Friday, July 31, 2009

Look at what I got in the mail today!!!

Posted by Strlady at 2:59 PM 1 comments
I was so excited today when I heard my mail carrier ring my door bell. I have been anxiously awaiting some charm packs for a project I have in mind but I could not make this project with anything other than the new Gobble Gobble line by Sandy Gervais. So I headed over to my favorite quilt shop and asked when the line was coming in because I KNEW she had bought the line (with a name like Pumpkin Patch Primitives it should clue you in). It took about a week due to some serious remodeling going on over there (Check out my sister's new floors), but it finally arrived with a few more odds n ends I needed.



Yes! I really needed those two jelly rolls of Garden Inspiration line by Kansas Trouble (It's a retired line! I know I'm going to need it as soon as I can't find it anywhere else) and I needed some inspiration so Kim Diehl's new book needed to arrive at my door.

On top of all the goodies I ordered I also got some star fabrics (if you didn't know, I'm as obsessed with Stars as Brenda is with Pumpkins) and some smelly goodness in the form of a soy candle by Pilgrim's Primitives! Oh, the joy of getting stuff in the mail!!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

July wrap up

Posted by Strlady at 11:10 AM 1 comments
As July comes to a close I'm happy to report that I completed one of my UFO projects. It's a small thing but it's something that will not be taking further space in the bin that holds all my unfinished objects.



It's a Christmas Tablerunner. This gives you just a little peak but I added a couple of borders and then quilted the table runner. I would like to add a few decorative buttons to adorn it but the truth is, I am terrible with the details and wouldn't even know where to find pretty buttons like the ones Brenda uses on her cubicle enhancers. I probably wouldn't even recognize a cute button if it was nipping at my toes. So.. I'm calling this completed and that's that!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Another Giveaway!!

Posted by Strlady at 2:23 PM 2 comments
I love Giveaways!! I especially love them when the prize is such a treat!

Rachel over at P.S. I Quilt is giving away a $50 gift certificate to The Fat Quarter Shop and I could easily find something to make with a jelly roll or maybe a moda layer cake or a few charm packs!!
Agg! So many options to spend the gift certificate!!

I first discovered Rachel when she was featured at the Moda Bake Shop with this beauty: Christmas Table Topper. She is quite a talented lady!

I get an extra entry for spreading the word on the giveaway so hop to it and leave a comment over at the blog entry at P.S. I Quilt and while you are there check out her wonderful work under her Completed tab.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

New Beginnings...

Posted by Strlady at 5:55 AM 1 comments
New blog layout + New Shoppe layout = Giveaway!! Sign me up!!

I decided it was time to give Textile House a face lift. I'm not sure if this look is the final look but I'm letting it grow on me.

It seems that I'm not the only one giving my home on the web face lifts either. For those that don't know my sister, Brenda is also a blogger as well as a quilt shop owner and she has revamped her corner of the web.

To celebrate she is giving away a Kit to make this cute Wooly. This piece was featured in her latest ad in American Patchwork and Quilting and is a cute little thing!! If I were to win it I would have to tell her to make it for me because I am not as gifted as she is when it comes to applique and getting the details right. She makes these amazing cubicle enhancers! (our term for wall hangings since we take them to the office to pretty up our space).

Anyway, don't miss out on the give away and if you like the Primitive look, her shop is a must stop for all your prim quilting needs. To sign up for the giveaway just go visit her blog and leave a comment HERE. To visit the shoppe, click on the button on my side bar.
Enjoy!!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Progress starts by organization

Posted by Strlady at 4:52 PM 4 comments
As I mentioned when I signed up for the Charming Girl's Quilt Club, my goal for the month was to organize myself so I could determine what UFO projects I could tackle and get out the door. This is wha tI did today and I feel so much better!

I have alot of UFOs but most are close to completion so this is a good thing. A few of the projects I plan to take care of in the coming months:



My Mariner's Compass quilt that only needs a border before being a completed top (then it can be quilted!)


My Argyle Quilt that needs to have the rows sewn together and then a few borders before the top and be called completed.


A table runner that needs a couple of small borders (this one will probably be out the door this month)

A have more but I think I'll start with those. If you want to see all my UFO's feel free to check out my Smugmug Gallery called Projects

I hope to quilt a few of the lap size quilts I have completed as well so it promises to be a quilty year! Yeah me!!

My First Quilt

Posted by Strlady at 9:45 AM 7 comments
Camile (Simplify) and Carrie (from Miss Rosie's and La Vie en Rosie) are having some fun with some story telling on the journey of a quilt maker and we are to talk about our first quilt so I'm joining in the parade of quilts and sharing my journey.

I never thought I'd find love in cutting up beautiful fabric and sewing it back together to make something like a quilt.
I actually had never known what a quilt was until I was well into my twenties. At the age of 24 I had never clasped my eyes on a quilt. Then one day, many years later, I was at JoAnn's Fabric and saw an issue of American Patchwork and Quilting with a cute little wall hanging on the cover. I picked that issue up and opened a world of possibilities.

I held onto that issue for a few months while I researched what this quilting thing was all about. I searched on the internet (fairly young thing at the time) and read a few books from the library before I invested some money in basic equipment to make that cute wall hanging. I didn't follow any rules (no 1/4' seam allowance on this one), the binding was a mess (I think you can see it on the bottom left corner) and I used heavy fusible interfacing (heat n bond) to get the applique in place (this made doing the buttonhole stitches VERY difficult). I made it as a Christmas present that unfortunately was not appreciated as it should have been.



My next quilt was bigger and I designed it myself. It was made from basic beginner blocks but I used colors in a way to emphasize the center star. I made it for my daughter and quilted it so close it ended up being stiff.



This quilt was appreciated, used and loved. Almost 10 years later my daughter took it with her to college even when it barely covered her lap. I called this my first 'real' quilt since it was large enough to be used.. I have learned since then that size has nothing to do with what makes a piece a quilt (especially seeing some of the minitures that get displayed in some of the quilt shows I have attended)



I find it funny that my last quilt was made for my daughter too. I have made many quilts for other people during the years I have been quilting, I have taken many classes and taught a few of them myself and I also saw my name published acknowledging my help in testing patterns for Bethany Reynolds of the Stack n Whack fame (I was one of her test rats for her third book) but for all the quilts I have made, the latest was important to me because it was the first piece I had finished in over four years (maybe more since I was on a serious quilting hiatus).

It was a Rag Quilt I intended to give my daughter for her 20th birthday. Two years later I gave it to her when she came home from graduating college. I wanted to give her something big enough to wrap around herself during the cold winter months in Rochester, NY so I selected flannel as the backing and used batting to make it heavy. The applique was done on machine and I used a lite heat n bond to make a softer end product now that I learned that the fusible nature is just to keep the piece in place while you applique around it.



I didn't think she would give it much use now that she was home here in TX (since it's warm here and the flannel would make it hot to sleep with) but she has slept with it every night since she got it and I know this piece will be just as loved as the first quilt she received.

What about your first quilt? How much has your quilting changed since that first stitch?

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Getting around to Doing

Posted by Strlady at 9:22 AM 2 comments
I have been thinking on ways to get my projects out the door (or off my UFO list) and I think I have been doing fairly well. I joined the Guild, I've added a few quilty blogs to my google reader (serves as inspiration) and now I'm joining the Charming Girls' Quilt club.


Kelly over at Charming Chatter is hosting a quilt club that promises to be somewhat of a challenge, but that I hope will clear some of the UFOs I have in one of the plastic bins in my closet. I don't have many projects but those I have, have been sitting in the bin for a while.

The idea is to post about the project you expect to finish during the month by the 7th of the given month and then report at the end of the month as to your progress (hopefully you will have finished the project by then). I don't think I've started and finished a project in a month in a very long time but I have many UFOs that just need a little motivation to be called finished.

This month is a bit of a bust since I have actually been helping my daughter on a project of her own but I still think I might be able to get some work done to move some of my projects forward.
First I really need to pull out my UFO bin and take inventory as to where I stand on each one of the projects. I know I have a top that is missing a border and another that needs the rows sewn together. I have another one that needs some applique and a baby quilt that needs a few more rows added to be called complete. Then there is my pinwheels and posies quilt and a hawaiian quilt wallhanging that needs a flying geese border. These are only a few of the pieces I'm looking to finish so I need all the motivation I can get. Then I won't feel so guilting about starting all those new projects I have playing in my head.

I also need to bite the bullet and decide what to keep and what to giveaway. I have a few quilts that will never be called finished because I just don't like / want them anymore. Those I am just going to giveaway. Get them out the door to someone that will finish them and love them.

So my goal this month is to get organized so that I can actually work on the projects I need to finish.

If you are interesting in learning more about the Charming Girls' Quilt Club, you can read all about it here: Charming Girl's Quilt Club

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Finding New Sources for 'Free' stuff

Posted by Strlady at 1:32 PM 1 comments
I have become a treasure hunter when it comes to quilty stuff. I remember that when I started quilting there were not many nice / pretty 'free' stuff on the web so I subscribed to American Patchwork and Quilting and got my patterns that way. I will say that APQ is still the best quilting magazine out on the market (IMHO). But sometimes even a magazine subscription can be dificult to justify in today's economy and you really need to find other options.

I discovered this great blog put out by one of my favorite Fabric Houses with lots of crafty patterns & ideas. What I love about it is that each project has step by step pictures on how to put the project together. It even has the ability to download the blog entry in PDF format so you can save it for future use. LOVE THAT!!

The site might be old to some but it's new to me and maybe it will be new to you!

Go visit Moda Bakeshop to get a few ideas of what to make next.

How about you? Do you have a site that you go to for inspiration and free stuff?
 

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