Johanna and Tammie's Excellent Quilting Adventure

Where have I been? Working, of course. And creating. But best of all, New York City!!
My friend Tammie and I had a wonderful whirlwind trip to NYC - primarily to see "Infinite Variety - 300 years of Red and White Qullts' at the Park Avenue Armory.

It was truly unbelievable!


I have lot's more photos on my flickr.
We also visited the quilt exhibit at the Folk Art Museum
We ate ourselves silly (not really, because we walked it off) at Eataly, Chelsea Marketplace,Marea, Normas, 'wichcraft and more!
We loved City Quilter!! The gals were so wonderfully helpful, friendly and fun! We made ourselves at home and shopped! I picked up some exclusive NYC fabrics to add to the quilt I am planning to make my husband (who is from New York). We managed to see Avenue Q off broadway and so some more crafty shopping all in the span of 3 days! Excellent!

Block Addiction

I love trying new crafts and new patterns, so participating in various block swaps are a great way to indulge. One of my quilt guilds has a block of the month - make one (or more) blocks with their pattern of that month and get a ticket for a chance at the drawing to win all of the blocks.

Flickr has a bunch of virtual quilting bees which can be addicting. I finished the two mug rug swaps but am still enjoying the block bees. One of my favorites is the Modern Stash bee where two members each month choose a pattern and color scheme and we make and send them the blocks.

This is a Liberated Churn Dash done in pinks. We were given a link to a tutorial and it was so much fun to make!

The second block this month was done in Spring colors. We had a link to a bunch of fun pinwheel tutorials to choose from. The ladies end up with a dozen blocks - how great will they all look together?!

The side result of the many blocks I try? I am amassing a stack of orphan blocks!
What do you do with your orphan blocks?

Mug Rugs!

Even though I have a large quilting to-do list, I like smaller projects that are deadline and theme oriented. Thus, the mug rug swaps provided a bit of instant creative gratification. I just finished two mug rugs for two different swaps.

The first was for the Scrappy Mug Rug swap. My partner (who didn't know who was creating for her) is a terrific quilter with great taste, so it was easy to choose fabrics. I just hope she didn't judge my quilting and binding skills!

This was actually the smaller of two I created. I didn't photograph the larger one (that actually came out better.)

The second mug rug was for a swap through the Quilting Gallery and had a french country flavor to it, as the recipient indicated that she liked the french country red color.

It was sent of to Utah today. I hope she likes it!
There are lots of great mug rug photos on flickr if you want to make one for yourself or for someone else. They are like little placemats, suitable for a mug and a snack!

Samples, Classes and Retreats - Oh my!

The past week has been a lot of fun and very busy - and this coming week will be no different, in fact it should be a blast!

I finished the quilt top sample for Moda's Dilly Dally kit. A colorful rail fence-type pattern. It's adorable!

I finally learned how to properly paper piece!

This week I am off on my very first quilting retreat! I have heard wonderful tales for years and never had the opportunity to go. this week I am making that opportunity and can't wait! 45+ quilters on a bus, stopping at quilt shops, quilting and socializing (and from what I hear a lot of laughing, chatting, snacking and plain 'ole good times!) My camera is packed, as is my sewing machine and a few projects to work on. I am finally getting to make a quilt with Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms for my room. Or at least that is my plan. No computers on the trip (just my ipad but I don't think I can post, can I?). See you later in the week.

Where does the Time Go?

I can't believe it is almost the end of January!! Where does the time go? I have been running the shops, quilting samples, participating in some online swaps (mug rugs!), vending in a show and taking care of the family and dogs. Sigh. Yawn. (no, really, I just yawned writing this just thinking about everything.

Next week I get to attend my very first quilting retreat! I am joining the Gold Coast guild on a trip to a retreat center on the west coast of Florida. Stopping at quilt shops, quilting and socializing with quilters for 3 days! I have to say, I am super excited! I just have to decide what projects to take. Hmmmm

random thought...

I got my hair cut (and colored) today - it was a long time overdue and I hate sitting for 2 and a half hours in a salon. I had a good amount of hair cut and went with a bit of bangs - 'botox bangs' as my friend Tanya calls them (to hide the lines on the forehead without injection, get it?). Like you care about any of this.....

My husband loved it and my older son and he both said it made me look MUCH younger and was much better. My thought?.... did I not look okay before? Why didn't you tell me to cut my hair. Just some random thoughts for today.

Another Block

for the Modern Stash Quilt Bee


The colors were yellow, gray, black and white and the theme were freeform 'window blocks'. As usual I took a crummy photo but I am happy with the block.

Laundry List of Crafty Projects

With infinite crafting desires clashing for time with the two shops I run and family needs, I need to prioritize. Or not sleep.
I am working on two store samples right now, a Quilting Sisters wall hanging and a table runner using the brand new Fresh Flowers Fabric from Moda. I'll post photos of the shop blogs, but this blog if for my stuff. I just finished the second block for the Modern Stash Quilting Bee (it came out great in my humble opinion). I am gathering fabrics for my 3x6 Quilting Bee Hive (six blocks of the same pattern but with the fabric colors chosen by the hive members). A mug rug is next up for a swap.

I am currently loving this circles pattern:

Isn't it cool? I just got a AccuQuilt GoBaby and need to get the circle templates.

so much fabric, so little time.

Virtual Quilting Bees

I am participating in two virtual quilt bees - I'm so excited about it. In the MSQB we are given color hints and block pattern ideas. It is fun to see how the quilters interpret it. My first block, in a Bento pattern, has warm tones (fuscia), white and teal.

I think the final quilt will look great.