Fuzzy November Travels:)

 Fuzzy doesn't have to mean the literal.

It can also mean all the feelings 

we get by being around family

or people we love. It can include

nostalgic memories we get

to share or pass on.

This month we traveled north

to help our eldest with her new

home adventure (even though my

heart is broken they are so far away!!).

We drove through not one

bit of Autumn on our way

and then the house across the street

had this for me:) 

There was lots of framing

out to be done and 

I helped little man build

his own little box fort.

Then he and pops

supervised the air

vents being put in by mom.

We did all the seasons

on this trip!!!!

Of course, it was 

unseasonably cold while we

were there-lol. 

My contribution was the 

painting of the little's 

ceiling including his

constellation.

When I wasn't painting,

I was hanging out with 

this sweet face.

We went to the mall

and his FAVORITE

store, Home Depot-LOLOL!

We also sang show tunes

and colored and played

with stickers.

He has decided that 

Monster Trucks are awesome:)

On our way home

we picked up the literal

'fuzzy' in the title.

Meet Ziggy, aka zig zag.

Our niece couldn't keep 

him after this last military

transfer so here we are.

Thank you, Atlanta, for 

at least offering up some of 

the best Autumn color seen

on this trip even if I had to 

sit in traffic for 2 hours to 

enjoy it!

What craziness!!

We ended our trip with

 dinner reservations for 

Thanksgiving.

After our very long trip, 

no food in the house and no

one felt like cooking.

Thank You to the Lucky Dill

for providing a fantastic 

meal that fed us more than once:)

I will be forever grateful for 

getting to have a hand in my girls'

new homes and getting to spend

so much time with the little!

Sometimes there is a lot and 

sometimes only one thing, 

but I hope you had a small spot 

of time to note what you are 

grateful for this year.

Thank you to all of you

who follow along in my travels.

~keep stitchin~

FABRIC COLLABORATIONS

Fabrics for quilters are inspiring and cherished.  As a designer they spark more ideas than I will ever get done in a lifetime.

My appraisal studies found me collecting antique and vintage quilt blocks for fabric/date study and the designer in me went crazy.  Wouldn't it be cute if.....?  What if I ….? and so 
FABRIC COLLABORATIONS was born.

I LOVE design and applique and I feel people as a whole are more creative than they give themselves credit for!  This workshop allows you to play without a lot of investment.  You already have what you need and you weren't using it anyway:)

Take any orphan block-
I know you ALL have one due to a workshop taken and life intervened or the technique wasn't enjoyable but you still love the colors and just can't part with it....

Here was one I started with-

I am really not a pink person but this block was intriguing and I wanted to challenge myself since the print isn't super inspiring.  Then I had to decide whether to fix her little error or leave it ….I just couldn't leave it.  The asymmetry bugged me too much. After the repair, I played with some designs and here is the result, meet "Strawberry Shortcake".

I echoed the tiny circular print in the light fabric while challenging myself to use the smaller circles from my Karen Kay Buckley perfect circles.  I also challenged myself to do a back stitch vs. my usual stem stitch for my embroidery because it was the repeat from the small black lines in the fabric too.  Now this unknown quiltmaker from the past has had her work completed whilst making myself a sweet little 12" square wall hanging to decorate any small space perfectly. #heritagearchitect at work:)

Next I came across this vintage 1930s block.  Again 30s aren't my 'go to' since I like OLD but the black and green and yellow was so striking that it came home with me and I couldn't beat the $1 price tag:)

On this the inspiration was the daffodil.  I LOVE applique if you haven't already figured that out.  I know a lot of people avoid it but a workshop with me just may open your eyes.  You don't have to needle turn, fusible works great too.
"I CAN'T DRAW", you say?? Well I have some great hacks for drawing items using very simple shapes we can all handle easily.
I have also developed some drawing aids you will be able to use in class.  Easy Peasy! Meet, "Dancing Daffodil".

On this one, I added a header only and my daffodil has dancing ribbons flowing from her...sweet and simple. She measures 9" x 12" and fits perfectly on one of those adorable little Ackfeld hangers.
I have many other samples (shown in class) because once I got going, I just couldn't stop but these three are my favorite Finished ones. This last one I will show (to inspire and excite you) just made me cry out with glee!  Look at those Fabulous flowers in the print!!

I get to applique and embroider and add leaves and swirls and circles, Oh MY!!

Meet "Chocolate Brownie Bliss".  My mom named this one because there are only so many ways I can say Autumn Bloom, etc.
She is hand applique, hand embroidery, and hand quilted and I love love love her!!!

Your block can be from any time period (modern too) as long as there is an inspiring print somewhere within.  We will discuss copyright, choosing the best portion of the print, choosing the best layout for your block (1, 2, 4 borders), and work through our drawing hacks so that you get to go home with a mostly completed and upcycled, Orphan-No-More, original work!

Tell your friends--Tell your guild Program Chairs--
Now Booking FABRIC COLLABORATIONS FOR 2019.
Email: robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com for available dates.

Houston 2017 (Catching you up:)

Houston brings so much with it....My Autumn Fix (VERY Important!), seeing beautiful quilts, being inspired, meeting with fellow professionals and making connections. 

Most importantly I get to hang with my sweet friend, Susan! We have known each other for quite some time now, work well together, and then get our antique fix together:)

So after my Autumums came out in October (see here), I went to Houston with, Susan, of Suzn Quilts to be a booth helper for the premiere of her book, Dresden Quilt Workshop. This Festival Pin is SOOOO ME!!!

The black circle shows where Susan's booth was on the floor....
so much floor:)

While there we ran into some other professionals that we talk with online but hadn't met face to face before....

Cheryl Lynch and Sue O'Very.

Susan finding her book on the shelf (above) and signing her life away (below).  She is so composed...I may have burst in the same situation:)

Once we got home to Susan's in Illinois, I had 1-1/2 days to antique shop with her!  We even hit a shop or two on the way from Houston to Illinois where she found a FANTASTIC red and green applique quilt for me (that is for another post!)!!

 

Because her book came out, we did Market and Festival back to back which ended up meaning 2 weeks away from home for me once you add in travel time.  Starting to see where I have been...:)

Connecting Threads 'Autumums'

AUTUMUMS is now available in the

Fall Connecting Threads catalog!

This is the Gathering Wishes fabric line and all that

Autumn makes my heart sing:) 

It has been a year long adventure and

I am so happy to be able to share it with you now:)

You can always scroll to the bottom but how about building the anticipation with a quick tutorial on assembly.

Lately I have been cutting my HSTs to the next inch up vs. the 7/8".  This gives me a little wiggle room and an opportunity to trim if necessary.  Sometimes my personal seam allowance brings me right to the measurement I needed.

I have said it before and I will say it again, I am old fashioned and find that I get better results when I work one step at a time.  The blue ruler above is the Quick Quarter ruler (above pic) and I get very good results with it and Mary Ellen's Best Press. Pictured below are some sewn squares that have been sprayed with Best Press.

 Look how nice and crisp they are after and ready to be cut apart!

 Trimmed and ready to go!

 Time for applique....

Sometimes the amount of applique pieces needed can seem overwhelming but if you go to my tutorial, you can cut down your tracing and cutting by a quarter if not more. 

Save this link so that when you buy the pattern,

you will have this to refer back to.

See my CUTTING MULTIPLES TUTORIAL HERE: http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/2015/02/tutorial-cutting-multiples-of-fusible.html

I used a small zig zag stitch to applique all

my petals down before assembly.

 

Let's talk quilting....I know it is hard to decide on a design that will accent your applique or fill a large space.  I outlined the flowers and did stitch in the ditch for all the seams (blocks and borders).
The border quilting was finding a leaf shape I liked and adding swirls around it. 
The leaves were alternated right and left and traced to the border.  I then lightly sketched in some vines and smaller swirls to fill the space around them.

I believe you can click on the photo to enlarge it and the side lighting should show the quilting a bit.

Enjoy having a little Autumum in your world as much as I enjoyed designing and making it!

FALL is HERE!

NOVEMBER

I absolutely LOVE Autumn with its cooler days and bright colors.  October is my birthday month so that brings celebration too.  Does anyone else have a season where your creative juices just seem to flow like a raging river after a Spring thaw?  Autumn is that season for me.  Ideas just pop in and out of my mind and some days it feels as if I won't ever get them all filed let alone made in a lifetime!  I am very thankful for that feeling though- It is INVIGORATING:)  What is your season?
This little boot represents my love of Fall attire and they make me feel fantastic when I am rocking a great pair of jeans with a cool pair of boots:)

As always, the pump is 12" square to fit on the originally designed (by me) Ackfeld metal hanger.

 

I am very excited about watching this BOM progress and seeing how all of you use different fabrics to achieve a new shoe each month.  Please share your progress on my FB page.  This is also where you will find additional tips about how I went about making these sweet shoes.

Happy Quilting:)

Do Pumpkins delight you?

I absolutely LOVE pumpkins and to date, this along with Hawaiian Halloween had been my only two patterns. Everyone who has seen this cutie has loved it so I don't know why it took me so long to design more pumpkins.

HARVEST NIGHTS #411

I decided that for Spring Market '13, I was going to have a completely Pumpkin booth and I almost made it....Autumn Wind isn't pumpkins but definitely completes the season for me.

AUTUMN WIND #430

When thinking of Autumn, I knew I wanted pumpkins and lots of them. My brain also kept coming back to crisp fall evenings and how bright the stars shine then. It felt natural to do night skies with star blocks with my pumpkins.


SIMPLY PUMPKINS #431

Pumpkin Star was actually one of the first to be designed because after studying Harvest Nights, I asked "what if" about switching the positions and putting the pumpkin in the star.

PUMPKIN STAR #432

Lace Pumpkin has been a sketch on a napkin for years and sometimes those ideas just don't come together immediately the way you want them to.  It sat and waited until I was ready and then the ideas came quickly.


LACE PUMPKIN #433

I LOVE these little red flowers in Lace Pumpkin and I have always been drawn to designs done in quadrants, wreaths, circles.  So it felt natural to take the flowers and do something different other than pumpkins.  This layout in another color way would fit into any season: Pinks for spring, change the yellow to white for red, white, and blue patriotic, etc.
As I looked at the circular design, it reminded me of ladies skirts swirling and that is how the word 'Cotillion' made it into the name.

AUTUMN COTILLION #434

PUMPKIN TRELLIS #435

Pumpkin Trellis is just so sweet to me!  I obviously started with the Lace Pumpkin design and thought it would look adorable in red work.  I really like Weeks Dye Works variegated flosses from my cross stitch days though, and so I found the right colors and got to work.  Since I wasn't stitching star blocks in, something had to take up that space...a Trellis.  They have always held a charm for me.  Who knows why when I can't grow anything to save my life:)

 

Pumpkin Trellis mini 9-1/2" x 11-1/2"

Just when the layout was done and I was ready to go, I accidently clicked a button and this beige background with black popped up on the computer screen.  Well I had to do it and in the mini format too.  It is just too cute!!

 

There is plenty of time to make one of these fabulous designs in time for the season and they can be found on my website!

 

Stay tuned for more quilting fun!

Fall in New Hampshire Part 1

This year for our 24th Wedding Anniversary we took a great trip north.  Autumn was just arriving and I was lighthearted and merry.  Those of you who know me well, will understand that Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year and I sorely miss it here in Florida.  The mornings were crisp and humidity free-it was wonderful! We packed a lot into 2 weeks so the adventure will be broken into parts with today being part one.

 

Florida to New Hampshire is a LONG drive so we broke it up over 3 days stopping in Savannah, GA and Baltimore, MD along the way. 

The stained glass was in Savannah and it was lit so beautifully.  I really should have taken a picture of this earthquake bolt I saw.  Have you heard of these?  They are the decorative stars you see on really old buildings and I always wondered what they were. In Savannah I saw one in the shape of a spiderweb-very cool.  Of course the question is were they real or a scam??

 

The Baltimore stop was convenient but also sentimental.  Jim and I met and were married there as well as our first daughter being born there.  Whenever we stop there we can't help having those, "remember when" conversations.  The Harbor has really grown and it looks like the city is making a real effort to bring it back. Yay!

 

While in NH, we stayed with some dear friends.  They own a wood turning gallery there by the name of Birch View Barn.  The work is phenomenal! 

Back in September I showed a piece I was working on here.  Now here it is in the gallery waiting for someone to come purchase it.  It looks so beautiful in that setting.

 

Our friends had a few days off so that we could get the complete tour of New England including Nubble Lighthouse in Maine.  It was perfectly picturesque!

 

The lighthouse is out on a rock island and the only way the caretaker could get there was on these lines you see.  At the far end you can see a small boat that the caretaker would get into and wench himself back and forth from main land to island.

 

I love this picture partly because it is so hard for me to get Jim into one:))  He is the love of my life and I am thankful he let me have this one for our anniversary!

 

We also took a day to head into Portland, ME.  There was a time we were almost stationed there and we had some curiosity about what we missed.  All of New England is so pretty in summer and fall....just not sure if we would have loved winter there.

 

Of course you can't go to New England and not do some antique shopping.  There couldn't have been a more perfect antique for me to find than this wonderful whalebone needle case.  The needle case part is obvious but I also love the basketweave design that reminds me of the Irish Belleek porcelain.  Plus, I have been fascinated with scrimshaw, etc. ever since 6th grade history class when we spent a portion of our year studying whaling.  What a perfect treasure for me:)