GET PUMPED 2015 BOM

I am so excited to introduce you to the 2015 Block of the Month from Nestlings by Robin.

 

Measuring in at 12" square, they will make great

weekend projects or small gifts for friends.

Because they are FQ friendly, they will be a great way to work from your stash and personalize each shoe to your personality!

Sign ups begin Cyber Monday, (Dec 1st), on my website!

STARTER KIT FEE: Merry Christmas to you!
The price on Dec 1st will be $36.

 (After Dec 1st the price will go up to $44) 

Your starter kit fee will include:

1-Get Pumped original metal hanger from Ackfeld

1-Get Pumped pattern with all the instructions to make your monthly blocks, minus the monthly applique templates

which will be available on the 15th of every month on my

Etsy site as a downloadable PDF. 

There will be a monthly fee of $6 for the templates.

1- Download Calendar

1 Small Thank You!

Shipping for your starter kit is included in the price.
Any questions?  Just email me!

SO Cute!

New from SUZN QUILTS!

 

Suzn Quilts Tiny Dresden Series

Sometimes I get the opportunity to edit new patterns from my friend, Susan Marth.  Here is her latest series and they were just too fun to make.  If you love Dresden plates AND tiny things, this is the series for you.  She reimagined the traditional Dresden plate into a year of celebrations.  Every month also offers tiny little buttons to add a bit of unexpected / bling to each mini quilt. 

Each mini quilt measures in at 6" x 8" so they are quick too.  Plus, you can purchase this sweet mini hanger to hang them in.

I am storing them on their sides in a stack on a shelf in my sewing room and just love the way they look from the side....
All the colors!  Yum!

Visit Susan at her website: http://www.suznquilts.com/

Charity Quilts

I know I am not alone in our quilting community when donating time and talent to worthy causes.  I usually hesitate to make full on quilts after hearing how some organizations don't do our donations justice.  However, the guild I belong to is aligned with a charity that does such a great service to underprivileged children that I am proud to donate lovelies.

 

Every spring the COC along with Hidden Stitches (my guild) puts on a huge luncheon and quilt auction.  We have over 300 people attend the lunch and so many quilts for auction that we have added a silent auction as well so everyone's bums don't go numb during the bidding:)

 

As I contemplated what to do for 2015 an estate sale of a quilter came to the guild's attention.  

 



I found 6 machine embroidered Sun Bonnet Sue blocks for $6...I knew I could come up with something:)  The one missing will go into a small pillow done in peach because she was the one NOT like the others in colors.  After adding some nine patches and a border, I had it machine quilted by a lovely woman in our guild who will quilt our charity quilts for free once we supply the backing/batting which is more than fair!!

After I received it back from Toddy, I added the floral applique to the borders for an adorable baby quilt...I just love the red and white!  The floral applique mimics a floral design in the embroidery of one of the other blocks.

At the estate sale, I also found these 16 completed kaleidoscope blocks ($8) and the gold fabric yardage that matched perfectly. What to do..... There weren't enough for a whole quilt and if I separated them, then you would lose that cool purple square between them.  I decided to just put them together and add a bigger header and footer for a lap size quilt.

Again I sent it off to Toddy and her husband, Ray, to quilt it for me.  Once it came back, I added the purple flower garlands to the top and bottom borders.

I machine appliqued the flower garlands and then replicated the quilting details into the flower heads.  If you look at the photo below, you will see that the applique flowers mimic the quilting.  This is a great way to add more detail and keep everything cohesive.

The joy is knowing someone will LOVE these and the money they spend on them at the auction will go to help kids that just need a little bit of attention so we don't lose them.
I am not one to shout my good deeds to the world but I thought this was a good way to show how orphan blocks at yard sales, thrift shops, etc. can be of use even if they aren't necessarily your style.
I don't do Sunbonnet Sue or purples/golds but someone will love these and it didn't cost me all that much other than my time.

What are your charity projects for the year?

Quilting with my Grandma

This photo is from 1994 when we went to celebrate my Grandma and Grandpa's 50th Anniversary!
L-R: Grandma Bea, my mom Ellen, Me, my babies; Devin on my hip and Lauren in front.

 

 

Ten years after her passing, I finally took the time to quilt with my Grandma.  I didn't learn to quilt from my Grandma and by the time I learned, she was already very sick.  Before she passed though, she had set aside a couple of UFOs and other pieces for me.

 



First up is this puff quilt made in 1976 to celebrate the Bicentennial.  Over the years it had become faded because she kept it out all the time to enjoy it.  So, at some point she decided to start taking it apart to redo some of the puffs in fabric she had saved.  When I received it, it was in sections with many little scraps of paper pinned to puffs notifying the order in the quilt: 2nd row, 3rd down, etc. 
Gram had done A LOT of easing in on those seams during assembly (must be genetic:)) and trying to sew through all the layers upon layers of seams was a pain in my big backside!! It did NOT take long for me to decide, no way Jose! Plus a sweet friend reminded me that Gram was gone and she wouldn't know:) 

What I ended up doing was salvaging the largest chunk for myself which is a good lap size. The reassembly in just that was a bit much but doable. The remainder of decent puffs were put into a good size pillow cover for my mom and the remaining fabric was donated to an appraiser friend who also does restoration work.
There is still some fabric left and I have an EPP design that I am working on to use it.  I will have enough to make a small table topper for myself and my mom!

What I learned:  I NEVER need to make a puff quilt:))

Next up was a box of horribly ugly 70s fabric that she was using to make a scrappy strip quilt.  When I opened the box, there were 8 finished, 12" blocks with all the green/red centers cut for approximately 32 blocks according to a sketch done in pen. YIKES!  Again, I pretty much knew that wasn't happening!  So now what to do with what was done.  These blocks had been done in the foundation method with a muslin??? that was more like cheesecloth.  I found a price tag on one of the fabric pieces that stated it cost $1.49/yd. and was purchased at the Fabric Bonanza.  I never heard of that store.....

I decided to give Foundation piecing a try and made 8 more quadrants, added some large green areas to try to quiet all the other colors, and some hippy-like floral applique.

I had a friend quilt it on her long arm machine with an all over floral design before I added the applique flowers--SO much easier!  Here is the new quilt with Grandma's finished 8 making up the 2 large blocks and my 8 quadrants in the borders and in the green areas for some movement.  It ended up being about 60" square and a perfect lap quilt for me!

What I learned:  Foundation piecing is SO much easier than paper piecing and I don't know why I didn't try it before!
I also was reminded of how much Grandma LOVED her moth balls.  With every press of the iron I was reminded over and over:)

For an added fun memory, I found some fabrics in the strips that seemed very familiar to me.  I went digging through some things and found this little doll quilt that Grandma had made me to match the Holly Hobbie puff quilt she had also made me.  I no longer have the puff quilt but do have the doll quilt.

If you look very closely, you will see the match to the pink swirl and the green floral fabrics.  Thank you Grandma for the lovely memories!!

I am all around the Blog world lately....

So I have this internet/FB/Quilt Designer friend who is a laugh riot!!  Every time I read her blog or FB posts, I either giggle or completely understand her point of view.  I highly recommend checking in on Beth Helfter of EvaPaige Designs! (And, I am not overusing my exclamation points!!)

This month I was her Quilting Hottie in the Hotseat where I answered burning questions like, " what is the nerdiest thing about you?"  I guess you will have to hop over there to find out:)

Have you heard of Quilt Dots?  If not, you are going to be so happy, especially if you are a sucker for office supplies the way I am!
These adorable little 1" magnets, pins, or Giant paper clips (bookmarks) are made from quilt patterns of designers.  This means that you get like groupings of quilt styles.
Of course, my favorite are the Giant Paper Clips!  If you are a paper piecer, they are a great way to organize your templates.  They are also great for clipping together coupons, guild info, fabric swatches, potato chip bags:), etc.  I think maybe I am hungry....

http://zappydots.com/quiltdotsblog/pattern-parade-day-11-nestlings-by-robin
Make sure you click on this link to read the interview AND enter to win fun Dots and a pattern.

HAPPY 2014 and ....

Happy Valentine's Day, Happy President's Day, Happy St. Patrick's Day, Happy Easter, and Beyond!

Well 2013 sure was a very busy year for me and I know you have been wondering where I have been:) After not writing for so long, I wonder myself.....
To get us back on track, this post will mostly be a photo wrap up of what I have been doing.  I know it will pain you to look at photos vs. read big long paragraphs of tedious details, but please try to suffer through!

Here are the Highlights:)

1. Three new designs found here: http://nestlingsbyrobin.com/whats-new.html

'Just Hangin' Out' is an adorable monkey quilt

'Semper Paratus' is for the patriot in us all and has all the letters to adapt to any service.

'Blooms of Hope' allows us to send healing flowers to anyone with the change of a color.

 

2. These 3 photos show my Festival Booth in Houston last October where I debuted my new designs along with 2 photos of what the floor and aisles look like.  It is so hard to wrap your head around how large it all is.

 

3. The top photo is TREEO by Linda Evans bought from the SAQA Auction. Just Adorable!

The bottom quilt is my Star House donated to the House Quilt Project run by Jamie Fingal.

 

4. This little cutie was given to me by my guild for my service as Leader for the last 2 years.  I volunteered for another and was told not to expect another quilt:)  WHAT? :))

 

5. My husband bought me show tickets to We Will Rock You, the Queen musical for my birthday and it was only playing in Miami.  So we went to South Beach for an overnight trip and whilst walking the strip, I found a window full of Rhinestone covered shoes!!  I could never wear them but so shiny and pretty!!

 

6. Merry Christmas 2013 with my smart and gorgeous and talented and funny daughters!!

 

7. I found this fantastic wrought iron door stop whilst antiquing with my girls.  Parts of my life have been a bit like a fairy tale and IT is Orange!!  How could I pass it up!

 

8.  We rang in 2014 in Key West where they drop a Drag Queen named Sushi in a giant red pump.

 

9. My juried entry into the 2014 Mancuso Mid Atlantic quilt show Hampton, Va.

 

10.  A huge splurge for me as I bid on and won this mini quilt at my guild's annual charity auction.

 

11. This is our new baby, Biscuit.  He is a rescue Wheaten and what a sweetheart.

 

12. Finished my mom's Hawaiian quilt.  Last year she mentioned how she had always wanted one and I opened my mouth before realizing what I was undertaking.  It is 40+ x 60+ and all needle turn applique and hand quilted in the traditional echo style.  Turned out beautifully and I don't ever need to make another:)

 

13. GO BOLTS!  The Tampa Bay Lightning made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs.  They aren't doing so well but still an accomplishment.  The game we went to was Great: lots of action!

The St. Louis Blues are in too and doing well I hear:)  GO BLUES!

 

14. Here is my little Pooka Duck.  She is our other little Wheaten. She and new big brother are doing well even though she really gets on his last nerve sometimes:)

 

So there are my last 8 months in review with many of the other usual things in between!

There are more fun things to come in between my youngest daughter's college graduation and a dear friend coming to visit in June.  Stay Tuned and keep quilting!