wrinkly look that first was gives the quilt?

On the white squares I put tacks of different themes. It has little cars, bunnies, frogs, horses, stars, etc.  Here's a closer look.

The back needed to be pieced since the fabric was a bit short and I needed to add a good 4 inches. I think that just a little something in the back will do wonders to hide a seam when you have to extend the back fabric.

Definitely loved how this quilt showcases Moda's Horsing Around fabric line and how EASY it came together. Kudos to Crazy Old Ladies for designing such a wonderful quilt. You can see their pattern here.

Now that all the baby quilts are done, just need to go and deliver them before the kids celebrate thier first birthday!!!

Baby Quilt #2 Done!

Earlier this month I put the final stitches on Baby Quilt #2 - Little Boy Blue.

It turned out better than I could have imagined. I think I mentioned how I was not thrilled with the solid white and the whiteness of it. I had high hopes on the effectiveness of the quilting to give it the shadow needed to reduce the blaring white of the piece.

I think the binding in blue also helped give it a bit more character.

All in all, I am really happy that I stepped out of my comfort zone on this one. I will not be intimidated by solids anymore and will definitely use more of them in the future.

Festival Stash - yummy!

Part of going to the Houston IQF is the shopping - I would say the most important part if not for the beautiful quilts that can only be seen at the Festival.

With so many vendors it can be a bit overwhelming so I went with a plan.

I needed some of Sandy Gervais's new line Essence. I needed some of Sandy's Crazy Eight line for my October Schnibble project. Then I just wanted to pick up some pieces for a project I saw in an old issue of American Patchwork and Quilting (my favorite quilting magazine).

I got everything I HAD to have and then some things I couldn't leave behind like three charm packs that could be used to make this beauty...

I also picked up two patterns, one from Fig Tree & Co that I fell in love with as soon as I saw the quilt that Sherri pieced for Market this year, and the other was for the "T for Texas" quilt I saw at one of the booths. This one will be a quilt I make for myself (a rare thing). You can catch a peek at the quilt on the Featival post about the booths.

I can't wait to dig into the projects I have planned.

A Schnibble for Christmas

One of my October projects is for the A Year of Schnibbles group. I received the pattern earlier in the month but wanted to make it with some Christmas fabric, so I put it aside until the Quilt Festival and took the pattern with me to pick up some yardage of Crazy Eight by Sandy Gervais.

I'm actually quite excited with how it turned out. I don't have a Christmas themed quilt in the house and this one will be perfect. I used a few gold pieces from Bernatex's I Believe by Nancy Halvorsen. That line has some beautifule pieces that don't scream Christmas.

Here is a closer look at the Schnibble.

Looking forward to seeing what will be chosen for November.

A Halloween Giveaway at the Pumpkin Patch!

I needed to post about this ASAP because I don't want to be the last one to put it out there!!
Pumpkin Patch Primitives has a Halloween giveaway to die for (no goulish puns intended).

What is she giving away?


A Fat Quarter Bundle of
Red Rooster's Pumpkins n Spice Fabrics by Whimsicals.
Oh.. I'm sorry... make that TWO FQ bundles.
If there are more than 350 people joining the giveaway there will also be
a $100 dollar gift certificate to
the Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe!!

I have seen these fabrics up close (Got to fondle them a bit too) and I will say they are GORGEOUS!!!

So you have to jump on over there and throw your hat in by BLOGGING abut it.
It's the only way to get a chance to win! You need to blog about it. And then tell Brenda that you heard about the giveaway through Sandy @ Textile House. This means I get a few extra entries so say I refered you and maybe we both can walk away with a little something!!

The Exhibits.. Tales from the Festival Part 3

Finally we got to the Exhibits. I tried to grab the artist's name for all the quilts I took pictures of but I missed a few so if you recognize the artist behind the pieces please let me know so I can give appropriate credit.

If you have never been to the festival the display of quilts will be something different than what you would typically see at most quilt shows. The quilts are groups by exhibit category and there are ALOT of them. The lighting is low and since it's away from the vendors the area is quiet. It gives you a feel of being in a museum.

Since you don't want to miss any of the quilts you have to have a plan on how to tackle such a large area. So we took a moment to think about the layout and after we narrowed down how to walk the hall so we wouldn't miss anything we headed out.

I gave you a glimpse of a few of the pieces we saw but here are the most impressive ones, IMO.

Medea Escaping by Marilyn Belford

The fiery dragon on this one left me floored. We were actually looking at another exhibit and when we looked across the aisle there was this magnificient piece. You can see a close up of the dragon on my first post.

Incommunicato by Esterita Austin

This one seemed to just want to jump off the wall. It's a reflexion of something so mundane yet she was able to develop it in textile art.

The Man from Snowy River by Helen Godden

Another one that I just love. The Man from Snowy River is a favorite oldie for me and the scene where he jumps off the ridge with his horse the best part of the movie! You can see a close up of the center on my first post.

The Moment of Inspiration by Sandy Curran

I hadn't noticed Alfred Hitchcock in the quilt until my daughter pointed him out since I was watching the seaguls. The Birds was one of the first horror movies I ever watched so this one resonated with me,


The Pittsburgh Friendship Quilt was amazing. It's made from over 32,000 - 2.25" signature squares. It's divided into 21 panels and spans over 80 feet wide.

Here's a close up.



More jaw dropping pieces:

Zodiac by Marth Brown

The Zodiac is completely represented including the elements of Earth, Wind, Water and Fire at each corner. Not impressed yet?


Get a closer look at Leo


Woman of Color by Grace Errea


Motherhood III by Martha Brown

I admit that most of the outstanding pieces were more on the artsy side. I'm a more traditional quilter so I was a bit disappointed that there were not as many pieced quilts recognized but that is the nature of this show. I still caught a glimpse of a few that impressed me.

My Challenge by Vicki Jenkin


Father's Whistle by Chung Su Lee


Mild Spring by Kayto Hata


Encompassing by Corrine Vance


Loved this one but I didn't get the name of the artist.



Check out the detail on the stars.. They were TINY!!! Oh, and that border was pieced!

I always find this show to be very well organized. I guess after 35 years you get to know what works and what doesn't. The Show was wonderful and I look forward to going again now that I'm just a drive away. I'm trying to convince Brenda to come for Market (the wholesale version of the Festival) next year since I hear it's quite an experience. I wonder if the Quilt ehibits are up for Market? Anyone know?

Okay.. I think that is enough for now. I'm wrapping things up tomorrow with my stash enhancement and an update of what I've been doing. The month is just slipping by and I need to get cracking with my Charming Girl projects!

More Adventures.. Tales from the Festival Part 2

Getting back to the festival...

You really didn't need to go into the exhibits to be awed by the quilts, there were just so many samples made in the booths that you could just enjoy the show from there.

There are seriously talented quilters out there.



Yes, these are samples of current patterns.

My favorites were the pieced quilts (of course!), especially True Blue (the one in the corner that is blue and ivory) by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.! They had this one in a Kit that I was drooling over but could not bring myself to spend all my festival savings on just one pattern.

Here it is up close and personal.

I did pick up this pattern and anounced to my daughter that This was a quilt I would be making for myself! I have made many quilts but I almost always announce an owner before I have put in the last stitch. If the quilt doesn't have an owner before I finish it, I still don't consider it mine. It's more like it's just orphaned and is waiting to get adopted. So announcing that I was making this one for myself was a BIG thing.

I'll have a chance to show you a few pics of the exhibits later today, but I'll leave you with a few more pics...

Just Sing... Sing a Song by Tom Russell
This one was soo dang cute. I'm not a big fan of art pieces but this one was stunning and with the name being the title of a song I remember from childhood I knew it would stick with me.

Quilting in Perfect Harmony by Bert Garino

And talking about songs that stick with you, after reading the embroidered text on this one I was humming the Coca cola song for the rest of the day.

John Lennon - Requiem by Robert Mosier and Mary Jane Plisga

Yes, as a Beatles fan I had to love this one too.

Keep an eye out for more on the Festival.

I'm back!! Tales from the Festival Part 1

Guess where I have been the last two days?? I'll give you one guess...


So many treasures to see...


From Pincushions...


And dolls...


To Cowboys...



and Dragons...

The International Quilt Festival in Houston was the place to be this weekend.


Especially with such great company.

I had no been to the Festival since 1999 so I was looking forward to the event especially since my daughter was all hyped up and excited to go as well. Since I already knew that the Festival can be a bit overwhelming I started thinking about my shopping list weeks ago. With 20 loooooonnnnggg aisles of vendors lining up for your business you need to keep yourself focused or you will spend an arm and a leg and get home with nothing. I also was looking at each booth with Brenda in mind because she has been playing with the idea of doing a quilt show as a vendor and wanted some ideas.


This one was our favorite, not just because of the cute lights but because it gave enough space for the customers to walk around and used it's space efficiently. It also had a wall of smaller projects, which is great for all the beautiful samples that the Pumpkin Patch has made.

It also had kits laid out and... yup, Pumpkins!!!

We spent our first day just shopping (gotta do that first to grab the good stuff before it's all gone!) and then our second day was for viewing the quilts. We had a great time and I'll need to share the quilt pictures in another post, as well as more updates on what I got and what I've been upto. I just wanted to let you all know I'm alive and have been busy having a quilty adventure!!!

What's up for October?

Another month has started and I need to set my goals for the month. I find myself on a great pace to get thigs accomplished before the year's end although my family thinks I'm being a bit anti-social. Oh well!

This month will be more of a quilting month vs a piecing month. I have several things I need to finish quilting and get them bounded before the month's end.

First off are the two remaining baby quilts I finished back in September. I need to quilt and bind these in early October seeing that the babes have arrived and these need to go to thier proper home.


Then I would like to quilt and bind the Schnibble I made in September, no use in adding this to my UFO's when I have the backing and the binding material sitting there.


I also want to start quilting the Red, White and Blue quilt I finished in August. I pieced the backing so this one just needs to be basted and we can start quilting.


I'll be working on the October Schnibble selection, Cindy Lou Who. I will admit this is one of my favorite Schnibbles (although I like them all!). I've been thinking about the fabric I will use but I honestly have not pinned it down yet.


And last but not least I would like to finish my Gobble Gobble project. Remeber the charm packs I got back in July? Well, I started my project and I have 5 block completed, and after a quick visit to the Pumpkin Patch I have the proper sashing fabric to make it beautiful!!

I think that is more than enough! Let's see how much I accomplish.