WHERE LOVE GROWS

Thank you SIMPLY MODERNE for publishing this fun 

combination of paper piecing and applique'.

 Meet WHERE LOVE GROWS!

I did pretty well matching my colors

to make it cheerful.
Paper piecing trick: 
I collect notions and such and one of 
the items are the old heavy metal irons.
They are great weights for pressing
a pile of paper pieced blocks FLAT!!

There is an addition of some bias strips 

to the simple paper pieced blocks 

 to create the larger branches. 

I also stitched in some 

little skinny ones for texture.

Then my favorite part...the APPLIQUE'!!!

This is raw edge applique' where wavy lines

were added to the vines for texture .

Lastly, my label.

Here is my lazy label trick...

Fold a square in half to create a triangle, place the 

raw edges of the triangle within the binding 

seam allowance and stitch in place with 

a 1/8" seam just to hold until the binding is added.

THEN, use a sharpie or micron pen to write on it.

Of course the more I look at this photo, pretty sure

I skipped the triangle and wrote directly on that back.

Take that for lazy:)

 Here is the cover of Issue #20 of 

Simply Moderne (On Stands Now)

where you will find

WHERE LOVE GROWS.

Isn't that cover quilt gorgeous too?!!

AQS Publishes Robin's Wreaths

IT'S HERE!!

The magazine hit AQS member mailboxes early 

June and newsstands late June. 

"Robin's Wreaths" will be the series quilt

 this year presented in 5 parts.

If you are not a member, consider becoming one. 

There are many other benefits like all the

access to their digital content as well 

(a treasure trove in itself).

 Plus as a member you can find the first issue in the

 Members Only section of the website:) 

And, my name is on the cover which for some reason

 I completely didn't expect and 

therefore am surprised and delighted!

 Here is the layout on page 18....

"ROBIN'S WREATHS" at Paducah

in the Authors Section!!!

This quilt will also be displayed at the Grand Rapids, Virginia Beach, and Fall Paducah AQS shows this year.  I am On Tour:)

I started a Facebook Group for those of you that would like to sew with friends and receive extra tips on my process for making this quilt.  The above picture shows the Group header and 

click JOIN to become a part of the fun!

The Group name is Robin's Wreaths, AQ Magazine

 Part 2 reviews have been done and ready for printing....

I do hope you will follow me on FB: 

https://www.facebook.com/NestlingsbyRobin

Instagram: @nestlings1 and sign up for my newsletter

by emailing me at robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com

THANK YOU!

Heritage Stories: Helen's quilt!

Helen found me via 2 women in my guild: 1 an appraiser and 1 a long-arm quilter.  Neither of them found this something they would do but they knew someone who would:)  I had let it be known that I wanted to expand my commission clientele and so this delicate piece arrived on my doorstep!

The quilt was started and in 2 sections of 2 rows each.  The applique was complete and what was needed was the final assembly, the hand quilting, borders/quilting, and the binding.  What made it even better was that she knew exactly how she wanted it finished AND the hearts came with their own marking!

Here you can see the quilting in the hearts and the small hearts in the corners of each block.

This photo shows a heart design I drew out for the borders by combining a few other designs.

 A sweet label and finished!
This is a quilt that was started in the 90s and due to life and some health reasons she just wasn't able to finish it.
This is why I quilt.  It was fabulous to help another quilter fulfill this wish!

QUILTMAKER 100 Quilt Blocks Volume 12 Blog Hop

HEART BURSTS

 

Good Morning and Welcome to the blog hop for Quiltmaker's 12th Volume of 100 Quilt Blocks.

 

 

This block is so whimsical and SO me:)  I love the applique and the swirly vine too. Showing other layouts is usually what I do here but that will have to wait since it will be featured in the Spring:)

Stay tuned for that~

 

Instead, I would like to share with you an easy way to cut multiples of fusible applique.  Many times I hear quilters say that there is too much applique and that puts them off making and loving certain designs.  This particular block has 8 identical petals and is perfect for cutting multiples.  With this technique, you can cut your work time in third (pun intended:).

 

 

For the petals, cut a fabric strip @ 2-1/2" and a fusible strip @ 2-3/8".  Keeping the fusible strip just a tad narrower than your fabric strip keeps accidental guck (the technical term:) off the ironing board while applying.  Cut strip into 4" sections. 

Trace a petal onto freezer paper.  This will be ironed to the right side of one section.  Stack with the freezer paper template on top.

Binder Clips are our friends!  They give the stack stability while freeing up your non-cutting hand to hold without fear of the stack slipping and without cramping up (I know how intense this can get:).  I can cut up to 4 at a time relatively well with scissors that have a light serrated edge.  Cutting stacks of 3 is a more accurate way to do this when you are just starting out.

As you can see with the petals, I didn't put a clip on the side I would start cutting on.  Once that side is cut, I will place a clip there to keep that side together and reduce slipping.
On the leaf, I did place clips on the side I plan to cut first because the leaf shape is quite a bit larger with more chance of slippage.

Carefully cut your shapes and Wa La, I cut out 4 leaves at once without having to trace each and every piece onto the paper-backed fusible.

My other tip for you today is Roxanne's Glue Baste-It EZ Squeezie (in the accordion bottle).  Once I had all my bias strips done, I just placed a very thin line of glue onto my drawn vine guide and then pressed the vines into place.

 The leaf was fused in place before adding the vines so that once they were all in position I could zig zag stitch everything in place.

Here is a link to a previous post with more information on how to figure out dimensions for other applique projects: http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/2015/02/tutorial-cutting-multiples-of-fusible.html

 

NOW TO THE GOOD PART:)))

Leave your comments here before Thursday and I will draw 2 lucky winners for a FREE copy of the new magazine.

 

Don't forget to follow the Quiltmaker Blog to read more fun blog posts this week.

 

If you are interested in receiving my newsletter, please leave your email address in your comment or head over to FB and private message me there:)

Thanks for following along! Robin

 





LOVE

February 'LOVE' Get Pumped BOM

FEBRUARY

Soooo many choices to reflect LOVE....do I go shiny? Do I add lots of hearts?  There was a version of this shoe where the heel consisted of about 7 hearts descending in size.  It seemed a bit over kill and I just love the simplicity of this one:)  You will see I did keep the idea as a quilting suggestion though. Plus I just happened to have a piece of this Fantastic batik still sitting around and it was the perfect size!

 

This heel represents what I would like to be able to wear.  I probably could pull it off with a great pair of jeans and cute top.  The bigger problem though is how uncomfortable I would be in these shoes and I am all about comfort:)

 

This LOVEly pump is 12" square to fit on the originally designed (by me) Ackfeld metal hanger. 

 

Hopefully you have already signed up for the Starter Kit.  If not, this BOM is open enrollment so still plenty of time.

 

Since it is now February 15th, the templates for the February shoe are available for purchase on my website BOM 2015 page.

 

**NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR:)

Originally this project was set up so that you would pay for the templates and they would be an immediate download.  Due to a VAT (Value Added Tax) put into place overseas on digital products, I had very limited options as to how I could keep the digital aspect but not be subjected to a very disorganized new law.

 

When you pay for the templates on my website, a payment notification will be sent to me.  Once I have received this notification, I will then email you the PDFs of the templates.  Please be sure that your email address associated with Paypal is correct so that you can receive these files.  I will email within 24 hours of payment.  Thank you so much for your understanding.

**End of message**

 

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:)

New Hand Work patterns



So the hard part about being a designer is not being able to share immediately!!  There can be months between creating and editing and publishing.  Those are months I keep things in the vault so that when you see them, it is a WOW moment vs. "oh yeah, she showed that 4 months ago and 2 months ago, etc.".

 

The patterns below are perfect examples.  I worked on these feverishly during Jan and Feb for a March show.  Then Market preps started and I didn't get around to sharing with you.

You can find these on the What's New page of my website and don't forget my new shipping policy for your guild.



CELTIC MUSIC # 511

I have a newly found appreciation and love for doing hand embroidery.  There are so many lovely threads out there and I don't limit myself to what is right or wrong.  If the color is right, I use it.  Many times I have been asked if something was done on the machine due to its delicate look....NOPE, I just used machine quilting thread 40 weight because the variegated color was too luscious to pass up! 
For so long I have wanted to do a Harp piece and Celtic Music is just that with a vine of shamrocks added for whimsy.  It was stitched with YLI machine quilting thread.

HARLEQUIN HEARTS #510

Harlequin Hearts is a reboot of my Hearts in Bloom design with a new layout.  That is the absolute fun of applique.  If you like the design, buy it because you can applique, hand embroidery, or do wool work with the templates.

SWEET SWIRLS #509

Sweet Swirls is a revamp of my Benign Fusion.  Again I am donating 10% of MY sales of this pattern to Colon Cancer education just like with Benign Fusion.

The Swimming Sea: SEAHORSE #429

The Seahorse was so so so fun to make and I already have an octopus and some fish designs waiting for me to find time to play.
This is the first in the series so check back occasionally to see how far I have gotten:)

Next week I will be posting the run down of the Market booth designs....Stay tuned!

Spring into UWIB

Welcome to our 2nd Unique Women in Business blog hop where we are helping everyone hop into Spring with wonderful gift ideas for birthdays, easter, graduation, and Mother's Day.

'Swaying Hearts'

'Swaying Hearts' is one of my newest designs done in an adorable 3-1/2" x 4-1/2" size: http://www.etsy.com/listing/68120369/swaying-hearts

Because I am a designer, most of my quilt patterns are applique designs vs. pieced patterns and this allows me endless ways of recreating my designs.

With the new lines of beautiful variegated threads on the market (Sulky, YLI), I can do outline embroidery in any color I want and the variegation adds more interest than the traditional redwork. Beading is one of my passions: Since I like the look of variegated threads so much, I have started learning how to make my own bead mixes to create variegated bead embroidery. Above, 'Swaying Hearts' was first painted and then beaded.

The applique work is available now at the etsy store link above. If you are interested in either the embroidery or beaded work, please email me at robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com

I absolutely love the challenge of taking a sketch or idea of mine and finding how many different ways I can rework it, taking it from black and white to beautiful colors represented in the world around us. Now that Spring is here, we are surrounded by color in various shades and hues and tints: The flowers that nature provides us are already variegated for our joy.

Please enjoy the wonderful Spring bounty provided by my fellow UWIB ladies:

RitaWetzel http://ritascreativenest.com/

JennNolda http://brynnsbeautifulbows.blogspot.com/

Ann Rinkenberger http://harvestmoonbyhand.blogspot.com/

RobinKoehler http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/

LindaReynolds http://bellalindadesigns.net/

Audrey Fetterhoff http://audreygardenlady.blogspot.com/

Birgitte Hendricks http://sewdanish.blogspot.com/

Wendy Kelly http://blog.vintageday.com/

JanetBocciardi http://www.honeyfromthebee.com/

LindaStranger http://capecodjewel.blogspot.com/

KarenTerry McDuffie http://jmjcreations.blogspot.com/

JudyWoodley http://wellspringcreations.blogspot.com/

TrudyMiller http://mommagoddesstreasures.blogspot.com/

Cory Trusty http://aquarianbath.blogspot.com/

Nancy Pace http://nancyswildwirejewelry.blogspot.com/

Lois Stifel http://foxygknits.com/

Jenn Brockman http://alexshares.com/

Also, here are the links to our ETSY TeamLink http://www.etsy.com/teams/6263/unique-women-in-business-uwib

Link to UWIB Blog - http://uniquewomeninbusiness.blogspot.com/

Quilter's World

Quilter's World December issue is chock full of vibrant reds and greens to make your holiday season POP!

In the midst of all these wonderful designs you will find my new pattern, Gingko Romance. My family is all about traditions and you can read about a fun international tradition as you set out to make your own.

Enjoy,

Robin