Claiming a Domain Name and more Paula Barnes

Not sure if you noticed but I recently claimed the domain name of www.textilehousequilts.com. I actually claimed the domain at the beginning of the year but this week I finally had the blog redirect to the new domain. I don't believe it should affect anyone that gets my feeds but you might want to update the feed just in case. I eventually want to do a little updating on the site maybe a redesign is in order...

In the meantime I uploaded the rest of the pics from Paula Barnes' trunk show and thought I'd share.

 Currently, this is my favorite remake. The pattern is called Second Hand Clothes and I love it! 

All the patterns to these quilts are available through Red Crinoline's website and many of them have kits. As one that has bought a couple of her patterns AND kits, I will says all are very well written and easy to follow.

Hope you enjoy!

My days with Paula

Last week I spent two days with the lovely Paula Barnes.

Early in the year I noticed that Paula would be in my neck of the woods offering 2 classes at a semi-local quilt shop called Happiness is Quilting. The shop is an hour away but I've driven farther to attend a class (See posts on my Kim Diehl class last October). I hesitated a bit because the class I wanted to take was Thursday and Friday which meant taking time off during a busy time of year at work, but after talking to Paula at the Dallas quilt show in March I knew I had to break down and do it. So, early May had me driving out to the quilt store to sign up for the class.

The quilt I wanted to make is called Regimental Stars and you can find it in the October 2011 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting (by the name of Star Formation). Paula also offers the pattern on the Red Crinoline site

It is not a difficult quilt to make but it sure is dramatic. I really wanted to go more for the kick in the butt the class would give me to actually make this quilt. I fell in love as soon as I pull the magazine out of my mailbox. I knew I just HAD to make it. This class was definitely inspirational.

Not only did I get to hang out with some pretty awesome gals at the class (we were a class of 3!!!)  but Paula also gave us a private trunk show. We just hung out and chatted about retreats and friends and life.

There was so much chatting going on, I made one block in two days. In my defense I did get alot of the half square triangles done!!

I also came home inspired. Ready to tackle more HST.

Sorry about the lack of updates lately. Life has been a bit interesting in my house as of late. In June I decided I was ready to add a new member to my household and went on a month long journey to adopt a pup through a rescue organization. I filled out many applications, had many interviews and even a house visit. All to make sure I was worthy of adopting. I passed with flying colors and at the end of June, after many meet and greets, lots of tail wagging and many puppy kisses, I met the one.

Penny (a Cocker Spaniel mix) joined our family two weeks ago.

Please think about adopting a rescue if you are thinking of a new pet. Penny came through the DFW Cocker Spaniel Rescue organization, but I met many, many wonderful pets through out this process. Most of these pets are in foster homes, with people that have gotten to know them. They can tell you their little quirks and if they have seen any problems. They work to place the pets in the best homes and are not offended if after you meet the pup you realize they are not the right fit for your home.They are not pushing damaged dogs onto you. They are there to help place a dog that, due to no fault of it's own, is homeless.

Penny is 2 years old and has the most darling temperament. She doesn't like everyone that comes into the house but she gives everyone a chance to win her over with treats. When she arrived she didn't play. She just looked around and sat quietly. She followed me everywhere but when I tried to engage her in any play she would just look at me. In less than two weeks she is a ball of energy and the happiest pup on the block. She jumps around and plays with all her new toys. She loves going on short walks (we live in Tx and long walks are a bit exhausting) and loves going on car rides to the local pet store. We will start basic obedience training next week but she already does Sit with no problem. We are working on Stay but that one is a bit more difficult.

I'll try to post soon with a few pictures of my trip up north for the 4th of July.

Random thought of the day....

I'm always jealous of the people that don't have to fuss with their food.

May recap continues...

Onto a non quilty post.

I just needed to mention that May brought Mother's day and although I was far from the fruit of my loins (always wanted to say that). I did get a cute little something from her...

I will say that it was yummy... and guilt free (well, we will ignore those chocolate covered fruits)

Then after I got that 'healthy' arrangement, I went and threw caution to the wind by going to have lunch at MacDaddy's.

This place specializes in Mac n Cheese combos. They serve every combination of Mac n Cheese you can think of and makes it yummy. I went traditional. Insane good stuff. I had a side of pull pork sandwich to just round out those calories to about... gazillion!

I will wrap up my summary on my Mother's day with this sweet sweet note left tacked on my door.

 

Just let's me know that someone is doing things right.

Leap Year

At this rate I will post the least amount of times this year than any year I have had my blog.
I have been a bit uninspired lately and even after returning from Quilt Market last month, I still have not felt very inclined to get going on a project or finishing anything.

I did get SOMETHING finished in May. It was a Schnibble my sister from the Pumpkin Patch asked me to make for her as a sample for a few kits she was cutting.

After a few false starts and re-evaluating the sashing print, I finally got the project off the ground. Schnibbles (designs by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co) are patterns that lead to some nice immediate gratification.

I had the blocks done in no time at all.

A bit of sashing...

And a thin border, you can call this complete.

I pulled out a stencil I ordered last year from Urban Elementz (LOVE their quilting stencils/pantos), and started marking the top for quilting.

These stencils are so nice, and easy to follow.

I was done in no time and ready to attach the binding.

I love how it turned out but after the finish, I was still feeling a bit uninspired. I think I need to finish something more substantial and the last few things I have done have all been small wallhangings or table toppers. I have sooo many projects to chose from but can't decide what to bite into. Maybe next weekend will be better.

I'll post this week about my trip to Market. Talk about inspiration!

Blogger Girls BOM update

I'm officially two blocks behind. BUT, I did make a dent on this one last month. I tackled block #3 and dwelled on the sashing a bit more.

This block finally brought into the play the companion ruler to Monique's Fit to be Quarter 6.5 ruler. I was excited to give it a try and found it super easy to use.

You start with the center of your square in a square

Trim the edges off

Then you need to attach the hst unit to the newly trimmed edge.

I centered the piece by folding the triangle in half and finger pressing the center. 

I did the same with the trimmed edge of the square and just aligned the folds.

After attaching both sides to the center square, I used the Fit to be Quarter ruler to trim the piece.

Perfect. EVERY TIME!

I added these units to the strips I made for both of my blocks.

Ended up with two new installments on this BOM. 

This is Block #3 v1

This is Block #3 v2

On that last one I really wanted to have the churn dash pop so I used lighter tones on all my other fabrics in the square. Overall, I like the way these new blocks compliment the existing ones.

April's installment is my favorite block so I have to think about the color placement to make sure I don't screw it up.
If you visit the blogger girls today you can pick up May's installment, so get out there and grab your instructions off of Monique's blog . Above all, have fun!

February in April

I've been a bit missing in action the last few weeks. Thought I'd post a little update before it's been officially a month since my last post.

Not much going on over here. I finally got my sewing machine back from the shop at the end of March. I think having her away had me a bit depressed and unmotivated. Not that I didn't have a replacement, since I was using my old machine, but I didn't want to start anything new on that machine since I kept thinking how easy it would have been on my other one. I know it makes no sense but I kept putting obstacles in the way of any creative endeavor.

Anyway, she's finally home but I was not able to really dig into anything because I had a business trip planned. When I go up north, I try to squeeze in a few days with my daughter so it was another week before I could sit in front of my machine again. I enjoy every minute I spend with my baby girl but I needed to get home to sew SOMETHING.

When I finally got a chance to sit down, I had to tackle my Blogger Girl BOM quilt.
I started this back in February and I had the next block cut and ready to roll.

This is Version # 1 

This is Version # 2 

I like the way the colors are playing well with each other but I'm a bit concerned with the sashing/finishing instructions Monique posted last month. I think if I go with the brown I had in mind, the color will overwhelm the quilt (I am using a floral brown for the outer border and red for my inner border). Yet, I'm not sure that throwing in a red will look good in the sashing.

I think I will have to do a Thelma and make a different sashing strip for each of my variations and see which one I like better. Not freaky concerned about it yet since I still have two more blocks to catch-up with the series. I cut my next block and have it ready to roll for this weekend. It will be my first adventure using Monique's Companion ruler so wish me luck.